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091400 · 4 months ago

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UPGRADE.

PAIRING: yang jeongin x fem!reader (ft han jisung)

CONTAINS: power play (?), face riding, masturbation, biting, lowkey sub/dom dynamics, voyeurism, exhibitionism, perv!jisung, switch!afab!reader, switch!jeongin.

WORD COUNT: 3.1k

AUTHORS NOTE: this is originally an old work of mine! i fixed a lot of mistakes because i wrote it two years ago 😭. i wrote this as a self birthday present for my 21 birthday and it’s based on a dream i had ;) went exactly like this and holy shit reading it back made me FEEL things.. so yeah! please enjoy and let me know what you think!

A screaming match in the kitchen woke you up.

You sighed as you put on a shirt that wasn’t yours and went to see what was happening outside your very comfortable room. It was very common for you and your roommates to share clothes, after all, you washed them together and sometimes they got mixed up, so it wasn’t a problem at all to use someone else’s clothes.

The Han Jisung vs Yang Jeongin live-action was happening right in the middle of your kitchen.

Your classmate Kim Seungmin, who was also majoring in Photography like you, subtly mentioned that two of his close friends were looking for a place to live, so after some interrogation on your part, you found Jeongin and Jisung to be a good fit for the place you called home.

And here they were, a whole year later, fighting for their lives in the middle of the kitchen. Jeongin was holding Jisung’s arm against his back in some sort of wrestling position, the older struggling against the kitchen counter with Jeongin laughing as he held him effortlessly.

“When are you going to behave, Hyung?” Jisung groaned, getting more and more frustrated with every passing second. You watched it all from the door, snickering.

“Why are you bullying your hyung, Innie?” Both of them snapped their heads toward your voice, watching you lean against the door with a grin.

Jisung didn't waste a second, instantly freeing himself from Jeongin’s grasp when he was distracted by your presence, hopping away from him with a fighting stance. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“Then don’t steal my food when I have repeatedly asked you if you wanted some and you said no three times.” Jisung raised his eyebrows in annoyance, and then he turned his head towards you like he was expecting you to say something.

“What are you looking at, Jisungie? He was very clear.” Jeongin winked at you as he grabbed his food, and quickly disappeared into his room without saying anything else, brushing his arm with yours as he walked past you.

Jisung scoffed, begrudgingly starting to make some breakfast for himself after the whole tragedy he had just suffered. You walked to the refrigerator and got yourself some cereal and milk, watching how the man was fuming while making himself a sandwich.

“Stop frowning, you look ugly.” That was a lie.

His eye twitched at your words, “Shut up, you didn’t say anything to defend my honor.”

You scoffed at him, eating your cereal unbothered. “It was none of my business, chill out.” He rolled his eyes and took a seat in front of you on the kitchen table.

Both of you ate in silence for a few minutes, occasionally glancing over to watch the other, until you broke the silence.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something with me in my room?” Jisung choked on his sandwich, making you laugh, “Are you okay?”

“No thanks, I have other important things to do now.” He looked away, and your jaw dropped for a few seconds, then you quickly regained composure. Was he still mad about you not defending his honor?

“Sure, don't worry about it.” You stood up from the table looking at him one last time, leaving your plate in the kitchen sink. “Have fun then, I’ll ask Innie.”

Smirking on your way to Jeongin’s room your thoughts drifted to Jisung, he never rejected the chance to spend time with you, even to the point of canceling his own plans to hang out, you shrugged it off and knocked on Jeongin’s door.

“Come in.”

You opened the door to see him sitting with his legs crossed, still eating his food and watching some anime on his laptop. “Hi.”

He nodded at you, cheeks full of food, he paused the anime and put the bowl of food on his nightstand. “Hey, what’s up?”

Jeongin was wearing an oversized graphic tee, with a pair of shorts that left almost nothing to the imagination, his marked thighs from working out daily fighting against the fabric, showing off more because of the way he was seated on his bed.

“Hannie rejected my invitation to watch a movie, y'know, I have an actual TV.” You grinned wiggling your eyebrows, you were set on watching a movie with someone, it didn’t matter if it was Jisung or Jeongin.

“Is this an invitation to fuck?”

Huh?

You smirked, “I mean if we are in the middle of the movie and you get hard I’ll think about it.” Jeongin chuckled.

“That depends on the movie.” He raised his eyebrows with a playful smile.

“You think we are watching Fifty Shades or what?”

He shook his head as he stood up, getting closer to you. You noticed his wet hair and his bangs sticking to his forehead, he had showered before the breakfast incident probably. He smelled good, and he was looking extraordinarily handsome today.

“Well, are we going or not?”

You rolled your eyes as you followed him to your room. He quickly got himself comfortable on your bed and took the lead to pick the movie, you went to see if Jisung was still in the kitchen, but he wasn’t there, so on your way back to the room you clashed with him who was just leaving the bathroom.

“Ouch, sorry,” You glared at him, he looked at you weirdly and peeked at your open door, seeing Jeongin getting comfortable on your bed, covering himself with your blankets. “Oh… you went to him instead?”

You scoffed, getting annoyed, “Of course, I want to watch a movie, weren’t you busy?”

Jisung looked away, “Yes, sorry.”

“Then see you later, hm.” You entered your room and closed the door on him, leaving him speechless.

Jeongin looked amused by the whole situation, “I’m still winning after all.”

“Don’t.”

You jumped on the bed and took your spot beside him, who was looking very cozy with your blankets covering him. Jeongin had already put a movie on, it was a horror movie and you were happy.

“We’ll watch the movie adaptation of the book It by Stephen King,” Jeongin murmured, getting comfier and putting his head on your shoulder. You nodded and rested your head against his soft hair.

You could count with two hands the actual time the both of you watched the movie. The protagonist’s little brother was about to die to the ugly ass clown hiding in the sewer when Jeongin’s hand grazed your thigh, at first you shrugged it off but the second time you felt his fingers against your skin, you knew it wasn’t an accident.

“Are you truly getting horny with this scene?” You chucked, caressing Jeongin’s hair with your hand.

He grabbed your thigh and stroked it gently with his long and slender fingers. “To be honest, you’re not wearing pants.”

“I’m wearing underwear and a shirt, that’s how I sleep, that’s not an excuse.”

“You literally invited me here to fuck?” Your jaw dropped.

“I did not,” You pushed his head off your shoulder making him frown at you. “Bro, I just wanted to see a movie in peace but you horny gremlin and the other angry gremlin cannot do this to me.”

Jeongin smirked, quickly pausing the movie and looking back at you as he sat on your lap, trapping you between his thighs. “What are you-” He took off his shirt and looked down at you, a lazy grin plastered on his face.

“What the fuck Yang Jeongin.”

“At least are you thinking about it?” Of course you were thinking about it, he was literally shirtless in front of you, his toned chest from working out and his biceps at your mercy.

You traced your hand around his chest, playing with his nipples as he shivered, his grin faltering at your touch. He wrapped his arms around your neck as you played with his chest, scratching his pecs with your nails.

“You’re so thinking about it.”

You nodded, tilting your head to the side and watching him stare at your lips, his chest slowly expanding with each breath he took and licking his lips more times than he could count. You pouted, your doe eyes working hard and fast on him.

“So are you going to kiss me or not?” He grinned as he leaned on capturing your lips in a kiss. He was good, slowly sucking on your lower lip making it a hundred percent hotter than it should be.

Still sitting in your lap with his arms around your head, holding you up to keep you in place, kissing him. His hips started working against your lower belly, the bulge on his shorts growing hard with each thrust. “Oh?” He giggled like he got caught doing something bad.

“Was this your plan all along?” You asked, after a long kiss. Jeongin was breathless, so he just nodded sharply.

He was kissing you again, one hand caressing your cheek and the other holding your head. His tongue made expert movements inside your mouth, wanting more and more from you.

Your hands were still on his chest, making him tremble against you every time your hands caressed his torso. You could feel his already hard cock against your belly, taking the initiative, your hand wandered down to his shorts making him jump slightly, he smiled against your mouth when he realized what you were doing.

“Take them off?” He rolled his eyes as he struggled with letting your lips go.

He got up from your lap, quickly taking all of his remaining clothes off and smirking when your eyes went down to stare at his hard leaking cock shining with precum on the tip, he made a mocking sound.

“I mean, it’s a pretty dick, why are you laughing?” You clapped back, he shook his head as he got closer to you, kissing you deeply leaving no room between the both of you as he got on your lap again.

You wasted no time getting your hands and mouth on him, watching him gasp at the feeling of your hand wrapping around cock and the other playing gently with his ballsack. Your mouth attacking his neck while leaving crimson marks, the sounds he made encouraging you to continue, his hands traveled to your hair, pulling it as you jerked him off.

Between the sweet sounds of Jeongin’s moans on top of you, grinding his hips against your hand to gain more friction, you heard some shuffling on your door, it was now a little bit open but you didn’t pay it any attention, your lock was broken anyways.

Jeongin’s breath got erratic and your head snapped in his direction, feeling yourself getting wetter just by his looks, sweaty hair, and gaping mouth. “I’m going to-” He gasped, closing his eyes shut, his whole body shaking on top of you. He came hard in your hand, with a few last pumps he began to whine result of the overstimulation.

He moved himself to the side so you could step out of the bed and get yourself cleaned, you had fluids all over your arm and hand, and some on your shirt too.

But before you could go too far he spoke again.

“Come back here,” He muttered darkly, “You’re going to sit on my face.” As you were wiping your arm with a wet cloth Jeongin made himself comfortable again on your bed.

“Is that so?” He nodded sharply, sticking his tongue out teasingly.

You teased him back, slowly removing your underwear that was soaking wet after the exchange, and throwing it near the door. Jeongin licked his lips as you walked closer to him until you were towering over him only wearing your shirt.

“C’mon, sit.” He didn’t had to ask you twice, you got yourself on top of his head, getting yourself comfortable on the bed and with his head between your thighs. The moment you lowered yourself into his mouth he did a long lick on your folds, taking it all in.

You moaned loudly, damn he was good.

He traced his tongue all around your folds, alternating between your core and clit, making you jump when he pressed his tongue in the spot you liked so much. Your hand flew to his hair, pulling it hard to make him keep doing what he was doing perfectly fine under you.

Jeongin puffed air on your folds as he separated his mouth from your core, you exhaled shakily as you looked down to see him smirking at you. “You look so pretty on top of me,” He murmured, eyes glazed as you rolled your eyes.

“That’s why you stopped?” He quickly grabbed your thighs to pull you down on him, sucking harshly on your clit with a mission on his mind.

Jeongin was good with his mouth, in every way that could sound. He was an excellent singer, the best student in his university debate club, and of course, a god giving head.

Your hands on his hair, keeping him in place to continue his kitten licks on your cunt. Jeongin didn’t fight you and accepted it happily. His hands were gripping your thighs to keep you in place on his face, after a few seconds he started to move you the best he could to make you ride his face, and you were happy to comply with it.

The sounds coming out of your mouth were music to Jeongin’s ears, he speeded up his movements on your clit making you whine, riding his face harder. He was grateful if his death was between your legs, giving you head.

With a few last movements on your part, you came on his face with a loud whine, your legs quivering as he held you up in place to keep you from falling, licking all of the fluids that came from you gladly. When he finished, he slowly removed himself from under your body while you were still recuperating from the orgasm now laying on the bed.

“Round two?” He proposed from the other side of the bed, you exhaled deeply, preparing yourself mentally as you nodded.

“Get yourself hard, my hand is sore.” You joked, totally willing to suck him off and then fuck.

“Don’t worry, I’m ready if you are.” With a confused look you glanced at his cock, happily discovering he was rock hard, probably from eating you out.

Okay, that was hot.

“Do you have condoms here? or should I go to my room for one?” He teased you with a wink, and you suppressed a laugh.

“Maybe you should ask your hyung for one, hm?” He looked at you incredulously, you snickered and pointed to your bedside table.

Jeongin got to work, and quickly got the condom from your drawer looking at you funny because you had a LOT of them in your drawer, you shrugged. Your mouth watered at the sight of his cock, ready to wreck you. You were still wearing just the shirt, you got ready on the bed as Jeongin jumped on you, accommodating himself between your legs with the condom on, as he should.

He took his time teasing the head of his cock between your slick folds, grinning devilishly every time you complained, he played like that for at least a minute, between kissing you and putting just the tip inside of you, taunting.

“Such a big cock and no use for it?” You pouted mockingly, already wanting to get fucked dumb and stop being teased.

“Shut the fuck up.” It wasn’t just the tip now, it was the full package inside you.

“Shit, that’s it.” You whined.

He grinned as he pistoned his hips hard and fast, his hands went directly to hold your waist and the other to keep himself steady against the bed frame. It was impressive how he fucked you swiftly without losing balance, your cries made him go vigorously faster, it was like you were cheering him on to make you come again.

"Fuck, I’m close,” He panted, going absolutely feral while growling at your sounds and reactions from his cock.

He was pounding into you like there was no tomorrow, his face buried in your neck and not putting any of his weight on top of you so you could bounce on his cock freely. Your hand went to your swollen clit and the other to his hair, pulling it hard making him moan, it was obvious that he was into it.

The sound of skin slapping, your cries, and Jeongin’s grunts almost made you not notice the door opening a little, making your head turn that way.

What you didn’t (or you did?) expect, was seeing Jisung jerking off with your soaked panties on the doorframe, the door was a few centimeters open but you could see him clearly as a day touching himself with your underwear standing there, gawking at Jeongin’s cock entering your pussy quickly.

Jisung hadn’t realized that you had caught him looking at you, he was stuck watching Jeongin fuck you. The hand movements on his cock were painfully slow, your panties probably burning his skin as he jerked off with them, his precum drenching your panties more than they were before.

You were in a trance watching how Jisung enjoyed the situation just like you, and how probably he was standing there for a long time before you realized. As his movements were getting faster, his sight flew to your face and you saw how the blood left his face just as fast his hand was pumping his cock.

“Hi, Jisungie,” You said cheerfully as you could while getting fucked. Jeongin raised his head and turned it towards the door while continuing to fuck you, smiling wickedly when he saw the situation his hyung was caught in.

“I told you hyung was a pervert.” Jeongin said groaning, psyching himself up to continue without being interrupted again.

“I-” Jisung stuttered, frozen in site.

You threw your head back, getting yourself back in the mood with Jeongin biting your neck. Ignoring how Jisung tried to explain himself as you enjoyed your second flawless orgasm of the day, your whole body shaking with Jeongin holding you tight seeking his own release.

“Fill me up, please.” At your words he came with a cry, falling on top of you breathless.

Jeongin snuggled into your neck, hugging you with his cock still inside you getting softer with every passing second. You embraced him back ruffling his hair and chuckling.

“You’re wearing hyung’s shirt, you know that right?” Jeongin whispered, caressing your arm softly.

“Tsk, do you think I’m dumb, baby?” You looked back at the door, which was now closed and Jisung nowhere to be seen.

You met Jeongin’s gaze and snickered alongside him.

091400 © do not copy / plagiarize / repost or translate my work on any other platforms.

#091400 #stray kids smut #stray kids imagines #skz smut #han jisung x reader #han jisung smut #yang jeongin x reader #yang jeongin smut #stray kids fanfic #skz imagines #yang jeongin x you #yang jeongin x y/n #yang jeongin x female reader #skz x reader

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eand47 · 12 days ago

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Chapter IV | Sweater Weather

Summary: You moved to one of the biggest cities in the world - Grand Line to pursue filmmaking career. Soon enough your path will cross with the vocalist of upcoming band called “The Neighbourhood”. At first you decided to be just friends - because it would be easier, but sadly as everything in life sometimes by taking the easy path we regret a lot of things.

Main characters: Portgas D Ace x Reader (female)

Supporting characters: Nami, Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Law, Deuce, Shanks, Buggy, Sabo, Eustass Kid, Koala, Marco, Robin (more to be add)

Description: Modern AU | Musician Ace

WARNINGS: explicit language, use of nicotine/cigarettes, use of drugs, postpartum depression, mentions of death, family trauma, conflicted feelings

Word Count: 15,2K

<- previous chapter

NOTE: I’ve planned to write this chapter even longer, but then I decided that it would be pointless as most of the things would be repetitive. Here are the descriptions of some filmmaking terms, so when you are reading you know what the characters are talking about: D.O.P - Director of Photography/Cinematographer, the person who works closely with the director, and the person who determines the framing of the shots and capturing the scenes AC - First Assistant Camera, the person who is responsible for the focus of the camera and the lenses Call Sheet - The daily schedule, filled with all the information needed for the actors and the crew about when, where and what will be filmed Storyboard - Visual representation of a film sequence and breaking down the actions into individual panels, sketching out how the video will unfold shot by shot I hope that all of this Filmmaking things are not boring you, but I feel like if I don’t write them down the story will feel super fake and the logic will be missing and it won’t be clear why certain things are described a certain way, if you get what I mean 😅 Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the previous ones, or even more hehe… also … there are some major foreshadowing in this chapter 👀 hihi enjoy <333

It has been two weeks since the Halloween party, which I try not to think about much. Nami was quite upset with me the first few days after it, as I left without saying goodbye and because I wasn’t answering the next day. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about the party with anyone. When we met on Monday in lectures, I lied to her and Usopp that I felt super sick and because of it I left without saying anything not wanting to ruin their funny, and they bought it. Everything was fine, until I saw Ace once at the coffee shop, luckily for me he had his back facing me, so he didn’t see me. I recognised him by his orange beanie, but I quickly left as I wasn’t ready to see him again. Still, almost everyday I caught myself thinking about him at least once, going back to the moment we “shared” at the party. He had his ways to get under someone’s skin, I gave him that. We have barely spoken or knew each other, yet I couldn’t shake him off my thoughts. The way his actions and words were so contradicting. I still remember the burning feeling he left inside of me by just barely touching my skin, I can only imagine what it could have been if he had kissed me. Or maybe I totally misread the situation, but I would never know.

The only thing keeping me from thinking of him was the fact that I was extremely busy with the upcoming short-cut projects at university. I was stuck writing and rewriting my script, not being satisfied with it fully, and we must submit our final draft by the end of this week. Because of that we didn’t have any classes this week and I haven’t gotten out at all. Nami and Usopp texted me a few times to join them outside for a drink, even Luffy texted me to hang out, but I turned them all down, as my main focus right now was submitting my final draft.

Today I had consultation with one of my teachers regarding my script, as I wanted a second opinion if the story and the actions were clear. My meeting was scheduled at 2PM, so I got plenty of time as I woke up quite early, not being able to sleep in the past few days. I decided to get dress and grab a coffee from my favorite coffee shop. I put a pair of dark baggy jeans and just a basic grey cotton t-shirt, not feeling like dressing myself up today, as stress was taking over me. I didn’t even bother to put makeup or anything, I just put my jacket on, grabbed my bag over the shoulder and headphones and left. As I was on my way to the coffee shop when the next song that started to play from my headphones was Ace’s song. I had saved them all on my playlist; aside from Ace’s confusing behaviour at least his band’s music was good.

Touch my neck and I'll touch yours You in those little high-waisted shorts, oh

The song started to bring memories from the party, especially when the choirs hit.

'Cause it's too cold for you here and now So let me hold both your hands in the holes of my sweater

I wasn’t in the mood for this, so I quickly changed the song.

“Fucking Ace.” I cursed under my breath.

The sky was cloudy today, and I didn’t check the weather app, and it seemed like it was going to rain. Soon drops of rain started to pour from the sky and I started to run towards the cafe. My jacket didn’t have a hood, and my hair got wet and messy by the time I reached it. It was quite busy when I got inside, and my usual seat was taken so I went to wait on the queue before I sit somewhere.

“One black coffee, please” I ordered to the barista. My card declined as I was trying to pay. “Oh, I’m so sorry, give me a second.” I apologised to them, as I probably ran out of money, and I had to transfer from my savings.

“I will pay for her and make them two.” This smooth, low voice that I would recognise from miles away said behind me.

“Ace” I turned around immediately facing him. He just winked at me, paying for the coffees. The barista handed us the coffees and we thanked him.

“Thanks for the coffee.” I glanced at Ace and went to find a place to sit, leaving him by himself. I found a small table at the back of the shop. I sat down and pulled my laptop from my bag, trying to calm myself down. Of course, off all possible days I met him today. As the day couldn’t get any more stressful for me it had to serve me Ace on top.

“Mind if I take a seat?” Ace stood next to me, waiting for my respond. He had this little smug smirk on his face, and that slightly irritated me.

“Sure.” I gave him a short response. He sat down across from me, leaning his back on the wall, resting one of his arms on the back of the chair and the other on the table, his whole body facing away from me. I took a quick look at him. He was wearing baggy jeans with an oversized grey hoodie, which was wet from the rain, and his red bead neckless hanged around his neck as always.

“We are matching today.” He pointed out, tilting his head towards me. I looked down at myself and realised that we were wearing matching outfits. I gave him a simple nod, looking away from him back to my computer. “You look tired.” He said taking look at my tired face.

“I am tired.” I sighed.

“Is everything okay? Are you okay, doll?” His voice had a hint of concern.

“Don’t call me that.” I snapped at him.

“Why are you so moody? Someone stepped on your tail this morning... doll?” He mocked me. I shoot him a glance from behind my laptop not in the mood for jokes. “You look cute when mad, you know.” He chuckled at me, the smirk not leaving his face.

“What do you want Ace?” I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Nothing, just to sit and chitchat with a friend.” His answer pissed me off, like he forgot what happened two weeks ago.

“Ace...” I took a breath calming myself down before continuing. “I don’t want to be rude, but I’m under a lot of stress right now, so if you want to sit here – sit but I’m not in the mood for a chitchat.” I didn’t want to be mean at him, but also, I couldn’t hide my irritation right now. He just nodded and sipped from his coffee. We were sitting in silence – me on my laptop, writing and rewriting whatever felt right or not, and Ace was just scrolling on his phone. I took a sip from my coffee and couldn’t help but wrinkled my nose and furrowed my eyebrows as always. I heard Ace chuckle under his breath.

“What?” I asked Ace.

“Nothing.” He shrugged, his smug smile not leaving his lips.

“You are laughing at me, aren’t you?” I nagged.

“Please, doll explain this: why drinking coffee if you hate it?” He turned his body to face me, putting both of his forearms on the table, holding his coffee cup.

“Because if I drink something that I like I will get addicted to it and then I will want to drink it all the time – that’s why.” I responded.

“How may coffees you drink a day?” He had this mischievous spark in his eyes.

“Depends on the day, but sometimes two or three.”

“Doll, I think you are already addicted.” I rolled my eyes at his comment.

“Stop calling me ‘doll’, Ace.” What was with this pet name, he hasn’t stopped calling me ‘doll’ since Halloween.

“Why? You don’t like it?” He teased me.

“You call all your friends ‘doll’?” I teased him back.

“No, only you.” His voice was low, almost like a whisper, eyes glued on mine half lidded as always. Instead of a smirk he had this little smile playing on his lips. I broke the eye contact looking back at my laptop, starting to type on the keyboard again.

“What are you writing there?” He leaned on his hand, his voice soft.

“My script for the short-cuts.” My respond short, eyes not leaving the computer as I was re-reading the script, checking for mistakes or if I need to add extra remarks.

“Is that why you are so stressed?” He straitened up his posture, studying my face as he was sipping from his coffee. I simply nodded in response. “What is it about?” He asked and I looked at him hesitating if I should tell him.

“It’s about a man, who fell in love with this woman from the moment he saw her, but so did his best friend.” I chuckled feeling a little embraced telling Ace the plot of my script. “But his best friend hit on her first, so they started to date, and the whole scene is about them announcing their engagement and the man – the main character, gets lost in his thoughts of ‘what if’. ‘What if’ he did a move on her first, and they were the one dating and he knows how he would have treated her better ect.” I was babbling as Ace was just looking at me, taking every word, I said. “And then the ‘what if’ moment gets interrupted by his girlfriend who shakes him off the thoughts asking him what’s wrong and why he doesn’t congratulate them, and he quickly brushes it off and congratulates them only to whisper to his best friend's now fiancé that it should have been him.” I took a deep breath and raised my eyebrows in anticipation for Ace’s opinion on the script.

“Can I read it?” His voice and eyes sparkled with interest, so I turned my laptop and handed it to him. His face was unreadable while he was reading it until he handed me the laptop back.

“Well... what do you think?” I felt my confidence leaving me, as he wasn’t saying anything.

“I think that I don’t know much about scripts, nothing at all actually, but...” He paused for a second. “I can’t wait to see your film, doll. I really liked it.” Ace leaned on the back of the chair; arms crossed around his chest as he smiled at me.

“What? You mean that? You really liked the script?” My eyes widened of surprise hearing his response. “Like, you really, really mean that?”

“Yes, doll I do.” He chuckled. “Have more fait in yourself.” I didn’t know how to respond to this. I've heard this a lot – be more confident, have more fait in yourself, yet the ‘imposter’ syndrome could never leave me.

“Thank you, Ace. This means a lot.” I smiled at him.

“Nothing to thank me about.” He raised his cup of coffee to his lips and before he took a sip he added. “And if it sucked, I was going to tell you.” I playfully rolled my eyes at him.

“I rewrote it like a hundred times. I have a consultation with my teacher at 2PM, because we are submitting them tomorrow, so I hope he likes it, and I don’t need to rewrite again.” I closed my laptop and put it back in my bag. Ace looked at his phone to check the time.

“You still have some time, like almost two hours.” We stayed in silence for a moment, I was avoiding his gaze, as my shyness started to take over me, the memories of the party surfacing on my mind.

“How are your ears, by the way? I forgot to ask you at the party.” The mockery in his voice was so clear.

"My ears?" I didn't understand what he meant my that.

"Yeah, that video with you and Usopp." A big grin spread across his face when he.

“No, no, no don’t remind me.” I got all flushed as I covered my face with my hands, embarrassed of the accident with the microphone and Usopp. Ace laughed at my reaction.

“I love that video, I made Nami sent it to me.”

“What? No! No, no, no!” ‘Nami how could you?’ I was thinking to myself, why would she do that, why would Ace want that video. “Please, Ace delete it.” I begged him. “It’s not even that funny.”

“Yeah, it’s not funny – it’s hilarious.” He snorted, clearly enjoying mocking me like this. I shook my head giving up, my face still covered with the palms of my hand, as I knew that he wouldn’t delete it. “Hey, look at me.” I looked up only to see my shocked face zoomed on his phone screen as a screenshot.

“Ace!” I squealed, reaching with my hand to snatch his phone away to delete the picture but he quickly pulled it away. “Aceee.” I stomped my food like a little kid.

“Easy, doll. Going through someone’s phone is not polite, you know that?” He snapped his index finger hitting me on my forehead, laughing at my reaction, as I pouted.

“You are so mean.” I told him. “What are your plans for the day?” I leaned on my chair, mimicking his posture.

“Go to the studio, play a little with the guys, then talk with our manager about some marketing stuffs and deals – nothing interesting.” Ace shrugged; he didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

We stayed for an hour more – talking and laughing. It was so easy to be myself around him, yet sometimes I caught myself getting a little tensed when he smirked at me or made some teasing comments. I wanted to ask him what exactly happened with him at the party two weeks ago, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment we were having. Even thought we had four years difference I couldn’t really feel it as Ace was still carrying this very boyish energy in him. I got to learn a little bit more about him, and what he likes and dislikes. When it was time for me to head to university he suggested to walk with me to there since he still had some time before him and the guys meet.

The weather outside was still the same but at least it wasn’t raining. We were walking next to each other, almost no distance between our bodies. He was telling me more about his brothers, and things they did as kids.

“So, wait, wait.” I interrupted him. “You are telling me that your aunt Dadan didn’t have any money for your vocal lessons, but the moment Sabo said that he wants to learn how to play drums she immediately signed him up?” I was in disbelief.

“Yea, he is her favourite, as he is you know – blue eyed, blonde, cute.” He mocked her voice as he was describing Sabo. “Then you have Luffy, and last one is me – the black sheep.” He winked with a mischievous smirk.

“Why are you the black sheep?” That piqued my curiosity.

“Our friendship is way too fresh for this conversation, doll.” He bumped me with his elbow on the side, chuckling. I laughed it off, not wanting to push his boundaries.

“Okay one very, very important question before I go.” We were almost to the university when I stopped him before we part our ways. I stood in front of him, with the most serious look on my face, looking straight at his eyes as I pointed my finger at him and spoke. “Which is your all-time favourite movie?”

“Hm...” Ace frowned his eyebrows, thinking for a moment. “I’m not sure, I have to think about it, doll.” He smiled at me.

“I will be waiting for your answer.” I turned around and started to walk towards the school gates.

“Hey, doll.” Ace called after me. “You never gave me your number.”

“Not until you tell me your favourite movie.” I yelled behind my back, waving him goodbye as I entered the gates. My cheeks flaming hot, my heart was bumping fast, and for the rest of the day I don’t think that I would be able to take off the smile from my face. Maybe just being friends wouldn’t hurt, I’m sure I could put my little crush aside and before I know it, we would have this amazing friendship. Some people are better left as friends – and if Ace and I are one of them, so let it be it.

*********

Ace was watching (Y/N) leave and as she disappeared from his sight, he laughed to himself. She was very interesting person. The way she changed her moods so fast, the way her eyes sparked when she talked about things she loved or was excited about, the way when even without saying anything her face betrays her and says it all – she was very fun to hang around. (Y/N) crossed his mind a few times in past two weeks, part of him regrating not taking his chance with her at the party, but then that was for the best. She was a nice girl and a friend of his friends, and he didn’t want to hurt her or give her some empty promises that he couldn’t keep. The least you two could of do was to try being friends, after all better friends than strangers. And she was quite young, Ace remember how he used to behave in his early 20s. The last thing on his mind was to keep someone for a longer than a month, when the world offered him so much; it should be the same with her – after all she was such a catch for the eye. Even today, all tired with sleepy bags under her eyes and messy hair, she was still very cute to look at. Ace wasn’t stupid he did feel the attraction they shared towards one another, but he was doing her a big-time favour by setting their boundaries straight. Although teasing from time to time wouldn’t hurt, she was such a tease herself, which was making it so hard for him.

Ace got to the building where the studio was located. The building was old and had five stores. The studio the guys were renting there was on the second floor. Before going up Ace wanted to light a cigarette or two. He leaned on the staircase and lit up one. ‘Favourite movie, hm...’ he was thinking about an answer he could give you of a movie that he really liked and could say that resonated with him.

“Yo, Ace.” He tilted his head to the side and saw Law walking towards him. They gave each other a quick bump on the shoulders. Ace pulled out his cigarettes from his pocket offering Law one, but he refused.

“What’s up with you? You seem moody.” Ace asked him, as Law seemed not to be in the mood. Law and Ace had been best friends since high school. They met after Ace was kicked out in 9th grade, from the one where him and Sabo were attending together. The first day Ace and Law met, they didn’t really like each other or spoke. It wasn’t until one day when Law was getting beaten up by some 11th graders bullies, and Ace jumped to help him, only for them to end up with detention. Since then, their friendship started. No one else but Law knew off Ace’s darkest secrets, and vice versa; even Sabo and Luffy didn’t know as much about Ace as Law knew. They both could easily read the other like an open book. Which was why Ace could tell something was disturbing Law.

“Nothing.” Law replied, but Ace wasn’t falling for that.

“Come on, bro. If you don’t tell me then who?” Ace took another cigarette lighting it up. He looked at Law again, raising his eyebrows questioningly if he was sure that he didn’t want to smoke one. Law sighed annoyed and took one, lighting it fast and taking long puff from it.

“So?” Ace waited for his respond, but he thought he already knew the reason behind it.

“Robin.” Law glanced at Ace knowing that he got the whole picture already. Ace snorted, shaking his head knowing that he guessed right.

“What did you do this time?” He looked at his friend frustrated face, knowing that it was probably him that messed up something again. Robin and Law were an on and off thing, that only Ace knew about, and it has been two years since this was happening.

“Why do you assume that I did something immediately?” He snapped at Ace, which only confirmed that he did in fact did something that lead to them fighting again. If Law was in a bad mood because of Robin then it meant that he fucked up, if he was going mad, almost insane then Robin did something. That has happened only once and it was when she wanted to end everything with him, and Ace swore that for the tenth years of him and Law being friends, he had never seen Law losing his mind the way he did that night.

“Fine.” Law said after a while. “You remember the chick from the Halloween party? Well, somehow Robin found out that I slept with her, so she is nagging on me now, how for a thousand time I broke our agreement.” He threw the finished cigarette on the ground, stomping it frustrated.

“Why do you even have this agreement in the first place?” Ace got annoyed as this wasn’t the first time this happened; since Robin and Law started seeing each other, they decided that they didn’t want anything serious, but if something was happening between them, they must not sleep with other people.

“I don’t know man, I just don’t want to go through this again.” Law exhaled. “Plus, we haven’t done anything in a month and so, so.. I thought to myself why not, you know.” He shrugged, the sound of regret could be heard in his voice.

“Did she tell you how she found out?”

“No, no idea. But there was this chick that walked on me at the party, but I was wearing the mask, so I doubt it that it was her. Even thought she looked familiar.” Ace didn’t say anything, he knew that (Y/N) walked on Law, but he decided to keep this information to himself, after all he doubt that she knew Robin.

“What are you planning to do then?” Ace threw his finished cigarette and nodded to Law to get going inside.

“Find a way to fix it.” Law murmured as they were going up the stairs.

The apartment where the studio was, was quite small a one room apartment but very practical. The whole space was turned into one big, isolated sound room. Thanks to Deuce and some of his connections the guys were able to rent it for themselves only for a very nice price. Going in Ace and Law were met with Deuce and Sabo, who were here since the morning. The guys greeted each other and started to chitchat as they were waiting for their manager. Some time passed and he finally came.

“Yo, what’s up Marco?” Sabo was the first one to greet him. Marco was a man in his mid-thirties, blond hair styled in a very interesting mullet style. He had been recently become the guys’ manager, as he had been in the music industry for the past ten years now. It happened after they were performing in some underground night club, and by chance Marco happened to be there that same night. After they were done with their set, he went to speak with them and gave his business card to get in touch with him.

“Same as usual, how are things with you boys?” Marco smiled at them as he pushed his glasses up adjusting them.

“Same as usual here.” Deuce replied, the rest of the boys agreeing.

“I don’t have much time today so I will get straight to business.” Marco clapped with his hands. “We can not afford to postpone this anymore so it’s time for you to finally decide which will be your debut single from the EP and we need to film a music video for it, as soon as possible.”

“Easy answer – ‘Sweater Weather’” Ace said not waiting for the rest of the guys to have a word.

“Are you all on the same page for this?” Marco glanced at the other guys to make sure that they all agreed with Ace’s choice of song.

“I think we all agree, it is our most streamed song.” Deuce said, Law and Sabo agreeing with the choice that Ace made as well.

“Okay, that was faster than I expected.” Marco chuckled. “I was thinking between ‘Sweater Weather’ or ‘Cry Baby’, so I agree with your choice guys. Now for the video, I already have some directors in mind. The first one is Ja-“

“We already have.” Ace interrupted him.

“What do you mean we already have?” Sabo looked at his brother confused, they have never talked about filming a video, let alone them already having the crew for it.

“Yes, Ace; what do you mean by this?” Marco asked, as confused as the rest of the guys.

“I have already spoken with some people, and they are down to film our first video. That’s it. No need to search for director or crew, we already have.”

“And they are?” Marco raised his eyebrow waiting for Ace to give him more clear answer.

“Luffy's friends.” Ace shrugged.

“You must be kidding me?” Sabo quickly snapped at him. Ace just shook his head, looking at his brother questioningly. “Ace, we need professional director and crew, not some kids who barely started to do this.”

“They are not kids, and I’m sure they will do pretty well. Plus, you don’t seem to call Usopp a kid when he is producing music for us, do you?” Ace snapped back at his brother.

“Because he has the talent for it, but he said it himself he is not such a good director.” Sabo tried to reason his brother. “Also have you asked him?”

“No, I haven’t.” Everyone whined annoyed with Ace. “But I will. And also, I didn’t say that Usopp will be the director.” All eyes were again on Ace.

“Who will be then Ace?” Sabo hissed, waiting to hear whatever his brother had come up with.

“(Y/N).” Ace shortly answered.

“Who?” Law and Deuce asked at the same time, the name sounded familiar, but they couldn’t put the face to the name.

“You are kidding me, right? Is she even good? Have you seen any of her work at lease?” At this point Sabo started to have a headache. He knew who his brother was referring to. Sabo also saw the way Ace and this (Y/N) girl behaved around each other at the party, so it better not be what he thought it was.

“Yea, she is pretty good.” Ace quickly lied. He had never seen any of her work, he was taking a big risk suggesting that, he wasn’t even sure what gotten into him to even suggest it. But something in his gut was telling him that it would work, that it would be worth taking the risk.

“Ace, I swear to Go-“ Sabo got interrupted.

“Guys, guys.” Marco raised his voice. “This is serious, this would be your first video ever, it must be professional, and very well made, not some school project. I don’t care how good these kids are or not, we are hiring you professionals.” The rest of the guys agreed with Marco, but not Ace.

“Listen, I know that this sounds crazy but trust me on this one. Plus, if its turs out bad then we can go for a professional, okay?” Ace tried to fight back.

“Ace this will be waisted time, why don’t you understand this?” Marco took off his glasses massaging his eyes, Ace was the hardest to work with.

“Yeah! Ace this will cost double.” Sabo stood up and looked at Ace, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It won’t, believe me because it will turn out good, I have a good feeling for this.” Ace also stood up getting closer to his brother. “Come on, trust me on this one, when have I ever let you down?”

“How do you guys feel about this?” Sabo turned toward Law and Deuce.

“As long as its turs out good I don’t care who will film it.” Deuce said, as he only cared for the final product.

“How are you sure that they will even agree to do it Ace?” Law asked.

“I have a feeling, okay.” Ace snapped. “Look I will ask them, we meet with them and if our ideas don’t match, we don’t hire them for it, and we go with whoever Marco has in mind.”

“Okay, this works for me.” Law sighed, not at all in the mood to argue today.

“Ace..” Sabo hissed his finger pointed at his brother. “You- you better be right or else I will beat the shit out of you for this.” He turned around and angrily sat on the couch.

“Um guys, it’s me who has the final word here, remember?” Marco looked at all off them in disbelief.

“Marco, you make sure to speak with the right people to make this viral, we fix the rest.” Ace patted him on the shoulder and left without saying anything more.

“He is unbelievable to work with.” Marco threw his hands in the air looking at the rest of the guys who weren’t paying him much attention as well.

********

“Hey, Usopp. What’s up my man?” Ace said over the phone. It was around 6PM when he got home and decided to speak with Usopp, about the video.

“Chillin’ with Kaya at home, you?”

“Just got home and wanted to speak with you.”

“’bout what?” Usopp asked. Ace was close to all Luffy’s friends, Usopp was even one of them that he could call his own friend.

“How do you feel about you and your friends from uni, filming our first music video?” Ace got straight to the point.

“Ace, we are still learning, plus I’m not the best director.” Usopp was more than surprised by Ace’s proposition.

“I know, I know, but think about it wouldn’t that be a great opportunity for you and your friends?”

“It would definitely be, but again we barely started I don’t know how we would manage to do something as big as a music video for you guys. Plus, it will be your debut video why don’t you go for professionals, you surely ain’t that broke.” Usopp joked.

“It’s not about money.” Ace quickly responded. “I just want you guys to do it.”

“I don’t know Ace. I really don’t think that this is a good idea.” Usopp hesitate.

“You don’t need to be the director, someone else can be.” Ace was quick to add.

“(Y/N) is good, but I doubt that she will be down for it.” That was exactly what Ace needed to hear.

“Do you mind giving me her number, so I can speak with her?”

“Yeah, sure. But good luck, again I don’t think she will agree. But I will send you, her number.” Usopp huffed, knowing that (Y/N) would not agree, but still it wouldn’t hurt if Ace wanted to try. Before they hung up Ace thanked Usopp and waited for him to send the number.

******

My consultation went pretty fast, as my directing teacher was super pleased with my script, he gave me some advice on what I could possibly change to make it easier to film after, but other than this it went well. Before I got home, I stopped by our chill area as I saw some of my classmates. We talked for a bit, exchanging some ideas and jokes here and there. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one being so overly stressed for the short-cuts.

I got home and prepared myself something to eat. After it I sat down to make some last changes on the script before I submitted it. I sighed in relief, knowing that I was halfway done with this assignment, and all we have left was to film and then edit it. I was just hoping that the actors I have assigned for my movie would do their roles good.

I laid down on my coach trying to find something interesting to watch. I wasn’t sure what I was in a mood for. While searching for something to watch I could feel that my fatigue started to take over, as my eyes were slowly starting to close. I had fallen asleep when I heard my phone ringing. I looked at the screen and it was unknown number, usually I never pick up if I didn’t know who was calling. I looked at the time and it was almost 8PM. Exactly before whoever was calling hung up, I picked up the phone.

“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” The voice on the other end said.

“What? I’m sorry who is calling?” I sat on the couch, rubbing my eyes.

“The answer that I couldn’t give you earlier, doll. ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ – that’s my favourite movie, or at least one I can say that I really liked.”

“Ace? How- How did you get my number?” I was fully awake now; how did he find my number.

“I have my ways.” He chuckled.

“Creep.” I snorted.

“Are you happy with my answer?”

“Surprised. But not a bad choice at all.”

“What are you doing, doll?” I could feel his smirk over the phone.

“Nothing, I had fallen asleep on the couch, you?”

“Oh, sorry for waking you up then.”

“It’s okay. Now how did you get my number?” I was curious to know how or who gave it to him.

“I told you; I have my ways.” His tone was so teasing. “But I’m actually calling for business not for chitchat.” Now that piqued my interest.

“What business?”

“How do you feel about directing a music video?” I was taken aback hearing this.

“Um, I have never done it so, I’m not really sure how I would feel. Why?” I was confused by this sudden question.

“I want you to direct our first music video.” Ace blurted out.

“What?” I shouted not expecting this at all.

“Please, don’t shout in my ears.” Ace laughed at my reaction.

“I’m sorry. But seriously, are you insane? I’m so new to all of this, like the whole filmmaking thing, and music videos are slightly different to shoot than films, so I can’t Ace, I’m sorry I-I can’t take such responsibility.” I quickly said, turning down his offer even thought it would have been such a great opportunity, but he must contact someone professional.

“Come on, doll. I believe in you, I’m sure you will come up with something great.” He chuckled, not giving up.

“Listen, Ace...” I took a deep breath. “I’m so flattered that you believe so much in me, but I’m not that good.”

“Please.”

“Ace.” I sighed.

“Please, doll. We don’t want something over the top, we need super simple video, so we can put out there, plus we will pay you. So, please consider it and give me a call back tomorrow, okay?”

“I don’t think that my mind will change but sure.”

“Thank you, doll. I will be waiting for your final decision.” He said before hung up.

I sighed once again, but this time loudly. Why? Why he wants me to do this? He hasn’t even seen my work, why he trusted me so much to a point where he wants me to direct his band’s first ever video. It’s not that it would be that hard, it’s more the fact that with this video they are establishing themselves officially as a band, and their overall look. The offer really piqued my interest, and my mind started to think about a possible video idea, but I forgot to ask him which song they were planning to film it for. I grabbed my phone and saved his number, before I texted him.

“Which song will be the video for?”

He replied shortly after: “Sweater Weather”

I opened Spotify and went to their profile. It was their most streamed song, so it was logical that they chose it for their debut music video. I played the song and started to create a storyboard in my mind. Ace didn’t give me much information, so I if I agree to do this, I have a lot of questions for him. Do they have a crew already, or I will have to think of someone to help me? Do they have something in mind that they will want us to recreate in the video? When do they want to film it? And so many more questions popped up in my head.

“Oh, Ace....” I sighed to myself.

********

“So, you gave him my number?” I turned to Usopp when we finished with our class for the day.

“Yeah, he called me and asked me if we want to shoot their video, but I turned him down, as I’m not very good with directing, but they he told me that it can always be someone else, and I mentioned you and he wanted to speak with you... so... what are you down for it?” Usopp looked at me, trying to read my face.

“Well, that’s the thing. Part of me wants to, but another one tells me that I lack the skills.”

“You know,” Nami interrupted our conversation. “Dave from year two has done some music videos before, why don’t you guys speak with him, he might help you.” She suggested.

“This is a very good idea, Nami. I didn’t know that.” I hugged her. “But, yeah I’m down only if you guys are?” I looked at them both.

“Oh, no. I have too many things to do because of the short-cuts, and my group sucks guys, so I’m out.” Nami quickly turned me down.

“I can be your D.O.P, but I will need a first assistant camera.” Usopp said.

“We can ask Dave, if he is up for it, he can help us.” I smiled at Usopp, happy that he was down for the job. “Otherwise, it will be just you and I.”

“I’m actually surprised that you are planning to do it.” Usopp was right, I was surprised by myself as well, Nami also agreed with him.

“I know, but I have an idea that I think it will match their band’s vibe very good, and it won’t be hard to film at all so I think it would turn out pretty well, if they like my idea as well.” Nami and Usopp were both aware that I was not the most confident person when it came to how talented and good I was with filmmaking. Even thought both had told me millions of times that I should believe in myself and my skills more, sometimes it was really hard, yet I was always down for a challenge.

“Does any of you have Dave’s insta or something, so I can text him?” I pulled out my phone opening Instagram, to search his name.

“Yeah, here.” Usopp showed me his phone so I can copy Dave’s username. I followed and texted him. It didn’t take him long to respond, saying that we can meet somewhere later and talk about it. We agreed on meeting for a drink around 7PM, so I had quite some time until then.

“Usopp, will you come as well?” I asked him before we say goodbye.

“Nah, I won’t be able to, Kaya and I already have plans.” He hugged me and Nami goodbye. “But keep me updated.” He said before he left.

“What are you doing tonight?” I asked Nami as we were walking towards the metro station.

“Going out with Luffy and Vivi, if you wanna join after you finish your meeting with Dave.”

“I will think about it, as I will have to speak with Ace after it.” I didn’t want to promise anything for later, as I might be too tired to go out. Nami smirked.

“What?” I looked at her suspiciously, as her smirk was quite mischievous.

“Mmm, nothing.” She just glanced at me, her smirk growing.

“You don’t get to tell me, nothing with this smug smile growing on your face.” I nagged her.

“Well... Ace, hu?” Her eyebrows wiggled playfully. “Did you two know each other before? I remember Usopp mentioning something.” She pushed me a little with her elbow.

“Oh no, no, nothing like this.” I brushed it off quick. “We met accidently that’s all, it was even that Friday when they were preforming at my uncle’s bar, so it was pure coincidence.”

“But Sabo told me he saw you going somewhere with him at the party two weeks ago, and then you left without saying anything and you weren’t speaking with us much after that...” She looked at me, trying to study my face if I was lying to her. “Did something happen? You know I will not tell anyone. I’m just concern and Ace... well, Ace is Ace.” She chuckled.

“No, I swear nothing happened. We just talked for a bit inside and then we went somewhere, and I decided to go home.” I didn’t really lie to her, because all of this did happen, I just didn’t mention any details.

“Okay, I believe you if you say so.” Nami wasn’t fully convinced but decided to let it go. “But don’t fall for Ace or anything like that.” She added. “He is an amazing person, no doubt about that, but he is a womanizer, so for your own sake don’t cross this lines.” Her warning was valid, and this wasn’t the first time I heard this, but Ace and I already set that boundary anyway, so I didn’t need to hear it again.

“Don’t worry I don’t see him that way.” Now this time I lied, but my little crush on Ace was something Nami didn’t need to know.

********

I started to get ready around 5PM. I decided to wear something casually just a pair of flared dark blue jeans, with a black off shoulder blouse with a belt around the waist. I added some silver earing and quickly fixed my hair and makeup before checking the clock and to see what time it was. It was almost six, so I took my purse, put my black kitten heels and coat on, and left.

It took me around forty-five minutes to reach the place where we agreed to meet. It was a very nice and cozy jazz bar. I’ve never been to this place before, but just from the looks of it, it seemed like a place I wouldn’t mind coming to again. I looked around and I saw Dave sitting on a small table for two. I waved at him as he saw me.

“Hey, Dave thank you so much for meeting me.” I smiled at him as I was sitting down.

“No worries, the pleasure is mine.” He smiled back. “What would you like to drink?” Dave was super nice, I have spoken with him only twice so far and only in university, so I felt a little awkward right now.

“Just a glass of sparkling wine would be perfect.” I told him and he went to order for us. Dave was also a nice-looking guy. His hair was dark brown and full of curls, his jawline was sharp, and his beard was nicely shaved in a goatee style. He was dressed in a relaxed fit short sleaved black shirt and some linen white pants; he also had an earing on his left ear. Dave came back and handed me my drink with a smile. He sat back on his chair and we both shared an awkward laughed.

“So, music video, hu?” He said, flashing me another of his charming smiles.

“Yes, I got the offer last night, and I still haven’t accepted it, as it’s the band’s debut video, so I’m quite unsure if I should take the risk, you know?” I took a sip of the wine, glancing away from Dave.

“I know the feeling, don’t worry about it.” He reassured me. “Which band are you talking about?”

“‘The Neighbourhood’, you know them?” Dave shook his head. “Oh, you need to check them out, they are pretty good and growing popularity quite fast.”

“I will take your word on that.” He chuckled. “So how did they end up asking you to direct their video?”

“I’m a friend with the vocalist, and he really wants me to do it, as quote-unquote ‘he believes that I would do an amazing job’.” I waved my hands around in a question marks.

“That’s good, if you ask me - take the opportunity. Plus, I have heard that you are one of the tops of your class, and that you have quite a different vision from the rest so go for it.” Dave encouraged me.

“Yeah, ‘different’.” I shook my hands to my head, but Dave just looked at me confused, not getting the reference so I just brushed it off. “Um, I was wondering... would you like to help us? It will be just Usopp and I, and we will really appreciate it if we have a AC.” I bit my lip, looking at Dave from under my lashes.

“Well, depends on when you guys are filming, but sure.” He nodded, a coy smile forming on his lips. “But wouldn’t it be better if I’m your D.O.P as I have more experience with the camera than Usopp?” He made a very good point.

“Yes actually, you are right, we should do this instead.” I eagerly nodded as he also had experience with music videos. “And as for when we are shooting, I have no idea, I will call Ace later and hopefully he will give me more info.”

“That’s the lead singer, I guess?” Dave asked, hit of curiosity in his voice. I nodded with a smile in response.

“Now tell me more about your experience with music videos.” I playfully nagged him, as I was interested to know more about how things work with music videos. Dave started to tell me how even before he attended university, he had already done some music videos. Most of his friends were apparently musicians, and as amateurs they couldn’t afford to pay a professional photographer, so knowing about Dave passion with the camera they would always go to him. Time passed quite fast as we were talking, but we got interrupted by my phone, as I received some message.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about me, doll.” I read the message. I cursed myself as I totally forgot to text Ace today, but I wanted to speak with Dave first before I confirmed anything.

“Will you, please, excuse me for a second.” I told Dave, standing quickly from my chair and went outside to call Ace. The phone rang a few times before he picked up.

“Hey, doll.” His low raspy voice filled my ear.

“H-hey Ace. I’m so, so sorry for not calling earlier, I just wanted to check with a classmate from year two if he can help Usopp and me with the video.” I blurted out quickly as I felt embarrassed for making him wait for so long.

“So, I take this, as a ‘yes’ then?” His voice still low.

“Yes, I would love to film your video, Ace.” I whispered, my heart was beating fast against my chest, like I was making a deal with the devil or something close to this. The feeling hit me like a sudden wave, I couldn’t even explain it.

“Glad to hear this.” He whispered back. “What are you doing by the way?”

“I’m out with the classmate I told you about.” I cleared my throat.

“Date?” He teased me.

“No, no. We are talking about the video mostly.” I quickly explained myself. Ace laughed at my response. “What are you doing?” The question slipped my lips before I could stop myself.

“Chillin’ at home.” He hummed.

“Nice.”

“Mmm... if the date is bad I can always safe you, you know?” He joked.

“It’s not a date.” I whined at his comment.

“Sure, sure.” He mocked me again. “Well, wanna meet tomorrow with me and the guys to speak about the video?”

“Yes, this would be actually amazing if we can do this as soon as possible.”

“You got it. Send me your address I will come and pick you up.” A little smile twitched on my lips as he didn’t ask, he just stated it. “Bye, doll.” He quickly ended the call.

I slowly moved my phone from my ear, I could feel my cheeks burning and I quickly shook the feeling away. Opening my messages, I texted Ace my address and got inside the bar. Dave smiled at me as I sat down.

“So, what were we talking about?” I smiled back.

*******

I woke up around 9AM the next morning, as Ace was going to pick me around 10:30. I was tired as I stayed until late last night, creating a storyboard with pictures so they could easily understand what my idea was. I got up, brushed my teeth and made myself a quick breakfast before I got ready. After I did my makeup, I looked around my closet wondering what I should wear today. I set my mind on a flared jeans again and just a simple cropped white t-shirt. My phone vibrated, notifying me that I have a message.

“Here.” It was short and simple; I caught myself smiling at it. I quickly put on my snickers and jacket on, before grabbing my backpack with my laptop in it. I ran down the stairs and when I opened the building’s entranced door, I saw Ace leaned on a motorcycle. He was smoking a cigarette, head tilted on the side. Dressed in all black with a black leather jacket on. He quickly turned around when he heard the front door closing, blowing the smoke away and throwing the cigarette on the ground. When I stood in front of him, he straightened his posture, looking down on me he winked.

“Ready to go, doll?” He smirked at me, handing me a black helmet. I took it and looked at it, then the Kawasaki motorcycle behind him. It was all black and scary looking. I looked back at Ace and shook my head with a scary look in my eyes, handing him the helmet back. He hearty laughed at my reaction.

“Come on, don’t be a baby.” He nodded me to get on it, as he put the helmet on my head. “I got you, doll. Nothing to be scared off.” Ace reassured me as he got on it and waited for me to do the same.

“Ace, I swear to God, if you had told me, you were picking me on this thing I would have never agreed.” He laughed again at my comment as I was shaky getting on it.

“Hold on me tight.” He grabbed my hands and wrapped them around his torso. My poor heart was going to explode. Not only I have to be on this scary thing but on top of it I had to be this close to Ace. “Lean your body on my back.” He looked at me over his shoulder before putting his helmet. I just nodded in response, too scared to speak. Ace turned his bike on and the engine rumbled. I tightened my hold around Ace. I could feel him laughing as his body trembled in my arms. Then he took off. As he was driving, I started to think to myself how much the motorcycle suits him. With getting to know him more and more with every passing day him owning a bike was making a perfect sense. It was as wild and free as his spirit.

Twenty long minutes, we finally arrived where their studio was. Ace parked the motorbike and took off his helmet. He looked at me over his shoulder and chuckled.

“You know, you can let go of me now.” He teased me. I immediately released my grip and took of the helmet. “So how was your first every ride?” The smirk on his face growing bigger, as he saw my flushed and scared face.

“I made it alive, so I give it eight out of ten.” I quickly got off from it.

“Eight out of ten? What should I do to earn the other two stars?” He chuckled, his smile big.

“You drove too fast.” I crossed my arms across my chest.

“I drove fast?” His eyes widen in amusement. “Doll, I swear I have never, ever, driven my bike as slow as I did today.” His whole face was in disbelief.

“Next time even slower.” I pointed my finger at him.

“So, there will be next time?” He teased me with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him, but I couldn’t hide the little smile that played on my lips.

Ace got off the bike and nodded me to follow him. We entered the building and went to the second floor. Ace opened the door to their studio for me, and I thanked him. Inside Sabo, his girlfriend Koala, and Law were already there.

“Hey you two.” Koala welcomed us with a smile. “Nice to meet you again (Y/N).” She came to hug me. Sabo nodded at me, and Law’s eye widen when he saw me, and I quickly looked away. It was nice to know at least that it was him and not Ace that night at the party.

“Where is Deuce?” Ace asked.

“He is coming, caught in traffic, Marco as well.” Sabo explained. “So, you will be our director?” I could feel the hint of doubt in his voice, and I understood why he would doubt me in a first place. I barely started to study; I was an armature with a capital ‘A’.

“A-as long as you like my idea – y-yeah.” I awkwardly shrugged.

“Well, better be good then.” His tone was quite serious and a little harsh.

“Sabo.” Ace snapped at him, glancing at his brother warningly. Sabo just huffed and looked at me again.

“Sorry (Y/N), I just want the video to be perfect.” His tone was a little softer now. I lowered my gaze to the ground and just nodded.

“You want to drink something?” Koala asked me nicely. I thanked her but denied her offer.

After ten minutes, Deuce and Marco walked in. Deuce greeted me, and Marco introduced himself to me with a handshake.

“So, you are the director that Ace is putting all his trust for the video on?” Marco patted me on the shoulder with a smile. I glanced at Ace, but he quickly avoided my gaze.

“I guess, I am.” I cleared my throat. “Let me take my laptop, so I can show you the plan that I made yesterday, you can disagree with everything or add things to it as well.” I felt my heart beating fast again, my anxiety starting to built up. I pulled my laptop from my bag and held it in my left hand towards them. “Please let me know if you can’t see something or if it’s not clear enough.” I took a deep breath and started to explain my idea for the video. “The video will be shot in a greyscale, mostly medium shots, with some close ups here and there. The vibe of the whole video should represent the general vibe of the EP itself, so taking the things you guys sing about in the song and the album in general, I suggest that we take some shots of them all together driving around Grand Line coats line in a vintage car, then walking around at a funfair, lounging in an apartment and walking along a beach.” I added at the end that if they were satisfied with the idea, we must shoot next Monday and Tuesday as we would need sunny weather. I patiently waited for their reaction. I looked at Ace, who was leaned on the wall, arms crossed over his chest, he just nodded at me and wink. I heard clapping and turned my head to see who it was.

“Bravo.” Sabo clapped standing up from the sofa. “I love it. And I’m surprised. Wow.” He had a big grin across his face.

“I like it, too.” Law said, nodding at me granting me his approval.

“Same, here.” Deuce added. Koala gave me the thumbs up with a big smile across her face.

“I like the idea as well, but I would like to add one small detail.” Marco said clapping his hands, looking at the guys. “It is romantic song after all, so we need to see some romance. So, I would like to suggest that we hire a model, and we have some scene with her and Ace.” Marco looked at me with raised eyebrows, expecting to hear my opinion on it.

“Y-yeah, o-of course.” I chuckled, nodding my head slightly. “As long as Ace feels comfortable with it, we can include it.” We all looked at Ace.

“Why me, tho?” He raised his eyebrow toward Marco. “Can’t Sabo do it with Koala? This will save us time and money.” He pointed out.

“Because you are the lead singer in the group Ace, and as one, the main focus is on you.” Marco explained short and clearly.

“Ha, Ace, since when you mind making out with models?” Deuce mocked Ace.

“I don’t, I’m just thinking if we are doing this on Monday and Tuesday, how we gonna find a girl so fast?” Ace rolled his eyes.

“Like you don’t know a hundred pretty girls.” Law snorted at him. Ace laughed at him and told Law to shut up. Marco interrupted them.

“Guys if you can’t find a girl, this is why I’m here for.”

“What you gonna dress up as a girl and make out with Ace?” Sabo joked and everyone burst out laughing at Marco.

“Of course not, but I can always contact a model agency.” Marco huffed, as much as these guys were talented, they were as much as hard to work with as well. “So, we make it possible, right?” He turned to look at me. I just nodded at him. “Perfect, I will contact you for the payment later and you sent me an email with what you would need for the set and what we should rent and whatsoever.” He handed me his business card and bit us all goodbye.

“Have you guys ever been in a video or something before?” I asked them as I was putting my laptop inside my bag. They all said ‘no’. “Well, better prepare as it will feel strange to see yourself on the screen.” I laughed a little.

“Have you done it yourself?” Deuce asked me.

“Yeah, and I hate it, that is why I prefer to be behind the camera.” I have always felt bad for the actors, as I knew it wasn’t easy at all for them to look at themselves on the big screen. I have done it a few times and I hated the feeling of seeing myself. The difference between a phone camera versus film camera was so big people had no idea. Even my father, till this day doesn’t feel comfortable to see himself, and he is pretty self-obsessed person. “Well, I will have to contact Usopp and Dave and let them know that we are doing it this Monday and Tuesday, I will have to go now as I will need to find locations where we could film without a problem.” I announced as I grabbed my bag and bit everyone goodbye.

“Wait, I will come with you.” Ace came after me.

“No need, I can do it alone.” I reassure him.

“I didn’t ask, doll.” He winked at me, closing the door behind us.

**********

We arrived at the west coastline beach after almost forty-minute ride. We got of his bike and Ace smirked when he locked at me.

“How was the ride this time?” Ace teased me.

“Honestly this time you could have driven faster.” I teased him as well.

“You little...” He hissed at me, biting the inside of his cheek as he shook his head.

“Hop, hop, we don’t have all day mister.” I clapped my hands and made him follow me. I started to take some pictures of where would be best for us to stand and shoot them driving by as we had to be careful with how fast they should move. Ace was quite polite to write down every note for me, and things that we would need. Then we went to look around at the funfair.

“Do you wanna get on one of the rides?” Ace whispered in my ear as I was taking pictures making mental notes to myself.

“Oh, I would love to, but now we have to work, so some other time.” I moved my head slightly as I answered him, not realising how close he was standing to me, only for our faces to end up millimetres apart. We both took a step away from the other quickly. Ace cleared his throat telling me that I was right, and we should focus on work.

Time passed so fast and before we know it the sun was setting. It was beautiful, the sky was coloured in light pink and purple, the waves were crashing softly, as today it wasn’t windy at all. Some people were sitting on the beach, others were running around or playing with there kids or dogs. It almost felt like a summer day even thought it wasn’t. We were walking on the beach, shoes in one hand as we were talking about random stuffs, it was so easy to open and speak with Ace. The comfort I felt around him was so strange and nice at the same time, something that I have never experienced with another person before.

“And how are you and Shanks related?” Ace asked, his eyes not leaving my face.

“Well, we are not blood related, let me clarify this first.” I waved my hands around. “But him and my dad have been like brothers since they were kids, so yeah. Ever since I can remember Shanks has been part of my life...” I paused for a second, swallowing the bitterness in my voice. “Especially after my mother left me and my dad, he literally became my second dad.” I exhaled the breath that I didn’t even realise I was holding.

“I’m sorry to hear this, doll.” Ace gave me a soft look, as he ruffed my hair. I pouted at him as I tried to fix it, and he chuckled. “Look at least, you grew up with a father that from what you’ve told me so far, loves you unconditionally.” His voice was so gentle when he told me this.

“Yes, I am lucky to have a father like him.” I smiled thinking of my dad.

“But... I don’t know if I should ask this or how...” Ace paused for a second, gathering his thoughts. “Why she left...?” He glanced at me, to make sure that he didn’t overstep some boundary. “Actually, don’t answer this forget about it.” He brushed it off quickly.

“No, it’s okay.” I shrugged, I felt like I could open about it to him. “She never wanted to be a mother in a first place, so after she gave birth to me, she got in a very deep postpartum depression, and it did take a big tool on her.” I paused for a minute. “My dad tried everything to help her, but she refused, and she turned to hard drugs, so... yeah my mother is a junkie.” I breath out, looking at Ace who was listening to me, but his gaze was lowered to the sand. “When I was around five, she just left a note that she doesn’t want to hear or see us anymore, and since then I have no idea where she is. My dad still cares for her, and I never really understood why, especially after all she put him through. I found a few years ago that he is her emergency contact, and I got mad about it, as she doesn’t deserve him. Last year she tried to contact me, but cut her off fast...” I bit on my lip, looking at the sand as Ace and I were walking in a silence for a moment. “But yeah, this is the short version.” I clapped my hands, dropping one of my shoes and picked it up. “Your turn now. I’m curious to know how you are all brothers, yet your last names are all different” I pushed Ace’s shoulder a little bit, causing him to chuckle.

“Well, we are not blood related at all.” Ace laughed when he saw my reaction.

“Wait, what? Even with Luffy? You two are like twins.” I couldn’t believe what I’ve heard.

“Yeah, I know it’s scary how much we look alike, but no, not related at all.”

“I’m really curious now, but if you don’t feel like speaking about it’s okay.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I can share a little bit.” Ace poked my side, and I giggled. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “My mom died when I was born, and my father has been killed a little before my mom gave birth to me, so I know nothing about my parents.” I saw his jaw clenching hard as the tone of his voice changed as well. “Then her sister, my aunt Dadan, took me and raised me.” He snorted, his tone sounded lightly but his face was giving him away. Sadness and pain were written all over it. “Then she applied for a foster parent, and that is how Sabo came to the picture. As you know he is her favourite.” Ace looked at me tossing his hair aside the same way Sabo does all the time, and I couldn’t help but laughed. “Then the most annoying, gut wrenching, cry baby ever came into our home aka Luffy. God, I hated him from the bottom of my hear at first.” The way Ace was telling his story was heartbreaking, as he was trying to turn it into comedy so bad. My heart was aching for him. “Then some things happened and as of today, I can really say that Luffy is the only person I’m willing to give my life for.” The smile he had on his face when he was talking about Luffy was so pure and honest.

“I don’t know Luffy very well, but he does look like quite the pure soul.” I smiled at Ace as he nodded.

“You should definitely get to know him; he is the best.” Ace eagerly said his mood totally changed now. I felt my stomach growing and Ace looked at me. “Someone’s hungry, eh.”

“Yeah, I have only eaten a breakfast today.” I chuckled.

“I know a very nice Italian place here, wanna go and try it?”

“You don’t need to ask me twice.” We both shared a laughed and started to walk toward the restaurant.

********

The drive to my place took us almost an hour. A long and a very scary hour, as I had to ride on the back of Ace’s motorbike for a third time today. When he finally stopped in front of my place I relaxed on his body. We stayed like this for a minute – my hands wrapped around his torso and as I was leaned on him, and he had his hands on my knees. He was he first one to take of his helmet, running his hand around his messy hair. I pulled away from him, taking my helmet off as well. Ace looked over his shoulders at me.

“You had fun today, doll?” His eyes half lidded; he seemed a little tired.

“I did.” I smiled at him, getting off from the bike. He nodded with a smile at my response. “We see on Monday then. Thank you for the rides, and the dinner by the way.” I added, but Ace brushed me off.

“Please, that’s nothing.” He winked at me, pinching my cheek. I scrunched my nose at him, and he laughed at me. “Well, see you on Monday, doll.” He went to put back his helmet before I stopped him.

“Wait, Ace.” I grabbed his hand, as he lowered it and looked at me, raising his eyebrow. “You were the only one who didn’t say anything about the video idea... did you not like it?” My hand still on his, he just gave it a little squeeze and smiled at me.

“I loved it, doll.” Then he went on and put his helmet on. “Now go home.” He ordered me. I nodded and turned around to go. As I opened the front door, I waved at him one more time, as he was waiting for me get in safe, before he drove off.

************

I woke up at 6AM on Monday, as we were going to our first location at 8AM. Yesterday Usopp, Dave and I spent the whole day making the floorplan and the storyboard based on the pictures I took on Saturday at the locations. I sent the call sheet and a list of things we need for the shooting. Marco surprised me so much by how fast he arranged and found everything that we would need for the shoot. I quickly dressed myself in a pair of baggy jeans and oversized hoodie. I put some day cream and mascara on as I didn’t have much time to get ready, and received a text from Usopp that him and Dave were downstairs. We were going with Dave’s car as the west coastline was an hour drive away. I quickly put my sneakers on and left. Usopp and Dave greeted me when I opened the passenger door.

“Ready to film your first music video?” Dave charmingly smiled at me. I nodded with a smile. “Good, we got you some coffee.” Dave said, and Usopp handed me one, him sitting on the backseat.

“Are you guys ready? It’s going to be a long day.” I took a sip of my coffee, hating the taste of it as always. They both nodded and we drove off. Usopp was in charge of the music in the car, so we had a fun ride. We arrived on time and started to unload the equipment Marco rented for us, as he wanted the best quality for the video. Law and Deuce were the first ones to arrive. I spoke with them on the side while Usopp and Dave were fixing the camera.

“Do you know when Ace and Sabo are coming?” I asked them, as I wanted everything to go according to the time schedule.

“Yea, they will be here soon.” Law replied.

“They had to go and take the car that Marco rented for today.” Deuce explained to me. While we waited for them, I explained a little bit to Law and Deuce what I would need them to do while we film. After fifteen minutes we heard a honk. We all turned around and saw Ace and Sabo driving slowly towards us in a very nice 1969 Mercedes-Benz. Sabo was the one behind the wheel, and Ace was chilling on the passenger seat. They parked and got out of the car.

“Yo, what’s up people, you liking my ride?” Sabo pointed at the car. “I will be the one driving it, keep this in mind.” He squinted his eyes at Law and Deuce giving them a warning look. “How is the director doing?” He gave me a hug which surprised me.

“I’m doing good, thanks. You, Sabo?” He gave me the thumbs up and went to speak with Usopp and Dave. “Hey, Ace.” I waved at him as he was standing next to the car, smoking a cigarette.

“Hey, (Y/N).” He gave me a little smile, but I tilted my head and raised my eyebrow at him. What happened with ‘doll’? I walked up and stood in front of him.

“Are you okay?” I was concerned, was he in a bad mood or something. Ace looked at me confused, moving his head on the side blowing the smoke away.

“Yeah? Why?” He chuckled. I blinked a few times and shook my head.

“Nothing, just... just checking on you.” I murmured. “Are you excited to start shooting?” I bounced on my heels, as I waved my hands in the air. Ace laughed at me as he took another puff of his cigarette.

“I think you are the most excited among all of us.” He smiled at me.

“(Y/N)! Can you come, please?” Dave shouted, him and Usopp needing me to help them. I mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ to Ace and went to check on them.

After twenty minutes we were ready to start shooting. I explained to the guys what I would need them to do for the first scene we were shooting and they all nodded understanding my instructions.

“Oh, and one last thing when we shoot a take, I will be most likely first check with Dave and then with you guys and it’s technical stuffs, so don’t think you are doing a bad job, okay.” I gave them the thumbs up, and we were ready to start. The first scene we were shooting was of them driving down the street, we shoot it from five different angles, and we were switching between medium to medium close-up shots. It took us around an hour and a half to be done with this. Then we drove besides them in the same speed so we could catch a better close-ups of them in the car. We finished around lunch time, so we decided to take an hour break. I wasn’t hungry, as when I’m working, I get too focused on the task that I skip meals, so instead I wanted to go and take some shoots of the buildings around us and the palms.

“You guys go, and remember we will meet at the funfair entrance, okay?” I said as I picked the camera stand under my arm and the camera case I was holding in my other hand.

“Don’t tell me you are not going to eat.” Ace scolded me.

“I want to take some shoots of the buildings around, so we don’t waste time later and I’m not hungry, so you go guys.” I reassure him. He was going to protest when Dave interrupted him.

“I will come with you (Y/N). I don’t want you to carry all of this by yourself.” He came next to me and took everything from my hands.

“Are you sure, Dave?” I didn’t want to take from his time of the break as he was already doing too much by helping me and Usopp.

“Of course, I am. Come on, I’m following you.” He gave me a coy smile and I nodded. I waved the guys goodbye for now, everyone else waved too, except Ace. He side-eyed me and shook his head before following the guys. I frowned confused as of why he did this. I nodded to Dave to follow me, and we started to walk. The hour went fast, but luckily thanks to Dave’s experience we captured everything I had in mind. Dave was fun to hang around with. We were laughing and joking the entire time.

“So, you want me to handheld the camera when we shoot at the funfair?” He asked me again, making sure that he understood correctly.

“Yes, exactly.” We went back to his car to leave the camera stand as we wouldn’t need it anymore.

“Have I done something bad to you?” He joked with me, and I giggled at his expression. Doing a handheld shoot was probably the worst thing for the cinematographer. I messed around with him and squeezed his bicep.

“Nah, Dave, I think you can handle it perfectly.” I winked at him, and we both laughed. We started to walk towards the funfair where we were meeting the guys next. When we reached the entrance, everyone was already there. “Hello, again guys. Hopefully you had a nice break, as now we are back to work” I gave them a big smile, Sabo and Deuce cheered, Law just nodded, and Ace’s face was unreadable. I cleared my throat and explained to them that right now they just need to have fun, and we will try our best to capture everything that we would need for later when editing. Usopp and Dave were switching every few minutes, so their hands didn’t get too tired. I was having quite lot of fun with them and so did the guys, at least it seemed like it. Ace and I locked gazes a few times, but he was the one who broke it first every time. Was he mad at me for something? I tried to shake this feeling away and focus on my main priority right now.

“And it’s a wrap.” I shouted and everyone clapped.

“Uh, I hate you (Y/N).” Dave smirked at me as he took off the camera from his shoulder and gave it to me so I can check the last footage we shoot. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he chuckled at me. Usopp came next to me to check the footage as well.

“Do you guys want to see it?” I looked at them four, but they shook their heads.

“We want to wait and see the finished material.” Sabo exclaimed.

“Okay, then we see you all tomorrow at...” I turned to Usopp as he knew the call sheet better than me.

“3PM, the attic apartment Marco rented for the day. You have the address on the call sheet. Also, Ace should I contact the girl that’s coming tomorrow and give her the info, or you will do it?” I have totally forgot about this part, a little pang of jealousy grew inside of me, but then I remind myself ‘no lines to be crossed’.

“I will be picking her up, so I will take care of this.” I bit the inside of my cheek when he said that. I gave him a quick glance and I saw a little smirk playing on his lips.

“By the way, who did you ask?” Law raised his eyebrow at Ace with curiosity.

“Samantha.”

“Wasn’t she pissed at you for ditching her at the Halloween party?” Sabo mocked his brother.

“Not anymore.” Ace snorted. I cleared my throat and turned to the guys who were messing with each other.

“Well, then guys.” I clapped my hands and put my fake smile on. “Thank you for today and see you tomorrow then.” I avoided looking at Ace while waiting for Usopp and Dave to put everything back in the case. Once they were ready, we all said goodbye and went back to Dave’s car.

“That was fun, can’t wait for tomorrow.” Usopp exclaimed once we were in the car.

“Yeah, these guys are fun to work with.” Dave agreed with him. “Hey, are you okay? You seem a little down.” Dave observed my face. I recomposed myself and smiled at him.

“Yes, yes, I am. Just a little tired.” He patted my back gently, believing what I told him. We drove off and I leaned on my head on the window. Tomorrow was going to be an even longer and tiresome day. I closed my eyes for a second and I fell asleep in the car.

********

“Everything set up?” I asked Usopp and Dave.

“Yes, it’s all done.” Dave nodded at me. I breath out as I looked at the band.

“Where is Ace?” One thing I would never tolerate was someone being late on set, without notifying anyone. And Ace was almost forty minutes late.

“He is coming, maybe he is in traffic or something.” Sabo tried to defend his brother.

“You know what guys, lets start shooting.” I clapped my hands. “Which one of you wants to be filmed first as we will roll some close-ups?”

“I can do it.” Sabo volunteered. I nodded and gave them some instructions as it would be easier if they interacted between each other even though the camera would be focused mostly on Sabo.

An hour later Ace finally showed up with his arm wrapped around the shoulders of the girl, which I guess was named Samantha.

“Sorry guys for being late.” He bit us a quick apology. I didn’t even look at him as I was so pissed. “This is Samantha, and she will be helping us for today so be nice.” She giggled at his introduction, and she waved everyone ‘hello’. Usopp and Dave greeted her, as they introduced themselves by shaking hands with her. She came to me reached her hand for a handshake. We shook hands and I bit her a quick ‘hello’.

“At least, you aren’t the only girl now.” She smiled at me; I nodded at her and returned the smile. She was beautiful – tall, blonde, with a very nice body; she was like a real-life Barbie. I cleared my throat.

“Well now that everyone is here, we need to take a master-shot of you guys, then some medium and the last thing we will do is the close-up of Ace and his scene with Samanta, clear?” My tone was quite serious.

“Can’t we take mine and Samantha’s first?” Ace asked me and I finally glanced at him. He had this smug look on his face, that pissed me off even more, but I kept my composure and answered him with a smile.

“No, Ace we can’t. Why we can’t, you may wonder? Because we waited for you for almost two hours, so now you will have to wait, am I clear?” The smile might have been on my face, but my tone was sharp and clear that he shouldn’t mess with me right now. He just smirked and nodded, not saying anything further. “Then let’s start rolling.” I clapped and explained what they should do now for the master. Two hours later we were done with it and only Ace and Samantha’s scenes were left to shoot.

“Thank you, guys so much. It was so nice to work with you. We don’t need you in the rest of the pictures but it’s up to you if you want to stay here or go and do whatever you want.” I spoke to Sabo, Law and Deuce. Sabo came and hugged me as he thanked me and said he can’t wait to see the final result. Deuce did the same, and Law just high-fived me. They bit goodbye to the rest and left.

“So, according to the story board we have two close-ups left and one medium close-up of the two of them.” Dave came to me and spoke over my shoulder. I looked up at him and nodded. “Which one should we take first? Hers or his?”

“Let’s take hers first.” I nodded at him. “Hey, Samantha.” I called her, as she was standing in front of Ace, as they were obviously flirting with each other. She turned to face me, looking at me a little confused. “Sorry for interrupting your conversation, but we need to take some shots of you alone, so I will need you to stand next by the window and then on the couch.” She quickly did as I told her to, and we started to roll. It didn’t take us long to shoot her angles only around twenty minutes. I thanked her, and then turned to Ace. He was looking at me, face unreadable again. I clenched my jaw as today he was really walking on my nerves.

“It’s your turn Ace.” I called him. He pushed himself from the wall and came closer to me.

“So, what do you need from me, director?” His tone was light, but his face was like a stone. I bit the inside of my cheek before answering him.

“The same as her.” I gave him the shortest answer possible. He nodded and stood next to the window. There was this built-up tension between us, Dave looked at me raising his eyebrow. I shook my head at him like everything was fine, and he slowly nodded. We had to readjust the camera as Ace was quite tall. We started to roll, and I couldn’t take my eyes of the screen. He did look very good in front of the camera; I couldn’t deny him that. The way his hair was falling around his face, his freckles, his dark brow eyes and his full lips, he will definitely sweep away many harts once they become known name. “And cut.” I softly said moving my gaze from the screen to him. Our eyes locked, but I locked away.

“Okay, let’s move to the last scene we have to film and it’s a wrap after it.” I cleared my throat before looking at Samantha waving at her to join. “Now I need you to get closer to each other, and the most important thing is that Samantha feels comfortable with whatever you guys spoke about doing, so the moment you feel slightly uncomfortable we cut on the second, okay?” I locked at her seriously, as I didn’t want to put any woman in a position where she might feel uncomfortable on set.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry (Y/N), I know Ace very well.” She winked at me mischievously. I shared a fake laughed with her, but good thing she didn’t catch it.

“Okay, so whenever you guys are ready, just let us know and we will start to roll.” I stand between Dave and Usopp. “And action.” I called. Samantha went and laid down on the couch, taking Ace’s hand in hers, making him hoover over her. She ran her hands up and down his back, up to his neck, pulling him closer to her. Then she buried her fingers in his hair. She pulled him even closer as she pulled herself up a little. They were inches away from kissing each other, and I bit the inside of my cheek, my hands squeezed in a fist. I couldn’t watch this any further.

“Cut.” I called out. Everyone locked at me confused. “What?” I smiled innocently at them.

“Why did you cut?” Samantha asked me and frowned when Ace pulled up from her. I could see his smug smirk on his face. I moved my attention back to Samantha and with a smile I replied to her.

“Because we have it, it’s perfect, you can check it out if you want.” I suggested looking at the footage again.

“It’s pretty good.” Dave reassured her.

“Well, you are the professionals, so if you say it’s good, I believe you, but still, I want to see.” I moved aside so she could look at the screen. “Oh my, Ace.” She squeaked excitedly, looking at Ace. “We look so hot; you should see that.” Ace made a grimace and shook his head. I covered my mouth to suppress my laughter. Ace saw me and rolled his eyes at me, which lighted up my mood. I calmed myself and announced that we were done.

“It’s a wrap guys.” Dave and Usopp cheered, and Samantha clapped her hands. Ace only nodded. “Thank you so much for the opportunity, Ace.” I was still pissed at him, but at the same time grateful. “I should edit it by Friday and when it’s done, I will send it to Marco.” I told him as we started to pack the equipment.

“No need to thank me, (Y/N).” Ace patted me on the shoulder, before he nodded to Samantha to get going. She wished us good night and they left. The bitter feeling of jealousy came back. I couldn’t deny it, but also there was no point of me being jealous. He was just my friend, a friend who was walking on a thin ice around my nerves, nothing more or less.

“Well-done guys, well-done.” Usopp high-fived me and Dave. “I can’t wait to see how it will turn our after you edit it (Y/N).” He exclaimed excitedly.

“You know if you need help with the editing, you can always call me.” Dave added, coming closer to me.

“I think I will manage, but I will keep this in mind.” I smiled at him. “Let’s pack these faster guys, I’m starving, and I really want to go home.”

**********

I was laying in bed; it was almost midnight, and I couldn’t fall asleep. I was tossing and turning in bed for the past hour and a half. Ace was stuck in my mind, and that scene between him and Samantha. On top of it, the whole ‘Me and Ace know each other good’ was like on repeat in my mind. Knowing that I will have to edit and look at the footage of it was eating me from the inside. And what was with his attitude in the past two days? I swear Ace from Saturday and Ace from the past two days, were two completely different people. My phone vibrated. I grabbed it and I sighed loudly as I read the message on the screen.

“Did someone step on your tail today, doll?”

I hesitated if I should reply. The audacity this man has.

“Yea, someone who was almost two hours late.” I angrily typed and sent. Not even a minute later he replied.

“Sorry, about that doll ;(” I just left him on seen. “I would love to be the first one to see it btw” he sent a second message.

“I will think about that” I replied.

“Don’t be mad at me, doll” I just looked at the message from the notification banner and didn’t even mark it as seen. Also, the ‘doll’ thing was back, not that I wanted him to call me this, especially in front of everyone else, but I kind of got used to him calling me that. I turned on the TV to watch something that would hopefully put me to sleep. ‘Fucking Ace’ I cursed under my breath.

************************************************************************

next chapter ->

NOTE: Sooo.... I really hope you liked the chapter, and the interactions Ace and Reader had. From now on there will be more and more of it. Also I gave you a little bit of Ace's pov in this chapter, but still there is so much more to reveal of his character, as in general Ace is a very complex persona (AND I LOVE HIM WITH WITH MY WHOLE HEART AND SOUL). Please leave your opinion or text me, as I would love to get to interact with more of you <3 and a big thank you for all of you who take off your time and read my fanfic, I know it's not the best written one but I appreciate your support with all my hear <3

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lizardsfromspace · 2 months ago

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Okay, Matrix plagiarism case postscript

One thing I didn't answer is how she got the Wachowski's timeline wrong. I still don't know, but it appears she essentially shifted their lives back a decade

She says less than a decade ago they were running a construction business, but actually, working at a construction company is what they were doing in 1986. In 1976 Lana and Lilly were eleven and nine years old respectively. I can't explain why she messed this up, beyond having to age them up a decade for the story to work

But this screencap also brings up another thing she mentions repeatedly that I didn't mention - the smoking gun in her claim is that...the Matrix ripped off her words verbatim for its opening crawl. The opening crawl...to The Matrix.

Huh?

So her story is - and unsurprisingly the timeline here is jumbled, for instance, citing production interviews from 1997 when the film wouldn't enter production until 1998 - the original version of The Matrix contained a Star Wars-style opening crawl, and this was the most directly plagiarized part of the film.

She claims this opening crawl was, in fact, in the theatrical release of The Matrix and only removed when it came to home media, because she. Because she called the FBI on the Wachowskis for stealing the idea of opening crawls from her

The theatrical cut does differ from later versions slightly - most infamously the Wachowskis made the green color filter much more green in the second DVD release, to make it consistent with the style of the sequels - but if there was a opening crawl mandated by the studio, nobody but her has mentioned it, and I find it hard to believe critics wouldn't mention it.

Because this is Dark City. She's clearly confused The Matrix with stories about the studio's meddling with the 1998 film Dark City.

Dark City was the dystopian sci-fi film that had a opening narration explaining the whole plot foisted on it by the studio, and critics mentioned it. Basically every review mentioned it (some even suggest covering your ears or muting the film the first time you see it, at least until the Director's Cut removed it). Meanwhile, reviews of The Matrix praised its opening from the very beginning: how it drops you right into things and lets you find out about its world as Neo does. It's just not possible that the theatrical release has a opening crawl no one mentioned when I can pull up full comparisons of theatrical vs first DVD vs second DVD vs Bluray. Whatever story she read either was about Dark City, or was a Wachowski saying in passing "yeah the studio wanted us to add one but we didn't".

Another thing I didn't touch on is just how much it hypes her up as a untouchable genius of cinema. For instance, she claims to have come up with the effects of The Matrix in 1983 too

(one funny part is how little she brings up The Terminator at all? She just threw it in as a bonus I guess)

I looked up how they did the bullet time effect in particular and...it would have been impossible in 1983. It's not just high speed photography; it's entire banks of cameras, placed in the right place by computer previsualization, their sequence programmed, and with all the elements composited together by CGI. Even stylistically - the true creator of the effects cited Akira as a influence, and Akira the movie didn't exist in 1983. Neither did the type of Hong Kong action film that heavily influenced it. I guess it would be possible to write down "someone goes really fast and we depict it like they slowed down time", concepts of a plan etc

But like.

She's destined to be one of the most profound master writers of the 21st century. This is a book proving she's never written anything. It has a pitch for The Third Eye, it has a second film treatment tacked on at the end, and it has copyright registrations for her sequels to Terminator and The Matrix. M. Night Shyamalan's character in Lady in the Water was destined to be a great writer too, but he actually wrote a book. He didn't put out a book with a decades-old synposis that was never finished & reams of legal documents and a bio saying, I'm one of the greatest authors of all time. Because who needs writing when you have destiny, God, and the ancient superrace living in the Pyramids on your side?

This is my for real last post on this since I ended up just depressed about it in the end. I think the worst part is, she knows she lost. But she still goes to the press telling a story she knows isn't true, and people believe her. Some of it is transphobic - "stop saying it's a trans allegory when they stole it"; some of it runs with the Christian oppression narrative (full disclosure, I was inspired to look for her book again bc while looking up another crank, I saw an interview with her in the sidebar of a religious website); but a lot of it is just people who innocently want it to be true.

One of the few pieces debunking her story is on a website called Black Excellence - it doesn't even have a byline - said this:

"There are many people, especially Black people, who wanted the story to be true. It symbolized a Black person, especially a Black woman, finally winning against the system. When Sophia Stewart spoke about how mainstream media would not give her the time of day because almost all of them were owned by Warner Brothers, some Black media embraced her. Blogs spread her story, especially the initial story on Globe that contained errors about the case.

"But the story is not true. Sophia Stewart did not become the richest Black person in the country. But that did not deter her from going on several shows and publications to tell her story."

She took advantage of people's urge to root for the underdog against a corporation - and seized on a lack of mainstream coverage to claim her story was being suppressed. But it just isn't true. Also yeah she ridiculously claims that Warner Bros owns every news website and newspaper and that's kind of funny I guess. Well, that's it. I'm never doing this again

#sophia stewart #the matrix #plagiarism #long post

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davenporttf · 1 year ago

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Red Zone

There's nothing more I love than admiring the beauty of jocks playing at their best. I fell into sport photography in college with a photography class and tried taking photos of the football team. I've always enjoyed spectating these ripped guys showcasing their power and speed. It wasn't a gay thing. I admired the strength and skill these players have. Putting it on film was my way of sharing my love of sports through my eyes.

After a few years in the sports photography business, I finally have the respect of the local teams. One apparently put in a good word for me because I got a call to film some of the nearby rugby team play. A chance to capture up close to arguably the most brutish men in sports was an honor and I was so excited.

I arrived the first day at the stadium to discover the men all gathered in the locker room. They were changing for the game and I couldn't help but notice these muscle bears' physiques. The way they filled out their shirts with both muscle and fat was unlike any other sports player. Needless to say their bums were thick as well as their juicy thighs supporting them.

I introduced myself to some of the players and let them know I'd be taking pictures of them playing. You couldn't find more lovable blokes. They were clearly meat heads who lived and breathed Rugby.

"Cheers, mate. Happy to have yah." said Marcus, the captain. "Coach told us you'd be here. Come to think of it, we have an extra jersey here. Try it on. You'll look like one of us."

I was hesitant at first but ultimately took it as a nice gesture. I took my collared shirt off and then slid on the red uniform.

"A bit small to be on our scrum, but it looks good on yah." The shirt had a tingly feeling to it, and I felt a surge of energy flowing through me. "Thanks a lot! Looking forward to getting some good shots."

"Make sure to get our good side," Marcus said with a wink. He looked away "Alright you bunch of idiots, let's get out there!"

I followed the team out to the field never feeling better, and was running on a high as if I had several redbulls or preworkout.

The game began and I started focusing in on Marcus. He had the ball and started sprinting forward. I zoomed in and took a shot of him sprinting. I looked at the preview, and it was a great action shot.

I was trying to focus on the game but my legs were overcome by a warming sensation. I felt my thighs and calves swell. They were filling with muscle as hard as rocks and pushed my khakis to the max. I kept focus on the game but the warmth was slowly moving up my body.

I next shot was of the captain being knocked down by the flanker on the opposing team. The perfect shot of the flanker holding the captain in mid air. It was then that the warmth moved up to my glutes. My ass inflated until the khakis began tearing. The khakis ripped until they fell off my legs, revealing a pair of red rugby shorts underneath. I felt a breeze flow through my leg hairs as they grew longer and bushier. My socks changing to red knee socks and black cleats.

There was a turnover of the ball on the field as a Center from the opposing team gained control. The player pivoted and passed the ball to one of their runners. I snapped a photo of the Center's pass and felt the warmth spread across to my dick and started feeling crazy horny. It was growing and pushing a tent in my rugby shorts until it was a girthy 10 inches. I was noticing how great the teams' legs looked in those shorts. I could feel my sexual desires becoming more open. I wanted to appreciate these players by giving them the best night of their lives.

I winced as my back cracked, my spine lengthened and my height increased several inches. My relatively flat chest became chiseled like it was being sculpted in real time. I felt the fat sucked from my abs as they went from tender to firm. My pecs becoming beefy pillows from what looked like years of lifting.

The opposing team made it to the other side and scored. I zoomed in on Marcus and he was looking my way. I had an odd feeling but felt compelled to snap a photo of him. He was smiling with a smirk on his face. I felt the warmth finally move up to my head. My thoughts of shooting the game drifted away as my jaw line cracked into a more square shape. My facial features becoming more symmetrical and rugged. I felt my beard grow in fuller and my hair bleaching to a sun kissed blonde. I dropped my camera and stared blankly until the ref called for the halftime break.

Marcus jogged over and studied me up and down. "You've been wasting away behind that camera. We're down by 3 and I think you'll be of better use helping the team make a comeback."

He walked up to me and brought his lips to mine. There was a surge of memories filling my mind. Flashbacks of playing for the team for years. Years of practice drills, sweaty guys tackling me to the ground. Most of all, my relationship with the guy who made me fall in love with rugby in the first place, Marcus.

"Anything for you, babe."

#gay tf #jock #mental change #straight to gay #male transformation #rugby #gay jock #jock bulge

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gazeofseer · 10 months ago

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What is your role in the world?

'Not everyone is born to war, nor to love but we all are born to live for both at times, but what is the role we play at the backstage ; when we take off the costume and keeping the scripts at the table..a courage to face the mirror and walking out in the street full of people what are you then? Is what today's reading is about, I do readings only if it is channeled so let your intuition guide you well ; )

Pick a Pile

1.Supporting Character/Audience

'Beautiful eyes keep longing for deep and endearing sights of act, efforts and play..you enjoy watching, observing, you can look at the sky for hours without getting tired, you have a tough job but you do it with so much compassion and professional touch that nothing stays in your mind, the novelty of you lies in the subtle nuances of picking up on details which satisfies your soul, you have always been second in your life, be it rank, position, or in personal life this affected you to become more resilient and follow the lead of someone to give you a better space of stage where at least your seen and being seen, heard, and felt makes you feel enough'

Signs : White clothes especially scarf makes or one scarf which you treasure a lot, seeing strangers crying and tearing, and smiling at them, seeing 6:16, 888 and 11:11

Career for you overall : Film Direction, Photography, Anything that needs minimal attention keeps you sane, manager, designer.

These careers can give you the sense of purpose in life as it is your role nobody can do it like you do.

_____________________________________________________________

2. Main Character

'Breathe, easy the world will go on if you rest and go on vacation for months, being at the spot can be heating at times that idea of being answerable to everyone gives you sleep paralysis and sleep talking is what your side effects of burning out results into, you need pause but everyone remembers about work as soon as you arrive even your family comes like 'hey I had to ask did you paid the bills? ' especially when you leave your room and come for fresh air, you feel being consumed all the time you want to shed, shed the way people perceive as it affects you mentally to keep in touch with the real you because there is very rare events to act yourself not any character filling the gaps in others life is like stopping between looking for the perfect mask for today and the kind of people you will meet'

Let me sigh, your future spouse has a message 'Calm down love, I was trying to connect with you when you skipped on your favourite love song, as you were busy I had lost my ear plug cover at my workplace and it was not the best day'

Advice : Leave everything aside and listen to the songs you love and sing your heart out especially when someone talks work sing a song

______________________________________________________________

3.Background Performer/Actor

'Struggling days are the best right? Nobody cares so do you..since you enjoy your two minute shadow appearance and celebrate as if you won an award for it, the cheerful optimism melts the moment everyone leaves, your role begins when you are alone, you act really very well, especially when nobody sees, maybe because you fear the judgement the lights, the shout pressure coming by the action, seeing the main lead being called out in insults walls your dreams under a illusion of having enough and asking for extra even in food makes you feel as if you are begging, guilt, trauma and ignorance seems to follow you'

Messages from Your Guardians : Leave your worries to us, we will ease the agony you carry, leave them to us and move forward we want to see you grow, grow out of yourself.

Signs : You have two opportunities at hand, make decision which has no regret attached, showcase your talent on social media, do not give up, people are noticing you do not leave !

______________________________________________________________

It was very personal I felt, I hope whoever it was meant for has got their messages it can be you if it is, let me know in the comments !

#divination #pyschic reading #wisdom #divine guidance #intutive reading #channelled message #pick a pile #pick a picture #gratitude #mysticism #cosmic angels #holy spirit #ancestors #love

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tj-dragonblade · 9 months ago

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[FLUFFBRUARY FICLET] Vogue

Rated: M Word Count: 756 Tags: Fluffbruary, Fluffbruary 2024, fluff with added heat, human AU, photographer-model roleplay

For my dearest @staroftheendless - happy birthday! The stars aligned and I managed to bang out this little scene, built on today's Fluffbruary prompt and featuring not-a-shaved-panther human!Dream just for you ❤️

Fluffbruary Prompts: Day 21: photography pepper truffles Day 22: key silly quest

Summary: Dream comes home and Hob greets him with a camera

On AO3

"There he is!" Hob exclaims, and whisper-yells to simulate crowd noise, camera flashing as the door to the flat opens. Dream pauses on the threshold, caught off guard, keys still in hand, and then his expression shifts as he takes in Hob, shirtless, snapping photo after photo. He smiles, slow and sultry, tosses his head and runs a hand through his hair, shakes it out as he shuts the door and sets his keys aside. He pauses briefly on each move, posing, letting Hob get every shot like they're on the red carpet, and Hob plays it up, crooning directions in between.

"Yeah, that's it, give me lips—" Dream pouts, full and rosy pink, framed by his three-day stubble, and the camera flashes. "Beautiful, gorgeous, yes. Give me flirty, playful—" Dream hooks a finger under the knot of his tie and tugs it loose, flicks open the buttons on his collar, smile coy, eyes a simmering sapphire blue under his lashes. "Love it, sweetheart, you're a natural," Hob praises, clicking away. They've gone from imaginary red carpet to imaginary private studio in two seconds flat but that's really not the point here, is it. "Lose some layers, let's relax a bit, yeah?"

Dream, bless him, manages to make the process of removing his shoes and socks while still standing look sexy, somehow; Hob makes sure to catch his bare feet with their ebony toenails in at least of couple of shots. Dream shrugs out of his neat slate-grey blazer next, turning and giving a coy come-hither gaze over his shoulder as he tugs it off his arms and casts it aside.

"That's right baby keep going, you're doing great," Hob offers, halfway between his photographer-with-questionable-ethics persona and genuine praise. It's harder to keep up the role the further they get into it, but he knows Dream has fun with these silly little games and so he does his best. "Show me something dirty, now, something sexy." He's backing down the hall as Dream advances, heading inevitably for the bedroom.

"Hmmm," Dream purrs, thoughtful; then, eyes never leaving the camera, he brings his wrist to his mouth and unbuttons the cuff of his sleeve with his teeth. His other hand is busy with the buttons down his front; he switches and continues, repeats the cuff-unbuttoning on the other arm.

"Perfect," Hob leers, backing into the bedroom, snapping pic after pic, "keep it coming, make me, uh, make me forget my own name here—"

Dream lifts his arms, shirt hanging open, cuffs undone, and rakes both hands back through his hair with a moan. His eyes are closed, lips parted, head tilted back; the loose tie around his throat is a slash of deep burgundy against the black of his chest hair and the white of his skin and Hob loses his breath for half an instant at the sheer compositional beauty of the sight, grateful that he's already got his camera in action.

He is so fucking blessed, to get to call Dream his.

Dream lifts his head, rolls his shoulders, drops his hands to his belt and meets Hob's gaze through the camera lens again. He undoes the buckle and pulls the slim leather free in one swift motion, drops it lazily behind him as he enters the bedroom. He flicks open the clasps on his trousers, draws the zipper down just enough to tease, then palms himself in one hand while the other snakes up to pull his tie completely free. He gives Hob another second to take photos while he's gripping his crotch and then he turns, steps over to the bed and falls gracefully back onto it. His hands are above his head; he winds the tie loosely about both wrists and then holds the ends in his fist, a token show of restraint. His shirt is wide open around him, dusky pink nipples on display, the dark hair on his chest trailing beautifully down his abdomen into the open fly of his trousers, where he is visibly aroused.

Hob stares, lifting his gaze from the viewscreen on the camera, achingly hard himself and losing the thread of his character entirely. "Fuck me, you're gorgeous," he breathes, snapping a few more photos. He can't help himself.

Dream smiles, sultry, decadent, and arches invitingly against the sheets. "Put the camera down, Hob," he purrs, flexing his fingers where his hands are 'bound' above his head. "Your model has worked hard, and would like to be ravished, now."

Hob is only too happy to comply.

= Drafted: 2/20/24 - 2/21/24 Posted: 2/21/24

#TJs Fics #TJs Fluffbruary #Fluffbruary 2024 #Dreamling #Sandman

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mygayshortstories · 11 months ago

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Back before the days of the internet, when I was in my mid 20s, this was my first experience at “cottaging” in a public toilet, when I happened across Steve, a gorgeous 18 year-old, just ravenous for sex. But this turned into more than just a 'quick one'.....

Steve the Pipe-Fitter

I had a day off from work and had gone out to Coventry to photograph the Cathedral, only to be met with a ‘no photography’ sign at the door, so I’d spent the rest of the morning taking candid photos of nice young men out in the sun instead. A bit frustrated, I got back to town about 2 o’clock.

Just under the pedestrian ramp leading out of the railway station were the public toilets. I had heard about ‘cottaging’ and knew that this lavatory, being busy and anonymous, was such a place, so whether or not my subconscious was drawing me there today I don’t know but when I actually went down there, it was to pay a genuine call, so I duly paid and went into a cubicle.

The partitions between the cubicles didn’t quite reach the ground, so there was a gap underneath of about 6 inches. After a while, my curiosity got the better of me. Although I had never done it before, I knelt down on the floor and looked underneath. To my naïve surprise, a few cubicles away, a face was looking back in my direction. My reaction was instantaneous; I sat up quickly. However, my reaction had been so swift that I hadn’t had time to see who it was or what he looked like. For some reason though, I couldn’t pluck up enough courage to look again. I just sat there.

A short while later, I saw a young pair of shoes, at the end of jean-clad legs, enter the cubicle next door. I say ‘young’ because the shoes were new and smart, with a brass toe-strip, fashionable at the time. Clearly it was someone fairly young; probably no older than me, at any rate. He seemed to sit down but then do nothing else. I was curious and couldn’t resist the temptation, so I wrote on a piece of toilet paper, “How old?” and slipped it under the partition. The note was quickly taken up and was shortly followed by the sound of a match being struck. At first, I thought he was burning the note in disgust but then I realized that he was using the match to write with.

The note came back; “18” it read. I drew a rather deep breath. Now what?

I returned the note; “I’m 26 – can I wank you off?” I remember thinking at the time that punctuation was probably superfluous under the circumstances and that a fairly basic vocabulary was more apt.

Another match was struck on the other side and the note came back, “Lend me your pen”. I realised that he must have seen my stainless-steel biro when I had slipped the message under the partition and I wasn’t yet ready to risk losing one of my 21st Birthday presents. As I had nothing else to write with, I returned the note saying, “No – you’ll nick it” and indicated that he should continue using a match.

There was now a bit of a delay and I figured I must have blown my chances. At best, he didn’t have any more matches. “And all for the sake of losing a stainless-steel biro!” I thought to myself as I sat there.

However, to my surprise, eventually another note came back giving his approval to my original request, provided that I agreed to “suck him off”. Needless to say, I immediately indicated agreement and told him, “Unlock when ready”. I flushed the toilet and opened the door.

As I emerged from the cubicle, I then thought, “What do I do if he doesn’t unlock the door and just leaves me standing there like an idiot trying to get in?” It was pretty busy outside, with people coming and going, people washing their hands or waiting for a cubicle and some even hanging around at the urinals. They may or may not have known what was going on but I knew I had to risk it and be quick about it. As I turned, I saw his lock click to ‘vacant’ and I pretended to put in a coin and entered the cubicle.

On reflection, my hasty action deserved to lead me into serious trouble but my limited experience knew no better. I don’t know who I really expected to find inside but for a start he hadn’t lied about his age. He was a fraction taller than me, lightly built with short dark hair and wearing blue denim jeans and a black leather bomber-jacket over a plain white ‘T’ shirt. But what struck me so overwhelmingly was his incredibly beautiful face. He had blue-grey eyes and soft boyish features, so clean-shaven that he looked almost as if he had never shaved and never needed to. I could hardly believe my eyes how gorgeous he was.

He also must have been reasonably pleased with me because, instead of just offering me his cock to suck, we both feverishly began undressing each other. We didn’t get far though, before we were both embracing, hugging each other tightly. This first embrace said so much without words and it seemed to last for ages; he pressed his whole body to me, burying his face against my neck, hugging me and kissing my neck. He smelt nice too; he was clearly wearing after-shave or cologne of some kind. Whatever it was, it was doing its job perfectly and I was almost overwhelmed. At best, on entering the cubicle, I had expected - I had hoped – for an ‘ordinary’ young man (like me) who wanted quick, impersonal sex but nothing had prepared me for this situation. He wanted – he deserved – far more than just a quick wank, that much was certain. Looking into those glistening blue-grey eyes, set beneath luxuriant dark eyebrows, I just cradled his face in my hands and gently kissed him on the lips.

At this point, I must have realised the danger we were both in; two men in a public toilet, half undressed and one of us under 21. I felt I had to get him out of there to somewhere safer – and a little more romantic. I whispered into his ear,

“You’re so gorgeous; what on earth are you doing here?”

He merely hugged me all the more tightly and then he kissed me for the first time; not a peck or anything half-hearted but a full-blown, sloppy kiss. Oh heavens! His lips tasted simply delicious! Memories came flooding back of an 18 year-old boy-friend I had a few years back, as I began to melt against him. Again, I whispered to him,

“I can’t bear the thought of you being caught here. Can I take you back to my place? It’s not too far and it’ll be safer there.”

Much to my surprise, he readily agreed, just as we noticed someone spying on us from under the partition with the next cubicle. It was that face again – the one I had seen looking back at me under the partitions - only this time, he was right next door and had already noticed two pairs of feet where there should be only one.

My newly discovered treasure left the cubicle first, flushing the toilet for effect, and I followed after a moment or two. When I emerged at the top of the steps, I thought that I had lost him and that he had run off, but then I caught a glimpse of him disappearing into a telephone kiosk. I still wasn’t sure whether he was trying to avoid me but I briskly walked up to the kiosk and when he saw me, he came out. As we walked away together, he seemed more on edge than I had expected and he was nervously looking around at the people about us.

As we walked on, I managed to ascertain that his name was Steve and that he was, of all things, a pipe-fitter. To this day, I don't know if he was having me on and it was some kind of jok on his part but without warning, he suddenly hustled me in front of a queue and onto a bus. Rather taken by surprise, I fumbled for the fare he had paid and followed him upstairs to where he was sitting, looking intently out of the window. He then told me that we had been followed from the toilet and he pointed to a middle-aged, rather scruffy looking man in the crowd who I remember seeing earlier, loitering in the public toilet. It was ‘The Face’ from under the partitions again!

We stayed on the bus as it went around the City Centre; meanwhile, he sat there, pressing his leg firmly against mine. Even through my jeans, I could feel the warmth of his leg and this tenuous connection of our bodies passed an electric sexuality between us that was getting me highly aroused! The blood was pumping through my cock, tightly crushed inside my briefs, and there was an uncomfortable dampness developing in my groin as pre-cum oozed into my underwear as we sat there, our jean-clad thighs pressed warmly together.

By the time we reached the Town Hall, he seemed to be less nervous. We had lost our follower, so we changed buses and headed to my place. On the way, I tried to make ‘small talk’ and he responded chattily. He had a gorgeous Liverpool accent but said he lived locally. I learned that he had left his parents in Liverpool to find work and that he shared a flat not far from where I now lived, so he didn’t feel that he was heading into totally strange parts. The short walk from the bus seemed to take ages; my heart was beating fast and it was thumping into my throat. I was nervous that we might meet someone I knew; what would I say? But as it happened, we didn’t pass anyone.

He seemed impressed when I showed him into my flat and immediately asked how much it cost. Typical of a Liverpool ‘Lad’, I thought; winningly engaging but always straight to the point. I took his leather bomber-jacket, gave him a Coke and sat down on the couch, patting the seat next to me, indicating for him to sit beside me, which he did. As I put my arm around him, he responded straight away by doing the same and by snuggling up to me affectionately. I stroked his face and again told him how beautiful he was.

“Thank you,” he said with a coy grin. He seemed genuinely flattered.

As I moved to kiss him, he turned toward me and our lips met for the second time in a kiss of such tenderness, quite unlike anything you could imagine from an 18 year-old. His lips were full and his mouth tasted slightly of mint, as our passions roused and our tongues entwined. I began to realise that he may have been 18 but he was no novice. He certainly knew how to kiss, that’s for sure!

Eagerly, he following me into the bedroom, where I drew the curtains and closed the door. In the semi-darkness, we embraced again but this time, unlike in the toilet cubicle, we were safe and secure from prying eyes. Our whole bodies now pressing together, we kissed and hugged. He began to unbutton my shirt as I removed his t-shirt, revealing soft tanned arms and a strong chest delicately peppered with tiny hairs. Again we hugged, but this time our skins touched for the first time and passed bodily warmth between us. Feverishly, I unzipped his flies and unbuckled his belt but by now, we were both so desperate to get into bed that we both just dropped our jeans and almost leapt into bed, still wearing our underpants.

Under the covers, we fell against each other, skin against skin, and I felt the warm hardness of his organ against mine through our underwear. Soon, however, the underwear was gone and we were fully naked, entwined, hugging and kissing in a heat of frantic passion. I could feel his organ, large and full, between our stomachs as I lay on top of him and he began thrusting upwards to me.

Looking back from today’s world of the internet and ‘porn on tap’, it’s difficult to explain but all this excitement simply proved too much for me and his eagerness tipped me over the edge; all my pent-up sexual frustrations rose within me and I came uncontrollably against his stomach and erect cock, hugging and pressing myself to him. As I clung to him, my orgasm enveloped my whole body, as my semen gushed uncontrollably in pulses between us.

I was mortified. While I did not count myself as promiscuous, I had ‘been around the block a few times’, so this sort of thing was not supposed to happen to me and I was embarrassed. I thought I had blown my chances and it was all over. Light-heartedly, I apologized and quickly mopped up the mess, as I didn’t want to disappoint him. But there was no fear of that; he rolled me onto my back and knelt astride me, holding his throbbing penis in my face, foreskin already drawn back in anticipation. Evidently, he hadn’t forgotten our bargain back in the public toilet!

I too had no intention of breaking our ‘contract’, so I eagerly took his throbbing tool in my mouth and began sucking and playing with it. He loved it. We rolled about in a number of positions, with me sucking him and tickling and licking his testicles; and him thoroughly reveling in it. But I had to keep resting my jaw; it was beginning to ache and juices were everywhere; he was a big lad for one so slightly built.

“I’m a good stayer,” he joked, and he certainly was. I wasn’t about to give up either; he was 18, beautiful - and all mine.

But eventually, I felt the tell-tale signs; now on his back again with me crouched between his baby-soft thighs, his organ in my mouth and gripped in my hand, his breathing suddenly changed and he began gasping and shuddering. Don’t you simply love that moment when a young man loses all self-control just before he cums? With a deep, hard gasp, he exploded into my mouth 3 or 4 times, great gushes of salty cum coursing through his organ and filling my mouth.

Some guys (girls too, I suppose) don’t like the taste of a guy’s cum, so they either spit it out or let it dribble back out of their mouth. For me though, the whole experience is a very personal one and while I don’t much like the taste, I feel that swallowing it increases that connection; it creates an even deeper bond between the ‘giver’ and the ‘receiver’. Besides which, having a man’s cum permanently inside me is very satisfying; at least it is for me, at any rate! Consequently, as his throbbing cock subsided, I swallowed all of his slimy, slithery juices. His body then relaxing and exhausted, he breathed heavily.

“Jeez, I needed that!” he said, as we collapsed into each other’s arms, once again hugging and kissing.

At this point, I thought he would want to leave, his passion satisfied; but he hadn’t had enough, it seemed. We continued laying together, caressing and stroking, hugging and kissing, rolling about in loving passion the likes of which I had not felt in a long while. Occasionally, we would rest and just lay still in each other’s arms, softly talking, only to return to the hugging and kissing with renewed vitality. I complimented him on how passionate a lover he was. He liked that.

I said, “You’re not shy either, are you”, and he looked at me, slightly surprised, and replied, “No”, as if it had never occurred to him.

As we still lay entwined, without any warning he then said,

“Well, can I stick it up you then?”

Although the abruptness of his request came as something of a surprise, it was by no means out of character. He was direct and to the point. But I saw this as an opportunity, so in an attempt to persuade him to meet me again, I said I thought maybe we should keep that for another time. He didn’t seem to mind, except that now we began exploring each other’s bottoms.

As I played my finger around his anus, I realised that this was one of his weak spots, as it was mine in fact. He began groaning and he clasped my hand, pressing my finger into him. With the aid of a little lube, I began to finger-fuck him, massaging his prostate while he writhed about, groaning in ecstasy. For a few moments, I had his entire body sensations under my control (again) and I sensed he was going to let go again. I felt tremendous. But he had other ideas still in his mind because he gently pushed me away, grabbing the lube and following my example. Now he was the one who had me under his control and my mind soon changed regarding his request to screw me! He rolled me over and took charge.

I asked him to take it gently – he was only young and I wasn’t sure how desperate he might be. But I need have had no fears. As I lay on my front over a pillow, face to one side and one knee raised, he lubricated his now throbbing organ and my aching anus. He entered me just a little at a time, pausing when I asked, allowing me to relax. He wasn’t particularly well-endowed, as if that mattered, but he was fairly narrow too, so I was able to accommodate him with very little discomfort. However, his cock was quite long and it was terrific to feel his slender organ sliding smoothly in and out, upwards and inwards, rhythmically inside me, as he lay against my back with his arms firmly clasped around me. It was sheer bliss.

Eventually, he began thrusting in earnest, almost withdrawing in between his full, hard thrusts into me. In fact, he slipped out twice and got a bit flustered at nearly losing it – he was obviously getting near to his climax. I calmed him as he entered again easily, softly encouraging him to continue, and he began thrusting again, now desperately. As I felt his rhythm change, he thrust once or twice really hard into me as far as he could go and, reaching his climax, he grasped both my hands on the pillow and buried his face against my neck. I could feel him holding his breath, as he held absolutely still for a second or two; and then I felt his organ pulsing high inside me – 2, 3, 4, 5 times he came into me, my insides warmed by the love fluid flowing into me. Then he let out a gasp and I felt him relax his frantic grip of me, as he just lay there on top of me, his tool still slowly throbbing the last of his orgasm inside me.

Exhausted, his tool slipped out of me as he still lay against my back, sighing and breathing heavily. I sighed too – frankly, I had never had it so good! As we rolled over into each other’s arms once again, I told him so and he was justly flattered. We must have rolled about kissing and embracing for quite some time until he finally asked if I had cum when he screwed me. I told him I hadn’t, although I had been pretty close, and to my utter amazement, he said,

“Right, well it’s your turn then – I’ll do you a blow job” and with the words, “Let me at it!” he climbed over in-between my legs and began passionately sucking my still hard penis and tickling my testicles with his fingers.

Frankly, I was speechless; this 18 year-old fantasy had just had two quite tremendous orgasms in the space and he was still as excited and, what’s more, he was interested in me. I wasn’t expecting any more than I had already experienced but I was ready for anything he was prepared to offer and I was enjoying every precious moment.

He didn’t move up and down on me much; instead, he teased me with his mouth and tongue, second by second, so slowly that as I felt myself drawing towards a climax, it was so gently and slowly done that the tension was almost agonizing in its pleasure. I began shaking what seemed like ages before I came but then I could feel the fluid rising in me, flowing on its inexorable path to the outside world. I clutched at his head, gasping for breath, and came like a small fountain into his mouth, pumping away while he eagerly swallowed every drop I gave him until I was truly spent.

I was still gasping for breath when he collapsed against me again, where he lay for another ten minutes or so until it was time for him to return to his own flat. We had been in bed together for nearly three hours and finally he was leaving. We dressed and tidied up and I asked if I could see him again. To this day, his reply still baffles me.

“What do you think?” he said.

I’ve often wondered at the double meaning in his response but at the time, I took it at face value, gave him my phone number and attempted to express sincere feeling to him as I showed him out to the road and directed him to his bus home.

A beautiful cheery face smiled back at me as I waved to him disappearing down the road. As I returned to my flat and closed the door, I was alone again and felt suddenly empty and yet at the same time rejuvenated. For me, nothing short of a fantasy had come true and it felt all the better for knowing that he had had a bloody good time too! Our afternoon had been filled with such intense passion that I thought, “Surely this was more than just another ‘one night stand’ encounter?” But he never contacted me and I never saw him again. All I have is the memory; the image etched in my mind of that beautiful young man’s face, the warmth of his soft skin against mine and that incredible Thursday afternoon.

If you liked that story, please let me know - even post a comment under “ask me a question”. Or perhaps you’d just like to read another story?

Here’s an index of my other sordid tales, many of them taken from true-life sexual adventures of my own: Erotic Gay Stories Index

#gay short stories #hot gay stories #smut #cute guys #twinks #gay stories #cottaging #public toilets

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lrgcarter · 4 months ago

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So, I'm the first person to point out that advertising and marketing doesn't work in an age where people have no money to spend on products.

and at the same time...

Italian artistic gymnast Giorgia Villa (bronze medalist in a previous Olympics, Silver medalist in the current Olympics, Italian national champion various previous years) is a Brand Ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano, or as you and I would call it, a Parmesan Cheese Company.

Obviously everyone is saying that she shills for Big Parma, which, yes, was funny the first time I heard it.

But I want to focus on the photographs that have been taken as part of her role of Brand Ambassador. These ones were produced by a person/company named Gabriele Seghizzi Photography.

In the photographer's own words, "The goal was to produce three types of contents. First we had to shot some portraits, posed and contextualized with some of the tools that the athlete uses daily in her discipline. The second type were shots in which some of the products brought by Parmigiano Reggiano were inserted and attempts were made to reproduce pre and post sport consumption opportunities. While the third and last kind of shots were real action photos, as if I had to document a typical workout of her."

I would like to focus on a few bits of that quote.

Contents 1: 'portraits, posed and contextualized with some of the tools that the athlete uses..." Okay, so far so good, photos of the athlete doing the thing she is second place at in the world.

Contents 2: 'shots in which some of the products brought by Parmigiano Reggiano were inserted...'

What sort of products, you ask? Well, Big Parma of course, we've already covered that!

You might think "well, those are way too big to 'insert' anywhere-" and yeah, I'm going to cut you off there, because obviously the insertion happens using the photographic art of implication using a shared and mutually understood visual language. By which I mean, an arrow made out of cheese pointing in the direction of the intended insertion.

Next bit of Contents 2:

"...and attempts were made to reproduce pre and post sport consumption opportunities.'

Pre and post sport consumption. So that's ... eating it before and after sport, right?

Okay, yeah, that's one way to eat a ridiculously big cheese-

Wait a second! Now the photographer is specifically aiming for size-play vibes! And vore vibes! Especially if you're some kind of cheese-person!

Anyway, contents 3 is a standard set of photos of the athlete doing her sport. Possibly as a sort of after-care to help her ground herself back into the world of not-everything-being-about-giant-or-tiny-cheeses.

So, if you're a cheese person or a 'not-to be-a-lesbian-but' person, check out this link for more photos. Be warned, they're pretty big.

Anyway, what was my point? Oh yeah! Theoretically, I have now done some free marketing for this big cheese company. I have fallen into their trap of helping promote their cheeses!

BUT

Nobody who is ever going to see this post will ever be able to afford ONE giant cheese wheel, let alone FOUR. So it still isn't working, Big Business! You will have total brand recognition but the line will still go down because nobody can afford your products!!

In conclusion; universal basic income, nationalising water and energy, making housing a human right and then making sure all human rights are provided to everyone, and decriminalising sex work are the bare minimum of what we need to do to fix society.

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sketch-guardian · 3 months ago

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I LOVE WRITERDUMBASS’S REQUESTS, THEYRE SO FUNNY.

IS IT OKAY IF I REQUEST SOMETHING INSPIRED BY THEIR REQUEST WHERE ITS LIKE DRAWING THE STUDENTS AS IF THEY WERE IN THE BOYFRIENDS WEBTOON OR THE COFFIN OF ANDY AND IDK HER NAME WHEN THEY DONT ANSWER MC’S TEXTS AS A “PUNISHMENT”

I LOVE YOUR WRITING SM 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

I'm sure @writerdumbass will be happy to read your compliments☺they always have very creative asks in mind✨Also, of course you can make such a request, the webtoon and videogame mentioned ruin my sanity😂however I'll do my best anyway🙈thank you for the compliment btw, I appreciate it very much💜:

"RAD CLASSMATES+NEW EXCHANGE STUDENTS WITH A MC WHO PUNISHES THEM FOR NOT REPLYING TO THEIR TEXTS BY DRAWING THEM AS IF THEY WERE IN THE BOYFRIENDS WEBTOON OR IN THE COFFIN OF ANDY AND LEYLEY"

DEMYA

Demya can sometimes get distracted by other activities, so it wouldn't be that unlikely that she wouldn't always pay attention to her D.D.D and consequently miss some texts from MC. Eventually when Demya would check her D.D.D throughout the day, she would notice a sketch sent by MC, showing herself drawn in the style of a certain videogame, as Ashley. Demya would know few details about it, so at first she would suspect it was a reference to her cannibalism, which would make her almost happy, like a quote, but then by doing more research, Demya would discover the incest detail, quite disgusting...MC better start running, because Demya knows her mate's scent and will hunt them down-

DOMNRA/MOBIM

Usually if Domnra is busy training or listening to way too loud music with headphones to hear his D.D.D ringing, Mobim would be in charge of replying to texts, while the little curse would bring the D.D.D to Domnra in case of calls, since Mobim only knows how to express itself through squeaks. On an occasion where even Mobim fails to intervene in time, then it would be the time MC would send such punishment to their partner via text. Domnra would choke on his spit at seeing himself represented as a character from the Boyfriends webtoon, especially Goth, because not only would Domnra know the webtoon's terrible reputation, but he would also find it offensive and take it personally. MC should prepare themselves to receive a voice message, lasting about half an hour, in which an annoyed Domnra would shout swears and order MC to delete such garbage

AZUL

Azul is quite often on social media, however when busy with photography or painting, he would tend to keep his D.D.D on silent, to avoid distractions, consequently missing texts, even from MC. Azul would know perfectly well about the reputation of the Boyfriends webtoon, being in step with internet trends and memes, so noticing himself drawn as Nerd, he would let out a dismayed gasp, but he wouldn't be discouraged, two can play the same game. MC would receive in the following days sketches of them drawn pregnant with Shrek holding their belly or in a threesome with Mario and Sonic, after all it was MC who started the war and Azul wouldn't back down

ZURI

Zuri often receives commissions via email or important phone calls, so she would be quite careful with her D.D.D, however it could happen every now and then that while she is busy with the sewing machine, Zuri may not hear MC's texts. As soon as Zuri noticed their text, which was a sketch of her drawn as a certain Renee Graves, she would look at the drawing with a raised eyebrow, trying to grasp the motivation behind it. After some research, Zuri's expression would turn exasperated and cold. Zuri would then inform MC that if they wanted their privilege of receiving affection revoked, then they could have semply asked for it directly, letting MC reflect on their childish actions and then expecting an apology

ODON

Odon wouldn't be very experienced with technology, in fact they would be quite certain that due to their eldritch nature, electronic devices struggle to function properly in their presence, so MC would be quite heartless to blame Odon for it. Furthermore, Odon is very knowledgable, but on ancient matters, while on more modern topics they would be quite clueless, therefore at the sight of themselves drawn like Andrew from The Coffin Of Andy And Leyley, Odon wouldn't understand that it's supposed to be a punishment, they would think MC did such thing only for the similarity between their colors and would politely thank MC for the present, complimenting their artistic skills (please protect Odon-)

REMIEL

(Please protect Remiel pt.2-) Remiel would have no idea how technology works, she has never used it and would need help the first few times before understanding how a D.D.D works, even if she wouldn't reach Simeon's levels. Remiel, as she's often busy with leading souls to the afterlife, may not have much time to reply to texts and therefore would be forced to read them later and get used to controlling the device. Noticing MC's text, Remiel would notice a sketch of herself drawn in a certain style, like Goth, even if she wouldn't realize that it was the Boyfriends webtoon, so she would simply reply with a question mark, as if to ask what the sketch was about, making MC feel almost guilty, given Remiel's innocence

NATHANIEL

Surprisingly, Nathaniel would know how to use a D.D.D and would be quite up to date with technology and internet, however due to his celestial duty, he would often find himself forced to respond with a slight delay, a mistake which to his surprise, MC would make him pay dearly for. Nathaniel would notice a text, showing himself drawn as Prep from the Boyfriends webtoon and would observe in silence for a few seconds, before writing to MC that perhaps spending too much time in Devildom has made them fit to become a demon, there is a circle of hell especially for people as them after all, he would add, although it wouldn't be clear from his texts whether Nathaniel is serious or kidding

URIEL

Uriel wouldn't consider using a D.D.D necessary, believing that MC chanting her name would be enough to make her come down from the Celestial Realm to their aid, however given MC's insistence, she would agree to bring her D.D.D with her, but often forgetting to check it, not used to have it. Uriel would finally deign to respond to MC and noticing the sketch of herself in the guise of Jock from the Boyfriends webtoon, not understanding the reference, she would demand explanations from MC. If MC confessed the details, Uriel would show up at MC's location, loudly telling MC they should be ashamed and that she will not tolerate such insults

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rabbitcruiser · 7 months ago

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Sun Day

Embracing warmth and radiance, basking in the vibrant glow that uplifts spirits and infuses joy into everyday moments.

Sun Day, formally known as International Sun Day, is a unique celebration that honors the Sun. This day emphasizes the importance of solar energy and appreciates the Sun’s contributions to life on Earth. It is a day that allows you to grasp the Sun’s potential and invest in the planet’s sustainability.

People have been fascinated with the sun and its effect on the Earth since ancient days. It has been seen as a symbol of energy, light, and life. Without it, Earth would be a lifeless rock floating in space. In modern times, we see it as a source of clean, renewable energy.

Sun Day is not just a celebration but also a call to action, a reminder to the world of solar power’s potential for a sustainable future.

History of Sun Day

As a formal event, the Sun Day can be traced back to the late 20th century. Its origins refer to the growing environmental movement and the search for alternative energy sources.

The United States celebrated the first official Sun Day on May 3, 1978, after the U.S. Congress designated the date to promote solar power following a joint resolution passed in 1977.

President Jimmy Carter, whose administration was marked by a strong push for renewable energy, supported the initiative, which resonated with the energy crisis of the time.

Since its establishment, this day has seen widespread activities across the U.S., with events highlighting the potential of solar energy and its benefits.

Educational institutions, governmental bodies, and environmental groups have engaged in discussions, demonstrations, and exhibitions to spread awareness.

Although not recognized as an official annual holiday, Sun Day has been celebrated by enthusiasts and environmentalists who continue to advocate for solar energy.

How to Celebrate Sun Day

Celebrating Sun Day can take many forms, from educational activities to a personal commitment to sustainable practices. Here are some ways to honor this day:

Educational Workshops and Seminars: One of the best ways to celebrate Sun Day is by spreading knowledge. Schools and communities can organize workshops and seminars on the benefits of solar energy, how it works, and its impact on reducing carbon footprints. Experts in the field can be invited to give talks that inspire people to consider solar solutions for their energy needs.

Solar-Powered Events: Events that run on solar power are a direct way to demonstrate the capability of this renewable energy source. Whether it’s a concert, a local fair, or a community gathering, using solar panels to power the event can be a powerful statement.

Switch to Solar: Sun Day might be the perfect time for individuals considering solar panels for their homes or businesses. This commitment can result in long-term savings on energy bills and less reliance on fossil fuels.

Advocacy and Community Initiatives: Take a stand to support solar energy development. Joining or starting local initiatives that aim to install solar power in public spaces or provide solar-powered solutions to those in need are perfect ways to celebrate the day and contribute to the community.

Personal Practices: On a more personal level, taking the time to enjoy the Sun responsibly is a way to connect with the essence of Sun Day. This could be as simple as sunbathing, planting a solar garden with sun-loving plants, or cooking with a solar oven.

Artistic Expression: Artists can use Sun Day to create and showcase works that feature the Sun or are created with the help of solar energy. This could include solar light installations, photography that captures the beauty of the Sun, or music inspired by solar themes.

Sun Day is a moment to reflect on our relationship with the Sun and to embrace the possibilities of solar energy. It’s a day to educate, inspire, and take real steps toward a future where clean energy is not the alternative but the standard.

By participating in Sun Day activities or simply taking a moment to appreciate the warmth and light the Sun provides, we can all appreciate its vital role in our lives.

Source

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polishwomenartists-sztukakobiet · 1 month ago

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Marzena Wasikowska (PL, b.1962)

Negotiating a Family Portrait 2018

Chaos, 80cm x 110cm

Marzena Wasikowska is a visual artist specialising in photomedia. Based in Canberra, Australia, Marzena has maintained a professional practice in portraiture and landscape photography since the mid-1980s. She is currently a PHD candidate in Photography and Media Arts at the Australian National University.

Negotiating a family portrait (2010-2021)

This is an accurate title for the group of family portraits made over the last decade. It adequately summarises how I think about the act and procedure of making family portraits for public viewing. Each portrait in this group might benefits from a subtitle. I'm keenly aware of the discussions and negotiations of private and public - what to exhibit and what to keep private. (This extends to the decision, not to photograph some event.) Image makers tread this fine line when contributing to the dialogue of family portraiture while revealing something candid but not uncensored.

There is a performative aspect, each person has a sense of contributing to the portrait, simultaneously existing in a private space but aware of being seen publicly.

I love the collaborations with my family. We lead busy, disparate lives - as many families do. These calls to action, for me, exist as very meaningful intersections.

I long for my family members to be the actors in my images but hope that each photograph holds the essence of a genuine, personal event, for each of us.

#Marzena Wasikowska #sztuka kobiet #art #polish art

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sjsmith56 · 9 months ago

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Trouble, Chapter 7 - Eyes of the Father

Summary: Bucky sends a letter to Lacey via her publisher. Soon after, he is caught.

Length: 5.2 K

Characters: Bucky, Steve

Warnings: Lots of violence

Author notes: The events in this chapter happen from about a month prior to the action in Captain America: Civil War movie up to the flight to Siberia. I have tried to minimize using dialogue from the movie but that is easier said than done so have paraphrased many segments or substituted my own dialogue. There are also some segments spoken in Romanian and Russian. They are in bold case.

<<Chapter 6

✉️ 🏍️

One month previous, Bucharest.

"Iacob!" called the truck driver. "What are you looking at? These boxes won't shift themselves!"

Bucky pulled his attention back to the boxes in the truck and picked up several of them, stacking them on a dolly. He pushed the dolly into the book store while trying to figure out how a poster with Lacey's picture on it could be on full display in the book store window. There had been no time to read the blurb that went with the picture except for the name identifying her as L.C. Chapman. The driver followed him with his clipboard and together he and the book store manager went over the boxes. Satisfied at the count the manager signed the paper on the clipboard and the truck driver ordered Bucky to take the dolly back to the truck.

"You're distracted today," said the driver in Romanian as they both got into the cab of the truck. "I've never seen you this way. We have eight more stops this morning. Get your head on straight, Iacob."

Bucky nodded. "Sorry," he said. "I'll do better."

As the driver went on to their next delivery Bucky thought over the name. L.C. Chapman. Did she get married? Perhaps she chose a new pen name to keep her identity secret, especially if the Russians were still after her. Part of him still worried that he shouldn't have left her but he knew if he stayed the CIA or FBI would eventually catch him, or worse yet, HYDRA would. After work he would go to the book store and have a better look at the display, perhaps buy the book. Throughout the rest of the work day he kept his thoughts away from Lacey and just did the heavy lifting he was hired for. When the truck driver returned to his depot he handed Bucky his time slip and told him to go get paid. It was in cash, which was exactly how he wanted it.

As he jumped on the streetcar that would take him near the bookstore he kept his head down out of habit. His stop came up and he stepped off, walking towards the business, stopping to look closer at the poster now that he had the time to do it. The poster was in Romanian but at the bottom it did say they had English language copies for sale. He stepped inside and looked intently at the book display picking up one of the English copies. He looked at the author information page and was pleasantly relieved that nothing indicated she had married. It did say she suffered from agoraphobia and lived in rural Iowa. He went back to the front of the book and read the summary, smiling that the plot referred to Virginia Woolf. Then he looked at the dedication page and was startled to see the following:

To my brother Tom. I miss you all the time.

To B. Thank you for the inspiration.

L.C.C. June 2015

He smiled and pulled out some of his cash, paying for the book and walking to the market with it in his arm. Waving at some of the vendors who knew him as a regular he stopped and picked up some vegetables, putting them into the string bag he always carried in his jacket pocket. He heard his name and turned to see the fish vendor. He had a fresh catch in so Bucky picked out a trout and paid for it. The vendor said his name again and handed him something, a picture of himself.

"My daughter was practicing her photography and she took this of you," said the vendor. "I apologize she didn't ask your permission first. Here, it is yours."

Bucky looked at it and nodded his thanks. He thought of asking about any negatives but decided against it. He had a good relationship with the fish vendor and didn't want to sour it over a negative that would likely be in the bottom of a box. Before leaving the market he checked his surroundings, ever on the alert for anyone watching him. Then he took a roundabout way back to the small flat that had been home for the past year and a half. It was still dreary in many ways but it was clean, dry, and so far no one had come looking for him. After preparing and eating his dinner he laid back on the mattress and started reading Lacey's new book. As he read it he remembered something and stopped reading, putting her picture inside the page to mark his spot. He pulled out a journal type book from under the mattress and put a colour coded sticky note on the edge of the page, marking it as a memory from a certain time in his life. It was a memory of him buying Orlando: A Biography at a college campus bookstore with a senior coed on his arm. Her name was ... Edna, and they had a pretty intense physical relationship for the two weeks it lasted. Then he said something critical about the book and she took offence, telling him she didn't want to see him again. He finished writing the memory down and closed the journal.

He had several such journals, full of scattered memories, kept in a backpack that he hid under the floorboards of the apartment. It had been one of the first things he made in that dingy apartment, a hiding place for those precious memory books. The idea for it had come from the hiding place in Lacey's grandfather's house, the one the flash drive had been hidden in. Picking up Lacey's book he kept reading until almost midnight then reluctantly put it away. Stripping down to his boxers and undershirt he laid back on the mattress under the thin blanket and thought of Lacey again, hoping she was alright. Gradually, he fell asleep.

For the next few days he showed up at the truck depot, getting hired on for the day to do all the heavy lifting, receiving his cash wages at the end of the shift and heading out to the market to pick up food to eat. Then after eating he would lay on the mattress and either read Lacey's book or write down more memories that rose through the still cloudy recesses of his mind. When he finished the book after the third day he looked at it.

"Good work, Lacey," he said out loud, smiling. "I hope this one is more successful."

On an impulse he tore a sheet of paper out of one of his journals and wrote her a letter.

Dear Lacey,

I had the surprise of my life when I saw a huge poster of your face in a bookstore window. I returned there after finishing work and bought your new book. Thank you for the dedication but I really did nothing except read some Virginia Woolf in 1941. You incorporated her writings into your story in a way that was brilliant. You persevered and you succeeded. I'm so proud of you.

Obviously, I can't tell you where I am as I am still living under the radar. Every day I find an odd job that pays cash. It's enough to keep me in food, and books. In the centre of the city there is this beautiful market, full of fresh vegetables, fruits and anything else that one needs. They all know me there and keep the best produce for me, knowing that I appreciate it. Of course, I help out there from time to time, as well.

Nights are different. I stay home and read, or write down the memories that keep appearing in my mind. There is no rhyme or reason to them so I have taken to colour coding them with sticky tabs. Red is for war memories, blue is for before the war memories, yellow is for everything else except for sexual or erotic memories, which are purple. The latter often show up at the strangest times but I won't go into that other than to say the memory of our encounter won't ever have to be written down for me to remember.

I still think of that night we spent together. Making love with you was special and I will never forget how you looked when we were giving each other pleasure. There hasn't been anyone since and I'm not looking. I don't expect you to wait for me as I think I made it clear that we likely wouldn't see each other again. If you have a chance for love with a good man take it, run with it, and live it. I want you to be happy.

This seems like the right time to end this letter. I hope you are able to enjoy some success with your new book. I hope you find someone worthy of your love. I hope you are happy. I hope you don't forget me because I will never forget you.

Bucky

Before he could change his mind he put the picture with it inside an envelope and wrote her name in care of the publisher on it. Pulling his clothes on he ran to the small corner store and bought enough stamps for the letter to go to the United States. Then he posted it, tapping the mailbox with his hand before heading back to his quiet and lonely flat.

Three weeks later Bucky went to the market early as it was Saturday, he wasn't working, and it would be busy. As he picked up some plums something didn't feel right, and he looked around wondering why it felt like someone was watching him. Walking away from the fruit vendor he stood for a moment, still feeling exposed and looked up to see a man in the newspaper kiosk staring at him. The man definitely looked spooked and as Bucky approached him the man ran out of the kiosk. On the counter of the small booth was a newspaper with a blaring headline that Bucky stared at, not believing what he was reading. It was his picture and it said he had bombed a UN meeting in Vienna killing 12 people, including King T'Chaka of Wakanda, and injuring 70. He dropped it and backed away, trying not to hyperventilate. Taking his usual roundabout route he made his way to the flat only to find someone inside it. The man, whose back was to him, turned around and Bucky took a sharp intake of breath when he saw it was Steve. He was looking through one of his memory books.

Steve asked if Bucky remembered him. Bucky replied that he had read about him in a museum but Steve wasn't buying it, knowing that Bucky knew exactly who he was and why he was there. Thinking it had to do with the newspaper headline Bucky said he wasn't there and wasn't responsible for anything like that. But Steve was insistent that the people coming for him wouldn't believe him and were ready to kill him.

"Can't say I blame them," replied Bucky. "Knowing what I've done in the past it's a smart move."

He listened to the sound of heavy boots on the roof above him and started turning towards the door. Steve moved at the same time, trying to convince Bucky not to fight.

"I have no choice," replied Bucky, resigned to what was about to happen. "If I don't, they'll kill me for sure."

"You pulled me out of the river and left me on the riverbank," said Steve desperately, as Bucky pulled the glove off of his metal hand. "Why did you do that?"

Bucky shrugged not wanting to admit that it may have been an impulse because he wasn't sure if he had really remembered who Steve was at that time. Steve wasn't buying it but before he could say anything more the GS9 task force started their attack and threw flash bombs inside the room. Almost as if no time had passed from when they last fought together the two men coordinated their response to the attack and neutralized the bombs. As two armed men jumped into the room from the windows Bucky hit one, knocking him across the room to land at the other wall. After Steve dealt with the other he yelled at Bucky to not kill anyone. In response he knocked Steve over, punched the floor next to his head and glared at the man who had been his friend.

"I wasn't planning to," he said grimly, then reached into the hole in the floor and brought out his backpack from its hiding place.

Stuffing his remaining books into it he tossed it out the window onto the roof of the building next door. As more of the task force entered firing away Bucky fought them off and entered the stairwell. Steve watched Bucky methodically fight off attacker after attacker working his way down the stairwell until he had no choice but to jump only to break his fall by reaching out with his metal hand and grabbing the stair railing. Hauling himself onto that floor he ran down the hallway and out the opening at the end jumping onto the roof of the next building, rolling, and grabbing his backpack immediately.

Out of nowhere a man dressed completely in black attacked Bucky and they fought desperately against each other. Steve jumped to the roof while alerting Sam to their location. A police helicopter approached and fired at them until Sam was able to divert it. Bucky continued running across the roof, jumping off down to the ground, followed by the man in black then Steve. From there Bucky jumped down an opening into an underground roadway, running as fast as the cars were being driven. It seemed like every police car in the area was following him as he ran. Steve was able to commandeer one putting himself ahead of the others. He became aware the man in black had attached himself to his car and tried to shake him but the man didn't let go until he saw Sam approach and leaped into the air, grabbing Sam's feet. Bucky was able to take control of a motorcycle and raced through the tunnel until he came upon a row of police cars blocking his way. Switching to the opposite lanes he weaved through oncoming traffic until the man in black succeeded in jumping on him. They fought on the bike and Bucky was able to temporarily shake him off but he succeeded in catching Bucky again and both men went down, rolling hard against the pavement. Before the man in black could attack Bucky, Steve intervened and the three men faced off against each other as they were surrounded by police cars as the armed officers in them came out training their weapons on the three. Sam was forced down by Colonel Rhodes in his War Machine suit and all four men in the pursuit put their hands up in surrender. Then the man in black deactivated the suit he was wearing, removed his head covering, and revealed his identity, Prince T'Challa of Wakanda.

Bucky didn't resist, allowing himself to be cuffed and transported to a location where he was secured into a reinforced pod that restrained all of his limbs. They took everything from his pockets, even the crucifix that Eleni gave him, worried that he could use it as a weapon. The pod was loaded into an armoured truck where Bucky was accompanied by four armed guards. He never spoke on the trip to Germany, to the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, but when they unloaded him in Berlin he saw Steve, Prince T'Challa and another man, who he recognized as the one who had searched for him in Canada, exit a police van. Steve made eye contact with him, not looking happy at how Bucky had been restrained but the former Winter Soldier was resigned to his fate. He had eluded the authorities for two years but deep in his heart he knew eventually he would be caught. At least he was alive and for that he had to thank Steve.

As he sat in the pod a man with glasses came in, introducing himself as Dr. Broussard, a UN appointed psychiatrist who was to assess him. There was something not right about Broussard, especially when he began asking Bucky questions. For the most part Bucky ignored the man until suddenly the power went out and Dr. Broussard took a book out of his briefcase that brought up the metallic taste of fear into Bucky's mouth. He recognized it as the red book that his Russian HYDRA handler had used and it contained the activation words that would bring out the Winter Soldier.

"No," he whispered, as the man began to recite the activation words that would activate the Winter Soldier, then he began yelling at the man to stop.

The man kept saying the words and Bucky began screaming as he tried to break out of the restraints wanting to stop the man from saying the words. He broke the restraints and kept punching the glass on the pod, desperately trying to break free before the man finished the last word but he was too late. As he felt his own personality sink down deep into blackness, the personality of the Winter Soldier stepped forth when he finally broke through the door of the pod.

"Soldier?" asked the man in Russian as Bucky rose from the floor.

"Ready to comply," replied the Winter Soldier, also in Russian, his face impassive.

"Mission report," said the man, switching to English. "Tell me about December 16, 1991."

The Soldier made his report and waited for his next orders. The man told him to hide and wait for Captain America to arrive, then stop him from following. Broussard laid on the floor pretending to be injured. Steve and Sam arrived within moments to the sight of the destroyed pod. Looking at the bodies of the guards on the floor Steve knew the psychiatrist had used the activation words, just like Lacey had warned him. The man sneered at Steve when he was hauled up from the floor, saying he wanted to see an empire fall. Suddenly behind him Steve heard the sounds of Sam being attacked. Turning he saw Bucky in the persona of the Winter Soldier picking Sam up and throwing him across the room. Advancing towards the Soldier the two men fought, punching each other as the Soldier forced him backwards to the elevator door where he pushed Steve through, making him fall to the bottom of the shaft. As Sam and Steve regained their senses the fake psychiatrist escaped while the Soldier made his way to the main floor atrium where anyone who tried to stop him was brutally beaten back.

T'Challa fought him and even he was thrown to the floor as the Soldier went up the stairs towards the roof. A helicopter strapped into a set of secure locks was unclipped by the Soldier, then he opened the door to the cockpit and started it up. As the aircraft began to rise into the air Steve burst through the door to the roof and approached the helicopter, grabbing its landing skids and forcing it down. Increasing the thrust to take off forced Steve to hold on to a welded steel frame on the edge of the building. With all of his strength Steve held it with one hand and braced his feet while grasping on to one of the skids with the other hand. Unable to take off the Soldier grimly directed the helicopter towards Steve, attempting to kill him with the rotors. Steve avoided injury by dropping and the rotors were destroyed when they hit the roof, grounding the helicopter. As Steve rose to look inside the cockpit a titanium fist came through the glass and fastened itself around his throat with the determined face of the Soldier trying to complete his mission glaring at him the whole time. Leaning into the destroyed helicopter Steve was able to force it off the building and into a canal beside the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. The impact jarred loose the Soldier's hand and Steve watched as the Soldier was knocked unconscious. Reaching inside, he unstrapped Bucky and swam underwater with him to rise to the surface in a different location.

When Bucky came to he felt terrible. His head rang like a bell but when he moved he found his titanium arm clamped in a large industrial vise. Looking around he realized he was inside an abandoned warehouse and wondered if HYDRA had succeeded in getting their hands on him. The black man who he recognized earlier called out to Steve and they both came into the space where Bucky was confined. He murmured Steve's name and his friend looked at him carefully wondering out loud if he was still the soldier.

Bucky told Steve his mother's name was Sarah, then grinned when he recounted the memory of Steve filling his shoes with folded pieces of newspapers in a desperate attempt to appear taller. It brought a smile from Steve's face, as it was something that wouldn't be in a museum. It was a memory only they shared. Sam, wasn't quite convinced but took Steve's word for it that the Soldier was gone, for now. It got serious when Bucky looked anxiously at Steve and asked what happened. By the look on Steve's face Bucky realized that the activation code had been used on him to bring out the Winter Soldier.

"The words are still there inside my head," agonized Bucky. "Anyone could say them and I would have no choice but to obey."

Steve asked about the doctor who had activated him but Bucky had no idea who he was. Steve chastised him which Bucky remembered him doing growing up when he thought Bucky was trying to pass the buck. Bucky tried to remember then it came to him.

"Siberia," he stated. "He asked about Siberia, when I was kept there."

He felt almost sick as he remembered what was in Siberia and he told the two men there were more Winter Soldiers, more dangerous than him, kept in a cold storage facility, waiting for the day when they could be awakened and unleashed on the world. Steve released him from the clamp of the vice and Bucky told them everything he remembered about the other Winter Soldiers, comprised of a highly trained Russian death squad. Sam, who Steve had finally introduced properly, realized they were unlikely to get anyone to believe them about the others. But he and Steve knew they were going to need some help. As Steve and Bucky listened Sam made a couple of phone calls. Help was on the way.

After laying low overnight they found an older Volkswagen Beetle and Steve hot wired it, to the amusement of the other two. Steve drove them to an underpass where a government issued vehicle waited for them and he got out of the Volkswagen. A blond lady exited the other vehicle and opened the trunk, revealing Sam's Falcon suit and Captain America's gear.

"That's Sharon Carter," said Sam, sitting in the front seat. "She's related to Peggy Carter. You knew her, right?"

"Yeah," replied Bucky. "She wouldn't give me the time of day. Only had eyes for Steve. Can you move the seat up?"

Sam glanced back. "Not happening," he replied bluntly.

Bucky reluctantly moved to the other side of the back seat. He wasn't sure he liked this guy, Sam. Steve and Sharon kept talking and he suddenly pulled her towards him, kissing her tenderly. Then they pulled apart and Steve began taking the gear out of the trunk. He looked back at Sam and Bucky who both just smiled and nodded their approval at him. From there they drove to an airport parking structure, going up to where a large white van was parked. Steve pulled up next to it and an older man, identified as Clint, got out of the driver's seat. He looked sharply at Bucky but Steve shook his head slightly and Clint said nothing to him. A young woman, Wanda, came out of the passenger seat then Clint opened the back of the van revealing a stranger to all except Sam. The stranger sleepily sat up and saw Steve, coming forward and shaking his hand eagerly before he saw Sam. They greeted each other and Bucky figured they knew each other. At that moment an announcement in German was broadcast across the airport. Bucky listened and turned to them.

"They're ordering the evacuation of the airport," he translated.

"Get ready," ordered Steve.

Shortly after they were at the tarmac where a helicopter arranged by Clint waited for them. Steve ran to it but was intercepted by two men in metal flying suits, Iron Man and War Machine, realized Bucky, remembering them from HYDRA briefings, as he watched from the terminal with Sam. As Black Panther, a red headed woman, and a kid in a spider costume also appeared Steve explained that it was the psychiatrist who triggered Bucky. He tried to tell them about the super soldiers still in Russia but they weren't going to listen and he knew it would come to a fight. In his comms Sam told Steve where the quinjet was and the battle lines were drawn. Bucky stayed with Sam in the terminal but the kid in the spider costume kept them busy, surprising Bucky with his strength when they briefly fought one on one. Eventually everyone squared off against each other outside and Sam realized that a sacrifice had to be made, making it known to the others on their comms. The goal was to get Steve and Bucky to the quinjet. Everyone else was expendable. Clint agreed with Sam and they changed their tactics, resulting in Steve and Bucky making it to the hangar where they were confronted by Natasha, the red headed woman, who looked vaguely familiar to Bucky. Like Clint she also looked sharply at him.

"Promise you'll tell him," she said to Steve. "Promise, or I won't help you."

"I promise," said Steve. "I'll tell him everything."

She aimed her taser weapon at them then shifted it to hit an approaching Black Panther repeatedly and disable him long enough for Steve and Bucky to get into the quinjet and get it started. T'Challa tried to grasp hold of the landing gear but they were able to take off and he fell to the ground. Steve set the course and turned on the autopilot before looking steadily at Bucky.

"What was she talking about?" demanded Bucky. "What do you have to tell me?"

"There's no easy way to tell you any of it," said Steve, "so I'll start with a name. Lacey Williams or as she is known now, Lacey Chapman."

Bucky looked pointedly at Steve. "How do you know about her?" he asked anxiously. "Is she alright? Did the Russians...?"

"She's alright," said Steve, putting his hands out to calm Bucky. "She lives on Clint's farm with his family. Her and her son."

Bucky said nothing at first but as he realized Steve mentioned a son he looked stunned. "Her son?" he asked. "When did she have a baby?"

"About nine months after you left her," said Steve. "He's your son, eight months old, has your blue eyes and looks just like you."

"No, that's not possible," protested Bucky. "She was on a pill. I'm sterile from all the shit HYDRA pumped into me."

"Not as sterile as you think," said Steve. "It must have worn off because she found me a month after you left and asked for our protection to keep her and the baby secret from the CIA and HYDRA. She lived with us in Stark Tower until we were attacked there. Long story. Clint's family lives on a farm that doesn't legally exist. He offered her his protection and she took him up on it. I was with her when Tommy was born."

"Tommy?" repeated Bucky, still not completely convinced.

"She named him Thomas James, after her murdered brother and you," replied Steve. "I'm the one who called him Tommy. As soon as he was born I knew he was your son."

Steve reached inside his uniform and pulled out a flip phone. He opened the photo gallery and brought up a small photograph of Lacey and Tommy from a couple of weeks previous. Then he handed it to Bucky. The dark haired man sat back, peering at small pictures of a baby who had his eyes and the blond woman who found herself pregnant after he left her. Flipping through the gallery of pictures he looked at all the images Steve had taken of the baby from the day he was born to the most recent. He handed the phone back to Steve looking at him steadily.

"I have to make this right," he said. "As soon as we get that doctor you have to take me to the States so I can make it right with her."

"It's not the 1940s anymore, Buck," replied Steve. "She made the choice to have the baby, to keep it and to raise it herself. She wants you to get right for yourself first. Get the arm replaced, get the activation words out of your head, and get treatment for all the torture you suffered. I think she's right on this one. She's a strong woman and she'll wait for you."

"That's not how we were brought up," replied Bucky, raising his voice. "You know that. How can I leave her on her own while she raises my son?"

"She's a successful novelist," replied Steve, "and she has more money than you or I have. She'll be okay, I promise. She wants you to be well before you're together again. I'm pretty sure she wants a future with you, if you want the same."

Bucky sat there, contemplating everything then looked at Steve with resignation on his face. "Alright," he declared. "We get the doctor and then we find someone who can take this thing off. I'll go for treatment. Once I'm better, I'll see if she still wants me."

"Do you want her?" pressed Steve, trying to gauge how Bucky felt about her.

"Yeah," he replied after a pause. "If I had met her before the war I would have married her. She's the one."

Steve grinned and patted Bucky on the shoulder. When Lacey had first told him about being with Bucky he had been concerned that she was just a one-night stand but Bucky's admission that she was the one gladdened him. Not only for Bucky's sake but for Lacey's. She was worth the commitment and he would do all that he could to make sure they were reunited.

Chapter 8>>

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#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #buckybarnes original female character #sam wilson #steve rogers #james buchanan barnes fanfiction #bucharest

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