#Literally writing the final few sentences RIGHT THIS MOMENT

[mollymarymarie]

i just spent my holiday break rereading like …… every? yeah every single one of your fics. you are such a gift. thank you so much for writing and sharing with us, and i CANNOT wait for the yuri on ice inspired wolfstar fic (i didn’t know i NEEDED it until you provided) for whenever we get to see it - thank you thank you THANK YOU for everything

Listen. LISTEN. how dare you come into my ask box and send me something SO OUTLANDISHLY CUTE while I am trying to finish this damn YOI fic! You have no idea the motivation this has wrought in me, you wonderful little sunbeam! I hope you just LOVE the ending of this fic!

[latenightdaydreams]

Hiiii! I really adore your writing and I’ve literally binged all of it 💕💕💕💕

I was wondering if you could do a story on Loser/Nerd! König kinda like tutor but it’s a girl who asks for help who generally has a crush on him and adores him and she’s all sweet and kind to him. Like all lovey dovey and affectionate!

I hope you have a good day!!!!💕💕💕💕

Thank you!! 💖💖

Nerd!König X Soft!Reader (fem)

MDNI🔞

Master List

>cw: fem/afab, oral, p in v, v-card loss

2.5k word count

📖

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You sit in class and look over at König, the tall Austrian student that recently moved here. His blonde hair is always unkept and his eyes tired. There is an aura about him that pulls you to him like a magnet. While he tries to appear stoic and mysterious, you see him casually peering over at you. A curious look in his eyes as he analyzes you.

Both of your eyes meet for a split second before he spins his head, looking back at the whiteboard. Your gaze lingers before you look straight ahead as well. Once class ends, König stands quickly, his long legs assisting him in fleeing the lecture hall quickly. You watch, blinking, as he fades away into the hall.

It’s right after statistics class, so you knew he’d be going to the library to work on the assignments we’ve been given; assignments you need his help with. That’s not the only reason you want to find him though…

With one deep breath, you decide to go through with your plan and approach König. You walk casually though campus as you mentally hyper yourself up. Other than sharing glances, you’ve not talked to König. What if you simply forget how to speak?

König sits with his air pods in while he works on equations using his iPad. Despite being nearly seven feet tall, he tries his hardest to go unnoticed; sitting in the back corner of the library. He is unaware that he has eyes on him, your eyes.

His sky-blue eyes look up and meet yours as you approach him. König looks around. Maybe you’re meaning to approach someone else? Even lost in confusion, he can’t resist but to glance at your body as you walk. You’re shaped perfectly, exactly his type. The fluid motion of your curves and breasts bouncing pulls him in. Then you stop right in front of him. With one hand, he takes an air pod out and places it back into the case.

“Hi!” You struggle to conceal the delight on your face as you finally get to speak to König.

“H-hallo.” König looks confused. Are you going to yell at him for always checking you out?

His accent is so dreamy. You think to yourself.

“I’m y/n. We have the same math class together.”

“Ja, I know who you are.” He sits back, wondering what this is about. The struggle to keep his gaze above the neck is real.

Without saying anything, you pull a chair next to him and sit. He looks down at your small size as you sit there. The tension in the air between you two is so thick you could feel it consume the surrounding room both.

“I was wondering um—” A rush of nervousness floods through you. “I know you’re amazing at statistics. Incredibly smart.”

Your sentence pauses as you take a moment to get lost in his eyes. The way you are gazing at him is as if you’ve already fallen in love. His cheeks go red as he looks at you.

“Well, I guess I just wanted to ask if you’d have time to tutor me?”

König let your question hang in the air for a few seconds as he looked at you. Have you always looked at him like this? He realizes he wouldn’t know because he avoids eye contact with you. Maybe tutoring wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

“I can.” He says simply trying to not let it show how excited he was to spend time with you.

“Are you free tomorrow?”

“I am—”

“I’ll be by your dorm room by noon.” You say with a large smile and turn to walk away.

König just sits there with his mouth hanging open as you walk away from him. A thousand thoughts running through his mind all at once. He quickly packs up his bags and goes to his dorm to clean it up for your arrival; he doesn’t want you to think he’s a slob.

The next day at 11:59 am, you knock on his door. When König answers you smile up at him and hold out a Tupperware container. He gazes down at you and cautiously grabs it from your hands as he steps aside to let you in.

“They’re homemade Jelly Donuts. I saw in Austria they’re really popular so I figured it would make a nice thank you gift.” Your voice is cheery, hoping he likes them.

König’s eyes light up as he opens the container to see six donuts carefully lined up and dusted with powdered sugar. He picks one up and takes a bite. His eyes flutter closed and he nods, enjoying the sweet apricot jam in the middle.

You can’t help but to smile as you watch him enjoying himself. A light dusting of powdered sugar covers his lower lip. Without a second though you use your thumb to gently glide across his lip, cleaning it for him.

“You had a little sugar.” You giggle as he looks at you. His heart thumps inside of his chest.

As he enjoys his donut your eyes look around his dorm room. König watches you as you do, feeling nervous that you might mock his collection of Gundam models that he’s spent hours building. Instead, you gravitate to one of the models of Beargguy.

“You have a Beargguy gunplay?  I think he’s so adorable! I have the pink one built.”

Did she just say gunplay? She’s perfect. He thinks to himself.

“Um yeah, I have the panda one too. I just haven’t built him yet.” König says, whipping the powdered donut dusting from his fingers onto his jeans.

“Maybe when we are done with tutoring me you can give me a tour of your models?” You smirk as you sit on his bed.

König doesn’t know what to say other than nod and agree. Dirty thoughts flood his mind as he watches you sit on his bed so casually. How would it feel to touch your skin? Kiss your lips? He shakes his head and walks over to his iPad and textbooks so he can start tutoring you.

He sits on his bed next to you, his knee bumps with yours, causing you to feel a rush of excitement being so close to him. The same rush travels through his body. There is a tension he is trying to ignore as he fumbles open his iPad.

As he does, your eyes are glued to his face. His blue eyes look stunning as they read over notes on the screen in front of him. Your eyes watch as he uses his fingers to scroll and tap. Without a second thought, you reach your smaller hand over to his knee and rub.

König’s eyes drift from the screen down to your hand on his. He swallows, but there is no movement to push your hand away, but there is a rush of heat to his groin. Finally, he turns his head, his blue eyes gazing into your eyes.

“I think you’re really amazing.” You say in a soft tone while being physically more forward.

König turns to you, his eyes roaming up and down your body before coming back to your face. This is his moment, the change he’s been waiting for. His hand comes up and cradles your face in his hand. The feeling of your hand moving up from his knee to his thigh causes his cock to get hard. A girl has never touched him this way.

His blue eyes darken as his pupils expand from arousal. You lean in and kiss his lips gently at first, waiting to see if he will reject you. As you pull back from the kiss, you look at König, awaiting his reaction.

König leans in and kisses you again. His kiss is needy, instantly opening his mouth against yours. You reciprocate and open your mouth, your tongue reaching out to swirl around his. A low guttural groan leaves his lips as your hand reaches for his erection. He pulls back from the kiss to look down at your hand as you grab him over the fabric of his jeans and jerk him slightly.

“Y/n…” He moans before kissing you again.

You kiss him back before pulling away and kiss his neck, gently licking his pale skin. It only adds to the euphoric feeling of you touching his cock. His hands go to his jeans and unzip them, releasing his leaky cock for you to grab.

A soft moan leaves his lips as he feels your smaller hand wrap around his shaft. He gazes down as you pull his foreskin back, jerking him off. Little droplets of precum trail down onto your hands, acting like lubrication and assisting in your motions.

“Your cock is so fucking big.” You whisper as you drop to your knees in front of him.

His eyes watch your every movement like a hawk, he can feel his cock twitch as you kneel in front of him. Your hand moves down to the base of his shaft as you lean forward to put the head of his cock in your mouth.

You suck lightly, eyes meeting König’s to watch his reaction. As you lower your head down further on his cock, König lets out a whimper. He tosses his iPad aside to get comfortable as you suck off his cock. He gently runs his fingers through your hair before grabbing slightly. He gently helps you through the motion, bobbing your head on his cock for you.

Loud sucking sounds fill the room, like music to his ears. He watches as spit forms at the corners of your mouth and spills down his cock. Your full lips wrap so perfectly around him. He lets out a shaky breath as he drops his head back. You let out a soft moan on his cock, the hum vibrating through him.

You pull your head back with a pop off of his cock, eagerly your tongue runs up and down his erection. His hand moves away from your head as he leans back on the bed.

“I want to fuck you…” He whispers, almost as if he didn’t really mean for you to hear him. You did.

Without a second thought you stand up and begin to strip your clothing off. König’s eyes widen as you do. He feels like now he should be honest with you because what if he’s bad?

“I’m…I’ve never been with someone before.”

“That’s okay, I can teach you.” A small smile of pride on your face for being his first intimate experience.

König follows your lead and undresses completely. You haze over his body, slightly chubby but you can tell he’s extremely strong. He stands looking over your naked body, his eyes zeroing in on the small bush covering the mound of your cunt.

“How…do we start?”

“We can start simple. Do you want me to ride you or you on top?”

His eyes move as if he is deep in thought. The idea of watching your breasts bounce wild as you ride him sounds amazing, but he’d probably cum faster from the visuals mixed with the pleasure. “I want to be on top.”

“Okay.” You crawl on the bed, ass up in the air as you go to his pillows and lay down.

König moves on to the bed with you, his enormous frame approaching yours. His eyes drop down between your legs as he kneels in front of you on the bed. A pussy. Your pussy. He’s always wanted to know what you smell like, taste life. He lowers himself slightly while his hands pull your legs apart more.

König flicks his tongue out and licks your folds lightly. His eyes dart up to yours to see your reaction. You nod, encouraging him. He presses his face closer and takes a longer swipe with his tongue and…my god. After one taste, he couldn’t stop. Not a thought in his mind as he buries his face between your pussy lips, lapping at your folds and missing your clit.

“Go up more.” You instruct him. “Like the little hood area.”

He moves his tongue up, flicking it quickly. Your eyes flutter and legs begin to twitch. König realizes he’s making you feel good. It excites him like no other. He doesn’t stop as soft moans begin to leave your lips freely. His eyes stay locked on yours as his lips begin to thrust into the mattress beneath him to get friction.

“You taste so sweet.” He says quickly before diving back down between your thighs.

A small smirk appears on your lips before another moan comes out. You gaze down at him and comb your fingers through his hair. “You’re doing so well.” The way you say it with a tone of desire lights the fire within him.

“I’m sorry, I want to feel you so badly.” He says as he pulls away from your core and moves his body between your legs.

He rubs the head of his cock along your folds and feels himself shutter at the feeling of your warmth and wetness. His eyes are down gazing at your folds spread open for him. He leans down and kisses your breast shyly before kissing your lips.

“Can I—”

“Yes.”

König gazes back down at your pussy as he watches his cock get swallowed by your cunt squeezing him. His eyebrows pinch from the orgasmic feeling of your velvety walls clenching around him. A loud moan escapes his throat as he fully shoves his cock into you.

“Oh fuck!” He groans loudly as he pulls back and slams into you again.

The feeling he’s giving you is euphoric as you gaze up into his eyes. He watches as your breasts bounce to the rhythm of his motions. A melody of pleasure leaves your lips encouraging his speed to quicken.

He gazes down at the creamy streaks your sweet pussy is leaving behind and his cock. You look like a perfect angel beneath him. The look of pleasure on your beautiful face is something he wishes to see over and over.

“König!” You moan out as your nails dig into his arms.

Hearing you moan out his name was just too much. König leans back and grabs your legs, spreading them wide apart. He thrust into you quickly, losing his rhythm and just chasing his orgasm that’s quickly building.

With one final hard thrust, he slams into you and leans over your back. His lips needily finding yours, kissing you as he cums into your pussy. You can feel his cock throbbing as you rock your hips against his. König pants and rests his heavy body on yours, pressing you into the mattress.

“I’m sorry…” he says panting, “I didn’t make you cum.”

“It’s okay.” You kiss his neck and caress his sweaty back. “It was your first time.”

He shakes his head, pulling out. “I want to make you cum.”

König looks into your eyes as he parts your legs and drops onto his stomach. With the adrenaline of having just lost his virginity, he takes his time this time. He kisses down your thighs, softly biting your supple flesh. His eyes drawn to his white cum leaking out of you.

“You’re so perfect.” König says to you as his lips get closer to your cunt. “Be mine. Bitte.”  

[sim0nril3y]

I’m LITERALLY screaming at ghost with a praise kink !!!!!!! That was so fucking good I am foaming at the mouth!! Was that part of the 12 days of kinkmas thing? Also, side note, can we read all of these as civilian!reader? Or will the 12 days of kinkmas be outside that little au?

Also, if I may be so bold, could I request ghost with a breeding kink, perhaps? 🫣

Note: Firstly, thank you so much for sending this request, you have no idea how much I needed to write this down! As for your questions, anything that comes before the 14th of December is totally just for fun and part of my normal writing so these types of things aren't part of the 12 Days of Kinkmas. Also, the Kinkmas will continue to be part of the Civilian series but honestly you can read my fics in whatever way makes you happy! Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Civilian!Reader Warnings: No mask Simon (It's my personal headcanon in his regular life he probably wouldn't wear it), established relationship, teasing, breeding kink, P in v sex, lots of talk about pregnancy and knocking up, unprotected sex, canon-typical swearing.

There was no denying that Simon was in a strange mood. Where usually he rarely touched you in public now his arm was draped over your shoulder like some kind of accessory or his hand lingered on your lower back and even drifting down to cup your bum. He’d lean down and whisper into your ear, pressing a tender kiss to the hinge of your jaw. Everything he seemed to do only lead to you feeling a little warm.

It was just unlike him. Simon was usually very reserved in public, sometimes even holding your hand was too much affection for him.

All day you wracked your brain trying to figure out what had changed or what had sparked this sudden alteration in Simon’s mentality. As instructed you were stood by the hob, slowly stirring a pot of whatever Simon had prepared. You had been so deep in your thoughts you hadn’t heard Simon approaching from behind, slinking up behind you, strong arms tying around your middle and sucking you back against his form.

Those skilful lips found your throat, humming as Simon pressed a couple tender kisses to the areas of skint that were exposed. “Si, what has gotten into you lately?” You giggle was breathless, wooden spoon long forgotten in hand as your head tilted back into his shoulder. “Fuck~”

Simon continued to kiss and suckle at your throat before muttering out coldly. “Y’gonna think it’s stupid…” Then resuming his attack on your throat. “You know…” Losing track of your words as his lips nipped at your earlobe playfully. “Nothing… nothing you could say… would ever be… stupid…” The words seemed to trail away pointlessly.

For a few moments Simon remained painfully quiet, his hands roaming around your mid area, rubbing and soothing his hands against it. “Fuckin’ hell…” Like always when frustrated or a loss for words Simon growled out the expletive. “Fine…” He muttered, keeping you firmly facing away from him so that he was able to try and form a sensible sentence. “Been havin’ this dream lately…” Simon let out a low huff. “Sound so fuckin’ stupid…”

“A dream?” You quizzed, pinch forming between your brows. “What kind of dream?” “A dream… it keeps coming back…” Simon smirked. “I don’t dream ever but this one… this one won’t get out of my fuckin’ head.” Those strong hands continued to stroke and caress your stomach before finally he allowed the truth to spill from his lips. “You were pregnant.” The hands on your stomach were so soft and soothing, like trying to manifest his dream in reality. “You were pregnant with my baby… and you looked so fuckin’ good…” The word rolled off his tongue like it was dripping in sin and you knew then you were going to need to change your panties.

A big grin found your face. “Is that right?” He growled in a moment, yanking you over to bend you over the kitchen table. “Simon, the dinner-” “Don’t worry. I’ll fill you up.” Simon growled, yanking down your sweats and underwear in a quick moment. “Need to get this dream out of my head, babe. Can you… can you let me do this… please…” There was almost pleading to his tone and it caused you to rub your thighs together as you leaned over the table, his hand pressed between your shoulders.

“You can do it.” You confirmed gently and in the moments that followed Simon was kicking your legs apart to exposing your sopping cunt. “Look at this…” His hand cupped your sex, watching you shudder on the table. “Looks like you like the sound of my dream too, love.” A couple fingers slipped into your cunt, spreading your walls wide around his thick fingers and making you whimper against the table. “Is that right, baby? You want me to fill you up? Want me to pump you full of cum?”

A tight couple whimpers came from your throat. “Please. Please. Please.” You whimpered lowly, shunting your hips back to practically ride his fingers as they spread you wide. “Please, need you… need you inside me…” It was as if that was all the encouragement that Simon needed, because in the next moment he was unbuckling his belt, taking his rock hard cock in hand, massaging and rolling back the uncut skin as he pressing himself against your tight open and letting out a low groan as he sank inside, feeding you inch after inch until he reached the hilt, hips firmly pressed against your rear. “Good girl… Good fuckin’ girl takin’ every fuckin’ inch of me like I taught you.”

After allowing you a couple moments to finally adjust to his immense size Simon drew back and began to fuck into you, hard and fast, one hand braced on your shoulder whilst the other cupped under your knee to lift onto the table. “Feel… so fuckin’ good…” He growled out, teeth grit, muscles strained, wound so tight you wondered if he might snap, or if this was maybe him snapping. “Gonna look… so good filled up with me… know you’re gonna look so good, baby.”

“Simon-” “I know, baby. I know.” His hips shunted faster and shallower, hardly removing his cock halfway before shoving it back inside of you. “Fuckin’… tight cunt…” He cried out lowly. “Can’t wait… can’t wait to see you dripping… dripping with me…” Simon let out a low groan. “I’m gonna… gonna keep pumping you full… full until you’re bursting.”

The kitchen was filled with wet, slapping sounds. The sound of Simon fucking into you with so much love and adoration. The promises of a future. The prospect of having a full life together. It was enough to make your walls begin to squeeze and tighten, that and the feeling of your clit rubbing awkwardly against the table with each brutal thrust from Simon’s strong hips into your own, pistoning his thick cock relentlessly.

“There. There. There.” Your voice was begging and then following by a couple moans and squeaks as your cunt spasmed and squeezed around him. “There it is…” Simon hissed. “There it is, baby. Fuck, feel so fuckin’ good…” He growled, tilting his head back. “Tell me… Please… Tell me you want it… B-beg for it…” His hips snapped erratically, trying to stave of his own end even as your cunt milked and tried to force it from him.

“Simon~” You squeaked. “Simon… Simon, please… I need… I need your cum… I need you to fill me up… I need you to knock me up…” The words flowed so easily, unsure if you even believe them or wanted it to come true, but it seemed to be enough to throw him wildly over the edge, growling, huffing, snapping his hips aggressively and finally pumping you to the brim with his cum. It was a feeling unmatched, the warmth spreading throughout your walls leaving you humming lowly from the table. “Thank you…” Simon whispered into the air, leaning over your frame to press a couple kisses to your shoulder. “Thank you, babe.”

The two of you stood there, panting and slowly coming down from your highs, the kitchen table completely disgraced from your actions, his cum seeping out from your cunt and around his cock to seep onto the wood, the dinner completely forgotten about and burnt beyond recognition by now and the two of you left with a lot to think about.

Masterlist | Ask | 05-12-2023

[anemptypuddingcup]

Amidst the shoreline.

Luffy x Female Mermaid Reader Imagine.

Ending off the summer season with three imagines! I had watched Strong World and I noticed the different islands the monster trio were in before they went into the village.

I’m writing three imagines where reader is a different breed of monster (due to the mutations in the story Y’know?) These are also the last imagines before I continue tending to one more valentine mini and the one sentence stories.

Contains: Writing has a literal slight bit of first person (in Luffy’s perspective) and mostly second person. Reader is a shark mermaid. Reader helping Luffy catch food. Sex on the shore. Fingering. Pussy eating. Gear second. Luffy saying goodbye to Reader afterwards.

“Mmgh…”

Warm soft grains nestled underneath Luffy’s body as he lied there in the hot sun, his body dreadfully rising out of consciousness as he slowly opened his eyes.

So bright. Too bright.

He slowly sat up with a heavy groan and he reached his hand up to block the sunlight from his face while from his vision while his other hand rubbed at his eyes. His eyes slowly skimmed around and he realized that he was along the soft sand of a beautiful beach. The trees of the jungle rustled behind him and a salty sea breeze flew within his hair, causing him to hold his hats still on his head.

I must’ve fell asleep, where am I? God, I have a fuckin’ headache, that fall musta really hurt m’ass. I gotta get back up, ev’ryone must be lookin’ ‘round for each other…

A heavy groan left his lips as he steadily stood up from the soft sands, his body feeling rather exhausted yet dizzy from the fall. He looks down and out along the shore but his eyes froze as they landed on a pair of slitted-pupils staring back at him.

His body immediately tensed up and he shifts just a bit before standing there blankly as he readied himself for whatever was about to come out of the salty water.

You slowly poked your head out and placed your forearms against the dampened grains of sand on the shore before lifting yourself up out of the water, your upper body soaking yet revealing your breasts which was covered by a hand-crafted sea-shell bra.

Luffy eyes softens and he slowly loosened up at the sight of you, his body ploping back down onto the scorching sands while he watched you struggle to crawl out of the salty sea-water.

As Luffy studied your appearance, his brows raise in surprise as he notices a grey fin slowly rising up behind your drenched frame.

Shit! There’s a shark right behind’ ‘er!

“O-OI! BEHIN’ YA!” He shouts out loudly to you as his body unconsciously shot up from the uneven sands before quickly began rushing over to you.

His steps were very unbalanced along the sand as he ran to you, his breaths heavy as he grew worried that there was a shark or any sea monster behind you. You raised your head at his sudden yelling and tilted it in question as you finally come out of the water fully, pulling the rest of your entire body out while your tail flapped about as you did.

Luffy suddenly stopped and trips over his feet, the sand causing him to slip and fall face first into the sand. You stared at him and watched as he pulled his head up from the sand, a few sickening whines leaving him as he spat out sand from his lips and rubbed at his face. You giggled at him which causes him to look up at you and sit there in place.

“O-Oi…You…You are-“

“You’re not from around here…are you?” You asked him, giving him a softening smile while you crawl over to him with your elbows and hands. Sand began to stick to your soaking skin as you scooted up to him, his face blank as he stared and watched you move in closer to him.

He stared down at you for a moment before giving you a bright smile, his eyes occasionally glancing at your lower shark-like body.

“M’not from ‘ere. I fell from th’sky…after m’crew…Nami!” He yells out and looks up at the sky, his body suddenly shooting up from the sand before he stood there and stared up at the sky for a slight moment. You quirk a brow out of curiosity and watched as he waved to you and turned away.

“Ion have time t’talk! I gotta go find Nami-“

Before he’d continue, his body suddenly froze and he groans out irritably as his stomach began to growl. You perk up at the sound of his stomach growling and sat up a bit, sitting up straight while you watched as he began rubbing his stomach. “Are you hungry?” You asked him, your smile slowly coming back across your pretty face while Luffy slowly turned back over to you. A heavy sight left his lips as he stuck his tongue out in exhaustion and nodded.

“Y-Yeah…I haven’ ate in a minute…an’ that fall really got me beat…” He expressed, his voice sounding as if he was running out of energy and falling exhausted. “Ya have anythin’ t’eat? Anythin’ I can munch on?” He asked you, walking over to you before he sat down close to you. You pressed a finger to your chin before humming out, your mind flipping through a few ways you could find food for him.

“I could go back to sea and find something, but I need help getting back to the shore..” You pouted to him, cursing yourself for crawling out so far out away from the shore.

Luffy smiled before standing up, his arms slipping underneath your lighter aquatic frame. A little squeak spills from your lips as you watched him slwoly lift your body up within his arms, surprised that he could carry much of your body in his arms.

“Ah!”

“‘Ere, I’ll help ya!”

A slight blush dusted your cheeks as you felt his strong arms and hands carry you up over the sand, your arms slowly wrapping around his neck as he carried you over to the shore.

As he grew closer to the shore, he slowly kicked off his sandals before setting foot into the cool sea water. He walked in a little deeper and felt himself beginning to grow weaker, a heavy yet shaky sigh leaving his lips as he felt himself losing his balance.

Luffy crouches down into the water and sets you down softly into the waves, allowing you to swim freely back into the ocean. Luffy falls back into the salty water and sticks his tongue out in exhaustion, the water making him extremely fatigued as he rested along the waves. You look back over to him and give him a worried look before swimming back.

“I-I’ll go find you something as quick as I can okay?” You yelled to him before sinking deep into the ocean.

…

Luffy had waited for only a moment and it didn’t even take you that long to bring back food for him. You had came back with a large fish in your arms, a heavy huff leaving your lips as you threw into the air before it fell onto the sands.

“I found something! Are you alright?” You asked, noticing that he was still lying there within the water. Luffy huffs out and slowly crawls out of the water before looking over to the fish you caught for him, his eyes widening as he noticed how large it really was. His body immediately perks up as he ran over to the fish, staring at it as it lied there dead on the shore.

“Woah! This thing is fuckin’ huge! Nice catch!” He praised to you, his words causing your face to turn a deep shade of red while you chuckled nervously. You smiled and watched as he began looking for materials to start a fire, your mind now fascinated with this peculiar human before you.

…

“Mmh! Fuck this is so good!~ Ya chose a really good fish gal!” Luffy hummed with delight as his mouth went chomping away at the grilled fish while you watched him eat to his heart’s content. He slowly looks up at you sitting on the shoreline and noticed that you were looking rather nervous or uncomfortable even.

Luffy quirks a brow as he swallowed his last bite of fish, his hands throwing down the bones he cleaned as he tilted his head to you.

“Oi…Everythin’ okay? Ya should be eatin’ too!…” He asked, walking over to you while you jump at his voice.

You looked away nervously before turning away from him fully, not wanting him to look at you while you sat there on the shore. He makes his way over to you and sits down onto the sand in front of you, giving you a soft smile while you whimper out to him.

“Ya okay?” He asked, his hand reaching out to touch your shoulder. You flinched back and he stops and stares at you blankly before moving his hand away. “I-I’m…I’m fine.” You responded to him, a heavy sigh leaving you as you grew all squirmy and unable to sit still. He lets out a soft chuckle to you and crossed his legs, his eyes focusing on your flustered figure while you sat there in silence.

“Thank ya for th’food. I woulda had t’go huntin’ hungry if ya won’t ‘round. M’name’s Luffy.” He finally introduced himself, his beaming smile spreading across his face as he winks to you.

You whimpered shakily but smiled nervously to him. “I-I’m ________…” You introduced yourself, your body scooting in closer to him while he smiled back. “Well, what’s wrong? Ya look like ya scared ‘bout somethin’…Did somethin’ happen?” He asked you, his body scooting into the shore and over beside you. You look over to him before looking back away nervously, a hum leaving your lips as he stared at you with his derpy blank expression.

“L-Luffy…May you repay me for getting you food?” You asked, the question causing Luffy to fall silent before he’d move in closer.

“Eh?”

“I know w-we’ve only just met but…” You trailed off and Luffy tilted his head with a curious hum leaving him before he smiled all mischievously. “Ya wan’ me t’return th’favor yeah? What is it that ya wan’ me t’do?” He asked, pressing his hands against your shoulders while you whimpered in response.

“Y-Yeah…C-Can you…M-May you…Um…” You struggled to get your sentence out and Luffy stared into your eyes before moving in closer to you, his body inching in to the point where his chest was up against yours.

“Ya wan’ me t’do somethin’ t’ya…don’cha?~ I can return th’favor since ya fed me~ Shishishi~” He snickered to you, his hands up running up against your sides which causes you to gasp out suddenly yet shakily. You shut your eyes softly but nodded in response, a whine leaving you as you felt his hands trailing up along your skin.

“P-Please Luffy…I-It’s a long time…since…since I’ve been touched…”

“Ya wan’ me t’touch ya?~ Or maybe even more than that as a little reward yeah?~”

“Y-Yes please…L-Luffy~” You pleaded to him shakily, watched as his hands trailed down along the upper side of your tail.

Luffy began peppering smooches against your salty skin, your voice unconsciously leaving your throat as you felt his semi-chapped lips smooch along your body. “Mind if I pull this offa ya?~” He asked you, his hands playing at your sea-shell bra while you hum out in response. You nodded and he smiles before giggling to himself, his fingers slowly slipping your bra off and revealing your breasts to him. He begins running his tongue along your breasts before he suckled at your softened buds, humming out while you let out angelic moans.

You run your fingers through his raven curls beneath his hats, a happy hum leaving him as he felt your fingers running through his hair. His hand began pinching at your other nipple, causing you to whimper out while you bit your bottom lip. He pulled your breast from his mouth with a little pop and he chuckles before looking up at you deep in your eyes.

You watched as he slowly climbed on top of you, his body heavy against yours as he set all of his weight onto you. You felt yourself growing hot, the warmth and weight of his body against yours was making you go crazy deep inside.

“Spread ya pussy open f’me dumplin’~” He whispered to you, his body hovering over yours while you mewl out to him shakily. You slowly move your hands down to your cunt before you’d slowly spread your slit open for him, an erotic gasp leaving your lips as your cunt began soaking with your arousal. Luffy hisses out at the sight of your pussy and trails his hand down to your open slit before he ran his thumb along your swollen clit, stealing a sudden moan from your lips. He’s move your hands out of the way and hummed as he stared at your slit in awe.

“Ya soakin’ wet f’me~ Ya wanted it that badly didn’ ya dumplin’?~” He whispered with a little snicker, his thumb running repeating circles along your clit while you squirmed around softly beneath him. Your moans grew all loud and angelic and you squirmed around beneath his body along the sand while he watched you writhe in pleasure. His lips curl up into an even larger smile and he licks his lips before moving down to your cunt.

He chuckled as his thumb continued to play at your clit while he runs his tongue up along your sticky slit, earning a loud gasp from you. “S-So hot~ Y-Your tongue~” You mewled out to him, biting your bottom lip with your sharp teeth while he moans out in response. He wastes no time going into your pussy, his tongue slowly stuffing itself deep inside of your warm velvety walls while you lied there and melted in the ecstasy.

Luffy huffs out shakily as he moved his tongue from inside of your cunt, his tongue sliding up your slit once again before he’d run it along your clitoris. He slowly stuffed two thick digits deep into your sticky hole, a sudden mewl leaving your throat as you felt his fingertips already nudging against your bundle of nerves. He snickers against your cunt and slowly pulled his digits out before stuffing them back in all playfully.

He begins fucking your cunt with his fingers, his fingertips occasionally curling up into your sweetened spot whilst massaging your sticky walls. “O-Oh my~ L-Luffy!~” You moan out his name so sweetly as he fucks your soaking pussy with his fingers, his mouth latched onto your clit as he pulled your hips farther into his mouth. His brows furled tightly as he buried his face within your inner hips, yearning to make you feel more pleasure from his tongue and his fingers.

He groans out into your pussy and slowly removed his fingers, a string of slick spilling after as he stuffs his tongue back into your cunt. You whine out above him and press your hand against your temple, unable to keep yourself composed due to his interest in your pleasure.

His tongue grinds against your velvety walls as he searched for your bundle of nerves, the massage against your walls making you clench your teeth while your face began to scrunch up in ecstasy. “L-Luffy~ I-I feel myself growing c-close!~” You moan out to him, peeking an eye down to him while he hums out in response. His pupils stared up intensely into yours, his breaths heavy as he digs his tongue around in your cunt.

He felt that he could eat and play with your pussy for hours, your pretty voice was like music to his ears which honestly made him even more feral. As he digs around for your sweetened spot, his tongue kissed a spongey spot within your walls causing a sudden gasp to spill past your lips.

“R-Right there! Oh God!~ Right there!~ Please Luffy!~” You pleaded to Luffy, begging for him to continue rubbing and nudging against that spot. He obeys and continued, a little stunned at how he struggled to find your g-spot with his tongue but not his fingers. Your tail begins to flap uncontrollably and you moan out and thrust your hips up against his mouth, gasping out as you felt yourself growing closer on his tongue.

“L-Luffy!~” Your eyes began to cross and your walls tighten around his tongue as you felt yourself growing closer on his tongue. Luffy groans out and thrusts his tongue in and out of your cunt, fucking you while you felt your body begging to release. A heavy moan left your lips and you clenched your teeth once more before throwing your head back in pleasure, your body ready to let loose.

“Ah!~ Mmgh!~ L-Luffy! I-I’m releasing!~” You gasp out heavily as your eyes rolled up, your pussy gushing out onto Luffy’s tongue while your body shuddered heavily with delight. Luffy moans out and pulls his tongue from your sopping hole, his fingers running circles at your clitoris to ride out your high while he breathed heavily.

“There ya go dumplin’~ Let loose on Luffy~” He hummed softly, his eyes watched as your pussy continued to squirt out into his fingers. Your eyes were practically rolling to the back of your skull as your pussy continued to release on his hand, your juices making a mess on Luffy while he smiled and moaned out in delight.

Your orgasm slowly softened and Luffy removed his fingers from your clitoris, a small smile spread across his face as he took pleasure and relished in your slightly broken state. “Feeling good dumplin’?” He asked, his body softly grinding up against yours while you hum out in response. You slowly sit up and stared up into his beady eyes, his eyes half-lidded with lust as he began moving his hands down to his red shorts.

“Now that I’ve helped ya, how ‘bout helpin’ me out too w’that pussy of ya’s?~” He whispered to you, his eyes trailing down to his bulge poking out within his shorts. You hummed in curiosity as you let a heavy exhale, and watched as his hands gripped the waistband of his shorts, your eyes watching as he began pulling down his shorts and boxers together.

He slowly pulled them down a bit and you watched as his cock suddenly pops out, his tip hitting up against his abdomen while he groans out from the pent-up frustration. You moan out at the size of his cock and scooted up a bit before moving your hands down to your cunt, your fingers spreading open your slit once again but wider to reveal your pretty insides to him.

“Please~ Fuck me Luffy~” You moan out to him all seductively, your sweetened tone causing him to shudder and hiss out in response. His hand softly grabs at your hips and he licked his lips as he ran his shaft up along your sticky entrance. He moves in close before giving you a sloppy smooch to your lips, his body now eager to get his cock deep inside of your warmth.

“M’gonna make sure ya stuffed all nice an’ good before I leave~”

You shuddered at his words and watched as he slowly slides his dick deep inside of your tight and sticky cunt, a heavy groan spilling past his lips as he felt your walls enveloping and sucking him in immediately. You moan out and press your hands against his shoulders, your voice all shaky as his thick cock stretched out your insides so easily.

“Such a tight pussy baby~ Ya suckin’ m’dick in s’deep already~” He groans out to you, his teeth biting his bottom lip as he went even deeper inside of your pussy. You threw your head back as your body trembled unconsciously against his, his tip smooching your cervix deeply and filling your cunt up rather easily.

He breathes shakily before giving you a loving smile, his face nuzzling into your neck while he’d give you loving smooches. “Ready f’me t’move?~” He asks you, his hips softly grinding into yours as he grew a little impatient. “P-Please do Luffy~” You mewled out to him, excited and eager to get a good fucking from him after being left unattended for so long.

He cracks a smile and softly began moving his hips into yours, a heavy hiss leaving his lips while a soft moan left yours. You watched as he pulled his hips in and out of yours, his cock continuously thrusting into your pussy and stuffing you repeatedly. You moan out in ecstasy as you felt his shaft slide in and out of your walls, his groans growing loud as your pussy practically sucked him deep inside.

“Ya pussy feel s’good ’round m’dick~ Does m’dick hit all th’right spots f’ya?~” He asked you, biting his bottom lip as he watched his thick cock slide in and out of your small tight slit. “Yes!~ It feels so good deep inside Luffy!~” You moaned, shutting your eyes softly as you relished in your euphoria and ecstasy. Luffy cracked a smile before slowing down, his hand on your hips loosening up which catches your attention.

You hum out and lifted your head to Luffy, your eyes noticing as his skin began to turn a pinkish tint. Steam began to flow off of his skin and you watched at he looked up into your eyes all fiercely. “Hol’ on baby. M’bouta fuck ya real fuckin’ good~” He growled, his hand landing on the side of your body while his other hand gripped your hip. You gulped but nodded, watching as he slowly began to thrust into your pussy once again.

He angled his hips up a bit and nudges into your bundle of nerves, making you moan out all shakily for him while he smiled at your pleasure.

You watched as his hips slowly began to go at an immaculate pace, his cock quickly yet repeatedly smooching your sweetened spot in the process while his cock went in and out of your cunt so quickly. Your moans grew louder as you shut your eyes tightly, your hands holding on tight to his shoulders while your body bounce a bit from the recoil.

Luffy groans out and bites at your shoulder, huffing out heavily while he pressed his body up hard against yours. You moved your hands from his shoulder and wrap your arms around his midsection, your moans all whiney and loud as your tail flapped about in excitement.

“Luffy~ Hah!~ S-So fucking- F-Fast!~” You gasp out, your body already running out of breath as Luffy practically knocked the wind out of you. “Ya like me goin’ fast?~ Ya like my dick goin’ fast inside this pussy? Yeah?~” Luffy moans out, his face beginning to contort in pleasure as he felt his cock twitching deep inside of your warm walls.

You tighten your walls around his cock even more and you pull his lips into yours, moaning out into his lips while he fucked you so fast yet so hard and deep. Luffy breathes heavily past your lips and groans out loudly, his body beginning to tremble while his brows furled from the pleasure. His eyes began to roll up and he groans out heavily, his lips pulling away from yours as a string of saliva tears from your lips.

“Fuck~ M’close~ M’so fuckin’ close dumplin’!~” He moans out, his face giving off a look of ecstasy as he fucked your raw pussy with delight.

“I-I’m close too Luffy~ P-Please! Make me cum!~” You pleaded, your nails scratching at his back while he huffs out heavily into your neck. His thrusts began to lose their rhythm and they grew more sloppy as he grew more closer to his orgasm. You moan out and arch your back, unable to hold your orgasm back much longer.

“Lemme cum inside~ Lemme cum inside of ya dumplinnn’~” He pleaded, his nails practically digging into your hips as he fucked you even harder yet sloppier. You threw your head back once again in ecstasy and held your arms tight around him, pleading for him to just cum deep inside of your pussy without a second thought.

“P-Please Luffy! I-I’m so close!~” You whined out, shutting your eyes tightly as your body shuddered against his. He lets out a little groans and mewls as you give him another deep smooch against his semi-chapped lips.

Luffy whined out and thrusted into you a few more times, his teeth clenching as he lets out a loud and heavy groan of pleasure. “Fuck! Fuck! M-M’gonna!~” He throws his head back and gasps out heavily, his body freezing as his cock finally spurting his thick cum deep inside of your tight pussy while you moan out in ecstasy from the feeling.

You shuddered heavily against him and let out a loud angelic moan as your pussy gushes around his shaft, enjoying the feeling of his hot seed shooting deep within your pussy and coating your velvety walls. You sigh out heavily and watched as Luffy slowly lied his body down against yours, his eyes looking deep into your satisfied ones before he’d press his lips against yours again.

You moan into his lips and watched as his body slowly shifted back to normal, his skin a normal hue as it was before. He pulls away from your lips and you hum out in satisfaction before hugging on to him, holding him close and enveloping in his warm while he did the same. An exhaustive sigh left the both of your lips as your body felt tired yet relieved of your stress.

Luffy slowly sits up and smiled before peppering one last kiss to your lips, his eyes trailing down to the soaking mess you had left on him. “Thank ya, really needed that~ Did that help ya?” He asked you, his eyes still staring down at his cock embedded deep inside of you. You smiled and nodded in response, watching as he slowly took his cock out of your pussy.

A sticky string of cum tears from his tip and your folds, and he chucked before tucking his cock back inside and giving you a tight hug. You hugged him back and your tail flapped with delight before he pulled away, his body slowly standing up before he’d look down at you with slightly saddened eyes.

“M’sorry but…I gotta go now. I promise I’ll come back after I find m’crew…alright?” He said sorrily, his face showing it more than his tone had indicated. You smiled and nodded before slipping your bra back on and slowly crawling back into sea, watching as Luffy began to straighten himself before he’d turn around one last time to you.

You lifted your hand out of the water and waved to him with a satisfied smile spread across your face.

“Goodbye Luffy. Good luck on your journey.” You said, watching as he began to walk away. He waved back to you and smiled widely. “Thank ya for th’food! I’ll be back for ya!” He said, his bright smile warming your heart more than the sea ever could. You watched as he walked away and out of your sight, disappearing into the forest…and leaving you alone to rub your lower tummy with a piece of him embedded in you.

We all know how Strong World ends (at least for those who watched it) but I imagine that he keeps his word and comes back for Reader in the end.

[libingan]

im literally writing this in the middle of an online meeting LMFAO your bitch is in college, yall!!!!!!! and i'll be on this laptop until 8:30PM hahaha..... anw this is abt reader who wants kyle to be rougher in bed so she deliberately riles him up by getting him jealous there is no sex sorry guys

sex with kyle has always been good—better than good, in fact. he’s gentle, considerate, and utterly devoted to making sure you unravel with pleasure under his touch. every time, he focuses on you, putting your needs above his, ensuring you’re satisfied before he even considers his own desires. it’s sweet, thoughtful, and exactly what you’ve always wanted. but sometimes… sometimes, you crave something different.

you can’t help but fantasize about kyle taking what he wants from you, losing control, fucking into you like you’re just a toy for him to use. you want him to be rough and domineering, to show you a side of him you’ve never seen in the bedroom. you’ve tried everything—being bratty, sassing him out, sometimes even deliberately annoying him in hopes of pushing him over the edge. but it never works. he always brushes you off with a patient smile, calm as ever, as if he’s completely immune to your provocations.

that’s when you get the idea to flirt with another man during one of your shopping trips.

the market is bustling with activity, people moving around, chatting, haggling with vendors. kyle had just excused himself to the restroom, leaving you alone to browse. it’s then that you see your opportunity.

a man about your age, maybe a bit older, with a friendly smile and an easygoing manner, starts a conversation with you as you look over a display of fresh produce.

“hey there,” he says, giving you a once-over before focusing on the vegetables in front of you. “you new around here? don’t think i’ve seen you before.”

you smile back, trying to put just enough charm into it. “yeah, just passing through with a friend. figured we’d stop by and pick up a few things.”

he nods, leaning a little closer. “well, you’re in for a treat. this market has the best stuff. need any recommendations?”

you tilt your head, pretending to consider it. “i wouldn’t mind some suggestions. maybe you could help me find something good?”

the man grins, clearly pleased with the attention. “sure thing. name’s mike, by the way.”

you introduce yourself, and the two of you chat for a bit longer. he’s friendly, flirty in a harmless kind of way, but you notice the way he keeps inching closer, his eyes lingering on you. it’s exactly what you were hoping for.

then kyle returns. you spot him out of the corner of your eye, and for a moment, you feel a pang of guilt. but you push it aside, determined to see this through. mike suddenly wraps an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer in a way that’s casual but undeniably possessive.

kyle’s expression shifts as he watches, his brows furrowing in confusion, then anger when you do nothing to stop the man’s touch. you can see it in the way his jaw tightens, his posture stiffening as he approaches.

“hey, love,” kyle says as he comes up to you both, his voice cool but with an edge to it.

you look up at him with a smile, but before you can introduce him, mike speaks first. “oh, hey there. you must be the friend they mentioned.”

kyle’s eyes flicker with something dark, and you can practically feel the tension radiating off him. “friend?” he echoes, his voice a low rumble.

you nod, trying to keep the situation light. “yeah, this is kyle. we’re just out doing some shopping.”

kyle’s gaze locks onto yours, his eyes narrowing slightly. “right. just shopping.”

there’s a moment of silence, the air between the three of you heavy with unspoken tension. mike, seemingly oblivious, starts talking again, but you barely register his words. all you can focus on is kyle, the way his usually warm eyes have gone cold.

“let’s go,” kyle finally says, cutting mike off mid-sentence. his hand wraps around your wrist, not harshly but with enough force to make it clear he’s done playing along.

you barely manage a goodbye to mike as kyle pulls you away, his grip on your wrist firm as he leads you out of the market and towards home. the silence between you is deafening, and your heart pounds in your chest, but it’s not the thrill of anticipation you’d been hoping for. it’s something else—something almost like fear.

when you finally reach the apartment, kyle lets go of your wrist, taking a step back as he runs a hand over his face. but he says nothing. he doesn’t even look at you, just stands there, his back to you, the silence hanging heavy in the air.

“kyle…” you begin, your voice trembling as you take a step toward him. “say something, please.”

but he doesn’t respond, doesn’t turn around. the stillness is unbearable, his silence so intense it’s like a physical presence in the room. you feel your heart pounding in your chest, your stomach twisting into knots as you wait for him to react in some way—any way.

“kyle,” you try again, desperation creeping into your voice. “please, talk to me.”

still, nothing. he’s like a statue, immobile and eerily silent, his shoulders tense, his fists clenched at his sides. tears prick at your eyes as the guilt and fear overwhelm you. this isn’t how it was supposed to go. you wanted to push him, to see a different side of him, but now… now you just want him to speak, to tell you everything’s going to be okay.

“i’m sorry,” you whisper, your voice breaking as you move closer to him. “i’m so, so sorry.”

finally, kyle turns to face you, his expression unreadable, his eyes dark and troubled. he’s still silent, his gaze piercing as he looks at you, waiting.

you can’t take it anymore. the words tumble out of you in a rush, your voice shaky and filled with regret. “i just wanted to rile you up. i wanted you to be rougher in bed, and i didn’t know how else to tell you. i thought if i pushed you, maybe you’d… i don’t know… take control or something.”

for a long moment, he just stares at you, and you feel yourself crumbling under the weight of his silence. then, finally, he speaks, his voice calm but laced with frustration. “you should’ve told me that. communicated instead of pulling this little stunt.”

his words cut through you, the calmness of his tone almost worse than if he’d yelled at you. there’s no anger, no shouting, just a quiet, controlled disappointment that makes you feel small.

“kyle, i didn’t—” you start, but he cuts you off with a shake of his head.

“you didn’t think,” he finishes for you, his voice still infuriatingly calm. “i get it, i do. but this? what you did? it wasn’t the way to go about it.”

you bite your lip, tears slipping down your cheeks. “i’m so sorry. i didn’t mean for it to go this far. i just didn’t know how to ask for what i wanted.”

he sighs, running a hand through his hair, clearly trying to keep his emotions in check. “you could’ve just asked,” he says softly. “i would’ve listened. i’m willing to try it for you, but not like this. not when you’re trying to push me into something i’m not prepared for.”

you nod, wiping at your eyes, feeling utterly ashamed of yourself. “i know. i was stupid, and i’m so, so sorry.”

kyle steps closer, his hands gentle as he cups your face, wiping away your tears with his thumbs. “we’ll figure this out,” he murmurs, his voice softer now, the tension easing slightly from his frame. “but you have to talk to me. no more games, alright?”

“alright,” you whisper, leaning into his touch, relieved beyond words that he’s still here, still willing to work through this with you.

he presses a kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment. “i love you,” he says quietly, and you can hear the exhaustion in his voice, the emotional toll this has taken on him.

“i love you too,” you reply, your voice thick with emotion as you cling to him, vowing to never put him—or yourself—through something like this again.

[operator-report]

In middle school, I read a short story for English class called Flowers for Algernon. Maybe you’ve read it, too. In the story, a disabled man named Charlie is given a medicine that cures his disability. Over the course of the story, he comes to realize that his “cure” is temporary and that he will “regress” into being disabled again. The story makes it clear that this is a tragedy. As a disabled teenager when I first read it, the story affected me deeply.

I’d like to talk about David and Noelle. 

Content warnings for discussion of suicide, self-harm, ableism and eating disorders below the cut. Spoilers for Worm through arc 27. 

When I was first reading arc 18, one of the things that stuck out to me is how much time the story spends on Eidolon. For me, it was the first time I paid much attention to him - prior to that, Eidolon was just an extremely powerful background character to me. But in arc 18, we learn that (1) Eidolon is losing his powers and (2) he believes that fighting Echidna will allow him to tap into some sort of reservoir to bring them back.

We find this out, of course, through Tattletale exposing him, which is always an extremely embarrassing event for Tattletale’s target. It makes it extremely clear that what Eidolon is doing is pathetic. He is going to kill a teenage girl so he can feel something. 

Which would be messed up enough, right? We don’t need to make this even worse, right? Wrong. Because Wildblow has spent the last several thousand words building up the Case 53s as X-Men style metaphors for oppressed groups, and one of the forms of oppression that Wildblow generally writes well is ableism. I think you can consider most, if not all of the Case 53s as disabled in some way. I think the link is extremely clear with Noelle.

Noelle doesn’t get her powers from traditional Cauldron human experimentation - at least, not directly. Instead, she and Krouse are facing what is, to them, a no-win scenario. They’re quarantined with limited access to medical care. Breaching this quarantine would permanently render them criminals. If Noelle survives her surgery, which is a pretty big if, she’ll become disabled, in a way that both Krouse and Noelle agree is ugly and undesirable. She won’t be able to do “boyfriend-girlfriend stuff” because she won’t be “any good to look at, after.” 

Krouse and Noelle are terrified of death, yes, but they’re also terrified of disability. They are desperate for control over Noelle’s body, control that, as of that moment, only the state has. (Remember the quarantine?) Krouse pressures Noelle into drinking the vial. Noelle is cured. 

Noelle’s cure does not last. In attempting to assert control, her body becomes uncontrollable. Her body is her trauma and her eating disorder made literal. She still needs care.

Worm would be bad if this is why her life sucks. But Worm does something better, instead. Noelle goes through hell, not just due to the sheer difficulty of having her power, but because of the way her teammates and Coil treat her. They talk about Noelle like she’s already dead. They’re ashamed of bringing her the food she needs. When Krouse “includes” Noelle in a discussion in arc 12, it’s mostly perfunctory. They do not believe Noelle is human any longer. They lock her away.

Noelle doesn’t want to be put in a cage. Noelle doesn’t want to be dehumanized. In interlude 18, when we get insight into Noelle’s thoughts, we learn that what Noelle is angry about is the fact that Krouse locked her in a concrete bunker and placated her. When she tells people not to look at her, there’s a coda to that sentence that she doesn’t get to verbalize: don’t look at me like that. 

This is the person who Eidolon is going to kill. 

Via the Simurgh, this is a person Eidolon has unknowingly created.

A few thousand words of Worm go by. It’s Gold Morning. Eidolon is fighting Scion. Now, at the end of the book, we finally get substantial insight into David, the man behind the mask. 

David takes a Cauldron vial to cure his disability. David sees this as the only way out, after an unsuccessful application to join the military, and then, an unsuccessful suicide attempt. David is bearing an immense amount of shame and internalized ableism. David is worried that father’s friends are watching him. (Don’t look at me.) David cleaves the world into two kinds of people: those who can have jobs, who are liked and respected because they are useful; and people like him, who are useless.

It’s a terrible way to think. Without that worldview, how could a person not take the vial? David wants to be used, because David wants to be useful. He never gets the independence he craves – not when he’s in that level of debt to Cauldron – but he gets to be useful, and that’s one of the best things you can be.

Like Noelle’s, like Charlie’s in Flowers, David’s cure doesn’t work. His abilities are wearing off. He is essentially told, when Doctor Mother administers his booster shots, that his medicine is too expensive. 

Cauldron creates Noelle. David, as Cauldron’s soldier, has a role to play in her creation. David knows exactly what he is doing to Noelle. It happened to him. Worm fandom talks a lot about David being a father. He’s a father in more ways than one. (David’s father is always watching him.) (Don’t look at me.)

Cauldron never cures David’s ableism. In his world, you can be useful, or you can die. David asks Noelle if she wants to win. Noelle tells him no. You can have a job, or you can kill yourself. When David tries to kill Noelle to help himself, isn’t that a mercy?

Of course it isn’t. It goes without saying that all of this is extremely fucked up. When it comes to disability, “cure” is a complicated concept. I’m not going to get into all the ways it can be treated; this post is already a thousand words long. But I do think that Worm, through Noelle and David and the concept of the Cauldron vial, provides an extremely vivid picture of the problems with cure. 

Under ableist logic, when you have a disability, a cure is something you’re expected to want. Without it, the story goes, you can’t be useful. You can’t do boyfriend-girlfriend stuff. The expectation is social, like the act of staring. Your desire for it should drive how you organize your life – it is control, like a quarantine. David is crushed by that expectation. He throws his lot in with Cauldron, the cure-makers. The expectation is passed along to Noelle, and even though David can recognize that inheritance, he cannot imagine any other way to respond to it other than attempted murder.

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that Flowers for Algernon is a tragedy. The reason that story has stuck with me so long is that I keep going back and forth as to why. Is it a tragedy because Charlie goes back to being disabled? There’s a good chance that’s what the author intended. I don’t know. It would be a pretty shitty story if that were the case. Is it a tragedy because people only treat Charlie well when he’s “cured,” and when that stops, he’ll go back to abuse? Seems plausible. I don’t think there’s one right answer. Regardless, when you’re disabled, there’s an immense pressure to seek out a cure, and a cognizable loss when it is withheld. The fact that Worm captures that social pressure and social loss so well is extremely compelling for me, and I’m going to be thinking about these characters for a long time.

[widowmaxff]

In overwhelmed, it mentions that Y/N used to be in a dark hole and how Wanda is afraid she’d go back to it. Can you write about it? Like what happened?

hope ur ok

pairings: mom!wanda × daughter!reader (platonic)

warnings: depressed reader, cryingg, bad thoughts, and sad sad things

a/n: okay how did you pay so much attention to what i wrote in overwhelmed bc i didnt even remember writing that 😭 BUT THANK YOU for the request i literally just ramble what was in my head but hope you like it love!

HOW YOU CAN HELP PALESTINE!

You don't know when it started, much less why it started. Maybe a few days ago, a month ago, maybe a year ago the signs that something was wrong started to appear. It was almost as if these feelings were always there, just hidden by a layer that was slowly removed and made everything more difficult. It seemed like there were days when you could easily deal with it, maybe ignoring it or just hiding it very well, you didn't know. But there were days that were more difficult. It was more difficult to get out of bed, your appetite was barely there, you didn't want to leave your room, just stay in darkness and total silence. Even though this silence made your head spin, it was better than anyone talking and making you even more depressed.

If someone asked the people closest to you if you were sensitive, you were sure that more than half of them would say no. They would talk about how you had a frozen heart, that you didn't cry when you watched a sad movie, that you didn't fall in love with the character when watching or reading a novel, that you didn't care when someone was fighting with you. But deep down, you knew it was a lie. You felt hard feelings most of the time, including when watching sad films. Maybe you just don't like showing the sadness and emptiness you feel. It makes you feel weak, worthless, and selfish, especially selfish. You shouldn't feel this way, not when you had the perfect life: a loving mother, food on the table, new clothes, and expensive sneakers. Then why?

You didn't really care that you felt depressed, you knew that eventually it would pass, just like every other time - even if that feeling came back some time later, even worse. It wasn't like anyone noticed and said anything to you, even though you were sure most of the adults around you blamed it on teenage hormones when they saw you sulking or just isolating yourself in your room all day. Maybe a few questions like 'are you okay?', even though they knew you would respond with something positive even if everything was falling apart. But there was always someone. Someone who knew that it wasn't just teenage hormones but something that was slowly consuming you. Wanda, your mother, was that someone, and she certainly didn't let those details slip.

The first time you actually showed that you were in a depressing state was on a random Thursday at six-thirty in the morning. Wanda didn't mind much in the first moments when you refused to get out of bed, it was normal for any teenager to not be able to stand school. But when you finally decided to show up for the morning in the Compound's kitchen, she was surprised. You had big black bags under your eyes that were tired and red, looking like you hadn't slept well that night and maybe you had been crying most of it. Wanda didn't take long to ask if something had happened and if you were okay, only receiving a murmur of something like ‘'m fine' before turning back to look at the emptiness of space. Tony who was nearby joked “Maybe the red eyes are because of something she used. Don't tell me you snuck out to a party, Mini Maximoff?”, you'd laugh on any other day, even replying something like 'Yes, I did some hard drugs at a party. How do you know?', but that wasn't the case. Stark laughed to himself after saying that sentence but soon the sound of his voice disappeared when he realized that you hadn't heard him and, apparently, nothing around you.

The second time was right after a mission Wanda had done. It was only three days away from you and everything seemed different when she came back. The first thing she noticed was that you didn't run into her arms when she stepped inside the Compound, much less respond to the messages she sent you a few hours earlier. Obviously like a worried mother she went after you, not taking long to find you in your room with all the lights off, two blankets around your body and how it looked like the things in your room had been in the same place since your mother left for the mission. She turned on the light in your room, hearing a soft growl leave your lips. You were awake and conscious, so it didn't make sense for you to want to be lying down and almost sinking into your mattress at four o'clock in the afternoon. She remembered when you were little and couldn't sleep if at least one light wasn't on, now it was ironic to think that you just lived in the darkness and emptiness of your room without fear that some monster would catch you, because no monster could hurt you like depression was.

Wanda couldn't count how many more episodes like those happened and lasted for several days. She was worried, very worried. She was afraid that you would end up doing something that would hurt you, end everything. It was obvious that your mother tried to ask you what was wrong, how she could help you, but you always said that you just woke up on the wrong foot that morning and that everything was fine. Of course, how were you going to tell her what was happening if you didn't even know. There was no reason for you to feel down like that and not even the absurd desire to just want to close your eyes and not open them again. And every day that passed, this dark hole you were in would get deeper and deeper. You knew you needed to ask for help before it was too late. 

It was no longer strange when once again that week you had no will to live. You look at the clock next to your bed and realize that your mother would be coming to your room to call you for another day in two minutes and a few seconds. Just the thought of 'one more day' made you want to throw up the food you didn't even eat the day before, as that empty feeling made your hunger go away. But as much as vomiting, you wanted to cry, cry until you couldn't take it anymore. And it was no surprise when the tears started to fall and you couldn't stop. Even though you are not a loud person, trying to keep yourself in your own bubble, the sobs wanted to get out of your throat anyway.

“Darling?” Wanda didn't mind knocking on your bedroom door in the morning, since you would be sleeping, well, not at that moment. When she heard the choking sounds you were making to keep from crying, she didn't take long to run towards your body on the bed and get under your covers, pressing you against her chest giving the perfect comfort to let you know that you weren't alone. “Oh, my love.” Wanda has seen you cry, many, many times, but it was so different to see you cry as if you were drowning in a sea and needed help from someone, anyone. “It's okay, Mama is here.” With each passing minute it seemed like the tears were getting even bigger than before, but you tried to focus on Wanda's heartbeat as you placed your hand on her chest, making you feel calmer despite all the panic. 

The lullaby that starts to leave her lips and go straight to your ear makes you start paying attention to the soft melody and not your terrible thoughts. The language Wanda sang in, Sokovian, was not understood by you, but you still remembered when she sang you to sleep on the days you had nightmares. It was as if Wanda was using her magic to calm you down, even though you knew she would never use her powers on you without your permission, but her voice was so sweet that it was more powerful than any of her red magic. Your breathing becomes soft and your movements slow, as if you were choosing the right words to get rid of that moment, but with your mother there it was almost impossible to lie.

“I wanna get help,” You murmur for just her to hear, despite there being no one else in the room with you two. “b-but I don’t even know why I’m like this.” Your crying had stopped, but you still choked to say a few words. Admitting those words out loud seemed like a challenge for you, and when you said them, a weight seemed to lift off your back despite not having yet deciphered all your feelings. And Wanda knew that. She knew how hard you were to avoid looking like a weak person even if you weren't, even if asking for help wasn't a sign of weakness but rather of improvement.

Your mother kisses your head, taking a few seconds before cupping your face and looking at it. “I'm so proud of you, my angel.” You didn't see pity or lies in the expression on her face. You didn't see disappointment and much less as if you were a problem for her. “I'm glad you want to ask for help, and I'm here for it, yeah?” You felt a little guilty when you saw a tear come out of your mother's eyes, but she was still smiling. The same smile you saw when you woke up, or when you told her some good news, or even when you told her a joke. Wanda never wanted you to feel anything negative about her. She never took out any frustration on you, never made you feel bad when you got a bad grade at school, or when you accidentally knocked a glass on the floor. “I will help you with whatever you need, my love. It will be slow, but I promise that the tightness in your chest will pass, okay?”

“I trust you.” She nods before pulling you into a hug that she knew you needed more than anything at that moment. The process would take a long time until you felt well again, you both knew that, but it was never too late. It's never too late to ask for help, because it's normal to need someone to pull you out of the dark hole sometimes, it's normal to not feel good all the time. Having feelings is normal, even if sometimes they are too deep, or too shallow. You just needed to realize that you were never alone, that people around care about you and will always want the best for you. 

“I love you so much. Always remember that.”

“I love you too, Mama.”

[runnning-outof-time]

Hello Hello K!! 💗 I believe that this is my first ever request to you and im so happy that now is the time I was wondering if two can be sent at the same time but I guess I'll have to send one more 🤭 I was thinking 14 with Tommy from the three word sentence prompt list!! Loads of heavy fluff perhaps?? I will be looking forward to this and i cannot wait to read what you'll come up with, congrats once again 💋💋

Thanks so much for this lovely message and for sending this request in, M! I hope I put enough fluff in this one!! I hope you don’t mind that I set it as pre-canon….it can be read as a little snapshot of the Actions Speak Louder couple…it can also be a standalone as well. I also tried to change things up from the normal ���homecoming’ story. Enjoy! :)

The prompt used is “I missed you.”

I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! - YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Part of my 3.5k Celebration - find more stories here!

You’re Home

Tommy Shelby x Reader (PRE-CANON)

Warnings: none

Word Count: 965

Summary: The war is over. (Y/N) wouldn’t have missed Tommy’s return for the world, but unfortunately her boss doesn’t find his homecoming as important as she does. But things have a way of working out this time.

— November, 1918 —

The bell to the flower shop rang, signalling that someone had entered the store. (Y/N) couldn’t even be bothered to turn and see who it was. She was too busy begrudgingly shoving another tulip into one of the orders that her boss had left her with. A deep frown was etched into her features, and it grew deeper each time she let her mind wander.

I should be welcoming him home right now.

“Excuse me, do you have any red roses for sale?” a man’s voice came from the sale counter. (Y/N) didn’t even bother tearing her eyes away from the arrangement she was working on.

“No, sorry. They’ve all been bought,” she answered, hoping the man would leave without another word. A few moments passed, but the shop’s bell never rang. He was still standing at the counter. She didn’t have to look to feel his presence. Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll leave, she thought to herself as she snipped the stem of the next flower she was planning on using in the bouquet.

The man didn’t leave though. (Y/N) waited a few moments longer, gaining as much information about him that she could from looking at him through the corner of her eye. He was dressed only in brown, and his - what looked to be brown - hair was slicked back.

She let out a sigh and finally turned when it became clear to her that he wasn’t leaving. She wished she never let out a sigh when she was who was standing at the counter. Her eyes widened, and she blinked a few times to rule out the possibility that her mind was playing tricks on her. But he was still standing there.

“Have you forgotten the sound of my voice, love?” Tommy asked her, a smile creeping onto his features as he saw her shock.

(Y/N) rounded the corner and was in his arms within seconds. Tommy held her tightly against him, nestling his face into her neck and inhaling her sweet scent.

“You’re home,” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. She clung to him like her life depended on it; like if she let go even the slightest bit, they’d both turn to dust and blow away.

“I’m home,” Tommy responded, turning his head to press his lips to her cheek.

They held the embrace for a few more moments before (Y/N) finally loosened her grip and stepped back slightly to get a better look at him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t at the station,” she said to him while wiping the tears from her eyes. “Mr. Johnson wanted me to work today.”

“There’s no need to apologize, (Y/N),” Tommy assured her with a shake of his head, “I knew you would have been there if you could. Your mum told me where you were,” he added then, laughing slightly when (Y/N)’s eyes widened for the second time.

“You went to my mum’s house?” she quite literally gasped, shocking filling her features once again.

“I did. I wasn’t sure where you were and figured she’d know,” he answered nonchalantly. (Y/N) took in the information, exhaled a long breath and decided to let it go. Right now she was just happy that her fiancé was home, for good. “All good?” Tommy broke the silence, making (Y/N) realize that nothing had been said for a few moments.

“Yeah,” she answered, taking a moment to really study his face. It looked sharper now than it did before, and any baby fat that was left had now disappeared. But she was still able to see her Tommy beneath it all. He became more prevalent as a smile started to break onto his features. God how she missed that smile.

“(Y/N)?” his voice brought her out of her thoughts and made her focus in on him again.

“Yeah?” she asked, wondering why he said her name.

“Are you ok?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Yeah,” she breathed while nodding, a smile taking over her features as she felt her cheeks heat up. She just had to look away from him to conceal her reaction. Tommy’s chuckle told her that he’d saw it though. She’d been with him how many years now and still she’d get shy around him.

Silence surrounded them again until she lifted her head to match his eyes once more. Tommy hadn’t taken his gaze off of her since he entered the shop. She almost wanted to melt - again - under his gaze.

“I just…I missed you,” she whispered after a few more moments passed. She bit on her bottom lip to try and stop the tears from flowing, but they were too quick. Tommy saw them before she could swipe them away and he had her back in his arms within seconds.

“I missed you too, love,” he whispered back as he held her tight against his body. “But I’m not leavin’ you again,” he added, his words making her hold onto him even tighter. He took hold of her shoulders then so that he could hold her at arms length. “You hear me, eh? I’m not leavin’,” he told her again, his eyes focused right on hers.

“Please don’t,” she whispered through her tears.

“I won’t,” he assured her, “and we’re gonna get married. The first chance we have. I’m gonna make sure we have the wedding you deserve. Ok?”

“Ok,” she nodded in response, a smile forming on her face as she wiped the last tears from her cheeks. “I love you, Tommy,” she said then, her words making a smile form on his face.

“I love you, (Y/N),” he repeated the phrase before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

**tagging in reblogs so hopefully the notification gets sent out

MASTERLIST

[ilyuan]

◟⪩⪨ summary - “i act like you’re annoying but in reality i just wanna be so close to you” in other words, he’s pretending to work, saying how his work was taking forever when he kept looking back at you. he was “annoyed” of your bickering, but in reality you knew his needy-self wanted to fall asleep in your arms.

◟⪩⪨ warnings - literally none lol, just fluff, he’s “stressed” bc of work, touch starved!alhaitham, self indulgent, treating him like a child but in a good way (mentioned once), idk if this is good enough it’s my first time writing 😨😨 this is just full of random things idk

alhaitham x gn!reader 🪽 —

“stop being dramatic haitham,” you complained, rolling your eyes at him.

“shhh.” he replied, his eyes practically stuck on the glowing white screen that apparently he said “it’s only taking five hours.” he spoke, when in reality it was only taking two. his brain almost seemed like it was getting deformed from how much he was thinking about you.

“oh it’s deeeefinitely taking longer than that.” you replied with the most obvious sarcasm known to man.

he scoffed.

the corners of your mouth tugged up into a little smirk as you walked towards him. “haitha- oh!” you were not in the right mind to be mad at him at that moment because once you saw his screen, it was still as bright as the time you last checked on him.

which meant he hasn’t typed a single sentence ever since you came into the room.

“pretending to do your work, huh?” you tapped his shoulder, snapping your thumb and middle finger right in front of his ear so he would stop zoning out.

“imprecise. once again, [name].” referring to your earlier bickering about him taking a long time on his work, and him trying to prove you otherwise by saying “it’s not even taking that long.”

—

“just get up,” you scold him once again. “how are you gonna say your work is taking forever, but i keep catching your attention on me, hm?” you tilt his head up to reach your view, smirking in a playful way.

have his cheeks been this red from the moment you entered the room?

the so-called “stressed” man sighs, and thinks for a moment.

and finally, he gets up.

but as soon as he does, not even a second after, you immediately wrap him in your arms, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

you aggressively grab his hand and run towards the couch outside of your shared bedroom, bringing him down with you and onto the L-shaped couch.

“[name]. you gonna stop complaining about my work now?” alhaitham suddenly asked, your head tilting up to meet his eyes, then you scoff before you could even realize that he began to stuff your face into his neck.

so you take the initiative and wrap your hands around his neck, breathing softly before he finally drifts off to sleep.

“your work only took two hours, stop fake sleeping,” you complain, poking his cheek a few times.

oh, he’s actually asleep.

you sigh. “ugh, wake up,” you continue, “i didn’t bother you for nothing.”

he tightly closes his eyes, his gray hair strands blocking his view since his head was tilted down if he even decided to open them.

“you know i don’t like it when you fall asleep during our cuddling sessions you big loser,” you whisper once more.

i mean, he was the type of person to fall asleep quickly.

then again, how could you complain when his legs probably hurt from sitting in that chair for “five hours”?

and wait, was he talking in his sleep?

“…stay,” not knowing if he was conscious or not, you let out a small giggle, before you stop teasing him about falling asleep too quickly and let him be.

feeling distraught that you had to get up from where you comfortably were placed in his lap, you attempted to pull away, didn’t work. another attempt? didn’t work. he was too strong!

but finally, after a few more attempts, you managed to pull yourself out of his tight embrace of his arms wrapped around you, you head to the bathroom.

wait.

he needs something to keep him company, huh?

treating him like he was a child, you ran over to your shared room, into the end of the closet, and brought him over that one plushie he managed to get for you from the claw machine a year ago after many attempts of the metal claw grabbing at the item but then falling right out of its grasp.

you smiled.

you then ran over to his side and placed it in his arms, covering his discomfort from the cold room with a huge comforter from your bed.

leaving him be, you went into the bathroom.

—

after you were done your shower, twenty minutes after, you sprinted to his side once again, but then noticed how he was awake now.

“finally, good job,” you praise in a teasing manner.

“you okay now? from your so called ‘5-hour project’?” you teased once more.

you wrap his arm around your waist once you seat yourself down onto one of the soft cushions of the couch, before he nuzzled you into his neck once again.

“i knew you were needy.”

—

@sugarmouchie do not copy/translate/repost on other platforms. 🪽

[lainiespicewrites]

Electric summer Ch. 2

Here is chapter 2! I love everything about this story so far it’s so fun to write and I adore writing Sy! It was so weird I was modeling this after my time at camp and I literally got a brochure from them in the mail today😂 maybe the universe is telling me something 👀

Anyway enjoy! Comments, likes and weblogs are encouraged!

Summary: Sy and ofc are united as camp co-counselors and spend the day catching up and reminiscing!

Warnings:none? Just cursing a lil

Link for Pt 1 if you missed it 🥰

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I blinked a few times in disbelief. “How, I-I…aren’t you…” I stammered trying to string a sentence together, still lost in the puzzle my brain was trying to work out. How was he standing here in front of me right now?

“Come here,” He laughed. Throwing his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into a tight hug. I was still for a moment still in shock about the situation but I pulled myself out of it and hugged him back squeezing just as tight.

“I can’t believe it,” He chuckled. “This had to be Rebecca’s doing.” He said.She was an old counselor of ours. She was with us our last summer together.She also happened to be camp director now and in charge of assigning cabin groups. This was surely not a coincidence. Sy’s arms were still around me. Admittedly I wasn’t ready to pull away just yet either. I was afraid he’d disappear and this would all be a dream. My mind was playing tricks on me or something.

“How are you here?” I finally strung the question together, pulling back to look up at him. Did he get taller? I could have shrunk but I swear he got taller. “I mean aren’t you in the military?” I asked, obviously confused.

“Take a walk with me?” he asked. “I’ve been dying to see this place again.” He added. I nodded and we finally let go of each other. It may have been years since we’d seen each other but I could still read him. Logan was social. He loved to talk, he was extremely expressive and attentive. Right now he’s quiet. And pensive. When we walked away from the cabin he shoved both hands in his pockets staring straight ahead. Whatever had happened it was difficult for him. Like the night on the lake in the canoe. When he told me he wouldn’t be coming back to camp. It’s why he wouldn’t look at me. He knew or was afraid that after all this time I could tell when something was hard for him.

He hated coming off as weak. It’s why he was so competitive. When the boys played ultimate frisbee his team always won. In high school when he played football he was the quarterback. He had to be the best. The strongest. The leader. But not with me. He told me that once. He told me even before our summer fling, back when all we were was best friends excited to spend the summer together. That’s why he liked me so much. He could let his guard down with me. I didn’t understand it then. But eventually I figured out exactly what he meant. And I saw it in him now. Even when we’d only been reunited for minutes.

We walked from my cabin and through the park out to an open field outside the woods. There was a path that ran alongside it. If you took it left it would take you to the lake down to the dock to swim, if you followed it further you crossed a bridge and you could go sailing or take out a kayak or a canoe. If you took the path right it was a hiking trail. It had its own forks in the road one leading to a nature preserve and a small shelter where the camp housed some exotic reptiles and other animals. And one that led to a ropes course and a rock climbing station. We didn’t take either path. Sy stopped walking and stared off at the trees. I came up next to him and gently put my hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell me, we don’t have to talk about it, whatever it is. I’m just really glad you’re here.” I spoke softly. I felt his hand over mine on his shoulder and he turned to me with a sad smile. He let out a deep breath before he spoke

“I’m retired from the military. Uh, discharged. Medically.” He stared at the grass when he spoke. I could hear the shame in his voice. It broke my heart. I slid my hand off his shoulder and over his back soothingly. I didn’t say anything. He knew I was listening. “Last April, I was leading the boys into a raid. We’d been waiting on this for weeks. Trying to find these guys. Somehow they got tipped off that we were comin’ and they were ready. One of my boys was being attacked. Enemy came out of nowhere. I jumped to cover him. Told him to run up stairs with the rest of the guys to secure the building. He was alright. His chest plate protected him. But I got shot in the leg with 2 bullets. I managed to stop the attacker. But I had to be carried out of there. They sent a Med-line, it's a helicopter.” He explained. I nodded and let him keep talking.

“I was in surgery that night. They almost thought I was gonna have to lose it. But the Dr was able to get the bullets out. They uh, didn’t think I’d walk right again. So.. I was discharged from the military not long after. They transferred me to a civilian hospital for physical therapy…” He trailed off.

“How is it now?” I asked softly. He finally looked up from the grass. My voice pulled him back to reality.

“I ain’t gonna be runnin’ in the Olympics anytime soon but. Normal. Aches sometimes when the weather gets weird or cold. Probably coulda went back but no one knew how long it would take. Or if…if I’d ever get better.” He said.

“They should’ve known,” I said, “nothing stops Logan Syverson when he’s got his mind made up.” There it was. That genuine smile I’d missed all these years.

“Guess they don’t know me like you do,” He chuckled. “Enough about me, it’s been 7 years darlin what have I missed?” he asked, his hand hovering over my lower back guiding me toward the left path. We started to walk again toward the lake.

“I wish I could say you missed a lot but,” I shrugged. “I graduated. Went to school and graduated again, and at the end of this summer I’ll finally start my first job with the schools.” I explained flatly. It was nothing compared to the things he’d done and what he’d seen.

“Hey, graduating college is a big deal. I’m proud of you! Child Psychology, right?” He asked. I stopped walking and just stared.

“You, remember that?” I questioned. He laughed and threw his arm around my shoulder pulling me into his side.

“Of course I do. It was all you talked about our last summer together. You were nervous about getting into the school you wanted. I admired that because you were only a junior. I was going into my senior year and I’d never even thought about that shit.”

“But you knew you were going into the military, you didn’t have to think about that.” I argued.

“Maybe, but you were so smart, you are so smart, you had it all figured out. I was just following what everyone else in my family did. Now that I’m out, I kinda wish I’d had some other plan. Something I knew I wanted to do to fall back on.” I nodded. I understood what he meant. It must be hard for him now. The things he’d aspired to be in his adolescence had come and passed. He had to reinvent himself now. Start over. I couldn’t imagine how scary that must feel.

“You’re smart too Logan. You’re quick in a crisis. You’re logical and level headed. You’re great with people. And and from what you’ve said you’re an incredible leader. I have no doubt you’ll figure it all out soon.” We had wandered some more, now we were walking along the lake. Or what we knew as the beach. When they’d built the camp they carved out the shore and laid down sand. Leaving it more like mini beach than a country lake. I followed Logan out onto the dock. He turned to me and smiled.

“I think coming back here this summer was exactly what I needed.” He said. I smiled back giving his arm a gentle squeeze… and trying not to dwell on the fact that his muscles had gotten incredibly larger.

“It’s funny,” I answered. “I always remember it being the other way around, you giving me pep talks and encouraging me to take risks.” He chuckle the air between us becoming lighter as I watched his smile form into a playful smirk.

“That’s because you were always trying to chicken out. You were a little scaredy cat.” He laughed. I pouted. And smacked him in the arm. “Ow,” he teased as he fake soothed his arm.

“I was not!” I argued. He shook his head.

“You were too!” He challenged. I rolled my eyes resting my hands on my hips.

“Name one time,” I groaned. He eyed me with that same smirk on his face with an eyebrow raised looking at me curiously.

“You really wanna do this? He teased. “Alright, you did this to yourself, night hikes.” He stated. I frowned.

“Oh that is so not fair!” I objected. “You know I hate the dark. That doesn’t count!” I argued.

“Mhmm, rock climbing.” he deadpanned. I scoffed.

“I suck at climbing I have like no upper-body strength I wasn’t gonna embarrass myself infront of everyone.” I defended. He shook his head again trying to hold back a laugh.

“You’d never done it before. You had no idea if you were bad at it or not!”

“Okay, well… it was really high.” I pouted.

“My point exactly,” He chuckled.

“That means nothing!” I said. He groaned pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You wouldn’t even jump off the dock into the water that first summer! Because the water was deeper. You knew how to swim.” His shoulders were shaking with laughter. “You remember how I got you to do it?” He asked.

“Yeah you literally picked me up threw me in off the dock! I wound’t call that being “kind and encouraging.” I laughed emphasizing the last bit.

“It worked,” He smirked.

“It was traumatizing.” I countered.

“ I caught you blushing when I grabbed you, I think you liked it.” He winked. I glared at him crossing my arms.

“You have no proof,” I scoffed. He smirked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“You wanna test that theory?” He raised an eyebrow taking a step closer to me. My eyes went wide and I started to back up slowly.

“Logan,” I said softly. He looked me over that cocky grin plastered on his face.

“I’d start runnin’ if I was you.” He challenged. I backed up a little more, holding my hands up in defends.

“You don’t have to do this.” I reasoned with him. He let out a low chuckle.

“I think we both know I do.” He said. “Last chance darlin’” He teased. I turned on my heal quickly back toward the beach. Only getting in a few long strides before he had his arm around my waist. Damn his long legs. It doesn’t help that mine are so short either. I squealed as he lifted me off the ground in his arms.

“No! Logan please!”

“I warned ya, told you to start running sooner.” His voice was deep in my ear as he carried me to the end of the dock and I wrapped my arms around his neck for some sort of safety net. “Would you look at that.” He smirked, looking down at me in his arms. Bastard. Of course he was right. After all this time he still had the same effect on me.

“Oh shut up!” I rolled my eyes. Which was a bold move for someone in my current position.

“You’re blushin’, after all this time, I still get your heart racing.” He rasped.

“My face is red because I was running, and it’s ..it’s warm out here.” I argued.

“You took 3 steps, you weren’t running,” He smirked. “You’re just too stubborn to admit you still feel it.” He whispered against my ear. I felt hot. And it had nothing to do with the sun glaring down on us on the pier. It had been 7 years. Did we even know each other anymore? And…he ..he left. That hurt so bad. What if he leaves again. I don’t think I could handle losing him a second time. We’re in totally different parts of our lives than we were then. But at the same time… “Answer one thing for me, all this time, did you see anybody else? Let anyone else in? I don’t see a ring on your finger.” He raised an eyebrow looking down at me intently. I swallowed hard and swatted at his chest.

“Put me down Sy!” I whined. He jostled me in his arms threatening to drop me in the water.

“You want down?” He smirked. I squealed, wrapping my arms tighter around his neck.

“Logan, Don’t!” I chided. He chuckled, adjusting his grip under my thighs. He leaned in close. I could feel his breath against my ear, his beard tickling my skin.

“Tell me, I just wanna hear it. Did you wait for me?” He sounded like honey. The way his voice hummed in my ear. He always did. It had been so long since we’d stood this close, or been this close and I could feel myself still magnetized to him. It’s like he lit up every sense in my body. I had no choice but to follow his warmth and his chaos and his light. I never felt anything like it with anyone else.

“ Sy you know, I …” Before I could answer him he leaned forward and tossed me into the water. I screamed and heard him chuckle before I hit the water. It was still a little cold since summer had only just started. As I started to come back up to the surface I heard a huge splash a few feet away from me. Logan jumped off the dock with me. When he surfaced he swam closer and I splashed him. “You’re such an ass!” I rolled my eyes. He laughed, swimming toward the shore.

“I had to distract you. You thought I wasn’t gonna do it,” He smirked.

“Yeah I thought maybe you were like a decent guy now or something!” I scoffed.

“Aww come on honey, don’t be mad at me, you know it’s not really summer till we take our first swim.”

“Yeah I know,” I smiled.

We left the lake, soaking wet and headed back to our cabins to dry off. I couldn’t get what he’d said out of my head. I knew it was killing him to know. Why did he stop me? After drying off and changing into some dry clothes I hung my wet clothes and towel out on our cabin's little clothing line. I dug through my bag to find a new pair of shoes, because those were soaked too, and headed over to Logan’s cabin where he was waiting at the picnic table. I walked over and hopped up sitting on the table top. Something I’d made a habit of during my years at camp. And it followed me everywhere. I sit on my countertop all the time. He looked up from where he’d been writing in a notebook on the table and smiled.

“Feel better?” he asked.

“Now that my feet aren’t in squishy wet sneakers? Yeah much better, no thanks to you.” I laughed.

“Did you have fun?” He raised an eyebrow. I groaned.

“Yeah,” I muttered. He had a proud grin on his face.

“Well then you’re welcome.” He mused. I rolled my eyes and flickered my gaze down to his notebook.

“Whatcha working on?” I asked curiously. He leaned back looking down at the list one hand smoothing over his beard.

“Trying to remember all of the camp traditions. The games we played. Ice breakers things like that. Trying to set up a bit of a plan or a loose schedule before the kids get here tomorrow. I don’t know if the boys' cabins still do their prank war, but I’m bringing it back.” He said seriously.

“Ah yes, the infamous prank war, you were ruthless. But your cabin always came out victorious.” I giggled. His eyes met mine and he just smiled holding my gaze for a moment. I shook myself out of it before I could let him in too deep. “What else you got?” I prodded. He sighed. And his eyes went back to the paper in front of him, trying to hide the disappointment on his face.

“Uh, Just some of the group games we used to play, Red rover, capture the flag, the coed softball game. Shit like that.But I just wanna make sure we get everyone comfortable when they get here ya know? I always felt…”

“Safe? When we were here. Me too.” I nodded.

“Just wanna be sure everyone’s having a good time like we did. Whatever problems we were having back home, in our family, or friends, kids that were dealing with bullies, we left it behind. We didn’t tolerate anyone being left out. Just want that for our campers.” He said.

“You’re really passionate about this.” I added.

“Aren’t you, I mean, you loved this place as much as I did, … do.” He added. I nodded.

“Of course I am. I’m just really glad that you are too. I’m glad that my co-counselor is someone who loves and appreciates this place and the kids as much as I do!” I smiled. “I’ve got this book of icebreaker games. We can go through it after our counselor meeting. Find the ones we think are best fit.” I smiled. He nodded.

“Sounds great.”

Later that night after our meeting introducing and welcoming us all to camp and going over our rules and shifts, and after dinner we met in my cabin. We sat outside on the patio at the picnic table. We started flipping through the book and talking about each of the games. Some we had done when we were campers.

“Oh, here's a good one.” I said pointing to one of the pages. “Remember doing this one, ‘two truths and a lie’ we always had a lot of fun with that.

“I do! It was like being a cop trying to read a lie detector test. And trying to beat one. “He chuckled.

“You were good at it!” I laughed. “Like try me,” I nodded to him. He smiled, and cocked his head to the side thinking for a moment.

“Alright, I blew a tire going 90 down the highway last week. I shot my first gun when I was 10, or my brother broke my arm in a fist fight.”

“Jesus!” I laughed. “From the stories you told me about your brothers I wouldn’t doubt it. I know you like to drive fast but you take good care of your truck…I’m gonna say it’s the gun.” He shook his head.

“Nope, I broke his arm.” My eyes went wide and I tried to hold back my laughter.

“Your poor mother.” I giggled.

“She got used to it.” He smiled. “Your turn, see if you can fool me.” He said. I groaned. I never could trick him. He always knew. But maybe I could use this as an opportunity to answer his question back at the lake.

“Okay,” I nodded, “Uh, I have a short story published in a book. I..I’m still a virgin. I lost my phone on a cruise to Jamaica,” He looked at me quizzically, his bottom. Lip pulled between his teeth as his gears turned.

“There’s no way,” he finally spoke. “You’re not still a virgin. No way.” He added. I shook my head. My eyes met his.

“I’ve never been to Jamaica,” I said softly. He let out a shaky laugh.

“In seven years nobody.. Nobody’s tried?” He questioned.

“They’ve tried.” I said. “I tried.” I added. “I wanted to be over you. I tried to be mad at you, for leaving me. But I knew that was selfish. You didn’t leave me. Certainly not because you wanted to. You were fighting for me. For everyone you loved. I couldn’t be mad at you for that.” I admitted.

“I never intended to hurt you so bad. It hurt like hell leaving that summer.” He said.

“I know you didn’t,” I said. “When I went to college I tried so hard to put myself out there and meet other people, I went to a few parties. I made out on trashy frat couches. It was awful. I did go on a couple of dates. I convinced myself I had to. I was sure you’d moved on, found someone new. I liked them okay but it was nothing special. They weren’t… you.” I said. He nodded soaking in all the information I’d just given him.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me. To know that you were still thinking of me as much as I was thinking of you. I have to be honest with you. I slept around in high school. When we broke things off that summer I was just trying to shake it. I hate to say it but, I barely remember their names. But you’re wrong about one thing. I never found anyone, never had one serious relationship after that last summer. You said it darlin, they weren’t you.” He rested his hand on my knee softly caressing my skin with his thumb. I never thought. I’d be here again. At camp. With him. In this position all over again. I think somehow we were getting a second chance. I’m not sure I’m ready for that. But I’m willing to see what the universe has put right in front of me.

“Sy, all I wanted back then was to be with you. To kiss you. For you to be my first. I don’t know if I’m still the girl you knew then. If you still want this after all this time. I don’t know what I want, I’ve spent so much time trying to forget you and what this felt like I don’t know if I know how to do this anymore.” He saw the panic in my eyes. And his face softened. He reached up tucking my hair behind my ear his fingers resting on the back of my head, gently massaging with his fingertips.

“This is a lot, I know, it’s a lot for me too. What I want is the woman you are now. For us to learn how to be now. If it aint the same spark then maybe it’s not meant to be. But i’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth and let you go again. Not without saying we tried to give this a shot.” He said his eyes boring into mine My heart felt like it was overflowing with emotion. I nodded. It was all I could do. “There is one thing, we never got to do that summer that I can’t get out of my head.” He whispered.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I never got to kiss you,” He stated almost breathless like it was a secret we’d been keeping for years. And a weight had now lifted off his shoulders.

“We never did, did we?” I blushed. He shook his head a gentle smile on his lips.

“It’s all can think about since I saw you again. That, and how you’re somehow even more beautiful.”

“Logan,” I blushed playfully shoving him.

“It’s true.” He said. I smiled.

“Well, are you gonna make a move or am I gonna have to make it for you?” Logan chuckled grabbing my waist to pull me closer and cupping my cheek. He leaned in his hot breath against my lips and…

“Hey you two!” Becca called from across the lawn. We jumped apart quickly. I could hear Logan groan no matter how hard he tried to hide it. “I just wanted to check in with you!” she said as she approached the cabin, “You settling in okay? Nervous about the kiddos or anything?” she asked. I shook my head.

“I’m a little nervous, not like I did much babysittin or anything,” Sy admitted. “But I’ve had plenty of practice with my brothers little rascals.” He laughed.

“Great!” She said. “Don’t be nervous, I’m so glad to have you guys back here, you’re our only counselrs this year that are camp alumni, and I always love having people that know the place well.” she smiled.

“It’s good to be back Becca! I never thought I’d see this place again!” I added.

“You know you’re always welcome!” She smiled. “Well I’ll leave you guys too it then, I’m so happy to see you two hear together again,” She winked. “Good night you two.”

“Well, she’s got impeccable timing.” Sy groaned. I giggled and squeezed his shoulder softly.

“This summers just getting started Sy,” I smiled. “I uh, better get some sleep, I was gonna get up early to decorate my cabin for the girls.” I said quickly. He nodded trying to hide his disappointment.

“Okay darlin’, I’ll see ya breakfast?” He asked. I nodded and turning and opening the door to my cabin

“I’ll see you then, goodnight Sy.”

“Goodnight Lainie,”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link for Ch3

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[countryclubkook]

Angel

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x kook!reader

Warnings: language, smut, drug use, slight degradation, I think that's all

Summary: Rafe likes the effect he has on you, he also likes showing everyone who you belong to

A/N: I hope you all enjoy this, it's a bit on the shorter side but the obx trailer sparked some quick Rafe (which fuck he looks so good) inspo. I'm still relatively new to writing smut so I hope it's good🤍

“Fuck angel, you're so eager and desperate for me to ruin you when you don't even have the slightest idea what you're getting yourself into” Rafe moaned out, a small laugh coming out at the end as he thrusted his hips against yours again.

It was another kook party ending with you and Rafe getting high and hooking up in an empty room. Neither of you wanted anything more (that’s what you’d told yourselves at least), and you definitely weren't best friends, but the sex was too good to refuse. Tonight he was being much rougher than usual and you were loving every second of it. He already managed to pull about 2 orgasms from you, one with his tongue and one with his fingers, and was working you towards your third.

You offered to suck him off in return, to try and please him the same way he was pleasing you, but he wouldn't allow it. Instead, he grabbed your hips and flipped you onto your stomach. A light tap on your ass signaled he wanted you on fours and you happily obliged. You would do anything he told you to.

“Yes Rafe…want you t-to ruin me. Please, I'll do…fuck.. I'll do anything” you moaned out. The high from the lines you did earlier combined with the feeling of Rafe buried so deep inside you made it hard to form coherent sentences.

“Anything yeah? You're a dumb slut for that, but fuck..you're my dumb slut. I'm going to fucking ruin you baby” one hand coming around your throat and pulling your back against his chest, the other finding it's way to your clit.

Your vision became blurry and you weren't sure if it was the right grip Rafe had on your throat, the intense amount of pleasure you were experiencing, or the high, but it didn't matter. You were in pure bliss at the moment.

“Y-yours. Only yours” you managed to moan out in between whimpers. The sound of Rafe's thick cock fucking into you was pornographic and sent shockwaves to your core. You felt so dirty and used in the best way and didn't know how much longer you could hold in your orgasm.

“That's right baby. Mine” he growled, feeling his release edge closer and closer.

He rubbed small but quick circles on your clit and moved his lips to your neck, slowly moving up to your jaw before pulling you into a sloppy kiss. He could tell you were close by the way you moaned and whimpered into the kiss, heavy breaths coming from you both.

“Rafe ‘m so close” you whined as you pulled away from the kiss, the pressure in your belly increasing.

“I know baby, I know. Just a little longer” he wanted you both to cum at the same time.

So you waited a few more seconds and tried your best not to cum before him. When his pace got faster and it felt like he was literally bruising your fucking cervix from how deep he was, you knew he was about to cum. You pulled him back into a rough kiss by his neck when you felt your orgasm finally take over, not able to hold it in any longer.

“Fuck you're clenching so much around my cock angel, going to look so pretty stuffed full of my cum” he moaned into your mouth, his grip on your throat tightening.

Your head was fuzzy and your whole body shook as your orgasm washed over you. Pure fucking bliss for the both of you as you felt him cum inside you, filling you up nice and full. He slowed down his pace, waiting until you had both come down from the high before pulling out of you. The both of you collapsing to the bed panting from the intensity.

You had ended up lying on your stomach and let out a small squeal of surprise when Rafe flipped you onto your back. He took his fingers and moved them towards your now dripping cunt, you let out a small gasp and shook your head no. You were too sensitive for that.

“Relax, I just wanna make sure none of this leaks out. You're on the pill right?” worry and seriousness taking over with the last sentence.

“Y-yes” you whimpered out, from a mix of pleasure and being too fucked out.

“Good. You did so well baby” he said moving to give you a small kiss. No matter the circumstances, Rafe always made sure to give you aftercare.

You let out a small ‘hmm’ in response before you both laid in each other's arms. The both of you knew you'd have to leave at some point, but you could lay in each other's embrace for just a moment longer. Maybe deep down you did want something more but were too scared to admit it.

You definitely belonged to Rafe Cameron, his cum stuffed inside your cunt confirmed that. And he'd make sure everyone knew that when he made you walk around in your short dress, his cum leaking down your inner thigh and hand on your waist when you returned to the party.

[messrmoonyy]

friends with benefits with Tess but reader has some feelings for her and Tess rejects her a lot and tells her she just wants to have sex with her. But she’s trying to keep her safe because she’s scared that because she does bad things she might make reader be in danger. But Tess sometimes thinks that she wants to be with reader because she has feelings. But one time Tess finally sees that she has feelings for the reader too and they get together

If that’s okay it’s okay if you don’t want to write that

Apartment 342

Tess Servopoulos x reader

A/N- this is not even remotely as smutty as the request may make you think I’m js. Angst, smut( if you squint ), fluff, hurt comfort. All in one. I wrote the majority of this basically in one sitting right up until 2am last night. And I kinda love it. I’m also a little obsessed with Tess’ pov rn I don’t know if you noticed lmao. So this is a Tess pov. And again this literally just doesn’t have smut in. Like maybe 3 sentences. If that. I wanted tess’ emotions instead.

Warnings- smut ( oral ) if you squint, small mentions of violence and injury, honestly a pretty toxic relationship

Word count- 7.9 k

TLOU masterlist | navigation | AO3

Reblogs and comments are encouraged and appreciated. Support your writers <3

Tess ran a soothing hand over your leg as you stopped squirming, going slack with a blissful sigh. She unhooked your leg from over her shoulder and sat up, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand with a satisfied smirk on her face. 

You always looked prettiest like that. Every muscle in your body turned to jelly, a blissed out look on your face. It made her chest twinge in a way she pretended not to notice. 

“ you okay? “ she asked, getting up from the bed and walking over to the window, pushing it open to let some cool air into the now stifling apartment. And hoping the breeze might clear the fog in her mind. 

“ I’m okay “ you said, making Tess glance back to see you shuffling to sit up “ you know someone might see you standing there fuckin naked in front of my window “ 

“ lucky them “ you scoffed, but smiled. 

“ yeah. Lucky them “ she took another moment to feel the cold air before turning away from the window. The last thing she did need was someone seeing her there, as much as she had joked about it . It was why she always made a quick escape, she came for what she needed. Then she left. And that was that. It always had been. 

That was the agreement. No strings attached. No emotions. No feelings. 

“ you know you don’t have to leave straight away? “ you said as she started picking up her clothes, pulling her tshirt over her head “ you make me feel like one of those whores in the back streets of area 3 “ 

“ why? I don’t pay you “ you rolled your eyes at her bad attempt at a joke and she sighed, buttoning her jeans. 

She had started to notice in the last few months your willingness to let her go when you were done was…. Lessening. You tried to make her talk, or even just talk at her. Prolong her visit. She wasn’t much of a talker, especially when it came to her emotions. Her feelings. And she got the idea that was exactly what you wanted to talk about. 

Maybe she was stupid for letting you seduce her all those months ago, letting herself be drawn in and not cutting it off after the first time. It was nearing a year of her slipping through the zone to your apartment, using you as her personal form of stress relief. 

And maybe she was stupid for thinking you would be able to follow the rules that she had set. That she would be able to follow them herself. Usually her self control was impeccable. But clearly not with you. 

“ maybe you should pay me “ you said with what sounded like you were trying to joke back, but it didn’t quite carry. She walked over to you, tucking her fingers under your chin so you’d look up at her. 

“ maybe I should. You always help me out don’t you sweetheart? “ she said with a smile, brushing her thumb across your jaw. She could see one of the conversations she liked to avoid with you brewing, the kind where you tried to make her stay. Tried to make her talk. The kind that almost always ended up in an argument. She could tell just looking at you, your eyes softening in that way they so often did when you looked at her. Gazing up like she was the most incredible thing you’d ever seen. 

Eyes swimming with affection. Affection that she couldn’t accept. 

Your hand came up to touch her cheek and felt like fire. Like your fingertips were molten and scolding her skin. And that look in your eyes… 

" Tess.. "

" don't " she stopped you before you could be even remotely caring towards her. It was always the same. She always ran. She was always scared of letting you in, letting you break the last barricades she had up against you. The second you cracked her she was done for. The second she let you in this entire thing was ruined. She kept you at arms length because she had to, because she was too old for you. She was too dangerous. 

She couldn’t. 

She wondered if you knew her own control was slipping. If you knew she only pushed you away because she had to and that was why you’d taken to trying to make her talk more. Could you see the chink in her armour? Could you see that weak spot hiding and were trying to push at it?

She figured you did. 

" are you okay? " she turned her head, your hand dropping from her cheek. Her skin still burnt. She could still feel you there. She always could. Your fingerprints were practically burned into her skin, a trail of everywhere you had touched her. Marking her in a way only she could see and feel. 

How could she be okay when she felt like you were all over her? on her skin and in her mind. 

" I'm fine " she lied. 

" that's always your fuckin answer " you muttered, annoyance filtering into your words.

" because im always fine " she sighed, annoyance in her own voice as she pulled her jacket on ready to flee the situation. Fearing that one day you’d bring up that conversation and she’d crack. And she couldn’t. She couldn’t. 

" no one is always fine Tess. You act like you’re so fucking strong all the time… but you can’t pretend with me. I see you " she gave a short laugh and grabbed her bag. Checking her gun was loaded and shoving it into her back pocket, it was past curfew after all. You sat up, holding the sheets to your chest as your eyes followed her as she collected up your clothes from the floor. 

" well, I am " she dropped them next to you and you grabbed her arm before she could leave. She avoided your eyes at first, her jaw tightening. She didn’t want to deal with this conversation tonight. Or any night for that matter. She needed to get out of that damn apartment. 

" Tess " she closed her eyes for a moment before meeting yours. They always looked so sad, like so much was going on behind those beautiful eyes. You wished she'd talk to you, she knew that. She knew you were silently begging for her to stay. To tell you what you wanted to hear. Wished she'd sit down and just spill every single trouble she had, confide in you. Trust you. But she couldn’t trust anyone. Not with emotions like that. 

Deep down she wanted to. Wanted to stay and tell you that it would probably end up with both of you dead, but something was prickling in her chest every time she looked at you. Every time she was around you. But she knew it would only end in disaster. 

" I'm fine sweetheart. Alright? Look I got shit to do oka- " 

" I dont believe you "

" I'm not asking you to " she pulled slightly at your grip but you didn't let her go. And maybe that in itself was a little win for you, because she very easily could shake herself from your grip if she wanted to. You weren’t even holding her tightly and she was far stronger than you anyway. But she didn't. She stood there with your fingers wrapped around her wrist, letting you have that. Part of her wishing she could give in. 

" you can talk to me. You don't have to leave 30 seconds after you fuck me you know. I don't know why you're so scared of me " she scoffed again at that “ or does only Joel get to hear your secrets huh? “ she shook her head and did let herself free from your grasp then, running a hand over face with a sigh. 

That was another thing about you. You’d started suspecting you were just her side thing, that she was fucking Joel and then going around to you for seconds. Which was stupid. Both of you knew that, you were just getting desperate clearly. 

Little did you know she hadn’t been with a single other person since she’d met you. Least of all Joel. 

" scared of you. Please " she shook her head with a slightly bitter laugh, shaking off those thoughts “ sweetheart I hate to break it you but you’re least scary person in this entire fuckin QZ alright" she placed her hands on her hips in a way that demanded authority, that served as a reminded of who was in charge. Who was the boss. A reminder that she had the power there and you didn’t, and that wasn’t about to change “ that's not our arrangement. We don't... talk you know that. You said you were okay with that. It works. Don't rock the fuckin boat. Be a good girl, do as you’re told " her tone was almost condescending, mocking. Further reminding you to get back in line. She was being mean. She always was. But it worked and kept you in place where she needed you to be. 

" right. Okay whatever " you pulled your clothes back on and stood up yourself as she headed for your door. But she stopped before she could reach for the handle, turning back around again. 

She was curious about what had brought on tonight’s particular round of questions. They were getting more frequent. 

" why are you doing this? " you raised an eyebrow clearly urging her to elaborate " this... trying to- we agreed no strings. This only works if we stay that way. If you listen " it was your turn to scoff and you folded your arms. 

" I think you ruined that yourself when you turned up here with a bag of illegal shit last month Tess. You’re the one that pulled me into the shit you apparently wanted to keep me away from. So don’t give me that bullshit that this only works if you do this stupid fleeing act every time you come over here because you wanna fuck and forget " 

She’d turned up with a bloody nose and her hood up, pushing into your apartment before you could even invite her in. She hadn’t known where else to go. She was tangled in a mess of some wannabe crime boss and had bitten off slightly more than she could chew. She’d thought going to you would be safe. There was nothing to link her to you, no reason why she’d go to you. 

But 2 nights later you'd been jumped on your way home from a work assignment. You’d have died if she and Joel hadn’t turned up, Tess getting some strange feeling that something was going down, deciding to go check on you only to find you blacked out with two thugs searching your pockets. 

She had kind of been forced to be a little more open with you after that. Though she still wasn’t exactly an open book because if you knew everything?  she’d scare you away she knew it. If you knew the stuff she did, the gritty details of how she and Joel had made their way up the ladder of command in Boston.  They didn’t get where they were by trading friendship bracelets. 

She had told you she'd regretted going to you the moment she'd arrived, that she shouldn't have put you in that position. That danger. Yet also convinced no one would ever suspect she would go to you. Yet someone had clearly followed her. And then you. In honestly she’d never been so scared for your safety like that. Or anyone’s for that matter. And that concerned her. Because she wasn’t supposed to care. 

Yet she clearly was. 

She’d stayed in your apartment for 2 days after the attack. Sitting like a guard dog at your door in case someone tried to break in. She didn’t think she’d actually slept at all in those two days. She’d tended to your wounds, watched out the window like a hawk, brought you food. 

That wasn’t the actions of someone that didn’t care. In fact it was quite the opposite 

" you know why I had to do that. The whole reason I came to you was because we had no strings. There was nothing to connect us " it stung a little. She could tell, something flickering across your face. But you were both used to it. Hurting each other " I didn't know someone would follow me. I didn't think- look I'm not getting into this tonight. I came here because I was stressed, you're meant to help me relax and right now you're just giving me a fuckin headache sweetheart " 

" right because that's all I'm good for for you isn't it? Stress relief? I’m not a fucking toy you know! God you're a fucking dick sometimes Tess, pushing people around for your own fuckin amusement right? " now it was her time to be stung. Just a little. 

She didn’t want you thinking that. But she needed you to. She’d rather you hate her and be safe than feel for her and be battered to a pulp by some nobody in a back alley. 

And she knew even if you did hate her you’d never lock her out. She had you by the throat and both of you knew it. You were putty in her hand and she knew how to press and mould you to exactly how she wanted. And you let her. 

" why do you care? " you laughed at that like it was the stupidest thing she had ever said. 

" because I do " 

" that's not an answer " 

" yeah well neither is 'I'm fine' when you clearly aren't so I guess we're both even huh?  " you'd got her there, her jaw clenching again. Maybe you both got off on the arguing like that. Maybe you liked pushing her buttons as much as she enjoyed pushing yours " do you care? Huh? Does that fuckin cold heart in there even know what caring is? " 

" do you think I'd be here if I didn't? " she snapped and she'd got you. For once she truly had rendered you speechless with that it seemed. It was pathetic really. The absolute bottom of the barrel bare minimum and yet it made your eyes widen, soften. 

" you don't act like it " all your anger had gone from your words. You sounded weak now. She didn’t like the way it made her chest ache. It made her angry. Annoyed. Annoyed that you kept making her feel. 

" I saved your life and I protect you every single day. And this is my thanks? Damn sweetheart, who’s the one with cold heart now hey? " she said and walked over to you in a way that would have been intimidating if you didn't know her, if you didn't know she'd never lay an agressive finger on you. A way that would make anyone else back up. But you held your ground. Maybe it was still a little intimidating though, the way she saw your breath catch. But you liked that and she knew you did " you think only one person tried to get you? Just that one I saved your ass from in the street? These kind of guys don't just stop at one person " she gave it a moment. Let it sink in. 

Let you know that she had been taking care of you without you even knowing it. Telling you she felt something without really having to say it. 

She tucked her fingers under your chin and for a moment she almost wanted to kiss you. Seeing you looking up at her like that. So vulnerable and innocent. So far from what she was. But she didn’t. She never kissed you. Never on the lips anyway. That was too… intimate. Kissing meant feelings. 

She couldn’t feel things. She couldn’t have you feeling things. 

" I- " 

" I have a lot of people that don’t like me. That want what me and Joel have " her voice was low, almost threatening. She needed you to listen, to shake you out of the mood you were in " you think you wouldn't be the first person they'd go for if they knew about you? They go for who they think will hurt the most. They find a weak spot and they break it "

" I didn't know " you whispered 

" of course you didn't. That's the whole fuckin point. I stop things before you even know they exist. People. You know what they'd do to you if they ever got their hands on you? Is that what you want me to tell you? “

“ Tess- “

“ will that make you fuckin listen to me? Hmm? If I tell you about how they'd hurt you? Kidnap you? You think they’d go easy on you? You’re young. You’re beautiful. Do you need me to tell you how much fun they’d have breaking you? " her voice remained steady. Low. Intimidating. Of course she’d never let anyone do those things, she’d protect you with her life. But if telling you about was what it took to make you stop feeling things. Then she’d do it. 

" Tess stop- "

" these aren't nice people. I don't deal with nice fuckin people. You really want to involve yourself in that? In my life? Put yourself at risk like that? " 

" you're scaring me stop " you whispered, the message seemingly sinking in. 

" good, it should fuckin scare you. So stop asking questions, be a good girl and do as you’re told. Okay? " she held your gaze for a moment before her eyes flickered away, her other hand slipped down around your waist and over your ass, giving a light squeeze. Solidifying the reason she was there, remind you the reason she had turned up at your door. Maybe more to herself than to you at that point" thank you for tonight " then she let you go and headed back for the door again, the moment over " I'll see you tomorrow sweetheart " 

To your surprise you followed her out into the hall and she wondered if you were trying to lure her back in again. You always did love arguing with her. 

" no. You know don't bother. Seeing as I'm so stressing for you, right? And I’m your weak spot right? Go see if you can find someone else to put up with you like I do " you said in a harsh whisper, not exactly keen on airing your dirty laundry in the hallway for your neighbours to hear apparently. She turned back to you as she headed for the stairs at the end of the hall, and couldn’t help the smirk that found its way onto her face. 

You were cute when you were trying to be angry. Telling her to fuck off like you so often did when she made you mad or told you some home truths. 

" you're funny " she simply said, knowing it would only wind you up further and made her way down the stairs, leaving you to stew on your anger with her for the night. 

She knew you didn’t really mean it. She knew you couldn’t stay angry at her. That no matter what she said to you you would be waiting for her the second she knocked on your door again. And maybe that was wrong. Or toxic. 

But it was also keeping you safe. 

It was raining as she slipped out of your apartment building. It was barely past 7 and already pitch black outside, the winter rain icy against her skin. But she almost didn’t mind the dark. It meant she could hide better as she slipped through the back alleys, avoiding patrols with ease. She knew every rotation in her area like the back of her hand, and the other areas for that matter. So she made it back to her apartment undetected. Wet and cold. But undetected. 

Tess walked into the dark of her apartment with a deflated sigh. Closing the door and tossing the keys onto the kitchen counter before flicking on the lamp, only to startle as she found Joel sitting at the kitchen table. 

“ what the fuck Joel! “ 

“ well good evenin to you too “ she held a hand over her chest, feeling her heart hammering away as she took a deep breath to try slow it down. 

“ I’m too tired for you to be sitting around in the dark you fuckin dick “ Joel simply shrugged and she felt his eyes on her as she rummaged around in the kitchen to find a glass, hoping a glass of water would steady her again “ why are you sitting in the dark? In fact why the fuck are you even here? Go home “

“ I had a headache. And I you know that is not a nice thing to say to a guest in your home “

“ guests are invited. They don’t let themselves in and sit in the fuckin dark and damn near give me a heart attack Joel “ she shed her wet jacket and sat down opposite him, noticing a welt on his cheek that hadn’t been there that morning “ the fuck happened to you? “

“ some fucker working for Farris happened to me “ Tess sighed and ran a hand over her face, a headache threatening to pool behind her own temples “ where the fuck were you? “ her fingers itched to go grab the bottle of whiskey she knew was in the cupboard above the sink. It would certainly make this conversation easier. But she resisted, knowing it would only make the headache worse tomorrow morning. 

“ I was busy “

“ busy fuckin your little thing on the other side of 4? “ she clenched her jaw at the unsavoury tone he had. She knew what he thought of you. She knew that he just thought you were a distraction. But she also knew he wouldn’t prod too deeply into the harsher thoughts he had, because she had plenty of her own verbal ammo to retaliate with. At least her recreational activities weren’t damaging. Unlike Joel and his Oxy. 

“ it doesn’t matter where I was. What matters is Farris is getting too big for his fuckin boots. And we need to be careful. We worked hard to get where we are Joel. I won’t throw away the last 8 years of work because some nobody wants to take over our smuggling lines. Alright? “ Joel raised his hand in some show of surrender, leaning back in the chair that creaked under his weight. 

“ so what are we doin about him. Cause if what those fuckers that jumped me tonight said is true, your little doll over the way might be in for one hell of a weekend “ that peaked her interest. Her eyes flying up to meet Joel’s “ now I got your attention huh “ 

“ don’t fuck around with me Joel. What do you know “ he shrugged and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. 

“ Farris knows we’re the ones that killed the guys that went after her. Some test I guess. Seeing if she really was the way to push your buttons. I guess we proved it to him “ 

“ fuck “ she cursed under her breath, leaning her elbows onto the table and raking her fingers into her hair “ fuck “ she could feel Joel’s eyes on her, burning into her. She was becoming far too slack when it came to you. She was beginning to let her emotions cloud her judgement. And she couldn’t do that. 

For one it was completely pointless to have the emotions in the first place. She was the one that had told you there would be no emotions. No strings. No nothing. Sex. And only sex. Two lonely people getting their required quota of human contact and that was all. 

But she knew you had abandoned that. She knew that you weren’t strong enough to control your emotions and it was rubbing off on her. But she had to be stronger. She needed to be. She couldn’t be with you. 

For one she was too old. Even the fucking wasn’t exactly the best of plans, she was holding all your attention when you could go out and find someone your own age. Someone a little less fucked up. But she was selfish. And she liked you. And she liked the way you looked at her. And maybe it was cruel to say, but she liked how you always came back. No matter what she said or how much she pushed you away. You always came running back to her again, which is what she always wanted. 

She had noticed herself getting a little less… distant. She didn’t really want to push you away even though she knew she should. She wanted you around. She wanted to keep seeing you. 

But it looked like that was starting to become impossible. 

You didn’t deserve the life she was leading. She did things too dangerous for someone as sheltered as you. 

“ well I’ll be damned “ Joel said after a few moments, shaking his head in what seemed to be amusement 

“ is something funny? “ he seemed to debate saying what he was thinking. And she knew he wanted to say it. To say she’d caught feelings. Say she was stupid keeping it going this long. 

“ you gotta cut that off Tess “ he said in the end, clearly avoiding what he really wanted to say to her “ You’re getting too tangled up in whatever the fuck it is you having going on with her. This isn’t you “ 

“ I know “ she whispered, resting her head in her hands for a moment “ I know “ 

She liked to joke and call you naive, but maybe she was the naive one. To think she could go along with someone like you this long and not get attached. 

“ this shit with Farris is serious “

“ yeah Joel I fuckin know “ she snapped, sighing again and sitting back in the chair. She gathered her thoughts, pushed you to the back of her mind. And focused on the business at hand “ so here’s what we’re gonna do “

" fuck that's it. Good girl like that " there you were again. On your knees for her as if you hadn't told her to stay away only a week ago. Her fingers were tugging at your hair, guiding your head at a pace she wanted. Once again letting her use you as a way to relieve her stress. Letting her take what she needed and have the control. And you were a sucker for her so you did it every time. 

So much you not wanting to see her again. So much for her telling Joel it was over.

In fact that was what she had turned up at your place to talk about. To tell you she couldn’t do it anymore, ready to make up some excuses that she’d found someone else. That she was bored. Any excuse that would hurt you enough to stay away from her for real this time. Ready to lie through her teeth and pretend you meant nothing to her in an attempt to keep you safe. 

But you had all but jumped her the second she’d stepped into your apartment, clearly having a stressful day yourself and in the mood to please. 

And having your head between her thighs one last time wasn’t something to complain about she supposed. Especially when you were touching her like that. 

“ that’s my girl, fuck just like that “ she’d miss that. Miss the way you felt smiling against her, how your fingers felt inside of her, the noises you made. 

She’d miss you completely. Not even just the sex. Your eyes. Your smile. Your fearlessness when it came to arguing with her, shouting back without a care. 

But it was for your own good. And maybe her own too. 

She didn’t last much longer, coming on your fingers with a choked moan and tugging probably painfully at your hair before going slack. 

" that's really not why I came to see you you know " she said with a small laugh, pulling her jeans back on and pushing her hair from her damp forehead as the blissful feeling left her as quickly as it had arrived. 

" could've fooled me " you cracked a smile as you said it and rose to your feet. 

She’d really miss you smiling at her like that. Miss the way your eyes practically sparkled anytime you looked at her, clearly such strong admiration and affection that she almost expected to see cartoon hearts floating around your head. 

" I'm serious " you sat beside her and she noticed the way you pressed yourself into her side. And she couldn’t help the way her arm fell across your shoulders, holding you there. Allowing herself that small thing before she pushed you out of her life completely " I just wanted to check on you. Especially after your pissy fuckin mood the other day " 

" thank you " she shrugged and you were both quiet for a few minutes " are you in danger? Am I? " you asked quietly, looking up at her with those big sad eyes. She refused to hold your gaze. 

" what? " 

" what you're doing? Is it dangerous? The people who made you worried so you came to check on me, are they dangerous? " You kind of knew the answer already she was sure of it. She was a smuggler. It wasn’t exactly the safest job in the world right now. You knew she was dangerous and she dealt with dangerous people. She did dangerous things. But you clearly wanted to hear her say it to you. Maybe so you could justify the constant worrying you always did for her. The worrying she always told you not to do. 

But it was okay. You wouldn’t worry for her after today. 

" I’m handling it "

" and if you can’t " 

" i can " 

" but if you can’t " you pressed 

" why are you so Interested? " she asked with a slight sigh, silently hoping she could’ve gotten a few more minutes of peace with you before the argument began “ you think I cant handle myself? “

" I worry about you " as much as you said it it still made her heart ache each time. Not many people cared about her. In fact she was certain it was just you and Joel. It was almost alien now " I always worry. I’ve seen you kill people like it was nothing and I wasn’t afraid, I was concerned you’d hurt yourself. You deal with FEDRA officers Tess. Any one of them could decide one day they’re bored and turn you in. I don’t wanna wake up one day and see your name on the roster for the public fucking hangings " you rambled it all out in practically one breath. 

She didn't respond straight away. Simply kept watching you as the words continued to tumble from your mouth before you bothered to stop them. Not sure what she was supposed to say. She wished she could be like you. So willing to express yourself and so open with your emotions. 

But this situation with Farris was big. And she couldn’t risk it. She had to stay on track. 

" you shouldn't worry so much " you almost seemed like you wanted to laugh. She broke your eye contact, staring at the black screen of the long broken tv instead " I can take care of myself "

" I know you can... it doesn't mean I won't worry. And before you say anything I don't want to hear that stupid no strings conversation again " You turned her face to look at you, hand on her cheek. So tender with her. So gentle. No one touched her tenderly anymore. No one showed her care. 

" Tess... " your voice was a whisper, trailing off as words seemed to fail you at the closeness of her face to yours. Her nose brushed against yours and she so desperately wanted to kiss you. She debated it for a moment, wondering if it would be so bad. She was still going to leave you. She was still going to break your heart, so what did it matter anyway? 

But she feared that as soon as she did so nothing she could say would push you back. You would never let her go after you got the affection you had begged her for for so long. She couldn’t take the risk. 

" don't " her voice stopped you before your lips could touch, low and almost warning, as her hand wrapped around your wrist. 

" please " it sounded weak. Pathetic almost. It made her chest tighten. You were so desperate for love. For love from her. And she couldn’t give it to you. 

" we can't. Not now. We can't " not now was probably a poor choice. It would insight hope. A half promise that the present wasn’t going to work. But maybe the future would. 

" why? " she pulled away from you and got to her feet. Running away. Again. She had to. She had to get out of there before she broke completely. 

" don't do this again for the love of god don’t give me this fuckin conversation again " 

" why can't you just answer me? Honestly. Just tell me why you won't even kiss me for fuck sakes. Why won't you open up to me? Why do you keep pretending you care about me only to kick me to the curb again? " 

" do you think I'd be here if I didn't fucking care? " her voice was rising and you knew you'd just fallen into the same routine of trying to talk and ending up in a fight. But maybe that was okay. That would help. Would make ripping the bandaid a little easier 

" then stop pushing me away! The no strings thing? It’s bullshit! It’s. Bullshit. You think I could be like this with you for this long and not feel something? And I know you feel something too you’re just too fucking stubborn. And I’m tired of pretending I’m not in l- "

" don't. Don't you say it " she turned to you, finger pointing at you in warning. Brow furrowed as it always was " don't. Say it. You say it and I'm gone. I'm gone and I won’t come back " she couldn’t hear you say that word. She knew you were in love. Of course she did. But you’d never said it. And that would be too much for her. That would hurt beyond relief. 

It would hurt you even more. 

You held her gaze for a moment. Debating it. But you looked so tired. You were done clearly. Done listening to her. Done being pushed around. 

" I love you " you said with a shrug, tears pooling at your eyes as you breathed it out despite her warnings, like it couldn't be contained any longer. It wasn't fair " maybe that makes me an idiot. But I do. And I won't pretend I don't anymore " tears fell down your cheeks then and she fought to keep her composure. To remain stony faced and cold. 

Rip the bandaid Tess. 

" you can't. You don't understand. Loving me is... I can't. You can't " she felt more flustered than angry, as if she'd received some detrimental information that was world ending. Her hand raking through her hair. She wanted to walk over, hold your face and wipe your tears. Tell you that yes you were so unbelievably stupid for loving her but she loved you too. She couldn’t “ i have to go “ 

" of course you do " you didn't follow her as she grabbed her jacket and headed for your front door 

" You won't see me again. I'll make sure Joel keeps an eye on you. I’ll make sure you’re safe but. This is it. You won't see me again like this. Whatever this is… it’s done " she hesitated for a moment looking back at your sagged, crying form. It was pity she felt the most. She pitied you. You who had just told her you were in love with her. That you cared.  

She wished she could tell you the truth. Tell you how she felt. But she couldn’t. 

Rip it. 

“ that’s. That’s the whole reason I came here anyway. Me and you it’s- look it’s done okay. I don’t wanna do this with your anymore alright? You don’t listen. All these emotions… we said no strings. And you didn’t listen. We’re done here “ 

" well good. I don't want to see you again anyway, don't ever come back here. Go find someone else to fuck! I don't want to hear from you again "

She didn't respond. Simply clenched her jaw and gave a short nod of her head. 

It had been ripped. 

It was done. 

You despised her. 

She left your building in a hurry, like the air inside was too confining and her chest felt too tight. Outside she took a breath, leaning back against the brick and closing her eyes for a moment. 

“ fuck “ she didn’t know how she felt. Angry. Upset. Both “ fuck! “ she dropped her head into her hands for a moment, trying to steady her breathing before raking her hands through her hair and trying to compose herself. 

She had important things to do. She had to find Farris and make this entire thing worth it. She braced her hands on her knees, taking a moment. And then she stood up and she left. She had to find him. 

Tess didn't exactly recall how she'd ended up in front of your building. Brief flickers in her mind of her and Joel finally tracking down the bastard that had been threatening you, the almost blackout anger that was clouding the memories. Blood. And guns. And knives. the hammering rain against her skin. But she couldn't recall the entire journey properly, or the events of the warehouse in area 4. Just that she was now there. Rain dripping into her eyes, entire body aching now that her adrenaline had worn off. Some muttered excuse to Joel to take their stolen goods back home and that she needed to make sure you were okay. 

She was convinced she’d taken a knife to the shoulder at some point, a dull ache growing stronger by the second. 

But Farris was dead. And that was all that mattered. He was dead. He wouldn’t bother her anymore. Or you. You were safe. 

She knew they were dead. That was a certain thing. They had made him suffer. Did the things she tried so desperately to keep away from you. But it was worth it. But other things she couldn’t quite recall, couldn’t quite separate the real from the make believe. 

She just knew she had to see you. After all she’d done. But you still hated her. She knew that. 

So she didn’t know why she was there. Or why she found her feet carrying her up to your apartment door. Staring at the metal 342 that had faded and tarnished over the the years. 

You wouldn’t see her she was certain. You’d slam the door in her face and tell her to get fucked. 

But she knocked anyway. 

She wanted to explain. Explain how she had had to push you away. Be cruel. Because she felt so unbelievably undeserving of love, especially from someone as incredible as you. Because she felt you deserved better. Someone younger. Someone who didn’t do illegal shit every single day. Someone who could keep you safe. 

But also… she just needed to be around you. To be in your company. To talk to someone other than Joel. He wouldn’t understand. But you would. 

She knocked again. Before she could change her mind and turn around. There was some shuffling around inside your apartment, the sound of the key in the lock. 

You opened the door only a crack, the security chain in front of your face. She almost smiled just at that. You'd listened to her and her worries for your safety. Your eyes fell on her and she waited for you to slam it back in her face, or tell her to fuck off and leave you alone. But you said nothing. You didn't even look that shocked to see her. 

" I didn't know where else to go " her voice sounded far weaker than she'd been expecting, and as though she'd had to force the words out of her throat. She waited for the door slam. Or that bitter laugh you gave her whenever she'd pissed you off or said something stupid that had upset you. 

But instead you closed the door softly, the sound of the security chain dropping and then re opened the door. You looked her up and down before reaching out your hand and gently leading her inside. 

She must have looked a sight. Soaked from the rain and sporting a black eye. And a possible stab wound. But you didn’t comment on it. 

She stood a little awkwardly as you re locked the door. Not knowing what to say at all 

“ shit you’re bleeding “ you said softly, coming up behind her and placing a hand to her aching shoulder “ sit down. You’re making a damn puddle “ 

She sat at the table and shed her button up, your hand gentle as you pushed her tank strap out of the way and examined the wound 

“ knife “ she said before you asked her, hissing through her teeth as you pressed at the tender skin. 

“ stay here “ she watched you go into the bathroom, the sound of cupboards opening and closing for a few moments. She almost wanted to cry. Or scream. It wasn’t natural how nice of a person you were. How no matter how much she pushed you around you still helped her. 

She didn’t deserve your help. Or your care. And yet you were giving it to her so freely. 

“ I’m sorry “ she said when you resurfaced, hands full of stuff to clean her up. 

“ yeah. I know “ you said quietly, dabbing at her wound a little harsher than probably necessary. But she deserved that 

“ I can explain “ 

“ you don’t have to “

“ I need to “

“ I know. You do. You have a lot of shit to explain to me. But… not now Tess. I don’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve done. But you’re in no state to talk tonight. It’s okay. I can wait “ there was no malice in your words, no anger. She was taken aback by it. 

She didn’t deserve you. She didn’t. 

“ I don’t deserve you “ you gave a small laugh behind her and she glanced up at you as you picked up a needle and thread from the table. 

“ you’re right. You don’t. But I’ve been known to have exceptionally bad taste in women “ she closed her eyes as you stitched her up in silence. And for once she felt like a weight was shifting off her shoulders. 

She felt safe there. Protected. Cared for. Like all her emotions of the day, the last few months in fact, came rushing forward. 

“ I didn’t mean what I said “ you sighed again behind her but didn’t berate her for trying to talk again “ I had to it- I did it because- fuck “ her brain refused to string a sentence together, still cloudy and frazzled from days of hunting Farris down. From the fight that had ended it all. From the lack of sleep. 

Maybe she was hallucinating the entire thing. But the dull pain of the needle threading through her skin reminded her she couldn’t be. 

“ you’re not yourself “ you said softly tying off the the thread and placing a gentle hand to her shoulder as you rounded her “ look at me “ 

You held her face in your hands, holding her head up so she had no choice but to look at you. She could almost see the cogs whirring away inside your head, trying to read her expression. But Tess was a notoriously hard nut to crack. Able to read a room in a second but impossible to read herself “ look. Tess. I’m serious. You don’t need to explain tonight. You can take your time. It’s okay. You don’t have to pretend to be something in here. It’s just me “ 

She closed her eyes and let out a deflated sigh. Maybe she shouldn’t have visited you tonight. Maybe she should’ve gathered her thoughts and tried in the morning when her brain would actually allow her to string together a coherent sentence. 

“ I’m sorry “ 

“ I know you are “ her own hands came up to cover yours, looking at your eyes that were swimming with sympathy. Pity. From anyone else she would’ve hated it. But from you it made her chest tighten. 

“ I don’t deserve you “ she repeated in a whisper “ I don’t. All that I’ve done to you all that I’ve said- “

“ shh. Not tonight. You can do your explaining. And your grovelling. In the morning. And before you protest you’re staying here tonight. Send you out like this fuckin FEDRA will capture your ass before you even reach the end of the street “ 

She did want to protest, she’d never stayed overnight. But she didn’t have the energy. Or the heart. 

“ I’ll go find you some clothes yeah? “ you let her go and turned to walk away but she stood up and grabbed at your arm. You tilted your head to the side, a flash of confusion on your face “ everything okay? “ 

“ I will explain. Tomorrow I mean. I’ll explain everything. And I’ll grovel. I’ll do whatever the fuck you want me to until you believe that I’m sorry “ she took a step to close the distance between you both, cupping your face in her hands “ I was scared “ 

“ you’re not scared of anything are you? “ you said quietly with a smile on your face. There was a lot she was scared of. And most of those things boiled down to you. She was terrified of anyone hurting you. Terrified of losing you. Terrified of the way that you made her feel. 

But she couldn’t find the words to tell you that. Not tonight. 

So she showed you instead. 

She leaned in slowly, giving you every chance to push her back and tell her not to. She wouldn’t blame you for it. But you didn’t. She kissed you in a way that could only be described as tender. Barely even touching her lips to yours at first, still waiting for you to shove your hands against her chest and tell her to get out. 

But you didn’t. You stepped closer, you warm hands sliding over her bare arms and up to twist your fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck. So she placed a hand to your back, pulling you in as close as she could, pressing your warm body to her cold and damp one. It made you shiver and she wondered if it was from her rain soaked shirt touching you or because of the kiss. 

She hoped for the latter. 

She kissed you in a way she had never kissed anyone else. Slowly, passionately. Expressing every single word of affection she had kept from you into every press of her lips to yours. 

she didn’t know how long it had been, just that you seemingly had no intentions of breaking away and she wasn’t about to either. So you kissed until her lungs began to protest, reluctantly detaching her lips from yours but not moving more than an inch or two away. 

She’d lied to herself before she thought. That this was actually when you looked the prettiest. 

“ I think that was a pretty good apology “ you whispered, your breath fanning onto her lips in a way that made her shiver “ you still have to grovel “ 

“ I’m aware sweetheart. I’m aware “ 

[sotwk]

Happy Birthday to you! Love your campfire party idea! I’d like to request a drabble about Steve Rogers/Captain America.

Thank you so much!

Thank you for the request, @zeldastrife, and for giving me a chance to dream about my favorite superhero of all time! <3 I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you and others will love it just as much. :)

Content/Genre: Marvel; Gen fluffy summer romance

Fireworks

Steve Rogers x Reader

Ever since you were a child, the fireworks show has always been your favorite part of the annual Fourth of July picnic. But now they were merely a convenient cover that allowed you to fixate on the sight you truly wished to openly stare at. 

He must have seen so many firework displays in his long lifetime, and with him being a war veteran (a gross understatement), you wondered if the sound of the roaring, cracking explosions bothered him. But the relaxed expression on his face, tipped toward the brightly, colorfully lit night sky, gave no indication of discomfort. 

Dressed in a plain gray t-shirt, jeans, and a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball cap, Steve passed for a run-of-the-mill all-American, allowing him to spend the entire day mingling with the rest of the townsfolk, quietly charming everyone with his gracious, easy manners, but never drawing prolonged attention to himself.

Who would ever expect Captain America to attend a small town, middle-of-nowhere celebration on such a significant holiday? No one would ever believe it, and none of the folks who had looked the living legend right in the face and spent several minutes chatting him up suspected a thing.

You yourself could still barely believe the entire day, or any of the past few weeks that led up to the present moment, was actually real. Steve Rogers was your date. Your love life catapulted from a woeful, lonely drought to dating literally the most perfect man in the entire nation. To think you had nearly turned him down for fear that this was all an elaborate prank or some cosmic joke. But thank God, truly, for the sudden, miraculous ability to not let your deep-seated anxieties get in the way this one time. 

Steve’s renowned bravery was slowly rubbing off you; you could tell. Every moment you spent in his company, you felt yourself becoming more comfortable and confident in your own skin, as though you were learning to see in yourself what he probably saw in you. Good things that he decided were worth his time and interest. 

That courage began to stir and bubble up inside you while you continued to watch Steve watch the fireworks. You knew he was a staunch gentleman, forever rooted in his old-fashioned ways. Four dates in and he's never done anything more than hold your hand or give you gentle hugs. 

He would not like a girl who’s too forward. The brazen courage smothered down the nagging warnings in your head. Or just give it a try, this braver side of you proposed.

You reached across the small distance between you and slipped your hand over his arm, folded across his chest. His intent blue eyes immediately shifted to you, and the smile he gave made your heart stutter.

Before your courage could get snuffed out, you rose on your toes and swiftly planted a kiss on his clean-shaven cheek.

“Happy Birthday, Steve. I hope you had fun today.”

With the daring deed done, your electrified nerves shorted out, and your gaze fell to the ground, heavy with growing shame. Hopefully the memory of that one kiss would be worth it, if this was to be the end. 

His strong hand closed around yours, squeezing gently, returning your strength to you. That hand then shifted to the small of your back, drawing you against him.

“Today was…” His fingers ghosted across your jawline before resting, lingering underneath your chin. Your own hands came up to his chest, your head was spinning and you so badly needed to steady yourself. Suddenly you noticed his heart was racing, pulsing furiously underneath your palm. 

“...perfect.” His chest heaved as he finally finished his sentence, and for a fleeting, ridiculously giddy moment right before he pressed his warm lips on yours, you realized that Captain America had been rendered nervous and breathless. Just for a moment, but it was all because of you.

This limited edition Marvel fic is a gift written as part of SotWK's Summer Campfire Sleepover 2024. (Requests accepted only on July 11-15, 2024.)

[lifeiskentastic]

gn!Reader in one car with Holland March in the middle of a traffic jam

Gif by @adoresbenho

A/N: Tell me, would you read a fanfic about Ryan Gosling's five-minute role as a lecherous elf on snl New Year's episode? (this sounds so crazy, but Ryan is so cute with the pointy ears, bangs, and tall hat... I just need to write it.)

Summary: Agency partner Reader once again gets stuck in a traffic jam with Holland;

Song I recommend: Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen was just made ror Holland;

Word count: 724 words;

Nice reading!

It was just another morning as the third member (counting from the moment of join, although Holland always argued with Hilly to take over as "second" as if it were something really important) of the detective agency. It was just another morning traffic jam in Los Angeles, the only advantage of which was extra time to shave or drink a cup of coffee. After all, as it turned out, working as a detective requires punctuality, which in the case of Holland March was a big problem. So from the very beginning of the day, you were in a hurry, rushing to get things done, and only during irreparable traffic jams could you afford to exhale.

Holland could finally shave, and you could have a cup of strong coffee instead of breakfast.

For such occasions, Holland even kept a thermos of coffee and mountains of plastic cups in the car. No matter how many times you persuaded him to get rid of at least half of them, he categorically refused, calling it a "necessity of life." Well, given that he also used them to drink his liter-long supply of alcohol, it's not surprising.

The only thing that remained a mystery even to the three detectives was why a jar of whipped cream kept appearing in the glove compartment of his car. Although you had a bold guess that after you told Holland that you loved whipped cream coffee, he took it too much to heart.

"Do you think Healy is there yet?"

You asked, sipping from your cup.

"Oh, yeah, Mr.I'm-right-on-time-because-this-is-an-important-job has been there since sunrise."

You couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. The special relationship between your two partners couldn't help but make you laugh, literally, every day.

Holland beamed with pride when he managed to make you laugh.

"Oh, and also..."

But another laugh from you didn't let March finish his sentence. But what could you do? Still, the naive look on Holland's face with a piece of shaving foam on his cheek was more amusing than you could have imagined.

"Pfft... Ha-ha, wait..."

You reached for his cheek to brush away the remaining lather as Holland watched you in pure embarrassment. His eyes looked even more confused when you were a few millimeters away from his face.

However, you quickly returned to your seat, showing traces of white, puffy foam on your palm.

"Is that what made you giggle so much?"

This made you think back to that unsuspecting look on March's face, caught up in his own joke, and made you laugh uncontrollably again.

"I'm sorry... You just looked so cute."

"Did I?"

Holland leaned closer to your seat, scrutinizing every part of your face. You were about to ask what he was going to do, but...

"Aha! Found it!"

His head came as close to yours as possible, and he touched something near the tips of your lips with a triumphant exclamation.

"Is that cream? You're such a sloven."

Holland's finger did indeed show traces of cream from your coffee. And your partner seemed to be expecting some kind of funny reaction from you, looking expectantly into your soul, but you were honestly not in the mood for it... Still, your heart was still racing from being so close to Holland. For some reason, when there were so small distance between the two of you, you began to feel strange jolts inside your chest.

When you barely regained consciousness, the only thing you could do was to move your whole body as close to Holland as possible, making your partner's eyes widen in surprise once again. You didn't know what was driving you at that moment, but you knew you had to work, and you were within a pinkie nail's distance of March's face.

"You're one to talk..."

You ran your fingers through Holland's mustache, wiping away the subtle streaks of shaving foam that had started this whole thing.

Although you wanted something like this, you hadn't expected Holland to do it first. That he would push forward, quickly crossing the short distance between you, and confidently touch your lips. Of course, you immediately returned his kiss.

It seems that car horns were already blaring behind you and angry drivers were furious, but for now you were too busy with each other to pay attention to such trifles.

[vettelinyourarea]

ready to run - charles leclerc

genre: fluff

warning: english is not my first language

word count: 1,349

inspired by ready to run by one direction

notes: I’m actually from Bali so, for Charles I have to mention his monkey incident there hehe. Also, this account is probably going to be a based-on-songs writing account.

feel free to give me feedbacks!

There’s a lightning in your eyes I can’t deny

Then there’s me inside a sinking boat, running out of time

Without you I’ll never make it out alive

But I know, yes I know we’ll be alright

Charles just got back to Monaco after a race in Bahrain. Disappointed would perfectly describe how he’s feeling right now. Tired, would also describe his condition perfectly. But he doesn’t go to his own house straight away, no. He is coming to you, his home.

It’s almost like a routine for him to come back to you straight away after a race weekend. He just wants your comfort and to see your beautiful smile that could make him drunk whenever he saw you.

You are instantly greeted by a tight hug by the man that is still wearing his ferrari suit in front of your house. After about three minutes of just standing there, you finally tried to pull away from him. “Let’s come inside first, okay? You should also change to a more comfortable clothes,” you said softly, still hugging him because you failed to pull away from the man that’s still hugging you.

Once you two are inside, you made him some chamomile tea to relax him a little bit while he’s changing his clothes that he stored in your closet. You were doing your dishes from earlier when you made your breakfast before Charles came, when he surprised you with a hug.

“Can we please cuddle?”

There’s a devil in your smile, it’s chasing me

And every time I turn around it’s only gaining speed

There’s a moment when you finally realized

There’s no way you can change the rolling tide

But I know, yes I know that I’ll be fine

Charles is sitting on his plane, going for Italy. After spending the holiday with you, reality finally hits and he has to prepare for the next season’s race. Going to, what he called, training camp. He loves training, but loving it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. But he really can’t think about it right now. All he has on his mind is your smile, how he misses you.

Charles couldn’t understand himself, already missing you when you literally just dropped him of this morning. But he can’t control his feeling, and he always misses you. Your smile, your hugs, your laugh, your eyes. And that he couldn’t see you for the next few months, he knew training would be more difficult for him.

But one thing, and only one thing finally made a smile appear on his face. Charles knew you would be waiting for him in Monaco after all these difficult months. He knew he can always come home, to you. And he finally feels okay and ready for the training camp he has to endure every year.

He will be fine, as long as you are waiting for him to come home.

This time I’m ready to run

Escape from the city and follow the sun

Cause I wanna be yours

Don’t you wanna be mine?

I don’t wanna get lost in the dark of the night

Charles is currently sitting in his hotel room in Singapore after qualifying day. It wasn’t the best for him, but it’s also not the worst. But still, he wants to hear your voice that always managed to comfort him even after all of the difficult things he has to endure during the day. And he’s very lucky that you will always pick up his phone calls whatever the occurrence is, whatever time it is there in Monaco.

“Hey, I saw the qualifying,” you said after you picked up the call. Even with that one simple sentence, you already brought a big smile on Charles’s face. “You saw it?” he asked everytime, even though he knew if it’s possible, you will always watch the free practices, the qualifying, and the race.

You are talking about your day mindlessly when Charles suddenly said something that surprised you quite a bit. “Can’t we just be official?” he said suddenly. He couldn’t help himself anymore. You are his home, you are the one he seeks comfort to, but neither of you have put any labels on your relationship.

“You’re asking me to be your girlfriend through the phone?” you said with a little laugh. Charles laugh softly too, he never thought he would be asking you to be his girlfriend when he’s literally halfway across the world. He has always been a romantic kind of guy.

“I would literally fly there now just so you can be my girlfriend,” he said jokingly, knowing it’s not possible because of the race tomorrow.

“Don’t be stupid Charles, try again when you are home.”

There’s a future in my life I can’t foresee

Unless of course I stay on course

And keep you next to me

No one can predict their future, including Charles. Especially with him being a racing driver, once his contract with Ferrari ends, he can’t be sure and confident that he will be on the grid the next season. And he is scared, he is scared of what the future holds for him. And he told you that, he always tells you whatever it is on his mind that is bothering him.

“I’m scared I wouldn’t be on the grid next season,” he said to you one night, while you’re holding him close. You’re playing with his hair because you knew it would soothe his nerve.

This season has not been easy for him, and you know it. But that doesn’t mean his love for racing is gone. Every DNF would be replaced by a win on the next race, every disappointment would be replaced by pride, and every exhaustion would be replace by satisfaction. Racing is not easy for him, for anyone, but that’s what make him more in love with the sport. “I definitely think you would be on the grid next season. I hope Toto will hire you,” you said jokingly. It’s a running joke between both of you because of your love for the Mercedes Team Principal, Charles’ team rival.

“I hope so, but I think I will be fine as long as you’re next to me,” he said, earning a laugh from you. “God, you’re so cheesy, Perceval.”

This time I’m ready to run

Wherever you are is the place I belong

Cause I wanna be free

And I wanna be young

I will never look back, now I’m ready to run

You are currently planning for your trip going to Bali. It’s been years since you last leave the country for a vacation, and you knew you deserve it. After years of working while trying to get your master’s degree, you finally got it. So, you decided to reward yourself by going on a trip to Bali, to enjoy the beautiful beaches, temples, foods, and sunsets. But you’re not alone planning the trip, you had asked Charles for his recommendation as he had been there a few years ago.

“Can I join you?” he asked suddenly while you’re looking for the visa requirements. “You sure? I won’t be racing or climbing the mountains there.” You said. You knew Charles has always been an adrenaline junky, the complete opposite of you. You prefer going to the beach, the beautiful temples, where Charles would prefer to go rock climbing somewhere.

“Please? I just want to be with you,” he said with a pout. How could you resist him with that face you rarely see from a driver? “Okay, you can come,” you said, earning yourself a little kisses from that man who is smiling so hard.

Charles knew he would rather be sitting at the beach, bore himself to death by not doing anything, than being away from you when he could have been next to you. And he knew he won’t be bored because He loves spending time with you. He loves being with you.

“But can we please not go to the monkey forest in Ubud?” he said, earning a smack on his arm.

[willsimpforanyone]

hii :) im so happy your requests are open again, i love your writing and your blog is one of my favorites. could you write something where daughter of aphrodite!reader is in love/have a crush on a son of ares but doesn’t act on it because she’s afraid of being rejected, so piper plans something with the other aphrodite kids to make them be together? if not, that’s okay! anyway, thank you for your time <3

thank you for being so patient, you're so sweet!!

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"Okay, you have to tell him."

I whined as Piper pushed me over on my bunk so she could comfortably sit with me.

"I don't have to tell anyone anything, Pipes, I'm a free woman!" I protested, picking at my nails. "Not that there's something to tell anyone anyway."

Piper barked a laugh. "You are literally in the Aphrodite cabin, you know damn well we all know who you're mooning over."

Ugh, she had a point.

"Doesn't matter, he probably doesn't like me anyway." I sighed. "Gods, he's so cute."

Piper took my hand, squeezing it. "You gave in so easily, but that's okay because now we can help!"

I frowned, alarmed at the 'we' in that sentence. "...I'm sorry, help?"

"Yep!" She stood, dragging me with her. "Let's go."

I was unceremoniously pulled from the cabin and led to the arena where most of the Aphrodite cabin were practicing. Stereotypes be damned, we were gorgeous and dangerous.

"Hey! C'mere!" Piper yelled. About a dozen heads whipped round, recognising the voice of their cabin leader, hefting weapons over their shoulders and making their way over.

"Uh oh," Lacy grinned at me cowering behind Piper. "She finally admitted it?"

I rolled my eyes but Mitchell swept me up in a hug. "Our baby sister, so grown up!"

I smacked his arm. "Put me down, asshole, I'm not that much younger than you! And I haven't actually admitted shit, so."

"Nope, she called him cute, that's all we need." Piper turned to me. "Unless you truly, truly don't want our help, we will back off if you say so, you know that, right?"

My heart warmed at the genuine tone in her voice- the second I was honestly uncomfortable, she would back down. Unfortunately for me, I desperately wanted help.

"I know, Pipes, but I also know that this family lives for drama, so..."

Mitchell squealed. "Oh my gods, we get to set them up!" He kissed my forehead and latched onto my arm. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

I rolled my eyes but squeezed his arm. Piper cleared her throat.

"Okay, cabin meeting in 20 minutes, put everything away, shower, go."

Everyone split, and Piper and I headed back to the cabin.

Almost exactly 20 minutes later, my siblings were sat on bunks and on the floor facing a whiteboard on the wall. My name and his name were written at the top.

"Alright people," Piper began. "Any ideas?"

"They could get paired up for sparring?" Someone suggested. "She could show her prowess with a weapon, he'll be impressed, bam, he's in love."

Piper considered it. "Interesting, okay, I'll write it down."

I cringed internally. Up and close fighting wasn't really my thing, I was better with long-ranged stuff, but it would be mean to cut down the first idea.

"Ooo!" Lacy raised her hand. "The Ares cabin get really competitive, right? What if we beat them at capture the flag?"

There was a moment of silence. Piper swallowed. "That's a good idea, except it could have the exact opposite effect." Lacy took a second to think, and realised the issue.

A few more ideas were thrown out, Piper looking to me for any ideas that caught my attention. I shook my head slightly at each one, laughing a little at the increasingly elaborate plans my siblings were coming up with. When the last suggestion involved ropes and pulleys and the Hephaestus cabin, I had to put a stop to it.

"Okay, okay, we're getting a little ridiculous, don't you think?"

There was a mix of agreements and protestations but Piper held up a hand. "She's right, and I have a much simpler plan." She turned to me. "If you'd be open to it."

I was hesitant, but nodded. "What is it?"

Piper shrugged. "You go say hi."

I blinked, muscles locked. "...I'm sorry, you want me to what?"

She laughed. "You go say hi to him, wherever he is, start a conversation, maybe ask him out."

Mitchell squeaked. "Absolutely not, that's so boring!"

Lacy elbowed him. "It's old-fashioned, it's cute, and it doesn't involve twelve other people."

"And, most importantly," Piper sat down in front of me. "It's brave. It's a guaranteed way to earn his respect- you're worried that he won't like you, right?" I nodded. "So if you go up to him despite that fear, isn't that a brave thing to do?"

I sighed. "I don't know, Pipes, what if he's actually a jerk and I've just seen him pretending to be sweet and kind and everything?"

"Then you'll know you've dodged a bullet."

Damn. Good point.

One of the older girls piped up. "And hey, I used to have a crush on one of the Ares kids, I said that I liked her, she said she didn't feel the same but appreciated it, and she's been lovely to me- who's to say that won't happen again?"

"And," Piper said, taking my hands in hers. "If he's a dick, we'll make his life a living hell, m'kay?"

I laughed, breathing deeply. "Yeah, yeah, okay." I stood up, everyone following suit. "You're gonna be nearby, right?"

There was a chorus of 'of course!' and 'well obviously, we wouldn't miss it'. There was a quick check of the rota to see where the Ares cabin would be, and I walked out the Aphrodite cabin, followed one by one by my siblings doing a terrible job of being nonchalant.

The archery range was loud and boisterous, with Ares kids being repeatedly corralled from poking each other with arrows. He stood near the end, laughing hard at something his sister said. Gods above, he was so cute.

I swallowed hard, eyes flicking to where Piper had stationed herself against a tree. She gave me a thumbs up and I stepped forward.

"Um, hi?" I walked into his line of sight, hand raised slightly.

He locked eyes with me, a grin spreading across his face. "Hey, what's up?"

I smiled back. Brave, I'm brave, Ares respects bravery. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

His sister smacked him with a wide grin and he hit her back harder. "Sure." He dropped his quiver and bow on the floor and followed my lead to a little way into the forest. There was some teasing shouts from his siblings and he gave them the middle finger without even looking.

"So," He said, once I'd stopped. His hands were shoved into his pockets. "What's up?"

Let's just rip off the bandage, brave, I'm so brave, come on.

"I think you're really cute and I really like you." My eyes were squeezed shut and I could feel how much blood was in my face.

There was quiet for a moment. I cracked an eye and looked at him. Was he... blushing? And... smiling? I opened my eyes fully, relaxing a little.

He coughed. "Uh, that's, like, really cool, so cool, um-" He buried his face in his hands and I nearly melted at how adorable that was. "So, um, I've been wanting to ask you out for, like, weeks?"

WEEKS?!

I sputtered. "W-what? Weeks? Why didn't- why did you wait for me to do it first??" I poked at his arm. "I was so worried you'd hate me!"

He peaked at me through his fingers. "Well, you're, like, so gorgeous and smart and I fully believe you're capable of, like, kicking my ass if I got it wrong?"

Gently, I pulled his hands away from his face. "Okay, very sweet that you think I'm dangerous, but are you actually going to ask me out now?" Wow, I was a lot more confident once he'd said he liked me.

He laughed. "Yeah, totally, um, hey, do you want to go out with me? Like, on dates and stuff, I'll work shit out, just... turn up, I guess?"

I grinned. "Yeah, I can do that, absolutely."

"Sweet." He paused, suddenly went really red, darted forward and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before sprinting away. I stood, stunned, before bursting into laughter. There were hollering yells from where the Ares siblings were, and I was swarmed by Aphrodite kids cheering for me.

Piper slung her arm around my shoulders. "Atta girl, you got him!"

I grinned, all the confidence that I'd lost flooding my system. "Oh, I think I have that boy wrapped around my finger."

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thank you so much for requesting, i hope you liked it!!