#actually pretty glad we haven't used that around here in a while that's a good sign right?👍

[aberooski]

If I could actually color and shade with real colors and not just black and white and have it not be complete dogshit it would be so over for you guys.

[inuiiwonderland]

Why hate me

You, a young fae has been promised to marry malleus since a young age. But how is everything going to work out between the two of you if he hates you? And what if he says something that would completely ruin the last bit of hope you have for him.

-

You sat quietly by the window as you took a sip of your tea. Humming a small tune that your caretaker used to hum to you. As you sat by the window, you could feel your heart ache at the thought of your fiance.

Malleus draconia

The two of you have been promised to marry each other since you were young. You always loved malleus ever since you were a little girl.

But malleus on the other hand didn't like you very much. You never knew why he didn't like you. You never did anything bad to him or anything so you were always confused as to why he hated you.

But even if he didn't like you, that definitely didn't stop you from being nice to him. You would always ask him to come play with you or take a stroll around the palace garden but he would always decline.

But that didn't stop little old you. You made a promise to yourself to make malleus like you, even if it wasn't romantically you still wouldn't care as long as he feels comfortable around you.

But as you both grew older, the more you started to believe that he might never like you. He would grow annoyed with you when you would check up on him or try to convince him to go walk in the palace garden with you.

He would ignore your every attempt to make him like you.

And the thing he hated the most was when you first visited NRC.

You decided to pay a visit to NRC and to see how malleus was doing, but the moment you step foot in diasomnia malleus was quick to escort you out the dorm.

Of course you felt sad but you didn’t want to make him hate you even more so you decided to respect his wish.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock at the door.

“Come in”

You put your tea cup down and turn to see no other than lilia.

“Good evening lilia”

“Good evening y/n”

“What brings you here?” You ask as you motion him to sit down across from you.

“Well I haven’t seen my daughter in law in a while, so I just wanted to stop by and see how you are doing”

You smiled and poured him a cup of tea.

“Well I have been doing great general lilia” you tease as he just laughs.

“Well that great lady y/n”

“Oh? So we are getting formal now general lilia?”

“Well we most definitely are lady y/n”

You both were quiet for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Ah, I haven't laughed like that in ages!”

“Well I’m glad you had your fun” he said as he took a sip of his tea.

“So how is everything going in NRC? How silver?”

“Everything is going great! Ah and silver, my sweet boy is doing great!”

“That great!…and um… how mal doing?”

“Malleus is doing just fine. Actually, he been pretty happy the past few weeks”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm. I think it has to do with that new student”

“New student?” You put your cup down and paid your full attention to him.

“Ah I forgot to mention, you know that a few weeks ago we had orientation, right?”

“Mhm”

“Well during that, the mirror summoned something- someone”

“And she isn’t from twisted wonderland”

“Oh? She is not from this world?” You say in shock.

“Nope”

“So how is she? Is she alright?” Even though you didn’t know the girl, you still felt sorry for her since she most likely found everything strange.

“Ah you and your sweet heart! But she fine, crowley is doing his best to get her back to her original world…well that what I heard”

“Mm”

“Ah! But she's been hanging out with malleus for the past few weeks! And she made a few new friends during those weeks including malleus!”

“Well that good to hear”

“Say y/n, why don’t you ever visit NRC? Silver been asking about you including sebek”

“Really?”

“Mhm”

You stay silent for a moment. You never told him about the incident with you and malleus when you first visited diasomnia.

“Well, I would like to but…you know how I’m busy all the time lilia”

“Well you don’t have to worry about that!”

“What do you mean?” You asked curiously

“Because I cleared up your schedule!”

“Eh?”

You looked at him dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

“Yep, everyone in diasomnia is already informed about your arrival, so it would be a shame if you don’t come”

“E-everyone?”

“Mhm!”

Your heart dropped knowing malleus would most likely be angry.

“Well let’s get going now!”

“W-wait lilia!”

“No waits!”

-

At night raven college

“Ahh did you guys hear! The great lady y/n will be visiting today!”

“Ehh?! Really!?”

“I heard she's gonna stay here for the week!”

“We need to make sure we meet lady y/n expectations!”

If no one knew that you were coming to visit NRC, well they definitely know now by how the rumors are spreading around everywhere.

“Ahh did you hear that silver! The great lady y/n will be visiting today!”

“Yes yes I heard sebek”

By now, everyone knows that you were visiting and everyone was really excited, even people that weren’t from diasomnia.

And of course, since everyone on campus is talking about your arrival, it certainly reached the ears of a certain someone.

“She visiting…”

“Who? Oh wait, are you talking about the lady y/n? I don’t really know anything about her but from what everyone is saying she seems sweet and very popular”

He just scoffed

“Come on, she might be here by now”

“Wait, we're going to meet her?!”

Ignoring her question, malleus just pulls her towards diasomnia direction.

-

Stepping foot into diasomnia, you felt a wave of anxiety starting to creep up as your eyes looked everywhere for a certain dragon.

“You seem nervous”

“Me? Hah that funny”

“Are you-“

But before he could continue, the doors flew open and you started preparing yourself for what to come.

“Y/n!” You quickly turn around to see silver and sebek. You felt a wave of relief go through you and you offered them a small smile.

“Ah if it isn’t silver and sebek! It’s great to see the two of you”

“It’s great to see you again!”

“Why haven’t you come visit us sooner?”

“Ah well I have been busy with some stuff back at the castle”

“Oh”

“Well it’s good to see that you took a break!”

“Yeah…it is”

Before the two could talk any further, the door was slammed open and you turn to see malleus and a girl at the door.

“Malleus..”

“Y/n…what is she doing here?”

“She came to visit us of course! C’mon be more happy about seeing your fiancée malleus!” You saw him stiffen up and you lowered your head down so as to not make any eye contact with him.

“Oh fiancée? Malleus, you never told me that!”

You look up to see a girl standing next to him.

That must be the new student

As she looked your way you gave her a small smile and quietly chuckled when she turned red and looked away.

“Yes..um well if you excuse me I have to go do something”

“Dinner will be ready in a few hours!” Lilia tells him as malleus walks away.

You felt like breaking down right then and there. You just wanted to know why malleus hates you so much.

“Boys go help her unpack”

“Oh no! It’s fine-“

“Don’t worry, lady y/n! I’ll help you!”

“That sweet of you sebek, really but I’ll-“

“We don’t mind y/n, plus I would love if we can catch up with each other while we help you unpack”

“Mhm!”

You looked at them for a second before nodding your head.

“That would be great”

They smile and lift up your bags as they escorted you to your room.

“Akane, you should come help me prepare dinner!”

“D-dinner?” You three quickly turn around to akane as the poor girl didn’t know what to do.

“Wait father! After we’re done helping lady y/n unpack we can help you!”

“Y-yeah! Or maybe one of our chefs will!”

“You should take a break Lilia!”

“Oh but I’m not tired-“

“It’s okay we got it from here sir lilia!” You three sighed in relief when one of the chefs came running in.

“Oh well thank you!”

-

“So how are things with malleus?"

You froze when Silver asked you that. You didn't know how to answer without revealing too much of what's going on between you and malleus.

"Things are great.."

"Mm"

"Where do you want me to put this lady y/n!"

"You can put it down there, thank you sebek"

"Are you sure everything is good between you two?"

"Mhm" He decided not to say anything else after that, but you knew that he didn't completely believe it.

"Well thank you two for helping me unpack, I really appreciate it"

"It's no problem!"

"dinner would be serve in a few, let's go"

You three then made your way out the room and downstairs. You were a little nervous to see malleus but you calmed yourself the moment you noticed that you were getting closer to the dining area.

"Oh you three made it just on time! Come! Dinner is ready” you stared in awe as you saw all the amazing and wonderful food that was on the table. Especially when you saw your favorite.

“Where malleus?” Akane asks, you looked around and you saw that he was nowhere in sight.

“Oh I don’t know. Y/n dear”

You stiffen as you heard Lilia call for you.

“Yes?”

“Could you go get malleus? Tell him that dinner is ready” Anxiety and nausea is all you could feel. You slowly nodded your head before getting up and excusing yourself out.

As you walked down the hallway of diasomnia, you could feel your heart beat out of your chest.

You were extremely nervous.

The closer you got to malleus room, the more you could feel your heart almost bursting out.

Finally making it to his room. You softly knocked on the door.

“Mal? Dinner is-“ but before you could even finish your sentence, the door flew open and you were pulled into the room.

“What are you doing here” he asks sternly.

“Lilia asked me to come get you-“

“No”

“Huh?” His hold on you tightened as you looked at him with wide eyes.

“Why. Are. You. Here”

“I-I..” but as you expected, no words came out of your mouth.

You were beyond scared and you didn’t know what to do to not make him more mad than he already is.

“ I came to visit. Lilia made me come here”

“Are you here to kill us?! Huh?!”

You looked at him confused as he just went off on you.

“W-what? Mal what do you-“

“You know exactly what I mean! And don’t call me mal”

“I- I’m sorry but I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Stop lying! I saw it! I saw it that day!”

“What? What did you see?!” At this point you were confused. You didn’t know what he was talking about and why he was acting like this.

“Your gonna kill me aren’t you? That why you are acting all nice and sweet. You want me dead don’t you! You are going to do the same thing your parents did to mine huh?!”

You just stared at him. You couldn’t believe what he was saying. You didn’t even know what he was saying!

“Malleus! Please just stop!”

“No! I won’t let you hurt me or anyone!”

“Malleus-“

“You should’ve died in that fire along with your parents”

Your heart stopped when those words left his lips. You stared at him in disbelief and hurt as tears started to flow down your face.

He just looks at you with hatred. Not regretting the words that just have left his mouth.

You two just looked at each other before you finally looked away.

“Alright. I’ll just leave”

Was the last thing you said before walking out the room.

That was the last time malleus and anyone else saw you.

You never came back to NRC, you never made it back to briar valley, you never made it back to the castle.

It’s like you disappeared

And…maybe you did.

[brbsoulnomming]

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 24

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | AO3

Rating: mature

-----

The next morning, he and Robin drape themselves over a pair of pool chairs to get their lounge on while Steve works on getting the pool in good enough shape for their upcoming party.

It means watching Steve in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of cut off shorts, so Eddie's very on board.

Robin scoffs next to him. "I am so glad you got your shit together so I don't have to tiptoe around you drooling right now."

"I'm not drooling!" Eddie insists, though he does wipe his hand over his mouth just to check.

No drool.

"Metaphorically," Robin clarifies, grinning at him. "By all means, oogle away. Just know Steve's probably showing off a little on purpose."

Eddie squints at him, and sure enough - there's probably no need for Steve to be lifting things that often.

"I hate that it's working," Eddie grumbles.

"Of course it's working." Robin rolls her eyes.

Right, of course it is. Eddie's always known that Steve was very attractive - it used to irritate the hell out of him, that he was susceptible to the same allure as the rest of the masses of Hawkins High. The fact that he thought Steve was a douche used to counter it, but, well.

Now he's pretty much in love with the guy.

Eddie leans forward a little, fiddling with some blades of grass by his chair. "Steve's, uh. It's true, right, that he's had a lot of sex with a lot of girls?"

Robin nods. "It's true. He was in a slump when I first met him, but before - well, before you, he was complaining about all his meaningless relationships that were just about sex when he wanted a real connection."

That's… Eddie doesn't know exactly what that is, actually, or how he feels about it. He thinks it should be weird, talking about this when they're both dating Steve, but - it doesn't feel weird, not really. "That doesn't bother you?"

"Does it bother me that he's been with more girls than I can count before I even got my first kiss? Not really. I mean, sure, I guess a little, in an ugh why is it so easy for him and so hard for me, but, you know. We both had our different ways of finding our other soulmate. Apparently neither of them were successful, since the Upside Down brought you to Steve, and I'm still striking out." She pauses, then adds, "Plus he's like really good at eating girls out, so I'm not going to complain about getting to benefit from him demonstrating his technique."

He takes it back, it's weird and uncomfortable and that was way too much information about their sex life.

Whatever face he's making gets her to laugh at him, eyes crinkling.

"Don't worry, it probably translates over decently well. Besides, I've seen him practically deep throat a banana so you're probably good. Oh, has he gotten to do that thing with his tongue yet?"

Eddie squeaks. He's pretty sure his face is bright red, considering how much it's burning, and Robin's laughter turns into a cackle.

Steve overhears the laughter and turns towards them, hip cocked as he squints at them.

"What's so funny?" he calls.

"Just asking Eddie if he's gotten to experience your tongue skills yet!" she calls back.

"Robin!" Steve yelps, dropping the pool net to come over to them.

"What?" she asks. "Weren't you the one who was whining at me about how you wanted to choke on his dick and then eat him out until he cried?"

The blood that had been flooding his cheeks immediately rushes south, and Eddie has to lean over to adjust his pants and try to make that less obvious.

Yes, please, sign him up for all of that.

"In confidence! I told you that in confidence!" Steve sputters.

Eddie leans back, tipping his head up at Steve with a slow smirk. "I'm feeling a little hurt, here, Harrington, how come I haven't gotten a fruit demonstration?"

Steve gapes at him for a moment, just long enough for Eddie to start to regain his footing.

Then Steve's eyes narrow.

"If I was demonstrating for you, Munson, it wouldn't be on fruit," he replies.

Steve turns his back on them and returns to the pool, leaving Eddie to make a protesting noise - that is not a whine, no matter how much he can read that in Robin's eyes while she laughs at him.

"Do I need to shove you in the pool to cool you off?" she teases.

"Shut up," he mutters, adjusting himself again.

Then he tips his head back and closes his eyes, because if he looks at Steve again in the next fifteen minutes or so, he might need to take Robin up on that.

—

They eat lunch all jammed together on the couch, plates balanced on their laps. Steve's eating with his left hand, because his right hand is holding Eddie's left. Their fingers are laced together, and Steve refuses to let go, and Eddie's pretty sure his cheeks are flushed red, but he's really not going to complain about it.

There's a little bit of sauce on the corner of Steve's lip, and ridiculously, it makes Eddie want to lean in to lick it off.

Fuck, he really wants to kiss him. Is he allowed to kiss him, is that weird? Steve and Robin haven't kissed in front of him, but Eddie kind of figures that's because they knew he had hang ups about the sharing thing.

Ugh, if he wants kissing Steve when they're like this to be on the table, it's probably going to be on him to talk about it.

Eddie clears his throat. "Hey, uh," he starts, but has no idea where to go after that.

Robin makes a little encouraging noise.

"I appreciate you guys holding back on the PDA around me while I figured all this out, but you don't have to anymore," he says.

Steve's eyebrows raise. He looks down, where Robin's toes are shoved under his thigh and he'd been in the middle of eating the olives off of her plate. "I hate to break it to you, Eds, but we haven't been holding back all that much."

"Well, yeah, not for that, but-" Eddie pauses, switching to come at this from another angle. "Not a lot of people know about me. And I'm guessing - not a lot know about Steve?"

Steve nods when Eddie looks at him for confirmation. "Just Robin and you, and Max and Lucas."

Eddie smiles a little. "Same, but Uncle Wayne knows about me."

"Just you and Steve, Max and Lucas for me," Robin adds, which -

Eddie hadn't known that, actually, but it makes him smile brightly at her. It makes it even better, knowing that Robin's in the same boat as him and Steve - that she gets it. "You're the only one who knows about me and Steve, and me and Steve. I don't know how you feel about telling the others who know?"

Steve considers that. "I feel okay," he says finally. "But if we tell Lucas and Max, we have to tell the rest of the party. It's not fair to have them keep that secret."

Eddie doesn't disagree, but - "Table that for now, then. So yeah, just you. And I'd really, really like to just kiss Steve without thinking about it when it's just the three of us, so it'd be really shitty of me if I told you not to."

There's a moment of silence as Robin and Steve look at each other with near identical expressions of confusion.

"Eddie," Robin says after a moment. "I like girls."

Eddie frowns. He thought they just covered that. "Yeah?"

"Only girls," she clarifies.

What.

"But Steve-" he starts.

"Is not a girl," Robin finishes.

"Definitely not a girl," Steve adds.

"Wait, so you - so you're not -" Eddie stammers.

Jesus fucking Christ.

"Oh my God, Eddie, have you thought we were dating this whole time?" Robin shrieks.

"Yes! Of course I did! Look at you!" Eddie gestures at them.

"You said you told him!" Steve hisses at Robin.

"I did!" Robin protests.

"I think I would have remembered that!" Eddie counters.

"We were sitting in the kitchen! I told you that Steve has two soulmates, a platonic," she gestures at herself, the motion just as exaggerated as the word. "And a romantic!" She gestures at Eddie this time.

Eddie closes his eyes, fights the urge to just keep repeating Jesus Christ, and opens them again. "Buckley. I wasn't looking at you while we were talking."

"You weren't - well that's just rude, Munson! What were you so busy staring at that you couldn't pay attention to me in the very important discussion we were having?" Robin demands.

Eddie's eyes cut to Steve.

Her gaze must follow his, because she groans. "Of course you were looking at Steve. See, look at that, another person ignoring me because they're obsessed with you."

Eddie squawks. "I wasn't obsessed with-"

His jaw snaps shut as he realizes that might not be a lie.

Shit.

Steve grins at him, looking just a little bit too smug. "It's okay," he says. "I'm kind of obsessed with you, too."

Robin groans, face planting onto Steve's shoulder. "How did we miss this?"

"I thought we were being so mature," Steve agrees. "So open and communicative."

"In my defense, you two did shower together," Eddie points out.

"Not like that!" Robin says.

"How do you shower together but not like that?" Eddie demands.

Steve shrugs. "The same way you wash someone's hair but not like that?"

Eddie makes a face at him. "Yeah, that doesn't count, I wanted to jump you the whole time."

Steve opens his mouth, then closes it again. "Yeah, okay, me too," he admits. "You kept making these little sounds, I just-"

Eddie waggles his eyebrows. "Keep going, Stevie, you just what?"

"Get sidetracked later," Robin cuts in. "The point is - technically, Steve showered while I was brushing my teeth, and I showered while he was doing his hair care routine. We're soulmates, it's not like it matters what we see."

"But - there was giggling, and smacking, and - other noises," Eddie protests, but it's a weak one now.

Steve shrugs. "My back was all fucked up, man, you know that. Rob was helping me with the bandages."

"And Steve was doing his stupid shower characters," Robin adds, rolling her eyes. "He makes himself a dumb beard out of shaving cream or a stupid hairstyle out of shampoo and does terrible voices, and it's awful and I don't hate it at all."

Eddie - Eddie can imagine that perfectly, actually, and fuck, something so stupid shouldn't make him want so badly, but there it is.

"Stop," he whines. "I'm already in love with you, stop making it worse."

Both Steve and Robin freeze, but it still takes him a moment to realize what he just said.

Oh shit.

Eddie swallows, building up his courage for a moment before he sneaks a look at Steve.

Steve's looking back, just a little bit awestruck. "You love me?"

Eddie can't pull his hand free to fidget with his wrist brace, so he plays with Steve's fingers instead. "Well, yeah. I kind of thought that was obvious."

Then again, apparently some things all three of them thought were obvious were very much not obvious, and he grimaces.

"Yeah," he says. "I really do."

Robin kicks Steve in the thigh, leaning over and snatching their plates out of their laps. "Upstairs, now," she informs them. "I know that look, Steve, and if you're going to make out with him you're not doing it sitting next to me on the couch."

"Upstairs?" Steve asks, and who the hell is Eddie to say no to that?

"Just remember you're supposed to pick Dustin up for patrol in half an hour!" Robin yells up after them. "And I will not be stalling if he walkies asking what's taking you so long!"

"Guess we shouldn't waste any time." Eddie turns to Steve with a smirk, one eyebrow raised, only to find himself pinned to the wall in the upstairs hallway.

Steve crowds in against him, kissing him in short little bursts, like he keeps trying to pull back to say something but can't make himself stop for long.

Eddie doesn't make it easy for him to pull away, chasing him every time he does to kiss him again. He drags his teeth along Steve's bottom lip the next time he pulls back, but this time, Steve actually does stop long enough to speak.

"I love you, too," he pants out against Eddie's lips, the words muffled by how close they are together.

And Eddie - yeah, part of him had known. Like he told Uncle Wayne, it was obvious that Steve cared about him, and it was just as obvious that Steve was really into him.

But mostly knowing about it and hearing it confirmed are two different things, and Eddie surges forward to kiss him again.

Steve presses him back against the wall, one thigh wedged between Eddie's legs - still in those cut off shorts, and if Eddie could bring himself to break the kiss long enough to look down, he's pretty sure he'd get more than a flash of hairy skin. Eddie groans, rolling his hips up so he can at least grind against his thigh.

"Yeah?" Steve asks, before his tongue slides into his mouth at the same time his thigh presses up and up, giving Eddie more friction to rut against.

Which he immediately takes advantage of, grabbing Steve's ass with both hands and holding on as they rock together.

"Wanna make you feel good," Steve says, dropping little biting kisses along the line of Eddie's jaw. "Want you to tell me everything you like."

Eddie huffs out a shaky little laugh. "I, uh. I've never done this before, Stevie."

Steve tips his head back to look at him, brows furrowed for a moment before he seems to get that Eddie means, like, ever.

Despite the fact that he's mostly sure Steve isn't going to make fun of him, his stomach still drops when Steve groans and drops his head down into Eddie's shoulder.

"Steve?" Eddie asks.

"We gotta stop," Steve replies, muffled. "We've only got like twenty minutes left now, and that's really not enough for everything I want to do with you."

Eddie's dick throbs where it's still pressed against Steve's thigh. "It's enough for something, though, come on."

Steve pulls back to look at him. "Eds, your first time is not going to be a quickie in our hallway with Robin downstairs and Dustin waiting on me."

Eddie considers that, then rolls his hips up again, grinning smugly when it makes Steve inhale sharply. "Yeah, I'm pretty okay with that for my first mutual orgasm experience."

Steve makes a face at him, the impact of which is a little ruined by his slightly glazed eyes. "I'm not."

Eddie grunts. "I'm not a girl," he manages to growl out.

Steve looks down between them, where Eddie's still very hard and very pressed into him. "I noticed."

"Then don't treat me like some delicate little virgin," Eddie snaps.

Steve huffs. "It's not like that, it's - fine, why did you tell me, then?"

"What?" Eddie asks, thrown.

"If it's not a big deal, why did you say anything?"

"I… I don't know," Eddie admits. "I just - thought you should be aware, I guess, in case you were expecting something else."

Someone who knew what they were doing.

"Eds," Steve breathes out, tipping his head in to kiss him again. "I'm not expecting anything but you, I promise. Just you, that's all I want."

"That's all?" Eddie asks, and he means it to be teasing, but it comes out a little shaky.

"I want - look, I know it's crap about virginity being special and your first time being perfect and all that, but… it's also not crap."

Eddie raises an eyebrow.

"It's - it should be good, Eddie. You deserve to have something go right. I want to take my time with you, not be thinking about how we have to rush."

Well when Steve puts it like that.

"You're such a romantic," Eddie teases.

Steve's ears go a little pink, but he shrugs. "Yeah, I guess I kind of am."

Eddie pulls him back in for another kiss. "I love you," he whispers against his lips, part because he does and part just to see if he can get Steve all riled up again.

"Not fair," Steve mutters back.

Eddie can't help but laugh a little. "It work?"

"Yes." Steve kisses him again. "But it didn't change my mind."

He steps back, though Eddie's pleased to note that he looks both rumpled and reluctant. Eddie sighs, then reaches out to fix Steve's collar, run his fingers through his hair. Steve does the same for him, and it feels -

Well, pretty fucking good, actually.

They head back downstairs. Robin cheers for them, shouting, "Three minutes to spare!"

Steve rolls his eyes, leans over to kiss the top of her head.

Then he drags Eddie to the front door with him so they can kiss again, long and lingering, before Steve finally heads back out.

Eddie drifts back into the living room to sit down next to Robin again, trying not to look too dazed.

She huffs at him, and it's only then that he realizes this is the first time they've been alone since she told him she was coming back for him.

"You still pissed at me?"

Robin rolls her eyes. "No, you fixed that last night. For the record - it wasn't at you, not really. Steve was miserable, which gets my hackles up. I know, he said he was happy no matter what, but I know him. He would have been hung up on you for ages. Plus, the boy likes sex," she adds matter-of-factly. "It would have been awful dealing with him pining and all pent up from not getting laid."

Eddie snorts.

"What?" Robin asks.

"Nothing," Eddie replies. "Just - I'm really glad we don't have to work out a schedule for both of us having sex with him."

Robin lets out a sound that's some unholy mix between a giggle and a shriek. "Okay, first, thanks for putting that mental image in my brain, I need at least three shots later tonight to get that out. Second - oh my god we would run him ragged, he's pretty insatiable but I'm not sure even he could keep up with the two of us."

Eddie cackles, head tipping back in a laughter there's no way he can contain. "I really love you, Robbie," he says quietly when he's managed to calm down.

Her eyes are soft as she looks at him. "Yeah," she says. "I do, too."

"I can't promise that I won't ever hurt him," he says. "Because, you know, sometimes I get up in my head about stuff, and sometimes I miss things. But I love him. It's always going to be him. I won't - I won't ever leave him, or give up on us."

Robin's quiet for a long time. "You and I aren't really soulmates, you know. I can't tell if you just lied to me."

Eddie knows what his knee-jerk reaction to that is. But he sits with it for a moment, breathes in and breathes out, and then decides knee-jerk was the right reaction. "Yeah, you can."

Robin smiles at him, reaching out to tug on a lock of his hair. "Yeah, I can," she agrees.

He opens his arms, and she hugs him, then shoves him off.

"Come on, Steve left us to do the lunch dishes."

—

Steve brings home pizza for dinner when he gets done with patrolling.

"Hey, I was thinking - do you want to head out to Forest Hills when we're done?" Steve asks while they eat. "There's not really anyone there anymore, we could see if there's anything left of yours you want to get."

Eddie considers that. Part of him isn't sure he wants to go back there, ever, but the other part kind of feels like he needs to see it. To make it real again, and not just a thing in his nightmares.

So he agrees, and they head out after they clean up dinner - Robin refuses to get stuck with it this time.

It still feels strange, driving around in the front seat of Steve's Bimmer, but mostly a nice strange. They don't pass many cars on the way out there, and Steve's got Trooper's Thick as Thieves album playing quietly, and Eddie can just lean back and alternate looking out the window with looking at the beautiful boy in the driver's seat.

Steve pulls a couple of empty boxes out of the trunk when they get there, and Eddie sees him hesitate over the nail bat that's still in there from his patrol earlier.

"Here," Eddie says, taking the boxes so Steve can grab the bat.

There hasn't been any sign of Vecna or the Upside Down on their patrols yet, but Eddie's pretty sure they'll both feel better if Steve's carrying it.

The trailer is barely holding together, a huge chunk ripped out of the living room, and Eddie swallows back a surge of tears.

He knows they have insurance, knows what Uncle Wayne said about the stuff in the trailer, but - it was the first place that ever really felt like home to Eddie. Even though the home was more about Uncle Wayne himself than the physical trailer, it hurts seeing it like this.

"Hey," Steve says softly. "We don't have to do this tonight, we can wait."

We.

Like it's just a guarantee that whenever Eddie does decide to look through the shattered remains of his life, Steve will be right there with him. No question.

It shouldn't be, but it's still a little bit of a surprise to realize that Eddie believes it.

"No," he says, though he does lean in for a kiss. "I want to get this over with. Come on, let's look in my room."

His room isn't as bad as the living room, but it's still pretty trashed. He gets to work rifling through the debris while Steve hangs out in the doorway, nailbat on one shoulder and keeping an eye on the dormant but still not closed gate in the living room.

Eventually, Eddie manages to find about a couple of boxes worth of clothes, most of his jewelry, some D&D things, a few other odds and ends. It's not a lot, but it's more than Eddie thought he might have, which lifts his spirits a little.

"I can stop borrowing your clothes all the time," Eddie tells Steve.

Steve makes a face like he's trying not to say anything.

"What?" Eddie asks.

"…I kind of like you in my clothes," Steve admits.

Eddie barks out a little laugh, then sets down his box so he can sidle into Steve's space. "Oh yeah?" he asks, cocking one eyebrow. "You want me to wear your letterman jacket?"

Steve tips his head, which Eddie is pretty damn sure means yes, but I don't want to say it.

"Steve Harrington," Eddie teases as he hooks his fingers in the waistband of Steve's jeans and gives it a tug. "You wanna be my boyfriend?"

"I'm your soulmate," Steve replies, rolling his eyes, but he doesn't stop himself from being reeled in.

"You wanna be my boyfriend," Eddie repeats, voice sing song, and steals another kiss.

"You were the one who said you wanted the full Steve Harrington experience," Steve teases back.

"I was joking!" Eddie replies, but he realized the moment he says it that - well, no, he kind of wasn't.

Steve grins widely at him. "No, you weren't," he retorts, with all the confidence of someone who's just felt a new lie being written on them.

Eddie raises his eyebrows at him. "So what are you going to do about it, then?"

Steve leans in to kiss him one more time. "Come on. Let's get out of here first."

And, well, all right, Eddie can't exactly protest that.

He picks up two boxes, leaving Steve to grab the third and his bat, then the two of them head back out of the trailer.

They're not too far from what's left of the front door when the sound of footsteps crunches on the gravel nearby.

It's probably just one of the handful of folks too stubborn to leave Forest Hills, but - it's dark, and Eddie can't see anyone, and he can't help the rush of panic that he feels. It must hit Steve the same way, because when he turns back to look at him, he sees that Steve has gone still, head tilted like he's listening.

The sound of a gun cocking rings out far louder than it should.

"Don't move," Jason Carver says.

-----

Tag list (always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

At least all three of them are finally on the same page?

Part 25

[guppygiggles]

(sad/comfort, tickling)

Hey, there you are! I've been looking for you all day! What are you up to, friend?

Oh, no... What's wrong?

Oh, honey... my poor little peach... come here.

There, there... it's okay... I'll just hold you for a minute and rub your back. You don't have to say anything, okay? Shh, shh... you're safe now, I've got you. That's it... just let it all out, sweetheart. This world is so hard on soft things like you, it just isn't fair... oh, that I could take this pain away from you, I'd do it in a heartbeat...

Here, let me dab your face with this... does the cold feel better? Yeah, I bet... you are so flushed, just look at your poor cheeks... let's get your forehead and your neck, too... oh, honey, you're crying again... here, blow into this tissue. Oh, hush, I've seen worse! Just blow. There you go... feel better? Good... let's dab your red nose, too... there, now. You're already starting to look a bit better, do you feel better at all? Oh, I'm so, so glad.

Here, take a sip of this water. That was a big cry you just had, so you need to rehydrate, okay? If you don't want this, I could make you soup, or get you a gatorade instead, or... oh... you look sleepy, now. Are you getting a bit sleepy? That's what I thought... not surprising, really, after the day you just had. Hey, don't apologize! You can absolutely sleep here, I don't mind one bit. Here, let's get you more comfortable.

I hope my couch is comfy for you... you can lean against me if you want, I'll wrap this blanket around us. Oh, you're not quite ready to fall asleep, yet? Well, that's alright! Why don't we put on your favorite movie, and you can drift off when you're ready? No no, don't get up... I have it downloaded already, I'll just get it started for you. Hehe, I actually haven't seen this one in a while... I'm happy that we're watching it together.

You keep squirming... Are you uncomfortable? You... want to get closer? Well, of course you can! Here, there's plenty of room for us to lay down... Oh, pff, are you kidding? I love to cuddle! Let's put this pillow under your head, and you can just scoot back against me, there you go...

...!

Oh, no, did I hurt you? I didn't mean to nudge you so hard. That was a pretty loud squeak, are you alright?

...Whew, I'm so glad... I would feel just terrible if I hurt you. Are you just sensitive right there, or something?

Hm...? I can barely hear you, can you speak up, please?

Wait a minute...

You're not... ticklish, are you?

Ohoho, I see... so, if I just... tickle your tummy, right here, that doesn't tickle?

...

Ehehehe! Awww, your laugh is so cute! Are you embarrassed about being ticklish, is that why you didn't tell me? It's nothing to be shy about, you know... it's pretty adorable.

...

Ohhhh... I think I'm catching on, now... well, in that case... let's see, what other spots should we test out? How about right here, on your side? People with ticklish tummies usually have ticklish sides, too... and it sounds like you're no exception, hehehe! I guess you didn't know I moonlight as a tickle monster, hm? Too late to run, now! Tickle, tickle, tickle! Awww, you have the sweetest laugh when you're being tickled! What about your ribs, I wonder?

...

Ticklish here, too? Goodness! You're just ticklish all over, huh?

Uh oh~ not here...? Not right heeeeeere, under your arms? Hehe, oh, but everybody likes it right here! Tickle, tickle! Wow, I didn't know you could laugh like that! Is this your worst spot~? Your special tickle spot? Oh, gosh, look how red you're turning! You poor thing, so blushy and ticklish... god, you're so cute. Alright, alright, I'll give you a break, now. Don't think I'm not gonna find your other spots, later, though...! Hehehehe~

Here's some water... I bet you're winded after all that laughing. Oooh, you look very sleepy now, too... are you? Oh, good... you really need to rest. I'll pull the blanket back over you... that's it. Just take deep breaths, now... don't you worry about a thing, sweetheart. You are so safe and loved, here... I won't let anything happen to you. Just rest your sweet head, close your eyes...

Goodnight, peach. 💙

[unicornprintzz]

YOU’RE MINE P.2 ☆

Dealer! Ellie x fem! reader

Warnings! Smut!(it's fucking filthy) Use of drugs! Slight Degradation! praising! Pet names! Strap on use! Thigh riding! MDNI!

Top! Ellie, sub! Reader, (both receiving) fingering! (R! Receiving)

A/n- Enjoy my horny loves! Sorry for the wait I hope it's worth it♡ (reminder I haven't written full smut in years so uh let's see how this goes) I recommend reading the first part btw if you haven't read it!

You and Ellie finished eating awhile ago and now you guys are just sitting in her car.

Making out

You’re sitting on Ellie's lap like last time, this time you won't let the car horn interrupt you guys this time. “Y’know Y/n I’ve been wanting to this for so long.” Ellie whispered, kissing your neck, slowly going down to your boobs. You let out a breathy moan in response. “Let’s go to my place, how does that sound pretty girl?” Ellie gripped your thighs and butt. You nodded, continuing to give her butterfly kisses all over her face. She chuckled, “Alright well I’d love to have you on my lap the whole time beautiful, but I won’t be able to drive, wouldn’t want you to get hurt hm?” “you're right.” you get off her lap and sit in the passenger seat.

Ellie had her tattooed hand holding your thigh while the other was on the steering wheel. “Ellie.” “hm?” Ellie glanced at you for a second but looked back at the road. “I was just wondering what happened between you and Cat, I don’t wanna sound nosey it’s just— you guys argued right in front of me, so I just got curious.” You started fidgeting with your fingers. “We were good, but it just didn’t work out.” You nodded. “She just— fuck I can’t deal with her anymore,” “why not?” “We started to get into stupid petty arguments everyday, she got jealous when I got too close to other girls.” “Is that all?” “No, I’m gonna sound like an ass when I say this— but I ended it completely when I met you.” You widened your eyes at this.

“I know I know I’m a dick but I couldn’t keep my eyes off you.” you just quietly listened to her. “If I knew you were into me sooner I would have kissed you so long ago.” “I’m glad you kissed me Ellie, I would have been too scared to make the first move.” Ellie chuckled at this. “Well we’re here c’mon.” You both got out of the car and followed her inside. You looked around and smiled. She’s such a space nerd. “Ellie I knew you were into space but wow you’re really into it.” You smiled looking at her. Ellie scratched the back of her neck, “uh yeah I guess it’s something that never left me.” You walked up to her space figures and admired them.

Ellie came up behind you and hugged your waist. You jumped a little at the sudden touch. Ellie started swaying your body with hers. “Y’know baby I wanted to finish what we started earlier.” “I do too,” you shyly put your hands on top of Ellie’s. “This is sudden- but I feel gross right now, do you mind if I take a shower first? I feel gross and sticky.” Ellie chuckled at your shyness, “yeah of course, I actually wanted to shower too.”

Does she want to shower together? Or does she want to shower after me? Ellie led you to her bathroom. You walked in and closed the door. Out of stupidity you forgot to lock the door. You got the shower ready and started to get undressed. You got in the shower and felt all the stress and worries wash away from you. You just finished showering, but oh you forgot one minor thing. A towel. “Oh shit” do I scream her name? Do I walk out butt naked and grab a towel? I’m not putting my dirty clothes on the floor. You stood in the shower completely paralyzed, you don’t know what to do.

You decided to just shower a little longer and maybe just maybe Ellie would knock on the door and somehow know you need a towel. She didn’t. Wow, you sighed and decided to scream Ellie’s name. You covered your face in embarrassment. “YEAH!” Ellie screamed back. “UH I FORGOT A TOWEL CAN U GET ME ONE PLEASE!” “OKAY,” Ellie screamed back, you relaxed a little knowing you were finally getting a towel. You were expecting her to knock on the door to tell you that she’ll leave the towel in front of the door, but again you forgot you didn’t lock the door.

You were washing your hair for the 2nd time and you heard the door open. Your head snapped to the mist shower door blocking your line sight of view of Ellie just casually walking in like you guys were married. “Got your towel, I was wondering when you were gonna ask for one.” You furrowed your eyes brows, “wait, you knew!” Ellie chuckled, “Yup, I was wondering what you were gonna do, I was hoping you would walk out butt naked and grab a towel, but instead you just screamed my name, I’m a little disappointed,” “pervert, you could have just gotten me one before I even got in the shower.” “What’s the fun in that?” Ellie chuckled. “Well uh you can go now,” “hm I don’t think I will.” “Wha—” before you can react Ellie slides the mist glass door. Your hands immediately go to your boobs and you shut your eyes.

You expected Ellie to just grab you and kiss you, but instead she softly grabbed your shoulders and pulled you out of the shower. You looked at her confused. “What? It’s my job to take care of my girl.” You felt your heart quicken again. Ellie slowly grabbed your hands and pulled them away from your breast.

You looked away embarrassed, “so beautiful.” you heard Ellie whisper. Ellie’s hands started roaming all over your body, your waist, your butt, literally everywhere. You lightly whimpered, out of impatience, you grabbed her hand, placing them on your boobs. “Please Ellie..” “what is it angel? Use your big words.” Ellie lightly squeezed your right boob.

“Ellie.. I want you please.” Ellie smirked, “Mhm that’s what I thought.” Ellie picked you up and walked to her couch.

She pulled your waist and kissed you deeply. You started grinding on her thigh. “Look at you, all desperate.” Ellie stopped you, you started whining and bouncing out of frustration. “Sh sh sh calm down, if you keep acting like a brat you won’t get anything.” Ellie’s hand on your waist tightened. You stopped immediately and stayed quiet.

“Atta girl, you’re such a good girl.” Ellie patted your ass, her fingers slowly went down to your pussy, you gripped Ellie’s shoulders harder and let out a moan. “E-Ellie please.” “Mhm I know baby I know.” Ellie’s fingers teased your folds, you were a moaning mess already.

Ellie’s fingers slipped inside, “Fuck Ellie please keep going.” Ellie’s started going a bit faster now. “How’s this angel?” “Mhm keep going Ellie..” you leaned in to Ellie’s neck, moaning louder than you already were. “That’s it baby, let me take care of you.” Ellie’s free fingers started teasing your clit. She smirking knowing you can’t take it anymore.

You started biting into Ellie’s shoulder. You were about to cum and Ellie knew it. You started bouncing on Ellie’s fingers, “Ellie Ellie I can’t take it anymore.” You moaned out. “Yes you can, just hold on a little more.” Ellie’s fingers moved faster while you were bouncing on them, it was too much.

“Ellie I’m about to come I can’t I can’t—” you came all over Ellie’s fingers. Ellie’s free hands patted your ass again, letting you finish. “There you go, good girl.” Ellie whispered in your ear. She pulled out her fingers and you winced feeling empty now. “Ellie?” “Hm?” You looked at Ellie and she started licking her fingers tasting you. “Mm you taste so good baby.” Ellie licked her lips and began sucking on your tits. You moaned suddenly and gripped her hair. You were tired but you want to keep going.

“Ellie?” You pulled Ellie away from your chest. She looked at you confused, “what is it?” You looked down feeling your confidence wash away. “Can I.. go down on you please?” You looked at her with doe eyes hoping she would say yes. Ellie looked a little shocked at this. She grabbed your face and pulled you closer. “You’re so fucking cute Y/n.” You smiled shyly. “I don’t usually say yes to these things but how can I say no to you?” You smiled wider trying to look more cute for her. “Alright go ahead love.” You nodded having her consent.

You went down on your knees and started unbuttoning her jeans, you pulled them down and her boxers as well. You looked up her her shyly feeling nervous now. Ellie looked down at you and smirked, she had one hand behind her head and the other was on her knee. “What’s wrong cutie? Nervous now?” “Ellie— I don’t know how to do this..” you whispered. Ellie grinned at you. “It’s okay baby let me help you. Ellie’s hands went behind your head and pulled you down on her. “Let’s see what your cute ass can do Y/n”

You started feeling more confident. You started licking slowly. “Oh.. fuck” Ellie groaned. Oh now you feel your confidence coming. You licked up and down slowly earning a moan from Ellie. “Oh shit Y/n you’re doing so good..” Ellie groaned out the last part. She pulled your head harder on her. You started going faster feeling Ellie tense up more.

“That’s it, you’re doing amazing,” Ellie let out a breathy moan, she started gripping your hair, pushing you more on her. You kept doing what she told you to do. Licking her clit, kissing her folds. “Oh fuck, fuck.” Ellie was getting closer. “That’s it y/n you’re such a good girl mhm.” You started eating her more intensely.

You began shaking your ass to tease her, “you little fucking tease, you’re gonna regret tha— fuck!” You licked her clit again. Ellie finally came all over your face. Ellie lifted her head up, “oh fuck.” She looked down at you and smirked. “You dirty little girl, look at you, looking so innocent when you have all my come all over your face.” You giggled at her. Ellie grabbed you and pulled you in for any other kiss. “You do so good baby, I’m so proud of you.” You smiled knowing you did good.

“But we’re not done.” Ellie’s eyes darkened and you looked at her confused. “Wha?” Ellie sat up and went to her room. You sat there patiently waiting for her.

Ellie came back with a strap on. You looked at her and widened your eyes. Ellie looked at you and smirked. “What’s wrong pretty girl? Can’t take this?” You shook your head, “N-no! I can!” You whined out. “Okay then.” Ellie sat on the couch and patted her thigh signaling you to sit on her lap. Ellie’s hands guided you on her strap, you hesitated. “Ellie! That’s too big I don’t know if I ca—” Ellie cut you off, “Yes you can baby, here let me help you.” Ellie’s hands on your butt guided you to her strap touching your folds. You moaned lightly. “You can take this love.” You slowly sat down on Ellie’s strap, you moaned loudly covering your mouth. You felt tears running down your face.

“That’s it baby take it.” Ellie hands started moving you up and down. “Ellie Ellie Ellie it’s too much..” you moaned loudly again. “You can y/n let me take care of you.” Ellie held your ass again and moved you again. The tears kept rolling down your face from how good it felt. You grabbed onto her shoulders, you finally got the energy to move by yourself. “Oh.. Ellie you feel so good.” “Mm that’s it baby take all of me.”

You started getting tired and Ellie took notice. Ellie stopped you, she stood up with you still around her. “Ellie please..” you started moving on her again. Ellie stopped you again, you whined loudly. “Stop that now y/n or you’re not fucking getting anything.” You stopped at her sudden changed of tone. “Lean against that y/n” you listened and bend over the counter.

You looked behind you and Ellie was lining up her strap on your pussy. Ellie pushed in fast and started moving rapidly. You moaned loudly, covering your mouth. “This is what you wanted right? You’re such a dirty girl.” You tried talking but your moaning didn’t let you. “Look at you, so fucking pathetic, you said you couldn’t take it? Look at you now.” You regretted being kind of a brat to her. “Mhm good fucking girl, take all of me.” “E-Ellie please don’t stop! I need you.” You moaned out loudly.

You were about to come again. Ellie noticed and slapped your ass. “That’s it Y/n come for me.” You came hard, but Ellie didn’t stop. She was having fun seeing you all desperate. She let out a few more hard snaps, you couldn’t hold on anymore, you were shaking. Ellie finally stopped and pulled out painfully slow.

You moaned softly at this, you felt empty again. Ellie leaned on you. “Not so innocent are we?” Ellie kissed your neck, giving you hickeys. “Ellie.. I’m really tired..” “I know y/n, let’s go lay down yeah?” You nodded. Ellie carried you to her bed. You laid your head on her shoulder, you felt your eyes get heavy, you closed your eyes and fell asleep.

.

.

.

You opened your eyes, the room was still a bit dark, but the tv lit the room. You scrunched your nose smelling smoke. You looked up and saw Ellie with a joint between her lips. “Morning beautiful.” You shifted a little feeling uncomfortable. “What time is it?” You looked around trying to find your phone. “It’s 6:15” you looked at her concerned, “Ellie did you not sleep at all?” Ellie laughed at you, “babe we had sex at 3am, it’s only been 3 hours,” “oh” you leaned your head on her shoulder again. “I’ve just been watching tv to pass the time.”

You hummed in response, “I’m gonna have to leave soon.” Ellie looked at you disappointed, “why?” “I have morning classes.” Ellie gave you a look, “oh you’re one of those.” You looked up at her furrowing your eyebrows. “What do you mean?” “You have morning classes? Who the fuck does morning classes?” Ellie said while blowing smoke in the air. “Well I do, plus I get to have the afternoons to myself.” “Okay whatever,” Ellie scoffed.

“Says the one smoking weed at 6 in the morning,” you scrunched your nose again. “Stress reliever.” Ellie responded fast to you. “Mhm” you said not amused.

“Since you have classes in the morning like a idiot—” “hey!” You smacked her arm playfully. Ellie laugh at you. “I’m joking I’m joking, like I was saying you should sleep more, you only got 3 hours of sleep.” “I guess you’re right,” you leaned on Ellie’s shoulder again. Closing your eyes. Ellie kissed your forehead, “sleep tight beautiful.” You smiled in response.

A/n: I can’t tell if I like this or hate it. Also for plot reasons Reader had to be dumb and not lock the door. I wouldn’t lock the door if I was at Ellie’s house<3

If there is any spelling errors I apologize, I’m not reading this again bc I’m embarrassed to reread it.

Anyways last night I had a Bella Ramsey dream and it was amazing!🎀💋🖤

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hi Clan! I haven't been around in a while the autism took me for a few months sorry. Would you do some headcanons for Miles and/or Gwen meeting a Mutant!Spider-Person reader? Like an X-Men type mutant. They never got bit but were instead born with the spider powers (including the webs) and 4 arms. Because they're a mutant they aren't really trusted as a hero by the people of their city (or the cops) but they still try their best because "If I gave up because a few people didn't like me, I wouldn't be very good at my job"

-Forgetful Anon

Gwen Stacy

While visiting Spider Society HQ for the first time, she noticed you sitting at a nearby table, having an arm-wrestling match against Ben Riley.

He insisted you used all four of your arms to "challenge" him....and yet he sulks when he ultimately loses, and you just laugh in victory before patting him on the back.

Once he leaves, you spot this new Spiderwoman and wave her over to your table, insisting on having a match.

It's just your way of breaking the ice for new Spiderpeople. You loved getting to know them and testing their strength. Winning or losing doesn't matter to you.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on ya." You tease, only to be surprised as Gwen wins with little effort, her smug grin present.

"You went a little "too" easy on me, I think."

"Haha...jeez, I guess so."

And so you both talk for a little while about different things: what she thought of Spider Society, how long she's been Spiderwoman, etc.

When she turns the questions on you, however, you're....a bit hesitant to share.

Unlike most of the Spiderpeople here, you didn't get your powers in the "traditional" sense. No spider has ever bitten you.

Seeing Gwen's curiosity, though, you eventually tell her you're actually a mutant, a human born with the X-gene that made you into a spider hybrid.

You mentioned a league of mutant superheroes in your dimension.....but you ride solo, as most Spiderpeople do, not wanting to be tied down to any specific group (ironic as you're part of Spider Society, but that's besides the point).

She imagines the people there feel pretty safe, though you shake your head. "Nah, some see us as the bigger threat just because we look like this and have all these crazy powers. I've fought aliens and wizards, but...there's some battles that you just can't punch or shoot webs at, y'know?"

Her expression changes to a slightly solemn one, nodding her head in sympathy. "You're fighting for basic respect."

"We just want fair treatment...and it's like we're asking them for the world. All I wanna do is protect my city, but it's hard when half the population hates us and thinks we brought the trouble to them."

"I can't imagine.." She frowns. "If I might ask..what keeps you going? Why bother if nobody even thanks you or sees you as a hero? What's the point?"

"......."

"...sorry, was that too deep-?"

"No, no..you're good, kid." You chuckle, feeling more relaxed. "All my life I've dealt with that stuff, and it still sometimes hurts, but if I gave up just because some people didn't like me, well...I'd be terrible at my job as a Spiderperson."

Gwen's impressed by your words, not expecting to have such a deep conversation about your "origin story" at the first meeting.

But she's glad she could talk to you, needing this distraction from the incident with her dad while she was questioning her own self-worth as Spiderwoman.

You reassure her she can come to you for advice anytime.

Miles Morales (E-1610)

You first met Miles after getting thrown into his dimension thanks to the collider explosion, taking comfort in knowing you're not the most "unusual" spiderperson around.

There's a pig and an anime girl with a psychic link to her spider, for crying out loud.

Anyways, you had faith that he could help you get back to your dimension, never doubting him unlike the other spiderpeople who firmly believed he wasn't ready for this task.

You followed him after he left May's basement to talk one-on-one, sympathizing with his struggles.

"Trust me, kid..I've been in your shoes once. I never felt like a Spiderman in my life..even now."

He stares at you in disbelief. "Really? You? But...you got all your powers at birth! I mean yeah, you weren't bitten, but....but you're already better at this than I am! I bet people really admire you-"

"I've had my fair share of doubters, Miles. All of us have, but I got it...particularly bad in my world. And not just because I'm a "masked vigilante putting myself about the law"."

He's still a bit lost, so you tell him about the unfair treatment of mutantkind in your dimension, speaking of how some people hated you so much...they sought to "cure" your X-genes.

It stings to know that they will shun you instead of seeing you as a hero, though you didn't wanna ramble on for too long and depress Miles further, seeing his frown growing.

"You say all of this, and yet...you think I can help you get back there. Why would you ever wanna go back to a world that hates you just for being yourself? For just trying to do the right thing even if everyone's telling you no?"

"Well..besides dying if I stay in this dimension--" You begin, painfully glitching for a moment as if to prove that point. "--ouch...look, I just can't abandon the people who need me. The ones who do see me as a hero. It's my duty, and...if I gave up trying to be Spiderman just because I get a few stares or snide comments...well then I'm not really Spiderman, am I?"

Miles doesn't know what to say...but he does feel incredibly inspired by your words.

He only wishes the others trusted him like you did.

Patting his shoulder, you remove your mask and smile at him. "Don't their words bring you down, kid. You got potential...they'll realize it soon enough."

[heygerald]

Falling Without a Harness - Chapter 11

AU where Tom Ryder is still an asshole, just not a psychotic one. Tom Ryder is rich. Everyone knows that. When Tom decides to do something out of character, Parker has to decide what is just the habits of someone careless with their fortune, and what can be considered acts of service from someone that cares about her.

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The studio set after hours was a strange place to find oneself. It was beautiful in that glamorous way that everything mundane in Hollywood was; twinkling lights strung between ugly studio buildings, extras dressed in 1800s regalia tapping on their phones as they awaited whatever scene they were in, the black blanket of the endless LA sky an empty backdrop to the megaphones and spotlights being lugged around.

It was exciting, and it was also not; there was a lot of movement but not a whole lot of doing that translated to a mute static hanging in the air.

"Is it always like this?" Parker asked from her spot in the back end of Dan's pick-up truck. It had been packed with all sorts of bits and bobs that she had never seen before, and as Jody exchanged the batteries in a flashlight, Parker prodded curiously at a baseball sized dent in one of the various helmets stacked behind her. "Not stunt work, I mean. The set in general. I figure Dan probably goes through three helmets a week."

Jody hummed, flicking the flashlight on then off before setting it aside as a warbled voice crackled across the radio on her belt. She tilted her head to listen for a brief moment before turning back to Parker.

"Studio sets are always busy. Haven't you been here before?"

"Sure, but... during normal hours," Parker noted with a glance towards the sky. "But it's almost midnight, and the parking lot was pretty full when I got here at ten."

Jody hummed flippantly, shrugging as she switched her radio to a different channel. More warbled conversation flowed for a few minutes before she decided that there was nothing important enough to require her attention.

Snapping it back onto her belt, the camerawoman kicked her feet back and forth with a delicate smile curving her lips. "Well, I suppose there's always something to be filmed. It's not just us filming on the lot, you know. We share space with a dozen other directors at any given moment. Sometimes, you're filming night scenes. Sometimes you just want to get work in when less people are around. It's just how it is."

Parker supposed that made sense. Afterall, she preferred to go grocery shopping late at night for the very purpose of having less people to avoid in the aisles.

Still.

It was odd to see a set full of life in the middle of the night. Odder still when a pair of actors drifted by on a golf cart; the pair were dressed in ragged clothes, with fake bruises painted along their cheeks, and red cuts oozing fake blood down their forearms. No one but Parker even seemed to register their presence before they disappeared down a nearby alley.

"I think this is way more fun than coming during the day," she decided a moment later. "And I'm not just saying that because I didn't have to argue with the security guards to get in."

Jody snickered. "They're actually very nice."

"To everyone but me, apparently."

"You never have a good reason to be on set, though, do you?" the Brit teased with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Parker faked offense, and Jody's hair came loose from behind her ears as she laughed. "Kidding. I'm very glad to have someone keep me company tonight while Colt's training. Although I am surprised you had time to come by at all. Colt says you've been busy lately."

"Busy-er than before. But ten times zero is still zero, you know?"

"Oh, please," Jody rolled her eyes, flashlight toggle flickering mindlessly in her hands as she tried to stave off boredom. Honestly, Parker didn't know how she managed not to fall asleep with so little to do this late at night. She was yawning and she hadn't been here since the early morning like Jody had. "Your store is splendid. You've always had clients. Now, apparently, you just have more. Busy is still busy."

"Splendid?" Parker echoed, teasing the word in a mock British accent. She quite liked it; both the sound and the funky way she had to work her tongue. "No one has ever called my store splendid before, but you're right. It is a splendid store. Andy R from Angie's List can suck it."

"He left a bad review?"

Parker waved a hand at Jody. "He comes in once a month to ask if I have any new Tolstoy books in, and when I remind him that Tolstoy died a couple hundred years back, he thinks I'm being emotional and sassy. Asshole."

"Prick," Jody said in her very real British accent.

Parker liked that too. "Andy R is a total prick. Maybe that's the tagline that I'll put on my t-shirts. Or, a few, anyways. I'd bet Melissa would be happy to wear one with me. She does not like that dude."

"You're finally getting shirts?"

"Finally."

"See?" Jody gestured to her. "You are busy."

Parker rolled her eyes with a smile. It was endearing how much Jody cared about the success of her store—always inquiring about how sales are going, and dropping by when she has some time to pick up a new book—but they were surface level compliments at best. Her store wasn't going to beat out Barnes & Nobles for awards anytime soon.

She'd be lucky to finally have her shop registering on Google Maps as a business and not as just a big question mark like it currently was.

"Not for customers to buy, anyway. I just think it's about time I got my store name on a t-shirt. Everybody has t-shirts. I mean, literally everybody. Have you ever been to a thrift store? I have found some weird stuff in the dollar bin."

Jody tipped her head back in laughter. "I have seen some odd shirts. Mostly, though, they're shirts that you are wearing."

She shrugged. "What can I say? I love a good thrift store bargain. And a gimmick. And—well, anything to do with my store. All the more reason to start printing my own shirts. I can finally rep the place, you know? Plus, I am busier now. I might even be able to print a dozen tees without going bankrupt by the end of the calendar year."

Jody peered at Parker sideways, soda bottle in hand as she swished the lash few sips around in circles. "So, things are going well, then."

Parker tilted her head left and right. Things certainly were going better, but that didn't mean she wasn't still drowning in bills and ridiculous requests from customers that were absolutely not 'always right'. Even with the increase in revenue and constant presence of teenage girls from the local high school, she was stuck spending most of her day putting out fires. She could feel herself stretching thin lately with all the extra hours her and Melissa were putting in, and at some point over the last year she had gone completely nose blind to the musty smell of her store. Not to mention the fact that she was also fairly sure that the Bath and Body Works' plug-ins spread around her store were going to give her cancer one day (if the crusty moms were to be believed). But it wasn't the time nor the place to drop all of those fears onto Jody's lap; not to mention way too late to use the braincells needed to verbalize those thoughts.

So, Parker elected to ignore all of that. Instead, she waggled her brows with a grin. "Does that mean you'll buy a shirt?"

Jody shook her head, snorting. "You really are Colt's sister."

"Well, I'd hope so," she sniffed. "The orphan-in-a-box story always seemed a little too stupid to be true. As if someone would ever give this up," she tacked on, gesturing to herself with an impish smile.

The look was betrayed by her over-sized sweatshirt and messy braids. Not to mention the tattered jeans and filthy sneakers on her feet. But if Jody was laughing at her, she didn't say, and so the two women giggled at their inside joke whilst the set continued to spur to life around them.

An actress dressed in a delicate silk dress and high heels strutted past as they laughed; her hair was done up in perfect Hollywood glamor, sparkly highlighter on her cheekbones and a delicate pink eyeshadow painting her lids. With the fur slung over her shoulders, she looked like she had just hopped out of a Marilyn Monroe biopic, and when she tossed her hair, it looked like—well—a movie. It took Parker a moment to calm down from her laughter to recognize the actress from a popular CW tv show, and as she strolled past, she couldn't help but crack her neck to get a better look.

When she turned back to Jody, the camerawoman hadn't even seemed to notice.

"This is crazy," she said, tucking her legs up underneath her as she fiddled with the straps on Dan's busted helmet. The actress was gone now, and Parker tried to shake the bizarre feeling of being stuck in The Twilight Zone from her mind. "I know you work in the film industry, but, honestly... It must be so much fun doing this sort of thing all the time."

Jody snorted. "Sure," she echoed. "Fun."

"Isn't it?"

"I mean... alright, yes, of course it is fun. It's amazing to be behind the scenes, to see how movies are made, to know how much work goes into a three minute scene without any dialogue. I mean—I'm always learning new things, so it's certainly not boring," she said. But Parker felt like there was going to be more to her answer, and so she tilted her head in interest, prompting Jody to continue. "But... a typical nine to five certainly wouldn't hurt sometimes. Times like these, when we're stuck here until god knows when just so the director can perfect a shadow in one of the scenes or something else as miniscule... well, it can certainly test your patience."

Parker glanced in the director's direction, taking note of the two assistants that trailed after him with thick binders full of colorful notes, pens tucked haphazardly about their persons. "It's not always like this though. Right?"

Jody shook her head. "No, no. Of course not. Usually our shifts are much more normal. Even if the hours vary, they usually schedule morning scenes together, evening scenes together—you know. So it's not so tedious. And we're almost never here this late just for blocking. Sadowitz is on a tighter schedule for a few things since the New York scenes have to be shot by the first of the month. He's just getting in as many last minute rehearsals as possible so when they go to New York everything is set to go right away. Understandable, of course... I just wish he wasn't such a perfectionist sometimes."

Jacob Sadowitz was the up-and-coming director leading this sci-fi film, and though he wasn't that much older than Parker, he had already earned himself a fair share of accolades for his daring action films. Particularly, the box office had been impressed with his intricate fight scenes and stunt work in his latest movies. Just last year some veteran journalist had printed an in-depth essay commending Sadowitz' dedication to the craft, touching on how much research he put into his work to make sure everything was as accurate as possible. Based on his credentials alone it was no surprise that he would be working his stunt crew till the middle of the night until they were well-oiled machines.

Still, Parker wrinkled her nose tiredly. "Isn't there a quote about that? Perfectionism being the downfall of yada, yada, yada. Want me to tell him that? Threaten to call the union if you don't get to go home soon?"

The truck shook as Jody kicked her leg at Parker with a reprimanding tut. But, she was smiling as she did it, giggling under her breath in that way of hers. "He's not that bad. This is not that bad. I mean, sometimes, the schedule is so mind-bendingly awful that it's a wonder anything gets done... but it's hardly the worst I've dealt with. At least he treats everyone well. Well, he doesn't scream at anyone, I mean."

Parker blew a raspberry. "I can't even imagine. I think I'd get arrested for my behavior if a director ever screamed at me. No idea how you don't lose your shit on the daily."

"Oh, I've come close a few times," she chuckled.

The comment surprised Parker. Not because Jody Moreno was a woman that could take care of herself—obviously, she didn't put up with bullshit, and she didn't rely on anyone to get things done. Moreso because Jody had to put up with so much that Parker couldn't quite imagine a scenario that would have to be bad enough to cause the camerawoman to lose her cool. And if being yelled at wasn't enough, what was? Leaning closer, she needled. "You're serious?"

"Of course I am."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure I can even remember why anymore."

"So it's happened more than once?"

"Are you kidding?" Jody scoffed with a shake of her head. "The type of behavior you see on set is not something you'd ever get away with anywhere else. It happens every movie. Directors are just so..."

"Insane?"

"Hollywood," she corrected, gaze darting around to see if anyone was in hearing range of her complaints. No one was, though, and even if they were, Parker had a sneaking suspicion that the other set crew would be more likely to join in on the bitch fest than snitch about it. "I mean you wouldn't believe some of the stuff we have to put up with. The egos some of these directors have is absurd. Bad directors! Ones that shouldn't even be directing that act like they're Tarantino or Nolan. Throwing things and crying and blubbering like babies—"

"Oh, fuck off!" Parker cried, leaning even closer. "You're joking!"

Jody Moreno was not, in fact, joking. She looked scandalized just by having to recall the things she had seen. Something haunted in her eyes, but there was still a smile tugging at her mouth. Obviously, she saw the humor in it; even if it was fucked up. "I wish. I mean—grown men crying because something wasn't going their way or screaming because the sun is too bright." She made air quotes with her hands, showing that she was not joking in the slightest about this before inching towards Parker. Something twinkled in her eyes as she said, "I kid you not during my first gig ever, I had a director break down in tears because the lead actress wasn't pronouncing the word butter how he wanted her to."

"Butter?" Parker echoed incredulously. "Is there even a wrong way to say it?"

"Oh," she said, giggling. "You'd be surprised. Not to say that he was right in his little hissy fit, but her accent was so wrong. Awful, Parker. I'm telling you. The whole film—a disaster."

"Huh. Butter," she said with a giggle.

Jody giggled back. "No, it was more like boo-ter."

"Boo-ter?" she cried. "That's—no way. Butter. Butt-her. How do you even—bu-t-ter?"

The two women keeled forward in laughter at the ridiculous conversation. It was such a stupid thing for someone to cry over, but the longer they tossed the word back in forth in the most ridiculous accents they could imagine, Parker was beginning to forget how it was properly pronounced in the first place.

Was it—?

There was a scuffle of shoes, then a thump as Dan dropped his elbows onto the side of the truck bed with a wary glance towards the two women. He almost looked like he didn't want to get involved in the first place, but when the silent stare-off seemed even funnier than their previous conversation causing them to tip against the other in laughter, his curiosity seemed to outweigh his hesitation.

"Do I even want to know?" he asked.

"That depends," Parker wiped tears out of the corner of her eyes. "How do you say butter?"

Dan blinked at her. Then, slowly, he shook his head at them with a long sigh. "So, no, I don't want to know. I told your brother that leaving you two hens together would only lead to trouble. He doesn't ever listen to me, though, does he?"

"Oi!" Parker smacked him on the arm, scoffing. "Who are you calling hens?"

Dan waved a hand at her, before snatching the helmet off of her lap, and plopping it atop her head to say, "always clucking, you two. Colt's going to end up in trouble and he's not even going to know why. I'd feel sorry for him if he didn't still owe me fifty bucks. You aren't here to pay his debts, are you?"

Parker, helmet now hanging low over her eyes, adjusted it towards the back of her head with a scoff. "It's sins of the father, not sins of the little sister. What's he doing that he's going to get in trouble for, anyway?"

"Oh, no. No, no, no," Dan laughed, wagging a finger at her in as much of a patronizing manner as someone could manage after a twelve hour shift. She would have scowled if it wasn't so endearing; she always liked Dan. Mostly because he had a head on his shoulders when her brother was constantly looking for where he left his, but also because he was just as good at teasing as he was being teased. "I'm not falling for that one, Park. If you don't know, then you're not going to find out from me. Snitches get stiches, you know?"

"Whatever. He's awful at secrets, so if he is doing something stupid, I'll find out. I always do."

Dan mimicked talking with his hand. "What'd I say? Clucking hens."

"I don't cluck, I just point out all the ways he's spectacularly stupid in," she corrected with a waggle of the head. The movement seemed to jostle the oversized helmet too much, however, and it rapped her nose as it slid down her face. Parker adjusted it a second time with a huff, ignoring how Jody was snickering into her hand. "Speaking of doing spectacularly stupid things, Numbnuts doesn't need this helmet for this stunt does he? I think it's broken."

"They have straps for a reason," Dan pointed out.

The comment sounded far too much like a threat for her liking though and Parker just managed to bend out of his grasp before he could cinch the straps under her chin. She bumped into Jody, who only shook her head at the pair's antics, as her radio warbled with nonsensical chatter.

Parker side-eyed Dan. "Isn't there something you should be doing right now? Like—I don't know—working? Tying safety knots or blowing up an inflatable mat or whatever it is you do? I'm sure there's a building you could hurl yourself off of nearby if you'd rather leave the hens alone."

Dan rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "That's your brother's job, though, isn't it?"

And—oh, yeah.

Remembering the reason that she was sitting in this pick-up truck in the first place Parker planted a hand on the helmet so she could tip her head back far enough to see said brother standing about thirty feet up on a platform of sorts. It was the skeleton of a building, open staircases with haphazardly drilled in railings surrounding each new floor. It almost looked like something you would find on a construction site in lieu of a working elevator, but Colt didn't seem to mind the shoddy building from his spot at the tip-top of it where he was in deep conversation with the stunt coordinator. Jody had explained that this was the frame of whatever building he would actually be performing the stunt from; just a temporary set he could work with here before shooting the real thing, but from this point of view it just looked like a whole lot of OSHA violations to Parker.

As expected, he didn't seem to notice.

In fact, Colt seemed to be smiling an awful lot for someone about to be thrown off a building, and even though he was wearing a harness, Parker had to look away before the nervous feeling in her stomach ran off with her dinner.

"I still don't understand why he's doing this at midnight," she mumbled to no one in particular. The darkness seemed to creep in every corner, and Parker wrapped her arms around herself to stave off the chill. "Couldn't the stunt coordinator have booked this death trap during the day?"

"It's cheaper at night," Jody said. "Less people around, less unnecessary crew getting in the way."

"Plus, you know, if he does fall and crack his head open on the pavement it's a whole lot easier for an ambulance to get here without rush-hour traffic," Dan joked.

The truck physically rocked from how quickly the two women jerked their heads in his direction, and as if suddenly aware of how flat his joke had fallen with this particular audience, he threw up his palms before they could say anything.

"Shit. Sorry. I was just kidding, yeah? Stunt humor tends to be... bleak."

"Stunt humor is never funny," Jody said.

"Honestly, Dan," Parker added with the shake of her head. The helmet slid down her forehead once more, and she tossed the entire helmet behind her with a patronizing tut. "Read the room."

He sucked his teeth, grimacing at the ground. "Sorry."

"If he ends up in the hospital now it's all going to be your fault," Parker continued, digging her teeth in. She could have bleak humor too when she wanted, and Dan grimaced a second time as if he was just remembering that. "Don't stuntmen believe in jinx's? We need salt, now. You have any salt? Or, like, a rabbit's foot or—is it one crow's feather or two?"

This time, he rolled his eyes at her, looking a whole lot less apologetic about the situation. "I said sorry."

"Oh, well, I'll make sure Colt knows that when he's on a ventilator and having a machine do all his breathing for him. He'll be so touched, I'm sure."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Sorry! He's sorry! Jody, give me your radio, we need to cancel—"

Parker reached for Jody's radio at the same time that she got tired of their antics, and with a glare, Jody swatted Parker's hand away from her hip. "Honestly, you two," she tsked at them like a teacher scolding schoolchildren. And, like two schoolchildren being scolded, Parker and Dan avoided one another's gaze so they didn't bust out in laughter. "Now you have me worried!"

"Oh, he's going to be fine," Dan assured her.

"Fine," Parker echoed.

"Well," Dan hedged after a moment, and Parker was already snickering before she heard what he had to say. "Physically he'll be okay. It's all safe, he's harnessed in, the mat is made for this sort of thing. But, mentally, you know..." Dan trailed off as he glanced up towards Colt. "He'll be the same he always has been."

"Oh, stop it!" Jody chucked her empty soda bottle at him.

It bounced off his chest with a dull thud, and Parker had just tilted forward in laughter when there was a bullhorn somewhere on the far side of the set. The three tilted their heads back just in time to watch Colt lurched off the platform, arms swinging wildly as if he was falling to his death. And just when Parker's stomach clenched in concern because—what if?—he hit the mat with his own dull thud. Air started hissing out of the inflatable in seconds, and as it pooled around him, Colt's first response was to give everyone on set a thumbs-up.

"Well, there's definitely something wrong with him," Parker said after a long moment of silence, letting out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Dan was already walking away from whatever she was about to say, and needing an audience, she turned to Jody knowing the woman would sympathize. With a jerk of her thumb, she sighed. "I mean, why else would he do this for money? Honestly?"

Jody hemmed and hawed for a moment before giving in. "Because... he's an idiot?"

"Because," Parker agreed, finishing her own soda with an eyeroll as her brother traded high-fives with one of the other stuntmen, "he's an idiot."

---

...

...

...

Parker rolled her eyes, watching the little green message bubble filled with "..." blink yet again on the phone screen before her. It had been repeating this message for the last hour of her life; an hour that she was now never going to get back thanks to the idiot on the other end of the messenger app, and as her neck twitched with a painful crick from the angle she had been staring at her phone, something even more painful burned behind her eyes.

She should probably stop staring at it; could definitely do with some dinner, a nice glass of water, and maybe some Ibuprofen. Wine wouldn't hurt either. Nor would a cigarette, a nice warm shower, and a few hours lying vertical in her bed. Somewhere unplugged, where she didn't give into the temptation to glance at her phone; the very phone in her hand, that she could ever so easily tilt her wrist to see if maybe, in her spiral of misery, he had—

...

"Son of a bitch," she muttered, head thumping none-too-gently against the table.

It hurt a lot more than it should have, but it was cool, too. The scratched up wood smooth against her cheeks as she worked on evening out her breathing. Her neck felt better like this; shoulders too. Hell, it just felt good to lay her head down after the week that she had. Felt nice to let her eyes flutter shut, to let all thoughts turn off, to just breathe in, breathe out, and—

Her phone buzzed, and Parker ripped her head up off the table so quickly the room spun before her.

But whatever hope had caught in her chest fizzled out like a popped balloon upon seeing Colt's name on her screen.

The message read, "I thought we were gonna be sombrero buddies :(" with an attached picture of her brother wearing a sombrero and sunglasses, holding a heavily packed taco, a still smoking grill in the background. She recognized it immediately as the one at Dan's, before remembering that she had been invited over with some of the other boys for tacos and margaritas earlier that week. No wonder her brother looked so put out.

"Son of a bitch," she said a second time.

She meant it, too. Parker was pretty sure that tacos and spicy margaritas was the cure for every ailment in life. Or, you know, the spiritual kind anyway. They certainly didn't help when she broke her arm a few years ago; but they did lift her spirits immensely.

"What the hell is going on over there?" Tom's voice echoed from the other end of the room, and suddenly Parker was reminded that she was not alone in her misery.

She glanced up to find him staring at her with furrowed brows, a hand on the hip of his leather NASA flight suit as Betty and Sasha fiddled with the material. It was his final character testing today, along with the creation of the highly coveted look book, and while her brother wasn't needed for this sort of thing, Parker had jumped at the chance to spend some time with Tom specifically so she wouldn't spend all day thinking about work.

Son of a bitch!

She winced, waving her phone at him. "Oh, just Colt. He invited me for dinner tonight over at Dan's and I totally forgot. He's going to be pissed. He's all alone wearing his sombrero."

"Colt is going to be pissed because he doesn't have anyone to wear a sombrero with?" Tom asked in a scathing tone. She would have corrected him if it wasn't... well, accurate. She loved her brother, but sometimes he got upset over the littlest of things. Particularly when he felt like she was doing something without him. "He does know that he's an adult, doesn't he?"

"Oi, be nice. That's my brother you're talking about."

"You shit on him all the time."

"Well—" she waved a hand around flippantly, flabbergasted at even having to defend against such an accusation. "Duh! He's my brother. But you don't have that right, Ryder, so pack it in before I report you to, like, HR or whatever."

Tom rolled his eyes as Sasha tugged on the length of his right pant leg. It all looked good; professionally made, snug in all the right places, and the perfect backdrop for his bright eyes and shiny teeth. In fact, he looked even better than she thought he had looked before, and Parker was just about to ogle him as he was turned left and right by the seamstresses when her phone buzzed a second time.

She plucked it up, disappointed yet again to see that it was from her brother and not from the eBay seller.

"And what on Earth is with that?" Tom's cloying voice echoed a second time.

She pulled her attention away from her phone long enough to notice the cross furrow of his brows and the tightness of his shoulders.

"With what?" she asked, not sure where this was coming from.

He gestured to her phone, sniffing when his hairstylist teased a few strands of hair off his forehead with a comb. "You've had your nose in that thing since you got here. You have a hot date that I don't know about or something?" he snarked.

And—well.

Parker had to physically bite down on her bottom lip to stop from laughing. Not only would that further piss him off, but with the people in the room, it likely wouldn't be great for his image either. But the idea that Tom—Tom Ryder, the same man whose face was plastered all over town—would be upset that he wasn't given her undivided attention was fucking hilarious to Parker.

Honestly, men. They really were just children.

Smothering out her smile, Parker turned her phone face down against the table. "Okay, alright, I'm sorry. There's this guy over in Wrightwood that has a print shop, or inherited one or his Dad just demolished one or—I don't know," she paused to wave a hand around, earning an eyeroll from Tom. "Whatever. I'm trying to convince him to sell me a box of mystery novels from his collection. He's being unnecessarily difficult about it, though."

"Who is this guy?"

"Melissa's dad's second cousin or something. She showed me his eBay profile last week and he's been dragging me over the coals for the past couple of days about whether he'll sell to me or not. He wants an absurd up-front price that, even if I could pay, I would never pay, but he also hasn't sold anything on eBay before so I think he's getting kind of desperate."

Tom, still cross, but now slightly more interested, arched an eyebrow at her. "Why are you buying stuff off eBay?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you think I have a print shop hiding in my apartment? I know you haven't been there yet, but it's not that big. I think it has an occupancy limit of five."

"Five?" he echoed dumbly. To that, she did laugh, but then she glanced back at her phone and realized that she likely wasn't going to get anything good from this idiot even if he did sell to her. As was her lot in life, nothing seemed to work out her way. Knowing this, Parker let her head fall onto the table with a hollow thump, something miserable prickling in the back of her eyes. Maybe that's why he let that particular comment go without any further mocking. There was the shutter of a polaroid camera snapping before he spoke again. "Well, why are you worrying about this now?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's Sunday." She tilted her head sideways on the table to peer over at him. He wasn't mocking her, but given the team of people quite literally fixing his air and clothes for him at the moment, she doubted he understood what she was going through either. "Can't you deal with it later?"

"Like... when I'm busy working at the store?"

"You're always working at the store."

She tutted; half in humor, half about how miserable that statement about her life just was. "Well, duh. That happens when you own a teeny tiny little shop that, for some reason, seems to be actively trying to bankrupt you. I think there's a malevolent spirit the real estate agent didn't tell me about. Or, like, it's built on haunted burial grounds or something. I've broken three lightbulbs this month, and fell off a ladder yesterday just trying to fix the stockroom fan. Which, by the way, I still don't know how it broke, but something is not right with that thing. I don't think they should squeak so much. It sounds like a pig. Or... like a dying cat. It's unsettling."

Tom must have sensed something in her lackluster tone because he almost seemed concerned when he asked, "don't you have employees to do that stuff for you?"

"Uh, employee, singular. And you've met her. And, half the time, I wonder if she isn't the malevolent spirit that's out to make my life miserable," she said. Meant it, too. Just that week Melissa had insulted her style in three different slang terms that Parker had to look up on Urban Dictionary to understand. Honestly, she could handle being "old", what she couldn't handle was having to put work in just to know she was being insulted. That crossed some sort of imaginary line. "Besides, she only works a couple shifts a week, and she's more for cleaning and stocking than real, managerial stuff. Or anything that might require her getting more than two feet off the ground. I'm not paying liability insurance."

He frowned at her oddly. "Don't you have to—?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, Melissa is great. But she can't do everything, and I can't expect her to do more than she already has as a part-time employee."

"Why don't you hire a manager then?" he asked as if that was a conclusion she hadn't drawn herself.

She might have told him to fuck off for mansplaining right then and there if Tom's question hadn't been spoken in such a earnest manner. Or, as earnest as someone like him could be. Most A-listers like him wouldn't even be giving her the time of day, let alone listening to her problems, and at the very least Parker took some comfort in the thought.

"Good idea, but I think there's about a thousand other things I need to do before I can budget for a manager. Like, I should probably pay off my car at some point. Then get liability insurance. Then get car insurance," she counted off.

Sasha and Betty laughed into their hands, both women just as amused by Parker as the first time, and with another snap of the polaroid camera, the group shifted to making sure the right picture had the right information in the tag book for future reference.

Tom took the reprieve to snag two bottles of water from the mini-fridge before he was sitting down next to her. He wasn't slumping—she didn't think Tom Ryder could slump—but from the weight of his shoulders it was obvious he had been having a long day too.

"You can't afford anyone else?" he asked in spite of that.

Parker uncapped her bottle with a sigh. She didn't even have the energy to be disgruntled by how different their lives were. What he had, he had because he earned it, and Parker made sure to remember that rather than resent that as she took a long dreg of water. "One day I can. Just... not today. I need to have a more steady revenue stream before I can start thinking about anything like that, and to get a more steady revenue stream I have to be willing to work all hours of the day. Even if it's just to haggle with some prick still living in his parent's basement for a box of Hardy Boys books. Turtles on turtles and all that."

"I have no fucking idea what that means," he said, blinking at her, and this time he was so earnest that she couldn't have doubted him even if she tried.

She shook her head with a laugh, already feeling better. "Do you feel like Mexican food after this?"

"Dan's?"

"I have an open invitation," she said. They'll be cool with it if I bring you, she meant. And from the way he pursed his lips, it was obvious that he understood that too. But, he also seemed tired sitting next to her, and Parker could feel that same sort of weariness in her own bones too. "Or... we could get pizza?"

"Pizza is all carbs."

"Mhm, you're right. We should definitely get pizza," she nodded as if he had made a really good point.

"Can you afford that?"

"Are you kidding?" Parker clutched a hand to her chest. "There's always money for pizza. That's like budgeting one-oh-one, Ryder."

He didn't make a comment about how that was probably a stupid way to spend what little money she had, and Parker didn't bring up the fact that she knew he would pay for it later anyway. He always did, even when she made a big deal about wanting to pick up the tab, Tom had yet to let her pay for anything when they were together. She supposed it was easy for him; just muscle memory at this point in his life.

But to her it meant a lot, and she always did her best to make sure he knew that.

Just at the crest of his elbow sat the photographer's polaroid camera, and while the ladies were busy taping everything down and scribbling notes in a variety of pen colors, Parker reached past Tom to grab it.

"I've never had a polaroid camera before."

"Never?"

She picked up the camera, aiming it at Tom, and without hesitating he tilted his head up, eyes down, mouth curving open just a centimeter in that way that looked so effortlessly good that she almost forgot to snap a photo.

"Son of a bitch," she said when it printed, the photo glossy and warm in her hands. "How do you do that? Is that what mewling is?"

"Don't—don't say that," he laughed at her, grabbing the camera from her hands to point it at her. Parker's response was the opposite of his, however, and when the picture printed, it revealed an awkward looking Parker, mouth half open in argument, eyes a little too squinty, hair all sorts of a mess.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked. "Give me that!"

But Tom was faster than she was, and when he tucked the picture into the pocket of his jumpsuit, laughing so heartily that the ladies glanced over at the pair with their own curious smiles, Parker could only catch her face in her hands with a furious blush.

"Tom!" she hissed, smacking him. "It's not funny!"

"You just—it's not—come on, here," he said, shaking his head at her. She was still scowling when Tom grabbed her chair and tugged it by the leg until their thighs were pressed against one another. His body radiated heat as he tossed his free arm over her shoulder, cheek against cheek, and she felt the rumble of his voice more than heard it as he directed her. "Just smile, Park, Jesus. Don't look so stiff."

She tried to shove him off her, only to fail, and as Tom laughed at her, Parker couldn't help but laugh herself.

The photos were crooked, one slightly blurry, and in neither photo were they looking at the camera. And though she still didn't look great, nowhere near as good as him, Tom looked happy in the photos as he laughed.

Parker decided right then that she could live looking like this if he looked like that.

---

Crave Cafe was just as quaint during the off season as it was during the busy summer months, and though it was surprisingly vacant for a Saturday afternoon, the cafe never actually felt empty to Parker. All the tables were dotted with cute decorations, the chairs all stuffed with hand-stitched pillows and dollar-bin cushions that added an eclectic nature to the darkly painted walls, and the jukebox in the corner never failing to fill the lapses of silence with something soothing. For so many reasons this spot had always been one of her favorite places for coffee in LA, and after a long week at work, Parker couldn't help but take a deep whiff of the cinnamon and coffee bean scent that lingered in the air.

"There you are," Harry greeted from behind the counter. He looked a little out of sorts with how empty the place was, the counter spotless and clean from wiping it down too much, and as he grinned at her arrival, Parker was more than happy to be of service to her favorite barista on this side of town. "I was wondering if you'd make it over today."

Parker ambled closer with a tut. "That's almost insulting, Harry, of course I would. It's Saturday, isn't it? What sort of person would I be if I broke tradition with no good reason?"

Harry swung a pink towel over his shoulder, grinning as he started tapping away on his kiosk screen. "The usual, then?"

"Plus, a cookie, please."

"Really living big theses days, huh, Parker?" he teased.

She bent her hip at the counter, watching as she always did as Harry started fiddling with the expensive machines lined behind the counter. She never understood which thing did what, but she did know that anything made by Harry was about to be phenomenal. As steam rushed from one of the metal prongs, she promised herself that one day she would buy a top of the line espresso and latte machine for her kitchen.

Of course, she'd had to learn how to use it, but... well, dreams were dreams for a reason.

"Yeah, well, I always had a weak will when it came to your baked goods. Is this the same recipe as last year, or did you change it up?"

Harry poured her coffee into a to-go cup, twisting the foam at the end to create the image of a leaf, before carefully sliding it towards her. Right before she could grab it, however, Harry pulled the cup back, warning, "I know I say this every time, but it is literally boiling right now, Parker. Don't drink it yet."

She laughed as if that hadn't been exactly what she was about to do. "I know," she said, smiling a little too keenly for his liking. "I won't. Promise."

He didn't seem to trust her, but eventually he gave up and slid the cup towards her side of the counter. The second he moved away she grabbed the cup, finger dipping into the foam—which, of course, was also scalding hot—and to hide the fact that she had just burnt herself, Parker licked some foam off her finger with a bland smile. "I was just... taste testing."

Harry suppressed a sigh to toss her a cold rag, and as Parker cleaned off her finger, he started making Melissa's pumpkin spice latte. "The cookie is a different recipe this time. Marin wanted to try something new, so make sure you tell her what you think. It has nutmeg and hazelnut in it. I think it's a little too much, but Sarah really likes it."

"Nutty," she joked.

"And hopefully good."

Parker waved a hand at him, testing the temperature of the cup once more, before catching Harry's stern look. She tucked her hands before her back with a glittering smile. "I'm sure it'll be amazing. If I get to eat any of it, anyway."

Parker didn't mention the fact that Melissa had a nasty habit of eating any and all pastries she brought into the store without so much as leaving a crumb for her boss to taste. She figured Harry didn't need to know all that information. Besides, on the off chance that Melissa was actually a Gremlin like Colt had theorized, she was still trying to figure out what the rules were for feeding her, and the last thing she wanted was to have Harry cut off their main source of lunch.

As if he understood all that without her having to explain, Harry shook his head at her with a laugh. "Yeah, well, you may as well scarf it down now before you head back over. I know we joke that you're my number one customer, Park, but I would have understood if you didn't have time to stop over today."

Nothing he said had any bearing on the Melissa being a Gremlin vs not debate, and Parker tilted her head at him oddly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm flattered that you would want to stop in here, but I don't know how you found time to with that whole mess going on. I couldn't even park in my own parking lot this morning, you know that? Kudos to you for finally stealing my customers, but... sheesh. I'll never understand how you pulled this one off."

Huh.

Well, that made even less sense than before and she had quite literally been debating whether her employee was a creature from an 80's fantasy horror series. Sensing that she was missing something important, Parker peered out the front window with a frown. She had noticed a lot of people milling around outside, but she had walked from the post office so she didn't have to deal with traffic, no parking involved. "I'm not—what do you mean?"

It was then that Harry seemed to sense her confusion, and suddenly the pair were sharing matching looks of confusion. "Um... didn't you come here from your shop?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. And while it wasn't unusual for Melissa to take morning shift on Saturdays lately, suddenly, there were a thousand possible scenarios flickering through her mind of all the things that could have gone wrong since Melissa opened that morning. Panic welled in her chest, and Parker tried to laugh through it, struggling to explain herself. "I crashed at Colt's place last night without my phone charger. I dropped it off to charge while I ran some errands, but I came right here to get lunch, so I didn't grab it yet. Melissa was working this morning."

Oh god.

Melissa was working this morning.

"Oh my god," Parker slapped a hand onto the counter, suddenly worried that either her shop was on fire or that her only employee had died. "She's alright, isn't she? Oh my god! I haven't checked my messages yet—!"

"Jesus, no, Parker, it's okay!" he interrupted her before she could have a full blown panic attack in his cafe. He lifted his hands to placate her, and while Parker took a deep breath, she noticed how busy the outside street seemed to be. Awkwardly laughing, he rubbed his forehead. "Nothing's wrong. Definitely not wrong."

"Oh," she said, blood slowly rushing from her head. "Good."

He blinked at her, and Parker blinked right back.

"But then why—?"

There was a ding from the far end of the counter, and Harry gestured at her to wait as he grabbed her to-go bag. She could smell their freshly toasted sandwiches across the counter, and when Harry plucked a cookie out of the display, her stomach twisted in nervous knots.

"No phone," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head at her. "Wow. That's... So, you haven't checked social media or anything today? Or talked to Melissa."

Her reply was a hesitant, "...no?"

Harry stared at her for a long moment, before shaking his head with another, surprised laugh. Like it had been startled out of him. Feeling even more confused, Parker frowned at him helplessly from her side of the counter. "Maybe you should just head over, then. Melissa could probably use the help right about now."

"Help?"

"And, uh, listen if you ever want to do some sort of deal with Crave, I'd love to talk to you about it," he added on as she numbly scrabbled for her credit card. The machine beeped as he continued, "you know, a punchcard sort of thing; buy two books gets fifty percent off coffee here, or something like that. Lots of stuff we could do, really. But we can talk about it later."

"Um... okay?" she nodded, so bewildered that she almost forgot to grab her coffees off the counter. Harry waved at her as she went, and Parker nearly smacked into the glass door as she waved back. "See you later, I guess."

The moment she stepped outside she bumped into a throng of girls standing on their phones, snapping photos. They reminded her a lot of Melissa; dressed in cute outfits, hair done up for the occasion, makeup a tad smeared beneath the eyes from grinning too much.

"Um, excuse me," she called, angling past one of the girl before running into two more identical ones. In fact, when Parker actually picked her head up to look around, she realized that the block was crawling with people. Mostly girls. Teen girls.

Mostly teen girls that seemed to be waiting in a line for—

Parker's coffee hit the sidewalk with a splat.

"Hey!" one of said girls cried at her, angrily shaking coffee stains off of her white sneakers. But Parker didn't notice much of anything she hurried down the block, bag smacking into every third person as she tried to weave through the thread of people. "At least say excuse me!"

The crowd of people got more tightly packed as the line curved, and Parker stopped square in the middle of the street to gape at the sight in front of her.

Every square inch of her store was packed with people. Girls, boys, thirty-year old blondes snapping photos of every angle and squealing delightfully when the picture came out right while their boyfriends hung out front with matching looks of boredom. People were even spilling outside from how crowded it was, and she had to physically push through to step inside.

"What in the f—?"

Parker was just about to owe a ten dollar bill to the swear jar when a familiar head of hair snapped up from the other side of the front counter.

Melissa didn't look much like Melissa. Her curls had fallen over the course of the morning, wayward tufts of frizzy hair tucked behind her ears as she worked on bagging an order. There were flecks of mascara smudged along her cheeks, her lips were lacking their normal peach glossy glaze, and as they made eye contact, she looked half dazed.

"Parker!" she hissed, trying not to sound shrill but definitely not sounding calm. "Where have you been?"

Not knowing what to say, Parker lifted her sandwich bag and latte into the air, helplessly fumbling for words. "I—I was getting us lunch. What is going on here?" she cried, angling behind the counter before someone else was the victim of her wayward coffee. "Is everyone on crack or something? What did you do?"

"What did I do?" Melissa echoed with a scandalized glare, a broken manicure jabbing in Parker's direction as the next person in line awkwardly set their books on the counter. "What did you do? Why haven't you been answering your phone? I've been calling you all morning!"

"It's been like this all morning?"

"Uh, duh!" Melissa shrieked. The noise caught the attention of some nearby customers who looked concerned by the high-pitched noise. In unison, Parker and Melissa smiled at the customers, offering one-handed waves until their attention drifted elsewhere. Stiffly, they started on the next customer's order why talking out of the side of their mouths at one another. "You need to check your phone. Like, right now, Park."

"I can't," she hissed back, still speaking through a smile. Her store had never had this many people in it before, and suddenly she was wondering if she should move liability insurance higher on her list of things. "I left it at home."

"Oh my—" Melissa grunted under her breath, still smiling, and when she finished ringing up her customer, she quickly snatched her phone from her back pocket. The next customer in line seemed annoyed that her attention was taken away, however, and as she fiddled with it, Parker worked through the girl's pile of books. "Honestly. Of all the days that you don't have your phone on you... I mean, it's the twenty-first century, Park! Always have your phone on you!"

"Okay, maybe save the lecture for later," she chirped back as she finished ringing up the order. The girl paid with a credit card, and on she went, receipt waving in hand just as someone else took her place. "Just catch me up with what the hell is going on right now, please."

Melissa's response was an exasperated sigh before she was shoving her phone into Parker's hand, and retaking her spot at the register.

At first, Parker had no idea what she was looking at.

It was a picture on Instagram. A picture of her storefront, taken from across the street, framed to look aesthetically pleasing, and with some sort of boho filter on it that actually made the place look prettier than it really was. A nice picture, definitely, but not a good explanation as to what the hell was going on.

"Why are you showing me a picture of my store? I know what it looks like. I bought it."

Another customer went out the door as two more potential customers stepped inside, and Melissa sighed so heavily Parker was pretty sure they could feel the gust of wind on the other side of her double paned front windows.

"It's not the picture that matter, dummy!" she chirped, still smiling, before she was nudging Parker with her elbow. "Just—look at it!"

Parker was about to give a very childish retort about how she was looking at it, when she actually looked at it. It had received hundreds of thousands of likes since it had been posted last night, and while she clicked on the caption, a flood of new comments were being added by the second.

"Biggest question anyone asks if how do I prepare for an audition," the caption started. "Sometimes, it's easy. Sometimes you got to get your hands dirty and do some reading to get in the mindset of the character. In honor of filming starting this week, here's a s/o to my favorite hole in the wall bookstore in LA."

There was a flurry of hashtags—all ridiculous and stupid and so innately self-centered—that before she even checked the profile, Parker had a very strong feeling about who the original poster was.

Who else had this kind of social media following? Who else could do this?

The profile pic was just as pretty as he was: tomryder

Parker scanned the post a second time. Then a third. Then a fourth. Then, when she still felt like she wasn't processing it right, she glanced up at Melissa.

"Is this...?"

"Yup," the girl said.

"It's—this is his account?"

"Uh-huh," she said again.

Parker slumped against the counter, gaze raking over the horde of customers prodding around her store like it was a damn Barnes & Nobles. No, better. Because this was officially the bookstore that inspired the Tom Ryder for his latest role. NO Barnes & Nobles had ever done that. "This is all because he—"

"It had three hundred thousands likes this morning," Melissa added, not even waiting for Parker to get around to asking about that. And while the teenager seemed like it was no big deal, when she glanced up at her boss, her eyes were sparkling and her mouth was curled at the side. Obviously, her fascination for Tom Ryder had not disappeared. "Yeah. I know."

"This means..."

"That you're officially cool now?" Melissa chirped; somehow scathing and ecstatic at the same time. "Trust me, I know. Our lives just got a whole lot better, Park. I mean—look at this! We're so the coolest people here. I can't wait until school on Monday."

Parker nodded, feeling like her entire body was buzzing, and not quite hearing anything else that Melissa was saying. She just kept seeing the post over and over in her head. She had tried so hard not to need things from Tom, and he had proven time and time again that he was more than happy to give them.

For a long while, she had suspected that doing things for others—throwing parties, picking up the tab, paying for the alcohol—was just natural to him in his life now, a way that he had adapted to Hollywood stardom.

Yeah, you're welcome. I usually get paid twenty grand for doing something like this.

But that didn't quite fit the narrative anymore, did it?

"Excuse me?" a voice called out, interrupting her thinking. Parker blinked to find a twenty-something year old girl staring at her, hands timidly picking at one another. "Um, sorry. Do you have any Frank Herbert books? I looked, but didn't see any."

"Uh... yeah," she hedged, shaking any thoughts she had away. Right now, she would work. Later, she could deal with the rest of it. "Yeah. Right this way and I can show you what we have, and if you don't see any you like, I try to get sci-fi as much as possible so I can try to have new stuff this week. I might even have some extras in the back..."

The din of noise threatened to drown Parker out as she worked with her customer, but no matter how frazzled her tired she was, every time the bell tinkled with someone new coming inside, Parker found herself smiling a little bit brighter.

[terras-domain]

(Thanks)Giving Season

Characters: Kang Seul-gi (Seulgi), Male Husband (Reader), Husband's Brother

Tags: Cheating, Cuckold, Kitchen Sex, Blowjob, Watching, Caught, Condom, Rough Sex, Forced Submission, Thanksgiving, Cum in Pussy, Abs, Cum Eating

Words: 2941

Author's Note: Hi Hiiiii terra here!!! Been a while since I posted, sorry for that. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Personally I don't celebrate it but I hope to those who did, you guys enjoy it <33 As the tags show it's gonna be a cuckold smut so if it's not your thing, oh well. Enjoy <33

Reader's POV

Thanksgiving. Not the best holiday to be honest, never understood the hype behind it but at least now I have a day off from work to spend some time with my wife, Seulgi. Work has been brutal for me so our time together is precious to me. Opening the front door with a smile to greet her that I'm home, only for me that smile to slowly fade away. "Oh hi, honey!" Seulgi smiled, waving at me as I see her talking to a guest. "Oh hey lil' bro, long time no see hm?" My brother, a person who I haven't seen in years actually. I actually don't bond well with my family in general, which is why my personal time is mostly dedicated to my wife Seulgi. "Hey...what're you doing here?" I asked, an eyebrow lifted as I start to make myself at ease, putting my stuff down and joining my wife and my brother around the living room.

"Awww don't be too cold, lil' bro. Just wanted to see my family for Thanksgiving you know." He gave a big grin, a face that makes me feel so annoyed for some reason, always been all my life. "Now now boys. Let's not be like that, okay? We need to get things done for Thanksgiving" My breath got stuck through my throat. She's right, it's not like I have much time to spend with Seulgi, and I'm not gonna waste the time I get now by arguing with this dumbass. She had planned to cook something special for tonight, so she brought us both to the kitchen, showing the turkey she planned on roasting, only to find it rotten. "Oh fuck! Nooo that fucking butcher lied to me." Now with no turkey, we can't have the so called Thanksgiving spirit. My big brother can't drive, which means there's only one thing I can do now. "I'll go buy you a new one hun. Don't worry about it" Seulgi's eyes sparkled and hugged me tight, euphoric as now her problem has a solution. "Awww thank you sweetheart. I love you." A kiss on the lips I received from my loving wife, followed by her warm smile that just melts my heart. I got myself ready, grabbing my keys and look back to my wife and wave. "I love you Seulgi. And take care of my wife okay?" I looked to my big brother, I don't really like him but I'm sure family still care for each other. "Oh no worries lil bro. Your wife's safe with me."

Seulgi's POV

I'm glad my husband is around to help me with the turkey. It was silly of me to not realize it was rotting. Oh well, I just have to start prepping food for now. My husband is a big fan of Italian food so I thought making him some fettuccine alfredo might make him happy. Dropping the pasta to boil them while I prepare the sauce was pretty much light work for me, I'm used to working alone in the kitchen since my husband isn't often in the house anyways. I checked around and notice my brother-in-law looking deep into my eyes, sometimes shifting to my cooking elsewhere. "Smells good Seulgi. My brother must be happy to have you." His low voice echoes the kitchen. I didn't know how to respond to that but only smile awkwardly, what a weird thing to say I thought. "Oh come on beautiful. Don't be shy. Live a little we're family right? Nothing wrong with a little compliment, especially if it's for a pretty woman like you~" he kept on going with his praises and weird antics, which start to make me get goosebumps. His footsteps felt heavy but firm, slowly inching closer to me as he started to lean towards me, looking at the pot of fettuccini I'm preparing followed by a sniff, trying to smell the food, or so I thought. His face was closer to my hair than it was to my cooking which made me feel a little uncomfortable and insecure as the thoughts in my head start to turn into a reality. He's groping me!

With his hands reaching under my apron and gripping my chest through shielded by the cloth of my clothes, it was hard to push him away since he's so big and muscular. "W-wait. Please don't do this, your brother won't like this." I mumbled, squirming a bit as I'm overpowered, my whole body held tight as my brother-in-law completely gropes me for his pleasure. "Oh no worries beautiful. Your husband ain't doing shit on me. Now let me see how good you feel." His wide grin send shivers down my spine, but when he started to pull my face for a kiss, I felt unreal. My whole life I've only had intimate relationships with my husband so this felt so bad, but not like my brother-in-law cares about it.

"Mmmh Seulgi. You're quite the curvy babe aren't you?" He chuckled, now biting my lips as he has full control over me. I can't escape and just let him use me, hoping my husband can come just in time to save me from this creep. His hard bulge is pressing on my ass cheeks and it's disgusting, having another man than my own husband using me for pleasure. After a few minutes of making out, he pulled out and gave a big grin. "Well time for the real thing bitch. Get down there." My in law now guides me to be on my knees, facing his stifling bulge before he pulled his pants off, showing his erection pointing straight at me. It's huge. Bigger than anything I've ever seen, it made me nervous since I know what's next.

"Well what're you waiting for hoe? Get to it." His thick length started slapping on my face, making me whimper in inferiority. My husband did tell me how much of an asshole he is, and how violent he can be, so I have no other choice. My mouth slowly opened up as I slowly accepted his cock, taking it in inch by inch. It felt so wrong, the way is thick meat makes me choke just by putting the tip in, the way his hands rub on my cheeks and how I'm actually cheating on my husband right now. "Good girl Seulgi. Just need a little bit of...enthusiasm." As he kept his dominant persona going, his wishes are all coming to a reality as he uses me as he please. His hands are on the back of my head, plunging his cock inside as he thrust his hips back and forth. It hurts. My husband isn't as big nor as rough as his brother so this is all new to me. "ghhhh GAAAAK-!" My mouth just kept on making weird noises and choking sounds as he continues his barrages of mouth fucking on my throat, drilling my mouth and using me as a sex object.

Reader's POV

Phew! That took a while. turkey secured, and it's fresh from the oven. Too bad traffic isn't really on my side today, man why does life hate me so much. But all that complaining will soon end as I reached home, excited to see my wife. Creaking the door open I was greeted by nothing by a strange noise, a woman who sounded like she was choking over something. I went to explore my own home, looking for the source of the odd sound as I reached the kitchen. Just like the turkey, my heart fell. Seeing my wife sucking on my brother's cock, bobbing her head back and forth just made me feel sick. "Oh, you're finally here lil bro. Gimme a sec!" He grunted as he pulled out, stroking his 8-inch length while looking down at Seulgi. "Open your mouth, beauty, I wanna cum on that face." He ordered, which my wife seems to obey despite taking a few seconds to follow. I can hear a few sobs coming from her. is it shame, is it resent, or is it just the aftereffect from a rough face fucking she just went through. Regardless, it seems my brother enjoyed my wife a lot when he unloaded his load all on her face, splattering everywhere from her forehead to her chin.

Seulgi's face turned away, looking very shy and scared. "Honey..." I tried to approach her, wanting to know what's going on when my she stopped me in my tracks. "I'm sorry baby. He...he made me do this." She sobbed, looking down to the floor as cum dripped down her face. I had a dead stare to my brother, my face inclining so our eyes exchange eye contact. In those few seconds, memories of how much my brother overpower me in any way came back. How he's physically, mentally and even academically superior to me, which makes him so much better than me. I want to confront, I want him to pay. But with what has happened my whole life, it may be best to just give in, I don't have a choice. I could only walk towards Seulgi, holding her tight and give her a gentle soft kiss. "I love you, Seulgi." the kiss ended, interrupted by the after taste of my brother's semen on my lips. After that I just wiped my wife's face with a clean cloth before walking away cowardly. I need to take my mind off of this, and staying in the kitchen won't help me. I took one last look at my brother, sighing. "She's yours." A defeated frown sticked to my face face as the words flew out of my mouth, and my feet drags across the room.

My words seem to influence my brother for some reason. As soon as I sat on the couch, I couldn't distract myself no matter what is on the TV. My mind still wanders in the kitchen where my brother shreds my wife's clothes off, completely taking advantage of the situation where both me and Seulgi are mentally lost. I could hear banging noises coming from the sink, making my lewd mind imagine how Seulgi looked getting fucked by another man, it made me hard. My penis pitching a tent from my imaginations running wild from the voices that both Seulgi and my brother make aroused me and made me touch myself while fully clothed. A pathetic loser touching himself through his pants while his wife gets fucked rough that is me. Soon I can see the pair walking out of the kitchen both half naked. Seulgi seems to have less resistance towards my brother and just embraces him now. "I'm sorry honey." i stared at the floor, ashamed of my incompetence. Seulgi didn't reply with a single word, instead her facial expression is more than enough to show the disgust she had towards me for giving in too easily.

Seems like they weren't done. No, seems like they were just getting started. My brother sat next to me on the couch, butt-naked while Seulgi climbed up on him, riding his bigger cock as her tight pussy gapes open for her. "Nghhhh ahhh~! Yeah daddy, fuck me, fuck my tight little pussy!" Seulgi's moans and words were like a knife to me, humiliating me as I just looked at my unintended tent, with nobody but myself to please it. I could only resist so much. The bounces Seulgi made, the sheer size of my brother destroying my wife's vagina, the way I was completely ignored. It was degrading me, but at the same time turning me on more, I eventually gave in to my urges and started jacking off, stroking at the site of live porn acted by my wife and my brother. And they both seem to ignore me, it's as if I'm not even there and they just fucked like they've been doing it together for years. "Nghhh fuck Seulgi you little bitch! You love this cock huh? You love it more than you love your husband's? My cock is better than my brother's isn't it?" The questions he asked showed how they both can see me, I'm not invisible, at least not literally. "Nghhh~ yes daddy. Daddy's cock is just too good. My husband feels like a shrimp compared to yours daddy." That single line from my own wife broke me, made me lose myself as I screamed while rubbing my shaft so fast and uncontrollably. It made me cum, splashing drops of dilute cum on my pants. It made me huff and puff for some reason. I've had sex quite some time with Seulgi, but none of them drained me as much as this. I felt like I could pass out, so I retreated and moved to my bedroom to find clarity.

When I thought being alone in the bedroom was enough, it wasn't. My brother crashed in with Seulgi, holding her in his arms carrying like newly weds. They were making out which made me slightly irritated. Again they ignored my existence and just jump on the bed, forcing me to lay on just a small fraction of the mattress. Their make out session broke up and Seulgi now traced back to my brother's long hard shaft. I could've sworn he came a few times already and yet he's still rock solid and raring for more. Seulgi's pretty mouth enveloped his cock, slowly lowering her head before moving back up, and a slow cycle continues as she sucked my brother's cock. What's worse is how I can see our wedding rind on Seulgi's hand, shining to me while her fingers wrap around my brother's shaft. My wife's head game kept on as she went faster after a while, only for my brother to stop her and lift her face up. They made out, making me feel uncomfortable yet so turned on before changed positions, Seulgi's pussy directly above my face.

"I'll fill you up, bitch-" My brother grunted as a tight smack echoes the room, leaving a red handprint on Seulgi's ass. It made Seulgi scream out a submissive moan too and a drop of cum dripped down her pussy and onto my face. It seems like they didn't want to waste any time and went straight to business, with their two bodies connecting, my brother's cock penetrating my wife's pussy and I got the best, or worst view to see it happening. "Ngaaah~! Aaaaah aahhh yessss~!" Seulgi's moans became vocal, the opposite of her behaviour a while back. She's just lost in lust, just like me it seems. "Harder daddy pleaseeee~" She plead, her head twisting back to face my brother acting like it's only them in the room and I'm nowhere in the scene. "Fuucckkk shut the fuck up slut. I didn't tell you can order me around." With a rough yank on her her, Seulgi's moans became only louder. With precum from both of their private parts leaking on me, I couldn't have felt more humiliated, but somehow I'm happy. It made me feel content to listen to my wife's sweet and loud moans, even if it's not from me.

"Mmmh~ Daddy's cock is getting bigger in me oh god!" Her pussy bulges as she finished her sentence. He's about to cum, isn't he, I thought. "Nghhh yeaahhh...fuck I'm gonna fucking fill you up Seulgi!" He grunted, digging his nails into her hips as my brother starts to buckle his hips harder until eventually he came, bursting inside my wife. There's so much cum inside it was up to a point where the cum from the pair drips down on me, covering my face with cum. It was embarassing, having them cum on me in my bed in this manner and cuck me. After all that, Seulgi finally looked at me. "Do you want to cum baby?" Her words are still as sweet as ever, but her expressions sure seemed cold, of course I'd say yes. I was so eager to put my cock in her until she stopped me, handing me over an S size condom.

Of course, it was a bit too tight for me but I don't feel much physical pain. I ended up finally getting to fuck my wife, despite only by wearing a small condom. My thrusts were clear to be ineffective, as Seulgi's fake moans just makes me so humiliated and degraded. "Fuuuck hunny! It feels so good!" I screamed, getting closer to my climax despite only being a few thrusts in. "Mhm, okay sure. Cum then baby" Her replies seem to be short and uninteresting. It just fuels up my self-degradation which made me cum so much sperm in the condom, filling it up. "Aaaaah, nghhhh~" My whimpers were so weak, it sounded like I could faint any moment. But my wife wouldn't let me yet, not after being a coward and not standing up for his wife. She pulled off the condom from my cock and spilt it on her stomach, making her abs more defined. "Eat it" She ordered, and I had no choice but to oblige. Licking and cleaning my wife's fit body, cleaning her abs from my worthless cum felt both horrible and amazing at the same time, most probably because of how fucked my mind is at this point. I felt defeated and lay on my back beside Seulgi, before hearing her whisper. "I love you honey~" followed by a sweet giggle before my brother joins back in bed with her. Sure she still says she loves me, but for some reason I believe she loves his cock more.

[mistfallengw2]

Done with the story, and boy howdy am I happy with this expansion~

So, let's get the easy ones out of the way: map design and music are just top notch, even more than usual. Lost count of the amount of times I got lost exploring, it's all just damn neat, and I'm not even done. Likewise, I got so many goosebumps due to the music, and now that I'm past spoilers, I'm due to sit down and properly listen to the full soundtrack. Also, sound design has always been awesome as well, and each time they move up a level.

Story was pretty damn good and DENSE with stuff for lore nerds to chew on. GW2 is back to doing what it does best, and the worldbuilding through dialogue and books has been a blessing this time around. So many of the interesting things "forgotten by the story" got addressed or aknowledged, and I kinda like that we've been out of the loop for a while even before the SotO stuff (we can't be everywhere, and that's a good thing) so that it can be done organically. The Tyrian Alliance have some of my fave dialogue (oh Dougal, hang in there buddy) and books, and MAN the hints at potential future expansions have me running up walls. Also all my homies hate Isgarren's floaty ass and I'm here for it (and for poor Frode who has to wrangle him). The investigative parts are such a pearl of writing, piecing together what happened in Gavril through texts found around the map before the bloodstone story step was SO satisfying, and in general I loved each build-up. I expected things from Waiting Sorrow, and while what I got wasn't what I expected, I love her already (you can whoop Isgarren's supposed ass, don't hold back dear). I've seen people complain about Poky being Braham 2.0, which is fair, but honestly I'm here for it and I really want the two of them to meet and be friend (even Alder thinks the same, come on!). Can't wait to dwelve in all the other collections and achievements I haven't done yet, what I got done so far has been quite fun.

Gameplay? Sure the spears are awesome, the warclaw is fun (gosh the chain-race mechanic in those story fights? Perfection.), but the events and hearts are the kind of small scale stuff that makes me adore GW2, because I like being useful to people in mundane yet meaningful ways and it makes every part of the world feel lived in. I love that they reused a ton of older minigames and event structure for the new maps, and I haven't been so "at home" in maps since Grothmar.

Speaking of homes, the Homestead... Haven't touched it much because I wanted to focus on finishing story before going away for a few days + F2 being bugged for me. Given what I've seen, I'm glad I stocked up on mats, but I'll keep doing that and leave the actual decorating to when I have a nebulous "enough". With the story done, I will not respond of the emotional damage I will soon suffer. Expect posts uncomprehensible keysmashes under screenshots, I can't promise more (might survive since emotes don't seem possible for the alts, and while sad I do know that could have slain me).

My only sore points have been mostly resolved or are known bugs, and I'm trying to make my peace with the warclaw's animation speed ruining an otherwise perfect mount.

Could ramble a lot more, but all in all? If this is what we get after the teething pains of SotO, I'm sold on all future expansions and more. (And I should probably get started with GW1, huh)

Now to think about my OCs... For sure this is a expansion all about Aurelia and Ellara with a side of Zehmik, but gotta see about the rest...

[writingwithciara]

Warning Labels ~Nate Macauley~

summary: getting all types of warnings from her friends about nate macauley, y/n knows she shouldn't be falling for him. but she does anyway, knowing it will most likely end badly.

word count: 2.5k

pairings: nate macauley x reader

warnings: swearing, mention of drugs

a/n: just recently watched One Of Us Is Lying & immediately fell in love with nate. not sure why but i'm glad it happened. this takes place in a world where bronwyn doesn't exist (although i love her)

masterlist

"Who'd you get as your science partner?" Addy set her lunch tray down and looked at her friend.

"I got Nate." y/n sighed. "Has he ever handed in a project in his life?"

"Not since the 7th grade." Jake shook his head and laughed. "You're pretty much screwed if you want a good grade. He hardly comes to school, but when he does, he's usually only here to sell drugs."

"I'll just do the project myself and put his name on it."

"That's not fair. He shouldn't get credit for not doing anything."

"Jake, I've been doing the same thing for you for the last 5 years. Don't tell me it isn't right."

"Okay, fine. Let him believe that he can slack off all the time and still manage to get decent grades while not deserving them." Jake picked up his lunch tray and Addy followed. Cooper looked at y/n and shrugged before following the others out of the cafeteria.

During her free period, y/n decided to go find Nate. Luckily he was in the very first place she looked.

"Nate, we need to talk."

"If this is about our science project, you don't have to worry. Let's come up with a topic and I'll do my fair share of the work."

"Are you serious? You haven't done work on a project since the 7th grade."

"Okay, that's not true. In 7th grade, Jake & I were partners on a project & I actually did a lot of the work but he turned it in on the day I was really sick, so he got all the credit. Ever since then, teachers will put me with the rich kids who usually don't do their own work & they just expect that I won't do any of the work. And then the same situation repeats itself over and over."

"That's not right. You should tell somebody."

"Who is the administration going to believe, huh? The rich kid obviously. To them, I'm nothing but a drug dealer."

"Maybe we can change that. I'm not a rich kid & I won't take credit for any work you do, as long as you actually do something on the project."

"Okay. Meet me at the library in town after school. I have a few topics that I want to discuss." Nate climbed on his bike and took off before y/n could respond. She shook her head and headed back inside for her last class of the day.

After school was over, y/n walked towards the library. She was expecting to be waiting for Nate for a few hours but when the library came into view, she saw Nate sitting on the front steps. When he saw her, he jumped up excitedly.

"I really wasn't expecting you to show up on time."

"Well, I got here a little earlier than planned. I know, it's shocking."

"Very, given your reputation to not show up to things."

"I'm a senior in high school. I think my reputation needs a change." Nate chuckled and looked at y/n. "Let's get started."

Nate & y/n spent 3 hours trying to come up with a good science project that wouldn't take too long but would produce some impressive results. They narrowed their list down to a few and decided that they'd pick one and start it tomorrow.

After the library, Nate gave y/n a ride home on his bike.

"Thanks for the ride." she smiled and climbed off, handing the helmet back to him.

"It was no problem. It's on my way home anyway." Nate put the helmet on the back of his bike and looked back at her. "Thanks for not giving up on working with me for this project."

"We gotta change your reputation, right?" she offered him another smile and turned around. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Same time, same place?"

"If you're referring to school, then yes. But if you're talking about the library, I'll probably be a little late. Got practice for an hour."

"Oh, right. Forgot you were a cheerleader." he chuckled and started his bike. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Nate was gone before y/n could respond.

"See you tomorrow, Nate Macauley."

The next day at school, Nate showed up to all of his classes and only sold kids drugs during breaks and lunch. When the day was over, y/n went to the gym for practice. Addy looked up from doing her stretches.

"Hey, y/n. Over here."

Y/n approached her friend and started her stretches. "Hey, where is everybody else? There's only 5 girls here."

"I'm not sure. There was only 2 when I got here." Addy grabbed onto her foot and leaned over. "So, I noticed Nate showed up at school today and actually attended classes."

"Yeah. Science class was interesting. I mean, watching the teacher yell at him for missing so many assignments was hilarious. It was even better when he was handed all the workbooks and papers."

"I'm sure he wasn't pleased with it."

"It was funny, but I do kind of feel bad for him." y/n stretched her arms out.

"Oh well. Serves him right for missing so much school." Addy checked over her shoulder when the door slammed open. A few more cheerleaders walked in and took their usual spots. "Where's the coach and all the other girls?"

"Haven't heard from coach all day. Have you even seen her?"

"No, we haven't. Maybe she's not coming." y/n looked around. "Should we just leave?"

"I'm definitely leaving." Addy stood up and stretched one more time. "You wanna go see a movie, y/n?"

"I would love to but I gotta meet Nate at the library to work on our science project." y/n stood up and went to the locker room. Addy followed and opened her locker.

"You're not gonna start ditching us for Nate, are you? Because that's just not right."

"I'm only going to be spending time with him until our project is finished. That's it."

"Good, because we can't have you falling in love with him. It would not be good for you or your reputation."

"I appreciate you looking out for me, Addy, but I don't think you guys are ever going to have to worry about me falling in love with him. It's just never going to happen." y/n gave her friend a small wave and headed off to the library. When she walked in, Nate smiled at her.

"Hey. I wasn't expecting you for another 40 minutes."

"Coach didn't show up so we all decided to leave."

Nate chuckled. "One afternoon with me and you're already ditching? I wish I could say I'm shocked but I'm really just proud of that."

"Relax, Macauley. It wasn't a class. It was just practice. I don't get graded for it."

"I know. But you still ditched. I like that." Nate smirked. "Have you given any thought to the project I suggested?"

"Yeah. I think it can definitely be done if we work nonstop on it. I'm sure it'll be impressive too, given your skills."

"My skills?"

"Yeah. I've seen you fixing cars and bikes and other stuff."

"You've been watching me?" he raised an eyebrow at his partner.

"No. Of course not. Your place is on my way home and sometimes I can see you outside working on some kind of vehicle. Plus, you fixed up my brother's car last year. It was great."

"Oh. Well, thanks. I work hard when it comes to something I love." he looked at the textbook in front of him. "Shall we get started?"

"In a minute. I actually have something for you." y/n reached into her bag and pulled out a tupperware container. "Yesterday, you said the brownies I had were delicious, so I made some more for you last night."

"Seriously? That's so kind of you." Nate took a brownie from the container and took a bite. "Wow. What do you put in these?"

"Like I'd ever reveal my secret ingredient." y/n smirked and pulled out her notebook. "Okay. What materials are we going to need?"

For the next 2 weeks, y/n and Nate spent 3 hours together every day after school working on their project. As Nate put the final touches on it, y/n took a moment to watch his muscles contract against his shirt. The voices of her friends floated around in her head as she watched,

"You can't fall in love with him."

"It's not good for your reputation."

"He's already corrupting you."

"He's not good enough for you."

"All he does is skip school and sell drugs."

"He's a bad influence on you."

Nate finished his work and stood back to admire it. "What do you think?"

"Huh?"

"I asked what you thought of the project."

"Oh. It looks amazing, Nate. You did good."

"You mean we did good." he looked at y/n and smiled. Like her, he had voices bouncing around in his head. Most of them were of his dad and a few were his friends, but they were all telling him that he shouldn't get too close to y/n. She was only going to turn her back on him as soon as they handed in their project, so he needed to distance himself from her. "Hey, I gotta go. But I'll see you at school on Monday."

Before y/n could turn around and say goodbye, Nate was gone. When y/n got home, she called Cooper, knowing he wouldn't judge her for how she was feeling.

"Coop, I don't know what I'm going to do. All of our friends are going to hate me for how I'm starting to feel."

"Y/n, it's going to be okay. Nobody can help who they fall in love with." he took a second before continuing. "Besides, who are they to judge, really? Addy cheated on Jake with TJ and is only hurting herself by not telling him. You're just catching feelings for an actually decent guy. That's way better than what they're going through."

"Thanks, Cooper. You really know how to make me feel better."

"It's what I'm best at." Cooper chuckled on the other end of the line. "I gotta go but feel free to call me if Addy & Jake give you shit for hanging out with Nate."

"Alright. Bye, Coop." y/n hung up and looked at her ceiling. She started remembering how close everyone was back in elementary school, even Nate and Jake. The memories were mostly happy, aside from the few that were too heartbreaking to remember. Y/n wanted nothing more than the good moments back. She wanted to be able to tell her friends how she was feeling, without receiving judgement from them.

Maybe in another world.

When Monday morning came around, y/n looked for Nate but couldn't find him. Assuming that he just slept in, she headed to Science class and handed in their project. Luckily their teacher was going to let them present it in class tomorrow instead of today.

At lunch, Nate was still a no-show & it was beginning to worry y/n. Cooper noticed her discomfort and pulled her aside.

"You alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your mind has been preoccupied since I saw you this morning & you've been looking around the cafeteria like a crazy lady. Luckily nobody else noticed." he touched her shoulder. "Is this about Nate?"

"God, I hate that you can read me so well." y/n slumped her shoulders. "I really thought he was changing, you know? I thought he'd be here to present our science project with me, but I haven't seen him all day. Do you think he took some drugs?"

"Why would that thought even cross your mind? You know better than anyone that he's been trying to stay sober. If you're so worried about him, why don't you go see him? I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for his absence on such an important day."

"I can't just ditch school. That's not like me at all."

"You care about him, right?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"Then go to him. I can cover for you here."

"Thanks, Coop." she kissed his cheek and ran out of the school. Luckily Nate's house was not far so she didn't have to rush. When she got to his house, Nate was in the garage. "Nate, we need to talk."

"What do you want, y/n?"

"I want to know why you haven't returned my calls or texts all weekend and why you didn't show up at school today."

"The project is over so I figured that you should go back to hanging out with your friends and I'll go back to being alone all the time. It's no big deal for me."

"It is a big deal. It's a huge deal. I know you, Nate. And I know that you enjoyed these last 2 weeks because it gave you someone other than your buyers to talk to. You don't like being alone, just admit it."

"Why can't you let it go? I don't want to hang out with anyone. That's why I do what I do."

"What is your problem? You were fine on Friday...and we used to be friends. What gives?"

"You really want to know why we aren't friends?"

"Yes, I really do. So why don't you tell me?"

"When we got to high school, you got hot & that's just not fair!" he approached y/n with a finger pointed at her face.

"How is that not fair? You got hot too!" y/n looked at him. "But you don't see me pulling away from this friendship, do you? What's not fair is that you're pushing people who care about you away when you know that it's only going to hurt you in the end."

"You think I'm hot?" Nate's scowl suddenly turned into a smirk.

"No. I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did." his smirk kept growing. "You just said it like 10 seconds ago."

"That's not the reason I came over here." y/n looked behind him. "Why don't you want to be friends with me?"

"Because you're hot and popular. You've got a good reputation and being friends with me will only bring you down. I care about you enough to not let that happen."

"I don't give a damn about my reputation anymore, if you can't already tell by me being here in the middle of a school day." y/n took a step closer. "And if you really cared about me, you wouldn't let reputations get in the way of that."

"Look, what if we become friends again and end up falling in love or something? That could ruin the very fragile relationship we barely have. I don't want that."

"I'm willing to risk it, Nate." y/n looked up at him. "Please tell me that you're willing to do the same."

"Fine. For you, and only for you, I'm willing to risk our friendship for love."

"Love, huh? Do you really feel it?"

"Yeah, I really do. How about you?"

"Despite all the warnings from my friends, I absolutely feel it too."

"Good because," he pulled her close and looked into her eyes. "I really want to kiss you."

"How about we start with a date first, huh?"

"Okay. Deal!"

taglist: @worldlxvlys

[furiousgoldfish]

Hey goldfish :) It's 🌟 anon again (previous ask for reference: https://furiousgoldfish.tumblr.com/post/730639643605876736/hey-anon-from-this-post)

So things have changed quite a bit since the last time we spoke. Turns out we are in fact a system for one, and the host who was sending those asks has stepped down due to being extremely overwhelmed by being trapped in the situation we're in after realising just how bad things are. Bun still comes around to talk to our friends, and plans to return to being host once we get out of here, it's just too much for bun to be aware of how bad things are and still be stuck in this environment. In the meantime myself (the new host) and a couple of other alters are pushing forward with the plans to get out of here and holding down the fort, so to speak, until the day comes that we can get out of here. It's been a couple of months since this host change, and we've been doing alright so far.

Right now we're actually in the process of looking for a job! It's pretty hard, admittedly, considering that we don't actually have any qualifications (we were taken out of school when we were 9 years old) but we're hoping that something simple like just stacking shelves at the local supermarket won't require something like that. We're looking into it at the moment, hopefully it works out. Our long-term plan is to be able to learn to drive at least, so we can have more freedom, then start saving up to try and get our own place. One of the other alters here managed to reach out to social services to attempt to get help with finding housing, and we're just waiting on a reply from them. Assuming that works out, we might even be out of here in a year, which is really exciting!

Of course, with the potential escape so soon, it's starting to sink in that we...have no idea how to do a lot of things. Our mother refused to teach us anything because she was always "too busy", so we barely know how to make a simple sandwich (and even that's from one of our friends telling us!), let alone actually cook anything, and she has outright refused to teach us how to wash dishes, do laundry, or anything of the sort. That coupled with the fact we never got chores growing up means we have basically no life skills on top of the lack of qualifications, so there's a few of us who are terrified that we're going to fail.

I want to try and find something, at least, to help reassure those scared alters that we'll be okay, that we can make it out of here and stay out, but I have no idea where to start looking to try and learn anything, or even what to focus on first. Do you (or any of your followers) have any advice on where to start? Anything in particular I should be trying to learn now while we're still trapped here, to try and reassure the others that we'll make it?

Oh hey, glad to see you (or, the new host of your system) back!

So you are a system, god I am so sorry, that is one of the most extreme disorders you can have due to abuse and it proves that what was done to you was intensely cruel, inhumane and equal to torture. Kids don't develop something so extreme for no good reason, you had to become like this just to survive in your parents house. And they cut off our education, which sounds insane and illegal.

It makes sense for the old host to be overwhelmed, I remember when I realized how bad things are, I wanted to jump out of my own skin just not to be there anymore. I completely understand the old host's instincts to be inside where it's safer and to let others figure this out until you escape. I'm so glad you're planning to get out of there and to gain freedom, you deserve this and I believe you can make it out.

You're right that there's simple jobs that don't require much qualification, stacking shelves sounds great, I am guessing you could also do stuff like cleaning (what I do) or stuff that's easy to be trained for (I can't think of anything, I haven't done many jobs, if anyone can give recs in replies please do!)

I hope you do get out of there within a year! That does sound exciting, and even if it takes longer, as long as you keep trying you'll get there, I know sometimes it can feel impossible, especially when the abusers are onto you and work to sabotage you. Be sure to never reveal to them what you're up to!! Leave when they won't immediately notice! Don't let anyone know your location so you're safe from being discovered by them! The best safety from them you can have is them not knowing where you are or how to get to you, once these 2 things are accomplished, you are safe completely, and also you do need some income, but you already know all that.

I don't think I was even reading about survival skills back when I was living with abusers, because it just isn't the same when you can't immediately try out your new skills, the best way to learn is to try and figure it out on your own. I'd love to give you step-by-step instructions on how to cook, how to do laundry, how to clean, how to maintain your living space, how to organize and whatever else skill you want, but it's likely you wouldn't be able to try it out, and it would fade from your mind before you learned to use it. If you want I can still try and give you the instructions and you could save them for when it's useful!

There's a website I saw that gives step-by-step instructions to do any task, I want to link it here but right now I can't seem to find it, does anyone know what I'm talking about? It breaks down any activity to small steps that guide you trough the process, it was made for people who get overwhelmed by big tasks but do well with task broken down.

I do want to say that survival skills are pretty easy to learn and some of them super instinctive, and a lot is just about having confidence and the right information. I remember I got a lot of confidence from just learning how to tie a rope in different ways, I could make different knots, or create ladders or a swing using only rope, and that made me feel so smart and capable, even though I barely used it for anything except to show off.

I feel like I should do a basic instruction post about cooking, laundry, cleaning and maintaining living space and it would potentially make it easier to approach for a lot of people. I'll start on it now and you'll see it published a few hours from now.

You and your alters can definitely make it! If you can learn even skills that don't feel vital right now, like if you can sew a little pocket or make a cool knot, it will boost your confidence and give you a feeling on how exciting and rewarding it is to learn these things.

[tiddiesoutwhenthetisout]

tag from @babyrdie and @greekmythologylover234 .

been a lot of tag games recently huh! thanks for remembering me 🤣

9 people you want to know better

i don't know enough people on here, but i'll be tagging @amnesiaa-on-ice @akhillaous @whorewhouse @naurumii @elnbnt @peggy-sue-reads-a-book

here are the questions to copy-paste:

three ships

first ship

last song

last tv show

currently reading

currently watching

currently eating

currently craving

my answers to them are under the cut so only those who are interested will be reading it (because i'll be yapping) lol

three ships

- patrochilles (duh; probably going to be my favorite, if i'm honest)

- kavetham (admits this semi-shamefully because the rest of the fandom is ass-- but i've left it. glad i did because the recent toxic community will never do me any good. i stressed, i die. simple. was a huge hyperfixation for a year or so though.)

- vashwood (it's been a while, but i really got obsessed with them and the show. watched 1997 once, stampede 3 times, not inclusive of the scattered episodes)

first ship

tbh no idea. it may or may not be solomon and saya from blood+ (great show great show) but i was around 7 when this happened and was just tagging along with whatever my sister had to say about things like these? i'm not a super shippy person either-- i'm not big on these things and certainly a lot less when i was younger. didn't have a lot of interest in couples prolly bc i had no idea what difference it had with friendship. just that you kiss and fuck or something. and i thought that was weird, or well, nothing much to it.

i guess you could say that the first pairing i've ever wanted to defend was zuko and katara from ATLA 🤣 nowadays i understand mai and zuko's relationship and i think it's pretty sweet, but back then i was fixated on zutara chemistry so whee🕺

last song

i haven't been playing music recently since i've been over at my partner's, but "done for" from epic the musical has been playing in my head since i woke up so there's that lol

last tv show

we were looking through netflix for an "easy" show to watch for dinner and got through 2 episodes of the exploding kittens show 🤣 played the game a lot when we got it, plus fond memories of things that happened whilst prompted us to check it out. it's an american tv show i guess, and i've never really vibed with those so it was alright, i guess. the kitties were cute.

currently reading

nothing. finished madeline miller's circe 3 days ago or so, though. my odyssey reading has been suspended for 2 weeks now but i guess it's because i'm pretty much kept up on the plot from randomly reading shit about it on the internet? i'm generally more of a "how did the story go?" person when i get into a book unless i become super obsessed with it. then, i'll dive into the nuances of text and its analysis. which hasn't been happening recently. i'll probably be balls-deep in academic text soon considering i haven't been a good student (our research adviser told us to start doing our thesis papers over the summer holiday so the process will be smoother... guess i'll be disappointing the prof who actually likes me ✊)

currently watching

nothing. finished castlevania (as well as the released season of nocturne) last month and i think that's my quota for shows for a while lol.

currently eating

fast food because the rain started pouring so hard. in time for lunch or so. it was a sign from the lord to spend and have a good time because the world might end tomorrow or something.

currently craving

the other items on the menu i didn't order- kidding lmao. a calzone for some reason, as well as a fizzy drink i usually get from a local cafe run by a nice old lady and youth on the drinks. ok, now i want her pesto sandwich.

ight i'll just eat now brb

[silverynight]

Heat

Lemon, omegaverse

***

As soon as Tanjirou feels his cheeks turn slightly pink and his body starts getting hot, he knows what's about to happen.

He's just glad he reached the butterfly estate right on time. Even though Zenitsu's nose is not as good as Tanjirou's, he realizes quickly what's going on as soon as the omega sits under a tree in the backyard.

"Do you have your suppressants, Tanjirou?" The beta asks, cheeks turning pink as the omega's sweet scent reaches his nose. "Do you want me to bring some?"

Tanjirou shakes his head, shyly scratching his left cheek. He looks at his own hands before taking a deep breath.

"I... actually want to spend it with someone this time."

He bites his bottom lip when Zenitsu doesn't respond and looks up at him only to notice the worry on his face. He looks a little bit flustered too.

"Who?"

Tanjirou feels even more embarrassed when he doesn't have an answer for that right away.

"I haven't asked anyone yet..."

"For everyone's sake, you have to ask one of the hashira," Zenitsu says, surprising him.

"What? I don't think they'd want to help me through it, they're–"

"Why are you like this?" Zenitsu cuts him off, getting irritated. "Listen, they'll get jealous if you ask someone else and they'll probably kill the alpha you chose. At least if you go for one of them they can fight against the others..."

"What are you talking about? It's not–"

"Just ask one of them," Zenitsu insists before heading inside, leaving Tanjirou a little bit confused.

Before his inner omega starts taking control of his body, Tanjirou rises quickly, looking around and wondering if one of the other slayers would be interested in helping him. He's decided he's not going to go look for the Pillars because he's sure they don't like him that way no matter what Zenitsu says.

"Hello, pretty... It's been a while."

Tanjirou stops himself from purring when Uzui's alpha scent hits his nose; it's amazing and powerful and the fact that Uzui looks huge in front of him doesn't help at all. His inner omega is very interested out of the sudden.

"Hi, Uzui-san! I was just–" he squeaks mortified as the alpha takes him in his arms easily before pressing their foreheads together.

"You're in heat," the sound hashira comments in a low purr that makes Tanjirou shiver in anticipation even though he knows nothing is going to happen. "I don't think you're safe here. Let's go to the hashira headquarters... I'm sure Shinobu has a couple of suppressants she can give you."

Tanjirou doesn't protest at least not until they're actually inside the headquarters and the omega realizes the other eight alphas are there already.

They gather around him almost immediately, asking the sound hashira why he's still carrying him around.

"You're in heat," Tomioka mumbles before taking one of Tanjirou's hands and press it against his cheek. "You smell delicious."

"If you need suppressants..."

"Actually," Tanjirou mumbles before Kocho can say anything else. "I want to spend it with someone this time."

Their scents change suddenly, they're very interested in Tanjirou's words, although some of them smell sour, like they're jealous.

"Who are you going to ask?" Iguro growls possessively, making Tanjirou shiver again.

"I don't know yet, I–"

"We'll help you, my boy," Rengoku cuts him off, prompting him to blush. "All of us."

"That is a good idea considering how intense an omega's heat can be, especially Tanjirou's. Aoi has told me he has to swallow more pills than most of omegas." He's still in Uzui's arms when Kocho gets closer and strokes his cheek gently. "Would you like that, Tanjirou?"

Holding back another purr, Tanjirou tries not to get overwhelmed by his own instincts.

"You don't have to do this for me... Don't do something you don't want to just because–"

"But we love you, darling," Kanroji cuts him off. "Of course we want to do this."

"I don't know if I'll be able to do it without biting you," Shinazugawa admits, the omega has never seen the wind hashira so worried before, however, he gets distracted when he notices that his teeth have gotten sharper and Tanjirou almost moans at the sight.

"Do you want to m-mark me?"

"All of us want to," Himejima says, barely holding back the possessive smell that comes from him.

"You can do it," Tanjirou whispers, although it's loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Are you sure?" Tokito asks. "You'll belong to us after this."

"I'm sure," the omega nods, trying to hold back another moan as he feels himself getting wet. Uzui must've noticed too because he pulls him even closer to him before nuzzling his red hair.

"I think it's time to take you to bed," the alpha mumbles against his ear, making Tanjirou whimper.

***

Tanjirou is surprised by the amount of rooms inside, although he stops thinking about it as soon as Uzui leaves him over the futon. His heart is beating inside his chest really fast, desperate to be touched.

The arousal he can smell coming from Uzui as his eyes roam all over Tanjirou is enough to make his heat worse.

He feels tiny as Uzui kneels in front of him, big hands already pulling Tanjirou's haori off before leaning to kiss him on the neck.

"Are... your wives okay with this?" The omega asks, suddenly worried. He likes Makio, Suma and Hinatsuru and he'd hate himself if they were hurt or sad because of him.

The alpha smirks, getting rid of Tanjirou's shirt before his fingers start tracing his chest, purposely avoiding the omega's nipples. Tanjirou will start sobbing if the sound hashira doesn't do something soon.

"They like you, Tanjirou," he whispers before taking the omega in his arms. He's naked now and shivers when his sensitive skin makes contact with Uzui's uniform.

It's not fair, the omega thinks, nuzzling against Uzui's cheek. He should be naked too.

"They like you so much they have begged me to take you," he whispers in Tanjirou's ear, chuckling when the omega's shaky fingers try to get rid of his buttons. "Sometimes they beg me to mark you while I'm deep inside them, they want me to breed you..."

An embarrassing moan escapes from his lips as the images fill Tanjirou's head.

"Yes, breed me!" He whimpers before he can't stop himself. His inner omega is very pleased at the moment, although not completely satisfied yet. "I want you to bite me!"

He gets a teasing kiss on his neck instead; Tanjirou pouts but before he can get closer to Uzui, the Pillar starts peeling his uniform off, letting his white hair fall over his broad shoulders.

He's halfway hard already, Tanjirou notices, feeling his own cock twitch at the size of Uzui's.

Purring, Tanjirou puts his arms around the alpha's neck before pressing their lips together, he's not usually like this when it comes to romance or sex but his omega is begging him to do something.

"It's okay, beautiful," Uzui says kindly, pulling him closer against him until Tanjirou is sitting on his lap, legs spread at both sides of him, cocks pressing against each other. "I'm going to take care of you."

"Uzui–"

"Tengen. Call me Tengen."

The omega rubs himself against the hashira, prompting the other to purr in approval.

"Tengen-san, please..."

Uzui's fingers start running down his spine until they reach Tanjirou's buttocks. The omega moans, but tries to spread his legs even more.

"You're such a good omega, Tanjirou," Uzui grins as one of his fingers finds his entrance and presses against it, prompting the redhead to let out a shaky breath in response. "You're so wet for me already..."

Tanjirou nuzzles against Uzui's chest, tongue licking one of the alpha's pecks as if he's trying to encourage him to continue. The finger keeps rubbing circles against his rim until it slides inside with ease.

It feels so good to finally have something inside him, Tanjirou moves his hips in response, making Uzui close his eyes and take a deep breath before kissing Tanjirou's lips.

"I wish my wives were here," he whispers, curling the finger inside, making Tanjirou moan. "They've been waiting so long for this... Next time I'll fuck you in front of them..."

It seems Uzui wants to drive him crazy because as soon as he says that he adds another finger before pulling them both out and slamming them inside again.

There's a couple of tears in Tanjirou's eyes, he's overwhelmed with the sensations, although he hasn't felt any pain yet. Probably because he's so wet already.

"I haven't even touched your sweet spot..."

"What do you–Ahh!" Tanjirou can't even finish the sentence, the fingers that have been stretching him suddenly curl up inside him and press something that makes Tanjirou moan out loud. He shivers, body tense from the pleasant sensation that spreads all over him in a second.

He moves his hips and pouts, making desperate little sounds to get Uzui to do that again. The sound hashira chuckles before bringing their lips together.

"More, please..." He whines like a needy omega. "Tengen-san..."

Instead, Uzui adds a third finger as he kisses Tanjirou's head before moving all of them inside, twisting them in a way that has Tanjirou shaking and begging for more.

However, the alpha stops and looks down at him almost like he's sorry when Tanjirou makes a sad face. Why is his alpha denying him pleasure?

Uzui uses his free hand to cup Tanjirou's cheek and kiss him gently all over his beautiful face, his expression is twisted with desperation and yet he still looks adorable.

"Be patient, Tanjirou... I'll give you anything you want," Uzui promises, moving his fingers a little bit, although he's mostly focused on stretching him. The omega sobs, trying to rub himself against the hashira's muscles so he can have some sort of release. "Do you think you could take one more, beautiful?"

"Yes, I..." Before he can say anything else, another one slides in and this time Tanjirou feels it in a way that's a little bit unpleasant at first.

"Relax, my omega..." Uzui mumbles before stroking Tanjirou's cock a little bit. The sensation distracts him enough to finally relax... "Good boy."

The praise sounds really good coming from Uzui's lips, it makes Tanjirou blush and push himself onto those fingers. The omega moans as the sound hashira takes the hint and starts using his fingers to pound into him a couple of times.

Although it seems like he's avoiding Tanjirou's sweet spot and the boy is almost dying, trying to feel that again.

"Tengen-san, I want you to..." He moans the last word as Uzui curls his fingers once before pulling them out all at once. The omega feels empty, it's a horrible sensation. "Please..."

"I know, I know," Tengen whispers, kissing him a couple of times like he's apologizing before easily lifting him only to leave Tanjirou on the futon again. "But I really want you to come on my cock."

The omega whimpers in response, especially after Tengen hovers over him and Tanjirou finally gets a good look at his huge dick. He's not sure if that's going to fit, but he doesn't care at the moment, his inner omega is desperate to have something inside him again.

The alpha grabs his ankles to spread his legs apart before pressing the tip against Tanjirou's wet hole.

"Tanjirou..."

"I can take it... Don't stop," the omega mumbles after noticing Uzui's hesitation. He's glad he's facing him because he can lean forward for a moment and give him a kiss on the nose to calm the alpha down. Tanjirou knows he'll stop if he thinks he's hurting him. "I'm fine..."

The sound hashira shivers a little before pushing all the way inside. Tanjirou groans, feeling a burning sensation before trying to relax.

"Tell me when–"

"Move. Now," it surprises Tanjirou how bossy he sounds, he's not usually like this, but he's desperate; the burning sensation is melting away, making him feel full in a way he hasn't felt before.

But he needs more.

Uzui chuckles, grinning before pressing their lips together and sliding in and out of Tanjirou fast. A sound escapes the omega's lips and his hips start moving, but a hand on his waist stops him completely.

Before Tanjirou can ask what's going on, Tengen starts pounding into him; a whimper escapes from the omega's lips as the alpha starts with a gentle pace.

He's being too gentle.

When Tanjirou tries to do something again, Uzui moves slightly to one side and tries to push himself even deeper.

That's when it happens, he hits something inside Tanjirou that has him arching his back and moaning out loud. He's so lost in the feeling he can't even beg.

"That's it, my omega," the sound hashira purrs and the next thing Tanjirou knows is that Uzui is thrusting into him even faster, hitting the same spot every single time.

A couple of tears escape from the corner of his eyes after he sees completely white for a second, the sound of his moans muffled by the obscene sound of flesh against flesh. Uzui gasps, before he pounds into Tanjirou one more time and pulls out completely.

The omega almost mourns the loss...

"Tengen-san..." He sobs, realizing with confusion that Uzui is still very much hard.

Winking at him, the alpha lies down on his back before grabbing Tanjirou's waist and easily placing him on top of him.

"Can you ride me, Tanjirou?"

The omega doesn't waste any time, he spreads his legs further before leaning forward, taking Uzui's dick in his hand. The alpha closes his eyes for a moment, fingers almost digging into Tanjirou's skin, waiting for him to slide onto his cock.

With a slam, Tanjirou pushes himself backwards to take all of Uzui's length at once, prompting the alpha to make an inpatient sound; his eyes are open now and Tanjirou can see how difficult it is for him not to start moving his hips up.

Fortunately, Tanjirou is as desperate as he is. The omega starts rocking his hips back and forth, hands gripping Uzui's chest for stability as he tries to get the dick inside him hit his spot.

Using his legs he starts slamming himself up and down, forehead getting wet with sweat from the effort and the heat.

"Look at you, pretty," the alpha purrs, eyes turning dark with desire as he grabs the back of Tanjirou's neck to pull him down. "Using my cock to pleasure yourself. You look gorgeous now, Tanjirou, do you know that?"

Noticing the blush on Uzui's face and the way his voice almost trembles with want, the omega starts riding him faster, whimpering as he feels a little bit of precum inside...

He wants pups, so many pups...

A surprised gasp escapes from his lips as Uzui flips them both around easily, sliding out of him to lay Tanjirou over the futon again.

"You were doing amazing, love," the alpha assures him, lifting Tanjirou's legs up before shoving himself inside him again. "But I need to take control now."

Tanjirou nods, biting his bottom lip, feeling suddenly too shy to admit out loud he likes it more when the alpha takes control... He likes to feel vulnerable... He likes when he doesn't have to worry about anything else...

"Ahhh!" Tanjirou whines; the new angle is just too perfect... Uzui is pushing even deeper than before.

"You feel so good, Tanjirou!" The alpha growls in response, hips moving faster, slamming himself harder against the omega's pink entrance.

The pleasure Tanjirou feels comes in waves, sometimes when Uzui thrusts back in he sees white as his sweet spot gets hit again and again. It's too much and yet the alpha grabs Tanjirou's hips, lifting them up so he can bury himself even deeper still... Then, he bends over to bite Tanjirou on his shoulder.

It's a biting mark. Their scents start combining as Uzui keeps fucking him hard.

That's when Tanjirou screams, his lips part as his belly grows impossibly hot and he sees only stars for a second before his body relaxes completely.

"Ah... Now you're squeezing me, trying to milk me," Uzui groans in approval, pounding into him through the aftershocks. He licks the wound on his skin gently, stopping it from bleeding. "How greedy of you..."

Even after coming all over his own belly, Tanjirou still finds pleasure in the way Uzui keeps shoving his cock into him; the alpha tenses, but his pace only increases as he seeks his own release.

That's when Tanjirou feels something growing inside him, it stretches him in a way that has his own dick twisting with interest again.

"Your knot..." Tanjirou mumbles as Uzui moans and growls over him before coming inside the omega.

He stops, rolling them both over on the bed, stroking Tanjirou's back gently. The knot is keeping them together as Uzui keeps filling the boy with his seed.

"Are you hungry, beautiful?"

Tanjirou shakes his head, looking down at the alpha with a smile on his face.

"Here, take a sip of water at least."

The omega drinks happily, noticing the concern in the alpha's scent.

"You can sleep now. We'll be here for a while," Uzui mumbles, pulling Tanjirou down to steal a kiss.

The omega sighs satisfied before resting his cheek on Uzui's chest, using him as a pillow. He knows he'll be waking up soon though, asking for more.

***

When he wakes up he's clean, however when he turns around he's in Shinazugawa's arms, not Uzui's. And the wind hashira is still wearing his uniform.

Is he really going to sleep with all of them? By the way his inner omega purrs in delight at the mere thought the answer is YES.

"I didn't want to wake you up," the alpha mumbles, looking surprisingly shy and flustered, although by the smell coming from him, he definitely wants Tanjirou. "Are you hungry or tired? Perhaps..."

The omega scoots closer to him, before giving him a kiss on the lips. Shinazugawa growls and puts his arms around Tanjirou to pull him against his chest and kissing back almost aggressively. He fights for dominance for a second and purrs when Tanjirou surrenders to him immediately.

The omega enjoys the kiss; it's Shinazugawa's way of letting him know Tanjirou will be his soon. However, after a moment, he pulls away.

"Are you sure about this, Tanjirou?"

"Yes," he says without hesitation, making Shinazugawa smirk.

"Alright. But I want to mark you first. I need to feel that you're mine."

Nuzzling against the alpha's neck, Tanjirou agrees, body awakening and getting ready to be taken again; Shinazugawa starts undressing himself in front of him and the boy gets wet almost immediately.

With a satisfied growl, Shinazugawa tilts Tanjirou's head to the side as he presses their bodies together; the omega can feel the alpha's dick against his. Then, to his pleasant surprise, not one but two fingers press against his entrance.

It's alright, Tanjirou is more relaxed and ready after sleeping with Uzui; he knows he can take it. Besides, part of him wants Shinazugawa to be rough with him.

"Are you sure?" The alpha asks again in a whisper, he licks Tanjirou's neck as the tip of his fingers press inside. "Once I start I won't stop."

"Make me yours," Tanjirou says, in a voice he doesn't recognizes. He sounds so needy already.

Sharp teeth sink into his skin as the two fingers push inside and Shinazugawa rubs their cocks together.

He feels too many sensations at once, they make Tanjirou whimper an shiver and despite the pain in his neck, he's quite enjoying it.

As the feeling of being claimed spreads all over his body, Tanjirou tries to move his hips as well, but he's reduced to a whimpering mess as Shinazugawa curls his fingers in the right way before pushing them further inside him.

The alpha starts licking the bite to clean it and stopping the drops of blood from rolling all the way down Tanjirou's chest as he begins to scissor his fingers to open him wide.

A third finger slides in as Shinazugawa starts sucking one of the omega's ears greedily, although he's really careful to avoid Tanjirou's earrings.

"I need to be inside you now, Tanjirou," the alpha growls, making the omega shiver as he's moved easily until he's lying on his side with his back pressed against the wind hashira's chest.

He's empty again, but not for long; Shinazugawa immediately grabs his own cock to move it against Tanjirou's wet hole. The tip is opening him more as it slides inside with a little bit of effort.

Tanjirou lets out a shaky breath as the uncomfortable sensation vanishes and it's replaced by the amazing feeling of being full again.

Grabbing one of Tanjirou's thighs, Shinazugawa spreads him even more, only to ask in a very impatient groan if he's ready.

"Yes!" The omega says, even though he's not sure, but he definitely doesn't regret it when he almost screams the first time Shinazugawa pulls out only to slam all the way back inside.

His pace is brutal; Tanjirou has to grab the futon to feel some sort of balance as his body moves with each one of Shinazugawa's thrusts.

"Sanemi-san!" He blurts out before fingers pull him by the hair to tilt his face back so the alpha can take possession of his mouth as well.

Shinazugawa bites his bottom lip before whispering something about how hot Tanjirou looks like that, all flustered and full as the hashira finally hits his sweet spot.

It doesn't matter how many times it's been hit, Tanjirou is never prepared for the wild pleasure he feels every time.

"Don't stop, please..."

"I wasn't going to," Shinazugawa chuckles, nuzzling against the curve of Tanjirou's neck.

His spot is pushed again, making the omega moan before his shaky hands desperate try to grab his own cock. But Shinazugawa grabs both wrists to stop him.

"None of that, little omega," despite how brutal his pace is, Shinazugawa's words are actually soft and gentle. "You're going to come only with my dick inside you."

Tanjirou nods, enjoying the feeling of being at Shinazugawa's mercy and having zero control in the situation.

However, Tanjirou whines in protest as Shinazugawa pulls out. The alpha kisses him on the lips repeatedly, being careful and soft as he tells him to be patient.

"I want pups," he sobs before Shinazugawa rolls him onto his belly and Tanjirou's face is now pressed against the pillow. Rough hands lift his hips up, fingers buried in his skin as the alpha slams back inside.

"I'll fill you with my pups," he promises as he starts pounding into Tanjirou again, this time hovering over him as Tanjirou uses the pillow to muffle some of the obscene sounds that come out his mouth.

At some point Shinazugawa bends closer to him, pushing deeper inside before finding his spot again; Tanjirou screams, tears sliding from his eyes before he bites the pillow and his body trembles from the waves of pleasure.

Despite being exhausted already, Tanjirou wants even more of that and rolls his own hips backwards, prompting Shinazugawa to moan in return.

However, the alpha leans closer to him, pressing him completely against the futon until Tanjirou is unable to move.

"Don't be impatient," he scolds, although he says every word after giving him a couple of affectionate kisses on Tanjirou's back.

"Faster, Sanemi-san."

This time the alpha complies, he groans next to Tanjirou's ear with need before he pounds faster and harder inside the omega. He hits the same spot a couple of times before Tanjirou comes with a loud sob.

To his surprise, Shinazugawa pulls out quickly to reposition them both so Tanjirou is now on top of him before pushing inside the omega again. He rolls his hips up a couple of times, grabbing Tanjirou's sides to keep him where he wants, fucking him through the aftershocks before the omega feels the alpha's knot.

The wind hashira pulls him closer to give him another kiss as he starts coming inside him. Tanjirou falls over his scarred chest, tired and happy.

"You were absolutely amazing, Tanjirou. Next time I'll make you ride me."

***

Surprisingly, he survives seven more rounds of that, well, actually six because Kanroji and Iguro insist on taking him at the same time. Tomioka turns out to be really rough and possessive in bed as well, despite his otherwise quiet demeanor.

Rengoku eats him out first, making Tanjirou come with his tongue before fucking him properly.

Both Kocho and Tokito are very gentle, although Kocho certainly takes her time to the point that she has Tanjirou begging a couple of times.

He almost passes out the first time Himejima pushes inside him, but the omega gets used to his size quickly.

They all take good care of him.

Tanjirou is now their omega and is glad knowing he won't have to spend another heat alone because after that there's no way his body could feel better only with the suppressants.

After going on another mission and back to the butterfly estate he realizes it's been a while since he was there because last time he spent it at the hashira headquarters.

He's been sending messages to all his alphas, he knows they're going to be there soon because he just told them about the small adorable bump on his belly.

"Are you pregnant, Tanjirou?" Aoi squeaks in shock as she starts checking out for wounds. The butterfly girls hug him tight, telling him he's going to be such a good mommy as Aoi realizes what happened.

"Yes," he nods, heart beating happily against his chest. He's carrying three pups, he knows it, he can feel them even though they're still small.

"The hashira, of course..." She huffs, rolling her eyes. "No wonder why they smell like that now or why they've been unbelievable happy lately."

She looks at Tanjirou again and the happiness written all over his face before her expression softens.

"Can't wait to meet your pups, Tanjirou." Aoi smiles sincerely before hugging the omega too. "Although I'm going to tell Oyakata-sama so he doesn't send you on any other mission from now on."

"I'm pregnant, not sick..."

"She's right, Tanjirou..." Kocho walks in, followed by the other Pillars; they look so impatient and smell really happy already the omega forgets he's a little bit upset at the moment.

He can't wait to have his pups in his arms.

***

Patreon

[craetor]

Another Death Note book, another Tumblr post of overanalyzing details within it

This is a literal reformatted Twitter thread that was collected as the book was read, so, in theory, one could just flip through the book & find the things addressed all in order. Enjoy my needlessly high IQ going to town on this damn legendary expansion pack AU spin-off novel...

This obviously contains spoilers to L Change The World

.

"I'm no good with girls" - L Lawliet, like 2004? (He probably had a real good time having Misa around)

L calls the kids of Wammy's House "letters" (*tries not to explode*)

It's verified that the orphans are entrusted with solving cases as grave as murders to prove & train themselves

Beyond Birthday is mentioned to crack his neck in LABB, which is oddly enough also a habit of Ryuk's. Shinigami urges, especially those of the rather unhinged kind

Suruga heard that L never even showed his face to Misora, meaning she kept quiet about their encounter to everyone until her very death. Which is pretty nice.

Tbh Beyond wasn't too far off about mocking L's behavior. He does tend to crawl when he's being frantic & is also a messy eater (from getting food on himself when not provided with utensils (even when he is...), to consuming excessive amounts of sweet toppings)

There's too many "god"s in DN names... ('Kagami' can be translated to 'nurse god' which is so stupid & uncreative /affectionately)

"L's back grew rounder as he sat on the sofa with his knees tucked tightly against his chest. [...] He seemed to be burdened by the weight of something very heavy that she could not see". L's slouch gets lower after Watari dies under his surveillance. Nothing new, just fantastic symbolism that I love about him.

Also how actually well L suppresses his emotions while working on cases is really outlined in this book. It gets to a point where he seems apathetic, as people who've seemingly gone through trauma reunite over tears in front of him, while minutes beforehand, he's exuded real sadness over Watari's passing. (this is not inherently negative or positive)

His reputation with the FBI really sticks to him like a tick, yet it's suppressing his humanity that gets L to do what's needed & initiate measures necessary (which earned him the ill-willed reputation of kinky bizarre murder-loving detective. Whereby I still can't quite locate the origin of the "murder-loving" part..)

"Nobody would think anything important to be in a bag of potato chips, don't you think?" Honey, first of all, how did you fit an entire notebook into a bag of potato chips without it looking like it's your 1 pound hershey's chocolate stash... Oh, and L has a pattern of emulating tricks that people have used to try and fool him

It seems that L wasn't lying when he said that he's a fan of Misa's work, though idrk what to make of that... Not everything in the half-canon is canon, kids. M went a bit too hard on that 'L is weird & creepy' at times. Until it's not even goofy and ridiculous anymore, I'm just.. concerned?

L seems fulfilled and glad when he's stressed about saving the world. Nothing like a superiority complex, just very INTJ.

L will know to evaluate people so much as to accept food from the ones trying to deceive him, if he knows they're pacifists. Having them vacuum his room & stuff, letting them think they're earning his trust. A side of him we haven't seen thus far, just thought it to be important to share.

Watari, now officially L's mentor and father figure (we knew this but i love it)

The fact that L prones to share sweets with anyone compatible to himself or whoever he wants to tempt is not just a quirky gesture of respect, but actually seems to write out, more than anything, 'let's put us on the same level here. Have this thing that indicates gross luxury within societal hierarchy while also being the thing that keeps me going on an everyday-basis'

Fem-disguise flirty L. He's enjoying the vibe & living vicariously. That's it that's the jot

And then there's page 151. And i wonder, am I needed here at all?

The "L-organization" Blue Ship made up is comically the truest hypothesis that has existed as a theory about L. After all, Wammy's House is the founding ground of 26 Ls each generation to come

Watari seems to be involved with the Wammy's kids more than initially thought. But this could also be Kujo's illusion, as having any contact with the one closest to L at all would be a big deal and in her mind more prominently

And finally, the relationship that was created between L & Light is closer to love and worship than friendship. Even best friends. L's reliance on the thought of Light even exists as comfort in heavily emotionally distressing situations. Your definitely romantically touched soulmate-other-half-comfort-human can be your best friend too is what I'm trying to say. Like, you don't have to choose. Just add it to the list.

Verdict: I assume the main point of the book is literally to clear up misunderstandings about L, hence information about him is being blatantly pointed out and aggressively reinforced around every corner. But I'm here anyways because page 151 exists for me and me only (and everybody else who's done their thing correctly before having read this thing) as a pat on the back and a hearty 'good job'. It was fun to have found a couple more hidden details along the way too though. L called Light his 'best friend' like he called Misora 'some guy in the US who told me about capoeira'

[some-pers0n]

i watched emesis blue, very good, please ramble about it to me

You watched it??? That's so cool!! I'm so glad I was able to infect you and harass you into watching it by reblogging every single thing even tangentially related to it.

So, for the rambling part. Yeah. I'll probably just say first and foremost that Emesis Blue is probably my favourite thing to come out of this fandom. I can barely even begin to describe my love for this movie. It's something I wish goes down not just in TF2 history, but fandom in general as an example of how great fan content can be. It takes the mercs and throws them into a situation that I can only describe as 'nightmarish'.

That's another thing too. I remember once seeing a person describe the movie as a nightmare. I can't honestly think of a better description. It radiates this nonstop uneasiness and dread. No joke, the entire time I watched it I had this constant feeling of pressure in my chest. Even just thinking about Emesis Blue or the scenes in it brings it back. It's harder to breathe and I'm more alert.

I'm a horror enjoyer. I love horror. I've consumed a lot of horror.

Never has a piece of media created a feeling like that for me. The only thing that comes close is 'The Descent', which uses a similar tactic of darkness and constant dread.

But, if I go on more, I'll dip into spoiler territory. I cannot say it enough that watching this movie blind is the best experience. So, yeah. If by some means you haven't watched Emesis Blue, please do it. I know it's a horror movie and not a lot of people are into those, but I can't stress just how good it is. Please. It's free. You can watch it right now on YouYube.

Also, quick note. I was rewatching the movie while writing this and found your comment. Epic. My thoughts exactly as well.

So, let's start with me admitting something: I have not a single idea as to what's happening. I need a hour long story breakdown of this movie.

But, I can try to piece things together. In order to lay the groundwork. I could be wrong about several things, but this is how I think it goes.

Helix Technologies created the respawn machine. Jules Archibald sold it to both Redmond and Blutarch to play both sides of the war. However, the respawn machine is pretty bad and has the tendency to breakdown and cause the person it resurrects to come out...well, broken.

Scout (Jeremy) was one of these victims. The Medic (Fritz Ludwig) helps him out and around, even prescribing him these pills called 'Valium' (spoiler: they're actually the evil bad pills made by a sister company of Helix Technologies).

Medic is...not doing so hot, might I add. Because of some event, he's been prescribing himself the Valium. Though, he's haunted by hallucinations and whatnot. There's a theory that Medic was the one who killed Scout's mother, linking how the movie on the TV, 'M', is about a German murderer and how the director of the film's first name is 'Frtiz'.

Being honest? I thought from the start that Medic being the killer was a possibility, but refused to believe it if only because I thought it was obvious. M = Medic was my train of thought.

Anywho, something happens to Scout and Medic tosses himself into danger to try and save him.

Meanwhile, Soldier (Jane Doe) and Spy are on a mission to find Archibald since he's been kidnapped. Actually, the ploy was to have Archibald be faked kidnapped so that he wouldn't suffer the consequences from how the respawn machine is terrible, but we don't know that yet. They investigate the crime scene of Scout's mother and are led to Medic's office, where they eventually learn they need to go to the Conaghers.

Blah blah blah, the movie happens. Medic is having a bad time. Soldier meets up with the RED Demo (Cyclops as he's called here) and Spy has a funny little run-in with a Pyro and gets horribly burned in the process of escaping them. They all eventually meet up again after suffering through unprecedented amounts of horrific shit and play a nice round of Russian Roulette. Medic dies. Oh and also Archibald is dead because Spy figured out the ruse behind his plan.

They host a funeral for Archibald and Soldier is about to kill himself and the others with a grenade before Medic pops out and shoots Spy. He then goes on a wacky little killing spree and hops into an ambulance before then falling asleep at the wheel and crashing it, dying in the process.

What a silly story. I love it to bits.

Now with that out of the way, I wanna talk about some stuff that stands out to me.

Soldier's character is probably one of the best versions of him I've seen. He keeps that same 'Soldier TF2' charm to him, but he's brave. He's loyal. He stands by his friends in this hellish situation, never backing down or giving up. I also adore the flashback scene of him. The atmosphere of the war and trenches–

CAN I TALK ABOUT THE ATMOSPHERE TOO?? My GOD it's pristine!! The cinematography and the lighting and everything about it oozes with dread and fear. There are only a couple jumpscares in the movie, but by god I find the constant terror to be far more compelling. It's suffocating with how well its done.

The emotions and expressions too. One scene that's always been in my mind is the elevator scene. We see Medic cycle through his emotions. He's sobbing because Scout is dead and now he's stuck here. Then after being offered a cigarette, he perks up and starts laughing. It's haunting. I remember the chill that ran down my spine the first time I watched that scene. And minutes later with Medic pointing the gun to his head, about to kill himself, before putting it down and lashing out at his reflection.

Medic and his character in Emesis Blue is like my good ol' Medic TF2 blorbo, but in an opposite direction. Emesis Blue Medic is a husk of a man, his very soul and sanity being ripped from him a long while ago. He's not doing so well. I adore every single scene with him. You can see all of his fears and and emotions so clearly.

Have I also mentioned this is animated in SFM? Yeah, THAT nightmare of an animation software? I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of bugs and glitches Fortress Films had to endure. How many times entire scenes were corrupted and they had to restart. Just even knowing how much care and work the team put into this movie makes me respect it so much more. This is truly a work of passion and love for the game and its community, delivering something that's beyond words.

The sound design is another aspect I don't see really talked about. It's really good. Take the scene in Scout's home for example, with the TV playing and the droning from the phone. It's haunting.

It's just an incredible movie. It's why I think psychological horror is the best form of horror. It relies less on big scary monsters with sharp claws and axes being the main source of fear. Rather, it focuses on when those monsters will show up. It grips you with dread and refuses to let go. It never gives you that relief that comes with a jumpscare. The startling, yet comforting release never happens.

Emesis Blue also succeeds in a way that none of the characters make dumb choices. They do everything right, yet they still fail in the end. I feel that makes it more terrifying. When you do everything correctly, but it doesn't work out. It makes the situation all the more helpless. All of this mistakes happen at their own hubris, like with Spy trying to take a break by smoking a cigarette and ends up nearly burning to death.

I also love how it doesn't answer a lot of questions. Leaving the audience with a mystery and the ability to theorize on stuff is lovely. What is the masked figure? Why are there seemingly elements of time distortion? How much is a hallucination and how much of it is real? All those sort of things.

But, yeah. I love Emesis Blue. I love it a lot. It's not just a TF2 animation. It's a genuine horror movie. I've seen multi-million dollar Hollywood movies that pale in comparison to this. It shows that talent and storytelling can come from anywhere and could be simply amazing. The fact that I can watch this on YouTube for free feels off. I feel like I should be paying Fortress Films or giving them something for their work.

But, I guess praise and a couple fanfics is good enough. Very rarely does a work move me enough to actually make fanworks. I get ideas, but never write them down.

So, those are my bigger thoughts on it. I'll just list a couple more.

-I refuse to believe that Scout's name isn't a reference to Jerma985. His name on the report is 'Jeremy. E', like Jeremy Elbertson

-When I was first watching through it, my stupid god-forsaken Science Party-obsessed brain thought: "Ooh! Medic and Engie are together! :D" when Medic came into the Conaghers. Then then they started fighting it turned into: "Oh no, they're going to kill each other D:"

-The scene of Soldier trying to get through the countless corpses of himself feels like something out of a cosmic horror and I love it

-I think this movie made me understand Freedom Fries more

-Cyclops's death ruined me RIP my buddy

-That weird Scout monster thing was terrifying

-I am obsessed with Stalingrad and the other resurrected mercs. They're so cool

-Emesis Blue is a great example as to why 2Fort is a horrific map

-That scene of Medic with gouged-out eyes and chipped teeth smiling and staring at the camera makes my blood run cold every single time. I cannot overstate just how much I love that scene

-They gave Demo a pistol finally I'm so happy <3

-I am a massive sucker for Pyro headcanons where they're justed a fucked up and inhuman monster and Emesis Blue scratched that itch. Following up on that, I love how Pyro's face is the same as that one Half-Life 2 zombie model. You know the one. The one that's of a genuine real burn corpse? Good times

-When Spy got burned, I genuinely thought that he would eventually become the Pyro through some weird time distortion shenanigans. I still believe in that theory too, honestly

-I actually really like how it uses the TF2 characters since you're already familiar with them and my intense love for them makes me care about them a thousand times more

-People who complain about the movie tossing in references have no idea what fun or thematic parallels are

-Medic spitting out his teeth in the end could either be a reference to Scout's nightmare at the beginning or to how Medic's teeth are literally falling out in real time. Maybe both. It could be both

-What in gods name is in that briefcase I need to know

[purity-town]

Been a little while since I last answered some asks, so -- replies below the cut!

Here ya go! Also tossed it in my sta.sh in case Tumblr crunches it.

Aha, don't worry, Chris! You'll get to experience plenty of horrors soon that'll validate your weird dreams!

All things considered, Chris is handling things pretty well right now, but I think he'd still accept a hug!

I whipped out my extensive comic collection (four of The Adventure Zone graphic novels) to get some inspiration for this! Those books tend to have a pretty basic back cover with a couple of the main/supporting characters tossed onto it, and I can see something similar working for Purity Town considering how many NPCs there are overall in the game (even though the number we've actually seen in the comic up to this point is much lower)!

:D Thanks for reading! I can't always manage to finish pages on time, but I do my best and I'm glad y'all're enjoying updates.

My first experience learning about the whole Guide/WoF thing was...I think a Stampy Cat video years before I even knew what Terraria really was. I assumed it was the scary final boss of the game, and didn't think anything more on it for half a decade. And then 1.4 came along and I got incredibly attached to the character. That's just how it goes!

For what it's worth, I will make the disclaimer: while I find it interesting to push characters and write how they react as they crack, at the end of the day, I do write happy endings. And there's plenty of room for more happy one-shots in the AO3 fic!

I kept the monsters in a sketch/low-detail/silhouetted style mostly to emphasize that Chris' dreams were strange and imprecise, but it was still cool to play around with monster designs a bit! Translating designs from the game version to comic characters can be weird because you need to account for the game expecting you to always see them from a particular angle -- the Wall of Flesh is the most extreme/obvious example of this. When we get to seeing more of Plantera proper I'll definitely have to brush up on my flower-drawing skills, haha.

I haven't actually built it out in a Terraria world proper! The world used in the blog header is a screenshot from the world I first beat the game in.

As far as a general description goes, the main town is located in a forest biome with the snowy-mountains-and-lake background. In the main area of town is the tavern and the nurse's clinic, plus the (now abandoned) clothier's store. Andrew also lives in the forest town, though slightly up-hill from it, so that he has to walk through some trees before he gets into the town square itself.

For the most part I imagine characters living in the biome they prefer in-game (with exceptions for those who like the Hallow), though the bulk of folks live in the Purity Town. The settlements in the other biomes are smaller, since having the pylons means you can go wherever you need to go for business quite easily.

Thanks! Terraria has some crazy lore once you start digging into it -- I think it'd be really cool to see "Zullie the Witch"-style lore deep dives just going ham on the minutiae of NPC interactions and Bestiary entries.

But in any case, getting to take all of that and work it into the comic here and there is good fun :D

Thank you!! I had a lot of fun with this chapter's cover, especially with the lighting and the border around the top. The Aether/shimmer stuff and the more glowy critters like faelings and prismatic lacewings are just such a delight to draw, haha.