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ultimatebottom69 · 2 months ago

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Could you make a list of your 10 favorite Romance club love interests?

So Anon. I made the list. And as usual imma explain each choice of mine. And mainly i will take stories that have ended except for 2 of them. My rating is my taste so the main rating is How entertaining was it ? Did I get bored ? Did I think of never finishing this book ? Did I like the characters ? Was my female LI interesting ? And yes stories who haven't ended do get points taken away. Did I laugh out loud while reading it ? Did It take long for me to end the book ? Did I like the plot ? Did I give a fuck about the characters's fates ? Did I spend money ? Did i do it on DR ? Can I say to someone a part of the book I liked WITHOUT searching it up ?

Also Did I need the walkthrough ?

All this contributes to the list below. Again this as an Female LI romancer specifically. It was a time before slots. So i am judging specifically how much entertainment was I getting despite My LI not being here at all cause every female LI here is sidelined as usual.

1- Arcanum. Argue with the wall, Mary's route was a good 9/10, Alice was cooking and serving I did like the change of ambiance compared to season 1. Because despite the weak ass season 2 we had our moments and Selena's obsession with bridges...Incredible I would have liked a longer season 3 cause what do you mean it was all connected ? Also the fucking horses. Selena is such a delight because she is a RED FLAMING FLAG. No need for a red flag LI with her ass and yet they delivered Mary. No one could beat that in FLI (Xantheia enters the chat) I would like to remove my previous statement about no competition.

9.7/10

2. Heaven secret 1. I know. I know. But in my defense *pulls out Mimi out of a comically small bag* This fine lady was in here. Also the plot...Is funny, the main character was hilarious and very bold. The team of friends "Adi and Sammy" were a delight. Lucifer was an asshole but what's new. Fencio...Well I am mad we couldn't kill the man. I was on demon's path and i really liked it. Also the fact we killed Malbonte with his own power. Not bad for a gal who has an art degree at best. Bravo Victoria.

9.65/10. Because Alice is homophobic. I am not forgiving you for Austie not being in the li roster woman. Also for robbing us of Bont. I am still mourning.

3. Exceptionnaly I'm going to add a story that hasn't ended yet but to me it's the same as if it is cause it's just too good. Path of Valkirye. God damn. It would have beaten HS1 by a fucking landslide had the author stayed the same. In fact it could have beaten everyone if it wasn't for the fact the author changed unfortunately. The Loyd route ? Hmhm. Finger licking good. The plot ? 10. The characters ?8. Loki and the blod guy are here. I did like the blonde gal and the one episode we had of jealousy because I was romancing both at the same time. Also Loyd carrying me like a sack of potato. That is all I ever wanted.

And she is litterally HOT, 9.55555555/10

4-HOT. Now. I know what you're thinking but in my defense. Gisella is the GOAT. MVP. Hell yes. She is an icon and she is the moment. Except for her weird fart joke accolyte. I forgot his name fuck that guy. She was the real one her route is a 10. Simply for how long the episodes are. But there is no plot holes at all. None. I did hate the interlude had the most interesting moments. And also rare book where you can shoot a man in the balls with a fucking arrow.

8.5/10. Yes i did include the weird SA jokes in the grade but we can shoot a man in the balls. It kinda evens out. If we could have shot more people (including the people who were trying to SA) I would have made it a 9.

5. Vying for Versailles. Maria Theresa. For short we call her MT. The plot is cool but god damn you need the walkthrough for this book. Like oof. But i loved the characters loved the accurate ass historical representation of Louis xiv cause yes as a french we all knew that guy sucked MASSIVE ass in a bad way. I do love the book made him the town bycycle by how many women were passing through.

Hated we couldn't kill the guy but they DARED let me the option to kill my queen ? Fuck you author. I am meeting you in the parking lot for that one. Square up. Oh and I am doing that for Bonne too. This was a hate crime. Loved the happy ending, loved the vibe, I surprisingly liked the religious talk, mainly because I am fine praying with Maria Theresa yeah I am converted this is my religion now, if it gives me an excuse to have more time with her. I am still beating your ass.

8.25/10, the bonus point was cause I am french. Also louis's mom had got it going ON !

6 .Heaven Secret 2 : Yes. Yes yes. Yes. I know. I know. I know. I know. I never said my taste were immaculate. I can enjoy a shitshow when I see one cause this was Shepha's goofiest ass apocalypse I ever seen.

The chaos was worth every diamond. The goofy ass reveal of Vicky's true power. The reveal of Mammon dying a second time just to go "Psych ! Still alive." Eliza. Lord above. Mimi you lucky your mom ain't an LI. Austie's dad...Being a bad father ? Please this was not a reveal, you look at Austie three minutes and you can tell she has a difficult relationship with her parents.

I am mad we didn't see her more by the way.

The Mother of life was...Well she was not giving Mother, she was giving Cunt Slay Wine Aunt. Good for her is all I am saying but huh the sprite was not it. War was...Well i killed him. I am mad we didn't kill or fuck Plague. Yes I am one of these peoples. Sue me.

And the CG for Mimi were highly AI generated. The wedding and the last one. Like hm. But Mimi saved this book for me despite her change of sprite, and her weird decision to try become an actress and I am over here like "But you said back 10 years ago that....You know what ? Sure. I'll watch you with pleasure." . She was everything and it took me 5 episodes to love HS2. Can't wait for HS3. Now the rating is low. What would have upgraded immediately the rating ? Let me kill Rebecca in the finale battle. Let me do it. Why you cockblock me. Why are you a misogyn Alice ?

7.99/10

7. Rage of Titans. Now. I love greek mythology. I love that shit. Love Hercules. This book was supposed to be ranked higher but the plot was all over the place but the endings were a chief kiss in comparison. The female LI was good except for her change of personality...Well more like gain of a personality because until the reveal of they are Gods she was bland. Another book where the brother dies. Frankly heh. Aphrodite's route got a CG my lord. A cg like hmmmm. Also any book that lets me insult Zeus scott free gets my vote also...There were very funny background moments. I don't remember his name but one of sprite is so funny in season 3 the demi son of zeus. Good story too bad for the weird plot definitely needed another season and more then 1 female LI.

Anyway 7/10

8.Ok so. Another story that hasn't ended yet. But overall it is one of the rare stories where I don't really have a bad opinion of it. But I don't have either a strong love for it but I would say it fits here for me and my taste. W time catcher. So the book is solid. Again well Fantasy and I. Love story. Main female LI. She is MILF. Love the diverse cast no sprite looks like the others. The MC is super interesting. The only person I don't like of the squad and that's why i don't love the story much is the nonbinary pal with the pink streak in his hair. I don't really care about him but that's a me issue. The plot is bland in my opinion but again I prefer books who are very chaotic and have tons of comedy. WTC fits ONE criteria. The comedy is here it is funny. So I am giving a

6.6669/10 for now when the story ends I am pretty sure I will rate it differently.

9. Gladiator Chronicles. I like swords. I like gladiators. I like killing people. I like blood. So why is not higher in the classement ? Well the plot kinda...Huh. exploded like the death star. Augusta became sidelined somehow and did went through a personality change. Which we can't say the same about her brother. Fuck that guy. Nor her sister miss Delias 2.0. The ending was good and I had the meme "Oh Hi mark." On repeat. 6/10

10. Flower of Tiamat fire. Ok so. I like magic. I love fantasy. I love random fantastical animals. I loved the plot. I loved the side characters. Fuck Niall though, Hate the man. It was a guaranteed hit for me. Loved the story. It took only 2 days DR for me to finish it that's how good I was having it. I was buying them tea cups like it was black friday. The mother of Life ??? BITCH SHE WAS GIVING MOTHER OF LIFE ! Also the chaos energy thingy loved that plot line. Now though, why is it not in top 5 ? Despite all my praises ? Well IT WAS in the top 5. Until. Sue's ending ? I am mad. Very mad. Extremely mad even. This is me going "We were rooting for you, WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU ! HOW DARE YOU ?!" level of indignation. Author this was worse then just being homophobic. This was a total let down. I never been more mad in my life of a fucking ending especially how the route was built up. Like damn. I spent my money on this and THIS is the thanks I get ? I hope every water you drink always taste bad and you can never smell food, get out my house. 5/10. My disapointement is immeasurable and my week was ruined.

#romance club #my rating #rc heaven's secret #rc w time catcher #rc the flower from tiamat's fire #rc path of the valkyrie #rc heaven's secret 2 #rc arcanum #rc rott #rc hot #rc heart of trespia #rc vying for versailles #rc gc

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zepskies · 8 months ago

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😂😂 SP is not for the faint of heart lol. (Also I just like to give warning for my nerdiness), but I know you're a fellow Eng Lit. major and so you'll appreciate my literary references. ❤️

Douchecanoe has in fact entered the chat. I don't blame you for being livid lmao. I'm diving in!! 🙏🏽

I wish you could see the face I made when I read this, but it was pretty much 😒😒😒

Again, I don't blame you at all. 🤣 It's that classic feeling of, "no one wants you here."

Beau def let Michael know right away where he could stow his "polite handshake."

THE AUDACITY!!!! I gasped! What are you? Delusional? Do we need to 51/50 you????

Oh TOTALLY delusional with a side helping of audacity -- like he thinks they were on a break or something...

LOL I'm glad you loved her comeback though! Only an English major. 💅

Gah, I hate this! What a manipulative ass to put her in that situation! Of course, she doesnt want to discuss this in front of her new friends 😬

Ikr? He's such an asshole. 😪😪

Omfg I LOVE Anastasia. A1 gif lol. But also, what she would've loved to do to Michael in that moment:

Every line that came out of his mouth was skeevy, and it actually annoyed me to write him. 🙃🙃

But I loved everything that came after! Cassie bringing her tequila, Jenny offering her help, and of course, Beau *swoon* 🥹🫶

Oh she needed that tequila lol (and another). I think all of them would've been ready to jump into that situation for her (especially Beau 😘).

Yeah, that was great! 🤣 That was the point in the show when I really started to get annoyed by Avery and his whiny ass lmao I loved how you described those scenes by the way and provided the inner monologue for Beau! It's so awesome not only to see his emotions but to read them as well!

Ugh this was the point where I was fucking done with Avery's bougie ass for real. When he said "my family," I was like 😨

But thank you so much!! That was the fun part of rewriting this scene -- trying to capture Beau's emotions in all of this, him trying to contain his frustration and rage at this man's audacity. lol

Hahaha damn he pissed her off! 😂 (And I love the callback to his little comment in the beginning when he still hoped he'd never meet her angry side lol) And you brought the old clam back! 👏👏👏

Oh he definitely did this time. 😂 I'm so glad you liked that little comeback, and especially of "old clam." 🤣🤣 (I low-key loved that line.)

You guys are driving me nuts! It's called "liking each other." Google it. Stop messing around and make out already. You both want to 😝 (I think I'm still upset over that whole Michael annoyance and lashing out. I apologize... kinda 😂🙈)

😂😂 Ikr?? They keep tap dancing around each other and it's enough. Don't apologize, girl, I know what you mean. You just want to smoosh their faces together.

Mmmh, yeah, like kindergartners tugging on pigtails 😆

Ha! Exactly. Good ole' Much Ado. 😂

And I know I used waaay too many gifs in this part, but like I stated in the beginning I was livid and ahd to express myself. I channeled it into gifs. You're welcome 🤣

Ahaha no worries, hun, I love it so much!! I'm kinda "sorry not sorry" Michael frustrated you so much? 🫣 He's definitely an audacious SOB who needs to get his ass handed to him. And he's going to push his boundaries to the max in Part 6. 😬

Such an exciting and fantastic part! I honestly love to get upset while reading and yell at characters. I had so much fun during this 😅🫶

Thank you so very much!! 🥹💕 I'm glad you're upset with the characters and not me -- and that the rollercoaster ride was still a fun one! 🤣🤣

I so hope you enjoy the next part. I think Part 6 was my favorite chapter to write. 💗

Take Me Home - Part 5

Pairing: Beau Arlen x F. Reader

Summary: You are another lost soul at Sunny Day Excursions. You’re aiming to settle in Helena, Montana, where Beau Arlen is the new sheriff in town. But you’ve both got a past you’re running from.

AN: Welcome back, friends! We’re gonna start ramping up from here on out.

Word Count: 5K

Tags/Warnings: Angst and tension, a bit of heartbreak, a little Shakespeare, and another small cliffhanger…

❤️ Series Masterlist

Part 5: Not That Simple

“I’m keeping close tabs on Carla and Emily just to be safe,” Beau admitted.

Your face became the picture of concern. But before you could respond, a man approached the table, tall and lean, with a shaggy cut of dark blonde hair. He wore a pair of faded jeans, boots, and a gray Chicago FD t-shirt.

Your face paled, and your mouth parted in surprise.

“Hey there, stranger,” he said with a smile.

“Michael?” you gasped. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Beau’s eyes widened. Michael was younger than him, closer to your age. And cocky too.

“Hey, baby,” Michael said. His smile quirked with charm, but his next words were anything but charming.

“We need to talk,” he said, raising his brows.

“We actually don’t,” you retorted in a firmer voice. Cold even. You straightened in your seat.

Beau saw none of your softness and good humor from earlier. This was a different woman, and he was actually proud of you for standing your ground. Though he realized then that he’d never gotten on your bad side. (He hoped he never did.)

Michael frowned, sighing through his nose. He seemed to expect your reaction, to an extent, but was still disappointed. His gaze slid to Beau.

Seeming to realize his manners were lacking, he reached out his hand.

“Sorry for interrupting. Michael Hadley,” he greeted.

Beau stared at the other man’s hand for a moment. Instead of shaking it, he held all his true thoughts inside and flashed the newcomer an easy grin, as well as the badge on his belt.

“Sheriff Arlen,” he replied, raising a brow. “So you’re Michael.”

Michael met your eyes briefly, then Beau’s again. Michael’s hand lowered back to his side.

“So she’s talked about me,” he said.

Beau’s eyes were sharper when they took the other man in.

“Oh, believe you me, that’s not something to brag about, Mike.”

You had to bite your lip so you wouldn’t smile. Michael’s politeness thinned, but just as his mouth opened to offer a retort, Cassie and Jenny returned with the drinks.

“Hi, there,” Jenny said with civility (sort of), but her blue eyes raked over Michael in an assessing way. She’d clocked your surprise and discomfort from across the room.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to stop the party,” Michael said, making you want to scoff.

Of course you did, you thought.

“I’m Michael, her fiancé,” he tried to introduce himself with an outstretched hand. Jenny also ignored that hand in order to set down the drinks.

It gave you the opportunity to interject with some reality.

“You’re missing an ex in there. As in no longer, and wish we’d never been,” you said. You crossed your arms and met Michael’s annoyed look with your firm one.

He eventually sighed and rested a hand on the back of the booth, behind your seat. You twisted to face him, but you were purposeful in leaning away from him.

Beau had to just watch the scene unfold. He didn’t like the way Michael leaned in, crowding your personal space when you were clearly trying to create distance.

“Can we talk?” Michael asked you. “Please?”

For a moment, you paused with indecision. You didn’t want to make a scene here in the middle of a bar. Not in front of your friends, where half of them were police officers. You didn’t want to stop them from having a good time either.

You met Cassie and Jenny’s eyes, and finally Beau’s. Despite the controlled, almost lazy way he’d handled Michael, you could see he didn’t look happy. You sighed.

“Sorry. Give me a minute,” you said. You got up out of the booth and went with Michael to a somewhat private corner across the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Beau tried not to seem like he was keeping an eye on you two. Cassie and Jenny were too, while sipping on their respective drinks.

“What’s the story there?” Cassie asked.

“Cheating ex,” Beau supplied.

“Great,” Jenny said wryly. Her lips pursed as she met Cassie’s knowing frown. They’d been there before.

Cassie turned to Beau and bumped his shoulder with her own.

“You okay there, Sheriff?” Cassie asked him. Beau flashed her a look that showed he was unsettled.

“I’ve got another one to add to the punch list,” he replied.

“I can’t believe you’d ambush me like this!” you whisper-yelled.

Michael crossed his arms in defense. The two of you ducked a server who was coming in hot with a plate of buffalo chicken wings.

“You came all the way to Montana? For what?” you continued. “I already said everything I had to say to you last year. And at Mary’s funeral. Thanks again for that, asshole.”

“That’s such a lie! You wouldn’t even talk to me at the funeral,” Michael shot back. “And you haven’t been answering my calls, my emails. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

“You’re supposed to respect me,” you snapped. Though you couldn’t help the emotion making your voice shake, just a little. “You’re supposed to respect me, and my choices. That’s what you’re supposed to do. But I don’t why I should expect you to start now."

You started to walk away from him, but he grabbed at your hand. You turned back around and jerked your hand out of his grasp.

“It’s over. It’s been over for months. Damn near a year,” you said. “What do you want?”

He looked down at you through sad eyes under his furrowed brows.

“I never wanted it to be over,” he said quietly.

“Well, you pretty much made that decision for us,” you said, crossing your arms. You didn’t know whether it was to stand firm, or to shield yourself. “And I’m done. Quite frankly, I could live the rest of my life without seeing you again.”

“Come on. You don’t mean that,” he said.

He genuinely looked gutted, which was the confusing part. You shook your head and tried to blink the frustrated tears out of your eyes.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” you said.

“I want to say I’m sorry. And I am, more than you know. I want…I want to ask if you can forgive me,” he all but pleaded. He touched your arms, not quite grasping. For the first time since you’d known him, he seemed desperate. “Look, you know how hard it was for me to come out here and beg like a dog, but here I am…because I still love you.”

You were shocked into silence for a moment, but not out of happiness.

Then, you had to sigh. You held up a hand against his chest, a subtle move at pushing him away.

“I can’t give that to you. Even your apology is hollow. Because what you did…” you said, on a halting breath. “You did it to me for years, Michael. Pretty much from the beginning of our relationship, if it ever was one.”

You shook your head as a tear made its way down your cheek.

“And if you could do that, then you never really loved me,” you said.

Michael’s eyes fell away, to hide the emotion stinging in them.

“So…just go home,” you told him. “Be with Kate if you want. I could really give a shit.”

Once again, Michael held your wrist when you tried to leave, this time more gently. He met you with frustrated blue eyes. Those eyes you used to drown in.

“She’s not you,” he said.

You slipped out of his grip and uttered a laugh devoid of all humor.

“That, you should’ve known from the beginning,” you said.

He was hurt.

And when he was hurt, he tended to cover it up with anger. His jaw began to work with frustration.

“What, so you’re just going to run away? Live in this dusty piece of shit town until you die?” he said, with the derision you’d come to expect from him when he didn’t get what he wanted.

“Go home, Michael,” you repeated. “I’m not going back.”

“Everything okay?” Beau asked, when you finally returned to the table. He didn’t tell you that he, Jenny, and Cassie had been watching on standby, in case Michael tried to press his luck and get more grabby. It had taken everything within Beau to stay in his seat for the past ten minutes.

You gave him a smile and took up the shot of tequila Cassie had brought for you. You downed it and grimaced at the burn.

“I’m good,” you said, with a bit of difficulty. Part of you felt accomplished, that you’d faced Michael and hadn’t let him soften your resolve. Yet there was a big part of you—not so deep down—that felt like utter crap.

“Sorry for the unnecessary drama,” you muttered.

Jenny gave you a more serious look. One that said she had no problem stepping in if she needed to.

“If you ever feel unsafe, just let one of us know,” she said.

“That’s right. If he doesn’t leave it alone, all you need to do is call,” Beau added. Cassie echoed that sentiment with a nod. You met Beau’s gaze, despite the uncertainty inside you.

If you need me, call me, his eyes said.

You nodded then, with a thankful smile.

Beau couldn’t help it. He felt protective of you. It welled up in his chest and simultaneously felt heavy like a stone. And he could admit, if just to himself, that it was in the personal sense.

He tried to remember that his life was complicated right now. Too complicated probably, for all of that…but he cared about you. And he didn’t want to see you hurt.

Out of the corner of his eye, Beau spotted Michael Hadley at the bar. He was drinking a beer with an angry frown, and no good written all over his face.

Carla called Beau in a tizzy yesterday morning.

Not only had Avery bought a gun, but he’d given her some unhinged, quasi- “If I die” speech that had freaked her the hell out.

In searching Avery’s vacant hotel room, Beau found the missing pages of Paige’s journal. Pages that contained a seed phrase passcode to unlock the $15 million crypto account she and Luke had stolen.

If Avery had those pages, then it only confirmed that Avery had made a play for the money in order to save his failing business. He was attempting to break the encrypted code to unlock the account, likely for the shady-ass people Paige stole the money from in the first place.

Naturally, Beau had gone looking to bring the man in for questioning. He’d found Avery at a different, much seedier hotel, being led away by another man who walked and talked like a killer. Beau rightly assumed he was a hitman, gunning for Avery, and quite literally about to take out the trash.

Maybe the people he was working with were tired of waiting on him to unlock the account. Or maybe he’d already done it, and now they’d decided they didn’t need him anymore.

Beau was able to save Avery’s life, shooting the hitman. Then he’d arrested Avery. In return for that save, Avery had been giving Beau the runaround all night, with a side helping of audacity.

“What’s your plan here, man?” Beau asked. He leaned forward in his chair across from Avery’s. A narrow table lied in between them within the small holding cell for questioning.

“New identity? Thailand? Or maybe you’re not into the whole heat thing. Maybe Winnipeg,” Beau posed, with all due sarcasm. “You see, these people don’t forgive. And they don’t forget. And the ones that steal from them rarely die alone, which means you have put Carla, and you’ve put my daughter into danger. Did you even think about that?”

Right about now, Beau himself was beyond forgive and forget. In fact, he was irate. But he held it all down beneath a thin line of professionalism, despite the fire in his eyes.

Avery rested his elbows on the table as well.

“Everything I’ve done has been to protect my family. That’s all you need to know,” he said. “You on the other hand. You’ve made quite the mess, haven’t you? Killing that man put us all in more danger.”

He then leaned back in his chair, as if he held all the cards, and Beau was just a monkey wrench in his plans. It was a good front, but Beau saw right through it all. Avery was bluffing through his ass.

Still, he put on a good show.

“And now I’d very much like to speak to my lawyer,” he said.

It took everything within the sheriff to stop himself from reaching across the table, grabbing the other man by the collar, and yanking him down hard on the table, face-first.

Instead, he got up from his seat, deceptively calm. The only explosion of his rage came when he kicked his chair hard on his way out, making it slide across the room and hit the wall. He yanked the cell door open and closed it firm behind him.

He knew he couldn’t hold Avery, not even on Paige’s journal pages. As Avery had so cleverly pointed out, the money hadn’t been reported stolen (why would criminals drop a dime on themselves?). So Beau would let Avery go, for now. All he could do was wait for the cocky son of a bitch to mess up, even more than he already had.

Beau hated waiting.

But his next step was returning to his office and calling Carla. He asked her to join Emily in staying with him, until this thing with Avery blew over. Likely the people he was working with knew where he lived, knew how to find Carla and Emily.

Carla sounded shaken even on the phone, but she agreed.

“Is Emily at work right now?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’ll tell her,” Carla said, releasing a breath. “I’ll take her to your place again tonight, and I’ll bring an overnight bag for myself.”

“Good,” he said. “Thank you.”

After hanging up, Beau leaned back in his office chair and covered his bearded face with his hands. He rubbed at his tired eyes. What the hell do I do now?

The answer eluded him, especially when a knock sounded against his door, disturbing his thoughts. He sighed.

“Yeah?”

“It’s me,” you answered from behind the door. “I come bearing baked goods.”

Beau’s eyes widened in surprise. He beckoned you to come in, and so you did.

“Working hard, or hardly working?” you teased.

The sight of you was a balm to his frayed mind. Your familiar face, your pretty yellow sundress, the way you’d done your hair. It all managed to kick up his smile at seeing yours. Not to mention the delicious smelling basket you carried on your arm. The top was covered with a red checkered cloth.

“Hey, there. How’re you doin’?” he greeted, trying to hide the brunt of his former frustration and worry behind a more upbeat attitude.

He knew he hadn’t done well enough when your smile began to fall.

“Sorry, did I come at a bad time?” you asked in concern. “Deputy Poppernak told me I could stop in real quick…”

Beau shook his head and waved you in. “It’s all right. Come in, please.”

He stood and walked around his desk to sit on its edge.

“I have a feeling I’m gonna want whatever’s in that basket,” he added, nodding at the whicker you carried. You offered it to him, and your warm hand brushed his on the exchange.

“Just a little something,” you said. “And an apology for making a scene at the bar last night.”

Beau frowned. “You’re not really blaming yourself for that, are you?”

Though he soon brightened, whistling lowly when he found a half dozen chocolate chip muffins under the checkered cloth. A smile grew across his face when it dawned on him. The first thing you offered him when he met you was this very same treat.

He had a feeling your muffins would be even better. (...And he tried not to think about the potential double meaning there.)

“Damn, between you and your aunt Denise, I’m gonna have to start running again,” he quipped. His eyes met yours in amusement. “And between you and me, I freakin’ hate running.”

You chuckled at that. “I’m more of a yoga girl, myself.”

Beau’s brows rose in interest, but again, he tried not to picture you in some tight-ass yoga pants.

“Thank you for this,” he said, instead, waving the basket of muffins. He set it down beside him on the desk. “I definitely needed a pick-me-up today.”

You searched his face and began to frown at what you saw there. He both looked and sounded…tired, down. Not himself.

You drew closer and chanced resting a hand on his arm. “Hey, are you okay?”

Beau glanced down at your hand. He took in a deep breath through his nose before he met your gaze again.

“Yeah, don’t you worry. Everything’s fine,” he said. You gave him a somewhat chiding look.

“Beau, you don’t have to tell me it’s okay when it’s not,” you said.

He considered you ruefully. He should’ve known you were perceptive enough to see right through him. Or maybe he was just a shit actor.

He blew out a breath and nodded. “I asked Carla and Emily to stay with me for the next few days. At least until this investigation of Avery plays out.”

Your patient expression melted into worry. You had a feeling he wouldn’t do that unless things were truly dangerous.

“See, that’s what I didn’t wanna see,” he said, lightly bumping a curled finger under your chin. Despite yourself, you smiled a little. “I just want them where I can see them, is all.”

He was putting on a good front, but you weren’t convinced. And Beau could see that. He nodded at you to change the subject.

“Has Mike tried to contact you?” he asked. It was your turn to let out a sigh.

“Only two calls and eleven texts before lunch, but I’m not answering. He’ll get the hint and go home soon,” you said.

But Beau was perceptive too. He knew you well enough to read your added thoughts as you frowned and looked away. It said, At least, you hope he will.

Beau wanted to reassure you, not just to help make you feel safe, but because his gut churned with both unease and anger at the thought of that guy harassing you.

Beau reached out and gave into the temptation to stroke a thumb across your cheek, earning not just your attention, but your widening eyes.

“Hey. No more worrying, huh?” he said. His voice was quieter, warmer. He gave you a smile, along with an assured look.

“If anything happens—” he started to say, but you actually beat him to it. You held his hand to your cheek, surprising him this time.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve got the sheriff on speed dial,” you said. Your smile was sweet and teasing.

Beau had to smile back. His gaze roamed your face. Then your eyes dipped down to his lips. There was heat between you, prickling across your skin and zipping up his spine. It was an inevitable, raw kind of feeling.

He wanted, more than anything, to lean in those precious few inches and find out what you tasted like… He wanted nothing more than to haul you up on this desk, hands sliding up the skirt of that sundress.

But he held himself back with more self-control than he thought himself capable of. His hand fell away from your cheek. You looked up at him in confusion, and a bit of hurt.

“I’m sorry,” he said, in a lowered voice. “My life is…complicated.”

“And mine’s not?” you countered.

“Not the same,” Beau said. “Trust me. I uh, I’ve got some things in my past that I’m not proud of. Let’s just say you’re better off steering clear.”

“Let’s just say?” you repeated. Your brows drew together in frustration. “Why don’t you just say it? God knows you know everything about my messy life.”

Beau sighed. His gaze fell away from yours.

“It’s not that simple, darlin’,” he said.

He saw your disappointment, tinged with disbelief. As much as he didn’t want to hurt you, he also didn’t really have time to explain things properly to you. The truth was, he didn’t have time for this.

“Look—” he tried, but you cut him off.

“No. It’s fine, I guess,” you said. You looked down at your shoes and muttered, mostly to yourself. “Em was right. You are an old clam.”

“What?” Beau asked in confusion.

You shook your head and withdrew from him.

“Okay, sorry. I just…you know what? I need to go,” you stumbled over your words a bit, and you backed away.

It had Beau feeling at a loss already, not to mention the lance of guilt hitting him between the ribs. He stretched out a hand to you.

“Wait—”

You were too quick for him to stop, however. He watched you leave his office in a hurry, and mentally kicked himself all the while. He sighed and looked over at what you’d left behind—the damn basket of muffins. They smelled heavenly. Torturing him.

Damn it all, he thought, until he played back the reel of what you’d said in his mind.

“Old clam?” he repeated.

Once again, a knock on his office door disturbed his thoughts. Except this time, it was Deputy Poppernak.

He stopped short, seeing the furrowed look of confused, guilty frustration on the sheriff’s face.

“Everything okay, boss?”

“Fine,” Beau said, shaking his head. “What d’you got?”

Poppernak hesitated for a second, but he held up a file that he passed along.

“Here’s everything I could dig up on the guy from the hotel shooting,” he said.

Good, Beau thought. A worthy distraction.

You gave Poppernak a belated wave on your way out. You didn’t want to answer any questions or talk to anyone else. You just wanted to escape to your car, where you covered your face with your hands and tried to breathe through the tears stinging in your eyes.

Once again, you felt stupid. Your heart was racing in the worst of ways.

So you peeled out of the police station and headed home…

Or rather, you almost headed home. When you saw Dewell & Hoyt P.I. coming up on the right side of the road, you turned into the parking lot and went inside to see if your aunt was working.

Cassie wasn’t in, but Denise and Emily were. You greeted them both with warm hugs (and you tried to hide your frustrations from the latter, especially).

“What brought you in, hun?” Denise asked.

“Nothing really. I was just in the area and decided to pop in,” you replied with a shrug. Denise smiled and rubbed your arm.

“Well good. Em’s actually going on a coffee run for us. You want anything?”

“No, no, I’m good,” you said.

“You sure?” said Emily. “I can get you a banana bread or something.”

You smiled and shook your head, touching her arm in thanks. “It’s okay, honey. I just had lunch not too long ago.”

“Okay. Oh hey! Did you ask Dad about being on the podcast?” Emily asked.

You blinked as you went blank for a moment. The last thing you wanted to do right now was see that man (even if your heart called you a liar). You narrowly kept yourself from lying to Emily as well.

“Uh, yeah, we did talk about it. He’s on board with the idea,” you said, trying to give her a smile. Maybe it didn’t reach your eyes, but Emily seemed to buy it. She smiled back in triumph.

“Yes! Okay, this is good. Now I just gotta start thinking of some questions and we’ll set a date to record the first episode,” she said, doing a little fist pump into the air.

You tried to match her enthusiasm, but you knew you were falling short. Denise could see it too. Lucky for you, Emily ran off to get to the nearby bakery, the excitement keeping her face bright all the while.

Denise turned to you knowingly.

“Okay, grab a seat. I’ll make us some tea, and you can tell me what’s got you looking white as a sheet,” she said.

You sighed and sat down in the lounge area—a seating of couches and a chaise. You sat on the couch while Denise took the chaise. And between mugs of jasmine tea, you told her everything that happened at the precinct when you went to visit Beau.

When you were done explaining, Denise looked contemplative and sympathetic. However, you knew there was more to that look.

“Okay. Honey, I know you don’t want to hear this, but he’s in a complex situation right now,” she said. “Between investigating Avery, and how it’s falling back on Carla and Emily—”

“I know. He told me about that,” you said. You were worried about them too. While you didn’t know Carla all that well, your friendship with Emily meant something to you. And not just because you had some…unnamed feelings for her father.

Your bond with Emily had started at that damned camp, and solidified the night of Mary’s murder. “Trauma bonding” was a thing for a reason. But besides that experience, you genuinely enjoyed the girl’s company, hearing her talk about her interests in school, careers she was considering after college, and even helping her explore her creative side. She was young, but she was bright and mature for her age.

You cared about what all this was putting her through…though you finally realized that Emily might not be comfortable with the thought of “you and Beau.”

“I don’t want to upset Emily with all this either,” you admitted. “I don’t even know what she thinks of her dad possibly dating again.”

And something else you hadn’t considered. Could all this shakeup between Avery and Carla, not to mention her and Emily staying at Beau’s place now…

“God. Maybe he wants to get back together with his ex-wife,” you realized, with some small shock.

It wasn’t inconceivable, and it had tears welling up in your eyes for a whole different reason.

"Oh, honey, you don't know that," Denise started to say. You shook your head and set down your tea.

“You know what? I’m just gonna go home,” you said, but Denise tried to keep you with gentle hands on your arms.

“Come on. You don’t have to go,” she said.

You shook your head and eased out of her grasp.

“Sorry. I just…it’s his choice, and if he’s already made it…” you trailed. You didn’t want to even acknowledge that your heart was fracturing. “Well, if that’s the case, then I have to respect that.”

Denise didn’t know what else to say to you. But that was just as well.

“Tell Em I’m sorry, but I had to go,” you said.

Denise protested, but you left Dewell & Hoyt before your tears could fall in earnest.

When you actually got home, you were exhausted. It was a case of emotional stress weighing down your body as you forced yourself up the stairs to your second-floor apartment.

You didn’t bother changing. Instead, you grabbed a familiar book of plays from your desk and dropped yourself onto the couch. You got comfortable with Much Ado About Nothing. You hadn’t finished reading it while at the camp, and you needed to brush up on it if you were going to be mentally prepared for the coming school year.

It felt like a world away, but at least with the characters in Much Ado, you had familiar ground. In the scene you were reading, the main characters, Beatrice and Benedick, were already at each other’s throats:

BENEDICK: What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?

BEATRICE: Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to disdain if you come in her presence.

BENEDICK: Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted; and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love none.

BEATRICE: A dear happiness to women. They would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood I am of your humor for that. I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.

It was hard to believe that these two were supposed to fall in love. Actually, their later “epiphanies” would lead them to realize that the sniping and the arguments and the misunderstandings between them had been love all along…

But you’d come to realize that there was no “Benedick” for you in real life. Sometimes, the angry sniping wasn’t sexual tension. It was just a man who’d never truly respect you.

And sometimes, the arguments and misunderstandings were just two people in the right place at the wrong time, never quite meant to be.

Thankfully, a knock at your door interrupted your romantic musings.

Releasing a sigh, you set Much Ado on the glass coffee table in front of you. You got up from the couch and went to the front door, where you looked in the peephole. Your lips drew into a frown, but your disbelief had you unlocking the door before you could think better of it.

“Michael?! What are you doing here?” you asked.

He stood there with determination set across his face.

“We really need to talk.”

AN: *Sigh.* This guy just doesn't learn, does he? And I'm not just talking about Michael.

Next Time:

“If you give me one more chance, I promise I won’t mess it up again. I’ll be the man you deserve,” Michael said, taking your hand and uncrossing your arms in the process.

“Believe it or not, I took a week off without pay, just to be here and get a chance to say this to you: I love you. I love you. And I know now that it’s meant to be you.”

You hesitated, and even made the mistake of looking up into his eyes.

▶️ Keep Reading: PART 6

Ko-Fi Me ☕

Series Masterlist

Big Sky Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Series Tag List (Part 1):

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#reader appreciation #lovely mutuals #take me home feedback

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ameba-from-space · 3 years ago

Note

I hope you don't mind me asking but i just went through all of your batfam/batman recommended fics and wondered if you had more? I'm super new to the dc fandom and finding good family/friend focused fics has felt like a challenge

Bestie it's not a problem, doing these lists has been loads of fun, I'm re-reading all my favorite fanfics and rediscovering all over again why I loved them in the first place

Let us begin

Of Bats and Robins (and Families) - is it too obvious that I fucking love fanfics where the league meets bruce's kids?

dying dream - Jason finds out what changed in the cave since he was gone

Trending - Tim is a sleepy baby

hit 'em up style - Bruce Wayne vs tampons: battle of the century

falling in love (is hard on the knees) - I know this sounds like smut but I promise it's not

Anything Like Me - Louis and bruce bonding

Reservations - The kids try to set bruce up for a date. Clark mopes.

I Measure Every Grief I Meet - What if Jason was not the one who died in Ethiopia?

We Alley Kids - Jason gets recognized and returned to where he belongs

Billionaire Down - Bruce and Oliver are asshole best friends

and it comes back around - Sometimes Brucie is a hero too

Bundle of Joy - Damian is a baby. Literally

sneaking into the Batcave seemed like a good idea until a bunch of bats glare at you - Guess what bitch, it's another fanfic where the JL meets the kids

Waynes? More like Wayne-kers - The Waynes are assholes and I love them so much

A Children's Story - No better words to describe it other than what the author said "Four batkids walk into a bank"

Hearth - Angst in my rooftop tag? It's more likely than you'd think

A Touch of Concern - Cuddle piles and overprotectiveness

The Bedtime Chronicles - Bruce figures a way to make Jason go to bed

Perils of a Job - Dick gets hurt, bruce worries

what a privilege to love you (to teach you all that I know) - A fucking masterpiece, beautiful and perfect, a story about the word "dad" and what it means to the batfamily. FUCKING BEAUTIFUL GO FUCKING READ IT

Their Five (Unexpected) Dates - The kids try to get bruce set up, fucking guess how well that goes

Clark Kent Reports - Brucie Wayne my beloved

Photos - Damian's baby pictures are found, feelings happen

The Arrangement - Bruce Wayne supports sex workers

Put My Money Where Your Mouth Is - Batman hears the league talking about bruce Wayne, pranks happen

A Day in the Life: Gotham's King - Lois lane writes about bruce Wayne

children of dust and ashes - Bruce avenges Jason

...And To All, A Good Night - Happy Chrismis, merry crysler

That the Ripest Might Fall - reverse robins short story about dick and his tendency to climb chandeliers

bad people don't live in our house - Baby dick is adorable

things kept hidden - Meta!dick Grayson is a ray of sunshine

The Superman Onesie - Dick Grayson owns my heart

What would you do, if it all came back to you? - Bruce makes video diaries after Jason's death, Jason finds them

The Jason Project - Bruce finds the bucket list of a dead child and finishes it

No Matter What - Queerness? In my Dick Grayson? It's more likely than you'd think

Hi Bi, I'm Dad - Bisexuality? In my Tim Drake? Its more likely than you'd think

Dad...I’m Bilingual - Bisexuality? In my Dic... Okay you guys already got the idea

Thinking back to the Season Before - Alfred is a fantastic grandpa

Proof - The boys meet each other before ever meeting bruce

Running Headlong into My Arms - In another universe with no superheroes, bruce Wayne still finds his family

In For a Pound - What if Damian entered Bruce's life much earlier. A GODDAMN MASTERPIECE BY @cdelphiki

I walk the streets at night (with monsters in my mind) - Bruce Wayne is a dragon, his hoard? Children

The Dark Knight Strikes Back - Bruce finishes Minecraft and the boy figure out how much he changed

Bat Out Of Hell - The batfam are a bunch of weirdoes

the lost sidekick society - The obligatory group chat fic

Slumber - sleepy robin

one shot, two shots in the night - Bruce writes a memoir, it makes me cry so hard, fuck, best shit ever

a hat fashioned from tin foil - conspiracy theories straight from Gotham

Anti-Social - Social media is a blessing

Not All Kidnappings are Bad - Bruce Wayne kidnaps a kid, no biggie

I'll Make the World Safe and Sound for You - Robins and band-aids

Built Together - Pillow forts! Pillow forts!

Oh god this list is way longer than I thought it would be, anyway enjoy my rec, just so you guys know I still have 4 more pages of bookmarks

Here are the links to the other ones I made: first part second part

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blogevaawrites · 3 years ago

Text

BIG DEAL

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: smut, cheating, angst

Summary: After being away of you boyfriend for three weeks, you come to Chris’s house after he had thrown a party where you met a girl you haven’t see ever. The beginning of the relationship was unconventional so you couldn’t do anything else but suspect.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Epilogue

“It’s not fair” the voice from de other side of the phone was deep, he was slurring his words. I did recognize it, it was hard to forget it, but it was quite odd hearing him like that, so drunk that he couldn’t speak.

“Chris? It’s 3:00 am. I was sleeping.” I said sitting on the bed better.

“Oh yeah? How does that feel? You know what? I was doing it fine. I let you go; I was getting you out of my head. Why it's so fucking easy for you to get into it?” he sounded sad and mad at the same time.

“Chris, I’m sorry if what I told you hurt your feelings, it was mean, I know. I'm really sorry. Your personal life is not my business anymore.” He didn’t let me finish. He wasn’t interested in my apologies.

“I wanted everything of that with you. I wanted a wedding, I wanted to find a fucking house together, a big fucking house to have a big fucking family. I made up my mind to have kids, adopt two and maybe have one, because that was your dream family. And fuck! I wanted it so much, I wanted to be part of that fucking dream so much. I don't want it if you aren't in the equation. Why it's so hard to believe for you? Why don't you want everything of that just with me? It's not fucking fair, why are you still in my head? How can you be so collected?” his words brought me back to the time I told him my dream.

He was staying in my apartment after being away for a couple weeks, he couldn’t sleep because of the jetlag and I wasn’t tired either, he was happy for my sleeplessness, he hated being alone in somebody’s else house. We went to get a few donuts, one of the perks of living in NY was, no matter what time is it, you can always find some food.

I remembered we walked the entire night, just talking, enjoying each other’s company.

He told me about his family, about his relationships with his parents, with his siblings and he explained to the adoption’s process of his sister. I told him about my workmate who thought that adopting a child and having a baby was not the same, that he wouldn’t take care of a someone’s child. He was so absorbed in his donut that he responded without looking at me.

“Sorry, if he’s your friend, but he’s an idiot. Being a parent is about loving, taking care of and protecting a child, not a biological relation.” I saw him in a different way, in that moment I realized I loved him. He continued in his unawareness and asked me about my family, and my dream family.

I told him about what kind a family I wanted. I wanted to have a big one, a big house, a couple animals and a house in the woods. He laughed “I would never have said you were like that.”

“What? Why?” I tried to look offended, but it wasn’t the first time I got that. “I don’t know, you love living here, your tiny apartment and your demanding job.” he was right, I loved that, but I had always lived by my own, I was used to it. “My apartment it’s not tiny.”

“Honey, you don’t have a dog because of it.” He spoke. “It’s a standard-sized apartment in NY” I defended “That is just another statement in my favor” he laughed.

“Are you okay?” I asked coming back to the reality.

“I thought I was until I saw you. How can you be so happy? Why can you live without me when I’m not able…” he blurted out all his inside feelings, I knew him, I knew he wouldn’t tell me those things if he was sober or calm. He is so impulsive. I knew he was going to regret it later. “Chris…” I interrupted him but he didn’t stop. “Fuck, I miss you and I don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry” I said calmly. He didn’t respond. The line was alive, but he was in completely silence. “Chris?” and I didn’t hear nothing else.

I put my phone back on my nightstand while the conversation came to my mind. I don’t usually come to L.A, but I was Linda’s birthday, and we came to celebrate it. The club was new and kind of exclusive, I shouldn’t have been so surprised of finding him there.

He was chatting with a girl; I couldn’t see her face, but I could see him. He was so close to her, caressing his arm and touching her face. I wasn’t sure if I was on his vison, but it hurt me a bit he didn’t notice me.

The night went fine, I tried to forget about him and enjoyed the rest of the night. At some point, I went out to smoke a cigarette, I wasn’t a smoker but sometimes it feels good.

“Can I have one?” he said, I recognized his voice, I could feel his presence. I turned around to face him. I handed him one cigarette, trying to look calm. “Thank you.” He said with a smile. We stared for a few minutes until he spoke. “You look gorgeous. Your hair in that way, it has always been my favorite.” I give him a little smile as a thank you. “You look...taken.” I said, I shouldn’t have, he was free to do what he wanted. I had to admit that it bothered me, I got jealous. He didn’t look bother, anyway. He shook his head with a shy smile. “Well, you’re wrong. I’m completely single.”

“Is she aware of that? It doesn’t work if one of both doesn’t know it.” I said, he didn’t look hurt or annoyed by my words. He looked cheerful. “Ouch! Low blow. She is, don’t worry.” He said, looking at me right into my eyes. He is so flirty with a few drinks. “We are just friends. I’m not very good at relationships.” He spoke.

“I wouldn’t say that you’re not very good at it, you just miss the monogamy part. I thought you were ready to settle down. I guess they’re right, talk is cheap.” I threw out my wasted cigarette and was ready to say goodbye, but his face changed. He looked mad then, he didn’t say anything, but I noticed his mood wasn’t the same. I went too far. He got inside the club before me, without a word.

In the morning, I checked my phone. He didn’t call me again, but he did send me text.

“Sorry about last night, I shouldn’t have call you I was drunk and being an asshole. I`m so sorry. I won’t bother you again. Take care of yourself!”

After the day he left, we didn’t talk for three months. We didn’t have a tough conversation since then. He sent me flowers with a simple note for my birthday but nothing else.

“Hey girl! Why are you up so early?” Linda spoke, entering the room. “It’s 1 p.m.” I said joking. “Whatever! It’s my birth-weekend, if I said it’s early it is” she said with a big smile. “Why are you awake? We needed this, enjoy it and go back to bed.” she asked again.”

“I saw Chris last night” I said simply. “Where? At the club? I didn’t see him. Are you okay?” she got worry.

“Yes, at the club. And yes, I’m okay. We talked and I was being mean and kind of a bitch. He got mad and called me later. It was weird.” I responded.

“Why were you being mean? Did he tell you something?”

“He was with somebody. I don’t know, I got jealous.” It was hard for me to admit that I wasn’t like that I was completely against that but couldn’t help it.

“It’s normal, you were deeply in love with him.” He said before kissing me head.

We walked around the city and get lunch at a very nice and modern place. I didn’t think about him for the rest of the day.

“I know he lied and cheated but he is so fucking good looking.” Lucy commented suddenly. All of us got confuse until I turned around to see what she was staring at. A big billboard promoting his new film. Indeed, he was hot but in the picture he was breathtaking.

“Isn’t a shit that he is everywhere? I mean he is your ex.” Vanessa asked eating his meal.

“Yes. I guess.” I said simply. The topic of the conversation didn’t last long.

I didn’t realize he was everywhere until she mentioned it. The rest of the day he was in everything, Instagram, TV, even in the street.

I couldn’t take him out of my head.

“You are on every-fucking-where. Your face is all over this place.” I laughed, entering his house, he was filming something in L.A and I got a few days off to be with him. He was the face of a new fragrance so pictures of him were everywhere. For the first time in our relationship, I realized how famous he was. L.A was the place where I was with an actor and the rest of the world I was just with a guy. We were getting home from a night out. We were kind of drunk, not too much but in a very happy mood. “Oh! Shut up!” he said laughing. “Oh! Sorry sir, I don’t want to bother a such an important person. I will be a good girl.” I mocked, before I could do anything else, he took my face to his. “Will you?” he asked seductively, he kissed me deeply, holding my face firmly. His touches were always like that, comforting, protective and loving. I nodded smiling, unable to say anything with his mouth on mine. “Even L.A is a nice place when you are here.” He muttered against my cheek. His hands flew to my thighs to pick me up and take me to his room. Slowly, he took off my dress and helped me to get out of shoes. Just in my underwear, he smiled at me, and rubbed his gingers through my collarbones, the middle of my breast, my stomach and played with the band of my panties. “Haven’t you come out of my dreams?” he said. I moved my arms up to cover myself, laughing at his comment. “Alcohol makes you sappy.” I spoke. He took my hands to bring me closer to him “It makes me honest.” He kissed me and continued “Not even alcohol makes you speak. You’re such a cold heart chick, aren’t you?” he joked, I knew he was playing because he was smiling and kissing me but that wasn’t the first time, he insinuated something like that. “Chris…”

“I’m just joking, relax.” I let it go because I knew he was kind of right, I’m not a very affective person, or someone who loves to talk about love, but I was working on it.

At night we went to another club, it was a chill night, so we didn’t drink, we just talked and ate. When we wanted to go back to our rented house, we took a taxi but in the middle of ride I realized I left my jacket at the wardrobe’s club.

“Don’t worry! Get inside! I will be back in a couple minutes.” I said while the girls got out of the taxi.

I went back to the club, looking for my jacket. I asked the girl in charge of the wardrobe for it, she looked at me for a little bit too long. She handed my jacket and asked. “Sorry for question, but your face looks so familiar to me. Weren’t you Chris Evans’s girlfriend?” I got uncomfortable and she noticed. “I don’t want to bother you, it just I remember your face from where I used to work in. I worked in a restaurant in NY for a long time, and you and Chris used to go there, quite a lot.” She explained, I remembered her then, it was one of our favorite restaurants, and she was one of the waitresses. “Oh, yeah I remember you, Hi.” I spoke.

“We weren’t allowed to talk to our costumers there, I just wanted to tell you that you both make such a good couple, me and the other girls were in love with you guys.” She made me smile. We said goodbye and I left the place with him in my head.

“Okay, I’m ready. We can go.” I said to my driver, he was nice enough to wait for me to get my jacket. “Back to the house, right?” he asked turning on the engine. “No, can you take me here?” I asked, showing him the address on my phone.

I didn’t want to think about it twice. I wanted to see him.

As soon as we were near to his house, I realized I didn’t know where he was, he doesn’t come to LA until he has to. He was here yesterday but that was all I knew.

I got out of the taxi. “Do you want me to wait, or should I go?” the driver asked. For a few minutes I didn’t know what to do, and I saw the driver’s face was sightly impatient. “You can go, thank you.” I answered quickly, I wanted to see his face.

I rang the bell; I held my breath and I hoped he was there.

I waited for what I thought it was an eternity, but it was just two minutes.

I hear his voice on the intercom, and I blocked. “Who is it?” I couldn’t talk. I forgot how to speak. He waited not long before turning on the camera. I saw the red light and I knew he could see me. I didn’t say anything, and the sound of the door opening brought me back.

I walked to the house, and I just could see his silhouette because of the darkness.

“Are you trying to get even?” he joked, “Sorry to tell you, but you’re not as much intimidating as I can be, you can’t scare me”.

I didn’t respond, I kept walking in silence until I was at his door. Face to him. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?" he asked, suddenly worry about my state. I guess my expression was concerning.

“I’m sorry.” I just could say.

“Don’t worry, you can come whenever you want.” He spoke.

“I don’t mean that. I’m sorry…” I wanted to explain but he interrupted me.

“Hey! If this is about the call, don’t worry. I was being irrational, please! Just ignore it.” He looked shy.

“Can we talk?” I asked, I was feeling uncomfortable being outside. Before he could speak a woman’s laugh sound from inside the house, I realized he wasn’t alone. I blocked again. Him not being at home was an option, but I didn’t imagine that he could be with someone else.

“Oh! Shit! I should have called. I’m sorry,” I said, and I started to walk away. He looked confused for a few seconds before getting my arm. “Holy crap! No! Stop! It is not what you think! It’s Tara and Scott” he yelled.

I turned around and he continued “I had a few meetings here and they are spending the weekend here.” I felt the embarrassment going over my body. “We can go inside but they will be around. We can walk around the neighborhood, believe me it’ll be more private.” He suggested. I doubted for a second, but I nodded, he was right we’ll have more privacy.

“Okay! Wait a minute! I need my shoes.” He said before going back inside the house.

I started to regret, I wasn’t sure why I was there, what I wanted or anything. Before I could make any decision, he was back. He closed the door and started to walk by my side.

We walked for a few minutes, in completely silence. Our appearance was kind of odd, he was wearing sweatpants, an unmatched hoodie, and a pair of sneakers. In another hand, I was wearing a midi black dress, my shoulders were free and my feet in super high heels.

“Aren’t you cold? It’s kind of chill, isn’t?” he asked, breaking the silence, and starting to unzip his hoodie.

“No, I’m fine.” I knew he was trying to start a conversation, but I just didn’t know what to do.

“Great.” he said awkwardly. The silence came back. We just walked around the houses, there wasn’t many, but they were big enough to get us tired.

“So, how have you been? I heard about your promotion, I know you were trying to get it.” he asked, he knows if I was nervous, he had to keep up with the conversation.

“I’ve been fine, and yeah I got so excited for the promotion. Linda threw a party.” I told him. “I know, I saw a few pictures on Instagram.” He said quickly. Letting me know he had been stalking me. I looked at him in the eyes and he got what I was thinking about. He wrinkled his eyebrow trying to think how get out of judgment. “Okay! I could say you were suggested by the logarithm but, whatever, I was just curious. I have the normal curiosity of an ex-boyfriend, of a non psycho ex-boyfriend.” He explained shyly. He made me laugh and that made him smile. I felt more relaxed then.

“I’m sorry for being so mean at the party.” I spoke. His smile vanished and he started to shake his head slowly. “it wasn’t my business…”

“Hey! No! it’s fine, I was being too sensitive. I know you were joking. Don’t think about it. My call was completely out of place.” He spoke.

“I wasn’t joking, I was having an attack of jealousy.” I told him the truth. I had had a few with being his girlfriend but I didn’t admit it so I was a big statement for me.

“Well, you shouldn’t have…” I knew he was being nice enough not to make me feel even more humiliated. I interrupted him.

“I know, I know you’re free to…” I tried to explain but he spoke over me.

“You shouldn’t have because she is just a friend” he saw in my face a smirk that got him know what I was thinking about he used to have a lot of just-a-friend‘s friends. “A normal, regular, simple friend. We have been friends for years. Actually, I think you know her, she was Jessica, do you remember her?” I nodded, we used to go out with her when we were in L.A but we didn’t come very often. He didn’t like it and I was more than happy to be in N.Y.

“Great, can we pretend I didn’t say I was jealous? I feel ridiculous now.” I joked, he smiled at me and guided me to sit in a bench. “Now we’re even, you have my mortifying call, and I got your brutal honesty.” It was weird how I felt around him, after all that time, he could make me feel butterflies. I was still in love with him.

“I was being completely serious when I told you I was ready to settle down with you. You don’t understand how fucking different everything was with you, and when I realized how important you were to me, it was too late. I know I don’t have any right to be upset because I was the one who fucked everything up, but these past months I have been irrationally mad at you. I felt that you were taking my future with you away from me” he said laughing at himself. I was surprised by his words.

“I know, it’s a shitty though.” He continued when he saw my unbelieving face. “but these couple months have been awful, I haven’t felt like this before. I went to therapy and I realized that I’ve been sabotaging my relationships for a very long time. I didn’t think of it as a problem but then, I lost you and our relationship, and everything changed.” I kept quiet, astonished by his words.

“Chris…”

“No! Please, let me tell you something first. I’m sorry, for everything; for making you go through all of that, for not loving you how you deserve to be loved. I’m going to regret what I did for the rest of my life. I just want you to know that I truly loved you. Fuck! I’m still in love with you, I guess this kind of love doesn’t go away so easily.” He said, making my eyes get wet.

“Why didn’t tell me anything of this before?” It was everything I could say.

“Because you were right; what we had, wasn’t going in the right direction. You deserved better. And to be honest I was afraid to see you again, I wanted to leave you alone as you told me and even now, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do that.” His speech left mute. I didn’t know why I came and now I wasn’t feeling any better.

I got up, and without a word I started to walk back to his house; I could feel his anxiety for my silence, but he didn’t say anything.

“It wasn’t all bad, was it?” I said in a try to cool off the situation.

“You were the best part of my life, honey. Of course, it wasn’t all bad!” he said uncomplainingly. That took every word off of my mouth.

After a big deep breathe I said, “I’m sorry for being so cold in our relationship.” He tried to stop me, but I didn’t let him. “I’m not very good at showing love, I know it hurt you in order of how you are, but I really tried to make it better.” I knew he hate that about me, not just avoiding the word -I love you- but I used to avoid expressing every feeling. I was a very lonely person so I didn’t know how to do it.

“I love every aspect of you, honey. You shouldn’t feel sorry for anything” he said. I knew he was right but I couldn’t help it.

“I should leave, it’s getting too late. I’m sorry for bothering you.” I said, he looked confused, but he didn’t say anything. We walked back to his house silently.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked when we were getting close to his entry’s house. I nodded “Why you came? It’s not like I don’t love to see you or know about you, but it was unexpected. And I don’t believe you came to say sorry.” He commented.

I didn’t answer right away. I didn’t have a reason to come.

“I honestly don’t know.” I said after a couple minutes. ”I saw a billboard announcing your new film. I remembered you. I started to think about you, about us. I just felt the need to see you.” I explained. He nodded and opened the door. “Give me a second, I will give you a ride,” before I could say no, he was inside the house.

I waited for him, getting close to his car and I remembered the first time he brought me to this house, I just moved to NY at that time, and we weren’t anything more that friends. He was being so talkative during our way to this house, which it wasn’t odd, but something told me he was overexcited. We spent literally every minute of the week together, he was a fun guy to be around, and the sex was explosive. The last night, he set up a romantic dinner in the garden and showed me what he was so excited about.

“What’s this?” I asked surprised, holding the little box he handed me.

“It’s a gift.” He said simply, smiling at me. “Come on! Open it.”

It was a pendant, the one we saw in London, when I was visiting him while he was filming. After our first date in the airport, we kept in touch by texting, when he had to fly back to London for work, he asked me to visit him. We went for a walk one day and we passed by an antique jewelry store. I realized it was similar to one pendant my mom used to wear, I didn’t know he was paying me attention.

“It’s beautiful!” I just could say.

“It is! Just like you.” I wasn’t sure what was the meaning of the gift, that weekend in London was months ago. He saw my expression and kept talking. “I knew this was going to make you happy. I want to make you happy. Just you.” He was asking for exclusivity, and I wanted the same thing. I couldn’t say anything because he spoke” You don’t need to say anything right now…” I kissed him deeply before he could continue. I straddled him “Should I assume you want the same thing?” he said between kisses. I nodded smiling while he moved us to the seat next to the outdoor fireplace. He rolled my skirt up in my waist, leaving my butt free just covered it by his hands. He felt my uncomfortableness and said, “Don’t worry, nobody can see us.” I looked at him questioningly by his conviction. “I promised. Trust me.” he said kissing my neck. ”Do you trust me?” he asked again. I did, I trusted him, I’ve sent him nudes, told him my deepest secrets or my filthiest thoughts. “I do” I simply said.

Trusting him became our biggest issue, maybe our only one, but it was enough to break us.

I missed him.

In the car, he asked me where I was staying, and he drove us through L.A’s midnight.

“Are you seeing somebody?” he asked suddenly after I quite long conversation about my promotion and his new project. “You don’t have to answer. I’m sorry if it’s too nosy.”

“No.” I answered, and a little smile appeared on his face. “Are you happy about my loneliness?” I joked, he chuckled.

When arrived, I said goodbye and got out of the car. I didn’t hear him getting out too.

“Hey” he called. Holding me from my arm. “Is it too bold to ask you out?” he saw my surprising face and kept on “Maybe when you are back in NY, I could go and have a date.” He spoke rapidly.

“Do you think it’s a good idea?” I wasn’t sure about what to say, I wanted to yell yes, but leaving him was the most painful thing I’ve done. I couldn’t handle it again.

“I don’t know. To be honest I just really need you in my life again. I feel completely empty without you.” He spoke. “You don’t have to answer right now. Just think about it. Okay?” He said, I nodded, and he started to walk back to his car. Before he could leave me again, the words just came out of my mouth without any warning. “Yes”

He turned over to see me again “Are you sure?” he looked surprised. “Yes”

“I can wait.” He said with a big smile in his face. “I don’t think I can.”

TAG LIST: @breezykpop @calwitch @firoozehmoon @moonlacebeam @denisemarieangelina

#Chris Evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fic #chris evans imagine #chris evans smut #chris evans fluff #CHRIS EVANS ANGST #angst #fluff #Smut #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans and reader #fanfic #fan

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aquamoonchaii · 3 years ago

Text

CHEERS TO US >> JUYEON

⍣ genre: fluff; slice of life; comfort!au

⍣ warnings: none

⍣ pairing: juyeon x reader

⍣ word count: 2.7k

⍣ collab: This is for the collab Summer Love - The Boyz from lovie @bangchan-fairy

⍣ charlie’s notes: juyeon is here! i did a comfort au so you guys can read it to feel better always uwu, this lovely banner was made by the precious @halliney

⍣ summary: juyeon needs to talk to someone, you appear with a glass of wine ready to make his life a little better.

This was his second night in this bar, he would never have expected himself to be alone in a small town drinking beer with snacks on a friday night. But he was desperate and he had to do something, his mind needed to relax.

He has a beer in his hand as he smiles back at the pretty ladies that pass by his table and look at him with desire and interest. JuYeon likes the attention but turns down any invitation to go to another table or even to hotel rooms, he already has a target and is not interested in anyone else.

At least tonight.

Because his target is special, he wouldn't be able to talk about this to the other girls.

Usually summer vacations are all about relaxing after the hard work of a whole year, thinking about all the goals he has reached and the new goals he wants to set for himself. But not this time, he gulps down all the beer and sighs.

JuYeon feels trapped in some kind of existential crisis thinking about if what he is doing is correct and if his life is turning out the way he wanted. Usual stuff that makes young people think a lot.

He is just here waiting for the girl that said would be here around the same time as yesterday, where she literally just came to take care of a drunk friend who was heartbroken. He wasn’t heartbroken but her words certainly had some healing effect on him and he seemed really anxious to talk to her or...

...to anyone really. He is used to being the one who is reliable and the man all his friends go to have some type of advice or comforting words. And being him the friend in need? Hell no.

The irony on him not being able to ask for help or even having the strenght to let out all his weak thoughts is stupid and makes him smile bitterly against his beer. He wonders what the hell he is actually doing here, maybe he is desperate for some comforting words coming from a wise stranger.

“Are you really drowning in alcohol for a woman that cheated on you, idiot?” It was late and the only thing he could hear was the voice of the girl that just entered the bar, she waved at the bartender and he finally noticed the loud sobbing of the wasted man that was two tables apart from him, his whining was part of the whole mood of the bar so JuYeon didn’t even pay attention to the scandal, his own problems were loud enough in his head. He turned his attention to them when the crazy wasted man hiccups and finally shuts up, not even the bartender or the other drunken friends of his could do it. The scene was pretty unforgettable: a tall strong drunk man that was pretty aggressive when someone asked him to lower his voice while sitting down holding a glass of vodka is now hugging the waist of the woman that just called him an idiot. But your next words made his mind explode, he wonders if he is as drunk as the crying guy there.

“If you want to scream, do it to let go, cheer yourself up and move on, don’t just drink and act like an asshole with people.”

Random but effective words. He expects her to mock the man there, instead she hugs him back and pets his hair and talks with a gentle voice but it also sounded strong. JuYeon found her words weird and comforting even if they weren't directed to him or even to anyone to hear he was just close to them and it was pretty late so there was little noise and he could eavesdrop. “Let’s go, you can cry at my house. I won’t look, I promise~ Then we will be sober, you are going to write down all your happy feelings, smile at them and that’s it. The other paper with all the bad feelings is going to be burnt and we are going to kick ass, ok?”

She didn’t make a fuss of it, the woman just petted his friend’s hair until he calmed down and probably passed out when the bartender came to her. “Y/N! You are the drunk whisperer, that was awesome! Why don’t we put him to bed, he can stay the night up in my room and you have some snacks here? I haven’t seen you in weeks!”

“I would love to have a snack from my favorite bartender but the taxi is waiting for me to let my drunk one at home, I promise I will come tomorrow at this exact time. I’ll eat like crazy I promise!”

JuYeon came here at the exact same hour.

He isn’t sure why he came because he didn’t know anyone or had planned anything really, he just hopes you read his mind and approach him to talk about your weird speech that made him feel good for no reason. Or something like that at least.

So when you appear, he notices something.

He is completely sober tonight and doesn’t know what to do to approach you. You are a pretty woman indeed but you intimidate him for some awkward reason. He feels like an idiot but it feels like you are going to read him like a book after looking him in the eyes. So JuYeon stands up and goes to the restroom to gain courage, he will do what he knows best: being a charming perfect boy.

A bit of flirting, maybe a date. That’s all he needs to have a little conversation with you.

"Jacob, can you please stop staring at the random guy? Is he that good looking? Your eyes are glued to him." You laugh as you eat the snacks your friend put on the bar for you to eat as you chat about a whole month of not seeing each other.

"Dude, this guy comes and kills all the ladies. But he is looking at your way too much, I own this place~ He wants something and I will not offer you as a tribute." Jacob follows the tall man's steps with his gaze, he stops when he sees his figure disappear in the restroom. His face is recognizable because well, he is quite handsome for the girls that asked a lot for him that came only yesterday and Jacob just said he is a regular to gain a few more female clients. Actually, he never saw him before and it's a big no for you to even look at his direction.

"Ok but stop staring and what makes you think I'll agree to something? I just want to have this awesome glass of wine as I talk to you about our Sunwoo and his broken heart." He laughs as he wipes the glasses that were recently washed. "I want to slap some sense back to him."

"He needs some time. Let's just be patient with his wailing at least this week, he needs to let it all out." There is this untold secret that only Jacob knows too: your feelings for the guy you took home drunk last night were strong and you decided to let Sunwoo go so your heart was also healing, it was a slow and silent process that was shut by a glass of bitter wine. You would always drink a glass of wine when your feelings were out of control as Sunwoo falls hard and easily and suffers too because of girls.

"Is this your last glass of wine?"

"Of the bitter one, yes. My heart and my liver are all good now, I'll take sweeter things this time." Jacob smiles and nods, he understands and pats your head. A client comes in and he excuses himself to go attend them.

"Is this seat taken?" JuYeon asks and when you look at him, he shows his biggest smile. You pat the seat next to him. "My ego usually needs an extra seat but I guess you can take it." He seems taken aback for the quick answer but he quickly smirks triumphantly and sits next to you. You've met him before but apparently he doesn't remember you.

"May I offer you a drink?"

"No, because this is my last glass of alcohol but we can share snacks as you seem lonely." JuYeon must feel like a champ because he sticks his tongue out sexily and nods, grabbing a toothpick that holds a little cube of cheese on your plate and eats it. "You don't remember me?"

"Is that a pick up line? Because I'm trying to think of one that will make you swoon."

"So you don't." You see JuYeon’s mind wandering at your smirk and trying to read something in your eyes.

It was indeed unexpected a target to flirt back or to be this mysterious because- Wait.

Holy crap.

You caress SunWoo's hair as he blacks out completely on his bed. Of course you feel bad for him, you treasure him a lot but your heart is finally at peace, you’ll be there to pick up the pieces of his oftenly broken heart but yours who used to suffer in silence is okay now. You let him go just as you kept your crush on him. In a blissful secret.

"I'll be right here for you. And I'm voicing out this because it's over and you are half-dead. I liked you so much it's crazy how I could keep it to myself. My crush on you is over and it was beautiful for me and our friendship stays strong as always." You smile at his passed out figure and make him company until his cousin appears to take care of him and calls a taxi for you. The taxi will wait for you in the convenience store as you wanted to buy some things, it’s pretty late but this small town is safe, or at least this neighborhood is.

"I'll have these cereal boxes and these snacks please."

"Is SunWoo still sad for that bad ex- girlfriend? He used to come here and buy her favorite snacks all happily until yesterday when he just bought beers with swollen eyes. We talked for a bit as his first question was why women were so unfaithful."

"Oh really? He came crying? Oh dear, this guy… Yeah, he is a sad single person now. Hopefully, he will cheer up quickly as always. He is now half-dead so he won’t feel any pain." The old lady who attends there knows you because you hang out a lot with Sunwoo and Jacob who lives nearby too. She nods and laughs until he stares over your shoulder.

"Me! Me! I want snacks too! I'm lonely, we can share them!" A man behind you makes you startle with his loud voice as you are paying your stuff, you turn around and find the cute man you saw at Jacob's bar. He is more than tipsy, his cheeks are red and he has droopy eyelids. "I heard you talk to the crybaby~ Talk to me too!"

"Young man, you are drunk. Go to your house!" The lady explains she saw him coming with luggage and he is staying at the house in front of your sad friend. He is pretty quiet and always arrives at the store early with hangovers asking for ramen, she points out he is indeed a gentleman and he must be here for summer vacations so party nights must be his thing or something.

"I'm not a young man, I'm JuYeon sweet lady. I wonder where my money went, my whole wallet disappeared just like my motivation to do stuff." He huffs and you laugh sharing one of your snacks. “Is this for me? You are so sweet, can you be my life mentor? I’ll treat you well I swear!” The store lady laughs at the cute behavior the drunk handsome man has and hushes you as she sees your taxi at the entry. “Wait! Don’t go, I’m trying to propose, drunk whisperer!”

JuYeon’s seductive mood dissipates with the beer foam in his glass. He wonders how the blackout and don’t remembering a single thing after getting drunk should have its negative side. Like this moment, he feels so embarrassed but of course, his stoic face remains the same.

“Oh God, this is so embarrassing. I can’t even pretend I don’t remember stealing your snack, can I?” You shake your head and clink your glass of wine with his glass of beer. “Well, I guess I should use my drunk self to start a conversation.”

And he did, JuYeon initially tried to start a casual little conversation to ask about you and stuff but he ended up spilling about why he is in a small town searching for some peace but apparently it’s his mind the chaotic one instead of the city and its loudness. When he started speaking about it, there’s this feeling of a really heavy load slowly leaving his shoulders and maybe he understands now the american movies that use this plot about talking about your problems with a stranger. He felt relieved, JuYeon is the kind of guy that seems impassive at everything around him and he is praised a lot because of his drive and his determination of not give a single fuck.

But he cares. He notices everything around him. And feeling like he could appear vulnerable sounds awful, just thinking about it makes him regret even approaching you. JuYeon suddenly falls silent, half studying your reactions and half awkwardly shutting up because this was too much information.

"Sometimes a lot of thoughts just turn in a big skein. It's okay to feel weird about it too." You said emphatically (or at least that's his conclusion as you don't mock or roll your eyes), he can't help but stare at you. He was right all these hours thinking about you and your words, his drunk self was right too. You can be a life mentor. The conversation ends when Jacob introduces himself and says he is going to close the bar and that if JuYeon is even trying to talk more with you, he needs to promise he will let Jacob chop his head off if he does something inappropriate.

"Date me."

“No?”

“No, why would I?” This is the fourth night of a long conversation about life and deep topics he thought no one would want to talk about, JuYeon forgot about seduction tips after the second night of just one beer and lots of good talking. He feels comfortable and his mind thinks less of his apparent poor self worth and he now feels encouraged. “If you feel happy singing and being a performer, why are you doubting?”

Good question.

He wants to date you.

It’s kind of impulsive coming from him and basically you two are already hanging out meeting in Jacob’s bar every night. He wasn’t expecting you to say no that easily, it’s shocking and honestly sexy, his ego feels slapped too.

“What?”

“Yeah, we clearly have a mental connection and yes, you are pretty attractive” You say like it's pretty obvious. "But why would I date you?"

"Because… I don't want to eat alone?"

"...and?"

"And I am kind of attracted to you and your amazing brain?"

"...and?"

"Because I feel like you are pretty as fuck and also a friend I will treasure a lot and I will probably scream because I don't know if Jacob is your friend or your boyfriend?"

"What?" You laugh at his sudden confession and at his reaction that seems pretty surprised at his own words. "Well, that kind of convinced me."

"You always make me talk, it's embarrassing and really interesting. How am I supposed to meet another person like you- Wait, I convinced you?" You nod and feel your cheeks heating up as he stares at you and laughs happily.

You can be a life mentor and he will protect you from everything. Maybe you could be a couple.

taglist:

@halliney @bangchan-fairy @kpopsnowball @melonmochimoon @prettyjaems @soleilsuhh @haifengg @purplepsycho03

#the boyz fic #juyeon fic #juyeon fluff #juyeon scenario #summer love collab #tbz scenario #tbz fic #tbz fluff #lee juyeon

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foilfreak · 3 years ago

Text

Beauty and Her Beast: Chapter 4

Warning: This fic is rated NSFW and contains graphic depictions of things some people may find disturbing or alarming, including, but not limited to: violence, gore, unhealthy family relationships, Oedipus complexes, gratuitous amount of pornographic literature, ableist language, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, etc. If you are someone who does not enjoy fiction with these elements in them, then I suggest you refrain from reading this, because this fic will have all that, and probably a lot more. So, this is your first and final warning to turn around and go somewhere else if stuff like this just isn't your vibe, because from this point forward, your emotional wellbeing is in your own hands, and I will not be accepting blame if you disregarded my warnings and ended up reading something you didn't like. Idk why I feel compelled to write one of these despite this being Resident Evil fanfic, but I figured I'd cover my ass just in case.

(Link to ao3 version in comments below)

Upon returning to the surface again, Mother Miranda seems confused, but mostly relieved, that Salvatore did not show interest in lingering in the village any longer than necessary. Though Salvatore did end up needing to stay for one last brief conversation, in which he and Mother Miranda discussed various parts of Nadine’s file, as well as finalized the date and approximate time in which Salvatore could expect the villagers to arrive at the reservoir gate with his gift in tow.

2 days from now, was the final agreement, as it would ensure that Salvatore would be the first of the Lords to receive his gift, making up for the fact that he was the last of them to pick. It also permitted him the luxury of some spare time to prepare a new permanent living environment of some kind for his gift. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

Regardless, Once their conversation finally concluded, Salvatore bid his beloved Mother a quick, but appropriately appreciative thank you and goodbye, before closing the large wooden door to the meeting room and trudging back out into the cold, harsh winter snow. Despite a lack of improvement in the weather since Salvatore’s initial journey into the village, the mutant man maintained a solid pace through the snowy paths, seemingly uninhibited by the forceful winds attempting to throw him from his course.

With little time remaining, Salvatore wanted to return to his reservoir as quickly as possible to begin making preparations; though, what exactly it was he was supposed to do in order to prepare for a tiny, beautiful, and apparently violent cadou-mutant woman to begin living in his reservoir with him, once again, Salvatore still had no idea.

Grimacing in frustration, the hooded man wracked his brain for something to do, some way for him to make a good “first” impression with his new gift when she finally arrives. Something that would catch her fancy and hopefully convince her that, despite his terrifying appearance, he wouldn’t harm her and merely wanted to be friends.

Well… technically speaking Salvatore wanted a great deal more than just friendship from the young woman, however given how low his chances are of ever achieving the former, the mutant man decided that he’d happily squash his vile and disgusting desires down deep within himself if it meant he’d gain at least something similar to a friendship with Nadine.

He’d been doing the same with Mother for all these years, so it wasn’t like it was going to be difficult… hopefully.

Upon returning to his reservoir finally, Salvatore retreated from the harsh weather, deciding that he’d likely have a much easier time cleaning if he waited the snowstorm out and got started in the morning, instead. Once the skies had cleared and the sun had just begun to peak over the mountaintop horizon however, Salvatore immediately set to work cleaning up the areas surrounding the reservoir.

It wasn’t until after several hours of diligent gathering and disposing of the numerous unsightly piles of rotting wood and garbage lying around, that the unusually bright and hopeful atmosphere surrounding the reservoir was rudely disrupted by a surprise visitor Salvatore would have never seen coming in a million years.

“HEY, FISHFACE, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? I gotta talk to you about something, so hurry up and crawl out of your sewer system so we can get this over with, already” Karl’s rough and booming voice echoed out from somewhere within the reservoir.

Salvatore flinches in fearful surprise at the demanding voice, wondering what on earth could possibly have brought Karl, the notorious recluse of the family who never left his factory unless bribed or threatened, all the way out here to the reservoir. And to speak to HIM, on top of all that too.

Despite not feeling like subjecting himself to Karl’s recent tendency toward physical abuse disguised as “brotherly affection”, Salvatore sighs and swims his way toward his younger brother’s voice anyways, knowing that ignoring Karl would only prompt the younger man to actually enter the reservoir in search of him, which was the absolute last thing Salvatore needed right now.

“Mornin’, brother! It’s about fuckin’ time you answered the door. You were taking so long I was beginning to wonder if you’d finally decided to run away and live out the rest of your life as an actual fish, like I suggested to you at the last “family” meeting” Karl says bluntly, clad his characteristic attire of green sunglasses, a brown hat atop his head, a long tan trench coat covering his day clothes, various items strung around his neck, and large titanium hammer.

“H-hello, Karl... W-why is it th-that you’re h-here for?” Salvatore asks slowly, peering at the younger, but taller man from behind the only partially opened gate.

“Hey, hey, come on now, Sal, what’s with the cold welcome? Am I not allowed to visit my favorite older brother without a specific rhyme or reason. I think you’ll be surprised to know that I was actually already in the area, and wanted to stop by and see if you were in the mood for a chat. You know, like old times?” Karl says defensively, placing both his hands up as Salvatore narrows his eyes at the younger man.

Salvatore was a lot of things, but stupid most certainly wasn’t one of them, regardless of what other people thought. While it might be true that, when Karl was first introduced to the family as a child following his successful cadou mutation, they had something of a positive older-younger brother relationship that lasted a good many years into Karl’s adulthood, that relationship has been growing progressively shakier and unstable over the past few years, at least it has during the times Karl has acted like Salvatore wasn’t the only one to reach out and attempt to connect with the emotionally volatile, but secretly terrified young boy, when he first arrived.

Deep down, Salvatore still had something of a soft spot for Karl, a soft spot that he occasionally allowed himself to indulge in whenever Karl wasn’t acting like a royal asshole, but those moments of peace and solidarity between oldest and youngest brother had been few and far in between recently. Not to mention that Salvatore would be lying if he said he wasn’t growing increasingly more suspicious and distrustful of Karl and whatever secrets the younger man was hiding in that factory of his. He hadn’t the slightest idea what he could be up to, but something told Salvatore that Karl had more reason to be here than just pure coincidence.

“P-perhaps… what i-is it that you w-want to t-talk about?” Salvatore replies curtly, not wanting to just go along with whatever Karl wanted, but for some reason still willing to give the younger man a chance to prove himself.

Taking a brief moment to look over both his shoulders, Karl places the heavy end of his hammer on the ground and leans inward toward Salvatore, lowering his voice as he whispers, “You see your gift from Mother yet?”

This question took Salvatore by surprise, not expecting the gifts Mother Miranda had given them to be the reason why Karl was here.

“I… I h-have… why?” The disfigured man asks curiously, pushing the gate open a little further so that Karl, despite Salvatore’s earlier reservations toward the younger man, could squeeze his way inside.

Upon entering through the gate, Karl immediately takes 2 cigars out of his back pocket and lights the first one. “Curiosity mostly… but also cuz I think there’s more to this whole “gift” thing than Miranda wants us to believe,” the bespeckled man says, blowing a lungful of smoke out his nose as he offers Salvatore the second cigar. “You still smoke, old man?”

“I-I… I r-really shouldn’t” Salvatore says, turning his back toward Karl’s outstretched hand, even as the wonderfully woody scent fills his nose and his mouth begins to water.

“Oooooh, but something tells me you want to” Karl teases, sauntering over to the older man so that he could wave the fresh cigar in Salvatore’s face, chuckling in amusement when the fish mutant’s gaze locked onto and followed the unlit stick like a dog would a slab of meat.

“B-but it… M-Mother has s-said… m-many times… th-that she d-doesn’t like… doesn’t like when we s-smoke… because… uh, b-because...” Salvatore trails off, trying to remain strong for Mother Miranda, even as his self-control slowly continues to crack.

“Come on, lighten up a little bit, old man. It’s just one cigar. You smoked a pack of these things a day, like they were the only things keeping you going, both throughout my whole adolescence and, if what Duke says is to be trusted which we both know it is, well after I left for my factory, too. When the hell did you start being such a stick in the mud? No wonder I stopped hanging out with you, you’re like a fuckin’ parrot that repeats everything than goddamn woman says, it’s like I can’t escape her no matter where I fuckin’ go” Karl groans in a slightly childish tone of voice as he trudges forward to sit on one of the docks overlooking the calm water below.

Salvatore slowly moves to join him as he says, “S-she’s right th-though… it r-really isn’t good… f-for you… I smoked e-everyday for m-many years... an-and now I’m p-paying for my i-ignorance… Mother o-only nags at you… b-because she c-cares… and s-she’s always r-right… in the e-end...”

“Oh, fuck what Miranda says, I’m tired of that woman. Always telling us what to do and then thinking that pushing a couple of failed experiments onto us as “gifts” will make up for the fact that she’s disappearing off the face of the planet without a single trace and not telling us when she’ll be back. As far as I’m concerned, when Miranda’s not here, she’s not the boss of me. And the same goes for you, too” Karl says, roughly punching Salvatore in the shoulder.

“I-I don’t… I don’t think th-that’s how this w-works, Karl” Salvatore counters. “Even w-with Mother l-leaving us… f-for a t-time... we still h-have to make s-sure that th-things c-continue on… continue on as p-planned… or e-else we’ll really b-be in trouble… w-when she g-gets back.”

“Maybe,” Karl says thoughtfully, before taking another drag of his cigar. “I don’t know… I just have a sinking feeling that there’s something weird going on behind the scenes and these “gifts”, that she’s giving us, are nothing more than distractions to keep us entertained while she goes and does… whatever the fuck it is she plans on doing while she’s gone.”

Salvatore pauses for a moment, briefly remembering back to when Mother first told him that she’d be leaving the village to go “visit someone”, who she believed could be very important to their mission of reviving Mother’s long lost baby, Eva. Although he hadn’t thought very much of it at the time, the mutant man also remembers Mother saying something about how well Nadine would do at “keeping him occupied” until she finally returned, and maybe even after that, too. But why would Mother Miranda want or need him to be “occupied” when she got back? Wouldn’t she want to share her findings with him so they could work toward creating a vessel to revive Eva in? Wouldn’t she want to see and speak to him again after being away for so long?

Or maybe… could… could Karl actually be onto something here? Salvatore felt terrible doubting Mother Miranda, but he’d be lying if he said that Karl didn’t have a point about Mother’s behavior seeming odd, now that he was in the proper headspace to go back and analyze the memory properly, at least.

“B-but… if Mother h-has gone o-out of her w-way… to make sure that w-we won’t be l-lonely... w-while she’s away… isn’t th-that a… a good th-thing… doesn’t that m-mean she c-cares a-bout us... enough to… e-enough to do something l-like this?” Salvatore asks nervously, watching the younger man intently as he contemplates his response.

“I guess so, at least when you word it like that, it does. But something tells me there’s more to this than she’s led us to believe. She’s got something planned, and she’s definitely after something, and once she gets her hands on it, who the hell knows what’ll happen… whatever it is though, I doubt it’ll be very good, for any of us.”

“D-don’t say th-things l-like that… I-I’m sure M-Mother has a-a reason… a reason w-why she’s leaving… an-and if she d-doesn’t tell us w-what it is… b-before she leaves… th-then Im sure… I’m sure sh-she’ll tell u-us when she g-gets back… she’ll l-let us in o-on her p-plan… wh-when she’s ready… an-and then… once e-everything is… said a-and done… we c-can revive… r-revive Eva… and b-be a real f-family… a-at long l-last… isn’t th-that what w-we a-all want, after a-all… a f-family?” Salvatore asks, hoping this was doing something to ease the younger man’s clearly agitated mind.

What on earth it was that was causing so much turmoil as it flew around inside Karl’s head, Salvatore had no idea. But something about the bespectacled man’s unusually contemplative and concerned mood, coupled with the fact that he’d only punched Salvatore once since his arrival, was beginning to leave an acidic taste in the deformed man’s mouth.

Karl really and truly thought something was wrong, and the younger man’s continued insistence upon this fact was beginning to make Salvatore very very anxious.

Perhaps it was the unusually good and excited mood that Salvatore was in due to the near arrival of his gift, or maybe it was that soft spot for Karl I mentioned earlier, but regardless of the reason, Salvatore felt the odd need to help alleviate the younger man’s bad mood, just like he used to do for him back when Karl was still barely taller than his shoulder.

Mother Miranda certainly wouldn’t be pleased if she found out that Salvatore had broken his mandatory sobriety despite her explicit orders to avoid smoking so his experiment results wouldn't be hindered. That being said however, Miranda always seemed to want her 4 children to get along and be close, like real siblings, so Salvatore supposed that he could allow himself a break from his smoking break so long as, if Miranda did manage to find out somehow, he could get himself out of trouble by spinning it as a rare moment of sibling bonding between the oldest and youngest siblings, rather than the reality of the situation.

“I… I’ll t-take that cigar… if you’re n-not gonna smoke it… th-that is” Salvatore says, a small chuckle escaping him when Karl cheers in delight, practically throwing both the lighter and the cigar into the deformed man’s hands.

Salvatore’s first breath of the cigar is nothing short of heavenly once he finally lights it and takes a drag, and its moments like these when the mutant man finds himself secretly grateful that Karl hasn’t listened to a goddamn word Mother Miranda has said in nearly 4 decades.

A long period of silence passes as both brothers merely sit beside one another and secretly enjoy each other’s company.

“Miranda let me pick my gift first, so I didn’t get to see where the others went. Who did you end up with?” Karl asks, finally breaking the silence.

“T-the… the sh-short one,” Salvatore replies, “with b-blue skin, black h-hair, a-and, uh… oh, an-and white d-dots… all o-over her… l-like freckles… fins t-too”

“Oh ya, I remember that one. Gorgeous little thing, she was” Karl says, nodding his head in appreciation as a devilish smile spreads across his unshaven lips. “With quite the… voluptuous figure too, if I remember correctly.”

“I… well… I-I don’t know i-if… I d-didn’t... shut up...” Salvatore mumbles under his breath, taking a long drag from his cigar as Karl throws his head back laughing like a hyena at his older brother’s sudden bashfulness.

“Ah, come on, Sal, don’t be such a downer all the fuckin’ time, I’m just teasing. I know you still think about shit like that, too, even if you’ve managed to convince Alcina and everybody else that you’re just an innocent little follower who hasn’t had an independent, or dirty thought of his own since the cadou took hold. You used to be a fuckin’ doctor for crying out loud, and you’re still annoyingly the person Miranda goes to first whenever she has a new experiment in mind, cuz you’re smart AND she can trust you. You might look like you fell off the truck that was taking you and your fishy friends to market, but I’ve known you too long for that bullshit act of yours to work on me.”

“Act?” Salvatore asks, genuinely confused by what Karl means.

“You know, that stupid fuckin’ “moronic freak” act you do whenever Miranda’s around. The one where you act like you don’t know what the fuck is going on or what something is so that she’ll take pity on how stupid and childish you’re acting and give you more attention. It’s pathetic to watch and I’m gettin’ sick of seeing you do it all the time. Knock it off, you’re better than that.”

“I’ll… um… b-be sure not to… to m-make it s-seem as… uh… I’ll k-keep that in m-mind” Salvatore finally says, casting his gaze down to his pants for a moment, unsure how to feel about how… friendly and kind Karl was being all of a sudden. Salvatore knew Karl secretly cared about him, the brat does far too many conveniently nice things for him throughout the year for him not to, but hearing the younger man voice his surprisingly high opinion of him was definitely shocking, though still quite touching, all the while.

“W-which gift… d-did you end u-up… getting, Karl? I d-didn’t get t-the chance to… to s-see the others… M-Mother only showed me Nadi-er… my g-gift” Salvatore asks, deciding, at the last second, against using his gift’s real name lest Karl be given even more artillery to tease and riddle him with.

“Eh, just some tall dark haired broad. I think Miranda said something about her being Indian, or something along those lines.”

“O-oh… d-did Mother say a-anything about… whether she’s actually f-from here… o-or did she immigrate… f-from India?” Salvatore asks, tilting his head curiously as this new information about Karl’s gift piques his interest.

Karl stares at Salvatore with a look of confusion for a moment, his mouth opening and closing silently like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words for it. Until, “Aren’t Indians from America?”

The sound of Salvatore’s right palm making firm and painful contact with the back of Karl’s head echoes across the reservoir almost as loudly as the following cry of pain from the man himself.

“OW! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?” Karl roars angrily, pushing himself to his feet while he rubs at the back of his head, hat lopsided and barely hanging on to his head and green glasses no longer perched upon his nose, likely sinking to the murky lake floor just below the docks they were sitting on.

“I d-didn’t spend… th-the better part o-of 15 years… p-pounding an education... i-into y-your th-thick head... for you t-to say… f-for you to b-be spouting dumb shit… l-like that” Salvatore growls in annoyance, eying the taller man with a look that even he wouldn’t dare argue against, at least not with Sal he wouldn’t.

It’s moments like these when Salvatore is very happy that Karl, for as strong and fearless as he is now as a fully grown adult, is still just a little bit afraid of him after all these years. Not because of anything bad or horrifically traumatic of course, especially considering how often Salvatore had gone out of his way to ensure Karl had the least traumatic upbringing he could possibly provide the young boy, given both their situations. As much as he hated to admit it, even Karl would agree that Salvatore had done a pretty decent job of not fucking him up anymore than he already was, which the younger man would secretly always be thankful for. However, even a person as naively patient and serving toward others as Salvatore had his breaking point, and all it took was one especially bad day, resulting in the one and only time Salvatore has ever left a mark upon the younger man’s skin, for Karl to realize that Salvatore was the last person in this godforsaken village he wanted to purposefully make an enemy out of.

Thankfully, their relationship never suffered negatively from that one-off event, but it did force the two to come to a mostly unspoken agreement that has remained present and active, if slightly ignored at certain times, from that point forward. Agreement or not however, Salvatore could never bring himself to harm Karl like that again, even if he wanted to, which was probably the main reason why Karl was still the most comfortable around him, even after all these years. It was a secret they shared between them, and them alone, and it would be one that he would cherish for the rest of his life, as Karl would secretly cherish the kindness and brotherly love Salvatore had treated him with for all these years. They were brothers, regardless of whether they got along or not, and nothing in the would world would be able to change that.

That being said however, Karl was about to be in for a very rude awakening if he thought he could just do and say whatever the hell he wanted around Salvatore without there being any consequences.

“‘A-aren’t Indians f-from A-America?’ G-good grief... I o-oughta throttle y-you for th-that one” Salvatore grumbles through another drag of his cigar, shaking his head in utter disbelief and disappointment. Karl was so intelligent, and yet he could be so stupid sometimes that it physically hurt Salvatore to think about.

“But there ARE Indians in America, aren’t there? I know I’m not wrong here” Karl defends aggressively, his anger quickly giving way to embarrassment when Salvatore raises his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration and annoyance.

“Th-they’re called N-Native Americans... f-first of all... they w-were only c-called I-Indians... b-because the g-guy... the moron who f-first sailed t-to the A-Americas... w-was actually... looking for I-India... the r-real India... b-but back th-then... you h-had to go all th-the way... a-around Africa... to g-get there... but he th-thought h-he could do... d-do it a d-different w-way... he thought h-he could f-find India... by s-sailing straight f-from S-Spain... and g-going around the whole w-world... until h-he came b-back around... an-and hit Asia” Salvatore explained slowly, hoping to maintain his delusion that Karl had, in fact, paid attention to at least some of the lessons he gave the boy throughout their time together, even if it wasn’t actually true.

“But he didn’t. He hit the Americas and started calling the locals Indians cuz the guy, what’s-his-face... Columbine... Columbus... whatever, was dumb enough to think he was in India and not a totally different landmass” Karl finishes, looking like he at least remembered hearing about his information before, which was good enough for Salvatore.

Despite the grimace still etched onto his face, Karl groans in annoyed defeat and slinks back down to sit next to Salvatore, still cradling the back of his head.

“Anyways, as i was saying before I was so rudely interrupted with a goddamn history lesson-”

“You w-want another s-smack?” Salvatore threatens, mildly amused when Karl pauses his dramatic retelling, before sliding just a few inches to the right, away from Salvatore’s preferred disciplining hand.

Coughing slightly, Karl continues. “Anyways… going back to my “finding the silver lining” idea, or whatever the fuck its called. This whole “gift” thing might actually work out kinda nice for me in the long run, especially since the one I got looked like she was strong and could handle herself in a rough and tumble environment. If she proves herself, I’m planning on turning her into my assistant” Karl explains casually. “As much as I hate working with other people, normally, I’ve got some projects that would really benefit from a second pair of hands, so I’m attempting to make a “silver lining” moment out of this bullshit “gift” thing Miranda’s tryin to do and just hope and pray that things work out in my favor. Though, to be fair, if things with this girl don’t go well, I could always use her body for a cool idea I’ve had cooked up for a while now. What about you? What are you planning on doing with your new little toy once it finally arrives?”

Salvatore merely shrugs his shoulders. “It w-would be nice… i-if we c-could be f-friends… somehow… but…”

“Ya… you’re not exactly working with the latest and greatest set up, huh? Even a mutant girl might need a little bit to get adjusted to a face like that” Karl says.

“That’s c-certainly one way o-of p-putting it” Salvatore replies dejectedly.

Karl flinches slightly, which surprises Salvatore, since the younger man has a habit of caring very little for how his words affect those around him. Why on earth was he being so considerate, all of a sudden?

“Look, uh… what I meant to say was that… ok, so maybe you’re not like, the best looking guy ever, but like…” Karl stammers and stutters, trying desperately to figure out what he wants to say but seemingly coming up short every time.

Salvatore narrows his eyes again, suspicion returning. “You’re h-hiding something f-from me… w-what are you a-after, Karl?” Salvatore asks seriously, fixing the younger man with a stern look that he knows Karl recognizes.

“Hey, don’t you give me that fuckin’ look. I am too fuckin’ old for you to be looking at me like that, what am I, 12?” Karl asks.

“You c-certainly act l-like it… most of th-the time” Salvatore grumbles under his breath.

Karl clearly heard him, but knew better than to argue with the water not even a foot below where the two were currently sitting, his sunglasses having already taken a nice little dive as punishment for his big mouth. Salvatore might have only agreed to speak with Karl because the latter had demanded it, but they were still very much in Salvatore’s territory, and it wasn’t even a question of who had the topographical advantage should an “argument” actually break out between them.

Karl is strong, nobody can deny that. But Salvatore has the home advantage, and they both know it.

After a moment of tense staring, Karl finally breaks first, sighing heavily before tossing his finished cigar cap into the water below them, a crime Salvatore briefly contemplates knocking the younger man in for, before deciding against it, knowing, with his luck, that it would only come back to bite him in the ass later.

“Alright look,” Karl finally says, a look of frustrated determination on his face, “I don’t know what Miranda really has planned past her whole “get a suitable vessel for Eva” obsession, or what she’s really after on this mission of hers… but something about this whole situation going on recently just doesn’t feel right to me, and I think we need to do something about it before something bad happens and we all somehow end up dead. Now, I'm not 100% sure why I’m talking about this with the head of Miranda’s fuckin’ fanclub, but considering what my other 2 options were it wasn’t like I had much of a damn choice. My only saving grace right now is the fact that you’ll at least occasionally listen to fuckin’ reason, given your gaping maw can be yanked from Miranda’s tit long enough to hear me out, that is. It’s certainly better than my chances with Lady Super-sized Bitch and Crazy Psycho Doll, over there.”

“Are you s-sure you’re n-not just being p-paranoid?” Salvatore asks slowly, not wanting to offend Karl by outright stating he didn’t believe the younger man’s hunch, but also trying to figure out if Karl actually has something to be concerned about, or if he’s just looking for an excuse to badmouth Miranda.

“No, no no no, don’t you do this to me too, Sal” Karl begs in frustration. “You can go about the rest of your life loving the absolute shit out of that crazy woman if you want to and I won’t say a goddamn thing about it, but I need you to promise me, and I mean promise me, that if you see or hear something weird regarding Miranda and this little “trip” she’s about to go on, you come tell me so that we can at least make sure our own asses are covered when shit hits the fan.”

“Well… I-I uh…”

“Come on, Sal. None of these psychotic assholes have ever had my back like you, and that’s exactly the reason why I’m telling you all this” Karl says honestly, catching Salvatore off guard with the oddly familiar wording.

“I know I can be a royal fucking pain in the ass most of the time and that I’m not always the… nicest to you… even though you did kinda do... a bit for me here and there when I was a little tyke... But none of that matters now, because even if Miranda isn’t trying to hide something from us, with the two of us banded together, we could do whatever the hell we wanted while she’s gone, and neither of the other shitheads would be able to tell us otherwise. What do you say, Sal? Come on, you and me, together, just like when I was a kid, remember?” Karl asked excitedly, his eyes shimmering in boyish glee as he spouts off all the things they’d be able to get away with when Miranda finally left, the torment they’d be able to unleash upon Alcina being a particular favorite of Karl’s, it would seem.

Salvatore remained silent for a moment, contemplating the deal he’d just been given.

It’s… not a terrible deal, at least compared to some of the previous deals Salvatore has been offered in the past. It wasn’t like him agreeing to “ally” himself with Karl was a direct declaration of war against Mother Miranda or anything like that, merely a mutual effort that would guarantee safety for both him and Karl should Mother’s plan not go exactly as she wanted, which scientific experiments were known to do. Not to mention that giving Alcina a good messing with did sound like quite a bit of fun.

Maybe… maybe Karl was right. Maybe Salvatore was being a bit too much of a stick in the mud. It was just Karl after all, who Salvatore had practically raised, starting from the boy’s arrival into the family at 6 years old and more or less up until his factory was completed just after his 22nd birthday. Karl could certainly be a handful for even the most powerful individuals, but even on his worst days, he always found some backwards, convoluted way to apologize for his behavior.

“W-well… I-I’m not s-sure… I d-don’t know how I f-feel about… about d-doing things th-that Mother… wouldn’t a-approve of… just b-because sh-she’s gone...”

“But...” Karl continued for him.

“B-but I suppose… k-keeping each other u-updated… when we f-find… or h-hear s-something weird is… wouldn’t be… wouldn’t be th-the worst idea… in th-the world… e-even if it just t-turns out that… we w-were just being p-paranoid.”

“Excellent! That’s just what I was hoping to hear” Karl says triumphantly, standing up.

“A-are you l-leaving, already?”

“Ya” Karl affirms, “I’ve got work to do at the factory, and based on the look of things here, you were busy with a project of your own it looks like.”

Salvatore nods, pocketing his freshly finished cigar cap for later, proper, disposal. “I c-can’t even remember… the l-last time I… p-properly cleaned this p-place… it l-looks so m-much nicer… even w-without being f-fully finished…”

“Good for you. My own property could probably do with a good cleaning of its own now that you mention it. If nothing else though, I’m sure your new little lady friend will appreciate that you picked up the place for her arrival.”

“Y-you think s-so?” Salvatore asks.

Karl shrugs his shoulders. “Who knows with chicks, they’re unpredictable, but I suppose it’s possible. Then again, maybe not considering who you ended up with. I don’t know the full story or anything like that, but based on what I heard from Miranda, that blue bitch you went with was the craziest one of them all. Practically tore her pod apart the first time Miranda tried to put her in it, and caused all sorts of other damage throughout her mutation phase too, not that I blame the poor girl. I’d tear that whole lab right out from under the surface and set it ablaze if I could. Going back down there after so many years… I was puking like you for the rest of the fuckin’ day when I finally got out of that hellhole. Stomach still feels a little nauseous if I’m being honest...”

“I-I’m sorry… to h-hear that” Salvatore says, though Karl is quick to brush him off.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. I’m a big boy and I can handle myself. But do we have a deal? Keep each other in the loop whenever we hear anything… strange or abnormal about Mother Miranda or her special little mission?”

Salvatore pauses for a moment, thinking one last time about whether this was a good idea, before finally shrugging his shoulders and nodding. “Y-yes, we h-have a deal… b-but just remember something, Karl… 40 years d-didnt do… nearly as m-much for your p-poker face as i-it did for your s-smart mouth. If I c-catch you lying to m-me-”

“Ya, ya, ya, you’ll chop up my body and toss my remains in the lake to feed the fishes, I’ve heard that one a million times before” Karl interrupts. “Don’t worry, Sal, if I was planning on lying to you at any point throughout this process, you’d have already caught me by now. Even I know better than to try pulling a fast one over the walking fuckin’ lie detector.”

“I’m h-holding you to th-that, Karl” Salvatore calls over his shoulder as the younger man stands and begins heading toward the gate to return to his factory, chuckling lightly when Karl returns his warning with a middle finger.

“Take it easy, old man. And let me know how that crazy fish bitch you ended up with turns out. If all else fails I’ll turn her into a nice stuffed pillow for you” the bespeckled man says, throwing his head back in laughter as though he’d told a funny joke, before adding, “And I’d better get my sunglasses back within the week, or else I’m draining the whole fucking reservoir so I can find them myself. Don’t think I won’t do it, old man.”

Salvatore merely returns the middle finger, a response that Karl seems to appreciate, if the wolfish howl of laughter the younger man let's out says anything, at least.

‘Cheeky brat. Always plotting something’ Salvatore thinks fondly to himself as he slips back into the water to continue cleaning the reservoir, quickly grabbing the green sunglasses that had sunk to the bottom and pocketing them to return to Karl later. He pauses for a moment when a thought crosses his mind.

Within the past 24 hours, both Mother Miranda and Karl had been… unusually kind and affectionate toward Salvatore, which pleased but also confused the twisted man.

Karl was easy enough to explain away, the younger man has been flip flopping between periods where he likes and spends time with Salvatore, and periods where he’d sooner set himself on fire than be in the same room as his older brother, since the day they met, so as far as Salvatore was concerned, Karl’s behavior was hardly breaking news, though perhaps a bit surprising given everything going on with Mother’s gifts. Mother Miranda, however, was a different story.

Usually more distant and hands-off in her parenting ways, Miranda had been uncharacteristically affectionate toward the disfigured man the night before, going as far as to openly praise Salvatore for all his hard work and even hold him without being asked to. It had been such a wonderful experience at the time and yet, the more Salvatore thought about it, the stranger and stranger the behavior seemed, especially now that Karl had confronted him.

Speaking of Karl… Mother seemed quite upset with him when she spoke of him the night before. Going as far as to badmouth him specifically, calling him a ‘conniving little snake’, despite the younger man usually being her favorite by a country mile. Had Karl done something to incur Mother’s wrath? Is that why Karl came all the way over here to make that deal with him? Is he trying to rally the 4 lords to rebel against Mother Miranda?

No... No, no no no, that couldn’t be true, there’s no way.

Even Karl, for all his incredible intellect and hunger for power, was too afraid of Mother Miranda to ever try anything as drastic as that. That being said however, even though Salvatore doubted that Karl would ever try to rebel against Mother Miranda, it did seem like the younger man was trying very hard to get Salvatore onto his side for some reason. In fact, both Karl AND Mother Miranda appeared to be trying to sway the eldest Lord in their favor, though for what reason, he still had no idea.

It was definitely something that made Salvatore slightly wary of the both of them, though.

There’s nothing in this world that Salvatore hates more than doubting his beloved Mother, but even he couldn’t write this oddity of a situation off as a mere one-off incident or sudden change of Miranda’s tune. Mother has been acting very strangely recently, doing things she wouldn’t normally do and acting overly affectionate as if to try and throw everyone off her tracks, and the longer Salvatore thought about it, the more he couldn’t help but wonder, as painful as it was to admit, if maybe Karl was actually onto something.

Logically, he knows that Karl is just being Karl, looking to stir up some trouble for his own, and supposedly Salvatore’s, amusement, and that Mother Miranda is likely just trying to enjoy the time she has left with her children before she leaves on her mission. However, something in the back of Salvatore’s mind can’t help but wonder if maybe there’s more going on than he’s been led to believe by either of them. And as if this situation couldn’t get any more confusing for the deformed man, now his overly anxious and analytical mind was beginning to understand what Karl meant when he said there was something strange going on, no matter how much the rest of him practically screamed to just listen to Miranda like he always has.

Shaking his head of his scrambled thoughts and turning his focus back to his work, Salvatore decides that the best thing he can do right now is keep an ear to the ground on both Mother Miranda AND Karl, just to be fair. He still isn't sure if he plans on being 100% honest with Karl regarding their deal, but he supposes that maintaining a good relationship with the younger man wouldn’t hurt in the event he turned out to be right and Mother’s plan backfired on all of them.

Besides, if Karl did turn out to be right, and Salvatore was ready for if things took a bad turn, he could still be there to rescue Mother Miranda and ensure she’s brought to safety along with them. He’ll have successfully fulfilled his family duties to both Karl and Mother Miranda, without ever having to actually choose which side he was definitively on. A perfect plan if the mutant man says so himself. Now the only thing left to do between now and whenever things started getting interesting was work on the reservoir and wait for his gift to finally arrive, his mood regarding this whole situation greatly improved thanks to Karl’s visit.

Hopefully, if things went well, he’d have some exciting news to tell the younger man the next time they met up.

Maybe he’d even have a new friend to introduce.

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anya-grace · 4 years ago

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What To Do When Your Terror Professor Accidentally Left His Camera Open After A Discussion

ao3

Armin Arlert typing…

Armin: Eren, please tell Mr. Ackerman now. Please.

Connie: No

Connie: Don’t you guys dare leave the meeting.

Connie: YET

Connie: Just wait

Connie: WHAT IF HE DOES SOMETHING FUNNY

Eren tentatively types then deletes the words on his screen. For the last three minutes, he ponders on what to say to his classmates—or his chemistry professor—and settles for a simple, “Why me?!”, because really, there are almost 20 of them in the class and he’s not even the class’ president for heaven’s sake but his classmates push him to go chat their terror professor who is currently reading some documents and is totally unaware of his camera that’s been left open five minutes ago after their class ends.

Jean: Of course, it should be you, Jaeger.

Jean Kirstein typing…

Jean: Since you always love to suck up to Mr. Ackerman.

Jean: Bootlicking asshole.

Eren: Fuck you, horse face. Why don’t you try and tell him instead since you are a good pony?

Marco: Language, guys. Language.

Armin: Guys, please don’t fight here on the class’ group chat again!

Armin: Mikasa, please do something.

Hearing a soft feminine voice from their professor’s other side of the screen, the banters in their group chat die down. Eren—and presumably the rest of his classmates who refuse to leave the meeting—watches as a familiar short woman enters their professor’s home office. Mr. Ackerman looks up from his stack of papers as he—wait, did Mr. Ackerman just smile?—acknowledges this new figure.

Connie: HOLY SHIT

Marco: Connie, language.

Connie: HOLY SHIP

Connie: Is that, Ms. Ral???

Sasha: They’re a thing?

Historia: I think so?

Sasha: Since when?

Jean: Hey, Eren Bootlicker. You know about this?

Eren: Do I look like their couple advisor or something, horsie?

As much as he hates Jean for calling him the silly name, Eren is surprised like everyone else.

In the university, it is common for students to have Ms. Ral as their favorite professor. She always has this smile on her face, sunny and so cheerful. She also teaches well and kind and patient to students who are having difficulties learning a specific topic (he’s one of those students).

At the same time, it is also common for students to be afraid of Mr. Ackerman. An intimidating, terror professor who makes students cower in fear just by his sharp looks. But in reality, he’s a great educator and even if he doesn’t look like it, he’s very considerate too.

But still, he just has this image of being terror and frightening. It surprises them so much to see Ms. Ral—the literal sunshine, and Mr. Ackerman—the embodiment of darkness and the most accurate representation of a person who's mad with the world—living together.

But it surprises them more when Mr. Ackerman pushes his documents to the edge of the table and casually opens his arms as the female professor approaches him. Ms. Ral runs to his arms, a visible blush is evident on her bare and mushy face fresh from sleep. She settles in their professor’s lap and snuggles in his chest, burying her face on the crook of his neck.

“Good morning,” she says groggily.

“Hmm.” Mr. Ackerman hums and softly rubs Ms. Ral’s robe-covered back.

For a couple of minutes, Eren watches as the two snuggles together until a message notification pops up again on his computer.

Historia: Oh my god

Historia: They’re cute

Marco: I didn’t know Mr. Ackerman has a soft side…

Armin: You guys do understand that we are invading their privacy, right?

Mikasa: No.

Mikasa: We need to watch.

Mikasa: I think shortie’s threatening Ms. Ral.

Mikasa: Armin, record this so we have evidence.

Armin: Mikasa?? He’s literally your cousin. Don’t you suppose to know him?

Mikasa: Exactly. I know how awkward that shortie is. Ms. Ral won’t date him unless he did underhanded tricks.

Connie: GUYS

Connie: WHAT IF THEY DO IT

Connie: RIGHT NOW

Jean: DUDE

Sasha: CONNIE WTF

“Want to eat breakfast?”

Ms. Ral has her arms around Mr. Ackerman’s neck as the male professor caresses her orange hair.

“Hmm. Later. I still want to sleep.” Ms. Ral places a soft kiss on his neck.

“It’s already past 8. You sure you’re not hungry yet?”

“Not yet.”

Their exchange of words is peaceful and warm. From the looks of it, the two may have been together for quite a while now.

Armin: I really think we need to leave the meeting now, guys. We’re going to be late for Mr. Smith’s class.

Reading Armin’s chat in his inbox, not one of them replies as they watch Mr. Ackerman fix Ms. Ral’s sleeping robe. Their professor watches the sleeping figure of Ms. Ral lovingly and plants a soft kiss on her forehead before dozing off as well.

They hear their soft breathing as well as the sound of the aircon from the other side. One by one, Eren and his classmates leave the meeting. The image of their two professors sleeping peacefully around each other engraves in their minds until the day ends.

***

Levi awoke with Petra’s robe drape on his body, his girlfriend nowhere to be found as his eyes slowly adjust to the light on his home office. With his open laptop on the table, Levi tries to distinguish what time it is only to find out that it is drain of its battery. He takes his phone and sees a bunch of missed calls from Mikasa and some text messages from Erwin that says, “You took your time with Block 104. They didn’t attend my class. We have to talk about this over Zoom, Levi.”

#rivetra #levi x petra #Levi Ackerman and the 104th #Petra Ral and the 104th #THIS IS MY FAVORITE SCENARIO OKAY #my otp unintentionally being soft for each other in front of other people #Levi Ackerman #Petra Ral #104th squad

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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One Year Anniversary: Top 12 Ducktales Episodes!

Happy anniversary all you happy people! Yes it was one year ago today I started reviewing animation and it’s been a ride to be sure. I’d always WANTED to be a reviewer: I love going on and on about stuff I love, really digging into it and picking it apart... but I could never get started. I tried youtube but I didn’t have the money for the equipment nor a proper shooting space to record, so my efforts.. were not great. And while I TRIED text reviews, my own looming pile of self hatred meant every attempt I made was shot down when it got hard as me not being good enough.

But one year ago I finally got past that. I’d already been reviewing a bit, doing invididual issues of comics... but got way in over my head trying to do the current line of X-Men comics as it came out, and wisely bowed out of that. But that left a gap: I had nothing to cover week to week and with a demanding new job, I drifted into just doing in charcter chats, little fan fictions script styles. Not bad work, I should do some more at some point and I even got a comissoin once in a while, but nothing I could really live on and not what I wanted to do with my life.

Enter Ducktales. I’d always WANTED to review the show.. and when the double premire happened, I decided fuck it, and put up my thoughts. And then decided.. hey maybe I can do this every week.. and slowly.. my work evolved, getting better and better, getting more and more likes. I picked up Amphibia when that came by week to week.

And eventually.. this went from a hobby, if one I was passionate about to a career. Not a largely paying one, as only one person was really intrested in paying me for it, friend of the blog and our fincial backer @weirdkev27, but .. it’s money and i’m now making about 30 dollars a month due to a comination of comissions and patreon. Other contributers are always welcome mind you, my patreon is here if your curious and comissions are 5 dollars an episode, but i’ts just nice to have money coming in. To have gone from simply WANTING to review things and make a living off it.. to simply doing it.

And it’s been one hell of a year.. and not just because 2020 felt like hell or 2021 began with a full on insurrection. I feel like i’ve acomplished a lot in the year i’ve been doing this: I finished what I started with Ducktales season 3, getting better and better as I went. And I didn’t stop there with ducks: I started covering what brought me to Ducks in the first place, the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, and while that retrospective has slid a bit on the schedule, I intend to get it back on track this month. I reviewed a bunch of Darkwing Duck episodes leading up to the Just Us Justice Ducks.. chronologically anyway. The actual airing order reads like someone took 50 issues of a comic, made it rain with them, then just started reading whatever ones they picked up randomly. I also covered some of Duck Master Carl Barks work with the classics Night on Bear Mountain, A Christmas for Shacktown and Back to the Klondike, with more to come.

And the Duck didn’t stop at just reviews I did on my own: Kev comissioned two MASSIVE retrospectives from me: My first for him was Ride of the Three Caballleros where in just a few short months I covered the boys entire televisied careers together from the movie, to house of mouse, to mickey and the roadster racers, to ducktales (again) and finishing with the wonderful Legend of the Three Caballeros. It has probably the worst Daisy imaginable, but otherwise is really excellent and i’m glad I finally watched it. I also covered Don Rosa’s two stories with the boys as part of it. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it... okay most of them again Three Cabs Daisy is the worst. And once that finished Kev started up another idea: Shadow Into Light: a look at Lena’s character arc from start to finish that has gone on to be my most popular series on this blog, and that finishes next week. And there’s more to come as after that there’s a short breather with a look at Lilo and Stitch’s crossover episodes.. folllowed by me looking at all three of season 2′s ducktales arcs. And I fully intend to have covered every episode of the series by this time next year, so stay tuned.

Outside of ducks though I didn’t slow down. I restarted my Tom Lucitor retrospective, covering what i feel to be one of Star Vs’ two best characters, tied with eclipsa, and my personal faviorite as he redeemeed himself, found love and I bitched a lot about the horrible directions the series took and probabably will more as that’s still not done yet. I did what I always wanted to do and started looks at some of my faviorite comics ever, starting with Life and Times and adding in New X-Men and Scott PIlgrim. I also threw in the awesome comic Blacksad. I did pride month for the first time and not only came out publicly, but also did two whole arcs i’m proud of with The Saluna episodes of Loud house and the rednid episodes of OK KO, and generally just had myself a good old fashioned time as an out bi man reviewing childrens cartoons.

I started Season 2 of amphibia with it’s lows of an endlesss road trip and highs of adding Marcy to the cast and giving us more of the silky voiced keith david. And finally Patreon wise Kev’s taken me on a hell o fa journey: In addition to the restrospectives i’ve covered some additional darkwing duck, and a simpsons homage to the duck comics... but also got a bit weird and obscure with detours like the lost animnaics sucessor Histeria, the apocalyptic comedy where Santa dosen’t know how doors work Whoops! and the adventures of Santa’s bratty teen daughter jingle belle. In short.. it’s been a long year but damn has it been fun and there’s more to come. I’d like to thank all of you for reading, thank my Patreons Kev and Emma for supporting me, and thank my family for doing the same. So with that out of the way, I figured the best way to celebrate was to do something i’ve been wanting to do for a long time, something honoring the show that gave me this calling in the first place. And with Season 3 sadly being the last, and enough weeks having passed for me to digest it between the finale and today, I could think of nothing better than my top 12 episodes of Ducktales.

Ducktales is one of the best cartoons of the 2010′s. Brilliantly taking EVERYTHING that had come before, the comics, the original cartoon and every bit of duck media period to craft a masterful, unique and wonderful reboot. It was funny, it was insane, and it had damn good character arcs. By the end every member of the main cast along with major supporting cast members like Fenton, Drake and especially Lena, had changed and signifigantly at that. The show was everything I could’ve dreamed of and more and I miss it terribly, hoping DIsney will do a revivial movie at some point. For now though, Frank and Matt’s run on ducktales, as they called it and I do too since i’m a massive comic book nerd, it’s time to look back on my favorite tales of ducks. So grab your sharks, your number one dimes and your friendship cakes with clear gay undertones and join me under the cut as I celebrate one of my faviorite shows and my anniversary in the best way possible.

12. House of the Lucky Gander!

So as i’ve gone on about before and no doubt will again, Donald kinda got the short end of the stick in season 1. While Frank and Matt had good story intentions, keeping Donald away from adventure since he had no interest in it, in practice it meant a beloved Disney Icon who they and disney HEAVILY promoted as part of the series and whose being here this go round was a big draw for fans of the comics.... was only in a quarter of the season and only got TWO plots centered around him in 23 episodes, with only one being the main plot of the episode. The PIlot and Finale both centered around the family more as a whole if your curious how I counted those so while he got plenty of focus in both, it’s still not a day in the limelight sort of thing.

But unusually for Donald, he lucked out as his one big starring role for Season 1 was both one of my faviorites and one of Season 1′s most inventive outings. A lot of the episodes enegy comes from a one two punch of a great guest star and one of the series best settings. The guest star is of course everyone’s faviorite overly lucky himbo Gladstone Gander. The show adapted the prick perfectly: The original Gladstone from the comics.. was the worst asshole imaginable, utterly insufferable. And for a villian, and Donald’s rival, that’s all well and good.. but his super luck meant he RARELY , if ever, suffered any consequences for being just...

The 87 series simply made him nicer, while Going Quackers simply removed his luck. No adaptation really got how to make this fucker work.. until this one. Here Frank split the diffrence: Gladstone is still smug.. but he’s no longer actively malicious. While he is an insensitive prick to Donald in this one, unlike the comics he’s not constantly bragging about his luck or how great he is or actively BAITING Donald to fight with him or trying to ruin his relationship or a million other reasons he sucks and I hate him.

This version by contrast... is generous. He’s not the most empathetic, because he doesn’t get how life works, but he does share the riches of the casnio with everyone and in a cameo appearance in “Treasure of the Found Lamp” gladly offers his nephews some diamonds. He’s got a nice surface level charm to him that makes you understand why people like him.. but it’s also clear ther’es nothing UNDER that of value, making you equally understand why Scrooge and Donald hate him. Gladstone in this reboot is a perfect example of why we need reboots or new adaptations in the first place: Because sometimes the original got something wrong or something can be done much better by the new writers.

He’s perfectly paired with the setting: The House of Lucky Fortune, a mystical casino with an East Asian astatic based in the country of Macaw and provides two great plots. Donald’s really highlights his character: His understandable jealousy at gladstone earning the boys love through nothing while he struggles to make a living for them, and how he feels like a looser and like Gladstone is simply showing that off instead of just not knowing what empathy is. Having Louie be the one to bond with Gladstone was also just pitch pefefct, as is showing some depth for the boy by having himr ealize his hero is an asshole and be the one to help donald in the end.

The other plot is just pure joy though and is where the setting REALLY shines: Scrooge and the rest of the kids try to leave.. but can’t find the exit. This is where the creative part comes in: The Casino simply morphs to keep people trapped, and caters to them, giving them whatever they want to keep them trapped. In the cases of the kids it’s all hilarious and adorably in character: Huey becomes entranced by a fancy water show, in one of his best bits of the season, Dewey gets a pet tiger who sadly did not come home with him and Webby gets to live the dream we’ve all had of stuffing her face directly in a choclate fountain. Scrooge’s escape is likewise clever: He simply prepares to get a room.. then books it as the check in desk is ALWAYS near the front.

We then find out Gladston’es trapped get the whole mystical contest with absolutely gorgeous animation, i’ll talk about it in full some time but this episode is just a treat to watch, has a great arc for donald and had some memorable gags. I can’t help but smile when I watch it.

11. The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee! As I mentioned before i’m a superhero nerd so naturally Fenton was one of my faviorite parts of the show. Frank and Matt were just damn good at crafting superhero stories, and like gladstone improved fenton turning him from an awkward donald stand in to an awkward peter parker-esque science nerd who just wants to be a good person and the best hero he can be. He got into science not just because he thinks it’s neat, but because he honestly wants to help people and you can’t help but foot for him whenever he pops up. Lin Manuel Miranda is a large reason for that, bringing his incomparable a-game to the character. While we sadly didn’t get a ton of gizmoduck focused episodes, the fatct we got AS MANY as we did and that Lin didn’t drop out for a minute even with his busy schedule was a miracle and I’m acknowledging that.

As for why this one, I feel it builds brilliantly on the previous Fentoncentric episode Who Is Gizmoduck?! which just BARELY didn’t make this list and uses the fact we haven’t seen fenton in a while as both a plot point and to move some things forward without having to spend screentime they clearly didn’t have. By having Fenton be just burnt out on superheroics it finds a way to both explain where he’s been, he’s been busy with his new job, and give us an interesting angle to the old “superhero is tired of the life” thing. He never once complains about saving people or stuff... it’s just like any job it gets tiring after a while. As someone who has his dream job but has struggled with it from time to time, I vastly relate.

Though while I love my boy and Lin is game as always, the episodes real MVP is my other boy Huey. The episode has moved Huey up from being simply Fenton’s fanboy to being his best friend, and adorable as hell relationship. The two clearly respect and appricate each other and Huey is looking out for his buddy the whole episode. His love of love is also just really cute. Added in the mix is Webby, who in one of my faviorite gags of the series, finds out Fenton is Gizmoduck because Huey is incredibly and insanely blatant with his unecessary coverup. But she of course is game to help while Fenton is trying to play it casual. We also just get a waterfall of great gags as everyone overdoes it wingmanning for fenton: Huey sets up an itallian bistro and tries to purposfully create a lady and the tramp situation, and sings opera (With Manny on acordian), the wonderfully 80′s suit from Fenton’s dad his mom gives him to wear, and Launchpad, who gives us a tremendous list of his exes, and plays my favorite song of the series: It’s a Date, a micheal mcdonnel riff.

This episode also wisely ups Mark’s Beaks game as Fenton’s arch enemy, still keeping him hilaroius, with the guy acting like a bored teenager and guzzling so much nanite jucie he turns into a hulk, as well as said hulk mode leading to a ton of great gags from kidnapping the children (”I got your kids.. are they your kids? I don’t know how this family works), to “take that coach dad” to eating a pie with tins and all and wondering about said tins. But he’s an actual threat now, taking on fenton in one hell of a fight, and having an utterly transcendent scene where he hacks his way past gyro’s security while dancing.. and dabbing because of course he does. It’s a fun, well done character piece that’s mostly here for i’ts laugh but Fenton’s struggle with Gizmo overtaking his life, and finding out someone he truly hit it off iwth only wanted him for that.. it’s really good stuff and Lin’s delivery after Fenton finds out, the pure pain and betryal in his voice, is just excellent. Also that opera scene is poetry.

10. Quack Pack!

One of the episodes that started my career naturally landed here. Not for that reason though: Quack Pack is a fun riff on sitcoms, specifically the tgif ones of the 90′s that Disney Afternoon Kids no doubt also watched, the kinds Disney Channel still makes today, and most importanly the kind the Disney Afternoon itself made like Goof Troop and well... Quack Pack.

Riffs on sitcoms are nothing new and the last year has been FULL of them. 2020 gave us this episode, Beef House and the wonderful “The Perfect House” episode of Close Enough, and this year gave us WandaVision, my second favorite MCU project so far, right behind Black Panther, which used the sitcom deconstruction to create one hell of a character study.

So you’d think with a year having passed and this concept happening as an entire mini series would dull this one.. but no. it’s still damn funny, having fun at the cliches while, again like WandaVision, having one of the main cast be responsible by accident but go along with it. The episode pivots from glorious affectionate parody of cheesy sitcoms, to that plus horrifying “Humans”, and a character piece for Donald. This brings Donald’s hatred and fed up ness with adventure to a head revealing his fondest wish is just to have a normal life and not loose anyone again.

It takes one of his best friends to snap him out of it. Look Goofy is my second faviorite of the sensational seven, an episode with him was already an easy sell for me.. but the episode uses him really well. First for laughs as he’s gentically dispositioned to be a perfect sitcom neighbor.. but also for heart. With his family preoccupied and a bit hurt, i’ts Goofy who cuts to the heart of the issue, pointing out NO ONE is normal and even his normal domestic life raising Max, who we see go to prom with roxanne eeeeee, has all sorts of chaos. Normal is what you make of it and pining for some ideal that will never happen was just tearing donald apart piece by piece and by letting go of that.. he finally begins to grow as a person throughout the season. It’s also a great thematic tie in to the season’s overall plot with Bradford and what Makes donald, despite also disliking the chaos his family gets into, different. Donald accepted it and grew as a person.. Bradford clung to his hate and it ate him alive. Or turned him into a non-sapient kind of vulture. Before I close this part out Jaleel White is also excellent and I wish eh’d get back into voice acting. He’s so freaking good at it. Seriously man i’d love to see him and ben in a sonic property together as a mythology gag. Same with Jims cummings and carey. Just think about it whoever owns the sonic movies.. think about it.

9. The Last Adventure!

Look I knew this was coming, you knew this was coming. But it had to be on here. The Last Adventure is not perfect: The lack of a build up episode like the previous two finales had really hurt this one: even at about 70 minutes, it still feels rushed in places and Huey, one of hte main characters of the season, dosen’t feel like he has a full payoff to his character like Dewey and Louie got.

But despite those flaws.. this episode is just a damn good ending. Almost everyone gets a big moment paying off their character arc, everyone in the party that comes to rescue webby and huey, along with the two themselves, gets a moment to show off, and everything comes together to give us one last epic sendoff. There’s just moment stacked on moment stacked on moment from Launchpads heroic second wind and donning of the gizmoduck armor, to Webby’s tearful confrontation with Beakley, to Huey using the greatest adventure of all line to foil bradford in one of the most deligfhully nuts moments of the series, I could go on for days with just how triumphant this finale felt. While it left a lot of doors open.. that feels like part of the design. It’s the end of the fight with FOWL.. but our heroes will never stop adventuring, never stop going and never stop being in our hearts and the curtain call at the end is now my faviorite bit of end credits ever, perfectly giving the main cast and friends one last chance to take a bow in their own unique ways. I will always miss this show but I will never be disapointed by the note it went out on.

8. The 87 Cent Solution!

Look some episodes are show stoppers, some are heartfelt tearjerkers, some are all this and more.. and some episodes are just clever and hilarious. The 87 Solution is the second funniest episode of Ducktales with me and my go to episode when watching the show. It’s just pure fun and with a clever premise: Scrooge notices 87 cents have gone missing, and already coming down with a cold, goes mad with paranoia as the kids slowly don face masks, something that has become even eeerier given everything, one by one realizing he needs to stop.

While David Tennant is an EXCELLENT dramatic actor, his comedy timing is really something that shoudln’t be ignored and i’ts on full display here as his performance gets more and more deranged, to thep oint he thinks an 8th dimensional imp is repsonsible. He nicely balances the disturbing side of Scrooge’s paranoia, his distancing from his family, with plenty of great gags about it too, the standout being when he offers 2 million dollars to whoever took the money like he’s publicly appeasing kidnappers. It’s fucking brilliant.

But while David is awesome as ever what really, truly makes the episode is my boy, one of my faviorite characters on the show if not my single faviriote FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Keith Ferguson is ALWAYS a dream as the character but this is his best performance by far. Part of this is the addition of Zan Owlson, Kev who I mentioned earlier’s faviorite Ducktales character. She’s not only throughly likeable in her own right, but provides the one thing Flinty was missing; a straight man.. or woman in this case. Scrooge wasn’t TERRIBLE in the roll, but can easily step away from his shit or foil it. Owlson has to put up with Glomgold’s nonsense while desperatly trying to stop him from undoing all her hard work with sheer force of jackass. The two jut play off each other brilliantly, Glomgold not getting sh’es not his employee but his equal and Owlson constnatly snarking at him.

And of course both things hit their peak in the climax with the family staging a fake funeral (Though no one told donald it was fake), and we get the funniest scene in the entire fucking show as Glomgold burts in in a white suit, money shades and full dance number to “All I Do Is Win’, which when first watching this I was convinced the song was somehow accidnetly on in the background but nope. They got it after using it in the test phase and the scene is better for it. Glomgold twerking on Scrooge’s casket, trying to get on it to dance, and having to be placated like ac hild is the icing on this very rich cake

And the reveal scene is also gold as Glomgold gets into a YEARLONG staring contest with a baby, fails to steal more than the 87 cents and, in my faviorite touch, put on an imp costume just to make scrooge seem crazier... then keeps the damn thing on the rest of the time for no explicable reason. The episode is the show at it’s comedic peak while giving Glomgold a chance to be a genuine threat and that’s Glomgood.

7. Let’s Get Dangerous!

Frank’s Rebooted Version of Darkwing Duck is probably his greatest achivment with the show. While this show is a team effort, something I slowly realized as I reviewed the show, it’s very clear from the way he talks, how well he knows the show and how much effort was put into porting Darkwing into the reboot that this was his baby. While redefining ducktales for the 2010′s was clearly a huge dream of his... doing the same for the master of suprise was an even bigger goal. And as a huge fan of superheroes i’ve seen my fair share of half assed takes on laired and complex characters. The XCU alone is one giant grab bag of missed opportunities for me.

So i’ts no exageration when I tell you Frank.. nailed it. In one of the most brilliant moves i’ve seen for a superhero work Frank worked his love of the show into the reboot.. by having Darkwing have been a show, one Launchpad loved.. and so did Drake, who was inspried by the show to become an inspriation himself and while his attempt to do that through a zack snydery reboot failed, Launchpad encouraged him to do it for real. Drake was still himself, but the meta aspect and the toning down of some of darkwing’s more obnoxious traits that didn’t work in a universe that, while patently rediciulous still took it’s characters seriously, he made a BETTER version of the character.

This is where all that comes to it’s peak, and hoppefully convinced Disney to let Frank , and possibly matt, run the reboot. And no, even if Point Grey is producing that dosen’t stop that: Thanks to Invincible i’ve now realized that Seth and his friend Evan producing the show dosen’t mean it’ll be RAN by them, nor unrelated to this. It just means their helping make it and if anything given how lush and gorgeous invincible’s animation is, it’s a VERY good sign their helping out with it if it’s true.

But wether this versoin continues or not, Frank gave it his best shot. Part of his diffrent angle is having Drake as a rookie here and as such here we see him truly struggle: he’s had his origin, he ahs the cape, he has the gadgets (in a brilliant turn thanks to fenton, who he actually likes... but is so far the ONLY person to not get he’s Gizmoduck), and the city.. but no crime to fight and no real idea how to go about his lifelong dream. The events of the episode slowly shape him: WHile he already had the spirit for darkwing, never giving up, looking good in a cape etc, this episode gives him the heart the same way it gave his original it: With Gosalyn. Dimantopolis and Beatriz just play off each other perfectly, as the two go from neimies to slowly bonding as Drake realizes this kid needs him and that he needs to fight for more than just filing the ohle inside, and goes to hell and back to help her get her grandpa back, with one of the best moments of the episode to me being when Launchpad helps her realize how hard he’s been working at it, an exausted drake refusing to acccept that he can’t get her grandpa back because he promised. He grows from simply trying to live the dream.. to surpassing the original. We also see more from Launchpad, who grows into his new family and helps push his boyfriend and newa dopted daughter in the right directions. The episode really evolves these characters from the simple disney afternoon versions, who while awesome were made into fully fleshed out characters. Gosalyn still has her edge but now has a hard lesson to learn about doing the right thing, forced to give up someone she loves for the greater good but finding a new family in the process.

Part of what makes the episode work though as while it is funcitonally one big darkwing duck reboot pilot that’s awesome, heartrending and a joy to watch... it’s still a ducktales episode in parts without either part hurting each other. Huey plays a vital role, figuring the ramrod is too good to be true.. and discovering just how it is, then when captured, slowly unravling why Bradford’s there and being at least in part responsible for outing him as a FOWL agent. While this is largely Drakes story the rest of the cast is still vital to it: Scrooge trusting in huey, Louie serving as his logical counter and Dewey meanwhile bonding with team darkwing and helping Gosalyn, knowing exactly where she’s been and providing a nice foil. The episode is just one long and impressive love letter to the original show while creating it’s own thing and that’s really this reboot in a nutshell. It also has some of the best fights of the series, with the first fight between darkwing and bulba, where our hero, unlike his original counterpart, easily troucnes bulba using his speed and skill, is the standout.

6. Woo-Ooo!

I covered this one recently so I won’t go on for too long.. but I will say I hold this one up as the gold standard for first episodes. In one hour, hell even in jus the first half we get a sense of the whole cast, the tone of the show, and the world we’ve been thrust into. It gets all the table setting out of the way by weaving it into a compelling story of Scrooge getting back in the game, finding a reason to get back to what he does best in those he loves most and setting up the season long arc effortlessly in the process. The worst I can say about the episode is it sets the bar a bit high for Season 1 and a lot of the first half really struggled to reach these heights. This episode is a masterwork and the perfect showcase for what the series would be at it’s height.

5. Moonvasion!

Speaking of Golden Standards, Moonvasion is one of the best season finale’s i’ve seen. it’s not THE best.. but that’s a really high bar to clear and that spots currently taken in my heart by “The Crossroads of Destiny” from Avatar the Last Airbender. But while not the best of it’s kind, it’s sitll the best the series put out and is an utterly satisfying epic that ties up season 2.

While I love the Last Adventure, it had a LOT to tie up and was really hampered by having to do all of that with no direct lead in. Moonvasion by contrast hits the ground running with the Moonlanders arriving on earth and all hell breaking loose, and the episode itself breaking into two stellar plots. Scrooge leading an army of every ally he has against the invaders, and Della seemingly going for reinforcements.. but really just trying to keep the kids safe from it, to their anger once they find out.

Both sides end up going badly: Scrooge looses most of his army as Lunaris was one step ahead of him and is left iwth Beakly and Launchpad, while Della ends up marooned.. and finds Donald. The reunion between the two is the highlight of the special, as the two argue as you’d expect (And Dewey cutting in seemingly to stop it.. only to rant at Donald for costing him “ten years of turbo” is the best gag of the episode), before embracing.

Our heroes naturally find ways to bounce back though. Louie, capping off his growth for the season, convinces his mom they can’t just hide.. and in the second best scene of the episode sings the lullabye she wrote.. one Donald sung them every night

And no sooner than Della gets her step back and realizes that dangerous or not she and her newly reunited family have to get back in there, do the cousins show up on Fethry’s giant shrimp/girlfriend Mitzi, and our heroes head back.

Scrooge’s plot hits i’ts peak though as he’s forced to accept the help of an unlikely and unwelcome ally: Glomgold, who turns out to be exactly what they need: While his plan is as stupid, short sighted and insane as you’d expect, complete with forcing Scrooge to dress up as santa just to piss him off and dressing his sharks in parkas (”I call them sharkas”), the sheer lonacy throws Lunaris off as he dosen’t know how to deal with this and Glomgold not only gets the better of him but gets his company back as part of his scheme. “You were prepared for our best but not our dumbest!” “And i’m the dumbest theirs ever been! Muahahahaha! Wait...”

And of course our other heroes arrive just in time to save things.. and the episode still manages to pull off what many works struggle to, something tha’ts very hard to: a SECOND climax. Lunaris decides to just say fuck it and blow up the earth and i’ts up to our core family to kick his ass in space. Epic space battles, Della’s girlfriend meeting the family and more insues and an emotoinal, action packed and fully satisfying finale is had by all... and it’s all topped with one of the best sequel hooks i’ve ever seen as FOWL makes themselves known to us.. and prepares to strike.

4. How Santa Stole Christmas! This one will also be short as i’ve talked about this one.. a lottttt. The initial review, my best christmas specials list and my best of 2020 list. I stand by all of that: this is a unique and wonderful christmas special, i’ll be watching it every year, and i’ts full of charm, humor and gay subtext. In short it’s this series but on christmas footing.

3. Last Crash of the Sunchaser!

Another one I covered very recently, this episode is a master piece of suspense, slowly building tension as our heroes get closer and closer to the truth about Della.. and to death, the simple but deadly stakes making this an absolute nailbiter from start to finish. This is some of the series best pacing bar none... but what seals it is the ending: the masterful flashback finally explaning whatever happened to Della duck, our heroes lashing out at each other.. all cumilating in the best Scene of the show. I said it might be in the review but no I can confirm: Scrooge bitterly ruminating over things while we find out just how much he’s lost... ending with him tearfully and angrily sitting once again alone in one hell of a powerful shot echoing Scrooge’s first apperance. Damn fine stuff.

2. Escape from The Impossbin Only one episode not only matches Last Crash in mounting tension and atmosphere but suprasses it. With FOWL and Bradford’s true nature now out in the wind, this episode uses that to create tension and rattles it’s two most unshakable characters: SCrooge’s normal boundless confidence is shot, not sure he can win this time against an opponent who knows him as well as he knows himself while Beakly slowly unravels, pitting Webby against the boys.. and pitting herself against Webby when Webby sees her terroizing them is only dividing them. Both plots start out funny enough but slowly escalate in tension and stakes until by the end your on the edge of your seat. The Beakly plot is the standout of the two, giving Bentina the starring role she badly needed, having gotten even better in light of the finale. Everyone is at the top of their game and everything builds up to one hell of a twist ending and one hell of a badass boast from our heroes: Their down.. but their far from out and this is far from over.

1. Nightmare On Kimotor Hill!

I”ll be reviewing this episode in full later this week as part of my Lena retrospective, but I stand by putting it up top. This episode is ducktales in it’s purest form and focuses on it’s best original character as Lena grapples with her self hatred and her past. That core helps anchor an amazing concept: going into the Kid’s dreams and finding out their greatest desires. The results.. are all gloriously rediclous and are easily the best gags of hte series as a whole: Dewey’s high school musical santa claus is going ot high school nonsense from getting a’s in Dewology to running away from the abstract concept of a love intrest, to not getting the sybolism of himself crying a moon made of his own tears. Louie quite literally becoming garfield, and my faviorite scene of the show: Huey, wanting to be the tall older brother..g iving himself horrifcly long leg. While everyone else is just understandably baffled, what makes the scene is the banter between Dewey and Huey, with Schwartz and Pudi at their best as Dewey first freaks out and then asks what the hell man, while Huey defends his weird decision (”I”m not good at imagination stuff okay!”), and then tries to get a jar of pickles. Each dream is just so oddly and wonderfully specific to each kid and each one of the triplests dreams, as well as violets being color coded down tot he backgrounds is a very nice touch. The visuals here are just peak ducktales, using the setting for all it’s worth and the climax is utterly emotoinal and heartbreaking... and Lena’s break from her abuser, finally realizing she has the power now is not only a wonderful metaphor... but also just so damn cathartic. And that’s why this one’s the best to me personally: it just packs so much into 20 minutes: some of the series best and most creative jokes, a gripping emtoinal arc, and so much more. It’s just that damn good and tha’ts why it’s the best... that and starting Huelet for me. Seriously that LIbrary scene is so fucking cute.

Thank you all for reading. If you liked this artcle, join my patreon and help me get to my stretch goal for monthly darkwing duck reviews, a review of super ducktales and more after! Until the next rainbow... it’s been a pleasure.

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sheep33hallow · 3 years ago

Text

I still think about it Part 2(MikeyxTakemichi)

Part 1

Summary: Mikey thinks Takemichi's baby is quite ugly. He thinks he can do a better job than Takemichi's husband.

__________

“You have a visitor.” Is what Koko mumbles against Draken lips after he got home from work. Inupi decided to stay longer at the shop so he already got his goodbye kisses.

“Mikey?” Questioned Draken pulling Koko closer to him. Kissing his cheeks before returning back to his lover’s mouth. Something about making out leaves such a satisfied chill in his body. He likes to mix saliva, caress their tongues together.

Koko is having a hard time answering from the assault on his mouth. He’s gripping the counter in the kitchen with one hand while the other hangs limply.

“Yes.” He stretches out the word slowly as Draken finally pulls back. Draken looks at Koko and thinks he might want to hump him later. Get him all revved up and ready for Inupi to fuck him while Draken watches and smokes a blunt.

He’ll need to kick out Mikey in an hour at least.

Moving closer, he bites Koko’s lip and sucks it into his mouth before diving back into the warm crevice in front of him. Their teeth clink a bit. Koko is moaning into his mouth. Draken is pulling at some of Koko’s hair strains.

“Draken.” Koko huffs into his mouth.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” Moving onto closed mouth kisses.

“Go see about MIkey. I’ll still be here.” He backs up slightly. Panting. Face flushed.

Draken adjusts himself. Deciding he needs to shower before entertaining whatever MIkey showed up to do. It’s been a month since Atsushi suicide and Kisaki’s death and they haven’t found any evidence of foul play.

Hanma hasn’t been spotted out either. He heard that there is a new owner that has taken over Valhalla’s businesses but he hasn’t revealed himself yet. Things have been quiet. Even the Black Dragons have been quiet, but that’s only because Shin got Wakasa pregnant again and refuses to leave his mates side even in his second trimester.

Looking at Koko, Draken has wondered about getting Koko pregnant or even Inupi since he was a beta like Draken. Two betas and an omega under a household. It’s loving and special.

Draken moves closer to get one more kiss in, but Koko laughs and takes a step further back. “Go Ken!” He decides to side step out of the kitchen and into his own room.

“I’ll find you later, bet on it.” He joyously yells at the closed door.

Walking down the hall, he turns the knob to his room and sees a sight that pisses him off.

Mikey and Kore are in his bed sleeping. Looking cute as fuck.

He knows Mikey finds the kid ugly, but the little cherub is cute to him.

He takes his phone out and snaps a picture and sends it to the group chat.

Gagging-Baji

Awww! Look at the them bonding!- Mitsuya

Huh, he even sleeps like Mikey- Pah

They snuck in here.- Draken

That’s where that asshole was! He was supposed to go to a charity event with me earlier today.-Baji

Things are good. I went with Baji- Kazutora

But you weren’t meant to!-Bajji

Dude, he has a kid now. Leave him alone. It’s hard adjusting- Pah

Glad, I got my tubes tied. I’ll be that sexy uncle that pops up and gives money.- Mitsuya

Mitchy and him aren’t even courting-Baji

You know Mikey can see the chats?-Pah

Why else would I say it?-Baji

Draken decides to send the picture to Koko, Inupi, Emma and Takemichi.

Draken instantly hears a door opening and closing as fast footsteps close in on him.

Koko, in a grey sweatsuit, enter’s Draken’s room. “Oh, this is precious.” He walks over to the bed. Kneeling down to get a good look at the sleeping baby.

Draken walks over to his closet and hangs up his jacket. “Didn’t you see Kore with him?”

“Hmm, I recall something was strapped to his chest, but he gave me my favorite chocolates so I didn’t question it.” Koko gently puts his hand on Kore’s head. Feeling the soft baby hairs against his skin.

A hand shoots out and grabs Koko’s hand. He flinches at the sudden touch. “Please don’t.” Mikey croaks. Smacking his lips as he sits up and removes his hand from Koko.

“He’s so hard to get down. Coming here was a last resort.”

Koko smiles. “Oh, where’s Takemichi?”

Mikey flops back down. Deciding it isn’t worth getting up. He snuggles deeper into Draken’s pillow. “He’s started working again. The paper work with the lawyers got settled last week and he was able to find a job doing some administrative work.”

He rubs his hand against Kore’s back.

Koko scoffs. He turns around to say something to Draken, but hears the shower running. He turns back to Mikey and gets comfortable on the floor. Leaning his cheek against the mattress.

“How’s it been living with the newly widowed family?”

Before replying Mikey reaches his hand toward Koko, Koko grabs it and Mikey pulls slightly to get Koko to move onto the bed. Koko stands up and lays on top of the covers. He lays his head on the other pillow, looking at Mikey with Kore asleep between them.

“Want more omegas in your bed, Mikey?” Koko jokes. Keeping his hands cupped with MIkey’s.

“I annoy Draken, but I’m not crazy enough to touch you.” Mikey’s thumb caresses the back of Koko’s hand.

“You’re touching me now?” Koko’s smile widens as he teases Mikey.

“So I am.” Mikey chuckles. He sobers up a bit to answer Koko’s earlier question. “It’s been interesting. Takemichi blends right in with our family. We went to Shin and Wakasa house for their daughter’s seventh birthday party and all of the kids loved him. Kore stayed on my lap because Takemichi spent most of the time in the bounce house with the kids.”

Koko doesn’t say anything for a while.

“I know this sounds wrong, but now that Atsushi is gone. I feel like Takemichi has been happier. Like his smile seems to have that warmth it used to have.” Said Koko.

Mikey nods in agreement. He hasn’t been wanting to bring up the obvious shift in happiness, but he just hopes it’s because Mikey is being a good Alpha and not because he hasn’t been a good friend and missed a lot of signs for the past few years.

“I’ve been scent marking him again.”

Koko shows some teeth. “Wow, I remember when I met Takemichi in graduate school and he always came to class smelling like you. Was a shock to know that you guys were not together.”

Mikey pulls his hand away from Koko to flung it over his eyes. “Eh, don’t remind me. Mistuya always had a field day about it.”

Koko moves his hand to join the other under the pillow. “Remember when you and Sanzu were dating.” Koko chuckles.

“And then he dumped me when he realized he was aromantic. He thought his loyalty to me was love, but it was just admiration.”

“Still a good attack dog. I gave him a raise recently.”

“That’s good. He fosters a bunch of pets. He needs the money.”

They both turn their heads when the door opens. Draken walks back into his room. A towel around his waist.

He waves at Mikey and walks over to kiss Koko’s cheek again.

“You’re going to ignore me Ken-chin?” Whines Mikey.

Draken breathes deeply before leaning over the bed and kissing Mikey’s cheek as well.

“Yay! Now kiss Kore.”

“Mikey…” He starts.

“Please. Everyone in this home deserves Draken’s love. Even Koko agrees.”

Draken looks at Koko. He’s cheerfully nodding his head.

Pulling back slightly, he drops a soft kiss onto Kore. Who wiggles a bit and opens his eyes to blink at Koko, Koko waves, but Kore rubs his face into the pillow before turning around and going back to sleep.

“Can I get dressed now?” Said Draken walking over to his closet. Draken hears them speaking to him but he ignores it to get dressed.

________________________

Takemichi is at work when he gets an alert with a picture of Mikey and Kore sleeping together. A smile appears on his face, glad that he has another picture to add to his Kore and Mikey collection.

Placing his phone back down, he continues to type away at his computer. Thinking of what he should say to the manager of their Kyoto division. They need more workers out there and Takemichi will be in charge of who will go out there and help.

He decides the back and forth of an email isn’t enough and decides to send an email about setting up a Zoom conference call. While waiting for a reply, he looks around the office. Happy to be back at work. The employees have been so kind so far, he’s known some of them for a while and glad to get to know them better on a deeper level.

He looks out of the window. The garden below is lush and gorgeous. He thinks he’ll have lunch there today. The more he stares, the more his mind drifts back to his past.

During this last month at Sano's. He didn’t realize how much emotional weight he had been carrying for the past few years.

His life with Atsushi wasn’t all sparkles and rainbows. He’s known Atsushi before he met Mikey and Toman and he’s always felt connected to his red-headed friend turned lover. Hinata knew him just as long and was the only one who knew the truth about their household.

There were good and bad days, but when the bad started to outweigh the good, he started to learn more about the secret life that his husband was leading. He knew he needed a change.

He hopes HInata is in the office today. He’ll need to notify her of this Zoom call as well and to see if she wants to join in.

A knock alerts him from his thoughts. He sees his assistant through the glass. He waves her in.

She walks in.

“Hello Mr. Hanagaki. Do you have any reports I can give to manufacturing?” She stands to the side of his desk.

“Oh yes. Hold on.” He opens up his drawer and puts out different files. His assistant makes an amused noise and he looks up at her in question.

“Ah, I see you use the LINE 24 collection from Sephora. I use it too whenever I go to anime conventions. That stuff is sweatproof and it covers all of my acne scars.” She says cheerfully and raises a hand to her face. It’s true, he doesn’t see a single spot on her face.

Takemichi forgot that it was in his drawer and looked down at the bottle. It’s almost empty. “I-I do love that line.”

“How long have you been wearing it? If you want to save money, I know a few dupes that have a similar formula.” She continues.

Takemichi involuntarily twitches when a shiver goes up his spine. He nods at her.

“Excellent. I’ll email it to you.” She smiles.

Grateful to have found the report, he politely hands it to her.

“Thank you, Miss Rose.” He says. Putting the files back into his drawer.

She nods at him and strides back out into the hallway. The door closed behind her. He watches her through the glass and once she is out of sight, he opens his drawer back up. He grabs the empty bottle and throws it into the trash.

I need to cancel my membership.

_________________

Chifuyu is gripping the sheets.

Hard.

His pussy is being pounded by his husband. The evidence of their love making is smeared all around this bed. His pussy won't stop leaking even though he has orgasmed twice already.

Baji hasn't come once.

Fuck.

The constant and verocious hip thrusts from behind kept sending him higher and higher. He doesn't know if he can orgasm again. He's getting tired, but he refuses to tell his lover to stop.

His cheek is against the sheets. Fist tightens whenever Baji slowly drags his cock out to the tip and does small pumps at his entrance.

"Don't be quiet." His husband cooed. He can hear his amusement.

Chifuyu didn't even realize he was stiffulling his moans. His mind was focused only on being used like a rag doll by his spouse.

He can't even find words to respond, so he hiccups. Tears in his eyes. He's so sensitive.

He feels Baji pause. Bending down, to kiss his favorite spot on Chifuyu's back. A similar tattoo to Baji's to show his spousal status in Toman. Feeling even more revved up as he remembers the day he got it. Baji always kisses it when Chifuyu is near exhausted. For him to remember he is owned.

Kazutora tattooed his back. He did it in their living room, with Baji walking in often from checking on their first newborn.

When he was done. Chifuyu continued to lay on the tattoo table, feeling cosy from the warmth of the sun radiating through their tall windows. He thanked Kazutora and Baji soon walked back in.

He felt Baji stand next to the table he was lying on. Using his finger to trace the perimeter of his new tattoo.

Chifuyu shivered. Eyes closed. His head was laying sideways in his forearms.

The touch soon left him and he thought he heard some mumbling over him. Kazutora was shirtless whenever he tattooed someone. His black gloves and slacks were his uniform.

He got jolted when he felt a dick on his lips. Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar cock of his husband's. Baji pulled his pants down just under his cock, and Chifuyu instinctually granted his husband entrance.

Then he felt a hand on his butt.

"You game Chifuyu?" Said his husband. Stroking his fingers through his Chifuyu's mullet.

At the same time, gloves hands were slowly pulling his pants down.

All he could do was moan as a reply.

Getting fucked in both ends over a portable tattoo table never felt so good.

They still don't know if Kazutora or Baji is the father of their second child and no one really cares. Baji's name is on the birth certificate and Kazutora is alway around anyways.

Kazutora was aromantic, and didn't want to commit to a relationship with them. He has his own room in their house whenever he visits though and he taught the kids to call him some foreign word for father.

Coming back to the present when he heard his husband speak to him.

"Want to have another man's kid?" Baji's face was on his neck. Gnawing on their bond mark.

"B-aby." He whined out. Baji strong hips were fucking him so deep from behind. Baji's hand found its way to grasp Chifuyu's throat.

"The leader of Toman perhaps?" He growled.

Chifuyu was panting.

Mikey's? He can't remember the last time he heard about Mikey even thinking a relationship, let alone fucking someone.

"You and him would have the most gorgeous child." A hard snap. "Shit." Baji sounded winded. He kept their hips close, the tip of his cock giving a strong kiss to his g-spot.

Chifuyu felt his own eyes roll back, coming again for the third time. The spot under his cheek was soaked with his drool. "Kei." He moaned out.

The hand left his throat, and Baji pulled back and out. Using his inhumane strength to effortlessly flip Chifuyu onto his back.

He slid back in. No resistance.

"I got you Fu." He whispered. Bending down again to lazily kiss his husband. Rubbing his hand along Chifuyu's face. Coating his hand with his lover's spit.

Baji changed his pace after that, moving slowly. In and out. In and out.

"You got any strength left in you?" Said Baji.

Chifuyu honestly didn't know. But he must have nodded from Baji's reply.

"Scratch my bond mark? Dig into it like you know I like it." He licked into Chifuyu's limp mouth.

With a shuttering inhale he found some strength. He started on the elbow and moved his hand onto Baji's shoulder.

Just that light touch alone was making Baji shiver over him.

Using his manicured nails, he dug all five into his lover's shoulder.

"Harder baby." Baji moved one of his hands up to rub his thumb on Chifuyu's milk filled buds.

Pressing further he saw some blood trail down Baji's shoulder and a dribble hit Chifuyu's own nipple.

"Yes." Baji chanted and hissed when he finally unloaded into Chifuyu.

Chifuyu gladly took the load into his well used pussy.

Their mouths were swallowing each other's deep inhales and exhales. Their sweat mingled. Eyes closed as Baji cupped Chifuyu's face.

"Fuck, I love you." Baji's hoarse voice said.

Baji was used to this routine after a long period of sex. He felt Chifuyu's body go limp under him.

His blonde spouse had promptly passed out.

The next morning after dropping their oldest off at school, in the car Chifuyu decided to bring up last night.

"You want me to fuck Mikey?" Chifuyu said in the passenger's seat. Their last two kids were with the nanny today. So they planned to spend some time alone before Baji went to work.

Hands on the steering wheel. "Um, if Mikey was into that. Maybe, but it's a joke we had together from a recent group chat." Baji chuckled.

Chifuyu rolled his eyes. Enough family events and bbqs together had made him immune to the group's antics.

"You can check my phone if you want a good laugh." He nodded to his phone sitting in the cup holder between them.

Chifuyu did a 'why not' shrug and grabs the phone to open up his husband's messages.

Baji was thankful they were at a stop light when Chifuyu yelled.

"Mikey wants to get Takemichi pregnant?!"

_______________

Mikey sneezed as he entered the Toman tower.

"Don't get your germs on me." Said Izana from his spot next to Mikey.

Mikey used the hand he just sneezed into and threaded it through his brother's hair when he got a bit of distance in front of him.

Izana froze and grabbed the strains that Mikey just touched. Turning around slightly, "Don't drink anything, Mikey." He detachedly warned.

Mikey continued walking passed and winked at his brother in response.

"Poison me and I'll let Jushi sleep in your bed next time he's babysitting with grandpa." Pressing the elevator button.

Ding

Izana tried to grab Mikey's throat, but Mikey side stepped it as they walked into the elevator.

"I hate that fucking brat." Izana mumbles. Leaning against the elevator wall. "He's three and still not potty trained."

Mikey chuckled. "You're his favorite uncle though." Loving Izana's misery.

"Emma needs to get her priorities together. Just because she can't have more kids doesn't mean that that one needs to be spoiled." Said Izana. Adjusting his white jacket.

He looked at Mikey who was in another oversized hoodie. It must be Shin's or Draken's. They had a meeting that they needed to be prepared for. The new owner of Valhalla wanted to meet with them for some reason.

Renegotiate old documents.

Mikey waved him off. "Jushi is fine. A mess." He pointed. Arching an eyebrow. "But fine."

The door opened. Leaving out they turned right toward their meeting room.

"Put that kid in my bed and I'll cut your hair while you're sleeping." Mikey knew he was always vulnerable when he slept. Last week Izana dragged him to his room by his ankle and he didn't move once.

He woke up wondering why there was lint in his hair and Izana said it was Kore.

"No!" He paused to stomp his foot. "Then Kenny won't do my hair anymore."

Izana grabbed Mikey's nose between his knuckles. "Then we're even."

Mikey reluctantly nodded.

Izana let go and they walked past two more doors and walked into the meeting room.

Izana opened up the door, letting Mikey walk through first. Mikey stopped mid-step when someone spoke to him.

Pink hair was out of the corner of his eye. He turned. Seeing a familiar and surprising face.

Cheerful Hinata. Hair perfectly cut with a blue dress sat on the other side of the table. Files and a laptop were in front of her.

"Hello Sano-san."

Mikey didn't know how to respond and didn't. He walked to the seat directly across from her. Izana stood behind him leaning against the wall.

"You own Valhalla?" Mikey's first words to her.

She smiled and shook her head. "Oh no, I was hired as a liason or mediator until the owner officially moved to Tokyo."

"Last I heard, you were a school teacher, how'd you end up in gang business." He let out a humorless laugh. "I remember you slapping me in college when Mitchy and I first became friends."

Her shoulder dropped. Getting into a more casual posture. "That was then and things have changed. I was offered this position and." She shrugged. "Kids are boring."

Izana snorted.

"What is the owner's name?"

He watched Hinata's eyes quickly shift to Izana then back to her paperwork. "He would rather I not say. He will be in town next week."

"Then why not meet then?" Mikey crossed his arms. Tilting the chair back slightly.

She tapped something on her laptop.

Mikey squinted his eyes.

"Are you recording this?" Said Izana. Walking closer to the table. Placing his hands down and leaning over them.

Hinata pulled her laptop back slightly. "Yes." She said politely.

Mikey rested his hand on Izana's. "And you didn't think to tell us?" Izana said. Flipping his hand to cup Mikey's.

Hinata watched their interaction. She's known them since college and their intense stare is usually never directed at her.

She knew getting into this business, she'd deal with some assholes, but this was territory that sent some fear down her body.

Taking a deep breath, and letting out a shuttering exhale. She didn't see a point in hiding her fear. That's what her boss told her. The Sanos know what kind of hold they have on the underworld.

She just kept the reason she was doing this in her mind. "Yes, m-my boss asked me too."

Mikey smiled. So did Izana.

She saw Izana grip a gun that came out from under the table.

She remembers being told to check the area before being alone with the Sanos. She quickly tapped a button on her laptop again before the gunshot rang in the room.

She screamed as her laptop exploded next to her. Gripping her hair. She was surprised she wasn't crying.

Would she die? No, no, she had Takemichi as a shield. But that didn't stop them from torturing her if needed.

What kind of gun was that?!

Still holding his brother's hand, Izana brought the gun to Mikey's face, he blew out the smoke it left behind.

Mikey then took it from his brother's hand. Lazily shaking it around in his hand as he spoke his next words. "If your boss wants to work with us. Never hold information when doing business."

He pointed the gun at Hinata. He watched her flinch. "Lives are at stake." He said mockingly.

Then shook the gun toward the door. "Please leave, tell your boss we will meet next week or whenever he is ready. I'll be kind and keep the current negotiations set until then."

Hinata hurriedly put everything in his bag. Even the pieces of the laptop. She bowed, her body shaking as she did it.

She felt the creepy eyes of the brothers while waking to the door. Before turning the knob, Izana said "I heard your fiance was MIA. Sorry to hear about that." He said lazily. Letting go of Mikey's hand and straightening his back.

He watched her tighten her grip on her bag.

"Thank you for your time Sano-sans." And she walked out.

Izana finally sat down. Tapping on the table as he looked at his brother. "Want to order something?"

Mikey pulled his phone out. "Pah and Kazutora are on their way over. Order some Katsudon and Dorayaki."

Izana nodded and grabbed his phone as well. "Fuck!"

Mikey turned his head. "What?"

"Kakucho put money in my account again." He groaned. But his face was red.

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Wow, it sucks to be given money by someone who loves you." Lacing his voice with sarcasm.

He flicked Mikey's cheek. "Don't be mean."

"Don't be stupid." Mikey muttered back, rubbing his cheek.

________________

Takemichi finally got to the grocery store. He dropped Kore off at the daycare and he had to wait until Mikey left for work.

He's been sick for the last week and he just prays it isn't what he thinks it is. It cannot be what he thinks it is.

His life has finally been more joyful since living with the Sanos.

He sold his house, and moved most of Kore's stuff into their shared space on the Sano estate. Spending more time with Mikey has been nice.

Being scented again like back in college has made him so nostalgic. More play dates with Chifuyu. He hadn't realized how he had been isolating himself from his loved ones.

Atsushi's family has been trying to contact him to see Kore, but honestly he doesn't want to see his ex-in laws. He'll share his son on the holidays, but he could use a break from anything Atsushi related.

Mikey has been respectfully keeping his distance like always, and they haven't slept in the same bed together without Kore between them.

As an omega he refuses to make the first move, if there is even a move to be made.

He sighed.

Walking down the medical aisle, he saw cough syrup. He grabbed one that had blue liquid in it that he remembered was reviewed well on Amazon.

Next to it was the pregnancy test.

He shook his head.

Was it worth the risk? If he was, was he early enough to abort it?

He can't take the test at home. Maybe he can do it at work or with Hinata.

"Well well, a little mouse I've found."

Turning to his left, he saw Hanma. His eyes widened. He didn't think he'd ever see the man again since Kisaki was killed.

Takemichi ignored him and walked to the cash register.

He heard footsteps behind him following him and then an object tapping his back while he stood in line.

"Don't forget this."

A pregnancy test fell into his hands when Hanma pushed it over his shoulder.

"I don't want it." Said Takemichi. Taking a step forward.

"I think you do." Hanma laughed. "Bet you're scared to bring it into the Sano home."

Takemichi continues to ignore him. He was about to open up his wallet to pay when Hama handed the money to the cashier and pointed to the pregnancy test. "This too."

The worker nodded.

They waited in silence as the products were rung up.

Takemichi said his thanks when he grabbed the bag from the worker.

He tried to quickly walk out to put distance between Hanma and him, but the man followed closely behind. A hand grabbed him once he was outside.

"Fucking stop!"

Takemichi did stop. He gave Hanma a hard look. The man had glasses on and a sweater that looked familiar.

"Just come to my apartment. You can take your test there." Hanma suggested.

Takemichi shook his head.

Hanma's manic grin dropped a bit, "Please, I'm just trying to help. I have my reasons."

"It's hard to believe."

"It's hard to believe myself, but we all do things when inspired." He bent a little closer to Takemichi. "Right Hanagaki?" That wide smile showing all 32 teeth.

It always creeped him out, but he hated to admit he knew what he meant. "Alright, and you better feed me." He said. Following behind Hanma when he started to walk toward his car.

They got in and closed the door. Hanma started up the engine.

"I think I can cook up something you'll like."

#abo #poly couples #tokyo revengers #mitake #Takemichi Hanagaki #mikey sano #manjiro sano #draken

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hidden-otaku-stuff · 4 years ago

Text

Different but the Same (pt. 6)

tw: A few swears

Word count: ~4.5k

Rating: R18+/M

Omegaverse AU, Rating: 18+/M

Pairings: Iwaizumi x fem!reader, Ushijima x fem!reader

Summary: An unexpected encounter at the Inter-High tournament tossed you into a whirlwind. Being tugged between two males, two different packs, who will reign supreme in this battle for your heart?

Masterlist | prev | next

ch 6: courting

A tapping distracted her as she flicked through the pages of her textbook. A soft bite to her bottom lip before an exaggerated groan left her lips. “This is so boring,” she pouted, glancing up. Iwaizumi was across the table from her, his fingers drumming on the table as he focused on his own homework. His eyes flicked up before they went back to scanning the problems.

“It’d be less boring if you focused on your actual work instead of looking at me.”

“You’re annoying.”

“You’re just annoyed that I can focus when I study with you, and you can’t.” He brought his cup of tea to his lips, taking a sip. “That or the fact that you didn’t do your homework yesterday when I told you to so now you’re annoyed that you can’t go out.” He flipped a page.

She grunted, rolling her eyes. He was right. The previous day, she’d insisted on cuddling all day so they’d sat on the sofa watching movies. This morning, she’d woken up to a barrage of texts from Oikawa and the rest of the third-years inviting them out for a day at the mall but Iwaizumi refused because they had homework to catch up on. “It’s not my fault that I wanted to spend time with just you.” He ignored her, scribbling down the math to the chemistry problem. Trying to focus, she leaned her face closer to the text, using her hands to prop her head up. Her eyes shifted once more so that she could survey the brooding ace. The glow of the afternoon sun outside illuminated his natural beauty, from his chiseled cheeks to the light in his eyes. Her mind drifted to their first study session.

It had been their third-year of middle school. They were in the process of studying for their high-school entrance exams. Well, Iwaizumi was. She was studying to pass her final exams.

He shifted his weight uncomfortably, a soft pink tinge blossoming in his cheeks. “Hey, do you wanna study with me later today?” She and Oikawa were standing by her locker, chatting about classwork when Iwaizumi had approached them. Brown eyes avoided looking directly at her while he waited for her response.

She turned, a dazzling smile filling her face. “Sure! Where did you want to go?” A tug as she adjusted the shoulder strap on her backpack. He fiddled with the zipper on his jacket.

“How about that new cafe down the street?”

“Sounds perfect. See you later Oikawa-san!” The setter let out squawks of protest, complaining about being ditched as Iwaizumi offered his hand to the Omega. The pink hint dusting her cheeks darkened to red as she put her hand in his. Giggles slipped from her lips as he pulled her away, ordering his best friend to not follow them. Oikawa’s curses and loud whines faded behind them as Iwaizumi led her out the gates of their junior high.

Iwaizumi let out a sigh of relief as they slowed down their pace. “I thought I’d never get rid of him.”

“You can’t say that,” she chided as she nudged him. “He’s your best friend after all!”

Iwaizumi snorted. “More like I’m the idiot who got stuck with him.” His eyes fell on their intertwined fingers, red roses blooming in the apples of his cheeks as he quickly averted his eyes again. In the corner of his eyes, he could see her soft smile. “I’m really glad you were at that game.” He muttered under his breath.

“Me too.” Iwaizumi jolted, unaware that she had caught his comment. She was like a beam of sunshine, it was hard to be upset or to feel negative emotions when you were around her. “I can’t believe we never ran into each other sooner, especially since we’ve been at the same school this whole time.” The bell chimed as they entered the cafe. Iwaizumi’s head swung around, spying an empty table by the windows. He let go of her hand, placing it on the small of her back to guide her to the table.

“Get comfortable,” he ordered before he let his voice soften. “What do you want to drink?”

She hummed as she tapped her chin. “Do you mind getting me a green tea?”

“Anything for you princess.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, practically falling over his own feet as he escaped towards the counter. Her cheeks glowed as her fingers brushed against the warm spot he had just touched. She couldn’t resist the giggles that overtook her as she sat down and got comfortable. A few minutes later, Iwaizumi came back with two cups of tea. She spied the red glow of his ears as he cleared his throat, placing the cups down beside her book.

“Thank you, Iwaizumi!”

He sat down in front of her, taking a sip of his tea to calm his nerves. “Y’know...since we’re mates or whatever...you can just call me Hajime.” Her tongue burned as she accidentally took too big of a sip, eyes watering at the pain. “Oi, that’s hot dumbass!” He scolded, taking the cup away from her as he pulled his water bottle out and handed it to her.

As she drank the cooling liquid, she sent him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting that.” She swallowed as shyness overcame her nerves. “You can call me (Name).” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he caught every word. With a grin, he pulled out an entrance exam booklet.

Twenty minutes or so had passed when she decided she needed a break. Standing up, she stretched. “Where are you going?” Iwaizumi looked up from his booklet, eyebrows furrowing at her sudden movement.

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to go to the restroom.” Her smile blinded him as he slowly nodded, watching her back as she walked away. As she finished her business and finished washing her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror. “I can’t believe I’m here right now.” She squealed as she hugged herself.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she took her seat back in front of Iwaizumi, flashing him another smile. “Here you go!” Her attention was caught as a waiter delicately placed a slice of [favorite cake] in between them. “Enjoy!”

“Hajime?” She turned to look quizzically at her mate.

His cheeks darkened as he looked out the window. “I figured I would treat you since this is our first date or whatever.”

He was startled when soft lips pressed against his cheek. “Thank you!” She squealed, practically bouncing in excitement. A glitter of gold caught the light, causing her to pause. Her heart fluttered. “Is this..?”

He carefully watched her, his heart freezing. “Well, I know I’m your bond-mate, but I figured we’d make it officially, y’know?” His cheeks burned.

“Oh Haji, it’s so beautiful,” she beamed. “Can you put it on for me?”

She pulled her hair to the side as he stood up, making his way to her side as he placed the necklace on for her. Her fingers brushed the pendant as she looked down at it fondly. “I hope you like it.” His eyes glowed as he inhaled her warm strawberry scent.

“I do, I love it.” Her thumb rubbed the pendant. “I’m definitely the luckiest girl in the world, aren’t I?” Her eyes sparkled, meeting his as she took a bite of her pastry. She let out another squeal, bouncing in her seat.

As Iwaizumi watched her take another bite of the pastry, he chewed on his cheek. ‘I think I’m the lucky one here,’ he thought to himself as she offered a forkful to him. Carefully eating it, Iwaizumi silently nodded to himself. He was definitely the lucky one.

The memory faded as Iwaizumi let out a deep sigh. A ball of paper bounced off her forehead causing her to squeal indignantly. “Stop getting distracted. You go to Shiratorizawa, shouldn’t you be a better student?”

“Asshole,” she grumbled. Iwaizumi flicked her, causing her to yelp and protest loudly.

He stood up, making his way past her into the kitchen to refill their mugs. Her mate placed a fond kiss over the red blemish he had left. “I love you.”

“Love you too!” She replied. “Though I wish you weren’t such a hard-ass,” she muttered under her breath.

“Haaaah?”

“Nothing baby!”

****

“I don’t know why I feel this way.” Ushijima laid in his dorm bed, head propped up by his pillow as he stared at the bed above him.

Tendou glanced over, spinning his chair. “Feel what way, Wakatoshi?”

Ushijima hesitated, brows furrowed. “I...I feel different when I’m around (Name). Almost like I always want to be around her, but when I’m around her, I still don’t feel complete.” He sighed, not looking, knowing that Tendou’s brows had furrowed in that mocking way it does.

Tendou tapped on his chin. “Do you like her?”

Ushijima glanced over at the red-head. “Like her? She does a good job of being our manager, I don’t have a reason to dislike her.”

Tendou cackled, “Not like that Wakatoshi! Do you see her in a romantic sense perhaps?” His eyes narrowed playfully, a smirk sliding across his face.

“A romantic sense?” Ushijima thought about it before shaking his head. “I don’t think so. Besides, she already has a mate.” A flicker of pain shot through his heart as his Alpha snarled Vermillion eyes widened at the sudden noise.

“Your Alpha seems to disagree.” He commented, leaning back and spinning the chair as he thought. “What happened during your tryst at the game?”

A sigh escaped Ushijima, he didn’t really want to go into details. If he was being honest, he was still embarrassed that he’d so easily lost control. “Nothing really,” he replied. “I was walking to get a water refill when the sweetest scent distracted me. I took her into some locker room to help her through her heat.” He sat passively, recalling some of the words that had left him. Lowering his voice, he added shamefully, “My alpha told her to be mine.” His cheeks felt warm at the admission.

Tendou looked down at his captain. “That’s probably why you feel this way, your alpha already recognises her as your Omega and that’s why you feel so conflicted.” He shrugged.

“But she already has a mate.”

“Guessing your Alpha doesn’t really care about that~!” Tendou teased before his smirk dropped, growing serious. “Have you talked to her since it happened?”

Ushijima remained silent a moment longer before sighing again. “I apologized to her for my actions and asked her to be our manager. Since then, we haven’t approached the subject.”

“Do you know how she feels about it?” Ushijima shook his head. “Maybe she also feels some type of way towards you, but feels confused because she feels an obligation to her mate.” A growl tore from Ushijima’s lips, causing both boys to freeze. “Ushijima.” Tendou adopted a firm voice now, channeling a bit of the Alpha voice he rarely used. “Like it or not, she’s already accepted courtship with another alpha. You either have to let this Omega go, or somehow win her affections.” He looked at the ceiling, “Besides, aren’t Omegas allowed to have two Alphas?”

“You’re right Tendou.” With that, he stood up. “I’m going to go for a run.”

“It’s nearly curfew!” Tendou cried, as the door snapped shut behind the Apex Alpha.

His feet slammed against the ground, his arms at his sides. Energy pulsed through him, and he pushed himself. Harder. Faster. Better. Ushijima hadn’t been entirely honest with Tendou. The reason that he had followed the strawberry scent was because it was one he had met many years ago. Flashes of images swarmed his mind as he let it wander.

It was after his final tournament in middle school. The strawberry scent had wafted out throughout the game, but right when he was receiving his Best Spiker Award, it consumed him. Olive eyes glowed as it scanned the audience, subtly taking in big sniffs as he tried to locate it. But somehow the scent had disappeared. “Ushijima! Let’s go to the locker room.” His team-mate shook him out of his reverie. It was just a scent, he thought to himself. Making his way back to the locker-room, he froze. The scent was potent here. He couldn’t stop himself, he followed the scent down the hall and was about to head through the open doors at the end of the hall when a firm hand gripped his shoulder.

“Ushijima! You did an excellent job. You’ll do fine things at Shiratorizawa Academy.” He turned, greeting his coach.

“Thank you, Coach.”

“Come on, the bus is ready, we’re about to head out.” With his coach’s hand on his shoulders guiding him, he left the delicious scent behind, promising to find it next time.

The memory faded to black and he silently cursed himself. If only he had been more persistent, if only he had found the source, he could’ve been the one holding her in his arms. The alpha had originally thought that he was going crazy when he scented her again. At every single game he’s been at, he would subconsciously always check the air to see if she was there to no avail. This time, there was nothing to stop him from finding it. It hadn’t been difficult, since she was literally in the middle of the bustling hallway.

He froze in his tracks, gulping. The source of the scent was more intoxicating than he could have imagined. She was definitely the most attractive person he had ever met, and the scent. His mouth watered at it; he couldn’t remember anything smelling as sweet. Just by this single whiff, he was addicted. If he could replace oxygen with it, he would. Another gulp as he steeled his nerves. As he got closer, he realized why it had been exceptionally sweeter. She was in heat.

His hand made contact, and he almost shivered at the feeling of her soft flesh under his calloused fingers. A burning feeling coursed through his veins, electricity shooting up his body. He knew immediately that he couldn’t let her escape again, but his team briefly crossed his mind. If he had found her intoxicating, then so would others. She would serve as a distraction. For the good of his team, he had to take care of this heat now. Or at least, that’s what he used to justify what he did. Secretly, he just wanted to hide the Omega away from the world. She was his, after all. Ushijima swung his head around, olive eyes narrowing at the other males. A few other Alphas were tentatively approaching her, but they backed away when they saw him hovering behind her. Ushijima knew he needed to take her away now so that nobody else would have her.

When the door of the restroom had slammed open and he was greeted with the bitter pine scent, Ushijima had to fight his straining Alpha. He had initially noticed the lingering pine scent masked under strawberry, but had ignored it - assuming that it was from casual brushes with a friend. Now, he could see that the Omega already had an Alpha. With great reluctance, he left, pausing only to whisper, “Better keep a closer eye on your plaything, Iwaizumi. Otherwise someone will snap her up.” Silently he added, The moment you are gone, I will reclaim my Omega. Giving her one last nod, Ushijima stepped out into the hall.

“Wakatoshi-kun, there you are!”

“Hello, Tendou.”

“Jeez, you reek of Omega, what happened?” Tendou pestered as they walked back to the court.

“I was helping an Omega.”

“Before our match?” Tendou made a scandalized noise as they re-entered the court before he started cackling. “You sly dog!”

“Ushijima-kun, get warmed up now!” Washijo scowled. “Don’t disappear during tournaments, you know better.”

“My apologies, Coach.” Olive eyes wandered to the other court, catching a glimpse of the teal-and-white players escorting her. As he went through his warm-ups, he watched the Seijoh pack greet her, recoiling slightly when Iwaizumi snapped at them. She was bundled up in an oversized Seijoh jacket, and was quickly ushered to the coaches’ bench. Her dazzling smile peeked up over the collar, exposing a black choker. It sparked a mixture of happiness and irritation in him. Happy that she was happy, and irritated that he wasn’t the cause of her happiness. A whistle distracted him as their warm-ups ended. He got in line, forcing his attention away from the Omega.

Ushijima stopped at the beginning of the tracks, having finished his run. Heavy pants filled the air, but still he itched to run. He itched to escape from everything, from his responsibilities, from the reality that she was taken already. But he pulled out his phone, drafting a text.

Ushijima: (L. Name) if you are not busy, can you accompany me to the mall tomorrow? Coach Washijo asked me to buy replacement volleyball gear.

Of course, it was a valid reason, but he just needed to see her soon. Needed to spend time with her. To be in her presence.

His phone vibrated. She was quick to respond.

(L.Name, Name): Sure thing Ushijima-san. Are you free after 4 PM? I know we don’t have practice, but I have a group assignment I need to work on after class.

Ushijima: That’s fine. Thank you. I will meet you at the gates at 4 PM.

His grip on his phone tightened. He still didn’t really know why her scent was so enticing to him, or why he constantly craved her touch and presence, but he wasn’t going to lose his chance.

****

The next day, he was greeted with the sight of the lovely Omega standing by the entrance. “Hey, Ushijima-san!” She waved, his heart skipping a beat as he took in her outfit. She had changed out of her uniform and was wearing a (favorite color) blouse paired with leggings.

“You look lovely, (L. Name).”

“Thanks! You don’t look too bad yourself.” They started walking towards the bus stop. He glanced down at his outfit. Compared to her, he felt messy. He was just wearing some branded jogging pants and a fitted black long-sleeve shirt. Ushijima banished the thought from his mind. It didn’t matter what he was wearing as long as he was being true to himself. “What did we need to pick up?” Her foot tapped as she waited for the bus to arrive.

“The coaches asked me to pick up some new towels and balls. I was also planning on looking for personal volleyball equipment as well. Did you have anything that you needed to purchase?” Her hair swayed as she shook her head. The all-too familiar strawberry scent was wafted up to him by the action.

“I don’t think so. If anything, I need to go grocery shopping before I head home.”

“I can go with you for that.” The bus arrived as they stepped in. She waved a hand at him as she looked for an empty seat. There was only one at the very back. His hand found purchase on her lower back as he guided her to the seat, gently pushing her down. Opening her mouth to protest, he held a hand up. “I can stand, don’t worry.”

She crossed her arms but nodded. “You don’t have to go grocery shopping with me, Ushijima-san. There’s a market right by my apartment anyways.”

“I don’t mind.” The rest of the bus trip remained in silence as she looked out the window. Ushijima found himself observing her face. The afternoon sun bounced off her (h/c) hair in a way that made it seem (lighter/darker) than it actually was. Her eyes sparkled in the light.

“Alright, where to?” (Name) asked as they stepped off the bus, hands on her hips as she surveyed the mall.

“I’ll need to visit the sports store for the volleyball stuff.” They walked in together, his hands barely brushing against her cardigan.

“Oh, do you mind if I stop in here?” She halted outside of an edgy looking store. There were signs plastered outside proclaiming their deals in bright yellow and red ink.

Ushijima nodded. “I’ll go with you.” They stepped in together, and he was surprised by the darkness of the store. The external brick-wall facade matched the interior, with all it’s interesting products. He saw a display for one of the animes that Tendou was particularly fond of, stepping towards it to survey all the merchandise.

“I didn’t know you liked My Hero, Ushijima-san.” (Name) returned, a black bag in hand as she tucked her wallet back into her purse.

“I am not, but Tendou is.” He followed her outside the store. “What did you buy?”

“Huh?” She glanced up at him. “Oh! They had some vintage-style limited edition Godzilla merchandise, so I bought some for Hajime.” Her scent brightened, hiding the hint of bitterness in his own.

“I see.”

Was that what it was like to have a mate? To be surprised with gifts randomly? His grandmother had always told him that Alphas were to spoil their Omegas, so he was surprised that (Name) was purchasing something for Iwaizumi.

They stepped into the sports store, with the Omega following Ushijima’s lead as he made a bee-line for the volleyball section. He browsed their selection of volleyballs, testing them before selecting a few to place into his basket. Ushijima turned, opening his mouth to speak to (Name) only to find her missing. “(L. Name)?” He sniffed the air aggressively in an attempt to locate her.

“Over here, Ushijima-san!” She waved at him as she shifted through the clothing section.

“What are you looking for?” Ushijima hovered behind her for a moment before shifting to browse through an adjacent rack, picking a few pairs of shorts.

“I was hoping to get more workout clothes!” She grinned. “I wanted something with more coverage yet breathable, just in case the other teams we play were similar to Kirishima-san’s team.” His nostrils flared at the mention of the other Alpha, lip curling in distaste.

“I will make sure to protect you if that is the case.”

“I’m sure you will,” she shot him a warm smile. “But I think it’d probably be in my best interest anyways. Better safe than sorry, right?” She picked out a few dry-fit shirts and leggings, throwing them over her arm. “Have you got everything?”

“One moment please.” Ushijima stopped at the shoes, snagging a box of shoes. “I am ready now.”

“Let’s check-out then.” He led the way once more, pausing when her footsteps stopped behind him. She was bent over a display, looking at the products. With an awkward smile, she said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get distracted again.”

He came to stand behind her, looking down. “Why are you looking at watches?”

“I broke mine the other week, and it’s getting annoying being almost late for things.” She picked one up, examining it before placing it back down. “Ah well, I’ll just ask my parents for a new one.”

“Is that the one you like?”

She raised an eyebrow as Ushijima picked up the one she had just placed down. “Why?”

“Is it?”

“I mean, it’s probably what I’d end up getting, yes.”

“Alright.”

“Wait!” Ushijima started walking back towards the cashier. “What are you doing?” She tugged on his arm.

Olive eyes looked down at her before gently pulling his arm away. “I am purchasing the watch for you.” He placed the watch and his own purchases on the counter. “Can I have these rung separately? The volleyballs will go under the Shiratorizawa account.” Her jaw dropped, spluttering as Ushijima and the cashier ignored her.

“Hello again, Ushijima-kun!” The cashier greeted. Ushijima had been a regular in the store ever since middle-school. “How’s practice going for the pack?”

“Good. We’ll be going for the Interhigh nationals soon.”

“That’s good to hear!” He pressed some buttons. Ushijima pulled out some bills, paying the cashier and taking the bags.

(Name) quickly paid for her stuff, a pair of knee-pads slipped amongst her stuff. Ushijima eyed it, but didn’t comment. “You didn’t have to do that, Ushijima-san!” She cursed as they stepped outside. He stopped abruptly and the Omega crashed into his back. “Sorry!” She squeaked, hands flying up to steady herself against him.

Ushijima turned back to her, the watch in hand. “Will you accept this gift?” He firmly - but gently - grasped her hand, pulling it towards him as he placed it into her hand.

“Ushijima-san, that was expensive, you didn’t have to get it for me.”

“I’ve already bought it. Will you accept it?”

She pouted before giving him a small nod. “Thank you, Ushijima-san.”

His Alpha preened at his Omega’s acceptance of the courting gift. (Name) slipped the watch on, adjusting it to match her phone. “It’s getting late, I’ll escort you home then.”

“We can just go to the station by Shiratorizawa,” she replied. “I’ll be fine walking home.”

“Is that the closest station to your home?” They stood at the bus station, waiting patiently.

“ No, but I’d have to take a different bus and I’d rather take this one with you.” His brow furrowed.

“I said I’ll go with you grocery shopping.”

“And I said that wasn’t necessary.” She stepped out a bit, looking at the bus that was arriving. “Now c’mon, let’s get on the bus!” Before he could say another word, she had already hauled herself into the bus. Ushijima sighed, of course she was stubborn. Boarding, his Alpha paced in excitement. He could already tell courting would be interesting.

****

“Hey babe?”

“Hmm?” A warm finger drew small circles on her hip. He hesitated, shaking his head. “What’s up Haji?”

Iwaizumi just chuckled, squeezing her waist. “Nothing.”

“You sure?” (Name) moved to sit up from her lying position only for Iwaizumi’s arms to tighten around her. She tilted her face up, soft doe-eyes blinking up at her mate. “It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

Iwaizumi swallowed. How was he supposed to tell his mate that he was worried? That he had caught the lingering scents of Ushijima clinging to her the other day? That he missed her presence at his practices? “Just...” More hesitation. “Just wanted to ask if you wanted to hangout with the pack tomorrow,” he finished lamely, swallowing away his misgivings.

The Omega hummed, eyes carefully scrutinizing him. “Sure,” she nodded slowly. “You know I'm always down to hangout with you all.” (Name) maneuvered herself so that she straddled him. His hands landed on her hips softly as he peered up at her. The Omega looked beautiful, even when she was wearing one of his old t-shirts that somehow still managed to dwarf her. She leaned down, pressing her lips to his. “I love you,” she whispered, pulling back slightly. He cupped her cheek, a hand sliding up her back as he captured her lips with his. Iwaizumi held her close, hoping that his actions would speak for him.

I love you too.

Fun facts:

💟 (Name) actually hates studying and school, and was genuinely surprised when she got good enough grades to get into Shiratorizawa and to stay in it

💟 The Seijoh pack rarely gives them time alone, so (Name) sometimes has fight them for Iwaizumi’s attention and vice versa

💟 Oikawa was banned from most of their study sessions because he would often get bored and distract them both. (Name) would encourage this, and they would both end up being scolded by Iwaizumi

💟 Even though they were mates, Iwaizumi had spent all day giving himself a prep talk in order to ask her out

💟 (Name) and OIkawa had gone to the same pre-school, but lost contact with one another when she went to a different elementary school

💟 Ushijima thought that he was sick and had gone to the nurse before speaking with Tendou

💟 Every week, Tendou would try to get Ushijima to watch My Hero with him and would even read him scenes from the manga to get him interested to no avail

💟 Ushijima panicked for a few seconds when he couldn’t find (Name) and would have torn the store apart if she didn’t respond to him

💟 Ushijima had tried to get Kirishima’s team banned from playing with Shiratorizawa, but when Coach Washijo heard why, his request was denied. Since then, Ushijima decided that (Name) would not be allowed at practice matches in general

💟 The knee-pads (Name) bought were actually for her. Iwaizumi doesn’t let her play with them unless she has them on

💟 The Seijoh pack was actually scared of losing her and were less energetic whenever (Name) wasn’t around - though they’d never tell her out of fear that she’d feel guilty. The only thing that would cheer them up would be when Iwaizumi brought them her food

AN: I hope you enjoy this chapter and these small tidbits of fun facts! I’ve accidentally extended the story by a few chapters because I can’t bear the idea of letting them go so easily. I’m also entertaining the idea of special ‘bonus’ fluff scenes for when the story concludes or potentially even a prequel story of (Name) and Iwaizumi’s story up until their third year. Please let me know what you think!

Requests are still open for my 150 celebration! Check out this post for more info

Taglist: @sawamooora @kriswu46 @pantasticalcat @shadowkunoichi @awuariyuh @4lfalfagarlic @kuroowh0r3 @sourapplex @pastelpuffbar @cutepet09 @michelepiekenma

Please feel free to message, comment, or shoot an ask if you’d like to join the tag-list!

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retrievablememories · 4 years ago

Text

style | jaehyun

title: style pairing: jaehyun x black!reader genre: fluff request: “I was watching the bts for the photo shoots for neo zone and made think about how fun it would be on set with them. Do you think you could write something more jaehyun centric about being like a new makeup artist on set. It can be a black reader as well if that’s cool with you” word count: 2.8k warnings: none that i can think of except some cursing a/n: oof okay my mind somehow skipped over the “new” part so the reader in this fic is actually pretty experienced w/ being a makeup artist. i could rewrite it but i didn’t want to wait any longer to post this fic since it’s already been a couple weeks since the request. i’m sorry if this is not what you were looking for anon, let me know 🤕

Being a Black makeup artist in a mostly Korean music industry can be weird at times. It’s not the life of roses and perfume that many others at the beginning of your career would’ve had you think it is, but you have managed to carve out your own niche. You have friends and people who support you, and a nice apartment you’re able to pay for with the salary you receive from SM, which is enough for you.

It also doesn’t hurt to be surrounded by pretty men all the time.

You worked for many different groups and solo acts before landing a steady job at SM Entertainment—some were nicer than others, and some were straight-up assholes. You can’t say you miss those days much, especially when you were just starting out and not always certain of where your next paycheck was coming from. Now, your most consistent clients have been NCT, which you are grateful for; they’re always pleasant and fun to work with.

Your latest work with them involves NCT 127’s new album, Neo Zone. You’re coming in today for the first day of the album jacket photoshoot, which you’re excited about; you haven’t seen any of the NCT members since you worked on Coming Home. You don’t mind doing makeup for the other SM acts, but there’s a certain connection you have with this group that you just can’t explain.

With your makeup bag on hand, you enter the studio where the boys are going to be shooting today, already taken aback by the loud orange checkerboard pattern on the floor. There are even garish deer heads and hooves mounted up on the walls; SM has really outdone themselves this time.

“Y/N, it’s you!” Jaehyun looks excited to see you, and his enthusiasm rubs off on you; you shoot him a welcoming smile back.

“Hi Jaehyun,” you say, walking over to where he’s standing. Jaehyun doesn’t hesitate to open his arms to give you a hug, and you appreciate the soothing smell of his cologne before pulling away.

Jungwoo and Mark run up to you too, crushing you between them in a hug, and pretty soon you end up embracing all of the boys as they come over for your attention.

“Wow, that is some hairstyle…” you say as you pull away from Johnny. You reach up to pinch one of his twists between your fingers, examining it with a look halfway between mortification and amusement.

“Do you like it?” he asks, an equally awkward grin on his face.

“Um…I’m sure the fans will love it.” You can only chuckle and pat him on the arm before making your way back over to Jaehyun to start on his look for the shoot. You pull your supplies out of your makeup bag as Jaehyun watches you from the chair; his attention is eventually drawn away when Taeil comes over to show him something on his phone.

When you have everything ready and have pinned his hair out of the way, you start painting his face.

Jaehyun only has one AirPod in his ear; you’re not sure where the other is, but you figure it must be with Taeil or one of the other members. You think he’s just listening to music without paying you any mind, but he says suddenly, “I like when you come around.”

“Oh, really? Why is that?”

“I dunno, your makeup just looks better…” He lowers his voice as if he doesn’t want the other makeup artists to hear, and you laugh inwardly.

“Maybe it’s because I know how to use the right foundation shade.” You both laugh openly at that, and Haechan takes notice, dropping in beside Jaehyun.

“What are you two laughing about? I wanna laugh too,” the younger man says, his eyes round and mischievous.

“Just the fact that it’s no fun to walk around with makeup looking like Casper the Ghost,” you say, and Haechan scoffs.

“Try telling that to….” Haechan’s eyes dart around, and you suspect the makeup artist he wants to throw shade on must be at the shoot with them right now. “...nevermind, that’s a discussion for the group chat!” Instead, he goes over to Taeyong to bother him.

“Group chat? I feel left out now,” you say jokingly, continuing with Jaehyun’s makeup.

“You don’t have one with your stylist friends or something like that?” he asks.

“Yes, but I wanna know what you guys are talking about…” You raise your eyebrows. “That’s just nosy me, though.”

“Nothing interesting,” Jaehyun replies, though you can tell by the look in his eyes that that’s far from the truth.

“Mhmm, sure.” You purse your lips together and shake your head. “Don’t let me find out you’re on some fuckboy shit.”

“If I was, would you punish me?” Jaehyun says this loud enough to draw a few mildly scandalized glances from the stylists and makeup artists standing nearby, and you duck your head, feeling equal parts tickled and embarrassed.

“You’re a mess, Jaehyun. I’m trying to keep this job, okay?” you reprimand him, but there’s no seriousness in it at all.

“Of course, you’re right—I’d never want to see my favorite staff member gone.”

“Shiiit, now I’m just a staff member?” You put a hand over your heart, acting hurt. You both laugh and joke around for a while longer until you’re done with his look for the photoshoot.

Once you finish with Jaehyun’s makeup, you do Mark and then Taeil, chatting casually with them all the while. Taeil is still a bit quiet with you, but he’s incredibly funny when he wants to be, and you can always appreciate a good joke or two. You know Jaehyun “flirts” with you noticeably more than the other members do, but you’ve gotten used to all their subtle differences and you don’t think to chalk it up to more than innocent playfulness—or over-playfulness, maybe.

You’re always somewhere nearby in the background, ready to jump in and retouch someone’s foundation or redo a highlight whenever necessary. You sit back and watch Jaehyun take his solo pictures, admiring your good work on his makeup—or maybe his handsomeness all on its own. He has a good face, you think, and try to convince yourself that you’re only thinking about it in terms of how easy his features are to work with.

Your front row view of the show is interrupted when one of the stylists comes over to ask you a question, and you’re pulled to another area to handle an issue. There’s never not something to do on days like these, though you don’t really mind it; being busy doesn’t bother you as much when the work is fairly fun.

The other boys continue playing around on the set as they wait their turns for solo photos and then group pictures. You eventually end up back in front of Taeil again, fixing a spot on his foundation with a Q-tip as a hairstylist fusses over his strands.

You sit on one of the couches on set for a moment’s break after finishing with Taeil. Johnny comes creeping over to you with the polaroid camera he’s been carrying for the past half-hour, and you can already guess what’s about to happen. You hold your hands up, blocking your face.

“I know you’re the aspiring photographer and all, but can you give me and my visage a break?”

“Just one?” Johnny begs, giving you his best pout. You give him an unimpressed look and cross your arms, but your face eventually cracks when he keeps throwing you exaggerated pouty expressions.

“It’s not happening! I’m not even prepared for pictures today,” you insist. Your complaints are interrupted when Haechan slides onto the couch beside you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders.

“Don’t you want to take a picture with me, at least?” He tries to press his cheek against yours and you gently chide him about his makeup, not wanting to create more work for the other girls on set who’ll have to fix it. “I knoww, I knoww. If you take a picture with me, I’ll stop!”

You sigh in mock distress. “Fine, one photo! Can’t keep these paparazzi off my back, can I?” You and Haechan end up striking multiple poses for Johnny while he pretends to be an enthusiastic photog capturing a celebrity couple.

“Hope Jaehyun doesn’t get too jealous,” Johnny says absentmindedly, holding one of the shiny polaroids between his fingers. You cock your head at that.

“Now why would he get jealous?”

“Because that’s how Hyung is,” Haechan replies, quickly getting off the couch and trying to usher Johnny off the scene. He acts as if the older man has just said something he wasn’t supposed to, and Johnny belatedly notices his “mistake” with an awkward shrug. Before he leaves, he hands you one of the polaroids of you and Haechan.

“Put it in a scrapbook or something!”

“Sure, Johnny.” You stare at the small photo in your hands, though Johnny’s words stay floating around in your mind well after the first day’s shoot is over.

The next day is hectic, much like the last, though the set is quite different this time around. You definitely feel a bit better about having more space to move around in without other staff members practically standing on top of each other. Johnny’s hair is back to its normal state, though now Taeil and Haechan have braids; you can’t help but squint your eyes at that, though you say nothing. It’s not worth falling out with the hairstylists again—you learned early on that these companies are gonna do whatever the hell they want.

“You look really good today—all thanks to me, of course,” you tell Jaehyun after he finishes recording his part for the BTS video. “Aren’t I magic?”

“Don’t knock the hairstylists, they wouldn’t like to hear that,” he snickers.

“I’d like to do more than knock them, but we ain’t got time for that.” You wave your hand and change the subject. “Did you enjoy yesterday’s shoot? I dunno about you, but I think it went pretty well. Hopefully today is the same.”

Jaehyun nods his agreement. “It was great.” Then he pauses before casually mentioning, “I heard you and Haechan were getting close yesterday, though.” You notice Doyoung and Yuta out of the corner of your eye, lingering around as if they’re waiting on their turn for photos, but it’s clear that they’re eavesdropping from the looks on their faces.

“Yes, so sue me for hanging out with an NCT member that isn’t you, how could I ever betray you in such a way?” You cover your mouth in faux horror and the other man shakes his head, grabbing your elbow.

“I don’t know if my heart will ever recover,” he says, going along with your act. He pulls on your arm and brings your hand to chest. “Feel it—it’s broken!”

This feels like a bold move even for him, and Doyoung makes a noise in the background that confirms your surprise. You whip your head towards the other two men and they immediately scatter, finding other things to preoccupy themselves with to avoid your scolding.

Jaehyun’s heartbeat is a little faster than it should be under your palm, and at this point you can probably guess why. Johnny’s words and Haechan’s near panic come to the forefront of your memory again. You behave as casually as you can, drawing your hand back to your side and quirking an eyebrow at him. Someone calls your name from the other side of the room, and you go to see what they’re hollering about, but not before calling over your shoulder,

“Your heart rate’s elevated, might wanna see a doctor about that!”

You end up having to retouch Jaehyun’s makeup more than usual throughout the shoot because of his playing around with the other boys, whether it’s riding in a shopping cart or trying to pedal a damn bicycle up the wall, and you almost have to wonder if he’s doing it on purpose.

“You’re really gonna make me work for this job, huh?” You put your hands on your hips after finishing your quick fixes.

“Maybe.”

You roll your eyes. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“So, you admit you think I’m cute?”

“What do you expect me to say? You certainly ain’t ugly...don’t let it go to your head, though.” You pat his shoulder and steer him towards the cameras. “Now go on! Don’t make me have to stay past midnight fixing your makeup all day.”

The rest of the jacket shooting goes smoothly—as smoothly as anything can on a busy set, anyway. Yuta even manages to get you to dance with him to one of the songs blaring over the studio’s speakers, though you scurry off again as soon as you see Johnny coming with his phone in hand. You know his blackmail folder must be huge at this point, and you’re not trying to become a part of the collection.

The boys come over for their hugs again as you pack up your makeup bag. Pretty soon, the only one left without an embrace is Jaehyun.

“Saving the best for last?” you ask as he watches you. He really does do that a lot, you realize.

He shrugs as if he’s unaffected by your compliment, but his dimples peeking out give him away every time.

“You can just say it, you know.” You look around and lower your voice. Though the playlist is still cycling through as loud as ever, you’d rather not have anyone else’s ears in your conversation right now.

“Say what?” he whispers back, still smiling.

“Hello! I think we both know.”

“You want to hear me say it that bad?”

“That’s rich coming from you! I’m not the one who pulled a move literally out of a kdrama earlier.” As you speak, you accidentally knock over a bottle of setting spray on the table, and both of you reach for it at the same time.

Jaehyun’s fingers linger on yours, sending little sparks of excitement up your arm and through your body. You risk a look at him, and although you’re supposed to be keeping it low right now, you feel as if you’re the only two left in the room. He leans closer, and his familiar scent hits your senses again, threatening to wrap you up permanently in its hold.

“You’re right. I like you.”

Jaehyun picks up the fallen bottle and presses it into your hand, and it takes you a few seconds to react and put it back in your bag.

“I knew it,” you lie. You’re not sure why you feel so nervous about this, or why you feel like you’re doing something you shouldn’t. It’s not uncommon for idols to date their stylists; after all, they’re around each other all the time. But that doesn’t mean the company or anyone else will approve.

“Yes, Detective, you’ve figured out the big mystery.” You glare at Jaehyun for that, but he remains unphased. He turns around and leans against the table, giving off a casual air when he’s really checking to make sure no one is heading in your direction. “So...what do you say?”

You decide to draw this out a little longer just because you can. “To what?”

“I know you like me too.”

“Maybe,” you say, mimicking his earlier answer. “What are you gonna do about it if I do?”

“Make you my girlfriend, duh.” He says it with all the confidence in the world, but then backtracks a little when you give him an amused look. “Only if that’s what you want, though; we don’t have to do anything if—”

“You’re overthinking it!” You shake your head as you put the last thing in your makeup bag and zip it up. “I want to. Really. But you’re gonna have to take me out first.”

“Just tell me where you wanna go. I’ll take you anywhere.”

You sling your bag over your shoulder and sigh. “Have you always been this good with words? Or is it just because I like you?”

Jaehyun pushes himself off the table and steps closer, crowding into your personal space. “You tell me.”

“Don’t be so obvious.” You step back when you notice one of the managers’ eyes lingering where you two are standing. “Just...text me. You know how to reach me, right?”

“Of course.”

You continue stepping backwards towards the entrance, not wanting to let him out of your sight just yet. You smile and wave with both hands, still playing the role of “makeup artist to a super-famous kpop idol” and not “departing girlfriend” like you want to. “Then we’ll talk next time! Bye, Jaehyun!”

Jaehyun waves back, and you don’t turn around until you’re well into the hallway and one of the other boys has called him to hurry up. Leaving the building, you lean against one of the outside walls to take a breather before you head to your car.

“Holy shit.”

#jaehyun fluff #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #nct 127 scenarios #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 fic #jaehyun fic #ambw fic #ambw kpop #ambw scenarios #ambw imagines #jaehyun #nct 127 #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct fluff #nct fic #yes...two fics for the price of one today

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archetypal-archivist · 4 years ago

Text

My Beloved, Penis

Fuck it. I was infected by Penis SMP by @demonboyhalo reblogging a bunch of it and the lack of consistent lore bugged me, so I somehow banged out 2000+ words of fanfic about the Penis SMP and how it got started. Lots of internet humor and classic MInecraft shenanigans in this one folks. *slaps roof* This baby can fit so much crack treated seriously, lol. This is also up on my AO3, Zazibine, if you would prefer to read it there.

_-_-_-_

It was never supposed to get so big. It was just an SMP with a couple friends of his he had met from the Hypixel discord server, where he had logged on simply to trash talk the absolute asshole who had dared to kill him last minute in bedwars, only to stumble upon said asshole- going under the name shittyfartbaby69 of all things- complaining to his girlfriend(?) Milfboss in the voice chat. Thirty minutes later of awkward hellos and the manliest of bitching at each other (with Milf chiming in every once in a while to roast them both), and PenisUnavailable had perhaps his first Minecraft friend in, like, forever.

Then Admiral_Anus had entered chat, bitching about his competitor in ABBA Mining and his bullshit bad luck and the whole process repeated. By the end of the day, Penis had three new friends, a private discord server for the four of them, and a promise to meet up with them in Hypixel next Sunday for the ultimate round of bedwars.

The game went spectacularly. Somehow, Admiral had some of the best bridging skills any of them had ever seen, and between Milfboss' terrifying Scottish screaming and pvp and Shitty with his clutch TNT skills, the three of them almost made up for Penis' awful depth perception. They still lost around forty percent of their games, but that was certainly better than Penis' own abysmal record, not helped with his habit of walking off the edge at inconvenient times.

And it was... fun. Usually bedwars was just him playing in his bedroom alone for an hour before he rage-quit and went back to survival for a bit before he died to fall damage and rage quit that too. But shittyfartbaby69 would crack dirty jokes that he'd never even heard of before, and Milfboss would roast him for looking it up on reddit and Shitty would cuss her out as he tried to prove that no, he was being original- all while Admiral would comment of them as if they were a sideshow display. Then Admiral_Anus would turn around and knock an enemy player off their island with some clever pvp and they would all hoot and holler and swear for a while before going back to their conversation, joking about forgetting the topic and starting up a running gag about something new.

And their accents, mmm. PenisUnavailable would never say it, but he really was as American as white Wonder bread and Milfboss' Scottish brogue, Admiral's smooth British snark, and Shitty's shrieking in Australian, well. Ear candy, you know? Even if he teased them mercilessly for pronouncing shit wrong, like "buhguhr". Ppffttt, it still cracked him up how Milfboss had threatened to murder him after the dictionary app on his phone had proved him right that it was actually "Bur-gur", even if Admiral kept insisting it was pronounced "bruh-girl".

Four hours and twenty-eight wins later, they had agreed to meet up the next day to play again, preferably at an hour that wasn't two am for Shitty again. (It was two am for Shitty again, although that was because they played for six that time.) Eventually, it just became a regular thing, them playing bedwars and competing at ABBA Caving- the one game Penis was unnaturally good at, much to Admiral's annoyance- to the point where they ran out of funny jokes about their competitors and the game itself and started talking personal anecdotes.

Milfboss owned a motorcycle. Admiral, entirely independently, also owned a motorcycle, as that was the only vehicle of reasonable speed and style that could actually handle the London traffic. Shitty couldn't drive at all, something about never passing his driving test. Admiral ate cheese at breakfast. Shitty liked to burn his garbage in a metal oil drum in his backyard. Milfboss posted herself singing covers of shit over on Youtube. And it wasn't just real life stuff either- their minecraft skills were also on the table for them all to collectively roast.

Admiral had never seen a single Minecraft Championship. Milfboss thought a flat cobblestone roof was entirely acceptable. Shitty's favorite block was the flint and steel. (That's not a block, sixty-niner. Shut up, is too. OoOh, real clever, 'shut up'! Uh, how about no? How about I fuckin' make you, ever think 'a that? No nono nonono, I'm on two hearts! I'm on two hearts, stop!) It made him curious, honestly. He wanted to see Milf's builds for himself, get revenge on Shitty, see if Admiral really could beat the Ender Dragon with a knockback stick like he said he could.

So he made a minecraft server. And they all joined it. (And stuck PenisUnavailable with the bill, suckaaahhh~!)

Predictably, it all went to Hell in a hand basket pretty quick.

See, it's one thing to play with nutters like his friends in a structured set up like Hypixel games, it's quite another to try and keep a semblance of order in an open world survival server like the Penis SMP. The first five minutes had been him trying to explain the rules and teleporting everyone back to spawn over and over as they tried to "escape the cops," ie, him. The next five minutes was Shitty scream-laughing "scatter!" and other John Mulany references down the mic as everyone ran off to start their houses. Penis, as he was still "god" at that moment, used admin commands to find the closest flower field biome to settle into, hoping for some- ha- peace and quiet.

Shitty, inevitably, ended up trying to settle in the fucking Nether. Like a mad lad, you know, as you do when you are apparently obsessed with all things lava. Milfboss ended up making an oak plank box of a "tree house" in a dark oak forest, while Admiral_Anus picked a nearby swamp for his starter base. Outside of that, they just kinda vibed in discord as they tried to fend off the mobs and get enough resources to try and build up houses that were a bit more than cobblestone towers and wood boxes- er, mostly. Milf kinda just fucked off to go mining, found a skeleton spawner by chance, and made a set of iron gear to stand in the dungeon room with to just chill and kill mobs for a while. She ended up with something like 45 levels and burned her only diamond on an enchanting table so she could buff the Hell out of her iron weapons and armor.

Penis, rather typically, he though to himself, put together a basic sheep farm and started work on a cute little cobblestone cave base. He managed to get a whole twenty by twenty block room done and fully furnished before he noticed the chat full of Shitty's death messages and went to go investigate. After nearly dying in lava twice, he managed to find Shitty's pile of items floating on a basalt pillar about a hundred blocks out from his... base?

It was a soccer ball. Shitty's base was a perfect fucking spherical soccer ball made up of quartz blocks and basalt. Just. What. The Fuck??? Then out popped shittyfartbaby69 and it was PenisUnavailable's turn to misjudge a jump and plummet right into lava. Fifteen minutes and much shrieking later about losing his diamond pick, and it turns out that Shitty didn't really care about his lost items, as he really only had four gold picks, a stack of dark oak, two furnaces, a bucket, and thirteen cooked mutton to his name. Not even a bed, the fucker. He just ran back to his portal from spawn every time he just burned to death, taking the chance to gather resources on the way back each time.

And no, he wasn't following a tutorial for his "football" base. Jerk. (Although Penis did have to admire his determination...)

The day ended on Milfboss, Shitty, and Penis reconvening back at spawn to try and hunt down Admiral_Anus, who they found later having built a thirty block tall castle of all things. Out of cobble stone and the windows weren't quite even, but still, it was pretty impressive. And of course, when presented with a castle, what can what do but siege it? So they lay siege to the castle and Milfboss curb-stomped Admiral in pvp and laid claim to the throne, crowning herself queen before summarily throwing the rest of them out. It was a good day.

And the day after was a good day. They played dodge ball crossed with hide and seek in forest around Penis' house with arrows supplied by Milfboss. And the day after that, too, where they had a building competition using nothing but cobble stone, specifically to spite Milfboss, who had kicked all of their asses the day before. In fact, three wonderful weeks passed of doing normal Minecraft shit and being friends passed by, and every bit of it was great fun.

And then came the fucking role play.

PenisUnavailable would have liked to preface that with he only participated under duress, but really, Milfboss had been queen for too long and nobody wanted to risk TNT cannoning any of Shitty's nice builds, so. Well, the castle was better than his drafty cave, alright? It was cold and wet and didn't have a proper door because aesthetic (and because it usually took him several tries to work an iron pressure plate door), so there were far too many mobs wandering in at night and spawn camping him. He and Shitty had almost the same number of deaths and Shitty lived in the fucking Nether.

So yeah. Castle time, baby! Daddy needs a new home! And Admiral obviously wasn't happy living out of Milf's awful tree house hot box where they all did drugs together on day fifteen and it still smelled of burnt wheat seeds, aka "weed." It was only obvious that they teamed up to try and take back the castle.

The battle itself didn't exactly go great, but it wasn't exactly horrible either. A lot of shouting shit at each other for fifteen minutes, the majority of which he wouldn't remember until it was too late- something about server unity?- only to find out that it wasn't two on one girl boss, it was two on a girl boss and her "baked out of his mind" henchman, also known as Shitty in a squirrel furry skin.

The ears man. Those stupid (cute) ears.

And then they were running for their lives because Milf had somehow gotten her hands on a flame bow with infinity enchants.

It all culminated in a dramatic stand-off in front of Shitty's Nether Soccer ball, Milf on one side, diamond axe in hand, not a bit of armor on because of an unfortunate run in with lava, Penis and Admiral on the other, picks in hand, threatening to tear down shittyfartbaby69's base. Shitty wasn't online just then to comment, but they could all hear him click-clacking away on his keyboard so he obviously hadn't gone to sleep just yet like he said he had. At an impasse, and unable to justify letting her teammate's home be used as collateral, Milfboss stood down and gave up her "crown," an enchanted golden Prot IV helmet she had gotten off a skeleton from her spawner.

Then the great betrayal, the beginning of the end. Shitty came back online. 96-Cam joined the game, not that they noticed in the chaos. Admiral-Anus cackled wildly and PMed Milfboss the message that Shitty had sent him, giving Team Gay Sex permission to tear down his base in the name of winning the war if it came down to it- making Milf's sacrifice worthless in the end. Penis gave another dramatic speech, circling around Shitty, who was acting weirdly apologetic to Milf about betraying her and still wearing that fucking squirrel furry skin.

"You see Milf, there's one thing more powerful than a girl boss, and when it comes down to wars between kingdoms, there's something you need to remember!" Penis got out his golden ax, helpfully labeled 'Piss Off'. "And that's a dilf with something to lose!" An enderpearl in his off hand and he teleported behind Milf, catching on fire from the lava but still landing the last hit needed to finish her off. She puffed into a cloud of EXP, swearing up a storm, and then Admiral and Penis turned their gaze to the cheering Shitty.

"AAAAAYYY, LET'S GO DADDY!" the squirrel man screeched, wild laughter shorting out the discord voice chat, making him go quiet in patches when the volume overloaded the client. Behind him, Admiral quietly started building a chair out of birch fence posts and slabs.

"Not so fast, shit-ty-fart-baaaaa-byyyyy~, this isn't quite over yet!" Penis fucking chirped, barely holding back his laughter. "You're still a fucking traitor and we can't have you backstabbing us too. Get in the chair for Daddy, okay baby?"

Admiral finished the chair just in time for Shitty to turn around and see the completed monstrosity, shrieking dying off immediately. "Oh screw you, that's just mean. The Hell man? That's not a chair, that's illegal. If you want an electric chair or some shit, just ask. That's just sad." Mentally shrugging, Admiral lit up his work with a flint and steel while Penis pillared up above where Shitty was building an electric chair out of iron bars and trap doors. Admiral nudged Shitty into the chair, Penis dumped a bucket of lava over the edge of the pillar so it flowed over him, and Shitty started giving a soliloquy about how betrayal and how his love for his "Daddy" still "burned strong".

Like his dick. Apparently.

By the time the lava finally hit the floor and burned Shitty to death, Penis was crying with laughter, shrieking down the mike and banging on the desk hard enough to make him forget that his was still on the mouse, making him mine the block under him with the bucket and sending him hurtling to his fiery death too.

It was a good day... almost.

Because, as it turned out, shittyfartbaby69 was actually a tiktokker of some renown and his cam account had record everything. And he had uploaded the bit to tiktok, as you do, where it went viral, where it wasn't supposed to. And Milfboss, who had recently been uploading covers of herself singing old classic Minecraft songs, had attracted the Minecraft fandom kids to her twitter, where she had gone to post her rage about the events of her dethroning and Shitty's execution.

Penis SMP had gotten on. Fucking. Trending. And now everyone was demanding the full clip, their names, their Twitch streamer handles, their characters' backstories.

The masses wanted lore.

Penis watched in disbelief, head in his hands and mouth agape as sugar crash played over a clip of him killing Milf on loop.

They were making memes.

...Oh god. They were screwed.

#penismp #penis smp #fanfiction #minecraft #my writing #crack #crack treated seriously #also on ao3 #penisunavailable #milfboss #shittyfartbaby69 #admiral_anus

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thethoughtsfromthreeam · 4 years ago

Text

Art History

Pairing: Marcus Pike x Reader

Warnings: Smut, public sex act

A/N: @pedropascalito wrote a NSFW alphabet for Marcus some time ago and had shown interest in a fic where Marcus finger fucks you next to a piece of art. And like always, other people’s comments give me ideas. So here we go, y’all.

Reminder: I ain’t ever seen Pedro Pascal in FUCK ALL, I’m just coming up with this as I go along, using imdb.com, wiki, and 84,000 tabs I got open to plan out this shit. I also write soft versions of his characters so if you’re craving asshole vibes, I ain’t got any but my own to offer.

Tags: @zeldasayer , @romanticgumchewer , @beskars , @coolmaybelateruniverse , @the-feckless-wonder, @pascalisthepunkest , @mandoandyodito , @randomness501 , @fioccodineveautunnale

—***—

“Do you want to do inside first or check out the sculpture garden?” You looked at the map of the museum in your hands. It had been his turn to choose the location for your standing monthly get away date and he had chosen well, a sprawling art museum housed in a Gilded Age mansion outside of Providence Rhode Island. The impressive views of the Atlantic Ocean made the grounds an attractive place to start the day.

A slight chill in the air made you glad you chose you tweed cloak instead of the cardigan you debated on that morning. It was just warm enough to keep the light breeze at bay but not heavy enough to overheat you. Secretly you loved wearing the cloak, it made you feel like the heroine of some historic romance novel.

“Marcus?” You prodded him gently with your voice as you watched his brows furrow in concentration. He was still looking at the map in your hands and you watched as something flashed over his face. You could hear the gears turning in his head – he was clearly up to something.

He looked up at you and that boyish grin that never failed to make your stomach flutter was at full wattage. He took the map and folded it up, putting it in his back pocket before taking your hand. You smiled as he began to walk towards the gardens.

“They have a spectacular selection of Holbrook sculptures on display. You’re going to love them.” As you walked, you passed an occasional person, but it was so quiet, it seemed as if you had the whole garden to yourself, allowing you to imagine yourselves as the only people in the world in that moment.

Marcus glanced down, watching the sunlight play peekaboo with your hair and face as you passed under the Japanese maples that lined the path. He rubbed his thumb along your knuckles, almost absentmindedly, as you quietly chatted about the art you passed. His deep voice was soft and your murmurs and comments seemed to flow like silk over him.

While history was more your speed, your passion for the subject matched his passion for art step for step and Marcus’ favorite thing about these dates was the way you bounced off each other. For every story he had about an artist or piece or even style, you easily came back with facts and figures that put everything into further context. Sometimes you argued over meaning, but it was always stimulating.

By the time you made it to the far end of the garden where the Holbrook pieces were on display, an hour had passed, although with you, it felt like no time at all. Marcus began to smile as the exhibit came into view. Holbrook was easily one of his favorite artists and the pieces made his blood sing every time he saw one, a song usually only you could coax out of him.

You stopped to read the interpretation sign before entering the space and Marcus let go of your hand to walk ahead. Because you didn’t have his wealth of knowledge, you almost always stopped to read the signage, to learn more about an artist or a piece of work. Your head bowed as you read and from a distance, Marcus had angled himself to watch your reactions.

Holbrook wasn’t an obscure artist, but given the sensual look to his pieces, you discovered why he wasn’t exactly in a lot of textbooks. You stepped into the garden and it felt as if you had fallen into an erotic daydream. The almost carnal aura of the space was softened by flowers and trees that were soft and dreamy.

As you began to view the pieces, each one seemed to capture a passionate moment so perfectly that a small part of you felt like you were experiencing memories that were your own but weren’t. You were examining a piece so intently; you didn’t notice the flush that crept across your body. But Marcus did.

He stood a few pieces away from you, taking in the subtle changes of your body – how your posture relaxed, the way your eyes began to spark, the blush against your cheeks that could be mistaken as caused by the breeze. And when you turned to move to the next piece, he could see your eyes beginning to darken.

But you weren’t the only one affected by the art and as you were reading, Marcus had been looking at a piece where one lover was kneeling between the legs of another. The Kneeler captured the moment when the titular lover was pressing their lips against the inside of the thighs of their object of affection.

He could feel his pants becoming tighter the longer he looked at the piece, but when he watched at you as you moved from piece to piece, the soft fabric of his boxers became almost unbearable. His heart always fluttered at the sight of you, but seeing you become aroused by one of his favorite artists made his heart pound against his ribs.

You stood in front of Embracement, that feeling of déjà vu passing through you yet again. Like all of Holbrook’s pieces, this one was made of marble and yet something about it made it seem soft and yielding. Before you could think beyond that moment, Marcus walked up behind you, placing his large hands on your hips, becoming lost in the fabric of your cloak.

You turned your head to smile at him, feeling his hard body press flush against your own, his strong arms wrapped around your waist and pulling you close. You drew your hands up to rest on his wrists, feeling his warm skin beneath yours. It never failed to humble you that someone as handsome and kind and smart would be interested in you. Although you’d be surprised that Marcus felt the same about you.

He pressed his soft lips to your cheek before dropping his chin to your shoulder. Standing like this, you could feel his voice rumble through his broad chest as much as you heard it come from his mouth. His lifted one hand just long enough to point to the piece in front of you.

“Do you know the story?” When you shook your head, he dropped his arm back down. “Holbrook was married for years to a woman named Marian. He said numerous times that Marian was his muse and the only woman for him. When she became pregnant with their first child, he made this piece to celebrate.”

You looked at it again. A woman lay on a bed, leaning against pillows as her lover lay between her legs. Hands were wrapped around the hips and the man’s lips were pressed against the woman’s pubic bone. Both were naked, but the hallmarks of arousal were evident in the details. Marcus’s voice continued and between your attention on the piece and on his voice, you failed to realize that he shifted his arms through the side openings of your cloak, bringing his hands to rest on your hips, with only the fabric of your skirt and panties between you two.

“Holbrook admitted that the piece came to him in a dream inspired by a memory. He said that Marian was made to be worshiped by his body and with his art. Rumor has it that their maid found the two of them laying exactly like this in the garden of their home.”

As the words flowed over you, Marcus’ hands began to move and for the first time you became aware of his touch as his fingertips pulled at your thin sweater to urge the fabric up. When he finally touched your skin, you felt as if you were being set on fire. His skin was hot against yours and the flush that had spread across your cheeks earlier began to spread throughout your body.

“He said that no skin felt as soft as hers, like silk” One hand snaked northward, skirting the edge of your lace bra before cupping one gently. Your nipples began to harden into tight peaks that throbbed in time with your clit and your hips began to slightly move in time with his words.

“Her lips were reported to feel like brushed velvet.” His other hand traced gently along the waistband of your skirt before dipping below and into the soft cotton of your panties. Your breath hitched and you tensed, your eyes opening wide. Marcus pressed his lips against your temple. “It’s okay, we’re completely alone. Besides, no one can see my hands under your cloak.”

You pressed against him harder when his hands didn’t move, and you were rewarded with a low groan as your ass pressed against his erection. You couldn’t stop the smile from playing against your lips even as they opened into a sigh when Marcus pressed an open kiss to your neck.

Marcus continued to tell the story of the piece, his voice rough with want. You stared at the sensual scene in front you, hoping it would ground you even has the strong, large fingers of his hands slipped through the curls at the apex of your thighs and into the folds of your slit. Your hopes were for naught.

He felt your hips jerk forward at his touch and again when his fingers pinched your nipple through the lace of your bra. His smile could be heard in his voice as your body bowed away from his as pleasure danced along your skin. But that smile was wiped away when you used the new space between your hips to drag your hand along the front of his pants, letting the cloak cover your movements from any prying eyes.

Now it was his turn to jerk his hips, chasing your fingertips as they moved northward. Your smile was no longer hidden and out in full force. You moved your other hand from his wrist to deftly unbuckle his belt and unbutton his pants. As you tugged the zipper down, Marcus began to gently rub against your clit.

You couldn’t stop the loud gasp from escaping your throat and he pressed his nose against the side of your face, urging you to keep it down. You may have been alone, but the museum grounds were still open. Someone could always walk into the exhibit and catch you. When you nodded, he rubbed a little faster, his blood hot in his veins as he watched you dropped your head back and bit your lip to keep the groan from escaping your throat.

You forced yourself to focus more as you stuck your hand beneath the waistband of his boxers, feeling his cock hard and ready for you. He dipped his head once again, using the fabric at your shoulder to soften his own moan. Your hand went lower, brushing along the tip and gathering the moisture you found there. With a sudden swiftness, you grasped his cock and dragged your hand as far down as your awkward position could let you.

“Fuck, sweetheart.” His pants enveloped you and you lolled your head to the side to press your lips against his neck. “So soft, like silk. Like velvet.”

“Marcus.” Your voice sounded desperate and he understood. His fingers dipped lower to gather up your wetness before he plunged two fingers deep into you. Your body tensed and curled forward as far as his arms would let you – his large hand still on your breast and keeping you pressed against him.

Soon his hand was setting a moderate pace, fingers continuously dipping into your dripping core, reaching that spot inside of you that made your toes curl inside your shoes. You angled yourself enough so that you could match his pace with your hands, twisting and curling them against the heat of his erection.

Marcus felt as if he were on fire and it took all his will power not to drive his hips into your hands, knowing that at any moment someone could see him. His blood rushed through his body and his nerves tingled at the thought. He never thought himself as an exhibitionist, but the close call of it all certainly spoke to his baser desires.

You, on the other hand, were lost in his fingers as the continued to pluck as your nipples and touch your very soul. When he with drew his hand, your whine couldn’t be contained, but it was cut short when he began to rub your clit again. Your hips continued to jerk as the passion brewing deep in your belly grew hotter and tighter.

“Marcus. . .” You could barely get his name out, your voice raspy and filled with heavy desire. He seemed to know what you wanted, and he dropped the hand at your breast down into your panties. His stuck his fingers back inside of you and let his other hand continue to rub against your clit, the pace faster this time.

Your hands remained on his cock, tightening as your pleasure began to climb closer to its peak with every movement on his hands. They barely moved now, but that didn’t matter as Marcus let himself fuck your fists like a horny teenager. Both of your hips were moving faster, your orgasms drawing from your limbs and growing heavier in the pit of your stomachs.

Marcus began to kiss along your neck, open and wet against your skin. You focused on the scene in front you, knowing that the familiarity of this piece and so many others were not because you’d seen Holbrook’s work before. No, it’s because these sculptures were your life lived. You didn’t see Marian and Holbrook in front of you.

No. That sculpture was you, nipples taunt in desire and lips slightly parted for the man laying between your legs. It was Marcus’ lips that hovered above your public bone, kissing you so intimately until all thoughts were lost to you. It was not Holbrook’s hands on those hips, it was the man behind you, whose soft skin brushed so lovingly against your own in an almost worshipful way.

When you came, your whole body seemed to explode and for a split second it seemed that the woman in the sculpture turned her head towards you and smiled a knowing smile. You jerked against his hands, your moan low but deep and Marcus felt it reverberate through his body. He followed you into the waves of pleasure, coming in your hand over and over until he felt spent.

The aftershocks rippled through your body as Marcus cupped your mound softly. When you stopped shaking, he withdrew his hands and kissed your temple. He pulled them completely out of your clothing and reached into his pocket for his handkerchief. He wiped his hands and then yours, doing his best to clean the back of your cloak and the front of his pants.

Once all evidence of your tryst has been cleaned, he folded up the fabric and put it back into his pockets. As he slipped himself back inside his pants, you straightened your skirt and looked back at the sculpture in front of you. Nothing had change, the sculpture never moved and yet you felt an even deeper connection to the piece.

Marcus laid his hands on your hips, turning you towards him so he could drape his arms around your waist. You did the same and as you looked at each other, the satisfied smiles on your faces seem to glow. He dipped his head to softly kiss your lips and you willingly kissed him back, the soft sensuality of the kiss spreading through you. It seemed to last long minutes, each brush of his lips drawing you back in until you could barely breathe.

He pulled his head back and looked down at you, the lust that had been there giving away to adoration and love. His eyes reflected the same. While he hadn’t anticipated this happening when he suggested you come here for your date, it was better than anything he could have hoped for. You cocked your head to look at him.

“What’s going on in that brain yours, sweetheart?” His voice was wasn’t as raspy as it had been, but it was still rougher than normal.

“I love a good art piece. It’s very inspiring.” You smiled.

He grinned and nodded in agreement.

#agent marcus pike #marcus pike #marcus pike x reader #marcus pike smut #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal smut #the mentalist

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