#JEEZ YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE SHES STILL 5

[sugaroto]

Absolutely no one:

My family after the exams: So hey how did that old friend of yours that you haven't spoken to in 5 years and changed schools did in the exams?

Me who doesn't even know if they're alive: 👁👄👁 how am I supposed to know

[celestie0]

gojo satoru x reader | oneshot smut [18+]

title. around the clock

Hooking up with your little brother’s babysitter? That sounds more like a bad porno than a sensible decision.

ᰔ pairing. babysitter/boxing au - underground boxer & babysitter!gojo x college student!reader (f)

ᰔ summary. when underground boxer gojo satoru becomes a little strapped for cash, he gets a day job as a babysitter for a five-year-old kid named yuuji who most definitely has adhd (but that’s besides the point). the kid’s mom gave gojo two rules, and two rules only: don’t accidentally kill my son, and do not flirt with my daughter. he’s pretty sure he’s got a good hold on the former, but he’s got no self control over the latter.

ᰔ warnings/tags. 18+, fem!reader, smut, casual sex, lil bit of fluff, lil bit of crack, slight age gap (reader’s 22 & gojo’s 27), cum play, creampie, unprotected sex, praise kink, slight degradation, gojo is a sleazebag that cares?, sort of porn-coded smut except there’s a lil bit of lore so it’s kinda porn w plot, uhh having sex with risk of getting caught, gojo beats people up at night & then plays father figure to a 5 y/o during the day, mentions of violence/alcohol/drugs/blood/cigarettes

ᰔ word count. 12.6k

a/n. hiiii friends jeez it feels like FOREVER since i've posted some good ol' smut (still has plot tho xd)...hopefully you enjoy n see ya at the bottom! lmk if i missed any warnings! if you asked to be tagged but didn’t get tagged it’s bc you have your tags off aaa :( even when some ppl tried to fix it i still couldn’t tag them i’m sorry!!

alsoooooo so very much love to @starmapz for beta reading this for me :”) really helped me w my posting nerves haha. she is also a wonderful jjk author pls go check out her works!! 💕 ART CREDITS: @/3-aem

➸ masterlist

2:34 pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): heyy um i’m sorry if this comes off kinda rude i just am kinda bad with this but i was wondering if you could text my mom for questions about yuuji’s care instead of me?

2:46pm Gojo Satoru: Oh 2:46pm Gojo Satoru: Yeah, sure

2:34 pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): sorry i know my mom doesn’t know much ab how to take care of him bc i was the one that took care of him for a while but i just really want to separate myself from that guardian role now that i’ve transferred to NYU yknow? :/ i think it’s not my place anymore. i just wanna be big sis now haha

2:46pm Gojo Satoru: I get it. Sorry if I was making you uncomfortable with my texts

2:48pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): no no not uncomfy by it, thanks for looking after him. it’s just i’m kind of busy n stuff so it can be distracting 

2:49pm Gojo Satoru: Ok, got it

2:52pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): and it was kind of an issue with his last babysitter

2:53pm Gojo Satoru: Oh?

2:55pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): yeahhh like he would keep textinf me n stuff uhh kinda weird things… i told my mom about it and she was super pissed so she fired him

2:55pm Gojo Satoru: Weird things?

2:56pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): yeah he was always “accidentally sexting me” n like he sent me a dick pic once sooooo yeah

2:56pm Gojo Satoru: Who tf 2:56pm Gojo Satoru: I’ll go beat him up

2:57pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): oh no no its fine lol 2:57pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): please dont beat anyone up 2:58pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): i’m not saying you’re like him tho i just think maybe less texting unless its an emergency okay?

3:00pm Gojo Satoru: Are you sure because I will totally go beat him up for you

3:01pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): NO I DONT WANT YOU TO BEAT ANYONE UP FOR ME 3:01pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): also no offense but you dont look like you could beat someone up

3:01pm Gojo Satoru: WHAT 3:02pm Gojo Satoru: Tf you mean “no offense” that’s literally the most offensive thing you could say to a guy

3:04pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): yeaa i mean you have muscles ofc but in the ‘ohhh i wanna look good for instagram’ way and not like real man muscles yknow

3:06pm Gojo Satoru: Ok princess next time you visit home and go on one of your stupidly large grocery hauls I’ll make sure you carry all those groceries in by yourself 

3:06pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): NO 3:07pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): I WAS JUST JOKING 3:07pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): YOURE SO STRONG TY FOR ALWAYS CARRYING THE GROCERIES INSIDE 3:08pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): PLEASE KEEP CARRYING MY GROCERIES INSIDE

3:09pm Gojo Satoru: Nah 3:09pm Gojo Satoru: Should we be texting right now? I’m not sensing any emergencies here

3:11pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): pls. my groceries :(

3:16pm Gojo Satoru: I’ll let the kiddo know you say hi 👋🏼 

The irony of it all was that, if Gojo really wanted to, he absolutely could beat the shit out of someone. And he has, hundreds of times, pseudo professionally. Although that isn’t something he’d admit to you, out of fear that you might relay that info back to your mom who would then become mortified that she’s entrusted her five-year-old son’s life to the hands of an underground boxer. 

But he needed the money. A night-time job didn’t really make daytime money, not when they could easily replace him with the next dude the second he gets knocked out of the ring more than twice, let alone if he let it happen once. And although he sometimes made large sums, it wasn’t stable income. He needed a back-up plan, and so babysitting it was. 

The babysitter working nights at unsanctioned dojos and gyms located in the back of cartel blocks, knocking teeth out of men twice his size, would put any decent mother into a coma or induce some episode of syncope, hence why it wasn’t something he put on his resume before he got hired. Not that he even needed to provide a resume; your mom seemed desperate to cover the position as fast as possible, that promotion at work was moving faster than she wanted to, and Gojo’s beneficial attribute that he possessed as a candidate to look after her son, compared to all the other potential hires, was that he had a penis.

He likes the kid. Yuuji. He’s got kind of a short attention span, and makes Gojo weary of his age. Hold up, that makes him sound like he’s geriatric, he’s really only the ripe old age of twenty-seven, but the immortality and infinite stamina that a five-year-old boy has on him is enough to have him huffing and puffing at the end of every single evening shift he takes on with the rascal. 

Fighting is all sprint, and no stamina. Sure, there might be some more seasoned boxers that might disagree with him, but for someone as young as him in the field, it’s the tactic he’s been forced to gain. If he draws a fight on for too long, he'll get killed by a forty-two year old man with steroids clogging up his adipose tissue and enough  testosterone to grow a full-body beard by the time the sun starts to set. No, his strategy is to knock them out within the first fifteen seconds. Use their weight against them, and whatnot. A tactic he’s found has worked, since he’s been undefeated thus far. 

He can never wrap his head around it. The drug lords that run the rings who’ve gained millions the night before from selling crystal meth only to lose it all the night following in the second Gojo hooklines a solid punch to their betting boxer’s chin, making them see God & their Momma before they tap out (if they’re even able).

He doesn’t pocket much money from it, not anything compared to what the men who bet on him end up making at least, but it’s a decently solid sum. How lucrative it really is depends solely on what he thinks the value of his life is.

It’s not unheard of, boxers dying in the ring. Turns out, rich drug dealers care very little about the sheep they’ve captured to perform their entertaining little stunts. But Gojo wasn’t doing all of this to feel some sense of work-life pride, no, it was just sustenance. When basic needs are not met, humans resort to the most animalistic of all behaviors, and while he’s not proud of what he does, he can’t deny the fact that it’s turned him into an adrenaline junkie that gets a rush in his veins every time he knocks a jaw loose.

But balance was key. And hence why he’s a boxer by night, babysitter by day. For at least four days a week, he gets to pretend he’s the king’s most trusted appointed knight, or he’s the radioactive tyrannosaurus rex that wants to tyrannize all the other dinosaurs, or maybe he’s the evil power ranger (he always forgets which color that one was) that is determined to make the world a living hell by smashing mr. potatohead against the bunk bed post a billion times for all the other toys to see. Or whatever other imaginative hyperfixations Yuuji imposes on him in the later afternoon once he’s had his bowl of spaghetti-O’s and is ready to play. Lately, the kid’s been really into space. They’ve got all sorts of space toys these days. Back in Gojo’s day, he just had a good ol’ Buzz Lightyear.

“One rule, that’s it: don’t accidentally kill my son. Actually, one more rule. Don’t flirt with my daughter.” 

There’s a part of Gojo that believes your mom kind of knows he’s up to shady shit at night, otherwise why else would she clause for him to not flirt with you if she didn’t read the slight swell to his eye and the healing gash across his cheek as anything other than this boy is trouble and I want him nowhere near my too-good-for-him daughter of reproductive capacity since that’s the exact tale of how I became a single mother in the first place. Or maybe he inherently looks like he’s up to no good? He’s not sure which angle is more offensive, and which one was more flattering. Well in any case, she entrusted Yuuji’s life to him, despite acknowledging the plausibility of harm, and that means she overall thinks positively of him, right? ……right?

The first night he met you, it was awkward to say the least. Gojo spends most of his nights performing deadly stunts for middle aged men with potbellies, and most of his days hanging out with a five-year-old (one who he’d argue is his only friend at this point). Sure, he’s got some people he sees occasionally back in his high school hometown when he can brave hearing about how everyone’s in college now or doing a masters or they’re working respectable nine-to-five day jobs meanwhile he has to lie to his Pops that he’s been working in insurance for the past two years. Listen, in fairness, he probably makes the same amount of money as an insurance broker would anyways, but he can’t exactly own up to the identity of his craft. 

Anyways, the point is, he’s not used to seeing other people his age anymore. There’s the occasional hook-up with girls he hasn’t seen since Mrs. Tracy’s homeroom period back in sweet two-thousand-sixteen, or his twice-a-year hangout with Suguru where he only learns the day of where he's visiting from since the guy moves around more than Gojo can keep up with. But save for that, he mostly just sees your mom and then Yuuji. 

So seeing you standing in the kitchen for the first time when he went to put Yuuji’s half-finished GoGurt back in the fridge was startling to say the least. When the sight of a woman startled him, he knew he needed to start getting out again.

You were on your tiptoes, reaching up to grab at something over the fridge, and wearing these ridiculously short shorts to where he could see the curve of your ass, his line of sight trailing down the skin of your bare legs. He couldn’t see anything of your form above your shorts, given you were wearing an extremely baggy t-shirt with NYU on it in big bolded university letters. As far as he knew, you were a senior at NYU, studying psychology, made dean’s list consecutively for the past three years given the way your mother posted all your stellar transcripts up on the fridge (he gets that she’s proud of her daughter, but doesn’t that kind of stuff usually end in grade school?) But other than that, it was all the information he had on you.

“Here,” he said, pressing his front to your back, maybe just to get a feel, as he reached over to you to finally grab the box of cereal you were swatting for, the one that he purposefully placed at the back because Yuuji learned how to climb counters recently. “Is this what you want?”

He had heard you gasp, spinning around on your heel fast, staring up at him with wide eyes like you weren’t expecting some random man to be in the house right now, and your first instinct ended up being to grab the knife out of the kitchen knife block and lunge it straight at his torso.

If it wasn’t for his boxer reflexes, he’d have ended up at the ER that evening. Or dead. All depending on the strength you could pack into a stab. But instead, he deflected it, though not without a gash to his torso through the fabric of his shirt, one that you spent the rest of the evening profusely apologizing for and eventually mending to with cotton balls and neosporin. 

“I didn’t know you were my little brother’s babysitter,” you mumbled with a small wince on your face as you dabbed ointment on the wound while he pulled the hem of his shirt up to his shoulder. He’s never had an injury tended to before. It was nice.

“It’s fine, I get it, totally acceptable response to seeing a random dude in your house.”

He remembers the curl of your eyelashes while you stared down at his bare upper half, something he imprinted on his memory rather than the concern in your face as your fingertips traced the scars across his chest. He hoped they made you feel better about the one you just slashed into him, because after all, what was one more? 

He knows he shouldn’t have, but he kissed you that night. Two minutes before your mom came home, and right after you bid him goodnight with one more apology, he backed you up against the door of your bedroom, his hands on your hips pulling you towards him, and his lips pressed against yours. Something seamless, from candid conversation that was heading towards an end, to full fledged making out against white-painted wood, his teeth nipping at your lip and he wondered just how touch-starved those university boys were leaving you given the desperate way you’d clinged to his shirt for dear life as he deepened the kiss.

The moment only lasted one minute and fifty-seven seconds, and in the remaining three, your mother’s key pushed into the front door and he had to pull away. Always, on the dot, 10PM, she was home. It was how he knew he had two minutes left to make a move in the first place.

So much for no flirting.

6:57pm Gojo Satoru: Bahahah I accidentally forgot where yuuji’s epipen is 6:58pm Gojo Satoru: [sent a photo] 6:59pm Gojo Satoru: Turns out this can-o-soup was just covering it in the cabinet

7:01pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): ??? why did you need to find his epipen

7:08pm Gojo Satoru: Oh he accidentally took a bite of my pad thai 7:09pm Gojo Satoru: I freaked cuz I thought it had peanuts in it but I remember I asked for it without any  7:09pm Gojo Satoru: shit’s crazy

7:10pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): WHY THE FUCK DIDNT YOU TEXT ME????????

7:12pm Gojo Satoru: YOU SAID YOU DIDNT WANT ME TEXTING YOU UNLESS IT WAS AN EMERGENCY ?

7:13pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): SATORU YOU THOGHT HE ATE SOMETHING W PEANUTS IN IT AND YOU FORGOT WHERE HIS EPIPEN WAS THATSS A FUCKIGN EMERGENCY

7:15pm Gojo Satoru: THE KID IS DOING FINE HES ALIVE JESUS LEAVE ME ALONE 7:16pm Gojo Satoru: [sent a photo] 7:16pm Gojo Satoru: See. he’s chill 7:17pm Gojo Satoru: with intact airways might I add 7:18pm Gojo Satoru: Also isn’t he a little too old to still be watching baby sensory videos?

7:20pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): yeah my mom thinks he has adhd :(

7:22pm Gojo Satoru: oh

He tried to keep his word though (although he doesn’t recall ever giving it) out of the respect he had for your mom. She was a hard-working lady, single mom of two who went from working three jobs to now being a major administrator at a big law firm near the outskirts of town. It was an underdog story if he’d ever heard one, and he loved an underdog story. 

But a little texting here and there wouldn’t hurt, right? Or so he thought, until you told him to cut it out with the contact. Maybe you were just trying to be the good one in this situation. After all, hooking up with your little brother’s babysitter? That sounds more like a bad porno than a sensible decision. Still, he’ll eventually get your replies to his which shirt should Yuuji wear to the park? and look, the toothfairy gave him the butt of a joint and a couple thumbtacks for his front tooth. he’s ecstatic texts, although in a less timely manner than before when you weren’t trying to preserve propriety. And when you’d occasionally visit every other weekend, he’d do his best to keep his hands in his pockets, and you’d fill up your nights with hangouts with your hometown friends to avoid spending too much time with him at the house. A silent agreement to not fuck each other, it was. 

4:55pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): send pic of yuuji pls i miss him :(

5:04pm Gojo Satoru: [sent a photo]

5:08pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): IS THAT BLOOD?!?!?!?!

5:09pm Gojo Satoru: chillllllll it’s fake. We’re working on his halloween costume

5:09pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): WHY DOES IT HAVE BLOOD?!?!?!?!?!?

5:10pm Gojo Satoru: He wants to be a baby xenomorph and I'm his parasitic host. You know that iconic chestburster scene from the old school alien movies? yeah

5:12pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): satoru please for the love of god just dress him up as a dinosaur or something

5:13pm Gojo Satoru: I’m not the one that came up with the idea, okay? It was him

5:14pm yuuji’s sis (no flirting): because you let him watch adult swim with you before putting him to bed. you’ve deranged his brain.

5:14pm Gojo Satoru: He needs it. Builds character.

Gojo was living a double life, and if someone asked him, he’d say it was less of a Clark Kent way and more of a Bruce Wayne way, although in reality, he knows it’s close to neither. He’s no superhero with a concealed identity fighting crime, he’s a con artist that’s tricked a hard-working woman into hiring him just because he’s trying to save up enough money to get the fuck out of this godforsaken town, given he’s not knocked dead before then for the crime’s amusement.

But Yuuji looks up to him now. And Gojo’s grown attached to him too. He taught the kid how to tie his own shoes and piss inside the actual toilet like a real man. And that kid’s the only thing that’s made him question any of this. Maybe that’s what dads feel, suddenly held to all this impossible responsibility and the pressure to stop doing stupid shit so that you’ll stick around to see your kids get older. The thought that there are eyes on you now, eyes that are innocent and hopeful and learning, and because they know nothing at all, you feel the responsibility to protect them from everything. For fucks sake, remind him to never become a dad. 

“Do you like my sister?” Yuuji had asked him out of nowhere one afternoon after he just got home from preschool, stacking a blue cube over a yellow one at the dining table.

“Uhh,” Gojo starts. He wondered if your mom had put a wire on the kid, so his answer was as diplomatic as he could manage. “Yeah, she’s cool. You’ve got a cool sister.”

“But. But.” Yuuji stutters, trying to find his big boy words. He stretches up higher to reach the top of his stack of blocks, but he only has so much arm real estate at the age of five. “Do you like her like you wanna kiss her?”

Gojo grabs the block from the kid’s hand, for a moment questioning Yuuji’s decision to want to put a blue block over another blue block, but he figures aesthetics are the least of a kid’s concern, and so he places the block where Yuuji wanted it. 

Why does the kid know what kissing is anyway? Do kids know that kind of stuff at that age? Isn’t a kiss to a five-year-old just something their mom gives to them before they head off to preschool for the day? And not something that happens between adult men and women? Maybe he should stop watching that adult swim in front of him.

“No. I don’t want to kiss your sister,” he says, again, because he is suspicious of a wire. It was a lie and then some, because he wants to do a lot more than just kiss you.

Gojo lifts the RedBull he was nursing up to his lips and watches Yuuji in the corner of his eye as the kid stares at his growing stack of blocks with a concentrated expression on his face, his chubby fingers squeezing tightly into little round dimpled balls, like he’s putting together all his tiny brain cells together to form another coherent thought before turning to face Gojo on the chair.

“It’s ok. You can kiss her if you wan’ed to. You can marry her too,” Yuuji says.

Gojo almost spits out his RedBull. He barely manages to swallow it, a broken cough immediately leaving his throat when some of the liquid goes down the wrong pipe and he’s smacking a fist against his chest to knock the sanity back into himself.

“Where the fu—…where the flip did that come from?” he asks, blinking back tears from the rasp in his throat.

Yuuji’s small shoulders sulk as he sits back on his heels. “I want a papa.”

Oh fuck that hurt. Jesus christ, there was nothing more sad than that. Yuuji has literally never known what it’s like to have a dad, since his had left before he was even born. Gojo’s not really close to his old man by any means, but he had still been a fatherly figure in some pivotal moments when he had needed it growing up. Kids need their dads. And he’s seen enough people lose their way without one to know that the value of them is really underestimated.

He’s also kind of shocked that Yuuji really did think of you as his motherly figure. Maybe since it had always just been him and his dad, Gojo learned how to self sustain from a young age, and he and his dad became accustomed to just looking after their own interests to avoid the headache of tending to one another. My land is my land, and your land is yours, and there was the occasional Saturday night spent together with his dad’s millions of beer bottles emptied dry on the carpet in front of the 1992 box TV as the two shared a greasy pizza from the place down the street. That was the extent of family solidarity that he knew.

But he can’t imagine being barely eighteen and having to take care of your little brother all by yourself because your mom was too busy trying to put food on the table and was too poor to hire a babysitter. Your mom tried so damn hard to keep you away from the single teenage mother life, but somehow ended up giving it to you by proxy in the end anyway. It was no wonder you wanted space now that Yuuji’s a little older and your mom can afford a babysitter. No matter how much you might love your sibling, being their effective guardian out of pure necessity had to have taken a toll.

Gojo clears his throat before he speaks. “Buddy. If I married your sister, we’d be brothers. I wouldn’t be your dad.” 

Yuuji’s eyes light up at the word brother. “Brothers? Me and you?”

“Yeah. Bros.”

The kid giggles, all bubbly with cheeks rounding fully and eyes sparkling. Gojo reaches out to ruffle at his hair before Yuuji gets down onto one stubby leg at a time from the chair then bolts towards the kitchen.

“Juice!!” he yells somewhere around the corner out of sight.

Gojo sighs, staring at all the toys he pulled out for Yuuji to play with, all left in a scattered mess across the table. He gets up out of his chair and heads towards the fridge. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll get you your juice, you little demon.”

The conclusion he comes to, and it might read like an obvious one, is that kids don’t really know the reality of life, hence why adults hide so much from them. 

This is what he thinks of tonight when he wraps his worn out boxing tape around his hands and his wrist, tightening it with his teeth, and he can smell the sweat and grime from them. The back of the underground gym had an old dated locker room, and as Gojo stretches his neck side to side while sitting on the stiff metal bench, he eyes the peeling red paint of the locker in front of him, blurring vision making it look like spilt blood. 

His phone pings with a text. He shuffles inside his duffle bag to look for it while his other hand scratches at his bare chest.

1:07am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): hhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 1:07am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): omgomgomg sor y i’m 

He blinks at the screen, confusion flashing across his face. He types one letter, but then he sees three dots and a speech text bubble in the bottom left, so he waits for you.

1:09am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): i drunk :(

The corner of his mouth ticks up slightly. 

1:09am Gojo Satoru: Yeah I can tell

1:10am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): at a apartyyyy

His eyebrows raise slightly, the thought of you tipsy on some frat party couch flashing through his mind, yet of all things you could be doing at that frat party, you’re texting him? Must be a really boring party.

1:11am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): whyyy are you aawake?

1:12am Gojo Satoru: Couldn’t sleep 1:12am Gojo Satoru: Don’t you have a midterm in the morning?

1:14am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): wtf hwo do you knwo that

1:15am Gojo Satoru: Your mom keeps your schedule posted on the fridge

1:15am yuuji’s sister (no flirting): im so fucked;’;(((

He snorts. He’s got a bit more life experience than you, five-ish years to be exact, more than enough time to master the no-hangover hangout, but just before he can offer you some advice, he sees another text from you. 

1:16am yuuji’s sister (no flirting): can i tell u smething 

His gaze flits up to the ceiling briefly, and he hears commotion outside the thick walls of the locker room. The previous fight was over, and fast. The guy must’ve been knocked out in under twenty seconds tops, which means that Gojo was next up against whatever superbeast just beat him up. 

1:17am Gojo Satoru: Sure

He stands up, placing his phone down on the bench before he flexes the muscles in his arms a couple times to get the blood flowing into them. And there’s the noise of another ping. Actually, four.

1:14am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): sonetimes 1:14am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): i thikn of  1:14am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): when u kisse me 1:14am yuuji’s sis (no flirting): *kissed me

His eyes widen slightly, irises dry to the ashy cigarette smoke from outside lingering in the air, and his heart rate picks up a bit. An adrenaline junkie with close to no fear in his veins due to the way his amygdala’s been fried to a crisp from years of boxing, yet he’s got his breath hitched from the memory of your soft lips against his. It makes the blood rushing through the muscles of his arms rush somewhere down south instead.

Loud banging on the door of the locker room jolts him out of his trance, and he’s stiff around the edges once more.

“Satoru! You’re up, man,” he hears Danny, the fight coordinator, yell at him from the other side of the heavy & poorly-installed steel door.

Gojo sighs, glancing down at the texts on his phone. To respond, or not to respond. You’re off your face, clearly chatty from the alcohol, and he knows for certain you’ll regret every life decision you’ve ever made once you wake up in the morning and see the self sabotaging behaviors you’ve engaged in tonight. He knows that responding to you might put you at ease rather than straight up ignoring you, but the feeling will pass, and he has a match to win with no more room left to stall.

He makes his way out the locker room, pushing past the crowded halls of people underneath dim flashing club lighting, some dudes angrily jerking to face him when he pushes past them with a stiff shoulder, only for their eyes to widen when they see just exactly who pushed them. 

There’s strippers in the ring, doing some routine for pre-match, and Gojo narrows his eyes at the man he sees laying back over the rubber boundary rope, head tipped back up to the ceiling with a wicked grin on his face. So that was his opponent? He’s never seen the guy before. Was he from a different district? Different district talent was tough, you had no background info on them, while they’ve been preparing to be here for weeks. Hence why boxers tend to do better when they visit a different district than they do in their own. There have been rules made to limit these types of fights, mostly over outrage that it was unfair to bid on them, but they were also usually more entertaining to watch. Gojo’s got a sick feeling to his stomach as the strippers clear the ring.

“Hey,” Gojo calls out, grabbing Danny by the back of his collar and dragging him towards him and away from the girls stepping down onto the floor, “what’s in for this fight?”

Danny glances up at the ceiling. “Tarp’s bettin’ tonight, so it can’t be anything less than ten grand for you. I’d say tops fifteen?”

Gojo narrows his eyes further, then glances off into the ring again. The man stands up, and Gojo gets a better look on his face. He’s got short hair, neon green in color with a dark fade underneath and tattoos all over his face. But those eyes. They were freakishingly red, and it made him uneasy. He knows the type. The type of boxers that do this to genuinely hurt people for thrill. Make no mistake, Gojo understands he’s made himself out to be like that too, gaining some kind of rush out of this profession, but this type of fighter was different. The type to literally continue smashing a dude’s face into the floor until they’re a bloody mess even minutes after the winning call, and no referee to stop it because that’s the kind of action the spectators wanted.

Danny reads his line of sight. “That’s Gale. Newton’s new boxing toy. Came outta nowhere about a month ago. He’s undefeated so far in his district, and Newton specifically wanted to see you up against him tonight,” Danny tells Gojo, resting his elbow up on his bare shoulder. “Chances are he’ll compete with Tarp for final bid if you win this one. I’m talking twenty-five grand in the next if you can knock him out in this.”

“Uh-huh,” Gojo acknowledges, rolling his shoulder so Danny’s elbow falls from it. Forget the money, he just wants to make it out of this alive.

He sets his foot up on the square, ducking through the dividing boundary straps and the tacky caution construction tape that the gym thinks creates an exciting ambience. He hears the static of the speakers as the announcers call out Gojo’s name, then this other guy, loud bass club music booming through Gojo’s chest as he tries to take a few deep breaths through the thick air of this low-ceiling arena. 

The dim overhead lights flickered, casting shadows over the makeshift ring, and the crowd pressed tight around at every perimeter area, yelling and pushing, one even tosses a beer bottle on the square and it shatters, spreading glass all across, a few shards reaching Gojo’s feet and he looks down at them with a shudder. A fight immediately breaks out in the crowd over something related or possibly entirely unrelated, and he’d have no way of knowing as he swipes the shards away with his heel.

The influential men always sat up on higher seating, off towards the back in their own VIP section where they suck in the smoke of fat cigarettes and peer through 100% tinted sunglasses to assess the boxers they’ve bid thousands on. The light reflects off the golden grills of their teeth with every snarl at any passerby that gets too close, like a lion in its den. That’s what the sanction was called. Lion’s den.

Gojo sighed, eyeing the twisted grin of this Gale guy across from him. Was that his real name? Usually, foreign district guys get nicknames. Gojo’s always thought the nicknames were tacky, and he’s accumulated some of his own over the years, but to his ears, none of them ever really landed, although The White Fox admittedly was kinda nice. Reminded him of throwback shooting games. 

He sucked a breath in through his teeth, holding his hands up in front of his chest in weak fists, storing energy in them in the form of pure anticipation alone, and then the bell rang.

His opponent lunged towards him immediately, fists flying in a barrage of reckless strikes, and Gojo’s eyes momentarily widened in the briefest moments of hesitation he had been allowed before ducking and dodging every one of this guy's shots, then jumping a step back to create distance.

Fuck. He was fast. Not just boxer fast, athlete fast. There was a difference. And it wasn’t a good one to be up against.

Gojo picked up light on his feet. He couldn’t win this one fast, that much was certain. One single careless or reckless move, and he’ll get tackled. He knows that by the malicious look he sees on that guy’s face, grin wide like he’s some cannibalistic beast. 

Stepping back towards the center, Gojo purposefully set himself up for Gale to swipe a vicious hook towards his head, before Gojo last minute ducked down, crouched to the floor, and swung his leg out to knock the guy off balance by his ankles, and he falls onto his back with a loud thud!

There’s a moment of momentary silence from the crowd, right before Gojo put the man in a torso-lock, twisting him in a way a human body should absolutely not be twisted, hearing the grunts of pain and the crack of spine even through the shouts of the crowd.

He can hear it. Kill him! Knock his fucking teeth out! Snap his neck like a goose, man! FIN-ISH HIM! FIN-ISH HIM! FIN-ISH HIM!

He feels like throwing up. 

Gojo looks up at the referee, who wasn’t really a referee, just there to run the clock when there was action and only barely stop it before near death. “This is enough, right?” he asks.

The referee nods. “1-0, next round.”

Gojo lets go of his opponent, leaving him there to heave for a moment before he gets up onto his feet again. Just needs one more, and he’s a winner. Ten grand in his pocket, and he won’t have to come back here for a couple weeks.

Gale gets up, swiping at the spit that had trickled out the corner of his mouth down to his chin, and he had an enraged look on his face. The second the bell rang for the second round, he exploded forward towards Gojo with even more fervor than before, gritted expression with a thirst for violence fueling the storm of punches he was throwing towards Gojo but he tried to remain calm, light on his feet, swiftly duck and avoid before he can find another opportunity to clear a sharp, clean jab right to the ribs—

sometimes, i think of when you kissed me

Gojo misses his strike, leaving his guard wide open, and Gale takes the opportunity to land a solid punch straight to his jaw, sending his mouth guard flying straight out of his mouth into the air, and knocking him backwards onto the ground with a thud and then he finds himself staring up at the rusting metal ceiling and a ringing in his ears that almost matches the roar of the crowd.

His head is in a haze, dizzy like where one second could feel like a millennia. He feels a soreness underneath his chin, a pain that radiates to his mouth, and he briefly swipes his tongue over his front teeth to make sure he still has all of them. 

What the fuck was that? That intrusive thought. There’s no intrusive thoughts allowed in life or death situations, not when he was always just one smash to the head away from a permanent concussion. But, fuck, he can’t help it. Can’t help thinking of you. Even when his vision has gone blurry and he should really be weary about what happens next in this ring, his mind’s just thinking about you, at some frat party, tipping back shots of tequila and waiting for a text-back in response to your tipsy ones. Were you even waiting up on him? Have you already passed out on the couch, or were your friends dragging you back to your dorm? Or are you fucking some other dude right now? Has he got his hand up your top, squeezing at you, sleazily feeling you up before spilling beer all down your shirt, and are you kissing him back with the same enthusiasm, your phone now somewhere long slipped between the cushions of the couch and out of sight?

Even though it’s still sore, he tenses his jaw. Grinds his teeth, even. Tasting blood somewhere along the line of his gums, he realizes his lip is split. He licks at it, the flavor of copper more rich on his tongue, and he clenches his fists tightly. Why’s he thinking of that right now? It just pisses him off, the thought of you with some other dude. Maybe that’s what he needs to win this fight. Spite. Although he’s not sure why the guy across from him at the ring has to pay for it.

He lifts his head up off the ground, and while it felt like years he had been down, a glance at the timer tells him it’s only been a solid four seconds. A solid four seconds that his opponent had to fully charge a lunge towards him with the look of death in his face, raising his elbow up into the air in time with his leap, ready to come straight down, and Gojo’s eyes widen at the sight above him from where he’s still lying on the wood.

“Shit—” he cusses, rolling his body over to the side so that the dude falls straight down onto the floor rather than elbow Gojo in the fucking ribs, and then he gets back up on his feet. 

Stakes were high, he has to end this, he has to end this now, and he flexes the muscle in his right bicep, channeling everything he has into this one blow, and before Gale even really has a chance to turn around and face him again, Gojo’s already three-fourths set up a knockout undercut that he drives straight up the guy’s chin, with so much force it has him lifting up off the floor, a vertebrate stretch to his spine before he’s sent flying backwards and slammed against the tight rubber lining of the ring to where he was half hanging over it.

The room fell silent for a split second, then erupted in a roar as the referee fell to one knee beside Gale, checking him for any semblance of consciousness, and when he found none, he waves the match off. 

Gojo’s eyes flit up towards the lion’s den, the only opinions that he really needed to care about were sitting in those mahogany chairs with glasses of scotch swirling around in their hands, and he sees some of them looking straight at Gojo before leaning towards one another and discretely talking about something he can’t make out because he doesn’t know how to read lips.

He feels someone tug at his arms from behind, pulling him to crouch down and he balances back on the balls of his feet. He glances down through the ring at the floor. Danny was leaning against the wooden surface of it. “Dude. Go.” He jerks his head towards Gale, who still laid there sprawled across the now stretched out rubber perimeter bands. “Go fuck him up. Knock a few more teeth out, I don’t know, get some more blood out of him.”

“What?” Gojo huffs, yanking his arm away from Danny’s grip. “The fuck are you saying?”

“I told you, man, Newton’s here and he’s got his eye on you. Go give him a show,” Danny says, “do it.” And when he sees clear frustration on Gojo’s face he sighs. “Twenty-five grand, consider that, will you?”

Gojo sneers at the man, an awful taste in his mouth as he spits blood towards Danny’s feet. “Go fuck yourself on his cock if he wants a show that bad.” And then he ducks underneath the bands and hops back down onto the floor, pushing past people who were trying to grab at him and pull at him and lift him up and even throw him down until he made it through flashing hallways and back to the locker room.

He shuts the door behind him, sliding the bolt lock into the frame so no one can follow him inside, and then he leans his weight back against the chilling steel before tipping his head back until it hits the surface too.

He lets out of a few deep breaths, then stares down at the sting he finds over his knuckles. Red and blistering from the last punch he delivered, and he’s almost certain he broke a bone in his hand. Fuck. It was bleeding across the cuts, too. He had to figure out a way to get it all healed by tomorrow, as if that was humanly possible, just because he doesn’t want Yuuji questioning him about it.

Yuuji. For fucks sake, when has he ever thought about the kid this much? When has he ever thought about much of anything when he’s out here or in the ring? He’s a babysitter by day. He’s a “part” of your family when the sun is up and normal functioning society is breathing their lives into the clean air. That’s it. He’s no five-year-old’s caretaker in front of all these primetime drug lords, and he certainly shouldn’t be thinking of you when facing big, burly men he’s aiming to rough up, all within the dead hours of night. So then how come these thoughts are on his mind at all times, twenty-four-seven, around the clock?

He heads further into the locker room, glancing down at the bench where he’d left his phone, then picks it up, neck craned all the way down to glance at the screen as he holds his phone by his hip because he doesn’t have any energy to pick it up any further towards his eyesight. 

He sees your messages. You never sent any follow-up ones, just your horrendously typed out sonetimes, i thikn of when u kisse me *kissed me across the span of four texts, and Gojo runs a tired hand down his face.

He tips his head back to groan at the ceiling, guttural with no basis other than a release of all the pent up frustration of every sort, then he types in a couple messages to you,

3:23am Gojo Satoru: That’s nice 3:24am Gojo Satoru: I think about fucking you all the time 

—and then tosses his phone into his duffel bag to call it a night.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

You’re awoken to your alarm blaring heavily, and you whack your arm across your nightstand table beside your tiny twin-size bed to hit the snooze button, then rub your eye with a loose fist while smacking at the residual taste of alcohol you have on your tongue. 

“Mm…” you mumble to yourself. And then the thirst hits you. The overwhelming, intense, unquenchable thirst that leaves your mouth feeling like the Sahara desert before you grab your twice-dented Hydroflask from the nightstand, twist the cap off and chug about twenty ounces of water in one breath. 

You let out a deep exhale and fall back into bed, your hand resting on top of your water-filled tummy, and you stare up at the ceiling of your dorm. 

Last night was horrible. You knew you shouldn’t have gone to that frat party, especially given you have an exam in—you checked the time on your phone—about an hour, and an hour was not enough time to recover from the raging hangover headache that’s pounding through your head. But your roommates insisted you went, and so go you did. You never knew what to expect, always torn between shaving your pussy before you go or throwing on a stained pair of sweatpants to keep the guys away instead. Sometimes, it was a combination of both. But last night, you ended up drinking more than you usually do, and that always led to poor, poor, poor decisions, in which all the sense of pride you had in yourself was washed down with the puke that you hurled into the upstairs toilet. 

You grab at your phone again, briefly seeing that your friends had sent you some photos from the night. You immediately swiped off to the side to dismiss the notifications, because as far as you were concerned, you never wanted to see those photos in your life.

And then, in the briefest of moments, you saw a familiar name in your notifications that made you heart skip a beat.

Gojo Satoru (yuuji’s babysitter)

With an immediate gasp, you pulled your phone to your chest and held it there, blinking up at the pale yellow ceiling, your heart picking up in rhythm.

Oh fuck.

That was right.

You drunk texted him last night.

You drunk texted your little brother’s hot babysitter.

Fuck.

Mortified was an understatement, possibly because you don’t even remember what you said, and so you don’t even want to see what he replied with.

You groan, rubbing both your hands across your face then kick your sheets back with your feet like a child having a temper tantrum because you were so embarrassed you had even texted him at all last night. I mean, he was hot. A little older than you, really gorgeous eyes, tall, and, yeah, you gave him shit for the Instagram muscles thing, but that’s only because you thought he’d find it cheeky that you were trying to humble him despite the fact that he’s more toned and ruggedly sculpted than any other man you’ve ever met. You didn’t want to have a flustered schoolgirl attitude because it would just seep through to his ego.

In any case, he was hot, there was no denying it, so can you really blame yourself? But still. There was collateral with this. You had to see him every other weekend. He knows your family, even your extended since they invited him to Thanksgiving dinner a couple weeks ago. A high-risque drunk text recipient if he ever was one (of course he has been, look at that face). Why couldn’t you have just drunk texted ECON160 guy from last semester who Clit DJ’d you underneath your desk at the back of the lecture hall instead?

The thing that made you nervous about Gojo Satoru was that he was just so…confident? Like, in that I was raised to be this way confident and not that I fought inner demons my whole life to barely end up this way confident, y’know? Never had to fake it ‘til he made it, he just was. At least that was the kind of energy you got from him, and unfortunately for you, it was nerve wracking but enticing all at the same time.

You sigh. “Stupid. Stupid. Stuuuuuupiiiiidddddddddddd. You. Are. So. Stuuuuuupiiiiddddddd,” you sigh, running your hands through your hair to grip at the strands.

You pull your phone away from your chest, and finally brave yourself to read the texts from your notifications screen, but not without blurring your vision a little to further stall. And then you finally refocus it to read them. The first one you see has you gasping—

3:24am Gojo Satoru (yuuji’s babysitter): I think about fucking you all the time 

It has heat spreading across your cheeks, and you blink at your screen, then quickly swipe up to read the previous messages with rushed glides of your index finger on the screen to see that he had sent it to you in response to your barely coherent texts about how you still so often think about that time he randomly pressed you up against the door of your bedroom to kiss you that night you first met him.

I think about fucking you all the time

At 3 in the morning? He decided to send that text at 3 in the fucking morning? That was the devil’s hour. What’s he trying to tell you? 

Oh come on, you’re not stupid. And you know he isn’t either. The sexual tension was palpable, it was there since the day you two met and you almost stabbed him, and also everytime you were visiting the house, and his shoulder brushes against yours when he’s trying to get past you in the kitchen, or when you’ve got Yuuji in your arms and the kid is clinging to Gojo’s sleeve because he wants him near him at all times. There’s even sexual tension over the phone, in those stupid texts he sends you all the time about meaningless child care stuff, and honestly, those little updates made your day.

But… you don’t know much about him, and your mom would kill you if she ever found out you wanted him. And she’d probably pulverize him if she found out he ever made a move on you. Cremated without leaving a trace behind would be an understatement. She thinks he’s no good and she thinks you’re too good. You know she’s warned him before to not get close to you, as if she was pre-emptively expecting him to try to get in your pants like it was some canon force of the universe, hence why he’s probably so fucking awkward around you whenever she’s there too. Like if he accidentally got caught staring at your ankles, your mom would light him on fire, so he’d rather not risk it by just avoiding looking at you at all.

Your mom has always been protective of you. Your father was a deadbeat, one she thought she loved, only to watch him leave. And she had to raise a baby all by herself. He re-entered your lives right before you graduated high school, knocked up your mom again with Yuuji, and guess what? Left again without a trace. To be doubly humiliated by a man is a fate you wouldn’t wish on any woman, but that’s exactly what your mom went through. It was a wake-up call for her, though. No more living paycheck to paycheck like you had been your whole lives up until Yuuji was born. The kid doesn’t even know how lucky he is with everything he has right now. Your mom worked her way up the corporate ladder and made something of herself and now you guys were comfortable, so it was safe to say she had some sort of right to look after her daughter, of whom she simply doesn’t want to follow in the same naive footsteps of her youth.

You get it. She wants to break the generational cycle. But it made being with men tough on all fronts, let alone dating. You could never bring a guy home because he’d never be enough, even if he cured cancer or could make you orgasm while doing a sixty-nine handstand. And while her overbearing paranoia over what you do or where you are or who you’re with has since dimmed slightly since you officially moved out to finish your last year of higher education at NYU, you can still feel her disappointment from a hundred miles away when you’re making out with some random frat guy on his beer-stained couch at eleven AM on a Tuesday.

But you got to college. You’ve already made it this far. You’re on dean’s list. You graduated high school as salutatorian. You’re the most highly decorated cello player in the state. You won Miss County pageant when you were sixteen for your philanthropic efforts towards feline leukemia. You did online community college for three years so you could stick back after high school and help your mom raise Yuuji, which meant that you had to forfeit your scholarship to Cornell. You’ve spent your whole life being good, you just wanna be bad for a little bit.

And if bad meant fucking the hot and mysterious babysitter, then so be it. 

You pick your phone up, begin blasting what the hell by Avril Lavigne on your dorm room bluetooth speaker, then type a message to him that says—

10:34am you: do it then

—then shove your phone under the sheets and belt out the lyrics aaaall my life i’ve been good, but now, ahhhh i’m thinkin’ what the hell!!! while kicking your feet and clutching your pillow.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Gojo has no clue what divine entity has overcast their gratuitous spirit over him on this blessed Monday afternoon, but he’ll thank them for it later once his balls are empty. 

He’s got you on your back, sprawled across the couch in the living room, the first fuck being a rushed one that you offered him with before he has to go pick Yuuji up from circle time at preschool, which wasn’t ideal, but he’s delirious at the sight of you underneath him right now. Your little NYU shirt, a tighter one this time, bunched up over your bare breasts, otherwise entirely naked other than the flimsy panties dangling at your ankle, and the view of the tip of his cock looking hot and heavy against the velvet of your cunt, slowly pushing in, feeling the warmth of your walls squeeze around him paired with the sweet moan that leaves your lips, makes him fall forward with a bracing hand dug into the cushion by the side of your head because the sensation feels so fucking good he can hardly keep himself upright.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he grunts, pushing himself in further to try and bottom out but he’s still got a couple inches he needs you to take, and so you curl your hips upwards towards the cieling to make more room for him, practically putting yourself into a mating press and soon enough he’s balls deep, “you on any birth control?”

“Uh-huh,” you moan, eyes closed and head tipped back with one hand squeezing your own tit.

“I can cum inside then, yeah?” he asks you, pushing your knees to your chest, slowly drawing his hips back and you squirm underneath him.

“Let’s get there first, and then we’ll discuss,” you breathe out.

“I’ve been there for the past ten minutes, baby. I could cum at any second with the way you look and feel,” he informs you flatly, because it was just the truth and you had to know it, then he feels himself twitch inside, slowly working up to a languid rhythm, almost fearfully like your mom’s going to pop out somewhere around the corner with a camera crew ready like one of those retro TV shows just to humiliate him on national television for not keeping it in his pants like she’d told him to. 

“Harder,” he hears you whisper, and he rolls his eyes shut to just focus on the feeling. The feeling of your nails grazing down the skin of his chest and his abs, tracing the scars he’s collected over the years, and he feels you tightening around him. He leans down to kiss you, fucking you properly now with the squeak of the couch springs echoing across the room, your hums of moans seeping through his lips until he’s fully taking them on with an open-mouthed kiss of sloppy tongue. 

The fact that it was wrong felt right to him, and he realizes in this moment he’s lost all sense of control. He wasn’t just an adrenaline junkie that liked to rough up dudes, he was an adrenaline junkie that wanted to fuck you against all better judgement or moral compass. The way your tits were bouncing, the slap of skin on skin, his balls slapping against your ass while you wrap your legs around him tighter, all convincing him that any consequence made it worth it.

“Good,” he groans the praise, pinning your hands above your head as he rams his hips against yours, your cute moans and squeals sounding like literal music to his ears and he feels heat spread all the way up his neck, “goooood, keep squeezin’ me like that, fuck.” He slows down momentarily, just to take a moment and watch, really look and see the way his length disappears inside of your pretty self with every push forward, and then he works back up to a relentless pace that has you tipping your head back with a slack jaw and eyes closed tightly shut, sprained expression of pleasure spread across.

“Oh, oh my god, Satoru—” you mewled and he felt dizzy from the sound of his name from your softly parted lips.

“Fuck, I’m gonna—” His hand finds it’s way between your legs, calloused pads of his fingers brushing against your clit and you jolt underneath him, gasping as your hand shoots out to dig your nails into his bicep for purchase. “I’m gonna cum, better tell me where you want it.”

“In me,” you moan, “nowhere else.”

He presses his mouth against your cheek in a lazy smile, “Atta girl,” he drawls before pushing your ankles down as far as they’d go near your ears, folding you in half and then reigns all hell into your cunt. He should really care a bit more about your pleasure, but testing your flexibility like this with both his hands holding you down was doing sinful things to his brain, and besides, you had yourself covered with the messy circles you were rubbing over your clit. It was hot to see that too, your nimble pretty fingers so close to the place where he was pounding into you. 

“Oh shit, shit, shit—” he grunts when starts to see blistering white in his vision, balls straining with a pleasure that was almost painful. The moment he finishes feels like hot flashes in his brain, a heat like the cum he begins to paint inside your walls in time with your release, thrusting over and over and over, each one more staggered as he lets off a long, drawn out groan that comes from deep within his chest with the feeling of you milking him dry and the sound of you enjoying every second of it. He can’t remember the last time he came this much or this hard and even after coming down from the high, he feels the remnant pulse of your orgasm around his now half-flaccid dick.

He leisurely pulls out, hearing you let out a soft whimper as he marvels at the sight of his cum slowly dripping out of you and down towards the couch, before he scoops it up with a couple fingers and pushes it back inside. You grip his wrist tightly, but you weren’t stopping it, that motion of him plunging it all back into you.

“Want a taste?” he asks, casually.

“Mhm,” you nod, face looking flush.

He pulls his fingers out of you, coated with sex, then plugs your pussy with the fingers of his other hand because he kinda likes the idea of you walking around all day with him inside of you, so he doesn’t want it getting out. He’s then pushing his other fingers past your lips, pleased to find he’s met with not even so much as a grazing of teeth, and he grins, “bet you take a dick in your mouth as good as you take it down here.”

Your furrow your brows at him, the pout of your lips seen in the way they were puckered to lick his fingers off clean, and when you release the suction with a smack of your tongue and his fingers were wet from your saliva now, his eyes narrow with desire. You push his face away with the heel of your palm to his forehead. “Flattery won’t make me suck your dick.”

“Alright. So? How is it?” he jerks his chin towards your face, pushing against your hand with his forehead until he’s hovering over you again, “taste good?”

“It’s cum, Satoru.”

He shrugs. “Bad?”

“No,” you say, and you can’t make eye contact, “good.” You sigh. “Hot. I don’t know. Salty, sweet. I’m the sweet. You’re the salty. And this conversation is obscene.”

He kisses you, capturing your lips softly, tongue darting out to taste what’s on yours. “I like it that way. Dirty. Nasty. Obscene, whatever.”

There’s the slam of a car door heard from the driveway, and the two of you instantly make eye contact with round eyes.

“Sa—” you stutter, “Satoru.”

He gets up off the couch in a panic, and heads to the window of the living room fully butt-ass naked, then peers through the blinds to see—

Your mom was making it up towards the front door, rustling with her keys in her purse. And the last thing he sees before he turns around to face you is her pushing the keys through the lock.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” he cusses, finding his boxers off of the floor, hopping on one foot with his cum & slick coated dick flapping around and slapping against his thighs unceremoniously as he tries to get one leg in through them and then the other. You’re trembling as you hook your panties back into place, pull your shirt back down your torso, and even in his extremely panicked state, he’s still sad he can’t freely stare at your tits anymore. You’re rummaging for your skirt in a haste, looking everywhere for it, and he finds it underneath the coffee table before tossing it to you and then he side-to-side hops towards the coat closet while he pulls his sweatpants up over his ass, in time for you to quickly run and shut the door of the closet closed just before the front door of the house swings open.

The inside of the coat closet is dark, barely enough space in there for a six-foot-four two-hundred-and-twenty pound man, but it’s better than being balls deep inside his boss’s daughter on the couch when said boss just came home from work.

He hears conversation on the other side of the door, albeit muffled, and he presses his ear to it to hear better while he tucks his dick into his boxers from where it was hanging over the waistline.

“Mom! You…you’re home so early,” he hears you squeak out.

“Yes,” your mom says, “The rest of my meetings today are online, so I figured I’d come home when there’s less traffic.”

Gojo feels you lean against the coat closet door.

“I see, I see, how was your day at work?” you ask with a tremble in your voice.

“Fine.” And then nothing. The silence could mean that was all she had to say, since your mom wasn’t really a woman of many words, or it could be a silence that means she’s suspicious about something. “Darling, why is your skirt flipped up and tucked into your panties? Your whole butt is showing.”

Through the wood of the door, he hears you softly gasp. “Oh, um, I just went to pee. Must’ve—…must’ve got caught when I pulled it back up.” 

“I see,” your mother says, and Gojo can hear her dropping her heels down near the shoe rack at the entrance. “You know, I really don’t like those short skirts you wear often. Maybe it’s just your generation, but I think it looks tacky and cheap.”

“Mom,” you say, in as stern of a voice as you can manage without sounding embarrassed.

Your mother sighs. “In any case, where is Satoru? I still would like him to go pick up Yuuji. I don’t have the patience to sit in preschool & daycare traffic right now.”

“Oh gosh, I don’t know,” you chirp, and then he hears you let out a small oh no before you lean even more weight against the door, this time somewhere lower, and he realizes you’re pressing your ass against it. His eyes narrow with a small frown, and then he realizes— his cum must still be trickling down your thighs. You couldn’t put your panties on fast enough. 

Shit. That’s hot. A little fucked up, but hot. He feels his dick harden against the fabric of his boxers, and he rests his forehead against the door, fringe stuck to his forehead with sweat as he slips his hands down his sweatpants and then gives his cock a firm squeeze. The thought of you discretely swiping his cum up your inner thigh and smearing it against your thin panties so your mom doesn’t catch sight of it dripping down your legs has him slowly working up to a rock-solid erection, and he almost lets out a broken grunt from the feeling.

“What?” your mother says, “what do you mean you don’t know?”

“I’ve just been watching TV this whole time,” you say, “last time I saw him…he was…um, in the backyard pulling weeds?”

He lets out a small scoff through his nose at your cover-up. Cute. And not bad. 

Your mother sighs loudly, and he glances down at the strained veins on his dick as he tugs it through his hand, the tip rearing and appearing flushed and dripping with precum. God, you were just on the other side of this door. Less than a few inches away, and he’d be inside of you. 

“I’m going to take a shower. Go find him and tell him to pick up Yuuji soon. But before then, change into something less revealing,” your mother says in a more or less detached tone, and he can hear the stomps of her footsteps up the stairs from above him in the coat closet.

The two of you wait at least a solid minute, and just when the coast is clear, he hears you turn the knob of the coat closet and slowly crack it open.

“Okay, I think she’s in the shower, I hear the water running,” you whisper at him, “you can go now—” You glance down towards his groin, your jaw dropping. “What—…Satoru, why the fuck is your dick staring at me right now?!” you whisper-hiss at him.

He pulls you into the coat closet, pushing your front against the door to where it clicks shut, and you gasp when his hands pin your wrists crossed behind your back and his dick presses into the plush of your ass.

“You talkin’ to your mom while your pussy’s stuffed full of my cum was the single hottest thing that’s ever grazed my lizard brain,” he tells you, flipping your skirt up and hooking your panties to the side, his index finger briefly brushing against your entrance to find it still leaking from the way your walls were pulsating from his words. And then he aligns his tip to your entrance. “Now keep quiet while I do this, ‘kay?”

“Oh—” you gasp, your cheek pressed against the door as you arch your back and push your ass out for him, “okay—” you say, barely vocalizing the first syllable before he’s already stuffing himself inside of you with one solid glide of a push, making you yelp loudly and he has to instantly cup a hand over your mouth.

“Shhhhhh,” he hisses at you, immediately starting to pound you from behind, “told you to— fuuuck,” he catches sight of his length covered with a mix of your glassy arousal and his white cum, now starting to cream at the base of his cock, “jesus christ—” he breathes out, squeezing the flesh of your ass harshly with his other hand and you let out another yelp, “I told you to fuckin’ keep quiet.”

“I’m—mff,” you muffle against his palm, “I’m trying but,” your hips move back in time with his, “feels good, feels too good,” you mewl, and his hand desperately yanks up the fabric of your shirt so he can squeeze at your breast.

“Yeah?” he grunts, hypocritical for telling you to keep it down when he was slamming his hips against your ass with so much fervor he wouldn’t be surprised if the sound was reverberating across the entire house, “you like it when I fuck you while your mom’s all clueless just up the stairs?” His rhythm falters, feeling his release building, and his hand reaches in front of you to rub your clit, making you drop your head against the door with tightly closed eyes. “Gets— you—wet, doesn’t it?” he torments you, his lips near your ear as he slams his hips against you harshly with every enunciated syllable. 

“Mhm, mhm,” you easily agree, or maybe that’s because it’s all you can really articulate, and he angles his hips up so his balls slap more fervently against your clit, making you scream into his palm while he picks up the pace of the circles he draws on your clit and in one, two, three— beats of his pounding heart, he feels you come undone around his cock, gushing wetness leaking out of you, he can feel the mess of fluids splattering on the skin of his thighs due to each of his heaving thrusts as he cusses out a fuuuuuuckkk before spilling his cum inside of you, a short-lived and thicker release this time that has you mewling from overstimulation, and in a few following thrusts, he’s given you everything he had to give.

His eyes open, he wasn’t even aware he had shut them in the first place, and he glances down at where the two of you were joined. Rings of arousal coat the length of his half-pulled-out dick, and the second he retreats all of it, a bulging push of his cum seeps out of you, dripping and pooling all over the hardwood floors.

“Holy shit, I wish I could take a picture of this,” he says, taking a step away to commit the sight to memory, your legs trembling and still slightly spread, ass pushed out and when you wiggle it a little, he lets out a huff of an exhale because he just can’t believe how sexy you are. Are all college girls like this? He’s never been to college, his old man’s been trying to get him to go for years, but maybe this is what finally convinces him.

“No pics,” you breathe out once you catch your breath, standing up straight slowly, “that’s my one sex rule.”

He takes a step closer to you, flipping your skirt back over your ass while you shimmy your shirt down to cover your chest. “That’s the only rule you have? Anything else goes?” he asks.

You spin around to face him, his eyes briefly flitting down to the still exposed skin of your midriff. “I have a feeling I’d be making up more specific rules if it was with you.”

He smiles, his hands grabbing your hips before pressing you up against the door again. “I also had a rule. It was to not fuck you. Wait, no, to not flirt with you. Which, technically, I didn’t do.”

You blink your eyes at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“What?” he asks, genuinely confused, “I didn’t.”

“Huh—” you scoff, “how do you think we got into this situation in the first place?? You didn’t just say wanna fuck? You were insufferably flirty with me.”

“Nahhh nah nah nah nah, baby, that’s not flirting,” he tells you, thumb running circles over your hips, “that’s, like—…I don’t even fuckin’ know how it worked on you to be honest, I was just being stupid.”

“Oh okay so I’m stupid.”

“I never said you were stupid?”

“Well you said you were being stupid so me falling for it must mean I’m stupid.”

“Pshhh. You’re cute. Pulling weeds, by the way? Adorable.”

Your hand slowly roams up the front of his shirt, the fabric bunching at your wrists until you uncovered up to his collar bone, and you stare at his skin. He tries to not let the way his heart’s beating faster show through the heave of his chest. 

“Why do you have all these scars, anyway?” you whisper to him.   

“Too many girls tryna stab me,” he tells you.

You roll your eyes. “Seriously.” Your thumb traces the one you had left on him. 

“I—” He stops himself.

Does he tell you? Should he tell you? What, just because he’s seen you naked and you took his dick like a queen he’s supposed to open up to you about these things now? He doesn’t know. Maybe he could? Maybe you already suspect what he does at night. And if not, at the very least, I’m an underground boxer might make you think he’s hot? At the very worst, you’ll report him to the cops and he’d get fired as your little brother’s babysitter then thrown into jail, but not before the busted cartel gets him first.

“Maybe I’ll tell you some other time,” he says, his hand wrapping around your wrist and pulling it from his chest, “no hyper personal details until you’ve had my dick in your mouth at least once or twice. That’s my one rule.”

You snort. “I could’ve guessed that rule from a mile away.”

He hums. And then there’s the sound of steps creaking down the stairs above the two of you.

You both make eye contact, eyes widening, internally yelling at each other: how the fuck did we get into this situation twice?!

This time, Gojo opens the door and stumbles out of the closet, leaving you inside of it, just in time for your mom to come down the stairs.

“Satoru. I was looking for you,” she says as she rounds the post. “Have you picked up Yuuji? He has to go for his swimming lessons soon.”

“Ah, nope, was just about to head out,” he says, letting out a cough to diffuse tension, “sorry, I was—” he points his thumb over his shoulder to behind him, “…pulling out some gnarly weeds.”

She narrows her eyes at him. “I see. Well, thanks. If you want, I can add a gardening stipend to your paycheck. Let me know.” And he’s not sure how to respond because he’s not sure if she’s joking. 

He heads out the door, the keys to your mom’s minivan in his palm as he throws them up into the air and catches them a couple times. And just before he gets inside the car, he turns on his heel to face the house and pulls his phone out of his pocket to type in a message for you.

3:22pm Gojo Satoru: Send over those me-specific sex rules soon

.

.

.

[the end]

a/n. hope u enjoyed im shitting bricks posting this bc i haven't posted a oneshot smut since february but thanks so much for reading i appreciate u!! i got way too invested in the whole underground boxer thing 😂😂 but the fact i managed to keep everything under 12k is an accomplishment to me bc if u read my other fics you know i’m a yapper LOL i have another kind of a similarly written smut oneshot n it’s a lil angsty (totally different au tho) i’ll probs post that one next but yea i really like, hmm, i really like exploring entire characters within a short amount of time i enjoy writing the obscure lore drops xd it’s been kinda fun so far anywho much loveee hope to see u around! <3

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[chenlesfavorite]

New Year’s Eve, the occurrence that only happens once a year, at the end of December. It’s the time when everyone is grateful for each other, making New Year’s resolutions, and just having a great time in general. After all, New Year’s Eve is a few days after Christmas as well, so, that’s why everyone is even happier. Who wouldn’t be happy getting gifts and being able to spend time with your loved ones?

You and the others were currently making your way to the Square where the New Year’s countdown will be happening. Rumor has it, that there are gifts to buy there! Even snacks and drinks will be served to people who come... and of course, can’t forget the most important thing, fireworks!

Fireworks are such a beautiful thing, seeing them go up and illuminating the night sky is such a lovely sight, one that you can’t help but smile at, and just adore with all of your heart. Even if the sound of them bursting can be a little scary at times.

After a 15-minute walk, you guys arrive at the Square, and wow, the crowd of people there made you surprised for sure. “I see the gift displays!” Yuqi points at the stand and then looks at everyone. “I’m heading over there first!” She spends no time waiting for a reply and starts dashing towards the stand, Shuhua and Bae following after her.

“Jeez, those three...” Taeyong sighs but laughs afterward. Making the rest laugh slightly too. “Well, at least we arrived not too late. There’s 20 minutes until it reaches New Year.” Ten says, crossing his arms and his body showing a shiver. “I’m gonna find a place to get warmed up, I’m freezing!” Ten walks away with Yangyang joining alongside him.

“And there were 5...” Kevin speaks up, making some strange movements with his hands. “Where are the free drinks that were promised? I’m thirsty as hell.” Johnny says, looking around but not noticing anything. He was expecting to see a sign that said ‘free drinks!’ or... at least, something like that.

“Yo, I mean, It’s probably somewhere around here, just gotta look around real good,” Mark replies, and Taeyong nods to what he said. “Let’s look around together,” Taeyong says and everyone agrees to stick together for the time being.

-

After a long time of looking around, eating snacks, drinking champagne, wine, other alcoholic substances, fizzy drinks, anything you can think of really. Everything was being served, for free as well! How crazy.

There were 2 minutes left on the timer; luckily, everyone was together right now, just talking and sharing some memories that had been created in the past. “No, but- remember when that scam caller called Yangyang and said that he has his daughter? I peed myself hearing him share that!” Ten brought up, almost tearing up because apparently, he found that absolutely hilarious.

“I was so confused like... what daughter are you talking about?” Yangyang added on, shrugging his shoulders.

The air was filled with joy and happiness. The timer reached 1 minute now. As you are about to say something about it— Mark takes your hand and pulls you away from the others. “Hey— where are you going with her!?” Yuqi gets ready to run after you two but Ten holds her back. “Let the lovebirds go.” He says to her, winking as he knew what was gonna happen.

Mark leads you away from everybody, like... quite literally, everybody. You two were alone and a bit away from the center, though, you could still hear the muffled chatter of people. The snow that was falling made this much more romantic than it was meant to be.

“Mark... why’d you drag me here?” You inquire, taking your hands back as Mark lets them go. You fiddle with your fingers as you don’t know what to expect right now, just what is he planning?

He takes a deep breath before taking both of your hands. You gulp- biting the bottom of your lip as you await his words and actions.

“Y/N, it’s... not easy to say this but, gosh, this is gonna be so cringe.” Mark looks away for a moment, a red color creeping up to his ears. You tilt your head to the side, a grin on your lips. “Just say it!” You speak up, letting out a little laugh afterward.

“Okay, here goes.” He takes a deep breath once again, now creating direct eye contact with you, which makes your heart skip a beat for a second. “Y/N. Ever since I first laid my eyes on you, I... I guess you could say I fell in love at first sight. You were just so pretty, and the way you spoke? It made my stomach flutter, I still don’t understand why. Like dude, what I’m trying to say is that I’ve never met a more perfect girl than you... even if you are bad at chemistry, but that doesn’t matter to me.” He laughs before continuing.

“Y/N, did you know that in Greek mythology, humans were created with 4 arms, 4 legs, and 2 faces? But Zeus feared their power so he split them into two separate beings, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves and, Y/N,” He pauses once again, a serious but gentle expression on his face.

The timer hit 20 seconds.

“You are my other half. My soulmate. The one I wish to desire to spend my life with, hell, even an eternity with.” Mark says, sighing.

“Mark...” You whisper his name, looking at him with an expression that can not be described. But if it could be? Love. It was with love. Perhaps even adoration.

He intertwines his fingers with yours, tightly holding onto them as if you were gonna be taken away from him. The red coloring spread from his ears onto his cheeks, and you couldn’t help but find it adorable. He has done so many bold moves on you, but he gets nervous at this moment?

The timer hit 10 seconds.

Then 5.

“What I’m trying to say is that I love—”

The timer had 1 more second left, and you took that chance to kiss him, cutting his words off. The moment you placed your lips onto his, the fireworks went off into the air, bursting as you two shared a very beautiful intimate moment with each other.

Mark was surprised as he didn’t expect you to be the one to straight up kiss him without any sort of hesitation at all but he did not reject it all, in fact, he was very accepting of your lips. He let go of your hands, but your hands by themselves made their way up to his shoulders and his hands moved down your torso and to your waist. He grips your waist and pulls you closer to him.

You two pull away from each other, both of your faces red but the one that was a complete tomato was Mark. He was left speechless by you and by the kiss.

“I love you too, Mark. I do.” You say, your lips curling up into a big smile. Mark pulls you into a hug, a tight one at that. Burying his face into the crook of your neck. Both of you soon broke out in laughter, a very happy laughter at that.

“So... does this mean we’re dating, yo?” Mark breaks the hug, asking you as if the answer is not obvious. You lightly punch his shoulder. “What do you think, Mark?” You say, giggling.

“Does that mean I can call you um... my girl? Or... if you prefer something else like, beautiful or-” You cut him off again by a quick kiss on the lips.

“Call me whatever you want.” You reply, taking his hand into yours. Intertwining your fingers with his.

“My girl it is then.” He says.

Silence grows in the air between the two of you but it was a comfortable silence. You two simply watched the fireworks still go off. It was such a beautiful moment, one that you would never forget and you would treasure forever.

You were more than proud to call him your lover, your significant other and so was he.

══════════════════

GOT MY ION YOU : chapter 28 — happy new year’s!

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══════════════════

[kessellluvr]

˗ˏˋ once in a lifetime ´ˎ˗ nsfw!

pairing: professor!lottie x spouse!reader (i might write more for this ‘series’) wordcount: 1k

warnings: smut, vibrator use, age gap, mommy kink, fingering, dirty texing, teasing

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ taglist: @glrlsriot @chig78 @nogenderblender9358 @mayasaurusss @jadeisnothere5

You and lottie have been married for about 5 years now, she was the perfect partner for you. The day you first saw her in that café, oh damn, you fell in love with her.. that long black braid, the layered strands that framed her face so perfectly, defining her high cheekbones and that beautiful jawline. You repeatedly went to that café, praying to see her again - and well, somehow you ended up marrying that goddess.

Lottie worked alot, but she was passionate about her job - helping people to get further education to success in life. Of course, it was hard only seeing her on weekend and in the evenings, but you managed. Lottie teaches psychology and maths (sorry not sorry), you didnt have a clue about either of them so you werent really a big help. You and Lottie text alot when shes at work, just talking and when you realise she wasnt in a good mood, you decided to lighten it up a little..

“Hey Lots, i miss you..” you sent, still laying in bed even tho it was 11:30am already. Lottie could never, she’s always been an early bird.

“I miss you too.” she texted you back and oh that was dry, wasnt it? She usually uses pet names in her texts, trying to get you worked up. “You okay?” you asked her, sighing to yourself as you put the phone aside, throwing the blanket off yourself and sitting up. Your phone vibrated on the bedside table and you went to check what she replied.

“Im fine, really.” you read, raising your eyebrow and scoffing. “No Lots, youre not, talk to me. I can tell youre pissed.” you werent gonna give up that fast. As she read your message and didnt reply, you felt a little sting in your heart. Leaving you on seen? Really? Anyway, you went to get out of bed, leaving your phone on the bedside table and making your way into the bathroom. You stared at yourself for a good minute before splashing some water in your face, drying it off with a towel before going to brush your teeth.

As you finished getting ready, slipping into some pj’s and a shirt, you went to check your phone again. Still, no answer. You sighed and decided to try something else - lifting your shirt and taking a quick picture of your tummy, the soft curve of your boobs peaking from beneath your shirt. You hit the sent button and added another message “Answer me..” Fuck. That sounded desperate.

Meanwhile, Lottie saw your message - raising a brow and opening the picture, her eyes going wide as she looked at it for a while, trying not to show how much it affected her since she was literally in a room full of colleagues right now. “Jesus.. im just a little pissed off cause we got our new schedule in, i have to work full eight hours on friday.”

Your eyes lit up as you finally saw her respond, reading her message before typing “Awh that sucks.. but youll get home earlier on other days then, right?” you asked and she replied with a “yes”, you smiled - finally you could get to see her more throughout the week. I mean, that one day of working full wasnt gonna hurt, right?

“So, are you teaching right now or are ya on break?”

“just started my lecture.” you smiled at your phone, deciding to tease her a little. “mhm, im feeling horny right now.. mommy what do i do?”

“jeez, you know what to do.” you just knew she was trying so hard not to show a reaction infront of her students.

“no, tell me what to do mommy..”

“get the bullet vibrator we got you.” lottie texted back, you smiled brightly at your phone and rushed into the bedroom to get the vibrator. it was rather small, a bullet-like shape but a little bigger. it was a hot pink colour, even had tons of diffrent levels.

“hm i got it..”

“take off your boxers, turn it on lowest level and press it against ur pretty little clit.” and you did as she said, pulling down your sweatpants along with your boxers and turning the toy on lowest level, spreading your legs and pressing it lightly onto your clit - gasping as it made contact. “done” you typed out - hands shaky.

lottie left your message on seen, you didnt really notice - getting lost in yourself. the bedroom door swung open and revealed lottie, you gasped once again and lottie just chuckled. “fucking hell, you werent gonna cum without me telling you to, were you?” she teased as she walked towards the bed, undoing the buttons of her blouse and throwing it to the floor carelessly. “n-no lottie..” you stammered out, the vibrator was turned off and laid to the bedside table. “d-dont you have some lectures to do?”

“fuck that. i said i wasnt feeling well.” lottie said while going to straddle your hips, pushing your upper body down to the bed. you bit your lip, looking up at her with needy eyes. lottie smirked down at you, leaning down to press a kiss on your lips, her tounge slowly pushing in and meeting the tip of yours. her hand slipped between you both, her finger grazing over your swollen, wet clit. you moaned into the kiss, feeling her applying more pressure to your sensitive bud, slowly circling it while not breaking the kiss. she pulled her lips off of yours, gasping for air while going to press her fingers against your entrance- slowly pushing in and curling up, making you throw your head back. she started pumping her fingers faster, making you gasp and moan, you felt yourself so close to cumming already - lottie just knew where to touch you to make you come quck. your moans got louder, more desperate for release. “cum for mommy..” and you did, letting yourself get consumed by the orgasmic pleasure as you cried out her name, your thighs clenching together. lottie kept fingering you through your orgasm - until she finally pulled out and looked at you with a satisfied smile. “now, let me take a shower and we’ll continue..”

“can i join..?” you asked, still catching your breath as you looked at her with those cute eyes. “cmon then.”

━。゜AN: i know its not much, but i hope you enjoyed >_<

[bridgemino]

MINOR CONTENT WARNING: This story contains some heavy topics!!

(This story is a bit of a duzie…so buckle up, buttercups!)

Hell in Hurricane

Hurricanes came and gone. The worst that had happened was a lost house or damage; nothing the rescue team couldn’t fix. They were scary, rainy and windy, but they had never needed to evacuate or relocate. It was an occasional phenomenon. One they had dealt with many times.

Jin wriggled along to the music that blasted through her headphones. She had found the song recently, and it had definitely placed in her favorites list. “Ba, da da dada daaaaaaAAH-“ she jumped up from her seat, her headphones flying off her head. The bass could be heard still from where they fell. “P-Poli! When did you show up?!”

Poli gave her a concerned look. “A few moments ago. Perhaps you should turn that down a bit, Jin.” He said, pointing his tire towards the headphones that were so loud, they vibrated across the floor. “Jeez! How high did you turn that up?!” His tone turned more playful than stern. But it quietly switched back.

“Ummm, moving on…do you need something, Poli?” She asked, turning the music off, and brushing the headphones to the side with her foot.

Poli shook his head. “No, I was just checking in. We could use some rain soon, though. Amber’s flowers are wilting..”

Jin nodded slowly. “Okay. Uh, hey Poli, can you get the rest of the team here? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you guys.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll make an announcement.”

…

“So you’re saying that this massive hurricane is coming, and you had no idea?” Helly hissed, looking both shocked and upset. “How are we supposed to prepare for a hurricane like this in less than two days?!”

Jin cringed. “I know, I know! I should’ve known that my broken weather machine meant no good…nghh..”

Roy moved forward. “Hey, instead of complaining, let’s work on getting the town ready for this storm. We only have a matter of hours til the storm hits, so we should get started now.”

Amber nodded. “Yes, but have we had a hurricane of this strength hit Broomstown? Do you think our town can handle it?” As pondered aloud, her eyes wide with worry.

“I don’t know.” Jin said, then slinking down into her chair. “It’s expected to be a strong category 5 hurricane by the time it reaches us.” She frowned.

“Perhaps we should evacuate some of the towns people to other towns with the other rescue teams?” Poli suggested. “We’ve never done it before, but perhaps it would be helpful. It would be easier to tend to the town without most of the people here. It will also be safer for them.”

Roy nodded, “That’ll work. We just have to see if Carry is willing to transport people back and fourth. It’ll take too long by boat, and the ocean is a bit rough right now. Cici also needs to be out of the harbor very soon to ensure she doesn’t get stuck out in that storm.”

“Right..”

Jin sighed, “Poli, you try to come up with a quick plan, and the rest of us will prep the town for a hurricane. Sound okay?”

“Mhm.” The room was silent for a few moments, but soon Roy turned. “Let’s go Helly, we can start by the harbor and make our way inland.”

“Okay, Roy!”

They soon disappeared, and Jin and Amber followed shortly after.

Now Poli sat alone in the empty HQ. He watched the hurricane radar on the screen in front of him. It was really big. Had they ever been hit by a Cat 5 before? It was a direct hit as well. Estimated 30 feet of storm surge..? It definitely wasn’t safe for everyone to stay, especially those near the harbor. Did they have any other choice besides evacuation?

Poli shook his head and sighed. It’s just the same as any other hurricane. He tried to convince himself. Treat it as so.

[26 hours until landfall - HARBOR]

The sound of the crane triplets loading luggage and other items onto Cici filled the harbor. The wind had begun to pick up, and clouds rolled in among the horizon. A large group of the townsfolk was kept towards the storage sheds. Most of the town was here, and anxious at that. They had little information on the situation other than there was a hurricane and they were being evacuated.

Spooky shivered in fear. “Cap, do you think the hurricane will be really bad? What if we come home and everything’s destroyed?!” He asked timidly, watching as Poli guided Carry to land.

Cap shrugged, “I don’t know Spooky. Nothing like this has happened before, so I really don’t know any more than you do.” He frowned as well.

Cleany moved a bit closer. “Have you seen the rescue team? They look really worried…”

“Yeah,” Spooky agreed. “Wait, is Posty coming? I haven’t seen him since the announcement.”

“Me neither,” Cap said. “Do you think he’s staying?”

“He would be out of his mind if he was.” A raspy voice sounded from behind them. They all jumped and whipped around. There was an old grey car behind them, black triangular glasses rested on his nose, “I’ve been through many hurricanes in my lifetime. All the ones I’ve seen here were little baby ones. This one ain’t no baby.”

Cleany gulped. “W-Well, no…I s-suppose not..”

“We’ll hopefully only be evacuated for a day depending on damages. Rgh…something about this storm is givin’ me bad vibes. If your friend a’ yours is stayin’ here, he’s gonna learn a big lesson ‘bout them hurricanes.” The car grumbled, driving off as Carry’s door opened for another round of people.

The three friends looked at each other, confused and worried.

“I hope Posty doesn’t stay then..” Cap muttered.

Spooky and Cleany both replied at the same time. “Me neither.”

[15 hours until landfall — MR.WHEELER’S TIRE SHOP]

Roy shuffled boxes over, letting out a sigh. “Mr. Wheeler, are you positive you want to stay? It won’t be very safe for you here. You can still catch Carry’s last flight out if you hurry.” There was the soft constant sound of wind blowing outside. Darker, meaner clouds were beginning to engulf the town. It wouldn’t be long now.

Mr.Wheeler shook his head. “Well, are you guys leaving?” He countered Roy’s question, raising a brow as he stood up.

“We have to stay.” Roy said simply. “Unless every Broomstown citizen we’re to leave, we must stay.”

“Then no.” Mr. Wheeler sniffed arrogantly. “I trust you guys enough to save me in worst case scenario. Plus, hurricanes usually significantly weaken once they make landfall.”

Roy didn’t say anything, but he pressed his lips together tightly. He knew there was no way to change his mind now, so he decided not to fight it.

“I want to finish my TV show as well, I’m pretty close to the end and I don’t know what will be available in…wherever that relocation place is.” Mr. Wheeler said.

“You know you’ll quickly lose power, right?”

Mr.Wheeler sighed. “I’ve been in a hurricane before. I also have a generator now, so I’ll be okay.”

Roy was at a loss for words, but what else was there to say? You’re an imbecile? That would just be plain rude… “Hey Mr. Wheeler, can I temporarily take down the sign outside of your shop? I just want to ensure as little debris flies around as possible.”

“Sure, do what you want with the place. Oh—say, who else is waiting out the hurricane?”

Roy shrugged. “There are quite a few other families and individuals who are riding it out. Most of the town left, however.” He pushed through the doors of Mr.Wheeler’s shop, and looked up towards the sign. He would have to take everything out front down, then tape and board up the windows. There was still so much work to be done, and so little time.

Roy climbed up to the sign, loosening the bolts.

Pitter…patter…

The rain slowly began. It was a soft sprinkle, but it was also the beginning of a long, long night.

Roy shivered at the thought. Hopefully Mr.Wheeler was right. The hurricane would make landfall, then dissipate. If only.

[10 hours until landfall — SIDE ROADS NEAR THE HARBOR]

Poli stood near the edge of the cliff that lead down to the water. He could already tell the water was very slowly rising, the waves crashed among each other constantly. The sea seemed to be at war with itself, as though fending off an imminent threat.

He watched as a large flock of birds battled against the slowly growing winds, their cries signaling abnormality. Poli was checking the emergency phones, yet he would be lucky if they still stood after this event. He stared down at the harbor. It was strange not seeing the crane triplets, Cici, or even Lifty down there. It was completely empty.

Moving the crane triplets had been a bit of a hassle, but they didn’t want to stay, and the rescue team had to fulfill that wish. It was almost like looking into a ghost town.

The birds soon faded into the distance, and the only sound that occupied the area was the raging waves of the ocean. There was a soft rumble among the horizon. The storm was getting closer.

Poli cought a hold on himself, driving on to the nearest emergency phone. He did a few quick inspections, came to the conclusion it was fine, and carried on. On his way back towards the heart of the town, he heard a voice.

“Poli! Wait!”

It was high pitched, and Poli knew exactly who it was. He sighed and turned around. “Hello, Posty. How are you so far?”

Posty soon caught up. “I’m well, thank you. I hope the preparations haven’t been too much of a hassle on you and you team?” He did seem a bit worried.

“It’s been fine. Just a little stressful, I’ll admit.”

“I can only imagine!” Posty exclaimed. “I hope everything turns out okay, these clouds are looking pretty mean..but anyways, I better be headed back. I need to do something important. Bye Poli!” He then raced off.

“Ah, goodbye Posty.”

Poli sighed again. Posty did have a point, the clouds were looking rather worrying. But he did suppose things wouldn’t stay bright and sunny forever. Even though sometimes he wished it did.

[5 hours until landfall — BROOMS FOREST]

Amber headed deeper into the forest, which was completely void of people now. She had to settle down some things and fix some other things, but otherwise it was just a quick skim of the forest. The wind effortlessly rattled the trees around her like toys. The previous sprinkles of before had now become fat, yet slow, droplets that plopped down from the sky.

Admittedly, she was nervous. Very nervous. Something in her gut screamed to get away from here as fast as she could, but there was no leaving now. Carry was not going to fly back in, and the storm was too close. It was a matter of hours now before it made landfall. It was creeping up on them like prey, and it was ready to kill.

The storm growled above her, eager and hungry. The winds tried to push her back, but she continued on. The storm was growing stronger as it approached Broomstown. It loomed over them like a dark shadow, cutting out the sun and glaring down upon them. It sent shivers down her spine.

Finally, she reached the emergency phone that she had needed to tend to. She stabilized it into the ground, then ran a quick inspection. Admittedly, she did not want to spend another second here. Leaves flew off of the trees, begging her to run with them. Run to some place safe. Somewhere that was not home.

This place reminded her of when she and the team had to rescue Helly during a hurricane. Not fun, considering she was basically in one right now.

Amber turned back, ready to head home. With every step her legs seemed to carry her faster, the wind assisting her until she was moving at full speed towards home.

[Landfall — HQ]

Jin stared as the rain lashed against the windows. The hurricane roared above them, shivering the building below them. The rain was already beginning to pile up within their parking area outside. Lightning flashed and thunder clapped loudly.

There was one thing that worried Jin. Her teammates. None had returned yet, and Jin was left alone within the confines of the rescue center. It was cold inside, unlike the humid outdoors. Jin shivered. She was unsure whether it was with fear, or if she was just cold.

Thunder roared, and the ground shook. Jin clutched her coffee.

Jeez, where are they? Jin wondered. They should have been back a while ago…

Jin wanted to go out and look, but the conditions were far too bad to go running out and about. She would just have to wait until she gets a sign.

[HELLY]

Rain pounded against Helly’s skin, leaving red marks with each hit. The wind hassled the rain around at such high speeds it hurt. And it hurt pretty bad. Helly swallowed as water began to pool at his feet. Town square was somewhat high up, yet still too close to sea level to be comfortable. He was far enough inland not to worry right? Or was the town closer to the water than he thought-? After all, he did live on a island…what if they water engulfed them entirely?

He shook the thought away, wading to grab hold of the Thunder statue. The water at his feet moved with speed. This water was not clear and sparing, it was muddy, dark, and mean. This water had no intentions on passing by lightly. To add to that, the rain came down quickly in large quantities, the water was quickly rising. Plus the harsh winds pushed him around, and he was obviously unable to fly.

WHOOSH.

Helly’s heart stopped. Something flew right past his head. Something metallic and hard.

KA-THUNG!

It collided with great force against a building behind him. He slowly turned around. It was a road sign. A road sign that had been pulled from the ground and launched at his head. A few inches over and…no. No, don’t think about that.

The clouds above erupted into a loud laughter, and the ground shook once more.

CRASH!

A tree branch snapped off a tree and slammed against a nearby building. The trees around him shivered in terror, as though they would be next to be torn apart by these winds.

I have to get out of here! Helly thought quickly, his eyes wide and his heart pounding. The water reached his ankles now. Helly waded through the water, clutching onto a tree after a few steps. “Ngh..” the wind prevented him from taking smooth steps. It pushed him back, trying to pull him down into the water.

There was a loud rumble in the distance. The loud sound thundered in his direction. Though this wasn’t thunder. It sounded more like…rushing water?

Then it clicked.

No. No, nononononono-! He thought frantically. The dam! The one that kept the town from completely flooding. It had broken! Helly didn’t have much time to think before he was swallowed up in the water. It hit him like a brick, slamming his body to the ground before the debris-filled water rolled over him.

He waved his arms around, trying to pull himself up to the surface. This had to be at least 5 feet of water that weighed him down. His head popped up above the water, and he gasped for air. The water moved quickly, sweeping him away. The storm cackled again above him, and he saw victorious lightning light up the sky.

The water pushed him under again, and he flailed helplessly. Then, his arm caught something. A tree branch! He clutched it hard, trying to pull against the current to get atop it. His legs began to feel tired, and he pushed harder. “Rgghh!! Helly c’mon!!” He cried to himself. “Agggh!” He hissed again.

Finally, Helly was upon the branch, and he lifted himself further into the tree. The wind growled at his success, and tried to force him back down into the rapidly rising water. Helly wrapped his arms around the trunk of the tree as the little branch snapped off. The bark dug into his arms, and oil began to spill.

“Help!” He cried, though he could barely hear himself over the thrashing rain and howling winds. His arms begun to hurt, the rain hit his back like bullets, the wind threatened to tear him off the tree and into the water, and the tree shook violently, barely managing to stay up.

“Help me! Somebody! Roy! Poli! Please! Anybody!” He sobbed he couldn’t tell whether he was crying or if it was just the rain slapping his face. Everything hurt now, his arms were tired, his legs were tired, his skin burned, his lungs burned. At this point, what didn’t?

“Poli! Please!” He cried, hiccuping between his cracked words. “Help me!” The water creeped up to his feet again, and he tried to push himself further up the tree.

Now he wasn’t even sure if any of his friends were even alive. None of them had ever called in their return, and if they were out here…Helly didn’t want to think about it, but it sat in his brain like a rock. He hadn’t eaten in hours yet he was disgusted by the thought.

Then, he saw something that made his heart want to stop. An arm. It was a human arm, there was no body attached to it, just a lonesome limb, wandering the world. Away from its home. Helly choked on his own saliva for a moment. He looked away, burying his face into the tree bark.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR……

The sound of the storm tearing apart what he once called home.

BANG, CRASH

The sound of debris of what was once his town being whipped around like toys.

CATHOOM

The sound of homes being washed away from their premises, and collapsing into the abuses below,

CRACK, SNAP!

The sound of the tree he clutched to breaking and bending, ready to come apart.

Helly didn’t know what to do anymore. He had no idea how he had come to this point, but he was terrified. His eyes were sealed shut as he used his remaining strength to hold on.

CRACK!

The tree leaned, and began to fall. Helly shot open his eyes to the piercing rain. Havoc. Pure havoc. He kicked away with his feet as the tree tumbled into the water with a groan, then disappeared in the abyss of death below. Now Helly clutched to the sharp, prickly remains of the stump, which was already beginning to be covered itself in water.

“….s-save me…” Helly whimpered. His strength was almost gone, and his arms wanted to give away. He wanted to sink into the death pit below it accept his fate. His teammates, his friends, his family…they were most likely there themselves. Helly didn’t what to die alone; not like this.

He wanted to be in the arms of his family. The ones who had brought him up and saved him. He was ready to give up.

Just as his strength was about to give into the harsh winds, to the beating rain, to the tornadoes that danced around him…it stopped.

Everything. The wind, the rain….everything. Helly shivered and looked up slowly. “Wh-wha..?” He was shocked he was still alive.

Was that the sun?

Was that the beautiful blue sky he missed so dearly?

The sun stared sadly down upon Helly. It seemed as though it wanted to cool everything down, remove the wind that sheered the land. But it could not.

Helly stared up at it, his tears reflected it’s beautiful rays.

He was in the eye of the hurricane.

All of the chaos, all of the pain, everything, had slowed to a stop. Now he had 20 minutes to decide what the heck to do. What to think.

Helly looked around. Mr.Wheeler’s shop was completely washed away now, trees had been pulled from their roots and their stems, stoplights, gates, fences all pulled up from the ground and tossed away.

Helly saw something. Something that for some reason…gave him hope. Oil. It remained separate from the water, refusing to give in to the storm. It was broken, and it strayed far from its home, but it remained strong and separated. It would not let itself be washed over by the water. Till it’s last drop it will fight.

Though oil usually meant someone was hurt or…in this case dead. Something told him differently.

He needed to be that oil. To not give up until it’s very last breath.

But how? He thought as he looked around. Everything was gone. The buildings. The vegetation. The life. It was all sucked away in a blink of an eye. Everything that took him and his family generations to build up, destroyed within a matter of moments.

He didn’t know how he felt anymore. He didn’t know if he was happy or sad, cold or hot, wet or dry, alive or dead….he was just numb. Completely.

Numb.

He sat, staring off into the nothingness silently. He knew he had little time before the second half hit but..he was still struggling to process that he was still even alive. For all he knew, he could be watching in a third person perspective, dead.

Finally, his senses came back.

Helly scrambled to his feet, stabilizing himself atop the uneven tree stump. His heart pounded, but he knew he needed to find a better spot. Then, a large fallen tree began to float by in the deep waters. Helly knew what to do. He jumped onto the tree’s back, taking a few moments to ensure he didn’t fall, then gazed around.

He floated past a few thick trees, and he decided to climb one for the second half. It was his only choice. He latched onto a tree’s remaining branch, and rested himself in between it and the trunk. He turned his gaze back to the waters, and he gave a frightened shiver.

Body parts. Limbs. Homes. Personal items. They all floated around in the water that was beginning to temporarily slow, yet didn’t lower. He wondered how many people whom had stayed even survived. He was numb to everything around him. He just wanted things to be normal again.

Then, a tear. Another. A choke. A cry.

Helly sobbed.

He sobbed for the lives that had been lost, sobbed for the homes that had been destroyed, sobbed for the sun that was already beginning to hide again.

Pat..pitter…

Round 2 was beginning.

…

It was a long night. The sun set as the second half of the storm went through. But just as quickly as the storm had come in, it left. Helly remained clutched to the tree all night long. By morning most of the storm water had gone down a few feet, but Broomstown was still a disaster.

Helly slowly climbed down from the tree, looking around. To feel solid ground against his feet was a blessing. He collapsed onto the ground, finally feeling the freedom of relaxing. Just to be able to lay on the ground, even in the murky water, it was still so much for comfortable than being stuck up in a tree.

At was so, so nice.

But wait. Helly thought, what about the others? Helly jumped up to his weak feet. He picked a direction and ran. Though he could barely stand, he could not lay around any longer. He pushed through all the rubble. “Roy? Poli! Anybody?!” He called, feeling a stab of desperation.

Then, a weak voice.

“..o-over here..! H-Help…!”

It wasn’t Roy’s or Poli’s or Amber’s or Jin’s, but it was one he recognized. “Mr.Wheeler! Where are you?!” He called desperately.

“Down…here..!” He called, and a small hand appeared from the rubble. “I..can’t get u-up!”

Helly ran over quickly. “Don’t worry, let me help you!” He picked up a few pieces of wood, throwing them to the side. Mr. Wheeler then pulled himself out. There was a large gash across his stomach, and many cuts up his arm, but otherwise somewhat okay.

“Rgnh, that hurricane packed quite the punch, didn’t it-?” Mr.Wheeler said, an attempt of a joke shown through, but Helly could tell he was devastated. “My shop…”

Helly sighed sadly and nodded. “I thought I was dead for sure…are you okay for now? I need to go look for other survivors and I can’t tend to you wounds right now. I’m so sorry…I was just stuck over there…” Helly pointing to the tree that was barely hanging on now.

“Oh,” Mr. Wheeler said simply. “I did too. But I’ll be okay for a little bit. I’ll see if I can patch this..” he then turned and sat down on a pile of wooden boards.

Helly didn’t reply, yet he stared for a few moments. Though he felt hopeful, he also felt lost. He could only pray that his family was still alive…he shook his head. No. He refused to believe that.

“Hello?!” He called as he limbed quickly down the street. “Is anyone out here?!”

No response.

[POLI]

He rubbed his head, groaning in pain. He was atop a random house’s roof, and felt defeated. He was beginning to dry off now, since the hurricane had left a few hours ago now. His lungs burned from the water he had swallowed. He had spent many long minutes coughing it back up when he awoke. Though his world still spun, but he tried to stand. He was in the middle of a neighborhood. By himself, as far as he knew.

House was one of the only ones in the area that hadn’t collapsed, and he was thankful for that. He didn’t know he had gotten there, but he was just glad to be alive.

Poli slide down off the rooftop, plopping harshly onto the mushy ground below. Now that he was really looking around, he saw a small family huddled together at the end of their driveway. Their dog ran around them in circles, and the dad offered some small pieces of food to his two kids.

He knew the family well, they were all together and they looked mostly alright. Poli decided not to confront them, he wanted to look for others who needed immediate assistance. He walked through the street, his feet never straying from the yellow line. Road laws had to value to him at the moment.

He would have to build all of this up again. And for what? To be destroyed again when another storm rolled through? His mind spun. He didn’t know what to do. Would they rebuild or leave the town to slowly drown? Thinking about it made his head hurt. He would think about it later.

A voice sounded softly in the distance.

“Hello?! Anyone out here?!”

Sounded a bit like Helly….wait, Helly!

“Helly?!” He forced out in reply, moving faster towards the sound. His voice was raspy from not having spoken.

“Poli?!”

Poli saw him.

“Helly!” His voice cracked with relief and excitement.

They ran into each other hard, holding on tight. Helly sniffed, and Poli could tell he was crying. He tightened his grip on the smaller male, leaning down a bit a match Helly’s height. Before he knew it, he was on the verge of tears himself. He was just so thankful to have at least one of his teammates alive and breathing. Right in his grip, where he didn’t want to let him go.

After a long few moments, Poli slowly stood up. He looked down at Helly’s teary eyes, and gave him a small smile. Something he hadn’t done in so long. It felt nice.

Helly sniffed and rubbed his face. “P-Poli, do you want to try to find the others?” He asked softly, taking Poli’s hand and not letting go.

Poli nodded. He felt like he couldn’t speak, perhaps it was from the lump that hung in his throat. He squeezed Helly’s hand and moved forward along the path.

They walked for a while, Helly occasionally calling out to people. Though Poli did want to look for the others, they needed to get back to the Rescue Center. Hopefully the others would be there.

[AMBER]

She held her arms up, eyes wide with worry.

“Posty, jump down. I’ll catch you, I promise.”

Posty shook his oily head. “No! I’m going to get hurt even more than I already am!” He was pretty scratched up.

Amber nodded. “I know, but I can’t treat you when your still in that tree! You won’t feel any better bleeding out in a tree like that!” She said, trying to get him down.

They had climbed those trees to escape the rising river waters. They were in the forest, near where the bridge used to cross the small river. Due to the hurricane, the river had risen to a concerning extent. Yet the debris that flew around posed more of a danger to them.

Amber hadn’t seen any of the damage that had happened in town, but she was worried about it. She lifted up her barely working transmitter, and called back to Jin. None of the others had responded when he tried to reach them.

“C’mon Posty,” she tried to lull him down again.

Posty grimaced. “Fine…” he slowly shuffled from the trees. “AHH!”

Amber rushed forwards, barely catching him. She sighed exhaustedly. “…see? That wasn’t so bad.”

Posty was laid onto the ground when Jin’s voice came through her transmitter.

“Amber! Do you think you’ll be able to make it back to the rescue center?” Jin asked.

Amber looked around. The water had significantly lowered since last night, so she should be able to wade through the river without an issue. She lifted her transmitter up, “Yes, I think I should be able to. I’ll try to be back as soon as possible. I need to help Posty cross the river, since the bridge broke.”

“Okay! I’m glad I’m at least hearing from one of you guys…I’m really worried.”

They both sat in silence for a few moments, before Jin hung up. Amber turned to Posty. “Okay, so I’m going to have to carry you across…are you comfortable with that? If not I could always carry supplies from one side to another. At least until we can get something safer for you to cross on.”

Posty shook his head. “No, no, you can take me I guess. I don’t want to make things harder on you guys.”

Amber didn’t argue, it would be easier if he could just run back home. She nodded. “Okay. Come on, I don’t have much time.” Might as well get things over with quickly so she can check on the rest of the town.

Posty and Amber headed for the river, Amber pushing past tree limbs and other random pieces of debris like road signs. Soon, they reached it, which was mostly calm, but still moved quickly.

“Alright, you sure you want to do this, Posty?” Amber asked, ensuring he wanted to do this.

Posty nodded. “Yes! All my packages are going to be ruined! I need to see their condition!” He hissed, jumping up and down worriedly.

Amber sighed, bending down to pick him up. She pulled him up into her arms, just barely being able to see past him. She slowly made her way through the water, feeling it tug on her legs. They reached the other side, and Amber rested Posty on the bank side.

“There, now you go head off to your—AH!” Amber felt her foot slip. She fell and landed hard in the water. She felt her screen scratch the rocks in the bottom, and the water tugging her along. She pushed up with her arms, getting up onto her knees. She took a surprised few breaths, and shook the cold water off of her.

“Oh my gosh! Amber! Are you okay?!” Posty asked, looking shocked himself.

Amber stood up, spitting out some water that got trapped in her mouth. “Ugh, yeah. I’m fine…”

***

“Oh thank god you guys are okay!” Jin cried. Running up to them. “Where were you guys?!”

Helly frowned. “We got stuck in the hurricane…sorry Jin. I should’ve known better…”

“We all should’ve known better, Helly,” Amber said, giving him a sympathetic look. “It wasn’t just you who got caught in the storm you know..” She gave him a small pat on the shoulder.

Jin sighed. “It’s great to have you all back but—wait, no, where’s Roy?” Her voice shifted to a concerned one.

They all looked around.

“Has anyone seen him?” Jin asked.

They all shook their heads.

Amber thought for a moment. “I did see him before the storm hit, but otherwise no…”

Helly looked at Amber then back at Jin. “Should we go look for him? What if he’s in trouble?”

“No,” said Amber. “we need to make sure all of us are fit to travel, Helly, you’re all banged up. Before we go look for him, we will treat our wounds.” She established. She did know best for this situation.

Jin nodded in agreement. “That sounds good, Amber.”

It took a few days before Poli got out of the rescue center to look for Roy. We was getting worried now, especially with no signs of him. Surprisingly, there were a few emergency phones that still worked, and they were getting many calls from residents who stayed. They begged for help and cried about their homes…it was horrible.

But Poli wanted to find Roy first. He needed to. He couldn’t stand still a second longer not doing so. It stuck to him like a needle in his kneecap…however that works. Of course he felt like shit, but it was a weight on his shoulders that seemed to strangle him.

He groaned. It was all so much. So much for one leader. One guy who had to chose whether they should give up or rebuild, what to do and how, when to do it and where, try to somehow fix his town from…that.

That monster.

The monster that slowly shrunk among the horizon, yet it’s teeth still sunk through the grounds of Broomstown. Through the heart. Through his and everyone else’s hearts. Homes. Lives. Everything.

He shook his head, trying so desperately to clear it. He wanted everything to just be okay again. To fix themselves. To go back to when everyone was happy and healthy and safe and…and…

THWAP !

Something struck Poli hard in the head. Then black.

Birds chirped and plucked at the flowers that tried ti heal within the soil’s bounds. Their wilted, destroyed petals slumped sadly against his cold skin. Yet, even in their wilted state, they protected him. The ones that had managed to heal enough stood triumphantly over his body. Like an I survived statement to the world.

Because they survived. Unlike others, they continued to try to bloom even in the thick of it, when their petals were torn away from their stems.

They brushed his face, a call to wake up. A call to come back to reality. There was much to do for this young, unconscious man in the grass; huddled by beautiful, yet hurt, flowers.

His eyes slowly opened, the sun brightened with excitement to his sigh of waking up. Waking up.

From this nightmare?

No.

He sat up slowly, feeling trickles of water that hid in small dark spots of his body scatter away. Everything remained fuzzy as he looked left-to-right. A small bee flew from a flower petal to his knee. It buzzed happily as it saw him. Hello! It seemed to say. Wake up! Wake up! There is work to be done! Buzz along, boy!

He looked closer at the busy bee. Very busy indeed. There were many flowers to be pollinated. The bee buzzed it’s wings on his knee. That town won’t pollinate itself, boy! Go save your hive! Then, it flew off. He was glad to know he wouldn’t be the only one busy tonight.

Now, he stared at his hands. His feet, up to his knees, his waist, his arms, then his wrists. His once bright red paint was now stained and scratched and cut up. He felt like the little bee that had buzzed off. Did he have to pollinate the town, make it beautiful so it can flourish and spread once again? Like the bee with its flowers?

Yes.

He look his grey cut hand and lifted it to his face. Then…

WHAP!

His cheek stung, but he was ready now.

He jumped to his feet, ignoring how his legs screamed in pain as he did so. “C’mon, Roy,” he said to himself. “Sitting around won’t help people.”

Before he knew it, Roy was plunging down the small hillside. His legs and feet brought him speed, his arms brought him strength, but what he needed was his town. His town gave him bravery. Endurance. It made him and shaped him into who he truly was. He would not let it go to waste now.

No matter how many hurricanes plunged through and threatened to tear them apart, they would always be together. Whether in Broomstown or somewhere far, far away.

When he came back to reality, he stood in the middle of town square. It was only now that he noticed the thick, long trail of black oil spilling down the front of his face. He probably had a concussion. He wiped it away.

The town was in ruins. It looked like it had been abandoned for years. Many years; one storm. Gone. Everything.

Roy refused to let this deter him. He pushed his gaze towards the gate that lead to the rescue headquarters. His home. Almost by instinct, he pushed past the red and white bars, his feet carrying him further and further. He last many broken families, but for once his mind wasn’t in them. His mind was on home.

home…

He missed his team—his family so much. He had not idea when things had been so suddenly torn away, yt it left a whole in his heart he wanted to fill. Just seeing one of their faces would…wait.

There it was. There he was. On the side of the road, clearly unconscious, laid his friend. Best friend, to be exact. A fat tree branch laid beside him. He must had somehow been hit.

Roy rushed to Poli’s side, almost tripping over his own feet.

“Poli? Poli!” He cried, shaking Poli’s shoulders weakly.

Poli shifted with a short groan of pain. His beautiful blue eyes met Roy’s thick, teary, brown ones.

“R-Roy?” Poli’s eyes widened, and the suns rays made them sparkle like new. Every aspect of them was illuminated. It was almost like looking into a glacier. The prettiest, bluest, bestest glacier he’d ever known.

“Poli…”

Roy ducked down and engulfed Poli in his arms. Oil from his bleeding head stained Poli’s forehead, but he didn’t care. He hugged a little tighter.

“W-We thought you were dead, Roy!” Poli exclaimed, tears escaping his relieved gaze. “You we’re gone for d-days and we had no idea w-where you w-were…”

Roy’s eyes widened again in shock. Days? Had he really been knocked out that badly?

“I-I…I got some kind of bad head injury…I didn’t think I was out for that long…I’m so sorry for worrying you guys…I don’t know..”

Poli slowly got up from the roadside. “…well I guess we’re matching in head injuries, that’s for sure.” He joked, though his voice was still thick from his tears and worry.

Roy nodded. “Let’s head back to the rescue center. Then we can discuss what we’re going to do with the town. Remember Poli, we, your team, will be there every step of the way. The weight isn’t just on you, you’re not alone. If you ever need help, or need a break, we have you covered. Just please…don’t overwork yourself. I know how it is coming from me but…”

Poli’s gaze went to his feet, then back up at Roy. “T-Thank you. I’m so lucky to have you guys.”

Roy took Poli’s hand with a soft smile. “Come on. We have things to do.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

That’s it 😭

I’m sorry to end it a bit abruptly but this is getting so long already….

W to you i you read all of this.

I’ll check for grammar mistakes later, so I’m sorry if I left any weird/random cliffhangers or just stupid grammar mistakes lol

Good night :3

[lizzieislife94x]

Long Distance (e.o)

Requested ❤️

Lizzie x Fem Reader

GirlxGirl 

Y/ns POV:

I wash up my plate as I watch my phone like an excited child its 6:30pm meaning my girlfriend will be calling any minute its 10pm where she is at the moment on location, I dry my dish as I wait for the call after 5 minutes my phone rings with the facetime call. 

Me: babyyy I've missed you so much.

Lizzie: I've missed you too, how was your day today baby. 

Me: it was great work was chill I hung out with one of my new co workers Jane she's awesome.

I say with a smile as I look at lizzie her smile doesn't seem proper maybe I'm over thinking 

Lizzie: that's good did you eat.

Me: yeah I just had dinner just finished 15 minutes ago, how is work going liz.

Lizzie: ugh good yeah just really tired I wish I was with you though. 

Me: yeah me too me too.

After an hour on the phone we hang up and I have a huge smile on my face lizzie said she's coming to visit next week she has 2 weeks off and I couldn't be more excited about it I decided to go for a shower then bed and fall asleep with a huge smile on my face.

 4 days later:

"So you have any plans for this weekend y/n" I look up from my food and smile sweetly "actually I don't do you wanna do something" I ask Jane as she grins "yessss lets go dancing and let loose" she says excitedly as I giggle "ok so tomorrow night I'll meet you at the club?" I say and nods "yes definitely " we continue to eat our lunch as my phone rings I look and notice lizzies name causing me to smile "Jane ill be right back I have to take this my girlfriend is calling" I stand up and walk away to answer.

Me: Hey baby is everything ok 

Lizzie: yeah I just missed your voice babygirl how is work. 

Me: yeah we're on lunch just now I'm going to the club tomorrow night with JaneAll I hear is silence for bit

Me: lizzie are you there liz baby

Lizzie: yeah sorry I'm here thats great as long as you have fun princess 

Me: oh you no I will but hey I can't wait to see you on Monday I'm counting down the hours

Lizzie: me to princess I can't wait to just chill with you go out and most importantly have you in my arms. 

Me: oh god me to baby I can't wait shit hey baby I gotta go I gotta get back to work ill text you later have fun filming. 

With that I quickly hang up and rush back up to the office and get back towork after a few hours it's home time I quickly head home and throw myself on the couch oh jeez its been a long day I decided to just have grilled cheese for dinner I can't be bothered cooking once I eat I head up to my room and throw myself onto the bed and open tik tok must have fell asleep though because I'm being woke up to the sound of my alarm I roll over and groan getting up to shower and brush my teeth I get dressed for work and head to my car. 

Me: Good morning baby I hope you have a great day still counting the hours down till your here but I'm heading to work so I'll text you again later

I put my phone down and drive to work as I pull up my phone beeps causing me to smile when I see her name on my phone 

 Lizzie♥️: Good morning princess I hope you have a great day at work and don't get to drunk tonight ill text you later beautiful 

I smile and walk into the building to get my work done at lunch Jane comes running over to me "dude you still on for tonight" she says excited "yeah of course haha I'm looking forward to it ill meet you at the club at 8" she jumps up and down a little making me laugh.

after a long day its finally time to head home I need to go and pick an outfit. 

2 hours later: 

I finish putting the last touches to my make up and admire myself in the mirror I do look pretty hot if I do say so myself I went with tight black dress and black heels decided light make up and curly hair I grab my phone and take a full body picture and decide to send it to lizzie. 

Me:*1 image attached* baby do I look ok

Not even a minute later my phone dings

Lizzie: Wow wow wow you look fucking sexy baby not gonna lie I'm hella jealous right now if anyone looks at you a little to long punch them in the face for me babygirl😳

I giggle at her text blushing slightly

Me: Baby no one's going to look at me and even if they did let them I have the best girlfriend in the world I don't need nor want anyone else but you your eyes and your staring are the only ones that matter to me 

I spray some perfume and head out getting into my car and driving towards the club after 20 minutes I arrive right on time I park up and head to the front of club and see Jane "wow you look amazing" she says as we hug and head inside. 

4 hours later:

"Oh my gosh that was so fun I yell to Jane" she nods and agrees we head outside and I call an uber "I haven't been out in a while and I had so much fun thank you Jane" she looks at me and smiles "same thanks for coming with me" we part ways heading into our own ubers after 20 minutes and a stop to Mcdonalds I'm home I decided to drunken facetime my girlfriend while I munched my Mcdonalds we spend roughly 2 hours on facetime before I passed out 

 Time skip to Monday

Work was boring today maybe its because lizzie gets here in the next hour and I'm counting down I get to finish in 10 minutes so I can pick her up once I finish I practically run to my car and head towards the airport my excitement rushing through my veins after 15 minutes I arrived at the airport I get out and stand against my car patiently waiting after a few minutes I spot her walking towards me with a huge smile I jump up and down and run towards her screaming with excitement as I jump into her arms she catches me and we both squeal in joy holding eachother tight "I missed you so fucking much" i mumble into her neck as she holds me tighter "I missed you to princess" we stood holding eachother for 10 minutes before I took her bag and put it in the trunk then opened her door for her "thank you baby" she smiles fuck I've missed her smile so much Irun to my side and start to drive to my house her hand automatically rests on my thigh making my thoughts run wild I haven't seen her in 6 months so its been 6 months of no action I pull into my drive and get out running round to open her door "there you go baby" she giggles and smiles as we walk inside she plops down on the couch and I follow instantly cuddling upto her "fuck I've missed you" I mumble but loud enough for her to hear"I've missed you too beautiful" she says as she plays with my hair I Bury my face in her chest and bask in the feeling of being in her arms and her playing with my hair I let out a content sigh this is perfect.

AN: ok this is gonna be a 2 parter I didn't think it would be this long but this part is basically just leading up to them being together again part 2 will have the action if it sucks I'm sorry lmao hope your all good and stay hydrated people I feel like I've not wrote in months

[romanticatheartt]

I have a hot take and it might piss some people off specially the ones who believe Nesta didn't need a redemption arc (???) so please don't read this if you have this mindset

You saving your sister at death bed doesn't have redeeming quality. Because anyone in that room, specially Rhysand, would've jumped to help her without hesitation if they had the power. Nesta herself would've helped even if she hadn't finished her healing journey and was still distancing herself from everyone.

I'm not talking about how in those 12 days she didn't help the IC to find a solution, I'm talking about her seeing her baby sister at death bed. Because she didn't helped Feyre for 5 years and let her put herself in danger because Nesta knew she would survive. But the moment Tam/in took her, Nesta goes after her and searches for her. And this is exactly what happened, Nesta thinking IC would find a solution so she didn't even bother to offer a little help. Or even think about it...

In both situations the moment Nesta sees Feyre in absolute danger and is sure there's a huge chance that she might not make it alive, she makes a move to help/save her. I don't want one single person to come here and tell me it's not her job or responsibility- just shut it... don't embarrass yourself

You know what would've been redeeming?

The moment she realized Feyre might die during the labor, she should've started searching alongside the IC, she was literally working in a library at the time.

She should've talked to them and convinced them to let Feyre know of the danger.

She, talking with her sister, properly apologizing and try to bond with her and mend the bridge that's been broken between them.

Not sucking your trainer's d*ck the moment you find out. Not climbing down 10000 steps because you were so "angry" of the injustice you were facing and tell your sister she's about to die and made it about yourself. Because you wanted to show her that IC doesn't "respect" her as much as they don't respect you. And put her in danger in the process because you knew how the stress might hurt the baby but again you were thinking about your own hurts and pains.

I love Nesta and her book helped me to understand her so much better and realizing how similar we are and how much I share trauma with her. Not my trauma response tho.

I just hate the way sjm wrote her healing journey because she made it about herself lol. She projected her trauma and her experience during her process of healing and wrote it into Nesta's story and never cared how it might look at the end. Now Nesta saving Feyre, her blood sister, sounds more like a favor she gave and give *some* people the opportunity to make what Feyre did for her sisters a chore, a responsibility, something she enjoyed to do because she wanted to hurt herself. (and that's definitely not true) Don't even try to deny I've seen it many many times and I have proof.

And that's my problem with her book. I love that she made friends along the process and had her own found family, it led us to meet two beautiful characters. Her book gave us context of the reason behind some of her actions. We get to read how ashamed and hateful she is toward herself for neglecting Feyre. But the rest? No.

Sjm could've give us Nesta, fixing her relationship with the people around her and making new friendship with her found family at the same time but instead she wrote so many smut scene that has no purpose and doesn't help the plot moving. I'm throwing hot takes after hot takes jeez

In conclusion acosf didn't help people to forgive Nesta. Understand her? Yes. But forgiving her and give them the opportunity to considee her as their favorite character? No. I'm not talking about all but the majority, because as you see even now people can't seem to forgive her even tho they understand her much better.

To be honest acosf is one of the weakest book sjm has ever written and she hasn't wrote one single good book ever since... I wanted to make all these takes in different posts but fuck it, we ball<3

[amphibiahawks321]

Ivan : Lucinda sweetie we can still make this work y'know? I've really changed just for you....

Lucinda : [sighs] For the third time Ivan this woman is already taken from someone new someone who actually care about me...

Ivan : Oh come on baby-

M!Reader : Hey Lucinda! I got those chicken feathers you ask for your potions!....... Also I think I'm banned from that nearby market now

Ivan : Huh?

M!Reader : Oh! Hello there! And you are?

Ivan : Ivan...

M!Reader : Ivan? Wait Lucinda's ex boyfriend?

Ivan : [chuckles] I wouldn't say tha-

Lucinda : Yes....

Ivan : [sighs] And you are?

M!Reader : I'm Y/N Lucinda's boyfriend

Ivan : Oh so you're the guy she's been talking about [chuckles] Seriously Lucinda? You choose this guy over me?

M!Reader : Says the who sounds like a teenage depressed hobo

[Lucinda's let's out a chuckle]

Ivan : I'll have you know this is how my voice actually is....

M!Reader : Jeez then I think we need to make a gofund me to buy you some expensive cough drop

[Lucinda let's out a laugh]

Ivan : Why you!

[about to pull out a potion]

Lucinda : Oh no you don't!

[Pulls out a potion and immediately throws it at him]

Ivan (cat) : M-meow?!

M!Reader : Wow Do you just carry a cat potion with you?

Lucinda : [chuckles] just in case right? Also this is one of my longer types of potions so this one will last 5 hours

Ivan (cat) : Meow!

M!Reader : you better leave or I'll pull out the broom!

[Ivan runs away immediately]

Lucinda : Well that takes care of that also thanks for the feathers sweetie!

M!Reader : You're welcome!

[Tug on M!Reader collar and walks to the house]

M!Reader : Wow what's the rush?

Lucinda : Well~ you see I need these feathers to make a clone potion to use on myself and the after process involves you if you get what I mean~

M!Reader : O-oh ok 💧•////v////•

[ghostmoon1]

Love at First Sight || Part Two

Since the first part of this actually had people reading it and liking it, it really made me want to continue it!! Thank you, guys, for the support, and I am now planning a lot more for this lil thing! I'm going to try and practise writing, so hopefully I'll get better for you all!

Soap x Florence (OC)

Summary: First date, the nerves and of course, the unexpected. Florence has never had luck with these sort of things... will she get any luck for this one time?

Word Count: 1752

Warnings: Nothing much again, panic attack (poorly written tho :( ), slight alcohol, overthinking.

PART ONE || PART THREE

Saturday, 5:56pm. It was so close. Only another hour and he’d be picking up the most beautiful girl he’s laid eyes on. John stood in front of the bathroom mirror, adjusting his white button up shirt. He was practically vibrating with excitement. 

Simon stood in the doorframe, his large build filling it up, watching as John continued to fix his shirt and mohawk. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so dressed up Johnny.”

“I gotta’ make myself pretty for the young lass!”

Simon smothers a laugh and nods, watching him continue to fix things on himself. He smiles beneath his balaclava. He really could tell he was trying hard for this new girl. He hasn't seen him dress up this much for a girl in what felt like forever. On the surface he was scared for him, he saw him after other girls left him. Of course, he wasn't very open about it. But Simon could tell, he always knew. His training helped him pick up some things others wouldn't, but John was his best friend. He knew what he was like. But really, he wished this time it’d work out for him.

“I’ll leave you be then, let us know how it goes, yeah?”

John grins and nods. “Yeah mate!”

Simon nods and looks over him once more before retreating back to his own room. John smiles as he looks over himself in the mirror, fixing one singular strand of hair before nodding at himself. He was ready.

He now sat in his car, just out front of the restaurant. He fixes his hair up once more in the mirror, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He checks his watch. 6:46pm. He was a little early, but of course it was better to be early rather than late. As time ticks closer, he gets out of his car and stands near the doors, so when she arrives he’d be visible. He taps his fingers against his pants, looking out over the road. Then he sees it, a car pulling up in front of the restaurant. And her inside.

He pushes himself off the wall as he watches her step out, fixing her dress and grabbing her purse. My god she looks like an angel…

“Evening, lass.”

She turns to face him with a grin. “Evening! How are you?”

“I'm amazing lass, and yourself?”

“I'm quite well myself.”

He smiles and takes her hand as they walk into the restaurant. He couldn't believe this, a date with such a beautiful woman?

They are greeted by one of the waiters, dressed in a pristine suit.

“Good day, a table for two?” he asks, a hint of a french accent peaking through.

“Yes please,” John replies, giving Florence’s hand a slight squeeze. As if he were making sure she was still there.

The waiter nods and begins to guide them to a table. A pearl white table cloth was draped over their table, the cutlery placed perfectly. The warm lights up head set a romantic feeling, making Florence’s hair practically glow. He pulls the wooden chair out for her to take a seat, before retreating back to his side of the table and gratefully taking the menus from the waiter. He opens the menu and skims over it, his bright blue eyes standing out against the dimly lit atmosphere. 

“See anything you like, Lass?”

Florence continues to look over the menu, her teeth dragging along her bottom lip in thought. 

“Jeez… I’ve never been to something so fancy if I’m being honest” she mutters, the sound of her nails tapping against the table subtle against the chatter in the background.

He chuckles and leans in a little closer, pointing at a line in the menu. “This is good… Steak au poivre… excuse my pronunciation. I don't speak other languages.” he says, a cheeky grin spreading across his lips. “That’s if yer a steak girlie.”

She grins back, her eyes glimmering their cool hazel hue in the warm light. “I do love myself a steak.”

Now that's a girl after his own heart. “Do you come here…. Often to know that it’s good?”

John simply shakes his head. “Nah. This is a special treat for a special girl. My mate Gaz is a bloody good cook. He makes all sorts of stuff”

She nods and lets her finger trace the rim of her glass. He watches as her small and delicate hand moves with grace. The skin looked soft, he had to fight back the urge to take her hand in his. He had to take this slow, he couldn’t scare such a beauty away.

He waves over a waiter, now that they are ready to order. Florence’s eyes remain on him as he speaks, watching as his lips move and eyes crease slightly as he thinks. His cheeks are rosy and covered in stubble, obviously freshly shaved. Just for tonight. She studies everything; the way his adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed and continued to speak, the way his tongue would run over his bottom lip, the way he focused on the waiter as he ordered. He was certainly quite the charm.

They wait and continue their small talk. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices a younger woman dressed in uniform. Her steps were slightly unbalanced, she was obviously new.

John's eyes follow hers as he notices her trail off. “Must be a newbie?”

“Yeah… she obviously hasn't done it before.”

Her eyes narrow as she watches. The waiter held a small rounded tray, keeping it up at her shoulders height, with a cloth draped over her arm. She was coming towards them.

She smiles as she reaches them. “Your drinks…” she says, carefully placing a glass down in front of John. Then she reaches for the other.

It was painful to watch, as she misplaced her hand, hitting the bottom of that tray. The way her eyes widened in panic and the gasp that escaped her lips.

The glass fell. Almost in slow motion. The glass plummeted down, the rich and deep red liquid spiralling out of control and all over Florence, staining her beautiful dress.

“Oh my gosh I’m so deeply sorry!” the waiter cries, immediately reaching for a cloth to give to Florence. 

“Oh dear… it’s… okay” she takes the cloth and tries to pat her dress down, doing very little to help.

John stood, taking a few napkins off the table to try and help. “Here lass..” he says gently as he hands them to her. Although, nothing helped. The dress was too far gone, stained in that deep red liquid. 

“Fucking hell” she hisses under her breath. After all the dates, both gone wrong and stood up on, she thought this one would go well. But no. Not with her luck. Her dress, now soaked and the colour of the wine seeping through the fabric onto her thighs. Ruined. Maybe this date was now ruined too.

The pang of disappointment hit her chest hard, squeezing her throat as she held back tears. Again. And again. It never works. Nothing will ever work. Was she always doomed to be alone, for every date to fail?

“Lass?”

A voice. His voice. Breaking through the chaos in her mind, the words beginning to slur together and the background sounding as if it were miles away. His voice broke the chaos, a shining light in a dark tunnel. A rope, something strong, helping to pull her from her mind.

“Lass it’s alright… c’mon, let's take a breather, yeah?”

She nods, unable to get words to fall from her mouth. It felt like someone had a chokehold on her. The panic in her chest, the tears stinging her eyes, the ragged breaths. It was all too much.

John takes her hand gently, as if she were a deer and he was trying not to spook her. She looked like a deer, on edge, her flight or fight instincts flaring up, eyes wide. She was thinking. Way too much. He carefully guides her through the maze of tables, towards the intimidating glass doors.

As soon as she stepped outside, it was quite literally a breath of fresh air. The air was cold, immediately bringing goosebumps to the surface of her skin. The fresh air was like a punch to the lungs, both calming and harsh. The chatter from inside the restaurant was muted by the glass and plaster between them. Her chest was still tight, the cold air instantly making the spilt wine feel colder.

“Lass, breath.. Cmon..” John coos softly, his hand rising to her cheek. His fingers gently traced her jawline, calloused fingertips against soft skin.

Her breaths remained ragged, slowly calming as she matched John's breathing. “That’s it lass… you’re okay”

“Thank you…” she whispers back. 

“My pleasure bonnie… What was that about? Just over the wine or…?”

Her brows furrow slightly. Does she tell him? That… she’s actually scared to lose him? He was one of the many that have actually showed up to a date, and for that fact actually stayed as well. Would she seem desperate? Maybe he was just doing this because he felt bad for her, but would he do that? Her lips thin out into a thin line as she thinks, the thoughts clouding her mind, everything becoming a blur. 

“Lass, back down to earth. You can tell me.”

She lets out a long and heavy breath before replying “I… i well…” God, how do I tell him? 

“Take your time. No rush” he says. That irritating charming smile plastered on his face once again. It makes her want to just melt under his touch, become putty in his hands. But who feels like that after a first date? Who falls this hard for a man they just met? Who’s to know that he feels the same way? He probably doesn’t. This is probably just an act of empathy, something to help her feel better about herself. But it doesn't. It only sends her spiralling down into those dark thoughts, those storms that erupt in her mind that don't go. Never ending rain and sadness. But how would she know…? 

“I think I really like you and I don't want this to be ruined-” she blurts, instantly slapping her hand over her mouth. She said it. And the world didn't collapse. But… How does he feel about it? Does he feel the same?

[definitelynotshouting]

Okay, so, question I've had for a while but never got around to asking, what the FUCK is up with Grian's wings?

If all physical differences in players (like those particularly ascribed to 'Hybrids' in mcyt fanon) in Hunger AU are a result of conscious altering of your own code for the express purpose of achieving YOUR IDEAL BODY(tm) then what does that mean for Grian and his wings? No one seems to regard Grian's wings as "What The Fuck, You Can DO That?!?" so presumably wings aren't so big of a change from normal biology that players can't do that. If so, why is it not more common? Man, if I could have wings I'd jump on that in seconds. Especially with the sheer utility the ability to fucking FLY gives players. Are wings (and maybe other larger alterations) just like, REALLY HARD to code in? If so, that might add a really cool layer of "Oh wow! They must be a really good coder!" to players who meet people like that.

On a related note, Grian seems to have a positive regard for his wings, which is interesting because I would be willing to bet he didn't have that before *insert sounds of worm-bursting and non-consensual body modification*. I imagine seeing his wings would likely feel like a reminder of the Watchers and what they did to him. BUT, Watchers manipulate their own code when they change like Grian did to, y'know, not be a worm anymore so Grian probably specifically chose how he looked, right? So, unless he did so really rushed and somehow made a mistake while doing so (which he might not be able to risk the structural damage of correcting), keeping the wings was a conscious decision. Does Grian just not associate his wings with the Watchers or is it something else? Does he just really enjoy having wings?

HELLO I AM SO GLAD YOU'VE ASKED THIS BECAUSE I HAVE ‼️‼️‼️‼️ MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT IT ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

Okay okay so these are all SUCH valid questions, lemme go through them one by one. Wings are indeed something anyone could have if they wanted to code them in-- and in fact, i do believe many other Players have wings throughout the universe!!! As far as body mods go, i like to think of them as decently popular, so its definitely not anything too weird to see. In chapter 5, i even make a mention to Pearl having moth wings she occasionally codes in due to preference!!! So wings of many different types are definitely available-- but the catch is that they're real fiddly to code. You cant just give yourself wings, you have to code in the bone structure, the muscles, the tendons, etc etc, and then you have to change your entire body structure as well to work with and fully support them. They can be awkward and unwieldy, as ive tried to show in the fic itself, and i think that alone can be a big discouragement for Players considering coding in wings, along with the sheer coding effort needed to obtain them and make them functional

And the thing is, elytra already exist-- they're far more compact, they dont take up as much space, you can take them on and off super easily without having to mess with your coding, and they basically do the same thing. Sure, its a pain to get one, but a lot of Players really enjoy the sense of accomplishment, and i think theres a bit of cultural prestige too in that regard. Server milestones are a huge thing in Player culture, and getting your first pair of elytra is a big one!!! So it makes sense to me that people who just dont want to go through the effort of coding in wings (which can then in turn complicate how they code other future modifications) primarily stick to elytra.

And everybody is different-- some people prefer attributes that arent wings. I like to think everyone in hermitcraft generally is a mix of "jeez thats effort, i could be building my base instead of doing that" and "eh im fine how i am, i like it" and "well we have elytra shops everywhere so why bother".

So in short, yeah!! Wings are a bit complex to code in. They're still pretty popular, i think plenty of Players do choose to incorporate them, but it takes a lot of hard and thorough work to make sure they function right and wont bug you out when you use them. There are billions of Players scattered across the universe, so what you're seeing in the fic right now is truly just a drop in the ocean when it comes to Player body diversity :] and then, elytra basically already help Players achieve a form of flight without the hassle of recoding their entire body structure, so i think the majority of Players just prefer to use them instead.

AS FOR GRIAN'S WINGS IN PARTICULAR......

Well..... its complicated. Particularly his feelings about them-- in the fic, i referenced them as the only good thing the Watchers ever gave him, and thats how he sees it, i think: a thin silver lining. He's had many, many years to get used to them, and i think he goes through periods where he hates them and the memories attached, too. Ultimately, he's kinda stuck with them, so i think he hit a form of acceptance (as bitter-tinged as it may be) out of sheer necessity for his own sanity.

As for why he has them, and hasnt coded them out: i think of it as a particular quirk of biology/structural coding. Watchers have a more instinctive way of coding than Players, but a Player-minded Watcher is still going to think like a Player, and thats going to muddle things a lot. Grian essentially had to relearn how to code, in a way that satisfied both Player and Watcher-style coding, and the results at first were.... a little rough around the edges. Once he managed to finally take on his original former appearance, the wings from his true form just kind of.... stuck. I like to think it took a few increasingly desperate tries before he realized he just could not figure out how to get rid of them (bc of how different his new code was), and had to accept that this was just how he was gonna have to live for a while until he finally figured it out. And then, well.... you can get used to anything, if you're stuck with it long enough. I think after a while it just stopped being a huge priority, and then he reached a point where it would be more awkward to live without them than with them, and he eventually dropped the idea altogether. And i think sometimes, they function almost like a scar, to him-- a reminder of what he went through, yes, but a reminder that he did manage to escape. And, ofc, he also just really, really likes flying skdjskdjdj

So yeah, loads of complicated feelings there about his wings, and its stuff i do plan on exploring later in the fic!!! This got a little rambly, but i hope this makes sense and answers your questions!!!! :D its a fun little complicated knot that im glad someone has gotten curious enough to ask about!!!!

[blacktofade]

Gemtho Fortnight Day 5

Prompt: (Could be established gemtho or not, game-world) Gem takes some semi-precious resource from Ethos storage while he is offline, and leaves him an "IOU". Cue Etho logging back in and finding Gem's IOU.... Etho calling in his iou for a pretty specific sex fantasy with Gem (maybe he wants to dom her. Maybe he wants to Gem to be a little mean to him. Maybe he wants to see her in dressed to the nines in lingerie for the first time) either way, hes VERY excited but still somewhat awkward and unsure about if Gem is okay with the whole thing. (She is, Gem is the sorta person who is always willing to try anything once, Especially if Etho is the one asking. Also she knows if she really hates it she can always nope out midway, after she at least TRIES whatever Etho wants her to) (it helps that she is ALSO pining/in love/terribly attracted to the man and sent the IOU as a normal iou with a vague and impossible fantasy of Etho using it for some undefined sex/sexy thing before he confesses his undying love to her and they fuck each other into next week. ) (you can take/leave/canniblize as much of this as you want, i really enjoyed imagining this scenario 😳😳😳 the mutual unrecognized pining is 💯💯💯).

cw: nsfw

“It’s dangerous, y’know,” Etho says lightly. “Leaving an IOU is just asking for trouble.”

He’s watching her and even with his mask on, Gem knows he’s smirking. Her expression darkens and she suddenly misses having her sword at her hip.

“I know that now,” she retorts as Etho shakes his head.

“You’re too naive.”

“I trusted you,” she corrects and Etho sighs.

“That’s even more dangerous.”

It’s been a learning experience for her. He’d sent a list of his demands in response to her IOU, and now she’s here, in the most uncomfortable outfit of her life.

It’s nothing she’d wear willingly — too tight, too see through — but she can almost agree it was worth it, just for the way Etho had visibly reacted when she’d slipped out of her clothes.

With his index finger, he motions in a circle, wordlessly asking her to turn and let him see the whole ensemble. And with her hands clenched by her sides, she does it.

“Jeez,” he murmurs quietly, and she startles when he fits himself against her back. He presses his nose to the side of her head and breathes deeply. “I don’t deserve you.”

“First thing you’ve got right all night,” she fires back, but she enjoys the way he laughs, the way his hands skim across her body, fingers tugging at the lace of her underwear, the elastic of her garters, the fabric of her stockings.

It’s all white, the color too bright against her skin, but when Etho grinds against her ass, already hard, already wanting, she finds the color doesn’t actually matter that much to her at all.

“Gem,” he murmurs, fingers slipping down the front of her underwear, and Gem has to bite back the noises she wants to make as he touches her.

He knows what she likes — they’ve been together long enough now, they’ve spent hundreds of nights mapping each other's bodies. It’s effortless for him to take her apart.

“Spread your legs,” he tells her, and it’s not part of his list of demands, but she does it anyway because it’s a habit now, to give Etho whatever he wants.

His other hand fumbles behind her and she hears the sound of his zipper, the rustle of clothes, like he might be pushing his pants down just enough to free himself.

She blinks in surprise when he doesn’t immediately pull her underwear to the side and try to fuck into her. Instead, he pushes between her thighs, tapping at her leg gently to get her to tighten up around him.

It’s too dry, it can’t be comfortable, but it doesn’t seem to deter Etho, who thrusts against her, moaning quietly into her ear.

She reaches down, bracing herself with a hand on his forearm as he continues playing with her, rubbing across her clit effortlessly.

“So beautiful, Gem,” he murmurs and Gem almost starts to think she should keep the outfit. Maybe she can get him to actually fuck her in it later.

Or maybe she’ll just have to leave more IOUs around his base.

He brings his free hand up, groping her breasts through her bra and he turns his head, mouth latching onto her neck. She can’t even bring herself to mind that she’ll be sore and marked up later.

Instead, she tightens her hold on him and leans back against his chest.

When he comes, he digs his teeth into her shoulder, his come dripping down her thighs in a way that should be gross but actually has her rocking against his fingers and following him over the edge, feeling too raw to speak.

He breathes against her skin, palm smoothing across her stomach, and Gem thinks maybe this was exactly the kind of IOU she needed.

[shippershipperyshippyship]

Enid Sinclair Werewolf Headcanons

Basic Understanding:

Strength: Enid is the physically strongest member of the squad (Bianca, Yoko, Xavier, Ajax, Eugene, Divina, and Wednesday) majority of the time she doesn’t get to show it as she has no interest in any form of fighting. Her muscles do expand a little more in her human body, more noticeable when she’s wearing sleeveless tops. She lands the designated jar opener of the group. Speed: While Yoko is still the fastest, Enid comes second (in human form.) She’s both a fast walker and fast runner - when she shares food with people, nobody sees how fast her swipes are from the bowl.   

Which is why sometimes she gets her own food bowl.

Endurance: Her athleticism is all thanks to both her love for moving and being a werewolf. Her cardio workouts have to be on the extreme end in order to make progress, like running in the woods in all fours for 5 hours straight instead of normal running. She spends all her energy to kpop dance tutorials. Noises: Growls, Grunts, whimpers, barks - They all exist in her vocabulary. Although she feels rather embarrassed whenever it slips up. Something about her emotions getting the best of her whenever one of those come out. Nobody in the squad teased her about it, lest they want to end up on Wednesday’s personally hit list. She whimpers a lot when watching horror movies.

Roomie Privileges: (These are special cases that only occur to Wednesday.)

Pets: Whenever Enid is in a particularly needy mood, she goes to Wednesday for pets. It could be on her hair, a rub on her back, the slight massage of the nape or even gentle scratches behind her ears. Enid patiently waited on Wednesday’s bed, scrolling on her phone mindlessly until the clicking of the typewriter comes to a halt. The blonde perked up as Wednesday sighs and move towards her. She didn’t hesitate to zoom in her head on Wednesday’s lap, looking up to those dead eyes.

“Same as last time?” Wednesday says stretching her fingers.

“Yep!” Enid’s eyes shutter to a gentle close. Cold fingers stroke and scratch her scalp, lulling her to a comfy nap. Scent Marking: Enid has subconsciously scent mark anything she and Wednesday have touched. From Wednesday’s blazer to her hand. For safety and her personal sanity she reasoned. Like to protect her from other furs. Then again, maybe it’s really because the furs needed to be protected from her instead.

“Enid. Hand it.” Wednesday crossed her arms. “I merely asked you to hold it for a minute.”

“Yeah I know but...” Enid looked down shyly. The blazer wrinkled under tightened hands. “It smelled uncomfortable!” Wednesday merely raised a brow. “... I am to assume you made it ‘smell comfortably?” Enid cringed. “Y-yeah?” Wednesday only blinked at her. She took the jacket and gave it a curious sniff. “Your cinnamon candles emanate a most nauseating scent, Enid.”

Enid perked up. She watched Wednesday slip it on with ease, straightened out perfectly well. “Suppose it’ll be efficient to strangle any passerby idiotic furs... Now, let’s return to the dorm. This ‘Bomb Time Haste’ show you speak of sounds torturous.” Enid’s smile reached to her ears. “Jeez, it’s Big Time Rush!” Biting: She gently bites or nips on Wednesday whether it be on her clothes or skin. It could be from a slew of reasons, but she mostly does it because she’s fond of her roommate. She bites the side of Wednesday’s hand usually not too hard but enough to leave a mark. On rare occasions, the collar of Wednesday’s clothes when they’re in the middle of some intense petting session. Enid took a deep breath while she leaned further into Wednesday. Her face to Wednesday’s neck as she practically laid on top of her. The pets from both her head and her back were driving her to bliss she’d never thought of having. To add on to it, their scent mixed together... “Enid, you’re biting.” Enid lazily opened an eye. She whimpered quietly. “I am not mad.” Wednesday sighed as Enid further dove onto her neck. A small huff and a grunt. “...It would seem I have spoiled you far too much recently.” Enid tightened her hold on Wednesday. More whimpers. “Don’t put words into my mouth. I simply said I have spoiled you.” Wednesday gently brushed her nape. “I did not say I’ll stop.”

Licking: Funny enough, it wasn’t Enid that started this habit. Rather a curious Wednesday. After studying more on werewolf culture, the goth learned licks from werewolves formed a way to calm down a pack member. Enid happened to be nervous for an upcoming test and well... “Wends! Did you just lick me?!” Enid’s voice rose to octaves she didn’t even know she could reach. Her wide eyes and a quick hand landed on the spot just below her ear. Wednesday merely nodded. “One of the encyclopedia’s of canine monsters mentions it is a therapeutic method: Heart rate returns to acceptable levels in a single lick.” “Actually I think cardiac arrest is far closer!” Enid huffs, “And that only works if we’re both werewolves!” Enid held her tongue when she saw Wednesday tighten her jaw. “W-wait you were researching...?” “Yes, for the past few days your distracting pacing around and whimpers during your studies have halted my writing time.” Enid processed the information as quick as she could. Before hastily standing up and putting Wednesday’s hand in hers. “You can be so sweet you know, that?” “I’ll skin you alive in your next wolf out, Sinclair.��� There was no bite to it at all. Enid only smiled. “I’ll let you lick me... If you’re okay with me licking you?” Wednesday blinked. “I’m not a werewolf.” “And that didn’t stop you from licking me.” Enid teased. In the end, she gave a sigh. Wednesday’s space needs to be respected. “Okay - I get it you -” “You may.” Enid tilted her head to the side. “You may lick me, Enid.” There it is, another blinding smile. “Only in this room. Anywhere else, I will personally pack that wretched red bag of yours and hurl it at Yoko’s door. Are we clear?” Enid nods quickly and immediately leans in for a few licks on Wednesday’s cheek.

[ladey]

When I Brush Your Hair | Chapter 5

Jinx x Fem!Reader 🌙🦋🎀

Word count: 2k

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The Enforcers had eventually left the Undercity allowing things to simmer down a bit. However the civilians were still upset, and understandably so. In fact, a whole bunch of them gathered into The Last Drop to come up with a plan of action.

"We should hit them back. We've got the numbers to beat 'em!" Sevika argues, slamming her fist onto a table in booming anger.

"Yeah. Let's teach them what it means to mess with us!" A man says, making the whole room shout in agreement. Vander is leaning back against the bar counter, lighting his cigar.

"You sure that's what you want?" He asks blowing smoke out of his mouth before continuing. "We crossed that bridge before, and we all know how that ended."

"You're just protecting you're kids." Another guy pops out and accuses. Pointing at the six of them including Ekko. Y/n stands awkwardly in between him and Powder, absentmindedly scratching her arm in discomfort.

"I'm protecting our people. I'd do the same for any one of you. We look out for each other, it's the way it's always been. This will blow over. We just need to stand together."

"The Vander I knew, the one who built the underground, wouldn't be afraid to fight." Sevika speaks out. Vander takes a few steps towards her.

"Do I look afraid?" His aura radiates intimidation. But Sevika gets up close to his face, staring daggers at him.

"No. You look weak." She growls. Then she whistles a signal to her group and they walk out of the bar.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Claggor is the first to speak up sounding sad. Powder turns to the group.

"We licked the Enforcer's butts with just the five of us. Imagine what the whole of the lanes could do!" She exclaims.

"Jeez, even Powder wants to fight." Mylo tsks throwing his arms, and starts walking away to the basement. The others slowly start to follow.

"So, why aren't we?" Vi scoffs, visibly angry and scowling. She just passes the doorframe before noticing Ekko's odd behaviour.

"Spill it, Ekko." She squints at him. Y/n and Powder peek around the corner like two gophers.

"Um.. O-okay well, um.. Vander's got a deal with the Enforcers." The boy grimaces.

"What deal?!"

-

Y/n and Ekko are sitting on Powder's bed with her while she shows them a couple of her bombs that she made and decorated. She was always so impressive. Y/n had asked her to teach her how she assembles them a couple times in the past, but she always told her that she'd be no help. Thankfully in the end, Powder gave into the girl's incessant pleading.

All is fine and dandy for the most part. Claggor reads while Vi sits in her chair; probably just thinking like she usually does; and Mylo tries getting a stain out of one of his shirts.

But earlier that day them and Vander decided it would be best if they set up some sort of warning or alarm that would signal to them that Enforcers are coming for inspection. And it was a good thing they did.

At the same time Y/n mimics the way she knocked out that guy from the previous day, the monkey toy they used as the alarm goes off and falls onto the floor.

Very quietly and quickly, all lights are turned off and all that anyone is doing is discarded. They climb up onto the pipes and ceiling joists just above the room, juking an Enforcer who opens the door and now looks around holding a flashlight.

It's dead silent in the room, all Y/n can hear is the heavy breathing through the crude mask all of the Enforcers wear. She looks up and sees Powder in front of her shaking.

Powder was holding herself up by just barely squeezing between two pipes, one of which she was holding on to; the other she had her feet planted firmly against. Y/n thinks "just barely", because the girl was slowly slipping down towards the floor.

What was she thinking putting herself there? Y/n doesn't even remember how she did it.

She instinctively looks over at Vi wanting to know what to do, but the redhead only looks just as panicked as she does if not more.

Now the room feels suffocatingly tense. It doesn't help that the Enforcer takes it's sweet ass time taking one last scan around the room, but it doesn't slow down the act of Powder's hands slipping farther. The others exchange panicked looks while still keeping an eye on the Enforcer below them. All hoping to whatever or whoever that he doesn't shine his light up to the ceiling.

He stands at the door for a moment, his hand resting firmly on the door knob. Y/n's hopes drop. She almost accepts the fact that they might get caught.

But then the door shuts. And Powder falls onto the ground, scrambling to hide behind the table.

Y/N hadn't realize how sweaty she is until now. Her and everyone else stays up in the ceiling until they know they're in the clear. Now all they can hear is their breaths and yelling from a man in the bar above them; from the sounds of it an Enforcer.

It's only a couple of minutes before Vander opens the door. "Are you all okay?" He looks up at the same time Vi jumps down. She's visibly upset.

"No, we're not okay. They almost saw Powder, what if they took her?!" Her voice cracks and Y/n swears she can see the poor girl's hands shaking.

"No one is taking any of you. I'd never let that happen." Vander assures, taking a cautious step toward her.

"It's already happening! You heard him, they won't stop. We need to fight back." Vi punches her hand against the wall to her right, struggling to contain her jumbling emotions.

"And if you won't, I will." She finals. The room is silent.

"I've heard this kind of talk before." Vander sighs.

"Come with me, I want to show you something." He says softly. Vi is reluctant at first, but she leaves the room with him. The door clicks shut, casting the room in a slightly awkward and heavy mood.

"Uh.. It's getting late, I should probably head home." Ekko says to the two girls. He leaves, and Mylo and Claggor decide to head up too. Now it's just Y/n and Powder.

Powder sits down on her bed. Y/n stands there awkwardly for a moment, hand's fidgeting. She isn't sure if she should leave or not. If she's being honest, she doesn't want to. After everything that's been happening the past few days she's been finding herself spending them with Powder and the others . She hates to intrude but she feels a lot better knowing she has someone with her. Other than her dad of course, who she saw earlier in the bar, but that's different.

The smaller girl takes slow steps towards her friend, showing embarrassment.

"I hope I haven't been too annoying being at you're place a lot recently. I just thought it would make you feel better since, y'know..." Y/N trails off, eyeing Powder's face. Powder looks up at her and smiles. She's about to respond but Y/N beats her to it.

"It makes me feel better, and I really like your company. I can always leave if you want me to—"

"No! Don't.. leave." Powder grabs Y/N's arm, who stands in front of her. She pulls her down to sit her beside her. Y/N is slightly taken aback but she listens and watches the bluenette who is looking down at the floor. Then her eyes meet her's.

"Stay the night?" Powder asks. Y/N smiles.

They spend the rest of the duration working on bombs, Powder showing Y/N how they work and her smiling and nodding the whole time. The two older boys had came back with news about the lanes possibly fighting against topside. That had Powder excited.

The two girls had been so caught up in their own little world that they hardly noticed Vi approach them. Y/n looks up when she catches sight of her sitting down on the bed across from them. When did she come back?

Powder's eyes light up when they land on her older sister's hunched frame, quick to reach around her and show off her latest contraptions. "Look, we made them for the Enforcers. These two are smokes bombs, n' are those two are full of nails." She giggles, radiating confidence and contentment.

"They're gonna work this time, I know it." The two young girls share happy smiles. Y/n bends down over the edge of the bed to grab something out of her bag when Vi starts speaking to Powder.

"Me too... You know, Powder, what makes you different makes you strong. Always remember that, okay?" Her voice is soft. Not more soft than usual, but the tenderness behind it gives Y/n the sense that there's more to be said. As though she's concealing something.

She slowly lifts herself up, watching them out of the corner of her eye. She would hate to intrude... However what she doesn't expect is the older girl to begin talking to her.

"How are you holding up, Y/n?"

"Oh— good..."

Vi is hoping to know how she feels after her incident while running from the enforcers earlier that day. Nobody had brought it up surprisingly, seemingly completely forgotten. Y/n thinks she feels okay about it...

"Don't let your fears hold you back. What others say about you shouldn't make you shy away."

Y/n lifts her eyes from her lap and meets Vi's blue ones. They look sad. But she smiles nonetheless, and she can't fight the smile that breaks onto her own face.

Vi gives the two one last smile and gets up, leaving them alone once more. Y/n's eyes follow her movements as she travels across the room, going to sit with the two boys.

"What was that about?" Y/n mumbles. Powder's shoulders slump making her friend focus on her. The frown is clear as day on her face. Y/n places her small hand on hers, which happens to hold a very old stuffed bunny.

"What she said is true." She speaks quietly. She hopes only her and Powder can hear their conversation.

"Your... your differences are so much better than mine." Powder whispers. "You can defend yourself, help others.." She continues as she plays with the bunny's ears, hand pulling away from her friend's gentle hold.

Y/n looks down between them and sighs. It's kind of funny; she had always thought the opposite. Powder may not have been able to create fatal bombs yet, but the girl was a literal mechanical genius, especially for her age.

"It's not easy. My emotions sometimes get the best of me and then everything goes wrong. Yeah, it used to be worse, but it doesn't prevent the fact that I'm still told to hide it."

Powder had looked up at her as she spilled her truth. And it was true; Powder never got to see Y/n use her abilities that often, even during times where they would've been useful. Today was just one of those times that showed how much she still lacks control over them. She was lucky it managed to save her.

"Forget me, though! Let's talk about those shooting skills of yours!" Y/n giggles as she leans into the bluenette, making her blush and laugh when she pokes her cheek.

"No really. I wish you were allowed to use a real gun." She lowers her voice down as they fall back into a comfortable conversation as the late night dawns on them.

-

Vi had migrated to her bed in the bunk above them, and the two boys had fallen asleep as well; Clagger with his old book resting open on his face.

Lastly, the two young girls fell asleep in Powder's bed. The bluenette clutching the stuffed bunny in her arm while her friend nestles her face against her shoulder.

The light of the lamp had long been shut off, the lights from outside somehow not being a disturbance as they cascade a soft green tint into the room through a window. It's quiet.

The definition of, "calm before the storm."

[dragonflylady77]

Mr Steve and the Monster Hunter

Only a couple of chapters to go now... @bigbangharringrove

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Ao3

In which Billy has BIG feelings

Chapter 5 - He's awake

Billy hears footsteps outside his door but whoever it is doesn’t knock. The footsteps move away after a minute. He keeps his eyes closed and goes back to focus on his breathing, content in the knowledge that his staff respect the Do Not Disturb memo.

He knows he’s on borrowed time. He’s been hiding out for a week and Max will no doubt come bursting through the door soon, of that he is sure. Once she decides he’s spent enough time wallowing. God knows she’s pestered him enough through the years about having feelings and working through them that she should know to give him some time to process them.

He nearly lost Steve to a fucking demogorgon. Even if Steve isn’t his to have, and might never be, that near miss in the Upside Down shook Billy to his core. He knew it was a bad idea to let Steve come with them and he regrets letting the guy challenge his decision and make him change his mind. Too many years have passed since Steve was anywhere near danger like that and he lacks the training Billy, Lucas, and even Will, have.

Billy

Yeah

He’s awake

Thank fuck

Relief floods his system and Billy feels tears flow down his cheeks. He does nothing to stop them. Steve is awake. He must be okay or El would have said something. Billy knows that the doctor said Steve will be okay physically, once he’s recovered from the surgery, but there was no way of knowing how he would be affected mentally.

Billy remembers all too well Robin and Max mentioning Steve complaining of ringing in his ears and migraines following one too many bumps on the head when they grappled with the Upside Down and its monsters fifteen years ago. Robin also mentioned something about Russians under the mall but Billy never felt the need to ask about that. No point rehashing bad memories.

The footsteps are back and this time there is a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Billy says with a sigh, getting off the floor in the corner of the room where he’s been holed up for a few hours. He glances at the opening door and finds his sister. “Hey, shitbird.”

“He speaks,” Max counters, sarcasm heavy in her voice. She stops on the other side of the couch Billy drops his sore body on. Maybe sitting on the floor wasn’t the best idea. “Are you done with your pity party yet? Your man’s awake, you should go see him.”

“Max…” Billy is tired of having this conversation. She doesn’t listen, and neither do El and Robin. The second they found out he was still harboring a crush on Steve, they started referring to him as Billy’s, and refused to stop. Heather usually rolls her eyes and changes the subject. Billy sighs and runs a tired hand through his hair. “He nearly died on my watch. He had to have surgery and was in a coma for a week, for fuck’s sake.”

“He’s alive, and confined to a hospital bed. Best time to confess your undying love, really.”

“Oh my fucking god, Max. It’s not gonna happen.”

“Oh yes it is. And you know how I know?” She looks way too smug and Billy hates it.

“Enlighten me, oh wise one.” He wants to roll his eyes but Max is within kicking range and he’d like to keep his shins unbruised, thank you very much.

“He asked where you were.”

“Ooooh, yeah, wow.” Billy has to laugh or he’ll start crying again. “Jeez, Max, you better get the wedding invitations in the mail, I guess me and Harrington are getting hitched!”

“Jesus, you really are a butthead.” Max sits next to him on the couch and Billy only narrowly avoids the punch to his shoulder because he leans away from her.

“You’re the one who came in here all excited for something that exists only in your brain”—Billy sees the look Max gives him and amends—“fine, and mine.”

“Billy, he asked if you were okay, and sounded worried after Rob told him what had happened. And I told him to think about why you have been calling him by all those pet names you like so much.”

“You didn’t! Oh my fucking god. Why?”

“Because, brother dear, you deserve to be happy, and I have it on good authority—”

“You mean Robin.”

“Yes, of course, I mean Robin, the lesbian mother of your child and kinda best friend of your soon-to-be boyfriend. Based on a chat she had with him the night you dragged him into the Upside Down, he only needs a little push and he’ll open his eyes to what he really wants.”

“Oh, really? And what’s that?”

“Stop being an asshole. You know I mean you. I am not at liberty to repeat what was told to me in confidence but if you do not go to him now and at least talk to him, I swear to God…”

She doesn’t finish the sentence and Billy does not need her to. He knows that she will follow through with whatever she threatens him with and it’s definitely in his best interest to not push her that far. She can be real scary when she wants to and he takes some pride in that. 

***

Billy hears Livi’s babble before he gets to the room and it makes him smile as he walks up to the open door. He knocks and waits. Livi is sitting on the bed across from Steve and whatever story she is telling him stops when she hears knocking and notices Steve’s attention is no longer on her. 

“Daddy!” Livi exclaims excitedly. “I bringed Mr Snorkles for Mr Steve to keep him safe.”

“That was really nice of you, princess,” Billy says as he walks into the room and stops by the foot of the bed. “Where did your mom go?”

Livi shrugs then turns on her knees and shuffles towards Billy until she’s close enough to wrap her little arms around him for a cuddle. “Me and Auntie Janie gotted a chocolate cupcake for Mr Steve and Mommy took me to give it to him cos Auntie Janie needed to get back to work.”

“I think she’s ringing Heather,” Steve adds, locking eyes with him.

Livy moves back to where she was before, and starts her story again. Billy feels the heat in his chest ramp up a notch. His fingers tingle as he notices Steve’s gaze move down then back up, stopping on his mouth before finding his eyes again. 

“Okay. Thanks.”

He really needs to keep his power under control around Steve, especially after what happened in the Upside Down. He makes a mental note to talk to El about it. Hopefully she has some special trick to ensure he doesn’t raze an entire city block if he ever gets his mouth on the guy. Fuck. Thinking about it only makes the tingles worse. Ugh.

“Right, sweetie, are you ready to go?” Robin enters the room and stops when three pairs of eyes land on her. “Hey, B.” She smiles and approaches the bed, stopping by Billy for a quick hug.

“Heather okay?” Billy asks, watching as Robin gathers their daughter’s coloring book and felt pens and shoves them in her backpack, then adds Mr Snorkles before she zips it up.

“Yep. She had another nap. Olivia, say goodbye, sweetie.” Robin busies herself getting Livi’s shoes back on.

“Mommy, I didn’t finish telling Mr Steve my story about the seals at the beach.”

“It’s okay, Olivia. You can tell me next time I see you. Or you could draw a picture about it, so I have something nice to put on the wall,” Steve says with a grin and Billy can see how taken with the idea Livi is. 

Once her shoes are on, and Robin has successfully wrestled the little girl into her green sweater, she gives Steve a wave. Billy picks her up before she can hop off the bed and wraps his arms around her as he walks them to the door, Robin following after she says her own goodbyes to Steve.

“I’ll see you soon, okay, princess?” Billy tells Livi, kissing her cheek. “You be good for Mommy and give Mama a hug when you get home.”

“Yes, Daddy.” Livi traces the scar on his left cheek with her finger in a move he knows well. Something is bothering her. 

Billy stops in his tracks and feels Robin walk around them and into the hallway. “What’s wrong, baby girl?”

They had a big talk about the incident once she and her moms arrived in San Diego last week. El had rung Robin then opened a portal to pick them up, quicker and safer. Heather had stayed behind at Billy’s house while Robin sat with Steve, and El had brought Livi to Billy because she knew his daughter would be the person to snap him out of the spiral he was in.

She lets out a little sigh and glances up at him. “Is Mr Steve gonna be okay without Mr Snorkles?”

Robin chuckles next to him. “Aw, sweetie, don’t worry. He’s gonna be just fine now that your daddy is here.”

Billy sends Robin a sharp look but she raises one eyebrow at him. He wonders what she knows but won’t tell him. She’s like Max in that way, hinting but not sharing. It’s infuriating but there’s not much he can do about it.

“B. Give me this child.” she says, picking up Livi from him and putting her down on the ground, holding her hand. She pats his shoulder with her free hand in that slightly standoffish way of hers he’s grown fond of over the years and gives him a grin. “Go get your man, okay?” 

“Rob…” 

“No.” She shakes her head. “No more running. He’s here. He’s alive.” Her eyes narrow as she stares him down with that eyebrow raised. “More importantly, he finally knows you are alive.”

Billy takes the hit. Robin, Max and El have been on his case for a few years now, wanting to know why he wouldn’t let Steve know he was alive. It wasn’t like he swore them to secrecy or anything, he just… didn’t see the point. Heather agreed with him, more out of loyalty and trauma bonding than anything.

Steve is a fantasy, an unattainable dream that refuses to die. Billy sighs. 

“Hey,” Robin pipes up again, squeezing his bicep. “You can have this, I promise you, if only you let yourself. I wouldn’t lie to you. You know that. Not about anything, but especially not about this. I know how long you’ve been wanting this. Wanting him. And I know you’re scared—”

“Daddy isn’t scared of anything, Mommy,” Livi interjects, making them laugh.

“Olivia, sweetie, I’ll tell you a little secret. Your daddy might not be scared of monsters, but he’s scared of being loved.”

Billy glares at Robin but says nothing because, well, she’s not wrong.

“I love you, Daddy,” Livi says, taking Billy’s hand in hers, as a show of proof. “And Mama and Mommy love you. And Auntie Max and Auntie Janie love you too.”

“Yes, thank you, princess. I love you too.” Billy smiles down at her and gives her little hand a squeeze.

She looks at him with her big blue eyes and he knows he’ll do anything she asks of him. “Daddy?”

“Yes?” As much as Billy thinks he braced himself for the inevitable follow-up question, when it leaves his daughter’s mouth, he finds that he wasn’t ready for it.

“Do you love Mr Steve?”

“Um…”

“Only I heard Mama and Mommy talk about it with Auntie Janie yesterday. The yelling waked me up.” She looks at Robin. “Sorry, Mommy, I know it’s rude to earsdrop.”

It never fucking ends… Now they have his daughter in on it. Billy takes a deep breath and decides he’s tired of fighting against the current. Maybe it’s time to listen to what the women in his life are telling him. He’ll shoot his shot and when nothing comes of it, at least, he’ll have closure and he’ll be able to move on.

“Okay. Fine. You win, Buckley. I’ll tell him. And when he kicks me out of his room, we can never mention it again.”

“Whatever, Hargrove. It’s gonna go so well I might hire a plane to write ‘I told you so’ in the sky at your wedding.” With another smirk, she picks Livi’s hand from his and nods towards the room. “Get your ass in there, B. We’ll see you later at home.”

“Good luck, Daddy!” Livi calls out as she follows her mother down the hallway. 

Billy stands there watching them disappear towards the elevator, wondering when he became so easy to read.

“Billy? You still here?” Steve’s voice reaches him through the door.

The open door.

Fuck!

Kicking himself for letting Robin drag him into this conversation so close to the subject of it and wondering how much Steve actually heard, Billy heads back into the room, forcing himself to walk all the way to the bed. The instinct to run is clamoring in his head and he stamps down on it before El shows up in his mind again.

He sits on the side of the bed instead of the chair, one knee bent, and lets himself look at the man in the bed. Steve looks exhausted, his hair needs a good brushing, and Billy can see the edge of some of his bandages in the vee of the hospital gown. The nurses had to shave Steve’s chest hair before the surgery and Billy knows first hand how itchy and annoying it’s gonna get when it grows back. 

The nurses have kept Steve clean shaven but there’s some stubble on his jaw now that Billy would give a lot of things to be able to touch. He blinks away but can feel Steve staring right at him.

“Hey,” Billy says, not sure about anything anymore. He watches, heart in his throat, as Steve’s long fingers tangle with his on the blue hospital blanket.

“Billy, look at me. Please?”

Billy does what he’s asked and there’s something in Steve’s brown eyes that makes the want inside him claw at his throat. His mouth is dry and his hands clammy, and he can’t remember how to make words.

The tingles are back in his fingers, and they’re moving up his arms and centering in his chest. The cup of water on the side table in his peripheral vision starts to float slowly up, then it’s the magazine on the chair. When the call button for the nurse starts moving off Steve’s pillow, Billy closes his eyes tightly and forces himself to take deep breaths and visualize the objects back where they belong.

He feels a pull on his arm, then he’s lying across Steve’s body with his head on Steve’s chest and Steve’s arms around him. He hears a clatter when his power suddenly cuts off and the cup crashes on the floor.

“Sorry,” he whispers. His heart stops when Steve starts running his fingers in Billy’s hair, and Billy suddenly misses his longer hair in a way he hasn’t in years, not since the Incident, when he woke up alone in hospital with a shaved head and a hole in his chest.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Steve whispers, his fingers moving from Billy’s head to his nape, then his shoulders and his back, tracing patterns Billy doesn’t try to decipher. 

Billy moves his arms closer to Steve, fingers almost touching his sides. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you, from a few people today, Billy.” Steve continues to stroke Billy’s back as he speaks and Billy lets himself enjoy it.

The soft touches feel warm and good and he never wants them to stop. Steve keeps talking.

“I understand why you wouldn’t let me know you were alive. Heather was very clear about the fact that you and I were not friends and you don’t owe me anything. But I owe you. I owe you, Billy.”

“No, you don’t.” Billy’s words are muffled by Steve’s hospital gown but Billy doesn’t want to lift his head. He can hear Steve’s heart and it’s beating a little bit fast, but that means Steve is alive and it’s the most beautiful sound Billy has ever heard, besides his daughter.

“I owe you an apology for not giving you a chance back in high school. Especially after that stupid fight at the Byers’. We could have become friends after that mess was cleared. Then you wouldn’t have been…” Steve stops talking and his fingers dig into Billy’s back a little bit. 

Billy gives himself a moment to imagine what that could have looked like, being friends with Steve that year, meeting at the quarry for a beer, hanging outside the arcade and having a smoke or two while the kids played their games, going to see Steve at the mall and make fun of that stupid sailor suit that looked so fucking good on him the few times Billy had seen him from a distance. Steve coming around to the pool while Billy worked and maybe, just maybe, stealing kisses in the showers once the pool was closed for the day…

Then Steve relaxes his hold and continues, “It took me a long time to put a name to how I felt and I did my best to avoid thinking about it, about you, but then you showed up at school to pick up Olivia and I knew.”

“You knew?” Billy whispers, wary of breaking the spell.

“Billy, I missed you.”

Chapter 6

[sagencelestient]

Hairdresser s/o!

Characters: Scaramouche (not Wanderer), and Albedo (Separate)

Genre: Fluff!

Warnings: annoying customers (smh)

Scaramouche

You were tired after a long day of work, and it was almost after your shift. It wasn't a great day per-se, there were more difficult customers than usual. Not only this, but a bunch of the staff called in sick, so it was just you and two other co-workers there. Luckily, the day was just about to end. There were only a few more minutes. You really couldn't wait to get back home, and back to your lovely boyfriend, Scaramouche's arms. You felt kind of burnt out right now, and you knew being with him would help you out a lot.

However, your excitement to go home was soon snuffed out, like an extinguished flame, by the sound of the door opening. It was another customer. You and your co-workers' heads turned as they entered, demanding that their hair be styled, cut, and dyed while getting furious after you told them that the shop was just about to close. No matter what you told said customer, they just wouldn't leave.

"Why don't we just play rock paper scissors?" One of your co-workers, named Childe, suggested, "I mean, I really have to go right now, so... we should just let one person take one for the team!"

And of course, you were that person. You sighed, as you start to think of things to say to this difficult customer to make them leave. Unluckily for you, you couldn't think of anything that would convince someone like them.

However, right as you were about to give up and try to push them out the door or something, a familiar man pushed the door open like he owned the establishment.

"Y/n?" he asked, "do you still have clients? The salon was supposed to close 5 minutes ago, you know."

It was Scaramouche, the boyfriend you couldn't wait to get back home to! But why was he here?

"Hm? Scara? Uh, well, this client over here..."

At that point, said client interrupted.

"You said closed?! Well, look here! Someone else that you seem willing to service! My Hoyobook page WILL hear about this, you hear me?!"

"I- uh, ma'am-" you stutter, trying to get her to calm down.

"Uh, ma'am?!" the client basically screamed, "honestly! you can't even form a proper sentence! What does that mean?! Just for this interaction alone, I demand a 30% discount!"

"What y/n means, is that if you don't get out of here, right fucking now, some haircut wouldn't even be a worry of yours very shortly. You can stay around if you'd like to see why, though." Scaramouche threatened, giving the customer a death stare.

"I- Your manager will hear about this!" the customer screamed, before taking off running.

"Oh, um, T- thanks, Scara!" you say, greatly relieved that that person was gone. You look at your savior, your boyfriend. He really did look hot right now.

"Jeez, she couldn't even take a few threats... what a waste of space," muttered Scaramouche under his breath.

"Anyways! Why are you here?" you question, changing the topic. After all, he usually didn't come to visit after work.

"I just wanted to come to see you right after work. You should be thankful, honestly. And don't worry, what I said won't get you fired, not that you even need a job to begin with..." Scaramouche muttered.

"Aww!" you squeal, hearing that and running into his arms, giving him a hug and a few kisses, "you really are so sweet!"

"..."

"Okay then, let's go home!" you cheer. Even just seeing Scaramouche lifted your spirits, and it seemed to do the same for him.

While you two walk home, you joke about how you should also visit him at his workplace sometime. You were obviously not going to do it, as he has explicitly told you that it wasn't that safe, obviously, being in a place where not many like him, and being in a place where pretty much everyone has weapons and such. However, you still did want to visit his office. Maybe someday you could convince him!

After about 10 minutes, you reach your shared house and pop open the door with the key. You then walk over to the couch and collapse onto it.

"Come lay down with me, Scara!" you call out.

He sighed. "Fine, just for a bit though."

He moved onto the couch, and then you moved on top of him, laying on his chest. He really was super cute when he got soft, and you were the only one to see this side of him! It made you feel special. Oh, how lucky you were to have him! You sneak a kiss onto his cheek and lie back down, and soon, fall asleep.

And even though Scaramouche said he would only lie with you for "just a bit", you two ended up falling asleep together on the couch for the rest of the day. In all truth, he didn't fall asleep by accident, he just didn't want to disturb you from your slumber by moving, and ended up falling asleep. But he'd take that secret to the grave.

Albedo

You owned a small hair salon in Mondsdat, and actually, one of the only ones there, which meant you had many customers every day. You loved your job, but it was getting more and more tiring day by day. Not only this, but your salon got a sudden influx in popularity, which meant you didn't really have enough employees to meet everyone's needs. Cutting people's hair, whilst searching for employees, and running the store was really becoming tiring, and you knew you just needed a break. You also knew who else needed one.

"Hey, Bedo!" you say, entering his office.

He looked up, smiling as he saw you. "Yes, y/n?" he asked.

"Weell..." you said, "we're both really busy, right? So I thought we could go on a vacation for a bit! Just me and you! I think we both need it, and we also can get to spend more time together!"

"Oh... well, I suppose a little break wouldn't hurt," Albedo answered, "I just need to tell Jean, and I'll probably be able to go. Do you have anywhere planned?"

"Well," you say, moving to sit on his lap, and giving him a kiss, "not really! We should pick a destination together!"

"Alright then. Let's look for somewhere good after I'm done work, alright?" he asked, holding him in your arms and giving you a kiss back.

"Okay!" you smile, excited about where you were going to go. After all, it wasn't often that you two got much quality time together, and the vacation would be where you could cuddle with him all day and pepper him with kisses. You were already thinking of places you two could go as you walked out of his office. "See you at home, Bedo!"

END!

--------

Haha, can you tell who the favorite is? Can you? Can you?

-Celestient

(sorry the Albedo part is so short I just... well I have no excuses)

[keelt9]

Chapter 6

Masterlist

It’s my second time trying to beat him but Joe is pretty good in this video game.

I clap my hands and stand. “Ok, I give up. My fingers are cramping.” Joe laughs as I go to the kitchen for water.

“Come on!” But in the middle of his way to the kitchen, it seems he gets an important call for the way he walks to the other room. “One second.” He answered the call.

My sight was caught by the flowers in the living room. “I'm crazy.” I whisper to myself, turning around I see the pile of plates, cups and empty glasses of water, we've been accumulating during the day. 

I started to wash the dishes so immersed in my duty, until Joe came and turned me around with a wide smile on his face.

“I have bubbles on my hands.” I raise but his smile turns bigger. “What?”

He takes a deep breath. “Will you come with me?”

“No.” It's a mechanism of defense that comes naturally. “Ok, sorry, it’s just… still unusual.”

The switch in Joe's eyes expresses regret but I can’t help it, things are improving but others still are complicated.

Joe takes steps back and I see the confusion if he should ask one more time or just let it go. “I’ll go, if you want me to go.” 

I stand in front of him, unsure of grabbing his hand, but he does it even a few bubbles remind, and tries to smile one more time.

“I don’t want to make you unco…” I squeeze his hand. 

“Let’s do it.” This time a smile is forming on his face.

Joe said I shouldn’t be worried about anything, just be ready in 3 days with a bag and all I could need for 2 days, he’ll come to pick me.

A week later and a constant delay of my story to Leah along with quick calls everytime I can; we head to the airport on a Thursday late at night.

“Here we are.” I parked so he could go down. “Do you forget anything?” I smile at him.

It’s been the most calm week in years, we only leave the apartment for groceries. Besides that it was long movie nights, afternoon of games and morning of talking. 

He checked one more time his bag. “All in here. Thanks for dropping me here.” I nod and take from the back of my car a small thing I bought for him.

“Here.” Joe took the bag from my hand, but didn't open it, he looked at me and I nod smiling.

Inside the box were a couple CDs and 3 photos I took this week.

“The CDs, I know, are too old fashioned for you but, I record some songs that you’ll probably like to try based on the teaching of my father and the photos, it speaks for itself.” Joe takes one and smiles at it.

“What a good profile I have.” I bluff and both of us laugh. He raised the photos. “You’re right, this is so much better than a digital one.” 

He put it all in the bag one more time. “I’ll see you in 3 days, all right?” Joe opened the door as I put my belt on one more time, but when I lifted my head I was surprised by a small peck on my cheek. “Drive safe.” 

Then he closed the door, weaving his hand as he entered the airport.

“Won’t be easy, won’t be easy at all.” I whisper to myself, taking the driveway.

At home I spent the night telling details of my week to Leah, and she was bombarding me with questions, some of them I didn’t even formulate myself until she did. 

“Jeez, you make it sound complicated.” I giggle while sitting on my bed after finishing my laundry. 

“It is complicated Leah.” The fact that old feelings that I thought were dead come to the surface so easily it’s complicated if you think about it carefully. “What if when everything starts to be back to the way it is, he changes again?”

The silence that follows my question answers for her and she knows it.

“It has to be a football player, huh?” Leah nevers fails to make me laugh and relax. 

By the third day, just like Joe said, he knocked on my door at 5 am.

“Are you…?” He blinks when he sees I’m actually ready with my bag over my shoulder. 

“Let’s go.” I close my door with a satisfactory smile on my face. First time, I surprised him.

I walk to the parking lot of the building right to my car but he grabs me by my shoulders and walks with me to the opposite. 

“My car is that way.” I pointed to my back. 

“I know.” Joe answers as we walk right to a black car.

My bag fell from my shoulder. “Don’t tell me you drive from Cincinnati to here?” When he didn’t reply, it made me more intrigued.

He put on his sunglasses, and opened the door for me. It was five hours of driving. It took me at least 30 minutes, besides watching the empty bottles of water at the back for coming out of my shock and finally asking, as he kept driving. 

“Oh my god!” I laid back on the seat, he chuckled. “Why are you smiling like you just drive for 3 blocks?”

I close my eyes, feeling his hand on mine, a small squeeze. “Let’s enjoy the trip, ok?”

“I don’t even know where we are going.” I watch through the window, as we keep driving far away from the city, buildings are left behind, only the road and trees are visible in the distance. “I trust you, I’m just establishing a fact.”

I’ve seen this place before, in pictures, but having it in front is fascinating. It’s a famous camping site. A few of my coworkers have come here and said it’s one of the most beautiful places they have seen, but with my daily routine, having a weekend in nature it’s the last thing on my list.

“Do you like it?” Joe said as he opened the door for me so I could get down. My eyes are stuck to the wonderful mountains in front of me, the clear sky and the just appearing green grass all over the place. 

It’s the end of the winter, however the cold breeze makes me shiver so I put my hands in my pockets.

“I did some research.” Joe stands next to me with a proud smile on his face. 

“Asking to the players from the Bears, it doesn't actually count as research.” He opens his mouth in disbelief I guess so quickly. “But, I give you some credit for that.” 

I take a picture of the mountains, clearly an image that will be on my wall.

We spend the day walking around the place, laughin, eating and talking like time stops in that place and it’s us. When the night approaches we make a campfire and it starts to make sense why everyone fell in love of this place.

As the sky turns dark, the stars appear in the sky; in a city where you are constantly dazzled by the light of the building, the streets and all that isn’t natural, this feels surreal.

Unable to move my eyes from the sky I laid down on the grass and admired the night. Joe after coming out from the tent he laid down with me, breathing in slowly.

“Thank you, this is amazing.” I turn around but he’s as immersed in the sky as me. “It was pretty easy after all.”

Joe turned around and saw me. “Huh?” 

“Coming with you.” He smiled at me and shrugged his shoulders.

“The hard part is tomorrow morning.” He watched one more time to the stars. “We have to wake up early in the morning if we want to be on time, let’s call this, the preview.”

I laugh and watch the stars feeling at ease.

Sleeping in a tent after living for a week in the same apartment, it isn't as easy as I thought. Every time I close my eyes the mere presence of Joe makes me feel shy; in the apartment we were separate in different rooms but here we’re so so close.

It was until I turned around, I saw him sleep so peacefully along his hand covering mine over the pillow that obligated me to stay there, unconsciously falling asleep.

Joe woke me up moving me softly from side to side. “Just 5 minutes.” I heard him giggle as I hid my head in the pillows.

“Sorry, but we have to go.” I curse on my mind and open my eyes, still dark outside. Joe comes out, I follow him.

“We can’t even see the sun!” I tried to go back but he grabbed me by my arm and softly pulled me to our improvised table for we had a small “breakfast.”.

“The real breakfast will come after.” He takes the last sip of his protein milkshake. “What?”

I scrunch my nose. “Protein milkshake, really?” He laughs.

“I have a body to keep.” Joe winks at me, my face stops feeling cold.

This is the second time I heard a deep growl, being in the middle of the forest and the darkness don’t put the best scenarios on my mind.

“No, definitely no.” Terrified, I grabbed Joe's arm standing useless next to a tree, holding onto it with my other arm as my life depended on it.

Joe laughs, putting my arm around his neck and carrying me in his back. “What if there is a bear?”

“There are no bears around here.” The third time I heard it I put both of my arms around his neck shaking. 

“Joe, pl…” The sound of a big air stream makes me open my eyes.

In front of me what looked like a white hot-air balloon started to take form, I heard him giggling as he kept walking.

“No one told me about this.” I pat his shoulder so he can get me down and I start to walk, but he keeps going. “Joe, you can put me down.” 

“Maybe it’s a new one.” Joe's grip my thighs softly making sure I don’t fall.

He smiles, but I insist. “You being injured in the off -season cost millions of dollars, I can walk.” 

“You better start to save money.” My words were cut for the amazing view of the balloon on the top of a small hill, and the empty place, just a man making sure everything is well set inside and outside of it.

Finally he put me down, clicking on my thoughts.

I grab him by his hand, but he just makes a face of resting importance. “How do you know it?” This time my words are heavier than my attempt to pull because he turned around facing me.

When I was 7 years old, my dad and I were watching a documentary called “How it works” about hot-air balloons. I get fascinated and wonder what it feels like getting higher slowly and the marvelous view you can have from there. 

It’s become a dream I want to make true one day.

��Your mom and I from time to time like to talk.” He put his arm around my shoulder as we walked.

“About who?” Joe laughs with the child mood, a contagious one.

The man inside the balloon told us all the safety measures and all precautions we must take.

“Any questions?” He asked, looking at us, we shook our heads. “Let's go. It seems it will be a wonderful morning.” 

We get in and the man behind us starts to move and a strong flame makes us start to raise slowly with a shake.

I grab the basket for the excitement making Joe worry, grabbing my shoulders asking if I’m ok. 

“Yeah, yeah, it's wonderful. I'm so breathtaking, that’s all.” I couldn't take my eyes off the amazing view of the sun coming out between the mountains, turning the sky orange with a small touch of yellow.

When we reached the limit the sun was already over the mountains and we could see the trees with a touch of green for the leaves coming out.

“Thank you so much.” I took Joe by surprise and he looked at me. “This means so much.” 

He smiles and I tingle my arm with his, lean my head in his arm.

I lost track of time we were in the sky until the man told us it was time to go down. When we reached the ground we thanked him before going.

“It's nothing young lady, your boyfriend is in charge of every detail.” My face turns warm and the man giggles and turns around to start to disassemble everything.

We turned around as the man called us one more time, still he had something left to say.

“I hope to see you in the games!”  

The hit of reality came from the most unexpected moment, and we saw each other knowing  that.

As we packed our things he didn't waste any time and asked the question.

“Do you think about it?” He put the last bag on the car. “I would really love it if you were with me, not only as a friend.” 

My silence made him keep talking. “You can come to the training camps, enjoy the games and bring Archie…” 

“Joe.” I feel overwhelmed just thinking about a life changing decision with so much rush. “I'm sorry but I'm not…” 

At the same time I feel bad for not wanting to take a risk after all he's been doing. 

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I'm not going to do any of that. What are my chances that you don't change your mind like you did? What if you just stop thinking like you do right now?”

Joe tried to speak and I knew he would deny. “When the time gets rough, you think you will be able to let me be there for you?” He moved his eyes side to side searching for an answer. “Or you just locked up and put me aside for “protecting me”? 

Joe got down his head, I knew it, but I need the confirmation.

“I'm not mad or something like that.” I giggle because I pictured myself this moment so many times. “But could you be honest with me?”

He took a deep breath and looked right into my eyes. “Football is a big part of my life, it's been years trying to reach my goal and I'm coming closer year by year, I…I don't picture my life making a stop or changing something that has been working so well.”

I nod and pat his arm. “I…But I really want you to be with me. I'm confused.”

“These are extraordinary days of our lives, we both know that. Things changed.” I smile at him, a fake smile. “You will always have me like a friend, not like an enemy anymore.” Both of us giggled. “But I think that's all I can offer.”

“Maybe with…” His voice cut and cleared his throat and made my heart squeeze.

“Every time you are here for a game, I'll be there in the crowd.” He raised my pinky finger. “I promise you that.”

With teary eyes I lock our fingers.