#alright well. these tags are probably gonna be a bit all over the place for a while

[front-facing-pokemon]

[darknight3904]

tommyxfemreader thigh riding🫦 maybe in her home in Jackson lowkey forbidden since he’s with Maria (love u queen but…)

Pretty Boy

Jackson!Tommy x Fem!Reader

Summary: Cursed to watch him from afar, you finally make a move on Tommy one day when he's stuck in your house due to a thunderstorm.

Warnings: Language, Smut 18+, Dom/swtich!reader, sub/switch Tommy, thigh riding, dirty talk, handjobs, cheating (don't do that irl.)

TLOU Masterlist

Word Count: 2.2k

I got carried away with this one, whoopsie. Went a bit off the rails, but I hope you enjoy it, anon. @xodilfluvr No pressure tag, but I think you're going to like this one.

You had a major problem. 

You couldn’t get him out of your fucking head. Tommy Miller was eating up every spare nook and cranny your brain had to offer. 

You arrived in Jackson nearly a year ago. With its quaint town and even nicer people, you were finally comfortable here at the end of the world. The issue though had started about six months ago, your first patrol run was led by none other than the ex-Firefly himself. You at first hadn’t thought much of him, probably just another guy with a big mouth and no skill to back it up. Instead, you were astounded when he brought down three infected, all head shots, from atop a large hill. Then, he’d wrapped his arms around you, repositioning your elbows in the best way to hold a gun so you didn’t get knocked on your ass by the kick back. His deep voice had your head spinning as you tried to focus on what he was saying about aiming right. 

Since then, you’d become a woman obsessed. But truly it wasn't your fault, Tommy Miller was just really fucking pretty, a pretty boy if you will. Dark curls and big brown eyes to go with, god, he was gorgeous, who could blame you for being so interested?

Now, most people would bite the bullet, ask their crush out instead of pining like some teenage girl, and you would, you really would, except there was one issue. Tommy Miller was a taken man. 

Maria had scooped him up a few months back, right when you realized your feelings, too. How convenient. You had no interest in being a homewrecker, but admiring never hurt anyone, right? You could look all you wanted, just not touch. Kind of like a fancy museum, Tommy was the artwork and you were the observer, content with staring and imaging what that piece might look like above you each night, sweaty and with loud moans coming out of his pretty- 

“You alright?” 

“Oh, yeah, m’ fine.” You say 

The loud sound of rain beating down on the twenty-something-year-old roof had you nervous, hopefully, it wouldn’t cave in tonight while you slept. The storm had come out of nowhere. One minute, you and Tommy were standing in your kitchen; he had swung by to tell you that the patrol shift was changing since Eugene had pulled a muscle in his back, the next, it was raining like a fucking monsoon was coming through Jackson. 

“Damn it.” Tommy curses as he stares out the window over your kitchen sink, “M’ gonna get drenched going out there.” 

“You could just stay here,” You blurt out, “Just till the storm blows over.” 

Tommy looks at you, obviously weighing his options: go outside, get drenched, and probably end up sick since it was a twenty-minute walk between your place and his, or sit down and just wait it out.

“Alright, fine, better than getting soaked to hell.” He grumbles 

Tommy had been in a sour mood all week, you had picked up on it after he hadn’t had his usual pizzaz during your Thursday shift with him down in the greenhouse. You motioned for him to sit down on the couch, handing him a glass of brandy. 

“Where the hell did you get this?” He sniffs the glass

“It’s a secret.” You smile, sitting across from him in the big armchair you loved, “You look like you need to relax, figured it’d help a bit.” 

Tommy sighs, sipping the amber liquid, his adams apple bobbing as he does, you squirm in your seat, fuck you hadn’t been alone with him like this since well…ever. 

“Yeah, it’s been a long couple of weeks. Maria’s been busy, council shit new buidlings and then that roof that caved in on Leona’s house.” Tommy sighs, “Haven’t seen much of each other.” 

You hum in acknowledgement, feeling sorry for how lonely he must’ve been. 

“Sorry, you don’t wanna hear my shit.” Tommy gives you a small smile 

“No!” You counter, “I like hearing you talk.” 

“Is that so?” 

True to your request, Tommy talks to you. As he sips at his drink you refill it twice, loosening him up a bit as you pour yourself some listening to him talk about how he found some fancy new scope for his gun. 

“You wanna watch a movie?” You ask 

“Tired of listening to me, sweetheart?” He smiles, a faint blush on his skin from the drink 

“Nah, just got something I think you might like,” You grin, waving a DVD case that reads Alien on it, “It’s the directors cut.” 

“Well, shit, pop it in.” Tommy grins 

The movie hazily plays in the background as you sit beside Tommy on the sofa a single throw pillow separating the two of you as he rests his arm on it. You’re too focusied on the man beside you to take any note of whatever the hell Ripley was doing on screen. You’re too focused on the way Tommy’s thighs shift every few minutes the muscles straining against the tight denim of his dark blue jeans. 

Without thinking about it, you reach out running a delicate hand up his thigh, brushing the fabric of the pocket before he jumps back. 

“What the hell’er you doin’?” His loud voice bounces off the wall

“Shit, sorry!” You fumble, jumping back as if he’s burned you, tears whelling in your eyes. You hadn’t expected him to be so well repulsed by you “I didn’t mean to, fuck.” 

Tommy eyes you, the flickering screen illuminating him for a second. His eyes scan over your figure, probably thinking you were some pathetic loser, crying cuz’ he raised his voice for second. 

“Sorry, you just uh scared me.” Tommy doubles back, “Didn’t mean to make ya cry, sweetheart.” 

Tommy’s next move has you shocked, he inches closer to you, a big hand cradles your face as he wipes a few stray tears that have escaped your burning waterline. He lets out a low hum, one that spreads warmth across your stomach and down to your lower belly.

“Pretty.” He softly whispers like it’s a secret no one can know, if only he knew you thought the same about him.

You nuzzle into his touch, elated to finally feel his hands on your bare skin again. You never want to leave this moment. 

Tommy pulls back abruptly, hands falling down, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have…I should leave, got shit to do at home, theres this leaky faucet and the basement door is broken.” 

He’s rambling still as you place a small hand on his chest, keeping him on the sofa beside you. You grab the remote, muting the TV and switching it off, you’ll pop the disc out later on. The alcohol has you bolder than ever as you push him back down when he goes to stand. Your legs straddle his hips, using your weight to keep him right where you want him. 

“But it’s still raining.” You whisper, leaning in so your nose brushes his 

Under you, you can feel something hard beginning to form, his cock twitching against you as you slowly begin to shift a bit, pretending like you don’t know what you’re doing. Tommy’s hands rest on your hips, his eyes fluttering shut, a soft fuck leaving his lips as you move. 

“Darlin’ this isn’t…I’m…Maria and I…” 

You push a finger to his lips, “Shhh…It’s alright.” 

You push yourself off his lap, knees hitting the soft carpet as you pull the zipper of his jeans down, the pretty sight of his green and blue boxers greeting you, “You’ve been so stressed, Tommy, let me take care of it.”  

You push the band of his underwear down, his hard cock springing up from the fabric, it’s drooling head leaking as your eyes widen. You expected him to be big, just not this big. 

You’ve only pressed a kiss to the pink tip of it before Tommy is hauling you back up into his lap, settling you on one of his thighs. 

“What’re you doing?” You ask 

“I wanna watch you.” He mumbles, skin flushed as he stares at you, fingertips tugging at your shirt 

A coy smile lines your face, you hold all the cards now, he was yours. You free yourself from your shirt, unclipping your bra as you go and then you stand only for a second to wiggle your pants off. Your hands have just hooked under your panties when he stops you. 

“Keep 'em on.” A  deeper blush paints his pretty face, “Wanna watch you with them on.” 

You smile, pressing your lips to his as you settle back on his thigh, cunt weeping when you feel it flex under you. 

“What do you want me to do, cowboy?” You softly whisper into his ear, teeth nipping the sensitive skin there., "Hmm? Gonna ask me? Y'look so damn pretty like this, mmm pretty boy."

“Fuck…” Tommy whispers voice just barely there after all your compliments, “Ride my thigh, baby, get yourself off on me.” 

You softly hum, “What do we say? Gotta ask nicely, pretty boy.” 

Tommy’s eyes scan your face, he clearly isn’t used to be treated like this for just a split second you think you’ve over stepped but then he’s opening his mouth again, falling into your hands. 

“Please.” He softly asks 

You press a kiss to his cheek and then to the tip of his nose, “Good job.” You mumble. 

You’re not sure what’s come over you tonight, you could blame it on the brandy, the alcohol is the reason you’re dominating your crush of a whole year, the same man who was in a relationship with the literal laader of your town. Perhaps it’s just the result of buried feelings, all you know is that this feels good, and it seems like you’re not the only one. 

Each roll of your hips along his thigh has Tommy’s lips falling with a groan as his cock weeps for you. A loud moan leaves your lips when the muscle beneath you flexes, Tommy’s deep voice fills your ears. 

“Fuck you’re pretty like this. Christ, always knew you’d look good ontop of me.” 

Your head spins. Tommy Fucking Miller had just admitted to having sexual fantasies of you. You hips roll more argressively against him, the cotton of your panties is soaked, proably seeping into his jeans as you get yourself off on his thigh. 

“T-Touch me, touch me please.” He mumbles, hips jumping up towards your hand when one lands on his belly 

“You sure?” You mumble a smirk on your lips, “Thought you were a taken man, what we’re doin’ right now is certainly forbidden.”

Tommy’s head falls back onto the couch when your run a finger over the slit of his cock, a fucking whimper leaving his lips. 

“Fuck, I don’t care.” He groans, eyes squeezed shut 

“Look at me.” You say, you’re not going to miss one second of this 

The thick muscle of his leg presses up to your clothed clit and you bite your lip, Tommy’s deep brown eyes meet yours and you feel a bit sorry for him. 

Your hand wraps around his cock, pumping him at the same pace your hips roll into him. He groans your name loudly as you twist your wrist. 

“Baby, fuck…” Tommy’s forehead glistens with sweat as you press a warm kiss to his neck, nipping at his skin, “M’ not gonna last.” 

“Go on.” You smile, “Cum for me, I don’t mind.” 

“Not til you get yours.” He affirms, his stomach tightening as you steady yourself by placing a hand on his shoulder 

Big hands find your soft chest, thumbs flicking at your nipples as you try to keep your cool, wanting to maintain your dominance over him. 

“You gonna cum? Gonna cum all over my fucking thigh?” Tommy grins, your hand still pumping him, “Yeah, you are, it’s like you’re in heat, girl. Knew you wanted me, always starin’ like I’m some piece of meat you wanna strap down on your bed.” 

“T-Tommy!” If he keeps this up, you’re going to lose it 

"It's alright, I'd let ya." He laughs, "Yeahhh that's it, she's crying all over my fucking jeans, gonna havta' wash em' real good tonight."

A loud moan leaves your lips, your brain is blank as he talks to you, your climax is so close.

“Go ahead, pretty girl, cum on me,” His southern drawl fills your ears, “M’ all yours now, go ahead, stake your claim.” 

Another roll of your hips and he roughly gropes your sensitive chest and you’re gone, wetness spilling into your ruined panties and his pants as Tommy groans into your ear. Warm cum spurts over your hand as he reaches his end, chest heaving as your his stutter into his thigh. 

You bury your face in his neck, not wanting him to leave you again. The storm outside has stopped; you can tell by the way the sunlight has started to stream back through the windows. 

“You alright?” Tommy whispers into the still air 

“Fine.” You say, looking at him as he stares back 

Tommy glances around, eyes scanning your nearly nude form, his ruined jeans, the discarded pile of your clothes, his softening cock and your hand covered in his spunk. 

“Fuck.” He groans 

You knew it, He regretted it, that line about him being yours wasn’t real. You’d fucked up majorly and lost a friend, god you were so fucking stupid sometimes. You go to stand, legs a weakened mess as you stumble. Before you can get far though, Tommy pulls you back down into his warm body. 

“Where the hell are you goin’?” Tommy asks, “You’re stayin’ here with me. I’ll get you water in a minute, then we can go shower.” 

Water? Shower? With him? What the hell was he thinking? Didn't he need to get home to his girlfriend and the broken basement door?

As if he’s a mind reader, Tommy presses a kiss to your lips, “ Don’t gotta worry about Maria anymore, I’m all yours now, baby.”

Liked this fic? Check out More Tommy Here

This is the product of listening to Sabrina Carpenter while writing. I think it turned out nicely :)

Requests are open, I love getting them, so if you have anything you really want me to write, don't be shy, come chat.

[javiersvest]

breathe, hold, release (pt. 1)

joel miller x f!pilates instructor reader 

summary: when sarah forces joel to drive her to a new pilates studio downtown, he finds a new favorite way to spend saturday mornings. 

tags: mdni (18+ only), no outbreak au, no use of y/n, reader is afab/able bodied, has long hair, no other physical descriptors, meet cute vibes, no smut (yet! part 2 pending) but joel is having thoughts so, slightly pervy!joel, age gap (joel is 40, reader is 28), mention of a breeding kink if you really squint, joel is an angsty horny mess, if i forgot anything please lmk!

word count: 6.8k

a/n: this is my first published fic on here after bowing out of writing for a while, so i hope whoever stumbles across this enjoys. my user is misleading but i will be writing for pedro's other characters as well :) ty to my besties for beta'ing this for me ♡ pls be gentle.. alright goodbye!

“Pill what now?”

Joel’s headache throbbed in time with the sound of Sarah thundering down the stairs, nearly colliding with him as he stepped in from the backyard. It was only May, and already an unbearable heat had settled over Austin – eighty degrees before noon, causing sweat to plaster his shirt to his back. He’d spent the morning in a losing battle with a rotted fence post, back aching as he tried to dig it out of the ground. Stubborn bastard that it was, it wasn’t giving up easy.

“Pilates,” Sarah repeated, breezing past him with a blue tote bag slung over her shoulder. “There’s a new studio downtown and Vic’s mom got us a free class. Can you drive me?”

Joel bit back a groan, swiping the sweat from his brow with the heel of his hand. “Downtown?” he echoed, already dreading the traffic. Saturdays downtown were a nightmare; the farmer’s market turning a ten minute drive into half an hour, easily. Joel had unfortunately gotten stuck in the rush each time he had to make a supply run. He glanced toward the oven clock, the dimming light blinking 10:43 a.m. He needed to fix that, too. 

Sarah had begun filling her water bottle – the matching one he’d bought her two birthdays ago.

“You need to shower before you take me, you’re gonna get me kicked out.” Sarah remarks, her finger pointing at him and motioning to all of the grime and dirt that clung to him like a second skin. “Class is at 11:30, we have time right?” 

Joel ignored the question, sliding the back door’s lock into place. “What the hell is it anyway?” He rarely said no to her, despite his perpetual bearish nature and overall aversion for people. Too many times had Sarah dragged him out of the house just for him to get stuck somewhere that only reminded him of how lonely he was. 

“It’s like yoga but with machines,” Sarah’s words are muffled in between her bites of an apple. 

Joel’s brow raises. “Thought you said yoga was boring?” 

She rolled her eyes and dropped onto the couch, already absorbed in her phone. “Go shower. If we’re late, they’ll charge Vic’s mom.”

He sighed, deep and through his nose. Muttering something about who in their right mind pays to do yoga on machines, he trudged up the stairs.

The truck rumbled down South Congress, Joel’s elbow propped against the window, one finger pressed to his temple in an effort to soothe the persistent ache pulsing behind his eye. A silver sedan cut him off with zero hesitation, and he bit back the curse rising to his lips.

“I told you we should’ve left earlier,” Sarah said from the passenger seat, craning her neck toward the window in search of the new studio.

Joel huffed, his tone dry. “I was covered in dirt, you said I had to shower.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you were a walking health code violation.” She laughs at her own joke and Joel’s expression remains in a comfortable scowl. Such a smartass. As he made a sharp right turn into the plaza, Sarah perked up and let her arm stretch out of the open window. “Right there! That’s it.”

Joel gave the building a once over. It was new, pristine, and pretentious. Probably owned by some well-to-do Texan socialite who spent more on coffee in a week than he did on power tools in a month. He parked with a heavy exhale and cut the engine. Sarah had one foot out the door, stressed about missing a second of class, when she paused. “Oh – you have to come in and sign a waiver.”

Joel paused, fingers still on the keys. “Thought the whole point of this was me sittin’ in the truck.” Driving back home and turning around to pick her up again would be a waste of time; and gas. But lingering outside in a baking metal box didn’t sound much better.

“It’s five minutes,” Sarah assured him, then smirked. “Unless being surrounded by chicks in leggings is too overwhelming for you.” Joel shot her a long, withering look in response.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, shoving the door open with a little more force than necessary.

The parking lot shimmered in the sun as Joel stepped out of the truck, the soles of his boots crunching against the asphalt. Sarah was already halfway to the entrance, her tote bag bouncing against her side, curls swaying. Joel followed at a slower pace, dragging a hand through his hair. The studio came fully into view. Floor-to-ceiling glass, a glowing sign that read MOTIV in green serif, flanked by potted olive trees and dangling strings of fairy lights. 

Inside, everything looked soft, curated, and suspiciously spotless. He walked through the front door and was hit with a cool rush of air and the sharp scent of lavender and orange; his headache vibrates in his skull. A display shelf of similar cups to Sarah’s and matching workout sets sat to the right. A neon pink sign above a brushed gold water dispenser glowing Hydrate + Radiate. He hovered near the entrance while Sarah went to check in, arms crossed with a faint scowl. The chalkboard on the wall read “Today’s intention: be here now.” The hell does that even mean? 

Joel felt like a sore thumb with a heartbeat.

“Wow,” Sarah murmured, her voice echoing against the sleek linoleum floors as she looked around. “This place is so nice.”

Joel made a low sound in his throat, eyes narrowing at the bright lighting. The walls were all soft blush tones and polished wood, greenery hung in just the right places. Overhead a top fifty playlist sounded through the speakers, Joel recognized the current song from Sarah’s collection. 

A woman steps out from around the corner, clipboard in hand, smiling bright and open. Your hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, loose strands of it catching the morning light and framing your face. If he looked close enough he could see the flush over your skin, probably due to the heat. You wore a soft pink sports bra and black leggings, a matching sheer wrap tied around your waist in a loose knot that somehow made the whole ensemble seem less like activewear and more like intention. Not flashy, not performative. Just… natural. Must be what that stupid chalkboard was talking about. 

“Hi there!” you greet warmly, approaching with the kind of ease that could only come from liking the act of getting to know people. “Checking in?” 

Your eyes meet Joel’s and he feels something stutter in his chest. He might’ve managed a proper introduction if every part of his body hadn’t suddenly forgotten how to function. He’d expected your voice to be sharp and high-pitched, but it was lower than he thought, and warm. 

“I’m Sarah,” she answers, and Joel is grateful for it. “This is my dad. He’s just here to drop me off and sign the waiver thing?” 

“Got it!” you beamed at her, then turned your attention back to Joel, your smile undimmed. “We ask all guardians to fill one out - liability stuff, just in case. These machines are a little weird for people at first.” 

Joel feels like you’re overexplaining, his expression flat as you extend the clipboard to him. Behind him, Sarah coughed pointedly, silently telling him to stop being such an ass. When he glanced at her, she was already watching him with narrowed eyes. The pen attached had a small, fake sunflower affixed to the top. Joel stared at it like it was a trap. “...Really?”

You laugh, light and unbothered. “I know, but everyone seems to like them.” 

Joel doesn’t do the polite thing – a laugh, a nod, that reflexive smile people give each other when they lock eyes in a grocery store. Instead, he exhales slowly through his nose and squints at the waiver, pen scratching across the lines with a kind of grim determination. His handwriting is slanted and a little sloppy, like he’s trying to get it over with as fast as possible.

You turn your attention to Sarah, your voice softening. “We’ve got a few machines open, most people like being up front their first time so they can see what’s happening.”

Sarah perks up. “Cool. Is my friend Vic here already?”

You glance over your shoulder, smile brightening when you spot her. Now you remembered checking her in ten minutes ago, she’d mentioned she was saving a place for a friend. “Yep! She checked in earlier, I think she snagged the one in the middle for you. You two are doing this together?”

“First timers,” Sarah grins, adjusting the strap of her tote bag. “Her mom booked us the free class.”

“Trying new things, I love it!” you say, giving her a high-five. “She asked me earlier if it was normal to feel like Bambi on ice during the first class. I told her that’s half the fun.” Sarah laughs and heads toward Vic, who greets her with a dramatic stretch.

Joel is still standing at the counter, hunched slightly over the clipboard. He scrawls his signature on the last line, clearing his throat as he hands the clipboard back to you. Your eyes scan the page, and you find his messy handwriting endearing.

“Thanks… Joel,” you say, softly - not like you were spitting it out. Maybe he imagines that part. Joel gives a grunt that might be a thank you. You don’t seem to mind either way. You tuck the form under your arm and check your watch. 

“You’re welcome to wait inside if you’d like - there’s cold towels and water in that fridge over there.” You motion to the bench in the corner with your chin. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He can’t formulate a response, can’t even mumble a simple token of gratitude. You gave another breezy smile and turned to greet a pair of women walking in behind him, slipping easily into conversation. Across the room, Sarah and Vic are giggling over their machines, pointing at the foot straps like they’re some kind of amusement park ride.

Joel lingers for a beat too long with the clipboard no longer in his hands, as if waiting for something else to anchor him. He wondered if you were pretending, if you ever talked to people the way he did; uninterested, rushed. 

He sighs and moves toward the bench in the corner. The cushions are softer than expected. They remind him that he doesn’t belong here. He pretends not to notice the way each woman looks him up and down, probably wondering why the hell he was there. Still, Joel sits. Just a few minutes, he tells himself. Long enough to cool off. Long enough for his pulse to stop kicking at his throat. But as your voice drifts through the room - steady and laced with quiet command, he decides to stay.

Joel hadn’t meant to stare.

He really hadn’t.

But somehow, he found himself still on the bench fifteen minutes into the class, a cold towel slack in his hand, no longer pressed to the back of his neck. He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, as if that’d make him less conspicuous. As if anyone in this goddamn studio even noticed he was still sitting there – except maybe Sarah, who'd sent him a single, suspicious look before disappearing into your instructions.

But Joel couldn’t look away. Not from you.

You’d claimed the reformer at the front of the class, surrounded by the ten students. Joel watched, rooted, as you’d settled onto it, feet covered with pink socks on the bar. You were fucking adorable. Every movement was fluid – graceful in a way that made his jaw clench. You moved through the class with quiet precision, your legs extending in a slow push that brought your hips off the carriage, then back down with a faint hiss of the springs. Your body stretched; long, flexed, contracted, then stilled. And then again. Again. Again.

It was obscene how hypnotic it was.

"Place your heels on the foot bar, toes flexed toward the ceiling. Keep your spine neutral and engage through that core,” your voice cutting through the lowered music like warm honey. You spoke like you trusted everyone in the room would follow you – even Joel, even though he wasn’t on a machine, even though he hadn’t moved an inch. 

“Good. Now press through the heels, extend the legs. Slow tempo. Four counts to extend, four to return. Feel the hamstrings fire up.” And God help him, he did. Watching your body glide slowly along that strange looking machine, smooth and controlled, everything tight and drawn in. You continue until the class is warmed up, then step off your machine to observe. 

“Now that we’ve got our legs warmed up, we’ll go ahead and move into foot loops,” you said. You’d taken the pink wrap from around your waist and tossed it onto the wall hooks, leaving only the curve of your hips in black leggings, your baby-pink sports bra clinging to your skin. Joel’s eyes followed you as you walked between the machines, stopping next to Sarah to help her get the foot straps on. Your voice lowers to guide her on where to place the straps, but he can’t hear you over the buzzing in his ears. 

You moved down the row, adjusting tension springs on Vic’s machine. “We’re going to start with some wide leg circles. Let the loops pull your legs back as far as they can go, feel that stretch through the backs of the legs and then pull down through the middle.” Your arms lift and mimic the gesture, feet padding along the floor as you inspect each student to check for anyone needing guidance. When you’re satisfied with everyone’s form, you return to your machine and slip your own feet into the loops. 

His breath caught when your legs started moving outward in slow splits, carving invisible circles in the air. Joel pressed the towel to his mouth. Not to cool off – just to keep from making a fucking sound. The straps catch in the pulleys above you, like silk thread tugging you from some invisible point in the ceiling.

“Keep your spine anchored, core doing the work. Focus on your breathing, that’s where the strength is.” 

Joel feels his breathing switch up to match your pace, and it felt good. The straps kept tension in your limbs, your legs moving in wide circles, gliding just inches above the mat before rising again. The control it took – not just to move like that, but to make it look so easy – tightened something deep in Joel’s gut.

Joel could feel the resistance just from watching. The subtle burn in your thighs. The strain in your lower belly when you drew your legs tighter. The slight tremble in your inner muscles that showed, just for a second, before you steadied again. And Jesus, the way your stomach drew in when your legs came together, toes pointed, straps pulled taut… Joel shifts on the bench, one hand pressing into his thigh. He blinked, trying to scrub the image from behind his eyes. But it was seared there now – your legs in those slow, perfect arcs, hips pinned down, your voice soothing and low.

Then came bridges, and his jaw ticks.

You guide the class through the setup with that same calm cadence that had been slowly wrecking him all morning. “Alright, this one is going to burn after the first few, but I promise it’s worth it.” You joke and earn laughter from the room. “Pull the carriage in with your feet, arms straight and long on the carriage.”

And when you demonstrated the motion yourself – feet on the bar and your hips rising until you were up in the air – Joel’s brain completely derailed.

From the bench, he could see it all: your knees bent, heels digging into the foot bar, the slow articulation of your spine as it peeled away from the mat. Shoulders down. Hips up. The curve of your back forming a line he had absolutely no business thinking about.

“Feel the glutes working here, not the low back. Squeeze and hover, then we’ll pulse for ten and roll down,” you said, calm as ever, like you weren’t using all of your strength. You rolled down slowly, vertebra by vertebra, until your spine was flat again. 

“Keep it steady. Don’t let the carriage slam. There’s strength in control.”

His jeans tighten further, jaw going slack. 

He could see every line of your body through those leggings – the way your hips rose and fell in rhythm, the tight pull of muscle around your thighs, your stomach flexing, ribs shifting beneath your skin. That pink sports bra rose with each inhale, clung tighter with every breath you blew out.

Joel couldn’t stop imagining your breath against his throat, hot and shallow. Couldn’t stop picturing what it’d be like to have those thighs wrap around him in the air, hips shaking as he traces his name with his tongue in your sweetest spot. To feel the strength of you – the steadiness, the ease, the command. Would you still talk him through it? Patient, encouraging, eager to watch him fall apart?

His jeans were fucking unbearable now. 

The machine creaks beneath you, slow and steady as you release and tell the class to catch their breath. Your palms flatten beside your hips, body curling as your knees drew in and your stomach hollowed. You begin rocking side to side to stretch through your lower back, instructing the class to do the same. His mind flashes with the image of you doing it in his bed, exhausted from him spending the night buried deep inside you, knees in the air to make it stick. 

Joel dropped his gaze to the floor, pushing a sharp breath through his lips. What the fuck was wrong with him? His daughter was here, just a feet away, laughing quietly with you, following your cues without hesitation. And him? He was on a bench with a hard-on, staring at you like some fucking creep. Arousal simmering under denim like he was seventeen again. He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to will the tension out of his shoulders.

This wasn’t who he was. He was a father. He should’ve been paying attention to Sarah, making sure she felt supported, safe. But his mind had gone somewhere dark and hot and selfish – and no matter how he tried, he couldn’t drag it back.

All because of the way your voice wrapped around the room. Because of the curve of your back, the power in your legs, the way you didn’t even seem to know what you were doing to him.

And that was the worst part, this wasn’t a fantasy. It was real, you were real. 

You sit up on your machine momentarily, one knee bent on top as you face the class. 

“To cool down we’re going to do the same thing, but with our legs this time. What I mean by that is,” you pause and lie back down, everyone in the class sat up to watch your demonstration.

“Feet into the loops, your shoulders should stay grounded. With bridges we roll the back down one vertebrae at a time, this time think of lifting up with your spine instead.” Your legs rise up towards the ceiling, your toes pointed. Voice steady, you say something about keeping your tailbone tucked in, but Joel isn’t hearing you. 

His eyes follow your body like he’s a snake charmed, lips parting in awe. He’s watching so closely he can see your abdomen flex just slightly as you lift up through your hips, practically suspended in midair if not for your shoulders staying down. And your face – focused, serene, utterly unbothered by both the difficult maneuver and the effect you were having on him just feet away. 

You were so strong, so beautiful. Hell, he was old; probably didn’t know much about what people could do with their bodies outside of hard labor. 

He bet you’d teach him a lot of things. 

The best his imagination could do still had all his blood pumping to his cock. 

If he had you under him, legs hooked over his shoulders, spine arched, stretched and slack like that for him… christ he wouldn’t be able to stop. Guiding your breathing as he turns you into a soft puddle of skin in his grip, fingertips pressing into your knee as he holds you still. He’d do it all night if you would let him. Now that he’d seen you like this, strong and sweet and sexy without even trying, he had to show you how good you were. 

You held the pose for a few more seconds, some polite applause sounding from a few of the women. A bashful smile appears as you set your feet down, motioning for everyone to try. You start moving slowly, taking the time to correct each person’s form if necessary. The way you instructed was never malicious, no undercurrent of judgement if someone wasn’t at your level. Joel half expected every girl in here aside from his daughter to have that catty personality that made people feel bad about themselves just for saying hello. 

He follows you as you get to Sarah’s machine, the teenager’s brow furrowed as she tried to lift her hips in the air how you did. Her legs were shaky, unsure. Joel almost stood up in case the machine did something wonky and hurt her. Soon there’s a pair of hands on Sarah’s calves, supporting her legs while you talk to her. 

“Breathe into it, Sarah,” you say softly. “Imagine there’s a string pulling you right up, like you’re nothin’ but a feather.” You laugh airly at your own comment, Sarah’s eyes scrunching as she giggles back. Then your fingers are wrapped around her ankles, shoulder blades flexing under that baby pink sports bra as you guide her legs up.

She tries again – and this time, her body rises just like you’d said, wobbly, but right. You nod excitedly, a beaming smile on your face as you encourage her to hold the post without your support. Your fingers release and Sarah cranes her neck towards the bench. 

She was checking; checking to see if her dad was watching. Just like at every soccer game, every choir show, Joel was. He sees her trying something new and succeeding, and sees you helping her get there. Joel’s smile is soft and immediate. Pride floods his chest as he gives her a small nod, then his eyes carry back to you. 

You’re already looking at him, and Joel’s breathing nearly freezes. 

There’s a look written across your face that he can’t decipher. A flicker of curiosity, maybe? The way you’re looking at him now, head tilted, lips parted, chest rising slow; it tells Joel you know. You know what he’s been thinking. Know he’s been watching you, wanting you, sinking teeth into every soft command and slow stretch like a starving man. And worse than that: you’re not stopping it. You’re not asking him to leave, or giving him dirty looks. 

Joel swallows hard, jaw flexing as he drags his gaze down your throat, your shoulders, the curve of your waist. Lets you watch him imagine your thighs hooked over his shoulders, his hands keeping you steady, taking what he’s been aching for since the first breath you took in that room. 

You blink slowly.

And just like that, it’s over. You turn back to the class, guiding and praising like you didn’t just fucking unravel him from across the room. His hands curl into fists on his knees when he realizes this isn’t just some fleeting crush. Not anymore. 

The room settles, your voice softer but clear as you lead the class through a final cooldown. Your chin is tilted up towards the ceiling, shoulders rolling back. Then your hands come together in a gesture of appreciation. You thank everyone for coming, a few women already reaching for towels and water bottles. Sarah steps off the reformer and starts tugging her shoes back on, you coming over to adjust something with the machine Joel can’t see. She says something, he can’t hear it, but you both laugh, and Joel feels his chest crack open with something warm. Something more pure. But it’s not enough to smother the want.

Sarah joins Vic by the water refill station, the girls chatting excitedly and sharing their surprise for how fun it was. You’re kneeling by the machine she’d used, a bottle of disinfectant spraying onto the leather as you wipe it down with a rag. You do it to each machine, diligently moving through the motions like you’d done it a million times. 

Everything is back to normal except him.

His body is still too wired, every nerve still lit up from watching you teach. And now he has to walk over, play it cool, and be a good dad. Ask Sarah if she had fun and tell her how proud he is – without letting a single thing on his face give him away.

God help him.

Sarah bounds towards him, some of her curls stuck to her forehead with sweat. “Who’s the walking health hazard now?” Joel teases, bumping his fist into her shoulder gently. 

“It’s way harder than it looks,” she says with a tired smile, ignoring his banter. She must really be burnt out then. 

Joel chuckles and looks at the reformers with a dramatic puff of air. “Those look like hell.” 

“They are,” her grin grows, proud now. “But it was fun! Like, weirdly fun.”

He hums and lets her take a drink of water before asking, “You wanna come back then?” 

Sarah doesn’t think anything of his question, but shakes her head. “No way, I just wanted to try it. Pilates is expensive,” she answers. Joel’s heart clenches a little, a flicker of insecurity on his face with the knowledge that his daughter was aware of their financial situation. They were comfortable, but things were definitely tight most of the time. Joel did what he needed to do. 

“I’m sure they’ve got a payment plan or somethin’, c’mon let’s ask.” Joel jerks his chin towards the front desk. You’re sitting there now, sipping from a water bottle. Sarah looks at her dad in confusion, surprised that he was even entertaining the idea. 

When they approach the desk you set the bottle down, smiling at Sarah. “Hey! How’d you like it? You did an amazing job for it being your first time.” 

Her face lights up, and she can’t help but beam under the praise. “It was awesome, I didn’t think I’d be able to do half of that.”

“You’re always stronger than you think you are, at least that’s what I’ve learned doing this,” you offer kindly. Always affirming and attentive. 

Joel clears his throat, voice steadier than he feels. “We were just wonderin’ about the membership. If there’s uh, a rate or somethin’ like that.”

Reaching under the desk you grab a piece of paper, placing it on the counter. You turn it so they can read it, your pointer finger tracing the rates as you explain each one. “Since we just opened a few months ago we're still running a 25% off discount if you buy three months of classes.” 

Joel and Sarah share a look, but they don’t say anything, silently communicating. Joel’s hand moves to his back pocket, digging out his wallet and sliding one of his cards out. 

“You better become star pupil, how much this is runnin’ me,” he jokes with her, handing the card to you. You laugh at the exchange, not impolitely. Joel feels a sense of accomplishment that he’d made you laugh. 

“She’s already on her way, don’t worry.” You hand over his receipt with a smile, that same pen from earlier nestled between your thumb and the thin paper. The pen clicks against the counter as he hunches over to sign; sign himself away to you, it felt like. This time when the fake flower taped to the top grazes his knuckles, he just smiles to himself. Welcomes it, like that little flower was the closest he’d ever get to you. 

It had become routine, sacred in its quiet regularity.

Every Saturday morning, he’d watch her fill up her water bottle, tousle her hair, then watch her sling that tote bag over her shoulder like she’d been doing pilates her whole life. Then Joel drove Sarah downtown, pretending to dread the drive a little less each week that passed. The first time back, he’d tried to leave after dropping her off. Using coffee as an excuse only worked that first time, though, Sarah knowing there was no way in hell Joel was going to drop $9 on a latte three buildings down. At least not on a coffee for himself. 

It’d been about a month now; four Saturdays. Maybe five, he couldn’t remember. It was long enough that the receptionist knew him by name, long enough that Sarah had a favorite reformer, right next to yours, and a pre-class stretching routine. You had grown roots in his mind, but not just his – in Sarah’s too. Every afternoon after class she’d rave about your teaching, how funny you were, how she thought you were “just the coolest.” 

Aside from the fact he already thought you were beautiful, the way his daughter spoke about you made appreciation bloom in his chest. You really saw her. You never shrunk her, always met her teenage uncertainty with warmth and ease, matched her sense of humor. In a room of older women, toned and polished, you treated Sarah like she belonged. The studio, with its sun-warmed floors and pop music, had become a place they both looked forward to. 

And so, Joel would sit on that bench in the corner for an hour every weekend, watching you stretch and manipulate your body in ways he didn’t know were possible. 

He told himself it was purely for Sarah. That it was about her confidence, her joy. And it was. The way she’d fallen in sync with you each class, it was worth every penny. He’d picked up some night jobs on the weekends Sarah was at a friend’s house just to make up for the splurge, his back aching in places it hadn’t before. He bet you’d be able to soothe that ache in his back, your hands gently nudging him over the line of satisfaction, voice gentle as you guide his breathing. 

He couldn’t tell if you were aware of how much you fed his delusions. It was the way you smiled each time the pair walked in, the way you warmed up any conversation. The small talk had started slowly. Mundane things, safe things, like how long have you been doing this? 3 years. It’s really heating up out there isn’t it? I love the sun, it’s not so bad. Then it turned into questions about his week, how Sarah was doing, how he was doing. 

You never seemed rushed, never distracted. Even when students would trickle in, you never ended your conversation with him. Some mornings, your eyes would focus on him in a way he had deemed unnecessary, eyes searching for something in his face while he talked. 

Then you would laugh, quiet and low, when he said something he hadn’t intended to be funny. He wasn’t sure when you started touching his arm when you said goodbye, but he noticed now. The warmth of it. The quick, electric trail it left behind. You never lingered long enough for him to know for sure. Never stepped out of line. But you didn’t avoid him, either. 

You followed him home every weekend, embedded in his mind’s eye. Your smile, your body, your voice. Dancing around in his head like the ballerina in a musicbox. One absolutely insignificant detail he’d latched onto was your backpack hanging up behind the desk. Specifically, the pink and silver bow chain dangling from one of the zippers. He’d watch it clink against the fabric each time you took a step, or watch it catch the light when you went to grab something from the small pocket in the front. 

She’s got a bow on her keys, he’d think to himself, laying in bed with an arm behind his head. 

Of course she does.

You become Joel's little secret, the adoringly kind pilates instructor downtown who always wore matching sets and had a bow keychain hanging on her bag. 

Another class had concluded, women passing Joel as he leaned on the front desk, elbows starting to ache a little from pressing into the hard surface. Sarah started helping you around the studio a couple of weeks ago, wiping down machines and mindless tasks, anything to talk to you. This meant he got the hang around a bit longer, watch you. Talk to you. Sarah’s laughter echoes behind him; she offers to fold the towels, her good deed for the day, he hears her say. 

You stood behind the desk, shoulders relaxed now that the class ended, a faint sheen still clinging to your skin. There was a different ease to you in the emptiness. The professional brightness dimmed, leaving something quieter in its place – closer to the woman he imagined when he was lying awake at night, chasing the sound of your laugh in his memory while he stared at the ceiling.

“Got anything fun planned for the rest of the day?” you ask him coolly, head tilted in curiosity. You lean into the counter just a little, eyes catching his in that way that knocks the wind out of him.

“Mm,” he hums. “Laundry, dishes. Fix this drawer in the kitchen that never shuts right.”

You lift a brow, smile pulling slowly. “Wow, that does sound fun,” you tease, but not unkindly. 

He huffs a dry laugh, lets his gaze drag down the line of your arm and back up again. “Yeah, well. Sittin’ here in the air conditioning beats fixin’ drawers, but it’s gotta get done. Sarah’s been complainin’ about it for days.” 

You smile knowingly, a clever glint in your eye. “And here I thought you were sitting in here cause you liked the view.” 

He feels himself shift as he straightens up, like he’s been caught red-handed. His lips part as though he’s about to say something else, defend himself, put your suspicions to rest or apologize for being perverted. But nothing comes out. He could try to laugh, make a joke, say he’s just here for Sarah. Hell, maybe he could’ve done that a few Saturdays ago, but not now.

Not with the way you’re looking at him.

Like you already know.

Joel swallows thickly, the corner of his mouth tugging up like he might say something slick, something brave. But it falters, and he comes clean. “Would be lyin’ if I said I didn’t.”

Your brow arches, just barely. You don’t retreat, don’t fill the silence with something easier. You just hold his gaze, head tilted like you’re wondering how honest he’ll let himself be. He lets out a breath through his nose. “”M real sorry, I didn’t mean to..” he trails off, redness creeping up his tanned neck and peeking through the collar of his t-shirt. 

Then you laugh; not loud or cruel, just amused. “Relax, Joel,” you say easily. “Be lying if I said I minded,” you copy his words and they land right in his chest. 

He glances down at the counter. “Thought maybe you were just bein’ polite, or I read things wrong,” he shakes his head, brows knitted together.

“I was being polite,” you confirm with a nod. “But no, you didn’t read it wrong.”

Joel scratches the back of his neck, the shift in his stance subtle but telling. There’s still heat in the air between you, but now he’s glancing toward the hallway like he’s trying to redirect it, tuck it somewhere safer.

“By the way,” he says, clearing his throat, “Noticed one of the sinks in the men’s room’s got a slow drain,” he said, scratching lightly at the back of his neck. “These new buildings they rush the plumbing.”

You blink, then your brows lift in amusement. “Oh does it?” 

“Yeah,” he nods, earnest as ever. “Probably just a loose fitting or the trap’s clogged, but,” he shrugs, hands sliding into his pockets, “I could take a look if you want.”

It’s so innocent on the surface. Almost too innocent. You tilt your head, watching him and waiting for a punchline. “Is this a ploy for something?”

His head jerks back slightly, as if the thought scandalized him. “What? No –” he rubs a palm over his beard, then exhales a quiet laugh. “I mean… no. Just hate bad handiwork, drives me crazy.” 

You’re smiling now, arms crossed, leaning just a little into the counter. “So you’re not trying to impress me with your plumbing skills.”

He gives a low chuckle, something sheepish flickering in his expression. “God, no. Just wanna help you out, ‘fore it gets too bad.” 

You purse your lips, fighting off an even wider smile. There’s something magnetic about his awkwardness. The way he tries so hard not to overstep, even as his interest leaks out bit by bit.

You tilt your head slightly, eyes narrowing just enough to show you're considering him. “Does Monday work? That’s our upkeep day.” 

“Monday’s great.” Joel nods once, his eyes meeting yours with a tender expression in them. 

Sarah steps into the room and squints at the freshly printed class schedule taped to the wall, her gaze quickly moving between it and you.

“Monday?” she asks, her brows furrowing. “Did the class get switched?”

The words hang in the air, and the shared look between you and Joel is one of fondness, like you’re sharing an inside joke. 

“Your dad offered to fix a sink for me, what do you think it’s gonna run me?” you say, sliding a small pin across the counter toward Sarah.

You had a matching one affixed to your backpack, the studio’s name printed on it, and Sarah’s eyes light up. The beginning of a smirk starts to appear as she turns the pin over once. She doesn’t miss a thing. 

“Hard to say,” she says, she muses, exaggeratedly thoughtful. “He’s not cheap. You might end up owing him dinner.”

You stifle a laugh, trying not to look too pleased as you lean on the counter. “You go around fixing every girl’s sink in exchange for food?”

Joel opens his mouth, but Sarah cuts in before he has the chance. “Just the girls he has crushes on.”

Joel groans low under his breath, head tipping back like he’s asking the ceiling for mercy. “Jesus, Sarah.”

Sarah taps the pin once against the edge of the counter, then pins it to her bag. “Well,” she says with a shrug, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Guess I’ll see you next Saturday, and he will see you on Monday.”

“Looking forward to it,” you say, eyes lingering on Joel just a moment longer, catching the way he shifts under the weight of all Sarah’s teasing.

Sarah leads him to the door and he hesitates, his hand grazing the back of his neck like he’s not quite ready to go, like there’s something else he wants to say but won’t.

“See you Monday,” he says at last, voice low, sincere.

You smile, warm and easy. “I’ll be here.”

Joel nods once, then turns to follow Sarah, who’s already halfway out the door. Just before it swings closed behind him, he glances back over his shoulder – there’s a quiet hopefulness in his eyes, an understanding that the feelings are mutual. That you saw him and his inner turmoil weeks ago, and you didn’t shy away.

You lift your hand in a quiet wave, no teasing this time. 

Sarah is saying something about getting food on the way home, but Joel’s mind is still inside, with you. The way you’d smiled at him like you meant it. The way you leaned on the counter, eyes full of mischief, sweet as sin. He hadn’t expected any of this, and was getting more than he bargained for. As he gets into his truck, something settles in his chest – something heavier. 

He’d looked too long. Thought too much. You didn’t even know what you were doing to him, and that made it worse. You were so good, so damn sweet, and he’d sat there every week with his head full of things he hadn’t let himself want in years. Things he wasn’t sure he had the right to want now. He told himself it was harmless. Just a little crush, something to think about at night to help him fall asleep.

But he was already thinking about Monday. The sink, sure, but mostly the quiet. Just the two of you. No class in session, no students to pretend around, no reason to keep his distance.

And that scared him more than anything.

[jareaul0ver]

I Can See You

Summary: As the media manager for the UConn WBB team, you've always kept a comfortable, and professional, relationship with the team; but one night out changes everything.

wc: 1.6k warnings: suggestive content, drinking, nothing else really pairings: nika muhl x fem!reader

"Can you guys listen for once! It isn't that hard to stand in a straight line!" You sighed, getting frustrated with the team. It was media day, and Geno wanted a picture of all the girls together, but it was damn near impossible with the way they acted.

A few of them giggled, making your voice go stern. "I swear, ladies, I'm gonna tell Geno that you're all fuckin' around instead of taking these pictures."

They all groaned and shouted in protest. "Then get in a straight line and show me those pretty little smiles everyone loves, got it?"

A collective sigh was heard from the group and you laughed a bit under your breath. You lined the camera up, taking a few pictures. "Alright, do a fun one now, since I know you wanna."

They all changed their poses and looked utterly stupid. You snapped a few photos of them like that and finally media day was over. "Okay, girls, I'm done with you all. Get out of my sight." You smiled at them as they walked past you and to the locker room.

You gathered your things and were putting them carefully back into your bag when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You turned around and looked up, meeting Nika's warm gaze. "Nika, what's up?"

She smiled at you and cleared her throat. "Hey, um, few of us are going to the bar later if you want to tag along." Her voice was soft and a little hoarse, probably from all of the yelling they did today. You could still hear her accent clearly, though, and it was making your knees weak.

"I'll be there." You smiled up at her. She squeezed your shoulder and mumbled a quiet "perfect" before saying goodbye and walking to the locker room with the rest of the team. Your eyes stuck on her as she walked away.

'Fuck, Y/N. Be normal. Be professional for God's sake.' You thought to yourself as you shoved the rest of your things in your camera bag. You shot Geno a text saying you'd have all the pictures sorted out within the next few days and would send him everything.

You slung your bag over your shoulder before leaving the gym and heading back to your apartment.

You stood against your bathroom sink and looked in the mirror as you applied eyeliner. Your roommate leaned against the doorframe and smirked at you. "Who're you getting pretty for tonight? Is it Nika? You never shut up about her, y'know."

A sigh left your lips as you shot her a glare. "And you just never shut up. I'm going to the bar with a few of the girls on the team, nothing special."

"Is Nika gonna be there?"

"I would think so considering she's the one that invited me-"

Your roommate gasped. "Hold on, she invited you?"

You groaned. "You're looking to far into this. We're just friends, it's nothing more than that. Besides, it would be unprofessional to be anything else."

"Right." She side eyed you. "Well, while you finish getting pretty for your girl, I'm gonna go figure out what to get for dinner."

You rolled your eyes as she walked away, mumbling a quiet "whatever" under your breath as you finished your makeup. You ran your fingers through your hair and decided that you were ready.

As you were leaving the apartment, your roommate called out. "Have fun tonight! And good luck with-" You shut the door behind you before you could hear the rest of her sentence. The bar was a little far from the apartment building, so you called an Uber and rode in silence on the way there.

You got out of the car and looked around, seeing if any of the girls were outside. You didn't see any of their cars, so the either weren't there yet or took Ubers.

You made your way inside and scouted the place out. You still didn't see any of them. You frowned as you made your way over to the bar and ordered a shot, getting head start over everyone else.

After sitting at the bar for a few minutes, making small talk with the bartender (the place wasn't busy in the slightest), you felt a pair of hands on your shoulders. You spun around in your chair and met Nika's eyes.

"Sorry we were late. Someone took forever to get ready." She shot glares at Paige and Azzi. They weren't listening though. They were already getting drinks in their system.

You smiled at them and looked back up at Nika. "Don't diss them, they look beautiful."

She rolled her eyes, a tinge of jealousy in her heart, even though she knew you meant the compliment in the friendly way. "Yeah, whatever." She stepped next to you and ordered a drink for you and herself. You gladly took the drink from her and took a sip.

She reached for one of your hands and pulled you off of the barstool. You shot her a confused look. "Let's go dance?"

You smiled and shook your head at her. "Fine. But I can't dance to save my life."

Nika laughed softly as she pulled you to the middle of the floor. The bar had gotten busier, and there were bodies surrounding your every side. Nika had you pulled close to her, letting one of her hands rest on your lower back as the other held her drink.

You looked up at her as you did your best attempt to dance. Her eyes never once left your face. She was down bad for you, and she knew it.

You finished your drink and leaned up to talk in her ear so she could hear you. "Gonna go get another drink, be right back."

She nodded and watched as you walked away from her, but eventually lost you in the crowd. You made your way back over to the bar and got another drink. Paige and Azzi spotted you and came over.

You were lost in your own thoughts. Thinking and seeing all the things that could happen between you and Nika tonight. You and her shoved in a bathroom stall together, your skirt hiked up and her eating you out. You bit your bottom lip and let out a deep breath.

"Yo, you good, ma?" Paige put her hand on your arm. Your head snapped to look at her and you nodded.

"All good, don't worry." You flashed a smile at her and took a sip of your drink. You couldn't focus on her next sentence though. You needed to find Nika again.

You cut Paige off. "Sorry, P, I told Nika I'd be back a few minutes ago." You pat her shoulder before rushing off. Paige and Azzi sent each other knowing looks before shrugging it off and doing their own thing.

The crowd of bodies had only increased in size since you went to get a drink. You shoved your way through the crowd, trying to find Nika in the mess of people.

A few more people shoved to the side revealed her. And a girl very obviously flirting with her. You weren't sure whether Nika was interested in this girl's advancements, or if she was totally oblivious to it.

You took a few steps forward and wrapped your arm around Nika's bicep. "Hey." You tilted your head and looked up at her. Her gaze instantly went to meet yours.

She smiled at you, relief washing over her face. "Hey."

You turned to look at the girl that was flirting with her. She stood there awkwardly and watched the two of you. You glared at her and she took that as her sign to leave.

Nika brought her free hand up and turned your face to meet hers. Your bottom lip found its way between your teeth and Nika's eyes were stuck on it. "Come with me." She said lowly before dragging you away from the dance floor and in the direction of the bathrooms.

You hoped and prayed that this was going the way you wanted it to. You wanted to end up with Nika's head between her thighs, your hand tangled in her brown locks, and her eventually finishing you off in the bar bathroom.

She pulled you into the bathroom and into the handicapped stall, locking it behind you. "What was that?" She questioned. You could smell alcohol on your breath, and you knew she could smell it on yours.

"What was what?" You retorted, playing a little dumb about the situation.

Nika breathed out and took a step forward, trapping you against her and the wall. Fuck, she was hot. "You know what I mean." Her eyes had gone from her innocent bright ones to a dark look that you hadn't seen from her before.

You didn't say anything. The two of you stared at each other before she went to speak. You shook your head and leaned up, wrapping your arms around her neck and getting close to her ear, cutting off her words before they even left her mouth. "This isn't professional."

She grunted a response before leaning forward and latching her mouth onto your neck, leaving sloppy and wet kisses down the column of your neck. "Maybe not, but don't tell me you haven't noticed how things have changed." She said lowly.

You tilted your head back, letting her have easier access to your neck. she continued her assault on your neck, making you forget everything you were about to say. "No response?" She questioned teasingly.

"You're- fuck." She slotted her knee in between your thighs, causing a groan to escape your lips. "You're so fucking addicting."

Her smirk could be felt against your neck for a split second before she pulled away, looking down at you with her cocky expression. "Thought we had to keep things professional?"

i didnt really know where else to go with this one bc tbh i didnt really feel like writing smut for it, but i hope you guys enjoy! i also have a decent amount of requests to respond to, so pls be patient w me while i try and navigate the last 10 days of my classes, up through graduation, and writing these things 😪😪

[steddieas-shegoes]

you're not jonathan

for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt 'no upside down au' rated t wc: 997 cw: recreational drug use, language tags: meet-ugly turned meet-cute, flirting, somewhat ambiguous ending but we all know what's gonna happen

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

Steve was not supposed to be the one picking up the drugs for the party.

He wasn't even going to the party.

But Jonathan couldn't get it from his usual guy, said he was back home in California for the summer, and it wasn't like Robin had a hookup.

Eddie Munson didn't technically deal anymore, but he made exceptions for previous customers, and Jonathan had been a regular during high school.

It wasn't shocking news to Steve, but what was shocking was hearing all these stories about how Eddie didn't even usually meet someone during daylight hours. Except today, apparently.

Steve tripped over another branch, barely caught himself before falling on his face.

"I better get so high off this shit," he said to himself.

"I only sell the good shit."

Steve froze.

Somehow, he'd missed a person walking up to him, probably when he nearly ate dirt.

"Is there any reason a hike is required to get some weed?" Steve asked, brushing his hands on his pants to get the remnants of the tree trunk he saved himself on.

Eddie crossed his arms in front of him, raising an unimpressed brow.

"No. Jonathan suggested the place."

Hard to believe the guy who hated being outside for more than a few minutes would have suggested a half mile trek into the woods, but Steve didn't really care to argue.

"O...kay. Well, I've got the cash if you wanna get this over with," Steve said as he reached into his pockets that were..."Fuck."

He started patting his pockets, his shirt, looking around him at the ground to try to find his wallet.

"Everything okay?" Eddie asked, coming closer.

"I lost my wallet. Shit!"

"Alright, I can help you look, man. It's not a big deal. Gotta be somewhere, right?" Eddie started looking around him, though it was half-hearted at best. "What's it look like?"

"It's brown. Um, leather?" Steve suddenly forgot any other details about his wallet. How convenient.

"Okay, so the color of the ground. Should be easy."

Steve snorted.

Eddie was smirking as he walked the way Steve came, checking the ground around him as he did so.

Steve followed behind, but he was pretty certain they wouldn't find it.

After ten minutes of looking, Eddie sighed.

"We should just smoke a bit. Take the edge off. Ya know?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. I can't pay you until I find my wallet," Steve said as he continued looking, bending down to get a closer look at a spot that seemed like the color of his wallet.

"On the house."

Steve stood straight up.

"Really?"

"Can't really kick ya when you're down, can I? Plus, I planned on smoking after you left anyway. We can share," Eddie shrugged, like it was no big deal.

Steve had never gotten high outside of house parties, the comfort of his own home or a friend's home soothing his anxieties about losing his inhibitions.

But out here? With Eddie? It didn't seem like a smart thing to do.

"Alright," Steve shrugged back.

Eddie must have sensed something about him, though, because he didn't let him take more than three puffs of the joint before he put it out and found a collection of boulders for them to sit on.

"You ever think about how trees are alive but they don't have ears?" Steve asked a minute later.

"Oh, you're that kind of high." Eddie poked his hand, making him look over at him. "You eat today?"

"Maybe. I've been busy. Do you think trees get hungry?" Steve replied.

Eddie searched his face before letting his pinky rest against Steve's hand on the rock.

It felt like fire.

"They do."

"But they don't have pancakes or cheeseburgers. Like, we can't grind it up and put it in the dirt for them, right?" Steve's jaw dropped. "Can we?"

Eddie watched as Steve looked over at some of the trees surrounding them.

"I don't think we can, no."

"A shame. They're missin' out. You know who else is missin' out? Jonathan! He made me come here and he didn't even tell me you had long hair or like the nicest eyelashes. Which is weird because he didn't shut up about anything else about you but he forgot about the eyelashes!" Steve's hand curled around Eddie's pinky. "And you look warm."

Eddie's brows raised.

He wasn't sure who Steve was. Jonathan had just insisted he was cool.

But Jonathan hadn't mentioned that his hair looked softer than silk, or that his eyes were wide and innocent despite his lip curling up in the corner in annoyance.

Jonathan seemed to have left a lot of things out.

"Well, it is summer. It's pretty warm," Eddie gulped. "But you do look a little cold."

"I get cold easy. Robin says it's because I don't eat enough red meat or something. Low irony or something."

Eddie was so endeared.

"I could help you stay warm? Walk you back to your car if you want?"

Eddie did not want that, but he knew Steve probably needed to walk off some of this high before his friends started to worry about him.

"Don't wanna walk," Steve leaned his head on Eddie's shoulder. "My head is walking."

"Should I try to head back and get one of your friends?"

Steve shook his head.

"Be fine in an hour."

"Okay," Eddie put his arm around Steve's shoulder, surprised to find that Steve was shivering. "Hey, you okay?"

"You do have good shit."

"That's not an answer," Eddie chuckled.

"I'm good. Best."

Eddie let him burrow further into his side and waited for his shivering to subside before he suggested heading back to his car again.

Steve still refused, and Eddie didn't have it in him to push.

Not when they were finding shapes in the clouds and he was holding Steve close.

He'd definitely owe Jonathan a lot of product if this went the way he wanted it to.

[ppumeonae-bigvibe]

midnight melodies

↖ navigation: nct masterlist || main masterlist

pairing: bf! haechan x gn! reader

↬ tags: nicknames for haechan!! (e.g. haech, my dude, boyfie, loml, cutie pie, biggest baby), very wholesome i promise, this is what missing someone feels like to me, i have been listening to piwon's late night calls ttoo much thank you muacks (>w<)

summary: he called to tell you he misses you ; you replied because you love him so

word count: 673 words

haechan: i miss you like crazy, are you up? haechan: let's chat :> i like talking to you and with you <3 haechan: i wanna hear your voice. pretty please???

he attempts to dial you, line going dead when you didn't pick up on the first ring. he glances at the bedside clock, the neon green numbers flashing a 11.28pm back at him. it wasn't that late yet.

you were probably awake...right?

a minute later, haechan's phone buzzed: an incoming call from you. his eyes widened in surprise as his hands loses all control, the phone jolting out of his grasp from the sudden vibration. reaching out to grab the fallen device, he hurriedly accepts the call.

"you're still awake??" he puts the phone on speaker next to his ear, waiting for your response. a second of static later and he hears your voice, soft and laced with sleep, "haech, you're crazy..."

"hey...i just missed you. a lot." a short string of laughter leaves his lips. he just saw you a few hours ago when you had him over yours for dinner, but he craved your presence again.

it was so interesting, the way he thinks of you so often like it was breathing to him.

another moment of silence, "...the lights in my room are off. it hurts my eyes to be texting. that's why i decided to call." you mumbled and haechan hears the sound of bedsheets rustling. your muffled yawn came through his speakers and he sheepishly laughs, "sorry, is this a bad time to call you?"

he hugs a nearby plushie you gifted him close to his chest, heart warming when you hummed, "my dude, you really texted me all that...saying you're gonna die without me or something..."

he tried and failed to hide his growing smile. he likes you too much.

"my dude?? hey treat me with some respect, i'm your boyfriend alright..." haechan doesn't have the heart to tease you too much, chuckling at your use of "my dude" romantically. you scoffed, "okay boyfie. what's keeping you up, hmm?"

the corners of his lips immediately turned upwards at the sound of his favorite nickname. he rolled over to his stomach, legs idly kicking behind him, "well...i just saw you a few hours ago but i miss you. that's literally all. can't a man miss their lover? i wanna talk to you too."

"you can...it's just...haech, i can't think...so sleepy..." you let loose another yawn and haechan rolls his eyes even though he knows you can't see him do that, "i know, i know, you sleepyhead. feels a bit weird since i wanted to hear your voice but now i'm doing all the talking and you're the one hearing mine. isn't it?" he paused.

"...h-huh..." you blearily replied, causing haechan to endearingly giggle at your tired self. "so cute...should i be kind and end the call?" he asked, certain that you were already almost reaching la-la-land. when you first had a sleepover at his place, he swoons at how you clung to his side making him all protective of you.

you made a huffing sound and he pictures you tucking the blanket higher up your body, comfortably hidden by that fluffy grey duffle he gifted you as a gag gift in summer. now that the weather is colder, haechan realizes that he's known you for quite a while.

he then recalls every single detail about you he memorized over time, the way your face contorts with humor at his antics to the moments where you allowed yourself to receive his odd ministrations of love and even when you reciprocated them with your own subtle actions.

he was in love with you as much as you were in love with him. a wave of emptiness and sentiment hit him and he whispers into the phone, "i love you."

he repeats it one more time: an affirmation, a promise, "i really love you."

haechan clapped a hand over his mouth when he discerns your snoring through the phone. in his fashion, he ended the call with a kiss (also knowing you probably didn't hear that), before curling up on his side.

he'll just have to see you again tomorrow.

@ppumeonae-bigvibe's work ; likes and reblogs are appreciated !

[luvkuvi]

15 – catching up !

What's so good about him ?!

Scaramouche x reader smau series

synopsis — Your ex boyfriend kuni is in a band called 5wirl and they're pretty well known considering him and his bandmates are still in college but you still hated his guts on how he ended things with you back then in highschool the day before graduation. So whats the best course of action in this situation? make a hate account of him of course. 

prev || masterlist || next

Putting your phone down you prepared yourself for the first day of the foundation day festival. You sighed preparing to go out to campus. It's already noon and Lumine left early to prepare and help Ayaka. 

On your way to campus seeing the colorful booths and tons of students make you calm down for a while. Surely you won't run into him? you were nervous seeing him after what 2 years? You would think you moved on but the wounds are still here and a ton of "what ifs" and many unanswered questions. To distract your thoughts you already took your phone from your pocket to calm your nerves. 

You giggle at Heizou's tweet "Hey this just looks like–" you were cut off by suddenly bumping into someone "My apologies! Are you alright?" you reached for the stranger's hand about to thank them "Hey it's alright! thank y–heizou ?" Your eyes lit up seeing familiar emerald green eyes. As he lift you off the ground he gave you his charismatic smile. "Y/N! well, it's always great to see an old friend." You giggled at him, he didn't change, and sure texting him as "Scarass" His way of texting didn't change but seeing him in front of him as "y/n" and seeing him still being like himself back then in high school feels nice. 

"Yeah…I was just about to head in" You pointed to the cafe, the same cafe he tweeted out. "Let's catch up! my treat" He head over to the door opening it for you "You go in first~" You only kept smiling at his gestures "Still a gentleman I see~" He only chuckled back nodding. While heizou is browsing the menu you already said your usual after all this is your favorite cafe on campus. "I take it you go here a lot?" he said before just ordering a frappe. You nodded "This is my favorite place actually!" "I see"

After receiving your orders you began talking by the window telling each other what happened over the years. "Can you believe it! your old buddy is going to be famous" You laughed at his claim "Oh please if you told me in the past that heizou from math class is gonna be a famous drummer I would be laughing my ass off" He gave you a pout before taking a sip of his drink… "Snarky as always y/n" He sighed "Why did we ever stop hanging out ?"

You bit your lip, you cut off contact with 5wirl after your messy breakup. Heizou noticed your sudden uneasiness in his question. You placed your hand over his and smiled "Don't worry im fine now and yes it is because of him". Heizou nodded "Im glad you're doing better, we actually clowned him for being stupid" You giggled at his rant about them just teasing scara. Talking about him made you uneasy at first especially since you imagined the same violet hair in the distance…its probably nothing. 

Notes: First written chapters YESSS and was it just just your imagination...?hehe find out next chap!

Taglist!(closed): @sakiimeo @sagegreenthinks @evsolostheuniverse @ozzierenato @mechanicalbeat1  @bananasquash @admiringfish @yuraasia @wolfe02 @msameikanevaeh @yukiipc @magica-ren @r0ttenhearts @vvyeislazzy @yuumaofc @klanxii   @darthvada @the-ghost-0f-t0m0 @yoyo-yui @deluluangel   @katsumikumo @thenightsflower   @lazy-sanns @sukunasrealgf @4thnocturne @danhenglovebot @sketcheeee   @fumichannorakuen @featuredtofu   @mine-lu @karma-gisa @amyena @onmywaytoteyvat @fujimoribaby @eliqusgenma   @buubbbbly   @reekapeeka @elernity @323jelly @kunikissr @miko1ly @feverish-dove @zuunotsane @pomeiu @yxcade @kascar-chronicle @supercoolusernameomg @otomegame-oneshots @cookieofwishes @swivy123 (bold usernames means i couldn't tag you :<) 1/2

[watermelonlovershigh]

Can you write something where Reader had taken care of Harry all night because he was sick and then she has to wake up to care for their child and maybe the child wants to give Harry cuddles to make him feel better.

Sick Daddy /concept/

AN: had this in my inbox for a while but am trying to clear some of my requests out so here you finally go. its very short because this ask just felt like it didn't need to be crazy long. hope you enjoy still. send you feedback. xoxo

This story contains: mentions of throw up, the rest is fluff

{ husbandrry - dad!harry - any harry era }

word count- 566

You and your son Oliver make Harry a breakfast to hopefully feel better because he'd been sick the previous night. Then after Harry's better, you and Ollie catch the same bug and Harry takes care of you both as you did for him.

You'd been up off and on with Harry all night. He seemed to have caught some type of stomach bug and nearly every hour of the night woke up to be sick. Though Harry insisted you just stay in bed, of course you were gonna be right by his side. Placing a little clip in his hair to hold his bangs out of his face and rub his back as he heaved over the toilet.

Now it's eight in the morning and your little one, Oliver, who's five, is awake. Though you're dead tired from you lack of sleep, you go into Ollies bedroom and help him get dressed and brush his teeth. Once that's all done, Oliver asks, "Where's daddy? Wanna go see him."

Kneeling down to his level, you reply, "Daddy's feeling a bit ill today, loves. He'll probably be in bed for a while. But, how about you help mummy make daddy some tea and toast to hopefully feel better."

With a concerned look on his small face, Oliver nods, "Alright, mummy. Then can I cuddle daddy? Daddy cuddles me when I don't feel very well so it might make him feel better."

Thinking for a moment, you answer, "Maybe. We'll have to see. I don't want you catching whatever bug he has though."

-----------------------------

Oliver helped you prepare an easy breakfast for Harry. One that will hopefully not bother his stomach. Once it's ready, you carry it on a tray and Ollie walks up the stairs beside you, excited to finally see his daddy today.

When you walk in the bedroom, Harry is curled up under the covers sleeping, a thin layer of sweat coating his skin. You set the tray down and nudge his shoulder, "Harry babe, wake up for me. Got you something to drink and eat that you'll hopefully be able to keep down."

Harry slowly turns over and sits up. With his very messy bed-head, he croaks out, "Awe, thank you, m'love. I'll try to eat some of it. Not really that hungry though."

Oliver steps to the side of the bed and asks, "Daddy sick?"

Harry looks down and answers, "Yeah baby, daddy's tummy hasn't been well. But mummy is the best doctor around so I'm sure I'll be good to go in no time."

Harry sat in bed and munched on his plain toast and sipped his tea while you and Oliver sat at the foot of the bed to keep him company. After some persuasion, you finally let Oliver cuddle Harry. You knew it was a risk of him getting sick too but you were also at risk from just being in the same house as him.

Luckily Harry was able to keep that food down and with some more rest, got to feeling better within twelve hours. Unluckily to you and Ollie though, two days later you both woke up to sick tummies and it was Harry's turn to play doctor. With the amount of vomit he had to clean up he should become a professional cleaner.

It got so bad that he had to migrate everyone to the living room where he could watch you both at the same time. One moment holding up the barf bucket for Oliver and the next moment holding it up for you. He gave y'all tons of cuddles and extra love and within a day everyone was well again.

(PLEASE REBLOG BECAUSE WRITING IS NOT EASY AND IT'S FREE SO JUST DO IT)

(no more tags are allowed because i've hit my number limit. sorry : ( )

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______________

My Masterlist Masterpost

[fandomobbsessedb]

Alastor x F!Overlord!Reader

AN: this is the result of the first poll I posted, Alastor won so here we are!

I’ve kinda broken this into two bits in this one shot, there’s a warning farther down if you want to keep within the ideas of “headcannon” but farther below I have the start of a story, I got a bit carried away and am too far gone to delete it.

⚠️Warnings: mentions of blood, death, weapons, smoking, maybe 1 instance of cannibalism ( but its more in the sense of revenge rather than a canabalistic reader) (idk man it’s hell if your triggered don’t read 😭) this is really long already so I might just break it up or continue it to make a part 2. I have a LOOOOOOT of references in here to so many things, if you guys can pick up on them leave a comment and I’ll tag list you in my next fic if you want! Or don’t I honestly couldn’t care less it’s just for fun :p

Reader is referred to with afab terms.

Pt2-

================================

• In your life you tried to stay on “the right” path. Your parents raised you right, you tried your hardest to be nice, and where always on your best behavior, but after getting the short end of the stick for too long you kinda… loose it.

• You ended up in hell after a night out partying with some of your most valued clients, when you went to drive yourself home the heel of your stiletto got stuck under the gas pedal, as you tried to pull it out you took your eyes off the road and 💥 BAM 💥 you where hit by a large grocer truck.

•Opening your eyes to a red wasteland, the bright flash of lights and the smell of brimstone flood your senses. Looking down to try and gather your bearings you notice your whole body wasn’t (skn/tn) anymore… it was marble grey?

“Where… where am I?” I mumbled under my breath, trying to gather my surroundings, a bright flashing catches my eyes, a gigantic neon sign in the sky gives me my anwser…

“Welcome to Hell!!!”

“Hell…. I’M DEAD?!!!!” I groaned out through barred teeth and stood to my feet, looking around I saw definite signs, this was Hell alright. A blood red sky, fires everywhere, little sinners running around stabbing and shooting one another.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, ALL MY WORK, MY SHOPPING EMPIRE, MY CLOSET, MY AWARDS, MY EVERYTHING, RAAAAAAHHH!!!” In my anger I grabbed the nearest sinner and threw them to the ground, putting my foot between their shoulder blades and grabbing their arms.

“You’re gonna tell me right now, what the hell is going on, WHY AM I DEAD AND HERE-” I shouted in their ear, seeing blood come out… oh shit I probably burst their ear drum… oh well, I’ve done that plenty of times to my assistants.

“D-d-do you mean, like in hell, or or just this area?” They questioned nervously. To be fair they were a scrawny little thing…

“What in the-“ I paused to look around, then referred back to this little shit “actually HELL are you talking about?”

“W-w-well, you must, *gulp* you must be new here, huh?” It asked with a weary smile and a weak little laugh, probably trying to ease the tension. “Well, down… down here, we uh, we have overlords who- who rule certain areas, we’re in Ms.Leefolt’s t-t-t-territory right now, I mean, our king Lucifer, Lucifer and Lilith Morningstar rule all of hell…”

“Well, that certainly is… intresting.” I smirk and stand up, releasing his arms but not letting my foot off his back. “So these, overlords… are they appointed by your king, or born into or something?” I question with a sharp red nail in between my teeth, thinking…

“No, no ma’am just, just anyone who’s ballsy enough to, to, take over enough territory and have enough demons- sell them their souls in exchange for something. Umm- if it’s not too much of a bother, could you let me go… I- I can feel my ribs crushing under me…” it started wheezing out and trying to get a hand under its chest to place a barrier between their chest and the ground.

“Hm, well if that’s all true, I can’t let some little thing like you going around gossiping about me.” I growled looking down at this freak… pressing my heel into his spine harder.

“No! No please, I won’t say a thing I promise!! Just let me go, please… pleas-“

SPLAT-

“Whoops, my bad, I slipped.” I reasoned, pulling my now bloody leg out of his torso.

“Ohh, eeeeeew eweweweweweweeew, I’ve got bits of his, ugh, lung on my heels.” Flicking away the bits of organ from my shoes, I take a breath and another look around but this time in a planning sense. Overlords huh, well, I’ll just have to see how much this ‘miss leefolt’ likes the taste of arsenic, I wonder when the last time she had a homemade pie was….

• So of course to establish some dominance in my new living arrangement, I gutted that bitch from the inside out. I took her territory, her power, her souls, even her manor. When I went to her office to kill her I found the deed to her house and all the contracts of sinners who gave her their souls in a pretty shittily hidden safe.

• I mean, I had to work so hard to build my life up just for a stupid grocer to end it all, so this is fine… right?

• The years go by and the world changes, you became one of the most powerful and influential overlords in hell, re-establishing your power once held on earth to a business in hell. Rosie and Velvet quickly becoming your closest friends, Velvet in a more business sense and Rosie being your go to gossip gal. Both of you having elegant and refined tastes. You and Husk became friends over talking shit in a casino one night, and remained friends after his downfall. He talks to you about this, radio demon, from time to time but you haven’t heard much of him

Little do you know he knows almost everything about you~

• Your walking around Cannibal Town one day waiting for Rosie to finish a meeting, watching children run around and little carts selling all kinds of body related snacks.

I lost a bit of my sense of surrounding and almost tripped on a kid running around with his friend throwing a head back and fourth.

"Jerermy! Stop playing with your lunch and apologize to that nice lady you almost ran into."

"Sorry miss, I didn't mean too." He said looking down at the head ashamedly, then offering me a piece of the cheek. "Would you like some of this face? It's really good." He looked up at me with an excited look. "Oh thank you, but I'm waiting for lunch with my friend, I'll go to the butcher and get some though, it looks really good." I smiled my pointy teeth at him, patted his head and motioned him back to his mother, she waved to me and I nodded my head back, thinking it was time for Rosie to be done by now.

"My my, with your reputation of anger issues I would assume you would tear that poor child into bits upon realization." A staticky voice spoke behind me, tilting my head back but not my body as I don't know who it is. I look him up and down, his outfit and cane/staff thingy give off quite the powerful impression. "My, mhm, reputation?" I pester raising my eyebrow.

"Ah-hahahaha, My name's Alastor, its quite a pleasure to finally meet you in person." He introduced reaching for the back of my hand to place a kiss. Him saying his name reminded me, I too finally recognized the name. "Oh, Rosie has told me much about you." The radio demon, his names been brought up many times around cannibal town since he frequented their shops and small town locals.

"Oh yes, Rosie is one of my dearest friends" He replied linking our elbows and started walking towards the shop. "Mine as well, she is quite the darling, so let me ask you now, where you just standing there when I got to the park, or where you going to follow me in silence since I left the emporium~" He didn't stutter in his step but my revelation made the air feel a bit more, weary on his side. Reaching into my hand purse I grabbed my lipstick and hand mirror and paused my walk to apply a touch more. Looking just past my lips in the reflection I saw his eyes in the back corner snap to my down, then back up to my eyes with a tight smile. "Well, are you coming? I know Rosie hates to be kept waiting." I snapped it shut and outreached my elbow waiting for him to link his so that we could start the traverse back to Rosie's.

• After our little group luncheon with Rosie, Alastor and you didn't verbally indicate that you were closer in any sense. But physically you swayed like two tree's. Brushing branches back and fourth with the breeze, restless and apart yet labeled as "together"

• You started doing weekly business deals, him acquiring land and souls for you, and all he asked in returns is he uses that land and those souls as he pleases. Which honestly isn't a lot. When he pulls people or their shadows to come help at the hotel- their mostly your people but he always sends them back to whence they came.

• He likes to pretend he doesn't necessarily care for being around you, however he's always looking for time you two can be together, or even thinking of each other. On his radio show he'll mention new shopping, eating, entertainment locations on your turf. He knows you listen when your able to. Sometimes he uses his power to let his station be the only one playing where ever you are. In the car, in a shopping store, you could be sitting in the bathroom and it would get to the point where you can hear it from the vents. Making you roll your eyes and finish your business so you could get to your office to listen to the radio.

• Truth be told... you where falling to his whims as well. Alastor didn't necessarily have "territory" but many places in one area he had influence in and quite often frequented. When you had rips or damage to your very expensive very delicacy clothing you would walk with him to the seamstress, and afterwards you would often get tea or lunch together. Maybe he knows a good diner or two and ya’ll will sit there and eat, then get a milkshake (mostly bc you wanted one, he just indulges to make you happy though he doesn’t care for the cold sweet taste) and drink it through two straws, awwwwwwwwwwwwe!!

• When either of you knew of prestigious events happening around you invite the other to be your plus one. You go shop together to find outfits for the occasion. You started attending overlord meetings together, with yourself sat on the opposite side of Rosie, sending each other glances and touches under the table whenever Rosie wasn't looking or walked away for a brief moment. At the events you stay close together and often stand away from the crowd, whispering and gossiping together, allowing yourself a to drink silly, little do you know how well he can hold his liquor and often will be the one making sure YOU get home. Sometimes you wake up still dressed, like the gentleman he is, and sometimes you’ll wake up in some red pajama set…. Like the gentleman he is, he’s not gonna let you sleep in an uncomfortable outfit. But he’s respectful about it.

• He often send subliminal messages through your radio to help you fall asleep, to push you to coming to see him, to maybe just stay in your town if he knew something really bad was going on outside. His favorite to do is when your falling asleep he’ll play the calmest songs from his time to comfort you as you drift off.

• When he officially asked to court you he compared you to the beautiful crimson of the sky, saying your cheeks where more bright and delightful to gaze at then the morning sky, when it was particularly bright. All kinds of poetic gestures, sending crows to your windows, sending your gifts of bodies with knives in them, and the knives had small notes left for you on some quote from a book you like. Now how he knows those are your favorite books are beyond you…. you don’t talk about your books much but, maybe he’s seen you reading it at some random point in time? Who knows, not you.

• He’s all in all not a bad partner, of course when you want to go out he usually goes along with what you want to do but if there’s something he refuses to do, his claws are sinking into your arms to keep you from dragging him to do it.

• His smile is genuine around you and you adore when he lets you pet his ears~ he’s not that intimate early on in the relationship but when your just sitting on a couch or watching the sun set from somewhere and you just reach over and pet his ears, he is putty in your hands, physically he keeps his compose fairly well but inside he’s willing to do anything to keep you touching his ears, telling himself he would sell YOU his soul if it meant you wouldn’t stop, petting his ears and helping him groom his antlers, don’t even get me started on the tail… oh wait he’s already got something going on with that… well darn… hopefully you will keep accepting his caring actions rather than push them away.

——-STOP reading here if you don’t want to get into the more “story line” of this idea, if you want more of a story KEEP READING——-

• One night some sinner had gotten into your liquor stash and drank himself ditzy, you chased him into an ally way, looking to end his fucking life. Most of those where gifts from clients that most likely had aphrodisiacs and at the time where trying to get down your pants, but he drank from one of the few special bottles Alastor had gifted you and you went ballistic. You ended up catching him and killing him, and taking a tip from Rosie and ripped some of his limbs off, letting yourself indulge in the taste of warm, liquor filled blood. When you came too you realized you didn't know where you had chased him. Now covered in blood, liquor, rain, mud and whatever mess you stepped in on your way over. Seeing the iluminating lights of the sign for the Hazbin Hotel, your only thought was to try and get to Alastor.

*knock knock knock*

*creeeeeeeeeeeeeeek*

"Oh! Oh my gosh, hi! Come in Come in. " An ecstatic girl ushered you inside, making a towel appear seemingly out of nowhere and helping you dry off. "I'm Charlie, whats your name?"

"Oh, how rude of me" I respond trying to shake off my chills, my nose starts to get a bit runny. "Uhm I'm Y/N, I don't mean to sound intrusive- uh is Alastor here?" I ask hesitantly, not wanting to just barge in but after the night I've had I wasn't in too much of a mood for pleasantries.

"Oh yes! Here, why don't you sit at the bar, have some tea or water or something and I'll run up to his radio tower." She sat me down at a bar stool and walked away. The bartender was turned around already whipping me up something.

"So he's got you wrapped up here huh?" I inquired with a smirk, resting my hands under my chin and trying to keep a little composure. His wings ruffled a little bit before he reached for my favorite hell made brand of brandy, my cotten candy brandy, I'm not one for sweets but I love the zing it gives you. The kind where you loose your vision for a good 7 seconds.

"You haven't usually been one to be a stranger, what gives?" Husk asked turning around handing me my drink and a bowl of pretzels.

"Well when I saw you weren't at your usual gambling tables I didn't think to question it, thought you where maybe getting more chips... ooooor hooking up in the chip room.... ooooor selling even MORE of your soul, if that's even possible, maybe like your wings or your feathers or, like your body as a human shield in the next extermination, never thought you'd be here slinging drinks." I shrugged swirling my drinks around the glass before taking a sip.

Before he could respond he took a bit of a step back and growled really low and deep in his throat.

"Ah yes well he owed me a favor and since I took an investment in this hotel I needed a little work on it done." Alastor came up behind me with a warm towel wrapping it around my shoulders as the one Charlie gave me was wrapped around my waist keeping my legs warm... unfortunatly the sinner got caught at a bad time, I was in the middle of 'me time' before bed and was in my good silk nighty. Glad I walked to my office with my fuzzy robe and ballet slippers. I feel really warm and fuzzy, my heads all….. comfy now… is that static coming from Alast-

"Oh deerest your all wet, would you like to come up and I can help you clean up." He asked you shaking the towel on your shoulders helping you sit up. "Oh yes please" you responded looking at him with sad tired eyes.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-

I took a sip of the warm tea Alastor had made me and laid back in the bath, taking it all in. I WAS just planning a quiet evening in at home, maybe snack on some treats I got in the Gluttony ring, watch some hells soap operas. Now I’m here, in my beau’s bathroom, relaxing… maybe I can convince him to let me up to his radio tower to listen to his late night show live, oh that would be fun. I wonder what it looks like up there? I’ve only ever seen his actual town house… a little ways away from town-

*CRASH *

“What the fuck?!” I sat up so fast I almost slipped, sitting on my butt… in the tub…. Shit did he spike my tea?

“Alastor? Is everything okay?” I asked loudly. Standing up carefully keeping three points of contact with the tub and the floor. I reached for a different robe he had given me, a soft red fluffy one, with (what I hope is faux ) fur along the collar and wrists.

Walking towards the bathroom door very carefully I cautiously reached for the shiny silver handle. Telling myself it’s okay but feeling a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach, and the handle was the top of the pit…

“Alastor?” I called out again, once more not getting an answer, bringing my hands to my mouth when I heard a large thump out there, trying to keeping my composure… oh what the hell they know I’m here already. I went to turn the handle what the door got pushed in, had I been able to see what happened I would’ve seen Alastor in his demonic form and it probably would’ve scared the actual shit outta me… but NOPE

I went to open the door when it got pushed open and a bright blue flash covered all of my vision and made me feel… kinda tried… but I’m awake, almost like I’m not in my body… it’s… really hard……. To keep my….. keep my eyes …………………………….………open…….

• You collapsed to the floor slowly breathing, in a trance, feeling some sharper claws pick you up bridal style, if you weren’t so dazed out you would see Alastor frozen in time… like a paused TV… unable to get to you, or subdue your captor. You still had enough conscience to hear a muffled voice talking to a phone~

“Yeah we got her… foil chains worke—“

“Get her ba-“

“…. Longer you take the quicker……….. flasher wears-“

• Last thing you could remember hearing before completing falling out was a radio scramble in your brain, the sound going from a hollow scraggly to a tight scraggle- like turning the tv in between stations………

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

AN: WELLLLL WHAT DID YA THINK???? Did you skip to down here or did you read the WHOLE thing. I really hope ya’ll like this, I’m so excited to make part 2, and maybe 3 or 4 depending on how far this goes.

Thank you to anyone who reads this and interacts in any way shape or form!!! Even if it’s just reading :) HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY AND REMEMBER

REALITY IS AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM BUY GOLD BYYYYYYEEEEEE

[fanged-fanfics]

peeks into your inbox. its me again :] here to request some Narrator x Stanley X male reader just messing around in the games ending from the original game (the minecraft/portal version)

☆ Someone Else's Game — Stanarrator x Male Reader Fic ☆

Genre: Fluff || he/him pronouns for reader ||.No warnings needed

──────.𖥔 ݁ ˖˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ──────

Narrator had gotten frustrated with you and Stanley... again. For such an omniscient and prideful being, he did tend to have a very sore ego. No matter, you were tagging along beside your partner regardless of the outcome. When you'd been led to play some absolutely nonsensical games, you and Stanley threw them on purpose to guarantee a lose in an act of protest. Which then led to being promptly placed in a cube-filled blocky world.

You didn't understand it much, and neither did Stanley, but he sat and watched as Narrator built a home out of the blocks in an act of filling some "artistic purpose" while you wandered around. It was a little amusing, hearing Narrator hum a tune as he tried to show up the both of you with something so small. Meanwhile, you picked up a small collection of the pixely flowers you could find.

You trotted back over as Narrator was bragging, peeking your head in to see Stanley doing his best to fit into the very tiny dirt home that was made. "Ah, there you are" Narrator greeted "Gaze upon my creation! It's absolutely perfect, isn't it? Much better than doing any more work for you two". You rolled your eyes with a quick "Yeah, yeah, looks super nice" before stepping up to the doorway. You held out the plants for Stanley, who squeezed out of the dirt home to gently hold them in his palms. He signed a quick and bashful ['thank you'] in reply. You returned the smile he gave you as Narrator kept talking.

"...It could only be better if- wait, that's it! We must re-build it out of diamond. Diamond everything! Yes, yes, yes- come along, men, we have to go mining!" He went on. You and Stanley both turned around, hearing the noises of dirt falling away. You linked your arm with the protagonist as you both slowly began inching into the cave Narrator had created. Light was only there for the first few steps, darkness quickly filling your vision. You held onto Stanley tighter. "Oh my, it looks like it's going to get a bit dark" Narrator said "Have you brought a light?". "You know very well we didn't" you grumbled under your breath.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no. This is far more open-ended than I had in mind" Narrator went on "I'm looking for something more narrow and linear.. something that makes you feel utterly irrelevant. This won't do at all, 1/5. Even the diamonds couldn't save this one". You finally took a pause, making sure you could still clearly feel Stanley behind you. He gave you a comforting little pat, sensing your mild frustration. Narrator spoke up once more. "Okay, new game" he announced, and you soon saw a new environment gill your vision, along with... music?

As Narrator jovially laughed and praised the new surroundings, you looked to Stanley. He still managed to keep hold of the flowers you'd given him, doing his best to tuck them into his pocket. "How much longer until we ask him for a reset?" You asked, and Stanley shrugged, removing his hand from yours to sign. ['You know he's not gonna listen when he's in this kind of mood. We have to wait until he gets bored again']. "That probably won't take too long" you noted, giving Stanley a little cheek kiss "At least we can list this as officially going out". Stanley nodded, grinning brightly at the idea.

Narrator's rantings could be heard slowing to a stop, his tone dripping with jealous irritation "Alright, enough, this isn't that kind of game. We have an objective to do. If you wanted to coddle each other so much we could've stayed back at the office". The door to the square room opened, and you held it open further as you and Stanley exited. You both went through the circle exit to the next room, a small white room being on the other side. A large button was on the floor, and you held it down. The light on the wall became orange, and a door opened. Stanley went to walk through, but when you tried to follow, the light became blue, and the door shut.

"Oooh, it's a puzzle!" Narrator said "Critical thinking, dearest. Your forte". Before you could make some sort of reply, a box dropped down from a tube connected to the ceiling. "If I stand here, you can just walk ahead" you offered to Stanley, before Narrator interjected. "No, no, no! Can't you see? If he leaves, there's no one to hold the button down for you. You'll just have to complete the puzzle". You hummed, looking at the environment. Stanley came up behind you, placing the box on the button, allowing the door to open again. "Oh- that's an easy one. Thanks, Stanley!" You said, ruffling his hair a bit before you both advanced through the door.

You got ready to push the button on the elevator that was awaiting, until it shut all at once, receeding into the vault it came from. You stood there with Stanley, listening as Narrator went on a long-winded tangent about how he didn't need both of your approvals, ending it with a goodbye and having the room fall silent. You sat on the floor, crossing your legs "He'll be back" you said simply "If we wait, we can make him mad enough to". Stanley sat by your side, tucking his knees to his chest. He looked around, hand held in yours and tapping a beat on the floor. Seconds passed, then a minute, then five. You sighed, changing position again to get comfortable. "He'll come aaany second" you said. Then five more minutes. Then ten.

"Okay he's really holding out this time" you eventually said, and Stanley nodded. You leaned back a bit "Do you ever think we're too hard on him?". Stanley looked up, thinking it over before shaking his head. You chuckled as you replied, "I know he does a lot to annoy us, but he does take his stories to heart. Maybe constantly talking down to them wasn't.. the best idea". Stanley seemed to genuinely give it some thought before sheepishly nodding. Narrator definitely deserved your pranks and jabs for all the times he did stuff just to spite you both. But in the end, he loved you both, and you both knew that. As well as how much these stories meant to him.

You scooted over to the edge of the gaping opening beneath the still-shafted elevator. Stanley joined by your side. ['You think he'll come back if we make it seem like we found something better to do?']. "I'd guess so" you said "He hates our attention not being on him. Then he can come back, and we can laugh over this like we always do". You slid into the open hole, Stanley hopping down after you.

Beneath the map was a dim hidden layer of the map, one that had scattered wires and ladders, like the back end of a stage or something of the like. It seemed a touch familiar, but you really couldn't tell in all the dimness. Stanley led the way, trying to feel along the walls and finding a path down a hallway. You went with him, holding onto his sleeve to stick close. "Still nothing?" You whispered, now growing a little worried. It wasn't like Narrator to hold out without coming back to at least check in. After a whoosh of air, there was silence. "...Narry?" You tried softly, and nearly jolted as he actually spoke.

"I wonder what he found. If what he wanted was to be the leading man in his own story, well, perhaps he's gotten it... down in- wherever he is right now. I wonder if he's happy with his choice. And if he's learned the heavy cost that comes with it. He'll understand soon what I was trying to tell him. He needs me. Someone who will wrap everything up at the end, to make sense out of the chaos and the fear and the confusion— that's who I am. That is what I mean to this world. Oh yes, yes I'll be back, there's no other way. Once this ends, after it all comes to a close, then I'll be back. The end will be here soon. Very soon. I can wait"

It was unclear who of the two of you he was talking about. You both were men he held equal love and, well, currently mild irritability for. You both sat there with a bit of bated breath, anticipating the worst. But, you soon found yourselves back in your respective offices at the beginning. Stanley stepped out of his, looking around. You, the not-gone coworker, did the same. "Oh, there you two are" Narrator said, feigning to be unimpressed "Was that fun? Did you feel accomplished in that other game? How much better did you find it compared to this dusty old office?"

You immediately made your way over to the clearest wall, stretching your arms out as you leaned against it. Narrator sputtered "What- what are you doing? Don't tell me you lost your mind in there-". "It's a hug" you announced back, nuzzling the area with your cheek. "I'm not in the walls" Narrator said, almost sounding offended at the implications. "I know, but it's symbolic" you responded "You were gone for so long back there". "Ah, so that's it? You got bored of each other and decided you wanted to come back to your dear old love, the Narrator? How flattering" Narrator replied.

Despite his snark, he took note of how you kept attempting to give him affection via the office walls, Stanley appreciatively going over the familiar sights and desks of the space. You both eventually hear a big sigh, and Narrator's voice was now a lot softer. "I'm glad you both are back as well. Now, would you like one of your little rests before we continue with the story? I think I've finally got the programming of the coffee pot right to let it function". You finally leaned up from the wall, looking up to where you assume the Narrator was "I think so". Stanley then signed ['You can join us this time. Take a break from all that talking']. Narrator once again sighed "I suppose I owe you boys that much, at least. Come on now, no time to waste"

[undertalebabbleblog]

UTDR Holiday Newsletter Musings

Heya, Pup here, and I'm back again to talk about how Toby Fox has once more driven me insane.

Usually the newsletters have a black background and white text, but the background is white this time! Thematically appropriate, I suppose.

*glances outside at the warm summer morning*

Or, well, it's thematically appropriate if you don't live in the southern hemisphere lol.

Toby has a Bluesky account now, apparently.

...Yep, that belongs to Toby, alright.

And he even made an archive of the roast chicken posts "in case Blueski flies away". Excellent, those are exceedingly important, we wouldn't want them to be lost.

(Skipping over the stuff about the GameMaker updates and bugs because while it's interesting it's not what I'm here to talk about.)

*(...) *(...Pup slowly puts down the microwave they were holding and steps away.) *(All the settings on the microwave say 'spaghetti' anyway. It's unsure if that would work on frozen dogs.)

But in all seriousness, the reviews Toby shared seem pretty solid, and we are definitely, 100000000000% getting chapters 3 and 4 in 2025. I am incredibly excited and can't wait to see what the new chapters have in store.

(I wonder when they'll come out...? Place your bets, everyone! My money's on Undertale's 10th anniversary, since Toby has a habit of releasing and announcing important stuff on or around the anniversaries.)

We also have some text from chapter 4 that has been translated into Japanese. I cannot read Japanese, so unfortunately I don't have anything to say on that part, but I do have some things to say about some of the bits I can read!

"Inferno,&Inferno!" We don't have any context on who's saying this or what it might be about. My first thought is Dante's Inferno, given how much religious symbolism is in these games, but I'm probably wrong lol.

Lancer: "Susie, can you enrich my enclosure?" Susie: "Uhh, I can punch a hole in drywall and hide toys inside." Lancer: "Thank you. Someday, I will do the same for you..." This COULD just be about Lancer's room. Or it could imply that Lancer gets trapped somehow? Idk.

"To by, or not to by?" I don't have much to say here. But it's a Shakespeare reference, so I'm legally obligated to point that out.

Berdly: "Listen. It disgusts me to say this, but... as an ACT. OF. CHARITY. I will let you... Be the breeze under my wings. You... Me. Festival." My guess is that he's saying this to Susie. If so, Noelle is going to FLIP and I can't wait to see it lol. I'm very curious about this festival, too... I feel like something big's going to happen.

...wait.

WAIT.

Jevil's fight was in a carousel. Spamton's was on a rollercoaster.

...am I overthinking this, or are the secret bosses somehow foreshadowing the festival???????

Elnina: "Did it hurt when you fell? Your tag says you're... um, the moon." If I remember correctly, Elnina is one of the weather forecast themed enemies. Since this is chapter 4 dialogue, my guess is that this text is from Castle Town after you recruit them.

Chapter 5 is in development! Yay!

I was going to make a post about some of the new merch before the newsletter came out. Now I guess I'll just include my thoughts on it in this post.

SO. We have a Kris shirt.

Following the trend of the Frisk merch, Kris isn't named. All Frisk's merch refers to them as 'the human', and now Kris' shirt is the 'Important Person's Shirt'.

Here's all the text I've found describing it, from both the newsletter and Fangamer.

Listen. I am going insane over this. I have far too many thoughts and I don't know how to put any of them into words. BUT I'M GONNA TRY.

Okay. So.

Firstly, the love thing.

We already know that LOVE = Level of ViolencE. But while that adds an interesting layer, it's not primarily what I'm going to be discussing here.

Kris and the player have a connection, obviously. Their love will become yours - the love they receive from their mum, their dad, their friends, isn't meant for us. Yet it feels like it's directed at us, because we are Kris. Your love will become theirs - we decide their actions. If we express love for another character, we're expressing it through them, which means that the other characters are seeing it as their love instead. Us and Kris are separate entities, and yet we have an undeniable connection that makes us difficult to separate.

Also, I'm not entirely sure how this relates, but my first thought when I read this was about the default options for the vessel. The game records your choices in the vessel creation sequence. However, if you start a chapter 2 save file without continuing from chapter 1, the choices are automatically set to the first option of each question, except for the gift, which defaults to Mind. It also has default options for all the choices in the game, which all seem to follow what we know of Kris' characterisation. Essentially, if we haven't played chapter 1, Kris seems to play through it for us. In the vessel creation sequence, the question 'HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CREATION? (IT WILL NOT HEAR.)' has 'LOVE' as the first option. I don't know how this might relate and it might be entirely unrelated but in my head I feel like some dots have been connected and it's driving me crazy. TOBY FOX YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF ME.

(Please picture me with one of those conspiracy theory boards with the red string and pictures and scribbled notes. That's the most accurate depiction of me right now.)

The mask thing seems important too, but I can't think of what it might be referring to. Maybe something to do with how the actions you choose for Kris aren't how they're really feeling?

There's also a Seam plush, which I wasn't originally going to talk about, but then the newsletter happened.

Firstly, look at it. Look at this battered old wizard cat. I want it.

Secondly, we get a sort-of-canon Seam design! So that's cool.

...dusty magic. Broken dreams. No tail, torn off by cruel and loving hands. The tail in your mind should be stronger than anything I show you.

THERE IS SOMETHING HERE RELATED TO THE DARK WORLDS AND DREAMS AND IMAGINATION AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY ABOUT IT BUT IT'S THERE.

If they keep releasing merch, my entire house is going to be UTDR themed. I can feel my wallet getting lighter and lighter each time they release something new, and I haven't even bought any merch yet.

And finally, if you click on this antlered snowman at the bottom...

You get a message...

DESS LORE DESS LORE DESS LORE

She called Noelle 'Elly' I'm gonna cry -

More angel Noelle... and "I wish it could snow whenever I wanted"... kind of ominous given the Snowgrave route and the whole Angel's Heaven thing.

AAAA I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES IN THE GAME

I actually missed the snowman link at first, so obviously I'm going to be clicking everything in all future newsletters just to be sure lol.

Uhhhh... yeah. That's all.

See you next time, and happy holidays!

[kennedyism]

now this looks like fun giggles

Surfin’ USA.

Bobby Kennedy x reader

Summary: Spending a day on the beach with Bobby? Yes please. (Need that!!!!!)

Warnings: This is all just for fun, no need to take this seriously!

Tag list: @jackiesgirl @quietamericans @obsessedwithjohnjr @fortheloveofjos @melancholicstation @rocker-chick-7 @bleatngheart @joansiesbeloved

author’s note: TELL THE TEACHER WE’RE SURFINNNNN SURFIN USAAAAA

“Gee, Jack, I think your age is catching up to you, you can’t even keep up!”

You watch your fiancé run around with the football in the sand, sunglasses covering your eyes as you stare. It makes you laugh seeing the president trying to keep tabs on his younger, more athletic, younger brother. You’re the only… not Kennedy woman yet, but you get the point, here.

“Hey, Baby!” Bobby shouts, making you snort. He’s so corny, but it’s okay since it’s him. He comes over to you, only in his swim trunks, looking down at you, football in hand. “You oughta come play. Jack’s gettin’ his ass handed to him. You could probably beat him.” He snickers, looking down at your face, then your bikini, not in a sexual way, but just to look at how beautiful you are.

“No, I’m alright… go enjoy yourself.”

Bobby then sits beside you in the sand, pressing a kiss on your cheek which makes you giggle. “Oh, stop… Not here.” You laugh, trying to push him away. but he’s a lot stronger than you, making him lean a bit more next to you, practically pinning you with only sitting next to you.

“Not my fault you’re so pretty.” He flirts, which makes you laugh. Bobby is not normally a flirter. That’s his brother, he’s the more logical one, but you’re not complaining about the sudden change of behavior.

Bobby is very unpredictable. You never know his next move, and that’s what makes him all more lovable and attractive. “Okay, lover boy, that’s enough.” You laugh, gently shoving him off you. You then snicker watching him fall gently in the sand.

The attorney general sits up, brushing the sand off his arms, and then he puts his knees to his chest, the wind blowing in his hair as he stares at you with love in his eyes. He then turns his attention to the Beach Boys song on the radio, then back at you. “Well, you gotta stop saying things that make me wanna kiss the hell outta you.” He sighs out, putting his sunglasses on, and looking at you through the dark plastic.

Those words make you blush, and sputter looking at him. There’s no way he just say that. He seems to be enjoying your reaction, though. You then decide to play along with his games. “Alright… if you wanna kiss me, you gotta catch me.” You say as you stand up, and starting to dart off into the distance.

Bobby is taken back by your actions, and it takes about thirty seconds for it to register and click into his mind, but within that time, he’s onto his feet and chasing after you.

“You forget I played Football!”

“In college!”

“Still played—You callin’ me old?!”

And just as he says that, he wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a tight embrace from behind. “Got ya.” He pants, trying to hold you in place, but it’s hard to do so with your squirming and laughter.

“Let go!” You laugh, finally getting out of his grasp, and then you pull Bobby into a kiss, leaving a bright red lipstick mark on his lips, and that makes you burst out laughing, so it makes you do it again. “Oh, wow.” You giggle.

“Are ya done?”

“Not yet…”

You then grab the grab the general’s face, your hands on his cheeks as you place kisses all around his face. You then step back to admire your work. “Now that’s a look.” You say, a hand on your hip, proud of your art work.

“Wow, not gonna let me go out like this, are ya?”

“I gotta let everyone see my work!”

“We can put me in a museum, if you’d like.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

[desperate-daydream]

☂️ Umbrella Academy

❀ Five Hargreeves x male reader ⚣︎

A/N: @fandomz-brainrot you asked and here it is: the part two of "Together, we will save the world"

tags/warnings: meet the sibs, set in season 1 still, reader basically insults the sibs, I changed it a bit what happened etc., top/protective reader

Together, we will save the world pt. 2

The boy - who had finally told you that he was called Five - really didn‘t let go of your hand. And that was good because you would‘ve probably walked on the street without noticing while you listened to a summary of how he got here.

It blew your mind. And then you remembered having seen some of the old comics about the umbrella academy not even long ago. The boy you found cute was basically a superhero. 

He just finished with the story when you arrived at an expensive looking house with a fence and double doors. Five dragged you inside and the first thing you noticed was the staircase - plus a damn chandelier.

„Wow.“ It was the first thing you said since he had taken your hand.

„Precisely, yes“, sadly he let go of your hand as he said that.

„Five?“, a man‘s voice called from.. somewhere in this house.

„Yes!“, he looked annoyed already.

And suddenly you were met with several people - adults around thirty. „Five, where were you?“, one of them stepped closer to take a look at him worriedly, „Are you okay?“

„I‘m alright, Viktor“, he moved his head away from his outreached hand. Then he noticed you. While he had asked, the others had come closer too and noticed you as well.

A man in all black looked at you suspiciously. „Who‘s this?“ He pointed a small knife at you which creeped you out only a little bit. 

Five sighed. „Put the damn knife down, Diego. This is (Y/N), he saved my life.“

Then he looked at you again. “(Y/N), these are my siblings. Viktor, Diego, Klaus, Allison and Luther.“ He pointed at each of them while he said their names.

You did a small nod and an „Hi“ escaped your mouth. Viktor and the guy called Klaus (if you remembered right) were the only ones who smiled back at you. The others were still wary of you. 

„Okay, but what happened?“, the tall woman - Allison - asked, „He saved your life?“

„Yes“, Five started walking and signaled for you to follow him. So you did. The others did too. „Remember the commission I told you about. The Handler sent some agents after me. I was on the run - and to be honest on the verge of passing out.“

You had reached the kitchen and Five went over to make a sandwich with peanut butter and marshmallows. Only then did you notice that you hadn’t eaten before you were almost shot earlier. You leaned on the counter as you watched him and crossed your arms.

Five continued. „He got me to calm down and recharge for a moment but then they showed up and long story short without him you‘d probably have to bury me now.“

He was almost finished doing his sandwich when you spoke up with a smirk on your face. „You‘re gonna eat that?“ 

„Yes, want one too?“, he looked at you as he bit into it.

„Honestly, yes.“ He shoved the ingredients over to you and you went to work.

Meanwhile his siblings started talking again. But you only listened halfway - it was majorly a lot of raised voices so it seemed like nothing too important. Instead you looked at Five. 

You noticed the small bruises on his face that probably went to cluster all over his body. His clothes were ripped and well.. not clean. And another thing you noticed was his habit of going through his hair which made it look really disheveled. 

Your mind wandered off to other reasons his hair could look like this involving you and a bed - or literally any place. But you quickly directed your mind back to the still arguing siblings. 

And then you noticed how Five‘s siblings gave him the fault for all of this chaos - which was absolutely not right. You spoke up with a frown on your face. 

„Hey, this really isn‘t fair and it‘s not true. Don‘t you dare go and blame the one person here who actually tries to do something against the shit happening right now. He came back to save your unthankful asses and doesn’t even get a single pause since then because you can‘t work together like you‘re still in elementary. Have you actually looked at him for once - he almost died today. And it won‘t get better if you keep on behaving like that because then he surely goes outside again to overwork himself even more.“ 

You turned away from his siblings and gently took his hand. Then you went for the door - on the way you grabbed the sandwich you hadn’t eaten yet. 

When you were out the door you still didn’t let go of him. „Where in this weird thing of a house is your room?“ 

He directed you to a room that could‘ve been anyone‘s because of the little to none personal belongings. But the walls were plastered with all kinds of mathematical equations that you couldn‘t understand at all. From what you had heard out of his telling earlier these were most likely his own. 

„Have your siblings always been like that?“, you looked around the room and then decided to sit down in a chair in front of the desk. 

„Well, we‘ve never really had some kind of sibling-bond I guess. The old man was focussed on training and educating us so we‘d be able to fight and be elite, not on making us feel loved or like a part of a real family.“, he shrugged his shoulders, „It‘s been like that for our whole life.. well, apparently until I vanished and the others ran away.“ 

For a long time you both said nothing. You ate your sandwich - that actually wasn’t so bad - and Five looked out the window. 

“What you thinking about?”, you asked.

“Why are you suspecting that I’m thinking about something specific right now?”, he still didn’t directly look at you but you noticed a quick look from the corner of his eyes. 

“Because you have a certain look on your face and - from my observations - you seem like a person with a non-stop brain.” 

“That’s.. quite right.” 

He finally looked at you and his dark brown eyes pierced into your own. You felt a shiver down your spine and stood up without even noticing at first. But you didn’t stop and the other boy didn’t seem like he wanted to stop you either so you went to sit closely next to him. Now you two looked out the window together. 

After some time - you honestly didn’t know how much - you felt Five’s head lay on your shoulder. First unsure and slowly, ready to draw back if needed, but when he noticed that you didn’t have anything against it he relaxed. 

You heard and felt the deep sigh that left him and his frame relaxed more and more against you. You took a deep breath before being brave and slowly putting your hand on his thigh. He tensed a little and you were already about to pull your hand back but then he put his own on yours to keep it where it was. As a last brave step, that almost made your heart burst, you put your head on top of his. 

You sat there basically snuggled against each other for a long while. 

(And if later, when his siblings came in to apologize, they saw you both quickly separate after almost falling asleep on each other, they didn’t say anything about it. They would however be secretly very interested in this developing relationship between their overworked brother and this one guy who gave him happiness, protected him and reminded him to take breaks.)

[666writingcafe]

The Angel's Halo

Once MC and I give my brothers the medicine and supplies they need to get through the day, we decide to spend some time out of the house. After all, there's not much more we can do there at the moment that would be beneficial to my brothers.

"Do you want to grab a bite to eat?" MC asks as we begin walking.

"Good idea," I tell them. "Azzy was going on and on about this new cafe that's supposed to be opening today. He mentioned it's not too far from here."

"What's it called?" Normally, names don't really stick in my brain, but this particular one stood out to me so much that it's practically engraved on there.

"The Angel's Halo." MC snorts in amusement. "Yeah, that was kind of my reaction, too."

Here's the thing: I figured that someone from the Celestial Realm was gonna be following us close behind once we got settled here in the human world. I mean, from my understanding, MC was more or less blessed by Michael to wear Lucifer's old ring; he probably wants to make sure he made the right decision, which means keeping an eye on both them and us to make sure that they remain "pure" enough.

If he's smart, he would have sent Simeon. He's the one that would raise the least amount of suspicion. And I suppose the little chihuahua would have to tag along. It would be cruel for his owner to leave him behind.

Sure enough, as we approach the entrance to the new cafe, Luke's outside, twirling a sign around.

"I'm surprised he's able to do that," MC quietly observes. "He's never been the most coordinated."

"He probably needs a break," I reply. "Who knows how long he's been doing that trick." MC playfully glares at me before walking up to the young angel, who accidentally hits them in the face with the sign. I silently watch to make sure MC's alright, but once the two of them begin catching up with each other, I duck inside.

"Well, hello there, Mammon." Simeon looks up from wiping the counter. Despite the smile he gives me, I can tell something's off with him.

"It's Mason around here," I reply, sitting down on one of the stools in front of the counter. "And you're lucky I'm here. If Azzy came like he wanted to, he'd be freaking out about the bags under your eyes." Simeon gently throws the towel he was using over his shoulder.

"I haven't been able to get much sleep. Getting this place set up has been a lot more work than I had anticipated."

"Clearly." He's hiding something. I've never seen him look this exhausted, not even when we were living together in the Celestial Realm and he was still one of the Seraphim.

"I'm sure you're wondering why we're here." I shrug.

"I mean, Michael probably sent ya down here, right?" Simeon hums affirmatively.

"Officially, we've been appointed to help coordinate relations between the human world and the Celestial Realm." He's given me an opening. If he didn't want me to dig further, he wouldn't have said "officially".

"And unofficially?" He glances outside, presumably to make sure that MC and Luke are still preoccupied.

"He's testing me," he whispers.

"Testing you? For what? A promotion?" Simeon sighs, shaking his head.

"I've gotten into a bit of trouble. One of my notebooks was discovered." Okay...

"But you're a writer, right? Like, you've gotten permission to do that."

"Yes, and if that was what was found, nothing would have come of it, but this particular one was more of a personal journal. The contents inside are, shall we say, things that no angel ought to even be thinking about, let alone express into words."

"They shouldn't have been snooping in the first place."

"You forget, the Celestial Realm believes that nothing should be kept secret. Everything must eventually come to light." Simeon pauses. "Plus, I accidentally left it in a public space. The person who found it was merely trying to discover whose it was so that they could return it to its rightful owner."

"Dude, what exactly were you writing about in there?" He sighs again.

"In a word, corruption." Oh shit. Well, no wonder he's in trouble.

"Of yourself, or someone else?"

"Technically both, but I'm the active party."

"Please tell me it isn't Luke." Simeon widens his eyes.

"Absolutely not. He's merely a child. I wouldn't do that to him."

"Then who..." Right as I begin asking the question, I answer it for myself. "Oh, Simeon." He gives me a tired smile.

"I know." He glances outside once more. "Believe me, I've tried to keep these thoughts at bay, but I can't help it. I mean, how can someone's soul grow brighter after spending a significant amount of time with all seven Avatars of Sin? It makes no sense, Mam--Mason."

"And it upsets you, doesn't it?"

"It's more frustrating than upsetting. I know it's wrong, but there's a part of me that feels like..." He trails off, trying to regain his composure. "If I were to fall, I'd want to take them down with me." Oh my...I had no idea that MC made him feel that way.

"You're lucky that you're merely getting tested."

"Yes and no. This little test of his will determine the severity of my punishment. If I behave myself, then I simply have to be supervised when I'm writing. And do a few extra tasks, but that's not a big deal."

"And if you don't?"

"You mean, if I succumb to temptation?" I nod my head. I hear the door open. Simeon leans in close, trying to make sure that neither Luke or MC can hear him.

"Then I might as well not be an angel anymore."

[ghouly-boiiiii]

A Light in the Dark 🕯️

Chapter 4: The Price of Freedom

Lucy x Cooper Howard / The Ghoul

In this chapter…

The bounty hunter turned back to her. “You alright?”

Lucy shook her head. “I don't know… I mean… I should be grateful that I got to grow up in a safe place where people aren't constantly killing each other, but…”

The old wastelander turned away again, then said thoughtfully, “Man wasn’t made to live in a cage. We’re animals. Same as any.”

“Yeah…” She said, her voice soft and forlorn. “I donno… there’s just… so much more out here than I ever imagined… Back in my vault, everything was… regulated, regimented. You were told what to do, what to think, how to feel. Everything was so… controlled… Then, I come up here and it’s…” She shook her head. “It’s violent and chaotic and brutal, but… it’s real.”

<<< Previous Chapter

Summary: As they begin their journey across the Wasteland, Lucy is very angry and fearful towards the Ghoul, but she wants answers. He, however, is harboring secret feelings for Lucy ever since she saved his life. Having not been with anyone since Barb, and believing she would never feel the same, the bounty hunter has to deal with these feelings on his own. Little does he know, Lucy finds herself having inexplicable feelings for him as well, and struggling to make sense of them.

Tags: Slow Burn, Romance, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Casual Sex Lucy and No Wait Let Me Court You Cooper, Cooper is touch-starved and rusty in bed, He’s also self-conscious about his body, Ghoul channels old romantic Cooper, Lucy is confused by strange surface dweller mating customs, She helps him discover his old self, He helps her discover her true self, Did I mention there would be angst

Rating: Mature - Word Count: 4,723

SPOILER WARNING: Contains all the spoilers. No trigger warnings except eventual sexy time with a zombie man and lots of angst.

Once they started walking, Lucy strolled briskly ahead of The Ghoul, with her chin held high and a smirk on her face. Feeling rather confident, but also a bit nervous. She wasn’t sure what had come over her. That was nothing like what those conflict resolution courses had taught her to do back in the vault. But it sure as hell felt good.

The vault dweller was starting to surprise herself. Wilzig has told her that if she were going to survive, she would have to adapt. And she was. She was adapting. The realization that she was starting to get acquainted with a part of herself she didn't even know was both exciting and terrifying. In the past, she always put considerable effort into being fair and civil when resolving issues with others. Never threatening with violence. But, thanks to the Ghoul, she had to learn quickly that… that kind of diplomacy wasn't gonna cut it up here. Still, it was pure posturing. Lucy knew she could never overpower The Ghoul. She could never beat him in a gun fight or a fist fight or probably even a pillow fight. But the last thing she was going to do is roll over and take his bullshit anymore. After several near-death experiences, her patience had run thin. 

“Hey, Vaulty… Slow down.” She heard him grunt behind her. “I ain’t no spring chicken, ya know.” 

“Oh! I’m sorry.” The vault dweller said and spun around, continuing to walk backwards, with a contemptuous scowl on her face. “Would you like me to put a rope around your neck and drag you?”

“Huh.” The Ghoul grunted again as he stared at her, jutting out his chin. “Behind you.”

The vault dweller heard the buzz right away, and turned around just in time to see a giant bug flying towards her. 

Her companion fired, splashing it's innards everywhere, before Lucy could even let out a yelp. 

“Jesus!” She screamed as she tried to shake the bug juice off her. 

The bounty hunter laughed. “Better not get too cocky.” He said and eyed the pistol on her belt. “By the way… you any good with that thang?” 

Lucy looked up at him, trying to wipe the slime off her arms. “...The pistol?”

“Yeah.”

“I can shoot.” She said, turning away and focusing on cleaning herself off. 

“You sure?” He said, walking towards her. “It's more complicated than you might thank...” 

“I can shoot.” The vault dweller insisted in annoyance. 

The wastelander tilted his head slightly. “Alright… Well, I hope so. You're gonna need it…” He looked around a moment. “ In fact, maybe we should do some target practice before we run into some real trouble...” 

She quickly spun around to face him and shrugged, waving her slimy hands at him. “Hey, I've got an idea. Maybe I'll use your face for target practice. Then you can tell me if I'm any good or not.” She hissed, then turned and kept walking.

“Ah. Well… I suppose that would settle it.” He joked as he watched her stomp ahead of him.

Lucy paused and looked around a moment, then back at him. “...You sure this is the right way?” 

“Sure is. Just keep yer eye out.”

She exhaled in frustration, then turned away from him and looked up, finding herself standing at the edge of a deep, dark forest.

The trees …

They had to be one of the most breathtaking things she’d seen since she came to the surface. Even though she’d seen plenty of pictures growing up… witnessing the sheer scale of them in person - the way they stretched up towards the sky and towered over her - was a completely different experience. Every time she came across them, she had to pause. Their looming presence and delicate beauty, drawing her eyes up towards the canopy.  

“Scared, Vaulty?” The Ghoul teased.

The vault dweller ignored him, not letting him interrupt her moment. But despite it's beauty, she trembled. Even though she'd trekked through a forest before, now she was a lot more aware of the horrors that could be lurking among the seemingly peaceful scenery. 

She still had nightmares about that damn Gulper. 

“What do we gotta look out for?”

“Out here?” The Ghoul stepped up next to her, craning his head up at the tall oaks and pines. “Mostly just bugs. Probably…” He smirked. “Like that cazador you was makin’ friends with back there.” 

She turned her head towards him, her expression unamused. “What else could be in there?”

“Well, there could be anythang.” He said as he brought his gaze back down and shrugged his shoulders. “Raiders. Supermutants. Deathclaws. Ya never really know.” 

“I thought this way we’re supposed to be avoiding the Deathclaws.”

He just looked at her and shrugged again. “Like I said. Ya never know.” 

She huffed, blowing her hair out of her face in annoyance, and crept carefully into the dense trees.

As they continued on, she admired how the light of the midday sun trickled through the canopy. Flooding the forest with glistening beams of light. The buzzing of the (normal sized) insects filled the air, along with the melodic chirping of (unmutated) birds and other wildlife. It amazed her how even after so much destruction, there were still places where the world brimmed with so much natural life.

She must have been smiling without realizing it, because The Ghoul saw fit to point it out. 

“Enjoying yourself?” 

Lucy turned to him, furrowing her brow and glaring. “Until you start talking, yeah.”

“Huh… So mean.��� The Ghoul snickered, then turned to Dogmeat. “Why she so mean to me, huh?” 

“Tch…” She scoffed, looking away. “I'm mean.” 

“Big ‘ol meanie.”

They continued in silence for a while, until suddenly he whispered sharply to her, breaking her from her thoughts. “Hey! Get down!” he said, taking cover behind a tree.

She quickly found a tree to hide behind as well. “What is it?” 

The Ghoul pointed a gloved finger out ahead. “There she is.” He said quietly as he peered past the tree and a smile formed on his face.

Lucy looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a rather unsettling looking creature. “That's a… rad horse?” 

Dogmeat whined quietly as she eyed the animal. 

“Shh… Dogmeat.” The bounty hunter said, motioning to the dog to lay low. To which the canine obediently crouched and licked her lips in excitement. 

“Stay here.” He said, turning to Lucy as he pulled out his lasso, then started creeping towards the mutated horse. “Take notes.”

She glared at him a moment, but watched diligently. 

With a surprising amount of finesse for such an old coot, The Ghoul approached the radhorse with the stealth of a wolf on the hunt, readying the rope with an expert touch. 

 Lucy remembered when he used that rope on her, and it made her even more pissed off.

The bounty hunter closed in, spun the lasso into the air, and tossed it at the radhorse, expertly landing it around the beast's neck. 

Her eyes widened as the monstrous creature let out a horrifying howl. Not quite a normal horse's neigh, but more like a scream. 

“Whoa!” he shouted as it rose to its hind legs and thrashed its head, dragging him closer and nearly knocking him down. 

But he stood his ground as he fought to get control over the animal. He certainly seemed to have more experience with horses than gulpers, Lucy thought. 

“Hya! Hya!” The Ghoul called out as he pulled in the rope, gradually forcing the creature into submission, until he was face to face with its rotting carcass of a head as it spat and grunted in protest. 

“Ha-ha!” He barked victoriously. “That's right. Easy, girl.” Then, with a surprisingly gentle touch, he rubbed the creature's long muzzle. “That's a good horse.”

She smiled as she watched, finding herself quite fascinated, but also excited about the prospect of riding this thing.

As he pulled his old body up onto the horse, she slowly approached.

He grinned from atop its back when he noticed her. “There, you see? You just gotta show ‘em who’s boss!” Then he reached out to Lucy, offering his hand to help her climb up. “Come on now. Let's get a move on.”

With some hesitation, Lucy reached up and took his hand, letting him pull her up to sit behind him. 

Although she wanted to ride, she also felt rather uncomfortable suddenly being so close to The Ghoul. He was like… right there. “Oookay… so… we’re just gonna… ride this thing?” Lucy said with a lot of concern in her voice as she tried to keep herself steady. 

“Yup.” He smirked, tying the rope around the horse's head to use as makeshift reigns. “You best hold onto somethin’.”

“Like wha–!!” She was cut off when the bounty hunter clicked his teeth and the horse suddenly rose to its hind legs, letting out a raspy scream before it started galloping ahead.

With nothing else to hold onto, Lucy had no choice but to throw her arms around The Ghoul’s torso and hang on for dear life. “Gahhhh!!!”

“Yeah!!” He laughed in excitement, grabbing onto Lucy’s arms to make sure she didn’t fly away.

“Oh my God!!” She screamed and buried her face in his back, squeezing her eyes shut and praying she wasn’t about to die.

“Whoa, girl!” He shouted excitedly. “That’s it! Ha ha!” 

One thing the vault dweller was not anticipating was the way being on the horse jerked and tossed her body around. She was used to living in a vault, where everything was in walking distance. They had no need for transportation. She’d never moved this fast in her life.

The speed made the blood rush to her head. She felt a welling come up from her stomach, and expel from her mouth laughter that was both terrified and excited. 

Oh my God!! Oh my God!!!” She kept screaming.

“What's the matter, Vaulty? I thought ya wanted a' ride a horse?” He shouted tauntingly as they sped through the forest. “Ain't this everythang ya ever dreamed it would be?”

“I’m gonna throw up!!” She cried out, still unable to open her eyes and genuinely feeling nauseous.

The bounty hunter let out a hearty laugh. “Alright, alright. I’ll give ya a break. Don’t want’cha pukin’ on my good coat.” He joked, then pulled on the rope to coax the horse to a steadier pace.

Lucy finally got her bearings, realizing she was clinging onto him, then finally let go. “I-I'm sorry!”

“I’m just glad you didn't fly off.” he laughed. “Coulda put you up front. Then we'd be real cozy.”

Lucy's eye twitched a little. She couldn't tell, but it almost sounded like he was trying to flirt with her… “Ugh… no thanks.”

The two rode at a steady pace for a while with Dogmeat patrolling beside them, who was sure to investigate any sign of life she came across. Lucy found the ride to be a lot less fun and exciting and a lot more uncomfortable and unpleasant than she imagined. Mainly because of the man sitting in front of her. If he'd been a handsome, good man… like Cooper Howard, for example… maybe she'd enjoy it a bit more. 

But no. It had to be The Ghoul she was sharing this experience with. Her stomach muscles ached from trying to lean back away from him. She felt disgusted, being so close to him, and wanted nothing more than to take a shower after having touched that filthy coat. He smelled like a combination of dirt, gunpowder and cigarettes. An earthy, smoky, slightly damp-ish smell. Which was better than what she expected, but still not very nice. 

Lucy tried to distract herself by focusing on the environment around them. As the day drifted late into the evening, the intense golden-orange rays of the sun pierced through the great green canopy above, and she again found herself admiring its delicate beauty. And as they approached a body of water, the shimmering waves reflected the light even brighter. 

The Ghoul directed the radhorse to stop, looking out at the lake before them. “This should be a good place to rest for the night.” 

She eyed the seemingly calm scenery and glared suspiciously. “You sure this is safe? …What about gulpers? ”

“Ain't never seen a gulper ‘round these parts.” He half-heartedly assured her. “Lakelurks more wha’cha gotta worry ‘bout.” 

“...What's a lakelurk?” 

“You'll find out eventually.” 

Lucy huffed, then jerked her head back as he suddenly turned to look over his shoulder at her. “Alright. Come on, now. Scoot.” 

She blinked. “Oh… right.” Then hopped off the horse.

He followed suit and quickly got to work setting up a spot to camp. Tying the radhorse to a nearby tree where there was plenty of vegetation for it to nibble on, and enough slack on the rope where it could reach the lake for water. He didn’t make a fire this time, not with the wide open lake before them where plenty of prying eyes could see. Lucy did her part, picking up twigs and brush to clear a place to sleep, and kept her eye on the water for any sign of those… lakelurk things.

After making a quick scope of the area, The Ghoul pulled out the sack of leftover molerat and sat down on a fallen tree with Dogmeat excitedly taking a spot in front of him, hungrily licking her lips.

“We outta fill up on water while we're here, Vaulty.” He said, looking out at the lake as Lucy approached, and pulling out a handful of meat. “This lake is cleaner than most.”

Dogmeat whined and shuffled her paws in front of him. The wastelander threw her a piece before starting to gnaw on one himself. 

Lucy sat down on the log as well - keeping some distance as she'd spent enough time in uncomfortably close proximity to him - then held out her hand.

Without a word, he handed her the bag. 

The vault dweller took out a couple pieces, then placed it down between them.

The two sat in silence for a while as they ate. It was a silence that Lucy appreciated. It gave her a moment to listen to the sound of the water. The swish of the gentle waves as they washed in and out from the shore. Only interrupted by Dogmeat whining for more food, and the occasional cough from The Ghoul.  

She then found herself fixated on the sight of the sun settling behind the lake and hills beyond. Even with the silhouettes of crumbling ruins in the distance - the bright, multicolored sky and the sparkling waters beneath was an incredible sight. 

The Ghoul must have noticed her gaze, as he said something then that she found quite unexpected. “...Beautiful, ain't it?”

Lucy blinked, then looked at him. “...What?”

“The sunset…”

The vault dweller turned, shifting her eyes back out to the scene before them. She wasn’t sure what to say, and was a little annoyed. The way he was commenting on the beauty of nature, like he was some kinda sensitive soul. Still… she simply replied, “...Yeah.”

“Even after two-hundred years… it never gets old.”

Lucy blinked again, glancing over at him a moment, although he didn't look back. As she averted her eyes and again looked up at where the sun touched the water, a thought came to her mind. “Two-hundred years…” she repeated as the reality of his age finally sunk in. “So many sunsets…”

He nodded. “Sure is.”

Slowly, her face took on a subtle expression of sadness and loss. “You've seen so many…” Then she looked down at the ground. “Me, I've only seen… just a handful...”

“Mmm…” The bounty hunter nodded in acknowledgement, keeping his eyes forward. 

“...Back in my vault, we had this… projector.” The vault dweller said thoughtfully. “Every night… it would show a sunset. The same one every night.” She fidgeted with the food in her hands, idly turning and turning it. “I suppose… I got it in my head that... that's just what sunsets looked like. But… since I came up here… every single one has been completely different. Every single one is unique... And every single one is… absolutely breathtaking..." She turned her head down and shrugged a little, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed. "I mean... I'm sure everyone up here takes it for granted... but for me its...” 

The Ghoul stopped chewing and looked over at her, a realization suddenly hitting him as well. He turned back and thought a moment before responding. “You know… I can’t even imagine what it must be like never bein’ outside yer whole life.” 

Lucy sunk a little more, her eyes drifting to the ground as an inexplicable feeling of grief came over her. 

Noticing her silence, the old bounty hunter turned back to her. “...You alright?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “I don't know… I mean… I should be grateful that I got to grow up in a safe place where people aren't constantly killing each other, but… there are things up here that… I donno…”

The old wastelander turned away again, then said thoughtfully, “Man wasn’t made to be locked in a cage. We’re animals. Same as any.”

“Yeah…” She said, her voice soft and forlorn. “I donno… there’s just… so much more out here than I ever imagined… There’s so much to see, so much to experience… Back in my vault, everything was… regulated, regimented. You were told what to do, what to think, how to feel. Everything was so… controlled… Then, I come up here and it’s…” She shook her head. “I mean… it’s violent and chaotic and brutal, but… it’s real.”

The Ghoul nodded, then replied. “You know... I had'a opportunity to get in one'a them vaults once.”

She looked up at him. “Really? …What happened?” 

“Well… I turned it down,” he said and took another bite of the molerat meat.

“You did?” Lucy lifted her head a bit higher, looking at him with shock and disbelief. “Why would you do that?” 

“‘Cause a’ all the thangs you just said.” The wastelander scowled as he looked out at the lake. “I didn't fight for our freedom in'a war just'a let some company control my life.” He turned to her, looking at her with serious indignation. “Vault-tec… they ain't no saviors. They didn't give a damn 'bout savin' America, or the world, or nothin’. They just about profits, like any other corporation.” 

She returned his stare with reluctant defeat. 

“You've seen it. You might’a been indoctrinated yer whole life, but yer smart. You see...” 

The vault dweller blinked, then looked away. “I don't understand… how could anyone prioritize money over human life…?” 

“Huh…” The bounty hunter chuckled. 

She shook her head. “...No. You're right.” Then looked away. “People do it all the time.” 

“Guilty as charged.” The Ghoul acknowledged. 

“But in the face of complete extinction? I mean… if their goal is to make money, it seems like letting humanity die out would be pretty counter intuitive...”

“Oh, it's even worse than that.” He said, aggressively gnawing on more molerat and spitting out some of the tougher, burnt pieces. “These delusional fuckers thought they were gonna create some kinda fuckin’ utopia up here. By killin’ off everyone except the people in they own damn company. Hell, even the folks who shelled out millions a’ dollars to get a spot in them vaults weren't safe.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Most’a the vaults weren't even meant for people to live in, no matter how rich ya were. See, Vault-tec sold off most’a their vaults to some’a the biggest companies in America. One’s wanted a way to do unethical shit without nobody sayin’ nothin’ ‘bout it. Most’a the people who went in them damn vaults just wound up bein’ test subjects for all kinds’a fucked up experiments.”

Lucy stared at him a moment, then looked down, remembering the question she was asked by the Overseer of Vault 4. He’d asked her what the experiment in her vault was. It was a question she didn't want to think about. But now, being told this, the revelations from her father and Moldaver - realizing how little she actually knew, how much she’d been in the dark… it made her sick to her stomach. 

What… was the experiment in her vault?

The vault dweller sat in thoughtful silence for a moment. “...What else do you know?” She asked, then looked back up at him. 

“Hmm… Well, I know how ta play a mean game a’ Rummy.” He joked.

“Come on… What else do you know about Vault-Tec…?” She leaned in, her eyes pleading. “Please… Whatever you know… Just tell me…”

He paused and looked over at her, chewing on his cheek.

She looked back at him, square in the eye. “Please… I… I want to know everything… I need to know.”

The Ghoul rolled his jaw, then looked back at the water and took another deep breath. “Well, I ain't tellin’ you everything… and I probably don't know as much as you're hopin’ anyway...” He looked back at her, flashing a reluctant smile.

“Then tell me whatever you can…” 

He looked down at the ground. “Well… I supposed I can tell ya this. You'd probably put it together eventually, anyway." He pulled out a knife, and started cutting some of the meat up into smaller pieces, before tossing them to Dogmeat. "Before the war… My wife worked for Vault-tec...” 

“Ohhh…” Lucy's eyes widened a bit. “Before the war… That's how you got a chance at getting in a vault.” 

“Yeah… but then I found out what Vault-tec was up to…” he shook his head and furrowed his brow. “And, well… that was it for our marriage.”

“Oh… I see…” She looked down in thought. “I remember... at the observatory... you asked my father where your family is…" Then she looked up at him. "Have you... really been searching for them for… two-hundred years…?” 

“Eh… I ain’t talkin’ about that.” 

“They must have got into a vault, right? But you didn't? Is that how you got separated?” She pressed.

He chewed on his cheek. “Somethin’ like that…” 

“But you don't know which one they’re in?” 

The bounty hunter didn’t answer.

Lucy looked at him in confusion and shook her head. “But… if it's been over two-hundred years… What makes you think they're even still alive?”

“Damnit, I said I’m not talkin’ about that, Vaulty!” He snapped, raising his voice. 

She leaned back a little. “Alright. Geez. No need to get all cranky.” 

The Ghoul exhaled and shook his head, looking away. “Anyways… What I was tryin’ ta say… was that I actually learned most’a what I know 'bout Vault-Tec from other vault dwellers.” 

“Other vault dwellers…? You’ve… met other vault dwellers?”

“Well, sure. You thank yer the only one crawled outta them hamster cages?” 

Lucy glared at him a moment. “Did you use them as fish bait too?”

“Personally, I’d call gulpers amphibians, not fish.” 

“Tch…” She huffed. “Way to dodge the question.” 

“You wanna know if I messed with ‘em too?” He said, leaning towards her. “Well, the answer is yes. In fact, I practically tortured the first three.”

“God…” The vault dweller looked away, then back. “What is wrong with you?” 

“I was determined to find out where my family was, by any means necessary.” He leaned back and ran his tongue over his lips. “Needless to say, It didn’t work.” 

“Did you kill them?”

“One a ‘em died. But I didn’t kill ‘em. Fuckin’ centaur attacked us. Neither one a’ us had ever seen one’a them thangs before in our lives. Scared the fuckin’ shit outta me. I almost pissed myself. Poor bastard didn't know what hit 'im.”

She shook her head. “You really do only care about yourself, don’t you? ...Also, what’s a centaur?” 

“Aw, come on. That’s not true.” He said, flashing her a smirk. “I shared my molerat with ya, didn’t I?” 

“Only because you need me to help you find my father.” 

“Eh…” He shrugged. “I could probably do that myself. Way I see it, you’re a sort of… insurance.” 

Lucy rose a brow. “...Insurance?” 

“I figure he’s gonna want his daughter back, ain’t he?” He took a drink from a bottle of whiskey he had in his pocket as he looked out at the water. “Maybe, if he thanks it’s the only way, he’ll tell me what I wanna know in exchange...”

“Oh… so you’re just gonna trade me again.” She said indignantly. 

“Not without your permission…" He said, looking over at her. "And it ain’t like we gotta be honest about it, neither. Unless you’re that committed to that golden rule a’ yers.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, the wheels in her head starting to turn. “...What are you suggesting?” 

“When we find yo’ daddy, he’s probably gonna assume I took you captive." He turned back to the water and took another bite. "We can use that.” 

“Right…” The vault dweller pondered his words. “And if I do that… If I let you leverage me so you can find your family… you’ll help me get the answers I want?” 

“Those are answers we both want, darlin’. So, yeah.” 

“And how do I know you’re not gonna just ditch me after you get what you’re after?” 

“Well… I guess you’re just gonna have to trust me.” He said, turning to her and flashing her a smile.

“I’ll never trust you.” She scowled. “How can I possibly trust you?” 

“You know you’re free to leave anytime you want.” The Ghoul said, raising his arm towards the woods. “I ain’t forcin’ ya ta be here.” Then, he looked down at her hands. “...You gonna eat that?” 

“Huh… this time…” Lucy scoffed, then shifted her weight a little, looking down. “So… if you asked the other vault dwellers… why didn’t you ask me? You know… about your family..."

He smirked and looked down at the ground. “...I was runnin’ low on vials. I had other priorities.” 

“Okay… but still… Wouldn’t it make sense to just ask before potentially killing me? I mean… they wouldn't be around anymore but... their descendants could be living in my vault.” 

He shook his head. “God, you ask a lotta questions…”

“…I’m just trying to help.”

“Yeah, well I’m tryin’a answer, but ya keep interruptin’!” He snapped.

Lucy folded her arms over her chest. “...Geez… Touchy.” 

“Agh… Forget it.” The Ghoul stood up, then lied on the ground, using the log as a pillow, and tilted his hat over his face. “I’m goin’a sleep…” Then started grumbling inaudibly under his breath. 

She just stared at him for a moment and watched Dogmeat lay down next to him, then unfolded her arms and looked down at the molerat still in her hands. After a moment, she found her eyes drifting over to The Ghoul again.

“What'chu starin’ at?” He muttered. She wasn’t sure how he could see her, but apparently he could. 

“...Your fly’s undone.” 

“What?” The bounty hunter jumped up into a sitting position and looked down at his pants, but saw he was fully zipped.

Lucy started laughing.

“Tch…” The Ghoul scowled at her. “Get some fuckin’ sleep, would ya?” He laid back again and pulled his hat over his eyes. 

“Just keeping you on your toes.” She said and finally started eating. 

“Yeah. Sure ya are. Just can’t help yerself, can ya?” He joked. “Well, keep dreamin’, sweetheart.” 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Lucy teased back as she laid down as well, still chewing on her food.

He just huffed and grumbled some more. “You don’t shut up, I’m gonna choke you with that meat.”

“What’s that about choking me with meat?”

“Aagghh…” He growled, then grabbed a stick and threw it at her. “Get outta here.”

She laughed as she put her hand up to block it.

Then Dogmeat quickly gave chase, retrieving the stick and bringing it back to The Ghoul.

“Ugh… No. Not right now...” He lifted his hat and looked over at Lucy. “Goddamnit. Now look what’cha done.”

“What? I didn’t throw the stick.”

The old bounty hunter just grumbled and grumbled some more as Dogmeat whined and Lucy giggled in amusement.

To be continued...

<<< Previous Chapter

[harknessxo]

Chapter VII ✧ A Choice

Pairing: Rhea Ripley x Roman Reigns

Summary: Things get out of control while Rhea and Roman are away.

Warnings; smut (there is a lot of smut in this series 😅), fluff, a bit of angst

Word Count: 4.3k

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A/n: @tonuitekan wrote this one cuz I’m on writers block 🥲

It was around 9 am when Roman began to stir awake. Rhea remained in his arms, still asleep. He pulled her body closer to his and stared at her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful. He kissed her forehead and that caused her to wake.

“Morning, sunshine,” Roman smiled while Rhea groaned and hid her face in his neck.

“It’s too early. Let’s go back to sleep,” Rhea whined. Roman just chuckled and got on top of her.

“Well, I know a way to wake you up.” By the mischievous smirk on his face, Rhea knew exactly what he meant.

“Roman-”

“Come on, there’s no one here to catch us.” Rhea stared at him for a few seconds, debating until she finally nodded. Roman then began to lick and suck her sweet spot on the right side of her neck, making her moan.

“You’re not gonna leave me another hickey, aren’t you?” She asked him as he then kissed the spot.

“Well, you kinda scratched my back and you probably will do it again this time, so…”

“You don’t know that.” She scoffed before he paused as he gave her a look.

“Wanna bet?” At his comment, she took it more as a challenge as she flipped them over before he could even react or say anything while she straddled him. At this, he looked up at her and couldn’t help but chuckle right before they both kissed as he held his hands around her waist as they traveled through her back as well.

However, that moment was interrupted as soon as Roman’s phone started to ring.

“You’re gonna answer that?” Rhea asked between kisses before he went and left a few kisses on her neck.

“Nah, they can call back later.” He mumbled, his hands sneaking underneath her shirt as she arched her neck back, allowing him more exposure. At the same time, Rhea’s phone also rang.

“Shit…” Rhea grumbled.

“Just ignore it, we’ll call back later.”

“Reigns, if they’re calling both of us, it means there’s something going on.”

“Fuck…” They both reluctantly broke away as Rhea reached to grab her phone on the nightstand while Roman did the same with his. He decided to go into the bathroom just so whoever was calling Rhea wouldn’t hear him.

Rhea looked at whoever was calling her. Surprisingly it was Damian. She figured that he was only calling to check on her since they didn’t hear from her last night.

Oh how wrong she was.

“Priest?” She said as she answered, sitting down on the bed with a pillow on her lap. “What’s up?”

“Hey- first of all, sorry if I woke you up. Second of all, we have a problem.”

At that, Rhea rested her back against the bed frame as she prepared herself. This happened every single time she wasn’t around. She prayed to God that it wasn’t Dom losing his title again or Damian and Finn losing the tag titles again.

“Alright, hit me. What is it?”

“There’s a rumor going around, many people are saying it but we don’t know if it’s true.” Damian began. “Triple H wants to split the tag titles.”

“He wants to what now?”

“He wants to split them, literally after Roman had them unified in the first place! And mind you, apparently he wants to do this without even letting us know.” She then heard him take a deep breath. “Mira te lo juro, este cabrón no nos quiere dar un break—“

“Hey, deep breaths, Priest. Deep breaths.” Rhea interrupted him, placing the pillow aside as she sat up. “First of all, it’s just a rumor. Secondly, if it turns out to be true, then we have Paul and Roman that can help us with that. Like you said, Roman was the one who got those titles unified to begin with. Meaning that he can talk Triple H out of this. Hell, even Paul can. Remember, Roman is on our side for a reason. Okay? He’s not gonna agree to this either. We’ll find a way around this, but for now, if Triple H approaches any of you about this, let him know that they don’t get to decide that until we come back from SC. Got it?”

“Alright… fine, got it.” From the tone of his voice, Rhea could tell that Rhea was slowly calming down.

“Get with Paul if you haven't already. Does he know?”

“Yeah- and he’s calling Roman about this too.”

At that, Rhea pursed her lips in a thin line. Now it made sense why their moment was interrupted at the same time.

“Okay, he’s probably going to let me know. In the meantime, like I said, don’t do anything and don’t let Triple H, Pearce, or Nick do anything.”

“Fine, okay, okay, um,” Priest sighed. “Just call any of us back to check on you. Paul just got done talking to Roman.”

“Alright, I’ll call you guys later. Take care.” She hung up, and at that same time, the bathroom door opened as Roman went out. She turned to face him.

“We’re gone for literally a day and now shit goes down, again.” He said as he rolled his eyes and went back to bed. “I wonder why.”

“Let me guess, Paul called you about that rumor going on about the tag titles?”

“Yep. I told him to make sure that your boys don’t do anything till we get back if something happens. Because I’m gonna be the first one calling out Triple H’s ass as soon as we come back.”

“It’s too early for this shit…” Rhea sighed as she also sat back on the bed while leaning her head back. For a moment, Roman arched an eyebrow at her.

“So it’s too early for me and you to…?”

“Reigns. You know I didn’t mean that.”

“So you still wanna—“ He was cut off when she suddenly threw a pillow at him and yelped before he caught it until she suddenly got on his lap.

“You ask too many questions.”

“And you argue, a lot.”

“Well, guess we’re even again.” He pulled her into a kiss, one hand caressing her thigh while the other ran through her hair while she ran her fingers through his hair. She momentarily broke away just to remove his shirt as she tossed it somewhere in the room before he switched them once more, with him on top of her. They continued kissing only for a bit until he began to trail down to her neck, chest, stomach, and then her thighs. He swiftly removed her shorts and panties as he tossed them aside.

She relaxed and leaned her head back against the pillow, her right hand still caressing his hair even while he placed her legs on his shoulders as he began to lick her folds.

“Fuck…” She tried to hold back her moans, her grip on his hair almost tightening as he kept eating her out. However, it soon became unbearable as he kept on, determined to hear her beg for him. Her moans only urged him to continue on as he also licked and sucked on her clit.

“Reigns— fuck— I’m close—“ She warned, until she rode her orgasm as she cried out. He lapped her juices away until he broke away, wiping his mouth clean before he went up to her until she flipped them over once again. Quickly, she took her top off before he pulled her yet again into another passionate kiss, his hands holding her waist while she placed her arms around his neck. Her hand then almost urgently gripped at the waistband of his sweatpants, with Roman immediately getting the message as he helped her take them off along with his boxers.

Afterwards, he pulled her close to his body once more as he kissed, licked, and sucked on her neck. His hand rested on the back of her neck whilst his other hand caressed her back and waist as she moaned.

For a moment, both broke away only just to gaze at one another, faces inches away from one another as Rhea rested her forehead against Roman’s.

“I want you,” She mumbled, her hands resting on his chest while he still held her close.

“Rhea…”

“Please.”

He gave her a small nod before he left a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. Both then adjusted only slightly so that Rhea was able to line herself with his cock as he helped her, slowly sinking down until he was fully in as she adjusted herself to his size, all the while burying her face on his neck and letting out a soft gasp. After a minute or so, she began to move while he held her back and waist in support. Their moans were the only thing that could be heard within the room.

Soon enough, she increased her pace slowly while he also helped her, hearing her moan in his ear before she slightly lifted her head from his neck as she kissed his cheek. Now, it was his turn to also lean to her ear as she rode him.

“You’re mine.”

The phrase alone had irked her. She held onto him for dear life as they continued on. This time with him now kissing her chest and cleavage before going up to her neck, then her lips.

He was on the verge of his own climax soon enough as well, and because of this, he gently held Rhea’s waist before carefully flipped them over. He kept on with a few thrusts while she wrapped her arms around him, moaning his name before he felt himself already close. At that, he pulled out, all the while she also rode her second climax, all the while he came on her left thigh as he then collapsed on the bed beside her.

Their room was silent with the exception of their breathing, both panting and coming down from their high. After some time, he pulled her to his frame while also placing the covers on them as his fingers ran through her hair.

“So, now you’re awake.”

“If you keep touching my hair like that, I’ll fall asleep again.” She said as hid her face on his neck. Her comment made him chuckle as he paused for a moment before his hand caressed her back instead before he felt her cup his cheek and turn his head to face her. They gazed only for a bit while he still held her close to him.

However, that moment was interrupted yet again when Rhea’s alarm on her phone went off. It was already almost 10:00 AM. Cursing,, she broke away from Roman as she reached for her phone and turned off the alarm.

“We gotta be downstairs before they close for breakfast…”

“Want me to go and grab something instead?” Roman asked as he sat up. “I can just bring it here while you get ready.”

“Eh, if you want. I just don’t even want to get up right now, honestly.” She mumbled as she plopped back on the bed. Roman looked at the time from his phone before he took his boxer and sweatpants from the floor.

“We still have time anyways, we don’t leave until 2 PM. You can rest for a bit.” He reassured her.

“Let me take a quick shower…” She said as she sat up and walked to the bathroom. Roman only nodded before he went to brush his teeth, got dressed, and left the room.

Back at the Performance Center, Finn, Damian, Dom, Jimmy, and Solo were all seen training for the next day on Smackdown as they were getting ready. Dom had a title match against Montez, while Finn and Damian were once again set to defend their titles against LWO. Both of them were training with Jimmy and Solo who offered to help them get ready. They arrived earlier just to get a head-start.

After a while, they were taking a small and quick break at the cafeteria as they all sat together.

“So y’all think the rumor could be true then?” Jimmy asked as he came back after fetching himself a protein shake while he sat down between Solo and Dom.

“We ain’t even sure, man. But you know that whatever shit comes from Cody’s mouth lately could be true.” Damian said as he rubbed his forehead. “It’s either true or he’s just bitter because he wasn’t even supposed to get those titles with your brother in the first place.”

“Yeah, about that, I wouldn’t even be talking that loudly about Cody. He’s around here with Jey training as well.” Solo commented as he placed his arms on the table while Damian scoffed.

“And? If he has anything to say, he can say it to my face.”

“Spoke too soon,” Finn mumbled as he ate a breakfast bar that he had in his hand when he saw from behind Damian’s shoulder Jey and Cody walk inside the cafeteria. Both of them having finished their training as they were in to grab a bite and leave.

“They better not come down here.” Jimmy mumbled as he drank his shake. Not even facing the entrance of the cafeteria at all.

“Well, look who’s here.” They suddenly heard Cody speak.

“Again, you spoke too soon.”

“Damn…”

“You just couldn’t wait until Monday, eh?” Damian scoffed as the group turned to face Cody and Jey who walked up to them. “The hell you two want, anyways?”

“Aye, we’re just here to say hi and leave.” Jey simply said as he raised his hands in defense. “We ain’t gonna act like y’all made it so that Roman could come in last Monday and attack me.”

“Pearce isn’t going to be pleased with that, you know.” Cody stated as he crossed his arms. “And he will do something about it.”

“Cody, maybe just leave whatever you gotta say next Monday when we see each other again.” Damian said as he placed his apple aside on the table before he stood and faced him. “Unless you want me to try and injure you again right here, all you gotta do is just let me know.”

“Alright, alright. I’m only telling you the truth, though.” Cody placed a hand in front of Damian to calm him. “If you guys keep on playing like this, it’s not gonna end well. And Jey and I? We’ll gladly sit back and watch.”

“Well, you’ll be waiting for a while.” Dominik said as he drank some of his water. “Because the Judgement Day and the Bloodline aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Oh, for real?” Jey asked as he crossed his arms. “I mean, eh, I wouldn’t be surprised considering how your “mami” spends more time with Roman lately.”

“Hey, take it easy. Watch your mouth.” Damian immediately said as he turned and pointed at him. “Don’t start any shit.”

“I ain’t starting shit, Uce. I’m only saying facts. Not my fault he can’t stand the truth.”

“Jey. He’s serious.” Solo suddenly spoke, surprisingly for everyone, as he gave Jey a firm look. “This ain’t your business, so back off while you still can.”

“Hey now why are y’all suddenly speaking for him, huh? He can speak for himself.” Jey asked as he turned to face Dom, who had an unreadable expression on his face as he looked at him. “Am I right Dom?”

Dom suddenly stood up, Jimmy and Damian both tried to stop him but he shrugged their hands away. He then faced Jey who was waiting for him to speak.

“Jey, I’m going to tell you this once. Keep Rhea’s name out your mouth.” He told him. “Whatever’s going on is none of your concern, and I mean it. This isn’t a joke.”

At that, Jey tried to hold back a laugh as he rubbed his mouth and looked down at the floor, before he looked back at Dom. “I mean… if it wasn’t for Flair, none of us would’ve known and I wouldn’t be saying this shit. But like… ya might still wanna keep an eye on her cuz she’s been too clingy on Roman lately an—“

Before Jey had the chance to finish his sentence, a fist suddenly met his face as he almost fell. Before anyone could react, Dominik started to beat him up with Finn and Damian immediately jumping to stop him.

“Hey, hey, enough! Stop!”

“Dom, just ignore him—!”

“Come on, let’s get out of here, Uce, he ain’t worth it.” Jimmy quickly commented to Dom who was trying to get out of Finn and Damian’s hold. All the while Cody went to check on Jey as the male Samoan winced in pain while sitting up and rubbing his face.

“I warned you— keep mami’s name out of your damn mouth!” Dominik snapped, all the while Finn and Damian dragged him out from the cafeteria while Solo and Jimmy also followed, the two looking down at Jey and Cody momentarily before they followed the other three out.

“Dom— let’s get out, don’t listen to him alright?” Damian immediately said as the group went outside. As soon as they did, he immediately had the group go into their rental car while he and Solo stood outside of the car as they spoke.

“Where’s Paul at? Is he still talking to Triple H?”

“He texted me back, he should be back in a bit. He was on the phone with him earlier.” Solo told him as he looked at his phone before keeping it in his pocket before he looked at Damian. “Look man, I don’t normally voice out whatever I think out loud for the most part, but Dom needs to keep his head in the game.”

“I know man, I know.” Damian said as he sighed. “Doesn’t help that almost 30% of this company already knows about Rhea cheating on Dom and now they all want to try and use that against Dom any chance they get.”

“At some point, someone’s gonna be bold enough to say something about it during live TV. Raw, Smackdown, NXT, hell, every during Crown Jewel. And if that happens, the whole world’s gonna find out.”

“Look, only a few people know.” Damian told him. “Charlotte knows, Raquel knows, we know, Zelina knows- well, maybe, but I’m not sure if Raquel was the one that told her-, and now, Jey and Cody.”

“Well that’s enough people, motherfucker.” Solo blurted out. “And out of all of them, Cody is the more likely to expose it in front of everyone. And if he does, it’s over for all of us. This alliance? It’ll be over before you know it. And you guys are gonna start falling apart too before you can even blink.”

“Okay- okay, okay, here’s what we can do.” Damian calmed Solo down. “As soon as Rhea and Roman come back, we’ll let them know what’s going on. Aside from the tag title issue. Look, Dom punched Jey and he even already gave him a warning back there, so hopefully he’ll keep his damn mouth shut. But until then, we let Roman and Rhea know and follow their plan.”

Solo was silent for a few minutes. He looked back at the car, before he looked at Damian. “You think Roman and Rhea are still…?”

“… no. I don’t.” Damian shook his head. “Rhea‘s trying to fix things with Dom right now. And Roman’s probably not even messing around with her anymore. At least that’s what he told me after everything that went down.”

“… Damian. I’m gonna be honest with you. And this is just me saying what I saw.” Solo suddenly said. “But I don’t think Roman is keeping his word.”

“Wait. What?”

“Back at the bar that night? He was staring at Rhea the entire time.” He explained to him as he crossed his arms. “While Jimmy was with us chatting and talking shit about LA Knight, I noticed Roman wasn’t listening and that he was looking at someone in particular at the crowd. And it was Rhea.”

“Hold on, hold on…” Damian paused him as he placed a hand in front of the Samoan male while he processed his words. “… if he said he’s not interested in going after her again, then why would he…?”

“You tell me.” Solo simply said. “My bet is that he’s lying. If I were you, I’d keep a closer eye on him the second he comes back. Cuz I’m gonna do it too.” With that, Solo got inside the car while Damian stood, pondering over his words before he rubbed his face.

“Que clase mamabicho…” He told himself as he took a deep breath before he calmed himself and got inside the car. He started the car while he looked at Dom who sat on the left side of the backseat. He was looking upset, despite trying to calm himself down.

“Hey, don’t listen to Jey, man.” Damian reassured him. “You know whatever shit coming out from his mouth is just to taunt you. Don’t let it get to you. Cogelo suave.”

“I know.” Dominik sighed and nodded before Damian began to drive them away back to the hotel.

He needed to have a serious talk with Rhea and Roman.

As soon as Roman came back with breakfast to their room, Rhea also came out from the bathroom with a robe around her. He set the bag down at the desk that they had while Rhea also approached to his side.

“They have anything good?”

“I mean, I’d say better than the food from the other hotel.” Roman commented as he took out one bowl for himself, and the other for Rhea. “You prefer turkey bacon over regular bacon, right?”

Rhea nodded before Roman gave her food to her as well as a plastic fork as well as some napkins and a bottle of orange juice. He went to make himself some coffee from the Keurig coffee maker in their room while Rhea sat on the bed and began to eat.

“You know, thinking about back then, before we did all of this,” Roman spoke as he sat beside her with his plate of food after he finished making his coffee. “I was starting to think that you really wanted this whole thing to be over.”

At that, Rhea paused after taking a bite from her eggs and looked down at her food for a second. She then sighed. “Honestly, I was starting to think that too, but…” She leaned her back against the bed frame. “I’m beginning to doubt myself lately.”

“How come?”

Rhea hesitated at first. She looked down at her plate before she set the fork down and spoke. “It’s just… look, it’s not that I’m saying that it’s a bad thing or anything, but- it just- this happened so suddenly, you know? I—“ She tried to find the right words to say while Roman listened and gazed at her. “One minute we were just hooking up, the next thing we know, we’re… suddenly like this. I mean come on, we barely know each other.”

“Well, I know you’re not a morning person, you certainly don’t like coffee, black and purple are your color, you like metal music—“

“I don’t mean by that,” She huffed as she took a sip from her orange juice. “Well- actually, yeah that too, but… What I mean is like, you know, get to actually know more about each other.”

The room was silent for a bit as she looked up at him. He had paused eating momentarily, pondering on his choice of words before he finally broke the momentary silence.

"I understand what you're saying," he responded, his voice gentle and sincere, ”Why don’t we have an actual date when we get back?”

“I can’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I have a date with Dom…” She finally said as she exhaled deeply. “And I know- it was dumb of me, because all of the sudden we’re doing all of this but—“

“You told me you were trying to set things straight with him last night.”

“… Yeah, I did. But… the thing is, I don’t know anymore.” She set her own plate aside. “And hey, I won’t judge you if you decide to be mad at me or hate me after this. But… I have a lot to think about. Especially now.”

She then felt her hand being gently held as she looked, Roman being the one who was holding her hand as his thumb caressed her knuckles.

“Yeah about that-“ He began. “… you kinda made it hard for me to be mad at you or hate you. Just saying.”

At this, Rhea snorted and looked away for a second. “Please.”

“I’m serious.” He insisted, Rhea then facing him yet again as he spoke. “Look, last night we talked about this- and like I said, I’m not the one to decide how you’re feeling. If anything, you’re the one that decides that. And I don’t judge you for it. All I'm gonna say is… I’ll wait.” He told her sincerely, gazing at her as he still held her hand. “If you decide to keep this going, I’ll be completely fine with it. But… if you choose not to, I’ll respect it. Just as long as you’re okay.”

Rhea was out of words to say to Roman at that moment as she gazed at him. Like before, her hand reached out to cup his cheek while he also gently held it while his thumb caressed her knuckles as well.

“So you’re saying you’ll wait for me?”

“As long as it takes.” He planted a kiss on her palm. “Just remember that I’m always gonna have your back no matter what.”

He lightly gripped on her hand while she was out of words. Not knowing what to say. All she knew was that she had a lot to think about the second her and Roman returned to their groups.

And this was just their second day in South Carolina. Only three more to go.

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@sassginaswanmills @riptideripley