#WERE YOU GOING TO MAKE HIM 21 JUMP STREET IF HE WAS AN ADULT

[crehador]

last thing you see before you're drafted into choir club

[thighzp]

For those who prefer to read on tumblr over AO3, here is the newest chapter I posted today! I'll be posting in both places to get maximum eyes on the work. Now do enjoy, because I made myself horny on the LORD'S DAY to write this, as Skippy would have wanted!

(tagging those who showed love on the original post! @itsalinh, @fanfic-keeps-me-sane, @alexgraphyy, @arrpegio, @hawklovesskippy)

Here are some important visuals for you lovely readers: Picture 1950s Hawk and Tim for the 2012 flashbacks, okay? That innocent little dorky Skippy smile melts my fucking heart. And I personally find Hawk to be very daddy in the 50s (before he was actually even a daddy). I'm thinking up titles, and I have a playlist of songs going that will inspire certain chapters of the book, so chapter titles will be coming soon as well with lyrics of songs that inspired each installment. Gird your loins, we're jumping right into some light to medium smut. ***

The loud music thumped in Tim’s ears as he pushed through the crowded bar. It was the first weekend of his graduate program at Georgetown and he, against his better judgment, agreed to meet up with some classmates he met at orientation. He never went out much in undergrad, mostly opting to stay in his dorm room and study or catch up on his shows while his other peers stumbled through the streets of the small college town.

Now that he had one degree under his belt, he felt like it was time to be a damn adult and see what the bar scene was like in his new city. Besides, at least he was now 21 and didn’t get that pins-and-needles feeling across his skin when he handed a bouncer his ID. Even if his fake that he’d acquired through his freshman roommate did look enough like him and he had memorized the address and date of birth of the man on the card, it still made him extremely squirrely and anxious and usually resulted in ducking out of the line and telling his friends he forgot he had work he needed to catch up on.

The bar was dark and filled with bodies, Tim’s brow already beginning to sweat as the music pulsated with his heartbeat. He finally shoved his way up to the bar and shouted for the bartender to bring him the same beer the guy before him had just ordered. He set down enough cash to cover the single beer as well as a tip, and turned his back toward the bar.

Tim leaned back against the counter, elbows propped up behind him on either side. He perused the crowd for anyone he recognized from orientation this past week. His gaze failed to fall upon any familiar faces, but he did catch the eye of another man across the bar. His heart leapt into his throat and he took a sip of the amber colored ale to try to push it down.

The man was older than him by at least ten years. This was not a concern for Tim, as most of his past lovers were well above his own demographic. The man was sipping his cocktail through the skinny black straw bobbing over the top of the drink. His blue eyes were locked on Tim, and Tim could feel his cheeks getting hot.

He subtly tried to look to his right and left to make sure that the man’s eyes were, in fact, trained on him. The man removed his lips from his drink and one corner of his mouth drew upward, indicating that Tim’s attempt at being covert had definitely failed. Tim let out a breathy chuckle to himself and threw the man a wink. Taking this as an invitation, the man began to walk towards him.

Tim pushed his back off the bar and began walking to meet the man on the dance floor. Though he did not go out much to the college bars with his friends over the past four years, he had plenty of experience meeting men in bars around his hometown. He knew the game and he had to admit, he played it well.

The man’s eyes never broke contact as they squeezed through a sea of bodies to get to one another. Once they reached each other in the mass of drunken college students, the man leaned down into Tim's ear, and just loudly enough over the music, said, “Your lips look so pretty wrapped around that beer bottle.”

Tim’s breath caught in his throat at the man’s forwardness. He’d encountered many a pickup line, but none that sent the blood rushing from his head and into his pants quite like that one. The man towered over him by at least 5 inches, to where Tim had to crane his neck up to meet the man’s gaze. Using his thumb and forefinger, Tim adjusted his thick framed glasses and on tiptoe, he placed his mouth right next to the man’s ear. His voice came out deeper than he expected, and thank God, because inside he felt his heart squealing like a little girl.

“So you think I’m pretty?”

With his one free hand, the man grabbed Tim’s waist and pulled him close. Tim was pleased with his choice of words, as he could now feel the man’s hard-on pressed against his leg. It took every ounce of self control Tim had not to rip this man’s clothes off in front of all these people. The man read Tim’s mind, or perhaps recognized the animalistic look in Tim’s eyes, as he grabbed Tim’s hand and began leading him off of the dance floor.

Once they reached the edge of the crowd, the man wasted no time before setting both of their drinks down on an empty table and pushing Tim against the nearest surface, which was the wall next to the men’s bathroom. Tim’s back was against the wall with the man’s massive hand cradling the back of his neck. The man used his other hand to place it under Tim’s stubble and tilt his chin up until their lips were millimeters apart, both men breathing heavily.

“Do you do this often?” Tim asked breathily. “Cruise for younger men at the college bars?”

“Ouch,” the man had a pained expression, though the sultry smirk never left his lips. “How old do you think I am?”

Tim gently nipped at the man’s neck, trailing light kisses upward until he reached the man’s ear. “Old enough to know better than to start something unless you want to finish it.”

The man pressed his hips against Tim’s, closing the space between the two of them and kissing Tim so deeply that he nearly choked on his breath. “How about this,” the man said as he pulled away from Tim’s desperate lips. “I’m gonna go close my tab, and when I get back here, if you’re still here, I’d like for you to come home with me.”

Tim rocked his hips against the man one more time before pulling away, “I’ll go get us a cab.” The man practically growled in Tim’s ear, placed a sloppy kiss just below Tim’s earlobe, and turned his attention back toward the crowded room. Tim watched as the man’s broad, muscular shoulders and back towered over the tiny women he had to push through to get back to the bar. He felt a surge of pride as he watched these college girls ogle at the man he was about to go home with. If only they knew, he thought, that the man’s stature clearly translated to other things of impressive size, if the feeling against Tim’s thigh had been any indication.

Tim finally tore his gaze from the man as he turned and exited the back door of the bar. As he stepped out into the hot August night, his ears still ringing from the loud music, he looked down the street and held up a hand to hail a taxi. A handful of other people were on the curb trying to do the same, a group of raucous frat boys jumping in the first cab that pulled up. Just as well, Tim thought. His suitor had not met him out back yet anyway.

Just then, the back door of the bar opened and his conquest emerged into the dark night. It did not require many strides of his long legs before he was back in front of Tim, grabbing his face and driving their lips together. The man’s lips were hot on Tim’s as he closed the space between their bodies once again. Tim felt something twitch in his pants at the thought of onlookers in this dark alley behind the bar, watching the two men, all hands and lips and teeth.

The man leaned down to kiss and bite at Tim’s neck, just above the collar of his shirt. While the man was sucking and licking at a spot of his skin, Tim took in the surroundings. He was sure the man was going to leave a mark, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying a bit of voyeurism. Groups of girls whispering as they passed the men, missing available taxis that passed by because they were too busy in their moment of passion.

Then, Tim saw a man leaning up against the back door of the bar, having a smoke just under the bright security light that lit up the back alley. With two fingers, the stranger removed the cigarette from between his lips as he kept his eyes locked on Tim, his expression unreadable. Tim threw his head back as his own stranger placed his hand on his ass, clawing desperately at the smaller man. The man with the cigarette ashed it on the brick wall of the bar, ran a hand through his hair, and folded his arms. He wasn’t even pretending not to watch. He was enjoying the show that Tim was putting on for him.

Tim created a fantasy in his head of the stranger joining himself and his suitor in the back of the cab, the three of them fervently swapping sloppy kisses on the way to the original man’s home. Though he already had one man locked in for the night, the man who was whispering absolute filth in Tim’s ear about all the things he wanted to do to him, Tim couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to have the two men worshiping his body at once. The dimly lit stranger shifted on his feet, appearing to become uncomfortable at the tightness in his own pants.

The fantasy world Tim had created was fractured when his suitor pulled away and finally flagged down a taxi. He opened the car door for Tim like a gentleman and slapped Tim’s ass as he climbed into the back seat. The man told the driver the address of their final location for the night. As the cab began pulling away from the bar, Tim watched as the stranger stomped out his cigarette, turned on his heels, and disappeared into the dark of the night.

[necroticyuzu]

Hi! About the Baldur's Gate 3 Tav Ask List, I would like to ask the next questions: 7, 10, 21, 26, 49, 84 and 91.

Get ready for some Tamia Info!

7. Does your Tav have connections to other characters (I.e.: NPCs)?

- That would be Lorroakan who about 10 years ago tossed her out the window from very high up off Ramazith's Tower. He had just recently managed to move in and laid claim to said tower so of course the word spread in Baldur’s Gate that eventually reached Tamia’s ear. Tamia who’s always wanted to explore the tower's rumored knowledge and magical artificial wonders but never dared due to the also rumored deadly traps jumped on the opportunity to knock on this new and “obviously” talented wizard's door to beg for his permission to help him explore it’s wonders.

- After begging for a little over a month he did accept but chose not to tell her that he’d not disabled all the traps and sent her in to collect artifacts for him. By either pure luck or divine intervention she got out alive and ready to argue with Lorroakan about not telling her that the traps were still active. Lorroakan not wanting to entertain her yelling at him had his newly summoned Air Myrmidon toss her out the window.

- So now whenever she hears his name she spits on the ground and finishes with a colorful verbal curse.

10. What was your Tav like as a child?

- She was the biggest book nerd there ever was in Blackgate. Being the first and so far only kid her father paid extra attention to her and read her books for naps and bedtime. Having so few children's books available her father tended to read whatever he had on hand or any other book he’d found abandoned in the big city. Be it mystery, drama, horror, or just plain history.

- She learned to read at a very young and would like her father she too would collect random abandoned books off the streets, roads, harbors, or parks. Of course, her father and grandparents would go through the books she ohh so proudly returned home with juuust to make sure that there was nothing too adult she’d picked up.

- When she wasn’t playing with the neighboring kids Tamia could be found with a book in her hand and her eyes glued to the text. So focused on her reading that it was hard to snap her out of it once she was in deep focus. As for personality as a child, then people would describe her as curious, and helpful but a terrible secret keeper. If you wanted to know how many bones there are in a Dragonborn, kid Tamia would be the one to know that random fact.

21. Which companion do you get first? If you get Shadowheart first no matter what, who's the second one?

- Since Tamia obviously did her best to save Shadowheart in the Nautiloid she’d also be the first she ends up finding on the beach. Making sure she’s doing alright, checking for any wounds from the crash. Once Tamia had deemed Shadowheart to be physically alright even with a tadpole behind her eye she’d be adamant to find any other survivors in the crashed Nautiloid.

- During said crash search she’d find Astarion who calls for her help with dealing with another Intellect Devourer. Little did she know he’d put a knife to her throat from behind and pull her towards the ground. Little did he know with poor balance on her part that she’d fall on top of him with her full body weight, pinning him down under her back.

- After an apology from her with a bit of healing added the two would then have a civil conversation about their current tadpole situation and agree to join the effort to find a cure for their shared problem.

26. What does your Tav think of Raphael?

- First impression, “He looks a bit too overdressed to just randomly hang around an abandoned camp covered in webs, But hey I’m glad to meet someone who seems to enjoy some good poetry in these terrible times.”

- After getting taken to the House of Hope and revealing himself to be a Cambion looking to make a deal. Yeah, that explains why he appeared so out of place when they met him. A real shame since Tamia was starting to get excited to cross-reference poetry she’d read over the years.

- What she thinks of Raphael over the journey is a mix of curiosity, wanting to learn why he finds them oh so interesting enough that he follows them around by showing up at random when and where they least expect him. Surely it must be more than just the tadpole. However, there is also the unease to know that there is something about them that has captured the attention of what seems to be a more powerful Cambion.

49. How does your Tav react to Ketheric Thorm? What about his family (Gerringothe Thorm, Malus Thorm ...)?

- To Ketheric, “Ok he’s pretty intimidating I got to admit that, how is he able to so easily shrug off having that ax in his neck?? The pain in his eyes is not from the physical hurt, but something deeper I imagine.”

- To Gerringothe, “What strange individual is this? Some corrupt version of greed in the flesh? Is there any flesh at all under all that layer of gold or is it all solid? How is this possible?? Oh wow, I did NOT expect to see anything like that under all that gold.”

- To Malus, “Ok this guy freaks me out big time. This whole place freaks me out but I do believe this guy takes first price. Those hand tools do not look sanitized at all for a proper medical operation.”

- To Thisobald, “Alright this whole family is just fucked up and it keeps getting worse. Frick it, you wanna drink? Then let’s do it and I’ll show you what little of my dwarven heritage I got running through my veins to drink you under the table right here right now.”

84. Does your Tav find all of Dribbles' body parts?

- With a bit of work and pure luck, she does and wonders how much of Dribbles there will actually be once necromantically put together for any future performances. He was such a highlight in her childhood after all so it was such a shame to see him dismembered like this.

91. Does your Tav get a happily ever after?

- Getting to fulfill an old childhood dream of exploring the great Ramazith's Tower and uncovering its mysteries while cataloging its many magical artifacts hidden within it with its new master Rolan. 

- Rolan who Tamia did not at the time know would become such a dear friend, to then become lovers to then welcome two surprise sons that they raise together with Uncle Cal and Aunt Lia always close by to spoil them.

- Some of her companions she remains close with, some more than others over the years but they never truly lose contact and do their best to have some form of reunion every two to share stories of what’s happened over the year.

- So yeah, in Tamia's own mind. She got her happily ever after.

[daryascurse]

Chainsmoking His Love 3: The Third Lesson

Zeke Jaeger x Reader // follow #CHLZeke for updates // nsfw mdni

POV: second person, AFAB reader, feminine pronouns Chapter tags: public activity, fingering, finger sucking, choking, exhibitionism, voyeurism, mild alcohol use Chapter length: 4.2k

“He’s watching,” Zeke murmurs into your helpless mouth. “And what if they’re all watching? You’re coming for me, aren’t you?”

Your eyes cross as they roam, this time unable to tear yourself away from Colt and the worship in his gaze. Zeke’s grip tightens on your throat before letting go. You almost collapse forward, coughing and gasping in loud desperation.

“Me,” Zeke groans, and his hand moves faster. His fingers spread down to cover you in flexing, shifting pressures. Your entire body curls, your muscles contracting and clenching and hips dancing for friction against Zeke’s lap.

♡ read more after the jump or on ao3 ♡ // ♡ spotify playlist♡

I have a very strict adult-only interaction policy. Ageless, blank, and clearly minor-run blogs that interact will be blocked. If you have questions about what that means, please see the byf in my pinned.

Author's note: Colt's age is, at this time, never canonically stated. I believe fandom consensus is 19-21, which I am comfortable with. Also, while it may seem I am bullying Colt, I really do like him! Just remember that a) we have seen he cannot hold his alcohol and b) in this piece, Reader is meeting him as introduced through Zeke's eyes. And Zeke is sort of a jerk! Though I do think he balances taunting with genuine respect of Colt, to whatever degree.

His hands are restless as you walk, the dusting of hair scattering down from his wrists glowing amber in the late afternoon light with each twitch and flex of his fingers. He pushes at the index with his thumb with a sigh at the faint crack that accompanies; dances his thumb down along the row and back again even without more satisfying pops. Then he puts his hands in his pockets, clenching in fists below the thick white canvas of his coat. Back out again.

“Do you need a cigarette?” you ask, and Zeke looks at you.

“Why?”

“You just seem,” you pause, rolling the potentially untoward word over your tongue, “anxious. Sir.”

It’s not exactly that. He just physically looks as though he’s jonesing. But Zeke keeps that framed gaze thoughtfully on you, quizzically burning through the lenses that finally makes you turn your head away uncomfortably.

“I do,” he says at last. “But I can wait until we get inside.”

“Inside where? ”

“You’ll see,” he says, and plunges his hands back in his pockets, shoulders turning into you as he turns down another side street.

You slide a hand into your own pockets, feeling for the soft curve of paper that had been slid under your door late last night. Printed neatly had been your name, black ink pressed into the crisp cream envelope cover. You’d run your fingers into the grooves and turned it over to carefully rip the seal open.

The message inside was simple enough –

Tomorrow afternoon, please meet me at the indicated map coordinates below. I kindly request your accompaniment on an errand, and I would be grateful for your assistance as a personal favor to me. ~ Z. Jaeger

– and, for that matter, inconspicuous. If prying eyes were to ask, you could feign absolute ignorance while still holding a golden passport to almost anywhere in Liberio; if Zeke were questioned, he could easily have a number of tasks to use as an excuse. But touching the paper, your heart flutters, sending aftershocks down to your stomach.

What kind of favor?

You’d asked him when your shoulders brushed together down at the docks. He smiled, stared off between the teetering houses and saltwater stained buildings.

“Something for a friend. Don’t you remember our conversation the other night?”

The words made you flush, putting enough hesitation in your motions that you found yourself tottering a half-step behind him down the cobblestone alleyways, the perfect image of deference to the War Chief. Even as the stones became loose and rocky under your feet, the entrances of the buildings more narrow and each home collapsing into the next, you followed him, watching his fingers twitch and waiting for him to stop.

“Here,” he says at last, pushing open a black door at the back of a dead-end alley. The building’s mouth yawns down, steps immediately descending into a black basement. From the level below echo up vague revelries: a dim cacophony of voices, an isolated shout with responding heckles, and the clash of glass against glass.

You stop with a foot forward, looking at Zeke, his hand expectant on the door. You remember his half-joking yet insistent admonishing to drop the honorifics when alone.

“What should I call you inside?”

“We’re still in public, aren’t we? After you.” He shoves his other hand in his pocket, breathing evenly as you make your way down the dark steps.

The light disappears in shrinking slivers across the stairs as he lets go. His footsteps are heavy and stilted as the ceiling slopes lower. A hand slaps against the roof behind you for balance. You swallow, bringing your hands together and rubbing your forearms. As the sounds get louder, dim orange light from flickering lanterns spreads. You watch the foot of the stairs come sharper into view, and bring your eyes up to see where exactly Zeke has brought you.

He’s brought you to this bar coated with a stark difference than what you know the city above, the true dregs of Eldian society gathered here to revel in debauchery. The bartender polishes a gun openly behind the stained counter. At the table-clogged floor, three men stand shouting with fistfuls of cards, exchanging accusations of cheating. A woman sweeps lazily past you laden with mismatched iron and glass jugs overflowing with alcohol. And in the far corner, a man groans and palms at the wall as a long-haired figure sinks to their knees and takes his pants down with them.

This underground speakeasy feels as though it belongs to a whole other world. You draw in a breath and your feet stutter on the landing.

“What the hell are we doing here - sir?”

Zeke slides his hands across your shoulders, pulling you into him. You turn your chest into his, still wildly taking in your surroundings. In a booth a woman strips her shirt and flings it halfway across the room. Patrons cheer. He strokes your back, and it’s not soothing. He keeps walking, forcing your feet forward to the bar with him. “You see,” he breathes, “I’m surprised you asked after my nerves. Let me order us something to drink. You’re not opposed to a cigarette indoors here, right?”

You shake your head, and let Zeke guide you to the bar where he orders two beers. You keep your eyes diverted as he speaks to the bartender, dancing through the basement until you find an empty booth to head to.

True to his word, the first thing Zeke does after splashing the glasses down to the lopsided table is fish a packet of cigarettes and matchbook from his pockets, settling back into the booth. You slide onto the wooden bench across from him and take a cup in your hands, condensation slipping between your fingers. He draws in a breath and exhales with loud satisfaction as the tobacco seeps through the air. There’s no ashtray on the table, but he flicks dying embers to the floor.

“Have you met Pieck Finger by chance?”

“The Cart?” You think of the dark-haired woman with a sleepy, charismatic smile for everyone at Headquarters. “In passing. She’s really nice.”

“Oh, I’ll arrange something. You’d get along rather well.” Zeke interrupts himself with a sip of beer, and a grimaced ugh. “Bitter. Well, she introduced me to this place a while ago.”

“Is she here now?” you ask, sitting forward and craning your head over the table at all the hooded figures sprawled across chairs, the long-haired women and men alike draped in booths, for a flash of familiarity.

“No, she’s had more important things to do these days. It’s rare to see her in the city,” he says, and coughs back something that sounds almost like a laugh. “But in Pieck’s spirit, I decided to start bringing someone here. He’s meeting us soon.”

You run your fingers along the frosted fog of the glass, drawing absently. Zeke takes another sip, and an immediate chasing drag of the cigarette.

“I hate beer,” he says distractedly.

“Then why not –

“Ah!”

He lifts his face, glasses reflecting white circles as he looks over your head. “Here!” he calls above the din.

You turn, and see a pale face hesitating at the edge of the bacchanal – fairly familiar to your toils and wandering through the Headquarters.

“How about Colt Grice, have you met him?” Zeke lifts the beer, taking another drink with another facial contortion. “Well, you’re about to.”

Colt hovers at the end of the table when he reaches the two of you. He looks as unsettled as you feel, and you lift your mug to your face as Zeke makes introductions, hiding your unease with an obscured nod of fake confidence. He half-smiles back, and looks to Zeke.

“Let him sit on that side,” Zeke says, clearing his throat. “Come over here.”

There’s an awkward scuttle of feet as Colt steps back to let you cross over, made worse for him when he almost collides with one of the men brandishing cards, but settling next to Zeke is immediately more comforting, immediately better, even with the smoke in your face. He rests both elbows on the table to exchange the cigarette from hand to hand, and looks at you when he rests his hand back on your shoulder. The casual intimacy in front of someone else almost shocks you, and you stare right at him – then right at Colt – and back.

“We may answer to the Marleyan military,” Zeke says, giving your upper arm a squeeze, “but right below that, Colt answers to me. And he doesn’t spread gossip. Right?”

“No, sir,” Colt says hurriedly, and Zeke squeezes your shoulder again.

It somehow feels comforting this time.

“Colt, order something to drink. Round of whiskey.”

He rests the cigarette between his teeth, and you watch the pulse in his jaw as he bites just enough to keep it in place. He fishes in his pocket, slides some money across to table, and Colt stands again. He casts a nervous eye over the crowd, and opens his mouth, before thinking better of it and making his way to the bar.

“This is what I wanted to ask of you,” Zeke says, reaching up to take his cigarette and exhale all the smoke gathered in his mouth. “That favor.”

His hand slips, curving between your body and the back of the booth, and you reflexively cant your hips forward to make room for him. He dances down with a drawn finger, letting go, and resting his hand on your thigh. You bend your knee towards him. His hand is warm, and when he squeezes, it makes you shift weight from side to side as a familiar feeling begin to settle.

“Colt is, as I’m sure you’ve heard, my inevitable successor. Which means I have a lot to teach him.” He takes another drag, turns his body towards you in the booth, and rests his elbow on the table, idly scratching his forehead with a thumb almost careless of the cigarette in his loose grip. His other hand begins to spread on your leg, moving himself higher up, and up. “I don’t take it lightly. But there’s some lessons I can’t teach him on the training grounds.”

“Sir?” Your thighs push together, the wood hard beneath your legs.

“I can’t teach him alone. But they’re still so important for him to learn.”

Oh. “Oh,” you say aloud, and suck in your breath with a hiss as he palms between your legs, fingers spreading immediate for the fastening.

“You can stop me,” Zeke says mildly, tobacco straight in your face.

But that’s impossible, not because you physically could force his hand off you, or gather the words to demand it, but because there’s nothing in you strong enough to want him to stop.

“No? Than be a good girl and sit forward a bit.”

You shift with his words, with the curve of his hand pushing against fabric down your thigh, and it does exactly what he wishes. It forces your hips up. Zeke pulls your layers down with smoothly treacherous fingers, leaning himself down against the table for a fraction of a second to force past your knees, letting your thighs splay open. His hand is softer, moving more gently up your bare skin, and you shiver, letting your knees knock open with one against him.

Colt approaches again, eyes narrow and concentrated on the three shot glasses of dark mahogany colored liquid, far too fixated on making it across the bar without spilling to even notice the ministrations below the table. “I got a round for us all,” he says unnecessarily.

“Good,” Zeke says, as his hand turns. His thumb strokes out, flat, hard, thick, threatening to pull you open if he dips down and searches for your clit, and he trails two fingers down your folds. Your knees jerk up, hitting the bottom of the table. It’s just another thud among the din. “Take a shot.”

“One for everyone,” Colt says, his fingers a knot around the three glasses he urges to the table. He slides one to Zeke with an obsequious nod, one to you with a polite smile, and takes the last in his hand. Neither you or Zeke move to pick yours up, your fists clenched on your knees, Zeke’s hands busy with a cigarette and your cunt.

“Take one,” Zeke says. “You need to catch up. And your beer is getting warm.”

You give him a weak smile, forcing your hands back up to the table to grab it. “Cheers, Colt?”

He reaches forward with his shot glass as you extend the beer. They meet with a loud clang when Zeke’s fingers come together down on you, pushing to rub in fat, lazy circles. The flat of his fingers almost reaches to your clit when he circles up. He pinches you between his thumb and fingers, and rests. You roll your hips forward desperately to meet him.

Colt takes his shot. You press the cold glass edge of the beer to your lips.

“Don’t waste it,” says Zeke, and you take a choking gulp.

It’s getting harder to hide the shake of your knees, the squirm of your hips, when Zeke shifts his pressure to rub you in smaller, tighter circles. You press your leg into Zeke’s and he slides a little further away on the bench to give you more room. Colt is too busy wincing, brows knit down over his narrow nose and lips turned at the taste. Zeke sighs, dances his fingers away with gentle strokes up and down your thighs. You exhale a breath you hadn’t realized you were keeping in your lungs.

“Colt,” he says. “I want you to watch me carefully.”

Colt swallows again, visibly trying to bring himself back down to the table. He blinks before drawing himself up, back firm against the bench, eyes forward like a good soldier.

“I have a special lesson for you today.” Zeke turns the last of his cigarette in his fingers, and stubs it out on the ruined tabletop. He looks at you, at your hands still locked on the beer, and locks his hands around your thighs in a squeeze. The coils of his beard tickle against your ear when he whispers, lips grazing your skin – “Get up on my lap.”

You gasp, and Colt’s pale eyes widen as he realizes what Zeke’s busy hands have been doing as he grabs at the give of your thighs.

“It’d be better than sitting on this filthy bench, wouldn’t it?” Zeke croons, and you shudder, ice trickling down your back at the gravelly delight in his voice.

“Sir. People,” you say, looking anywhere but Colt, “will see. There are many eyes down here.”

“No eyes with reputable mouths. Get up.”

He’s right, of course he’s right. Your legs tremble, and you close your eyes as you adjust up, pressing your thighs between the bench and Zeke’s body as you sit up on his lap. You think you hear someone cheer from the corner as you briefly stand exposed to the entire bar, but the sound passes in fleeting interest. Opening your eyes, you watch Zeke’s hands lock around the top of your thighs, rubbing at your skin, his breath fluttering at your shoulder. Colt looks as though he might start sweating at his commander’s next words.

“Colt, I want you to pay attention to my hands, and to my words. I’m going to make her come, and I’m going to show you how. Have more whiskey, don’t waste it.”

“You – don’t – yours, sir?” Colt stammers, doing his best to speak evenly despite the blush creeping across his cheeks, busying himself by reaching for Zeke’s shot glass.

“I’m preoccupied. What are you waiting for?”

Zeke puts a hand on your thigh, spreading you over his knee, and you shift, hips against his stomach. His chest is warm through his shirt and yours, stomach coming soft against your back with each breath.

“Zeke - sir,” you say anxiously again as Colt chokes down a second shot, “please, people are watching.”

“No one cares, and no one up there would care what rumours come from a place like this.” His fingers spread, drawing higher up your thighs, and you strain, straightening your spine. Your heart flutters, hammers. “Remember our last conversation? I want to see who you do it for.”

His left hand slides, the right still palming at your thigh and keeping your legs wide over his knees. He hooks over your hip, stroking below your stomach, fingers crawling back to your exposed cunt with long, slow movements.

“Colt, when she comes, take that last shot.”

He opens his mouth nervously, unable to avert his eyes from his superior’s hands. With two fingers, Zeke spreads you, and you bite back a whine as you roll your hips back. Pulsing begins to beat in your blood, coming from below your belly, and you feel Zeke’s hips just barely jerk in response, coaxing you forward.

“What you don’t want to do,” Zeke says to Colt, and you can hear some sort of amusement at the edge of his voice, “is just poke your fingers anywhere. You may think it’s all a giant pleasure field, but remember this for when you stick your cock inside a woman – there’s a method to it all. For example – don’t do this.”

He curves his hand, and with a searching swipe of his fingers down, plunges two fingers down straight into you. You lift your hand, biting at your palm, and let out a shrieking “ow!” Colt sucks in a breath audible over the table.

“Look,” Zeke says. “She’s already wet, but not enough.”

You whimper as he pulls his fingers out of you, that sharp, immediate spread subsiding. But it leaves you hot and throbbing, especially when he kisses your shoulder in half- apology, offering his fingers up to your mouth. You drop your hand and turn your head back to him, his hand chasing your motions, and you finally open your mouth to suck him clean.

“What’s really best is just to touch lightly. And here,” Zeke continues, pulling his fingers from your lips and bring them back, “up here is best.”

His fingers are coated with your saliva when he spreads you again, sliding his fingers together to rub in gentle, light circles that make you arch your back and bend your hips back into him with renewed eagerness. He reaches your clit quickly and easily this time.

“Right here, Colt.”

You groan. “Zeke.”

It’s not a complaint, or an objection, or a panic when it comes from you this time – it’s wanton, forgetting the rules of public honorifics, as he angles the slick pressure and slides against you. He clenches his hand down on your thigh.

“You can, of course, be rough or soft or fast or slow anywhere that works for you and your partner,” Zeke says over your shoulder. “But here, right here, this is just the perfect place. Can’t you see how lovely and flustered she is now?”

You are flustered indeed. Colt’s eyes are moons on you, watching how you move in response to Zeke’s hips, his searching fingers. Your muscles clench, splayed over Zeke’s legs and caught under his hand. You kick and then plant your feet on the floor, moving yourself up and down mindlessly on Zeke’s lap as his fingers push and slide with you. Colt lets out something like a groan, and your tongue rolls along your bottom lip.

“Are you watching him?” Zeke asks, roughly, for your ears. “Are you watching him, or feeling me?”

The answer is both, and all you can do is moan and writhe your hips back, demanding to feel Zeke’s body, to grind on that stiff spot in his pants that teases with its presence against your bare skin. You could rub yourself raw against him, while Colt’s eyes burn into you, and you know his mind is feverish and racing as images of you emboss themselves over and over into his brain.

“Talk to her,” Zeke urges, his leg beginning to bounce. You reach desperately back, and when his coat is too, well, just unfitting to grab, you arch back delicately, with one arm grabbing for his shoulder. Zeke adjusts, letting you slide your arm across his shoulders and clutch at him, and he rocks his hips up as his fingers come down. Your other hand slaps back at the booth for balance, mindless in the moment of the patron at the table behind you. Mindless of anyone in this bar not at this table. You look at Colt, clutching either your or Zeke’s forgotten beer with a hand, and moan through parted lips. He leans forward, and you can bet, just bet, that his other hand below the table is palming at his pants.

“She’s getting close. Come on, Colt,” Zeke says through gritted teeth, “what are you going to do?”

“Choke her,” Colt says, and he looks immediately embarrassed, as if he’s surprised the words came out.

“Very good,” Zeke growls, and you gasp. His hand stops palming at your leg hard enough to make you writhe and half-wonder if tomorrow it’ll be new bruises. He slides up over your shirt to spread fingers over your collarbone, cupping your throat under his fingers, and squeezes.

You cough and jerk forward for the friction of his hips, hand tight on his shoulder as he strangles the moans from you. Colt’s breathing with his mouth open, watching every twitch of your trapped knees, each flex of Zeke’s fingers over your throat. His index finger lifts under your jaw, turning your head, and you make wild eye contact before he presses his mouth to yours, stealing the last air pushed out of your mouth.

“He’s watching,” Zeke murmurs into your helpless mouth. “And what if they’re all watching? You’re coming for me, aren’t you?”

Your eyes cross as they roam, this time unable to tear yourself away from Colt and the worship in his gaze. Zeke’s grip tightens on your throat, before letting go. You almost collapse forward, coughing and gasping in loud desperation.

“Me,” Zeke groans, and his hand moves faster. His fingers spread down to cover you in flexing, shifting pressures. Your entire body curls, your muscles contracting and clenching and hips dancing for friction against Zeke’s lap.

Colt lets out a moan, and your eyes focus on him, crossing, focusing again.

“Fuck, fuck, Zeke!”

You come hard, legs twitching and pinned under the table with Zeke’s knees slamming up below you, even as you ache to clench and rub them together. Your hips twist back into Zeke’s, and you moan his name as his thick fingers keep you spread, showing Colt how you just barely constrict and flutter with each frantic push of his finger on your clit. It pulses hot down through you, leaking to his fingers, slicking to your skin when he lets go and makes a playful scissor motion to spread you again. The sound of it is lewd and wet. You reach forward to grab at the table now, other hand slipping down Zeke’s back to clutch his coat in fistfuls as it all rockets through you, your heart drumming in your ears.

And louder than it all is Zeke’ voice, sliding down from that guttural raw tone to something slowly more clinical, authoritative, as he dictates to Colt, who’s chasing his last whiskey with the pilfered beer.

“Did you see that? That’s the area to press, that’s where it matters to touch. Did you see how her eyes rolled, how swollen her cunt is around my fingers now, how wet and dripping she is? Now imagine plunging your cock into it and fucking her senseless again and again.”

His voice drops into a snarl again, and you whimper.

“Are you up for that, Colt?”

He smears his hands across your thighs, kisses your neck as he pulls his hands off you and lightly swats at your thigh to urge you back down to the bench.

“I – gotta – ” Colt says faintly, and even as you slide with dazed eyes back down, he lurches forward out of the booth. Zeke watches him go, and as you begin to pull your pants back up with shaking fingers, digs in his pocket for another cigarette. He lights and takes a long drag before bending his face to yours. You look at him, still breathing raggedly, and he smiles before kissing your lips lightly.

“Honestly, it really was a favor to me,” he says, so matter-of-factly. “The boy’s just so green. I’ve been trying to introduce him to, shall we say, the adult joys in life. Before it’s too late.”

“Before he has to take up your mantle?”

Zeke tilts his head, then nods. “I highly doubt Colt will have time for drinking and women soon enough. I wish he would take advantage of the moment. But as for the real experiment we discussed – ”

His words are interrupted by the sound of Colt heaving the contents of his stomach into a corner. The bartender slams a glass down to the oak counter with disgust. Patrons jeer and curse. Zeke’s eyes flitter over, passive, and dismiss him with his gaze back to you.

“If it comes to that. I have someone else in mind.”

chapter 4

[goodlucksnez]

How to be a Diva

Happy birthday Scatter! @scatter-snz I love all your work and you are always so kind to me and everyone.

Enjoy this fic!

Summery:When the change of seasons happen Kiri//shima gets his regular cold and denies it and baku//gou has to deal with him

All characters are 21+ All characters are adults and in their twenties! This takes place in a headcanon pro-hero timeline where  Kiri and Katsuki are employed at a hero agency, married, and living together.

Bakugou got to the corner, which, if he could cross would take him to IHOP and Union Landing Apartments where he was heading. There, however, is no crosswalk despite how often he sees people both young and old standing on the median to cross the street.

He decides to take the “legal” method and avoid risking the cops calling him out on the megaphone, which has happened and is emblematic of the wrong culture we are promoting through something as innocent-seeming as road design.

At the light, he presses the ‘walk’ button and waits to get permission to cross the street at about 8:30 in the morning.

He just finished clearing out the general store of all their cold medicine and everything Kirishima might need as he fights a bad case of the sniffles. As he tapped his foot waiting for the light to turn, he can see his breath in the air. The newly autumn chill had taken up the distract and unfortunately, Kirishima caught his annual change of seasons cold. However, being married to him he picked up on his bad habits, one being, working when he is ill. As he remembered about how last year it took for him to get better the “stop” hand signal is flashing before his eyes. He didn’t time this. He thought to himself “I’m 25 years old” and runs across the road flipping off anyone who got in his way.

As he opens the door and glances inside the cozy apartment that he shared with Kirishima all is still. As he locks the door behind him shuffling inside holding the many plastic bags, he calls out.

“Oi Weird Hair, you up? I got you meds.”

When silence answers him back he shuffles his way into the bedroom and sees that the bed is empty. “The hell? Where the fuck are you?”

He calls out before turning and seeing the window is slightly ajar, letting the cool autumn fill the bedroom. As he approaches the window, he glances out onto the fire escape and sees the vibrant crimson hair of his partner leaning against the railing looking up into the sky.

Bakugou pushes the window open and yells out. “Kiri the fuck is you doing out here. He then notices he doesn’t have a jacket or anything on “and without a fucking jacket it's cold, do you want to get sicker?”

Kirishima jumps at the sudden noise. And scrambles to stand up his nose pink from the cool air and his cold. “Bakugou I….” he fumbles trying to think of an excuse. Before his eye unfocused and his breathing hitches. Bakugou using this moment grabs him by the collar of his shirt and thrusts him inside the bedroom just as he crumples forward with sneezes.

“h’rrSCH’OO!... “h’SCH’OO!...hhhhh'TCHEW!!!”

Bakugou rubs his arms which feel like ice before ripping the comforter of the king-size bed and draping it over the shivering, and the sniffling man he married.

“What the hell were you doing? It's freezing outside. Are you insane?” Bakugou remarks before he shuts the window and locks it.

After recovering he wipes his nose on his sleeve before responding “Hey, blame the shitty heater God, it's like the sun is in this room.” He sneezes on his hand before making a face of disgust.

“Bless…Eww, pebble no, you have a fever and you need to get into bed.”

“Oh, explosion boy, my simple friend, let me tell you about a little thing I like to call mind over body. You see, whenever I start feeling sick, I just stop being sick and be awesome instead. True story.”

Bakugou scoffs and leads the man to sit down on the bed rubbing his arms.

“Yeah, in two minutes, I'm going to pound a can of Red Bull, hop into my hhhi- sniff hero outfit, go on patrol, it’s gonna be-hhh-greahhhh- h'TCHEW!!”

“No, you are going to rest and now apparently I have to babysit your ass because you can’t be trusted alone.”

As Kirishima pouts and shivers under the thick comforter, bakugou plants a small kiss on the top of his head. When the crimson man under him sniffs bakugou says. “Don’t cry baby, I got you things.”

Kiri looks up his eyes watery and proclaims. “I don’t want to lay in bed all day sniff I can still help around here.” He says as he goes to stand up to which bakugou puts a hand out telling him to stop.

“No Kirishima just rest…” he pauses “I have to go get you medicine from the living room can I trust you for 3 minutes?” he gives him a stern look his mother used to give him when he was younger.

Kirishima wrinkles his nose and wipes it on his shoulder. “Yes, you cahhh-can trust me uheggschhieww! hehh… euhhschhooo! gh damn sniffles.”

“Bless you” is the last thing bakugou says before he leaves the room to fetch medicine and other supplies.

 10 minutes later he returns with a tray, placed on top is a box of tissues, a steaming bowl of soup, some packets of medicine, and a cup of warm tea. As he pushes the door open allowing the hallway light to spill into the room illuminating the small bedroom he sighs as he sees the covered shape of his love in bed.

As he slowly walks into the room, he hears the small snoring coming from the heap of blankets and a smile crosses his face. As he sets the tray on the makeshift table, they had made the day prior using two small bookcases he hears the snoring stall and a small whimper reaches his ears.

He turns around to find the flushed face of Kirishima slowly reaching a hand out before croaking out. “Bakugou, I don’t feel good.”

Bakugou felt a lump grow in his chest and slowly rise to his throat he grabs the still chilled hand and gives him a reassuring squeeze and then lifts his hand to his heart.

“I know my love” he chuckles before continuing “you idiot I love you” and kisses Kirishima's hand before moving the quilt to tuck him back under.

“Time to take care of you, okay?” He slides into bed with Kirishima cuddling the flushed man as Kirishima wakes up from the short accidental nap he took.

After a few minutes of cuddling Kirishima suddenly tenses against bakugou.

“What’s the matter bab- “

Kirishima pinches forward stifling sneezes against his hand a painful sound that bakugou quietly rubs his back in sympathy.

“Love no stifling you will only hurt yourself more.”

He reaches over to the box of tissues and pulls about 5 and brings them under Kirishima's still hitching breath.

“Here love”

Before bakugou can move his hand Kirishima thrust forward sneezing into his hand. “heptchmphh!” bakugou started to lower the tissues, but Kirishima's hand flew up, holding them in place. “H'tchmphhh! Heh hehhh Himmphhh! Oh... sniff! Sniff! Excuse me. Sniff!”

 Now Kirishima had the sniffles, his nose running into the tissues, his whole cold-filled head making him seem drowsy and extra helpless. Working more off instinct than anything else, bakugou readjusted the tissues. “Blow your nose,” he suggested. Kiri did, and bakugou closed the tissues around his nose as he did. He wiped Kiri's nose and stuffed the used tissues into a big bag safety-pinned to the side of the bed. He got more tissues at once, wanting to be prepared. Pressing them to Kiri's nose. “Again?”

 Kiri's head gave a little shake, and he closed his eyes. His nose was still runny and sniffly, so bakugou dabbed tissues at it gently. It was already flushed pink from attention, and he didn't want to make it more and more sensitive.

 Suddenly, Kiri tensed up. His brow furrowed and his nose twitched. Bakugou got the tissues ready. “It's okay,” bakugou reassured Kiri. “I think... I think I've got you. You can sneeze.”

 And so, Kiri did. His whole body pitched forward, nose planting into the bunch of tissues. “hehhhPTshphhhh! Hehtchoomphh! Eh ehhh ehhh-IH’tchmphhh! heytchmph!” bakugou wasn't sure he was done, but the tissues were soaking, so he tried to quickly switch to some dry ones.

 But he wasn't fast enough.

 “h'TCHEW!” Kiri snapped forward, spraying part of bakugou hands and the blankets covering his lap. Bakugou quickly wiped his hand on his side before Kiri could see, not wanting the man to feel bad about it.

 He, on the other hand, felt overwhelmed with guilt. Bakugou felt his mouth go dry and his heartache. “I'm so sorry. I had the tissues, but I couldn't get them up in time—”

Kiri pouted, nose running, looking all kinds of miserable and adorable simultaneously. “You'll do better next time,” he reassured bakugou. “You're concentrating too hard. You're getting all sniff wrapped up sniff sniff in your head. Sniff! Sniff! You need to just relax. Sniff! Ah, these sniffles...” He bent forward and nuzzled the tissues in bakugou hands, giving little, kittenish, snuffling blows. “Better,” he said, leaning back into his pillows and against bakugou. “This is nice.”

 Bakugou flushed red before clearing his throat and reaching over to the bowl of stew he had prepared earlier. “Love do you think you can handle some soup?”

Kiri wiped his nose on his shoulder before replying with a stuffy “okay”

Bakugou adjusted a few pillows behind Kirishima's back to prop him up before sitting down on the bed next to him.

The predicament of feeding himself while shaky suddenly dawned on Kiri.

Maybe Kiri's hands could hold still so he could eat. The clink of the metal spoon in the bowl drew Kiri's attention and he looked over just in time to see bakugou gathering a spoonful of broth.

His heart skipped a beat. He wasn't going to…

He watched as bakugou carefully lifted the spoon to his mouth.

 He was…

 After a moment of hesitation, Kiri opened his mouth in silent assent and swallowed the broth. A smile spread across bakugou faces at this. Kiri could feel his face redden; being spoon-fed was an intimate act he had not been subjected to since childhood.  It was embarrassing, but Kiri refrained from protesting since it was rare to see bakugou smile. They were both clumsy at first; bakugou had to wipe Kiri's chin several times, but they soon got a rhythm going and Kiri ate almost half the bowl.

 "I think I'm good for now. Thanks for, uh, helping me," he said with a weak smile.

 "Sure - I know the feeling of food doesn't look appetizing when you are sick," he replied simply, clearing the bowl and napkins.  

Kiri nodded before snuffling in the tissues as he wiped his nose. Within minutes the red crimson eyes began to flutter shut and he drifted off to sleep as bakugou rubbed his back in a soothing rhythmic pattern.

 What felt like hours passed however when the ill red-haired eyes fluttered open and looked at the digital clock on the bedside table that had only been an hour since he had fallen asleep.

His partner still wrapped around him in a comforting embrace it was picture perfect if his nose didn’t start to tingle at the indication of a sneeze brewing.

 Kirishima was good at lots of things breaking down lock doors, ramming through old apartment buildings, and making his favorite deviled eggs, but one thing he was not great at was silencing his sneezes they were always rough doubling him in half.

 As he tried to slow his breathing as to not add fuel to the fire the feeling started to spread and he found himself sniffing. He resorted to holding his breath but even that was barely working.

 His breath and eyes were fighting to stay open and he quickly found himself pinching forward.

 “heggschhieww! hehh… euhhschhooo!.... ihh—! isschhuhh! ISSCHH!”

The sudden movement and loud sounds seemed to wake the blond-headed hero as he jumped. His eyes wide his hands coming up in a defensive position as if he was caught off guard, as he looked around and saw the culprit Kirishima both flushed with fever and embarrassment he opened his mouth and then closed it as if he was reconsidering his words, after a moment he finally spoke.

 “Fucking bless you.”

 “Thanks,” Kirishima said sniffing back congestion.

 “Don’t do that you’ll give yourself a sinus headache,” Bakugou replied before handing him the box of tissues.

 Kiri blew his nose a wet and gross sound before throwing the tissue in the trash and shivering as the cool autumn air from the windows caught him.

 Bakugou seeing his love shutter quickly got up got another blanket this one having All Might saying his signature phase on it and turned off the lights.

 “Hey what do you do that for?” he said sniffling before coughing thickly into his sleeve.

 “You’re sick, last thing I need is for you to catch more of a chill,” he said as he handed him the now-warm cup of tea.

 “Drink this.”

 “I don’t wanna makes me feel” He motions to his face before sniffling pathetically “sniffly.”

 “That means it’s doing its job…drink it.”

 He obeyed taking a few steps to appease the strong-minded individual standing before him before he quickly had to remove the cup.

 “What’s wrong is it not good?” Bakugou began to ask before he saw the desperate need on Kirishima ‘s face.

 “You’re fucking pathetic,” he said as the red-haired pro began to hitch. Kirishima couldn’t say anything but he began to wildly gesture.

 “The fuck does that mean?” Bakagou said mockingly. Kirishima managed to stammer out tissue among the hitching.

 “Oi, your dumb babe…well get it over with,” he said as he brought the tissues over and tented them across his lover's face. He whispered in his ear “go on, sneeze baby I got you.”

 “hH… hiiH’EZSCHh-eew!... hehh.. iI-kTTChH-EEw! hiIh… hiIIH….iIZSCHH-EEw! hHh-hhH-hiIIIIh’TCHH-Eew!”

 When he was done bakugou wiped his nose “now fucking stay in that bed and get some sleep love.”

-end-

[son-oftheuniverse]

IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!

I’ve been working nonstop on this, and my tablet actually finally broke at the end of drawing this. Apparently it really wanted to nerf Adult Steven Universe.

This is the version of Steven I’m bringing to his Adult Verse here on this RP blog.

Update 5/17/21: Upped his weight to about 250 per the valid constructive criticism of some folks! Thank you so much for the suggestions!!

Here’s what it says on the sheet above:

Name: Steven Quartz Cutie Pie DeMayo Diamond Universe Age: 25+ Height: 5′10″ Weight: 250 lb

Note about his sideburns: Sideburns have 3 lines to indicate a tapered fade. (Think Lupin III.)

Note about his chest: When wearing any kind of shirt, the details of his chest are no longer visible. (It’s mostly just a stylistic choice to approach a more simplistic way of drawing him. No need to draw the tops of his pecs every single time... right?)

Note about his hair: His hair is poofy and tall, making him appear taller than he actually is. His ponytail is essentially just a big poof ball.

Note about his muscle: Steven carries most of his muscle mass in his upper body, primarily in his chest, shoulders, and arms. While he is in better “shape” now than he was as a kid, he’s still soft around the middle!!

His Life: He’s happier now. Life is good. He had a growth spurt (or two) and he’s been keeping up on some healthy routines. He’s been religiously going to therapy to make sure he keeps up on his mental health, and vows never to let himself fall so far as he did when he was 16.

He moved across the country, about as far as possible from Beach City. As much as he loved his hometown, it was filled with constant reminders of his childhood which reminded him of all the trauma and horrible things he had to endure.

Don’t worry, though, he keeps regular contact with everyone. He spent around ten years travelling until he landed in Angel City (basically the LA of the SU Universe) over on the West Coast. Steven jumped through a ton of hoops with the city, trying hard to obtain a building permit for a house on a specific beach. And once he got it, he flew back to Beach City to acquire help from his loved ones.

He told Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot first, and it yielded a lot of mixed emotions. But in the end, they agreed to help him. Then he told Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl who were so proud of him. Everyone was on board. He asked for a warp pad for everyone to be able to visit him, and they made a promise to have one made and transported to his home!

After his house was built, he began to explore the city more, knowing full well he’d need to get a job at some point. What could he do? During the summers, he discovered, forest fires became a huge problem. So, using his Gem powers, he not only helped stop fires, but revive the land that was burned.

He started a business. It’s helping people with odd jobs, basically labelling him a “Handyman.” This started when he was simply walking down the street near a building that was in the process of being built. Most of the walls were raised—except one. They saw a strapping young man who looked strong enough to give them just enough manpower to move the wall with them, so one of the workers approached him.

They asked him for help, explained their situation. One of their workers suffered an injury and had to be hospitalized. Steven felt sympathy, and agreed to help. He was given a hard hat and entered the worksite with them, and they gestured to the last wall ready to be raised...

So Steven raised it. Single-handedly lifted it into place to the absolute awe of the other workers who stood gawking at him. After some time, they eventually applauded and all moved in to secure the wall in place. The foreman gave Steven cash for his help (and entertainment, they’d never met someone so STRONG!)

This surprised Steven. You could get paid to simply help people? What a mind-blowing thing! He walks home with his cash in hand and calls his friends back in Beach City to ask about running a business. Mr. Smiley had the most to offer him in information, and Steven decided to use that to not only utilize, but also learn from. After all, Mr. Smiley wasn’t the best businessman, but he was one of the only ones he knew. That coupled with Steven’s previous experience running Little Homeschool, he now had a decent foundation for running his business.

Being a Jack-of-all-Trades thanks to the things his friends, family, and the Gems all taught him, he felt confident in his ability to help tons of people! And the perk of this business was: it wasn’t mentally exhausting.

Now, he was making money, helping people, and learning how to live life as an adult man. But... Steven’s still very naïve as an adult. He’s learning a lot, but making plenty of mistakes on the way. And his story starts here.

RP Tag  ||  Art Tag  ||  Headcanon Tag

[thinwhitewritings]

A Shot and A Story - Ashton

Summary: Based off of that one video of Ashton bringing a fan on stage to take a shot with her for her birthday - can’t stop thinking of it and I need it. 

Warnings: Alcohol, drunk endeavors, lots of touching, crowds, mini makeout sesh

Rating: 18+ (no smut, a lil kiss kiss and some adult stuff but not smut)

This is unedited because I’m impatient. Enjoy!

You’d been dying to go to a concert for your birthday. Especially your twenty-first. A drink in your hand with music and friends - how could it be better? So, your friends all pitched in to get you guys floor seats to a 5 Seconds of Summer concert. You had all seen them live on your own but this would be the first time you went as a group, and it was beyond exciting, especially since they just so happened to have a show on your birthday. 

The only drawback had been it wasn’t in your hometown. You had to take a small trip to get to the city where they were performing, and somehow your parents had booked a hotel for the four of you who were going, a birthday gift they’d called it. You were surprised either way. The group checked into the hotel, which was just down the street from the venue, a few bars littered along the street - which you would hit at some point. If that was before or after the show, you didn’t care. You were here with your favorite people and going to see your favorite band for the first time in a very long time - and got to get drunk all the while. 

Your friends had brought goodies along, including a sash, mini shots to sneak into the venue, and a sign that said ‘She’s 21 today, get her drunk!’ They claimed it was for the bars, but one of them decided to sneak it with you to the show. You’d gone to dinner and gotten plenty of attention in the form of a free drink from a guy across from your table, and a free dessert from the restaurant. You felt on top of the world, and the night was just getting started. 

You made it to the show with ease, using the opening act to get drinks from a bar in the arena, coming back to your spot just as the lights came down. Screams erupt from the crowds around you, and you felt the excitement from your chest to your toes. The band came onstage with energy, opening up the show with enough motion and lights to blind an entire highway of cars. Song by song passed, your friends making sure you continuously had a drink in your hand. About halfway through the first half of the show, your friend broke out that magical sign, holding it above all of you as you sang along and bounced and screamed. They’d just wrapped up Empty Wallets when Luke speaks up. “Hey, wait, wait - who’s birthday is it?” He asks, pulling an in-ear out and coming to the edge of the stage, pointing in your groups direction. Before you can get a word out, they begin shoving you forward, Luke laughing as they beg for him to get you a drink. 

“Who told you there was alcohol up here?” Ashton remarks, now moving out from his drum set holding up a red solo cup. 

“Ash, you’re very clearly holding an unmarked beverage. In a solo cup of shittin’ things.” Michael laughs. 

You’re trying to pay attention, but a security guard has moved the barrier so that he can lead you to the stage ramp - and it hits you, holy shit this is actually happening. You’re thanking the buzz that’s in your veins for the lack of nerves you have once you’re on stage all of them greeting you with wide smiles and cheers. “Ok but really, to... no one’s surprise, there is alcohol up here.” Calum points to the bottle towards the back of the stage, Ashton quickly grabbing it as the others start asking you your name. One of them asks to double check that you are in fact 21 before pouring out alcohol in front of a whole ass arena. Once it’s in Luke’s hand, he’s moving to Michael’s side, leaning into him as they both assess the card. “Yep, that is definitely today.” Michael confirms. 

“And that is 21 years from today - we are clear for take off everyone.” You haven’t said more than five words but you just feel blissfully happy. A hand comes up to your back and you jump a little, not expecting it, but are greeted with Ashton at your side. He’s leaning into Calum’s mic for everyone to hear. “This might look like water, but I promise everyone that this is 100% tequila.” Screams come from the crowd as he hands over the plastic cup, raising it. You take it and match him, about to take the shot before he stops. Under the immense amount of sound and projected discussion from the other bandmates, Ashton leans to your ear, his free hand taking your wrist carefully and very lightly. “Wait, let’s link arms.” He pulls back with a look of ‘you wanna?’ and you give a wide grin and a nod of your head. With ease, your arms are intertwined and you are nearly chest to chest with the drummer. A few more cries leave the massive audience you have before they all give you a hug, a few birthday wishes before dismissing you off stage. 

Your friends are all shaking your arms and bouncing incessantly when you return asking how you felt, and generally freaking out. The only thing you could get out was “Please tell me you have that on video.”

. . . 

After the show, you decided to run over to one more bar before you headed in for the night, really wanting to make the night well rounded and capture all of the experiences you could. Getting to the bar you realize that it’s actually more of a club. And when you get in there, you almost immediately lose your friends. You’d managed so well up until now, but you figure that you’re better off trying to find them at the bar, since there was only one of them. 

So you navigate your way there, and flag down a bartender for a drink. As you finishing up your payment, you could’ve sworn you heard your name. You turn your head a few times, looking in the crowd for your friends’ faces - only to come up with one that wasn’t in your group. It’s Ashton, approaching with what seems like a crew member behind him, both of them with a glass of beer in their hand. “Hey! It’s the birthday girl!” He greets, swinging an arm open to offer another hug, which you happily take. You back up, holding your drink before leaning towards him, his head dipping to listen to you. “Where’s the other guys?” He gives a nod, a hand running through his hair. 

“They were kind of exhausted, and bailed on me. They’re holed up at our table. No fun if you ask me.” He taunts, giving you a smile which you return. He moves to introduce the guy behind him, to be met with a stranger. You can’t help but laugh as he exasperatedly turns back to you. “What the hell, do I smell or something? I showered before I came here.” He jokes and you can’t stop the smile on your face. 

“If it’s any consolation, my friends and I got split up the second we got here. So it’s kind of a miracle that you managed to have him around that long.” Ashton laughs at your words, and you find a hand on your back again as he leans in. 

“He probably went to our table. Do you wanna go check with me?” You give a nod once he’s asked, and he grins, hand unmoving from your back. He proceeds to guide you to the table he speaks of, a few more familiar faces which all light up at the sight of you. A few utterances of your name come through again, greeting you happily. 

You sit with the group, meeting Sierra and Crystal while you were there, finding yourself somehow completely comfortable with this group. Afterall, you practically grew up with these guys, even if you’d never met them until tonight. A few rounds go by, and you’re finally starting to think about calling it a night. You’re looking at your phone, seeing that your friends have all said to just meet at the hotel, as they’re not having any luck finding each other, let alone you. You try another text - seeing as this happened because you couldn’t get any messages through - and hope that if any of them go through it was that one. That you were safe and had plenty of stories to tell. You’d been chugging water after the third round, telling Ashton that you’d needed to head home tomorrow and wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be sick for the drive, which he then cut you off in response. He however, had still been drinking. So as you lean into him to speak, his arm wraps around you, staying planted as you speak. “Do you know where the bathroom is?” You ask and he nods, the hand holding his drink points in the general direction. 

“Do you want me to walk you over there?” He questions, and you look at him, seeing his features in the very dim neon lights. His hand feels firm, but his thumb is slowly tracing an up and down line into your skin, and you’re trying your best to soak it in. This had to be a dream. The whole time you’d been at the table, his hand had jumped around, on the booth back just above your shoulders, on your thigh, pushing hair out of your eyes - any way he could linger on you he had. Which is why you let him escort you to the bathroom. 

The walk over was pretty uneventful, aside from Ashton spilling the rest of his drink due to someone elbowing his glass. He was annoyed by this, but didn’t let it show in his expressions. In the hallway of the restroom, it’s rather dark, give for the slight light shining through the cracks of the closed bathroom door. You’d turned to Ashton to tell him he could go back to the table, but he’d thrown his beer glass away, and was facing you fully. The hand that had been in yours, now slinks up to your waist, the other matching it. He can see you’re about to say something and leans to your ear to speak. “What is it beautiful?”

Suddenly, you don’t want him to go back to the table. When you see his face again, his forehead is nearly on yours, your breath hitching. “N-Nothing. I just...” You shake your head minutely, being careful not to move too much in the crowded space. Your eyes meet as music blasts around you, not letting you be able to think. His face suddenly is encased in light as the bathroom door swings open. His eyes shift to the door and he looks back to you. “Bathroom’s free.” He points out, and in the boldest move you’ve ever made, you grab his hand on your waist and pull him into the bathroom. 

Ashton shuts the door and locks it with a click, being quick to move back to where you had been positioned before, but this time, takes no time to cup your face and pull your lips to his. Your eyes shut as your own hands move to gently hold the bottom of his arms, as his tongue dips along your bottom lip. Hands move from your face to the back of your neck, your energies moving so simultaneously. You finally pull back from what seems like forever to someone banging on the door. The two of you had both looked to the door and you laugh. “Let me use the restroom, and then we can go back.” You offer, slowly pulling away to move to the stall, and Ashton’s head tilts, looking to your backside. 

“And by back, you mean my hotel room, right?”

So much for your parent’s hotel room ‘gift’.

[entities-of-posts]

I want to make a full statement. In return, or… can you just give me some advice. I don’t want this to seem like a transaction, it’s not, I just need advice. You see, I’m starting to regret becoming an avatar. I used to think that avatardom would be my end all be all of it all, but it all came so quickly. One moment I was just myself, living a pretty normal life, next thing I knew I was veiled in shadows and- well, we’re not there yet.

14-15 14-5-5-4 20-15 2-5 19-15 4-18-1-13-1-20-93

The first time I killed someone was two days later. I snuck up behind a drunk who was crying against a wall. It was easy really, knife to throat, blood on asphalt. The display wasn’t anything spectacular, not as creative as I got later. I broke the beer bottle and shoved the shards down his throat, then left a single candle snuffer next to him. It became my calling card, as all good serial killers are want to have.

I started feeding the Dark at a particularly… dark, for lack of a better term, period of my life. It’s hard to put into words now exactly why I felt so detached from it all. I did have some joys. I would tell stories of things that lurked out there. It started as a swarm of giant rats, steamy exhalations filling the city streets with fog. I told my class of young dancers about how they could unhinge their jaws and devour a little child whole if they were out past their bedtime. I just got a kick out of the look on their petrified faces, and truly at the time I didn’t think any harm would come of it

A man with a wide brimmed hat approached me when I got off work late. He offered me a community, said I could have

The story eventually evolved to include adults, an insane serial killer roaming the streets. Jumping down from tall balconies and killing people who dared to walk alone at night.

You must believe me, I only killed to keep the legend alive.

How do I reverse this. The recent aren’t helping either, I already made my statement about that so i won’t go into detail here. I think if I split from the Dark they will stop. -Lu

power. In return i’d just have to bring the legend to life a little. Is it awful of me that I accepted?

The second time I saw it was when I was walking underneath a bridge. The lights blinked off one by one. I felt a sharp pang of fear shoot through me so I spun around. All I saw was darkness. So I ran. Two nights later it came to me while I was sitting on my porch looking out to the street below. It told me how to escape my life and the wide brimmed hat i’d grown to fear, so I took it’s hand and fled.

One day the man with the wide brimmed hat brought me to see the rest of the organization. I met a lot of people that day, all ages all sizes. They repeated the phrase “all one in the dark” as around the room candles were snuffed out. I was prepared for a church service. That was not what it was.

That thing guided my untrained hand and soon i could strike terror into hearts just with my words. I still had to kill though. I don’t know if I even regret it is the issue i’m having. I enjoyed hearing people whisper.

…

12 15 15 11 23 8 15 19 20 1 12 11 9 14 7

What a fascinatingly Dark way of telling a story. You come to the Eye to be Known, yet you can’t bear to speak it clearly. Jumbled, a part missing. That’s alright, I can See you anyways.

9 3 1 14 19 5 5 20 8 5 19 20 18 9 14 7 19

2 21 20 9 4 15 14 20 11 14 15 23 9 6 20 8 5 25 3 1 14

19 15 9 23 9 12 12 1 14 19 23 5 18 20 8 5 13 1 14 25 23 1 25 19

You’ve made the full jump into avatardom. I’m sorry, but there is no easy way out of that. If there is any at all.

I could try Looking closer; that would be enough to burn the shadows out of one less entrenched, but… I don’t have very good hopes for one so far gone. It’s unfortunate, but you’ve made a rash choice, and you’re paying a high price. There may be nothing to do but live with it.

… Again, I’m sorry. You’re in a bad situation. Or two.

Last time, I told you to keep a box of matches close, remember?

The advice still stands.

20 8 5 25 1 18 5 4 15 15 13 5 4

9 23 15 14 20 16 21 20 13 25 19 5 12 6 15 14 20 8 5 12 9 14 5 6 15 18 20 8 5 13

2 21 20 9 19 20 9 12 12 1 19 11 25 15 21 20 15 12 5 20 20 8 5 13 7 15

Good luck.

[jordanstrophe]

A Cinnamon Bun too Pure for this World, part 4

The Dough is Rising~ A flashback

CW: Whump, loss of parents implied, abusive family member, multiple stabbing, hand whump, heist and robbery implied, conditioned whumpee, locked in a closet and Nathen destroying all of Cin’s hope and dreams. 

Masterlist

*flashback chapter with Nathen* 

Cin sat gripping the chair legs with his head down, tears dripped down his face into his lap.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” A woman said. He didn’t respond, he just watched the pool of tears in his jeans grow larger and larger with every drip. 

“It says here you don’t have any surviving immediate relatives. You’re 16, so...” She trailed off. A man quickly approached, whispering to her. She immediately perked up as she clapped her hands in front of her face, making Cin flinch.

“Wonderful news! It seems you have a very distant uncle-in-law! They’ll be informed of the car crash and we’ll let them know about your circumstance.” She said.

‘I have an uncle?’ Cin thought to himself. He never had any other family aside from his parents. A glimmer of hope washed over him.

-

Cin nervously stood by the social worker by the doorway. She was a very nice lady, he practically glued himself to her side like a lost duckling. He almost fell asleep against her hip until he heard a car pull up. He instantly perked up, watching a tall man with messy dark hair, a black leather jacket and ragged jeans climb from his car. The man glanced over at him, eyeing him up and down. Cin’s gut told him there was something wrong, but he shooed the feelings away. This man was nice enough to take him in! He must be sooo kind! Especially since they weren’t *technically* related...

Cin gave him a small smile and a wave when he approached. His eyes darted down to him, as he smiled back! He crouched until he was level with him.

“Hi there, you must be Cin. I’m Nathen” He gave him a warm smile.

-

“What do you mean I’m not going to school?” Cin asked, almost panicked. 

“Homeschool Cin. You’re still doing school.” He sighed.

“Then who’s going to teach me?” He cocked his head to the side.

“I am, silly.” Nathen shook his head. 

Cin just assumed he knew best. He had moved to another state, he had lost his family, and now his friends. But at least he had Nathen! He just got very lonely sometimes. Nathen started working, disappearing for days, but he would always show up with food and clothes for him. He never talked about his work and when Cin asked he would get defensive, sometimes angry, so Cin just decided to be quiet. He would keep the house clean and cook whatever he brought home.

-

“Nathen!” Cin called excitedly. He twirled around while holding something behind his back. “What.” Nathen mumbled under his breath, eyes glued to a computer screen he always kept tilted away.

“I found something I’m interested in!” He beamed, pulling out a pamphlet behind his back and proudly showing it to him.

“That’s nice.” He mumbled.

“You’re not even looking.” He waved the pamphlet to try and mimic those noodle mascots he saw across the street.

Nathen sighed as he pushed his glasses up, squinting. “College?” He raised an eyebrow. Cin nodded his head enthusiastically. “It’s a really nice college! It’s affordable, and it has a social worker degree!” 

Nathen laughed. He laughed and laughed until he was wiping tears from his eyes. “College? Social worker? Why are you thinking about that stuff?”

“Because I’m 18 now! I just thought-” “-You thought what? I could afford college for you? I’m already working hard enough to keep you fed and taken care of.”

“But I-... I can get a job! I can help!” He pleaded. Nathen opened his mouth to shut him down, but paused. His eyes darted from him, to the computer as a smirk spread across his face.

“Alright. You can get a job.” He shrugged.

“Really! Thank you thank you thank you-!”  “-But! You’ll be working with me and my group. It’ll be easy, even someone like you could do it.” He smirked. Cin beamed even more with those words. He wouldn’t be lonely anymore! And he got to work with his wonderful guardian! This would be the best job ever!

-

“Cin, this is Charlotte and Jackson.” Nathen introduced. 

“Nathen! Why didn’t you tell me he was adorable?!” Charlotte shrieked, pinching Cin’s cheeks with her long sharp black nails. The touch wasn’t comforting in the slightest, but he was enjoying the attention. 

“Aren’t you just as cute as a button! Nathen, we could use him as a distraction instead! I know, I’m a fine distraction, but why don’t we let the new kid in?” She smiled, flipping her long dark hair dramatically. 

“Cin needs an easy job, he’s terrible at socializing.” He scoffed. Cin blushed, It wasn’t his fault he never left the house. He used to try and get out a lot, but Nathen would give him a slap on the wrist and drag him back home every time.

“Besides, wouldn’t want him to take your spotlight.” He smirked. “What are we doing?” Cin asked. The group grew painfully silent.

“You didn’t even tell him?” James spat. 

“He doesn’t need to know, he has the easy job, remember?” They fell silent again. “If the kid talks, I’m ratting you all out.” He shook his head. “He’s not going to rat us out! He’s going to do whatever I tell him.” Nathen cranked his head to face Cin, his eyes burning with a twisted expression. “Right?”

“Right!” Cin squeaked. He had no idea what was going on, but he would be useful! Just watch him. Nathen stuffed a radio and a keycard in his hands and walked him over to a backdoor of an odd looking shop. 

“When you hear my voice on the radio, you’re going to swipe the card right there and open the door, mmkay?” He asked.

“Mmkay!.... Wait, is that it?”

“Yep! That’s allll you have to do. You can’t mess it up.” He smiled. The group quickly disappeared as Cin was left standing alone by the door. He held the radio in both hands staring at it waiting for the order. 

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

Thirty minutes passed.

Cin was still staring intensely at the radio. By the hour, he had slumped against the door, lightly tapping his head against it barely clutching the radio in his fingertips. Where were they? Did they forget about him? 

The radio crackled as Cin jumped, losing his grip on the radio as he juggled it in the air a bit.

“OPEN THE DOOR! *Crackle* DO IT NOW!” He heard Nathen bark. Cin stared at the radio with fascination before snapping out of it, swiping the card. He dug his heels in the gravel as he heaved the door open as out bolted Nathen and James carrying two bags over their shoulder.

“Let’s go let’s go! Move it!” He shouted, grabbing Cin’s arm and dragging him along. Cin had no idea what was going on, but he happily ran behind Nathen like they were playing some fun game. James slammed the door open as they tossed the bags in, Nathen grabbed Cin’s arm and pushed him in as they hit the gas.

“Wait! Where’s Charlotte!?” James called, looking back.

“We don’t have time, hit it!”

“We can’t just leave her! What if she got caught!”

“Then she gets caught! That’s on her!” 

Cin stayed silent as he sat on the floor of the van. “Did… Did I do good?” He asked with desperation in his voice. All he wanted was a hint of approval from someone. Nathen looked back as his hand ruffled his hair. “Yeah, you did good.” He smiled. Cin beamed with pure joy. He had no idea what happened, or what he even did, but it made Nathen happy, so Cin was too.

Time went on and Nathen asked him to do similar things. Open this door, press this button, call us on the radio if you see anyone, small innocent things. Each time they would return with something, bags, a box or expensive looking things. Cin never questioned anything, because it was Nathen; the person he relied on. 

They person he was nothing without.

-Years passed. Cin was 21 now.

“You said if I helped out you would let me go to college! Please, I really want to go!” He begged. Nathen was twisted with rage, he had no energy nor patience to put up with him today.

“I’m so sick and tired of you filling my ears with college trash! You’re helping us, Cin. We can’t do the big jobs without you! After all I’ve done for you, this is the least you can do to pay me back!” He hissed. Cin groaned with frustration as he bolted from the room, slamming the door behind him as he ran down the street. Nathen didn’t even try to stop him, he knew he would be back. Where would he even go? He had nothing without him.

It started raining, Cin held his arms as he walked cringing down the sidewalk as the cold rain showered. He stopped when he saw a bus stop with a man in ragged clothes huddled under the overhang. They both looked at each other, both looking rather lost. The man had messy hair and a long grey beard, dressed in torn clothes with a bag at his feet filled with random things. 

“Are you okay?” Cin asked, sniffling.

“Pff, I should be asking you that.” The man said. Cin realized half the liquid on his face was tears as he quickly wiped his face. 

The man slid to the side of the bench, making room for him as Cin nervously sat next to him.

“What’s bothering you?” The man asked.

“I… Nathen told me I’m not allowed to talk to strangers…” Cin muttered.

“Not allowed? You look like an adult to me. Although I will say, this is some solid advice from this Nathen boy.” The man chuckled. “I’m David, there, I’m not a stranger anymore.” He smiled. “Cin.” He smiled back. 

“I just… I really wanted to go to college. My guardian won’t let me go, even thought I worked for it! I don’t understand why.” He murmured. The man’s eyes fell sad as he sighed.

“I’m sorry to hear that young man. But if you worked your fair share, you have every right to get a little demanding.” He chuckled. “Hmm? Demanding?’” Cin asked. “Yeah! Put your foot down! Tell him, ‘I worked hard, and I deserve it!” 

Cin gasped as he held his hands over his mouth. “I’m allowed to say that!?” He gasped. “Of course you can! You’re an adult! You get to make decisions for yourself.” He smiled. Cin’s eyes darted to the ground as if he had just made a realization. “I can… Make decisions? For myself?”  

“That’s right!” He smiled. 

“I never realized I could do that!” He gasped, his mind running wild. “What about you? Why are you sad?” He asked. 

“Bah, don’t worry about an old man like me.” He waved.

“No! That’s not fair! It’s your turn now!” He demanded. “Alright! Alright.” He chuckled, raising his hands in defeat. “You’re getting good at this demanding thing, I’ll give you that.” He smiled.  “I lost my home last year. There was a job offer today and I cleaned myself up as best as I could and shot my shot! Well, I didn’t get the job and I guess I’m a little down about it.” He sighed, slumping down on the bench. 

“You’re homeless? Then how do you live? Where do you eat?” He asked. He couldn’t quite fathom his lifestyle. 

“I don’t some nights.” He sighed. Cin’s face went pale. “Did you get something today?” He asked. “.. Yes.” He coughed. 

“Hmmm? Are you suuure?” Cin eyed. The man laughed as he crossed his arms with guilt. “Wait here!” Cin ordered. The man froze awkwardly as he watched Cin bolting off into a nearby store. He returned a couple minutes later with a bag in hand, filled with a stash of fresh food. Nathen had given him a couple of pocket change just to satisfy him for a little bit, but he never got a chance to spend it.

“No, sweetie, you need to save that for your education.”

“No! I insist. Hearing your story made me appreciate what I have more! I’ll be fine regardless if I give this to you or not. But it’ll mean a lot to you, won’t it?” He smiled. 

The man stared at him for a moment before smiling, accepting the gift. “You’re a very kind young man. Don’t ever let anyone take that away from you.” 

Cin giggled before starting to run off. “Thank you for the advice! I think I’m going to take it!” He waved behind his shoulder as he sprinted home with a wave of confidence. 

He burst through the door, dripping wet as he announced “I worked hard, and I deserve it!” He shouted.

“Huh?” Nathen asked, closing the laptop. 

“I-... I worked hard…” He trailed off. “And I deserve it, right? The college…” His confidence was slowly killed as Nathen rose to his height. “Where did you get those words from? Inspirational quotes from a car bumper?’” He scoffed. “N-no. A nice man.” He muttered.

“A nice what?” His eyes grew wide. “Cin! I told you you’re not allowed to talk to anyone!” He shouted. “But he was nice! And he was also right. I can’t stay here forever Nathen! I appreciate everything you did for me, but It’s time I… I made a decision for myself, and this is it.” He muttered.

“Oh, so the pup grew some fangs, hmm? That’s something I never expected.” He taunted. He draped himself into a chair, crossing his arms and legs. “I’ll tell you what, Cin. You help us with one more job, and you can go.” He said.

Cin’s eyes lit up like stars as he jumped up and down “Thank you thank you thank you!” He cheered. Nathen just sat thinking to himself with a twisted smile creeping across his face.

-

“You wanna what now?” Charlotte gasped. “Listen here, I got arrested last time because I was the distraction. We had to lose some of that money we stole to bail me out! You’re so lucky I didn’t rat you all out.” She crossed her arms.

“Yeah yeah, you won’t be the distraction this time. Cin is.” Nathen smirked.

“What? Nathen, he’ll get caught for sure.. “-No no! He’ll be fine. I got a plan.” 

Cin looked nervous, twisting his fingers as Nathen stood him next to a tree outside an expensive looking shop. “Nathen? I don’t understand, what are we even doing?” Cin murmured.  “Oh come now, don’t be shy! You’re just a distraction, so be you’re cute little helpless self, mmkay?” He smiled.

“Wha-...”

Nathen pulled out a pocket knife, placing the back of Cin’s hand to the tree as he jabbed the knife all the way through, pinning him to the tree. James' eyes went wide, Charlotte gasped, Nathen smiled, as Cin screamed…

Blood fell down his arm dripping off his elbow as he was stuck frozen in shock. His breathing spiked as he couldn’t stop screaming. The pressure and sharp pain imbedded into his hand pulsing with every twitch and quiver. 

He blinked his eyes open to see he was alone, the sound of pounding footsteps approaching as a man dressed in uniform ran up to him.

“Hey! Are you-” His voice cut off at the sight of the knife pinning the man to the tree. Cin was hyperventilating as he tried to control his shaking. The man called an ambulance and soon, there was a small crowd of people who worked in the store trying to help keep him calm. 

“How did this happen?” Someone asked.

Cin tried to answer, but he couldn’t find the words. His mind was bewildered into terror and confusion. In the end, he never spoke a word. An ambulance came as they carefully removed the knife, giving him a towel to put pressure on the wound. Nathen miraculously appeared with a terrified expression.

“CIN! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! What happened?” Nathen gasped, grabbing his shoulders. Before he could try to choke out a word, Nathen was already speaking over him talking to the paramedics.

“Thank you so much for helping him! He’s my little baby nephew, he ran off on me and I’ve been looking everywhere worried sick!” He cried. Cin fell silent with wide blank eyes. Nathen assured he didn’t need the ambulance, he was going to drive him to the hospital himself, because he must be so scared. A doctor said to contact the police as soon as he arrived at the hospital, as Nathen assured them he would.

Instead, he drove him home. Countless bags were filling the bag seat of the car that weren't there before. Cin was then dragged home by his arm and thrown onto the floor sobbing. 

‘W-why!! Why did y-you do that?” He sobbed, clutching his bleeding hand. 

“Because, it was for your own good. Cin, just look at you.” He said, crouching down as he tried to crawl away. “But y-you did s-so much to me!” He shouted.

Nathen took his chin as he forced him to look up, thumbing away a tear. “For you. I did so much for you, Cin. Why can’t you see that? You were sick, sick with all these fantasies about leaving. You really think you can make it out there? All by yourself? Without me? I’m the only one who ever loved you, who took care of you. You owe me everything.” He hissed, taking his hand. “And now?” He muttered, pulling out a knife. In a second, he was on top of him pinning his hand to the floor. Nathen used one knee to pin his chest, another pinning his right hand, with his free hand holding his wrists to the floor over his head.

“And now, I can do…” He muttered, plunging the knife into his palm next to the first cut. 

“Whatever” 

Stab 

“I like to you.”

 Stab 

He drove the knife into his left palm over and over again. Cin cried and begged the entire time with barely any air left in his lungs, squirming to try and elude his attacks. Blood fell into the cracks of the floorboards beneath them, eventually, Cin was lying motionlessly on the floor. Four, inch long marks were through his hand as he was dragged over to the closet and thrown in. 

“There’s nothing you can do to pay me back, Cin. So you can stay right here where you belong and bleed until you become a grateful little brat.” He spat, slamming the closet door.

Cin collapsed his back against the wall clutching his hand. He was left to twitch and whimper the entire night until he learned to be grateful to who he was indebted to… Until he learned his place. 

He was… The only one…. Who cared about him… After all.

“Cin?” Richard asked, sliding the closet door open. Cin was on the floor nicely tucked into the corner with his hair pressed against the wall. 

“Are you okay?” He asked. Cin’s left hand was twitching with phantom pain as he silently nodded his head. “Why are you  in here?” He asked. 

Cin’s eyes darted around a little bit. “It’s comfortable here...” He quietly murmured. 

“It’s comfortable out here too though. Don’t you want to rest on the bed?” He asked. Cin glanced up at him with a skeptical look, tilting his head to the side. “I’m... I’m fine here...” Richard stared down with a concerned expression. Cin looked at him like he was expecting praise for stuffing himself in the closet. 

Richard crawled into the closet and sat next to him, brushing a strand of hair from his eyes so he could make eye contact. “Were you thinking about him?” Richard asked. Cin guiltily nodded, pressing his nose into the corner in an attempt to hide. “No no, it’s alright. He can’t hurt you anymore, okay?” Richard soothed. He didn’t understand where Cin went mentally when he was like this, stuck in his conditioned responses when he got scared or confused. 

Which unfortunately, was all the time. 

His left hand would twitch when he would respond with his conditioning. Hiding in the closet was apparently a response when he was scared. Richard was slowly picking up on things that were triggers as he would try to avoid them, but they were difficult to root out. 

“Why don’t we get comfortable on the couch and watch a movie with popcorn?” Richard asked. He peeked an eye out at the mention of popcorn. After much reassurance and comfort, Cin eventually found himself on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn in his lap with a small smile.

@milk-carton-whump @whumpasaurus101  @sillypizzazineoperator @as-a-matter-of-whump @alien-octopus @unicornscotty  @yesthisiswhump

ʕっ• ᴥ • ʔっ  Thank you for reading!

[kookie-doughs]

Beta Tester

Kozume Kenma X Reader

-YN LN is a popular mangaka

Chapter 29: Tested

As you sat in the middle of Kenma's sprawled leg, you two cuddled with controllers at hand.

A year at most had passed since the release of Puri Puri Magika: Lost Magic™ and things happened.

Of course PPM recieved a lot of rewards and the hype of the game still hasn't died which surprised you. A multi-player version was also released after 5 months.

You had publish and completed 2 Manga and have a new one on going. Your Manga recieved an anime adaptation which made you proud.

Kenma had won awards as well. Not that we'd go into that🙄. He also 'forced' you to move in so he could make sure you're living healthy and not staying up for a week finishing your script. He also dedicated a day where he streams with you, so you could rest.

You both usually used your time playing games that were on top charts. And among all the games only 1 game almost topped PPM.

The game Kenma had asked Sakujo to make. They publicly released it as a dating simulator, which you could either end up with Kenma or you.

"You idiot! Just fucking die already!!" You screeched as you button mashed.

Right now you were playing Street fighter to match with Kenma's retro theme of the month.

"You suck at this."

"Shut the fuck up! How do I do Kamehameha?!!!??"

Kenma sighed, "It's not called Kamehameha idiot. It's called-" He didn't need to finish his sentence when his character finished you off with a yell of "Hadouken!"

You looked at how your character lost and clenched you jaw.

"You suck!!!! You're a cheater!!!! I hate this let's play something else!!!!!" You screamed.

Kenma frowned at how loud your were but obliged. He checked the comments to see which games they were recommending.

"Let's play th---" He was cut off when the door slammed open outside.

The two of you looked at each other.

"Y/N!!! BABEEEEE!!!!" You heard your Soulmate yell at the living room.

"AHHH! Kuroo!!!!" You hopped off Kenma and ran to the door.

Kenma wouldn't agree but according to the comments, Kenma gave a horrified and broken look the moment you jumped off.

"This idiot." He grumbled and followed you as fast as he could not bothering with his stream.

He saw how you and Kuroo approached each other in slow mo, skipping to each other. So Kenma had no trouble grabbing you by the hood of your hoodie and frowned at Kuroo only to see Alisa holding Kuroo in a choke hold.

"Hey Kenma!" Alisa smiled.

The blond nodded and dragged you behind him.

"Alisaaaaa! Kenmaaaa!!!! You can't split away soulmates!! Let us goo!!!" You and Kuroo struggled from their hold.

Managing to free a hand you both tried to reach out to each other, only for Alisa to choke Kuroo harder killing the poor man.

"I came to borrow YN~" Alisa sang looking at Kenma.

"If she's going be like this, you can have her."

"Swap her with Kuroo?"

"Why the fuck would I want Kuroo?"

"Well I can't have both of them! Do you seriously want them arrested? Again?"

Kenma groaned at sighed. He let Alisa drag you to your closet and he was stuck with Kuroo.

After you got prepared to go out you gave Kenma a kiss and tried to do it Kuroo as well but the demonic aura of the two scared you both so you decided against it and went out.

Unbeknownst to you the two male had a talk about something. Unfortunately unbeknownst to them, the stream was still active...

Alisa dragged you from shop to shop. Buying this and that.

After what seemed to be 3 hours you and Alisa went to a food court.

To your surprise you saw Keiji, Tenma and Yamaguchi together.

"Y/N! Alisa!" Satori greeted.

"What are you guys doing here?" You asked shocked.

"Well we wanted to hang out and Alisa said you were with her so we went here." Tenma grinned.

"Satori dragged me with him." Akaashi said.

They all joined you and then conversation just flowed perfectly. You talked about this and that while eating.

You'd check on your phone hoping to see a message from Kenma but you got none.

"You keep checking your phone, want us gone that bad?" Satori frowned.

"N-No! I was just checking if Kenma left a message."

"Did he?"

"Nope. I kinda wanna go home now."

"Oh my god what if he's cheating on you?" Satori gasped. Which earned him a hit from Alisa and Akaashi.

"As if that hermit could get anyone else. Especially with Kuroo following him. My Soulmate would make girls pass out before they could even glance at Kenma."

"I don't understand why YN loves Kuroo more than Kenma." Yamaguchi laughed nervously.

"Alisa prefers Kenma. Kuroo prefers YN. Kenma hates everyone." Akaashi pointed out.

"If Alisa would let me I wouldn't mind being a third."

"One thing we agreed on is never put you and Kuroo together and unsupervised. So no I don't think so."

"When did you learn that?" Tenma asked.

"After the two got arrested." Akaashi answered.

"Huh?"

"It was at a train. Something... Explicit happened." Alisa sighed remembering what happened.

"H-Huh?"

"YN went on her knees on a train. They didn't actually do anything, just suggested the thought but I guess it was enough to get them arrested." Akaashi explained.

"That's where the KenYN break up came in."

"I'm surprised Kenma and Alisa are still dating you and Kuroo at this point."

"I know right?" Alisa cringed. "Anyway we should continue our shopping spree."

You all stood up and roamed around for another hour or two until Alisa got a message.

"We should go home. Kuroo just texted me. You guys wanna come with?"

They all shrugged and said they'll meet you at your place.

When you got home you got home you laughed seeing how messy your place was. It was like there's a con going on at your house.

Everyone in it was Cosplaying as some game character. There were people you didn't quite know who.

"Y/N!!!!" Kuroo came barelling towards you in his Luigi costume with Mario right behind him.

"Ahh! Where's Akaashi?!" Mario, who turned out to be Bokuto, asked.

Alisa stepped in front of you before Kuroo got to you and turned to Bokuto. "He's on his way. He probably changed clothes."

"What's happening? Why is everyone dressed up?"

Kenma came out of the room with his Overwatch cosplay. You told your friends you were going to Kenma and went over.

"Well hello there. What's up with everything?"

"Do you not know what today is?" Kenma asked.

"Oh fuck, is it our anniversary?"

You and Kenma just looked at each. You fucked up.

"You don't know when that is?"

"P-psh. Of course I-I know!

Kenma flicked your forehead and walked away after saying, "Get dressed. Choose whatever you want."

And now he's upset at you. You felt guilty about forgetting what today was.

Luckily you and Kenma often Cosplay during stream so you had spares. You decided to go as Graves from League of Legends with face beard and all.

Everyone was looking at you when you got out of the room which made you feel anxious.

Was this party for you and you forgot about it? It wasn't Kenma's birthday that's for sure. What could it have been?

Alisa came to you in a KDA Akali Cosplay that you assume Kenma lent her.

"Oh my god the photos are gonna be so great."

"I think Kenma's mad at me..." You mumbled.

"When is he not?"

"I don't know what today is..."

"Just- it'll come to you sooner or later."

You frowned as you scanned the room for your man. You saw Akaashi in a Kingdom Hearts Cosplay, Satori and Wakatoshi in a Tomb Raider costume. Hinata and Kageyama in Danganronpa. Link, who is Atsumu, clinging to Skull Kid. Sakujo and his husband wearimg you and Kenma's character in PPM.

But you found no one in an Overwatch costume.

"Excuse me..." You heard from the front. It was Kuroo, Bokuto and Kenma on an improvised stage.

"I'm sure everyone here knows what's going on right?" Kenma said exaggerating on the word everyone.

"Today, to continue our celebration we will be having a treasure hunt! The treasures you're looking for are in a form of a game loot box of various game style."

"There are a total of 21 loot boxes around town. One of them empty. You are to bring the loot box unopened here and you'll claim the prize of whatever it is in it. You could either come home empty handed or 100k courtesy to our dear host."

"The clues to the boxes are cut evenly to all the players. All the players will have 1 clue. Each players could only get one loot box and it has to correspond to your clue. Come up and get your clue!"

With that, Bokuto brought out a box with a hole on top. Everyone went on stage and got their clue. You were the last to get the clue so you were excited.

The thought of at least 45 adults in Cosplay running around town looking for boxes humored you. So you excitedly looked at your clue.

What made today special.

You froze. It was as if they were doing this in purpose. You had no idea what today was, and of course you had to get the clue asking for what today was.

You looked at Kenma and he gave you a look. Did he know which clue you got, and is disappointed you didn't know what it was?

You took a deep breath and went over to Kenma. "I-I'll win! I know it."

Kenma nodded. "That'll be one less 100k. Do win."

"Ready???" Kuroo called everyone.

"Go!" Bokuto yelled and everyone went out.

Eyes were on us with a bunch of adults wearing Cosplay coming out of a room. Some recognized people it made you realize everyone running right now was a pretty big deal in entertainment industry or related to someone. No one recognized you though. Bless your fake beard.

You ran to wherever you could think of. Enix, Jump, your place. But you saw nothing. Then you thought of the party.

The party wasn't a year ago from today but it was the only one you could think of.

You ran you were just so tired. After all you've been running for hours. And when you got there.

It was empty.

It broke your heart. You couldn't remember what today was. You failed Kenma.

You just gave up. You needed Kenma's comfort, but you were afraid you won't get it since you failed.

You sadly made your way back to you place. Tears threatening to fall. You were disappointed in yourself.

"Y/N." You heard someone call. You lifted your head to see Kenma.

The tears fell. "Kenma... I could find the box..."

Everyone was already back, and was looking out.

"I-I looked everywhere and I-I just couldn't find it..." A soft sob escaped your lips. And you looked down.

"Y/N."

"I-I don't remember what today is..."

"Y/N look at me." Kenma called.

You lifted your head and saw that Kenma was on his knees. Your eyes widened.

"H-Huh...?"

He brought out a Overwatch loot box from his pocket and cleared his throat.

"Today... Was the day when it all started. The day you showed up in my steps with a stupid flash drive..." He laughed weakly.

You blinked confused of what's happening.

"The day I saw, was the most important day for me. It was the day... The day I noticed you. I really hate you back then. You were so annoying, you still are. You're so persistent. So loud. You ruined my stream. And you kept bothering me. "

"Now you're just insulting me..." You laughed sadly.

"I-I... Look... I love you. I love you YN LN." And looked at the box, "Do you want to know what box you got?"

"Uh-Hm..."

When you opened the box there was a ring.

"Marry me."

You took the box from him and laughed. "You are such a nerd!" Wrapping your arms around him and gave him a kiss.

The crowd hollered and awed at you two. Chanting "Answer him!" and "Say yes!"

When you two parted you rested your forehead against his.

"I love you so much Kenma. I'd love to spend an eternity stuck with your stupid nerdy ass."

Previous | Masterlist

This was the last chapter!!! Thank you very much for sticking with it!!!!

It was kinda dull and all that but I had an issue with my messaging app so I couldn't use it so I went for written only

I hope you liked this and I want to thank you all for supporting this I had so much fun writing this

-kookie-doughs

Taglist?

@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @synx-ed @normalisthenewnorm @0majuh0 @leachann @nikanikabitch @almondeupeach @immxnty @mer-majesty @yamayoomi @simpingoveranime-men @lostmarimoismyhubby @mariishat @just-snog-already @sadcosmicdoggie @so-lo-stuff @emperor-eros @nachotrash @themisadventurescrew

[iamdunn]

Miraculous One Shot: Truth Singer

A Miraculous Fan-Fic Musical Episode

Written by

AJ Dunn

This was it. Adrien’s 21’s birthday and Marinette was already hard at work on the preparations. Gabriel no longer had control over Adrien so there was nothing stopping him from coming to this party. Marinette had been planning for this day for years and now it was here. Her footlocker in her parent’s apartment was already full of gifts for his next 15 years worth of birthdays, yet every year she ended up making him another gift. This time was no different. She had learned her lesson about not signing her gifts after the whole scarf mix up. Now, she made sure the item she made for him had her signature in it somewhere so there could never be any question as to who actually made it for him.

This year, in light of him being of legal adult age, she wanted to give him something more mature. She had seen him in a black leather jacket in one of his photo shoots and decided to make him something, not exactly like that one, but one that would suit him much better. She had spent days designing the perfect jacket, the zippers, the seams, even the measurements. She had been allowed to accompany him to several photo shoots where she watched the designers with detailed eyes adjust and fit him into the outfits his father had designed for him. She managed to sneak a peek at his measurements and made note of them as she drew out her own designs. 

As the jacket now lay out on her bed she examined every stitch for perfection. The main zipped going up just slightly past his collar bone, was silver. With two slanted pockets near the waist. The fabric around the armpits and sides was a moisture wicking sports material that, while it was designed to move with the wearer, was also designed to keep him cool. His photo shoot was of him sitting on a motorcycle. A kind of rough yet dreamy image that made Marinette melt just thinking about it. The stitching had been done in a neon green to accent his emerald eyes. It would be a slim fitting jacket, she thought, hoping she got the measurements right. It seemed like it was going to be too big for him. 

She was so lost in thought she didn’t hear the trap door to the attic open up as Alya, Rose, Juleka, and Mylene bounced excitedly into the room.

“Do you think she’ll do it this time?” Rose sang. 

“Doubtful.” Alix came in looking bored. “How many times has she tried to tell Adrien she loved him and look what happened?” 

“Well let’s see, She’s fallen on her face.” Alya started

“Chickened out.” Mylene added

“Gave him the wrong piece of folded paper.” Alya laughed remembering the prescription Adrien had picked up for her that had been meant for someone else. They all laughed at that one. 

“It wasn’t funny.” Marinette spun around her face flushed with rose red on her cheeks.

“Dropped the letter into the sewer.” Juleka muttered

“Oh, and let’s not forget how many times she forgot to sign her name.” Alya teased, one hand resting on her hip as the other flung into the air. 

“It’s true, Marinette, you are as much of a clutz telling Adrien how you feel as you are on your feet.” Rose laughed. 

“You are the only single one among us now, Marinette.” Alix thought it would be her to be the last one to hook up with someone until she met a guy in College. Most of them had stayed behind to attend college from home. Especially with the fact that Hawk Moth was still akumatizing people and while no one but Ladybug knew everyone’s secret, they kept their reasons for staying behind a secret as well, in case Ladybug needed them. 

“I will do it this time, I promise.” Marinette felt so confident as she looked at her friends as they cheered her on. 

The music in the park began and the girls realized they better hurry up. They ran past Tom as he was carrying the cake across the street. It was a multi tiered cake with green trim. Sabine was already at the park putting macarons on the table. Nino had the DJ booth up as he mixed music just like he had done the first time he threw a party for his best friend. 

“Dudes and Dudettes, the birthday boy.” Nino called out as Adrien climbed up on the makeshift stage and began to sing along to the song that was playing. Marinette watched him dance and suddenly she forgot how to walk. She stumbled into a bench and fell over. She recovered quickly, not releasing the package she clung to her chest. His movements were so fluid as his legs kicked and stomped about to the rock song he was singing along too. He didn’t move around this much when he played with the band because he had to focus on the keyboard. It was truly a unique experience for Marinette. 

The song had ended as Marinette remained frozen, glued to the bench as if he was still singing and dancing on the stage. 

“Hi Marinette, what did you think,” Adrien scratched the back of his neck as he looked down at her. Oh No he was talking to her, he was looking at her, when did he get there? Marinette could feel the heat welling up in her cheeks as she sat paralyzed by his smile, his eyes… “Is that for me? Can I open it?” he asked. She suddenly realized she was crushing the package in her arms. She held it out for him to take her eyes frozen on his. He tore the paper open tossing it to the ground as Mylene picked it up for him. He held the jacket up by the shoulders musing over it before stripping off his coat and pulling the leather jacket on. He zipped it up and suddenly Marinette realized just how filled out she was. He wasn’t the thin boy he used to be, his broad shoulders and tone upper body now exposed the man he was as the jacket fit every detail of his upper body within it’s form fitting style. The zipper made its way to his neck then his eyes met hers again.

“I just need a silver bell.” He reached up pretending to flick a bell that wasn’t there. Marinette jumped to her feet. Her mind raced as she suddenly realized something she should have known all along. It was so obvious as she now looked up at her friend, her best friend, her crush….HER PARTNER. She ran!

Adrien couldn’t understand what had happened. He watched her run from the park but was so dumbfounded his feet wouldn’t move to go after her. 

“Not again.” Alya said, walking up beside him.

“What did I do?” Adrien was beside himself with worry as he watched her. She wasn’t even heading home. 

“It’s not you, it’s Marinette, she always does this.” Rose said anger fueling her words as she stormed out of the park. 

“Well… I guess she can try again another day.” Juleka muttered. 

“Try what?” Adrien spun around to face her. 

“Nothing.” Juleka left to try to catch up with Rose. A

“Alya?” Adrien begged. “What is going on?” Alya just shook her head and led him back to the party. It had only been a few minutes before the music was stopped by an akumatized victim tossing a large rock at the DJ Booth demolishing it. 

“I am Truth Singer.” the villain said, “And from now on you will all sing your truths so the whole world can hear.” Adrien backed up. This isn’t good. He had to get out of there before the villain made him sing, his truth had to remain a secret. Nino was the first one hit by the villain's powers. He began to sing Perfect, by Ed Sheeran as he took Alya’s hand. She tried to get away to run but was mesmerized by his song. 

Adrien took this opportunity to run while the rest of the party scattered from the park. 

“Plagg, we can’t get hit no matter what.” The Kwami didn’t respond. Oh right. He thought, my jacket. He ran back to the park and found his other jacket laying on the bench. He grabbed it and ran back to the alley. “Plagg?” the Kwami came out of the pocket smelling like stinky cheese. 

“Wow, I wonder how many people thought you looked like Cat Noir?” Plagg said, noting the leather jacket.

“You think that might be why Marinette ran? Do you think she recognized me?”

“She made it didn’t she?” Plagg asked. Adrien lifted the cuff to inspect the stitching, just on the inside of the cuff of both arms was the signature stitching she had placed on everything she had made him. He nodded. He wondered if it bothered her, the thought that he might be Cat Noir or if she truly was in love with Cat. No time for that now.

“Plagg Claws out.” He inspected his Cat suit to realize the suit Marinette made him was very much similar, however the designs were unique. The Cat suit was solid black versus the neon green stitching of the Marinette jacket. He ran back to the park where he found Several people singing. The akumatized person was gone. He could hear her in the distance calling. He gave chase until he found her on Marinette’s balcony. 

“Oh Marinette, it’s time to sing your truth, it’s been far too long keeping your love bottled up.” Truth Singer sang out. What was she talking about? 

“I hate to break it to you but Marinette isn’t much of a singer.” He announced his presence on the roof above her. “But I will be happy to take that akuma from you then we can go find her together, and ask her about this secret you are speaking of.” He lept at her scratching at the bottle of perfume she held in her hands. It was much like Princess Fragrance only instead of turning people into her slaves, she was making them sing about their truth. He missed. Suddenly he was engulfed in smoke. He tried to cough it out of his lungs but it was too late.

 He landed on the railing of Marinette’s balcony balancing on all fours. 

“Well little lady, let me Elucidate here.” He said. He had no idea what to do, he couldn’t stop. “Everybody wants to be a cat

Because a cat's the only cat

Who knows where it's at”

He flipped backward as she swung at him. Maintaining his balance on the railing until there wasn’t any left. 

“Tell me, everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat

'Cause everything else is obsolete

A square with a horn makes you wish you weren't born”

He leaped over her head to the other side of the railing standing up right. 

“Every time he plays

But with a square in the act

You can set music back” He held his hands up  in a shrug gesture. He pulled out his baton. As she came at him again. Her mouth twisted in a snarl as she kicked at him. 

“To the caveman days, cha-cha-ba-dum-bo-day

I've heard some corny birds who who tried to sing

Still a cat's the only cat who knows how to swing

Who wants to dig a long-haired gig or stuff like that?”

“AAH.” She growled, charging at him again. He jumped into the air flipping over her. “Stop moving so I can get your miraculous.” she demanded. 

“When everybody wants to be a cat

A square with a horn makes you wish you weren't born

Every time he plays

Oh, a rinky-tinky-tinky

With a square in the act you can set music back

To the caveman days”

 

“Enough you stupid cat that song is annoying.” She screamed at him. He might not have had any control over it, but it was working. “How is that song your truth anyway?”

“Yes, everybody wants to be a cat

Because a cat's the only cat who knows where it's at

When playin' jazz you always has a welcome mat

'Cause everybody digs a swinging cat”. The truth was clear, he loved being in his cat form. He never felt more like himself than when he was popping off puns, flirting and being generally playful, he always had to be as serious as Adrien, but as Cat, he had all the freedom in the world. 

 

Everybody, everybody, everybody wants to be a cat

Hallelujah!

Everybody, everybody, everybody wants to be a cat

Everybody, everybody, everybody wants to be a cat

Everybody, everybody

 

He launched for the perfume bottle again. If only he could call his cataclysm. Suddenly her attention was drawn elsewhere. He followed her gaze and found Marinette sitting alone on a bench down the street. Was she crying. Truth Singer dove off the rooftop before he could grab her. He spun his baton then jumped from the roof extending his staff to give himself a quicker path to Marinette. He landed on the concrete in front of her as Truth Singer was on his heels. He wasted no time scooping her into his arms like a bride before he ran leaping off the walls as he made his way to the rooftops.

 

“You're the light, you're the night

You're the color of my blood

You're the cure, you're the pain

You're the only thing I wanna touch

Never knew that it could mean so much, so much” Damn Marinette got hit. He looked down at her face. It was red as she reached up for his face. So far, this power isn’t revealing their secrets, it’s just making them sing a truthful song, something they felt. 

 

“You're the fear, I don't care

'Cause I've never been so high

Follow me through the dark

Let me take you past our satellites

You can see the world you brought to life, to life”

 

Her voice was beautiful, he thought as he tried to find a place to stash Marinette, where was Ladybug. He had tried to refrain from singing, at least keeping his voice so low that no one else could hear him. He wanted to focus on her voice. 

“So love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do

Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do

Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do

What are you waiting for?”

Cat froze on the rooftop, his eyes met hers. The heat rose up in his cheeks as she sang. His heart began to flutter. Does she feel this way about Cat Noir, or did she figure it out and know he’s Adrien. 

“Fading in, fading out

On the edge of paradise

Every inch of your skin, is a Holy Grail I've gotta find

Only you can set my heart on fire, on fire”

He gulped back a lump that had started to form on his lips. He was glad he had made distance between them and Truth Singer, or did she get what she wanted. He squatted down on the rooftop as she sang to him. He stroked her face. He could feel his own song changing. Suddenly his feelings, his heart began to sing. The power of the magic between them had actually changed his song.

“I'll let you set the pace

'Cause I'm not thinking straight

My head's spinning around, I can't see clear no more

Oh, what are you waiting for?” Cat Noir sang out the words before they escaped her lips. 

“Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do

Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do

Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do, oh

What are you, what are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?” These were her words sung through his lips as she froze. Her face reddened. He knew he had feelings for her, but he never wanted to admit it, he didn’t want to betray his feelings for Ladybug, but how could he deny the feelings he had been developing for Marinette since day one. Maybe it was just the magic from the akuma, but he no longer controlled his own emotions. He cupped her face in his free hand as the other one was behind her back as she draped over his knees. He pulled her face closer to his, watching her eyes drift shut. 

““I'll let you set the pace

'Cause I'm not thinking straight

My head's spinning around, I can't see clear no more

Oh, what are you waiting for?” She sang just as his lips met hers. Their mouths opened as they pressed themselves closer together feeling every inch of her mouth on his. He could feel the song magic fading, the urge to sing no longer present, but what was this feeling in his heart? It was as if his heart had been turned into butterflies and they were swarming his chest trying to escape. He kept his lips on hers, waiting for her to push him away. She didn’t, she weaved her fingers through his hair gently combing through. 

“Give me your Miraculous Cat Noir, and I will use you to draw out Ladybug.” Truth Singer was right behind him. He quickly grabbed his baton spinning on his heels as he moved Marinette behind him. 

“Grab on.” He said. She jumped on his back as he extended the staff launching them into the atmosphere then swinging it forward vaulting them into flight. They began to fall as she held onto him. He angled to fall to land in and alley way as they came down between the buildings he moved his staff between the building like a hanging rod sliding down the brick building until they slowed just feet from the ground. She dropped from his shoulders as he held on to the now lodged baton. He reached out a hand to her.

He released the baton as it shrunk back to the length of a ruler. He locked it back in place on his back. Marinette stood in front of him still red in the face. 

“I guess kissing a purrincess can break any spell.” He knelt before her, taking her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. She simply stood frozen in place. Unable to speak. “Tell me now purrincess, why did she want you to sing your truth?”

“I have already told you Cat.” She whispered. “About the boy I like, but I haven’t been able to tell him how I feel, I am such a klutz with my words when I am around him.” A single tear fell from her eye. 

“Could you ever love me?” Cat asked her. 

“I don’t know who you are under the mask.”

“I am more myself with the mask, then I have ever been without it, can you love this side of me.” he stood up taking both her hands in his. “And I love you for everything that you are, your clumsiness as well.” he smirked. Heat raced to his face as he watched her, he felt his heart still as his confession fell upon her ears. 

“What about Ladybug.” She whimpered. 

“In the words of a special friend of mine…Plagg, it’s okay to love two people at the same time, especially when they are so much alike.” 

“I’m nothing like Ladybug.” she pulled her hands back. His smile widened. 

“Will you please answer my question?” his heart couldn’t take it anymore. “Can you love this side of me? This man you see before you,” She looked back up at him. “Put the thought of that Sunshine boy out of your head for one second, and focus on me.” Marinette sighed. 

“Yes.” She admitted. “Yes Cat, I do love you, but…” 

“Claws in.” Marinette closed her eyes, blinding by his detransformation. “I trust you, after all you are the only one I know besides myself who has never been akumatized.” He chuckled. He cupped both hands on her cheeks forcing her to look up at him. He could hear Truth Singer in the distance looking for Cat and Ladybug. “You have to open your eyes Marinette,.” She slowly slid her eyes open. Her face reflected a realization that maybe She had figured it out earlier in the park. His heart stilled in his chest waiting for her response. 

“Spots on.” 

“Best birthday ever.” Adrien said, lowering his face to place his lips on Ladybugs. He kept his eyes open as she closed hers. The moment their lips met, his closed as they melted into each other's kisses. 

There you go LadyNoir and Marichat Shippers. We don’t need to finish this story, we all know what happens to the akumatized person. 

Ps, I didn't write the songs, but credit aristocats for the feline good song "Everybody wants to be a cat" and Ellie Goulding for "love me like you do"

[bbangsoonie]

tangerine guesthouse

member: haknyeon genre: fluff word count: 2,238 synopsis: on a healing trip to jeju island, you meet a guesthouse owner who goes the extra step to make sure you enjoy your stay.

a/n: happy birthday to our jeju boy, juhaknyeon ! 🍊

After impulsively quitting your job, you packed a suitcase and booked a last minute flight to Jeju Island. You wanted to escape but unfortunately didn’t have enough money for an international flight. So you found yourself flying over on a domestic plane.

Everything about this journey was spontaneous. The money you saved up on the side from your tedious 9-5 job was all spent on this healing trip. With nothing but a camera in your hands, you were determined to finally rest and have fun for once. You hadn’t had the luxury to do so in years.

Before you left Incheon Airport, you reserved a room at a random bed and breakfast you found online. “Tangerine Guesthouse”. It had a cute name.

The taxi dropped you off in front of the place and you cautiously walked in with your bag rolling behind you. You peaked inside the building, unsure if you were supposed to just enter.

“Hello!” a chirpy voice greeted you. Startled, you jumped as you turned around to face the person who nearly gave you a heart attack. Seeing him only made your heart beat faster. He was cute. Extremely cute.

“Are you here to rent a room?” he asked.

“Y-Yes, I made a reservation a couple of hours ago,” you pulled out your phone to show him the details.

“Ah, Y/n! Yes, welcome,” he beamed. “My name is Juhaknyeon but please call me Haknyeon.”

You reached out to shake his hand and were surprised to feel how soft they were.

“Allow me to show you to your room,” he said before guiding you upstairs.

The room was fairly small but cozy. It had everything you needed and made a cute space for photos. After Haknyeon left, you began to unpack.

You heard a knock on the door and mindlessly told your guest to come in. You looked up when they entered, surprised to see another male.

“Hello! I’m Sunwoo and I’m staying in the room next to yours,” he introduced himself. “I just wanted to stop by to say hi and get friendly.”

“Nice to meet you, Sunwoo. I’m Y/n,” you smiled.

“The other guests and I are gathering this evening to just chat over beer. Would you like to join us as well? We’d love to have you,” he said.

On a normal occasion, the introvert in you would have declined. However, you were on a healing trip and resolute about trying new things. So you happily accepted the invitation and promised to meet them in the yard at 7.

You had about four hours until then and decided to kill time by exploring the neighborhood. You enjoyed the change in scenery and the fresh air that Seoul could not offer.

You found yourself alone at a nearby beach and embraced the solitude. There were no managers yelling at you about deadlines or coworkers passive aggressively criticizing your work here. It was just you and the roaring waves. Grabbing your camera, you took a few shots of the salty sea. Perhaps you would return to your hobby and pursue photography.

You allowed yourself to consider it as an option as you headed back to the streets to look for a restaurant. You settled for the closest one and were satisfied with your choice when you took a bite of their seafood ramen.

You roamed around a bit more after the meal. You came across a souvenir shop and ended up spending a lot of time—and money—there. You certainly had a thing for cliche souvenirs. Keychains, magnets, mugs. You loved them all.

You came back to the lodging with a bag full of trinkets you knew you would keep instead of gifting. The retail therapy added a bounce in your walk as you climbed up the stairs. You organized them accordingly as you happily hummed.

You looked at the clock and saw that it was time to convene with the rest of the boarders. You threw on a cardigan before going back outside.

Haknyeon was by the grill flipping meat and Sunwoo was busy taking out the drinks from the fridge. You awkwardly stood around, not knowing where to go.

“Take a seat wherever you want,” Sunwoo called out.

Finding an empty spot, you sat down and looked around. The yard was decorated nicely to bring a nice ambiance.

“Hi, I’m Eric and this is Hyunjoon,” the guy next to you grinned.

You exchanged greetings with the two and introduced yourself. You had to admit it was nice to meet such amiable people.

The night went by with the five of you conversing over black pig samgyupsal and alcohol. Haknyeon was a big foodie, Sunwoo was a big tease, Eric was a big dork, and Hyunjoon was a big sports enthusiast. Hyunjoon came to Jeju to enjoy horseback riding and planned on dragging Sunwoo and Eric along.

“If you guys are down for some physical activity, I can destroy you in badminton,” Haknyeon suggested.

“Loser has to down a bottle of soju. Each,” Eric laughed evilly.

To make the teams fair, you were paired up with Haknyeon to play against the other three. He definitely proved his worth as the ace, easily winning 21-12. Sunwoo let out a scream, blaming Eric for his punishment suggestion. The latter tried to run away but was caught by Hyunjoon who handed him a bottle.

They all retreated to their rooms after fulfilling their penalty, leaving you and Haknyeon to clean up. The work was done relatively quickly and you made it back to your bed before midnight.

The next morning, you came out of your room clutching your Ryan doll that doubled as a pillow. You mumbled a “good morning” to Haknyeon who was preparing breakfast and chuckled at your appearance.

“Cute,” he commented on your tastes. You replied with a yawn, still not fully awake.

“The guys are probably gonna be hungover so I’m making some soup. I hope that’s okay with you,” he said.

He rolled up his sleeves before washing his hands. He then grabbed a knife and began cutting the vegetables. Your nose wrinkled at the sight of onions. You had forgotten to mention how picky you were. It was an embarrassing conversation to have as an adult. You had to explain how your childish tastebuds never matured while people let out an incredulous gasp. It was something you had to disclose every time you ate with someone new and it was honestly pretty tiring. People didn’t understand that you didn’t choose to be picky. Your tongue just refused the tastes of a lot of foods. It was more inconvenient for you than anyone else.

Nevertheless, you were excited to try the food made by the self proclaimed food connoisseur. You would just have to pick out the vegetables later.

The two of you decided to just eat together after the guys refused to wake up before noon. Haknyeon took a seat in front of you after he set the table and you thanked him.

To your relief, he didn’t seem so shocked by your childlike palate. He let the conversation end by saying something about respecting other people’s preferences.

Noticing your hair falling in front of your face, he got up to go look for something. He returned with a hair tie which he offered to you. It was just a courteous gesture but it still made you giddy regardless. The hair tie was probably just a spare left by previous guests but to you, it was a token. Something to remember him by.

“So, Y/n, what brings you to Jeju?” he questioned.

You’ve heard your name before many times in your life. Obviously. But hearing it from his voice felt different. The way your name rolled off his tongue made your heart skip a beat.

“Oh you know, just the typical “I wanted to get away from the city” trope,” you hummed.

“Classic,” he nodded.

After breakfast, Haknyeon volunteered to be your tour guide for the day. He showed you his favorite places in town and even drove further out to take you to the photo exhibition you wanted to see. You had a blast, taking a bunch of pictures to commemorate your trip.

When he asked why you used such a fancy camera and why you took photos of everything, you simply shrugged in response. Truthfully, you didn’t know why either.

For lunch, he brought you to a sashimi place where you bonded over a large platter of raw fish. Both the view and quality of the restaurant were amazing. And your company too, of course.

“Do your guests always get such personalized treatment?” you asked, raising a brow.

“Honestly? No,” he laughed. “I’m not that great of a host. Nor do I have the time and money to.”

“Then what’s all this? Today?”

“Hmm… I’m not quite sure.”

You left it at that and let him take you to an aquarium. Haknyeon had more fun watching you than looking at the animals. You were like a little kid in a candy store. Everything was fascinating to you.

The last time you visited an aquarium was for a field trip when you were in elementary school. It felt like you were going back to your childhood roots.

You made it back to the guesthouse in time for dinner. This time, you insisted on cooking. With the ingredients left in the fridge, you made kimchi fried rice. The smell lured the others down to join you two in the kitchen.

The rest of the night was rather uneventful, which you appreciated. You got to relish time just passing by. It was exactly what you came to Jeju for.

Back in your room, you connected your camera to your laptop to browse through the photos. Looking at them, you noticed that Haknyeon was in half of them.

“Maybe it was him I wanted to save in my memory,” you whispered under your breath.

Another week went by and you wished time would flow slower. Hyunjoon was the first to leave the guesthouse and it already felt a lot emptier without him. You hated goodbyes. You hated how all good things had to eventually come to an end.

The feeling made you cherish the remaining time you had left on the island. You spent your evenings with the guys and frequently chatted in the group chat with all five of you in it. You never expected to grow so fond of strangers you barely got to know. Haknyeon, in particular, had a special place in your heart.

He often took you out on what you liked to believe were dates. Under the guise of being your tour guide, he showed you the hidden parts of his hometown. Though he was slightly disappointed that your favorite thing from all the menus you’ve tried was the black sesame frappuccino from Starbucks.

“Really? Of all the things you’ve eaten and drank, you choose something from a chain store?” he had whined.

“Hey, they only have it here. I can’t get it anywhere else,” you defended.

He made it his mission to find you something local that would triumph over your love for the Starbucks drink. A close second was the makgeolli made and sold only in Jeju.

By the time Sunwoo and Eric left, you and Haknyeon had gotten extremely close. With him, it was so easy to open up and just be you. You practically lived in his room. You slept over after late night movies and cuddles.

Neither of you ever verbally defined your relationship. You were both somewhat afraid to ask what exactly you two were. Instead, you focused on each other.

“So you’re picking up photography again?” he asked with your head resting on his chest. The two of you were lazing around on the couch with a random show on for background noise.

“Possibly. It was always an interest of mine. I thought I’d get to have it as a side-job once I started working full time but I never got around to it. Trying to make a living was a lot harder than I thought it’d be,” you revealed.

“You definitely have the talent. I think you should take the opportunity and go for it,” he encouraged.

The idea lingered on your mind as the second week flew by. Your passion for photography had been pushed to the side as you struggled as a paycheck worker. You missed taking up odd gigs for extra cash in college.

On your last night at the guesthouse, you paused in the middle of dinner to stare at Haknyeon. The more time you spent with him, the more you didn’t want to leave. Changing your career path because of a guy was crazy. Moving to an island because of said guy that you only met two weeks ago was even crazier. But he inspired you to do what your heart desires. And that included being with him.

“What if I moved here to start freelancing? Publish that photography book I always dreamed of. Maybe set up my own studio one day,” you pondered aloud.

That proposition had many implications about the relationship between you two. He took a moment to carefully contemplate over it. Your heart pounded waiting for his response.

“If that’s what you truly want to do, I think that’d be nice,” he smiled, making your own face light up.

a/n: wow i was reminiscing my own time at jeju while writing this 🥺 and now, with this fic, i have officially written for all tbz members! :)

[bemyparabataiintheshadowworld]

A Shadowhunter?

Type: One shot about Jace from Shadowhunters Rating: Rated G Word Count: 2800+ Enjoy!

She sat down at the table, pulling her laptop out of her bag. Taking a sip from her freshly made coffee as her laptop started up. She took out her pen that was made for her laptop and she started to write. She also needed to do research, just thinking about it she sighed. She finally pulled her attention off her writing and started to get to work. She finally finished her coffee as she was close to finishing her work. Her mind was still wandering off, she sighed and leaned back in her chair. She pushed through and finally finished her work, she returned to the counter. She ordered another cup of coffee and also a sandwich. She leaned against the counter as she waited for her food. She saw a few people come in quickly. She got her food and made her way back to her table. She shut her laptop down and shoved it back in her bag so she could enjoy her food. As she took her last bite someone walked past the table and slipped a note on it. "Get out now, while you still can," the note read. She was taken back by this note and she didn't know what was going on. She looked towards the guy who slipped the note on the table, he had a worried look on his face. She gathered her things and made a quick exit through the back door. She didn't know what was going on nor did she want to know. She made her way onto the main street, minding her own business. She made her way towards her apartment when she had a strange feeling that someone was following her.

"Thank you for leaving," he said. "What?" She turned right into him. "I didn't want you to get hurt," He said. "And you are?" She questioned. "I'm Jace," he smiled. "How do I know you?" She looked at him. "You don't" He nodded slightly. "Oh ok, should I?" She asked. "Maybe" I could see the smirk grow on his face. "So why did I have to leave the cafe?" She said, "It's complicated but doesn't worry everything is ok" he spoke. "Ok" She shuffled things in my purse as I searched for my keys. "May I come in?" he asked. "Should I trust you?" She looked at him. "You should," he nodded.

She opened up her apartment door and nodded for him to enter. She entered behind him and closed the door, making sure it was locked. She set her back down on the couch and slipped off her shoes. He followed her example and took off his shoes. He sat down on the couch and She sat in the chair, things got quiet. She started to question why she let him in. She admits that he was good looking but that didn't mean she could trust him.

“So why all the tattoos?” She questioned as she broke the silence. “They are ruins” he looked towards me. “Don't try to make them sound fancy, they are tattoos” She rolled her eyes. “You don't understand, the legends are true,” he said. “legends?” She questioned. “Werewolves, vampires, shadowhunters,” he said. “I never heard of a shadowhunter,” She said. “That's because we protect the mundane,” he said. "So I guess that makes me mundane?" She questioned him. "Yes you are" he nodded slightly. "And what do you exactly protect us from?" She looked at him. "Demons mainly but also the downworlders as well" he looked at me. "Downworlders? like a vampire?" She questioned. "Yes, like the vampires" he nodded slightly. "What if I said I don't believe you?" She looked at him. "You don't have too" he smirked as he looked at her. "So I'm supposed to believe some random guy from a cafe that I randomly let into my apartment?" she asked. "Well if you didn't trust me or felt safe around me then you wouldn't have let me in," he said. "That is true but I'm not sure about the stories you are telling," She said. "That's fine," he smiled. "Within time you will," he said. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked. "Sure, what do you have?" he asked. "Water, I could make some tea. I do have adult drinks but are you over 21?" she asked as she stood up from the chair. "Are you serious?" he chuckled slightly. "I don't know," she said as she walked into the kitchen.

He walked into the kitchen with her, leaning against the counter as he watched her. She reached up on her tippy toes trying to reach a glass. He came behind her, grabbing her hips slightly lifting her. She grabbed the glasses and he softly put her down. She turned to face him, his hands still on her hips. She gently bit her lip as she looked at him. He placed his hand on her chin and rested his forehead against hers. She leaned up slightly allowing her lips to touch his gently. He kissed her softly, moving his hand against her neck. She dropped the glasses in her hands, as they broke on the floor.

"Shit," she said. "Are you ok?" he asked. "Yea I'm fine" she took a deep breath in. "Are you hurt?" he questioned as he crouched down to pick up the broken glass. "I don't think so," she said as she bent down to help him. "I see blood," he said as he pushed her pant leg up. "It cut you," he said. "I guess it did," she said as she started to panic as she saw the blood. "Hey" he stood up and cupped her face in his hand. "Just breathe," he said. "Sorry," she said. "Shhh just breathe," he said. "Ok" she nodded as she took a few deep breaths in. "Come here," he said as he placed his hands on her hips, picking her up and placing her on the counter. "How bad is it?" she asked. "It's not bad," he said as he grabbed a paper towel and placed it on the cut. "Do I need stitches?" she looked at him. "No you will be fine," he said as he cleaned up the cut and bandaged it up. "Thank you," she said as she watched him. "No problem," he said as he cleaned up the mess. "I don't do well with blood, '' she admitted. "That's fine," he said as he moved closer to her. "But thank you," she said as she pulled him closer to her.

He rested his hands on her legs as he looked at her. She leaned in and kissed him softly again, placing her hand against his chest. He smiled against her lips as he placed his hand against her chin. She rested her forehead against his as she looked at him. She pulled away from him as she heard a knock on the door. She got down from the counter and answered the door. It was her sister, she opened the door and allowed her to enter. She turned to look back at the kitchen but he was gone.

"Where did he go?" she asked. "Who?" Janet asked. "Oh sorry, how are you?" she said as she looked at Janet. "Liz, what's going on?" Janet asked. "Nothing," she said. "So who were you looking for?" Janet asked as she walked into the kitchen. "Nobody," she said. "If you say so" Janet rolled her eyes. "So are we going out tonight?" she asked. "Of course," Liz said. "Ok then why aren't you ready or even attempting to get ready?" Janet asked. "I was just finishing up with some work, I'll meet you there," she said. "Alright, remember drinks start at 9," Janet said as she walked to the door. "I'll be there," Liz said as Janet left. "I need to get some sleep," Liz said to herself as she made her way upstairs.

She got into the shower and washed her hair quickly. She got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her. Making her way to her closet, quickly picking out something to wear. She sat down in front of her mirror and started to do her hair. She looked down for a quick second and when she looked back up at the mirror he was standing behind her.

"Shit," she said as she jumped. "Sorry," he said as he sat on the bed. "I thought you left," She said. "No,  just deglammerd," he said. "I'm not even going to ask" she rolled her eyes and went back to doing her hair. "A shadowhunter thing," he said. "Ok I just think you are good at hiding but what are you hiding from?" she looked at him. "Just to make it easier for you," he said. "Easier for me?" she asked as she got up. "Turn your head," she said as she started to get dressed. "I didn't think you wanted to introduce me to your sister,'' he said as he looked away. "A guy you just met," he said. "True but this is my apartment I can have whoever I want over' she said as she finished getting dressed. "I know, I didn't know," He said. "What is deglammering?" She asked. "It's a rune, basically I can make myself invisible," He said. "Oh," she nodded. "Where are you going tonight?" he asked. "A club with my sister, have a few drinks," she said as slipped her shoes on. "Mind if I come along?" he questioned. "Wait since you can be invisible, did you just creep me in the shower?" she looked at him. "I'm not a creep," he said as he stood up. "I wouldn't invade someone's privacy," he said. "I was just asking," she said. "I'll give you some space," he said as he walked downstairs. "Who said I needed space?" she asked as she followed him. "It just seems that way," he said as he opened the door. "Wait maybe you can show up later at the club?" she asked. "Do you want me too?" he looked at her. "Yea I do," she smiled. "Just don't show up when I do," she said. "Alright," he chuckled slightly as he left.

She left her apartment and left in her car. Heading towards the club, of course, her sister was blowing up her phone. She rolled her eyes and finally pulled up to the club. She parked and made her way inside, finding Janet at the bar. Liz ordered her drink and leaned against the bar. Taking a few sips as she looked out towards the dance floor.

"Once again, who are you looking for?" Janet asked. "No one," Liz said as she took another sip. "Sure," Janet said as she rolled her eyes. "When I have something or someone to show off you'll know it," Liz said.

Liz placed her drink down on the bar and went onto the dance floor. She started dancing, swaying to the beat of the music. Jace walked into the club and of course, he turned heads. All the ladies seemed to be drawn to him but he pushed past them. Liz caught his eye and he made his way onto the dance floor. Grabbing her hips and dancing with her. She smiled and leaned in, kissing him softly as they moved to the beat of the music. Once the music stopped they went back to the bar. While Liz was dancing someone slipped something into her drink without anyone noticing.

"Want a drink?" Liz asked as she picked up her drink. "I'll get one," Jace nodded and ordered a drink for himself. "Good" she smiled as she took a sip from hers. "Who is he?" Janet asked. "Jace, this is my sister," Liz said. "Nice to meet you," Jace said. "You too," Janet said.

They started drinking together, Jace noticed someone watching Liz. He tried to ignore it as he just wanted to focus on Liz and enjoy the night. He placed his arm around her waist as it seemed that she was getting drunk. She rested her head against his chest.

"Something isn't right?" Janet said. "What do you mean?" Jace asked. "She only had one drink, she's not a lightweight," Janet said. "Do you think someone spiked her drink?" Jace said. "I think so," Janet said.

Before Jace could respond Liz fell, he grabbed her helping her stand. He tilted her head up and looked into her eyes, they were glazed over. He knew someone spiked her drink, so he picked her up and left the club. Placing her in his car as Janet rushed out of the club.

"Where are you taking her?" She asked. "Probably to a hospital," Jace said. "I don't know you, so I'm not allowing you to take my sister," She said. "She needs to go to the hospital," Jace said. "How do I know it wasn't you who spiked her drink?" Janet crossed her arms. "Stop," Liz said as she opened the car door. "I trust him," she said before she started to puke.

Jace grabbed her hair and held it back. Rubbing her back as she threw up on the street. Once she finished he wiped her mouth with a tissue. Helping her lay back in the car and closing the door. He didn't even look back at Janet as he got into the car. He took off before Janet could do anything and he headed straight for the hospital. He pulled into the emergency and got out of the car. Picking her up and taking her inside, and they took her straight back. He went back to the car and parked it before entering the hospital. They allowed him to go back to the emergency room so he could be with her. He wasn't prepared to see what he saw, they were working on her. She was crashing and for once he couldn't help. They pulled the curtain so he couldn't see, the nurse pushed him into the waiting room.

"Alec I need you," he said into the phone. "What's going on?" Alec asked. "There were demons," Jace said. "Where?" Alec asked. "Doing what?" Alec said. "In the club, the one downtown," Jace said. "Drugging people," he said. "I'll see the reports and get back to you," Alec said. "Do it fast," Jace said before hanging up.

He paced the waiting room, jumped up at any doctor he saw. The minutes turned into hours without any word on how Liz was. He sat in the chair resting his head down in his hands. Alec showed up at the hospital and pulled Jace outside.

"What are you doing here?" Alec asked. "I was with one of the girls who was drugged," Jace said. "How is she?" Alec asked. "No word yet, did you find out?" Jace asked. "Yea we found out, it's being dealt with," Alec said. "Good," Jace said. "Why does this one girl matter?" Alec asked. "Because she does,"  Jace said. "Why?" Alec asked. "Just know she does, that's all you need to know," Jace said. "Alright," Alec rolled his eyes. "Thank you," Jace said as he went back into the hospital.

The doctor came up to him as he walked inside. Liz was alright but she needed to stay overnight. The doctor led him back to her room. She was still asleep as Jace walked in, taking her hand in his. He leaned down and kissed her forehead before sitting by her bedside. He stayed all night just watching her sleep. He just started to nod off to sleep when she woke up in the morning.

"Jace?" she whispered. "I'm here," he said as he sat up. "Where am I?" she asked. "You are in the hospital," he said. "Why?" she looked at him. "Because someone drugged you at the club," he said. "Am I ok?" she asked as she sat up. "Yea you are" he kissed her hand softly. "You didn't have to stay all night," she said. "I wanted to make sure you were ok," he said, "Thank you," she said,

He stood up and kissed her forehead again as the nurse came in. She was getting released from the hospital, he left the room so she could get dressed. He could hear fighting down the hall so he ran down to see what was going on. There were demons in the hospital, wanting everyone they drugged to be dead. Jace started to fight them and killed them with his blade. He killed the last demon and he turned to go back down the hallway when he saw Liz.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. "You killed them," She said. "Wait, you can see them?" He looked at her. "You killed them," she said.

He was confused because mundanes cant see demons. She wasn't a shadowhunter so he started to question what she was. He stood there staring at her but then she rushed back to her room. Grabbing her things and leaving the hospital before he could ask her again. He snapped out of it and rushed behind her but she was gone. He made his way to his car and drove straight to her apartment. Everything that was hers was gone, it was like she vanished into thin air.

[imathers]

TMC 01: The Soundtrack of My Life

So apparently Spotify embeds just don’t work on the tumblr dashboard, even though if I go see the post on its own I can see my mix embedded just below this paragraph. If you can’t, well, here’s the mix.

So I’m doing a mixtape club thing again, thanks to some friends here. For your inaugural mix you can either do the theme everyone else is doing or(/and, but this time I only had time/energy for one) a sort of introductory “soundtrack of your life” type mix. Guess which one I did? Not sure I’ll do notes for these every time, but I feel like this one kinda makes zero sense without at least some context, so that’s under the cut. It’s also bigger than I tend to make mixes, 21 songs and 94 minutes. But believe me, I cut a lot. And yes, it is pretty entirely white dude music. I do love plenty of other stuff, but not as centrally as this stuff; yes, I have a lot of thoughts about that too. Details under the cut, and apologies to those on mobile if that still doesn’t register cuts.

01. The Beatles — “Oh! Darling”

I know! The Beatles. And not even a track that would make my top 20 Beatles songs. But one of my first music memories, I think both before and after my parents split up when my brother and I were in the middle of second grade, was my dad singing the beginning of this song as he did the dishes or what have you. He also sometimes did “If I Fell”, but I feel like that was more post-split. And maybe “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill”? To the extent that years later I was kind of surprised to find out those were Beatles songs; they were Dad songs first.

02. Van Morrison — “Domino”

My dad was easily the parent more into music, the one with the stereo system and the vinyl (and, relatively early, CD) collection. I’m not sure how much he gets into new stuff these days (he’s 70 this year!) but he did for a longer time than most, ordering anything in the Columbia House catalog that had an interesting review in the Toronto Star (this is why he has a CD copy of the Cure’s Disintegration, a record I am pretty sure I love more than he does). I tried not to go too overboard with the music I got from him here (so there’s no: Allman Brothers Band, the Clash, Neil Young, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, etc), but I didn’t feel like I could skip Van Morrison, because he listened to so much of it that one of my few mild, unconscious forms of teenage rebellion was becoming convinced around the time I went to university that I didn’t like Morrison’s voice or music. But I did, and I have the memories of jumping around our living room to “Domino” to prove it. Morrison’s “Everyone” in The Royal Tenenbaums suddenly thawed my feelings towards Van the Man (and made me want to call my dad), and the first time I played His Band and the Street Choir after was just a shot of pure childhood nostalgia.

03. Blue Rodeo — “Rose Coloured Glasses”

If this was a list of movies instead of songs, my mom would be far more prominent (and in fact I don’t know what I’d put related to my dad who, and I do not understand this, “doesn’t like movies”). Their split was amicable but the years after were, if less rough than a lot of divorces, not always great. I remember sitting in my mom’s apartment feeling actively anxious about how things were going to work out, listening to my mom’s copy of Outskirts on vinyl, listening to the first songs I noticed as being about difficult, ‘adult’ situations. Even then it seemed to me that this song isn’t critical of this woman who thinks that “love could save us all” so much as it presents our narrator as someone who is too hurt and afraid to allow himself to think she might be right. Or that it’s worth trying, anyway. (And even in the early 90s it already felt like we were in “a world that’s tired and scared of living on the edge too long”... a feeling that has come back with a vengeance if it ever left.) Also, even more than just the song, the video gives me such precise, almost hallucinatory flashbacks to the feeling and texture of that apartment and that time in my life.

04. Crowded House — “Love This Life”

Growing up in a small town with no music store and little radio, I was dependent for a long time on what my parents had, then eventually MuchMusic. So the copy of Termple of Low Men I played over and over was my dad’s, but it kind of felt like some of the first music that was ‘mine’. It was a record that unlocked certain things for me (hell, I wrote an essay on “Into Temptation”, uh... 15 years ago), but this was always my favourite, the one I was first surprised and then pissed to find wasn’t on the (otherwise pretty flawless!) Recurring Dream best-of comp. Something about the ambiguity? Maybe I was a tiny philosophy major already. “Here’s something that you can do, even if you think that I hate you” is still stuck somewhere in my head.

05. R.E.M. — “Country Feedback”

This is not here for the intense relationship it has to depression in my own mental cosmology. Certainly when I first heard it as a kid who had recently discovered the concept of “favourite song” and had decided “Losing My Religion” was it, I was not depressed and did not know what that was. I’ve said many times before that R.E.M. were my favourite band before I got old enough to realize that was something I actually had a say in. But maybe partly because of my particular age I’m not strictly orthodox about them; for me, the period spanning Out of Time through to Reveal is the band I love. When I started listening to all the R.E.M. CDs we had around as a kid “Country Feedback” immediately had some sort of hold on me. It didn’t feel good, exactly, but I couldn’t turn away. Now it feels like some sort of fucked-up premonition. “A hotline, a wanted ad, it's crazy what you could've had.” A haunting.

06. The Tragically Hip — “Nautical Disaster”

I spent a lot of late grade school/early high school playing endless games of Freecell, Minesweeper, etc. on our home computer listening to music. A lot of that was Tragically Hip records, most especially and eternally Day For Night, which was simply on another level from the other rock records I had access to at the time. Both viscerally, and just on a... craft level? “Nautical Disaster” still blows me away, I almost can’t talk about it. I had that record so imprinted on me that it feels like I could write a book on how the guitar tone makes me feel, or the drumming, or the vocals.

07. Radiohead — “High and Dry”

You know those songs you hear as a kid and they really speak to you, and then decades later you hear how fucking true they were in a totally different way? It was a little later that a Radiohead song would give me the moment that turned me from someone who listened to a lot of music into whatever I am now (and I don’t even like that other song that much), but thanks to MuchMusic I was already hearing this song and the other singles from The Bends on a loop. The first song on here where nobody else in my family owned a copy of it. “Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that's pretty clever, don't you boy?” I had no fucking clue.

08. Mogwai — “Cody”

One of the many things getting obsessed with Radiohead did was get me reading the freshly-online review archives at places like the NME, and I became maybe the only kid in my high school saving up to buy Mogwai, Super Furry Animals, and Spiritualized records on trips to places with record stores. At one point a friend asked me to make him an actual mixed tape. The result was different enough from what everyone around me had access to that the tape wound up played to and copied for a bunch of people and I became known, not unkindly, as “the weird music guy”. My best high school friend Pete and I were the two in our friend group the most into similar music and we definitely drove around in his parents’ van blasting the loud bits of Young Team and stuff like that, but as I said elsewhere recently, late high school was also just a lot of me laying on my bed playing the often wrenchingly sad Come on Die Young (my friend Isabelle gets it) on repeat and wondering what leaving the only town I remembered living in and going to university was going to be like. A record I did not get when I first bought it, but I had nothing else to fucking listen to so I just kept playing it and then one day I woke up and it’s suddenly probably top ten of all time for me. 

09. The Delgados — “American Trilogy”

God bless The Wedge. I have been luckier with depression than a lot of people I love, and back in 2000 I could honestly say I’d never felt it, but of course there’s always teenage angst. And then this fucking video comes on and I’m just slack-jawed staring at my tiny bedroom TV, nailed to my seat by this song. I have a playlist now of songs that I feel uncomfortable admitting hit this close to home, not necessarily at all related to how I actually interact with people or how I’m perceived, but how it feels in here sometimes. And yet there’s something hopeful here, right? Or maybe not; some days I feel like I can’t tell whether it’s genuine resilience or self-abnegation. “I’m alright now, I’m just thinking what to say.”

10. Underworld — “Push Upstairs”

But no, as i kind of indicated already, high school wasn’t just pining in bedrooms. For two small town kids with literally nowhere to dance, Pete and I sure got into techno. It helped he went on the our school’s Art History trip to Europe (still wish I’d been able to go) and came back with a bunch of CDs by Orbital, Laurent Garnier, Pete Namlook, etc. One of the first unfiltered inklings I got that some of this was also going to be my music was “Push Upstairs” on MuchMusic, a song that seethed and hectored in ways that, while you could definitely dance to it, seemed to go beyond that. Underworld, specifically, have been massively important to me ever since (still are). 

11. Readymade — “Hamburg”

I got really into Plumtree somehow (the ones who did “Scott Pilgrim”, yes that’s where the name was and believe me I laughed when I first saw the comic), enough to mail order their three albums (all of which rule) from Endearing Records, their label. Since this was expensive and I think also because I had gone to university and started writing about music at U of Guelph’s student newspaper, I wound up getting at least one record from Vancouver’s Readymade, since I tended to like shoegaze-y stuff (Slowdive probably should be on here too, ah well). And eventually they sent me a copy of their first record after I wrote something, because I remember that was the first time I had the feeling of getting something valuable for something I’d wrote. That record, The Dramatic Balanced By, is still my go-to answer for favourite record of all time (and one I was shocked to find on Spotify). I own multiple CD copies, just in case. I once saw it in an HMV discount bin for $1.99 and badgered my dad into buying it just in case he liked it/for another spare copy. Someday, if they have a funeral for me, one of my few wishes is that they play “Hamburg” during it and ask everyone to just sit and listen and think about me.

12. New Order — “Ceremony”

If getting into music that your parents (etc.) didn’t know was one kind of weird at first, realizing there was music from their own pasts that they didn’t know about or didn’t like and discovering that was a whole other kind of weird. Getting the New Order Substance in the Guelph HMV felt like it changed my life, let alone subsequently getting into Joy Division. I have some of the single art from “Ceremony” tattooed on the back of my right calf, both for the song itself and because it’s the only one both bands played (in one sense). Anaïs and I semi-joke sometimes about how we both used to think Joy Division was the better of the two and then we grew up/got healthier, and while we both still love those records intensely we do also feel like it’s probably a good sign we both prefer New Order. She used the phrase “the perfect Joy Division room in the New Order house of our lives” once and it stuck. What "Ceremony” means to me... it’s too big.

13. Constantines — “Saint You”

I feel fortunate to have gone to Guelph when Constantines were starting, to see them in the grad lounge on a whim very early and insist they all sign the set list I asked to keep because I swore they were going to be something important. To start going to the shows they hosted at 106 Huron Street where most of them lived, to get to one show at Ed Video downtown at see them still assembling those original first albums, before the jewel case ones that show the cardboard packaging they used (we helped them cut up some cardboard). One of the great rock bands of my life; my dad attended Hillside one year and if I still had my old phone I’d have his voicemail from Guelph Island late at night telling me he thought they were the future of rock and roll. They kind of were, right? I knew I had to have something from Constantines, but why this one? Because the house shows and the long nights and the walking home alone were like this too, maybe more like this.

14. Low — “Shame”

I have a big ol’ Low tattoo on my back, let’s get that out of the way. I thought it over a lot before getting it; generally speaking, band tattoos for bands that are still going are risky (given how I feel about Double Negative and HEY WHAT, though, it worked out ok). They’ve come a tremendously long way since “Shame”, and I’d argue they’re one of the few with that kind of history to never really set a foot wrong, but I still remember downloading this and “Two-Step” and “Starfire”, eager to directly hear this weird band I’d heard so much about. They’ve taught me a lot, Alan Sparhawk in particular. And, no parasocial, but getting to actually see more of him just as a person and interact with him on Twitter is one of the few decent things about that hellsite (people from tumblr I’m mutuals with there are one of the others). Someday it will all make sense.

15. The National — “City Middle”

Before I put this together on Spotify this was my last cut, it being too similar to a more specific song that was also ‘about’ this period/feeling in my life. But even though Jens Lekman is on there, Oh You’re So Silent Jens isn’t, so I brought back in “City Middle” instead of “Black Cab”. The latter is the only song I know to so precisely nail the particular feeling of many of my nights during my long, single interregnum between my undergrad and being with the person I wound up marrying. “City Middle” is equally precise, but it’s kind of about the beginning of those nights, not the end, the good parts and then the part where the fear sets in. You have weird memories, and when something kicks in, it’s the wrong thing.

16. Los Campesinos! — “My Year in Lists”

I was at the first North American Los Campesinos! show (that Hillside festival again) and I’ve gone to every one in Ontario I can manage since (and once in New York). I forget the exact wording, but either the band or someone writing about them early on (possibly Kieron Glllen in Phonogram which is... a whole other giant thing) basically said they were never going to be huge, but they would be huge to everyone who was on their wavelength. A lot has changed over the years (and I’ll argue for every album, maybe especially their last one Sick Scenes, which has a couple of their songs I take most personally), but I can’t imagine what would have to happen for LC! not to be one of My Bands.

17. Talk Talk — “Inheritance”

Since we’re long out of school and just into the sprawling mess of adulthood, we really are just wrapping up a few artists who didn’t so much mark specific periods of life/growth and just ones that have become totally central to me. Nick Southall, a friend and also the person responsible by proxy for pretty much every writing gig I’ve ever had, wrote a beautiful essay back in the day on Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden, a record I’d never heard of and a band I barely had. I actually really love the early synthpop Talk Talk stuff now, but as a good chunk of my listening gravitated towards more abstract, less immediate stuff, to suddenly be gifted with Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock and Mark Hollis and all the stuff that those records led to... I was raised without religion and I’m still without religion, but (including Mark Hollis and Alan and Mimi from Low) some of the creators that have resonated the most deeply with me have been people of faith, who take that faith very seriously. It feels almost obscene to split off some chunk of Spirit of Eden, especially considering how Hollis felt about some of the uses other people put their music to. Ah well. “I love sound. And I love silence. And, in a way, I love silence more.”

18. Coil — “Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)”

Two pieces of liturgical music? In a row? This far into this mix? In this economy? A while back I embarked on a very slow moving project to go through and sort and organize all of the music in my computer, all 91 days and 4 hours of it (plus whatever I haven’t put into used-to-be-iTunes yet). I’m done my first pass through the Ds and am going through all the stuff that takes more thought (including the complete discographies of David Bowie (almost done!) and Depeche Mode (haven’t touched it yet!) plus whatever has come in from A-C since I started D). I am reasonably sure I will be doing it for years, perhaps forever. But when I get time to work on it, there are few things I enjoy more. A big surprise was that this process made me go from someone who had a Coil comp and some albums to someone who has 279 songs, close to 33 hours, of their music. And, honestly, even though I like their many different phases, it’s all because the less-industrial disc of that first compilation I bought had “Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)” on it. If the tones seem a bit harsh at first, or it feels like it’s starting a bit slow, I promise it’s worth it for when Jhon Balance (who’ll fall) starts singing. This should really be something from astonishing live album ...and the ambulance died in his arms, but that’s not on Spotify (it was the first thing I checked, long before this mix was even half ready). 

19. Spanish Love Songs — “Losers 2″

My twin brother and I have shared a lot of music over the years, but despite significant overlap it’s safe to say a lot of our most cherished bands etc. are ones the other likes but maybe not as intensely. So when he messaged me out of the blue one day last year telling me I had to hear this song, that was already significant, but when I fucking played it.... I had never heard of these guys and he told me later that the record before this, Schmaltz, had been tremendously personally important for him the last little while (it’s also astonishing). But all of Brave Faces Everyone, and especially “Losers 2″ both for what it is and how I heard it, just hit me where I live in a way that you can only hope you get every so often as you get older. And Ben knew it would, which is its own extra wonderful part of it. The first time through, "now if we weren't bailed out every time by our parents we'd be dead / what's gonna happen when they're dead?" left me gasping.

20. Paul Buchanan — “Buy a Motor Car”

I wish more people listened to the Blue Nile. Another band around for most of my life (Hats came out in 1989!) who I didn’t really hear until I was in my 30s, and since then they’ve just bloomed in importance for me. Sometime after their fourth record, one of the three guys in the band just stopped talking to the other two. The other two have played shows under singer Paul Buchanan’s name, and he’s been pretty upfront about the way they don’t really understand what happened. I was working (too much) one night recently and got into these short song documentaries a Dutch TV channel popped onto YouTube. My absolute favourite, which at the time moved me nearly to tears, is Buchanan talking about “Tinseltown in the Rain”. But really it’s about what it’s like to look back on life, not really wanting to go back, but the powerful melancholy of feeling that some things are just... unrecoverable. “Funny coming back. Ghosts of yourself, y’know.” (John Gardner, Grendel: “The nature of evil may be epitomized, therefore, in two simple but horrible and holy propositions: ‘Things fade’ and ‘Alternatives exclude’.”) It was after seeing that video that I found out Buchanan had done one solo album, which stands in relation to the Blue Nile records the same way Mark Hollis does to Talk Talk’s records. I don’t listen to so much sad music because I, myself, am sad (or at least not only then or for that reason); I’m very happily married and doing well in many respects and enjoy most days. There’s something else in sad music that resonates with me, and the most recent example of that is Mid Air. Maybe this track in particular. “This song is called ‘Buy a Motor Car’. And, as far as I can tell, it’s about claustrophobia.”

21. Cory Hanson — “Pale Horse Rider”

“Buy a Motor Car” was the last song in the mix. It was done, I was going to write it up last week. Then, unexpectedly, over just a few days our cat got very sick and died. When we got home from the vet hospital still in shock, still crying, me moving around trying to balance not leaving her things out to wound us the next time we saw them against not making it seem like she’d never been here, I had this song in my head. A song about the comfort of mortality but simultaneously a howl against the brute fact of it. I told Anaïs I couldn’t stop hearing it. “Maybe you should put it in your mix,” she said.

Thanks for listening.

[emmy-writes-sometimes]

Act My Age

You’re Sebastian’s girlfriend, and you have a huge age gap. When it’s finally time to meet his friends, will it make Sebastian see something that isn’t there? 

-

          “Hey, babe, you almost ready?” Sebastian asked you as you stood at his bathroom vanity, trying to finish your mascara. You looked behind you to see Sebastian trying to fasten his watch.

           “Yeah,” you responded. “I’ll get it. Just wait a second.” You gave yourself one last layer before setting the tube in your makeup bag, then walked over to him and started to fasten the watch for him.

           “You seem nervous,” Sebastian pointed out.

           “Really?” You asked. “What gave you that impression?” You were nervous. Very nervous. It was your spring break so you were back home in New York, visiting Sebastian instead of your family, and he was finally going to introduce you to some of his friends and the dive bar he spent most of his twenties in. You had a feeling some of them didn’t like you because they referred to you as ‘the child’, and that probably wasn’t because you and Sebastian had been obsessed with the TV show for a few weeks.

           “Because you re-did your makeup and you made me pick between four outfits that you thought made you look older than you were. Which, by the way, I still like the first outfit. You look cute in flannel.” You sighed. You could barely get his watch on from how tight it was. He realized you were at a loss for words and leaned down a little to kiss your forehead.  

           “I’m fine,” you lied.

           “You shouldn’t be nervous, babe. Really. They come off as assholes at first, but if you can get past me with flying colors you can get past them,” he insisted. “And you look amazing.” You sighed again.

           “I just hate having to justify myself to… the entire world just to be with you. It’s like hazing at a nuclear level.” Sebastian nodded slowly before going to retrieve his jacket.

           “You don’t have to justify being with me to anyone but me. And believe me, sweetheart, you’re past that point. I don’t care about how old you are, so neither should anyone else.” You crossed your arms against your chest, suddenly feeling exposed in the cold air of Sebastian’s bedroom.

           “I know. I just have this need for everyone to like me. It’s really dumb and I know that, but I do. Why do you think I joined a sorority? All I have to do is pay yearly dues and I get people who have to pretend they like me.”

           “Just trust me.” He took your hand and squeezed it, then grabbed his keys off the bed. “You didn’t leave your MetroCard at home, did you?” He asked. You shook your head and followed him out to the main room of Sebastian’s apartment. It was a beautiful loft with exposed brick all the way around, but it currently had your things strewn all over from being there all week while he was away in meetings and table readings.

           “I only left it that one day,” you reminded him, “and not once more.” Sebastian let you walk out into the hallway before locking the door, and after taking your cards out, you started walking toward the subway.  

           “If you need everyone to like you,” Sebastian wondered, “then why’d you join the movie business?” You looked over to see that he had raised an eyebrow, and after playfully shoving him, you followed the sound of screeching metal down to the subway.

-

           “Stop messing with your shirt, I’m not fixing it again,” Sebastian warned you, somewhat playfully, as you played with the way your shirt was tucked into your jeans. You could see the neon sign for the bar two blocks away and the anxiety inside of you was rising like bread in the oven.

           “I’m nervous,” you whined. Sebastian laughed.

           “You really shouldn’t be. Just come on.” You let him take your hand and he walked you into the bar, immediately spotting several of his friends sitting in a booth. A stupid grin came over his face as he saw his friends for the first time in about a week or so.

           “And it’s the Mandalorian and the Child!” One of Sebastian’s friends said loudly. You’d seen pictures of them before and you were pretty sure that was Jackson, who was an understudy on Broadway. The Disney joke punched you in the gut, even though you were used to hearing it. Sebastian just laughed, wrapping his arm around your wait and tugging you over to him.

           “Jackson, Jacob, Mark, Savannah… This is my girlfriend, Y/n,” Sebastian introduced. You gave them a smile, and you hoped you hid your nervousness well. They all offered their hands and you shook them before taking a seat beside Sebastian. You had your hand on a table, clenched into a fist, when Jackson pointed out the black X.

           “You said she was young, but not X marks the over 21 spot,” Jackson joked to Sebastian, raising a bottle of beer to his lips. You huffed, looking over at Sebastian. He smiled.

           “Most places don’t even card her, honestly,” Sebastian shrugged. “I didn’t even know until she told me.”

           “Wait, so you thought she was how old?” Savannah, who was ridiculously pretty and probably more of Sebastian’s type than you were, asked. Sebastian looked over at you.  

           “Eh. 26, maybe. Not that I mind. She’s a sweetheart. And at least I have someone to teach me how to use Instagram now.” Sebastian laid his hand on top of yours, taking it in his, and smiled down at you. She’s a sweetheart, Sebastian said. The way he talked about you made your heart melt. The way other people did, though, was what bothered you, and you were at your limit.

           Your parents hated it at first. Your sibling didn’t get it. And then they realized you weren’t going to just stop dating him because he was so much older than you. Sebastian’s mom didn’t understand it at first, either, and then she came around when she realized Sebastian was completely in love with you. And he told you he loved you, and you believed him. It wasn’t so bad when he made the jokes – when he called you his little brat, his baby, when he called you little one like he had the other day. It was sweet. It was only weird when you thought about the fact that he was in high school when you were barely walking on two feet.

           You suffered through the jokes for about two hours. Jackson had to leave, since he got a call to go on stage down the street, Mark had to go see his kids, and Savannah and Jacob had to go relieve the babysitter. That was when it struck you that you were too young for Sebastian. These people had kids. What if Sebastian wanted kids, like, now? What if…

           “You okay?” Sebastian asked later as you were on the subway, an iron grip on the pole as you stood. “We’re almost home.”

           “I’m fine,” you lied. Sebastian saw right through it, and as soon as the train came to a stop he took your hand to make sure you didn’t get too far from him.

           “No, I know you, and I know you aren’t fine.” You sighed as you started walking, Sebastian at your side. He squeezed your hand sweetly, kissing the side of your head. “Come on. Tell me what’s wrong, babe.”

           “I’m starting to think maybe I am too young for you,” you muttered. “Your friends…” Sebastian scoffed.

           “My friends are assholes and they were trying to make you as uncomfortable as they could. It’s hazing.”

           “I thought only stupid college kids hazed.” Sebastian chuckled.

           “No. I told them not to be assholes about it. I told them to treat you like my girlfriend ‘case you are my girlfriend. Is that why you’re so worked up?”

           “Yes,” you admitted. You could see the apartment from there, and all you wanted to do was take your shoes off and curl up with Sebastian. Maybe you were a child.

           “So let’s talk through it. Go upstairs and change and we’ll figure things out.” You nodded, and after another minute of walking you were heading up the stairs while Sebastian took the dog out. By the time you’d changed clothes and taken your makeup off, he was back. You were already in his bed, blanket pulled up to your chest, and the dog jumped in beside you. You could get used to this. If…

           “I’m sorry I freaked out,” you said softly. Sebastian gave you a little smile.

           “To tell you the truth, I kind of was too. I figured they’d be skeptical, but they were brutal.” He started removing his watch and placed it in a bowl he kept them in, then turned back to look at you. “And you handled it like the mature adult you are.”

           “I just…” You sighed as you watched Sebastian start to change. It was all so domestic and that was exactly what you wanted with him. A normal life. “What if things don’t get better once people know me? What if… I’ll always be your much younger girlfriend. Or what if we turn up on those nastiest age gap Snapchat things? Or what if you decide you want kids right now? Or…” Sebastian walked over to you and, out of nowhere, kissed you.

           “Things will get better. And if they don’t, we’ll deal with it. Together. Okay?” He got into the bed beside you, probably thinking to turn on a movie like you usually did. You laid your head in his bare chest, listening to his heart beating as he hugged you to him. One of his hands started playing with your hair.

           “I love you, Seba,” you whispered. “And I guess I’m just scared that something as trivial as an age difference is going to take all of it away.” Sebastian just kissed the center of your forehead.

           “Nothing that stupid is going to take you away from me, baby. I love you too.” You sighed and shut your eyes, glad that Sebastian was on the same page.

A/N: I loved writing this, so thank you to the person who requested!

[x-wingkc]

Sexy Ice Cream

Fanfiction: Stargate SG-1 Rating: Mature (no explicit) Warnings: Adult language, Adult content, Relationships: Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill Fictober 21 Prompts: #13 He walked inside the building just as Daniel walked to the counter to get the ice cream for everyone. This was their favorite ice cream place. They’d been coming here for at least eight years now. The ice cream was homemade. The building was an old saloon from the 1800’s. The inside was lined with wood panels that stood the test of time.

They all had their favorites. Teal’c always got the flavor of the week, no matter how awful it sounded. He said it was his way of making sure he ingested all of Earth’s sweet delights. Daniel almost always got something that had the store’s french vanilla as a base. Carter would normally get something with strawberries, and if they didn’t have that, she’d get something with caramel. O’Neill was a simple man. Normally opting only for vanilla or chocolate. He was the last to arrive. He entered the store and found where they were sitting. He moved seats to sit at the round table across from Carter. Teal’c was still standing, and had his back turned to him. He glanced over at Carter, and found her smiling and talking to Teal’c. He was lost in her smile.

Her smile has always been what comforts him. Her smile is what immediately attracted him to her all those years ago. Her smile is burned in his mind and in his soul. She glanced over at him.

He knew he must have had his fuck me eyes on because the moment she looked at him, he watched her eyes darken, and her smile soften. He wanted nothing more than to take her home and open her up on the deck right now.

Daniel came out with an ice cream cone for all four of them. He sat down next to Carter and they all started eating.

Transposed to the time warp of the decor were the stainless freezers that held about twenty-five different homemade flavors of ice cream. The lighting was a mix of replica chandeliers and LED fixtures in the ceiling that added some much needed light to the otherwise dark interior. He figured under different circumstances that the inside could be rather romantic.

Hanging on the walls were old pictures of what Main Street used to look like back in the early days of the city. The street looked as if it ended at the foot of the mountains. Present day the road was paved and had parking spaces for cars. But in the old pictures, there were just a few buildings and a dirt road.

All four of them talked in between bites of ice cream. O’Neill was to fly back to DC in two more days. Carter smiled across the table at him as he discussed his endless boring meetings. They all knew he hated paperwork. Now that’s all he does. The three of them knowingly smiled at him. He told them all to shut up.

O’Neill looked over at Carter just as a little bit of melted ice cream began to run down her hand. She lifted her cone to her mouth, and ran her tongue along her hand, up the side of the cone, and around the remaining scoop of ice cream at the top. O’Neill straightened in his seat, and crossed his legs a little. He noticed a familiar twitch between his legs as he watched Carter lick that cone.

She let out a satisfactory moan, and closed her eyes as she ingested the tasty frozen treat that she was holding in her hand. Daniel gave her a sideways glance, then immediately looked to Teal’c. Teal’c had one eyebrow raised already, and he was looking at O’Neill. Teal’c found O’Neill staring at Carter, not able to remove his eyes from the scene in front of him.

Daniel and Teal’c began to rapidly eat their ice cream, and immediately tried to change the topic.

“So. T. New fedora?” Daniel asked. “It is, indeed, DanielJackson,” T replied. “It’s a good color on you,” O’Neill interjected. Teal’c bowed his head to them both before taking another large bite off of his cone.

Carter then let some ice cream drip down her chin. She stared at O’Neill, her eyes darkening knowing exactly what she was doing to him. With her mouth slightly open, she took her index finger and wiped the drip off of the side of her mouth. She salaciously stuck the sticky, sweet finger into her mouth, and swirled her tongue around her finger.

All three of the men at the table saw her do that. One of the men at the table immediately had a problem. There was no way he could stand up right now and not have everyone in the store know what Carter had done to him. He reached beside him to the garbage can, and threw the rest of his ice cream cone away. “Does the ice cream not please you, O’Neill?” Teal’c asked, almost with a smile on his face. “Teal’c. Was that a joke?” O’Neill asked.. “It was, indeed, O’Neill.”

Carter slowly licked her lips as she continued to stare at O’Neill. “Well, gentlemen. I have to go. I have dinner plans with Doctor Lam,” Carter said, slowly standing and reaching over to the garbage can to throw the remainder of her cone away.

Daniel and Teal’c also stood quickly, more to get out of the cross fire of tension between their two best friends. “Ya. Us too. Ready, T?” Daniel quickly asked. “I am, indeed, DanielJackson.”

“You, uh, need help, Jack?” Daniel asked like a true smartass would in this situation. “Funny. I’m fine,” O'Neill quipped back. “You sure, sir?” Carter asked with her chest puffed out a little bit, and a sinful smile on her face.

O’Neill just smiled back at her with pure lust on his face. “Oh, I’m very fine, Carter. Have a good dinner,” he said, waving his hand for all of them to just go and leave him alone.

They each smiled or laughed at him, then all three turned to leave the ice cream store. As the door closed behind them, Daniel and Carter laughed, and Teal’c just cleared his throat. “You know. You really are mean,” Daniel said. “He’ll be fine. He always is,” Carter said with a smile. “Indeed,” they heard Teal’c.

Back inside the store, O’Neill squeezed his legs together one more time before trying to stand up. He discreetly put a hand between his legs and arranged himself so he was not so obvious. Thankfully he had on baggy pants and an oversized flannel shirt to help hide this predicament. “Damn that woman,” he whispered to himself.

After a few minutes, he stood and quickly left the store. He went straight for his truck, and fumbled his keys as he tried to unlock the doors. He finally got the door open, and sunk into the seat. He started the truck, and locked the doors.

He undid his pants, and ran his palm over his bulging shaft trying to relieve the pressure that Carter had left him with. He put his head back on the head rest, and lightly caressed himself as he took in big breaths.

“Dammit, Carter. The things you make me do…”

When he thought he could drive, he put his seatbelt on and started the drive home. But he couldn’t stop thinking of Carter and the ice cream. He wanted to tie Carter’s hands to his bed with his own neck ties, and then take that ice cream and put it all over her body. He wanted to lick her body clean, and make her scream his name over and over as he ate off of her.

This was not helping. His dick was hard and wanted to be inside Carter. He put his hand back down his open pants. Just then the driver of a passing truck glanced down into his vehicle. It was a woman driver, who got a huge smile on her face seeing him with his hand down his pants. “Great,” he said, slowing down a little to let the truck pass him. As he slowed, the tip of his cock rubbed the fabric in his boxers, eliciting a rather pleasurable sensation. He pulled his hand out from his pants, in an effort to not come in his pants. He sat up a little more, trying to rub his nuts against the seat through his pants. He needed to come, or he needed to let this one deflate. He hoped driving would give him time to deflate. It didn’t really work. He couldn't stop thinking about Carter. That would be like trying to stop the sun from rising. It can’t be stopped. Although if anyone could stop a sun, it would be Carter. “Not helping,” he said.

He pulled into his driveway and turned his truck off. He got out fast, and tried to put himself back together, but it was too late already. The slightest touch of his hand against the fabric. Too much stimulation. Too much thinking about Carter’s body covered in ice cream, and him licking it all up. Too much thinking of being inside Carter.

“Not this again,” he said dejectedly, looking up to the stars. “What am I, thirteen again?”

He could feel some start to drip down his inner thigh. He went inside and went straight to the bathroom. He turned the shower on, and stripped out of his clothes. He used his boxers to wipe up as much semen as he could, then jumped in the shower to get clean. When he got done and dried off, he threw his wet boxers in the garbage can. He put on a tshirt and sweatpants and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. After watching The Simpsons marathon for a few hours, he went to bed.

Around 11:30 PM he heard his door open. He slowly got up, and quietly moved to look down the hallway where his front door was. He saw the kitchen light turn on. He padded to the kitchen. “How was dinner?” he asked. “How was your ride home?” she asked with a big smile on her face. “Very funny. You know damn well what you were doing,” he said, adding a little smile at the end. “What? Little ‘ol me?” she purred. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her and gave her a searing kiss. He held her ass with one hand, and lovingly held the back of her head with the other. “Yes. You,” he said in between kisses. “As your wife, it’s my job to know how to push your buttons,” she said, running her palm in between his legs. She heard him grumble, their chests pressed tight. “You want dessert?” he asked. “Do we have any ice cream?” she asked.