#also the Ella and Boo one always makes me laugh

[soulsxng]

Main muses that Nyl will have his mask off around (percentage in parenthesis is for how often)

- Jaspern: Tried to kill Jas one time, and they've been buddies ever since. (75/25) - JJ: He's known JJ since the kid was in the womb tbh. (50/50) - Melchior: If he's around Io, his mask is off. Always. Used to be engaged. (100/0) - Darrow: Least close of the drinking buddies. They bicker a lot, but if you talk shit about either of them, they're immediately reaming you for it. (50/50. Maybe 60/40) - Pythius: Met officially through Io, though Nyl had done work for Py before that. Chaos bros. (75/25) - Eleare: Kind of depends on if they're currently "hit it" or "quit it" at the moment. (40/60) - Niesal: If Nyl ever claimed he had an actual protege, it would be Nesa (50/50)

Other: - Ellaria: His daughter. Very few people know about her though. He rarely wears a mask around her. (90/10) - Arrebu, his grandson. Very expressive with the baby. SO expressive with the baby. It's precious and I live for it. Even fewer people know about Boo, though. (90/10) - Zahine. They're murder buddies. Also that was...sort of gonna be his in law for a little bit there. (75/25) - Eluvias is his unofficial little brother. Again, was gonna be his in law for a minute. (90/10) - The ex-Elyki members that now work for Io, too. He's been working with all of them for a long time, now. (40/60) - Alteo...similar to Eleare, depends on if they're fucking. Unlike Eleare, Nyl actually gets along with Teo outside of sex, though. (70/30) - Tee, Alteo's son. He's known Tee since he was a baby. (50/50) - If he's having sex with someone, the mask is off. That's also kind of the exception to the last post too, in that people he's sleeping with have seen him more expressive than he usually is.

[little-teacupss]

Fay's Heart. The prequel ( now split up shorter )

Note: This is the prequel to "The trapped fairy," just adding a little backstory so things make sense! The title is based on Spottedleaf/Spottedpaw's heart. If your warrior cats fans hope you get the reference, and in a way, it is a little similar to that story, so I hope you enjoy! Special thank you to my best friend and support @brokenmilkcrates go show him some love he's come up with a lot of this with me, he's made amazing ficlets about this and hcs for this aswell, just an overall amazing person, always been there for me, so go show him some love! 🥹❤️🫂

Tag list: @giveityourworst , @brokenmilkcrates , and @skellseerwriting

Note 2: Go make sure to check out Giveit. They're the whole reason I'm posting and writing stories to begin with, and they are the co-founder to MFH ( Maleficent x Fay x Hades ), so go show them some love and support. And go show Skelly love and support she is has helped me write this story in particular and basically been my editing fairy or editing mom :D and fixed my misdoings and she has also helped me with "The Serpentine's Jealousy", so make sure to show her some love and support.

Summary: It's the night of Castlecoming, but unfortunately, it didn't go how anyone expected, so when Bridget pushes Fay away, Fay gets spun into the arms of evil and obsession.

Warnings: The prank at castlecoming, NSFW off screen/implied/fades to black, dubcon seen and implied, kissing, manipulation, coercion, mental and physical health, needles, anxiety, accidental/ surprise pregnancy, and teen pregnancy.

Note 3: All of Fay's backstory, lore, Fae species lore, realm, and history was co-founded by @brokenmilkcrates go show him some love!!!!

Note 4: Part one here, and Part two here, and a few of the words I got from ao3 user stormflight777, the story they've written a story where the title of each chapter is a word they found from Pinterest, so go check them out they are an amazing writer with a story with 68 chapters and 805,491 words, they get all the credit for some of the words I use in this,

Add in Morgie calls Fay his little fairy

___________________________________________

Laughter, that's all Fay could hear around her. If she was blind she'd think she was at a comedy show or some kind of big event where something entertaining happened, but nothing about this was entertaining. As she watched her friend finally stand back up and look around in horror, everyone's laughter turned into gasps of terror and shock as everyone began to back away and stare at the princess who now had the appearance of an old green hag, hunched over and gaunt.

Bridget looks around before she runs off out the doors of the ballroom sobbing. Everything snaps back into reality for Fay, and she quickly begins to follow after Bridget, ignoring the people who now begin to laugh all over again. Fay made her way around the halls and into the Royal dormitory. Once Fay had found Bridget's dorm, she saw Bridget had gotten to her room and was now throwing random objects, vases, chairs, clothes, and everything in sight of her as she sobbed and screamed; Fay quickly got out her wand and wove it around while she sang the magic words. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!"

The wand sparkled and glowed, Fay watched as sparkles left the tip of the wand and surrounded the princess, making her float up and covering her out of sight before gently bringing her down, the sparkles vanished and what was left behind was the once trouvaille and cheerful Princess of Hearts, who was now a tearful, pitiful form. Fay carefully tried to approach her and said. "It's okay, it's over now."

Before Fay could make her way over, Bridget stood up and started yelling. "Get out of my sight, I want never to see you or Ella ever again!"

The Princess of Hearts approached Fay and backed her into the hallway as she continued. "You are unworthy of me!"

.She shouted before slamming the doors in Fay's face, who stood stunned with her eyes wide in shock and confusion. The longer she stood there, the longer she wished it was just a dream as everything began to set in what Bridget truly meant. She slowly backed away from the door as tears began to well in her eyes, her arms wrapped around herself as she slowly turned away from the door unsure of what to do, so with one final glance to Bridget's dorm room door.

She took a heavy step forward and then another and another; before she knew it, she was slowly making her way back to the ballroom where Castle Coming was still going strong, but before she could turn down the hallway that led straight to the ball, two figures stepped out and stood in Fay's way.

She could hear one snickering while the other wore an amused smirk. Finally, after a while of both parties simply staring at each other, the brunette approached Fay and brought his hook under her chin so that she was now gazing up at him. As he stared down at her, she then heard him ask. "Aye, now what has a wee fairy like you so sad and hanging the jib for?"

He almost sounded amused as he questioned her, his eyes gleamed with mischief and something else she couldn't quite understand; Fay pursed her lip and furrowed her brows as she tried to think of what to say the pirate before finally she said. "Why would you want to know? Haven't you done enough!"

The blonde, who'd been mainly observing, snickered when Fay yelled at Hook. After letting out a shaky breath from laughing so hard, he approached the two and slumped an arm over Hook's shoulder as he countered. "Now, now, no one likes to be sad. We only want to know what's wrong."

The two boys looked at each other before sharing cheshire-like grins; both turned back to look at Fay. James' eyes traveled over her form before leaning down and whispering in her ear. "Just say the word, and we can take all that pain away, me Corsair."

Fay's breath hitched in her throat as she processed the Sea Captain's words. Staring into his dark eyes, she felt a ruing feeling run through her system. These were the same people who'd humiliated and tormented her dear friend only moments ago but at this moment.

Fay felt as though she needed whatever they were offering to numb her pain of being pushed away by her friend, her eyes traveled from Hook to Morgie and then back again, she wetted her lips before she gave a small nod, the two smiled at each other knowing their plan was working, Morgie lets out a low chuckle, while James moved his hook from lifting Fay's chin to wrapping his arm around her waist leading her in the opposite direction that'd she'd been headed as the two walked with Morgie trailing behind them. James leaned down so he could whisper in Fay's ear. "Are you scared?"

Fay let out a shrill squeak and looked at the pirate who had an unreadable look as he stared back at the now terrified expression, her eyes filled with trepidation as they held each other's gaze a wave of affinity passed through them no matter how hard Fay at least tried the two couldn't look away from each other.

Fay felt drawn to James the longer she held his gaze; James let out a soft hum as he slowly leaned down and used his good hand to hold Fay's face into place; Fay's eyes widened when he peered into her face. James' eyes travel from her eyes to her lips, he looks into her eyes one more time before he leaned forward allowing their lips to meet.

He moves his hand from her chin and to the back of her neck to keep her held in place as he slowly deepens the kiss, his arm around her tightens around her waist, the tip of his hook jabbed into her side a little in warning not to move away.

Fay stood frozen in shock at what she was experiencing in a way it almost felt kilig, but another part of her knew it was wrong, but even with her guilty conscience nagging at her, Fay's eyes fluttered shut as she placed one hand on James' hook and the other rested on his chest, she was so lost in the moment she completely forgot about Morgie who'd also been with them and who was currently watching the intimate exchange between Hook and Fay.

Finally, Hook pulled away and let out a snicker as Fay followed his lips before her eyes widened and she backed away as far as his arm would allow her cheeks slowly turned into a deep rosy color, while her lips that were once a light shade of pink were now red and bruised from the pirate's advances. Fay looked around disorientedly her eyes met Morgie's now amber ones as he smirked at her, crossing his arms, leaned against the wall and cocking his eyebrow at her, then he tilted his head to beckon her to bring her attention back to Hook.

"Look- I- I shouldn't." .Fay whispered as she pursed her lips unsure of what to do or think at the moment. Fay felt trapped yet free all at once it was a strange surge of experiences and feelings she looked up her eyes meeting the pirates who again who smiled down at her and said. "Now, now, I think it's time you learned to relax, Fay."

Fay felt his hand trail up and down the back of her neck before trailing up and into her hair, slowly unraveling it from the bun she'd put it in. He watched her hair fall from the restraints and fan out on her shoulders. Her frames cupped her round cheeks in a way that made them appear rounded and more pinchable; Hook took time to smooth out her hair into place before he slowly leaned down again and whispered. "How bout' I teach you how?"

He smirked at her before he connected their lips again in a slow, nesh manner. If they were anywhere or anyone else in this moment, you could mistake them for two lovers, but if anything, they were strangers, Fay held that thought as she let Hook guide the kiss before letting out a small gasp when she felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist and a pair of lips on her cheek. "You wouldn't mind if I had a try at your teacup my wee fairy?"

He whispered down to her before letting out a dark chuckle. After a while of standing in the halls, Hook and Morgie separated themselves from Fay, Morgie grabbed her hand and led her to the fae dormitory. Where the night went on in ardor, and so a few hours later, Fay woke up; she looked around her surroundings and realized this was not her dorm.

She looked at the two forms on her right and left, and slowly she lifted the blanket off of herself and crawled through the middle and off the bed, she then carefully redressed and grabbed any of her belongings in sight, she then crept to the door, and quietly slipped out into the hallway before making her way to the female fae dormitory, when she finally got to her room she looked out the window and saw the sky was a dark shade of blue indicated she'd spent the night with the two.

___________________________________________

Unfortunately I am splitting the prequel up into chapters because it's far too long to read stand alone at 13-14K words :3. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this story!! If you want to be apart of the tagged list just put mail in the mailbox!

Tagged list: @skellseerwriting, @leoisbabygirl, @brokenmilkcrates, @frenchgirltalya, and @giveityourworst

Remember to show love and support to my friends!! And have a lovely day!

Anyway till the next story! Ba bye!

[dotspoetrycorner]

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Cynthia x Reader Part 8

Chapter 8: Vote Pink

The next morning went as usual except I didn’t have any friends now. I had to walk to school and had no one to sit with in class most of the day. Right before our assembly for student council speeches Susan, Dot, and Rosemary stopped me in the hallway.

“Ella!” Rosemary called out, “We forgive you for what happened last night.”Dot continued, “you’re so important to us El, we don’t what to lose you just because of a small disagreement.” ‘Small disagreement’ right, because me not wanting to be a part of ruining someones reputation is a small disagreement. But they are my friends, and I know they do care about me. And I care about them. Then Susan spoke up, “Of course if you do anything like that again we can’t speak to you again.��  Of course. “Sit with us at the assembly?” Dot asked. I can’t say no to Dot, she’s my best friend. “Of course” I replied. We went into the gym, I sat in between Dot and Susan, and we waited for the assembly to start

“I want to promise you all that nothing like the shenanigans of last night's pep rally will ever happen again. As the current class president, I take responsibility for that. I failed you. But know that because I failed you, I will work harder than ever to win back your trust.” Buddy was giving his speech, and honestly, I didn’t really believe him. I had always liked Buddy, but this week has changed how I think about so many things. Everyone around me then started to chant “let’s have fun like we did before, vote for Buddy in ’54!” Susan gripped my arm until I joined in. I always knew that it was bad if Susan was mad at you, but I didn’t know how bad it could be.

Miss McGee quieted everyone down and uncounted the start of the speeches for student council candidates. First up was Jane, but she told Miss McGee she didn’t want to run. That was until someone called her a slut in front of everybody and she ran up onto the stage.

“I just wanna say that I don't think Rydell was so fun for everyone before. It wasn't for me. And I know it hasn't been for a lot of kids who don't fit in for whatever reason, 'cause we're considered strange or the wrong type. The truth is that most people in this auditorium aren't popular. Some don't even want to be. We just wanna be ourselves but we haven't even gotten the chance to do that yet or to have fun. 'Cause we're too busy just trying to survive high school.”

She was perfectly putting into words what I had been feeling this whole week. So continued, “Maybe you've accepted that. Maybe you're used to things being that way at Rydell. As the new girl, I'll tell you, it's crap.” Miss Mcgee interrupted her, “Jane, if you're not going to run-“ “I endorse her.” I looked over to see Olivia Valdovinos walking up to stand with Jane. Then Susan butted in “You can't endorse her. She isn't running for anything.” “Well, maybe she should. I endorse her too.” Cynthia stood up and also went to the stage, then Nancy saying “me three.” 

Everyone started shouting until Miss McGee hushed them and turned back to Jane “Now, Jane, would you like to throw your hat back into the ring?” “Yes.” She answered, “For president.” Woah. Her announcement was followed by more chatter and booing. Jane could make an actual change here; but I can’t support it with my friends. Everything following happened so fast. I looked back at the stage and immediately locked eyes with Cynthia. Cynthia, the realest friend I’ve had. I shifted in my seat. Susan grabbed my arm and whispered “if you say anything we will never talk to you again.” Honestly, I’m okay with that.

I stood up, shaking Susan’s hand off me and yelled “vote for Jane” as loud as I could. The 4 girls up front looked at me and Cynthia repeated “vote for Jane”, turned around, and pulled down her skirt, mooning the whole school. I immediately turned my head to face the other way, trying not to laugh as everyone gasped. When I turned back, the girls were running off the stage and were headed towards the door to the parking lot. Cynthia quickly changed course towards me, grabbed my hand and pulled me with them. 

We ran outside and Olivia found the keys to the t- birds car (expertly hidden one top of the front seat) and hopped behind the wheel. We all followed, Jane jumping in the front seat and Cynthia pulling me into the back. I tried to jump over the car door but my shoe got caught, making me fall forward. Into Cynthia. We were both shocked, our noses touching and our eyes wide. I got a really weird feeling being so close to her. It didn’t make sense, we used to sit close all the time, its just what friends do. Maybe I just wasn’t used to being friends with her again. Olivia started to car and we all took off, snapping Cynthia and I out of, whatever that was. 

“Holy smokes! What did we just do?!” Jane asked. “We just gave the best campaign speech in all of Rydell!”  Olivia answered. “We just stole a car!” I said, the reality of the situation just now setting in. “And it was amazing” Cynthia chimed in. “And we looked great doing it” Nancy said. “What am I going to do? No one’s going to vote for me now.” Jane said, seemingly also regretting what we had done. “You have a great platform, Jane. The socs have been controlling Rydell for too long, people will like what you said” Olivia stated. She made a lot of sense, and people do love someone who breaks the rules. “You’re like a vigilante. Steal from the rich give to the poor type stuff. People like that. We can work with it.” I spoke up, running through different campaign strategies in my head. The Jane spoke again, “maybe you’re right. But I didn’t do this speech alone, I can’t do my campaign alone.” “The 5 of us together could really shake up this school” Cynthia said. Jane sat there fro a minute before saying the sentence that would change it all:

“We’re gonna need some jackets” 

[babecoups]

friends & lovers || j. wonwoo

Happy Birthday Summer !!

↠ title: friends & lovers ↠ pairing: jeon wonwoo x female reader ↠ genre: fluff | smut | best friends to lovers | idiots to lovers ↠ summary: Sometimes the love you’re searching for has been right beside you all along. Patience is the key…the right moment will present itself eventually. ↠ rating: 18+ ↠ word count: 2.2k ↠ warnings: swearing | unprotected sex (reader is on the pill) | restraints (wrist pinning) | grinding/dry humping | clit stimulation | slight orgasm control | cumshots | crying | begging | love making | soft sex | pet names | nipple play | cum play | aftercare ↠ a/n: Happy birthday Summer @yutasthetic​ !!!! I hope you enjoy this small gift. I tried my best so I hope you like it lol. Thank you for putting up with me for a year and some change lol. Also, a huge thanks to Beezy @hobeemin​ for reading and cleaning this up for me. She helped me with all this and kept the secret so half of the credit does go to her. I love you both so much !! Summer, enjoy your day, love !! ↠ playlist: My Boo by Usher ft. Alicia Keys | Focus by NCT 127 | ‘bout you by Seventeen | Let Me Hold You by Bow Wow ft. Omarion  | Tonight I Celebrate My Love by Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack | Candy by Baekhyun | By My Side by JUNNY | Boo’d Up by Ella Mai | Like You by Ciara & Bow Wow  

“People are staring at us.”

You both giggle as the carousel makes its final round, shyly peeking over your shoulders at the crowd of people watching you. Somehow, Wonwoo managed to get the ride operator to start it up with just you two on. 

Both of you hopped from seat to seat like you used to do when you were kids, and your parents had to threaten to take you home if you didn’t remain seated. Although you’re adults now, you’re still fond of the old habit.

“So, let them,” you shrug. “Maybe they’ve got eyes for the cutie on the horse.”

“Can you stop?”

Wonwoo throws his head back when he laughs and clutches his stomach, giving you a glimpse of the smile you haven’t seen in months.

Ever since he and his girlfriend broke things off, he’s been cooped up in his apartment, feeling down and not wanting to be bothered. You’re glad he accepted your offer to go to the fair and take his mind off things. He says he’s fine and looks better than he did five months ago, but you know that something’s still bothering him, and you hope that tonight you can dig deep enough to find it.

“Why would I? This is fun.” You both step off as the ride stops, feeling high off of adrenaline and bliss. Suddenly, you feel his fingertips at your sides, and he playfully tickles you, making you shriek and squirm. “Wonwoo!”

On-lookers coo and clutch their chest, mainly older couples and romantics. Neither of you even notices the admiration they have in their eyes until someone grabs your attention.

“You two are such a beautiful couple. May my husband and I have a picture with you? You just remind us of our younger selves,” a lady in her golden years asks with a genuine smile.

Immediately, you begin to break the news to her, but Wonwoo interferes.

“Oh, ma’am, we’re not—”

“Sure! I’ll take it. I have long arms,” he insists, taking her phone when she hands it to him. Wonwoo throws his arm over your shoulder and holds it high enough to capture all four of you. He takes the picture but doesn’t stop there. “Now one for us.”

After returning the woman’s phone to her and her husband, he pulls his device from his pocket and takes another, but this time he brings you in a bit closer. He wraps his arm around you a little tighter and whispers in your ear as he snaps the picture.

“For new memories,” he says to you.

You release a shaky breath when you disperse, and you can’t do anything but smile and wave as the couple bids their farewells. 

You never could explain the butterflies in your stomach whenever Wonwoo would be so close to you in that way. It always seems so intimate, but you wouldn’t dare say it out loud. You know it’s only those buried feelings that are causing you to react this way and nothing you should feed into.

When you’re finally alone, you turn to him and ask, “So, what now? Are you ready to go?”

“A little bit,” he answers. 

“Well, don’t let me hold you up. I’m probably just gonna go grab something to eat until my roommate’s done fucking her boyfriend. I had fun, so thanks for coming—”

You pause when Wonwoo shakes his head.

“I said I was ready to leave here, not leave you,” he informs.

“Oh, okay. So umm, where do you wanna go?”

“Aren’t you hungry?” he quizzes. “We can go grab something.”

You open your mouth to speak, but he continues.

“Or…we can meet at my place, and we can order something. You can stay over if you want.”

“Really?”

“Yup. I don’t mind,” he assures.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to rush you—”

Your mouth closes when he gives you a look, but your smile grows when he turns away and starts walking towards the parking lot.

Both of you get in your vehicles and drive towards his apartment, the tingling sensation still coursing through your veins. You try your best to calm yourself before you get there, but as you get out of your car, your legs are wobbly and shaky, indicating that you are far from okay.

Wonwoo turns to you as his door opens.

“Wanna shower?”

You sigh and accept gratefully. “Yes, please.”

After a shower, slices of pizza, and movies, you and Wonwoo lay awkwardly in his bed. Both of you scroll through your phones, trying to ignore the thick tension in the air. There’s something on his tongue; you can hear it. You want to ask him, but you don’t know how.

Eventually, you start to believe it’s just your nerves. You haven’t hung out like this since before his two-year-long relationship, so you figure you just need some re-adjusting. You wiggle your way towards him so you can familiarize yourself with the feeling of being so close to him.

It isn’t long before his fingers start playing in your hair, making your eyes slightly heavy. You roll over on your back so you can look at him and try to stop yourself from falling asleep so quickly.

His smile greets you and leaves you slightly curious.

“What?” you giggle.

“Nothing, I was just thinking.”

“About?”

He sighs. “I missed you. That’s all.”

When his eyes begin to wander aimlessly, you follow them once they’ve set on a particular sight. It just happens to be your thighs, and you start tugging down your borrowed shirt upon the discovery.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispers, more to himself than anything.

You clear your throat. “Wonwoo, I’m glad you’re feeling like yourself again, but I don’t think I can be your rebound. I’m not—”

“What? No, love. It’s definitely not like that. It’s just…Fuck it.” He shifts in his spot so he can speak to you face to face, leaving you no option but to look at him, even though you’ve been avoiding eye contact since you got here. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“It’s about the breakup…why it happened,” he explains.

You blink a few times. You never knew the reason behind the split or how it happened; it wasn’t your place to ask. Now that he’s finally telling you, there’s an uneasy feeling growing inside of you.

“We broke up because we liked other people. She wasn’t over her ex, and I…”

“And you?...”

He takes a deep breath as if he’s about to lay it all on the table.

“I had to be honest with myself and admit that I’m really in love with my best friend,” he confesses.

Your eyes widen, lips ready to run a mile a minute, but he speaks before you do.

“I thought about this before, but the timing was just never right. And now…” he sighs. “I don’t know. I just feel like we’re on the same page, but then again, you’re looking at me like I’m crazy.”

“Wonwoo, I—”

“I know. You don’t feel the same.”

The disappointment in his voice gives you all the courage you need to come clean, and you do so before you can change your mind.

“I do feel the same,” you admit. “I’ve loved you since we were teenagers. I just never knew how to tell you.”

He seems a little shocked after hearing this.

“Really?” Wonwoo asks, his thumb tracing circles on your hand.

“Yeah.”

Your best friend just stares at you, not saying anything. You hold his gaze and never break eye contact. Moments go by like this, until eventually, his lips begin to hover over yours. They become more inviting the longer you lay there waiting for something to happen.

However, Wonwoo toughens up and makes the first move on your behalf. His mouth presses against yours delicately, and he lowers his body so that you can run your hands through his hair.

You envelop each other and get lost within the first shared kiss between two best friends that have been denying their love for one another for over a decade. The pit of your stomach goes into a frenzy as the butterflies rise and flutter wildly.

Dizziness clouds your mind as you’re swept away by the feeling. You’re light as a feather, so high that coming down seems impossible. 

It doesn’t help that Wonwoo’s lips have become greedier, and his desire is growing by the seconds. Your legs part to allow him in the space, and he takes the opportunity instantly. Your wrists get pinned above your head while he slowly begins to grind his crotch against yours.

A moan slips out, and he takes the chance to invade your mouth with his thick muscle. Your tongues begin exploring each other’s crevice, and you become drunk off his taste. You can’t get enough of him but the need for oxygen exceeds your lust-driven fantasies.

“I want you,” you say without much thought. Your breathing is labored and rough, but you still try to speak.  “I need you.”

“Fuck, same. But…”

“But what?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “No condoms.”

His voice oozes with need, and his bulge is straining against his shorts. He’s as desperate as you are, but he’s trying to hold back.

“We’re good on this end. It’s okay,” you assure him. “Are you?...”

He nods. “Yes, of course. I haven’t since…”

“Well, can we?” you try again. “Please?”

“Okay, baby.”

Wonwoo lets go of your wrists and pulls down his shorts, letting his dick spring out freely. A small gasp escapes you when his length slaps your thigh. You lift your head to see it and instantly become mesmerized by its girth. You crave it and want it to fill every inch of you just like you’ve always fantasized about in your room alone.

“Like what you see?” He smirks when you nod and starts to run the tip up and down your slit, coating it with your arousal and secretly stimulating your throbbing clit. “Let’s see if you can take it.”

When he slowly enters you, your mind goes completely blank. You arch into him as he bottoms out, and he holds you and places kisses up your neck.

“Wonwoo,” you call, and he smiles against your skin.

“Ready for me?”

“Yes, please. I want to feel you.”

Wonwoo’s movements start off strong, and he makes sure to hold you in place while he thrusts into you, preventing you from flying off the bed. You cry his name over and over with each powerful snap of his hips.

He lifts your shirt and exposes your breasts to his greedy mouth, taking his time with each stiffened peak and making your eyes roll back from the multiple sources of pleasure you’re receiving. 

The coil inside you tightens until it can no longer stand the pressure, and you blurt out a warning to inform Wonwoo of your orgasm.

“Wonwoo, I’m so close!”

“Me too, baby,” he moans in your ear. You run your nails down his sweaty back to ground yourself because it feels like your soul will leave your body any minute. Wonwoo goes deeper and deeper until you can no longer stand the build-up growing inside of you. “Come for me, sweetheart.”

And on his command, your body gives in, and the pleasure takes over you. Tears roll down your cheeks, but Wonwoo kisses you before the salty droplets can reach your trembling lips. Your entire body is set aflame by the heat coursing through you. The intense feeling leaves you a panting mess beneath Wonwoo, and you just lay there as he fucks you through the rest of your orgasm until he finally reaches his release.

“Fuck, where can I?”

“Anywhere you want,” you answer. “I don’t mind.”

He can only nod as he pulls out and paints your stomach with his warm cum. Wonwoo uses the tip to smear his arousal and spell his name on your skin, making you giggle and slap his arm.

“You’re nasty,” you tell him.

“Anywhere you want… I don’t mind,” he mocks but still leans down to kiss you. 

You pout when he pulls away and disappears into his bathroom for about a minute. When he returns, you’re grateful to see him with a warm washcloth and a new shirt for you. He cleans you up and helps you change before he turns out the lights and joins you in bed. Neither of you say anything at first, but eventually, he can’t hold his tongue anymore.

“I really am in love with you. I would have never done this had you not asked. You’re more than a rebound—”

“I know that, Wonwoo. We’re good, okay?”

You turn on your side so you can hug him, and he nestles in your embrace.

“So, are we keeping this a secret or…?”

You release a breath before you answer, absentmindedly playing in his brown locks. You think about your answer for a moment, and then you reply.

“As much as I want to keep you all to myself… I’ve waited all my life to call you my boyfriend.”

“So what does that mean?” he asks shyly.

“It means…” You tilt his head so he can look at you. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them the truth.”

Wonwoo smirks at you and returns to his position buried in your chest. He whispers as he drifts into his slumber.

“That’s my girl.”

And you couldn’t agree more.

[songficsbyrissi]

This X-Mas (Spooky X Reader)

“'Cause this Christmas, will be the Greatest time of your life from me I ain't asking for the diamond rings I ain't really got a list of expensive things I just want you to myself while the children sleeps Santa baby, would you make a little time for me?” - Chris Brown feat. Ella Mai

A/N: hey y’all! I know I kinda abandoned you but being in College during a panoramic (Twitter joke) but I finished! I graduated undergrad so it’s lit! Even tho I don’t really care for Christmas or the holidays and I dislike Christmas music, I love this song and since it’s been a while, I might as well give y’all a Christmas gift soooo Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁❤️

************

You were not a fan of the holidays.

It’s not like you never were. You used to be but as you grew up, you grew a disdain for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years', all that.

The most wonderful time of the year, your ass.

From November 1st up until January 2nd, every year, you were annoyed and couldn’t wait for this time of the year to be over. You didn’t like it and if you had to hear “All I Want from Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey one more fucking time, someone was gonna get kicked where they’re more jolly.

You were relaxing on the couch when you heard a knock on your apartment door. You announced you were coming and opened the door to 3 boys by the names of Cesar, Jamal, and Ruby.

“Hey, boys! What brings-“

“BATHROOM!” Jamal ran past you and straight to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Ruby shook his head and Cesar gave a nervous laugh.

“Would you believe we were just in the neighborhood?”

You pursed your lips. “Nope.”

Ruby sighed out of frustration. “We need help getting Christmas gifts for our.....” He swallowed hard. You closed your eyes.

“You’re still struggling to call Jasmine your girlfriend?”

“SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!”

“Yeah yeah yeah.” You waved him off and right then, Jamal stepped out the bathroom, relieved.

“Whew, my bladder was full! Where you get that hand soap, Y/N?! Smells lovely!”

You rolled your eyes, irritated. “At Bath and Body Works where y’all should get gifts for your girlfriends.” You narrowed your eyes at Ruby, who shuddered at the G-word. “Now if you excuse me, I was enjoying my alone time.”

Cesar stopped the door from closing. “Wait. Didn’t you say you were leaving today to go spend Christmas with your family?”

Shit. “Uh yeah. Duh. I needed alone time before I left.”

“I don’t see any bags packed.” Ruby indicated, skeptical.

“Or an airline ticket on the desk. Yeah, I noticed!” Jamal added, folding his arms.

You looked at the 3 teenage boys who were waiting for you to confess. You sighed deeply, knowing the jig is up.

“Fine, 3 wise men!” You stated with a tone dripping in sarcasm. “I’m not going home. I never was going home. The reason why is because I don’t care for the holidays. I stopped a long time ago. It’s never been special to me. Also, I don’t have a close-knit family. Actually, we’re dysfunctional as hell. This isn’t the most wonderful time of the year for me. I lied so you guys wouldn’t know the truth, now are you happy?”

Jamal had a dismal expression on his face and pulled you to his chest. “Now I see what the Scrooge looks like as a black woman.”

You pushed him off and Cesar grabbed your wrist before you could hit him.

“Does Spooky know?”

You shook your head. “Nope and it’s gonna stay that way. I mean it, Cesar. Don’t say shit to your brother about this.”

Were you really depending on the little brother of your gang member friend that’s not really a friend but he’s kind of your boo to keep his mouth shut?

“Cesar told me you lied.” That was what Spooky said when you opened the door the next morning which was Christmas. You sucked your teeth loudly, disappointed that your dumbass trusted a 15-year-old who feared his brother.

“I should really kick your brother’s ass.”

He smirked at your comment. “Talk to me, Mami. Why you not fucking with Christmas?”

You left the door, letting him outside and he closed the door behind him. “Because it’s annoying as hell.”

“Nah, that ain’t it.”

You turned to Spooky with your arms folded. “Why do you even care, Oscar? It’s not like your thug ass cares for holidays and shit.”

Spooky remained unfazed by your attitude and you calling him by his government. When you first met him, he would be pissed at that. Even tried scaring you but it didn’t work. Eventually, he got used to it and only allowed you to call him Oscar.

“You’re wrong and I’ll show you. Get dressed.”

You were feeling dangerous. “And what if I don’t?” You responded with a roll of the neck.

Spooky let a dry laugh that scared you yet turned you on at the same time. Damn. You started to bite your lip then pulled it back. He got dangerously close and stared you down.

“Do you really wanna know, Princesa?”

Yes. No. Shit.

You got out of his face and got dressed as you were told. You’ll let him win this round. You got into his car and he drove back to his house where Cesar and his girlfriend Monse were making a mess in the kitchen.

“Hey Y/N!” Monse greeted you. Cesar looked at you nervously.

“Hey Y/N, how’s-“

You held your hand up. “Save it, snitch!”

“He forced it out of me!” The young boy pleaded and you rolled your eyes in response.

“Whatever. What are y’all even doing?” You asked, confused and disgusted by the sight of the kitchen and glancing at Spooky’s face, he was not too pleased either.

“Trying to do a Christmas brunch but somebody doesn’t wanna listen to the instructions.” Monse gestured towards her boyfriend with a roll of her neck, causing Cesar to groan.

You couldn’t help but giggle at the two. “Alright lemme help so I can fix this. You!” You gestured towards Spooky. “You’re helping too!”

“Nahhhh cooking ain’t my thing.”

“Well Christmas ain’t my thing but I’m here. Now throw on an apron, cholo. You’re on bacon duty!”

You couldn’t lie. Making Christmas brunch with the kids was fun as hell. You found yourself smiling and giggling during the cooking and eating. You even caught Spooky staring at you a couple of times. You pecked his lips just because he looked so adorable but if you told him that, he’ll turn into a jackass. When the boys left to get something from God knows where you were left alone with Monse. You didn’t know too much about the girl but figured you could get to know her more.

“So Monse...you’re spending Christmas with your boyfriend.”

“So are you.”

Your eyes narrowed at her response. “1. Spooky is not my boyfriend and 2. I was forced here. Christmas is bullshit.”

“I love Christmas. Even though I don’t remember the last time I actually spent it with my dad.” Monse shrugged bending over and fix her shoelaces. That caught your attention.

“Wait, you’ve had shitty Christmases and you still love Christmas?!”

She shrugged again. “Well yeah. My dad is always away for Christmas and I don’t have my mom so I’ve always dreamt of doing Christmas stuff with the people I love. When I met the boys, not to sound corny but my dreams came true. Another reason why I need to keep the group together.”

You were lost for words. “Wow, I’m sorry, Monse.”

“It’s ok. Hey, I think I hear the boys coming back.”

The boys revealed themselves and Cesar announced that you guys were being invited to have Christmas dinner with Jamal’s family which was great because you didn’t want to cook.

“I’m telling you marmalade is better than jelly. I don’t wanna hear it!” Jamal declared during dinner. A debate broke out between marmalade and jelly which really entertained you. Jamal’s family was funny and so welcoming to you, a stranger. It felt weird to you that they were showing so much love to you, a stranger. Oscar held your hand throughout the whole dinner which did something to your stomach. You don’t wanna say butterflies. Maybe it’s gas.

When the group stopped by Ruby’s house to pick him up for “friendsmas”, his grandma pulled you aside with a serious look on her face.

“Open your heart, mama.”

You gave her a confused look. “What?”

“You closed your heart. Open it. Even if it’s to Papi Chulo over there. “ she gestured towards Oscar who was lighting up a cigarette and looked back at you. “Open it to Christmas. To any holiday. Just....open it.”

You kept that in mind as you went with the others back to the house for the kids to engage in their “friendsmas”.

“I’ve never heard “Friendsmas.” You muttered as Spooky handed you a glass of wine and you watched the kids from the doorway.

Oscar shrugged taking a swig of his Corona. “Well you hate Christmas so I’m not surprised.”

You elbowed him in his side and he began to laugh in response. “I don’t hate Christmas. I just never found joy in the holidays but now I do.” You looked at him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you. Thank you for making this Christmas special for me.”

Oscar began to grin and pulled something from behind his back. “It’s not over yet, hyna.”

You gazed at the blue velvet rectangular box and opened it slowly to reveal a silver chain that said “Oscar” You looked up at him, speechless.

“Spooky, I....I.....”

“You don’t have to say anything. Just put on my necklace and be mine.” The gangsta in front of you took a deep breath. “I love you, Y/N.”

Your eyes were as big as saucers. “You....you do?”

“Yes, girl he do! It was so obvious!” Jasmine’s voice broke through the moment and everyone glared at her. Her mouth formed an O. “Oooh sorry! I forgot we were supposed to be acting like we weren’t paying attention. My bad!”

You shook your head and felt a surge of love and confidence. You loved this man. You have for a long time but never admitted it because...your heart was closed. Damn. Ruby’s crazy grandma ain’t so crazy after all.

“I love you too, Oscar.” You pulled him in for a long passionate kiss and the crew clapped in excitement.

“Girl put your back in it! You’re under the mistletoe!” Jasmine yelled again.

Ruby started. “Jasmine-“

“Shut up and kiss me!” She grabbed him by his collar, planting a kiss on his lips.

When you finally pulled away from your kiss with Spooky, you smiled up at him and his expression was matching yours. You spoke up through your grin:

“I’ll be damned. It is the most wonderful time of the year.”

A/N: Cheesy as fuckkkkk I know but Christmas is all about the cheese if we’re gonna be honest. I hope you enjoyed it! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, y’all! ❤️🎄🎁

Tags: @karmawaelualani @chaneajoyyy @ctrlszn @witchything @sabrinafey @penguinpower17889 @robingreysantos @namjoonwatcheshentai @pananegra @bloatedandlonly @blackmissfrizzle @chonisberonica @flamingweasley @cynthetic @momobaby227 @this-glitter-pussay​ @beyondprincess​ @joyrivh​

[samthemarvelfan]

Baby Mine: One Shot

Summary: When the life you thought you’d live turns out to be a lie, who will be there to pick up the pieces? Someone you’d always hoped, but never expected.

Pairing: Dad!Bucky Barnes x OFC (brief Steve x ofc?)

Warnings: ANGST ANGST ANGST, redemption, then straight and pure tooth rotting FLUFF. This is kinda anti-steve in the beginning, but i needed it for the angst!

A/N: idk where i get these ideas yall, but it is so smooshy and good at the end, I promise! <3

No one ever said life was fair, but you never knew it could be this cruel.

The anger, heartache, and resentment—all of these torturous feelings were so unfair to the little life growing inside you.

Your baby was everything to you. The shining light on your darkest days. Something—someone that was truly yours.

Forever.

Finding out you were pregnant was the happiest moment of your life. Watching as one pink line turned to two, you couldn’t wait to tell Steve. He always wanted a family, ‘a life after all this’, he would say; when the world was at peace and the Avengers didn’t need to be on the planets speed dial. You’d talked about buying a little house in the suburbs, raising as many babies as you could together, growing old and living the life he’s deserved for over a century.

He wanted that more than anything...it turns out he just didn’t want it with you.

After Thanos, after all the devastation in Wakanda, after all of these life threatening and life altering events, it seemed like life was beginning to settle.

The day of Tony’s memorial, you knew you felt off. After doing some quick cycle-math in your head, you’d decided to take a pregnancy test that evening.

The pink and white stick told you clear as day: positive. You were pregnant with Steve Rogers’ baby. You’d kept the news to yourself that day, not wanting to make the day about anyone but Tony Stark.

A few days later, Steve was going to return the stones as promised. You’d elected to stay home and surprise him when he got back.

Only Steve never came home.

6 Month Ago:

Your stomach was a mess, feeling like you’d vomit every 30 minutes. Whether that was your nerves or the pregnancy you weren’t sure, but either way, it was going to be worth it.

Steve would walk through that door any second and your lives were going to be changed forever. A new little life, the perfect mix of the both of you, was growing inside your belly.

The knock at the front door interrupted you daydreams. When you opened it, you immediately grew concerned at the sight in front of you.

“Bucky? What’s the matter?” You asked.

Bucky’s beautiful cerulean eyes were bloodshot and puffy, he’d obviously been crying.

“Are you hurt?” You begged, searching his figure for wounds.

He had a puzzled look on his face. “Me? I-I came to check on you, Els. Are you alright?”

He used his nickname for you, and your gaze now matched his own. “Why wouldn’t I be alright? Bucky, come in.” You say, tugging his hand.

Once he was inside, he let out a long breath. His weight shifting from heel to heel. “Ella, I want you to know, I’ll always be here for you. You mean so much to me...more than you’ll ever know.” He said, his voice shaking.

You walked up to him and put his face in your hands. “James, you’re scaring me. Where’s Steve? Have you told him what’s the matter? Maybe he can help—“

“What?” Bucky asks suddenly.

You blink, “Steve, have you seen him? He was Upstate for the day. I can give him a call if you’d like—“

The color was drained from his face, “Y-You don’t know. He didn’t tell you,” Bucky said in disgust. “That coward couldn’t face you...”

Bucky’s words hit you like a wave. This was James Buchanan Barnes—the one person in the world who would always have Steve Rogers’ back.

And he called him a coward.

“B-Bucky. Please what’s going on?” You ask, feeling you legs shaking.

James brushes his face his his hands, “Ella...Steve, h-he’s gone.”

The floor felt like it sank beneath you, causing you to wobble. “N-no, he’s Upstate. He’s Upstate and he’ll be home by dinner.” You said, denial setting in.

James grabbed your hand, and shook his head. “Steve left to return the stones. He missed his time stamp, Ella. He stayed in the past, he stayed with Peg—“

You head snapped up.

Bucky swallowed hard. “He stay with her. He stayed with Peggy. He swore he told you. That you’d discussed it and wished him well. I’m...God, I’m so sorry, Els.”

You felt your vision blacken and your legs completely give out. Bucky caught you before your head smashed into the hardwood flooring.

“How’s my little guy doing?” Bucky asked, rubbing your stomach as he plopped next you you on the couch.

“He or She is doing backflips.” You sassed.

He chuckled, placing a hand on your leg as he spoke, “I know we won’t find out until he’s born, but I’m telling you. I got this gut feelin’, Els.”

A soft laugh escaped you, as you placed a hand over his. “We’ll see James Barnes. We’ll see.”

The two of you had just finished moving Bucky’s things into your house. He’d offered to live with you until the baby came; he didn’t like the thought of you being alone.

“Thank you for staying with me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You said, shamefully looking to your fiddling fingers.

Bucky turned towards you slightly, “Hey, look at me, Els.” He urged. “I would never, ever abandon you. You need me, I’m there. It’s no questions asked. Ever, I promise.”

The tears prickling your eyes couldn’t be hidden, not with what your hormones were doing to you. Falling for Bucky wasn’t the plan, but it had been the easiest thing in the world.

Every appointment, every anxiety attack, every craving—Bucky was there. He would read stories to your tummy, and hold you when the panic of everything caught up with you. There were days you’d forget about Steve all together, but somethings you just couldn’t forget.

“I just wish it was you.” You whisper.

“What?” He asks.

You look at Bucky, eyes filled with tears. “I wish this was your baby, James. You’ve been there for me for as long as I’ve known you. Way before Steve left, and now this innocent, little life will have to grow up feeling abandoned.”

You wiped your eyes. “You’re the most honest and kind man I’ve ever known, Buck. I love you, and it kills me that this baby isn’t yours. You deserve it, you deserve him or her.”

Bucky looked at you thoughtfully, putting a hand on yours. “Who says it can’t be?”

Blinking, you double check if you’d heard him right, “What?”

He stands abruptly, “I’m serious, Ella. Who’s says he can’t be my son? Or she can’t be my daughter?”

“Bucky it’s—“

“I know what it is, Els. I also know that this little one got the shit end of the stick as far as fathers go.” Bucky sank to his knees in front of you and took your hands in his.

“Doll, I’ve loved you for forever. When you were with Steve, it killed me...but you were happy, and he seemed happy. I’m telling you now, and I’ll swear on whatever you need me to, that I will be there.”

You sobbed as Bucky took your face in his hands, “I’ll be there for the bottles, the diapers, and hey, I already don’t sleep so that’s a plus.” He jested, getting you to smile.

“I’ll be there for the boo-boos, for the little league games or dance recitals, or both. I’ll be there for the first day of high school, the first date, prom, college, all of it.”

You smiled as the tears ran down you cheeks. “James...” you said dreamily.

“As far as I’m concerned, that is my baby. DNA doesn’t make you a Dad, Els but...God dammit, I’ll be the best Dad I can be to our little one. I promise.”

Throwing your arms around him, you crash your lips to his. It’s a kiss that says everything you want to say, but couldn’t find the words for.

“I love you. I love you, James.” You cry. Bucky presses his forehead against yours and smiles. “I love you more. I love you both.”

5 years later:

“Mommy, help!” Your son shouted as he laughed his way into your bedroom.

You smiled at him from your bed, “What is it, Jack?”

His giggles filled your ears, “There’s a tickle monster, Mommy! He’s chasing me!”

Your eyes caught the clock, noticing Bucky had let you sleep in on this beautiful, Saturday morning.

“Not the tickle monster! Come here, Jack! Hurry!” You throw your blankets up and he crawls underneath them.

It’s quiet...too quiet. “Do you think we’re safe?” You ask.

He nods.

“Hmm, let’s check.” You toss the blankets off, and are greeted with the goofiest ‘roar’ you’d ever heard.

“Rooooar! I’m the tickle monster!” Bucky shouted, earning a loud scream from Jack.

Bucky tickled his little foot, and Jack scrambled his way back up the bed. “Mommy, I told you! Daddy got turned into the tickle monster!”

You stand quickly, pushing your son behind you. “Don’t worry, baby! Mama knows the cure!” You rush Bucky and plant a long kiss on his lips.

“Ewww, Mommy...” Jack griped, covering his eyes.

You look at Bucky, who’s smiling ear to ear. “Do you believe this? I save you from being a tickle monster for all-time and these are the thanks I get.”

Bucky smirks, “I need to be saved one more time I think...”

You giggle, and smooch him again.

“Okay! Enough kisses! Dad, can we tell Mommy the surprise?” Jack said excitedly.

Bucky hoists Jack up onto his shoulders, “Go ahead, buddy.”

Jack covered his mouth in excitement, “Mommy! We made waffles for breakfast, and Daddy put chocolate chips in them! You gotta try it!”

Your eyes widened with excitement as he spoke so proudly. “Oh my goodness! I can’t wait, let’s go!”

In the kitchen, you sat with your family and ate breakfast. This was your life, your normal. A beautiful weekend with your husband and son and absolutely zero plans.

“Daddy can we maybe go fishing with Uncle Sam again? I wanna catch the biggest one ever.” Jack said dramatically.

Bucky chuckled, “Sure Jacky, I’ll call him after breakfast, okay?”

He nodded, sipping his OJ.

“Does Mommy want to do anything special today?” Bucky asked, placing a hand on your knee.

You squeeze it, and smile. “Actually, Mommy has a present for Daddy.”

Bucky wiggled his eyebrows, “Oh yeah?”

You slapped his shoulder, “James.”

He kissed your hand, “Should I close my eyes?”

You nod, “Jack, come help Mommy for a second?”

Jack scoots off his chair and hurries to you, “Okay, now give this to Daddy.”

“Surprise!” He said happily.

Bucky opened his eyes, and stared at the long, rectangular watch box. “A watch, baby?” He smiled, looking up at you.

You smirk, “Open it.”

Bucky pulled the blue lid off slowly, and carefully. When it was placed on the table in front of him, you watched his eyes widen.

With shaking hands, he pulled out the small pink and white stick; a positive pregnancy test.

His eyes were welling with tears as he looked at you. “A baby, baby?”

You nod, and he stands instantly, throwing his arms around you.

“Me too, me too!” Jack shouted.

Bucky picked him up into his arms to join the hug. “Can you believe this, buddy? You’re going to be a big brother!”

Jack claps with delight, “I want a sister, Mommy.”

“You do?!” You say, smooching his cheek.

Bucky looks at you dreamily. “I love you so much. I’m the luckiest guy in the world, Doll.”

Shaking your head, you place a kiss on his lips. “We’re both lucky, Buck. Lucky in love.”

[quicksilversquared]

The Babysitting Fiasco

Alya and Nino aren't actually supposed to be pushing off their babysitting duties onto Marinette in favor of going on extra dates, but try telling them that. But after a poorly-timed akuma attack and a chance encounter set off a domino effect...well, they couldn't get away with it forever.

inspired by @zoe-oneesama‘s fantastic babysitting salt posts from...er, several months ago.

links in the reblog

Marinette took one glance at the clock as she headed for the stairs of the Grand Paris and groaned. She had hoped when the akuma of the day had popped up that they would be able to defeat it quickly so that she could get back to her normal work again, but no such luck. Instead, the akuma had taken longer than usual to defeat, and now there was absolutely no way that she could babysit for Alya and Nino and finish the homework that she needed done the next day, not unless she stayed up late to work on it and she really didn't want to do that again.

On top of all of that, her phone was dead, so she couldn't text Alya and let her know right now. By the time she ran home and got her charger, it would be practically time for Marinette to be over at Alya's house to take over watching the three kids. It would be too late for Alya to find someone else to babysit so that she and Nino could go out, and then they would be irritated with Marinette again.

Groaning more, Marinette picked up the pace. Maybe she would have to drop by Alya's apartment to let her know in person instead of texting- that might be faster, actually- but what if Alya wasn't there because she was out after chasing the akuma for the Ladyblog? Or what if Alya thanked her for coming and ran off before Marinette got the chance to say anything? She couldn't afford to turn in any more assignments late, and it wasn't smart to be running low on sleep, not when Marinette had to be alert and quick-thinking when battling akumas. No, she would have to go home and maybe use her mom's phone to text Alya first, and she would just have to deal with her best friend's annoyance later, but at least Marinette would be able to get her homework done and not fail and get grounded for a dozen years and-

"Hi, Marinette!"

Marinette skidded to a stop and turned around to see Alya's mom standing there by the stairwell door, apparently on her break. It took a second for that to sink in, and then Marinette perked up. Perfect! For once, her Ladybug luck was kicking in."Madam Césaire! Hi! You're, like, just the perfect person for me to run into right now!"

Madam Césaire laughed. "The perfect person? And why is that?"

"Alya asked yesterday if I could babysit for her and Nino again tonight and I said yes but I just realized that I really can't because I'm super crazy behind on my homework and I would text her but my phone is dead and by the time I get home, it'll be really late to let them know-" Marinette took a deep breath and finished- "so do you think that you could text her? I'll text her myself when I get my phone a bit charged, too, but I don't want to leave her hanging."

Madam Césaire considered Marinette's phone as she waved it in the air. "Actually, I can give you my phone charger so that you can text her yourself. I've got it right here, actually- my phone can finish charging later. Just give it to one of the wait staff and tell them it's mine once you're done."

Marinette perked up. "Oh, that's even better! Thank you, Madam Césaire!"

"It's no problem at all." Madam Césaire handed Marinette the charger with a smile. "I've got to go, but it was nice talking to you, Marinette."

Marinette waved good-bye, then went to go find an outlet to plug in her phone. It didn't take long for her phone to charge up enough for her to turn it on and open her messages.

Marinette: I'm so so so sorry but I can't babysit tonight! I'm REALLY behind on my homework and I know that I wouldn't be able to get it done with the twins and Chris running around! :( :( :(

It didn't take long to get a response. Marinette winced before opening it.

Alya: boo HW! You're always behind, aren't you? No worries, though, we got someone else to accept last-minute. Go catch up so that you can actually babysit next time!

Marinette cringed at that. She was always behind on homework, but it wasn't exactly her fault. She was a full-time superhero so she had less time to start with, and then when she missed class then she had to learn the material on her own, which could be hard sometimes. Alya and Nino were only part-time superheroes, so they weren't getting their normal lives interrupted anywhere near as often. They had plenty of free time. Marinette did not.

...Marinette also had a really hard saying no, which was why this kept happening in the first place.

Marinette: OK I'm glad that things worked out! Say hi to the girls and Chris for me!

With that sent, Marinette unplugged her phone and pushed herself up off the floor. She didn't have any time to waste, really. There were several assignments and papers that she had to get done tonight, and then she had to start getting ahead on her homework again so she wouldn't be scrambling to finish last minute.

Sometimes being a superhero really stunk.

  Marlena Césaire had been having a relatively normal day. It was a typical weekday workday at the hotel, with only a handful of hotel guests having lunch in-house and maybe twice that number of off-the-street customers. Then there was a slight lull before dinner where all of the chefs could get some prep work done, and Marlena took advantage of the calm to duck out and take her break. She always did a bit of reading on her break and grabbed a snack, relaxing before the madness that was dinner rush and checking in with her kids to make sure that they were all right.

She had to hope that Otis would have a better work schedule soon. As head chef at the Grand Paris, she had to work most evenings so that the kitchen would run smoothly, and at the moment her husband had to work one evening a week and be on-call two other evenings. That meant that at least one evening per week the kids were home alone and Nora and Alya had to split babysitting duties, which wasn't entirely ideal. It did give them some feel for responsibility, which was good, but Nora had more and more commitments as she grew older and it wasn't fair to hold her back, and Alya had homework to do and it was easier to finish if she wasn't trying to keep Ella and Etta in line.

The phone call home went smoothly, and as her break came to an end she was feeling good about the evening. Alya had things under control at home, and she could focus on making the hotel kitchen run smoothly.

And then Alya's friend Marinette went zipping by, and after a quick exchange Marlena was left reeling. Alya had been having Marinette do her babysitting for her? More specifically, she had been having Marinette do babysitting for her and Nino, all without asking their parents first? This was the first time Marlena had heard of the arrangement.

Marlena liked knowing exactly what was going on at home and who was watching her girls. She liked knowing where her daughters were. Nora could come and go as she pleased- she was old enough, after all- but Alya needed to tell her parents where she was. And she wasn't.

(On top of that, somehow Marlena doubted that Alya and Nino were paying Marinette for babysitting for them, and considering that Alya at least was getting a significant bonus to her allowance for babysitting- well, that just wasn't right.)

She Was Not Happy.

Alya was taking advantage of being home alone with the twins to go on secret dates with Nino, that much was clear. And she was taking advantage of her friends in order to do that. Marinette had seemed quite frantic when she dashed by, and it wasn't okay for Alya to be asking her friends to babysit when they were struggling to keep up with their homework, even if she had asked her parents for permission first.

So now she had to decide what to do. Marinette clearly hadn't realized that she had told on Alya, so Marlena could catch her daughter red-handed. If she got off early tonight- which was possible, she could ask her second-in-command to take over because of a family emergency- she could get home early and see if Alya was gone.

Which she would be, Marlena knew. When Marinette sent her phone charger back in with a server, she had also passed along the message that a different friend- Alya hadn't said who- would be babysitting instead. That was very, very useful information, though also worrying.

Marlena had met Marinette before and seen her with kids. She was trustworthy, if perhaps a little easily overwhelmed. But she didn't know anything about this other person. Who knew if they were trustworthy or could deal well with children?

So Marlena went to her second-in-command and told him that she would have to leave a couple hours early, timed so that Alya would most certainly be out with Nino and not yet back. It was unfortunate and not a habit that she wanted to get into- she needed to take her duties as head chef responsibly, after all- but it was a bit of a family emergency.

So a couple hours earlier than usual, Marlena clocked out and headed home. Her apartment door swung open to reveal three wide-eyed kids listening to a girl who Marlena had most certainly never met before, who was in the middle of telling them about how she had saved a whole train's worth of people on an amusement park ride in London after a safety feature on the ride broke.

...yeah, that sounded perfectly believable. Not. Marlena raised an eyebrow and let the door click shut loudly.

The voices in the other room abruptly cut off and four pairs of eyes swung towards her. Ella and Etta lit up at once, jumping up and running over to her for hugs. Chris waved. The stranger babysitter turned pale.

Interesting. Did she perhaps know that Alya wasn't supposed to be having her friends babysit for her? It was strange that Marinette didn't, then.

"Madam Césaire! Hi, I'm Lila Rossi, Alya's friend," the girl said, recovering and hopping up to greet her. "She didn't tell me that you would be returning early tonight!"

"And Alya didn't tell me that she was having her friends babysit for her," Marlena said, ignoring the girl's hand for the moment. Something about this girl wasn't sitting right with her. Maybe it was the lie that she had overheard as she came in, maybe it was Lila's reaction to seeing Marlena, maybe it was-

Wait.

Lila Rossi? Marlena remembered Alya talking about this girl, actually. There had been some really questionable stories that Alya had conveyed, and Marlena had assumed that the clearly unbelievable details were mostly thanks to Alya's tendency to embellish and exaggerate. Now, though...

It seemed that Alya was probably relaying the stories pretty much as told, and the problem lay with the initial teller of the (clearly untrue) tales. The initial teller, who had apparently been trusted to watch children.

Lila clutched at her shirt and sighed dramatically. After cooking for actors both established and aspiring for years, Marlena could recognize acting when she saw it, and this girl was most certainly making up a story on the spot. "Yes, well, it was just the once- apparently Alya and Nino had reservations at this restaurant nearby that they really wanted to go to but the staff messed up on their reservation date and put it today rather than on the weekend, and they either had to give up the reservation or get a substitute sitter and they had so been looking forward to it, so of course I offered to step in. They must have forgotten to tell you! School's been so busy lately, so of course that's understandable."

Marinette had said something about babysitting again. Lila was claiming that this was a one-time thing and that she had been lined up to help out ages in advance. They were completely contradictory claims.

Marlena knew who she believed, and it wasn't the girl in front of her. Just in case, though, she would be asking the kids in front of her once Lila was gone.

"Well, thank you for coming in," Marlena said rather than arguing with this girl. If she was right and Lila was a liar- which was pretty obvious, honestly, Marlena dealt with celebrity clients on a near-daily basis and she knew that they wouldn't be falling over themselves to give favors to some 14-year-old girl that they had met once, and ambassadors weren't going to be meeting up with all sorts of celebrities anyway- then there would be no point in arguing. "I can take care of the kids now. Alya can pay you whatever she's promised at school in the morning."

"Oh, no pay needed!" Lila said cheerfully. "I volunteered to do it. I love working with kids- I volunteered a bunch of time at an orphanage when I was in Africa for a summer as part of my charity organization for disadvantaged kids."

...well, that explained why Alya thought that this Lila character was an acceptable emergency babysitter.

"That's very nice," Marlena said politely. "Do you need to call someone for pickup?"

Lila shook her head. "No, I'll take the bus. It's not that late yet. Bye-bye, guys!" she called, waving to the three kids. "Good night!"

"Bye, Lila!"

And with one last wave, Lila was out the door. Marlena waited for a minute to make sure that she wasn't coming back, and then she turned to the kids.

"All right," Marlena said, placing her hands on her hips and surveying the three of them. "I have some questions for you three, and I'd like some answers."

  By the time Nino and Alya returned (far too late for collège students to be out, especially without their parents' knowledge), Marlena had interrogated the younger kids and found out that Alya had been going out with Nino instead of babysitting every week, and Lila had babysat for her three times in total, not just the once. Marinette had done all of the other times, including some times when the twins were with Nora but Marinette had babysat Chris for Nino, or when Chris was at home with his parents but the twins were with Marinette.

She suspected, based off of what Lila had said, that Marinette had been paid for exactly zero of that. That would be coming out of Alya's allowance so that Marinette would actually be compensated for the not insignificant amount of time that she had spent roped into babysitting.

Marlena had called up Otis to let him know what was going on, and he had come home early, too. Then she called up Nino's parents. Just as she had suspected, they had thought that their two sons were at home, not over at the Césaire apartment, and they were none too happy to find out that Nino had been sneaking out behind their backs.

Twenty minutes before Otis would have normally returned home, Marlena heard Alya's keys turn in the lock. She and Otis exchanged a look, sitting up at the table and fixing the door with a stern stare.

Alya and Nino stepped in, heads together as they laughed about something. They were clearly absorbed with each other, so Marlena cleared her throat pointedly. Their heads whipped towards her at once, and she had the great pleasure of watching the blood drain from their faces.

"You two were meant to be babysitting separately tonight," Otis started sternly. "Each at your own homes. Instead, you had a friend that we hadn't ever met watching all three kids. Explain yourselves. Now."

  Marinette came into school feeling really good. The homework that she had to get done hadn't taken her quite as long as she had expected (though she still wouldn't have been able to get it done if she had been babysitting), so she had gone ahead and gotten ahead on a couple other assignments, knocking out most of an essay and doing some research for her Civics class. It put her in a pretty good position, and she had even gotten to go to bed on time for the first time in nearly a week.

So she was well-rested, caught up, and relaxed. Marinette had plans to continue her work over lunch, since she was on a roll with both research and her essay, and then maybe she could actually be able to do some designing for the first time in-

In-

Well, she had done some sketching between classes, sure, but she hadn't gotten to sit down and design for a while. Things had just been too busy.

Marinette was not expecting Alya to storm in, looking miserable and upset and a little bit angry. She slammed down into her seat, scowling.

"Someone must have ratted me and Nino out to my parents!"

...pardon?

"What?"

Alya's face was red. "I got home last night and my parents were already home and they were furious that I had been going out on dates with Nino and having other people babysit for us- well, having you and Lila babysit, at least- without telling them, and now I'm grounded and not allowed to go on any dates with Nino for at least a month and I'm having my allowance chopped- and when I was so close to saving up for a new camera for reporting, too- and there's no way that they just happened to come home early!"

Marinette's gut twisted as she absorbed that onslaught of information. She knew exactly how Madam Césaire found out about Alya's stand-in babysitters, and she felt so, so guilty about it. But she- she hadn't known! It had been reasonable to assume that Alya and Nino's parents knew about their dates and substitute babysitters, right? The two of them had been going out and staying out past dark, and if Marinette were in their shoes, her parents would definitely know what she was up to. They'd be super upset about her going behind their back to do stuff.

(Superhero activities excluded, of course.)

And Alya had definitely never told Marinette that her parents didn't know about the whole arrangement.

"Like, we've been doing this just fine for months, and we've been getting back a good half-hour before my dad gets off to be safe, just like Lila suggested," Alya continued, and Marinette frowned. Lila had suggested it? Lila hadn't even been at school when Nino and Alya started shirking their babysitting duties to go out on dates. "And we bribe the girls and Chris not to mention having a different babysitter with extra dessert. And then all of a sudden, this happens."

"You were coming back before your parents even before Lila got back to Paris," Marinette pointed out, frowning. "And at the same time, too."

Alya snorted, waving that off. "Text messages exist, silly. I was in contact with Lila the entire time she was traveling, because I wanted to hear about all of the cool stuff she was up to! When I told her about having to babysit and not getting to have enough dates with Nino, she suggested that I just ask someone else to babysit. And I knew my parents wouldn't approve, so that was when she suggested giving ourselves plenty of buffer time." Alya sighed. "It worked really well! Until yesterday. I can't believe it! We got betrayed!"

Nino slid into the seat in front of Alya. He looked exhausted, too. "Babe, I told you before, it might just have been really bad timing. Maybe it was a slow night at the Grand Paris and your mom decided to come home early. I've been around your place enough to hear her saying that she'd like to be at home with you guys more."

Alya slumped in her seat. "Maybe. But Lila said that she told my mom that it was just the once and she made an excuse for us, but mom seemed to know that there had been a lot of times."

"She might have asked the kids directly, and they probably told her everything," Nino countered. "Seriously, Al. No one told on us."

Marinette swallowed hard as Nino patted Alya's hand comfortingly. She still looked like a stormcloud, and was unlikely to calm down soon. Lila came in then, going straight to Alya and immediately lamenting about what had happened the previous night. Marinette tuned her out, feeling dread twisting in her gut.

She really should admit to accidentally telling Madam Césaire, but Alya was clearly furious about her bonus dates coming to an end and all of the associated punishments that came with her parents finding out. On top of that, she and Marinette had been going through some rough spots lately because Marinette still refused to accept Lila and Alya refused to entertain the idea that Lila was a liar. Marinette didn't want to admit to her mistake only for Alya to give her the cold shoulder for who-knew-how-long.

The rock sat in Marinette's stomach all morning as Alya stewed next to her. She hadn't- she hadn't known, she hadn't meant for this to happen, she just wanted to make sure that Alya knew that she couldn't do the babysitting with enough time to find someone else. Marinette had tried to do the responsible thing, and it had backfired.

She should do the responsible thing and 'fess up, too. But Marinette was scared.

"You seem distracted, love," Mrs. Cheng commented as Marinette picked at her lunch listlessly. "Anything that you want to talk about?"

Marinette considered it and then decided that yeah, she definitely needed to talk to her mom. It would help to have a second opinion. So she started explaining. Partway through, her dad came up to eat, too, and paused to listen in, leaning on the counter as he ate.

"I know I should tell her," Marinette finished miserably. "But..."

"Well, if you want my opinion- normally I would say yes, you need to tell Alya," Mr. Dupain said, exchanging a look with Mrs. Cheng, and Marinette wilted. "But not in this case, unless Alya admits that she was in the wrong for not telling you that she didn't have her parents' permission first. From what you're telling me, it sounds like she and Nino are ignoring that they put themselves in that position. She would blame her punishment entirely on you and that isn't fair."

Marinette blinked in surprise and looked to her mom. Mrs. Cheng was nodding, too.

"I wouldn't have been comfortable with you doing babysitting for Alya and Nino if we had known that her parents didn't approve," Mrs. Cheng told Marinette. "And frankly, I was going to say something about it soon. We've noticed that you've seemed pretty stretched thin lately and picking up unpaid babysitting definitely wasn't helping."

"And Alya knows that you have trouble saying no," Mr. Dupain added. "And it sounds like they took advantage of that. And they took advantage of it quite a bit."

Marinette paused, then nodded because they were right. She had been more stressed every time that her friends begged her to babysit because they 'so wanted to go on this cool date'. She didn't want to disappoint them, so she accepted unless she really couldn't spare any time.

"This will teach them a lesson about honesty, hopefully," Mrs. Cheng added. "And it might help the two of them take a step back and realize that they've been neglecting other things in favor of their relationship. For example, their friendship with you. True friends shouldn't take advantage of each other like they did to you, and they should have noticed that the added responsibility was stressing you out."

"And they also need to realize that going on dates was not more important than their responsibilities," Mr. Dupain added. "If they wanted to do some extra dates, then they should have asked their parents first, then made sure that you had time to spare. But from what I've heard, they got one date a week normally anyway, which is plenty at your age."

"But what if Alya finds out later and gets mad at me then for not telling her?" Marinette asked anxiously. She could see where her parents were coming from- Alya had lied by omission first- but she just wanted to cover every possibility.

"Well, hopefully by then she would have cooled off a bit," Mrs. Cheng told her. "And will be more open to admitting that she should have been upfront with you in the first place." She leaned across the counter, placing her hands on Marinette's shoulders. "I know that we've raised you to always be responsible and honest. But you shouldn't be taking the responsibility of everyone else's mistakes on top of your own. It's important to recognize when you did something wrong versus, say..."

"Versus when someone overreacts or they put you in a bad position in the first place," Mr. Dupain finished. "In this case, it's the latter." He smiled at Marinette. "It's a good lesson to learn, at least."

Marinette nodded. Her parents' words made her feel a lot better. "Yeah."

"And if you're busy or just need time to do your own things, it's always okay to say no. Even to your friends. And even to us and Madam Chamack," Mrs. Cheng added. "We don't want you to get overwhelmed and be sacrificing sleep or having your schoolwork suffer. That's your primary responsibility right now. Okay?"

Marinette smiled. School and sleep and saving Paris from supervillains, actually, but she couldn't let her parents know about that second part. Not until Hawkmoth was defeated, at least. "Okay."

"We're proud of you for coming to us with this," Mr. Dupain said, resting a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "We know that you want to help others as much as you can, but you have to remember to save some of that time and energy for Marinette, too. You can't help others as much if you're too worn out and spread thin and not taking care of yourself. It's okay to tell other people that they're putting too much pressure on you and to enforce your boundaries when they try to push or claim that something will be just the once. Looking after yourself will never be selfish, even if other people try to frame it that way. And if you ever need help yourself, it is more than okay to ask for it. You've given a lot to people around you, and helping is hardly a one-way street."

That was good for her to hear, Marinette thought as she burrowed into her parents' hug. Lately, sometimes taking time for herself had felt selfish somehow, even though she knew better. There was a lot of pressure on her to do the best in everything that she took on (and everything she was forced to take on), but even if she sometimes had superpowers, she was only human underneath it all. She would get overwhelmed and make mistakes and forget things, and that was okay.

She could finally breathe again.

[ultralazycreatorfan]

Kotlc Actor/Actress Au... Heacaons...... Part 2.... yeah

- Stina Heck’s actress is really sweet but is also such a meme.

- She makes so many facial expressions.  You could honestly watch her all day and she probably wouldn’t make the exact same one twice.

- She’s also best friends with Dex’s actor.

- They get teased a lot for being ‘a thing’ but they constantly deny it with the “we’re just friends!!” line.

- The both of them have a lot of fun filming their fight scenes because they get really into it.

- Marella’s actress (much like Stina’s) will laugh at nearly everything, but she will also speak up if need be.

- You don’t get away with any sort of shit in her presence.

- Also she’s such a mom friend.  Her arms are always open and welcoming, however, again, do not be a dumbass.

- Oh and also she owns a pet snake.  It’s name is Lil’ Lushberry J. Doofinsmurts Jr. lll. (Lushberry for short)

- Lord Cassius’ actor makes too many dad jokes.

- He’s also oddly serious and it’s a weird mix, but it suits him.

- Alvar’s actor is kind of the same way, but with more seriousness.  One could say he’s more professional than everyone.

- Well... that is until it’s time for the interviews.  The audience (even though he’s a really nice guy) boos him because he plays the Bastard(TM)

- During those he’ll start fake crying and hiding or he’ll go full on Alvar Vacker Mode.

- Once Umber’s actress, while they were waiting for the first fight scene in Flashback to be called to action, started doing the whip and nae nae.

- Honestly, it was iconic and nobody can deny it.

- Kesler’s actor is Dex’s actor’s real dad and he also has a Irish accent.

- He and Juline’s actress are good friends from multiple other movies they’ve done together (hilariously they also normally play a couple).

- The triplets are all insane and related in real life.

- I mean, they don’t really even act.

- They just be themselves and it works perfectly.

- Somehow they hold the most bloopers of the background characters though.

- Jensi’s actor is missing out on a ton for pretty much the same reason’s as Dex’s actor - medical stuff.

- He’s an absolute sweetheart and is super quiet and pure and everyone loves him to pieces.

- Once he sent a photo of him with an NG tube in his nose, pretending like it was snot.  He was also ‘freaking out’ about it and even after 11 months everyone still sends photos of random things coming out of their nose pretending it’s snot and making a huge deal about it.

- He uses the platform he has to spread awareness about diseases/sicknesses/lots of health things that aren’t normally spoken about.

- He also breaks a ton of stereotypes and shows that it’s not weird to have certain medical needs and what not.

- Goal squad on set and off set: Keefe’s actor, Dex’s actor, Stina’s actress, Jensi’s actor, and Marella’s actress.

- They complain (mostly through a group chat) about their characters (who they call their “poor precious babies”) not getting enough screen time while Keefe’s actor, who is very much dating Tam’s actor, complains about having to be love sick over a girl - his good friend nonetheless.

- Of course they are all joking, but are they really?

- “YOU EMO SALT BUCKET” is an inside joke.

- Also, “O m GEE, Becky do the ma t h.”

- There is a video of Tam’s actor getting pushed around in one of those fancy hotel things that carry your luggage while looking very much dead and straight faced while Keefe’s actor pushes him around directing the camera to their room like one of the fancy hotel staff.

- “Ma’am, are you sure this is your luggage?  Well, alright then.  Right this way please.”

- Councilor Emery’s actor acts just like Councilor Emery with less authority....

- Bronte’s actor meanwhile is - yes, a grumpy middle aged man - but also such a pure and chill dude.

- Like, you’re intimidated at first, but then you get to know him and he just has a great personality.

- Alden’s actor is one of the many dads on set.

- But he’s the homework-helping dad primarily.  Also the “no reason to worry” dad.

- Yes, he has unironically adopted that saying.

- Della’s actress is a meme however only on the occasion.

- Either it’s professional (71% of the time) or meme (30% of the time).

- Yes you read that correctly.  Her words, not mine.

- She’s kind of like that way too relaxed and chill mom who almost acts more like a really cool aunt.

- Expensive queen, but doesn’t brag about it.

- Edaline’s actress is married to Grady’s actor in real life and it’s so wholesome.

- They really are parents and have a little toddler.  Her name is Ella.

- Grady’s actor can and has brake danced.

- Edaline’s actress bakes everyone cookies but also is like the adult version of Marella’s actress...

- WE STAN JOLIE’S ACTRESS IN THIS HOUSEHOLD.

- Has played the Titanic theme on the kazoo.  Has also played the Titanic theme on the violin.

- Also I’m sorry, but I can only imagine her with @silveny-dreams personality mixed with a bit of Joana Ceddia plus Bob Ross vibes.

- She bought everyone kazoos and Shannon was and wasn’t happy.

- Jolie’s actress is also a painter fight me.

- Fintan’s actor is actually just a really soft guy until the camera turns on.

- Then he is Fintan himself.

- Kenric’s actor is actually Kenric.  At all times.

- It’s kind of like the triplets - how there’s really no acting because it’s just his personality.

- Everyone loves him.

- It’s the same with Oralie’s actress only she hates the color pink...

- Yeah, she was not happy with Oralie’s house.

- It was too bright for her.

- But other than that she’s just this quiet, sort of shy, sweet thing that loves to feast upon cookies when Edaline’s actress brings them.

- Mr. Forkle’s actor is like a grumpy Santa Claus.

- It’s kind of really funny but also not.

- Everyone calls him Forkman.

I’m so sorry if this was a mess.

[alienduckpond]

Back in town - ch 4 - Slip Up

Mistakes are made when Ella assembles the Amber Island bridge.

Warning for a little bit of angst, and a mention of a remembered childhood accident? It’s not graphic, but I think it needs warning for?

1 - Good Day / 3 - BooBoo Pouch

-~-

Arlo hitched Spacer to one of the wooden planks stacked up between the path and the river, shifting Ella’s tool belt closer to the middle so it wouldn’t fall off if Spacer pulled. There was still a huge amount of material left to be added to the bridge, considering that Ella had already been constantly working on it for two full days now.

But then, this was one of the bigger projects that the guild had hosted, he thought as he walked down to the bank, squinting in the fading daylight at the bare bones of the structure she’d made so far. And the fact that she was already assembling the whole thing, only three weeks after she moved to town and getting her license, was incredibly impressive.

She was standing on one of the stone pillars closer to the Island side, tying together what looked like the last of the connections of giant pipe and hardwood log that would make up the edges of the bridge which stretched from bank to bank, to the thick crossways support beam. He watched her tie a series of knots with an appreciative quiet hum before Ella stood up and pulled on the rope, using her weight to secure it snuggly as she dangled back over the water, and he could see her look of intense concentration in the light from the lamp on the cross beam.

Stopping to wait by one of the end supports, a huge slab of wood buried in the ground, he thought she met his eyes when she half turned towards him. Her eyes were flickering in the light from the lamp as she gripped the rope one handed and leaned further out over the river, stretching her other arm out as if reaching for the waterfall. But since her face was pointed almost directly at him he lifted his hand and waved. 

“Hey Ella, any idea how much--"

The shriek she let out when her head jerked slightly, her feet actually leaving the stone pillar as she jumped in shock, made him flinch. He had a split second to register that she was most definitely looking at him now before he had to watch in what felt like slow motion as she grabbed at the rope which was slipping through her fingers. Because the same reflex that had made her jump had also made her let go of the rope.

And since she'd been leaning off the pillar, that meant that her precarious footing and support became no footing and support, and he could do nothing but stare as she tipped backwards, and fell into the water with an enormous splash.

Swearing as he hurried forward to the edge of the river, he grit his teeth and jumped down into it while his head filled with memories of the last time she’d fallen in. He stared desperately at the spot she’d gone under between the upriver pillars as he waded forward, but the water was dark in the fading light, and the lamp shining from above was making the surface reflective.

“Ella?” he called, panicked and preparing himself to go even further out into the freezing water and find her, but then her head broke the surface and she gasped and spluttered. She flailed a little bit before one of her hands pushed her sopping wet hair from her face, long enough for him to catch the murderous glare she sent him before she let go and it immediately fell back down with a heavy slap.

“Lolo! You are dead when I get over there!” she yelled, kicking forward and starting to lurch towards him, swimming one handed as her other hand held her thick hair out of her eyes again. “I swear, you really are a jinx! I hadn’t dropped anything in the river the entire time I’ve been here but the second you show up I fall in?”

He let out a silent sigh of relief as she kept ranting while she swam closer. She was fine. She wasn’t four years old and unable to swim. She was fine. But then he started to actually listen to what she was saying, and choked on a laugh. He hadn’t heard words like that since he’d walked past a group of drunk Duvosian sailors while he was in Tallsky. And hearing such words in Ella’s normally sweet voice was, was not something he’d ever expected to happen.

“Ella!” he finally managed to get out, not sure if he was shocked more that she knew words and phrases like that, or that she was directing them at him, and watched as she rolled her eyes, lip pulling back in a sneer. He stepped out further into the water, wading forward till it swirled around his thighs to reach for her, grabbing her wrist when her hand slapped into him and turning to start pulling her closer to shore.

"Oh shove off Lolo, I’m almost certain you’ve heard worse in your time with the Corps.”

“Well, yes,” he admitted, tugging her forward to a shallower stretch of river bed and helping her stand next to him. She stumbled slightly as the force of the water buffeted her, and he shifted himself to stand upstream to block it. “But there’s a difference between hearing random people saying it and, well, you.”

She groaned and dropped her head, and he knew she was rolling her eyes at him even without seeing it. Letting go of her wrist to wrap his fingers around her arm above her elbow firmly, he tugged her into movement again, trying to shield her as best he could from the flow.

“We’ve been over the whole I’m an adult now thing, right?” she asked, sounding slightly more annoyed than amused. “I’m pretty sure we’ve covered it several times now that I’m a real proper grown up person, who is allowed to do things like swear.”

“We have, but you’ll always be my sweet and innocent little Beany Boo to me,” he told her cheerfully, trying to ignore her disdainful snort which was followed immediately by a sneeze as they reached the bank. Shifting his hand back down to hers, he climbed up onto solid ground in one step, then waited while she grumbled at him and his stupidly long legs before pulling her up when she nodded at him. He reached forward to grab her other hand when she yelped as her foot slipped out from under her as the mud gave way, and pulled her against his chest before moving to wrap his arm around her to hold her steady. 

“You ok?”

“Yeah. Thanks,” she muttered, sounding petulant. “I’m still mad at you though. The water's bloody freezing."

Slowly dropping his gaze to his own legs, the waterline halfway up his thighs standing out starkly in the light from the lamp even at this distance, he then lifted his eyes to meet her sparkling ones as she leaned into him, and he felt a shiver run up her back. 

"You don't say," he said dryly, keeping his expression and voice as blank as possible, which earned him the snort he’d been hoping for. “Come here pest, let’s get you warmed up.”

“Don’t you pest me,” she snarked, pausing to sneeze as he tried to lead her to Spacer. “It’s your own fault we’re both wet you bloody jinx. If anyone’s a pest, it’s you.”

She cut herself off with a string of sneezes, wobbling forward and clutching at his arm when they were done, and he frowned as he looked her over, seeing another shiver shake her body. She sniffed and wrapped her arms around herself, and immediately leaned against Spacer when they reached him.

He sighed fondly, then started unbuckling his shoulder harness and unzipping his jacket. He shrugged it off and spun it round and over her head to settle it on her shoulders, quickly sweeping her heavy mass of hair up and onto the outside of it before holding the sides up with a grin.

“Arms.”

“Damnit Arlo, what did I just say about me not being a kid anymore? You don’t need to fuss over me like this, it’s not like I was going to drown out there!” she snapped, glaring up at him and jerking herself backwards, and he felt his smile falter as he met her eyes. But he kept watching her, letting his face settle into his blank Captain’s mask as he waited. She finally huffed and did as he asked, shoving her arms into the sleeves and standing still as he tugged the front together, then reached for the zip.

It took him several tries to hook the zip in place, then he pulled it up quickly to the top of the collar by her nose, letting go as soon as he could and stepping away from her.

“Not this time, no. But you almost did. When you were four. Right here, on the old Amber Island bridge. So I’m sorry, but you’ll have to forgive me for wanting to reassure myself that you’re ok this time.”

Turning around before she could say anything else, he walked swiftly to the bridge frame and up onto the pipe. He ignored the way his shoes squelched as he made his way to her lamp, trying to not actually think about anything. Quickly leaning down to grab the handle, he paused when he saw how badly his hands were shaking.

She had to have no idea. That was the only reason she’d have said what she did. She wouldn’t, there was no way she’d have gone there if she actually remembered. She wasn’t like that.

The memory hit him again and he pressed his palms against his eyes. 

Gust and Ella bickering on the bridge, one of them having done something to the other yet again. Then Ella's high pitched yell. Gust screaming her name. 

Looking up from cleaning Sonia's scraped knee in time to watch Gust hit the water, and both him and Paulie scrambling into the river to try to grab him. Only for Gust to pop up, spluttering and holding Ella. 

Ella who was coughing and gasping and clinging to Gust’s neck, who was trying his best to keep them afloat as Arlo and Paulie swam over. Ella who had almost gone under again when she tried to wriggle out of Gust’s hold before Arlo was close enough to catch her.

Ella who had stayed in bed for a week with a sniffly fever and cried whenever he left her sight.

Pressing harder against his eyes, he dropped into a crouch to rest his elbows on his knees. She'd been fine. She'd been completely fine afterwards and never acted any different or like she'd even realised anything had happened, aside from her sudden dislike of sea urchins.

He groaned, rubbing his hands over his face and into his hair, anchoring himself with the faint pain as he clenched his fingers.

Because while he was pretty sure he was allowed to be slightly over protective right now, given the circumstances, she, she did have a point about the him treating her like a kid thing.

He had been getting better about catching himself before he could fall into old habits, most of the time. He wasn’t reaching out to clean the grease or food off her face, or brush dirt out of her hair. And he’d been letting her pay for her own things after she made a huge point about him putting everything on his tabs around town. He’d tried to bite his tongue and wait for her to come to him to ask what it was she’d done to upset people, before he helped her fix things, like he had the first time she met Merlin. And he was fine with standing back and letting her lift and carry things, since he’d seen first hand she was just as capable as he was, possibly even able to carry things for longer.

But seeing her soaking wet and shivering, here at the Amber Island bridge…

It had been way too close to that memory.

He pulled his hands down over his cheeks, counting to twenty before dropping them completely to grab the lamp and push himself up. He rolled his shoulders and breathed deeply one last time, then turned and started back. He kept his eyes on his feet, concentrating on staying on the flattest part of the edge so he wouldn’t slip. His waterproof boots really were amazing, in that they hadn’t let any of the water out of them yet, which was throwing off his sense of balance slightly.

Stumbling slightly when he jumped the last few steps to the dirt he looked over to Spacer, expecting to find Ella already mounted and waiting for him. But she wasn’t. She was exactly where he’d left her, staring at the floor and hugging herself tightly, the sleeves of his jacket dangling down off her hands.

She looked utterly ridiculous. Adorable, but ridiculous. And he mentally scolded himself for thinking so after everything she’d said today, but she really did. 

The sleeves ended a good hands length past her fingertips, and the bottom hem which normally sat nicely on his hips reached down to her thighs. The zip was poking at her nose, completely hiding her mouth given how high the collar was on her, and she seemed to be doing her best to shrink down and hide behind it as he crossed the space between them to stop in front of her.

It was just like when she’d been a kid, stealing his jumpers whenever he wasn’t looking to bury herself in, and while he’d normally find the thought amusing and possibly heart warming, right now it was making him feel… empty.

He tipped his head back to stare at the clouds, frowning when he saw how dark and fast they were moving. He sniffed, the smell of rain thick in the air, and looked back down at the top of Ella’s head.

“It’s about to rain. C’mon, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Shaking her head and bending it further forward, he had to lean in to hear her when she started to mumble, muffled as she was by his collar.

“I’m still damp, and I don’t want want to get your saddle wet. I’ll sit behind you.”

He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair and considered arguing, before deciding he simply didn’t have the energy right now. He walked past her and untied Spacer, grabbing her work belt as he did and throwing it over his shoulder. He hooked the lamp on one of the saddle hooks then pulled himself up, taking his foot from the stirrup and holding his hand down to help her mount. He waited till she’d settled behind him, her hands resting lightly on his hips, and he bit down the sigh that wanted to escape. Instead, he simply grabbed her hands and pulled them forward, wrapping them around his waist until he felt her snug against his back, gripping her hand when he felt her try to pull away.

“Hold on tight please, I’m going to cut across the llama field and I don’t want you falling off,” he said, keeping his voice professionally bland. He let go of her, waiting for a second to see if her hands would stay where he’d put them, and then grabbed the reins and kicked Spacer into motion.

They crossed the road in silence, and he settled a hand on top of hers again when Spacer jumped up the small ledge only to immediately let go as soon as they were on flat ground. He could hear the wind picking up, and the smell of rain was getting stronger. Hopefully he’d be able to get back to the Corps before it really started, since he was going to be leaving his jacket with her. Which he should talk to her about.

He tried different things in his head as they trotted across the field, the only sounds the wind rustling the branches of the trees as it picked up speed, and then her sneezes as the wind whipped around them and made her shiver against his back. He nudged Spacer around her fence, then pulled him to a stop at her gate.

Well, it was now or never he guessed. 

“I’m sorry for startling you and making you fall,” he started, deciding his Captain voice was probably best for what he needed to say. “I thought you were already looking at me or I’d have got your attention some other way. And I’m sorry for how I’ve been treating you.”

Her hands tensed against his stomach, pulling against him, and he tried to ignore it as he went on.

“You’re right. I sometimes treat you as the little girl I knew before, as my darling little sister who needs watching over, and you aren’t her. You’re an independent young woman now who knows all sorts of things, and who is more than capable of looking after herself. You’re an adult, and a member of our community, and you don’t need me coddling or protecting you. As the Captain of the Corps, I should have done better and treated you more fairly. I promise, I’ll stop treating you differently, and--”

“No,” she shouted, sounding choked as her hands pulled tightly against him, squeezing at his sides. He heard her growl a string of muttered profanity as she let go of him, then she shifted against his back. She pulled away from him completely, and he whipped his head around to look back at her only to collide with her cheek as she draped herself over his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him back against her chest. She turned her head into his, her wet fringe pressed into his cheek and she made a soft, choked noise.

“No, it’s, it’s ok. I know I complain, but I, I don’t mind. I, I really like when you look after me. It’s nice to be reminded that you care, ya know? I’m sorry Lolo, I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” She trailed off with an actual sob, her body shaking against his back, and shit!

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” she went on, voice thick around her tears. He reached up to wrap his fingers around her arms, trying to pull her away so he could turn, but she held onto him tighter. 

“I know I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I’m just all aggy today and I took it out on you when you didn’t deserve it. I, I. It’s no excuse, but I didn’t have anyone in Barnarock to help me. There was no one there who understood me. Kendra was alright, but, but she weren’t Ma, and she weren’t you. There was no one who understood me or who helped me with people, no one who explained things like you did, and I couldn’t rely on anyone so I ended up doing everything myself. And then coming back here and having you looking after me again is so, it’s all--”

She stopped, letting off a soft whine as she pressed her face into his, and he felt her tears start to slide down his cheek. He started shushing her, leaning his head into hers with as much pressure as he could and holding her arms while he made comforting noises.

“Please, please don't stop looking after me and being my Lolo. Please don’t leave me. I don't want to stop being your Ella, or your Beany. I, please?”

She stopped completely then, her sobs loud in his ear and her arms like iron bands around him. He stroked her arm, and tried to shift his hand to stroke her hair too but he couldn’t from the angle they were in. He opened his mouth to try talking to her, to tell her it was all ok, but there was a lump in his throat. A lump of all the feelings from the evening he wasn’t sure he could identify, that was making words impossible and his own eyes itch.

He simply pressed his cheek into her again, rubbing against her as best he could as he started to hum. An old tune that his Ma used to use when he was little, and he’d used on her when she was a baby. Probably not the best thing he could do given everything, but it was all he could think of right now.

It seemed to work though, since her crying slowed to the occasional wet hiccup. She slid down his back, her arms moving from around his shoulders to settle loosely around his own, and he could finally wriggle his way free to spin round, throwing his leg over Spacer’s head and sliding off.

He held his hands up to her, wriggling his fingers when she simply sat and stared at him, sniffling loudly. She hiccuped, then sneezed before she leaned forward to swing her leg backwards, and he caught her around the waist as she fell towards him. He set her on her feet then wrapped his arms tightly around her, copying the position she’d had him in and pulling her as close as he could, not caring about her sopping hair trapped between them.

“I’m sorry Ella. I’m sorry. But it’s ok. It’s ok. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’ll, I’ll be here as long as you want me to be, ok? We just, we just need to work out some boundaries I think. But we can do that later. Come on, let’s get you inside. It’s going to start raining any minute and you’re already soaked.”

He let go of her when she nodded mutely, her hands scrubbing at her face. He moved round her to smile softly, holding her face between his palms and rubbing at the tear tracks under her eyes. 

“Go on inside now, I’ll come see you tomorrow. I should be free after two maybe, so-”

“Can’t you come in now?” she interrupted, hiccuping slightly at the end. “Can’t, can’t you come in and we can talk now? You, you can come in and warm up and I can wash and dry your clothes. I’ve got pyjamas that might be loose enough to fit you, and plenty of blankets for your stupidly long legs.”

Huffing a laugh at her attempt to lighten the mood, he pulled back and started to shake his head, and she grabbed at his arms. The ends of the sleeves flipped over to wrap around him, as if joining in her pleas for him to stay.

“Please! I finished fixing the loft, and I’ve been setting up a blanket fort up where my old bedroom was. We can go sit in it, and I’ll make tea and cocoa, and you can, you can tell me more about what you got up to while I wasn’t here. I want. I mean, I. Just. Please?”

Staring at him, eyes wide and hopeful, it took effort to look away and glance up at the clouds, then close his eyes to listen. He could faintly hear the rain already falling somewhere, which meant it’d be on them soon enough, and he really should go.

“Spacer can come in too! I can set a tarp down so he doesn’t make a mess, and I’ve got a bunch of apples inside he can eat, and other veg. So, please? Please stay Lolo?”

Slowly opening his eyes to look at her again, his resolve wavered further. Lips wobbling, eyes begging, he sighed. Because he never had been able to say no to her.

He reached out and pushed her gate so it swung open, then gripped her shoulder to turn her towards her house. He smiled at her when she tried to resist, her eyes welling up again as they stayed locked on his and her lip wobbling more.

“You better go find that tarp quickly, or else you’ll have a very wet horse to clean up after.”

-~-

5 - Unexpected Discoveries

[duckscrabble]

A little Sunday Drabble

I might do more with this, I might not! Post-Cinderella Cinderella retelling from the POV of one of the Ugly Stepsisters, with my own flair. Potentially steampunk moving forward.

___________________________________

               A heavy blanket of snow draped over the countryside, the fluffy white shroud turning to muddy mush at her feet. Every other step sent a fresh wave of pain up her hip and into the base of her spine. What used to be a dull ache was now a shrieking bolt of lightning, exacerbated by the long journey on foot. She paused for a moment, moving to the side of the road, and leaned up against a tree as she reached her fingers down beneath her skirts.

               The leather straps that held her wooden leg to her thigh had begun to dig in, greedily staking their claim in her swollen flesh. She quietly cursed the infernal thing as she lowered herself down, letting out a sharp sigh as her rump landed in a slushy, muddy puddle beneath the tree. Her fingers worked to unhook the straps, allowing her leg to get some rest. Most people were smart enough to travel by carriage or horseback when they were on their way to the palace. She wasn’t most people, unfortunately; riding a horse was nearly impossible, now, especially when she hadn’t been very good at it before, and she had no money to pay for passage. Some people, pity reflected in their eyes for her halting, limping steps, had offered her a ride. She was too proud to take them up on it.

               Now, she wished she had. That had always been the family curse, though—that pride had been the undoing of countless ancestors, brought low by their own ambitions and refusal to ask for help. There were some things she was trying to change, but… well. Old habits die hard, and all that.

                “Don’t even know that she’ll see me,” she muttered to herself, idly massaging life back into the angry red stump of her leg. She and her step-sister hadn’t exactly had the most amicable of partings. Not to mention the years of… She grimaced, leaning her head back against the rough bark of the tree, not caring if her fine, fair hair got caught.

               Cinderella. They’d spent years calling her that, laughing at her and forcing her to do all the dirty work in the house. Then, somehow, the girl had gone off and won herself a prince. Who would have thought it? The girl had spent years languishing by the hearth, silently tolerating their abuse—and Ana remembered, more than a few times, that she herself had been exceptionally cruel to the girl, just to try and get a rise out of her. To get her to say something. To get her to fight back, for once in her pathetic life. She never did. Ana eventually grew bored with her, writing her off until the night that she asked the three of them if she could go to the royal ball. All three of them, even Drizella, had laughed at her.

               Little cinder girl wants to go dance with the prince? Ana had said, mocking her by rubbing false tears away from her dry eyes. Ohh, boo hoo. Why don’t you spit-shine the hearth again? No one will ever waste their time on a miserable little nothing like you.

               She’d thought that would be the end of it.

               Well. More fool her. When the prince had come knocking days after the disaster of a ball where an oddly familiar stranger had stolen the entirety of the prince’s attention, Ana’s mother had shown her true colors. Drizella, bless her simple heart, had been the first to get the knife and begin carving, blade slicing through flesh, tendon, and bone as she openly wept beneath her mother’s unwavering glare. Ana had refused, and her mother, ever benevolent, had offered her a choice: Ana could cut off her own toe and shove her foot into that slipper, or Mother Dearest would do it for her—with a rusty saw blade.

               Ana had yielded, in the end. Grimly, she had mutilated herself, all so her mother could live vicariously through her offspring and enjoy the life that marriage to royalty would bring. All for nothing, really. Cinderella had shown up just before the disgusted prince had turned and walked away, and her foot had fit perfectly, first try. The prince said nothing to the two girls as blood pooled around their feet, instead marching away with his bride and demanding that their entire family be exiled for trying to hide her away from him. Cinderella had not met Ana’s eyes when she walked away. She never said a word as she let the door close behind her, separating their broken family once and for all.

Ana held onto that slight for years after their banishment to the barren land beyond the woods. Not a day went by that she didn’t curse her stepsister for ruining them, for taking everything away in an instant—for leaving them to rot under her mother’s thumb. For not taking them with her when she escaped.

               And then Ana realized who truly deserved the full force of her anger: her mother.

               Lady Tremaine, she had called herself. A title worth about as much as the moral compass of the woman holding it. They were no more noble than the average family—except for when she had married Cinderella’s father, anyway. Despite their exile, she clung to the title like a screeching harpy, demanding even her children call her lady.

               Ana had put up with her for far longer than she should have. Her self-mutilated foot had begun to rot. Eventually, the gangrene spread up her leg, and her mother showed the first and only shred of mercy by taking her to a local surgeon and paying them to cut the limb off before sepsis claimed her. But Driz…

Driz hadn’t been so lucky.

               It was not worth the coin to save both daughters. Ana and her mother had screamed at one another, the first all-out fight Ana had ever dared to have with the woman—and, eventually, Lady Tremaine had won out. Drizella, she claimed, had no chance to ever win a husband. She was too plain, too dull, and, after her sawed-off toe, after their banishment to this grey hell beyond the wood, Driz had taken to sitting in one corner of their miserable little cottage, gently rocking herself as she tried to stifle her heartbroken sobbing, stricken by fever and the smell of rotting flesh. Every day, she cried until her mother terrified her into falling silent.

Ana, on the other hand, was sharp and… well, not necessarily beautiful, but she would do in a pinch. The choice was clear. So, Ana had gotten her wooden leg, and Driz had gotten a small plot of land on a hill overlooking the woods, remembered only by a simple marker that Ana had hand-carved for her sister out of a stone she’d pulled from the sputtering stream nearby.

               It wasn’t long afterward that Ana had finally left her mother to rot in the cottage. One last fight had split them for good—especially since Ana had wound up slapping the old woman to the floor. She could still see the twisted rage on her mother’s wizened face, still hear the furious wildcat yowling of her voice as she had slammed the door behind her.

               She had no one and nothing, and Ana had never felt more free.

               Snowmelt dripped onto her head, and she grumbled as she pushed herself up, ignoring the way the cold slush had seeped through her skirts. After a few fumbling attempts, she got the leather straps back around her leg, and continued to walk.

               Really, though, she thought as she hobbled along the side of the road, empty for as far as her keen grey eyes could see, it wasn’t all mother’s fault. Much as she wanted to hate the woman—much as she did hate her, rather—she couldn’t blame her for ruthlessly pursuing what scraps were available to her as an unmarried woman with two daughters. Women had nothing save for what they scratched and clawed to get, usually from the hands of another unwitting woman. Men and money ruled the world, and Lady Tremaine had neither. Was it any wonder, then, that she had turned so cold?

               Well. Ana knew one woman, at least, who had some shred of authority in the world. A year or two ago—Ana had lost count, days slipping into one another in the murk of her mind—the king had died, and his son had now inherited the throne. Prince Charming, they used to call him. He’d lost a bit of that charm in the transition, a thick black beard beginning to grow in to mark his becoming King Ferdinand.

               She didn’t care about him, though. All Ana cared about was the woman who ruled beside him, who was also the woman with whom she so desperately needed to make amends: Queen Consort Ella.

[lunaschild2016]

How Do You Want It - Part 4

Rating: M (Smut, Violence, Language)

WARNING: This is pretty much just straight smut!

They were playing a delicious game of Cat and Mouse until a prank ups the stakes in a way that neither had imagined but both craved. The wait has been such sweet torture but how much longer can they play this game before they give in? Eric/OC M AU (Smut, Lemon and fluff)

Inspired by: Bebe Rexha ‘I Got You’, 2Pac ‘How Do You Want It’, Boy Epic ‘Dirty Mind’

A/N: You can thank a night of listening to old school music and drinking with a friend for this gem. The title should say it all…love me some Tupac.

@kenzieam@ericdauntless@jojuarez26@jaihardy@iammarylastar@captstefanbrandt@badassbaker@readsalot73@fuckthatfeeling@dani5102@beltz2016@beautifulramblingbrains@affabletimelady@irasancti@meganbee15@meganbee15@lauraaan182@gylisaa@scorpio2009@bookgirlthings@pathybo@violetsonthelam XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Part 4

Sound inspiration: Boy Epic ‘Tell me you love me’ ‘Scars’, Skylar Grey ‘Kill for you’, Halestorm ‘I’m not an angel’ ‘I Get Off’, Ella Eyre “We don’t have to take our clothes off’

“So, you are meeting your brother for drinks or something before you are supposed to meet up with Eric?” Victoria asked from her closet as she was getting changed.

Cass had come to her apartment to get changed and ready instead of going to her own apartment. She knew that it was better not to chance for her and Eric running into each other or the temptation that being right across the hall from each other would bring.

“Yeah, that is the plan.” She replied to Victoria and couldn’t help the laugh in her voice at the thought of her plans for her brother.

While she did intend to mess with him she had no intentions of causing him lasting harm. He would never know his sudden lowering of inhibitions was because of her but it was the only way for her to crack through that Abnegation shell he insisted he wear.

“Why does it sound like you are up to something, Cass?” Victoria asked with a laugh as she brought out the knee high black boots that Cass had asked to borrow.

Cass shrugged and turned as she looked at herself in the floor length mirror. She smirked when Victoria handed her the boots. “Probably because I am. No, I will not tell you until I know it even worked. But I promise you will be the first to know.”

Victoria laughed and nodded. “I can deal with that. Now let’s take a look and see if your outfit needs anything else?”

Cass had chosen to go with a dress since she had already teased Eric with her going sans underwear. She wasn’t wearing any kind of underthings tonight. Her dress was a strapless black skater dress that had a sweetheart neckline. The dress had a built in bra so she had decided not to worry about one. The top of the dress was tight until it got to her waist and then it flared out into a pleated skirt that went to above her knee by a few inches. She had chosen to wear the boots for extra coverage of skin and to let a little bit play peek a boo.

The dress itself was plain but well made and she had paired it with a simple silver metal belt that is about the width of her hand. She chose the dress because she was showcasing something in particular.

Cass tilted her head and then sat to put on the boots; then to take in all of the outfit. She smiled when she stood back up and Victoria nodded.

“Perfect. With you hair pulled back on the sides it is exactly what you were going for.”

Cass nodded and chewed her lip a little nervously. Tonight would be the night they would allow themselves to finally come together. One year he had said and they had waited that damn year but not a moment sooner.

Victoria smirked at the young woman and patted her shoulder. “Do I sense that something big might finally be happening for you two?”

Cass looked to her friend and blushed a little. “He said a year and it has been a year. Though I have to admit it has felt like centuries at times.”

Victoria shook her head and laughed as the two walked to the living room to grab the small clutch purses with their phones, credits cards and other items they might need. “I don’t know how you two did it. I don’t understand much of why you did it either but that doesn’t matter.”

Cass sighs as they leave the elder leader’s apartment and walk to the bar that all the leaders and senior members prefer and reserve for nights like tonight when there is a big celebration going on. “It was important to him Victoria. It was important to me too but more him.”

Victoria nodded with a smile as they walked. She always found it amusing that Cass could draw the eye but there was always someone there to remind whoever was looking who exactly she was and who she was with.

The faces paling before they averted their eyes quickly was enough to have the women laughing as they entered the bar. Victoria split off from her and went to the table that a few of the other leaders and members were gathered around.

Cass went to the bar to wait for her brother who would be arriving any minute to meet with her. She shared a wink with the bartender, Liliana, who looked at her and winked back to let her know everything was set.

It didn’t take long before Four was sliding into a stool beside her, looking her over with a slight frown marring his features.

“Cass.” He tried to wipe the frown from his face and smiled at his sister.

As much as he hated her choice of men and the fact that she went with leadership knowing it would put her in contact with their father, he was proud of her and all she had done for Dauntless and herself.

He had been surprised she had invited him for a drink but he hoped it could be an opportunity to talk some sense into her about her and Eric.

“Four.” Cass smiled at him and rolled her eyes internally when she already saw him mentally preparing the ‘walk away from the dark side’ speech he was poised to give.

She needed to get those drinks in him now before he could piss her off and make her deck him or say fuck it and walk away. “Before you start brother dear, just have a damn drink with me and celebrate for fucks sake.”

She motioned to Liliana who placed two glasses of scotch in front of them. Cass picked up her glass and held it up for a toast, giving Four no opportunity to hesitate or turn it down. He picked his own up and held it waiting for her to make one first.

“To another year away from that fuck that called himself our father. To another year in the only home we always knew we belonged. Finally, to my first year as being a full fledged leader.” She smiled the last part, truly proud and happy that she had accomplished what she had set out to do before she ever came to Dauntless and in a short time as well.

Four gave her a sideways smile and nodded. He decided to let her have this night before he broached the topic of Eric…..again. So he clinked his glass with hers and drank his down along with her.

“So what have you been up to, Four?” Cass said after they had both drank a good portion of their drinks. She was already running a mental stop watch on how long everything would take to hit his bloodstream.

As Four launched into what he had been up to and his troubles with Tris she sipped on her drink and was mentally smirking as she saw Lynn and Ronnie sliding into stools not that far from where her and Four were sitting.

This should be an interesting night all around, she thought.

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“Jesus, she is fucking killing me right now.” Eric muttered into his drink as he watched Cass sitting at the bar by her brother.

He had barely restrained himself from going and grabbing her as soon as she walked into the bar with Victoria. Now he knew she was sitting there shifting her legs, crossing and uncrossing them every once in awhile, all to tease and torture him some more.

She also had to know that he loved it and with every fucking shift he was straining to see if he could catch just a small glimpse of what he knew was waiting for him underneath it. He also knew she had worn that dress just for him.

She knew how much her leadership tattoos on each of her shoulders across her collarbones turned him on. He was also proud as shit that she had went with them there when Victoria and the other minor female leaders had all gone for legs, spine or down an arm.

Not his Cass.

She wanted to wear them proudly and for everyone to see. She couldn’t get them on her neck as that was only for the Senior or Second in Command but even Max had loved her request to be able to get them on her collar bones.

Max chuckled at Eric when he drained his glass and clutched it tightly as his eyes were glued to Cass across the bar.

“Please tell me you two are finally going to get this shit done already?” Max said seriously.

Eric turned his eyes towards his mentor and superior, smirking. “Just fucking try and stop me, Max.”

Max snorted and shook his head. “Fucking finally. I have been sitting on that fucking shit for way too long now.”

Eric shrugged not really caring about it being known or not. He had his own reasons for why they had waited and he would never regret them.

Max motioned for more drinks but Eric already knew he was cutting himself off after the next one. He had waited too fucking long for this to be drunk off his ass when it happened. He willed Cass to do the same and was happy to see that she sat nursing the same drink she had to start with.

Cass could tell the moment things took effect for her brother. He became fidgety and his gaze started to wander around. He lost his train of thought as his eyes went to this girl or that. She knew that he was ready the moment they landed on Ronnie and Lynn.

Lynn and Cass shared a look and she knew that she could leave matters to their capable hands. Cass patted her brother’s shoulder with a smile. “Hey Four, I am going to go catch up with the other leaders. You try and have fun tonight too. You deserve it you know.”

‘Oh yes, you deserve exactly what is about to happen. It is only out of love though.’ 

Cass motioned for one more drink and once she had it for them both she took hers and moved away from the bar.

Eric was already standing and saying something to Max as he did so. He took his own drink to another table down a ways from them and stood waiting for her by it. He took in everything as she walked towards him, which she did in that way he loved with her hips slightly swaying and a smirk on her lips.

He could also see that her own desire was amping up but also her nervousness.

He loved that about her.

That she could be so damn sexy, flirt, tease and torture him like no one else could or ever would. Yet she still had that innocence about her. She didn’t let it hamper or hinder her. She had just been saving those parts they both held the most sacred for him and only him.

When she got closer to him, he took her hand and pulled her closer. They both groaned just at the closeness of their bodies and the heat.

“You look fucking amazing, Cass.” Eric said close to her ear and smirked when he felt her shiver.

Her hand went to his chest and ran along the black button up dress shirt he had chosen to wear tonight. When he had stood she had felt not wearing underwear might have been a slight mistake as she took in the dress shirt that was tight enough to molded to his muscles. He of course had the buttons undone enough that she could see his own leadership tattoos and chest hair peeking through. He also had the sleeves rolled up to reveal those forearm tattoos she loved so much. His black jeans weren't much better in letting her keep her sanity as they hugged his ass and thighs perfectly.

“So do you, Eric.” Cass replied in a husky voice filled with the desire that hadn’t gone away from the moment that serum entered her system and they began their new game.

Eric motioned for her to slide into her seat first and he would sit on the outside. She had already told him they should stay for at least some of the celebration but they both knew they were, even now when they were free and clear, going to torture themselves just a bit more.

He also knew he wasn’t going to be able to not touch her and he didn’t want anyone seeing. Everything that came from when he touched her belonged to him and him alone.

When she was sitting down he moved himself into place and pulled her closer to his side. His eyes went to where she was looking for the moment and saw Four being flanked by Lynn and Ronnie. They looked to be heavily flirting with him but what had his eyebrow quirking was Four was doing it right back with this odd smile on his face.

He looked over to Cass who was smirking into her glass as she took a sip and he felt the laughter rumbling up. “I am guessing that little arrangement was orchestrated by you, baby?”

Cass meets his eyes and shrugs with her wicked smile he loves so much. “I might have given him a slight….push. He can still choose to not act on shit but it doesn’t look like he is fighting it too much right now.”

Eric shakes his head with laughter. No, it certainly did not look like Four was fighting anything other than how fast the three of them could get out of the door together.

Seeing Four did bring back some other unpleasant thoughts and memories, though. Part of why they had waited so long had been because of fucking Four. Eric turns his head back to look at Cass and he reaches up to lightly run his fingertips along one side where her tattoos are on display.

The day they had gotten their tattoos together was the day before they had made the pact or agreement. He wondered if even without Four’s interference if he would have made it with her anyways.

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They had met with leadership the night before the choosing ceremony in the tattoo parlor. They had been told just days before that they had both made full leadership and within six months from the time they had taken the positions and started training. Halfway through training for leadership they had to choose what positions they wanted.

Normally, Second in Command would never have gone to a female. Cass was not normal by any means. Max had sat the two of them down and laid it out. They both worked as a team and were blowing through any standards set for leadership but only one could be chosen for Second to take Raze’s place.

Cass hadn’t even hesitated when she had said that there was no other choice. It needed to and deserved to be Eric.

He could admit that at first he was a little miffed that she was just rejecting it and also a little miffed that she might be handing it to him. She didn’t see it that way though. She laid out her reasons and his strengths. She felt she was more suited to the weapons development and tech side of leadership while she knew he could and would be able to handle the scope that Second in Command handled.

Max had even agreed with her by the end of it and as of that day he was in training for Second in Command. Before that day he had known what he and Cass had was something deeper than them wanting to fuck and playing games around it. He didn’t know what they were but he slowly started to figure it out.

It was the night they got their tattoos that it hit him for sure. Anyone that tells you they got their neck tattoo and it didn’t hurt is a fucking liar.

They hurt like a mother fucker.

Cass and Eric had been torn between wanting to be tattooed at the same time but also being there with each other for those tattoos. This had been solved when Bud had just shoved two of the chairs together and then had them to where Cass and he could be facing each other.

Tori took Cass and Bud had taken Eric but he had wondered why Max and Harrison had been hovering near him as if poised for something.

Everything had started out fine. Cass had barely made a peep as Tori worked on hers while Eric had felt some discomfort but Bud had started on the lower portions of the tattoos first.

It wasn’t until they got higher that Eric even realized he had started to scream. His own screams were interrupted by Cass yelling at everyone present and it brought him around.

“Don’t you fucking touch him!” Cass yelled and when he looked she had moved so that she was now straddling him and had her hands on either side of his face.

Tori had just barely finished before Eric’s had gotten to the spot she and Bud knew they would need both of them to help with. Max and Harrison were there to hold him down while the two of them would be working to get the one side done and then move on to the next. She hadn’t even been able to fully clean Cass’ tattoo before she was being ordered to leave her alone and Cass was scrambling over to Eric.

“Eric, baby, look at me.” Eric’s eyes met hers and everything in him was clenched. “Eric, you can do this without needing to be held down. I believe in you and we can do it.”

“Cass…” Max starts with a frown and firm tone. He knew the two were hard and tough but even he had to be held down. He had also put two guys in the clinic with multiple breaks during the process.

If he let Cass be hurt by Eric, even when he had no clue he was doing it, Eric would never forgive himself or them.

Cass locks eyes with the senior leader and thins her lips. “He can do it because I will help him.” She dismisses the senior leaders continued looks of worry and looks back to Eric. “Eric, you told me once you wanted to learn how I was able to take all of that pain he caused me and I said one day maybe. It was a joke on your part but never on mine. I am going to tell you how I got through it but you have to be with me on it. So I am giving you the choice, you can try it my way where you do this on your own. Be the first fucking leader to get his tattoos on his neck and not need to be held down. Or we can let the tradition stand.”

She was challenging him and he knew it. She knew just what to say to push him and his buttons so that he had no choice but to meet that challenge. He was also worried as hell he would hurt her if they started up again and weren’t there holding him. One look in her eyes though and the absolute belief in him, he knew it was going to be her way. It always had been so far, her and his way. He couldn’t speak because he was still raw from the pain so he just nodded and let her know with his eyes.

She smiled softly at him and moved closer to his chest. They had them both reclined in the chairs and they had been holding hands as they were being worked on.

“Close your eyes now, baby.” She took the one hand that had automatically made its way to her waist when she had moved to him and put it over her heart. “Concentrate on nothing but that and imagine that is all you hear. Slow your breathing just like you did in the fear sims Eric, but let the sound of the beat of my and your heart together, surround you. There is nothing around you but darkness. Not a bad darkness but that darkness in the back of your mind that you know is always there. That place that holds our true selves safe for us. The one we don’t let anyone else into. Go to that place, Eric. Don’t open any of the doors there, just stand in the darkness.”

She paused and listened to his breathing and felt his neck for the pulse to know when he was there. Her voice was soft and soothing to him in that way she had always had with him.

“There is a barrel there, Eric. Just like the one with the fire where we burned our clothes when we first came. The flames are low right now so it isn’t breaking through that darkness yet. It needs to be fed though. I want you to start opening those doors, Eric. Take out all of those fears about pain and death. All the thoughts or worries you have right now and I want you to put those into that fire. All of your emotions too….it all goes in. Give everything over to it until there is no dark left. There is only you and that fire.”

She watches his face and slowly starts to see it and his body relaxing. His pulse evens out completely and his breathing goes normal. She smirks when she sees this because she knows he is ready and she nods. “Now open your eyes and look at me, baby.”

Eric opens his eyes and is seeing clearly but isn’t feeling much of anything. Except for when he sees her. Somehow even with the nothing that he feels surrounding him, he feels something for her breaking through. She is smiling at him as she releases a breath and nods to Bud.

“Is that how you got through all of that, baby?” Eric asked but his voice sounded strange. He had always had the ability to mask his emotions but right now they were completely gone.

Cass nodded again with a shrug. “I don’t know how I came about discovering it. It was some kind of meditation thing I think but it didn’t feel right so I started playing around with it. It wasn’t until I figured out that I need to embrace that dark that I truly made it work for me.”

Eric nodded in understanding but then couldn’t move anymore as Bud had started to work again. The entire time Cass had remained on his lap and held his eyes. His hand still over her heart with their fingers threaded together.

There might as well have not been another person there because all they saw was each other. All he saw was her there for him looking fierce and showing everything in her eyes they had never said to another fucking person. He knew he never would either.

She was also right and Max and Harrison hadn’t needed to hold him down one bit. He would go down as the first leader to receive their tattoos on the neck and not have to be held down, all because of her.

He had known then how deep things were for him and just them in general. He hadn’t known what he was going to do about it though until the next morning when Four confronted him.

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Cass frowned as Eric moved his fingers over her tattoo. He was lost in thought and she was trying to figure out what he was thinking about so deeply. “Do you remember the night we got these, Cass?” Eric asked in a soft voice near her ear.

“Of course I do, Eric. Was that what you were thinking about?” She quirked an eyebrow and turned so that she was facing him a little more.

This positioned her so that he could now bend just slightly and graze his lips along the same tattoo he had just been lightly touching. His lips curled into a slow smile as he heard her low moan and felt her body arching.

“How could I not think about that night, Cass? That was when it really started for us, baby.” He said seriously as he trailed kisses along her skin, eyes closed and breathing her in. “I had planned to take you that night, you know. To end our game and finally make you mine.”

As he was talking he had started to nip, bite and suck along her shoulder. He had also started to trail his fingers along her chest, dipping in and out of her exposed cleavage and making her moan.

Cass swallowed and nodded a little. “I had thought you would but Max and Harrison had other plans.”

Eric huffed a little and moved his lips higher along her neck while his hand dipped lower. “I was cursing the fuck out of them at the time as they bought us round after fucking round.”

Cass’ head fell back a little but not far because his free hand had moved to the back of it and locked her in place. “Me too.” She got out in a gasp when he locked onto her pulse point.

“Your skin tastes so fucking good, Cass.” He groans as he continues to move his lips over just her exposed neck, shoulders, and ear. He can’t go near her mouth yet because if he does it will be game over for him.

“Eric.” Cass moans as the hand that had been slowly working lower was now sliding up her skirt and along her thigh.

He smirks into her skin as he trails his fingers lightly along the soft inner thigh. “Open your legs for me, Cass.” He commands right into her ear in a purr.

She doesn’t hesitate as she lets her legs fall open more for him. She is rewarded when he slides his hand up further, teasing all along the way, until those fingertips brush against her wet heat.

“Fuck” She gasps out and closes her eyes.

“Not yet, but fuck if I won’t have you soon.” Eric growls as he slides a finger through her folds and groans at how wet and hot she is for him. “For now I want to hear you moan for me, love.”

He parts her slowly and bites his lip as his nostrils flare and both of their breathing picks up. He casts a brief look around as he slides his finger slowly into her and closes his eyes at how tight she is around just his finger.

“Eric….gods that feels…” Cass is gripping the table with one hand and his thigh with the other as she moans.

Eric starts to pulse his finger into her. He feels her start to move her hips a little but also her muscles, that are already so damn tight around the now two fingers he has in her, start to tighten and release and he moans right along with her.

“You're killing me here, baby.” He groans as he begins to kiss along her neck to her jaw. His thumb has moved so that it hits her clit with every thrust of his fingers into her pussy and her moans are building, letting him know she is close.

It also is making him harder and feeling like he is about to snap.

Cass is so damn close and it just escalates when two things happen at the same time. In her bid to grab anything as she was in the midst of being lost in Eric’s touch she had grasped his thigh. Eric had started to kiss along her jaw and as if the two of them timed it, his mouth brushed against hers as soon as her hand brushed against and then grabbed his straining cock through his pants.

They both snapped as Eric lost it and claimed her mouth finally but still kept with his attentions from his fingers. It was fierce and deep as he delved into her mouth with his tongue just as his fingers were driving deep into her as well.

He was swallowing her moans and gasps as they increased and he could tell by the way she was grasping at those fingers with her muscles and his cock with her hand that she was coming undone for him.

When he was sure she had finished he lessened the kiss until he was hovering just above her lips and they were both trying to calm down. She was panting but still hadn’t let go of trying to get more of him in her hand.

With a growl he pulled back, pulled his fingers out of her and grabbed her hand. “It’s time to go, Cass.” He said right before he lifted his fingers to his mouth and watched her eyes as he tasted and sucked her juices from them right there.

She moaned but he wasn’t any better as he closed his eyes and relished the taste of her. When he opened his eyes again she was biting her bottom lip. “Now Eric.” She got out in a voice thick with lust.

He wasted no time in standing and pulling her out with him. She barely had time to grab her clutch purse before he was pulling her along with him and out of the bar.

She didn’t care where he took them just as long it was somewhere she could have him, all of him and right then.

As Eric stalked through the corridors, glaring their way clear, he held Cass close to his side and had to mentally restrain himself from just saying fuck it to his plans and finding some unused room or something to take her right then. It was torture, that walk, not matter how fast the pace they were setting. The party around them was in full swing and it reminded him so much of that night one year ago.

Once he again he was pulled into the memory but it was welcome if it could distract him enough so he could keep himself together until they reached his destination.

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Eric had groaned himself awake the next morning after Max and Harrison had insisted that they take the two new leaders out to celebrate not only their tattoos but that Eric had been able to get his without making a peep or being need to be held down.

Thankfully he didn't have a hangover but they had gotten in too late and needed to be up too damn early. He was already dreading the day in general. Having to be apart of training and having to do it with fucking Four. It was way too damn early and he had way too little sleep to have to deal with the asshole.

Not to mention all of his plans for Cass had been blown to shit by being taken out for the night. So when he finally made his way into the control room to endure the hours long process of watching the choosing ceremony to prepare for how many initiates they were looking at, he was in a less than stellar mood.

It didn't help things that he was forced to sit by none other than number boy himself or that said asshole was shooting him glares already.

Not even ten minutes after he had sat down he had to listen to Four mumbling passive aggressive shit under his breath. With sigh he turned his glare onto the former stiff.

“What the fuck is up your ass this time? Other than that stick you have shoved up it normally?” Eric tries to keep his temper but it is just so hard with the dick.

Four’s head snaps over to him and he snarls at him. “You think I don't know the game you are playing with my sister? You need to leave her the hell alone and just keep to the tramps that throw themselves at you.”

Eric's fists clench as tight as his jaw. “You don't know fuck about Cass and me. You also know shit about your sister and you sure as shit aren't her father, so I suggest you butt the fuck out.”

Four’s face darkens and his own fists clench. “I know my sister. I also know that while you are fucking anything that moves you are letting it be known that she is supposedly yours. We both know how this is going to end though, Eric. You are going to use her like you do everyone else and then leave her. Cass isn't like other girls and once she commits to one person, that is it. You don't deserve that loyalty when all she is to you is some sick game or toy. One that when you get tired of it you will throw away. I fucking won't let you do that to my sister.”

Eric couldn't remember exactly what he had said in return but it didn't matter. The end result was the only result that was going to happen from the start. The two had launched themselves at each other and had to be pulled off by the other leaders present as well as the people in control.

After making sure they were both cool, Max had separated them to watch the ceremony well away from each other. All the rest of the morning Four’s words had run through his head along with what he had determined the night prior.

There was no worry for him about what Four thought he knew in regards to how many girls he had actually been with. It wasn't anywhere fucking near the rumored amount and he never hid or lied about that shit to Cass. That wasn't what was bothering him about Four’s words.

He knew she was more but did she know?

That was all that he could think about and it was driving him crazy.

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They finally reach his destination, his apartment, and he is pulled from his memory as he enters in his code quickly.

As soon as they are in and the door is shut he has her against the wall.

All he can think about after that is claiming her mouth, neck, breasts…..every fucking inch of her that he can get to quickly.

So he proceeds to do just that while Cass has other plans.

Her hands move to his pants and is hurriedly undoing them while Eric is killing her slowly with his mouth. When she finally gets them open she shoves them and his briefs down and moans as he springs forth, hard and ready for her.

She also moans because he has managed to push the top part of her dress down enough and is now using his teeth, tongue and lips on her nipples.

Her hand closes around him and he pauses long enough to let out a hiss of air and groans deeply. He kicks off his shoes hurriedly so that his clothes can be stepped out of and kicked aside.

“Fuck baby.” He lifts his head from her breasts to claim her mouth but she stops him by grasping him harder and growling.

“I want this in me now, Eric.” She demands of him seriously in between her pants.

His nostrils flare even more as he gives a wicked smile and pulls away from her; getting her hand away from him when she would have tightened on it to stop him from going.

“You want it bad don’t you, Cass?” He asks this as he is leading her slowly into his living room, walking her backwards while his hands slip under her dress to cup her bare ass.

“Fuck...yes. I want it so bad.” She gasped out when he suddenly stopped and worked a hand up into her hair and yanked until her head was pulled back.

“How do you want it, Cass?” He growled the question out but already knew the answer. There was no other way for it to be for them this first time.

“Hard, fast…...I want everything, Eric. I want every bit of you inside of me, deep inside of me.” She gets out between moans and pants because Eric had started to kiss and suck on her neck as he rolled her nipples between his fingers.

He pulls back and looks at her seriously, his forehead furrowed with the restraint he is trying to have. It breaks though looking into her eyes and seeing everything that has been building up between them.

She has waited too long for him to be ready, for him to know that he has proved himself to her.

“Lift your dress up and bend over the couch now, Cass.” He demands as he spins her around and is already moving her into position.

Cass bends over the back of the couch and moves the dress further up when he flips it to expose her.

She smirks back at him when he kicks her legs apart slightly. Something he took pleasure in doing during training when he decided she needed a little help with her forms or when firing a weapon.

The smirk quickly turns to a gasp as she feels him rubbing at her entrance. His eyes locked onto hers and he smiles wickedly.

“Don’t you fucking look away, Cass. Keep your eyes on me while I take you.” He sees her nod and swallow, her skin flushed with her eyes wide. “You ready, baby?”

“Yes Eric.” She uses that tone with him and shivers as she sees his shiver of pleasure just before he slams into her in one quick thrust.

“Good girl, Cass.” He gets out as he holds her eyes and stills in her for just enough time for her to adjust to him.

He can see her strain in taking him but he can also see she doesn’t want him to stop. In the few seconds he was stilled inside her, she has already started to show him just what she can do with those muscles he felt working over his fingers and it has him growling.

It also has him grabbing her hips and slamming into her over and over.

His hips snap as his body slams against hers. Cass can feel her body jarring with each forceful push. The muscles are strained in his body and veins are pushing up to the surface along his neck. He grits his teeth and grunts with each push into her.

His balls slap against her, hitting her swollen clit every time; making her gasp and moan out.

The entire time she can’t tear her eyes from his even as each thrust makes her feel like her eyes should be rolling into the back of her head. Add to that the fact that he has reached around her to start working on her clit and she can only cry out, gasp or mumble unintelligibly.

He is unleashing himself for her and only her as she sees his nostrils flared, his bottom lip between his teeth but it is his eyes holding hers that she sees it most.

He can’t take his eyes off hers as he takes her from behind. It is hard and rough, his fingers digging into her hips in an effort to keep her right where he needs her. They are connected for the first time but it still isn’t enough.

She reaches back and grabs one of her cheeks and bites her lip with after gasping on one of his thrusts. 

“What does it look like?” Her question is breathy and her skin flushes at the dirty nature of it.

The question and then the site as he looks to where his dick is being taken into her body has him groaning then looking back to her intensely. “Like we are fucking made for each other.” He growls out the answer then slams into her even harder, picking up the pace from the steady rhythm he had started with. “You were born to be for me, Cass. Only me.”

Cass can’t reply to that as he assaults her body with pleasure.

“Eric...I’m going to…” She trails off and moans as he pinches on her clit and groans along with her.

“I’m right there, Cass. Together baby. I need it to be together.” With a frown he realizes he wants her closer. Needs her closer for this. The hand that had never left her hair moves to snake around her chest and hauls her against his chest.

“I’m with you, Eric. Always.” She pants out as he resumes his thrusting motion into her. Her head is still turned to look back at him over her shoulder but his hand has moved from between her breasts to lightly go around her throat.

Eric smiles as he applies very light pressure to her neck. “All yours, Cass. Together now.” He grunts out the last part as he slams into her twice more and only allows his release when he feels her convulse around him.

As soon as he felt that her claimed her mouth again and took in her pleasure as he was giving her his too. Their chests were heaving as the stood there panting into each others mouths and still kissing.

They aren't done, not by a long shot.

He might have come harder than he ever has in his life but he still hard as granite.

His hands start to move to remove the only thing that is keeping her from being against him in the way he has only dreamed about to date. He never breaks the kiss or moves out of her as he unclasps the belt then unzips the dress.

It is only when he needs to let it fall from her to the floor that he pulls out of her and grins at her whimper and trying to pull him back.

With a huff she whips around as her hands go to the last bit of clothing he has on. She grins when she pulls hard until all the buttons pop off and his shirt pops open.

“Oops.” She says with a shit eating grin.

Eric only has time to quirk his eyebrow before he is groaning when she moves her mouth to stake her own claim along his neck. Between that and her hard nipples rubbing against his chest he is on the verge of going off again.

Who knew just her body against his finally would almost be enough to have him coming like some teenage boy.

Cass pushes the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms as she bites and sucks along his neck. She knows he is about to snap again because she can feel his muscles bunching up in his arms and she smiles into his neck.

“I promised I would have you in my bed before the end of the night, Cass, and fuck if I am going back on that promise. I don’t intend on us leaving it until tomorrow sometime....maybe not for a few days.” Eric says this as he has already pulled her so that her legs are wrapped around his waist and is kissing her between all of that as he walks with her.

He doesn’t even strain a bit when he reaches out and flicks on the bedroom light while still holding on to her with one arm. He is still kissing her as he lays her down on the bed and then starts to kiss down her body. His hands moving to remove her boots then move over her.

Cass shivers in pleasure and nerves and it draws Eric’s attention. He pulls back and frowns at her a little. “Are you ok, Cass?”

Eric looks at her as she bites her lip and nods but he sees she is nervous about something.

“I’m fine, Eric.” She finally gets out in a breathy voice.

Eric scowls at her because they talked about hiding shit from each other. “No, you aren’t. You are nervous about something.”

Cass huffs a little and swallows. “This will be the first time you are seeing me naked and…”

“Seriously? You are worried about…”

Cass rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Not about the naked part but I am nervous you won’t like what I had done.”

What she had….

Eric pulls back and looks down on her from his knees to take her in. She looks gorgeous there on his bed exactly where she belongs and from this night forward will always be.

He is so distracted by that thought that at first he doesn’t see what she might be talking about until he gets to just under her breasts. He sees the tattoos on her ribs that go down to her abdomen and then wrap around so that they form a ‘v’ just above her pelvis.

His breath picks up and his nostrils flare but he starts to get the biggest fucking grin as his gaze moves to what exactly is forming that v right above what he has always considered his and his alone.

From the upper rib down it was a Polynesian tribal art pattern that followed her curves perfectly. Until it got to the hip area where the pattern became the exact maze and symbol patterns from his forearms.

His hands hand started to move over and ghost across the patterns and he couldn’t even help how happy seeing that made him.

“When did you get this, Cass?” He finally got out after he had kissed back up her body and claimed her mouth a long, deep and meaningful kiss.

Letting her know how much he liked what she had done.

She sighed after he pulled back from the kiss, from relief that he liked it and from the kiss itself.

“That next week after….” She trailed off after he cupped her cheek and smiled as he nodded. “I never doubted what we were, Eric. I understood you needing to prove it to me, but I knew already.”

“I never wanted a doubt to be able to be cast by anyone, Cass.” His mouth hovered just above hers as he said this firmly.

This time it was Cass pulled in by a memory spurred on by his words. He had said almost the exact same thing in the almost same manner to her one year ago.

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Cass hadn’t seen Eric for most of the day. He had been busy with the new training group that he was supervising with Four and she was in and out of the Dauntless group as well as having been to a meeting with Erudite. She had been dragging ass for the first part of the day after having been kept out way later than she had planned by Max and Harrison.

Now the leaders wanted Eric and her to be at another party to officially celebrate their making leaders and getting their tattoos.

She had smirked when she was passing a group of members and she heard them whispering in hushed tones about Eric and him getting his leader tattoos. He was already feared and built a reputation for himself during training even. They both had really but Eric more so.

He was feared by most and respected by many. After that though it just built on it like a snowball. She had missed lunch and was just making it back into the compound by the time dinner rolled around when she was pulled into arms and then pressed against a wall almost as soon as she entered The Pit.

“You missed lunch.” Eric husked with a deep frown on his face.

He wouldn’t admit that he had been waiting in The Pit for Cass to anyone else. He didn’t need to admit it to her because she would already know.

He could count on one hand the amount of times they had missed meals together since early on in their training. No matter what, even if it wasn’t in the dining hall, they ate together.

Cass sighed tiredly and nodded. “Sorry. I messaged you but I was stuck at Erudite with the new R&D Head. The man is an imbecile. I do not know how he made it to that level but I think he might not be for that much longer. It is sad when a leader from another faction knows more about how your department works than you do.”

Eric smirked as he moved  her over. His body was pressing into hers his mouth so close to hers. He had every intention of stealing her away for the hours before they had to meet with the leaders and making good on what he had wanted to do last night.

Then the words from Four and last night in the parlor started to play in his head and he couldn’t help the scowl that came over his face.

“You aren’t just some girl I want to screw, Cass.” He ground out angrily as he held her eyes.

Cass was confused and shook her head. She had been in a slight daze from how close they were. How much she wanted for all the teasing to be over. His words pierced through the haze and left her frowning.

“I never said you thought that, Eric.” She tilted her head confused.

“No but others do.” This time he growled and his fists clenched.

“Well then it is a good thing I don’t give a fuck what others think, Eric.” She gritted out, wondering where the hell this was coming from.

“I shouldn’t, Cass. I never want anyone to be able to cast a doubt on this Cass. I don’t want anyone to be able to make you doubt that you are more. We are more.” His forehead was furrowed and he held her eyes with such intensity.

Cass swallowed and nodded. “I know, I just don’t know….”

“You don’t know what we are.��� Eric finished and sighed; his mind whirling.

She is his and he already knew that they both knew that. Hell, the entire fucing faction knew that. She had no reassurance that he was hers just as much though.

How could he prove that to her? Prove that is wasn’t just physical for him. That he needs and wants her in ways he has never experienced with anyone else before.

That he knows deep down he never will experience with anyone else but her.

His mind connected the dots and then he was moving before he even informed her of what he was doing or where he was going. He had a hold of her hand and was pulling her along with him as he stalked his way back up to the leader's offices.

He knew for a fact that Max and at least Harrison would be in the senior leader's office. He knocked and Cass was looking at him with a frown. “Do you trust me, Cass?”

Cass’ breath caught in her throat at the intensity and need in Eric’s eyes and voice. So she did something she had only done once before.

“Yes Eric.” She replied in a tone that conveyed submissiveness but that wasn’t what it was truly for them. It was so much more and she saw his relief and happiness.

“Good girl, Cass” He returned her submissiveness with dominating tone but again it was so much more.

For them it was them saying with words and actions all that they would never give anyone else.

He had barely got that out with a smile and in a husky voice when the command of enter was being called out.

He tightened his hold on her hand and pulled her into the office with him when he opened the door. He was right Max and Harrison were both there but so was Victoria.

Eric mentally shrugged and thought that it might as well be all of leadership for this anyways.

“Eric. Cass….I thought you two would be grabbing dinner and getting ready for the night.” Max said with amused look, head tilted.

It took on a smug look when he saw Eric holding Cass’ hand and pulling her to his side.

“We will be shortly but there was something we needed to take care of before we do.” Eric said firmly.

Max quirked an eyebrow and motioned for Eric to go ahead.

Eric cast one look to Cass, who smiled at him, then took a breath and tensed his body. “We would like you to marry us. Tonight.”

Cass tried to not show any reaction but that was not something she had been expecting. She wasn’t going to object but she put a hand on his chest and willed him to look at her. She didn’t expect this of him and was worried he thought she might.

Eric forgot about the leaders for a moment as he faced her and shook his head. “No, I don’t think you expect this of me, Cass. That isn’t what this is about. I need you to know I am yours and only yours no matter what. I need you to know that and not doubt it but I need to show you; to prove it to you.”

“Eric, there isn’t any need…” She was stopped when he cupped her cheek and tilted her head to look at him. They held eyes for a while and she saw that he wanted this too and not just to prove himself to her. With a sigh and a small smile she nodded.

Eric tore his eyes from her and looked back to the leaders who looked a little stunned but also pleased. Cass nodded to Victoria who was looking at her as if to ask if she was really ok with it.

After Max had recovered from his own shock he quickly pulled out the certificates needed, then performed a small ceremony. They hadn’t wanted or needed to add anymore vows than were already in the standard one.

“Well, we have something to announce at dinner tonight.” Max said as he clapped his hands after he had given a copy of the certificate to them but also set it up to be filed with Candor in the morning.

Eric frowned and shook his head. “No, not yet. I don’t want it announced yet.”

He looked to Cass and steeled himself. A year could he hold out for a year?

Gods he fucking hoped so and that she understood. “Not until next year. On this night next year, you can make the announcement.”

Max frowned and looked between the two. “So you don’t want me to file it until then?”

Eric shook his head with a scowl that was defeating the fucking purpose. “Fuck no. File it now. We are married as of tonight and you can announce it as our fucking anniversary or some shit. I don’t really care to be honest that isn’t what this is about.” He had never broke his gaze from Cass so he saw the realization dawn on her.

She groaned a little as she closed her eyes and opened them again with the longing she knew they were going to be feeling before the end of that year and badly. She saw how important this was to him though and knew that in a way, deep inside her, it was just as important to her too.

He wanted to show her he would be as committed to her in every way, without the physical getting in the way. He wanted to show her she was more but holding off from taking their relationship that final step. Not until for a year he had shown then both what they meant for each other.

Cass reaches up and pulls Eric to her for a kiss, completing what was started that night in the Max’s office. They don’t pull back and they don’t need to. Eric slides into her as her tongues slides into his mouth.

She moans into his mouth as her body arches up into him. She had known a little of how large he was just from what she could see outlined in his pants but nothing had quite prepared her for how much he stretched her or how right it felt.

It didn’t stop her from trying to make herself even tighter around him as he moved slow at first inside of her. Soon though he was slamming into her once again as she begged him for all off him.

“Feels so fucking good, Cass.” Eric groans out as he holds her hands to the the sides of her head, her legs he had moved to be on either side of his head.

Cass couldn’t get out a reply as her head was thrown back and all she could do was moan, grunt and cry out with every body shattering thrust he made into her.

She couldn’t even warn him verbally when she was climaxing but he knew by the way her walls gripped him and pulled him in even further. This had happened twice already but he hadn’t stopped or let himself release yet. She could feel it in the tension of his thighs as they slapped against her with his moves into her.

“That’s it baby, come for me because I am ready to give you it all.” Eric growled as he had been holding his own release for as long as possible.

On the third time he knew he couldn’t hold out anymore and he roared his own release when she finally managed to get out one word in her climax.

“Eric!” His name tore from her throat as her body shook violently and he went deeper than he had earlier.

Both of their bodies were trembling as he collapsed beside her and pulled her to him. They lay there panting and trying to get their breathing under control for long minutes before Eric swallowed and looked over to Cass.

She had this cat that ate the cream smile of satisfaction, her skin was flushed beautifully and her chest heaving. He gave a little chuckle at her smile but also that he knew he had to have a shit eating grin to match hers.

She turned her head to look at him and her smile widened. “Was it worth the wait?”

Eric quirked an eyebrow and never lost his smile. “Every fucking minute of it, Cass. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. You?”

She sighed blissfully and shook her head. “Wouldn’t have traded a minute of it either, Eric.”

Eric’s grin changed to a little of a smirk and he shrugged. “Although, I wouldn’t have minded you having been slipped a damn serum a little earlier. I think I really enjoyed our little torture sessions too much to give them up, Cass.”

Cass smiled wickedly at him and raked her nails down his chest lightly. “Who said we would ever be doing that, Eric. It’s us. When have we ever given up on a little torture?”

Eric shook his head with his own wicked smile. “Never baby. It’s just how we like it.” He sighed as he started to kiss along her shoulder and then a thought struck him. “You gave him a push? The same kind of push that was arranged for you by your friends?”

Cass laughed and shrugged. “Not exactly the same but something along those lines. And at least I didn’t leave him hanging out to dry without any kind of relief.”

Eric laughed into her shoulder. “You set it up with Lynn and Ronnie too?”

Cass smirked. “I might have let it slip that I might be able to help her see a longtime wish and fantasy of hers come true if she was at the right place at the right time. Oh and that she get a few things for me from Ronnie.”

Eric’s nostrils flare in desire as he moved to pull her until she was straddling him. “Hmmm….well that sounds like a story for later then…..” He purrs out just before he guides her down on him as her head falls back and she hums her agreement.

TO BE CONTINUED?

[bbcmyhero]

Christmas

The Christmas episode, which I have alternately seen labeled as end of series 1 or beginning of series 2. No one else is sure, so I’m not sure. I’m not terribly bothered, so, I’ll just call it the Free-Floating Christmas Special and off we go. 

Christmas shopping is always my favorite part of the whole thing, so the opening scene hits me just right, so to speak. Also, imo, Thermodoll is reminding me of Tyler. Hilarious, all things considered.

So...when George thinks Janet’s been taken over by alien tree-worshippers, it’s considered a valid concern, just not the right answer. Had Tyler said the same thing, everyone would have been rolling their eyes. I dunno, man, I’m reasonably sure Tyler’s been right about enough that you shouldn’t discount him entirely just because he has holes in his brain.

Poor George, I know it’s confusing but don’t bother trying to understand the mishmash of religious traditions that got stolen for Christmas.

Mrs Raven spreading her “unique” brand of Christmas cheer to the expectant mom. I’m a sick person for laughing.

...It was Piers idea to do something nice? That doesn’t sound like...oh, it was self-serving. Yeah, that makes sense.

Now, this starts out looking like George just being completely naive and ignorant about Christmas, with calling Stanley out, but in hindsight if he knows Santa how does he not know all this? It’s either a HUGE gaping plothole, or he found Santa and introduced himself when he left the party.

Ella’s face when this entire conversation starts. Also, for once, she seems more amused by George than put off. She looks almost flattered/on the verge of cracking up the whole way through.

See, this is the sort of thing Janet could have avoided by just following up that remark about “imagine spending Christmas with...” with a “and I’d prefer it to be just the two of us, instead.”

I had a suspicion when I heard his house was called Bedside Manor, and it is now confirmed. Piers Crispin tells terrible, corny jokes and is usually the only one laughing. Also, someone just give the man a coffee, just this once. For Christmas.

This kid who almost ruins it for everyone reminds me of Ben from Outnumbered, especially when he smiles. And at least George had by then sort of cottoned on to what was up enough to lend a hand.

Title drop.

You guys, listen to Tyler. I think he was predicting Trump.

“Irritate the pants off me.” I’ve always heard it as “Buggin the pants off me,” but, I think it means two different things depending on which side of the pond. Underwear in the UK, outerwear over here.

Okay, I dig the drink dispenser. My sense of humor is pretty stupid, sometimes. And Arnie also tells terrible, corny jokes and laughs alone. But you’d expect it more from him.

I don’t recall a Christmas Eve where I’ve ever gone to bed before midnight in years. If I’m not in the kitchen with mom, I’m wrapping presents and by the end I’m not sure which end is up, anymore.

At least he checked Ella’s feet and not her boobs. That would’ve been awkward.

I made a friend of mine watch the scene with the burglar at Mrs Raven’s. I can’t remember if she’d wandered into my room or I’d made her come in, but either way I made her stay put and shut up until it was done because it’s a fave part and I had already seen it once by then. Anyway, to this day, sometimes one of us will just look at the other and put on our best English accent and say “Thank you, Santa. I won’t do it again.”

Also, I can’t believe Mrs Raven didn’t wake up during this whole exchange since she seems the hypervigilant type. I’m gonna assume she was passed out drunk.

I dunno who Piers is talking to here, but it’s a safe bet they aren’t exactly what you’d call close friends. Not as most people define it. Close enough to call on Christmas Eve, but not so close that they aren’t trying to one-up each other. Is other guy being honest about Lynette Moss (whoever that is)? No clue, but Piers sure isn’t.

Of course, the hilarious part is George thinking he’s busted for a second, there.

Honestly, this is exactly the sort of room I expected Piers to have. All the mirrors and the giant portrait of himself. Sad, oversized shrine to his own ego. And the slippers, while hilarious, didn’t come as a huge surprise. His pajamas, on the other hand, did. I was expecting something expensive-looking, possibly monogrammed, and instead it’s sweats and a shirt that any old crew-member on the show might have.

More interesting, is that while he’s walking around doing stuff he probably wouldn’t be caught dead doing in public -looking unpolished, plucking nose hairs- he’s still, essentially, in character as Dr Crispin while being on the phone.

Picture of Janet. Gee, that’s not more than a little creepy.

It bothers me that he threw the phone onto the bed instead of putting it back on the cradle. It needs to recharge, man!

And he’s the only character shown sleeping on their side, half-curled up. Also the only one to sleep on top of the covers. Not sure what to make of the latter, but the former is sort of a mix between two sleeping positions that one of them is profiled as open-natured but suspicious and cynical, and the other is shy, sensitive and easily worried by overthinking problems.

(The man does not have ugly feet. I apologize for the weirdness of that.)

Okay, see, George essentially tore the wrapping paper, there, and that’s a pretty much impossible fix. It would have been easier, and less obvious, to open the bottom and switch the contents out. Still, he obviously did a good job fixing it since Piers didn’t notice anything amiss.

I’m not here for Janet knocking the wonder that is turkey. It is my favorite and obviously she doesn’t do it right if hers is dry and unflavorful. Mind you, I enjoy the slightly dry texture of turkey in general, though. Not much of a chicken person.

Bet she didn’t put an onion inside it. That’s why its got no flavor.

How do you get two weeks of leftover turkey? I’m lucky to get four days.

Great. Now I’m hungry. I’mma need a turkey and a pan of dressing, asap.

I’ve heard of Christmas pudding, before, but...yeah, I think I prefer my American tradition of at least two pies and two cakes.  

“Oh, no, they’re early.” Says mom every year when my cousin’s bunch turns up. They have an unfortunate habit of plunking themselves down at the table and poking everything while she’s still cooking. Without washing their hands.

George’s face. So bewildered and defeated. You tried, boo.

I think we should be grateful Tyler didn’t think the bottle was for a urine and/or blood sample. And poor thing didn’t get a present from Santa George.

You.People.All.Suck! Piers might, if you squint, have a legit gripe with the present switching, but it’s nothing he didn’t deserve. But, overall, mystery solved and you could all just say thanks.

This is what I was talking about, before, with Janet/George playing out a softer version of Ella/Stanley. “He made a mistake,” isn’t really a defense when followed up with agreeing that he ruined Christmas. Better to follow it up with pointing out that he was just trying to do something nice and that they should all just chill now they know it wasn’t a stalker.

Again, Janet could have avoided having her Christmas ruined by explaining she didn’t want them around before George started issuing invites.

You tried, Stanley.

You know a suspicious and disturbing amount about Christmas suicides, Piers.

Now, Tyler claims to have gone to school with both Santa and Leonaro da Vinci, but only one of them acknowledged him, in turn. I have a small theory I’m working on about that.

Oh, C’mon! That was undeservedly mean! Give the poor baby his jigsaw piece back, it’s the only thing Santa’s given him in years. (Double mean when you think that sitting in the floor “like a little boy” isn’t what you’d expect image-conscious Dr Crispin to unbend enough to do. Piers, on the other hand...well, I did say it’s like they were two different people.)

[spiderfan22]

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE - 6/2/17

“ELLA MENNO PEE” by DJS

This short’s got something to it. Some bite. Though, admittedly, the Ella character is a riff on the slow Cooper/Dougie character from the current revival of Twin Peaks, more or less a blank slate, repeating everything other characters say.

So sue me (read: please don’t).

Jill is 6 years old.

She is playing in a sandbox.

She makes big mounds of sand, then tries to poke holes through them, but the sand collapses. This in no way diminishes her enthusiasm for the task, lost in her own imaginative world.

She sings The Alphabet Song while she plays.

JILL                            A, bee, sea, D, E, F, gee, H, eye, jay, kay, ella menno pee, queue, are, S, tea, you, V, double you, X, why and Z...

Now I know my ABC’s, next time won’t you sing with me?

ELLA, off                   SING WITH ME.

Jill looks around curiously for the origin of the voice.

Then, from below the sand, a young woman rises into view. She shakes off the dirt and grit, revealing a fabulous dress, brightly colored and patterned. Her hair is similarly wild, long and curly and full of glittery sparkles. Ditto on her makeup.

This is Ella. She beams stupidly at Jill, who reacts to her sudden and mysterious appearance with only mild shock and pleasant surprised.

JILL    Who are you?

ELLA  WHO ARE YOU?

JILL    I’m Jill. What’s your name?

ELLA  JILL.

JILL    Your name’s Jill too?

ELLA  JILL 2. (And she holds up two fingers, like the peace sign)

JILL    That’s funny. You’re funny, Jill.

ELLA  YOU’RE FUNNY, JILL.

JILL    Do you want to help me build a castle?

ELLA  YES.

JILL    OK. You work on the moat. I’ll build the castle.

ELLA  CASTLE.

JILL    Make it big.

ELLA  BIG.

JILL    And deep—

ELLA  BIG AND DEEP.

JILL    --so no bad guys can get in.

Ella nods exaggeratedly.

While Jill begins to construct a crude sand castle in the center of the box, Ella moves some sand around in a very non-specific way, producing nothing but a few small piles.

           Noooo. Like this.

Jill demonstrates the proper technique for creating moats. Ella copies her, less successfully but still something resembling a trench.

ELLA  LIKE THIS.

JILL    That’s ok, but you should work on it. Keep going.

Jill resumes building a castle. Ella works on the moats. This goes on for a bit.

           I’m going to tell you a story, Jill.

ELLA  ELLA.

JILL    What?

Ella points to herself, her chest.

ELLA  ELLA.

JILL                            But I thought your name was Jill. You said your name was Jill, like me.

ELLA                          ELLA.

JILL                            Why did you not tell the truth?

Ella gives that a think. She shakes her head. Smiles, doesn’t know.

                                   Well, you should always tell the truth, that’s what my mom says. So promise.

Ella stares, confused.

                                   Promise, Ella.

ELLA                          PROMISE.

JILL                            Cross your heart and hope to die.

Jill makes the gesture of crossing your heart. Ella mimics her vaguely.

                                   Good.

ELLA                          GOOD.

JILL                            Are you my friend, Ella?

ELLA                          (nodding) MMMM.

JILL                            I’m going to tell you that story now.

ELLA                          TELL THAT STORY NOW.

They work as Jill tells her story.

JILL                            This sandbox is nice and all, but one time we went to the actual beach. In California. It was hot and my mom says she wished we had an umbrella but my dad says it didn’t make sense to buy one to just use that one time. My mom says we could rent one, there was a place to rent one. But that was all the way at the top of the beach by where we parked, and the beach was so big my dad said he wouldn’t walk back because it was so far and the sand was so hot. It was hot. Not like this sand. It would burn your feet, unless you just came out of the water, then it felt good. So then my dad walked down to the water and my mom stayed on the towels we brought, beach towels, she stayed there sitting and reading her book and putting sunscreen on me. We had a bunch of bottles because it was so hot and my mom said it was important, even if my dad didn’t put any on, my mom said I shouldn’t be like him and he would re-gret it later, that night, when he got a really bad sunburn. Just because he used to get tan when he was a kid, my mom said, doesn’t mean it’s that way now. She said I could play, but only in the area right in front of our towels, between the towels and down to the water. And I could only go in a little ways, up to my knees, but if I wanted to sit, I could sit and let the water splash over me. Do you know it tastes like salt? I drank some and it didn’t taste bad. It tasted ok, kind of like popcorn, it was that salty, but not crunchy like popcorn. Dad came over and he saw me and he said, he saw me drinking the water and he said to stop, it would make my stomach hurt. I said why, daddy. He said he already told me it would give me a stomach ache and I should sue the buckets we bought to bring some wet sand up and build a castle. I wanted to build a mountain, a volcano, but I didn’t know what to use for lava. I could use water but it wouldn’t be red like lava, it would just look like water going down some sand. We also got these shovels. Everything was new because we just got it at Target before coming to the beach because mom thought I would be bored. But I told her I loved the beach even though I never went there before. My mom laughed when I said this because I don’t know. I don’t know why she laughed at me, I wasn’t saying a joke. I know some good jokes, knock-knock jokes. Do you want to hear one?

Pause. Ella has understood very little of Jill’s story, but the sudden silence after she stopped talking has recaptured Ella’s attention. And she nods.

           OK. Knock, knock.

No response.

           Knock, knock.

No response.

           You’re supposed to say “who’s there”.

ELLA  YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SAY WHO’S THERE.

JILL    Who’s there.

ELLA  WHO’S THERE.

JILL    Boo.

ELLA  BOO.

JILL    No, you’re supposed to say “boo who?”

ELLA  BOO WHO.

JILL    Hey, don’t cry. It’s just a knock-knock joke.

Jill giggles and Ella grins, weirdly pleased.

           Do you want to hear another one?

ELLA  ONE.

JILL    OK. Knock, knock.

ELLA  KNOCK, KNOCK.

JILL    No, you say who’s there.

ELLA  WHO’S THERE.

JILL    Yodelayhee.

ELLA  YODELAYHEE.

JILL    Who.

ELLA  YODELAYHEE WHO.

This cracks Jill up, and she falls over in a fit of giggles. Ella just stares at her with the same weird grin.

JILL    You’re funny, Ella. Did you hear what you said?

ELLA  WHAT YOU SAID.

JILL                            No, you said it. You said Yodelayheehoo, like you were one of those guys, I forget what they’re called, on top of a mountain.

ELLA                          YODELAYHEE WHO.

JILL                            Yeah. Do you want to hear one more?

ELLA                          MORE. ONE MORE.

JILL                            Knock, knock.

ELLA                          KNOCK, KNOCK.

JILL                            No, who’s there.

ELLA                          NO, WHO’S THERE.

JILL                            Jill.

ELLA                          JILL.

JILL                            Yeah, it’s your best friend Jill. What, don’t you recognize me??

Jill laughs, very happy. She claps her hands. Ella claps, mimicking her.

JILL                            How are those moats coming?

ELLA                          COMING. MOATS.

JILL                            Make sure you go all the way around. The castle has to be protected on all sides.

ELLA                          ALL SIDES.

JILL                            I’m going to make so many towers on this castle. Do we have anything to use as a flag?

Jill looks around. Then she notices a clip in Ella’s hair. Points to it.

                                   Can I have that?

Ella points to her head, not understanding.

                                   Your clip. Can we use it for the flag for the castle?

ELLA                          FOR FLAG.

Jill goes to Ella and starts extricating the clip from her hair.

JILL                            I promise to give it back when we’re done.

This takes some doing, and Jill ends up pulling Ella’s hair. Ella shrieks. Jill feels genuinely bad for doing so.

                                   Oh I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Ella. I didn’t mean to, it was an accident.

ELLA                          ACCIDENT.

JILL                            I didn’t mean to…

Ella is rubbing her head and runs her fingers through the strands of hair that held the clip.

Can we still use it for the castle?

Ella nods vaguely.

                                   Thanks. I think it will look really good.

Jill sticks the clip at the top of one the sand castle towers.

                                   There, see? Pretty.

ELLA                          SEE THERE PRETTY.

Pause. Jill gives Ella an appraising look.

JILL                            Hey, Ella?

ELLA                          ELLA.

JILL                            Hey, are you real?

ELLA                          ELLA.

JILL                            But are you real?

ELLA                          REAL. ELLA.

JILL                            Because you don’t act like it. You act like—

ELLA                          REAL LIKE.

JILL                            No, you act like, like a doll or something.

ELLA                          DOLL.

JILL                            So is that what you are? Not real?

ELLA                          ELLA NOT REAL.

JILL                            But how can you be my friend then if you’re not real?

ELLA                          ELLA.

Long pause.

JILL                            Ella, let’s play something different. OK?

ELLA                          OK.

JILL                            A different game.

ELLA                          DIFFERENT.

JILL                            Lie down.

Ella looks confused.

                                   You know, on your back. Lie down.

ELLA                          BACK.

JILL                            Yeah.

Jill helps Ella to lie back on the sand.

                                   Good. Now open your mouth.

ELLA                          MOUTH.

JILL                            Wide. Like this. Awwwww

Jill demonstrates, opening her mouth wide like she was at the dentist. Ella copies her.

                                   And hold it open. Keep holding it open.

ELLA                          AWWWWWWW

JILL                            Now I’m just gonna pour some sand in your mouth.

ELLA                          AWWWWWWW

Using a toy shovel, Jill scoops a small amount of sand from the box, and neatly pours it into Ella’s open mouth. Instantly Ella begins to cough and sputter and spit the sand out.

ELLA                          SAND. SAND.

JILL                     ��      Don’t spit the sand out, Ella. Don’t spit out the sand. That’s not part of the game—

ELLA                          ELLA SAND.

JILL                            No, Ella. I said no. Stop it—

ELLA                          ELLA.

Jill quickly scoops up more sand and pours it into Ella’s mouth. Then more. Then more. Far from gentle now. Ella coughs and sputters and sand goes everywhere. Then it becomes too much and she starts to choke. Jill keeps going, pouring more and more sand into Ella’s mouth. Ella’s hands go to her throat to indicate that she is choking. Finally Ella makes a last croaking sound and she goes still. Jill has gotten so into this that she is sitting astride Ella’s chest, staring down at her. Beyond fascination.

Pause.

JILL                            Ella?

No response, of course.

                                   Ella, I just want to say, if you died, it’s OK. Because you weren’t real. It means it didn’t even hurt you. See, I can pinch you and it doesn’t matter.

Jill pinches Ella’s forearm. No reaction, obviously.

Pause.

                                   I’ll finish the moat too. Don’t worry.

Jill resumes playing in the sand, just as eager as before, digging around the body.

Ella stares blankly, dead-eyed, at nothing.