#also I'll repeat here: CHECK HER OUT!

[mortallychaotickingdom]

I'm firmly convinced that everyone needs a Raymond in their lives 💕

However this is my part for the art trade with the incredible ✨@mirza-majoris✨

She’s such a talented artist and lovely person so please if you’re into pl stuff and gorgeous art check her out! >:3 

[galedekarios]

gale & karlach

i think out of all the dynamics between the companions, i've come to enjoy gale and karlach the most over my time with the game. karlach especially bc she's the only one who genuinely seems to care about and for gale.

she repeatedly checks in on him after the orb reveal and doesn't turn it into a joke about slurping carrots, or sipping wine, or wanting him to be gone entirely from the group.

not only does she advocate for him to stay three times, depending on which dialogue path you pick:

gale's background story reveal & the reveal about the netherese orb

Karlach: Come on. We all have our secrets - and our risks. If Gale leaves, we might as well disband completely. - Karlach: Absolutely. We're all risky in our own ways. We stick together anyway. Right? - Karlach: If having dangerous, otherworldly objects stuck in your skin is wrong, then Gale and I both have to go. We're not really splitting up, are we?

but she's also the only one who repeatedly asks him throughout the game how he is doing, to make sure how he's faring, both in general and with his debilitating condition:

act 2 - shadow-cursed lands banter

Karlach: Doing all right, Gale? Gale: Oh, you know... Still alive and kicking, despite being surrounded on all sides by an endless manifestation of darkness and decay... devnote: Almost with a sigh. That's just how things are - Grim humour to it. Karlach: I feel it too. Here if you need a pick-me-up.

act 3 - after mystra stabilised the orb

Karlach: How's the orb treating you, Gale? Gale: Oh, quite well as a matter of fact. Since it was stabilised, it's been humming along nicely. Gale: I have noticed one adverse side-effect. I seem to be losing hair in some, er, unexpected places. Karlach: I can only imagine.

i think it really bears repeating/stressing that no other companion does this. not one checks in on gale like karlach does, after his affliction has become known to his companions - with the exception of the protag potentially.

karlach also arguably has the strongest reaction in response to mystra's demands in act 2, showing again her care for gale, as well as her protective side:

Karlach: Aw, was that Gale's granddad? Player: That was Elminster Aumar - the most famous wizard in the realms. Karlach: Huh. Doesn't ring a bell. But all right! Must've had something important to say to Gale, if he came all this way. Good news, I hope. Player: I don't think it was. It turns out Gale has an explosive bomb in his chest - and Mystra has asked him to use it to blow up the heart of the Absolute. Karlach: Whoa, now. He's got a... well, I guess that would explain a little, but... Mystra... I mean, this is a lot to take in. Karlach: What's he going to do? - Player - Option 1: I think he's going to follow through with it. Karlach: Fuck me. There's devotion, and then there's stupidity. If the god of magic can't handle this without sacrificing Gale, she's no god at all. - Player - Option 2: I don't think he'd do that to himself, even if Mystra commanded it. Karlach: Good. I'm one hundred percent sure there's another way to bring down this cult. No true god would ask such a thing from her faithful. That's for certain. Karlach: Poor Gale. He must be in bits after hearing that. I'll distract him. Tell him I haven't read a book since secondary school, watch his face melt off. - Player - Option 3: I'm not sure. I think he's of several minds. Karlach: Well, tell him to pick the right one. Better yet, I'll do it. Fucking wizards, man! They always need help picking the simple, obvious option. Karlach: If Mystra can't think of another way to stop the Absolute than sacrificing Gale, she's no god worth worshipping. I'll say that to Gale - in, you know, gentle terms. - Player - Option 4: You know that bomb in Gale's chest? Mystra has asked him to use it to explode the heart of the Absolute. Karlach: She what?! Is she mad?! - Player - Option 5: Don't worry about it. Karlach: Karlach doesn't worry, she acts. So if Gale needs me, now's the time to tell me.

i particularly like that last response bc it really echoes throughout her relationship with gale ("karlach doesn't worry, she acts. so if gale needs me, now's the time to tell me.").

their banters are often playful, but also genuine. both karlach and gale tease each other, they joke with each other, showing how comfortable they are with each other despite their many differences, but there are also moments of understanding and care between them, allowing them to emphasise with each other:

Karlach: Man, it's good to be home. First round on who? Gale: She who thirsts buys drinks the first. devnote: Like it's a well-known saying Karlach: You won't pin me down with a rhyme, wizard! devnote: Jockeying with Gale (prob supposed to be Joking with Gale) Gale: She who declines gets the worst of the wines.

Karlach: Just when I was getting used to the sky again... Gale: Fear not, Karlach. Sun, moon and stars will still be there waiting for us. devnote: Reassuring Karlach: Meanwhile, this place is pretty spectacular, isn't it? Gale: No book or painting could ever do its strange beauty justice. But perhaps our stories might, when we return to the surface. devnote: Agreeing with Karlach, enjoying the sense of wonder as you explore

Gale: I've always felt flames to be a rather perfect expression of love, Karlach. Gale: Passionate, primal, capable of bestowing the most life-affirming comfort, or inflicting the profoundest damage. devnote: Listing the qualities of fire, Romantic, indulging in the poetry of the image Karlach: That's... pretty nice. Never thought about it like that. But now I will.

Karlach: Wouldn't mind a dancing axe of my own. Gale: A simple movement charm wouldn't be too hard to apply to such an object. I could conjure one up for you if you like? Karlach: Yes! I like! Gale: Very wel then. Once the city is saved, Karlach's Kinetic Cleaver will be first on my list.

Karlach: So, Gale - got any book recommendations for me?devnote: With concern Gale: You can read?! devnote: Taking the piss - knows full well Karlach can read, and that she's always claimed not to enjoy it Karlach: Very funny. Yes - I can read. School put me off big boring tomes. Sometimes I wonder what I'm missing. devnote: Friendly rather than flirtatious Gale: Say no more - I'll find the perfect book for you. I might even lend it to you from my library in Waterdeep. devnote: Jumping on the opportunity to give a book recommendation (a favourite hobby) Karlach: Ooh! Something with magic, please. And no devils.

even at his most vulnerable moments, karlach is there to support him:

before the stormshore tabernacle audience with mystra

Karlach: You can do this, Gale. And I'll be right here when you're done.

she allows herself to be protective of him and get angry on his behalf not after when it comes to mystra, but also when he is potentially kidnapped by orin:

karlach's reaction to gale being kidnapped

Karlach: That bloody freak won't get away with this. That's my wizard she took. And we're going to get him back.

once again, it's a good callback to her previous line: "karlach doesn't worry, she acts. so if gale needs me, now's the time to tell me."

she's willing to be needed by him - and he does need her. whether that is as a friend, or (if you chose to play so during an origin pt) as a romantic partner. it's a lovely dynamic either way.

[sebscore]

heyy! Got a request! So all the drivers are in this fancy yacht in Monaco promoting F1/race. It's black tie event. Our fem! F1 driver comes in wearing gorgeous dress. And I just want everyone's reaction. I think it will be interesting since the fem! F1 driver usually is in F1 overalls/merch. Thank you!

MISS LITTLE BLACK DRESS

pairing: (most of the) f1 grid x reader (including some retired drivers)

warnings: mentions of the fia. a drunk nando at the end lol.

author's note: thank you so much for the request! this was genuinely so fun to write, i'm sorry that i didn't include the entire grid, but for some people i just genuinely didn't know how they would react or i didn't want the reactions to become repetitive. let me know what you thought of it! 💖

• • • • • • •

''Who's that?'' Lando asked Charles and Charlotte, his eyes not leaving the backside of the woman who had just entered the yacht. The question caught the attention of the other people seated on the long couch. George, Carmen, Alex, Lily, Pierre, Yuki, Carlos and Isa followed Lando's eyes.

It was quite hard to recognize her since her face wasn't visible as she talked to Toto, Mattia and Susie. ''Maybe someone from the FIA or something?'' George concluded, taking a wild guess.

''I love her dress, it's so cute.'' Lily whispered to Carmen, admiring the way it hugged the woman's body perfectly. ''I know, it's sexy, but also elegant in a way.''

''Lando, you should go up to her.'' Pierre encouraged him, taking in the way the Brit was eyeing her up and down.

Alex and Charles agreed. ''Yeah, make it a bit fun for us here! This event isn't gonna get any better than this.'' Alex said, the black-tie event was organized by the FIA and those guys weren't exactly known for their fun parties.

''You sure?'' Lando hesitated, the man was newly single and it had been a while since he had approached someone in that kind of a manner. The group cheered him on, wanting to see their friend take some action and move on from his previous relationship. ''What do I even say?''

The question was more directed at the women. ''Compliment her dress, Lando.'' Isa advised him, knowing she would appreciate it. He nodded at her words, repeating the words in his head.

''Yeah, okay- anything else?'' He asked them.

''Just let the conversation flow from there, it'll be okay.'' Carmen assured the younger guy, seeing how he started to get nervous.

Lando got up from his seat, breathing in and out. ''Here we go.'' He took a swig from his beer for some encouragement and made his way over while the rest of the group watched in anticipation.

''Hi, everyone.'' He greeted the team principals and Susie with a smile, before his eyes fell on the reason he was there. The smile was smacked from his face and was replaced by an expression of disbelief.

''Y/N?''

''Hey, Lando.'' She greeted him back, taking notice of his face that she had a hard time reading. ''What's up?''

The McLaren driver was stunned. The woman was Y/N, he had been checking out the woman he had known since the two of them were kids. In his defense, a long time had passed when he last saw her in anything that wasn't oversized or racing related.

''Nothing, just, uh, wanted to come and say hi,'' he managed to stutter out, ''the rest of us are sitting here, if you'd like to join us.'' He motioned towards the entire group that sat with open mouths as Y/N turned around. They quickly covered their surprise up and waved at her, sending her uneasy smiles.

The unaware driver smiled back at them. ''Yeah, I'll join you guys in a minute.'' She wrapped up the conversation with him, growing uncomfortable with Lando's unsubtle stare.

''Great, see you all later.''

Lando quickly bid them goodbye and was ready to crawl into a hole, feeling humiliated and confused all at the same time. He sat back down on his original spot, avoiding eye-contact with everyone.

''That's Y/N? You were gonna flirt with Y/N.'' Carlos stated in disbelief himself, that he hadn't recognized her before. ''That's crazy.''

''I've never seen her like that, she looks good!'' Charlotte was impressed the way the woman could pull off her duality like that, she looked completely different than she did when Charlotte ran into her on the paddock.

The rest of the girls agreed. ''I'm gonna ask her where she got that dress from, I need that in my closet.'' Lily couldn't stop thinking about the little black dress the woman was wearing.

Meanwhile, the boys watched Lando in amusement as he went through all the five stages of grief. ''Lando, man… I'm sorry, I guess.'' Pierre chuckled, covering his huge grin with his hand.

''Yeah, better luck next time.'' Alex said, trying to not burst out laughing at the situation.

Yuki just observed everyone in confusion, not understanding the big fuss they were making about this. ''Lando, you like Y/N?'' The Japanese man had to start paying more attention to the conversation instead of munching on all the appetizers that were spread out on the table in front of them.

''No, Yuki! I didn't know it was her.'' He exclaimed, getting defensive about the entire thing.

The Alpha Tauri driver simply nodded, not caring much either way.

''I think you guys would be cute, a childhood friends to lovers kinda thing.'' Lily teased, trying to make him feel better about it.

Well, she failed. ''No! She's like- Ugh, just no!'' Lando didn't even want to think about it, him and Y/N was just… no.

''You're getting weirdly defensive about this, Lando.'' Charles teasingly noted.

''And you DNF'd this weekend, we all have our problems.''

''Is that Y/N? Oh, look at her.'' The woman caught the eyes of Sebastian, Lewis, Jenson, Mark and Vallterri. She must have sensed their eyes on her as she turned around and made her way over to them, a big smile on her face.

They made some space so she could sit in-between Seb and Jenson. ''We were starting to wonder where you were, our party animal.'' Jenson teased her. The female driver was quite known for never passing the oppurtunity to celebrate something.

''I've been here for a while actually, but Rosberg caught me when I was ordering something at the bar and well- you know when Nico starts talking.'' She explained her absence, recalling the man going on about whatever Nico Rosberg goes on about.

The five men chuckled, knowing how the man could get. ''That Britney, never gets old.''

''I almost didn't recognize you without the usual racing suit.'' Lewis noted, he had to take several looks before being sure that it was in fact her.

Y/N glanced down at her dress. ''Yeah, I was actually gonna go to a club with my friends, but then my team told me this was kinda mandatory, so that sucked.''

''I think we all would rather be at a club right now.'' Mark said, sighing loudly. A party on a yacht was really hard to make boring, but the FIA had obviously done their best to just do that.

''I just came for the free alcohol.'' Vallterri spoke up for the first time, having everyone agree with him.

The conversation split up from there. Jenson and Mark teasing each other about things they had said on live air, and the former Mercedes teammates catching up with each other.

That left Y/N and Seb, the latter nudging her shoulder. ''You look really pretty, Y/N.'' She was touched by the genuineness in his voice. ''Thanks, Seb.''

''Hey, Y/N.'' She moved around and saw a pretty drunk Fernando approaching them. ''Your dress is a bop or whatever you call it.''

''No, Nando… that's not- oh whatever, thank you!''

[ppumeonae-bigvibe]

stay by my side

↖ navigation: nct masterlist || main masterlist

pairing: bf! jeno x fem! reader

↬ tags: jeno refers to you as baby, ft! 00z because when will they not cause chaos, jeno and reader shares a home/ apartment!, reader is also 00z's friend!!, brief mention of period (and jeno having a period tracker for you)

summary: nothing went to plan, but jeno wasn't gonna complain

word count: 1.3k words

jeno dons on his outer coat, checking himself in the mirror before exiting the bathroom. a little worried that you hadn't gotten out of bed despite the sun being sky high already, he strides over to you.

"baby, i'm about to go out. are you up?"

he wasn't going to leave the house until he knew you were awake. the sheets rustled and he pulls back the cover by a bit, "rise and shine my sleepy baby." he sits by the edge of your shared bed, head cocked to the side as he observed each and every of your moves.

you made a noise at the back of your throat—a protest to having been woken by him—and opened your eyes to meet jeno's twinkling (and more awake) ones, "hey..."

jeno immediately frowned at the scratchy tone of your voice, "you don't sound good. you feeling alright?"

“’m just tired. are you leaving now?” you cleared your throat as if attempting to get rid of the sleep in your system. “yeah. i’m out with the boys for a bowling session."

he brushes the stray strands of hair away from your face and catches you leaning into his hold. gently, he pressed his palm directly against forehead.

good, no temperature. he tucks the covers comfortably around your chest, patting you as he did. you wiggled a bit to lie down on your side, eyes half-opened as you stared back at him.

"will you be alright?" he repeats again, fingers intertwined with yours.

you yawned, “i should be. just really tired.” jeno cups your face in his hands and pressed multiple kisses all over your face, causing you to briefly smile at the affectionate action. "i'll be back as soon as i can."

"i will miss you."

that few words seemed to pierce his heart and it throbbed uncomfortably against his ribs.

as he stands up, he was torn between hanging out with his friends and also to just be there for you. you sensed his hesitance, squeezing his arm, "jeno, i'll be okay. our friends are gonna make a fuss if you don't show your handsome face in a few."

"anything you're on my hot dial, alright? just ring me." he emphasized, making sure you acknowledge his request before he leaves the room. he glances through the whole house, making sure that windows were shut, the hot water had just been boiled and everything was placed away neatly—just the way you liked it.

momentary worry gave way to anticipation when he sees the message from jaemin, telling them they were waiting downstairs. he slips on his sneakers and locks the door with a soft click, dashing down the steps 2 at a time towards the apartment's carpark.

"yo! you're here!" jaemin greets from behind the steering wheel as the window winds down. "hurry up or we're going to be late!" haechan—who was in the shotgun seat—hollered at him.

jeno makes his way over, but stopped when the image of you pitifully (you claimed you were fine...but were you really?) lying in bed surfaced in his mind. did he imagine it or were you looking a little paler too, with a slight hint of pain lacing your voice earlier?

"i...don't think i'm gonna go with you guys."

"look at him. it's definitely a lover's quarrel." haechan teased, arm slightly leaning out of the window frame. renjun cranes his neck from the back seats, "if you're grounded or something, then we're just gonna go ahead."

jaemin makes a show of inching the car forward by a few centimetres, causing all three of them to laugh.

"the kind of friends i have." jeno dramatically shakes his head. "one, i'm not having a lover's quarrel. two, i'm not grounded. the thing is, my lover is just feeling under the weather and i don't feel assured leaving her alone."

"jeno being a sappy lover is difficult for my mind to wrap around. he didn't even visit me when i broke my arm." jaemin joked to break the tension and everyone laughed again.

"i'm sorry guys. i know we've planned this for a while now."

haechan waved him off, "we get it, loverboy. now go before i start gagging!" renjun smacks the back of haechan's head, earning him a pained "ow!", before looking back jeno, "jeno-ah, just go up. we'll get going first."

jeno spun around, "i'll treat y'all to something next time. i promise."

----

as jeno makes his way back up, he receives a notification from the period tracker app and everything clicks into place. the way you were subtly hunched over yesterday, mentioning about how your back hurt and even the resurgence of your chocolate cravings all made sense now.

jeno slots the key into the lock and swings open the door. as expected, you were in deep sleep considering the fact that everything was still in place. toeing off his shoes by the door, he closed it shut behind him and hurriedly made his way over to the room.

"baby..." he greets and you groggily gazed at him. "didn't you just leave...? why did you come back?" despite your words sounding like you wanted him to go, your opened arms begged him to stay. and stay he would, as he comes up to you, "i'm worried for you, so i came back."

the face you made was worth it because you tugged him even closer, till his entire body was up on the bed and toppled over you. with his arms bracketing your body, you were effectively caged in his warm embrace.

"you didn't have to..." he chuckles when you hid your warm face in the juncture of his neck, his body relaxing knowing that it was the right thing to have chosen to stay by your side.

"i know that. i wanted to. the guys were chill with it." he pushed himself up on his elbows, a hair's breadth away from your blushing face. "so...how does netflix and chill sound?"

"i would love that. hopefully our friends don't get too mad that we're spending time again this week."

----

much to your surprise, the other 3 made their appearance by the door, armed with takeout and other goodies mid movie.

"what are you doing here?" jeno stands with his arms on his hips, bewildered. the movie was playing in the background and you peeked out your head from amidst the soft blankets, "haechan? jaemin and renjun?"

"because these two were bickering about how not fun it would be without you or actually either of you two. and then when we reached the alley, the booking got cancelled because we were actually really late. so we decided to crash your pity party." renjun summarized, not forgetting to point to the two troublemakers.

haechan being haechan, shuffles into the dim apartment which was set up for the movie, "i think this is better than the bowling alley. there were too many kids there anyways." jaemin huffs, "you're the real problem here haech. anyways where is my bestie!"

jaemin pushes past jeno, sheds off his coat and makes himself comfortable beside you. he gave you a once over before wagging his fingers, "girl, you look like you need some of these food. eat up and don't even try to feed your self-sufficient boyfriend."

you burst out laughing at the whole situation: an appalled jeno staring at the three of them making themselves in you two's shared home (you did say they were welcomed anytime they wanted to), haechan already starting to eat the takeout, renjun raiding your kitchen for utensils and cups, jaemin who was outright haggling you in front of your boyfriend.

jeno clambers onto the sofa, manhandling you out of jaemin's grasp. jaemin huffs, but immediately got distracted by the food haechan held out to him, renjun automatically rewinding the movie to the start so that they could watch it.

"a stay at home kinda day huh?"

"wouldn't change it for the world."

@ppumeonae-bigvibe 's work ; likes and reblogs are appreciated <3

[sweetheart-satoru]

his eyes, breathtaking

you tried to ignore him and your feelings, but they were stubborn.

author's note: me cuz i promised part two in october and now it's here 🙈🙈 don't hate me at least it's here 💋 i love you silly billies 🫶🏽

part one here !!

"you two in a fight or somethin'?" shoko says, leaning back in her chair. satoru places his cheek in his palm, "dunno, she's definitely mad at me, though." suguru tilts his head, "how come?"

"i dont know, can you ask her about it?" shoko shrugs, "i'll ask her at break." satoru nods, "thanks." you and satoru sit behind shoko and suguru. two seats in each spot.

when you walk into class you just stare out the window until shoko makes small talk with you, hoping the awkwardness would pass. “y/n, your bracelet is pretty.”

“thank you!” you grin at her, mood changing instantly. “yeahh,” satoru agrees, and he frowns as he watches your grin turn neutral, “i like it too, by the way.” he coughs. “mhm.. thanks, gojo.” you went back to the last name basis, and his heart drops.

shoko gives him a look, pointing at his phone, telling him to text her. and he does, along does suguru.

shoko: shes def mad

satoru: thanks a lot, i didn’t notice 😐!!

suguru: why is she mad tho?? what did you do??

satoru: why are you guys blaming me?! i don’t know either.

you cough, “hey- uh, shoko.. i’m gonna go to the washroom, ‘kay? if the bell rings before im back i’ll meet you by the gates.” you tell her before walking out. “mhm, okay!” she calls out. and when you shut the door she immediately turns to satoru and suguru.

“suguru, did you hear that? earlier, she called satoru by his last name. something is totally wrong.” and suguru nods, agreeing. “well, satoru. you should go follow her. this is your chance. the bell will ring soon so it doesn’t matter how much time you take, go!”

satoru nods, “mhm, okay!” and then he rushes out of class, going to see if he can finally talk to you.

you splash cold water on your face. mumbling to yourself, "get your shit together, y/n." you weren't going to lie, on a hot day like this, the cold water felt nice. patting your cheeks, you stare into the mirror, feeling a little bit less disgusted with yourself.

"oh, hey! i don't look too ugly today!" you give yourself a half grin, taking out a tube of lipgloss and lip tint from your pocket. "i'll just fix this up.." you say to yourself quietly.

when you're done you fix your hair, "not too bad, y/n." you smile to yourself, quietly feeling good. you were right to tell shoko to leave class and not wait, you were taking too much time and the bell did ring.

you check your phone and see that she texted you.

shoko: me and suguru are headed to the convenience store, satoru also went to the washroom so you two can meet up with us together

you visibly frown, oh shit. okay, y/n. just play it cool. if you hurry up maybe you can rush to them and you won't need to see him. yeah, if you hurry up you can make it without it. or you can wait it out and hope he leaves without you.

feeling your stomach growl, you screw idea #2 and just speed walk out of the washroom, making a quick turn before in the corner of your eye you see satoru leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. he was looking down at his phone, but now that your in his eye line, he raises his brows.

"wow, you sure take your time. im telling shoko she can't blame me for being late as this time it was your fault." he walks up to you and boops your nose.

you push his hand away, scrunching your nose. "mhm," you nod, cursing yourself for being too late, "lets uh, just go." he shakes his head, "nope."

narrowing your eyes, "huh? nope?" he grabs your wrist, "yeah, nope." he repeats, bringing you closer to him, and he frowns when you pull back. "lets talk."

"talk? talk about what? can we just go? im hungry." you complain, trying to pull your arm out. before (pt 1), when he grabbed your wrist he only held it lightly, now he was gripping it like if he let go, you would disappear.

"you're," you grunt, "hurting me." quietly, he mumbles a quick apology, but never fully lets go, just loosening his hold. "are you mad at me? and be serious, i don't want any half assed answer. tell me what you're feeling." he frowns.

"im.. im not mad at you." you look down to your shoes, and it's true. you weren't mad at him. you were mad at how he made you feel. you hate having feelings, especially with someone you're close with. it always comes back to bite you back in the ass. "then what is it?"

you stay silent. "y/n i know it has to be something to do with me, every time you speak to someone else you're back to being yourself, but when it's me it's like you hate me." your eyes widen, "i don't hate you." you blurt, and he gives you a sad smile. "then what is it? did i make you sad?"

"yes, but no, but like yes maybe kinda no. yes as in yes it has something to do with you, but no nothing you did intentionally." he raises his brow at that, "then what did i 'yes but no like yes maybe kinda no' do to you to make you stop talking to me for seven days?" you watch the hurt and sadness swirl in his eyes, his beautiful, breathtaking eyes.

"it's.. complicated! i don't know how to explain, it's just complicated!" you crouch down, into a frog like position. and he mimics your frog pose, bringing his face closer to yours, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"it's just, all in my head! i don't.. know.." you mutter, trailing off. "what're you thinking in here," he mumbles, "what are you thinking in your pretty little head." he taps two fingers on your forehead, and all you can think about his making out with him until your lips are too kiss-swollen to be touched.

"..stuff." you whisper, burying your face inside your hands, trying to hide your face that's on the verge of exploding with embarrassment. "oh, i get it." his lips curve into a smirk. all sadness gone.

he chuckles, and his chuckles turn into loud laughter. and his loud laughing turns into full on cackling until he really, truly cannot breathe.

"what are you laughing at..." you feel your heart pounding. it feels like its about to burst and fall right in between you two. he's still laughing, trying to cover his mouth to try and stop it. he's laughing so hard you see tears fall out of his eyes. "i can't fucking breathe!" he gasps for air, still laughing.

"oh my god, you're in love with me!" your heart drops to your stomach, and he's still laughing. his eyes are squeezed shut, he's gripping onto his pants like his life depends on it because he seriously cannot breathe.

all this time, for seven days you've ignored talking to him and texting him back, not because you were mad at him but because you had fucking feelings for him! oh god, he should've put the pieces together!

every time you would smile to yourself if your fingers brushed together, how you would look sad when someone who go up to him and confess, how you would smile down at him with a certain time of warmth when he would tie your shoelaces for you, how you would hug him longer than nessasary when he would pay for you food

"god! it's impossible to talk to you!" you hiss, getting up to leave to god knows where. just as you're about to turn your heel, going to walk away, he grabs your wrist.

"satoru, let go, just leave me alo-" he cuts you off by placing his hands on your cheeks, and then you feel his soft lips on yours. your eyes widen as you feel him bringing you closer to him. squeezing your eyes shut, you try and keep up with his skilled lips. he just took your first kiss and you don't know what you're doing!

he breaks the kiss off and grins down at you. "was that your first kiss?" you just turn your head away, trying to hide your flustered face. "you suck." he snickers, teasing you.

you frown, "shut up! you just caught me off guard, that's all! and if you must know i have kissed many people!" you were straight up lying through your teeth and he smirks, knowing.

"prove it. kiss me again. show me you're experienced." he leans against the wall, eyeing you like a hawk. "no. let's go to shoko and suguru, im hungry!" it wasn't like you were lying now, it's true. you were starved. "no?" he questions, cocking his head to the side. "no." you repeat, "now lets go." you try and drag his arm. he just chuckles and follows you.

he intertwines your fingers together, holding you close to him. he watches you from the corner of his eyes as you randomly look at both of your hands, and then turn away smiling. he also turns his head away to smile. a faint blush rested on his cheeks before he stops you both.

he lets go of your hand before using it to turn your head to him to place a small kiss on your lips again. when you pull back, "you still suck." he leans in to kiss you again but you just shove him. "ugh shut up!"

you speed walk ahead of him, "you're the one who sucks!" he just laughs, "don't leave me behinddddd!!" to which the response he got back was getting flipped off.

as you keep walking ahead, even though he could easily catch up with his lanky long legs, he just runs and jumps on your back, yelling out, "piggy back ride!"

you stumble forwards, holding onto his legs making sure he doesn't fall over, "you idiot, we could've fallen!" you laugh, and he just wraps his arms around you, careful as not to choke you, and kisses your head, "but you love me so even if we fell you'll forgive me."

"yeah, yeah, whatever." you grumble, adjusting him on your back. and he grins, snuggling his face into your neck, loving the sweet smell of (whatever you smell like that's good) and shutting his eyes.

"i love you too." and he can basically feel the grin stretched onto your face.

i accidentally deleted most of the work so now it's not even good :( it literally looks like i shat in my hand, gave it to you and called it writing.. the first version was so much better 🤐

anyways tags for the lovelies that have been waiting months of this <3 @ari-hatake15 @chuuberrysworld @solialuna @kazuahhh @voidsatoru <3 @loquia @mykyoon @i-be-teff @arminsgfloll @4evahevah @the-devilskid @ys2800 sorry if i didn't tag you some of them aren't showing up :(

[the-froschamethyst4]

Embrace

𖤐Pairing: Husband! Ghost x Wife! Reader

𖤐Pronouns: She/Her

𖤐Warnings: fluff, language, kissing, married couple, children, more use of Simon than Ghost, protective Simon, a worried and caring mother,

𖤐Summary: Y/n and Simon’s daughter Luna is having a hard time being able to see, in school her teacher notices a few signs and has a talk with the parents to discuss about possible glasses for the child

————

————

“Mr. and Mrs. Riley, please come in,” Luna’s 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Anderson has called both Y/n and Simon to the school to talk to them about their daughter.

“Is everything okay with Luna?” Y/n asked, nervously.

“Oh yes, she is doing just fine, grades are amazing but ummm~ I wanted to talk about her writing…”

“What’s wrong with her writing?” Simon asks.

“Oh it’s nothing bad but we usually have our annual spelling bee on Fridays and well. I’ve noticed that her handwriting it’s a bit…odd.”

“How odd?” Simon sounded offended.

“Simon.”

“Oh no I understand how that may sound but I mean it in no disrespect Mr.Riley…well…here this was from Luna’s test last week…I have a hard time grading it because of the poorly written handwriting.”

“I see,” Y/n says examining her daughter’s work.

“I mean I could read it but it was hard for to notice if she spelled it right or not…I’ve also picked up on how she writes…she writes with her face very close to the paper to be able to see…does she have glasses or anything?”

“No, we were never told that she may need them.” Y/n places her hand on Simon’s. “Luna’s last check up with the doctor was just a month ago and he never said anything.”

"Could we just see if she needs them? I don't want her falling behind or struggling later on."

"Of course," Y/n says.

"What the hell does that teacher know," Simon and Y/n walked hand-and-hand down the hall.

"Simon, don't cuss in a school," Y/n warns him.

"Shouldn't we know what's best for Luna?"

"Simon, if she's saying she's worried we have to take that into consideration, I'll take her to the optometrist Saturday and we'll see," Y/n says.

As they walked to the front office they saw Luna, she sat in a dark blue chair looking at a poster on the wall, she squints her eyes like she was trying to see. Y/n's heart clenches in her chest knowing the teacher maybe right.

"Luna," Y/n coos for her daughter. She looks at Y/n and Simon getting off the chair and running to them both.

---------

Luna sat in her car seat humming the song that was playing as Y/n pulled into a parking lot.

"Mama, where are we?"

"We are at the doctors."

"The doctor?" Luna hated the doctor like every child does.

"Just an eye doctor baby," Y/n gets out of the car and comes around unbuckling her daughter. She places her on the ground and Luna grabs Y/n's hand as they walked through the doctors door.

Almost immediately they were greeted by a young lady from behind the desk.

"Hi, I had made an appointment with Doctor Avery."

"Luna Riley?"

"Yes," Y/n says.

"Ok, follow me," the lady gave Y/n some paper work to fill out as Luna saw some glasses. She walks up to them and picked up a small light pink pair.

"Careful with them, baby," Y/n says as Luna just put them back and sat next to her mom.

"Mama, why are we here?"

"Your teacher, Mrs. Anderson says you are having a hard time seeing, she moved you up to the front because you told her that you couldn't see from the back seat."

"Yeah," Luna says, looking over her moms arm and seeing her fill out the paperwork. "I can see mama."

"Luna, how many finger am I holding up?" Luna is holding up 4 fingers.

"5?"

"4, baby."

"I was close."

"Yeah, but you need some baby, who knows maybe you just need them to read and not for distance," Y/n says.

"Luna Riley?" Y/n stood up grabbing her purse and waiting for Luna to take Y/n's hand.

"Luna Riley," Y/n repeats.

"Follow me," the man says with a soft smile. They walk to a back room and Y/n places Luna on a chair with paper on it.

"Okay, Luna have you ever had glasses before?"

"No," Luna says and shakes her head.

"Alright, that's okay," he says. "Mom you had wrote down that she can see far away but it's mainly close up, right?"

"Correct," Y/n says.

Okay, now, Luna I am going to run some tests on you, and ask some questions, okay?"

"Okay." Luna was nervous, she's never been here and it's a different and new environment she's not use to.

"When you look at things close up, do you get headaches?"

"Sometimes," Luna says.

"Are they bad headaches where you close your eyes?" Luna nods.

"Do you get cloudy vision?" Luna shakes her head.

"It's like...fuzzy," Luna says. Doctor Avery kept asking Luna and Y/n questions, and then Doctor Avery had move onto the tests.

Shining a light in her eyes to see her pupils delight, and making her follow the light and also making her seeing if she could see certain letters.

"Can you read the bottom line for me?"

"It's blurry, I can't see it."

"Okay, that's fine. What about this line?"

"Can't see it." The lines kept getting bigger and bigger till Luna was finally able to read the line. "B...F...E...Z...O?"

"Okay, good, here...Luna can you read me the third row?"

"F...E...Z...A? T."

"Okay, okay, good," Doctor Avery then gave her some weird looking glasses. Adjusting them to see if Luna could see clearly with a certain lens over her eyes.

"Okay, Luna tell me if lens A or lens B is better."

"A."

"Okay...lens B or lens C?"

"C."

"Alright, lens C or lens D?"

"C."

The test went on for a little bit as Doctor Avery listened to Luna and what she could and could not see. As Doctor Avery took notes for Luna and what proper lens she will need.

Now it was time for Luna to start her glasses picking. Luna sat at the small wooden table with glasses spread out in front of her. Some bright and colorful and other dark colors.

She picks up the small light pinks one from earlier. She puts them on and looks in the small mirror in front of her and turned behind her looking up at Y/n.

"Mama, what about these?"

"They look so cute on you, baby," she smiles as she bends down, her hand on Luna's back and the other resting on the table helping Luna decide which ones she wanted.

"How many do I get mama?"

"Two pairs."

"I want the pink and yellow," Luna says.

"Alright, we will get the lens in them and by Monday they should be good, would like us to mail them or would you like to come and pick them up?"

"Pick them up should be good," Y/n says as Doctor Avery took the pink and yellow pair to the back.

---------

Simon sat at the kitchen counter with Luna, she was trying to read but had a hard time.

"Luna, baby don't hurt yourself, go take a break," Y/n says as Luna closed to the book, hopping off the stool and going to play with her toys.

"When do those glasses come in?" Simon asked.

"Tomorrow, which reminds me, could you take her? I have a meeting tomorrow."

"Sure, my love," Simon says, walking to Y/n and kissing her lips.

-----------

Simon had picked up Luna after school, and immediately took her back to the eye doctor. Simon held Luna on his hip and walked through the door.

Luna smiles and they walk to the counter.

"Hi," Simon's deep voice booms.

"Oh, hello, sir, how can I help you?"

"I have an order to pick up."

"Yes of course, name?"

"Luna Riley." Simon then places Luna on the counter as the girl gets the glasses and places them on Luna's face.

"Do they need to be readjusted?"

"Yes," Luna says, taking the glasses off.

"Are the lens alright?"

"Yes," Luna then looks at Simon. Simon smiles at his daughter. "I can see you daddy," she says, which just melts Simon's heart to hear that from his daughter.

"I'm glad, baby," Simon says, cupping her face and kissing her forehead. "Thank you."

"Of course, have a good day," the lady smiles as Simon took his daughter back home.

---------

"MAMA! MAMA! LOOK AT MY GLASSES!!" Luna yells excitedly as she runs into the house.

"Oh my baby, can you finally see?"

"Yeah, mama you have a pretty face," Luna places her hands on her moms face making Y/n's heart clench in her chest and she kisses Luna's cheek making her laugh.

----------

Going to school the next day, Luna was nervous what the kids in her class will think. Luna sits in her chair in front of the class and some kids saw her glasses and went up to her to see them.

You'd think these kids have never seen someone with glasses before from how they acted.

"Luna are those new?"

"Can I see them?"

"Can I wear them?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Can you read?"

The questions kept coming and Luna would answer the best she could, none of the kids were being mean, they were just being like curious little kids, asking questions.

"Luna, I see you have glasses now," Mrs. Anderson bent down to Luna's level. She's glad Y/n and Simon took her advice that Luna may need glasses, most parents would have ignored Mrs. Anderson's advice.

"Yeah, I can see now," Luna says with a smile.

The whole day was Luna just being happy she could properly see now, Mrs. Anderson was going over the new spelling words for Friday.

Luna was excited that she could see and when going home, she told Simon about her day and how she was able to finally enjoy quiet reading time at school because she could see.

Luna use to not read during reading time because she couldn't see the words and her face would be shoved deep into the book, but now it was away from her face and she could read the words just fine.

"I'm glad you had a good day, baby."

"Me too, daddy." Luna says with a smile on her face as she ate her snack in the back of Simon's truck and drinking her bug juice (y'all remember those?)

[kiyoramen]

hii!! Is your request box open rn?? if so can i request a comfort fic about osamu who has a very cheerful and talkative gf, she stopped talking because of her stress from uni and he didnt even notice it because he is also v busy, you can make as angsty or as fluffy as you’d like

ps. I reallyy love the suna fic you made😮‍💨

warning: this is genuine word vomit because i am freaking out over uni and i need to feel like im in control

osamu stares at the one stubborn lightbulb inside the kitchen that just won't stop flickering. he sits on the his favorite stool tapping his pencil against his thick notebook filled with chicken scrawl and drawings that only he can understand.

he sighs, stands up, and walks around the kitchen trying to figure out his options. in the midst of thinking, he remembers you. breath in, breath out. that's it baby, i'm here. you would always say.

he pats the pockets on his pants and apron and fishes out his phone from one of them. he opens your chat log, expecting updates but sees none. then he opens messages from his brother, he sees a picture of you with your eyebrows furrowed, staring at your laptop, your back like the hunchback of notredame's. the picture was send 2 hours ago.

he opens your contact and dials your number.

the number you have dialed cannot be reached.

he frowns and open's his brother's instead and calls him. he answers immediately.

"why are ya with my girl?"

he can hear a faint jazz track in the background and the clinking of cups and forks on plates. atsumu doesn't answer for a while, seemingly not listening to the phone.

"hey ugly" he greets osamu.

osamu repeats his question and atsumu answers, "saw her at the cafe near uni, she's seriously in the zone bro, she didn't even notice me for 10 minutes"

"let me talk to her"

atsumu nods, osamu imagines, and he hears shuffling again before he's greeted with a disgruntled hello.

"hi baby, you got a minute?"

he hears you sniff and he can hear your aggressive typing, it sounds like you're chasing time.

"i don't know, can you be quick, 'samu?"

he sighs, "i just wanted to check up on you"

"great" there's a pause and he hears the clicking of your keyboard even more, "so now that i don't need you to you're checking up on me"

osamu closes his eyes, trying to choose the right words to say, he doesn't want you to aggravate you even more. his own frustrations wash away as he feels yours.

"i'm sorry," he says softly "i was so caught up with work i didn't even notice that you were stressing out"

the other side is quiet for a while, save for atsumu's whining of not having his phone, osamu prays that you deck him on the face.

"i'm sorry too, that was mean but samu i really don't have time to talk, i feel like everything is out of control and i'm literally chasing the time right now..." he listens to you ramble, he's used to this, he knows what to say and he knows when to say it.

by the end of your rant you sigh heavily and he hears your forehead bump softly against the table.

"we can control something" he continues when he doesn't hear anything from you, "breathe with me"

he breathes in and waits for you to do the same, when he hears you he breathes out and you follow. "lets do it at the same time okay?"

"okay" you say meekly.

"breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out"

you breathe together and you feel everything slowing down and you feel control and you feel better.

"is that better?"

"mhm"

osamu picks his pencil up and sits back down on his stool. "i love you alright?"

"i love you too"

"i'll pick you up in an hour?"

"in two hours"

he chuckles, "okay baby, i'll be there"

[otomiyaa]

Funny

Venom x Eddie

[Fic Reupload] - Venom fic reupload to celebrate the 3rd movie which I'll see tomorrow. This fic is originally from 2018.

Summary: Venom and Eddie discover that Venom feels good whenever Eddie is being tickled. Life was definitely easier before they shared this knowledge. (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 1.9K

“Thanks for today,” Eddie said to Anne who had given him a ride home after a friendly drink at the bar. 

“Pleasure’s mine. I’m glad you’re doing better again. But one more thing I’ve been wanting to ask,” Anne said, leaning her hand on the wheel as she turned towards him, and she looked him up and down as if she was checking him out.

“She’s going to ask us out, Eddie. It’s going to happen.” Eddie had trouble keeping a pokerface as he tried to ignore Venom’s voice. 

“...Are you even eating at all? I am concerned,” Anne finished.

“Too bad. But yeh, we are eating. Right Eddie? We are eating a lot of ー”

“Look at you! So thin!” Anne cried out in surprise, and Eddie jumped when she suddenly grabbed his side.

“Here! Are these your ribs?” She asked after clawing up his side and now she dug in to feel his ribs as a confirmation of his skinny body. 

“Whoho! Anne, you know I’m ー”

“What, still ticklish? Come on,” the sneaky blonde sighed, and she leaned towards him and tickled him teasingly with both hands.

“No! Sto-stohop! Hey!” Eddie laughed.

“What is going on.” A certain monster in his head sounded confused, but Eddie was now busy prying his ex’s fingers off his body, and he wheezed when she finally backed off.

“Feed yourself, Eddie. See you soon.” Eddie nodded, muttered a “you too”, and quickly stepped out of the car, still a little bit flustered. Not because of Anne tickling him, heck, that was just good old times. Just because it happened now that Venom was here, and eh, well yeah.

“What was that? You were acting strange.” There it was already, and Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes as he entered his apartment. 

“Ticklish, T-I-C-K-L-I-S-H, ticklish, a human can feel funny if touched in a certain way. There. Done. Got it?” 

He would’ve rather skipped the explanation, but there was some other time when Venom was curious about something (something sexual about the human body) and he had bugged Eddie in the worst ways a symbiote can bug a person to finally spill the beans, which he was holding back oh so badly. 

Eddie still got shivers from the memory of doing the sex-talk to the monster inside him. For Venom forcing him to demonstrate and- never mind. He had never experienced something so awkward. At least since that time, anything sexual was completely normal in his life again- since Venom showed up. 

But tickling... He hoped he’d never have to get used to that. 

“Ticklish,” Venom repeated, sounding weird and maybe a tiiiny bit cute in that monstrous voice. 

“Not painful?” he added.

“No, not painful. Just weird. Funny. Yeah funny, it’s like a funny feeling that forces a human to, well yeah, laugh. Don’t you ever feel funny, V?” Eddie asked.

“I felt funny.” Eddie frowned, leaning against his fridge from which he just took a beer and some snacks.

“When?” he asked.

“Just now.” Eddie kept his frown.

“You mean.. When Anne tickled me? You were affected?” he asked. Venom then decided to come out, and Eddie watched him tower over him before he finally lowered himself at eye height.

“Rather than funny... It felt nice. I want to feel it again.” Eddie smirked and shook his head at him, and he put his beer and snacks aside.

“What, you want me to tickle you?” Eddie wiggled his finger at Venom and raised his eyebrows when said monster did not back down. Apparently the feeling was nice enough for Venom to act like a dog awaiting petting. 

“Go ahead. But I don’t think it works that way.”

Eddie was confused, but he still did it. As weird as it felt, he scratched Venom’s skin experimentally. Venom watched him with those bright eyes, flashing his sharp teeth in some sort of smug smile but not because of the tickling.

“Feeling anything yet?” Eddie asked. Venom shook his head. Too bad. 

“No. See, I told you it wouldn’t work. I think I feel nice when you feel... ticklish.” Eddie laughed at that and shook his head.

“Ohoho well in that case, too bad for you V. Not happening.” He turned back to grab his beer, but Venom circled around him, blocking his way. A certain fanged grin told him this is happening, and Eddie could barely try to escape before Venom snaked an inky tentacle around his middle, keeping him in place.

“Now let’s see. How did this ticklish thing workー”

“Tickling. And let go, V, this isn’tー ahah- hey! Nooo!” Eddie cried as Venom began to drag his claws down his sides, careful enough not to hurt him. Eddie tensed up and squeezed his eyes shut. He heard Venom’s low chuckling, sending chills down his spine.

“You look funny.” 

“Feel funny too, listen, if you don’t let me go now, I won’t buy you any chocolate andー EHEeeh w-wait! No!” Eddie squirmed and began to panic as Venom slowly began to discover how tickling exactly worked, and he cursed himself, Anne, Venom and the entire world for this embarrassing situation.

“Making threats huh. Is this all... that bad?” Venom’s clawy fingers began to wiggle. Prodding into Eddie’s shirt-covered torso, curiously seeking reactions, and Eddie twitched and squirmed in his grip.

“GAHa! Nonono V, I’m warning y-haha!” Venom grinned in satisfaction.

“There it is, the tingly feeling. This feels nice.” Eddie kept his eyes squeezed shut again and he kicked and struggled against the invading tickles. His arms continued to flail and swing in order to defend himself, but did nothing but make Venom more teasy and playful.

This was out of this world. Venom was feeling good from him being tickled. This was just all sorts of wrong, and he felt how his struggling and kicking tired him out as more laughter kept flowing out of him.

“You are moving so much. Let me help you.” Eddie’s eyes shot open and widened when a second tentacle joined the game, wrapping around his wrists and stretching him out for the tickle-hungry monster right in front of him.

“NO! D-dohohon’t you dare- ahhaha! Not helping!” There was no weirder display than this twisted situation in his kitchen. Venom was going all out, finding more and more ways to make him howl with laughter, to make it feel as if his body was bursting from all these sensations.

Venom’s claws pushed up his shirt and drove Eddie mad by how they traced lightly over his bare skin.

“NHAHA- Venohohom! Please no, aaahaha!” Venom made a hilarious purring sound, but did not stop the tickling.

“Sorry Eddie. I am intrigued. By this feeling. And by your.. singing and dancing.” Eddie shook his head, tears dripping on his cheeks, and he tried to gather his breath.

“NAhahat-dancii- aahaha wait no not thehehere! Veehehe!” He started to thrash around especially when Venom got to his armpits, and he felt him scribble the skin light enough not to leave scratches, but bad enough to tickle the living daylights out of him.

He was shaking his head so frantically that the tickle monster with him in its clutches suddenly slithered out his tongue, wrapping it around his neck tightly enough to keep his head in place. The tip of his tongue flicked against his neck, adding more ticklish sensations to the overwhelming experience.

“You’re kihihiilling meeehehe! Stahahap!” Venom cocked his head but didn’t stop.

“We are both feeling good though.” That damn monster should learn to speak for himself. Eddie kicked his legs, but Venom’s tentacle holding onto his middle slid down to hold onto his legs, so now he was really stretched before him like some piece of meat ready to be eaten.

“Nohohot meee! S-stop thihis instaaaant!” Eddie’s shame for his laughter was long gone by now. All he could worry about was the next level of shame: if Venom would tickle him to the point of wetting his pants, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself and this damn monster.

“I’ll f-fuhuhuckin pee!” Venom glanced down at his crotch and back up.

“That can happen?” Eddie hated him for sounding like a child who was excited to find out if he really could. 

“I s-swear, you don’t wanna find out,” Eddie wheezed. Venom had stopped the tickling by now, so this was his chance to negotiate. 

“Are you okay?” Eddie sighed. He couldn’t believe this beast.

“No! I told you to stop many times! I am not okay. Let go of me,” he demanded. Venom stared at him for a long time and then finally released him. Eddie slumped onto the floor and he felt Venom re-enter him. It was over. 

“You were feeling funny. And I was feeling good. I don’t see a problem.” Eddie rolled his eyes and laughed in disbelief.

“Feeling funny must’ve been my worst description of tickling. It’s like torture.”

“But you were laughing. You seemed happy, even though you were begging like a baby.”  

“Yes, I was laughing. It’s a reflex. But just because it makes you feel good, you can’t just go and restrain me and...” 

“Tickle you.” At least he had learned how to use the verb.

“Yes. You can’t do that, it’ll kill me. I am too ticklish. I am making this a new rule. No tickling,” he said. Venom was quiet for a moment.

“But it feels even better than when we jerk oー”

“Venom. You can’t tickle me anymore. It’s bad for me, my body, my dignity.” 

“Which dignity?” That little...

“If you won’t let me tickle you at all, I’m afraid we might go on a nightly tour tonight. Those horses last time were delicious.” Eddie closed his eyes dramatically. This negotiation was going the wrong way. 

He had made his point clear to Venom how he hated waking up in his bed, bare feet cold, bruised and dirty, and his shirt and bed sheets soaked with blood. Blood that seemingly came from poor defenseless horses that Venom had decided to snack on that night while he was in a deep sleep.

“...Once a week. And no longer than you did just now,” Eddie finally said, knowing that Venom had even worse things to blackmail him with, so he’d better get this over with soon.

“I was thinking once a day. Eating is also a daily necessity.”

“V, you tickle me for your own pleasure. That’s entirely different. Fine then, two days a week. And only in my apartment, don’t you dare pull that trick outside.”

“Five days? You do think of your own pleasure every night, Eddie. Why are youー”

“Three days, that’s my final offer,” Eddie interrupted Venom impatiently. 

“Deal.” Eddie couldn’t believe it. And so it was a fact that they made a deal that Venom would get the right to tickle him every other day, inside his apartment, and Eddie had pushed onto using ‘parasyte’ as his safeword, and Venom had added the condition that Eddie “shouldn’t be a pussy and exaggerate,” for he survived the tickling just now as well, and his body seemed juuust fine.

And so, as life with Venom grew a little easier every day, it also got harder every day, and Eddie had no idea how he was going to deal with getting tickled to death everytime for Venom’s own pleasure, but oh well, there were worse things. Just like he had to learn to live with a symbiote inside him, he’d also have to learn to live with this. How funny. 

[tastesousweet]

⭒ the girl with the tattoo (x) - pt 1 pt 2 p3 p4 p5 p6 p7 p8 p9

matt sturniolo x fem!oc / reader

summary : after three resentful weeks apart, only matt and y/n could find themselves more fond of each other.

warnings : angst, fluffy, mentions of alcohol and weed, sort of proofread

mickey speaks : THANK U FOR UR PATIENCE SWEET ANGELS HERE’S THE 10TH PART FOR YOU!!! tgwtt is already in double digits 🥹 only like 8 more parts to go

THIS IS PART TEN GO READ THE OTHERS FIRST PLEASE!!!

"COME on y/n we'll have so much fun!"

you haven't had a night out in weeks.

following matt's party, you swore off alcohol until your own birthday in mid-september, afraid of the amount you'd allow yourself to consume now that you're feelings are supremely hurt and bitterness coated your tongue.

it was difficult to turn down the first week, despite the smell and taste of any drink making your stomach turn you craved the drunken effect and secretly wanted to run into matt- just to see what he'd have the nerve to say to you. but the mature, wiser part of your brain knows there is nothing good to come from spiteful drinking. so you've declined every weekend.

you know in your heart that your friends only want you to feel good and have fun with them. it's the only reason you've tolerated this current conversation for so long.

"i believe you! but i'm just saying i'll have just as much fun with this bowl of strawberries and my bed," you reach into a cabinet for one of the many off-white glass bowls.

"baby you haven't been out with us in so long, we miss you!" remi beams kicking her legs as she sits atop your counter, fully dressed and decorated for her night out (contrasting the bare face, oversized tee, and panties you wear).

you sigh and look over to the three girls huddled in your kitchen, "no, you guys know 'm not drinking right now," you shake your head and push off of the counter heading towards the fridge in search of your berries.

"i'm just confused on why you're suddenly so strict on drinking? and regardless of the drinking you could have fun without it if you loosen up a bit..." erin replies while resting her body against the wall next to remi's spot.

you roll your eyes while your face is still in your fridge before shutting it back, "i don't understand what's not clicking erin, i don't want to go out at all! i want to stay at home and be away from drunk people and watch something brainless and then i wanna go take a fucking bath. i'm so tired of having to explain and repeat myself. please go, please have a good time, and please- respectfully, mind your business."

you run water over your strawberries and andrea's eyes widen as she turns back towards the counter to pour herself another shot.

"alright, whatever.” erin shakes her head, “dre, remi, i'm gonna go wait outside this is annoying. she can stay bitter," she walks out and whispers, "bitch," under her breath before shutting the door.

it's silent for a second as you begin to harshly cut the stems off of the fruit, remi comes behind you and wraps a caring arm over your shoulder for a hug, "are you okay?"

"yes, i'm fine, you can go have fun..." you turn to face her and offer a strawberry.

"i really do miss you,” you kisses your shoulder and bites into the strawberry, “love you," she reminds you as she grabs her bag and dismisses herself to check with erin. you nod your head and continue to stare blankly as you repeatedly cut.

andrea speaks up after hearing the door fully shut. she breathes heavily as she stares down at her hands on the counter, "cariña ("honey"), you’re not a bitch.”

“i know…” your voice is small.

“i know you do. i also know something’s hurting you badly right now and i selfishly wish you’d fucking tell me so i could help.” she licks her glossed lips, “but as long as you’re being kind to yourself, i can deal with you keeping this to yourself.”

your eyes brim with salty tears and when you let out a broken sniffle she's immediately by your side. "nooo don’t cry, i’m already pre-drunk! you know i will too!" you try to continue preparing your fruit but andrea turns your body to make room for a warm hug. you're quick to tuck your face into her perfumed neck and let out your feelings through cry's.

you had always thought that what andrea (or anyone) didn't know about your sex life with matt wouldn't kill her, but quite frankly it's killing you. you want to tell her everything he’s ever made you feel- for all andrea knows matt was once a silly crush and currently a little less than a friend to you.

but at the same time you just know she would tell you to stop seeing him if she knew everything. she would remind you that at your core you are far too caring and attached to handle recurring casual sex with him in the first place.

"i'm so sorry, drea. i really wanna tell you but i’m not ready." you croak pitifully.

not ready to accept the embarrassment of wanting him to like you this bad.

and for someone as willingly vulnerable as you, you’re especially not ready to hear her scold you a little for somehow hurting your own feelings and putting your friendship with erin on a thin line over some guy.

your words only confuse her brain more, but she can only continue to rub circles into your back and silently pray you didn’t do something illegal or, like, morally cruel.

౨ৎ

matt would love to say he hasn’t thought about you since you bitched out on him the night of his birthday, but he could never just blatantly lie.

he can say he has gone the past few weeks without reaching out to you- which mostly speaks to both of your stubbornness and pride.

in fact, you’re part of his reason for having his own night in tonight- though it’s far less sadistic of a reason than yours. he’s simply grown bored of the repetitive night life he and his friends have.

you were always there for him to tease and secretly fuck around with whenever your friend groups would combine for the night. but as of late he’s left sitting at the bar swigging down beers and scrolling on his phone (sometimes he’d get irrationally irritated at you for not posting on your instagram or snapchat stories, feeling a as if it was a direct punishment to remove him from knowing any details about your life) or until the rest of the group throw the towel in.

on the worst and most irritating of nights he’ll take an uber home by himself. and those were the nights he would get so close to being irrational- showing up to your house and confronting you was oh so enticing. but he’d talk himself out of it and go home to fuck his fist like you’d probably tell him to do.

and on the most horny and pathetic of nights he'd end up in the backseat of his car finger-fucking erin with her tongue in his mouth. it ended at that though, matt's skin started to crawl thinking of when you rode him in the front seat not too long ago. he had pinched his eyes shut and pulled erin's hands away from his zipper, swaying her with some sweet "i just wanted to make you feel good s’all" and a kiss before she left and he awkwardly drove himself home- pondering how little self control he had to be desperate enough to do even get that far.

so, he didn’t even bother to go out tonight. when chris and nick asked him through his closed door, he told them he’ll stay in for some “peace and quiet.” really, he just couldn’t stand to be disappointed by the guaranteed lack of you being there.

he sits in his desk chair, legs spread casually, and sketchbook held against his thigh as he scribbles around to formulate a few rough outlines for upcoming clients. somewhere in the mix he begins to sketch out a familiar cartoon cat, which only irritates him and makes him close the book abruptly, shoving it into his desk’s drawer.

matt rubs his hands over his face a few times and lifts himself from the chair, heading straight for his bedside table. he bites at his lips while digging through the drawer, eventually finding the pretty red hot blunt you rolled and gifted him.

he makes his way out to the patio, not bothering to turn the outdoor lights on; blunt, lighter, and phone in tow. he slouches into one of the many chairs near the glass door and places the blunt between his lips, shuffling as he digs in his back pocket for his lighter.

the spark of the bright flame highlights his focused face for only a few seconds while he pricks the end of the misshapen yet smoothly rolled blunt. he breathes in the smoke immediately, throwing the lighter onto a table nearby. he tilts his backwards to blow out swirls of smoke above him.

matt initially wants to wait to call you until he feels high enough, mostly to give him an excuse for calling in the first place because he knows you’ll be expecting one. but he can't fucking wait, he wants to know what you're doing right now.

matt continues to effortlessly inhale and exhale several hits as he searches his phone for your contact.

his thumb hovers over the dull button that would change a lot for him. calling you means looking like a dumbass, as if he can't handle not knowing you (apparently he can’t but he wouldn’t admit to it). calling you means he’s breaking this implied break up- for complete lack of better terms.

but who’s to say you’ll even answer and give him a chance to do any of that? and suddenly his phone is vibrating in his hand as he raises it to his ear.

it takes four rings for you to answer, though you're completely silent on the other end. he waits and you wait. he truly didn’t think this far ahead. you only give him a few extra seconds to be silent before you hang up all together.

matt kisses his teeth and redials. when you eventually answer again he speaks through the smoke in his lungs, "hi. why'd you hang up?"

"matt, don't call my phone and expect me to speak to you first." your voice has a bite to it that still surprises matt a little. it's so infrequent for you to be harsh or upset (as long as matt has known you, you've been nothing but cheerful and well… sunny) that it's oddly pleasant to see how you handle negative emotions- it reminds him that you’re not always good, something he’d always weirdly envied about you.

he releases more smoke in the air around him, "my bad, sweetheart."

"just tell me why you’re calling. are you drunk or ...?"

"no. i just wanted to know what you're doing."

you sigh heavily, "why does that concern you...?"

his eyes pinch as he stares out into the dark backyard, "why're you bein' so difficult? 'm just trying t-"

"matt. get there, please." you rush, though you secretly are enjoying hearing his voice and the romanticized idea that he must care a little if he’s reaching out again.

“yeah.” he takes a breath, “i don’t know. i’m just, like, here…by myself, and i wanted to remember what you sounded like.”

you smirk to yourself but drop it immediately, “okay…well, this is what i sound like.”

“yes, so soothing, i could fall asleep right here,” you can hear him audibly stretch.

“oh, i’m putting you to sleep?” you tease.

“yeah, i need you to come over and wake me up,” he inhales once more.

you’re silent and he breathes out again, “fuck was that too much- i’m sorry.”

“definitely. i need you to calm down, sir.”

“oh i’m so calm, baby,” he moans out playfully.

“matt, i’ll hang up-”

“woah! let’s not make such rash decisions?!”

“okay then.”

“thank you for answering,” his voice is muffled, “you could’ve blocked me- i talked to you so crazy that night and i do feel bad about, i want you to know.” he pauses and you silently process as he continues to compliment you, “you’re the only woman besides, like, my mother, who is just classy as fuck and way too kind to everyone whether they deserve it or not.”

you could never have expected to hear any words of admiration from matt in regards to you. “oh my god, are you near a couple of trees right now? how’d you get so sappy all of a sudden?”

matt takes a second to register your joke before his entire face crinkles and he shakes his head, giggling, “bad joke. such a bad joke.”

you let yourself laugh a little as well before pulling together, “thank you for apologizing, i honestly didn’t expect that from you.”

“well i don’t hand them out like that so i guess you’re lucky or something.”

“i guess i am…” you smile into your words a little.

“what have you been doing?”

“like the past few weeks or right now?”

“i was talking about right now but you can say both.”

“just was checking! i don’t want to talk to much, i know you’d hate to listen to it.”

“heyyy! really? throwin’ some shit i just told you i didn’t mean right in my face like that?”

“i’m sorry i had to!”

“you were holding on to that one, huh?”

“just a little.”

“okay, tell me everything and i’ll listen.”

“i know i made it seem like i’ve been doing a lot but i’ve honestly just been working a bunch. it’s not as much of a nightmare as it sounds though- working long shifts has helped me fall asleep quicker. i’ve also started cooking a lot more whenever im bored which andrea looooves. and… um, right now i’m taking a bath.”

matt’s eyes widen and he chuckles, “dammit! i knew i should’ve facetimed instead!”

you bite your lip to hold back a laugh yourself, “what are you doing, matt?”

“guess.”

“i mean, i know you’re smoking but you could be in a random bedroom at a party or like, at some other bitch’s house…i don’t know, i’m just guessing!”

“never that,” he laughs- which you can’t decipher as a sarcastic or genuine one -and explains further, “‘m at home, outside with that perfect little blunt you made.”

“oh, for real?”

“uh huh, she’s treating me real good.”

“i’m glad. can you finish telling me how you’ve been?”

“yeah, um-”

“mattttt!” a very drunk nick suddenly yells while sliding open the glass door.

matt literally jumps and is immediately annoyed, you can hear it in his voice despite it being muffled now, “dude, you scared the shit out of me! what do you need?”

“hello to you too, ugh, i forgot you’re all moody right now. what are you even doing it’s all dark and shit?” nick hangs on the door has he peeks outside.

matt gets up to close the door again, “mind your business, nick. move, you’re in the way.”

“hmm, you are so weird.” nick squints his eyes and turns away yelling chris’ name in a blood curdling scream (for absolutely no reason besides the fact that he thought it’d be funny to see chris drunkenly run into the living room).

“hey, you still there?”

“mhm, yes”

“nick and chris just got back from the bar so i’ll have to help them chill out, um, yeah. i wanna hang out again. not even just to fuck if you aren’t cool with that yet, if we can be friends around our friends we can be friends by ourselves.”

friends? you and matt? hm. “that’d be nice, do you wanna just come over like usual?”

“i mean i could but we can do whatever you want, seems like you’ve been home a lot so, you know.” his voice gets more distracted as he speaks

“okay, i’ll let you know. good night.”

“sounds good, sweetheart.”

౨ৎ

MATT - 6:30 PM

Are you done yet?

Y/N - 6:52 PM

yes i’m coming now

-

“i’m sorry again for keeping you so late y/n, you really didn’t have to stay and help me close!” your coworker, angela, beams as she follows you out of the back door with a trash bag.

“don’t worry about it,” you smile to her as you walk with her to the large dumpster on the side of the building.

she throws a bag the size of her torso into the bin with a mumble of ‘ew’ before turning to you, “don’t say that! i know you have that date thing tonight, i don’t want you to be late.”

“i told you it’s not a date! we’re hanging out as friends.”

she rolls her eyes while putting her travel sized hand sanitizer back into her purse, “y/n don’t start with that…it’s totally a date from what you’ve told me.”

you both continue to walk towards the back parking lot,“trust me, he’s made it clear he’s not that kind of guy.”

“then why waste your time?”

right when you go to defend yourself you hear a car door shut, drawing your attention to the man of the hour, who’s locking the doors of his sleek black suv as his jaw works a minty piece of gum.

his black tee exposes his tattoos and his jean shorts are held up with his favorite black belt. you can see his light eyes are squinted due to the sun’s undying brightness from where you stand.

angela turns to you with a full smirk and softly slaps your arm, whispering and giggling, “girl, he’s hot!”

“oh my god!” you have an uncontrollable smile as you look at her, “stop it!” you look over again and this time matt is leaning against his car, ready to catch your eye and send you a wave of his fingers with his eyebrows raised.

you wave back then turn away once more, “‘kay i should probably go but i’ll see you wednesday, right?” you lean in for a hug.

“yes i’ll be here,” she smiles into the embrace as you kiss into the air to the side of her head, “you’ll have to give me all the deets!”

“mhm,” you hum as you both part ways, “bye ang!”

you approach matt without any rush and he takes the time to gaze over your complexion (far more radiant than the last time he’d seen you) and the way your mini jean skirt compliments the blushed red top you’re wearing. “hi sunny,” he grins and reaches a hand out to bring you into a hug, only for you to set the handle of your small purse in it. he kisses his teeth playfully, “it’s still like that, huh?”

“like what?” you condescendingly look up at him.

“alright, girl,” he dismisses, “where are we goin?“

“it’s a surprise for a reason matt!”

“okay… then i’m assuming you’ll drive?”

“not exactly..” you spin on your heel and walk away from him as a hint to follow you.

he wraps an arm around your shoulder as the two of you walk down the busy sidewalk, he gives a couple of glances down at your phone while also navigating the two of you. “metro?” he reads aloud.

“mhm,” you reply and smile to yourself while adding the tickets to your apple wallet.

“wow, you really planned this shit out.”

“i’ve never half-assed something in my life,” you say as you both stop at a cross walk.

“never? you have a brother, right?” he asks and you nod, “i’m sure he’d be able to come up with something.”

“probably,” you shrug and grab his wrist when the walking sign lights. “we’re gonna make it just in time, the bus comes at 7:10.”

౨ৎ

the seating on the bus is comfortably squished; you sit in the window seat and matt next to you, moving his limbs inward to give room to those walking in the isle.

you reapply a faded shade of red, black cherry to your lips while using your phone camera. matt watches with his lips pursed in awe. “that shade looks nice on you,” he says softly.

you’re already feeling giddy internally and he’s forcing you to blow your unbothered cover at this point, “thank you,” you smile and turn to see him already close to your face, looking at your eyes then lips. you just have to close the space by giving him a small kiss, mumbling, “it looks good on you too, see,” you move your phone so that he can see his lips outlined with the stain of you.

he laughs and pouts his lips while checking himself out in your camera, making the risky move to take a photo of himself, before giving your cheek a kiss.

౨ৎ

“jesus, for forty fucking minutes you better have brought me to an all inclusive resort!” matt complains while dramatically stretching his back.

the sun was now peeking down and the flashing lights of santa monica pier were extra enticing. “stop, we’re gonna have so much fun! look!” you point at the energetic strip with a childish grin.

“alright, let’s go then,” he tilts his head towards the fair.

౨ৎ

“definitely could have gone without that last ride- wayyy too many dips,” matt holds his stomach dramatically.

“i could tell, you were screamin’ like crazy,” you smirk as the two of you stand in the line at one of the many food trucks. two hours into being there and you’ve rode almost all of the rides, it was expected for matt to ask to stop for some sort of food eventually.

“barely.” he rolls his eyes, “what do you want?”

“i’ll have a water and one of those bomb pops,” you tell him.

“that’s not really food, are you gonna be good with that for right now?” he clarifies.

“yes, matt. thank you,” you smile and matt waves you off as he approaches the tall window to order.

“hey, what’s up man? i’ll just have a water, one of those fourth of july a bomb pops, medium fry and a modelo in a can please,” he flashes a smile and pays quickly.

you thank him and the cashier as you take hold of the items you asked for. “can we go walk on the beach?” you ask him.

“yeah, it’ll be dark as shit, but yeah,” he responds lightly and shoves a few fries into his mouth.

౨ৎ

“when i was younger my mom would bring me and my brother to the pier every summer since i was seven maybe?” the waves crash softly in the background as matt lays between your legs, despite the scratchy denim of your skirt. “when i was eleven my brother would want to go off with his friends in high school and my mom wasn’t a fan of the rides, so she would bring me to walk on the beach with her instead.” you recall out loud after matt had asked what made you want to come here today.

“mmm, reminds me of east coast beaches when i was a kid. we’d make a whole day out of it and pack up my mom’s minivan.” you stretch his scalp hypnotically, “just being rowdy and annoying as hell on the ride there and sleeping on the way back. being a kid is, like, the best and we never realize it when we’re there.”

“isn’t it kind of sweet that we don’t? kids don’t even understand the concept of missing childhood or being nostalgic until they’re older. if eight year old me were constantly dwelling on what’s passed i know she’d go insane. i mean, even now, everyone is always chasing previous feelings and never fully in tune with the one present.” you look out at the waves that softly build up and crash repeatedly.

matt licks his lips and opens his eyes, sitting up from your lap, “holy shit, sunny,” he kisses you and pulls away to laugh, “you just made me sound like a dumbass.”

he keeps a hold of your face, “matt you’re not dumb, everyone is nostalgic for something,” you kiss him again to seal your words.

matt pulls away and you stands up and begin to remove your shirt leaving you in a lacy bra, “come on,” you tilt your head and matt immediately stands up to cover you.

“the fuck do you mean, ‘come on’?” he starts to laugh while looking around for anyone around.

you roll your eyes at his protection and unbutton your skirt, “take a dip with me.”

“no?! y/n, that water is freezing...”

you pull down your pants to reveal a small pair of matching lacy panties that matt can barely see in the dark but he just knows would send him over the edge.

“matttt,” you pout and bring his hands to your exposed ass, lifting his chin to capture his lips in your own, “please?” you look up at him.

he pinched his eyes shut, “baby, put your clothes back on…”

“alright be lame,” you take his hands off of you and run into the empty beach with a freeing laugh.

matt stands there, not wanting to yell and draw attention to you both, but also not wanting to freeze to death.

“matt! the water’s not even that cold, come here!” you exclaim, wading in the shallow water.

“no, i’ll just wait here until you’re done cooling off…”

“matt, please! what if i-” you pretend to fall backwards and start to fake a drowning scene that has him undressing to his boxers quickly.

he ignores the rush in his blood from the surprise of the water’s temperature in favor of getting you out of there. he calls your name over and over, the pitch black look of the ocean doing absolutely nothing to help.

he’s pretty freaked out when you come back up and jump on his back yelling, “you saved me! you saved me!” with a cackle.

matt immediately groans and slaps the water, “fuck you, why would you ever do some shit like that?!”

you giggle and he throws you off his back easily, turning around to be face to face with you as you wipe your eyes, “oh my god matt, my mascara’s gonna run!”

“maybe we should think of these things before running into the ocean?”

you stop wiping underneath your eyes to forcefully push him under the water, giggling at the sound of the crash and his “don’t-!” right before.

“no more,” he spits out water and scolds you when he comes back up, inching closer to you and holding you by your hips as you wrap your legs around his waist.

“okay,” you agree and go to kiss his wet face just as he quickly unhooks you and throws you back under.

“matt!” you squeal as you resurface to hear him laughing, “dude, i’m gonna kill you.”

“truce, truce, truce!” he repeats and backs away from you.

“yeah, you better run,” you threaten.

౨ৎ

“your eyelashes are like sooo long when they’re wet,” you compliment as you stare at matt under the moon’s light.

he pulls you closer him to stop his mouth from chattering due to the cold, “i’ll give you my lash routine,” he jokes.

“i realized something when we got off the phone the other day,” you bring up, as your eyes run over each of his facial features.

“tell me,” he rolls his icy lips into his mouth.

“i never said sorry for being nasty to you on your birthday.”

matt’s eyes squint, “it’s fine, i’m not hung up on that shit. we said we’re good, right?”

“yes, but-”

“alright then,” he shrugs and squeezes your ass in reassurance.

a smile graces your face and and you let your head fall to his shoulder, whispering, “matt…i’m cold now.”

“i’ve been waiting for you to say that, oh my god!”

౨ৎ

you both suffer as you put your clothes back on over your wet skin. you’re both chattering messes and simply cannot stop laughing about it as you make your way back to the boardwalk’s strip of raging bright lights.

you don’t get far before you’re begging matt to win you an oversized faux fur leopard print coat, “it’s just what i need, please!”

and he’s spent almost two twenties replaying this stupid game over and over again. you’re a pretty good cheerleader though.

“come on matt, you got it this time! no pressure! it’s only like i’m dying of hypothermia!” he deadpans as he looks over to you, “what?”

it was a simple game of ring toss- that was most definitely rigged, but besides you reminding him this and saying you didn’t need the coat that much, the stand runner’s comments doubting matt was enough to fuel him to continue playing until he wins.

and somehow he tosses the perfect ring, watching it land and swivel around the bottle in victory. you both outwardly celebrate with screams and a very public kiss, that the two of you just can’t stop sharing today.

“congratulations,” the employee boredly says.

“thank you sir, thank you.” matt then obnoxiously turns around and yells out a speech to the random passersby “i wanna thank my mother, my grandmother, brothers, dog, and you people for giving me this opportunity to win something so grand for my sweet sunshine!” you stop giggling to give a royal wave to the many people judging the two of you, “thank you santa monica!” he blows a kiss and you both spin around to claim your prize.

“you two are like cartoon characters,” the stand runner says. and as soon as you start to grin at him he corrects, “that wasn’t a compliment.”

“whatever man, just give the pretty girl the fucking coat,” matt blinks at him. as the man walks away to grab the fluff off of the rack a few people stop by the table and matt warns them, “if i were you i’d keep walkin’, this guy’s a first-class hater.”

you drag matt by his arm back over to you, “did you take your socially-overbearing pills today?!”

“i have no clue, i think im too cold for my brain to process embarrassment anymore.”

“here’s that coat,” the man hands you it with a shake of his head.

“thank you, sir!” you exclaim and immediately fit your arms from the sleeves, “this is everything i’ve ever wanted!” you say as your jaw goes slack.

“you look good,” matt agrees, “you also look warm, so now i’m jealous.”

“let’s go get you something warm, baby.”

౨ৎ

after a trip to a random gift shop for a hoodie, matt whined about needing real food so bad.

so the two of you stand at the hostess stand in a small mexican restaurant on the strip.

“for two?”

“yes, thank you.”

“i’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick, okay?” matt speaks close to your ear and you simply nod and watch him walk off.

you wait a few moments before the hostess offers to take you to your table, “did you want to go sit now or wait for your boyfriend?” she asks kindly.

you try not to make it so apparent that you enjoy the idea of you being matt’s girlfriend, “yeah, i can sit now, he’ll find me.”

౨ৎ

“i’ll have the chicken burrito please with extra rice,” matt orders as he sits across from you.

“and i’ll have the four birria tacos please,” you hand her the menu kindly.

you both are bundled up ridiculously with frizzy hair and barely-dry clothes, you’re surprised anyone agreed to serve you.

“alright, that should be out shortly!”

when she walks away matt asks, “why didn’t you get a drink? i’m just curious.”

“i swore off drinking until my birthday,” you shrug and fall back into the plush of the booth.

“mm, not smoking either?” he sips his water.

“i mean i haven’t smoked since early august but no i didn’t purposely stop.”

matt nods, “well if you were to drink, what are you ordering? i usually go for a corona but i wanna try something different.”

“oh strawberry margarita, a hundred percent. hits everytime.”

“i’ve never had a margarita so i’ll try it.”

your jaw drops, “hell yeah you’re gonna try it, i can’t believe you!”

“what can i say?” matt shrugs.

౨ৎ

matt plays with the toothpick in his mouth as you both sit in your spots for the bus ride home. he got to enjoy his first margarita and you took multiple pictures to document it, he bought you churros to go, and now you both are the most tired you’ve been in a while.

you quietly respond to texts that andrea sent you hours ago, asking what you’re doing and if you’ll be home soon, while matt lays his head on your shoulder sleepily.

eventually you shut your phone off and calmly rest your head against the chilled window for the rest of the ride.

•

[scarletwinterxx]

cluelessly yours - jeon wonwoo imagine

helloo ~ i'm back, was gone for a while bcs i was busy with work and life in general🥺 it's almost the end of 2024. i'm not sure yet how many more fics i'll post before this year ends but for now here's another cute story. hope you enjoyyyyy

for my other svt fics, check them here

if you want, u can buy me coffee(totally optional but any donation is very much appreciated!) thank you🥺💛

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2024 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

(pics not mine, credits to rightful owner)

You’re in your favorite café with a slice of chocolate cake and a steaming mug of hot cocoa. It’s your sanctuary—sweet, cozy, and entirely stress-free. That is, until Wonwoo slides into the seat across from you, wearing his usual hoodie and that slightly smug but mostly unreadable expression.

“Hey,” he greets casually, sipping his black coffee like it’s the nectar of life.

“Hey,” you mumble back through a mouthful of cake, barely glancing up. You’re trying not to think about how soft his hair looks today.

“So…” He leans forward slightly, setting his coffee down. “What kind of chocolates do girls like?”

Your fork freezes mid-air. “What?”

“Chocolates,” he repeats, his voice almost suspiciously nonchalant. “Like…what’s a good kind to buy? You know…for a girl.”

Oh. For a girl. Your heart sinks, but you keep your expression neutral. Of course, it’s for her.

“Uh, I guess…” You poke at your cake, suddenly uninterested in eating. “Milk chocolate is a safe bet. Might be boring to some, but personally it's my fave”

He nods thoughtfully, like you just revealed the secret to the universe. “What about flowers? Roses? Or is that…too much?”

You feel your patience thinning. How considerate he is. For her. “Roses are fine, daises are cute too. Or sunflowers” you say, trying not to sound clipped. “Why? Who’s the lucky girl?”

Wonwoo nearly chokes on his coffee. “No one!” he blurts, a little too quickly. “I was just…curious.”

From a table nearby, Mingyu and Hao exchange wide-eyed glances. You and Wonwoo complete unaware your other friends are also a the cafe.

Mingyu gestures wildly with his spoon, clearly saying something like, Are you seeing this? Hao just shakes his head, muttering, “Idiots.”

“Well,” you say, plastering on a fake smile. “Good luck impressing her.”

Wonwoo frowns slightly but doesn’t respond. He just sips his coffee in silence, while you silently curse the unfairness of the universe.

The next day, you walk into your first class of the day to find a small box of chocolates sitting on your usual seat.

“For me?” you whisper to yourself, picking it up.

It’s a fancy box, with a ribbon and everything. You examine it like it’s a puzzle, your brain spinning. Is this from Wonwoo? Or maybe Mingyu, pulling some kind of prank?

As if summoned by your thoughts, Wonwoo appears in the doorway. He stops short when he sees you holding the chocolates.

“Oh, uh…” He scratches the back of his neck. “You found those.”

You tilt your head at him. “You…left these for me?”

“Yeah.” He shuffles his feet awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. “You like chocolate, right?”

“I mean, yeah,” you say, your heart doing an involuntary somersault. “But I thought you didn’t like chocolate?”

“I don’t,” he admits, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets. “But…you do.”

The simplicity of his words hits you like a ton of bricks. You stare at him, unsure whether to laugh, cry, or throw the chocolates at him.

From the other side of the library, Mingyu peeks out from behind a shelf. “Can you believe this guy?” he whispers to Hao.

Hao just shakes his head again. “She’s not getting it. And he’s terrible at this. We might actually need a miracle.”

You don’t know how you got roped into this. One moment you were joking with Wonwoo about his gaming obsession, and the next you were sitting on his couch, controller in hand, with the eerie music of a zombie horror game echoing around the room.

“Are you sure about this?” you ask nervously

“You’ll be fine,” Wonwoo says, smirking as he starts the game. “Just follow me.”

You squint at the screen. “How do I even move?!”

Wonwoo laughs, leaning over to press a button on your controller. His shoulder brushes yours, and you momentarily forget how to breathe

“There,” he says, sitting back. “Now just keep up.”

Easier said than done. The first zombie jumps out, and you scream so loudly that Wonwoo pauses the game, laughing so hard he doubles over

“Okay, okay,” he says, wiping tears from his eyes. “Let’s take a deep breath. I’ll protect you, alright?”

You glare at him, clutching a pillow for moral support. “If I die, it’s your fault.”

Of course, ten minutes later, your character is cornered by a horde of zombies, and instead of helping, Wonwoo is laughing too hard to aim properly.

“You’re useless!” you yell, swatting at him with the pillow.

“You’re the one who threw the controller at me!” he retorts, holding his stomach as he laughs. It ended a few rounds later when you threatened to throw his controller out the window when he won't stop laughing at you.

The next time you hangout with him it was like any other evening with your group of friends.

You, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Hao had gathered in the living room, sprawled across the couches and floor, the usual banter flying around. The air was relaxed, yet you couldn’t help but notice how quiet Wonwoo had been. You assumed it was just his usual introspective mood.

You were snuggled up on the couch, trying to avoid looking at him too much, your heart betraying you every time his voice sounded a little too close.

However, it didn’t take long for Mingyu and Hao to notice the silent war happening between you two. You were both pretending like nothing was going on, when, clearly, everything was going on.

Mingyu, as usual, didn’t have the patience to wait for you both to work things out on your own. He got up from the couch with a dramatic flair and walked toward the center of the room, crossing his arms.

“Alright,” he announces, his voice carrying a sense of authority that you knew meant trouble. “I’ve had enough.”

You and Wonwoo both look at him, completely clueless.

Mingyu takes a deep breath, looking between the two of you. “This nonsense ends today. No more pretending. I’m putting an end to this charade.”

“Charade? What charade?” you stammer, glancing at Wonwoo, who is equally confused

Minghao, who had been sitting quietly with his phone, lets out an exaggerated sigh, clearly more annoyed than anything else. He taps the screen for a moment before looking up, his voice dry as ever. “You two are hopeless.”

“Totally hopeless,” Mingyu agrees, then points directly at you. “You like him.”

You blink. “What? I—no, I don’t.”

“Oh, please,” Mingyu scoffs, rolling his eyes “You literally get flustered when he speaks to you. And let’s not forget how you always act weird when he does something nice. Like the chocolates he brought you? Come on.”

You glare at Mingyu. “You’re imagining things. I like sweets, that’s all.”

Mingyu leans closer, voice dropping to a mockingly serious tone. “Sweets, huh? That’s what they’re calling it these days?”

“I—” You start to protest, but before you can finish, Mingyu swivels toward Wonwoo with a pointed look

“And you!” Mingyu practically growls. “What’s with all the mysterious questions about what girls like? The whole ‘do girls like milk chocolate?’ and ‘roses or something else?’” He throws his arms up dramatically. “You don’t need a whole investigation, Wonwoo. We all know you’re talking about her. Stop playing dumb!”

You freeze.

Wonwoo, who had been fiddling with the corner of his hoodie sleeve, stiffens and turns an alarming shade of red. “I’m not… I wasn’t asking about her,” he stammers. “I mean, I… I thought…”

“Oh my god, he’s so obvious,” Mingyu mutters, rubbing his temples. He shoots a glare at Hao. “This is painful.”

Hao looks up from his phone, sighs deeply, then slowly stands up. “Okay, okay. I’ll handle this.” He walks over to you and Wonwoo, leaning in dramatically

“You two are in love with each other,” he declares matter-of-factly, as though he’s just stating the obvious.

You blink, your face lighting up in horror. “W-What?! No!”

Hao looks at you deadpan. “Come on. The way you two can’t look at each other without blushing, the way he buys you chocolate even though he hates it, and you, you’re terrified of scary games, but you still play them with him. Stop lying to yourselves.”

You turn to Wonwoo, who’s practically the color of a tomato. His eyes are wide, but he’s too embarrassed to speak. You feel your heart thudding loudly in your chest

“You... like me?” you ask, your voice trembling slightly, trying to hold back your surprise

Wonwoo shifts nervously on his feet. “I thought… I thought you liked someone else.”

“I thought you liked someone else!” you say, now feeling utterly ridiculous.

Mingyu, who had been watching this whole conversation unfold with the kind of smug satisfaction only he could have, claps his hands loudly. “Finally! Thank you, Hao. That took way too long.”

Minghao crosses his arms and leans against the wall, clearly satisfied with himself. “You two could have saved us all a lot of trouble, but fine. We’ll take the credit.”

You stare at Wonwoo, unsure what to say. The silence stretches on.

“So,” Mingyu begins with a grin, “now that you’re both on the same page… what’s the next step?”

Wonwoo looks at you, his face softening a little. “So… you don’t like someone else?”

You laugh nervously, glancing at Mingyu and Hao for moral support. “No, I don’t. You… you really thought that?”

He nods sheepishly, clearly relieved. “Well, I thought you were being kind of weird about everything, so…”

You smile softly, your heart racing. “I thought you were being weird.”

Mingyu claps his hands. “Look at that. You two are adorable. Don’t go making things awkward again, okay?”

“Yeah, no pressure,” Hao adds, “but seriously, finally.”

A week later, you’re back at the same spot on the couch. No more confusing, awkward questions. No more playing games to dodge the truth.

Just you and Wonwoo, finally figuring things out.

“So, you still hate chocolate?” you ask with a smirk, holding out a piece of your favorite chocolate, teasing him. It's cute because he got the chocolate, again.

“I hate it,” Wonwoo admits, but this time, he doesn't protest when you hand it to him. He takes the piece, chewing it slowly as he grimaces.

“You don’t have to eat it just because I like it,” you say with a laugh, watching him struggle with the sweetness

“I’m suffering for you,” he mutters, but there’s a fond smile on his lips now, something you’ve never seen him wear before

From the kitchen, Mingyu peeks his head out with a knowing look. “Told you it would work.”

Minghao follows him, rolling his eyes. “Do I get credit for this? Or are you two going to keep pretending we didn’t help?”

You roll your eyes playfully but can’t help the smile spreading across your face. You glance at Wonwoo, catching him staring at you with that soft, shy smile of his.

“Guess we owe them one,” you say quietly, not breaking eye contact.

“Guess so,” he agrees, his voice gentle. He reaches over, brushing a strand of hair out of your face, making your heart skip a beat.

Mingyu, hearing the sudden silence, turns to Hao and shrugs. “Well, they’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah,” Hao agrees, grinning. “They’re hopeless, but cute.”

And for the first time, it really feels like everything has finally clicked into place.

[alwayslurkinginthebackground]

Blaster - A Pedrotober Drabble

Day Twenty-Three of Pedrotober: Din Djarin Pedrotober Hosted by @norththelemon and @alyssamariag. View the full prompt list HERE and view my entire Pedrotober drabble catalog HERE.

Pairing: Din Djarin x reader

Rating: The fluffiest fluff that ever did fluff.

Word Count: 1261

a/n: I actually really want a Loth-cat now, despite the fact that I already have three very real cats. I need more, obviously. Also writing this was wild for me because I got my start in writing by writing Star Wars fanfic, and...have since forgotten all proper terminology. Oh well. Also breaking some mando rules here but we don't care because we just want to see our man's face!

You heard it before you saw it, lurking somewhere in the house and waking you from slumber with the loud clang of something crashing in the kitchen. Din was out of bed in an instant, blaster already in hand as he rushed from your bed in the direction of the noise. Your first instinct is to check on Grogu, but you breathe a sigh of relief when you find him still peacefully sleeping in his hammock.

Another crash echoes down the hall, causing you to wince, but Grogu thankfully doesn't stir. When you make your way to the kitchen, you find your partner standing in the middle of the room, a grumpy expression written all over his face. There's a spattering of pans littering the floor around him, the obvious cause of the noise.

"I think it's a Loth-cat," Din explains, eyes still darting around the room trying to catch a glimpse of the creature. "Pretty sure it went behind the table."

You move toward the table in question, crouching down to look beneath the surface, to find what can only be described as the planet's most adorable Loth-cat. "Found it," you inform him with a hushed tone, trying your best not to scare the creature further. Bright beady eyes stare at you fearfully, but you coo at it, reaching out a cautious hand for it to sniff.

At first, the cat begins to inch toward you, but the second Din stops at your side, it backs closer to the wall. "It's gotta go," he reminds you, already aware of the thought lingering in the back of your mind. "It cannot stay here."

"Din," you look at him with indignation. "She's so cute though."

"I don't care if she's cute," he insists, already heading toward the storage room around the corner. You know he's gone to grab one of the many traps he has stored there, remnants of a life he no longer lives. "It's got to go."

You sigh, turning back to the cowering creature. She slowly works her way toward you again, less hesitant now that Din has left the room, sniffing at your outstretched hand. There's a flinch that runs through her body when you reach further to scratch along her massive ears, but then she relaxes at your careful touch.

When Din reappears with a cage in hand, you've already got the Loth-cat in your arms, more than content to accept the cuddles you willingly provide. "See, she's nice," you assert, a pleading tone to your voice that instantly makes him frown.

"We are not keeping the Loth-cat," he repeats, setting the cage on the table and opening the top. "Put her in."

Your eyes narrow, "and where do you think you're going to take her?"

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Away. Just far enough that she won't come back." You refuse to move for a moment, waiting for him to agree to the remainder of your silent request. He sighs, "and I'll make sure it's a nice area where she'll have plenty of food and water."

"And shelter," you add.

"And shelter."

"Dank farrik," Din mutters are you make your way around the side of the house. His voice is muffled by his helmet, worn whenever he's outside in an abundance of caution, even if he's already broken the creed for you, but it only takes a second for you to determine the cause of his frustration.

The Loth-cat is back.

While you and your partner worked on the exterior of your small home, Grogu had taken to playing in the yard, doing his best to stack rocks into towers using the force, which he'd then promptly knock over before beginning again. Now, however, he was strictly focused on moving the small rocks around while the familiar creature chased them across the dirt.

"She's back!" you exclaim, setting down the equipment box you'd been carrying. "How far did you take her last night?"

"Not far enough, obviously," Din mutters, heading toward the speeder where the crate still sits. You move closer to Grogu, quickly scooping up the cat in your arms. She wrestles with you until she realizes who has captured her, promptly settling into your embrace with a soft purring noise.

Grogu watches with curiosity, reaching one of his tiny hands out toward her. You drop to the ground next to him, crossing your legs underneath you as you teach him how to gently pet her fluffy, spotted ears the way you've already determined she loves. "Careful, Grogu. We want to be gentle."

He shies back when the Loth-cat makes a grumbling noise, directed not at Grogu, but at Din, who has reappeared with the cage in hand. "Come on, put her back in."

"Din, she obviously found her way back to us for a reason," you point out, determination beginning to set into your shoulders. "Plus, I think it would be good for Grogu."

You can't see his expression, hidden by his helmet, but you know his eyes are rolling. "In the crate, now," he instructs again.

"You're really going to make me put her in there?"

His nod is almost imperceptible, but another moment of silent understanding passes between you, and you let Grogu pet the cat once more before carefully placing her behind the wire of the cage. "Food and water," you insist once more, closing the gate as you stare at the man you love.

"And shelter," he repeats back, loading the cat into the speeder as you hoist Grogu into your arms, the two of you waving goodbye until the dust settles around you.

"No."

"Oh come on. This is the third time she's shown up here, Din. And just look at them." You point at the way Grogu is curled up with the Loth-cat in his hammock. How they both managed to fit in there, you're unsure, but stranger things have certainly happened in your lives. "I think she's meant to be here, with us."

Your partner retreats from Grogu's room and moves to sit on the edge of your bed. "That or she just wants our food."

You tilt your head in agreement as you sway closer to him, standing between his spread legs to rest your arms across his shoulders. "Perhaps. But she obviously makes Grogu happy. And she makes me happy, and I think she'd make you happy too if you just let her."

"It's a Loth-cat." He's unimpressed by your reasoning. "One that clearly doesn't know how to stay away."

"Can you blame her? I couldn't stay away either," you point out, cupping his face in your hands to ensure he's listening.

Din shakes his head. "That's different. You're not a cat."

"I think I can be a lot more cat-like than you think," you challenge before climbing onto his lap, curling around him, and kneading your fingers into his back. He's laughing before you know it, and as he falls back against the bed, taking you with him, it's already obvious that you've won the argument.

"I'm not going to be the one feeding her or brushing her or cleaning up her fur, got it?"

You nod, kissing him on the cheek as he rolls you onto your back. "Got it. Only ask you to feed her and brush her and clean up her fur."

He rolls his eyes for you to see this time, but kisses you anyway, and if you happen to find little Blaster curled up in his lap more often than not, you don't say anything about it.

[s-aint-elmo]

*twirling my hair* do you have some good yuri manga recs?

(lying on my stomach and kicking my feet) i'm SO glad you asked!

to preface this i'll be excluding better-known yuri or yuri that's recently gotten its flowers (whether thru virality or adaptations) (e.g. in love with the villainess, love bullet, bloom into you, etc. etc.) and will instead be recc'ing works i don't often encounter in the wild. some will be more well-known than others, but all of these i've enjoyed and would encourage others to check out! under the cut because. this got. so long. i heart yuri <3

multi-chapter

the princess of sylph (ongoing; self-publishing): plot-heavy fantasy yuri between a bereaved princess with the aura of a thousand sad hamsters and a persistent nun whose silliness conceals a deep well of trauma. gushed about it plenty here. i recommend starting with the serialized version, the proceeding to the twitter version + extras. cw: blood, violence, dismemberment (nothing too graphic, more standard monster-fighting fare).

i love amy (completed): school loner strikes an unlikely friendship with the girl known (and feared) for her violent tendencies and single-minded obsession with the school prince. cute but striking and skilled art with a surprisingly nuanced handling of trauma and neurodivergence. cw: attempted child murder, animal death (non-graphic). there are also depictions of standard yandere fare (kidnapping, torture basements) but they're always presented comedically.

i see you, aizawa-san! (ongoing): girl who steadfastly pretends not to see ghosts meets one she just can't seem to ignore: a deceased classmate and former j-pop idol, who has taken to haunting their classroom. ft. art that harkens back to classic shoujo and a supernatural mystery centred on the relationship between the two leads--that one of them can't seem to remember. cw: blood, body horror.

school zone girls (on hiatus): slice of life yuri comedy ft. a massive interconnected web of girls spanning at least three schools. it juggles gut-busting comedy with genuine heartfelt moments of character growth and connection and expresses it all through a solid, dynamic art style. the sprawling cast also makes for incredible outsider pov moments that lets us really appreciate how far some characters have gotten. this genuinely motivated me to revamp how i approached ensemble casts for my ocs.

brides of iberis (completed): wedding planner unenthusiastic about her engagement falls in love with a bride she's taken as a client. bittersweet but deeply loving; and so compassionate to each and every character, even the men the female leads have relationships with. cw: infidelity.

destroy it all and love me in hell! (ongoing): model student finds her miserable, tightly controlled life unraveling after being blackmailed by the class truant into indulging her ugliest impulses. toxic yuri extravaganza eleganza between two girls desperate for escape and the catharsis of fucking! shit! up!!! also hits that sweet sweet "love triangle as a conflict of ideals" beat. cw: blackmail, coercion, bullying, violence, emotional abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, adult/minor relationship.

yuri is forbidden for the yuri otaku (completed): passionate himejoshi enrolls in an all-girls private school to observe class s yuri in action, but never to engage in it herself--at least, until a misunderstanding wins her the resident gyaru's heart. a surprisingly poignant exploration of being queer in a repressive society and experiencing your queerness through the safety of unobtainable fantasy.

the superstar idol crushes on me today too (ongoing): failed idol-slash-middling radio personality finds an unwanted superfan in the country's biggest superstar. explores the merit of pursuing your artistic passions in the face of repeated failure, and what makes an emotional anchor in the fraught seas of showbiz. they are also just so so funny. what if i emphatically declare you my rival in show business but you've been in love with me since you saw me in a cooking show as a child actor and you take any excuse to spend time with me and have my attention with blinding enthusiasm

normality and monsters (ongoing): outcast weirdo witnesses the class idol devour their homeroom teacher in one bite and begs to be trained in the art of appearing normal. the art is snappy and charismatic, the monster design is properly grotesque, and the friendship of convenience between the two leads teeters between overcoming the monster's nature and just being a prelude to the monster acquiring a new meatsuit. cw: blood, gore, death, body horror.

a monster wants to eat me (ongoing): suicidal girl meets carnivore mermaid who promises to eat her if she develops a desire to live. it's been a while since i read this one, but the monster designs are once again sick as fuck and the drama of being cared for by a creature that finds you tantalizing is sooo juicy. cw: suicidal ideation, blood, gore, violence, body horror.

liar satsuki can see death (completed): high schooler who can see corpses before the death occurs strives to save as many lives as possible despite being branded a liar by the entire student body. this and ryouko's other manga, a walk to death, are pretty banging declarations on the value of living ironically (or maybe aptly) wrapped in so much death. blanket cw for blood, gore and death bc i tell you every mini-arc somebody dies in a fun new way and we'd be here all day if we listed them out.

anthology:

i'm the villainess but i'm being captured by the heroine?!: an anthology featuring heroines of otome games swerving hard and sweeping the villainess off her feet. i am such a sucker for villainess yuri. mean women forever. my favourite chapters are vol. 1 ch.1 and vol. 2 chs. 1 and 4.

honourable mentions:

my idol sits the next desk over! (completed): loner idol otaku ends up deskmates with her oshi and between jealous sabotage from a rival stan and the herculean task of acting normal around your fave, lands herself in the first and closest friend group of her life. one girl does explicitly have romantic feelings for another girl, but i bumped it down here because it isn't explored to the extent it could have been. it felt like it was setting up a slow burn only to end abruptly. do not recommend if you want a love story, do recommend if you want lonely people forging deep and enduring bonds of friendship.

the one within the villainess (ongoing): the villainess of an otome game reawakens for her condemnation and sets off on a path of vengeance for the sake of the beloved transmigrator who's occupied her body for years. it's ostensibly het, but to hear the way that the villainess speaks of her transmigrator, the first person to love her wholeheartedly and wish for her happiness and so inadvertently prevent her from becoming the hollow bitter woman she originally grew into...... like. that is yuri. like what if i knew your life in its entirety and loved you for it and i found myself in the position to give you the happiness i always wished for you to have. what if we wrote fix-it fic for each other on the fabric of the universe. what if we never even had a conversation but we knew each other the best and loved each other most. and we were both girls. do you understand why i'm insane about them. cw: blood, gore, violence.

[galedekarios]

Hello, big fan of your Gale content um I just saw this post on X that really annoyed me that was a graphic saying Gale would use 3 in 1 shampoo implying he is lazy with his hygiene and that another character was more like that and it had like 6k likes and I just wonder why everyone mischaracterizes our best wizard so much? Generic male expectations? Justice for Gale. He deserved that lavender bath.

thank you for your message and kind words! 🖤

i haven't seen the post you're referring to so i can't say too much about it, but if we talk about the general concept of hygiene and personal care, in my heart i know the following truth:

gale loves his little indulgences and that includes the finer things in life, like taking long baths, perfumes, massages, and the like.

once he feels better again and has the spoons to fully appreciate it, he would have a ridiculously elaborate 13 step self-care routine, beard oils and all of that.

(we know his year of isolation likely led to him neglecting himself, given tara's repeated lines about not eating enough, as well as gale letting his beard growing out.)

in early access, he had this dialogue with the protag, about dreaming of a nice lavender scented bath:

Gale: Time is a precious gift. With time, we may even reach Baldur's Gate, a city rife with magic, wizards, scholars, and perhaps: solutions.  Player: In that case I share your optimism. Here's to the journey ahead.  Gale: And here's to your company.  Gale: Oh, I can picture it now: academies, libraries, laboratories – the assembled knowledge of centuries that may just set us free. Better yet: soft beds, home cooked meals, and all the other little luxuries this wilderness so brashly denies us. Gods, I'd pay a king's ransom for a hot, lavender-scented bath – minstrels serenading as I close my eyes and let the water's warmth dissolve all woes. Plenty to look forward to.

this was sadly cut.

i also seem to recall another line of dialogue in early access where a companion commented on gale using a waterdhavian scent/perfume, which had woody undertones. if i can find it, i'll be sure to post about it.

but still, he still has similar lines in the full release version, like in this banter with shadowheart:

Gale: I must tell you, Shadowheart, the bathing waters here leave much to be desired. devnote: A bit know it all Gale: The ablutions offered at the Temple of Beauty in Waterdeep are far superior. And they have the most excellent soaps. devnote: A bit know it all Shadowheart: Hmm. I was wondering why you always smelled like a wealthy dowager. devnote: Teasing

bathing waters, excellent soaps and ablutions at the temple of beauty in waterdeep. the temple of beauty is a temple to the goddess sune, the goddess of beauty and passion.

"Her temples usually held social salons and displayed mirrors for use by lay parishioners. Some of them even had public baths for the local populace. Her shrines often stood on the corner of busy city streets. They would have a small ornate overhanging roof with a mirror underneath. They were used to check one's appearance while honoring Sune with prayer. Some shrines even held perfume and cosmetic items for those who could not afford such luxuries themselves." [x]

volo's waterdeep enchiridion says this in particular about the temple of beauty in waterdeep:

"If you need to refresh yourself during your travels, or perhaps to primp before an important meeting or a night out, visit Sune’s faithful at the Temple of Beauty. Its marbled public baths and mirrored salons are open from before dawn to after dusk. There’s no fee for these services, or for the advice and aid of the temple’s many pleasant attendants, but donations are encouraged."

there are some other banters & lines of dialogue in the same vein:

Player: I want to be with Gale. I'm sorry. Shadowheart: Don't be. He's charming enough, well-read and well-groomed.

there are more banters and comments like this from other companions as well (including minthara, for example), so yes, i think it's safe to say that gale is not a 3-in-1 shampoo type.

[fandoms--fluff]

Angel

Flufftober, October 17th

Vampire female reader x Hope Mikaelson

Summary: You dress up as a Victoria's Secret angel for Halloween to surprise your girlfriend

A/n: I wrote this in honor of the VS fashion show that happened earlier this week. And cause I grew up watching the fashion shows and still love re-watching them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When can I see your costume?" Hope asks, flopping down onto your bed while you're in the bathroom doing your makeup. "At the party like everyone else" You answer, this being the thousandth time your girlfriend asks.

"What about a tiny little sneak peek?" She tries to bargain. "Not happening, your gonna have to wait till tonight. Only a few more hours" You answer while applying sparky lip gloss.

"You're so mean!" She pouts, jutting out her bottom lip to make you feel sorry for her and fess up. "That didn't work yesterday, it's not going to work now, Cutie" You walk over to her, done your makeup. You place a kiss on her pouted lips, making them turn back into a smile.

"Please?" She tries the puppy dog eyes this time. "Let's go get a snack, I know where the cooks hid the brownies" You wink at her, pulling her up from the bed easily with your strength and lead her out the door, into the hallway.

"Or" You tell her. "We could always go check to see if Lizzie needs any help decorating" You tell her, taking her mind off ways to get you to tell her what your dressing up as.

"Where are the brownies" She immediately says. She once got caught up accidentally with helping Lizzie decorate and she was basically being held hostage until everything was perfect. In her opinion it was hell. And you can't really blame her, Lizzie has tried to rope you into decorating too, but you just gave her a certain look which made her back down right away.

"That's what I thought" You grasp her hand in hers and lead her down to the big cooks kitchen.

Once you guys get there, there's only one of the cooks who are in there, probably tidying up. She turns to you guys and huffs. "You shouldn't be in here, you'll contaminate-" You cut her off, vamping over to her. "Leave. If you tell anyone about us I'll slit your throat before you can even think the word 'danger'. You compel her, making her nod along, and repeat it back before grabbing her bag and scurrying out past a gobsmacked Hope.

"I thought no ones allowed to use compulsion" She says, slowly coming up to you. "You really think I'm going to listen to some miserable human drunk telling me what I can and can't do with my body. Than you think wrong. Plus it's just pathetic, I mean, you think he would at least get the help to take vervain" You have a playful glint in your eyes.

"But, you'll get in trouble won't you- you know what, never mind, I'd rather not know what you'd do to Dr. Saltzman if he did try to reprimand you" Hope basically shudders. "Spoiler alert; there'd be a lot of blood. and it won't be mine" You wink before going over to the locked fridge.

You pull on the padlock and it effortlessly broke in half. You let it go and let it fall to the ground. Opening the fridge, your eyes look around before they land on what you're searching for. "Ah, here we are. Brownies. And they look like they're fresh too" shut the door behind you before placing the container on the counter, opening the top.

"Take your pick, Beautiful" You tell your girlfriend, making a blush appear on her cheeks. She leans her hand in the container and picks one of the chocolate brownies up into her hands. Following, you also reach in and pick one up before biting into it, along with Hope and hers.

Hope almost moans at how good they taste. "Okay, this is worth all the rules you just broke" She tells you. "Hell yeah, it is" You swallow, the brownies are delicious and easily one of yours and Hope's favorite treats. At least that's one thing the annoying rule following cooks are good for at the school.

It's almost time for the party, and you're getting ready in your dorm room. All of Hope's attempts to know what you're dressing up as has failed, and you know her reaction is going to be amazing. You guys are supposed to meet in twenty minutes in the 'ball room' as Lizzie is calling it, when it's really just the surprisingly big gym.

You've already done touch ups on your makeup and did your hair to make it more 'runway ready'. And now all you have to do is get dressed in the outfit. Which is a breeze because it's just lingerie and then a pair of wings both of which you may or may not have compelled the company to give you. And said company is Victoria's Secret, because you're going to the party dressed as a Victoria's Secret angel.

This was the perfect choice of costume since you love the fashion shows and the pieces, plus you know it will one hundred percent drive your girlfriend crazy for you to be dressed up like that.

You take the clothing off you've been wearing all day and toss it into the laundry basket before turning back to the lingerie and wings laying on your bed. You grab the underwear first and slide it up your legs before it relaxes comfortably on your hips. The easy part is over, Now, you grab the corset bra with the train attached and carefully put it on your body, doing clasp by clasp, not wanting to destroy the piece by accidentally being too harsh with your strength and all.

After you got all the lingerie on your body and it's sitting gracefully, you look in the mirror, smirking, Oh yeah, this will definitely do. You think to yourself.

Then you reach for the wings and just as gentle with the lingerie pieces, you tie the wings under your armpits and over your shoulder blades, securing them so the beautifully crafted wings don't fall down or break.

Finally, you grab the heels and put them on the ground in front of your feet. You gently slide your feet into them before checking that everything is done.

Nodding to yourself, happy with how it all turned out and fits perfectly, you walk over to the door, leaving for the party.

Once you arrive at the party, peoples eyes wander over your body, not even subtly, may you add. Smirking, you don't pay them any mind, just walking to where you spot your girlfriend is standing with Josie and Penelope, who are dressed up as hot pirates.

Hope is dressed up as a little red riding hood, with the red cloak dress and the tights and red heeled boots. Along with matching red gloves and a basket which is sitting on the bleachers beside where she's standing back towards you.

"Hmm, you guys look like you can take anything you dream of. And with style." You tell the couple, making their eyes attention roam over to you and Josie's mouth hangs open, making you and Penelope both chuckle.

Then, Hope turns around from where her back was facing you and her mouth, much like Josie's, hangs open, along with her eyes widening with shock as they roam over your body.

"You girls like?" You place your hands on your hips, posing. Still no movement besides the eyes on the two of them. "I think what they mean is, you look drop dead gorgeous in that, y/n/n" Penelope winks, complementing you for the both of them. "Thanks, maybe we should let them oggle while we go for a dance" You smirk back, knowing that's got to snap at least one of them out of the trance.

Penelope picks up on what you're hinting at and nods along, telling her she's in. "What a wonderful idea" She answers and unlinks her arm from Josie's and place's her hand in your outstretched one.

After a couple steps backwards you guys take, Josie snaps out of it, realizing the warmth from beside her is missing. "Hey! wait a second, dance with your own girlfriend" Josie exaggerates playfully by coming over and throwing her arms around Penelope's waist.

Soon after, Hope follows and snaps out of the trance as well and comes over. "Yeah, i think you should dance with your own girlfriend like Jo said" Hope tells you and leads you to where everyone is dancing, but not before you and Penelope quickly high five.

"Of course I'll dance with you. Have I told you how hot you look?" You tell her once you guys start dancing to the slower song together. You run your hands down her hips, tracing her curves. A thick blush coats her cheeks as she looks down, smiling. She's still getting used to all the nice compliments you give her that aren't backhanded like she's experienced before from some girls who bullied her when she was younger, or more specifically when you almost killed them for hurting Hope.

She sputters before looking back into your warm eyes. "Me? Look at you, you look like a literal goddess and sex bomb" She tells you. "Forget the costume, you basically are a literal angel" She tells you, her eyes wandering over your body quickly before looking back up to your face where you're smirking.

"Oh yeah? Then I'm sure we're going to have some fun tonight" You lean over and kiss her neck before softly biting her ear lobe, making her shudder in excitement as you pull away.

"Promise" She whispers. "Of course" You bite your lip before you guys continue dancing to the song, bodies close together. And Hope May or may not be glaring at anyone who stares too long at you.

The VS fashion show look:

[suuuupernovaaa]

kxuke

kxuke [ˈk’u.kɛ] adj. safe

Anonymous Request: What about Avatar reader x Neteyam with the "I won't say I'm in love" trope. The reader was part of Quaritch's team, but she got captured by the Sullys. She was under Neteyam's supervision, and they both fell in love slowly. However, they don't want to admit their feelings. Reader ends up betraying Quaritch's and fighting alongside the Sullys.

This would probably do better as a multi-chaptered story, so you may see it expanded as such in the future.

5.3k words

For two months, they've carried me from place to place, kept me in the dark, barely spoken to me. When I wake up, I'm back on base, but I have no information to give my team.

I can't see outside. I can't hear anything but what sounds like leaves blowing in the wind and birds chirping, even though I know it's not what I'd think of as birds.

Every morning, it's the same thing. The oldest Sully brings me something to eat, asks me if I have anything to tell him, and I say no. I ask if he has anything to tell me, and he says no.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm tired, I'm sore, and I smell terrible. I'm under 24/7 surveillance by one of the Sullys, and I'm pretty sure that soon, they're going to give up and kill me. After all, I'm the enemy, part of Quartich's elite squad, and there's nothing I have to offer them.

I know what they know: Quartich is hunting the Sullys, and he won't stop until he kills them all, even the children.

The solitude is wearing me down, and my team is growing tired of my uselessness. I don't know why they keep putting me back under every morning - but they do, hoping I'll have something useful for them. I never do.

It's another morning - can't say whether it's sunny, or cloudy, or rainy - and Neteyam arrives as he always does, but he's a little early, and I'm ashamed that he finds me crying.

I begged my team not to put me back here, not to let me spend another day in dark isolation, but they don't want the avatar - a hefty investment - to go to waste. If she doesn't wake up, the Sullys will definitely kill her.

Neteyam clears his throat, and sets the usual meal of fruit and bread in front of me.

"Thanks," I say.

He nods. He doesn't ask if I have anything to tell him, so I don't either. Then, he leaves. Wonderful. The only social interaction I ever get, and it's gone.

I spend the day as I always do - pacing, doing jumping jacks, stretches, and staring at the dark ceiling, wondering who's standing just outside, keeping watch.

As the sun begins to go down, I feel relief. Soon, I can close my eyes, fall asleep, and return to freedom. Though, it's starting to feel less like freedom.

I took this job because I didn't have anything else in my life, and I've always been a good soldier - but it's not like I really believe in Quartich. Sometimes, I've wondered if what we're doing here is even right.

Is the human race so important that we need to displace these people to continue? What good have we done, that we deserve that?

Unexpectedly, the flap to the tent, or pod, I'm in, opens up, and Neteyam steps through.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, standing up.

He holds a thick cloth out to me. "Over your eyes," he says.

My heart rate quickens. This is it. They're finally going to kill my avatar. I've heard it's unpleasant, dying in your avatar, and it isn't like you get to go back to your human body after. It's the end for both of you.

I have to admit, I'm also a little relieved as I take the cloth from him. The last two months have been exhausting, and psychologically damaging, and made me question every single choice I've made in my life.

I can't keep doing this, and I can't escape... so maybe death is the only way out.

After I tie the cloth securely over my eyes, Neteyam checks thoroughly.

"I can't see," I say, as if he would trust me.

He grabs my arm, and pulls. "Come."

This is it.

--

My feet touch sand, and then water, and I want to scream with joy. It's dark out, not that I could see anything anyway, and quiet. I don't hear anyone else around us.

"Water," I whisper. Neteyam keeps pulling me. Is he going to drown me in it? Could he maybe just let me... clean up a little, before he kills me? I don't want to die this dirty.

Neteyam grabs my hand, and places something in it. A small, wet sack.

"To clean," he says, and I hear a pistol cock. "Don't go far, and don't make noise."

Holy shit, he is going to let me clean up. Sure, he's going to hold a gun and watch me wash my naked body, but I'll take it. Without any hesitation or shame, I pull off the dirty tank top and shorts I've been wearing, and go deeper into the water. I scrub every inch of myself, even under the mask, and scrub my hair until my scalp burns. This is definitely an ocean, the salty water burns my eyes and my dry lips, but I don't care at all. It still feels so amazing.

"Oh, my god," I moan when I come up for air. "Thank you."

Neteyam says nothing, just grunts, and grabs my arm. "Come, we must go back."

I'm definitely naked, but Neteyam pulls me away anyway and honestly, the thought of putting those disgusting clothes back on makes me want to die, so I leave them in the ocean. I would rather be naked and clean.

Neteyam takes me back to my prison, and pulls the cloth from my eyes.

We stare at each other for a long moment. "Why?" I ask.

He shrugs, turns, and leaves. I see laying on the floor, some clothes - if you can call them that. The top is essentially a tube top, easy enough to put on, but the bottoms take me a little while longer to figure out, especially with the tail. But they're clean, and so am I, and I cry again.

--

That isn't the last kindness that Neteyam does for me. Late at night, when everyone else is asleep, he often returns, bringing me new clothes, food, even letting me wash once in a while.

After a couple weeks of this, I work up the courage to ask him why.

"You haven't told them where we are, or they would have come. And they keep sending you back. You must be... lonely."

I bite my lip. "I can't tell them. I don't know. They keep sending me back because, because I don't know, and they say, if I don't wake up here, you'll kill... her." I gesture to my avatar body, who is me, but not me. "Why haven't you killed me?"

"Mom and dad can't agree," Neteyam shrugs. "What's your name?"

It takes me aback that I've never told him that, and that he's never asked before. "Y/N," I reply.

"Why do you do what you... do? Why follow him?"

I look down. "Earth is bad, Neteyam. You have parents who care about you, right?"

He nods.

I shrug. "I never had that. I never had anyone. I just had the marines. And I was good at it, so they sent me here. I just... didn't have anywhere else to go."

Without another word, Neteyam leaves again.

I haven't told my team about any of this. I don't think I'm going to.

--

Neteyam keeps asking me questions, every day, about my home on earth, what happened to my family, what being a marine is like... and I ask him questions, too, about growing up on Pandora, about his family, but I'm careful not to ask anything about where we are. All I know is, we're by the ocean. That wouldn't be very helpful information, anyway.

I look forward to seeing Neteyam every day, more than I've ever looked forward to anything in my life. Just sitting and talking with him brings me more happiness than anything else I can remember, and it's equal parts upsetting and confusing.

I'm not sure where I stand, or where we go from here. I'm just a Sky Person, and an evil one... I couldn't possibly be someone Neteyam would want to be friends with, and I definitely couldn't earn the trust of his family, so what will become of me?

Will they still kill me?

Eventually, Neteyam isn't alone when he comes one afternoon. I expected this eventually, but I didn't expect it would be Neytiri, his mother.

It's our first time coming face to face, and in the dim light of my prison, she's terrifying - her wide, glowing eyes, staring down at me; she looks like an angel of death, beautiful and terrifying.

I want to shrink, and avoid eye contact, but my training won't allow it. I stand, shoulders back, returning her gaze.

"Almost four months, we've kept you alive," she says, standing tall and strong before me. "And now I know my idiot son has let you out. You could have told them where we are. Why haven't you?"

"I wear a blindfold," I reply, and glance over her shoulder at Neteyam. The air is tense, and he stares at his mother nervously.

"Bah, I'm not stupid. Tell me why you haven't told them."

She's right. What I've felt and heard outside these walls, it could give my team vital information - but I haven't even let them know I've set foot outside.

I glance at Neteyam again, and this time, she follows my gaze.

"It's my son. You care for him?" She wrinkles her nose, disgusted at the thought.

"No, I - I just... don't want to help them, I guess."

She looks me, head to toe, one more time, and then they both leave.

--

Something has to change. I feel I've lost control of my life, and I want just a little bit back.That evening, when I wake up on base, I give a disappointing report to my team, and then make my plans to leave.

There are countless outposts on Pandora where I could access a link remotely - a few that base can't track, because they're so remote that they had to be fully self-sufficient. All I need to do is pack a bag, and I can be on my way, but it will have to be on foot. Human foot.

Any vehicle that I can steal, they can track. And the forest is easy to navigate in my avatar body, but my human body is small and slow - not to mention, I'll be a target for every predator out there.

Still, I'd rather die in this human form than continue on the way I have. So, I pack my bag, and head out. No one really cares what I do at night anyway, as long as I link back up in the morning for another useless day of gathering zero intel.

--

It takes two days, which is much longer than I thought it would, and I just barely scrape through the jungle before finding one of the scientist's outposts.

There is a chance they'll find me here, but they'll have to search a long time to do it - and the team of avatars would have to fly back, and abandon their physical search for the Sullys, to do it. It doesn't seem like they'd make me a priority.

It's mid-morning when I arrive, dirty and hungry, and as much as I want to link to my avatar - who hopefully hasn't been sunk to the bottom of the ocean yet - I need to clean up, and eat.

As soon as I'm done, I put myself under, and pray it works.

It's moments before I wake up, and I'm disoriented when I do. I usually wake up in the dark, but this time, it's blindingly bright out. I'm not lying down in my lonely hut, instead, I'm speeding through the air, the wind whipping at my back, and Neteyam at my front.

My eyes take a long time to adjust, and my lungs take even longer to get in a good breath of air. I'm on Neteyam's Ikran, tied to him, face to face.

"What the hell!" I scream, and without thinking, wrap my arms around his waist. I'm not a pilot, so not really one for flying. In fact, heights really aren't my thing at all. I cling to him, taking in the scenery around me through wide, terrified eyes.

We're above the ocean, with nothing in sight as far as I can see, which only adds to my fear.

"You're alive," Neteyam responds, having to shout for me to hear him. "I wasn't sure if they'd killed you or not."

"I'll explain when we land," I yell in response, and he nods.

It's very strange, being this close to Neteyam. He's grabbed my arm, even pulled me along by my hand before, but now, I'm straddling him, sitting in his lap, a tight rope around my torso, holding me to him - well, it's purpose was obviously to hold my limp avatar to him, but I'm glad to have the security, nonetheless.

He stares ahead, focused on where we're going, and it allows me a little bit of time to think. Not about our situation, or the plan either of us has... but about him.

I can't deny the joy I feel at being here with Neteyam, and I'm not sure if I'm just glad to have woken up anywhere but my dark, lonesome hut, or if it's something more.

Abandoning my life back on Earth to come to Pandora pretty much guaranteed I would never enjoy a romantic relationship again. I'd never been interested in marines, ironically enough. And scientists certainly weren't interested in me. And that was kind of... it, here.

Except, Neteyam. A man my age. A man who has been taking care of the enemy, showing me mercy, visiting me every day, asking me questions about myself and listening carefully to the responses.

It's such a complex, confusing situation, and there was no way to know if it was just being the baseline of Na'vi decency, or if it was something more for him.

It's a long ride, and I have hours to think about all of it, and how hungry I am.

When we finally land, Neteyam hands me a bag full of dried fruits and meat. I take it gratefully, and ask him what's going on.

"When you didn't wake up, there was a lot of debate about what to do with your body. My mother wanted to throw you to the ocean, my father was starting to agree with her and I... didn't think it was right. So I offered to move you, to wait and see if you woke up, and to leave you far from where my family is if you didn't."

I chew on the tough, dried meat. "Oh. Why?"

Neteyam looks away, removing his poncho, and tucking it into his bag. "I do not want you to die."

I nod. "Oh."

"You tell me this - what do you stand for?"

That's not something I've ever been asked. The answer would have been easy four months ago. I was a marine, I had an assignment, and I was serving my country.

But now I know, I never believed in that. It was just something to make me finally feel like I belonged, but it wasn't something I truly wanted to belong to.

"Neteyam, I really don't know. I don't want to help the Sky People, and I won't do anything to harm your family, but... it leaves me, sort of in-between. Do you understand?"

He nods.

"And I, well, I do care about you. You don't have any reason to be this nice to me, to treat me this good. Why do you do that?"

He furrows his brow, looking as confused as I feel.

"I don't know," he replies.

I don't, either.

--

We set up a camp nearby, Neteyam hangs a hammock in a tree while I stand by uselessly, trying to watch and learn. He hunts after that, and insists I join, but as quiet as I try to be, I'm still too loud.

So, Neteyam finds a new purpose - teach me to hunt. And to fish. And to be like his people.

It's fucking hard. I always thought I was strong, fast and capable, but I'm nothing compared to Neteyam. I lag behind, I'm clumsy and slow, and it takes me forever to learn simple concepts.

Neteyam is endlessly patient with me, in a way I don't deserve, and as the days drag on, we both smile a lot more. We even find ourselves laughing, on occasion.

Neteyam likes to tease me about my lack of coordination, but it's easy to see that he likes teaching me, otherwise he wouldn't take such care to explain things the way he does.

These weeks in the jungle with him, they're the best of my life.

When I wake up in my human body at night, I can't deny how disappointed I am. It's messing with my head, how the tall, blue version of myself is starting to feel like the real me, and this small human feels like the imposter.

Eventually, I'm able to open up to Neteyam about this.

"My father, he asked Eywa to... to transfer him, into his avatar. He had the whole clan to help him, though."

"Why did she do it?"

"He was meant to be one of The People."

I consider that for a while.

--

It's been a couple weeks, just Neteyam and myself here, and I can't deny how I'm feeling any longer.

It makes no sense, for me to be in love with him, but I undeniably am. It's really stupid actually, to fall in love with someone under my circumstances, but I've always thought love was kind of stupid anyway.

So I make a request.

"Do you think... Eywa would let me stay, in this body?"

"Do you want to be one of The People?"

I bite my lip and think. "I want to belong to something bigger than myself, and I want it to be something... selfless. Something that doesn't demand I be something I'm not. And I want, to stay with you."

The corners of his mouth pull up into a smile. "I think she would let you. I think it's dangerous to try, without the clan, but if you want to..." I see the wheels in his head spinning. "We will need your human body, and we will need the tree of souls. At night."

We form a plan.

--

Neteyam carries my avatar in his arms, and I trail behind, very slowly, in my human body. It took us three days to travel back to the outpost where I was staying, and two more days to travel, the three of us, to the tree of souls.

We had to wait then, just outside, until it was deserted.

"You need to be sure," Neteyam says, towering over me as we wait in the wings. "If you are not sure, it will not work." He reaches out and puts a giant hand on my small shoulder. I wonder what he thinks of my dark skin, my curly hair, my frame and build... but I guess it won't matter much longer.

"I'm sure. And listen, I might die down there, right?"

He takes in a deep breath. "Maybe."

I nod. "Great. Well, listen, I might as well just say it then. I'm mostly doing this because Earth sucks, humans suck, and I don't want any part of it anymore. But I'm also doing it because, I think, I might be in love with you a little bit. So, I don't want to die without having said it. And I don't want you to say anything back. You can tell me how you feel, one way or another, if I wake up. Otherwise, say it over my grave."

I can tell Neteyam is trying not to roll his eyes - something he does often in my presence - so he just nods, and squeezes my shoulder.

When the coast is clear, we approach together, and Neteyam walks me through it. I watch him lay down my avatar body, and I lay similarly to her, our heads near each other.

I should be nervous, but I mostly feel calm.

Didn't I want to die just a month or two ago? And now here I am, with a second chance at life.

Neteyam begins to pray over me, and it sounds a little clumsy, but he's got the spirit. I close my eyes, and feel featherlight touches all over my body... and I drift off.

--

She closes her eyes, and Neteyam's heart squeezes in his chest.

He knows this is stupid. He's no Tsahik, and they need the full power of the clan to make this transfer... but that's not possible, and he doesn't see any other way to keep Y/N for himself.

He knows it's selfish, but he also knows that his mother allowed him to fly off with this woman, and that has to mean something.

Eywa will see how strong she is, how determined she is, and how much she deserves a true home. Every time Neteyam thinks about the stories she told him of her childhood, the neglect and the abuse, he has to fight back equal parts rage and incredible sadness.

He thinks of those months, locked in her mauri pod, barely any sunlight or interaction, and wonders how she survived - but now he knows, she survived worse than that at the hands of people who were meant to love and protect her.

Y/N seemed so strong at first, and she is, but he can truly See her now. Part of her is still that child, seeking love and confidence in another person, and he wants nothing more than to give it to her - his family's opinion on it be damned.

He prays hard, begging Eywa to give Y/N this one good thing in her life, finally, and waits for her to open her eyes.

--

It feels as if I drift off into a dream, into a very deep sleep, and when I open my eyes, I feel well-rested - I can't remember the last time I felt well-rested.

It isn't until I see Neteyam hovering over me that I realize what's happened. I tear my eyes from his to look down at myself - and see blue.

It fucking worked. It shouldn't have! We had everything against us - except Eywa, who granted our prayers.

Neteyam lifts me up slowly by my shoulders. It doesn't feel like when I link with this body from the lab; something about this feels different. I never felt fully settled in this body until now.

I turned to look at her - myself - and wonder if I should mourn. I think of all the mistreatment I accepted in that body, all the times I let myself be hurt and abused, and swear to myself that I will not let that happen in this new life I've been given.

"We need to bury her," I say.

Neteyam nods, and wordlessly lifts her up into his arms. I watch as he leans down, removing her mask, and placing a kiss on each of her dimpled cheeks.

"She is beautiful," he says, and my heart wells up into my throat, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.

She is beautiful, and she deserves to rest now. It doesn't take long to find her a quiet resting place, and I shed a few tears for her as we cover her up.

"Goodbye," I whisper, wiping the dirt from my hands, and Neteyam joins me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Eywa has given you a new life. What will you do with it?"

I set my jaw and furrow my brow. "I will fight with you, and your family."

--

We make a long, hard journey back across the sea to Neteyam's family and the Metkayina. For the first time, with my own eyes, I see the place I was held captive.

It's beautiful, with white sand beaches and blue green water. It's hard to imagine how depressing and desolate this place seemed to me not that long ago.

We are accosted on the beach as soon as we arrive, and through the large gathering crowd, Neteyam's parents and siblings rush to us.

"What is she doing here?" Neytiri hisses, grabbing her son's arm. He pulls back from her, and reaches out for my hand, pulling me to his side as dozens of pairs of eyes watch.

"There is much to discuss. Y/N is not a threat to us. You must listen to me."

Neytiri hisses at me, and I stand silent and expressionless. Jake looks on, his expression somewhere between anger and confusion. He turns to another man, tall and imposing, covered in tattoos - it's very easy to tell he's in charge.

"We'll handle this," he tells the man, who nods, and Neteyam and I are pulled through the crowd and off the beach, to a set of mauri pods. I've never seen them before, but Neteyam described them to me while we were away. Without the door covered, they're light, airy, and beautiful.

We enter one of the largest ones, and Neteyam's parents turn to us. "Explain."

Neteyam takes a deep breath and does his best to tell them everything, starting with all I learned in the month we were away together, the way I dedicated myself to learning our ways - just like Jake did, when he first met Neytiri.

The comparison is clever, I have to give him that.

I don't know how I feel about what he says next, as he describes my life on earth to his parents. Neteyam is the only person I've ever shared that with, and it hurts to hear him discuss it so freely, but I understand why he's doing it. If they're going to spare my life, they might need to feel a little sympathy.

"Y/N deserves to be one of The People. She could have given us away and instead, she chose to abandon her people, and risk her life in asking Eywa to allow her to stay in this form. And Eywa has granted that request. I buried her human body myself."

For the first time, neither of Neteyam's parents have anything to say. Everyone stares at each other for a long, tense moment.

"I would never do anything to hurt your family," I say finally, stepping out from behind Neteyam. "I can't do anything but promise you that, on my life." I raise my hand to my chest, pressing it to my heart.

"You have passed through the eye, and return?" Neytiri asks.

Neteyam and I both nod.

"You swear this is true, son?" Jake asks solemnly. "You did this yourself? Just the two of you?"

"Impossible," Neytiri adds.

I shrug.

"Impossible, but we did it. Eywa willed it Herself. Y/N deserves to be one of The People."

"Lo'ak," Jake calls, and from just outside the mauri, Neteyam's brother enters. It's the first time I've laid eyes on him, though Neteyam has spoken of him often. Neteyam is all Neytiri, but Lo'ak is practically a carbon copy of his father.

"Take Y/N outside, we need to talk," Jake says, and I look to Neteyam with wide eyes.

He reaches out, taking my face into his hand, running his thumb over my cheek. "It'll be okay," he says, and I nod.

As I leave, I can't help but think, for the thousandth time, that I confessed my love for him, and he hasn't said a word about it since.

--

Lo'ak is clearly unsure what to do with me as we leave, so I recommend sitting on the beach. I haven't enjoyed the beach without a blindfold, and it seems like a relaxing thing to do.

Lo'ak agrees, and leads me through a mess of mauri pods down to the water. I plop myself down, digging my toes into the wet sand, and sigh.

"It's nice to meet you, Lo'ak," I say, trying not to sound too formal, as he sits beside me.

"You too. I knew my brother was sneaking you out, but he never let me join."

It's such a younger brother thing to say, and I have to smile. "He was really nice to me, and he didn't have to be."

"We were all surprised, when we found out. Neteyam always does whatever mom and dad say. He's like, the perfect son."

My smile grows wider. "I think he probably still is."

Lo'ak rolls his eyes, and then I see how alike he and his older brother look.

"Probably. If I'd done this, I'd be skinned alive right now."

For the first time that day, I allow myself to truly laugh.

--

Neteyam joins us on the beach what feels like hours later, and Lo'ak beasts a hasty retreat after clapping his brother on the back.

I grasp the hand that Neteyam extends to me, and stand to look at him, brushing the sand off my thighs.

"Well?" I demand.

"That was rough. They're pretty mad about what we did but, they admitted they didn't really have much of a reason to be, besides me risking myself by going back to the Tree of Souls. They can't argue with Eywa, really. She wouldn't have done this for us if it didn't benefit the balance of life. You're meant to be one of us. My mom isn't happy about it, and my dad doesn't really get it but... you're not going to get any trouble from them. It doesn't mean they like you, especially my mom, but, she'll come around eventually."

I had been holding tension in every single muscle in my body, and at this news, everything relaxes all at once.

It feels as if a war is over. I get to stay in this body, and I get to stay with Neteyam. A wave of euphoria washes over me, and I close my eyes tightly, trying to keep the tears away.

"That's good news," I whisper.

"They especially couldn't argue when I, um, told them that I'm in love with you, and intend to make you my mate."

Mate.

That means wife, to him. And they don't have divorce here on Pandora.

My eyes open in a flash. "You do?"

"If you'll have me," he says, with a shrug and a very small smile. He seems more nervous now than he did earlier, facing his warrior-goddess mother.

In my entire life, I have never known stability. I have never been truly loved, cared for, or had anyone that I could trust. No one has ever tried to put in the effort to gain my trust, and certainly not my love.

Neteyam and I met as guard and prisoner. I was a threat to his family, and to his entire way of life, and still he went out of his way to take care of me. He risked everything for me.

No one has ever shown me that level of commitment - except the marine corps, who wanted my life in return.

Neteyam wants nothing in return. Neteyam loves me, and I know he will take care of me every day for the rest of our lives.

So the commitment isn't scary. It's welcome. It's a relief. It's a warm hug after coming in from the cold. It's everything I have ever needed and didn't think I'd ever be fortunate enough to receive.

The tears are falling freely now, and Neteyam reaches up to try and wipe them away, but they won't stop.

"I love you, Neteyam Sully. I never want to be away from you, not a single day, for the rest of my life." I can barely get the words out through sobs.

He reaches out, pulling me into his arms, hugging me so tightly it almost hurts.

"I will take care of you," he whispers in my ear, "the way you deserve. I promise you this."

With no doubts, I believe him. I will do whatever it takes to keep my mate safe, and I know he will too.

Tag List: @nhloversblog @itsemy01 @eringaitskill

[acewritesfics]

36 Minutes | TOMMY SHELBY

⚠️ THIS IS A REPOST FROM MY MAIN BLOG @/DLMLUFICS. UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE TO DO IT THIS WAY. MORE INFO IN MY PINNED POST. ⚠️

Pairing: Modern!Tommy Shelby x Reader

Fic Type: Imagine, fluff.

Request: from @runnning-outof-time from my valentines special over on main blog.

PROMPTS: being stood up, meet cute, and proposal.  

Warnings: Slightly Workaholic!Tommy. Break up over the phone. Swearing. Time jump at the end.

Word Count: 2,908

TOMMY SHELBY MASTERLIST

Not caring that she's in one of the fanciest restaurants in London, Y/N has her elbows on the table, her chin resting on a closed first while her other hand swirls the wine in her glass around before she takes a sip. She looks around the restaurant longingly wishing she was any of the happy couples that surrounded her. After placing her glass on the table, she picks up her phone, checking the time and see if she had any messages from her boyfriend. 

It was 30 minutes after their reservation had been made. The only message she’s received is from her mum letting her know that her date went well, and she wouldn't be home until tomorrow if not tonight.  

‘At least my mum's having a lovely time...’ she thinks to herself. It's been a few years since her dad left her mum for a much younger woman. Y/N was excited to hear that her mum was going out on a date this valentine with her first love. They reconnected about a year ago and have been close since. Y/N is genuinely happy for her mum. She deserves to be happy again.  

Finishing the last of her wine, she waves the waiter over, "I'll take one more and if he hasn't arrived in ten minutes, I'll give up the table to someone else and move to the bar," she tells him holding up her empty glass. 

"Sure thing, Miss," he smiles sadly at her as he pours more wine into the glass, making sure to fill it up a little more than he usually would. "If you don't mind me saying, whoever is keeping you waiting is surely a fool." 

"Well, the thing is..." she pauses to get his name. 

"Joe," he tells her. 

"Joe," she repeats with a smile, but her eyes hold no joy, "The thing is Joe, you're absolutely right. He is a fool for keeping me waiting but I am also a fool for waiting for him." 

"I don't think you're a fool, Miss," he assures her. "None of this is your doing. It's all on him." 

"Thank you, Joe," she says giving him a more genuine smile now. "If you weren't working, I would invite you to sit with me." 

"Speaking of work, I better get back to it," he tells her. "I'll be around if you need me again." Joe leaves making his way over to the maître de. 

Picking up her phone, she goes through her messages until she finds the ones from her boyfriend. Tapping on it, she starts typing a not so lovely message for him when she hears someone sit across from her. 

Looking up, thinking it could finally be here boyfriend joining her for their valentine's day dinner, she's surprised to see a man she doesn't recognize.  

“Uh… excuse me, I think you have the wrong table,” she says to the man typing on his phone. He looks up, his beautiful blue eyes connecting with hers. ‘My goodness, he's beautiful...’ she thinks as she swallows the lump that has formed in her throat. Feeling slightly intimidated under his gaze, she stands up from her seat. “I was actually about to leave so… you can keep the table.” When he doesn’t say anything, she picks up her phone and clutch. “I uh… I hope you enjoy the rest of your night.” She goes to leave when he stops her.  

“Stay,” he finds himself telling her. She goes to refuse when he speaks again stopping her. "My business partner just cancelled on me, and I don't really want to waste a reservation here." 

"I'm waiting for my boyfriend," she tells him. 

"You said you were leaving, how long have you been waiting for him?" he questions her, his intimidating but beautiful eyes still boring into her.  

She looks at the time on her phone. "36 minutes." 

"I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but he's not coming," he says.  

If she knew it wasn't true would have come back with a retort, but she knew this stranger was right. This isn't the first time he hasn't shown up for their date and it wasn't uncommon for him to be late.  

"I know," she sighs.  

"So, let me make a proposal," he says.  

"Little early for that, isn't it," she tries to make a joke. "We only just met." 

He rolls his eyes. "Both our plans have fallen through. Instead of letting our reservations go to waste, you should stay and have dinner with me." 

"But we are," she points out as she accepts his lack of a 'proposal'. "Were you really meeting your business partner in the fanciest restaurant in London on what is meant to be the most romantic night of the year?" 

"Valentine's Day?" he asks before shrugging. "It's just another day to me." 

"Do you not have someone special to spend it with?" 

"I haven't had someone special in a while," he admits. "Does my work count?" 

Her eyes widen as she shakes his head, "No, it doesn't."  

As his phone begins to ring, she bites the inside of her cheek and watches him answer it. Knowing that this is how her date with her boyfriend would have gone and not wanting to spend her evening this way, she gets an idea. 

Reaching across the table, she snatches his phone from him and holds it to her ear as begins to talk into it, ignoring the death glare her impromptu date is sending her. "Sorry for the rude interruption but is there any way that this can wait until tomorrow?" she asks the person on the other side as she gives him a sheepish smile. 

"Who are you? Where's Tommy?" A woman's voice comes through. 

"I'm his date for this evening," she tells her. 

"His date?" the woman asks sounding surprised. "This certainly can wait until tomorrow. Let him know I told him to relax and enjoy himself and make sure to turn off his phone. The man needs a night away from work." 

"I'll make sure to do that. You have a lovely evening ma'am," Y/N tells her. 

"Call me Polly, love," she can hear the smile in Polly's voice. She glances at Tommy, her smile more confident than a moment ago and his death glare turning to a look of annoyance, but his eyes gave away to his amusement. "You have a lovely evening as well. Tommy will treat you well," she adds before ending the call. 

As soon as the call ends, she turns off Tommy's phone. "Polly seems lovely. She told me to tell you to relax and enjoy yourself and for me to turn off your phone." She goes to hand his phone back to him but pulls it back towards herself before he can take it from her. "You can have it back if you promise me that you won't turn it back on." 

He looks at her unimpressed but sighs. "Fine, but only if you tell me your name." 

"It's Y/N," she smiles and hands it to him giving him the benefit of the doubt. Instead of turning it back on like she thought he would, he places it back inside his pocket. 

"I'm Tommy," he introduces himself just as Joe returns to their table. 

"I'm sorry for what I just did. I'm usually not that forward," she apologizes when Joe leaves, after taking their drink and meal orders.  

"I was being rude," he admits. "I asked you to stay and I answered my phone like you weren’t here. But why did you do it?" 

"If my boyfriend was here, it would have been the same," she answers as a sadness comes over her as she thinks about her boyfriend. He got her to make the reservations and promised to give her a night filled with romance and love with no interruptions, but he was the one who hasn’t shown up or bothered to call or message her with an excuse. "Sometimes I feel as though work comes first." 

Tommy looks down at the table, a guilty look in his eyes. "I was a bit of a workaholic when I met my wife." 

"You're married?" she asks, surprised. Polly never alluded to him being married. It seemed she encouraged their little 'date'. 

"Widowed," he tells her. "My wife died a few years ago." 

"I'm sorry," she says, looking at him with sympathy.  

"How long have you been with your boyfriend?" he asks, wanting to move on from his deceased wife. Tommy wasn't even sure why he brought it up to her, a stranger who he has no plans on seeing after tonight. 

"Five years," she tells him. 

"And he's still only your boyfriend?" he asks.  

"We did talk about getting married once," she tells him, feeling as though he's being a little judgmental. "Three years ago," she sighs seeing his point.  

"Can I ask something without you getting mad at me?" he asks her. 

"Go ahead. I'm sure it can’t make me as mad as my boyfriend’s made me," she tells him, now feeling more disappointed than mad at her boyfriend.  

"Why are you still with him?"  

At first, she wanted to defend the man she's been with for the past five years, but nothing really came to mind. At first their relationship had been great. They made time for each other, went away on trips together, took holidays in the summer, had sex whenever they got the chance and were happy and in love. It was the past two years when things took a turn. Their time together becoming less and less, their talks of marriage and a family fading along with it and the arguments became more frequent. There's no more love between them. She doesn't know why she hasn't ended it with him yet. Maybe she was holding on to hope that the man she fell in love with would return and it would go back to how it was. 

"I don't know," she honestly tells him. "I really don't know." 

After eating, Tommy pays for their meals and drinks despite Y/N's protests of being able to pay for herself. He refuses to let her say he was the one who invited her to stay and that she should never have to pay for herself in the first place, given it was her idiot boyfriend’s idea to go out for dinner in the first place.  

As they leave the restaurant, they both find themselves not wanting the night to end just yet. It was the most fun they've had in a while, smiling and laughing, telling old stories, her boyfriend and his deceased wife not once coming up again as they enjoyed their meals. 

"You should let us take you home," Tommy tells her as he stands beside his car. His driver was already out and holding the door open for him.  

"I need to go figure out why my boyfriend was a no show," she sighs, wanting nothing more than to leave with the pretty blue-eyed man. As if her boyfriend knew she was speaking about him, her phone began to ring, flashing his photo and name. "Speaking of the devil." 

Before she could answer it, Tommy takes her phone and answers it for her. "Y/N's a little busy right now. You'll have to call her back later or never." 

"Tommy," she scolds him trying to get her phone back. He holds up his finger as he moves to avoid her trying to take it back from him.  

"Who are you?" Y/N can hear her boyfriend ask when Tommy pulls the phone away to put it on speaker and hold the phone further away from her. 

"I'm Tommy," he introduces himself. "And I just spent a wonderful evening with your girlfriend, who you stood up. She's a lovely woman, by the way. Deserves far better than this." 

"You think you can give her better?" her boyfriend speaks, not realizing he's on speaker. 

"I don't think I can," Tommy begins. "I know I can," he adds his eyes looking deeply into hers, letting her know he means every word. 

"You can have her, mate," she hears him say making her eyes snap to her phone. "Just a word of warning, she's clingy, demanding, whiny and she'll hold you back." 

Feeling her heart drop into her stomach, Tommy lets her have her phone back. "I wouldn't have to be those things if you actually made time for me, you arrogant, self-centered, neglectful bastard. You and your tiny dick can fuck right off." 

Her boyfriend starts to stutter out an apology but instead of listening to it, she ends the call and blocks his number knowing he'll try to ring her back. "Does that offer to take me home still stand?" 

"Of course, Love," Tommy smiles as he helps her into the car before he gets in himself. 

1 YEAR LATER: 

"Tommy, we're going to be late," Y/N giggles, biting her lip to stop the moan that's threatening to escape her throat. Tommy has her trapped in his arms as he trails kisses up her throat and along her jawline to the sweet spot below her ear. 

"Good thing I own the bloody restaurant now, eh?" She feels him smirk against her skin before moving back to press his lips to hers.  

After the night they met, Y/N and Tommy continued to hit it off. Their relationship quickly developed, and Tommy always made sure to make time for her as well as letting her know how much he loves and appreciates her. Despite the bumps in their relationship, Y/N is far happier with Tommy than she ever was with her ex-boyfriend. Tommy knew within the first four months of their relationship Y/N would be the one he gets remarried to. Not only were they great together, she and Charlie got along like a house on fire and often ganged up together against him. It made his heart swell seeing his son happy again. Y/N knows she’ll never replace his mum, who Tommy opened up to her about not long into their relationship, but she sure does love him as if he’s her own child.  

Tommy helps Y/N into her coat and opens the door to go outside. Leading her out to the car, he helps her in before getting in beside her.  

“What time do you have that meeting tomorrow?” She asks him when they’re not far from arriving at the restaurant.  

“Not until the afternoon. I told them I won’t be coming in until after lunch,” he replies taking her hand into his and kisses the back of it. “No more talk about work. Tonight’s about us.” 

“Can you believe we only met a year ago,” she smiles turning her body slightly towards him. “Do you think we’d be here if you hadn’t mistakenly sat at my table and begged me to have dinner with you,” she jests.  

“I think you and I remember it differently,” he chuckles, looking at her lovingly. “Who said it was a mistake? And I didn’t beg you to stay.” 

“You called it a proposal,” she teases. “It wasn’t a very good one, to be honest.” 

“You still stayed,” he points out. 

“Can’t pass up a free dinner,” she smiles as the car comes to a stop in front of the restaurant that they met at, which Tommy just so happened to buy a few weeks after that.  

The door opens and Tommy gets out before helping her out also. Stepping out of the car, she notices the lights are off inside the restaurant. “Did you close the restaurant on one of the busiest nights of the year?” 

“We can afford to close for one night,” he tells her as he leads her inside. “Tonight’s also a special night.” 

As they enter the dining area, she gasps in amazement seeing a single table is set up for two with a candle, some rose petals scattered around it, a champagne bucket with the most expensive bottle sitting inside it. The lights are dimmed and there’s music playing softly in the background.  

“This is incredible, Tom,” she says leaning back into Tommy as his arms wrap around her waist.  

“It’s all for you, love,” he says, softly kissing her cheek before letting her go and moving to stand in front of her. “Before we eat, I have one more surprise for you.” 

She’s unable to say anything, becoming speechless as Tommy pulls out a ring box from inside his suits pocket. “I can list everything I love about you, but we’d be here forever so instead I want to spend the rest of our lives showing you how much I love, appreciate, want and need you. I can’t imagine spending a day without you in my life. Will you do me the honour and make me the happiest man and marry me?” 

Unable to speak through her tears she nods her head, holding her left hand out towards him. Slipping the ring on her finger, he pulls her in for a passionate kiss.  

“I love you,” he says in between kisses. 

“I love you too,” she says finding her voice, breaking the kiss to hug him tightly. “Now this is how proposals are done,” she chuckles, teasing him. 

“I did have a year to prepare,” he smiles and pulls her in for another kiss. 

CREDIT: Razorblade and dots dividers made by me. Peaky Blinders divider made by @/firefly-graphics. Support divider made by @/cafekitsune.

TAGGED: @forgottenpeakywriter | @rainydayteacups | @bernelflo