#a “quick” doodle that took about 3 hours+

[ravinoforre]

It's about time i did more with these two again!

[doomedclockworkdotmp3]

i thiiink hes soooo prettyabyway

[kaboomthepossum]

Midland Drawing

Hello there my tumblr besties! The time has come for the 8th instalment of Kaboom drawing TMG songs!

So there’s a bit of a story with this one! I once had a list of songs to draw. But then I lost that list. Midland was on the list. Between the points of losing the list and a few weeks ago I had admittedly forgotten this song exists (I love it I swear, but there’s just so much in life to remember these days..). That was until I saw a post from @jennyfromthebes about midland being a great song and I was like OH YEAH!!

So that’s how this drawing came to be! I hope you like it!

I had so so much fun drawing these possums!!!

[dolskele]

Noah infodumppp + relationships w/ LIs (w/ quick doodles of everyone)

Side note, this is just a basic outline for now

I'll go deeper into detail for funsies

Kylar:

💚Noah initially ignored Kylar for the longest time (didn't do anything during the bullying scene)

💚It was only after they talked in the library that Noah noticed how much Kylar liked him, immediately took advantage of that

💚He's glad he has a guard dog to knock out any creeps and get him cash easily

💚That said, he only flirts and talks to Kylar so he becomes more attached

💚Poor guy

Sydney:

💛Probably the only person Noah genuinely cares about

💛Only acted nice at first to gain higher favor and an easy way into the temple, eventually found himself endeared to Sydney

💛Very minor feelings, while Sydney's head over heels

💛Noah was flirting at first to gain favor, but has mellowed out into more casual conversations

💛And that's what got Sydney tripping up

💛This man is on the BRINK of snapping

💛Noah wants to lure Sydney into the Aemias Cult, even though tht requires a certain ritual for initiation, wink wink nudge nudge

Robin:

🩷Grew up together in the orphanage, always had a teasing brother-sister relationship

🩷Noah sees Robin nothing more as a sibling, Robin has really small feelings

🩷But Robin values their bond too much to do anything abt it

🩷Is curious how Noah always has enough money to pay off Bailey, but refrains from asking

🩷They play animal crossing together<3

Whitney:

💜Whitney can't bully Noah to the extent he wants since Noah has such a high status

💜So it's usually just elementary stuff

💜Still pushes Noah for tht glock glock but always gets waved away

💜LOW low dominance

💜Noah thinks he's silly

💜They fight every now and then, but it's moreso roughhousing (Noah's having fun, Whitney's trying to hide his boner-)

Alex:

🧡Alex... Ouhhh Alex

🧡The only LI capable of throwing Noah's facade off (besides Eden but that's for another day)

🧡Noah began working w/ Alex for the sake of money and profit, thinking he could manipulate him like everyone else

🧡Alex is just really earnest, sweet, and genuine-

🧡And that really messed w/ Noah

🧡Noah: 'What's his gameplan here? Why is he being so nice? He must be plotting something-'

🧡Alex: Haha pretty boy go brrrr

🧡Alex is just rlly happy that the pretty city boy keeps coming back to spend time with him, likes showing off his strength

🧡Alex throws him around and constantly manhandles him (gets excited and doesn't understand that Noah is basically a cat that hates being picked up)

🧡Noah just smiles through it all like

＼( //＾ν＾//)／(^∇^💢 )

🧡Alex adores the size + strength difference between them (188cm vs 173cm), horny hours

🧡Can you tell I'm really into this dynamic

[dailypokemoncrochet]

I really understand your take on sharing amigurumi patterns. I crocheted A LOT about 10 years ago, I crocheted Pokémon plushes, wrote the patterns, and sold both for a bit. But the patterns were just a PDF with plain text telling the reader the stitches for each round with a quick note partway through each piece to advise them when to start stuffing. Free patterns on like Ravelry from 2005-2015 are also like this, it’s my normal. Fast forward to last year. For the first time, I buy a pattern on Etsy. It’s FULL of photos and diagrams and custom fonts and intricate page borders and decorative doodles and excruciating detail, none of which I need. So now like, hooooly shit, if I ever start selling patterns again, do I have to get professional photography setup and a graphic designer??? To make 5 freakin bucks???????? My patterns might just have to remain a trade secret. 😬

Yeah I definitely feel like expectations for patterns have just risen unrealistically. I only freehand so I don't buy patterns or even look at them, but whenever I see people talking about them, there's always so much- neediness? about them. People will complain about FREE patterns if they don't have pictures or explain how to attach things or is formatted differently from what they're used to. FREE PATTERNS. The entitlement and lack of appreciation is just so jarring to me. And then the same group of people will act like they are so generous for throwing a dollar your way for such a pattern, maybe $3 if it just looks nice, maybe even $5 if they like you. Very often you'll see PACKS of patterns, sets of 3 or 5 or 10 or 12, each with, like you said, photos and diagrams and excruciating detail, and that's the only time people will think it's justified to pay up to $10 on them. It makes no sense to me. Personally all I need, and the way I write my patterns is mostly like this Fomantis one I put out years ago with basically just the colors needed, and the actual stitches needed in each row for each part. That's it.

And then when people would tell me they'd gladly pay for my patterns however they were formatted just because they liked the crochet- that is simply not true by and large. Most of the people saying that kind of stuff did not subscribe to my patreon when I had it, and I just made myself miserable putting out slightly more refined versions of my pattern notes. I don't like to think of it as keeping my patterns as a trade secret like you said, but it kind of feels that way sometimes because I just do not want to put any kind of effort into typing up a pattern that people won't even use and will only complain about.

I would want minimum $50 for typing up just one set of notes as is because it took me more than 5hr to crochet the thing and it'd take another hour to type up the rows and I hate it and people just are not here for that, not hearing it at all. "Well it's only for one Pokemon? You already have the notes written can't you just snap a pic and share those? [Some bullshit about potential passive income so the price should be pennies]." You cannot give give an inch or they will demand a mile. So no patterns of any kind at all ever for any reason.

[giantchasm]

“What is it that the child has to teach? The child naively believes that everything should be fair and everyone should be honest, that only good should prevail, that everyone should have what they want and there should be no pain or sadness The child believes the world should be perfect and is outraged to discover it is not. And the child is right.”

WOO! After a little over a month and 60+ hours of drawing, it's finally finished. The Peony animatic I promised you has, at long last, arrived.

It took a lot of work, but I'm super happy with how it came out! And, tbh, I'm already planning more animatics I want to do in the future.

I think the majority of you are already acquainted with Peony, but just in case you aren't, here's a quick rundown of her story, or at least what's covered in the video:

Peony has always known her family experienced quite a bit of strife before her birth, but she doesn’t quite understand the full extent of it until getting caught up in a horrible accident. After nearly losing her life, the young magician develops an affinity for Soul magic— more specifically a connection with the spirit plane, and thanks to that, she’s able to meet two very special people. Her deceased granddad and her father’s long-gone ex-best friend are far from perfect people, but Peony quickly warms up to them anyways. She can see they were dealt an unfair hand in life, and that the tragedies they were involved with weren’t necessarily their fault. As she sees it, they deserve a second chance. So that’s exactly what she’s going to give them! Peony resolves to find a way to bring her dead loved ones back to life… developing her powers more and more along the way and providing her family some much needed closure. But is something like resurrection really possible? It seems Peony may be flying too close to the sun. A certain fluttering fiend is keeping an eye on her, telling her it won’t allow her to disrupt the natural order of things, and that one can’t undo what has already been done. But Peony? She doesn’t know how to listen. The young girl will stop at nothing until she saves her two guardian angels and sets her family right.

...She's a stubborn little goober, that's for sure.

I love her, though, I really do, and I hope you love her too. This video was a real passion project, and I'm super happy with how it came out. I'm glad I could get it finished just before the round 3 polls of the OC Tourney start.

Remember, everyone! Peony for president. Girl's already ready to throw hands with a god.

@kirbyoctournament

Some of my favorite frames will be under the cut with annotations/interesting details pointed out.

I really enjoyed the crayon drawing aspect of this video. The doodles were super fun to do and added a lot of character to it!

One may have noticed that the way Peony drew her mother's side of the family changed, though, as she told their story... and that's not just to represent them getting older! The way she drew their eyes and other stuff changed because during the later half she depicts them with their cybernetics, whereas during the beginning of their tale, she doesn't. Pretty cool stuff.

Technically, in Peony's story, she can't really touch/physically interact with the ghosts... at least not at the point in the timeline this part of the animatic takes place during. All the same, though, I decided to fudge it just a little for more interesting character interactions.

This frame depicts Peony's near death experience, LOL. Don't worry about it... she's fine in the end. In general, this segment of the animatic displays her story a little more chronologically, showing how she developed her powers, learned who the ghosts were, and got better and better at using aforementioned powers.

Shortly after Peony's near-death-experience, Morpho Knight tried to reap Sectonia and Haltmann for interfering with the living world and helping save her life. However, Peony, even not knowing who they were at the time, stood up for them- offering up her life, instead, and Morpho Knight, impressed by the display of bravery, allowed it to slide for now.

...Stars, it's going soft, isn't it? Stupid Kirby

Peony doing some detective work! I really like the framing of this drawing. Here you can see Taranza and Joronia when they were younger alongside Haltmann and Susie pre-cybernetics, like I mentioned earlier.

This bit is meant to be Peony finally confronting the ghosts (or- well, more specifically her granddad) about knowing who they are. She points out that she and him HAVE to be related. Look! They share the same hair fwoof!

There's a very distinct scene I have in my mind for the first time Peony is ever able to physically interact with the ghosts. She's making flower crowns and jokingly tries to put one on Sectonia's head, only for it to work. Needless to say, they're both shocked, then delighted.

These reunions make me feel things. Admittedly stuff is still a little complicated between Susie and her father, but ultimately she is glad to see him... and as for the spiders? I think they missed each other more than they could possibly put into words. They're so, so happy.

This is one of my favorite sets of frames. It took FOREVER to do all of the little doodles, but it turned out looking awesome, as did the ripping effect! See if you can spot all of the different family traumas she's depicted.

I like to think eventually Peony acquires some precious heirlooms. Sectonia hands down the matching scarf she had with Taranza but discarded when she went mad. Haltmann, meanwhile, no longer has his pocket watch, but when Peony tries to surprise him with a new one as a gift, only to realize he can't really hold onto it, he tells her to take care of it for him 'until he can.' This is something she does with pride.

Originally, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with these sets of frames. I mean... I knew I wanted to have Peony walking past her family thriving, but I didn't know how I wanted to orient the group. I figured they'd be best in sets of two, but wasn't sure how to sort them out.

If I were to draw her parents with their dead loved ones, I feared I'd sort of be insinuating their bond with each other wasn't as important now that they had those dead loved ones back, and that isn't true at all. But if I were to draw the living characters and dead characters together... well, that wouldn't really represent how Peony changed the family, now would it?

Ultimately, I decided to draw Susie hanging out with Sectonia and Taranza talking with Haltmann. I thought it'd be a nice way to represent the group as a whole have become a ragtag sort of family. Everyone loves everyone here.

This is one of my favorite frames. I simply think it's so cute. Peony is so, so beloved, and she loves her weird little family so much, too.

I adore these final three frames. Throughout the animatic, the crayon drawings are used to represent her family's tumultuous past, but finally, Peony depicts a more positive moment, quite literally slapping it over a sad one. It's a symbol of her determination to rewrite their— rewrite her— story, no matter what it takes.

Little does she know, even if she ultimately can't bring Sectonia and Haltmann back from the dead, she's already given both them and her parents a happier ending. They're all together, at least, and that's what matters most.

[goose-on-the-loose]

The Darkest Hour - Styracosaurs in a Wildfire Paleoart Process Breakdown

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared my art on this account (at some point years ago I just forgot to), but I thought that this might be a great opportunity to start posting my art again! This is my first attempt at paleoart, and I think it’s worthy of sharing. It’s for my showcase at my art school, so there were time restraints that stopped me from adding elements that I would’ve liked, but ultimately I’m quite satisfied with it.

For any budding paleoartist (or anybody really) who’d like to see my process, I put it all below the read more! @a-dinosaur-a-day (hope you don’t mind me @/ing you, i originally meant for this post to be an ask but it got too long haha)

I started off knowing that I wanted to depict some kind of ornithischian for a number of reasons. Two of the biggest reasons were that 1) I simply like them more than theropods and sauropods and 2) My senior showcase is all about showing animals in ways that the viewer hasn’t seen them before, and most people don’t really think about ornithischians except for if they’re being preyed on by a theropod.

I then narrowed my choices further by looking at different formations and what species they have. I looked up what formations parasaurolophus was in (since it’s one of my fav dinosaurs and I was thinking of making it my subject) and I saw the dinosaur park formation. Looking at the different species found there and the type of environment they lived in, I knew this formation was going to be my choice. 

I couldn’t narrow it down to one species yet, so I decided to think of some scenarios ornithischians might find themselves in first. I thought, “Oooh, what about some dinosaurs escaping from a wildfire?”, since the storyline could easily be conveyed, the lighting would be interesting, and I could get creative with the composition (flames and burning debris can create arcs to guide the viewer’s eye).

I did some very quick simple thumbnails and sketches to get the feeling and flow of the lines. I saw some paleoart by Marzio Mereggia and I remembered one of his parasaurolophus pieces that I really liked. I also looked at the composition of the fire scene from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron for inspiration. (the tiger doodle had nothing to do with it, i just wanted to draw a tiger) The shapes and silhouettes of these species weren’t really clicking for me, so I looked back on the list and saw styracosaurus. I looked at some paleoart and realized that the silhouette and shapes of their frill and horns could really draw the viewer’s attention.

So, I drew the top thumbnails and showed them to my teacher. He liked all of them, but especially liked the middle one, so I drew a larger version of it, making sure to elevate the best parts and communicate the story. I like to use highlighters when thumb-nailing because it helps me break down the background, middleground, and foreground while also giving attention to the focal points. I was satisfied with this layout, so I drew an even larger version of it that would be the same size as the piece of wood I would be painting on.

I wanted to add more dimension so I changed the placement a bit. I don’t have much to say on this one, except for the final project has less background detail because each piece in our showcase has to be finished within a certain amount of time, this is also why the adult styracosaurus doesn’t have scale detail. I would’ve liked to add it, but I have to be realistic with my time.

I then drew the sketch on the piece of wood, and then my teacher cut the excess wood off.

Painted the background and also changed the shape of the face horn to be more accurate. I believe that styracosaurus’ horns changed with age and each individual’s grew in their own slightly different way. I do regret not pushing the dark ground colors further back.

Started trying to figure out the colors in class here.

Did this all the next day, took about 6-7 hours. 3 during class and the rest in my dorm. I changed/added to the rest of the face colors later, but the beak stays the same. I still really like the way I painted the beak.

This was after 3 more hours of class time. I changed the face horn color and made the frill horns match it. I also started focusing more on highlights and shadows. This is the last photo I took during the process.

With the final version, you can see that I warmed up the highlights to match the fire and I dulled them out too (adding yellow to purple desaturates it). I also went over the background again, making the colors more vivid and adding a glow to the fire. Ngl I do regret not adding that glow to the fire on the trees, but oh well. Live and learn ig.

[ping-ping-ying]

BINGO NIGHT

Note: Yes, you read that correctly. It's Bingo night for the guys, and let's just say it's as chaotic as you would expect it to be...

Extra note: everyone plays bingo differently, and it's just for fun don't think too deep about it.

Characters: Alhaitham, Kaveh, Cyno, Tighnari

You can’t tell by his blank facial expression but deep down he enjoys bingo night but he’d rather die than admit it, his pride and ego won’t let him

Complains how he always has to sit next to Kaveh even though he is the one who willingly sits next to him

He looks at Kavehs card to make sure he is always ahead of him

Alhaitham doesn’t like to lose, and I believe he can be VERY PETTY depending on the situation

When it comes to Kaveh, yeah, he will always be petty

One night Alhaitham was losing so when no one was looking, he switched Kavehs card with his and won bingo

Kaveh and Alhaitham had an argument about it for an hour making Cyno and Tighnari leave as soon as it started

Cyno and Alhaitham make bets on just about anything during bingo nights

Those two are so competitive it ruins bingo night half the time

Two on two battles don’t end well because they also end up arguing because they never win against Cyno and Tighnari

Has lost bingo to Kaveh a couple of times and will forever remain SALTY

The one who started bingo night

He pitched the idea the Cyno and Tighnari and they agreed with no hesitation

Getting Alhaitham to agree was the real challenge

Five bingo nights went by before Alhaitham decided to join

Kaveh is the embodiment of the word petty

When he loses, no matter who it is, he will be petty about it

But if it’s Alaitham, oh boy- it goes from 0-100 real quick

Kaveh has cheated before let’s be for real

Brings drinks and snacks for everyone, don’t ask how he got the food since he’s broke

Argues with Tighari and Cyno just lets it happen

Takes bingo WAY TOO SERIOUSLY

Keeps all his bingo cards because he doodles houses and plans on them

Cheater #3

Got caught in the middle of cheating and Cyno went on a rant about how cheating ruins games and the whole nine yards

Petty in disguise

Gets S A L T Y when he loses to Cyno

Doesn’t take bingo seriously but he will take it seriously if there is a big prize

Enjoys bingo nights, especially if there is good food and drinks for the night

Has gone to bingo night after eating some mushrooms and has made it a thing to be high every other bingo night

Tighnari does things to piss off Kaveh and that starts arguments

He Won bingo night about three times and always misplaces his prizes

Rips up his bingo card when he loses in an intense match

He Adores bingo nights, especially after a hard day at work

Avoids sitting next to Alhaitham like the plague

One day Tighnari and Kaveh teamed up in two on two matches forcing Cyno to team up with Alhaitham and OH BOY-

In conclusion, an argument broke out and they threw cards at each other making the other two laugh their asses off

Another one who takes bingo way too seriously

He and Kaveh would have a debate on the rules of the game giving Alhaitham and Tighnari, along with Collei headaches (collei is the number caller person lol)

Got into a drinking battle with Alhaitham during bingo, having about a dozen empty dozen glasses on the table

Both passed out, but Kaveh and Tighnari didn’t care and they took Alhaitham and Cyno’s bingo cards

Won bingo at least eight times

Always leaves bingo nights happy regardless if he wins or loses

Should I do an UNO one👁👁

- Ping Ping

- 03/21/23 3:00pm

[cwpiqwons-archive]

Lazy human

summary: what happens when a demon accidentally manages to mess up her paperwork,get summoned by her human, and ends up falling for the said human?

or

you manage to summon a pretty demon through a doodle during chemistry lecture but she's too noisy and all you want to do is sleep.

warnings: mention of killing, Irene being a brat with a capital B, the human sleeps a lot. not proofread.

Irene was not the best cook, nor was she the best writer but one thing she prided herself on was her patience.

it was one of the only benefits she reaped from the long hours filled with boring paperwork and assigning work to the new residents of hell.

the female demon had the patience of a saint , or so she thought. the huge and thick castle of self control and patience Irene had trapped herself in, came crashing the moment a mere human entered her life.

or more like the mere human forced Irene to enter her life because the human is too dumb to know the difference between a doodle and an ancient symbol used to call upon creatures from hell.

Irene hated everything about the situation caused by the human. from the amount of extra hours to fix this loophole to the interrogation she would have to face on her return to hell, Irene hated it all.

but what she hated even more was the dumb human's nonchalance. the female human had the nerve to 1). accidentally summon Irene 2). NOT PAY ATTENTION TO HER AND 3). SLEEP FOR 6 HOURS STRAIGHT AND CALL IT A NAP!

the demon was beyond angry. she was fuming. ready to burst with anger and she would gladly take it all out on the human.

another strange emotion that made the demon even more frustrated was worry. she knew it was stupid but she couldn't help but worry about the stupid human. her stupid human.

her internal struggle was visible as she paced around, waiting for the human to wake up. dark and ugly fear was clouding her head and leeching to her body as she thought of each and every possible scenario that had made her human sleep for so long.

as the demon kept pacing while cursing the human out, she failed to notice the object of her fear, worry, annoyance and the reason she was stuck on this awful planet, finally enter the living room.

it took the human to clear her throat rather dramatically for the demon to finally stop her musing and notice her.

Irene was quick to send the most terrifying glare (which was quite adorable honestly) the human's way as she scanned her head to toe to ease her worry.

her eyes softened as they landed on the eyebags and dark circles the human was sporting. it was visible to the demon that the dumb human couldn't even do something as simple as following a sleep schedule properly.

"You stayed?" a scoff left the demon's lips as the glare returned to her face.

"it's not like I could just swirl my pretty magical wand and leave after being accidentally summoned from the deepest pit of hell and because someone felt artsy!"

Irene's heavy breathing was all that could be heard as the human stared at the demon in complete astonishment, still too sleepy to actually understand what just happened.

"for someone so short, you talk a lot. maybe i should just call you the 'talkative demon' "

y/n wasn't sure what possessed her to utter those words but she regretted them right as they left her mouth.

the demon just stood there silently, looking as if she had been stabbed in the heart. the demon glanced at the human, eyes filled with betrayal and heart filled with sorrow.

"I thought I was 'pretty demon'"

y/n had expected the demon to throw a tantrum, scream at her, curse her or even threaten her but when she saw the downcast eyes and the lips curled into a sad pout, she could feel her heart squeezing inside her chest. as if punishing her for making the demon sad.

she was quick to jump into action, walking up to demon and holding her by the shoulders as she moved a finger under the demon's chin to meet her eyes.

the look of betrayal in the eyes of the short demon who had just been cursing the human's entire bloodline less that an hour ago made the human want to punch herself in the face.

"hey...I didn't mean it like that. I mean I kinda did but...forget it. what I mean is, you talk a lot. like a loottt! but I'm not complaining. you wanna know why? because you may be a talkative demon but you're my talkative demon. my pretty and short and talkative and angry demon."

Irene was sure that the human was some sort of sorceress because how else did she manage to manipulate Irene's emotions so quickly with just a few words.

the redness on her cheeks and the sweat building up on her forehead as a result of the human's words were more than enough to prove that the human had done something to Irene.

"You think you're smart, huh? you really thought your secret will go unnoticed by me, didn't you? I know who you are!"

the human blinked slowly, trying to keep up with the demon's rants. the sight of the demon throwing the hands around wildly while throwing accusations was more amusing than scary for the human.

she couldn't help but let out a smile at the demon's constant mood swings. the lone smile turned to a chuckle which soon turned into a giggle which made the demon stop her rant and stare at her.

clouds of smoke could be seen coming out of the demon's ears as her icy glare settled onto to human who was still laughing at the demon.

had it been someone else, Irene would've killed them with her bare hands for laughing at her but since she couldn't really bring herself to harm her human, she just settled for stomping her foot before walking away and locking herself in the room which had been previously occupied by the human.

the human cracked another smile at her demon's frustration before she lazily got up from the floor she had occupied during the demon's outburst. she looked around fir a while before looking fir something to help lure the demon out of her room.

"aish, she's such a brat." the human mused while trying to coax the angry demon out.

"guess I'll just have to call some other demon from hell since my pretty demon refuses to talk to me" the human knew what she did was nothing short of evil but atleast it got the demon to talk.

"would you really do it?" the pout in her voice was evident even from the other side of the door. it almost made the human feel a bit guilty.

"mhmm, what other choice do I have?" the human who was previously leaning against the closed door fell forward and into the demon's arms as the door suddenly opened.

"I don't hate you, really! I was just...angry. you weren't even paying attention to me and then you seemed so shocked that I stayed it's like you wanted me to leave. it made me sad..."

the human could feel her heart melt and break and squeeze all at the same time as the demon looked up to her with glassy eyes and an adorable pout.

the human broke out of her trance once the demon's gaze left hers to stare at the floor instead.

she moved a finger under the demon's chin and gently raised her face up tell they were looking into each other's eyes again.

the finger was replaced by her whole hand as she cupped her face and gave it a gentle squeeze. her arms moved down to the demon's neck before she let them fall and simply stared at the demon instead.

"You thought I wanted you to leave? well guess what princess? you were wrong. I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around you and hold you close. to hold on to you and to beg you to stay forever. to call you my pretty demon and hide you from the whole world. I want a lot of things love, but you leaving me isn't one of them."

the demon stood there stiff before walking towards the bed. she sat down and made herself comfortable before looking up to the human once again.

"You look tired. you eyes seem a bit dull too. you should sleep more. maybe if you got proper sleep you won't be so lazy and stupid. I read somewhere that cuddling with someone who likes you can induce better sleep. it's not like I care or anything but I'd rather have this conversation when you aren't looking half dead. so...you can...you know...join me on the bed? it's not like I like you anything though. you're just my lazy human that's why I am asking. don't fool yourself into thinking I'm in love with you or anything"

the demon kept rambling as the human just stared at her. gazing at her with the eyes of a lover. she let the demon go on and on before making her way toward the bed and taking a seat beside her.

"lazy human, huh? pretty demon and lazy human. seems like a couple to me. bit I could be wrong since you don't love me"

Irene hated getting teased but maybe, just maybe, she'd let her human tease her all the time if that meant she'd get to see her smile.

[cupfullofpapas]

(Yes I'm reusing this image too busy to doodle a new one :''( life has been super crazy as of late ) Second Vol in The Assistant series: In the arms of a Devil Rated: E F/M Cardinal Copia x F!Reader Papa Emeritus IV x F!Reader Also read it on my Ao3 here Previous Vol. : The Assistant

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5: Screen Share

Sleeping was difficult that night, you tossed and turned until your body was too exhausted and you passed out, when morning came you reached out expecting to touch your Cardinal's sweet face but found only cold sheets, the confusion it hit you before your memory did. “Ah.. the tour,” you thought out loud with your hand still on the sheets.

Your Cardinal would be lying beside you, waking up to him you would crease his cheek and get a genuine smile from him, a smile you missed already. Grabbing your phone and tapping in the security pin, the envelope icon had a 1 on it. 

Copia:  Goodnight Cara Mia <3, call me when you get up

You smiled looking at the message the little heart he typed out made you giggle as you pressed the call button on his name, it rang a few times before he picked up.   "Dolcezza, good morning!."  He greeted putting a smile on your face as you sat up in bed leaning against the headboard.  "Morning Caro, how did you sleep?."  You heard Copia groan.  "Without you by my side, horrible I used to be able to wake up to an empty bed and not think anything of it, and now? it is the worst feeling in the world."  You couldn't help but chuckle at the dramatic tone of his voice her hand cupped over your face to keep any noise from escaping.  "Well it's only for a few months Copia, remember-"  "Cara" He interrupted "If you are, going to say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder  please Mountain has already given me the entire lecture about it, no wonder he  is Primo's favorite ghoul."

 A smile came to Copia's face as he heard you laugh on the other end ahh what a laugh you had he could listen to it for hours, there was a moment of silence the Cardinal swallowing hard trying to decide if now was the right time to say those three little words to you, he shouldn't be this nervous about it he'd already slept with you several times. Copia opened his mouth to speak however Rain appeared in the doorway his thumb pointing over his shoulder.  "Ah, dolcezza, I need to go and get started first concert is in a few days."  "I know."  You replied swinging your legs over the side of the bed and getting up.  "I need to get my butt up too."  At that moment there was a quick rapid knock on your door as one of your siblings of sin stuck her head into your and Copia's dorm room as you and Copia said your goodbyes. "Come quick!, Sister Gemma has gone into labor!." 

You stared at the sister in shock. "But" You started. "She isn't due until next month."  This made you get up quicker throwing on her habit, instead of brushing your hair you shoved it into the hat there was always time to brush it later. The closer you got to the infirmary the more siblings of sin and ghouls alike littered the hallway, pushing one of the shorter ghouls aside. 

"Sorry, Lenti!." You called back finally pushing the door open and heading down the hall.   "Sorella." Came Primo's worried voice taking your hands in his.  "We were in the garden when the pain started."  "Has her water broke?" you watched as Primo stared at you blankly.  "I'm not sure, I do not remember Sorella"  You knew he was worried and some information could have escaped his mind especially with everything moving so fast and his fear of losing a second wife. 

You heard Gemma call for him it took you aback for a moment to hear her like that, fearful, fearful was one thing you would never classify Gemma as. Primo had let go of your hands and rushed to Gemma's side.  "Mi amore, do not worry everything will be okay."   "I hope ah!- so caro."  You watched them for a moment and wondered.. if one day that would be you and Copia, shoving the thought aside you stepped into the room. "Gemma how close are the contractions?"  Before Gemma could answer you heard Sister Imperator behind you.  "They are close now, if you would please step out into the hall."  You wanted to argue about staying there, however, Lenti was already tugging you out of the room to stand with the rest of the ghouls, ghoulettes, and siblings of sin. The heavy doors kept Gemma's cries at bay, time seemed to stand still as you worked your way to the outer edge of the group squeezing out of the crowd. 

"You!." You heard a voice yell out and before you knew it you were tackled to the ground and with weight sitting on your stomach the air had been knocked out of you.  "Divine!." You heard Alpha's voice as he picked the ghoulette up off of you the blond giving a nervous laugh, meanwhile, Terzo and Omega helped you sit up you were about to thank them but only glared at Terzo. 

"Yes, yes I know I was a dickhead, look I've already called and apologized to him, as much as I didn't want to-" "He felt awful after the fight, he didn't even do his skin routine or bubble bath" Omega butted in, thankfully the young Emeritus had worn his paint or else you would have seen his cheeks go red. "Shhhh! Omega!."  He spluttered "What? it's not like it's a secret" You mustered out a small laugh looking up as Alpha walked over still holding Divine by the back of her top, like a cat that had been caught.  "What do we say Divine?" the ghoulette hissed only to get shaken slightly. "Okay! okay!."  The female huffed.

"I'm sorry for tackling you, I saw you and got too excited- now put me down Alpha!!." The Ghoul opened his hand dropping the girl who landed on the floor with a thud. "Ow! you motherfu-" She started but huffed making her way to Terzo on all fours taking a seat by him and Omega grumbling.  "I see she's still pretty feral."  "We're working on it." Alpha shrugged before asking.  "Any news on the baby yet?."  You shook your head. "Nope, Sister Imperator had Lenti pull me from the room, I think she's pushing right now." 

"She pushed you from the room? the old witch"  Terzo grumbled running his hand through his hair in annoyance. "She better be kind to my niece or nephew" Terzo hissed quietly. 

It felt like forever until the door finally opened and Sister Imperator stepped out.  "It's a girl."  She announced to the waiting crowd Primo being the next to step out of the room holding the baby girl wrapped in a yellow blanket.   "Alessia Anna Emeritus." He announced blinking as several of the crowd members were pushed aside Terzo forced his way to the front his eyes having a shine to them. "Fratello, she is beautiful"  He spoke his voice a whisper as those tiny mismatched eyes looked up at her father and uncles her little head was covered in soft blond hair.  "How is Gemma?." You asked as you made it through the crowd Omega, Alpha, and Divine having acted as bodyguards. 

"She is doing well, come"  Primo spoke as he turned allowing you and the others to walk in the older Emeritus considering you part of the family now.  Gemma looked up from her place on the bed. "Sister, there you are." She held her arms up allowing you to hug her Terzo was next followed by the two ghouls before Alessia was handed back to her mother. 

"They said she was early but strong with everything fully developed." Gemma smiled as Alessia's little hand took hold of her finger, you turned your attention hearing the door open only to see Secondo standing there he looked surprised or maybe shocked?, to see you there, you couldn't pinpoint it. 

Saying your goodbyes you headed out of the room so the brothers could marvel over their new niece, thankfully the crowd outside had departed making it easy for you to be on your way.  Time seemed to slow down and you hated it, you hated going to bed alone at night sure Copia and you would talk for a few hours until you both eventually fell asleep while still on video call there were a few times you woke up seeing him fast asleep you had learned a few things from this:  One Copia was a heavy sleeper. Two he sometimes talked in his sleep. And three he sometimes passed gas in his sleep, the first time you heard it, it sent you into a fit of laughter that woke the poor man up out of a dead sleep. When he asked what was so funny you spared him any humiliation and simply said that Bisscoti had done something funny, from then on if it happened again you always muted your side to laugh or giggle. 

Two months in and time started moving faster, thankfully mostly because you were watching little Alessia, rather watching Primo gush over his bundle of joy you had to remind the eldest Emeritus to take his medications and of his appointments with the abbey's doctors. You watched as Primo gave his daughters' belly a raspberry which made the youth squeal in laughter, feeling your phone buzz before ringing the screen and flashing Copia's name you waved to the two happy new parents before taking your leave and answering.

"Hey babe."  You answered giggling as you heard a wheeze of surprise on the other end.  "Hello sorella, how are you?." Your Cardinal asked once the camera had been turned on allowing you both to see each other, you swore he grew more and more handsome each day.  "I'm good, missing you, you have what, one or two more shows before you return, yeah?."   "Si, and non too soon." "Oh?, trouble in paradise?." "I wouldn't say trouble more like ehhh.."  He rolled his wrist looking for the right words to say. "Getting the ghouls and ghoulettes to listen to me, especially Omega and Alpha but enough about work how is la mia nipotina doing?"

You stared at him for a moment. "My little niece."  He respoke as you gave a thankful look. "She's doing well, a little small, other than that she's in perfect health." "Does she have the ehh, eye?." 

"Yeah she does, it's so weird, seeing a tiny set of eyes like that makes me wonder if there are any baby pictures of you lying around."  You laughed as you heard Copia wheeze a 'no'. You laughed while heading back to the dorm,  flopping onto the bed while holding the phone above you. 

Copia watched as you flopped down onto the bed seeing your gorgeous hair fanned out and the way the blankets hugged you... his mind started wandering, wandering right down into the gutter it had been too long since he had pleased himself, so long that seeing you sprawled out on the bed made him stand at attention. Copia was mentally thanking Lucifer and the infernal princes that he had remembered to lock his bunk door for some privacy. 

"Ahh, cara mia the things you do to me."  He whispered which put a smile on your face as you rolled over onto your belly the phone held out in front of you.  "Oh?, and what do I do to you?, my Cardinal?."  You watched as his face turned a soft shade of red.

"W-Well I-I that- that is uh... um.. eh... that- you see ehh..." He was flustered and you loved it.  "Well?."  Your voice took on a flirtatious tone. You watched as he smirked feeling the rare boost of confidence. "How about I show you, eh?."  Now it was your turn to turn red as you heard the rustling of clothes and a zipper and with the turn of the phone, you were face to face with his cock standing erect and proud. Copia's leather-dressed fingers came into the frame to stroke at himself slowly. You watched biting your bottom lip as you felt a tingle between your legs watching, listening to his breathing grow deep. 

"I see you miss me quite a bit hm?."  You giggled lifting your hips from the bed and rolling them feeling yourself starting to grow moist. You had almost forgotten how good it felt when he was inside of you, how good it felt while your Cardinal slammed into you hitting all the right spots while he had you on your hands and knees taking you from behind.

"More than you know tesoro."  You watched as his hand pulled away his cock throbbing, you watched it bounce with each pulse. Biting your lip you looked around as if to make sure no one was looking at your screen in your own damn room.

"You know- letting it go like that isn't good." You whispered. "Perhaps you should take care of it mio caro." You rolled your r and you swore you saw his cock bounce harder.  "Si, si dolcezza" You heard your Cardinal gasp as he took a firm hold of his cock starting to stroke his erect member soft moans passed his lips, moans that went right to your core making your slick walls throb and grow slicker, they gave a harder throb as you heard him groan your name.  "Fuck that's hot." You wheezed out in a whisper.

"Bellezza, what I wouldn't give to have you here with me right now bouncing on my lap, to be deep- so deep inside you." Copia panted out.

"Oh fuck, yes Copia."  The words came out in a hushed gasp of a whisper, they seemed to just spill out on their own as your hand snaked down between your legs slipping past your panties and feeling your moist lips.  "Sweet Lucifer, I'm so wet."  

You breathed you felt a slight wave of embarrassment however the feeling was pushed away as you sank two fingers into your cunt making yourself gasp his name, before you knew it you both were masturbating listening to one another, the phone had been moved so you both could also see each other while your hands went to work.  "Fuck, cara I want you, I want you so fucking bad."  Copia breathed as his hand pumped his leaky cock, beads of precum had welled and started to spill giving his erection a soft shine. 

"Ragazza birichina... I can hear your wet cunt from here."  Copia breathed making you clamp around your fingers.  "Oh fuck, C-Copia-."  You panted as you thrust your fingers in and out of yourself faster. "I want you here in me so fucking bad." You whined your back arching into the huge mound of pillows. 

"Ohh.. you have no idea how much I wish I was there." Copia breathed. "Amore I'm close." 

"Hold it baby, just a little longer wait for me."  You gasped as your second hand joined in rolling your clit, as good as it was it couldn't compare to the feeling of Copia's hands on you. Your mind trying to trick yourself into thinking it and surprisingly it works bringing you closer to your peak.  "Cara-."  Copia started but you cut him off.

"Now, now, oh fuck- now! oh baby I'm cumming I'm cumming!." You moaned as you felt the pressure snap in your pelvis it felt as if your blood rushed from top to bottom and back while your cunt squeezed your fingers.  Copia had sped his hand up until his balls finally contracted as he released. His head was thrown back as thick streams of cum splurted from his cock splattering onto the camera, you could only hear a faint breathless 'ah shit' as your body was starting to come down from its high falling back onto the bed. 

It took a few minutes before you finally had enough energy to get up and clean your mess, Copia doing the same on the other end wiping his phone clean.  Afterwards, you lay in bed with a pillow propping your phone up next to you as you both continued to talk into the night feeling even more in love as you said your goodnights and blew a kiss at the screen.  You were settling down for bed when you heard a knock at your door, mumbling you dragged yourself from the bed to answer it finding Emilia at your doorstep, your brow arching. 

"Mi dispiace, sorella, for coming to you so late but you are the only one I could think to ask."  "What is it Emilia? and it's okay."  "Mi dispiace, but do you- umm."  Her pale face grew red as her dark eyes looked away, she looked kind of cute that way almost too innocent to be in the church of Lucifer.  "Do I?."  "DoyouhaveanyextracondomsIcoulduse?."  She said quickly her voice hushed, there was silence for a moment while you both stared at each other before you laughed which made her face redder.  "Yeah yeah I do, come on in." You waved your fellow sister of sin into your dorm room while you vanished into your room grabbing the box from the nightstand and popping it open pulling a line of the foil packages out. 

Folding them you headed back to the living room where Emilia was still standing her face still red with blush.  "Here you go." You handed them to her as she gave a thankful smile.  "Grazie."   "No prob and don't think there is any bad blood between us just because you're with Secondo okay?." Emilia stared at you as if you had read her mind and seen right through her fears, you watched as her hazel eyes welled a little.  "Grazie, grazie sister."  She spoke smiling as you hugged her. 

"Now go, rock his world sis." You snickered as Emilia squeaked at your words, one final hug and she was off to nail the man of her dreams, you couldn't help but feel a little jealous that she could go right to her lovers' room and be with him while yours was miles and miles away. Your final thought that night was if this was how Gemma felt when Primo was on tour during his era as Papa, if she could get through it then hell you could too!. Tag list: Please message me and tell me if you would like to be tagged! @thesoundresoundsecho @xpapaemeritus @copiasprincipessa

[chlopieno]

Sixteenth Day Event Prompt:

Niki and Philza find evidence of the Ender Dragon

EDIT: MAN WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK I FORGOT TO POST IMAGES VWUDWBSJJD IM KILLINGMS DJDHDB

Man it took me almost 2 hours to think about how i want to show this! Finally i decided on dragon tooth in an enderman :3

I was struggling and this whole thing was painful, i will DEFINITELY join next time! It helped me to get a bit out of my comfort zone. Also. I have never drawn Niki or Philza before, so excuse me if they look wonkier than the whole concept of "quick doodle comic" allows :v also Niki is a cat hybrid bc thats cute >:3

@sixteenth-day-event thank you for organizing this event!

[beefromanoff]

Going Under Ch. 26

summary: things reach their peak...in more ways than one.

characters: Bucky Barnes x OC

soundtrack: I Wanna Be Yours - Arctic Monkeys

warnings: fluff, pop star fantasy x love story, set in an AU where the Avengers reunite after Civil War, pre-infinity war, slight angst, hurt/comfort, lonely reader/OC.

author’s note: okay OKAY this is big, and the first of this kind that I've written...so please give me feedback! It took 26 chapters to get here so I hope it was done right! ugh so many emotions, I hope you enjoy!

PS - special love to @charmedbysarge for the love and support, you being invested makes me even more invested and want to get things up even faster! I appreciate you! <3

chapter list

_________________________________________

The training room buzzed with energy.

Two dozen agents practiced hand-to-hand combat, honing their skills just like every week. 

Just like every other week, Gianna sat at the edge of the training room, back against the wall. Her notebook was spread open on her lap. Typically, musings and lyrics poured out of her pen faster than she could write them down. The past few days…quite the opposite. The pages in front of her were completely empty, save for the scrawled doodles in the margins. She sighed, looking up at the noisy room. 

Weaving through the pairs of sparring partners, Bucky paused every so often to provide guidance. His movements were precise and powerful, even when he demonstrated things at half speed for the agents to learn. Watching him had become a familiar routine, one Gianna looked forward to each day. But again, lately, something felt different.

His voice echoing through the cavernous room, Bucky called the agents to gather around, ending the training the same way he always did - with a few sparring sessions of his own. Agent Allison, the one who infamously had the hots for him, practically leapt to the front of the crowd, volunteering to go first. 

In the weeks since she’d been at the compound, it had become common knowledge that Gianna and Bucky were very much together. There was a strict no-media protocol on the compound, with everyone who entered having to sign an airtight NDA. The precautions were for keeping much greater secrets, but it definitely made for a much more private relationship while they stayed here. Even if the agents saw Bucky shove Gianna up against this exact wall in the training room (not that she’d ever daydreamt about it), they couldn’t say a word, take a photo, nothing. 

Most of the agents had healthy discretion, acknowledging the high-profile relationship existed without making it a thing. Gianna guessed that after months of watching the Black Widow and Captain America with their ongoing will-they-won’t-they thing, the agents had become desensitized to the outlandish things they saw at work. It wasn’t like they could go home, hit happy hour with their friends, and talk about how they’d spent the day sparring with the Winter Soldier. 

Although if anyone were to try and boast about it…Gianna knew it would be Agent Allison. She narrowed her eyes, watching them. 

Bucky’s every move was calculated, his strikes sharp and unforgiving. His face remained blank, clearly nowhere close to his full exertion. As much as Gianna hated to admit it, Agent Allison was skilled in her own right. She fought valiantly, no doubt showing off, but he made quick work of the round. Bucky swiftly disarmed her and, with a controlled motion, sent her to the mat. The thud echoed through the room as she landed on her back. Gianna bit the tip of her pen to disguise the grin that threatened to play across her face. 

No sooner had she reprimanded herself for being so satisfied with the agent’s defeat did another thought cross her mind.

The way Bucky had sparred with her, and every other female agent, was the exact same as he sparred with the men. He held back, naturally, but he definitely didn’t take it easy on them. He let himself beat them, quickly. He hit them, hard. He didn’t treat them like they were breakable. 

It bothered her, not at all because of his sheer strength, but because of the contrast between his approach with her and with the agents. The memory of his protective outburst at the lake just a few days ago resurfaced, muddled with the image of him throwing Agent Allison to the floor just a moment ago.

Goddammit, Gianna. Don’t make something out of nothing. He’s obviously not going to treat you like a combat trained field agent with years of experience. You’re manufacturing conflict. 

She shook her head to clear it, but couldn't shake the knot that had formed in her stomach. 

________________________________________________________

“Oh, Lordy, something smells good in here!” Sam announced his presence in the kitchen as Gianna stirred a pot on the stove. 

“Once, just once, could you enter a room quietly?” Bucky scowled from his seat at the kitchen island, keeping her company while she worked. 

“Yow, somebody’s hangry.”

“Make yourself useful,” Wanda thrust a stack of plates into Sam’s hands. “Set the table, don’t forget forks go on the left!” 

“Yeah, yeah, not my fault y’all treat every dinner like the Queen’s joining us.” He rolled his eyes but obliged. 

Even after the weeks she’d been at the compound, their dinner tradition hadn’t faded. Almost every night, Gianna and Wanda would cook for whichever variation of the team was there. They’d eat at the table, sit and talk for way too long, and then tackle the dishes before going their separate ways. Everyone teased the girls for their commitment to the new tradition, but it was clear that not one person wanted to give up the wholesome family atmosphere it brought. 

“Oh, I left the pie in the fridge downstairs. I’ll be right back.” Wanda disappeared around the corner, leaving Gianna and Bucky alone in the kitchen. 

“Have I told you lately how pretty you are?” He cocked his head to the side as he stood and rounded the island. 

“Hmm…” Gianna pretended to think. “Would half an hour ago be considered ‘lately’?”

“Absolutely not.” He caught her wrist and pulled her close, wrapping his hands around her waist. 

“Bucky,” She giggled between kisses, her face still flushing at his adoration. 

“What?” He grinned and moved his hands up to her cheeks, kissing her slowly. She melted into him, only being brought back to reality by the oven timer dinging. 

“As much as I’d like to keep this going, I didn’t spend two hours slaving away just to burn a whole lasagna.” She stood on her tiptoes and gave him one last kiss on his prickly jawline. “Not a full stop, just a pause.” 

As Gianna rifled through the kitchen drawers, the oven timer kept dinging. “Ugh, if Wanda moves the oven mitts one more time…” She heard the oven open behind her and turned to see Bucky grab the casserole dish with his left hand, depositing it on the stove. He must have heard her gasp, turning to grin. 

“It’s multipurpose.” He wiggled his vibranium fingers at her, unphased. 

“That’s the true hero work,” She winked. “Now go sit down, play nice with Sam.” 

He groaned but turned to head for the dining room. Waiting for the lasagna to settle, she looked around for what was missing. Glasses. Of course, the only clean ones left were on the very top shelf. She climbed onto the counter, putting a knee on the smooth marble and pulling herself up by the open cabinet door. 

“Sam forgot napkins, hey, what are you doing?” Bucky frowned as he walked back in. 

“All the other cups are in the dishwasher. Here,” She passed two glasses down to him. 

“I could have gotten those for you.” 

“No need,” She handed him the last two and scrambled down. “I’m resourceful.” 

“You could have fallen, hit your head, stepped on the hot stove…” 

“But I didn’t.” 

“But,” 

“Buck,” She interrupted him. “I’m fine.” 

He paused for a moment, brows still knit together, but took the glasses into the other room without another word. 

________________________________________________________

“I don’t think I can eat again for a week.” Bucky groaned as he laid back onto the bed. 

“I’ve heard that before.” She grinned as she unfastened her earrings, setting them on the nightstand. “Yet you always seem to have a change of heart around breakfast.” 

“I’m weak for pancakes.” 

“You seem to have a few more weaknesses than that.” She purred, climbing onto his lap.

“That doesn’t sound like me.” He smirked and propped himself on his elbows. Gianna ignored him, running her fingers along his jawline. 

“If I recall,” She slid her hands under the hem of his sweatshirt, hands cold against his warm body. “We have unfinished business.” 

Bucky sat up, putting his hand on the small of Gianna’s back to keep her steady as he shifted beneath her. “That…” He kissed her, soft and slow. “We do.” 

They hadn’t discussed what happened after the lake. When she’d quite literally laid herself bare and he left the room. She tried to tell herself he meant what he said, he felt gross from his mission and wanted to shower. She knew he wanted to ‘take things slow’ - but what did that mean? They’d been…whatever they were, officially, for weeks now. He slept in her bed almost every night. He kissed her in front of God and everybody. He’d shared his most intimate thoughts with her by revealing his journals. 

But every time she tried to push things just a little further…he’d stop. He’d shift the tone to sweet, playing with her hair until she fell asleep or tracing circles on the small of her back. It was kind, gentle, honorable. At this point, however, she’d had her fill of kind, gentle, and honorable. 

Gianna pulled back from his lips, raising her arms above her head. Their eyes locked as his hands slid up her back, the fabric of her shirt rising with it. Slowly, tenderly, he lifted it over her head and let her tousled hair tumble down her back. After letting his gaze drift over her for a moment, soaking up the delicate lace of her bra, she tugged his shirt over his head. Their warm chests pressed together as she wrapped her hand around his neck and kissed him again, tongue parting his lips immediately. 

His grip tightened around her back as the kiss intensified, her hands tangled in his hair. Feeling especially impatient, Gianna slid off of his lap, her bare feet landing in the carpet between his knees. She pulled back from his lips, eyes hungry, and gently shoved his bare chest to push him back to the bed. He complied without protesting, watching her every move. 

Her hands drifted to his hips, tugging on the drawstring of his sweatpants. Bucky’s eyes darkened. When the knot came undone in her delicate grip, she slipped her fingers inside the waistband and tugged them down, leaving them in a discarded heap on the floor. 

Gianna rose, pausing only for a minute, to look over him sitting in his boxers. The muscles of his abdomen were taught even as he laid back on his elbows. His dark hair had the oh-so-familiar evidence of her hands having run through it. His jaw was clenched, blue eyes raking over her body. 

God, he’s pretty. 

Afraid of waiting any longer, she climbed back onto his lap, his hands meeting her hips in a desperate, greedy grip. Their lips crashed together as he rolled over on top of her. Gianna gasped into their kiss as his hips pressed against hers, his desire more than evident. 

Suddenly, tragically, infuriatingly…he tore himself from her and stood, out of breath. 

“I, we can’t.” He didn’t meet her eyes. 

“Why?” Gianna cried out, unable to contain her frustration. Bucky turned his back to her, walking around the room. “Bucky, look at me!” 

Slowly, he approached the bed, staying out of arms’ reach. He still didn’t look at her. 

“Bucky…” 

“I told you…” 

“No, you told me you can’t. You told me you want to do this right, but you won’t tell me why or when the right time is! For God’s sake, I am throwing myself at you, and you’re walking away from me,” Her voice cracked at the end and he looked up with guilt-ridden eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” He reached out to cup her cheek but she caught his hand. 

“I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to want me.” 

“Gianna…” Bucky dropped to his knees in front of the bed. “This isn’t about me wanting you…that has never, ever been a problem.” 

“Then what is the problem?” 

His blue eyes looked back and forth between hers. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“God, Bucky, I’m not made of glass!” She climbed off of the bed, throwing her hands in the air. “Why do you treat me like I’m breakable! You freaked out when I was just having fun, doing the same thing as everyone else, you didn’t even like when I climbed on the counter to get a dish from the cabinet, and I know you made Peter come with us to New York because you were afraid I wouldn’t be safe enough with just Wanda.” Her eyes narrowed. “You have always protected me, always kept me safe, but it’s like that’s all you want to do!” 

His eyes were torn, it took everything in her not to rush to comfort him with the heart-wrenching look he had on his face. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He repeated, his voice coming out as a growl.

“You don’t have to worry about hurting me -” 

“I have to worry about hurting everyone.” He hissed, angry at the reality and angry it had led to this when all he wanted was to give in. “Especially you.”

“You don’t treat me like the others, the way you threw Agent Allison on the ground today,” Gianna paused, steeling herself, furious that she even had to mention that woman in her own bedroom. “Do you…think I’m weak? Do you think I can’t handle myself?” 

“No, Gianna,” He crossed the room in two steps and cupped her face. “That’s not it at all. You are…easily one of the strongest women, strongest people I’ve ever met. You’ve been through more than anyone should have to endure and you’ve done most of it alone.” He searched her eyes. “It’s not that I think you can’t handle things…it’s that I don’t think you should have to. I…I want better for you. I want to give you what you deserve, keep everything bad away.” 

Her face softened as his desperate words. “I don’t need everything bad to be kept away. I just need to keep the good close.” She tucked a dark strand behind his ear. “I just can’t seem to get close enough.” 

Bucky’s thumbs brushed her cheeks, the conflict in his mind almost palpable. “I…I don’t want to hurt you.” 

Her brows knit together, watching the anguish on his face. “How would you -”

“I don’t trust myself.” His voice was strained. “With how I feel about you, what I want…” 

“But I trust you.” She tilted his chin to look back at her. “What about what I want?”

Gianna took a step back. The number of days she’d worn matching lacy undergarments, just hoping it would be the night he’d take them off of her…she’d lost count. Tonight, standing before him in the delicate, lacy blue set, the one that reminded her of his eyes when she picked it out in the store…she didn’t think she had enough patience to hope for another day. 

“Bucky…” She breathed. “Ask me what I want.” 

His eyes slowly, painfully, rose to meet hers. His breathing was labored. He was losing the battle with himself. 

“What…do you want?” 

“I want you to stop worrying.” 

She stroked his cheek. 

“I want you to know you make me feel safer than I ever have, in my life.” 

She held his metal hand in hers, kissing his knuckles. 

“I want you to appreciate this stupid lingerie I picked out specifically for you.”

She took two slow, deliberate steps backwards, letting his eyes trail over her. 

“I want you to stop acting like I’m breakable and throw me on this bed like I’ve been dreaming about for months.”

“Gianna,” His voice was a low warning, all his restraint about to break. 

“I want you to fuck me.” 

Half a second. 

That’s how long he hesitated before he snapped. In two strides, he crossed the room, never breaking eye contact with her. Before she could process, he’d picked her up, one hand supporting her and one hand gripping her cheek like his life depended on it. He kissed her harder, hungrier than he ever had before. Moving his hand away from her face for a split second, he reached around her back and ripped the clasp off of her bra. Without setting her down, he climbed onto the bed, still holding her to his body as he supported them both with his other arm. 

He ran his tongue along her lower lip, moaning into her mouth. With a deep kiss, he deposited her onto the bed, rising up on his knees. Gianna let out a small whine as he pulled away but was quickly silenced by the look in his eyes. He reached down and took the delicate lace of her bra between his fingers, lifting it off of her body with ease, thanks to the mangled clasp somewhere across the room. He set it to the side and ran his hands across her collarbone, tracing the outline of her breasts, before trailing his hands down to her hips. A trail of fire lit Gianna’s skin everywhere he touched her. 

Bucky traced the lace design, committing the image to memory. In one swift movement, completely contradictory to the gentle way he touched her, he grabbed them and yanked. The lace ripped with ease and he tossed the ruined material to the side. 

“Fuck.” 

Gianna sucked in a breath, the sight of him looking at her so lustfully making it suddenly hard to breathe, to think at all. “Please,”  She pleaded. 

He didn’t make her wait. In a second, his boxers were ripped and discarded right next to her panties. He was on her, arms caging her in on the mattress. He surrounded her. All she could see were piercing blue eyes, inky black hair hanging down over her, silver vibranium glinting in the moonlight. He filled her senses. He burrowed into the crook of her neck, kissing her collarbone, nipping at the delicate skin below her ear. She moaned, fingers running up his back. 

His hand cupped her jaw, giving her a long, wet kiss before pulling back. His thumb ran across her lower lip, not able to fully let go but needing to put his mouth on the rest of her. He kissed, nibbled, bit what felt like every inch of her neck, chest, stomach. Gianna squirmed, urging him back up, but he caught her hips in an unyielding grip and held her still as he continued. 

Bucky slid off the edge of the bed, again kneeling on the floor beside it. Still holding her hips, he yanked her to the edge of the bed, parting her legs around his face. His eyes met hers as he sank out of her view, draping her legs lazily over his shoulders. The gleam in his eye when he tasted her was almost predatory. Though she couldn’t see his face, Gianna knew, could feel that he was smirking. She threw her head back as a moan escaped her, bucking her hips against his face. Again, he gripped her waist and pinned her down, ensuring she wouldn’t move before his left hand disappeared. A cold, vibranium finger slid inside of her, moving at a tantalizing pace. 

She couldn’t tell if it was ten seconds or ten minutes that he stayed between her legs, time passed differently with that kind of ecstasy. Before she knew it, everything that had been building up since she first saw him, saw those blue eyes and the muscles through the back of his t-shirts…all of it coiled inside of her until she couldn’t take it anymore. Her secret, lust-filled daydreams mixed with all the memories of his face swirled through her mind as she cried out, her legs wrapped around his shoulders. The grip he had on her waist with his right hand was sure to leave a mark, but it was nowhere near her mind at that moment. Her eyes flew open, arching her back, and the last thing she saw as she came undone was that tousled black hair between her legs. 

Gianna fell apart in his hands, quivering as the waves of pleasure slowly subsided. Far from satiated, Bucky slowly pulled back, kissing the insides of her thighs as he did. The way they trembled in his hands made him even more feral, made him need her even more. 

He slid his hand under her back and moved her to the middle of the bed, climbing on top of her. Her eyes were dazed, looking up at him like he was the sun, the moon, and all the stars. Using his legs, Bucky nudged hers open and settled between them, ready to finish what they started. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, tasting the thinnest sheen of sweat across her brow. 

“Are you sure?” 

She looked up at him with those big green eyes. Wordlessly, her hands snaked down to grab his hips, pulling him towards her. He moved slowly, watching her face for any kind of discomfort as he pushed into her for the first time. With a soft whimper, her eyes rolled beneath her lids, head falling back to the mattress. Bucky bit his lip, commanding himself to take it slow. More impatient than him, Gianna’s legs wrapped around his waist and locked, pulling him deep inside of her. Their moans mixed together as he paused, fully entwined with her. 

He could smell her, feel her, taste her…she was everywhere. She was everything. 

After a moment of letting her adjust, Bucky kissed Gianna, so gently she had to open her eyes and make sure it was real. There was a moment of overwhelming, intoxicating warmth that flooded her as his eyes opened and met hers. They paused, pressing their foreheads together and breathing the same breath. 

“Move,” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but a command nonetheless. 

So he did. 

Pulling back and thrusting into her, he picked up in pace and force until the room was a hurricane of sweat, moans, and the sound of skin on skin. Gianna heard herself cry out his name, but it felt otherworldly. Nothing was real to her except the feeling of him, of James Buchanan Barnes, inside of her. 

When he fell apart, it was the most delicious sight she’d ever seen. His eyes rolled, he threw his head back, his mouth opened to let out a low moan as every muscle in his beautiful body tensed. 

They laid there for another undefined amount of time, limbs tangled, sweat mingled, hearts pounding. Bucky’s arms cradled her head as he laid his on her chest, soothed by the rise and fall of her breathing. 

“Bucky?” 

He lifted his head, stroking her hair off of her cheek. 

“I want this, all of this. Always.” 

His lopsided smile spread across his face. “That good, huh?”

“Bucky,” She nudged him. “I’m serious.”

“Gianna…” He propped himself up and traced her hairline, her ear, her jaw. “I couldn’t even resist you when all I had was the idea of you. Now that I know you, now that…I can never go back to a life without you.” 

She bit her lip to keep the goofy, giddy smile from breaking through. Having heard what she wanted, she pulled herself out from under him and padded over to the oversized tub in the corner.

“For the record,” Gianna grinned as she turned on the hot water. “It most definitely was that good, and you better actually join me this time.” 

Bucky rolled off the bed, grinning right back. “Don’t have to ask me twice.”

[castielmydarling]

Suptober 2023-Day 5: Portrait

Pencil to Paper-456 words on AO3 or below Summary: Dean has time to work on his favorite subject, Cas. A sequel of sorts to days 3 fic pen to paper

“How’s it coming?” Cas says calmly. 

“You can’t rush greatness.” Dean glances up from his sketchbook to look at Cas, sitting in the armchair. 

Cas rolls his eyes. 

“Hey, none of that.” Dean chides.

“Dean, I’ve stood and watched humanity pass by for decades at a time. I have no problem waiting. I waited over twelve years for you, didn’t I?” He teases, amused. 

Dean blushes. “Hey, don’t pin all that on me.”

“Anyways, I was simply inquiring how it was coming along.” Cas continues. 

“Sure you were.” Cas talks big but Dean knows he can either be ‘Mr. I’ll wait here then’ or ‘Mr. How long is this going to take.’. He looks over his drawing. “About three quarters done. Maybe another hour?” He guesses.

“Can I see?” Cas shifts as if to get up. 

“You stay there.” Dean scolds. “No peeking. You know the rules.”

Sometimes hunts were boring. They involved a lot of stakeouts and waiting around. Dean took to doodling on whatever napkin or scrap of paper he had handy to pass the time. It wasn’t until Cas died at Lucifer’s hand that Dean found his favorite subject. He thought drawing him would help keep him alive, help him cope. It didn’t exactly help much but after Cas came back he kept at it. Cas was gone too much for his liking so drawing him was a way to keep him close. And it helped. A little. 

Dean rarely did full body portraits, mainly sticking to simple quick sketches. Once or twice Cas caught him sketching him while he slept. Dean told him he had no room to complain given the years Cas spent watching him sleep. 

This was the first time Cas was posing for him. Awake and knowingly, anyways. Dean was nervous he wouldn’t be able to draw properly. Sometimes Cas’ gaze could make him feel like he was under a microscope, in the best way. But once he started he found it surprisingly easy. It was relaxing to know they had time to do this. He wasn’t just doing a quick thing in a motel room before leaving to kill some monster. No. Now they had time to sit around in silence while Dean worked. And Cas was more than happy to sit around and watch him do it. 

“I think I know what’s taking so long.” Cas says, breaking the comfortable silence. “I’m wearing all these clothes. I’m sitting in this big armchair. Maybe next time we stay in our room, eliminate some items.” He says nonchalantly. 

Dean’s hand slips. He works to fix the huge line now cutting across the page. “ Uh, yeah. We could try that.” He says tyring, and failing, to keep his voice steady. 

[olifern107]

Hiya :)

I'm Oliver, but some call me Wibbly. And I've really grown to love that nickname :> I use He/Him pronouns.

Anyhow, I'm an artist, writer, weirdo theatre kid, rabbit enthusiast. Currently a very large Gin Ichimaru enjoyer (going on 3 years of this nonsense) and I am going to draw for your entertainment or something.

I do Self-Shipping and Self-Inserts. I am aware that it is cringe. I simply have had too much therapy to care. My main F/O is Gin Ichimaru from Bleach, and that's basically the only one I care about rn. (Oh, and Rangiku Matsumoto!!! Also from Bleach!!!)

I draw. I draw digitally a lot. But I also do traditional art whenever the spark hits. I did participate in ArtFight this year and did about 30 pieces for it!

I'm gonna put my commission info down here. I'm trying to get a lil monies in my pockets lmao

...anything to afford more Gin merch...

Commission Info:

!!!ALL PAYMENTS WILL BE DONE THROUGH PAYPAL. USD ONLY!!!!

All commissioned art will be posted on my socials! To commission me, please send me a dm on discord, my username is thornperished. Or you can email me at olifern107business@gmail.com

Quick Sketches - $5

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

These sketches can have one or two characters, they'll be very quick, so expect the doodle within the hour after I receive payment.

PAYMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN FULL UPFRONT FOR SKETCHES

Sketch- $8 for black and white, $10 for roughly colored, $12 for clean color

clean color^

rough color^

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

These can take a few hours to complete after receiving payment!

PAYMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN FULL UPFRONT FOR SKETCHES

Colored Headshots - $10

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

May take an hour or so to complete after receiving paymemnt.

PAYMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN FULL UPFRONT FOR COLORED HEADSHOTS

Fullbodies- $13 Uncolored, $15 Colored

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

May take a few hours to finish after receiving payment!

Half of the payment will be given upfront, and the other half will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch!

Ref Sheet! (animals) - $30

Only Animals for this style!

May take a few hours to a few days to finish after payment is received!

Half of the payment will be made upfront, half of the payment will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch.

Ref Sheet(human)- $30

Only Humans for this style! Side information may be replaced with the back view, or with 2 expressions.

May take a few hours to a few days to finish after payment is received!

Half of the payment will be made upfront, half of the payment will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch.

Illustrations- $40+ one character default, every additional character adds $10

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

These can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to finish after payment is received. (That Gin illustration took 3 days to complete, owchies)

Half of the payment will be made upfront, half of the payment will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch.

[fall-for-tolkien]

So you want to be an artist for Scribbles & Drabbles

Perhaps you've seen the schedule floating around and thought: "Oh that sounds interesting!"

Or maybe you were an author last year, and are now wondering whether you could also join as an artist.

No matter how you ended up here, if you are wondering whether you have what it takes to be an artist for Scribbles & Drabbles, this is the post for you.

A quick & dirty guide to S&D art

The first question you probably ask yourself is: "Does what I do count as art?"

And perhaps you've checked our FAQs page, where you will find the rule "If you say it's art, it's art."

Indeed, it is that simple.

In the past years, artists submitted paintings (both digital and traditional), playlists and single songs, paper art, photoshoots with lego or playdough figures, nature photography, moodboards, cookies, jewellery and many more. They can be soft and fluffy, they can be angsty, they can be spicy (though we put the latter in a different gallery). We've put together a sample of past submitted arts for you. (If you are a returning artist and would be willing to have your art featured in this sample, please ping mod Shadow on the discord.) As always, if you're still not sure if what you have in mind qualifies as art, drop us an ask. I promise we don't bite.

Alright then. Hopefully, you know now that your art qualifies for this event. Time to submit them to the gallery!

Returning authors are permitted to submit up to 9 pieces to the main galleries (that's the SFW and NSFW galleries).

First time artists may submit up to 6 pieces.

Templates for the gallery will be provided.

3 (three) of these arts must be previously unpublished. The others can be old works, so long as they have not been part of collaborative events like S&D or TRSB, or gift exchanges such as Tolkien Secret Santa.

Arts can be unfinished. We do not expect you to submit fully coloured pieces (but we certainly won't stop you either!) You want to submit a doodle you made on the back of a napkin while sitting in a restaurant? Absolutely! You want to submit an acrylic painting that took 30 hours to finish? That, too, can have a home in our gallery!

For our detailed rules on AI art, please see the FAQs on our website.

Art can be updated in the gallery until the art submission deadline. However, you are not able to unsubmit your art once it's in the gallery, so make sure that it is something you want people to see. Once public posting starts, you can also post updated versions of your art.

Finally then, let's talk about prompts.

Next to Ratings, relationships and character suggestions, you are able to provide your authors with "Must Haves (MH)", "Requests" and "Do not wants (DNW)".

MH: Aspects you absolutely, desperately want to see in the story created in response to your art. These will be mandatory for your author.

Requests: Things that would be lovely to see in the story, but you also won't be upset if your author can't work them in.

DNW: Stuff that you do not want in the story under any circumstances. Maybe a pairing squicks you, maybe you don't want to read about pregnancies, or maybe you really can't stand that one character. If there is anything that would reduce your enjoyment of the story, put it here. These will also be mandatory for your author to adhere to.

Hopefully, this answers most of your questions. If there is anything about being an artist for S&D that hasn't been covered, drop us an ask, or stop by on the discord!

Happy creating, and we look forward to seeing your awesome works!

[bmodiwrites]

You Drew Stars Around My Scars

Hi friends! This one is based of a prompt I got sent a couple of days ago. The general gist of it is janitor x workaholic AU. So, here we are! Eddie's a story board editor with nothing to go home to and Steve, well, he's a janitor. This little beauty is filled with cuteness, a few twists, and lots of steddie goodness. Oh, there's some naught stuff, too. Minors, DNI! Check it out here or over on AO3! Let me know what you think in the comments below <3

Dropping the ludicrously expensive color pencil back onto his drawing desk, Eddie reclines back into his chair. He quickly clenches and unclenches his fingers in a desperate attempt to get some blood flow back to them. The sketch before him, a recent episode idea for Epic Kids, is almost perfect – after ten straight hours of work, Eddie is glad to see the thing finally shaping up into what it’s actually supposed to be.

As a story board artist, the demands on Eddie change daily. He doesn’t work for one show or something simple like that. Instead, he works for a company that dabbles in both television and video games. His projects range from children’s shows to multi-million dollar selling video games. No one knew the 90’s would be the time technology blew up – now, so many different game consoles exist, Eddie is never shy on work.

Upon picking up the craft right out of college, Eddie didn’t expect this to be the rest of his life. Sometimes, though, the world works in mysterious ways. The children’s book he always wanted to write comes alive in the shorts he draws and ideas he shares. Though he’s still wanting to put together a D&D epic for younger kids, Eddie is content enough with his lot to continue doodling on someone else’s dime.

He's about to pick the red pencil back up when the creak of his already open door startles him. It’s well past the time at night where anyone else is usually in the building. Eddie likes to close his door until everyone leaves so he’s got the space to himself. Now, he’s drawing in ambient light with nothing to disturb him – except, he guesses, for a gorgeous man dragging along a cleaning cart.

For a lingering moment, Eddie knows the man hasn’t seen him yet. He’s got headphones covering his ears and his head bobs to the beat. Strong hands are already reaching for the tools he’ll need to clean the floor before clearing out Eddie’s trash. This guy is new because no one ever took the time to sweep up the pencil shavings under Eddie’s desk. Lately, he’s been coming back to the office to a clean space. Now, he knows who the culprit is.

Since the guy still isn’t reacting to Eddie’s presence, brown eyes greedily take in their fill. Though the headphones push it down, the janitor has gorgeous hair. It’s thick and dirty blonde. Eddie thinks about the potential for amazing hairstyles and almost swoons. As his eyes roam a little further, Eddie notices wide wire-framed glasses pushed up an angular nose. They enhance hazel eyes that are now looking at him with a mix of panic and surprise.

“Oh damn, I’m so sorry. No one is ever here, I didn’t even think to knock. I’ll uh – I’ll come back later.” The words are out of the new janitors mouth so fast that Eddie’s head spins. Though, he’s quick to put it on right in hopes of keeping this mouthwatering stranger in the room.

“Hey, it’s alright. I should be thanking you. You’re the first cleaner to ever pick up my pencil shavings. It’s awesome, man. I appreciate it.” Eddie finishes his thanks with a soft smile. It should be enough, saying something sweet before moving on. Yet, it’s not. Eddie feels compelled to keep talking. “Are you new?”

The guy looks incredibly uncomfortable for a second before nodding. It’s brief and coarse but it’s a reaction – one that Eddie wasn’t all that sure he was going to get. Happy with that small crumb, Eddie’s smile widens.

“Cool, you’ll like it here. I’ve been working behind this desk since college. Loved every second of it.”

His comment is met with silence that lingers so long Eddie thinks his new friend is done with the conversation. He’s about to grab at his pencil again when that deep voice sounds off.

“Maybe you’re right. It’s really quiet. I like that.” The man pauses for a second, takes Eddie in. His hazel eyes roam over Eddie’s face and down until he sees the drawing on the desk. For an instant, those eyes widen, but the moment is gone long before Eddie can process it.

“I’ll let you get back to your work, Mr. Munson. Sorry again about the interruption.”

Shrinking back at the name, Eddie calls out immediately – “It’s Eddie. Please, call me Eddie.”

Though the man doesn’t verbally respond or outwardly acknowledge Eddie’s request, there’s a short little nod before the squeaking of the cart sounds again and the enigma of a man is gone as quickly as he came.

Over the next couple of weeks, Eddie changes his routine in hope of bumping into their new custodian again. He walks the halls every couple of hours during the day to see if the man works while the rest of his crew does, but never finds him. He then stays a little later, lingering in his office until the call of food or a television show or plain boredom has him collecting his bags to head off for the night.

Eventually, Eddie’s enigma makes another appearance. This time, though, Eddie is not prepared for him. He’s been curled up into the sanctuary of his arm, napping soundly, since his last meeting. They ripped apart his drawing and asked for something completely different than what Eddie had been picturing. The game isn’t even out yet and Eddie is over it. The headache that sets in kicks his ass, making the call of the flat of his desk so very enticing. He doesn’t know he’s fallen asleep until the door kicks open and he’s blinking awake.

“Shit, I did it again. I’ve been saving your office for last every day, trying not to disturb you on your late nights. Sorry, Mr. – Eddie. I don’t mean to disturb you.”

Sitting up a little straighter in his chair, Eddie stops him before he can go. “Wait! You don’t have to do that. I don’t mind the interruption. It’s probably needed. I’m spending way too much time here, anyway.”

With an invitation to stay, the guy doesn’t take off like the rocket he had just been trying to become. Instead, he lingers in the doorway, eyes roaming over Eddie again. Since they’re staring at one another, Eddie doesn’t disguise his desire to look back.

This time, Eddie notices a thin little mustache that covers red and probably delectable lips. They’re plump and forming words that Eddie is obviously missing out on. He clues back in just in time to catch the tail end.

“ – my friend’s son loves Epic Kids. I get so many more cool points now because I know one of the artists.”

Eddie is glad he managed to tune back into reality – catching that compliment makes the rest of his shitty day seem insignificant. Epic Kids is his pet project, one he’s much more interested in than the stupid game pitch still haunting him from his desk. Though, Eddie is unsure how the man before him knows about his involvement. He hasn’t had a new project for the show cross his desk since they first met.

“How did you know I worked on that show?”

The man smiles then, his lips (they are absolutely kissable, Eddie just knows it) quirk into a knowing grin. For the first time since Eddie encountered him, there’s a sign of life outside of trash cans and a grumpy demeanor.

“That first night I barged in, you were working on a doodle that ended up in yesterday’s show. After Lucas finished up the episode, I watched through the credits. Eddie Munson, Storyboard Editor, is pretty hard to miss.”

“It’s kind of unfair you know my name and I don’t know yours,” Eddie petulantly says before he can stop himself. Though, it’s not a bad thing because the man laughs, genuinely chuckles, and points to the embroidered name on the left side of his tacky blue jumpsuit.

“I’m Steve. Steve Harrington.”

Eddie’s cheeks heat up for some reason, as if access to a name gives him so much more. While it’s just a title to call the hot man that roams the halls at night, Eddie sees the vulnerability as something more. An obvious door has been opened and he’s timidly excited to step through it.

Steve becomes a regular fixture after that. It’s easy for him to wheel his cart into Eddie’s office at the end of the night and make conversation while he goes about his duties. Eddie draws or sits in his chair listening intently to everything Steve’s got to say. He learns about the man’s found family and his platonic soulmate who also doubles as a roommate whenever she’s in town. The connection they have is something that should be cherished, despite only being nurtured for a handful of minutes the nights Eddie can force himself to stay late enough.

There is, of course, an easy fix. Eddie isn’t one to actively pursue another person, especially when he’s not quite sure about their interest. Steve, it seems, is the exception to every rule that Eddie’s ever put into place, however. Their time together is too nice not to extend it past the walls of his workplace. Never mind the fact that Eddie is more than excited by the prospect of Steve in anything but the ugly blue uniform he’s forced to wear. The man is beautiful, Eddie sees that through and through. Something tells him, though, that Steve has lots of potential outside of navy blue.

He bids his time until the perfect opportunity presents itself. It’s a Thursday night and Steve is already talking about the weekend. He has yet to mention Friday night, however, so Eddie takes that as his chance.

“What about Friday? Are you free? There’s this joint in town I’ve been dying to try out, thought you might like to come.”

Eddie waits with bated breath as Steve blinks a few times behind his thick lenses. He goes about putting the trashcan back in its spot, even replaces the bag before looking in Eddie’s direction.

“Uh, yeah. That – that sounds good. I haven’t been out with adults I didn’t grow up with in ages. I think I’d really like that.”

It takes a massive amount of effort for Eddie not to happily jump up from his chair. His fist is tingling with the need to thrust itself into the air in triumph, but Eddie keeps control. After finally securing some extra time with Steve, the last thing Eddie wants to do is muck it up by being over eager or worse – immature with his excitement.

It seems, however, that Steve is just as excited. Pink overtakes his cheeks and a smile that Eddie’s never seen before stretches those gorgeous lips wide. And while he’s not making eye contact with Eddie at all, Steve sneakily glances in his direction time and time again as he finishes up.

Eddie feels like he’s back in high school again, fumbling over his first crush. It’s a glorious thing, experiencing freedom like that after the fickle mundaneness of adulthood.

----

As expected, Steve is an absolute dream out of uniform. The yellow polo Steve’s wearing makes the hazel in his eyes stand out beyond belief. His blue jeans are tight in all the right areas, enhancing thighs and ass like navy blue fabric never could. Eddie has to physically close his mouth upon first glance, lest he starts drooling before the date actually gets started.

Thankfully, Steve spots him across the weird little bar and makes a beeline in Eddie’s direction. The space they’re in is an eclectic little place that serves beer while it’s patrons play mini golf on the two courses out back. It’s one of the coolest things Eddie has seen – he desperately hopes this little place won’t be the last of such an interesting idea.

Everyone around them looks to be enjoying themselves, either way.

Glad for that knowledge and reassurane, Eddie makes quick work of getting them both a drink and the things they need to play the first course. Steve is slightly stiff as they start but loosens up by the third hole.

Now that they’re not in the noisy bar and the party before them is a couple holes ahead, Steve relaxes. He starts to shoot better and actually takes a couple pulls of his drink. It’s a relief because Eddie already thought he blew it.

As it turns out, Steve is just a man with a little social anxiety. When it’s just the two of them, Eddie gets so much from Steve. He talks about his family the most, the little brother (who’s not actually a ‘real’ sibling, though Steve counts him as one) that’s been a pain in his ass most of Steve’s life, the niece and nephew he spoils incessantly. It’s a beautiful thing to experience a person so dedicated to the people around them.

Eddie tries to reciprocate by telling him about art school and the program he did throughout. He talks about the children’s book he wants to write, despite never spilling the beans of that to anyone else in the entire world. Uncle Wayne doesn’t even know the plot of Eddie’s dream work. For some reason, Eddie can’t stop himself from speaking so earnestly to Steve. It doesn’t hurt, however, that Steve is pretty candid with his words, too.

The only thing that Steve doesn’t talk about is himself. After the first date and then the second, Eddie chalks it up to nerves and taking things slow. He’s in deep already, so the change in pace is a welcome thing.

Except, it keeps happening the longer they’re together. Two dates turns to two months of dating, two months of Steve avoiding questions, two months of them never once setting foot in Steve’s apartment. Admittedly, the lack of personal details is a little off putting. Though, Eddie is eager enough to see where things might go with Steve that he pushes all of that aside. One day, one day really soon, Steve will open up.

It eventually happens, just not in the way Eddie ever thought it would.

For the first time in their entire relationship, Steve’s walking him towards his door. Well, he’s backing Eddie up against it because they can’t keep their hands off each other. Between their intense connection and the chemistry that runs rampant, Eddie’s been edging himself, waiting for this very moment. It’s a little much now that it’s happening but Eddie’s here for it, eager and willing, too. So much so that he doesn’t question Steve leaving off lights as they stumble inside.

Despite the time it took them to get here, Steve is anything but patient and inexperienced. He doesn’t fumble or miss buttons in the darkness of the room. His accurate attack gets Eddie out of his clothes in record time.

Instead of taking off his own, however, Steve immediately drops to his knees, eager hands finding Eddie’s cock without struggle. Long fingers wrap around the base while Steve’s other hand drops to Eddie’s balls. He rolls them at the same time the wetness of his mouth sucks in the head of Eddie’s cock. It’s so glorious, Eddie can do nothing but thread his fingers through Steve’s hair and pull him closer.

The suction is so good that Eddie has to dig the nails of his free hand into the fleshy skin of his palm. Drawing blood is the only thing stopping Eddie from shooting down Steve’s throat but it’s all too good to make him stop. At least, Eddie thinks that until the end is actually imminent. Then, he tugs on Steve’s hair, pulling him off as gently as possible.

“You’re way too good at that. Care for a little something more?” Eddie asks as Steve stands up from his spot on the ground. There’s a smile on his face, though Eddie barely recognizes it in the dark. He thinks to ask about the light but bypasses the urge – if Steve wanted them on, he would’ve flipped the switch as he passed.

Knowing that, Eddie is a little surprised that Steve takes off his clothes at all. Usually when a person liked to keep the lights off, they liked to keep their clothes on, too. Steve, it seems, is filled with contradictory worries and triggers. He sheds his clothes in the same manner he disrobed Eddie. It’s efficient and quick and soon, they’re both standing in front of each other naked as can be.

Steve doesn’t give Eddie much time to take him in. That self-conscious air is back, despite Steve covering it up by sliding his body on top of Eddie’s on the mattress. They fit together so well it’s difficult to keep up with anything at all aside slick slide of Steve’s hips as he grinds down against Eddie. Their cocks are both wet with pre-cum that makes each brush of their pelvises an electric thing. Eddie is already done in – he’s not sure how much more he can take.

There must be precognition in Steve’s life because he moves away from Eddie right as he thinks that. It’s both a torture and relief, one that’s only made better by Steve shifting his body so he can dig into the bedside table for a condom and some lube. The triumphant little noise he makes is kind of nice, too. It reorients Eddie back to the real reason they’re taking each other apart. He loves Steve. Steve loves him. Coming together like this is the ultimate culmination of their feelings for each other.

That thought echoes in Eddie’s head while Steve lubes up a finger, then leaves a dollop of the cool liquid on Eddie’s hip for later. When that finger breaches him, Eddie lets Steve project his love into him, feeling complete for the first time since things started between them. It’s satisfying and dizzyingly delicious.

Steve is very good at the things he’s doing to Eddie. His fingers take no time at all to find Eddie’s prostate. They nail the bundle of nerves tirelessly before not touching it again for many minutes on end, despite more digits coming to the party.

Eventually, three fingers barely skim against it by the time Steve’s getting antsy for more. Eddie too is right there with him.

“I’m good, Steve. I’m good. I need you, baby.”

A soft chuckle slips from Steve’s lips that are pressed against Eddie’s neck. While hands fumble between them, Steve kisses and nips little marks into soft skin, distracting them both from the lurid slip of a condom down Steve’s cock. Eventually a hard tip presses against Eddie’s entrance and the softest of whispers echoes in his head.

“I’ve got you, Eds. I’ve got you,” Steve mumbles, his words laced with lust and want and anticipation that reaches a peak as Steve finally presses inside.

It’s so difficult to keep his composure, Eddie doesn’t even try. He yells out a loud “fuck” that sits in the room with them. While Steve draws back and thrusts forward, Eddie clings to him. He runs his hands over Steve’s back and sides, tracing lines of something like scarring from one side of his torso to the other. If he was thinking straight, Eddie would’ve taken that all into account. Instead, he wraps his arms around Steve’s neck and lets the man drop even more weight upon him, distracting Eddie further.

When the end comes creeping near, Steve’s head is tucked into Eddie’s neck, his harsh breath like a tsunami’s wind. Eddie is hanging on the precipice, already able to cum for minutes now. He’s clutching to that edge just to make sure he tumbles off at the same time Steve does. It only takes a handful of thrusts and a cleverly placed bite of Steve’s teeth right above Eddie’s collarbone for both boys to free fall into the unknown abyss of immaculate pleasure.

Eddie must black out because the next time he blinks back to consciousness, there’s light streaming through Steve’s windows. There are curtains but each one is pulled back, letting in the light.

It’s then that Eddie sees them, the reasons behind Steve’s need to keep the lights off in front of Eddie. There are scars everywhere that Eddie can see. Some are long and thin while others look like something tried to take a bite out of Steve’s skin. The flesh is red and raised, though healed completely all the same. Eddie wants to reach out and touch but he refrains. Intimacy is a gift he doesn’t want to give away. Misplacing Steve’s trust in him is not at all what Eddie wants to do.

Already, it’s too late, though. Steve turns slightly, revealing more of the scars on his chest and neck. There’s a long line around his throat that Eddie is surprised he’s never noticed. It obviously hides well under all the clothes Steve wears. This time, he doesn’t tamp down the urge. His fingers brush up against Steve’s neck on their own accord.

“What happened, Steve?” Eddie’s eyes are welling up with tears. He can’t decide if he’s mad at whatever did this or overwhelmed with the need to care for the man before him. That must be clear – Steve doesn’t draw away or try to hide. He rolls over completely and pulls Eddie into his arms.

“It’s – really hard to explain,” Steve starts, his hand idly running up and down Eddie’s sides as they cuddle. “The town I grew up in, Hawkins – it made the news a bunch of times a few years ago.”

Sensing some familiarity, Eddie wracks his brain, trying to remember but New York is a long way away from Indiana. He still nods his head, willing Steve to go on.

“Some crazy stuff went down that you probably won’t believe. In the end, I took a beating to make sure my family got to see another day. I got… taken and the things that were trying to tear Hawkins apart, they did this to me. A couple times over.”

Steve’s a little breathless when he finishes. Despite not sharing all that many details, Eddie knows whatever he just purged from Steve is a lot. It’s something that’s stricken him down in unimaginable ways.

For all it’s worth, Eddie leans further into Steve, dragging him in a little closer. He doesn’t know what to say but that seems to be okay. Steve wraps him up tighter and lets the easy silence settle between them. Without noticing, both drift off again.

Between a nap and another round of amazing sex a while later, Eddie is famished when they eventually resurface to go about the rest of the day.

Steve volunteered to cook so Eddie wanders around the apartment. He takes in the comic books and CDs. There are toys in a box in a corner and a big tv box tucked into a nice looking stand. It’s simple and nice and totally not what Eddie expected at all.

Neither is the master’s degree Eddie sees hanging from the wall.

“Steve, you went to college? For longer than the mandatory four years?” Eddie’s voice is high, the shock clearly coming through.

Steve comes bounding around the corner, a spatula still in his hand. “What are you screaming about in here?”

Eddie takes a long breath and then another. He looks at the diploma on the wall and then back at Steve. “You never said you were a college boy.”

Laughing lightly, Steve shrugs his shoulders. “You never asked.”

“But – “ Eddie starts, his face flushing. The mere thought is too much. How can he ever say the words?

Steve, of course, beats him to it. “But what? But I’m a janitor? You know, Eddie – that’s pretty narrow minded of you.” The words hold no malice, despite the tone of Steve’s voice.

“I don’t like people or crowds. I have PTSD from all the trauma in my teens. Offices and university campuses are the Mecca of loud noises and large masses of other humans. Instead of putting myself into danger, I work a slow job that fits my complexities. It’s exactly what I need, Eddie. Kind of like you.”

The last sentence is enough to make Eddie’s head spin. He for sure thought he was getting a lecture where in fact he gets the opposite.

Steve strides towards his bookcase a determined look in his eye. He searches and skims his fingers over book spines until the right one is in his hands. “Read this. You might understand things a little better. I always told anyone who asked that the events weren’t real but they are. Everything I wrote down in that book is what me and my friends went through. All of it.”

Steve taps the top, looking directly at Eddie. “Read it, don’t read it. If you’re curious about me, you’ll find a lot of what you want to know between those pages.”

All the sudden, Eddie remembers where he heard the name Hawkins before, where he’d even been privy to Steve’s name prior to them meeting. Looking down at the book in his hands, Eddie distinctly remembers demogorgons and bats with tails that stung and ripped and tore. Quickly, Eddie riffled through the pages in order to get to the back cover.

There, in all his gorgeous glory, was Steve Harrington, not at all smiling at the camera. Reading into the bio, Eddie ticked off all the educational credentials that Steve has. Two master’s and a prestigious scholarship from the university he used to teach at. Despite himself, Eddie is surprised, yet not all at the same time.

Instead of continuing to read through the book in hopes of finding out more details, Eddie closes it and puts it back on the shelf where Steve found it. Sucking in a long breath, Eddie nods, then goes to join Steve in the kitchen. Now that the cats out of the bag, Eddie thinks he might enjoy learning more about his boyfriend strictly from the source himself.

As Eddie settles himself against Steve’s back, he allows himself to relax. Steve’s mystery is one Eddie can’t wait to pick apart. Until the clues lay themselves out for him, however, Eddie’s content to hold onto Steve tight and see where the road leads them. It’s too easy to be enraptured by a man that holds his hand while flipping pancakes with the other.

“Thanks,” Eddie whispers as the breakfast making commotion calms down.

Steve doesn’t ask him what he’s thankful for or demand an explanation. He simply pulls Eddie close and silently finishes breakfast.

Slow and steady.

Absolutely perfect in every way.

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