#It seems like to get an upper hand women will climb up on the backs if more marginalized groups

[nyasialiveshere]

Kpop is like an enigma the further you peel the creative layers back everything is black..then there's the colorism, featurism nd cultural hoodwinking

I dont wanna make a super drawn out post about the cultural cou d'état going on in kpop but like who else is gonna do it

[woso-fan13]

Whumptober 2023: 3 (Barca fc)

No. 3: SET UP FOR FAILURE

Fingerprints | Wrongfully Arrested | "I warned you."

A series of loud knocks on the door has Mapi groaning as she forces herself off of the sofa. After a long practice, a hot shower, and a nice meal, all she wanted to do was lay on the sofa with Ingrid until she could go to bed. But the banging didn’t stop and continued to grow louder and more frantic. 

Mapi pulls the door open a touch, peeking out before yanking it open the rest of the way. On the other side of the door you were slightly hunched into yourself, tears and sweat mingling on your face. Mapi freezes, unsure as to what happened to you and what to do. You’re frozen too, seemingly disassociated from the situation. 

It’s silent for a moment until footsteps approach from behind Mapi, Ingrid’s head popping over her shoulder before reaching around Mapi and reaching to you. One hand lands on your shoulder, the other resting gently on your face. 

This seems to break you out of your trance, your eyes lifting from your shoes to meet Ingrid’s, the pitiful look in your puffy eyes and red nose melting Ingrid’s heart. She can’t see you like this, though, so she pulls you into her, one arm wrapping tightly around your back while the other presses the back of your head to her chest. You’re cradled protectively in her arms, her head dipping to press her lips to your hair as she whispers quietly to you in a blend of English, Spanish, and Norwegian. You can’t make any of it out, really, but you relax into her anyway. 

At some point, Mapi must have regained her senses, as you feel a hand come to rest on your cheek, slowly coaxing your head out of Ingrid. You turn to face her, being rewarded with a gentle smile and kind words as you rest your cheek onto Ingrid, still slumping into her for support. One of Mapi’s hands continues to cradle your face as the other appears in your sight line with a warm washcloth. She moves slowly, allowing you time to pull away before gently wiping the tears from under each eye. She moves to your cheeks and forehead, running the damp fabric down your nose and wiping the snot that was approaching your upper lip. Pulling the towel away just enough to fold it in half, Mapi finishes cleaning the lower half of your face with the clean space. 

You release a sigh as she finishes. Your eyes are beginning to droop at this point. 

Mapi and Ingrid work together to get you through the house and towards the bedrooms, skipping past the spare room you normally sleepover in and leading you into their bedroom. Wordlessly, they get you changed into a comfortable pair of pajamas that you must have left behind at some point. They don’t even bother getting you to brush your teeth or wash your face before they direct you into the middle of their bed and get you snuggled under the covers. 

The two women are already ready for bed themselves, having gotten ready before settling on the sofa earlier, so they waste no time in climbing into their respective sides of the bed and encasing you in the middle. Their gentle reassurances and warm touches quickly soothe you and your breathing gets heavier until you’re fully asleep. 

Mapi and Ingrid, on the other hand, are fully awake and livid.  They can guess what happened with almost complete certainty. More so, they can guess who happened. 

They so badly want to yell, they need to express their anger and frustrations and they want to do it loudly and directly. But no sooner do they begin to whisper to each other do you begin moving slightly in your sleep, a small frown appearing. 

Mapi settles on expressing her frustration another way, pulling out her phone and opening messages. Scrolling through her recent messages, she taps on a conversation and sends a simple message. 

“I warned you this would happen if you pushed her too far.”

[sleepyangelkami]

ROOFTOP SHENANIGANS .vi

 ☆ WORD COUNT - 2.3K

VI (ARCANE) X FEM!READER

 ☆ SUMMARY - vi has been staying with you in your big fancy uppercity house while on the run, one night you both take an exciting trip onto the rooftop while avoiding the 'exquisite ball' beneath you both, organised by your parents, of course.

 ☆ WARNINGS - fluff, petnames, arcane!universe but slightly different, mentions of men, kissing, mentions of rich/upper class reader, mention of reader being 'small', multiple mentions of reader having a mom, use of 'good girl' in a domestic (not smutty) way, intended lower case, nothing i write is ever proofread 🩷

you should be at the party downstairs.

it felt like every second week that your parents were throwing another party. although, they didn't particularly want to call it that. they'd call it a ball, force everyone to get into these big puffy dresses or intricately designed suits. the first five minutes would be alright but soon enough you'd get bored of your parents' business talk with the old folk.

this time, though, you were spending your saturday night in your bedroom, clad in your silky white pijamas instead. vi sat across from you, just aching to get out of this room. and truly, you couldn't blame her.

vi had been on the run for quite some time now. once she got out of stillwater prison, the first place she went was to you. you'd told her where your fancy house was situated beforehand and besides, it wasn't as if it were hard to miss. when the drenched girl arrived at your door in the pouring rain with blood smeared on her face, you couldn't exact turn her away. not that you wanted to. you had to say, smuggling a 'criminal' into your house and keeping them there even though they were wanted was an... experience to say the least.

your parents had no idea, of course, and they never could. they were big councillors and 'your actions would reflect on them and blah, blah, blah.' you'd heard the story a thousand times over. and that was when you weren't standing properly so you could only imagine what they'd have to say about smuggling a wanted criminal.

"uhm, vi?" you questioned, her voice airy. somehow, the girl had manged to persuade you to follow her outside. only downfall, your bedroom was situated on the highest floor of the building.

the cotton candy haired girl looked at you with a chuckle falling from her lips. "here, gimme your hand." and you didn't have to be told twice.

vi was many things. she lived on the dangerous side whereas you liked to keep to yourself, always doing your best to hide in a shadow. you were the type of girl that didn't want to be looked at, vi was the type to not care whose eyes were on her. and somehow, these personalities mixed just a little to well and suddenly she was coercing you onto the rooftop.

your white socks began to get a little dirty by the way you found your feet padding against the wall. you climbed up with her hand in yours and suddenly your back end was sitting atop the roof.

you'd never been up this high in general let alone at your own home.

"pretty, isn't it?" the girl mumbled as she leaned in a little closer, there was a smirk on her scarred lips, lifting them up and curving them.

beneath you, your eyes were strained on the carpet that led people inside your house. you could see carriages with horses driving into your driveway. it was a sight to see, men and women in suits and dresses, all looking much too fancy to be taking a trip to your house. the light from the house hung in the midnight air, shining and emitting a yellowish hue onto the grass.

you hummed, your lips in a straight line. "you're prettier." you teased causing the girl to roll her pretty eyes. only she didn't take them back down, she found her eyes staring up at the midnight sky above you both. "you like stars?" you questioned, assuming she had an interest or something given the fact that her eyes seemed awfully strained on something in the sky. perhaps she knew constellations and what the little shapes meant. you never bothered yourself to learn it.

"no." she spoke, still studying the night sky. "jus' been a while since i've seen that many stars." vi was in prison for a long time. you knew she was innocent, she didn't deserve the place that she got but unfortunately all the money in the world couldn't get someone to listen to you. not a corrupt government like piltover. you hummed once more, letting your head fall on her shoulder. "tired, cupcake?"

nodding your head, you fought off a yawn. you could hear her coo as her hand came down to your own, her fingers gently interlocking with yours. to others, she may seem like the brooding, dangerous girl she was thought to be. but with you? she was as gentle as a butterfly. "you're so warm." you mumbled, nuzzling your way into her.

"you're so cute." she retaliated, watching as you flushed, rolling your eyes with your lips in a tight smile. her eyes glanced back up to the little stars dotted around the sky. "you know, you're kind of like a star."

with a tired pout, you placed your head on her shoulder, looking up at her with those big doey eyes. "how?" people had compared you to many things in your days, but a star? not so much.

"cause." she shrugged her shoulders. as embarrassed as she was to get the words out, she still couldn't fight off that tight lipped smile on her face. "you're like... lighting up the darkest skies." she watched as your face changed a little, not in a bad way, a way of endearment, a pout stretched across your lips. "and, you know." she coughed, attempting to defuse any tension. "you're... small."

you shook your head, stifling a giggle. "you were doin' so well." and she just had to ruin it with her joke, not that vi could ever ruin anything, you were sure.

the sound of mellow music hit your ears. it was low but due to how loud your mother always seemed to blare the music, you were still able to hear it even from your place on the roof. you'd given the lame excuse of not feeling right which is the only reason your mother had left you stay in your bedroom. and as grateful as you were to spend time with vi, you couldn't help but miss the music. it was this song in particular that was your favourite.

any other night, you'd be in the centre of the dance floor. you'd be dancing with someone, no doubt, you didn't care who, man or woman, elderly or one of the kids. but when this song played, everyone in piltover knew to make room. "love this song." you mumbled, hiding your hands in the silk of your pijamas. it was still awfully cold, especially when you were sitting atop of a roof.

vi hummed in thought. she'd heard you play this song many times, she was no stranger to your infatuation with the song. your eyes watched as she moved from you, standing up on the roof. she laid a hand out for you to take to which you merely awkwardly stared. "oh come on. i dragged you all the way from your fancy ball. the least i can do is dance with you to your favourite song." your heart swelled. "will you dance with me, angel?"

and how could you refuse someone so... unearthly? you stood with a giggle, placing your hand in her own.

she helped you get up swiftly.

you breathed a shaky breath before glancing down. it seemed like a good idea at first but it wasn't as if the rooftop was exactly straight. it was still slanted, off to the side as you did your best to hold yourself up. you could say that grace wasn't your thing. but that didn't matter, for in seconds you could feel warm hands on your hips, holding you upright. "careful, cupcake."

you attempted at everything to wipe the smile off your face and failed, of course. "my knight in shining armour." you murmured jokingly, one of her hands moving up to hold one of yours. your free hand came down to sit on her shoulder. "you know how to dance?"

and by the looks of it, she did. her feet moved before you, stepping in, stepping out, she moved so elegantly, so softly. it seemed as though she'd lived on a dance floor. you'd danced with many people in your life, no one had ever compared to vi. "'course, elegance is my middle name." she murmured against your skin.

you giggled as she spun you out, her arm in the air as you twirled. you couldn't stop the sounds from your mouth, pure ecstasy filling your veins and your cheeks by the feeling of the heat that had rose to them.

vi too wore a smile, as big as anything as her pearly whites were on wide display for you to see. your eyes trailed from her own sapphire ones to the tattoo sitting beneath it, decorating her skin beautifully. she pulled you close then, holding her face near yours as she swayed your bodies. "if you were at the ball, would you be dancing with some guy now? some... councillor kid or something?"

you tried to huff out your laugh. vi, in all her glory, jealousy and insecurity seeping into her veins. "vi..." you stopped dancing, though she was still holding you close. the only difference was now you could see her face. "you're all that matters to me." fingers gently twisting the bubblegum locks. "not the balls my mom throws, not the 'princes' i get the pleasure of dancing with, not the money, not the... lifestyle. you. i'd trade the entire city of piltover for you in a heartbeat."

she looked down at you with those lovey eyes, the ones that showed you she knew you were telling the truth. "you're a real idiot, cupcake."

you shrugged, smile on your lips. "that's okay." you mumbled. "you can do the thinking for me."

she couldn't help it. you were so close, the aura was so sweet, gentle light flooding from the windows and doors of the house and the soft music from the ballroom. and you looked so pretty. her fingers brushed the side of your cheek, pulling your face closer to hers.

you didn't fight it, in fact, you melted into her. you felt her soft lips on yours and you kissed back, just as gently. there was something about the way her hands held you, as though you were glass and she was being careful not to break. she'd beg to differ. not glass, more like a painting. you were a beautiful painting and she was holding you so close, engulfing you because she knew ugly people liked to ruin beautiful things. she couldn't risk letting anyone attempt to toss their hands near your heart.

at some point in the night, the music lowered itself, then it was but a hum and suddenly, there was no music at all.

you and vi still sat atop the roof, bodies close as you peered out at everyone who left for their carriages. you commented on a couple people you knew, explaining them to vi. "is he nice?" truth was, she didn't really know anyone in the uppercity.

you shrugged your shoulders. "I don' really know, he smells kind of funny." listening to the way she chuckled against your skin. truth was, you didn't really care for anyone in the uppercity. "'s getting really late." you commented, yawning again. you knew it was getting late for people were going home and god knows your mom didn't throw balls just to end them early. "you comin' to bed?"

she glanced to you, watching your slightly watery eyes from yawning so much, big and doey, ready for sleep. "I'll be a couple minutes, sweetheart. you to bed, alright? i'll be down soon."

and for a sleepy you, it was enough. you nodded your head and bidded your farewell to the girl you loved more than your entire being.

at some point in that night, you'd managed to get yourself into bed, snuggling up against your covers and allowing them to completely engulf you. you had your fists near your chin, holding the blanket close and your eyes shut closed, light breaths leaving them. all this stressing and keeping vi a secret was so tiring, exhausting even, but you wouldn't change it for the world.

you were in and out of sleep, almost as if your body was waiting for her to come back into the room.

the sound of the window closing shut was enough to alert your body. "vi?" your voice all croaky and full of sleep.

vi had swung in the window as if she were spiderman himself. "i'm here baby." she mumbled, kicking off her boots. obviously, she'd been more prepared for the night on the roof than you had. she climbed into your big bed from behind you, her arms immediately reaching out for you. she watched as you turned around, arms grasping around her neck. "why're you still awake?" she mumbled. she'd spent at least another hour out on the roof but she'd assumed by your sleepy eyes that you'd been ready to knock out then and there. she wasn't going to be the one to keep you awake.

you sniffed against her chest, hugging yourself close. her scent was enough to have you sighing in relief for her to be back in your arms. "can't sleep right without you here." your body and mind had grown awfully attached to the cotton candy haired girl.

"you're so cute." she cooed at you, pressing a kiss to your scalp. "go to sleep, sweet girl, i'll be here in the morning." she could feel you relaxing against her chest, eyes screwing themselves shut. "good girl." she mumbled, pulling the blankets above you.

"g'night, vi." your tired whisper barely reaching her ears.

so sweet. "goodnight, cupcake."

main masterlist/vi's masterlist

[hobiebrownbrowser]

General Touches

Earth-42 miles x stubborn FEM!reader

Context: The relationship between you and Miles is rocky but suitable. Wanting to be by each other's side but not knowing how to say without sounding desperate.

"Mild fluff" kissing, cuddling etc, nothing too 18+

Summary: 2 prowlers were already enough to take out one person.

Context: purple means Miles, Red means the Red Prowler(AKA Y/N=You)

Bad Spanish = blame google translate 💀

"Eyes on the target mami. Not on me." The girl groaned. Not being able to look at something so delicious was frustrating she wouldn't admit it though. Mechanical claws digging into the apartment building below her before leaping to another.

There "it" stood. A filthy rich man with a bunch of hypocrites by his side. She wanted to just lunge forward. Wanting to cut the white men's head clean off. But she couldn't. Not with a certain Upper stage watching further above her.

"Tell me why you're here again?" The question left bare as the target's movement changes. This was a one time opportunity. The last one she had to prove herself with fucking up this time. Her suit pulling back to reveal a sparkling red dress.

"Te ves espectacular mami." (You look amazing mami.)

"Piss off." She didn't let the prowler speak longer than it should, Fixing up her makeup before effortlessly climbing down the tall building. He'd have to teach her how to appreciate company, but maybe on a different timeline.

It didn't take long for her to go through the back entrance, Acting as if she was invited to the blood stained met gala. It left a demeanor touch but she was definitely the best dressed. The other women wearing cheap dresses that look like they came from the local thrift store nearby.

It was a fresh insight on not having to do the dirty work, Watching the well-dressed woman make her way towards the target with a hidden camera attached to her. She was a professional, seducing the man to let her stay by his side.

The white male agreed, only wanting her for her body and nothing more. It was sickening. He could treat her better, way better if she'd just give him a chance. But she was a stubborn brode woman to say the least, Dismissing his presence like he wasn't there in the first place.

He watches for any signs of discomfort, Face frowning in disgust as he watches the dead beat put his hands on what he wanted. He wanted to cut off his fingers one by one until nun were left, Watching him slowly bleed for touching what he wanted.

Yet he was infatuated, Often staring at her curves or a tight dress that perfectly shaped her. She was perfect and he wanted one night to fulfill her needs, Knowing she has many she hasn't had the chance to explore yet, At least not with him.

The sounds of shuffling were clear, The male leading her somewhere. It was showtime for him. Thinking of what she might do to him for the time being. It was sickening to think about, but he wasn't alarmed. He wanted to watch his 'chica' do the unthinkable.

The screen had gone black. Not before hearing a blood-gurgling scream after. Music to his ears that the bastard was finally dead and Miles could get his money, And his' Chica' back to his side. He watched as she simply walked back out from where she entered. Her suit complying with her body as she climbs up the paint chipped wall towards him.

The two glanced at each other for a brief moment, The red prowler not saying anything and just walking away. She was a stubborn woman indeed, But Miles was just as stern, Following the lady back to her payment.

"Are you gonna keep followin me all day?

"It depends." Miles short answer seemed to aggravate her, finally turning around and facing him. Her eyes narrowing. The top of her lip curving upwards until she rolled her eyes.

"¿Qué diablos quieres de mí, Miles?" (What the hell do you want from me Miles?)

"You to open up." His flat answer made her chuckle a bit, her face back to a dead monotone stare, Arms crossed and chin up peering into the exact same eyes she had. He loved how straightforward she was, But her mind was thinking of something else, as the silence grows louder.

Miles knew she was scared of close relationships. What happened to her family was her business but he got her to tell some of it to him, he was grateful that his partner was finally opening up. The relationship was rocky, but somehow it worked. It just did.

The silence was interrupted by a close line, Her work done for today as they both head home. The silence getting thicker every step they both took. But it was a calming period. Finally being able to wind down for tonight.

Y/N had gotten lost in thought, wanting nothing more but to feel Miles arms around her as they sleep the rest of the night away. If she wasn't so afraid she could say it without hesitation. But her mind always betrayed her thinking. Often getting in the way of what she really wanted.

"Estas bien princesa?" (What's wrong princess?) Why was he so nice to her even know she treated him like crap? Asking her how her day has been just to get no answer. He was patient. She hates how he spoiled her, His compliments melting her heart everytime.

"I'm fine."

"dime qué te pasa mami." (Tell me what's wrong mommy) She sighed before contemplating if she should tell him how she really felt, Deciding to tell him once they got home. Miles expected no less. Telling her not to back out once they get through the door. She swatted him away, knowing damn well it's gonna be a rocky explanation.

//\\

She wasn't ready for this, Feeling her heart beating out of her chest as Miles unlocks their apartment door. His hand placed on her hip to stop her from running off somewhere. She felt as if something was stuck in her throat.

The sound of beeping erupted her thoughts from the door opening, Her throat becoming dry. She felt her chest heaving heavily more than normal. Watching Miles intertwine his fingers with hers. She wanted to shake him off and disappear. Being led inside and straight towards the couch.

She stood in front of Miles who was sitting on the couch. Waiting.

"Dime mi amor." (Tell me my love.) She groaned, practically begging Miles to not make her do this. But he only raised a brow, his face inches away from hers. She loved the way he was gentle with her. Often pulling her in for unexpected small kisses.

"Necesito una bebida." (I need a drink.) Miles stopped her, Pulling her onto his lap as he looks at Y/N dead in her eyes.

Wrapping his arms around her waist just to trap her. She'd fallen into the hands of a gentle cuddly predator. Closing her eyes and finally giving in to some of her desires. Miles listening to every word she has to say.

It felt like a long night, the two getting things off their chests as it hits 2AM. He could tell she was getting sleepy. Her eyelids having a hard time staying open as she lays her head down on his chest.

He kisses her forehead, Feeling her flinch before relaxing in his arms. Finally giving into the night.

"te amo mi hermosa princesa." (I love you my beautiful princess)

[klbwriting]

Broken Prism

Chapter 12

Fandom: Red Hood

Pairing: Jason Toddxfemale!Reader

Warnings: and we're back to violence

Summary: Jason spirals

Note: this chapter is shorter than what I've been doing but I felt it was important to let Jason have this one

You hadn't expected Jason to keep a regular schedule, to come see you or contact you everyday. Hell you didn't even have a phone number for him. What you didn't expect was for him to disappear for six months.

Jason hadn't meant to vanish from YN's life. He had meant to come back right after Two-Face's bank heist, expected that he would be one step closer to gaining the guy's territory once he stopped his cash flow. He knew Two-Face was desperate though, his funds were running dangerously low and Jason had been able to buy some guys in his crew due to lack of paychecks. It was going to make the bank job easy, until Jason arrived, stalking through the upper offices of the building, getting into position. Then he heard it. Laughter, very familiar laughter wafting through the large open room below.

"Well, well, well, it seems like my traps are working!" Joker said, clapping his hands. Jason forced himself to peer over the ledge of the balcony into the main bank room below. Two-Face was with Joker, balloons surrounding the room. They were probably fully of poison gas. At the sight of Joker Jason felt the air leave his lungs. He couldn't inhale, nothing happened. His heart raced. He had to get out of there. He ran out the way he'd come in, glad he hadn't had any other guys on this job with him, he would have lost a lot of ground looking like this much of a coward. As he flew above the streets of Gotham he was haunted by laughter, feeling like it was chasing him. He kept glancing back, expecting to see a stark white face and green hair, a flash of purple before he was hit with a crowbar. Or maybe just shot because a fitting end to Jason Todd would be being shot on a rooftop, probably with one of his own guns, never to be found.

He had been about to climb in your window and wait for YN to get back from wherever she was when he heard a scream nearby. He panicked, thinking it might be her screaming so he booked it to the alley it was coming from. He could see it wasn't YN being attacked but he jumped down anyway, the pit rage rising. He grabbed the guy off the woman and she ran, and Jason started throwing punches. He didn't stop. He couldn't stop. By the time he was done he was pretty sure the person who found the body was going to need therapy for life. He couldn't do this. He couldn't be spiraling, but he was. He took off again, once again finding his childhood home and curling up fetal on the mattress in his old room. He couldn't hear anything but the laugh, felt like someone was stabbing him with little pins all over his body, he wasn't sure he would ever be able to breath again. He was weak, he was pathetic, he couldn't handle this, he couldn't protect YN when at any moment he might spiral again. She was better off with her memory, their one good night together, that was enough. It would be enough for him, wouldn't it?

By the time Jason had recovered enough to start doing real work again, not just surviving in that little room, Two-Face had been apprehended by the GCPD and he swooped in to take over the Bowery and East End full. Greasing some palms in the rest of North Gotham meant he had complete control over the area. It would keep him busy running that, planning his next attack, probably on Penguin's territory, that would give him almost unlimited funds. He could forget about her, throw himself into work. Maybe even figure himself out enough that he could talk to her again.

Batman would shockingly be the person to push Jason back in YN's world again. They found each other while Jason was busting a sex trafficking ring, and Batman was doing the same. He seemed surprised to see Jason when he came into the office of the head pimp after taking care of guards keeping the very young women captive. Jason had just gotten the guy under control, gun to his head when Batman barged in, knocking the door off its hinges. Jason looked up and the pimp took advantage, shoving at Red Hood and running towards Batman, like he would save him. Jason fired, hitting the guy right in the heart before he even get halfway across the room.

"No!" Batman said as the guy fell dead before him.

"No? No! Why in the fuck do you care if that guy is dead?" Jason asked, disgusted. "Those girls down there? None of them are even old enough to graduate high school and you care that this shithead is dead?" He shook his head.

"You know we don't kill," Batman said. Jason rolled his eyes, knowing Batman couldn't see it.

"You mean you let murderers and rapists live. I kill the bad guys," he answered. He was about to jump out the window when Batman spoke, taking a step towards him.

"She misses you," Batman said and Jason froze. He stepped back into the room and turned, gun aiming at Bruce.

"Don't you talk about her," he snarled. Batman was unfazed. The bullet wouldn't kill him, but it would hurt like a bitch at least. "You of all people know that they are better off without us."

"I don't know about that," Batman replied. "You are clearly having some kind of neurotic episode, probably because of the trauma of your death. Did seeing Joker really send you spiraling this far out of control?" Jason growled. Of course Batman knew about that, knew everything, he always did. "And if I have learned anything from both Nightwing and Robin finding their soulmates its that the right person is the only thing that truly keeps you strong and sane." Jason didn't know why he was still standing there. Maybe he was wanting to hear this, wanting to get permission to find YN again. He didn't want to be selfish and keep her close only for himself though. He hadn't been able to get that laugh out of his head and he knew that the only person to clear it away was YN but he didn't want that to be the reason he found her. The reason she suffered just because he needed her chase away nightmares.

"She doesn't need me making her life miserable," Jason said, finally lowering the gun and slumping a little. Batman shook his head and tentatively took a step forward. When Jason didn't shoot he walked over and put a hand on Red Hood's shoulder. Jason hated to admit it but he liked the feeling. It reminded him of when he was Robin and he had messed up, not violently, but just missed a step in a plan, was off on the throw of a batarang by an inch, missing the perpetrator, and Batman would comfort him, would actually be a father to him.

"Red Hood, she is absolutely miserable now, without you. And you know I've been watching. You're back to being ruthless, murdering, not just killing the bad guys. You don't do things like beat pickpockets to death in alleyways. You need each other. She's going to be at the Iceburgh Lounge tomorrow night getting some information about Penguin," Batman said, stepping back into the shadows. Jason sighed and looked down. When he looked up, as expected Batman was gone. Jason wondered how cold it was in hell knowing that Batman had just told him to go find a girlfriend.

[whoppert]

Sunna 7 (stephen strange/reader) (loki/reader)

◂ previous chapter first chapter ▴

3969 words

warnings: the after effect of mind violation

AO3 Master Fic List

Despite the gaping hole in my memory, I'm confident that I've never felt like this much of a burden before. A few days ago I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid at the staircase, but now? Now it’s an impossible mountain to climb.

Most of the world is contained to my room now. 

Wong had mentioned struggling to cleanse the space of mystical markers that had been left behind, but I couldn’t even tell. The power that flowed through me, albeit slight compared to Stephen’s or Wong’s or even this goddamn house? It’s gone. The purple energy that used to flicker around my fingers, forming shapes almost of its own will was gone. I'd tried to call it, but I almost threw up. My body is at odds with my spirit right now and I hate it.

AO3

Stephen brandishes the worm, dropping it into the palm of my hand.

“What the fuck is that?” I ask, trying to ignore the pool of slime it extruded.

“Excuse you, ” said the worm.

The flick of my hand was involuntary, and I fling the worm onto the rug.

Stephen, who had been trying to tell me to be careful, squats down and plucks the worm out of the carpet fibers. “This is the frontier in magical psychology. Its name is Gorron.”

“It’s a worm.”

“It’s a grub, thank you very much, you ungrateful mammal,” the worm had an accent that I couldn’t identify. “You’re lucky I’ve already been paid or I’d march right outta here! Worm? What am I, a nematode?”

Stephen sighs and shoots me an apologetic look. "I know it's strange, but it's actually very good at it's job."

"I'm really sorry, I don't usually do bugs. I'm sorry if I offended you and for... throwing you," I wince. “So… do I just lay back and tell Gorron my problems? Care to summon me a chez lounge?”

“It is much more simple than that. Look, I recognize that this is going to sound really gross, but-”

“Stick ‘im in ya ear, baby, lemme have a look at that mind!” Gorron interrupts.

So stark was the silence after that statement, that I almost decided that I might have a limit when it came to finding a cure. I look from Gorron to Stephen, who nods in confirmation and then back at Gorron whose little mouth had fallen open and was licking his lips. If grubs have lips. “Absolutely not.”

“Look doll, I’ve got a job to do, so open your ears and shut ya mouth, capeesh?”

Stephen snaps his hand shut, muffling the grub’s yells of displeasure. “I’m sorry about him, he doesn’t get out much," he continues, obviously with the intention of Gorron overhearing, "and he hasn't updated the way he speaks to women since the 1950s ap-pa-rent-ly."

I talk over Gorron's slew of deadened swear words. "You're joking, right?" I hear how desperate I sound, but- "In my head? This is a joke? To lift my mood?"

Stephen is right in front of me. Really there is a-step-and-a-half between us. “He’s crass, but if anyone can figure out the next steps, it’s Gor-”

My stomach bottoms out in my gut, a wave of panic hitting me with such force that I literally stagger. “I’m not-”

His free hand steadies me. Stephen says nothing, taking his bottom lip between his teeth, his gaze flitting back and forward between my eyes. I don't understand, what his expression is conveying, concern, and sympathy and pain all together perhaps.

“I can’t,” I want to sound strong, but my voice betrays me, cracking. “I’m sick of this, I’m sick of having shit shoved into my head. I’m sick of it, I’m sick of it. Please.” My breath comes fast and sharp.

“I know,” Stephen eases into the space between us, his empty hand still grasping my upper arm gently, the warmth seeming to loosen the knots in my body. “I know you’re scared. You have every right to be. Does it change anything if I assured you that Gorron can’t hurt you? He can only see what’s going on in there, he can’t change anything.”

My bottom lip wobbles, and Stephen’s gaze shifts to look at it, before snapping up to look me in the eye.

"Would it change anything," Stephen's voice soft, "if I told you that Gorron's basically my shrink?"

"Huh?"

"Do you remember after I found you and we were sitting in my office? And I told you I've been... having trouble sleeping, and you joked about therapy?" He pauses for confirmation. "Well, Gorron's my therapist. Wong makes me see him."

Excluding fighting lessons, Stephen and I are never this close, but lately I appreciate his sparing touch. There is something inviting about him when he isn’t trying to hit me, something comforting. I guess this is his job. I've seen him behave similarly for the people that seek out his help. “Does it hurt?”

A smile tugs at the corners of his lips, “not at all, it can be a little uncomfortable, but it doesn’t hurt, no. After your injury you might be a little sensitive though.” Glancing around the room, Stephen adds, “I’m right here, you know. Right by your side, I won’t leave you. You are always safe with me.”

His gray eyes hold no hint of a lie.

I nod. “This is coercion though.”

“I know.”

“And if it goes wrong, I’m holding you accountable.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Stephen opens his hand. Gorron, who had spent the last few moments remarkably silent, opens his eyes in mock surprise. “Glad to see you haven’t forgotten about me! I have a waiting list ya know, I could be getting ignored by far more important people than the pair of you!”

Stephen grasps the grub by its tail.

“Do you trust me?”

“I guess. Yes. I do.”

His gloved hand lightly grasps my cheek, tilting my head, my right ear skyward, before dropping Gorron right into the shell of my ear. Gorron's rolling and wriggling sent a shiver through me. There was a little resistance, culminating in a wet plop, and then he was inside. There’s a grub in my brain, there’s a grub in my brain, there’s a grub in my- I shudder. I feel bad about thinking it's gross, Gorron's a sentient being after all, but I don't do bugs.

Stephen tilts my head back to my midline and then removes his hand from my cheek. I feel its absence keenly.

“Wow, Strange, ya weren’t wrong, something’s destroyed it in here,” Gorron’s voice is too loud and it vibrates in my skull.

I swear, instinctually jerking 'away' from the sound and I feel Gorron brush up against something, strings that bring the spots back to my vision. I grasp Stephen’s hands.

“Wow, talk about a household in denial,” Gorron mutters, quiet enough that I wasn’t sure Stephen could hear, but I was too dizzy to ask what he meant. “And your powers have gone too. That’s a knock to the balls for sure.”

“Can you give us any insight?” Stephen asked.

“Yes, but you’re not gonna like it.”

“Out with it.”

“Firstly - lass, gotta commend ya on having the cleanest brain ever. Not a single mind mite to be found. I have literally never seen that before. Secondly - whatever Loki did, it broke that enchantment that you were under.”

“That enchantment ?” Stephen and I say in unified confusion. There is a yellow and green blob floating between us and it makes the sorcerer look like he's got a bad case of jaundice.

“You heard me. I’d ask if you knew who put you under their spell, but I can see you don’t remember at all. Hey, have you considered renting this space? I know a few parasites that could use a place to live.”

“Gorron.” It was Stephen's last warning.

“Non-lethal of course.”

“Wind it back up a sec,” I demand, “what do you mean Loki broke the enchantment? What enchantment?”

I can feel Gorron squeeze it's body through some tight spot and the spots in my vision cleared.

“Has she always been this slow?”

“Mind your manners, Gorron. I know some bugs that lay their eggs in live prey,” Stephen threatened.

“Jeez, it was only a joke, man. Learn to take a joke. Hmm…” inside my brain, Gorron trailed off. “Your oldest memory is meeting Strange… because that was the day the enchantment was created. It’s got a magical signature that I don’t recognize, but boy did they hide it well.” 

“And my memories, my life before that?”

“My best guess is that whoever put this enchantment in place didn’t account for Loki going for a trip through ya head, and it broke the enchantment differently to the way it was supposed to be broken, it severed your mind. Separated the before-the-enchantment from the after-the-enchantment. Your memories from before then might still be here, but as a result of the spell or the unorthodox way in which it was broken, yeah, I wouldn’t know how to find them. The block on it can only be reversed by the creator. I’d say your best shot would be to find them.”

“Wait, so our best chance of finding out who put the block in place is to find out who put the block in place?”

Gorron sighs like I'm wasting its time, “yes. That’s what I said. Look, if there’s no mites in here, you’re gonna have to tip me, Strange, I didn’t come all the way out here for nothing.”

“For nothing. My whole brain has imploded and it’s nothing to you,” I whisper, my cheeks tight from my uncomfortable smile, before falling into a stunned silence. Everything feel so far away.

“Gorron, what can we do to figure this out?” Asks Stephen.

There's a whoosh, and I feel the grub slide out of my ear, the opposite ear to the one it had entered. “Seems to me, your next step would be finding someone who knows memory magic like the back of their hand and get them to have a look. See if they can recognize the signature. Maybe even see if they can locate where her memories have been hidden in there. Once you know that, I’d go and ask-” Gorron almost fell, but Stephen catches it, “thanks doc. Anyway, figure out who put the enchantment in place and get them to remove it. Easy as pie.”

Without missing a beat, Stephen crushes Gorron in his hand. The sound had a surprising crunch, like the grub had more bones than expected. I gape at the sorcerer.

“Sorry,” he opens his hand to reveal that it is empty empty, no fluids or bug guts in sight, “I was getting really sick of him, and the only way to send him home is to 'kill' him. He’s fine, I’ll see him later about his tip. How are you? That’s a lot to process.”

“If I wasn’t so overwhelmed, I’d probably be angry. Yeah. Probably angry.” I look down to find that Stephen is still holding one of my hands. I recount what we have learned, “so there’s a block on my memories, created the day I met you, probably not by you, because then Gorron would’ve recognized the signature? Correct?”

Stephen nod.

“And the only way to find out who it is that cursed me, is to let someone else have a look? I'm assuming it's a very similar type of magic to what Loki did to me.”

He nods again.

“Even though the last time someone did that it gave me the magical equivalent of a severe concussion?”

One final nod.

My heart pounds. “That voice- from my dream told me what a disappointment I was. I don’t even know who I’m letting down. And my powers are gone, and yeah they weren’t big and dramatic but they were mine. They belong to me, it’s like I’ve had a limb sawn off and I can’t even walk up the fucking stairs without my body giving up on me so I’m just trapped in this room. Is this my life now? Someone just put a spell on me one day and for what? I’m not important, I’m not powerful. Whoever did it must have had a reason but I have no idea who- or what? Except it’s got something to do with you? It must do, or maybe it’s just a coincidence that we met that day, I don’t know.” I'm spiralling.

Stephen doesn't say anything, just squeezes my hand tighter and like a toddler having a tantrum, I try to wrench it from his grasp, but he has a stronger grip than I’d anticipated. I poke a finger into his chest, but he doesn’t flinch.

“And you! You have the nerve to stand there, all sympathetic and concerned, ‘cause I’m just another pathetic-”

“You’re not pathetic-”

“Maybe I’m not, but who’s to say because I don’t know who I am! I couldn’t tell you my favorite food! I don’t know who I am and I feel so stupid. I’m barely a person.” Tears well up in my eyes and I hate them. I try to brush them away, but Stephen still wouldn’t relinquish the hand he held. He was swimming in my vision, and I was glad because then I didn’t have to look him in the eye as he beheld my tears. I’d never cried in front of him before. 

It was the second time he had ever embraced me. The first time even through the wave of nausea and the bright lights, I could feel his relief that I was safe, but this time? Stephen pulls me in, his arms wrapping around me, no relief, only release as I bury my eyes in his shirt and sob. He doesn’t say a thing. Doesn’t move, just holds me, one arm around the small of my back rubs small circles and the other grasps my shoulder firmly. I can feel the ridges and stitching of his glove through the fabric of my shirt.

After a while, I couldn’t tell you how long, I manage to stop crying, taking deep breaths to get myself together. He smells like earl grey tea and lemons.

“You are a person,” said Stephen, finally breaking the silence. His low voice rumbles through his chest. “Look, I’m not the most open person in the world, but,” he takes a deep breath, “I… care about you. You're not stupid and you are certainly not pathetic. I promise we will get to the bottom of this, but until you get everything you’ve lost back, you’re still a person. You're no burden to me.”

My arms are around his neck, our bodies pressed together. “I’m scared.”

"I know."

"I'm scared I'm going to be like this forever."

“I know,” his lips skim my temple, and goosebumps raise down my limbs. “I felt the same way when my hands were crushed. But we have no evidence to suggest you won't make a full recovery. And worse case scenario, we’re going to figure this out. Do you believe me?” His breath is warm on my skin.

"I believe you.

The air is charged, the question is charged, and Stephen holding me is the only thing keeping me together. I get the distinct impression that I should feel embarrassed, humiliated for sobbing in front of Stephen, as though a proper lady might have done it more demurely. I don't though. I like it. I like how caring and attentive he has been since I was injured.

"What do you need? What can I do for you?"

I glance around my room. It seems especially small with another person in it. The green wallpaper is still bright and the iron bed below it is a mess. The room itself is mercifully, not too messy. The curtains are mostly drawn now, blocking out the harsh light of the sun, and leaving only a thick stripe that cuts the room into unequal halves. The room itself is cozy, but after all the time spent in it the last few days, and what had happened there, it's suffocating me. 

"Take me somewhere else. I need to get out of this house."

Stephen clears his throat, and created a portal. Through the golden circle is the stark night. The chill from the cold air radiates through, prickling my skin. We manage to detangle.

The wind is mild and the sky clear. I have no memory of the world so dark. Back in the city the night is never dark, polluted with bright lights and fluorescence and color. But here, the sky is a sheet of black, with hundreds, no, hundreds of thousands of stars of every hue. The world is so quiet and there are no tell tale signs of humanity around. All this space and only the two of us.

"Where…?"

"New Zealand." His robes had shifted into casual wear. That grey sweater again. Stephen stores his hands in his pockets. "Aptly named by the European settlers as the South Island, due to the fact that it is the Southern Island."

"They sound creative." When the portal went, so did all of the light and my eyes tale a moment to adjust. "It's beautiful."

"It is. And it will only get better."

I look at him surprised, eyebrows raised though he probably can't see it in the darkness. The tracks my tears have left behind feel particularly cold in the icy air.

“From a scientific point of view, auroras are the result of charged solar wind particles caught in Earth’s magnetic field. These particles ionize oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the upper atmosphere, a chemical reaction creating light. The indigenous people of this land saw auroras as the campfires of their ancestors.”

“Are they? The campfires of their ancestors?”

Stephen stands at my side, and passes me the sweatshirt that had been hanging on the end of my bed. “Yeah, they are. And if I’ve timed correctly, they should be just about to…” He trails off.

Nothing happens. There is only blackness around us.

Stephen chuckles, “that would’ve been really impressive. This area has been having an increase rate of solar storms-”

The dull cloud twists into a ribbon of white which begin to curl across the sky. Then it's yellow. Red, green, blue - a nebulous glowing arc ornamenting the sky and I look on in awe. The lights of New York had been overstimulating, but this is- "beautiful."

“Yes.”

The dam inside me breaks and energy floods me. Even being out in the fresh air had invigorated my soul a little and I take off marching towards the slab of rock on the edge of the cliff. I dig my fingers into the top and hauling myself up.

"Jesus Christ, be careful!" Stephen's at my side in half-a-second, clamoring up to stand at my side.

"You're worse than Wong," I complain.

"At least sit ," Stephen's hands find my shoulders and gently push.

I groan but comply, letting my legs dangle off of the edge. He joins me. I could see our breath in the air, and pull my sweatshirt tighter around my shoulders.

"What made you want to be a doctor?" I ask finally, breaking the prolonged silence.

"Do you want the PR answer or the truth?"

"Either."

"Well," Stephen runs his fingers through his hair and I wonder what it feels like, "what I used to tell people was that I wanted to help. We are the world type of bull," he laughs and it cuts through the cold, warming my chest. "But the truth is that I wanted to be the best at something with a lot of status."

Stephen digs through his pocket and pull out a chocolate bar. He hands it to me and I snap it in half, letting him choose which piece he prefered.

"Well, I've been thinking about why I must have chosen anthropology to dedicate myself to. I have three possible answers."

"And they are?"

I chew my chocolate thoroughly. "One, knowing how big of a motivator spite is for me, someone probably told me I couldn't do it."

Stephen laughs again, "sounds about right."

"Two, it's just so damn interesting! I was reading through my doctorate thesis and I seemed really passionate about how teeth could tell you so much about someone's social status.” Cupping my hands I blow warm air into them. My knuckles are bright red. "Three, and probably the most boring of all the answers, maybe it was related to my powers. I didn't really ever figure out the origin, maybe I thought it would be linked to something else, something bigger."

"Well, it's looking more and more like you are a part of something bigger."

"Now that I know what 'bigger' entails, maybe I should have wished for a more simple life." I finish my half of the bar and suck the last of the melted chocolate off of my fingers. The aurora crackles around us like radio static. “The way the light flows… It reminds me of the incense that Wong burns. You know the stuff, lotus and patchouli.”

I look at Stephen, his face bathed in colored light. “I know exactly the one. Gives me headaches, but he still insists on it.”

“That’s because it gets you out of his hair once in a while.”

“I suppose, yeah. It does.” Then he adds, "metaphorical hair."

It's nice to laugh with him. “Why did you choose-? I mean, I said I needed to get out of the house, why was New Zealand the first place you thought of?” I shiver, my sweatshirt is not holding up against the winter breeze, I twist my hands in my lap trying to increase the friction.

“Ah, I don’t know,” his eyes levelled against my gaze, the grey taking on the colors passing overhead. It's mesmerizing. “Just popped into my head, I guess.” His voice gets quieter and quieter and I have to lean in to hear him.

There's a magnetic pull between us. Something strong have sucked us into its current, it wasn’t just this moment, it's everything, it's the universe deciding our fate and pushing us together. Everything since we had met had just felt so right, like we were made for each other.

“Aren’t you cold?” I whisper. “I’m freezing.”

For the moment he looks so relaxed. He's only inches away from me now, and his hand covers mine, his warmth permeating through the yellow leather, and I look from his eyes to his mouth, pink lips from the cold slightly parted and bordered with his dark beard. “Stephen?” I couldn’t get my voice to work properly, my breathing had gotten shallow, heart clanging in my chest.

My eyes flutter shut, as he comes close enough that his nose brushes against my cheek, and he murmurs something I can’t make out, cut off when I press my mouth to his.

Stephen tasted like the chocolate we had shared and for a moment everything in this dark world, with its vibrant skies slowed, until he kisses me back, energy flowing through us at the places where we connected, his hand gripping the back of my neck to deepen the kiss, his tongue running over my bottom lip.

He's gone.

I've lost my breath.

Twisting around, I find Stephen standing behind me. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, I was just- trying-”

Heat floods my cheeks and for once I'm at a loss for words.

A portal opens to my room and I flinch at the sudden piercing light.

“I should go,” Stephen hurries into my room, disappearing into the hall.

In his haste, he left the door wide open.

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AO3 Master Fic List

[defibrillate-the-hidden]

Story

Haven't written a resus story in probably over a decade so be nice, actually doesn't include any resus so more of a whump story? idk felt like writing

"Hi Kelly, my name is Dr. Caldwell. How are you feeling?"

Kelly Walker's eyes darted from the kindly pale, freckled face hidden behind wisps of chestnut hair of the woman standing over her to the bright fluorescent lights of the ER hallway as they slowly rolled her down.

"I've been better," she choked out around the oxygen mask firmly held to her face.

"Well, let's see if we can help improve that a bit. Do you have any pain or discomfort?" she asked, looking over her.

Kelly managed as close to a nod as possible through the straps holding her firmly to the bright orange backboard. "My left hand is numb, my left knee hurts, it hurts to take a deep breath, and my neck and upper back hurt," she explained slowly.

The doctor nodded. "It looks like you might have a few broken bones. Any pain in your chest, abdomen, anything like that?" She gently probed Kelly's abdomen and chest with a stethoscope as she asked.

"No," Kelly responded firmly.

"Okay," she looked up to her coworkers. "Vitals are looking normal. Let's get her into imaging, get an X-ray on the hand, knee, chest, and neck, and we'll go from there."

Two hours earlier, Kelly Walker was curled up on the couch in her family's RV, her Yorkshire Terrier Lugnut sleeping in a ball by her feet.

"Kelly, time to go!" her mother called from the door to her 19-year-old daughter. Kelly tapped the small dog on the rear lightly to stir him and then slid off the couch. She caught a quick glance at herself in the mirror, zipping the front of her cream fire suit to the base of her chest and wrapping her sleeves around herself to hold it in place.

"I really need to get a new colored suit," she commented to her mom as she jumped down the stairs and out the door. "The cream just blends into my skin, and I just look like a mop of dark brown hair and floating green eyes."

Her mother chuckled slightly. "Convince my brother's dairy farm to change the color of his logo and the color of your car, and we'll get you a new fire suit. But no one sees you in the damn thing anyway!"

"They will in the victory lane celebration later," Kelly responded quickly with a mischievous glimmer of confidence in her eye.

Her mother smiled proudly but also a bit suspiciously at her daughter as the two began to climb the small wooden footbridge to the track's infield. The sun blasted the last warm rays of a Carolina summer evening on their backs.

At three-quarters of a mile, Blue Ridge Fairgrounds was one of the longer dirt tracks in the South. A sweeping D oval let the street stocks that ran there run nearly wide open and emphasized keeping the cars' momentum high through the turns. Success here was often seen as a harbinger of success at higher levels of racing, but for Kelly Walker, tonight was its own high point of the season.

The mid-July race during the Blue Ridge Fair was the midpoint of her racing season, one of the biggest under the lights. The multicolored lights of the nearby rides and games from the fair gave the atmosphere a bigger feel than a normal race weekend.

Large covered wooden stands, reminiscent of early 20th-century baseball stadiums, wrapped around the front straightaway and were often filled for the A main on fair weekends, heightening the energy.

Kelly had surprisingly done well in the prior day's qualifying events, putting her car in 7th place out of the 16 that would take the green flag. It wasn't enough to have anyone outside of her whispering about an upset win, but her confidence also did not seem entirely out of place.

The two women arrived at the cream and red street stock moments later as Kelly undid her sleeves and pulled the rest of her suit on. Her father, a burly mustached man of 55, handed her a racing helmet that felt too big on her small frame. She held it firmly to her side as the last notes of the anthem finished over the track's PA system and an excited rumble from the crowded grandstands filled the sticky but rapidly cooling mountain air.

Kelly quickly climbed in through the window, the rest of the world fading as she slipped into her seat, tightened her belts, and pulled on her helmet for the evening. The final wisps of sunlight disappeared beneath the western horizon as the command was given to start the cars, and they rolled out onto the grid.

Along with being one of the more prestigious races of the summer season, it was also one of the longest by mileage. Kelly took long, deep breaths as they ran the pace laps, flexing her fingers over the steering wheel. "Patience," she urged herself as they filed in behind the pace car.

"Just remember, long race tonight. Can't win it in turn one, and it's all about momentum, so we want to be there at the end," her dad's voice cut in over their radio. Kelly nodded in response, though no one could see her. She chuckled quietly to herself, realizing the foolishness of her muted response. She considered responding vocally, but the moment was gone by the time she found the courage to hit the radio button on her steering wheel.

She flexed her fingers one last time as the cars came out of turn four and in sight of the flag stand, a flash of green against the night sky unleashed the cars into turn one.

On her outside, the brown and gold car of Nick Thompson got a good jump going into the turn and got around her for 7th. Kelly slid in behind him and followed as they roared down the back straightaway for turn 3.

The typical nervous energy of a big race seemed subdued as the 16 drivers rode around the early laps nearly single file. It seemed everyone was going to follow their own mantras of patience as they let the first few laps click off.

After 8 laps, Emma Parker, the only other female driver in the race, got a good run to the outside of her brother Jackson coming out of turn 2 and raced him hard down the back straight for 5th. Nick chose to follow her as they entered turn three, opening the bottom for Kelly, who gladly took the opportunity to regain 7th place and hoped Jackson might overdrive his sister into turn one, giving Kelly a chance to pick off all three spots in a single lap.

She was able to pull alongside Nick's car as they got through the center of the corner, but the dirty air off Jackson's rear made Kelly's car understeer and slide up towards Nick's. In a desperate attempt to keep off Nick's car, she input more wheel into the turn, but without the downforce of clean air, the back end of her car became free and lifted out from under her, turning her hard out of the fourth turn.

Kelly's car slid off the lightly embanked dirt towards the infield as she let out a frustrated profanity. She turned hard back into the spin to try and correct it before noticing out of the corner of her eye that she was rapidly approaching an exposed light post wrapped in tires at the base. After a moment of paralyzed indecision, she smartly let go of the steering wheel and went to pull her hands back, keenly aware of only one thing—this was going to hurt.

Kelly had been in many wrecks in her life; she had been driving since she could fit in a go-kart at 4 years old, and none ever felt less jarring or annoying, but this hit was something much harder than even she had expected.

The car impacted the tires just behind the wheel well to her right front in a bone-jarring crunch. The suspension on the front right split almost immediately from the impact and clawed into the tire barrier, whipping the car like a catapult around the light post and ripping most of the front-end housing loose from the car. The rear end dug into the exposed dirt, rolling the car once before it landed hard, practically on the floorboard. There was an audible gasp from the crowd over the roar of the engines as the car came to rest.

Inside the battered car, the wreck was even more violent. The sound of hitting the pole was like a shotgun going off in Kelly's right ear, and the violent whipping of the car as it spun off the pole slammed her into her seat in a way she had not expected.

The whole experience was over in 5 seconds, but it felt like 5 minutes inside the car. There was an eerie silence in the moments after the car came to rest as Kelly started to take note of what had happened.

Her eyes shot open unexpectedly; she honestly hadn't even realized she had been knocked out. There was a sudden rush as she saw the pole approaching, then the ear-shattering crunch as she hit it, and next she was fully aware she was sitting awkwardly in the mangled wreckage of her car. The steering column sat awkwardly against the gearbox, and the whole dashboard had shifted 6 inches to the left, breaking the A-pillar of her windshield.

That was the point where the pain overwhelmed her nervous system. Her left hand fell limp to her leg as the pain overwhelmed her wrist, hips, and knee. Her head, neck, and upper back felt as though they had been twisted in half as she fell back into her racing seat, grimacing in pain. She swore various profanities again as her head rested awkwardly against the headrest of her racing seat.

"Kelly, you okay? Come on, speak to us, kiddo!" her dad yelled over the radio. She wasn't even sure how many times he had said something before she registered the sounds in her ears. She went to reach for the radio button, but the steering wheel was so off-center she could barely reach for it without recoiling in pain.

"Kelly! You okay?!" a track worker asked loudly as he got to her window. He lowered the net quickly as she groaned a forced "ow" in response, her only way to really let anyone know she was awake.

She knew she was slumped over awkwardly in her seat as an older, salt-and-pepper-haired EMT climbed in through the badly misshapen passenger window. Honestly, if not for the immense pain overwhelming her, she would've been impressed with his flexibility.

"Hey Kelly, my name is Tucker. I'm one of the docs here at the track. How are you?" he asked calmly.

"Fuck," was all the labored response she could muster.

Tucker chuckled calmly. "Understandable. Can you give me a little more than that? What's hurting?"

Kelly took a few harsh breaths. "Everything on the left side," she managed to wince out. "Hand, wrist, ankle, knee, back, neck—everything."

Tucker nodded. "Okay, we're gonna get you out of here. Because you're saying your back and neck hurt, we're gonna have to take the roof off and get you on a board, okay?"

Kelly forced herself to give a weak thumbs-up with her right hand, but honestly, it sounded like hell. She wanted nothing more than to climb from the car and crawl under the track surface, never to be seen again. She was physically hurt, but emotionally, her pride was more destroyed than her car. The hours of work they had put in had been for nothing, and her season was over, even if she only had some bad bruises. A small family team didn't have a spare car lying around, and she could see bits of the infield grass through the front of her car where the engine was supposed to be. Even in her damaged state, it was obvious the car was beyond any form of repair, whether they left the roof on or not.

Tucker reached out of the car and then came back in with a white plastic neck brace. "Kelly, I'm gonna put this brace on to keep your neck steady, and then we're gonna help you get that helmet off so it's a little easier to talk to you, okay?" he explained calmly.

She didn't respond; honestly, she was not really in the right space to talk to anyone right now. He worked quickly and calmly, getting the brace on her neck and slowly removing her helmet. With her helmet off, the cool night air hit her face like a brick. Her eyes blinked against the pain, and warm tears burned her eyes and cheeks.

A young woman who couldn't have been old enough to drink leaned into the driver's side window. "Hi Kelly, I'm Becky. I work with Tucker here at the track," the lanky blonde girl said in a thick southern drawl that even took Kelly, a native Carolinian, by surprise. "I'm gonna undo the top of your suit here and just listen to your breathing and your chest, just see how everything's working, okay?" Kelly gave a forced thumbs-up again with her right hand, as if she really had any choice.

Tucker turned away and started working with the EMTs to help remove broken pieces of the car. Kelly turned her attention to that as Becky gently unzipped the top half of her fire suit. She probed the top of her chest gently, but as she reached lower along her rib cage beneath her sports bra, Kelly recoiled with a sharp grimace of pain.

"Oops, sorry hun, I won't touch there anymore. Where's the pain?" Becky asked.

Kelly grabbed a few sharp breaths. "Goes from my side to my back," she labored out.

The rescue team was able to remove the broken windshield without cutting into the car, and the A-post was so badly damaged it easily cut in half. They peeled the frame off the driver's compartment and removed Kelly's belts slowly before sliding a hard plastic board behind Kelly's back. They slowly lowered her back and slid her gingerly onto the backboard. Kelly was surprised how little it hurt to move her.

Unfortunately, strapping her to the board was less forgiving, as the thick nylon straps dug into her shins and forehead. There were small pads on them, but they were of little comfort. Secured to the stretcher, they began to pull Kelly out of her wrecked car. For the first time, she was struck by the silence—there was no roar of the engines, and even the crowd had gone silent. She was unsure if she had gone deaf for a moment until she realized the race had been stopped for the accident, which unsurprisingly did little to help her mood.

She tried to give a labored thumbs-up with her right arm to signal to her family and anyone else that she was okay, even though she knew that wasn't exactly an accurate description of her condition. There was a muffled applause of support from the crowd as her arm moved.

They loaded her quickly into the back of the waiting rig and began to drive off. Becky took a pair of shears to the fire suit, cutting the length of Kelly's left side. The inside of the rig felt like a blast freezer to her exposed skin. Becky snipped away the side of her black Nike sports bra to get to her hurt ribs but kept most of the fabric across her chest for modesty. Tucker quickly inserted an IV into her right elbow so confidently Kelly didn't even notice it was happening until the warm relief of pain medication hit her bloodstream.

It was at this point, with some of the pain subsiding, that she noticed her vision was fuzzy in her left eye, and she closed it softly against the harsh lights. "How ya feelin' there, hun?" Becky asked caringly.

"Better," Kelly let out before taking a sharp breath against the pain in her ribs. Becky lowered an oxygen mask to Kelly's face as they rode smoothly to the nearby ER.

It was nearly 45 minutes before Dr. Caldwell entered the waiting room where Kelly's family sat nervously.

"Hi, you must be Kelly's parents," Dr. Caldwell said warmly, maybe a little fakely and overly prepared, but in the nerves of the situation, not out of place.

"How is she, doc?" Her father asked, clearly nervous of the answer.

"Going top to bottom, she's got a few good bumps. She has a concussion, four dislocated ribs, a bone bruise just above the elbow joint in her humerus, and she broke every finger except her thumb in her left hand. She has a meniscus tear in her left knee and a dislocated ankle. Ultimately, she may need surgery on the ankle, but the rest should heal with rest and time. We're just getting her settled in her room if you'd like to come in and see her. It's going to be a painful few weeks for her, but I expect she should be back to normal in a few weeks or months."

[kilannad]

As the Stars Burn On Chapter 5

Ao3. Masterlist. Ko-Fi.

Chapter 5 Open Seas

The marines fell behind them quickly, which Lucy was grateful for. Her magic stores weren’t fully refilled yet and she wanted a chance to speak with all her Spirits about their contracts before getting into another battle. As the Merry set off, the crew finally had a chance to relax.

“Well, that was nasty,” Lucy sighed.

“Oh yes. But you all did very well. Your magic is indeed interesting.”

“Than-wait who?”

Laxus reacted first, yanking Nami and Lucy, the two closest to the stranger, back. 

“Miss All Sunday!” came the various shouts, so Lucy assumed she was an ex-Baroque Works agent. Mr. 0’s partner, based on their information from Mr. 6. 

“What are you doing here?” Nami spat, looking far coolder than Lucy had ever seen.

“It’s your captain’s fault,” she replied simply. She was a tall, dark haired and dark skinned woman, older then them all, with no clear weapon on her, though that didn’t mean much. “And you can call me Nico Robin.”

“Oh, thank you!” Sanji cooed, though Luffy only tilted his head in confusion.

“All I wanted was to die,” Robin said simply. Lucy froze, sympathy welling. She knew the feeling. Luffy didn’t look surprised. “But you made me live, so now I want you to take responsibility for it. I want to join your crew.”

“Okay.”

“No way!”

“Um,” Lucy cut in, raising her hand a little. The crew all twisted to look at her. “Hate to interrupt, but weren’t we all okay with Bon Clay a little while ago? What’s different about her?”

An uncomfortable silence descended on the ship, no one quite able to respond to that.

Finally, Luffy waved his hand dismissively. “She’s fine, guys. I say she joins.”

That, it seemed, was that. Robin gave a short introduction, quickly winning over most of the crew. Lucy left them all to it, taking the time to explore with Laxus so they could familiarize themselves with the ship. The only bed, she realized, was in the women’s quarters and would absolutely not fit Lucy, Nami, and Robin. There was a couch at least, so she wouldn’t have to squeeze into the men’s room. Maybe Usopp would be able to find a way to install a hammock without taking up too much space.

The ship was small and, if Luffy recruited anyone else, likely wouldn’t fit the crew. She had taken a lot of damage already, but was clearly well loved despite her size. Lucy ran a gentle hand over a wall, the wood seeming to hum under her fingers.

She climbed back out after removing the last bandage around her arm, stepping from the storage room to find Laxus, of all people, quietly chatting with Robin on deck. She supposed that he, of all people, could relate to going from enemy to ally. Plus, Laxus and Lucy had no prior experience with Robin to taint how they saw her. As far as Lucy was concerned, she was as much part of the crew as Juvia and Gajeel were of Fairy Tail.

“Oh, Lucy,” Nami said, leaning over the railing of the upper deck. “You won’t mind sleeping apart from Laxus, will you? I thought about converting the storage room into an extra sleeping space, but the Merry isn’t really big enough for us to go without storage and we don’t have an extra mattress anyway.”

Lucy wondered why Nami assumed she’d need to sleep with Laxus, but shook her head. “Not a problem. I was just thinking I would ask Usopp to see about making an extra hammock that was maybe collapsable. Laxus can sleep wherever; he’s used to being barbaric.”

Across the deck, he snorted loudly but didn’t start an argument with her. He must still be a little seasick. 

“I could maybe whip something up,” Usopp added thoughtfully from the railing. “I’d have to install a sliding panel maybe…” He trailed off into mutterings. 

“Thanks, Usopp,” Lucy offered honestly. “Let me know if you need help.” 

He waved her off. She was just contemplating asking Nami if she could read some of the books in the girl’s room when someone grabbed her arm in a firm grip. She jumped, finding Luffy suddenly beside her and staring down at her shoulder.

“You got a tattoo,” he said strangely, which drew the attention of the whole crew. Even Sanji and Chopper poked their heads out of the galley.

“Uh, yeah.” Luffy poked it and Lucy tried not to wince at the still slightly inflamed skin. The white skull and crossbones contrasting with the brightly colored straw hat was an abrupt difference to the pink emblem on her hand, but she liked it all the same--it fit oddly well on her shoulder, just where Natsu had his guildmark. Luffy still hadn’t said anything, so she added, “Is that okay? Where Laxus and I are from, when you join a guild you take on their mark.” She waved her hand in example. Luffy barely glanced at it before he whipped his head to where Laxus stood on the other side of deck.

Obediently, he lifted up his shirt, revealing the right side of his ribs. His tattoo was bigger than Lucy’s, stretching all across his lower torso so the top of one of the bones just barely touched his older tattoo. Lucy tried not to be distracted by how good he looked with it.

Abruptly, Luffy grinned widely. “Shishishi, I wished you’d told me. I would’ve gone with you guys.”

“Sorry-”

He waved her off, clearly not worried about it.

“I never considered getting our jolly roger as a tattoo,” Usopp said. “Is it common for crews to do it?”

“Some of the older ones do it to show pride,” Lucy explained. “Or just because the crew is so big they need a way to identify each other. The Whitebeard Pirates are especially known for it--all of the Division Commanders have tattoos and a lot of the crew wear the mark on their clothes.”

“Oh, like Ace,” Luffy said simply.

“You know Fire Fist?” Lucy asked, surprised.

“Yeah, he’s my big brother.”

She boggled a little at him, comforted when Nami shook her head. “Believe me, we were shocked too.”

“You’re pretty well informed,” Zoro pointed out.

“Two of my Spirits, Crux and Gemini, are good for information purposes. Plus, I love to read.”

“And Laxus did very well in that battle,” Nami agreed. “We tend to fight solo, so it was impressive to see you pull us together like that.”

“Experience,” Laxus grunted. “I used to lead a team.”

“Then it’s decided,” Luffy announced with a clap. “Lucy will keep knowing things and Laxus will keep making plans when we have to fight as a crew. With Robin knowing about assassination and old stuff, all we need is a musician.”

“‘Knowing things’?” she wondered with a laugh. “I suppose I could have worse jobs on this ship.” She contemplated telling Luffy that she had a Spirit that could sing, but decided that it would probably crush his enthusiasm when she explained she could only call Lyra three days a month. That reminded her, she would need to speak with all her Spirits tomorrow to check in with them on their contracts.

“At least the crew is well rounded,” Robin chuckled. “Though if I may, Ms. Informant, I do have one question.”

“Just Lucy is fine, Robin,” she breathed, exasperated by the significant lack of people using her name. “What is it?”

“Where are you and Mr. Strategist from?” Laxus mouthed ‘Mr. Strategist’ in confusion. Robin ignored him. “I’m from the West Blue-” that explained her accent which was almost Fioran, “-and have never encountered any ‘mages’.”

She met Laxus’s eyes, but he only shrugged. She figured that was his way of saying he didn’t care if they shared the truth or not. Honestly, Lucy didn’t care about keeping their origin a secret--sooner or later it would come out, and she’d rather her crew trust her then worry about deceit.

“That’s because we’re not from the West Blue,” Lucy said simply. “A little over eight months ago, Laxus and I were in Earthland, a separate dimension from this. We were on a job investigating an ancient ritual site that I accidentally activated. We’ve been trying to find a way home ever since.”

There was a mess of shouting at that, but the general gist was disbelief, which Lucy didn’t blame them for.

“Honestly,” Laxus groaned. “Where did you think we were from when we told you we had a completely different power source then Devil Fruits?”

“The moon,” Usopp and Luffy said immediately. Lucy decided not to question it. 

“So that explains your conversation with Mă,” Sanji breathed, lighting a new cigarette. “Why you were asking her if she knew a way home.”

“There’s no magic here,” Lucy said. “Even though the air is full of ethernano--the source of magic--the people of this world seem to have evolved to be stronger without using magic at all. But a Gate Key? That’s pure magic, just like in Earthland. And Mă said she uses magic as well, so it makes no sense at all for her Key to be here.” Lucy scowled, head pounding at the questions that were flying through her head. 

“So that’s why you want to find the Poneglyphs,” Nami concluded. “To find your way home.”

“They’re written using Ponin runes, which is what the ritual had,” Laxus added. “Not that either of us know how to read the damn things.”

“Wait,” Robin cut in. “The Poneglyphs? How are they involved?”

“Not sure yet,” Lucy explained. “Except that they definitely are. Ponin runes haven’t been used for spell casting in over a thousand years--we barely have any written proof of them existing and no one has managed to decipher them. Yet the ritual site we were investigating was covered in them and Mă has a whole bunch tattooed across her skin in some sort of secrecy spell that has to do with the Void Century.”

Robin reached into her pocket, pulling a notebook and sketching something before turning the book towards Laxus. “Did they look like this?”

“Yep,” Laxus agreed after a moment. “How do you know Ponin?”

“Because I’m the only person alive who can read them.”

Lucy sucked in a breath, unbelieving of her luck. What were the chances? “Do you know the name Heartfilia?”

Robin shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’ve been searching for answers since I was eight years old and I still know precious little about the Void Century. My people discovered that by combining certain Poneglyphs that describe history into one, the Rio Poneglyph, someone could discover the history of the Void Century. The Alabastan Poneglyph was my last lead.”

Lucy wilted, but shook it off quickly. “We’ll just have to see about finding more, then.” She grinned at Robin’s startled expression. “I mean, that is why you’re on this crew, right?”

She relaxed a little, her clever blue eyes examining Lucy closely. “Yes. I’ll be glad to share information with you as we go.”

“My head hurts,” Nami complained, cradling her skull. “Ancient spells, weird alphabets. My life used to be so normal.”

“I know that feeling,” Lucy agreed sympathetically. Sanji appeared just then, offering out a tray with a sort of desert she’d never seen. 

“Then please, Lady Lucy, take this snack to restore your spirit.”

She laughed, spirit indeed lightening at the simple chaos that immediately ensued as the various men of the crew complained and Sanji told them to wait their turn. “Thanks, Sanji.”

She scooped up a bite, but reared back when Laxus tugged her hand up and chomped down on her spoon. Sanji puffed up like a bullfrog as Lucy slapped Laxus’s shoulder, but he only lifted a brow.

“Kiwis.”

Lucy deflated, handing the desert to him and smiling apologetically at Sanji’s bewildered face. “Allergic, sorry.”

“Oh, don’t apologize! I should’ve asked.” He looked between the two of them. “Are there any other diatary needs I need to know about?”

“Just kiwis,” Lucy told him.

“I don’t drink coffee,” Laxus added after a moment’s thought. “And too much cinnamon makes me sick.”

“Wait, you too?” Lucy looked at his vaguely scrunched face, as if the very thought of the spice was making him ill. “I thought Natsu was just weird. Is it a dragon thing?”

“Like how dogs can’t have chocolate?” Sanji asked.

“I resent the comparison,” Laxus muttered. “But yes. A little is fine.”

“This reminds me,” Chopper cut in. “If you guys have a second, I need to ask you some questions to finish filling out your medical files. You too, Robin.” 

The crew broke up their unofficial meeting, going their separate ways and settling into sailing. Lucy was impressed with how quiet it actually became, for a given definition. She’d have to get used to sailing, she thought. It involved a lot less activity then living in Magnolia.

☉

Lucy had never been so wrong in her life.

“Twenty degrees starboard!” Nami shouted over the raging winds. 

“Someone get that line,” Zoro roared, fighting alongside Usopp to raise the sails so they didn’t flip.

The ship twisted into a hard current, Nami screeching more orders as Lucy ran around deck alongside everyone else. Well, almost everyone.

A flash of lightning got cut short.

“Laxus Dreyar, if you don’t stop eating and come help, I will use your spine as a flute!”

☉

He would not be sick, Laxus promised himself. He would not be sick.

The current rose into the air, twisting around like a giant sea snake that the Merry rode along on, the whole crew screaming porfanities when it suddenly froze solid from a gust of blizzarding wind and they did a barrel role back towards the ocean.

Oh gods, he was going to be sick. 

Why did it have to be boats?

☉

Lucy stretched as she finished getting ready, slidding the hammock along the pole Usopp had installed so it could be tucked behind the couch during the day. At her desk, Nami muttered to herself, an abacus clacking at her side. Robin was already up and gone, of course--she was usually the first one into the kitchen for coffee. 

Lucy leaned over Nami’s shoulder, humming and pointing to a few numbers and their corresponding items on the supply list. “If you buy this and this from one vendor you could argue into one bulk price that knocks off ten percent,” she offered. “And don’t bother calculating for my wardrobe price--the money from Laxus and I’s last job will pay for the few things we need, and I can maybe ask Virgo for an outfit or two in case of emergencies.”

Nami blinked, looking at the list a little more. “Oh! That would cut twenty percent, wouldn’t it?”

“I said ten.”

Nami waved her away, making the adjustments. “I’ll get twenty, don’t worry. You sure you don’t need more clothes? I saw you didn’t have any pajamas.”

“Like I said, we’ll figure it out ourselves,” Lucy promised. She knew that the Straw Hat finances were tighter than usual with the addition of three more mouths to feed. “I’ve been stealing Laxus’s shirts for ages, he’ll keep living with it.”

Nami snickered, looking up to grin at her. “Oh I’m sure.” Lucy wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but before she could ask Sanji announced breakfast. 

All meal times were a chaotic affair, she’d learned over the last three days. Luffy had even worse manners than Natsu, constantly launching his hands to steal everything that wasn’t aggressively guarded. Laxus had realized the first day that his lightning had no effect on their new captain, which left him annoyed and perfectly willing to stab the rubbery limb with a fork if it got too close. Lucy kept to Laxus’s side and let him and Luffy fight it out. 

Chopper and Robin chatted about medical terms, Sanji begged Nami for a new locked fridge, and Usopp regalled the whole table with the newest in a long line of insane stories that only Luffy truly believed. It was a strange normal, but one that Lucy was slowly starting to appreciate.

“Miss Informant,” Robin eventually said. “You mentioned, I believe, that one of your Spirits has Poneglyph tattoos?”

“Oh, yes. Mă, the Gate of the Horse. I think it might be a secrecy spell.”

Robin hummed, curiosity shinning in her eyes. “I’m not sure I understand the magic part, but I’d be pleased to translate.”

Lucy grinned, nodding. “I can ask Mă if she’d allow it.” She paused contemplating for a moment. Her magic reserves were full again after a few days of minimal magic and good food. “I’ve been meaning to speak with all my Spirits about their contracts, and I need to talk with Mă about her abilities anyway. I’ll start with her, if you’d like to join me.”

“You can summon them all in one day?” Laxus added, one brow raised. “Even your Golds?”

“As long as I stretch out the summonings and don’t keep them open for long, I should be okay,” Lucy said thoughtfully. She grimaced, “Though I’ll probably sleep like the dead tonight.”

“That’s okay, Lady Lucy,” Sanji assured. “I’ll take your watch shift, if you’d like.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Not at all! It’s my pleasure the be of use to a lady such as yourself.”

“Perv,” Zoro muttered distainfully, which had Sanji twisting around to look at him, scowling. Lucy tuned out the ensuing argument with long ease.

Luffy bounced in his seat, leaning across the empty table to meet her eyes with a huge grin. “Can I watch? I want to meet the rest of our nakama!”

The room paused, everyone looking startled, before nodding in agreement. “We should be aware of their various fighting abilities,” Zoro added thoughtfully.

“And I’d like to know if they need medical treatment,” Chopper agreed.

“Don’t forget dietary needs.”

Lucy couldn’t say a word as the whole crew chatted about her Spirits so easily like they were one of the crew, as if they were all people. Her Keys were her oldest friends in the world, and it warmed her more than she could possibly say to know that this new crew saw them as equals just as much as Fairy Tail did.

“Neh, Lucy,” Chopper said worriedly, checking her over frantically. “Why are you crying? Are you hurt?”

“Hungry?” Luffy added.

“No, no.” She shook her head, wiping away her tears as she grinned. She hadn’t noticed she’d started crying. “I’m just happy is all. I’ll do my summonings on the deck, if it’s okay with everyone.”

A general murmur of agreement rose up, though they all kept sneaking concerned looks at Lucy. Laxus alone knew the stereotype of Celestial Spirits being used as tools or worse, but he didn’t add anything. Only joined Zoro in a workout on deck as breakfast broke up.

Lucy summoned Mă first, Robin standing nearby with her notebook and looking more lively than she’d seen her before. With a flash of golden light, the Gate of the Horse crossed through and cantered in place.

“Thought you forgot about little ol’ me,” Mă teased, reaching for her swords. “Alright, who we fighting?”

“No one,” Lucy replied with a laugh. “I wanted to talk abilities with you, but first, would it be alright if Robin took a look at your tattoos?”

Mă paused, eyes sharpening. “Tattoos?”

“I can read them,” Robin said with a calm smile, her eyes hungry. “I’d like to translate them, if that’s okay.”

For a moment, Mă looked completely dumbfounded before she gave a slow nod. “Yeah, sure. Translate.” She stared at Robin for a moment. “You a Kozuki?” 

“No.” Robin took a step forward, eyes sharp. “Who are they?”

Mă opened her mouth, but the runes around her shoulders suddenly flared silver and she winced.

“Don’t answer anything you can’t,” Lucy told her. “I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

Robin looked absolutely fascinated, but Mă obediently shut her mouth, shrugging out of her jerkin so she stood in nothing but a band around her breasts. Somewhere on the top deck, Lucy heard Sanji swoon, but ignored it as Robin went from fascinated to utterly baffled. 

“Impossible,” she breathed, stepping closer and beginning to frantically write.

“Care to share?” Lucy asked.

“They’re Poneglyphs, but they aren’t using the usual grammatical structure. I’ve never even seen…” she trailed off, muttering feverishly as she made a copy of Mă’s tattoos. 

Lucy heaved a sigh, shaking her head. Of course it couldn’t be easy. “While she does that--Mă, can you tell me a little more about your abilities? You mentioned swordsmanship, but what is Territory magic?”

“Spacial manipulation, in short.” She lifted an arm, only to pause when Robin made a displeased sound and switched to the other. At the palm of her hand, a sphere of black and purple energy appeared, looking like a nebula or space painting. Lucy felt the sudden pull on her magic. “I can take one thing and send it somewhere else, myself and people included, trap someone within a spacial pocket and suck the energy from them, and create implosions by collapsing the space within an area.”

Lucy boggled at her, unsure where to even begin.

“Dangerous and versatile,” Laxus summarized, lifting a weight idly. Lucy tried not to stare at his topless body. Why did he and Zoro feel the need to always work out half naked? “What’s your range?”

“Depends on my master,” Mă said apologetically. “It uses a lot of magic and I can’t handle the drain by myself.”

Frowning, Lucy grabbed one of the fishing poles and passed it to her, pointed at where Luffy sat on the Merry’s head, watching the proceedings with great intensity and excitement. 

Mă obediently sent the pole away, it disappearing from her hand and appearing from another palm of purple and clattering into Luffy’s lap. He gave a cheer as Lucy grimaced, rolling her neck.

“How bad?” Laxus asked.

“Worse than Aquarius or Virgo’s abilities, not quite as bad as Loke’s Regulus.” She looked at Mă. “I assume distance and weight are factors.”

“Yes, Lady Lucy. Implosions depend on strength and size.”

Lucy nodded in understanding, looking to Robin holding one of Mă’s arms up so she could read the runes on the underside. “How’s it going Robin?”

She didn’t say anything for a minute, before she stepped back and snapped it journal shut with a clap. “I,” she began grandly, “have no idea what any of it means.”

The whole crew sucked in a breath, Robin beaming at them all. “The individual words, yes, but Poneglyphs depend so heavily on context and a single stroke can completely up end the meaning. This,” she waved at Mă and her tattoos. “This is a giant puzzle that will take me weeks to figure out.” She grinned, an honest smile with her eyes crinkling and her head tilted a little to the side. Lucy realized Robin was much cuter than she’d thought. “Thank you.”

“Pretty sure I didn’t do anything,” Mă said. “But you’re welcome.”

“Thank you for your help,” Lucy told her. “And your time. I promise next time to have something for you to fight.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Mă cheered. She gave a salute as her gate closed. “‘Till next time, Lady Lucy.”

Robin wandered off to begin translating, so Lucy took a deep breath to begin summoning the rest of her Spirits. For the most part it went very well, many of them renegotiating their contracts simply and easily and introducing themselves to the crew. Of course, there were some memorable occasions. Like the fact that Luffy was apparently desperate for a musician.

☉

“You mean you can sing anything!?” Luffy squealed, shaking Lyra by her shoulders. She didn’t seem to mind, grinning back at him.

“Of course!” She looked to the side a little, “If Miss Lucy would summon me more, of course.”

“Lucy!” Luffy scolded. “You should keep Lyra out more. Like all the time.”

“I can’t do that dumbass! It violates our contract.” Lucy huffed, folding her arms. “Besides, keeping her here take’s magic, and I can’t keep a Gate open forever.” She was reminded of Karen, suddenly, and felt a shiver go up her spine. 

“But she’s a musician!” Luffy pointed out. “All pirate crews need a musician.”

Nami groaned loudly from the galley. “For the last time Luffy, musicians aren’t vital!”

☉

To the very startling discovery of how Gemini could copy Devil Fruits.

☉

“They’re like Bon Clay!” Chopper cheered, dancing around with a transformed Gemini. The two Choppers spun in a circle, pausing to face each other. Usopp quickly starting calling for bets on which was the real one. One Chopper raised a hoof, the other mirroring him perfectly. He pulled off his hat and put it back on just as the other did the same. Both Choppers did a little wiggling dance.

“It’s even better than Bon Clay,” Robin noted blandly. “He couldn’t clone animal bodies.”

“Still can’t copy his Devil Fruit,” Zoro snorted. 

As if to disprove him, the two Choppers’ routine escalated, both clapping their hooves together and growing into Chopper’s human point. One Chopper grinned as the other one boggled alongside the rest of the crew.

“Oh,” Lucy said idly. “Gemini, are Devil Fruits close enough to magic for you to copy?”

“Yes, Miss Lucy.” Gemini popped out of Chopper’s form, the two little blue Spirits doing a little dance in the air. “Easier, even.”

“Cool!” Luffy yelled, which had been happening often during Lucy’s summoning. “Me next, me next!”

“Sorry,” Gemi cooed. “Can’t,” Mini agreed.

“Aw, why not?”

“You’re too strong,” Lucy explained. “Gemi and Mini can only transform into people with magic as strong or weaker to my own. It’s why they can’t turn into Laxus. I don’t know how that translates with your fruit, though.” Gemini shrugged, unable to answer.

“What about Zoro?” Nami asked. “Or Sanji? Neither of them have Devil Fruit powers, so you must have stronger magic than them.”

Gemi and Mini danced over to Zoro, looking at him closely where he leaned against the mast. He raised a faint brow at them, but with a sharp burst of magic, they turned into a second Zoro. The real one grinned sharply, pulling out Wado and lunging upward. Gemini-Zoro blocked with an identical sword, once, twice, before suddenly dropping the form. Zoro barely managed to pull back his attack to stop from hitting them.

“Sorry, Miss Lucy,” the twins chimed. 

“It’s alright,” she assured them gently. “Can you tell me what went wrong?”

They tilted back and forth for a moment, considering. “He doesn’t have magic,” Mini said slowly. “But there’s something else…” Gemi agreed, trailing off. They shook both their heads.

“They also had my skill but not my strength,” Zoro added. “Muscle memory, but not the muscles.”

“So limited to my strength still,” Lucy figured. 

“So much for them copying a Warlord and winning all our fights,” Usopp muttered sadly.

“As if I’d ask them to do that!” Lucy barked.

“Yeah, Usopp,” Luffy scolded. “We have to win our own fights. Otherwise where’s the fun?”

“But if they have the skills of who they copy…” Robin murmured. “Could they help me with Poneglyphs?”

“Or when everyone is hurt,” Chopper added. “It’d be a big help after fights to have another set of hands.”

“Depends on if I have the energy to open their Gate after a big fight,” Lucy pointed out. “But yes, I don’t see why they can’t help every now and again. I’ll respect all of your privacy, of course, if they end up transforming into you.”

“Wait, what does that mean?” Sanji asked. “It’s just like the Clone-Clone fruit, isn’t it?”

“Gemini absorbs the memories of whomever they transform into,” Lucy explained. “That’s how I’ve been learning so much information.”

“Ah,” Robin said tightly, looking uncomfortable. “Maybe not, then.”

☉

All the way to learning that there was someone as terrifying stubborn as Aquarius.

☉

“If you can control water, why haven’t you been helping out?” Nami demanded.

Aquarius, floating peacefully above Merry’s deck, sneered down at her. “Do I look like I care if you idiots get caught in a few bad currents?”

“Bad currents? Bad currents?! The Grandline is an amalgamation of impossibilites stuck on top of enigmas, all controlled by cartoon logic,” Nami seethed. “And if you don’t help out the next time I’m trying to navigate us through a maze of cyclones and hurricanes, I’ll skin your tail one scale at a time and turned you into a purse!”

“You’re threatening me? Listen girly, I’ve been controlling water since your ancestor was a tadpole. I’d sooner drown this ship and feed it to the kraken as an apetizer before playing taxi for you ungrateful welps.”

“Should we stop them?” Luffy wondered.

“Too scary,” Lucy and Usopp replied.

☉

By the end of the day, Lucy was thoroughly exhausted, magic deepleted but in the way that made her feel accomplished. She’d had to stop several times for snacks--and once for a whirlpool that kept chasing the ship--but by the time dinner rolled around, she’d spoken to all of her Spirits, making sure they were doing alright and finding out if they wanted to change their contracts. Most had said they’d be amiable to more summoning days, and all had agreed that, in a new world that seemed to be shapping up to be even more dangerous than Earthland, they were willing to come for emergencies outside of their usual hours. Lucy knew she’d try to avoid calling for them even during emergencies, but was glad to have the backup. 

Even better, all the crew had accepted her Spirits, quirks and all. Virgo was well loved for her masochism, Sagittarius had bonded with Usopp, and Nami had been ecstatic when she realized that Pyxis could differentiate between the magnetic pulls of the Grandline islands and thus meant they could travel outside of the order of the Log Pose. Of course, he couldn’t tell them how far the islands were, only the directions, which meant that following the Log was still safest. He did manage to point out an island that had been just outside of their site range which Laxus discovered when he’d launched himself into the sky to check. By Luffy’s order, the crew had taken a short detour to make landfall for the night.

☉

Laxus had missed land so much. Over the three days since Alabasta, Chopper had been trying a variety of nausea medication to try and overcome his motion sickness, but most wore out so quickly he had to take it six times a day, which simply wasn’t viable. He’d been holding it together by spite and will alone, and nights were the absolute worse, when the noise of everyone sleeping all added to the mess of slapping waves and creaking wood until the world was spinning around him and he just wanted to die. Laxus had used a hammock exactly once before realizing the constant rocking of it made him want to die even more than usual, so the men of the crew had agreed to let him use the couch in their room full time, instead of rotating as they’d been doing.

They docked the ship just as the sun was descending, but it was clear the island was small and uninhabited; Luffy announced they’d spend tomorrow exploring, but demanded a party to officially celebrate the new members of the crew. 

“And it has to be three times as loud!” he announced, hollering as, with the ease of long practice, the crew all piled onto shore, pulling out the rum and the food. It didn’t take long for everything to get going, and Laxus realized quickly that this was a crew that partied just as hard as Fairy Tail. Lucy begged off of summoning Lyra since she was still tired from earlier, but that didn’t stop the crew from managing a wide range of off key songs and dancing, the food and rum flowing thick and quickly. Even Zoro, who Laxus had spent the most time with as their personalities meshed well, was just as loud and involved as Sanji and Nami.

Laxus retreated to the edge of the group, leaning against a tree where the hollering was manageable underneath the protection of his soundpods. Lucy spun around, arms hooked with Usopp and laughing brightly at some wild tale he was spinning. He was glad to see the joy so openly on her face after months of despair in Alabasta.

“Too loud for you, Mr. Strategist?” Robin asked as she approached.

“Most things tend to be,” he told her honestly. He’d enjoyed their discussions on history and the value of knowledge over the last few days--light hearted debates that reminded him painfully of Freed in the best way. Laxus slid to the side, offering her a spot tucked into the tree roots. She joined with a small smile. “It wouldn’t kill you to use our names,” he added, deciding that he’d kept quiet about it long enough.

Her smile tightened a little, eyes wary. “Where would the fun in that be?”

He didn’t buy her bullshit for a second. He knew what keeping yourself separate on purpose looked like. Laxus had done the same thing in Fairy Tail, so caught up in his own strength and his desperate desire to make a name for himself outside of his grandfather’s shadow and meet his father’s expectations. Only with the benefit of distance and contemplation did he realize how lonely he’d been, desperate for someone to see him for more than the latest in the line of Dreyars. The Thunder Legion were the only ones who’d seen Laxus, but that was because they were the only ones he let close. The entirety of Fairy Tail had been his family, and he’d been the one to throw that away.

He didn’t know how to tell Robin that without sharing more than he was willing, though, so settled on saying, “Would being our friends really hurt you that badly?”

She didn’t respond, only looked out over the party. Nami, Zoro, and Lucy were slumped together, the former two encouraging Lucy to take a drink, then another. Laxus had never seen Lucy drink alcohol before, and expected her to thoroughly regret it in the morning. Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper danced around with chopsticks stuck up their noses, for whatever reason. A fire crackled merrily in the middle of the group, their ship bobbing along with the curling ocean as the stars watched on. 

Later, much later as the party was winding down and Laxus started herding a bunch of drunk teenage pirates to bed, he caught the lilt of Robin’s voice, so low only his extreme hearing caught on.“

It’s not me I’m worried about hurting.”

[tehamelie]

There's me and two or three other women I don't know. We have some kind of mission we can't really remember. We're searching blindly in a sprawling labyrinth of stone bridges high over the sea and keep being separated no matter what we do. The others leap into the water and die and come back over and over to remember better, but I only get worried that everything seems to lose its meaning, that I'll forget why I care about anything. Everything already feels distanced, dry, tired, as if I was reading about something that maybe happened long ago, or maybe didn't even really happen. And I know my companions who don't hesitate to die in pain and confusion must care even less.

I wonder if this has happened many times before. If we're dealing with a scenario where we can die and then wait through the entire universe's life and death and rebirth to come back to the same time and place. The weight of all the time there is makes me try harder.

We build a tall tower of furniture, beds and tables and chests of drawers, a ladder with steps so high I have to hoist myself up and hurt my weird wrist on every step. It has to be done fast because some vague malicious presence is working against us, and it has to be done because at the top of the stairs something absolute good and infinitely important will happen. Very unclear what. I imagine spacetime collapsing to a singularity where all information, all time, all possible realities, all humanity exists all at once and everyone who's ever lived in the world can be together and go back inside time to be each other and forget the singularity for a while and play and create forever. Though that may just be me who's read too much Grant Morrison.

But the tower gets done while it still means something, and we climb down one level after another and feel at peace, in that dry distanced way. Now no person will ever lack for anything ever again. I stop and pick up our stuff, which has fallen out of its bags everywhere as we left them behind us on the way up, a little sad at the thought of letting go of all these worldly possessions, of no longer being able to care about a simple ballpoint pen.

And then I wake up at about 10 in the morning and realize the woman who died the most, who seemed most frustrated about not being able to explain stuff to me, was the same strange woman who I visited in some kind of asylum in another dream that woke me up at 3, who tried to kill me because she thought I was the Devil or something like that and eight or ten nurses could not hold her down but she constantly had the upper hand while we were wrestling on the floor and I didn't want to hurt her. I just thought it was sad she couldn't tell me what she wanted. And now I wonder how much of what was going on in my head tonight that I missed because I was too tired to care.

[mayhemproduces]

Charli Evans vs Lilith Brookes

Surely, the MPW Atlanta fans were in for one of the most violent thrill rides of their lives. Charli Evans and Lilith Brookes were two of the most prominent figures in the deathmatch scene, gender aside. They were competing on opposite ends of the planet as Lilith hailed from Cincinnati, Ohio and Charli from Sydney, Australia. However, Lilith ultimately had the experience advantage. The former MPW World Champion had been in the business for twenty years, trained under Sting’s wisdom along with multiple notable classics in CZW. Lilith was looking to win over the MPW faithful’s hearts after she had a change of heart following the past couple of years. Charli, on the other hand, had been wrestling for almost ten years and had entered the deathmatch scene approximately five years ago. The Human Weapon was never afraid of a challenge and was prepared to test herself against one of the best to ever do it. Charli had only been a part of the MPW roster for a few months, however, she is still learning so much about the business and about herself with every match she performs in. Additionally, Charli is looking to climb to the top of the food chain to achieve her first singles victory after suffering some losses at the start of her MPW journey. There is a lot surrounding her mind, however, a deathmatch with The Ace seems like the perfect way to express herself. She was the Violence Artist, after all. The importance of women in the deathmatch scene is something that continues to grow, and Charli was honored to be in the ring with one of the greats. Although, she didn’t want to live in the moment for too long. Atlas Rules? Certainly no problem!

After the entrances and the ring introductions, both women are in the ring and the crowd is absolutely losing their minds. This was truly a dream match for the ages. Charli Evans and Lilith Brookes wanted to absorb all the momentum and the energy that the Tabernacle was bringing, as the atmosphere was second to none. The crowd starts a dueling chant… “Let’s go Charli! Let’s go Brookes!” echo throughout the arena as you could feel the excitement travel through the entire venue. Not only that, the venue was scorching, as it was a hot night in Atlanta. As the crowd noise slowly begins to die down, both women turn their attention to one another, making swift eye contact as both refuse to look away. It was time to lock in, get focused, and to get the job done. Both women desperately needed this win, as there was no other better time than this moment. Lilith begins to slowly walk towards the center of the ring to meet her opponent and offers her hand for Charli to shake. Charli was a bit perplexed at first. Was she able to trust Lilith? After a few seconds of pondering, though, the Human Weapon smiles at her opponent and shakes her hand, followed by a pop from the Atlanta crowd. They back up to their respective corners. The bell rings, and we are officially underway!

It is important to note the various weapons brought by both women in the match as well, as Lilith brought a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and a few chairs underneath the ring, whilst Charli relied on her set of light tubes as well as a various assortment of skewers. Lilith and Charli engage in a Collar and Elbow tie-up and the Ace eventually starts to gain the upper hand, as she swiftly transitions into a twisting wristlock onto Charli’s right arm. Charli is feeling the pressure but is able to counter out of it by escaping and performing a hammerlock instead. The crowd is invested and silently paying all their attention to the women in the ring. After a few moments, Lilith is able to use her free arm to elbow Charli’s midsection repeatedly as Charli lets go of the hold. Lilith still has a grip on Charli’s wrist, though, as she performs an Irish Whip into the corner and follows through with a Running Jumping Roundhouse Kick afterwards! The veteran clearly is using her experience to her advantage in this case as Charli is still in the corner wincing in pain. The crowd bursts in a symphony of applause for what they’ve seen so far. Lilith is about to attack Charli with a chop, but Charli stops Lilith just in time and counters with a forearm of her own. Lilith responds with a chop anyway, and Charli does so as well as both women begin to engage in a little chop battle. The crowd continues to showcase their investment as each chop is louder than the last, followed by a cheer for both women. They seem to be pretty split tonight!

After both women start to show some signs of weakness, Lilith hits Charli with a swift kick to the midsection, and then lifts both of her arms for her signature Butterfly Lungblower in the center of the ring! She goes for the cover…

1, 2, Kickout by Charli!

The Human Weapon refused to go down that easily. She quickly rolls out of the ring to grab a few chairs as well as her light tubes from earlier. She gets up on the apron and enters the ring through the ropes to see Lilith with a chair standing in front of her. Before Charli is able to reach for the light tubes, Lilith swings at her with the chair and Charli is on her knees, feeling the intense pain on her back. Lilith walks over and gets Charli in the Figure 4 Headscissors position, and the Ace ties her own feet around Charli’s neck as tightly as she can. Charli screams in agony as she is slowly starting to lose her breath, but she is able to grab a hold of the light tube within arm’s reach. Lilith’s attention is drawn to the crowd as she doesn’t notice when Charli hits her with a light tube right on the head, with the hold being broken in the process! Lilith clutches at her skull as Charli sets up another chair right in front of the ropes. Lilith begins to sport a little bit of color across her forehead due to the light tube shot. Charli lifts Lilith up in a neckbreaker position with assistance from the ropes, and swings her right onto the chair! The crowd cheers for Charli’s comeback as she isn’t done yet.

Charli grabs another light tube from the other part of the ring, and kneels down over to Lilith to get her up on her knees. Immediately after, Charli performs a spinning backfist elbow with assistance from the light tube as the blood on Lilith’s face is now more prominent! The Violence Artist uses this opportunity to go for the cover and finish things off…

1, 2… Kickout by Lilith!

The Ace wasn’t ready to be taken out just yet as she felt her forehead and noticed the blood on her hands, then she scowled at her opponent as both women, on their knees, leaned towards one another with their foreheads touching. The crowd is loving this! Lilith slaps Charli right in the face, and Charli winces for a moment until eventually responding with a forearm of her own. Lilith then grabs another light tube that Charli had brought and smashes it on the top of her head, while Charli leans forward and holds her head in pain. Lilith lifts Charli up and sends her over the ropes, but Charli is still standing on the apron, although she is feeling a bit dizzy as that seems to be a recurring pattern in her previous matches. Lilith meets Charli on the apron and hits her with an Exploder Suplex! Charli is down and is holding her neck closely on the outside of the ring now, whilst Lilith is motioning for the crowd to make some noise as they respond with a roar of cheers, with some boos mixed in between. Lilith grabs her barbed-wire baseball bat and attempts to swing it directly at Charli, but the Violence Artist has it scouted as she ducks quickly and hits Lilith with a Yakuza Kick! Charli continues by lifting Lilith up and slamming her arm on the ring post, as Lilith holds it in pain for a few moments. “Come on!” Charli exclaims to the crowd as they respond with excitement for what’s to come next. Charli attempts to wrap her arms around Lilith’s waist for a German Suplex, but Lilith is able to escape just in time and instead, grabs Charli in time and hits her with a Bulldog right on the concrete floor!

Charli grabs her nose in response as she definitely feels the pain, and notices the blood trickling down. Both women were certainly engaging in a beautiful array of violence. Charli is being tested by her experienced opponent now as she responds to Lilith’s attack by quickly performing a Saito Suplex onto the steel steps! Lilith screams out in pain as her neck and back were severely affected. Charli quickly grabs and gets Lilith back in the ring for another pin attempt.

1, 2… Kickout by Lilith!

Charli is calculating what else she could bring into this match to keep the veteran on her toes. She reaches for the skewers, but as soon as she turns back to her opponent, Lilith is up on her feet and quickly performs a German Suplex on the Violence Artist, only for her to land on the top of her head! Charli holds her scalp tightly, as she’s bleeding badly from over there now, but The Ace wastes no time as she rushes over to Charli, lays a chair on her, and heads over to the top rope and hits the Last Breath right onto Charli’s midsection! The crowd erupts into a chorus of “Holy shit!” chants, and Lilith throws the chair out of the ring quickly to go for the cover.

1, 2… Kickout by Charli!

Lilith was in absolute shock by Charli’s resilience! How in the hell was she able to stay alive?! Charli slowly reaches for the skewers from earlier, and surprises the Ace by shoving them right into her forehead! Lilith was now sporting a crimson mask as well as Charli positions her into the corner of the ring, then runs over to hit Lilith with a Facewash Kick! Some of the skewers were still stuck onto Lilith’s face, as Charli lifts Lilith up and grabs her by the hair, only for Lilith to do the same. Both women lifted their middle fingers up at one another with their free hands, and the crowd was continuing to lose their minds! The MPW Atlanta faithful were giving the bloodied women a standing ovation, as they loved every minute of violence that they could get.

Lilith’s grip gets stronger as she lifts Charli up into a fireman’s carry for the Killing Spree, but Charli escapes out of the hold and gives her a Superkick! Charli grabs yet another light tube and breaks it over her own head, with blood pouring out of the top of her head to boot! Charli grabs Lilith’s foot in position for an Ankle Lock, and The Ace is screaming in absolute pain! She is only inches away from the ropes, however, Charli pulls her away and the submission stays on! Lilith is able to use her free hand to grab the barbed wire bat from earlier close to the edge of the ring, and Charli turns her head around just to be met with a barbed wire bat shot to the face! The fans are in absolute awe! “Holy shit!” the Atlanta crowd repeatedly chants throughout the Tabernacle, definitely not the first time they’ve felt this way! Lilith grabs Charli and pushes her against the ropes, then sticks the barbed wire onto her right arm, and Charli lets out another painful scream as the barbed wire sticks to her skin! Lilith turns around to face the fans in the front and Charli is attempting to pick the barbed wire out of her arm, which is now sporting some blood as well. She rolls out of the ring slowly and is on the ground now, pulling out a door and a mystery bag from underneath the ring. She slid the weapons of choice inside but continued to grab at her arm as the pain was almost unbearable, but she couldn’t lose sight of the end goal.

Lilith was climbing to the top turnbuckle near Charli, and took to the skies for a Corkscrew Moonsault, but Charli avoids it just in time, and instead catches her into a Swinging Reverse STO on the outside, right in front of the announce table! Charli slides the door inside, positions it in one of the ring corners, and reveals the mystery bag to be… thumbtacks, of course! The crowd goes ballistic for the Violence Artist’s weapons of choice this time around. Charli is walking over to the apron to pick Lilith up in order to finish this off, but Lilith sees this just in time and attacks Charli with a Kendo Stick! Both women are now standing on the apron but Charli begins to lose stability due to the kendo stick attacks. It ends up breaking in half and Lilith is about to grab Charli for another Exploder Suplex, but Charli responds with a harsh kick to the midsection! Lilith is bending over and holds the affected area in pain, and Charli positions her and performs a Canadian Destroyer onto the apron! Both women are down on the ground now, laid out, blood pouring everywhere, and the crowd has gone absolutely insane as the Atlanta faithful begin to break out into “This is awesome!” chants! The two competitors catch their breath for a few moments and are checked out by medical staff, then they slowly rise up simultaneously and enter the ring with the intention to finish one another off.

The Cincinnati and Sydney natives were back to where they began, facing one another on opposite sides of the ring, and the Ace begins to charge at her opponent, only for Charli to pull out an impressive Cartwheel from her arsenal, and hits Lilith with another Superkick! Lilith may be bloodied, but she isn’t beat down just yet! The Superkick stuns her for a few moments but she responds to the attack with a Pumphandle Vertical Suplex Powerbomb into the thumbtacks! The thumbtacks pierce into Charli’s back and her arms as she screams in pain! The blood is trickling down quickly all over Charli’s body, and Lilith seizes this opportunity to go for the cover!

1, 2… Charli kicks out!

Lilith can’t believe this madness! She’s had just about enough, as she attempts to perform a handspring for the Ace Crusher, but Charli catches her in the act, hooks her leg, and lets out a Fisherman’s Suplex with a bridge, right onto the remaining thumbtacks! The Human Weapon attempts to go for the cover this time!

1, 2… Kickout by Lilith!

Charli lifts Lilith up, as both women are clearly worn out from the turmoil this Atlas Rules match has brought, and throws her over the ropes to the outside. Lilith is clearly exhausted as well but she grabs a chair to sit in so she can get a quick water assist. After this, Charli notices she’s got an opening as she bounces off the ropes to gain momentum, and dives through the top and middle ropes to take Lilith out! The Atlanta crowd cheers for the high-risk, high-reward move, as both women have put their entire bodies on the line for the MPW faithful’s entertainment. Charli and Lilith eventually rise and brawl on the outside for a bit, as Charli gets closer to the barricade and slams Lilith’s body as hard as she can on it, using her upper body strength. Lilith certainly feels the pain, but counters by turning Charli around so that her back is towards the barricade this time, and Lilith runs over for an adrenaline boost to perform a dropkick that sends Charli over the barricade! The crowd is marking out hard as both women are now fighting in front of them, but Lilith has another risky idea as she stands on the barricade and performs a Tornado DDT right in front of the fans! Charli is flattened out on the ground as Lilith stands on one of the free chairs in the crowd section, motioning for a boost of energy! She revels in the crowd’s bursts of excitement, but it’s soon short-lived as Charli asks for a beer can from one of the fans, and throws it right into Lilith’s face! “Ooooooh!” The crowd exclaims in response to the creative attack. Charli swings Lilith’s leg down while she’s standing, and Lilith falls down on her back, knocking the chair down with her.

Charli grabs Lilith by the head and sends her over the barricade with the intention of directing her back into the ring. Eventually, both women get back inside, as they are both trading forearms with one another once again. Charli eventually takes control and gives Lilith a few more forearms for good measure, positions her into a fireman’s carry, and hits a Death Valley Driver into the door that was placed in the ring corner earlier! This causes the door to break in half, and some of the remnants have made deep cuts into Lilith’s skin. The top half of the door laid on Lilith’s body but Charli goes over and throws it to the outside. She drags Lilith towards the center of the ring and pulls her upwards, having her almost lifeless body lean on the ropes, and gets her on her shoulders. Charli grabs both of Lilith’s wrists and crosses them over, spins around a couple of times to gain momentum, and performs a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex on the remaining thumbtacks and light tubes in the ring! Charli holds the position to make the cover…

1, 2, 3!

“Here is your winner… the Violence Artist, the Human Weapon, Charli Evans!”

Charli is in shock as she’s achieved her first singles win in MPW! Especially at the expense of someone like Lilith Brookes, both women fought until their very last breath and Charli couldn’t be more proud. The referee raises Charli’s arm in victory, and blood continues to surge down her face, her arms, and her back as it creates a brutal visual. The crowd cheers for the result and begin to chant Charli’s name followed by synchronous clapping. Lilith Brookes is laying on the canvas still, with blood coming out of her forehead, back, and arms as well, as the veteran was truly taken to her limit. Charli goes over to her and both women are on their knees and share an emotional embrace. The canvas is painted with blood everywhere, as well as broken glass, thumbtacks, and wooden pieces from the door. Charli helps Lilith stand up and raises her arm as a sign or respect, and then both women take a bow towards one another. Lilith leaves the ring and exits through the tunnel as she receives a warm reception from the MPW fans. Charli makes her way to the turnbuckle to celebrate her victory, and the crowd is overjoyed and emotional to have seen both women acknowledging and paying their respects towards one another, as they have witnessed another brilliant Atlas Rules match in MPW.

[allabouttenille]

𝓖𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷 𝓖𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓰𝓸𝔀

Impact Wrestling

November 2nd 2023

Ahead of Turning Point tomorrow night, two of the featured matches collide in tag team action as the newly crowned Knockouts World Tag Team Champions, Deonna Purrazzo and Tenille Dashwood face the unfamiliar pairing of Knockouts World Champion Trinity and Dani Luna. Purrazzo will once again lock up with the champion at Turning Point, while Dashwood has the unenviable task of facing the powerhouse that is Luna. Safe in the knowledge that Killer Kelly is on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean, Dashwood is full of confidence and once again opts to start the match, even if it means matching up against Trinity. Early on it looks like being an equal match, but it doesn’t take too long for Trinity to slowly start to take the upper hand as Dashwood is forced into retreat. Before too much control can be taken however, Dashwood connects with a thumb to the eye, quickly ending the momentum of the champion. Eager to follow up the advantage, Dashwood goes to work on the shoulder, obviously helping to set up for Purrazzo’s Venus de Milo submission.

It wasn’t that long ago that Dashwood and Purrazzo were constantly arguing but have recently managed to get on the same page and it is proving effective. After Dashwood’s initial attack, the duo begin quickly tagging each other in and continuing the assault. With this being a non title match, the game plan seems obvious with Trinity being isolated. Tomorrow night Purrazzo faces her for the Knockouts World title. Any injury tonight would drastically improve Purrazzo’s chances. Both Purrazzo and Dashwood focus solely on Trinity’s left shoulder with the champion only offering brief moments of hope for an escape before being cut off again. With the tag champions maintaining the upper hand for the majority of the match, it is understandable that they would get confident. Especially Dashwood. As such, the Australian takes a risk by climbing the ropes to attempt a cross body, an attack Dashwood rarely uses these days, but pays for it as Trinity is able to simply collapse and allow Dashwood to crash and burn.

Despite the impact of the missed attack, Dashwood is still the fresher of the two due to the quick tags and is able to start crawling towards a frantic Purrazzo. At the same time, Trinity slowly inches her way to the fresh Dani Luna. Purrazzo is tagged in first and manages to grab the ankle of Trinity before a tag can be made. The champion however, would not be denied. Knowing how badly she needs to tag, Trinity connects with an enzigouri to Purrazzo before diving to tag in Luna. As soon as Luna hits the ring, the momentum shifts as the powerhouse takes over in convincing fashion. A series of suplexes and slams leave the champions questioning if they should have kept her isolated and worn out instead, but obviously it is too late to change game plan.

With Trinity recovering, Luna is left in two on one odds for the time being and despite initially looking to be able for it, the numbers advantage inevitably comes into play. By the time Purrazzo and Dashwood have retaken control, Trinity is ready to go again and as such, neither side is able to remain on top for very long. With the upper hand being traded back and forth multiple times, all four women end up in the ring at the same time, each of them looking to do some serious damage. In the end, Dani Luna breaks the deadlock but not in a manner she wanted to. With Luna looking to connect with a wild lariat, Dashwood is able to grab the wrist of Purrazzo and pull her out of harms way, leading to Luna connecting with her own partner instead. With Trinity down and hurting, Purrazzo hits a running knee to the back of Luna, sending her out of the ring. With Trinity trying to shake the cobwebs, Dashwood quickly seizes the opening to connect with the Spotlight Kick, but the champions aren’t content with that. Instead, Purrazzo follows up with the Queen’s Gambit before surprising everybody and instead of going for the pinfall, goes to cut off Luna, leaving Dashwood the easy cover and the three count.

With the champions picking up the victory, Purrazzo is quick to embrace Dashwood after the bell, the Australian obviously stunned over what just happened. For the first time in several months, Purrazzo isn’t the one who scores the decisive fall as it is instead Dashwood picking up the victory, and it is against the current Knockouts World Champion. Regardless of what happens tomorrow night at Turning Point, Tenille Dashwood will most definitely be asking the question about a title shot of her own in the near future.

[creatiview]

[ad_1] How to Have—or Not Have—a CoregasmWritten by: Denise John, PhD | Published on: February 2, 2023 You might think the only outcome of doing 200 crunches is sheer exhaustion. But some people—as a result of muscle fatigue—also experience orgasm. Coregasms, also known as orgasms caused by exercising, are a scientifically studied phenomenon. Strongly engaging the core muscles through abdominal work is known to lead to them (hence the name). “[Women] will describe them as feeling like a vaginal penetration type of orgasm rather than an external clitoral-induced orgasm,” says Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH, the author of The Coregasm Workout and the director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University. “When men experience it, they usually don’t have erections. They go right from a flaccid penis to ejaculation, so it’s more like a prostate orgasm for them rather than a penile orgasm.” Scientists aren’t sure what causes abdominal exercises to lead to orgasms, but it could involve some activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which may facilitate the early stages of arousal. They do know that it’s not because of external stimulation. “Even the people who have them from climbing poles will say, ‘It is not about rubbing my clitoris or my penis. It’s internal,’” Herbenick says. When you feel a coregasm coming on, you can continue with your exercise and let it flow. Herbenick says that if you’re in a gym or other public place, it probably won’t be obvious to others that you’re having one. If that sounds like something you want to try, common exercises are known to bring them on. Doing them won’t guarantee you’ll have one—only about 10 percent of people have coregasms. But if you’re willing to do an intense workout and push your muscles to exhaustion (this is key to having a coregasm), you’ll increase your chances. If you want to avoid having a coregasm, in the gym or anywhere else, Herbenick suggests that you simply add rest time between reps or exercises (or do fewer reps)—that seems to keep them at bay, since your muscles are less likely to get too strained. 1. Sit-ups and crunches. “When we’ve surveyed and interviewed women, very often they talk about having exercise-induced orgasms from crunches or sit-ups,” says Herbenick. “But not just 5 or 10 of them. We’re talking sometimes 100 or 200.” 2. Captain’s chair leg raises. This one is a gym classic. It’s the exercise using the captain’s chair, which is a piece of equipment that looks like a chair without a seat and has a very erect back cushion and horizontal arm cushions with vertical handles to grip with your hands. Doing leg raises in one of these is straightforward: Step into the captain’s chair. Hold your upper body still and start with your legs hanging straight down, then raise your knees to your chest (or raise your legs straight at a 90-degree angle to your upper body). Lower your legs and repeat. To increase the intensity, use ankle weights. 3. Strength training. Herbenick says that it’s typically men who report that weight lifting—squats, bench presses, dead lifts—or repeatedly lifting heavy objects for work, like construction or airport baggage-handling, leads to coregasms for them, but women may also experience coregasms from strength training. Lifting your body weight by climbing poles, ropes, and trees can also do the trick. 4. Cardio. It’s less common for people to experience coregasms with light aerobic exercise, but it’s not impossible. “When people get very active, such as [when] they’re running or doing the elliptical for 20 minutes or longer, they will sometimes describe going into a state where they can actually feel the orgasmic feelings start to happen,” says Herbenick. Intense biking, spinning, and swimming can also bring on a coregasm. Going directly from an intense cardio workout to core exercises without a break to let your muscles recover could help

, too. “For some people [it] seems to enhance their arousal and lead them to a state where they’re more likely to experience orgasm,” says Herbenick. 5. Yoga. Some people have coregasms from doing yoga, too—more women report this than men. It’s rarer than the other types of coregasms, but it happens, especially with poses that engage the core and create relaxation. Editors’ Picks: Tools for Core Work For more ways to engage your core (and get your blood flowing) for a satisfying coregasm, check out our ab- and cardio-friendly workout gear. Bala Bala Ball goop, $29 SHOP NOW FRAME Fitness Pilates Reformer goop, $4,249 SHOP NOW B Yoga Strength Sliders goop, $25 SHOP NOW Bala The Jump Rope goop, $55 SHOP NOW The best sex toys and clean lubes—all in one place. SHOP NOW Related Reading Can Reiki Lead to Orgasm? The Allure of Blended Orgasms (and How to Experience One) Ranking Our Most Powerful Vibrators This article is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. The views expressed in this article are the views of the expert and do not necessarily represent the views of goop. [ad_2] Source link

[hotxcheeto]

do you write ellie x dina x reader? because if so, oh my gosh 😭

anything absolutely ANYTHING

━ 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑

𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜(𝙨) - Ellie x G/N!Reader, Dina x G/N!Reader, Dina x Ellie 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 - Domestic, sugary, cavity filled fluff baby just fluff all around

𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 ? - Yeah/Nope

𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 - I do darling oh my god you have sparked something in me, you brightened my day sending the rq I love you and I got you so here is this

"Do you know where I put my-" You walked from the bathroom into the bedroom. Ready to ask Dina where your shirt was that you were supposed to wear after showering. Key word there... supposed to. But instead, you walked into the bedroom seeing Dina laying there with it on, looking at you while biting back a smile.

You were only in a tank top that barely covered your stomach and a pair of Ellie's oversized pajama pants. Great outfit, or at least Dina seemed to think so.

"-my shirt." You finished, raising your eyebrows, watching Dina drop the book she was holding into her lap. "Oh, sorry about that." "Yeah, sure you are." You moved towards the dresser, opening it up grabbing another one of your shirts just as you felt her arms slip around your almost bare waist. Face moving to your upper back.

"Where's Ellie?" She asked, but you only shrugged, yawning. "Don't know, thought she was in here with you." Pulling the shirt from the dresser, you turned around in her arms, Dina still holding you closely. Now laying her head on your chest.

"No, she got up a while ago." Just like that, Ellie walked through the door, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Huh, speak of the devil." Dina smiled, lifting her head from you allowing you to slip on the clean shirt. "What?" Dina waltzed over to Ellie while you walked towards the large bed, climbing in and covering yourself with the blanket.

"I'm out." You yawned again, laying down, practically shoving yourself into the pillow. "Knew that was coming." Dina then said, holding Ellie's hand, pulling her towards the bed. "Bedtime everyone." "I get the middle." You said, half asleep, both women laughing as the separated, Dina walking around the bed to the other side.

"You always get the middle." Ellie then stated, sliding into her side of the bed. "Yeah cause I need a lot of love." "They got a great point." Dina said dramatically, pulling you into a tight hug from behind making you laugh. Almost immediately melting into her cuddles, looking up at Ellie while she stared down at the both of you.

A lopsided smile on her face, watching you giggle as Dina pressed little kisses into the crook of your neck. Your eyes crinkled, almost shut while little hums left Dina's through, obnoxious kissing noises filling the air.

"Stop- I can-I can't breathe!" Ellie huffed, laying down beside you guys. You and Dina suddenly looking at her. "Aw, someone needs some love." Dina teased, leaning over you to sloppily smooch Ellie's cheek causing her to groan. "Dina.." "My turn." You grinned, pressing another equally unorganized kiss right beside where Dina had.

You yawned again, staring at Ellie as Dina practically shoved her face into your back. "I love you." You said to Ellie, pressing a very soft peck to her lips. "You too shirt stealer." "I love you guys!" Dina laughed, nearly passed out behind you. Your tired eyes slowly dropping while Ellie watched. "I love you too." She said to no one in particular, slowly rolling to turn the lamp off leaving all three of you in the dark.

"Dina, stop it your hands are freezing." "But you're warm!" "I'm going to cut them off if you don't get them out of my shirt."

A/n: I'm a simp :(

[lorelaiislatte]

Mini prompt? What if the cops didnt come in 6 and Luke and Jess are able to join them at the bar. I just need to see Lupe's head explode because at some point they would clearly be poking fun at Carson as usual but this time Greta could come over, wrap an arm around her and lightly tell them to leave her girl alone. I just need more cute bar flirtation. I think since Greta's finally allowed to turn on her full flirtation potential on someone she actually wants to she would take advantage.

“God, she’s a terrible dancer.”

“Gill doesn’t seem to mind.”

Lupe shrugs, clinking her beer with Jess’, the two of them at their usual table by the bar. She’s been waiting to see Carson finally talk Greta into coming, pretending not to hear hushed conversations and ignoring meaningful glances over her head, but it seems Carson has finally got her way, wrapped up in Greta’s arms as Greta kisses the back of her hand. If anyone asks about her enthusiasm, it’s because Lupe’s sick of seeing them pretending not to flirt every chance they get, but in reality, something in her has been rooting for the pair since the day she caught onto them. They deserve it, both of them.

She lets them have their moment, waiting two, three songs before waving Carson over, Greta catching up with Jo and whoever the woman trying (and failing) to beat her at darts is. Carson grins as she flops down into a seat opposite, a little out of breath, glances back over her shoulder and visibly relaxes as Greta throws her a wink. Jess rolls her eyes, but Lupe knows there’s affection behind the gesture, the same affection she feels whenever she sees women like them finding each other. “Enjoying yourselves?”

Carson blushes, glances at the table and back up again, confidence filling her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, we really are.”

“Good to see her out. Didn’t think you’d ever manage it,” Jess chimes in. “First time I even hinted I liked women too she nearly jumped out the window.”

Carson smiles, takes a sip of her beer. “Yeah. Well, I’m not sure that’s changed. But it’s good for her, I think. To be here. With us.”

Lupe nods over at Greta. “She looks happy. She must really like you.”

“What?”

“You’ve stepped on her about six times. Surprised she can still walk.” Jess grins next to her, and Lupe wonders for a split-second if she’s taken it too far, but Carson just blushes harder, grinning good-naturedly. 

“She’s tough.”

“Gotta be. You must have to climb her like a tree.”

Greta sidles over to them, catching the end of Jess’ sentence, raising an eyebrow. “Who’s climbing who?” she asks, sliding an arm firmly around Carson’s waist, pressing a kiss to her hair. Carson melts into her at the gesture, and Lupe catches Jess’ eye with a grin.

“Your girlfriend. Bet she scales you like a ladder.”

Jess chuckles beside her, and Greta feigns shock. “Who says she’s the one scaling me?”

Carson chokes on her beer, and Lupe cheers, raising her bottle. “Touché, Gill.”

“I mean, sometimes I scale her–”

“Shh, honey. Leave something to the imagination.” Greta teases, bumping her hip against Carson’s, who buries her face in Greta’s upper arm, burning red. “C’mon, go easy on her,” Greta chides the pair, all too pleased with themselves. Lupe shrugs, takes a swig of her beer. 

“She’s too easy.”

Carson mumbles something that sounds vaguely like shut up into Greta’s arm as they laugh, Greta pressing another kiss to the top of her head. Even in a group they’re in their own world, one that Lupe knows that she and Jess aren’t privy to. Greta whispers something to Carson, who groans, about to respond in kind when Greta kisses her, and Lupe looks away, not wanting to disturb the intimacy of the moment. “Seriously, though,” Jess says, not quite as in-tune to the harmony. “Who does what?”

[silversatoru]

step-dad nanami + brat taming 😼?

dark content event!!!

yes yes yes yes yes yes yesyyesysyesy mmm so good mm very tasty idea ily and i got very carried away

nanami + brat taming

tw: nsfw 18+, f!reader, psuedocest (nanami is your step-dad), brat-taming, noncon/dubcon, impact play, power imbalance, mild size kink?, manhandling, fingering, nanami said fuck jujutsu and is a very rich business man au

wc: 1.7k

you knew your mother’s new fiancé was a moderately successful business man, but you certainly weren’t expecting to pull up to a security gate on the day that you moved in with him. a large house constructed with dark-colored bricks loomed over your mom’s dented toyota prius, and you wondered what the hell one lonely man needed all this space for.

the white-haired butler that opened the front door and offered to carry some of your bags seemed nice enough, but you couldn’t help but scoff at the entire situation. walking onto the pristine and shiny floors in your scuffed up sneakers made you wonder just how your mom had managed to gold-dig her way into this one. either she was terribly convincing, or this guy was horribly desperate — either way you weren’t opposed to reaping the benefits. a butler, a giant in-ground pool, a bedroom that was three times the size of your old one?

yeah, you’d settle in real quick.

and you did just that, taking whatever you wanted and not feeling a shred of guilt for it. this guy, nanami kento, had more than enough money to go around, so why shouldn’t you indulge yourself? why shouldn’t you throw unsolicited pool parties while they’re at work? invite boys over to spend time in your king sized bed? your mom forced you out of your hometown to move in with this rich asshole, might as well make the most of it.

and things were going pretty fucking smoothly if you do say so yourself, or at least they were until nanami caught you sneaking a boy through your window one night.

you thought your were so smart, so slick with the way that you used his house as your personal playground behind his back. but why would he own such an esteemed property and not have security cameras? you weren’t smart at all, in fact you were incredibly, incredibly stupid.

and you’ve been getting on nanami’s nerves for a while, sashaying around the house in tiny outfits surrounded by a horde of immature boys. he’d watch you through the security footage while he worked — blood boiling at the way you flaunted his home as if it were your own.

those boys were never going to be enough for you; you’d walk all over them with your inflated ego and terrible attitude. you needed a man, someone grown, who could put your back in your place — you needed nanami — and fuck, he’d wanted you since the day you walked through his front door. he’d been patient, very patient, but this was enough to snap the thin wire that was holding him back.

he didn’t hesitate to kick the boy right back out the window he climbed through, threatening to call the cops if he didn’t leave his fucking property right now. and then a firm hand was wrapped around your wrist, dragging you up the stairs and into his bedroom.

he gave your arm a harsh tug, tossing your body towards his large neatly made bed. the edge of the raised mattress whacked you in the gut, your face falling forward and mashing into the silky comforter.

“what the fu-,” you snapped your head back to look at him, but were immediately met with a rolled up black sock being shoved into the back of your mouth.

you coughed and whined through the fabric as he grasped both your wrists in his one large hand, his other weaving the leather belt that was previously looped through his trousers around your wrists. he had zero patience for you right now, and he was making that evidently clear.

“i’ve tried to stay patient with you, but you’ve forced my hand this time,” he looked at you with dark eyes, one of his hands undoing the zipper at the back of your skirt.

you tried to kick with your legs, tried to cuss him out through the sock, but it was entirely ineffective, his strong hands holding you down and the cotton preventing a single coherent word from leaving your lips. your skirt was gliding to your feet now, your bare ass exposed and looking nanami right in the eyes.

“sneaking in another boy? how many times should i spank you for that? five? ten? i think ten would be suitable in this situation,” he used one hand to keep you pinned to the mattress, and the other to caress the smooth skin of your upper thigh, “what do you think?”

obviously you tried to reason with him, tell him that you didn’t deserve any spanks, that you weren’t a child, that this whole thing was fucking weird — but none of that made it out of your mouth, not through the soggy sock that was still in your way.

“i’m glad you agree, ten it is,” he gave you a thoughtful look, raising up his hand in preparation to strike you for the first time.

“one”.

his hand swung down with incredible force, a piercing smacking sound echoing through the room as you squealed and kicked under his touch. it felt like a thousand pins piercing through your skin, a blazing fire that burned through his fingers and straight through to your brain.

“two”.

the second smack was brought down with even more strength, your whole body lurching in response to the impact. you still kicked, still fought, still screamed through gag for him to fuck off, but a small part of you was already anticipating number three.

“three”.

the third strike to your backside flipped a switch in your brain, your legs falling limp and your screams replaced with pitiful whimpers and whines. his hand on your skin was starting to hurt so good, bits of the sock becoming trapped in your clenched teeth.

four, five, and six came quickly after, only a few seconds of rest between each of them — and nanami knew that he’d won when your feet began to push up onto your tip-toes, your ass wiggling closer to him as you waited for more.

“you count the next ones,” he reached forward and plucked the disgusting sock out of your mouth, tossing it to the floor and caressing your cheek.

seven came down hard, goosebumps lining your arms as you yelped; your tied up hands grasping at air. a shameful “seven”, rolled from your tongue a few moments later, your shaky voice flooding nanami’s ears.

“good girl,” he cooed, “three more”.

the next three stung the worst, nanami hissing at how badly it hurt his own hand — but your were a lightheaded, dizzy mess; practically drooling on his sheets by the time he was done. you’d done exactly what he asked, taken all ten and even counted out the last four — you were so good for him, and it was so easy.

he helped you roll over onto your back and then slipped his hand under the waistband of your panties, pulling and letting them fall down to your ankles. you’d taken the punishment pretty well, so it was only fair that you were rewarded now.

he sat down on the edge of the bed next to you, one of his hands pressing down onto your puffy clit. you knew how inappropriate this was all becoming, but your head was much too hazy to care.

he dipped two of his fingers low, slipping them into your slimy cunt and gently pushing them up inside you. his fingers were long, a sharp whimper flying through your teeth as he curled his fingers against your walls.

what the hell would happen if your mom got home right now? if she saw her soon-to-be husband fist-deep in her daughter?

those were the things you should have been thinking, but they didn’t cross your mind once. how could you care about the what if’s when nanami was stuffing you full with his thick fingers on one hand, and expertly massaging your clit with the other.

no one your age had this experience, and none of the boys you’d messed with had ever made you feel this good with such little effort. nanami was opening your eyes to his expert hands, and you began to wonder how many sorry brats had ended up in this exact spot before. maybe this is what he did for fun — romancing middle-aged women just to prey on their college-aged daughters until they inevitably get caught one day — and then the cycle continues.

but right now, on the edge of losing yourself around his fingers, you didn’t care if you were the hundredth step-daughter he’d done this to — it was worth it.

your walls clamped around his fingers as he thrusted them deeper, his other thumb rubbing hard and consistent circles over your sensitive nub. it was impossible to hold out any longer, the ball in your stomach flying undone as you rolled your hips into his hand and creamed all over his fingers. the room was filled with the prettiest mewls and whines, your body shaking and lurching as he kept feeling you even after your orgasm was fading.

only once you accidentally kicked him from the intensity of the overstimulation did he unsheath his fingers from your cunt, his skin glistening with your fluids. he shoved them into your mouth, your eyes widening as he offered a simple: “suck”.

but you did what you were told, you’d quickly learned that disobeying him would only lead to something worse. he smirked for the first time after he plucked them from your mouth, your lips making a satisfying popping sound.

“never gonna invite those boys over again, right?” he taunted you, an obvious bulge sitting in his dress pants.

you quickly shook your head no.

but if breaking the rules meant this would happen again?

you’d be breaking them every goddamn day.

[theycallme-thejackal]

We get lots of fics of Midge trying to move on by dating other dudes. I'd like to see one of Lenny trying to date someone else, but failing and returning to Midge anyway.

so that's my prompt lol

Pairing: Lenny Bruce & Midge Maisel Rated T Warnings: Mentions of Past Drug Use

This is so boring.

He used to not care. If his date wasn't funny, it didn't really matter. He could provide enough funny for both of them and just enjoy the ego boost of someone laughing at his jokes.

Midge fucking ruined him.

He's been on many dates since that night before Carnegie Hall. He's even slept with other women, but nothing has even come close to comparing.

He hails a cab for another very beautiful, very boring woman, and as it pulls away from him, he lights a cigarette and looks up at the sky. "Christ, Bruce, get your shit together," he mutters, exhaling smoke as he raises his arm to flag down another cab.

It's a miracle he remembers her address, but he finds himself standing in front of her door twenty minutes later, wondering if this is the absolute worst idea he's ever had.

It opens, and there she is, looking perfect as always. "Lenny," she breathes. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I?" He nods toward the apartment, and she steps aside, allowing him to enter before closing the door.

Lenny opens his mouth to speak, but she lifts a hand to stop him. "Kids are asleep," she whispers. "Come with me."

She leads him through the vaguely familiar apartment into a bedroom that is definitely hers. She opens the window and climbs out. "We can talk out here," she tells him through the opening.

He joins her, climbing through the frame. She sits on the window ledge, lighting a cigarette, and he stands awkwardly. "What's going on?" She asks on the exhale.

"I've got a little bit of a problem."

She lifts her brows. "Is it - "

He waves his hand. "No, I'm still clean," he promises. She offers him the cigarette. "I've got good and bad days, but...I'm clean."

Midge seems to visibly relax at that. "Then what's the problem?"

He takes a drag before passing it back. "I can't stop thinking about you." Her lips part in surprise. "I've been trying because I know we agreed to go back to being friends, but I am, quite frankly, having a terrible fucking time."

"Ever think you just haven't found the right woman?" She asks, lifting her cigarette.

"Actually the problem is that I already did find the right woman."

She looks up at him for what feels like an eternity. "Lenny...I still want to get married again someday. Maybe have another child. I still want to live on the Upper West Side and go to temple and have my psychotic family over for Yom Kippur."

Lenny nods slowly and sits on the stairs across from her. "I know I said all of those things weren't my scene," he admits. "But with you..." He sighs through his nose as he rubs over his mouth. "Midge, I'd walk barefoot over hot fucking coals for you."

"That's less painful than dinner with Moishe and Shirley," she half-jokes.

"Point is that..." He swallows thickly, the words getting caught in his throat. "The point is that I'm...I'm in love with you. And I'm really, really tired of pretending that I'm not."

She still looks wary as she says, "I don't want you to resent - "

"Never," he swears. "Midge, I just want to be with you."

Midge blinks back tears as she shakily lifts the cigarette to her lips. "So...all that stuff is back on the table?"

"Glue it down, baby. We're gonna do it all."

"I said maybe about the kid," she reminds him.

"Then we'll have a lot of fun practicing just in case," he jokes, and she manages a quiet laugh.

She gazes at him softly then before stubbing out the cigarette. "I love you too, by the way," she says as she stands, and he looks up at her as her fingers brush through his hair. "And I'm equally tired of pretending I'm not."

"Your dates boring, too?"

"It's like they're actively trying to liquefy my brain!"

He laughs and wraps his arms around her, pulling her down into a long-overdue kiss.