#and goddamn nobody agrees on what you should be doing

[exopelagic]

I’m kinda glad I spent so much time looking at crop science this term bc turns out it’s unbearable and I couldn’t actually do this like I was considering. Progress!!

[wonder-worker]

"[Elizabeth Woodville] was the only member of [Crown Prince Edward of Westminster's] original 1471 council not already on the king’s council and her name headed the list of those appointed as administrators in Wales during Edward’s minority. [She remained on the council after it was expanded in 1473 and granted significant new governing and judicial powers]."

"In 1478 Prince Richard [of Shrewsbury] married the Mowbray heiress. Like his elder brother he had a chancellor, seal, household and council to manage his estates. His council, like that of Prince Edward, comprised the queen [Elizabeth Woodville] and a group of magnates and bishops, few of whom were Woodville supporters [...] It was Elizabeth who mattered, for Richard resided with her and Rivers treated his affairs as their own."

-J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 / Michael Hicks, Richard III and his Rivals: Magnates and their Motives in the Wars of the Roses

[tousey-mousy]

I put too much in the tags.......

Read options carefully:

I do not like queer for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the queer community I feel they are referring to me and I am uncomfortable with it :'(

I do not like queer for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the queer community I feel they are referring to me and I am fine with it

I do not like queer for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the queer community I feel they are not referring to me. I am fine with that

I do not like queer for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the queer community I feel they are not referring to me. I feel excluded :'(

I do not like LGBT(and extensions) for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the LGBT+ community I feel they are referring to me and I am uncomfortable with it :'(

I do not like LGBT(and extensions) for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the LGBT+ community I feel they are referring to me and I am fine with it

I do not like LGBT(and extensions) for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the LGBT+ community I feel they are not referring to me. I am fine with that

I do not like LGBT(and extensions) for myself / I don't identify with it. When people refer to the LGBT+ community I feel they are not referring to me. I feel excluded :'(

I am comfortable with both queer and the various initialisms

Something else - talk about it in comments and tags!

[matchadobo]

hi lovie, hope ur doing well! i wanted to request some hurt to comfort with kid. jealousy trope maybe? really just let ur creative juices flow. all i ask for is angstttttt cuz i just can't get enough of it. thank u babes <3

KIDD; catching feelings for his fvckbuddy

wc: 3882

warning/s: semi-nsfw 🔞, p in v is heavily mentioned but no occurrence of the actual thing, fem reader, hurt to comfort, kidd being an emotionally constipated asshat

note: inspired by the famous scene of fellow travelers, i have no knowledge of the show i just saw it on IG and got an idea for this request c: click for the -> scene

"i should probably go." you mumbled to kidd, tearing your bare frame away from his embrace. you sat at the edge of the bed to hurriedly gather your clothes and slide them back on your body.

kidd sat up, the satin comforter falling off his chiseled torso down to his lower half. "it's the middle of the goddamn night, nobody will fuckin' know." he rustled his hair, irritated at your inclination to always rush out of his quarters.

"all the more reason to leave, right?" you smiled a little. "good night, captain." you gave your garments one final pat down before waving goodbye at him and shutting the door.

the quiet sound of the waves and the subtle rocking of the ship mirrored the mundane void you left in your wake. but you two agreed to have it that way, no feelings attached. act as usual as you two could be. even after spending the night skin to skin against each other while sharing empty kisses and hickeys.

having the same needs and desire for each other, it began on a night where liquor loosened both of your restraints and the pooling warmth and lust it brought was enough for kidd to bring you to his quarters. until it became a regular thing. one look from across the hall, between the members that composed of the kidd pirates, you two would easily excuse yourself to a covert corridor so you could sneak in a quickie.

even with the presence of clothes, the scorching heat of the sun, the dampness of the rain, and the possibility of crew members catching you two; it never mattered to the both of you so long as you two satiated each other.

kidd would shamelessly pull you away just so he could feel your warmth around his length, shoving and fucking you deep by the walls of his ship. consequently, you would instigate a quickie by sitting close to him, rubbing thighs and touching knees. sometimes discreetly sitting on his lap for a moment while flashing him your undies or cleavage as you move closer.

it went on for a while. when a few weeks passed, the crew already knew that you two were kicking it off. you two could be heard during the night and they mostly see you exiting his quarters in the middle of the night and waking up some of the ladies at the dorms when you sneak back in late. but they had all agreed to act oblivous, out of fear and respect for the both of you.

moreover, you and kidd vehemently agreed to keep it a secret. the first time you two did it, you two kind of freaked out. wondering how the crew would take it and the image of reputation of kidd and you.

but you were mostly the first one to always leave. on your end, you weren't embarrased or anything. you just respect kidd so much, you'd rather not get caught whoring for him. you also don't want to catch feelings that could ruin whatever's going on with the two of you. you admire him that much.

even though you already did catch feelings, you just don't realize it. caring too much about what he thinks is already enough. that's why you always left, to flush it all down. because kidd would never catch feelings, right? he just wants sex with you that's it.

little did you know, your aversion started to bother kidd after some time. it never occurred to you because he was never really in touch with his emotions with you. he just fucked you and that's it. and it's all it ever meant to you, he always thought to himself. sure there's admiration and respect, but that's given enough that you're under his charge.

but it did made him quite worried when it happens frequently. kidd wasn't one to overthink, nor be self-conscious. but when you always hurriedly leave like that, acting like he kicked you out or something, he starts to think if you didn't enjoy it. even though he has a clear image of you reaching your climax a few minutes ago.

it started with that. then it extended into his concern as he gradually started caring what you think for some reason. it usually started during sex; whether you enjoyed the act or if you slept nicely. then it extended to the little things on the daily; if he made you laugh, where you usually are, if you're eating well, has he done something harsh, and whatnot. it makes him wonder why you leave so fast so often, if he was doing a perfect job of satisfying you.

kidd was interested in you. you were one a of a kind. someone so rare that he was lucky enough to stumble upon. a gem that piqued his interest. it's one of the main reasons why he instigated on having a fuck buddy relationship.

he liked how you measure up to him despite your size difference, how brave you look in the battlefield, he adored how you smiled along with how your eyes shine, how he loves hearing you laugh, how you fit in his arms after the deed, how he never ran out of things to talk with you, how you listen to him ramble as he either brags about his achievements or his nerdy obssession with tinkering.

he truly noticed how beautiful you are when he's in you, when he takes in the full glory of you as you were bare under him. when he thinks about these stuff; it's making him daydream and spiral deeper into you. he hated it.

he hated how it made him think how much of a fool he was. it was just about the sex. that's why you leave immediately, he deduced. he thought that maybe, you were scared or ashamed of what you two are having.

so what's the fucking point of continuing if he started catching feelings? the past kidd wouldn't care about shit like this. and it irritated him how much he cares about it now.

that's why the next day, when you tried to insinuate a quickie, he brushed you off. and he never brushes you off. so you knew something was up.

"woke up on the wrong side of the bed, captain? the hell?" you snarked when he tsked as you sat close to him and rubbed your chest on his arm. he'd usually put an arm around you discreetly but this time, he just rolled his eyes.

"i'm tired." he growled, scooting away from you a little to reach a can of beer by the table.

"hmm, need a massage? we can do a quick one, crew seems busy." you said in an inviting tone, shifting closer as you rubbed on his arm.

"just...fuckin' do whatever you need to. quit bein' all over me for a bit, alright?" he asked in an exasperated tone, standing up and stomping towards his quarters. not even sparing you a glance.

that was your last conversation for the day and you didn't come to his quarters that night. you decided to let him be, you thought that maybe he's conflicted with something and decided to leave him alone.

until days passed and he was still acting different. he wasn't looking your way anymore. he sat at the other end of the table during meals, neither near or facing you. you don't catch him looking behind to check on you. although he still talks to you, he became cold. he answers short sentences and dismisses it. he always ignored and brushed off your advances. and it was starting to hurt.

so during the night, you visited him on his quarters.

"i didn't say anyone could come in-" he was angry while responding until he caught sight of you.

"did i do something wrong, kidd? it's been several days and... you've been distant." you rubbed your shoulders in apprehension, desperately finding meaning in his eyes curtained by scrunched up brows.

"you're fine. it's late, you should get some rest." he dismissed immediately, turning his back on you.

"what about you? are you stressed? you're doing okay lately?" you inquired, walking closer in hopes of instilling something cordial.

"quit worryin' about me." he snarked, back still turned on you.

you sighed. and tried one more time. you sat at the edge of the bed next to him. he exhaled heavily feeling the mattress sink at your presence.

"kidd, talk to me." you expected, looking up at him. growing anxious at his decline.

"just go, name. i'm tired and i need some damn rest. why are you even so persistent about something so fuckin' trivial? why does it concern you, huh? do you want to fuck so bad? fine! get fuckin' naked, jesus christ." he stood up on his feet as his voice gradually increased volume.

that's when your vision narrowed, your cheeks burned, and your eyes stung. "n-no, sorry. i-i'm gonna go." you swallowed, leaving his room at once.

"that's all you ever do, you just fuckin' go, aye? can i blame you, though? feelings aren't supposed to come into question. we're just fuckin', damn it." kidd silently told himself, sitting back down as he ran fingers through his hair. "i just really have to start catching feelings, huh? what a goddamn idiot." he plopped himself to the bed, spreading into a starfish position as he closed his eyes.

so you ran away from his room, away from the victoria. you sat by the port far from where the ship was docked, where you were met with seagulls playing by the sea. you needed a new breather.

but kidd was at war with his head. he surprisingly felt bad. and he was itchy in his position; he wanted to move, to stand up and run after you and tell you how he feels. but with his hulking pride? it won't be so easy.

more days passed after your encounter and you two were distant with each other. killer and the others noticed it but didn't bother prying. they know they're on thin ice if they so much as ask about your situation with kidd.

what would pull kidd's head out of his ass was when he saw you out the pub, getting overly friendly with other men. in your defense, you were sitting by the sofa alone and they came to join you.

he, killer, heat, and wire were sitting by the barstools a few tables ahead of you. kidd was constantly looking over his shoulder and saw you enjoying yourself. the sight of you with other men rubbed him the wrong way. it prompted him to drink more than he usually does.

"hey boss, you okay? you seem... paranoid?" wire started, looking around to see what was wrong.

"shut up." kidd replied in a heartbeat, chugging his rum as he tore his eyes off the freak show that is you with other men.

but you don't catch kidd's eyes so you didn't realize something was wrong with him. why would it even bother him anyway?

until kidd got super drunk after stuffing himself with rum and roasted meat. he heard the men laughing a little too loud along with yours. he couldn't take it anymore.

and all in a blink of an eye, a fight broke out in the pub.

kidd started it with the man who sat next to you, rubbing a little too close and too often at you. he grabbed his collar and punched him flat on the ground. the other men tried retaliating but killer, heat, and wire were already taking care of them. they had no choice, their captain started it.

you sat there in absolute shock with a hand over your mouth which soon traveled onto pinching your temples.

"hey! guys, fucking stop it! will you please fucking leave it?! the pub owner already called the stationed marines!" you physically got in between all of them, tearing away your crew mates from the knocked out men. poor men who got innocently involved in your captain's fury.

"leave it, kidd! for fuck's sake, just listen to me for fucking once!" you tugged on kidd's arm, which was threatening to land a feral punch on the knocked out bloody man lying on the ground.

he let go and let you drag him out the pub. you all ran in a secluded alley, somewhere far from the pub.

"what the fuck was that?! can someone tell me what the fuck happened?! were the guys jeering at y'all or some shit?!"

"we just backed up, boss." heat shrugged, wiping off blood from his busted lip. so your gaze landed on kidd, who got off with bloody knuckles and a bruise on the cheek.

"they were all over you, you think nothing's wrong with that?!" he pointed over to the pub, adamant on his cause.

"am i not allowed to socialize with other people now?! they were accompanying me because i sat alone! i sat fucking alone! they were not all over me. as a matter of fact, they helped changed my mood. is it so wrong to have fun with them?!"

"and you couldn't even be bothered if they were takin' advantage of you? tryna bed you or some fuckin' shit." kidd crossed his arms, avoiding your gaze.

"and what if i do agree, huh? what if i want to sleep with them? how is that any of your fucking problem? when you won't even bother looking my damn way these past few days. does it concern you who i fucking sleep with?" you shouted with blood rushing to your face, your heart was beating so fast and your head was pounding. your eyes were stinging with the precarious tears coming your way.

"yes! it fuckin' does, name!" he answered almost immediately, his eyes teary and bloodshot.

"because i wanna be with you! i want to sleep in the same bed all night with you! not see you kick yourself out each night we do it just because you don't want them seeing you leave my quarters. like it fuckin' matters! i'm the captain of my own damn ship! who the hell cares if you leave my quarters by morning, aye?!" he wiped off the falling tears and sniffed as his nose got stuffy. "i want us to go on goddamn dates, take you out to eat on fucking restaurants, buy you shit you like. i want to know what goes on in your mind. if you feel the same way or i'm just fuckin' kiddin' myself." he laughed bitterly. "i want to spend more time with you, get to know you other than the times you got naked in front of me."

right there, killer and the others almost lost air. wire even coughed up a little blood stuck on his throat. they all excused themselves silently and left you two be.

"but who am i kiddin'? we're in this shit for the fuck, aye? sure enough, why the hell would you settle for a brute like me?! a foul, vicious, selfish, and prideful jerk like me? i sure as fuckin' hell wouldn't." he sat by the asphalt in defeat, running his hand through his locks. ashamed of himself really. confessing shit like that even though he thought you'd fold first. he thinks of himself as a joke.

but you, you were stunned. you didn't even know you were crying. all you could do was kneel before him and pull him in a hug.

kidd's eyes widened and he stiffened up. you really smelled nice, you felt warm. it was all that ran through his head. his embarrassment from his confession was now long gone. you somehow corrupted his thoughts yet again.

"for the record, i had the biggest crush on you." you said to him and he pulled away so he could see your face if you're screwing with him. "really. one of the reasons, if not all, why i joined."

kidd immediately flushed red. he looked away to avoid your gaze.

"this all happened because your dumbass couldn't talk about your feelings." you gave him a flick on the forehead. "so, what if we have that 'date' you wanna have and sort this all out?" you placed your hand on his jaw, fingers spreading across the sides of his cheeks to cup his face. "it's not fair that you're the only one who gets to confess."

"you can stop being cheeky now, it's annoying."

"hm? but your red cheeks says otherwise."

you soon took him back to the ship, you told him to wait by his quarters since you'll fetch the ice pack. when you came back the room was empty, you looked around only to see his bathroom door ajar with a little amount of steam escaping.

you tsked to yourself, sighing as you waited on the edge of the bed. when he finally emerged from the bathroom, you were ready to berate him. only to see him fully naked, without so much as a towel hanging around his hips.

"w-why the fuck are you-"

"hm? ain't the first time you see me naked. why bother coverin' up?" he crossed his arms, smirking. he clearly knows what he's doing. now he's all haughty. has he cleared his head in the bath? or did the evident blush on your cheeks rubbed his ego?

"i told you to wait here and i'll get you an ice pack, you look like a fucked up fruit." you placed your hands on your hips, fighting the urge to look down.

yet all he did was march closer to you but you kept your front steady, maintaing eye contact. and he was quiet and smug. he fetched a towel on the way to wrap around his hips and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"honestly, when will you listen?" you sighed placing the clothed ice pack up to his cheek. he placed his hand over yours, goosebumps spreading across your skin with his touch.

"i got it." he said sparing you a cheeky glance, you yanked your hand away in return.

"why'd you take a bath? you wanna rile me up, huh? by not listening to me?" you crossed your arms.

"i just felt fuckin' dirty and i'm all bloody, do you give a fuck now if i shower or not?"

this is pretty much how your normal conversation goes. you snark at him, kidd snarks back even harsher. that's why talking seriously wasn't in your bucketlist with him. he has an insufferable temper and you don't plan on submitting to his anger. really now, one of the things you have in common is being stubborn.

"it's just that... we're going out later in the day and... i don't want to go around smelling like absolute dogshit when i'm around you."

"ah you don't, huh?" you took in his flustered state, scowling face with red ears and pressed lips. avoiding your gaze firmly. "well, i guess i'd better get ready myself. gotta doll myself up too. keep that ice pack on your cheek, okay? don't make me tape that shit."

you saw yourself out, fighting your smile as you exited the door. kidd lied down flat on his bed, clutching his chest as he bathed in the foreign feeling of love beating in his chest. while you ran towards the ladies' dorm in full speed just to scream in your pillow in excitement.

the night went on with you two enjoying yourself at a diner. telling each other how crazy you felt for each other. it later turned into stupid things like how he broke the spoon or how you keep on downing a glass of wine (it's cuz you were nervous).

you and kidd decided to spend the night in a motel, to have the time and space to yourselves. because you two are going to be making your way to your room kissing like rabbits in heat.

kidd would have you in his hands, carrying you by your bum while you wrap your arms around his neck for support while you tug on his locks. he would slam you against the door while you turn the knob open.

once inside, he'd be keen on taking your clothes off first. discarding them on the floor while you get busy on taking off his goggles, fur coat, and shirt. but there was no hurry, he walked slowly you could take your time.

kidd would sit by the edge of the bed while his lips were still connected to you, sucking aggressively as if it's his last. his hand grabbing your bum and kneading it with much fervor. his lipstick stains would mark your cheeks and neck, an obvious obssession with those parts of you.

surprisingly enough, you two spent the past hours entangled in each other's limbs. you were lying down on his torso while he had his arm secured around you, pinching your skin playfully or just tracing circles across the surface. his mechanical arm already discarded. both of your clothes scattered across the wooden floors. it was just your bare body against his.

there was something different about the way he kisses you now, his lips lingered more rather than the usual hungry kisses that pried your mouth open. his touch was gentle as opposed to the usually firmly vulgar grip he has on you just so he could force his length in you and fuck you stupid. his moans in your lips were heard and warm, as if he wasn't trying to usually stifle it.

he tuck strands of hair behind your ear while he returns your kisses, his hand soon settled on the back of your head protectively. your one hand was combing deep through his voluminous, red locks while the other cups his face. it was such a foreign sight, where you two weren't in a hurry. not too impatient in taking your clothes off, reaching your climax, or leaving first thing after fucking. it was like the restraints were off, the weight you two were bearing was now off your shoulders, and all the time in the world stopped for both of you.

"now, how does that feel?" kidd broke out, pulling away from your kisses but his voice was raspy and low. almost a whisper. "how does it feel to not rush and take your time? good, aye?" he nuzzled his nose on your neck, flesh hand angling your head upward from his grip on the juncture of your nape and head.

"since when did you care about that? being romantic and all." you giggled a little as his breath came into contact with your skin.

"since you started becomin' the bane of my existence." he pressed wet kisses on your jaw upto your cheek, and now he's finally eye to eye with you.

"oh shut up, you love me."

"aye, unfortunately."

AAAAAA 🥹

thank you so much for the request anon! i hope this somehow aligned with your expectations :DDD this request was so perfect for this trope 🥰 it was fate that the reel came across my feed LMAOAAHSJHSHSHS

i did a different approach to this, i made kidd be the one to say the line when i initially thought it should be reader. i just love the flavor of him being totally crazy with reader he'd wax poetic a confession 🫶🥺 love this tsuntsun so much 🤣

[futurewriter2000]

My astrology observations:

Every person with Aquarius placement in their big three pisses me off for poofing away when they're sad. LET ME TAKE CARE OF YOU!

Gemini placements talk a lot but nobody knows about what. They are also so funny

Capricorns stare into my soul... They also move SO slow

Leos need a compliment, either from people or themselves.

Sagittarius just don't give a fuck.

Leo women are always late.

Aries rather moves on than fights for you.

Gemini placements can't stand still. LIKE JUST STOP FOR 5 MINUTES! Goddamn, they can be walking from their room to the bathroom 15 times to do what they could have done in one trip.

Scorpios.... There's something about Scorpios that just wants me to make out with them. So hot... And sexy... Plus the eye contact they give...

Aquarius and Pisces are real toxic together. I had witnessed too much of that.

Every Pisces man I met is a coward and a real dick.

Leos could have one friend and still be the bussiest of the Zodiac signs

Scorpios and just being attracted to them

Fire moons usually "overexaggerate" and talk too much during sports games.

Every Virgo I know has stomach issues. They feel through their stomach. They are also one of the most ambitious zodiac signs I know.

Leos are actually quite sentimental. Yes, they want all expensive but bring them a flower and they will put it in their special box of all most important things. Their attitude may be eh but their heart is gold and soft af.

Libra Venus start to become the person they like and they always like somebody so they always change their personalities.

Sagittarius Sun or Risings (not all but most) are usually tall with a dirty blonde and green eyes complex... and nice hips... and ass...

Taurus are so pissed at you and then they will just love you forever and ever and ever and you are their baby.

Pisces? Are you here or did you float away into another galaxy again?

Libra Sun and Risings want to be presented as ✨perfect✨ in society.

I’m afraid of cancers because they are so nice and sweet and all the most wonderful things but I know they can be evil and mean too so I have trust issues with them.

Aquarius are so unbothered and bothered at the same time… like how do you function?

Aquarius Moons are my favourite because they are so fun and so playful and they THINK SO FCKING MUCH.

Virgos are the most stressed out of the zodiac signs because everything has to go their way and when it doesn't they die a bit inside.

Aries moon are explosive af. Like shhhh, use your quiet voice.

Sagittarious moons are so funny to me because they are actually so self-observed but it's the cute kind, you know. I just want to be with them all the time and give them an ego boost because they are so sweet.

Capricorns will never, ever, EVER tell you their next move. They keep their plans to themselves. They keep themselves to themselves. They are here and they are gone.

Gemini placements... cannot relie on them (I have a lot of Gemini placements and I agree. I am unreliable because I think I can manage everything but then I realise I can't and have to cancel 5 plans).

Scorpios are so sharp and hardworking. Nobody realises that but Scorpios will do things AS IT SHOULD BE DONE and they will run you over if they have to. Nothing comes between them and their success.

When leos are comfortable around you, they will never shut up.

Taurus are evil af. They're cute and cuddly on the outside but they have one of the meanest characters. You gotta love them though.

Pisces will not study for an exam but will go in depth to knowing one random thing.

Cancers CAN DRINK! THEY CAN DRINK LIKE NO OTHER! Like damn... how is your liver? They are also a social butterfly and busy all the time. I don't know who said they are emotional and senstitive- they can be such a bad ass.

Sagittarious people are one of the luckiest signs but one thing goes wrong in their life and they will cry for three months about it.

Capricorn women have that alpha female power. I don't care what you say, they will go from the bottom to the top with a snap of fingers and they will be the biggest boss in town.

Virgos are the only of the zodiac signs that will see the gratest potential in you or anything really and they will force you to thrive towards that but if you don't believe in it, they will stop trying.

Scoripios and Leos are the realest friends because they will tell you everything in your face and protect you behind you back. Unless, you did them wrong... then they will tell shit about your back. They're petty that way, so choose wisely.

Taurus live a simple life. They don't complicate their lives too much.

Pisces throw great parties. They are also good cuddlers.

(That's it for now. It has been in my drafts for about two years but like if you want more or not.)

[radiance1]

So, I have thought about something funny regarding my lil phoenix king Vlad au.

Is that he genuinely, just doesn't want to king.

He did at first, but after being the king of phoenixes for a prolonged time he, well. He hates it to be frank. They're stuck in their old way, old ways that make quite hard for Vlad to do frankly anything really, and they keep snubbing him for doing human things when he's something as glorious as a phoenix.

And they kept inviting themselves in unannounced at the most terrible of times to take with him, which has left Vlad a lacking of sleeping as well.

So Vlad uh, well.

He ran.

He just decided that he deserved a break from all of this, so he shrunk down to bird size (still relatively large for a bird), carefully contained his magical aura and then flew to what he was sure would be a great idea.

Daniel Fenton.

The boy himself did not seem all that amused by his appearance, amused at his reasoning but not all that when he was asked to hide him for an undetermined amount of time.

Dan? Currently still getting his feet under him after being turned into a Raiju (And nobody decided to inform him that the clone he was going to liquidize was the current vessel of a world destroying fusion of him and Daniel until he found out himself).

Danielle? Currently somewhere out in the goddamn sea and, well. Fire elemental, water elemental, mass amounts of water?

You can already see how that would go down.

And what about that man he caught Vlad in bed with a few months ago? They already knew about him, and he's currently indisposed at the moment with some magical shenanigan or scamming someone probably.

Point is, Danny has to hide Vlad from the phoenix council and their very terrible way of doing things and since Danny was a dragon, he would be the last those dull feathers would check.

Luckily, Danny agreed. So long as he didn't blow his cover as a non-human to the new family he found himself with.

The Wayne family.

Yea, they were a bunch of rich guys and maybe emotionally constipated but Danny likes what he's got going on here. They don't have any secret basements or labs, helpful to Gotham city itself and they're just totally normal people!

Emotional constipation notwithstanding.

Vlad agrees, he scratches Danny's back and Danny scratched his.

Vlad kept to Danny's room for the first few days, and would've kept to said room until he was forced out by Damian Wayne, who quite frankly scared him. The creepy boy was literally watching him sleep and he suddenly decided that Daniel's room isn't all that safe anymore.

The Wayne Mansion is big, so there should be at least one place Vlad could hide.

[ponyosmom35]

you don't like me, I don't like you

Simon Ghost Riley x reader

Liability series chapter two!

Synopsis: Reader is new, she's a medic whom is strictly on base. She is not enlisted in the military. She's there due to her older sisters training for Taskforce 141, her sister made a deal with Laswell, the pair were a packaged deal. Ghost hasn't been taking her arrival well as he feels like she's a waste of space. He is not afraid to let her know for the second time since they've met.

warnings: enemies to lovers, cursing, ghost is scary, reader is stubborn

Link to full Liability series:

https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/733401347573088256/simon-ghost-riley?source=share

After finally finishing the last part of the report Ghost sighs and closes his computer. It was nearly 3 am and he was exhausted. He stands up, stretching his sore limbs slightly, and walks to his door, he shuts the light off and closes it behind him, locking it. In the distance, he could hear banging. He frowns knowing that it was lights out, so nobody should be awake. He notices the light coming from the training center and walks in angrily. He notices the new medic. Younger sister of Sergeant Emma James, one of the finest in the training program. Price had her transferred to his base so he could keep an eye on her, testing to see if she’d be a good fit for 141. He was unsure why Laswell had requested her medic sister be transferred as well. The girl had been nothing but a pain in his ass from the moment she arrived. She didn’t belong there, what use was a medic if she was strictly on base, no military experience.  He scoffs as he notices her incorrect form as she punches the bag over and over, her stance was off and her hands weren’t even taped correctly. He stomps over to her and turns off the music she had playing in the background. She whips around and glares at him angrily. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” she demands, snatching the speaker from him

“You shouldn’t be out here, its light out”

“I don’t care” 

“Go back to your room, no one is allowed out here”

“Then why are you here?” she questions, staring at him with raised eyebrows 

“The rules don’t apply to me”

“So you’re above it all now?” she asks sarcastically 

“I’m the Lieutenant” he deadpans 

“I don’t really care to be honest” 

“Listen, I don't think you understand. You don't belong here. You're not a solider. You are a medic. So, get back to your rom and stay there. Otherwise, I'm going to have to report you to Captain Price for insubordination. Do I make myself clear?” Ghost warns, his tone incredibly threatening. It takes everything in her not to show her fear.  

“I’m not enlisted in the military”

“Listen, you may work for Laswell, but you're still on a military base, and that makes you subject to military law. Go to your room, or I will order the guards to take you there myself. Understood?”

“what guards Luitentant? looks like it’s just you and me here” she says gesturing to the empty room.

“Don't test me, medic. Just go back to your room, and don't come out until morning. Is that a clear enough order for you?”

“like I said, I don't take orders from you Ghost” she sneers 

“You're making a mistake. Let me spell it out for you, Either you agree to do what I say and when I say it, or I'll call Laswell and have her pull you out of this task force and send you back to the states. Is that clear?”

“First you bitch about my lack of training, now you're bitching at me to go to bed! make up your goddamn mind!”

“So that's your attitude then? Fine, I'll call Laswell right now and explain the situation. There’s an endless amount of army medics who do us good in the field. You’re easy to replace”

“fuck you” she says as she tries to push past him, making sure to hit him with her shoulder

“Listen!” he snaps, grabbing her arm and pull her back towards him, his tone growing more serious as his expression darkens.

“ I've been trying to be patient with you, but that time is over. Now listen up, because I'm going to say this once. You are here because you're part of a team and you're expected to behave like it. And that means doing what I say, no questions asked. Do you understand?”

“If I say yes will you finally shut the fuck up?”

“I wasn't finished speaking, and you will show a little more respect to me and this unit. Now, I asked you a question. Do you understand?”

“yes! I heard you perfectly clear” she responds as she turns her back on him and walks towards the sleeping quarters. 

“Fucking hell” 

-

The next morning Ghost had asked Soap to bring her to his office the next morning. He could not have her behave that way around the others. Disrespect was not permitted here. Someone needed to teach her. It dones’t take long for a knock to appear at his door. 

“Come in” he yells gruffly 

Soap opens the door for her and pats her on the shoulder gently. He sends Ghost a look before shutting it behind him. Ghost motions for her to enter and sit down at the chair across from his desk. “Now that you’ve slept on it, what have you got to say for yourself? I hope you've got a real good excuse for that behavior last night”

“what do you want me to say? want me to tell you I'm on my period or that I'm just that naturally charming?” she says sarcastically, her arms crossed as she sits down. 

“What I want to know is why you thought it was okay to go against direct orders from a superior officer”

“I see that we're going in circles here, so why don't we just cut the shit. you don't like me, I don't like you. For whatever reason you've been out to get me since I got here. Look man I'm just trying to do my job, so if you want me to stop 'defying orders'”  she quotes him sarcastically “then you should just let me do what I came here to”

“You don't get it, do you? It has nothing to do with me not liking you or some personal vendetta that you think I have against you. The fact of the matter is, you're not qualified to be a part of this operation. You don't have the training, skills, or experience to handle yourself in a dangerous situation. What you're doing is putting yourself and other members of the task force at risk, and I'm not going to tolerate it.”

“my position has nothing to do with the field, I'm strictly on base!” she exclaims 

“That is not the point. You're still on duty, and you're still responsible for the safety and well-being of the task force. You're a liability, not a help, when it comes down to it. If we need an immediate evac and the other actual medics are already in the field then what? we send you in because you're all we got. The last thing I need right now is to worry about keeping you safe instead of focusing on the mission. So, do you understand why you're nothing but a burden to me on this task force?”

“I've been called many things in my life, but never a burden. that's a new one thanks Ghost you truly never fail to surprise me! But you aren't gonna bully me out of here. Laswell wanted me here and I'm gonna do my job” she says standing “Also for future reference, the medic that could be saving your life one day really isn't the person to piss off”

“Oh trust me, I'm well aware” his skull-covered face inching closer as he leaned forward, his dark eyes boring into hers. She stands tall and refuses to let him see how truly nervous he made her. ”But while we're giving life advice, let me give you some. If I were you, I would be very careful about who you choose to piss off. Because if I have to deal with your bullshit again, I'll make sure you regret it. Is that clear?”

She salutes him sarcastically and walks out the door. Ghost rolls his eyes and sighs in frustration. 

“Bloody hell” he murmurs before going back to his paperwork. 

chapter 3: https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/733828281298780160/show-him?source=share

[mackenzielovee]

protection (10) — ari levinson

summary: Ari and your father have been business partners for ages, and it seems that he doesn't care for you. This doesn't stop you from trying; scheming to make the older man fall for you the same way the rest of your father's men have, too.

pairing: dbf!ari x reader

warnings: swearing, use of guns, violence, verbal argument, smut (rough sex, unprotected sex, dirty talk, pussy slapping, degrading language, pussyjob, daddy kink, breeding kink, orgasm denial)

wc: 6k

masterlist | navigation | series masterlist

     You awaken at the same moment Ari does; both of you drawing in quick, shallow breaths at the sound of the alarm blaring. It’s loud — much louder than any alarm system you’ve ever heard in your life. 

You’d been peacefully sleeping in Ari’s arms, tucked against his warm chest, and dreaming of exactly that. Now, you clutch the sheets close to you as Ari scrambles from the bed, pulling sweatpants over his naked body and grabbing his gun from the nightstand at the same time. 

“Stay here,” he demands of you, rushing toward the door. 

“No,” you say from the bed. 

His head snaps back over to you, watching as you move to get up. He clenches his jaw and walks back over, then grabs your arm. 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he mutters, “Stay here, and lock the door behind me.”

“No,” you repeat. 

He raises a brow, silently daring you to defy him again. 

“Y/N,” he breathes, his voice so low it sends a shiver down your spine, “Lock the goddamn door behind me.”

You swallow, and he takes your silence for resignation. He releases you and steps to the door again, so you grab his tee shirt and toss it over your head before hurrying after him. 

“Ari, wait,” you hiss, grabbing his forearm, “I don’t want you going out there alone.”

His eyes soften, “Baby, I’ll be fine. Stay here. Do not open this door for anyone but me, okay?”

“Ari—”

“Please, don’t argue. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

He doesn’t give you time to form a rebuttal. He merely kisses you quickly, then slips out the bedroom door. He bangs on it twice from the outside to remind you to lock it, which you do. Then, you hurry over and look out the window, finding nothing but the emergency yard lights flashing.

The alarm stops then, leaving an eerie silence to the house. Unable to handle it, you step over to the door and unlock it, then listen for any type of footsteps. When you hear none, you open it and slide out, then move to the top of the stairs. 

“Nick?” Ari yells across the house. 

“Clear,” Nick replies, “Mateo?”

“Clear,” Mateo says, “Javier?”

“Clear,” Javier yells out, “There’s nobody here.”

“What the fuck set the alarm off, then?” Ari snaps.

It sounds to you like the men have gathered in the kitchen, and you have every intention of listening in on them. 

“How the fuck should I know?” Javier replies, “It’s your fucking alarm system.”

“You know, I’m hearing a lot of bullshit come out of your mouth under my goddamn roof—”

“Enough,” Nick groans, “Obviously something set the alarm off.”

“Agreed. I can review the outside cameras, boss,” Mateo steps in. 

“Do that,” Ari demands, “Nick, get some extra guys here and have them do a sweep of the property. I want all exit points in the house secured and sealed. Javier, you can fuck right off to bed. You’re not needed.”

“You sure you don’t want me to keep her company while you boss everyone around?” Javier mutters. 

Silence falls over the house for a second, and you start to wonder if Ari has caught you somehow. You glance back toward his bedroom and consider hurrying in before you hear a crash downstairs, making you jump. 

“I swear to God, as soon as she decides you’re no longer worth the trouble, I’m gonna put a fucking bullet in your brain. After I tear off every finger of yours that ever touched her. You wanna be smart with me? You can be smart from six feet under.”

You hear Javier gasping for breath, and while part of you screams to go downstairs and stop it, another part of you squirms at Ari’s words. How you can imagine his angry face, his bulging muscles, and his dire need to protect you in every way. 

“Alright, Ari, you’ve made your point,” Nick sighs, and you listen as he removes Ari from Javier, given Javier’s dramatic gasp in, “We get it, you love your girlfriend, or whatever the fuck she is. Anyway, we have shit to do. Mateo, Javier, go.”

You listen as the two men excuse themselves from the kitchen, leaving only Nick and Ari in the room. You scoot closer to the steps, sliding across the hardwood on your knees. 

“Guy’s a fucking prick,” Ari mutters. 

“I know,” Nick says, “So, you think it was Christopher?”

Your stomach drops at the mention of your father, and you’ve never been more desperate to hear Ari’s response. 

“Of course it was fucking Christopher. He wants her back.”

Nick sighs, “Relax, man. Obviously we’re not going to let that happen.”

“No, we’re not. I could just fucking take him out. That would solve ninety percent of my problems.”

“She’d probably be pissed,” Nick argues. 

You swallow, unsure of how you would actually feel. On one hand, he’s your father. Yours first protector, and the man you trusted more than anyone before Ari. Now, with everything he’s done, of course you don’t want him dead, but you’re not so sure you’d mourn him the same way you would have three months ago. 

“Yeah. Fuck. I’ve gotta go back upstairs. Take care of the exit points and I’ll be back down in ten minutes to look at footage with Mateo.”

You scurry back into the bedroom as Nick agrees, then twist the lock. Your adrenaline pumps at the mere idea of him knowing you’d stepped foot outside the bedroom after he told you not to, so you take a few deep breaths to calm yourself. He’ll be able to tell in an instant, you’re sure, but you wonder if you can just pass it off as nerves from whatever set the alarm off. 

Ari’s knock against the door is firm but still gentle somehow, much like him. You exhale in relief knowing he’s right there, just on the other side of the door, ready to comfort you. 

“Baby? It’s me. Open up.”

You hurry over to the door and unlock it, then fling yourself against him before he can even step foot inside his own bedroom. 

“Are you okay?” you ask, knowing full well that he is. 

“Hey, yes, I’m okay, princess,” he coos, stroking his hand through your hair, “Nobody’s here, I promise. We checked every inch of the house and I’ve got guys working downstairs to figure out what tripped the alarm. I’m sure it was just an accident.”

He’s lying to you, but you can’t tell him you know that. You look up at him through your lashes as his hands slip under your shirt and press themselves against your back, pulling you closer to him. 

“An accident?” you clarify. 

He nods without missing a beat, “Yes. Happens sometimes. Look at you, you’re all shaken up.”

Your heart is still racing from the fear of being caught, and the reaction your body has to Ari lying to you only speeds it up once more. You bite down on your tongue, not wanting to start a fight, but making a mental note of this moment. 

“I was worried about you,” you mumble. 

He gives you a soft smile, “C’mere. I’m not going to let anything happen. To either of us. Okay?”

“Okay,” you nod. 

“Okay,” he repeats, “You should get some sleep.”

He pulls you over to his side of the California king and lifts you up, setting you on the edge. Your legs dangle and you feel the soft sheets under you, filling your nose with his scent and weakening your resolve. It’s almost like he knows already — and he’s playing into your biggest weakness. Himself. 

“What about you?”

“I have to go work on the alarm,” he replies, not meeting your eyes, but instead, tucking hair behind your ear, “I’ll come back up to you in a few hours. I promise.”

You just nod as he tucks you under the blankets, then pulls them up to cover you. You feel like a child instead of his — girlfriend? You’d never questioned your title to Ari until Nick pointed it out downstairs, but now, you want to hear him say it. 

“Ari—” you start, but he cuts you off. 

“Shh,” he whispers, then leans down and kisses your forehead, “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”

You just nod. He smiles at you, then pats your stomach through the blankets before he walks out of the bedroom, leaving you wide awake and alone. 

     You wake a few hours later to Ari slipping back into your shared bedroom, giving you a tight and apologetic smile as he sees you stir due to his noise. You watch as he closes the door and then crosses the room to get to you.

“Hey,” you murmur. 

“Hi,” he replies, giving you a kiss on the forehead, “Did you sleep?”

“Yes.”

He nods, then stands up straight again. He gives you an easier smile, not as forced.

“I have to go out for a bit. Mateo and Nick are going with me, but I have five guys I trust downstairs that are staying with you. I’ll introduce you before I go so you feel more comfortable.”

You sit up in bed, leaning against the headboard. Slowly, you nod, although you really want to tell him not to leave you. He slips into his walk in closet, and you watch his back as he picks out a watch. 

“Okay,” you whisper, “Did you and Mateo find anything on the cameras?”

His back muscles tense then. He’s frozen, and you sure it’s because he did find something, and that’s exactly why he’s leaving you. 

“What did you say?”

You furrow your brows, “I asked if you guys found anything on the cameras. That set off the alarm, I mean.”

Slowly, Ari turns around. You catch the tightness in his jaw and the stern look in his eye. His shoulders are high and his chest is tense, and when you look down at his hands, they’re both balled tightly into fists. 

“I never told you a word about Mateo. Or the cameras.”

Oh, fuck, you think. He watches as you silently scramble to make something up, and even though he’s going to see right through you, you do exactly that. 

“I’m pretty sure you did,” you mumble, gripping the comforter in your fist. 

“No, I didn’t. I specifically did not tell you that.”

He takes a few steps out of the closet, but he remains a few feet from you. He watches you squirm on the bed, taking shallow breaths and swallowing roughly.

“Ari, I—”

“You left this room,” he states, clenching his jaw, “You left the room after I told you not to, right?”

Slowly, you nod, “Yes. But, I—”

“Goddamn it, Y/N!” he yells, slamming his hand against the wall and watching as you jump at the sound, “I fucking— Anything could’ve happened to you, don’t you get that? Do you think this is a fucking game?” 

“No, Ari,” you reply, trying to keep your voice steady as you feel yourself growing defensive and emotional at the same time, “I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

“I’m fucking fine,” he snaps, then shakes his head, “I don’t get it. I’m willing to give you everything. I brought you here, and you have a nice place to live, a bed, food on the fucking table, unlimited protection and unlimited money. And you still disobey me when I ask one thing of you.”

You let your eyes flutter closed, and when he slaps his hand against the wall again, silently demanding you look at him, you jump. When you open them again, he almost looks angrier than before. Slowly, you slide out from under the blanket and stand up, then take careful steps across the room. 

“I should’ve listened to you,” you say quietly, “I was just scared, and I didn’t want you to get hurt. I’m sorry.”

His jaw ticks, “You will be. I can’t keep having this same fucking conversation with you, Y/N. You need to learn to listen when I speak to you.”

You never realized how much you love when he uses pet names with you until he stops. Your name on his lips, although sexy as hell, doesn’t bring out the same feelings in you as it does when he calls you baby. 

Even so, his words bring out a defensiveness in you that you didn’t know you could have with him. Not after everything. Ari’s eyes widen slightly when you cross your arms over your chest and purse your lips, then hike up a brow in a dare for him to continue. 

“I didn’t escape one prison just to be put in another, Ari,” you say daringly, “Don’t treat me like a child.”

His eyes darken, “Is that really how you want to play this?”

You tip your chin up, and only when Ari shifts and you skim his figure, do you notice it. He’s hard. You bite down on your cheek to hide a smirk, but the fact only eggs you on. 

“Yep,” you reply with a shrug, “I mean, I don’t see you doing anything about it, so—”

“Get on the fucking bed,” he demands deeply, crossing the room in two strides and shoving you back to the mattress when you don’t immediately comply, “Watch me do something about it, you fucking daredevil.”

You want to laugh, but you can’t, because Ari’s tearing his own shirt from your body and spreading your legs forcefully, only to slot himself between them. He unbuttons his pants and pulls them down only enough to take himself out. You reach up to touch him, wanting him close, but he pins both of your arms above your head in only one of his hands. 

“Ari,” you moan, shoving your hips up and begging for him. 

“Quiet,” he orders, “You’re gonna listen to me, for once. I don’t want to hear you unless you’re begging for me, do you understand?”

“Yes,” you say immediately. 

He looks down at your spread legs and spits on your pussy, listening to you cry out for more at the feeling.

“Address me the right way.”

“Yes, daddy, I understand,” you say weakly. 

“Good, now shut the fuck up,” he mutters. 

You mewl when he rubs his cock up and down through your folds, soaking his tip in your wetness and his spit. You fight against his grip, wanting to reach down and put him in yourself, but he’s too strong. 

“Daddy, please,” you beg. 

He laughs cruelly, “That smart mouth of yours changes up pretty damn fast every time you see my dick, huh, baby?”

You can’t help it. You know he’s right; you can’t keep up with him when it comes to the attitude and the sex. Anytime his hands touch your body, you melt. You’re incapable of doing anything except exactly what he says — especially when he’s so close to fucking you. 

“Please, please,” you continue to beg, unable to think of anything other than him finally pushing himself inside. 

“Hmm, I don’t know. Feels good like this for me. Might just cum like this and leave you. Sounds like a good punishment to me.”

You shake your head quickly, letting out little moans of protest as you stare up at him. He can see how needy you are, you’re sure, but you don’t care. You’ve never been so turned on, so desperate. He could ask you to do anything at this moment and you’d do it if it meant he slips in. 

“Daddy, I’m sorry, I’m— please.”

He grins and continues his ruthless pursuit of his dick rubbing against your clit, sliding through your folds. You shove your hips up in a lame attempt to get him to catch, but he doesn’t. Ari’s always in control, and if you could comprehend anything right now, you’d remember that. 

“You’re going to be sorry after I’m through with you, princess,” he grunts. 

You groan when he reaches down with his free hand and guides himself into you, listening as you cry out. Your moan is loud and he revels in it, not caring one bit if anyone else in the house can hear — because he’s sure they can. 

He stops once his tip is buried inside of you, and when he feels you clench around him, he tosses his head back. 

“More,” you order, demand, beg, “More, more, more—”

“Oh, you’re such a slut,” he snickers. 

You whine at his words and clench harder, eliciting a loud groan from the back of his throat. He leans down and starts to kiss along your jawline, still keeping your hands pinned above your head. 

“I am, I am,” you agree mindlessly, “Please, daddy, more.”

Ari, prone to teasing, decides to give you exactly what you’re asking for. You scream loudly when he shoves himself all the way inside, not giving you even a second to accommodate him before he’s fucking in and out. 

He wallows in your screams, moans, and your inability to even form one simple word. He gives it to you like you’re nothing to him; not the woman he loves, cherishes and protects. And you fucking love it. 

Ari spills filth into your ear as he fucks you, and little do you exactly what his plan is with you. 

“My sweet, disobedient fucking girl,” he growls, “So fucking sexy. So slutty. Did you disobey your daddy just so he’d fuck you like this? Huh?”

You can’t form words. You’re dizzy, lightheaded, and when Ari sees your eyes roll back, he pushes you even harder. His free hand skims over your hip, closer to where he knows you need it. 

“Da—da—oh, f—”

“Shh,” Ari coaxes you, finally allowing his thumb to strum over your clit and reveling in the way your body convulses, “Shut up, baby. Just take it. Don’t you dare cum.”

He watches as his words snap at something inside of you, and your wide eyes find his. Immediately, you start to shake your head, but he stops you by rubbing his thumb over your clit once more. 

“That’s it,” he grins, “Good fucking girl. Look who’s finally listening to me? Holding it in so well, baby. Daddy knows it hurts, but hold it in for me.”

You babble nonsense as you nod, promising to listen, promising not to cum until he tells you that you can. Ari takes one more look at your blissed out face, your rolled eyes, and your lips that continuously part and press together as you let out little whimpers before trying to speak. He’s so close, he just wants to push you a little bit more. 

He buries his face into your neck and bites your skin, immediately soothing the area with his tongue. You whine and buck your hips up, but he stops you with his free hand. 

“Oh, fuck, Daddy’s gonna cum, baby,” he tells you, “I’m gonna cum so deep in you. You’re going to let me cum first since you’ve been bad, understand?”

You nod. And nod. And nod. He smirks victoriously and sits back up, wanting to see every inch of your face. 

“Cum,” you whimper, begging him, “P–pl—Daddy.”

“Uh-huh,” Ari smiles at you mockingly, then licks his lips. This is it. Time to push.

He looks down at his free hand, still keeping his ravenous thrusts into your pussy, before he licks the tips of his fingers, looking directly at you, and slapping your clit. You scream as your body convulses, and he physically has to hold you in place to keep himself inside. 

“Daddy!” you wail, feeling tears sting your eyes at the amazing levels of pleasure and pain he’s delivering. 

“The next fucking time, princess,” he growls, “The next time I have to put you in your goddamn place, you won’t cum for a month. You listen to me when I tell you something, do you understand me?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” you babble, and despite your answer, Ari slaps your clit once more, eliciting an even louder scream, “Oh, fuck!”

“That’s right,” Ari grunts when you clench, and his hips falter as he can’t hold himself back anymore, finishing inside you, “That’s fucking right. Cumming so fucking deep in you, those pills won’t even work. You want me to get you pregnant, baby?”

He snickers when you don’t respond, you can’t, because you’re so sensitive, so desperate to cum. You writhe in the pain and the pleasure, staring at Ari with the most desperate expression as you silently plead for him to let you cum. 

Instead, however, Ari gives you a soft kiss on the lips, then extracts his hands and his cock from you. He watches as your haze begins to clear and you realize what he’s doing. 

“No,” you cry weakly, still spread nicely for him, “No, daddy, I didn’t get to cum, please, wait—”

“Hush,” Ari demands, “You don’t listen, you don’t get to cum. I won’t be back for a while, but if I get a good report from the men downstairs, I’ll finish you off tonight. If I find out that you touched yourself, well, I think you know exactly what will happen to you.”

Your mind is still too foggy, and you need to cum so badly, that when Ari disappears into the closet, you start to cry. He’s left you, and you fear he’s never coming back. You need him more than you need anything, anyone, and he’s gone. 

He emerges a few minutes later in a suit with half the top buttons undone, exposing his sexy, hairy chest that you love so much. 

“Daddy,” you babble, “I’ll be good, I promise.”

He walks over to the bed and adjusts the sleeves of his jacket, then gives you a small smile. Wordlessly, Ari helps you back under the comforter, wrapping it around your naked body. 

“I know you will, baby,” he whispers. 

When he leans down to kiss your forehead, you’re already plotting ways to get him to touch you. To make you cum. 

“Please,” you whisper desperately. 

Ari just laughs, then shoves his hand under the blanket. You feel his skin on yours as he travels down your body, and with a simple touch, he rubs his index finger over your soaking wet pussy. You shudder and try to keep him there, but he pulls away too fast. 

His hand emerges from the bed and he brings his finger up to his mouth, where he sucks your juices off of his skin with a teasing smirk. 

“So fucking sweet,” he mumbles, “Get some rest. Don’t forget, no touching.”

He gives you a sickening wave, then grabs his phone off the nightstand and walks out of the bedroom. Your brain is mush, your legs squeeze together, and you’re already wondering if Ari would notice if you got yourself off — so much so that you don’t even hear the click of the lock on the door at all. 

     You’re not sure if you fall into a daze or into sleep, but when your head finally clears and you stir, you realize that you’re naked on Ari’s side of the bed. Slowly, the entire day comes back to you. You groan at the intense ache between your legs, just begging to be taken care of. 

But Ari told you not to. And you can’t disobey him again. 

With a deep breath and all the self control you can muster, you rise from the bed and walk over to the dresser, where you first open your underwear drawer. The thought of putting panties on sounds like torture, so you opt for a pair of Ari’s boxers. Then, you grab one of his plain black tee shirts and tuck it over your head, residing to making some coffee and getting fresh air outside. 

You toss your hair up as you walk over to the door, and when you twist the knob, nothing happens. The door doesn’t open, and your first instinct tells you that it’s stuck. You swear under your breath, then yank on it again. Nothing. It isn’t until you crouch down and see the lock sitting neatly between the door and the frame, that you yell. 

“What the fuck!” you shout, banging on the door loudly, “Ari! Open the fucking door!” 

You hear nothing but silence on the other end, so you continue to slam your fist into the wood. You’re sure Ari isn’t even here, but you know someone is, and you want out. Now. 

You hurry over to the nightstand and look for your phone, which is gone. You toss your head back as you try to remember where else you may have left it, but you know in your heart that Ari took it with him.

“Ma’am.”

You stop when you hear the voice outside the door, then cross your arms over your chest like a teenager — aware that nobody can see you. Quickly, you walk back over to the door and lean against the frame.

“Who is that?” you ask. 

“My name is Patrick, I work for your— um, Mr. Levinson.”

His unsure nature reminds you of Mateo in a way, and even though you want to be angry, you know it isn’t this man’s fault that you’re in here. 

“Well, Patrick, can you open the fucking door?” you snap. 

“Um, no, ma’am. I apologize, but I’m under strict instruction to leave it locked until I bring you a meal. Mr. Levinson told me to bring it up at two o’clock. Are you hungry now?” 

“Yes,” you blurt, even though you’re not, “Look, if you just open it for one second—”

“I really can’t,” he stops you, sounding regretful, “Mr. Levinson told me that penne alla vodka is your favorite. I’m Italian, and I can whip up a mean pasta dish. Would you like garlic bread, too?”

You can hear it in his voice, the way he desperately wants to please you in hopes of pleasing Ari. So, you take a deep breath and change your tune. You work your magic the way you worked your magic on Vick, Mateo, Javier, and Ari himself. 

“Italian?” you purr, “Wow. I’m sure you’re so handsome. Honestly, I’d love for you to cook for me. It’s been such a long time since a man has cooked me dinner.”

A lie, but you don’t care. If flirting with Ari’s men will get you out of this goddamn room, you’ll do it. 

“It would be an honor.”

Bingo. The way his voice quivers tells you everything you need to know. 

“Listen, Patrick, I won’t tell Ari. I just want to watch you work your magic in the kitchen. I’ll be good, I promise.”

Your mind wanders to Javier at this moment, wondering where he is. If he’s in the house; if he’s also locked in. You’re sure that if Ari locked you in, he definitely locked Javi in, too. 

“Ma’am, I would love to, but there are cameras. Mr. Levinson can see everything from his phone.”

Fuck. 

You know you can’t get Patrick to cave now. You sigh and toss your head back against the wall, then exhale. 

“Fine,” you mutter, “Can I at least have my phone to call Ari?”

“He told me he wasn’t taking calls,” Patrick informs you, sounding regretful, “Even from you. He told me to tell you to, um… remember the lesson he taught you before he left.”

It’s Ari’s way of telling you to listen. You roll your eyes and shake your head, then smack the door before walking away from it. You assume Patrick leaves, because he doesn’t say another word, and neither do you. 

You make yourself comfortable on Ari’s bed and stare at the black screen on the TV, refusing to turn it on. You don’t want to relax. You want to be seething when Ari comes back for what he’s done. How he left you needy and desperate, then locked you in your bedroom like a child. 

     Patrick brings up your pasta and garlic bread about an hour and a half later. You hear the lock twist and you perk up, but when you see the man you don’t recognize, you just sigh. 

“Pardon me, ma’am, I just brought up your meal,” he says quietly, not looking at you for more than a second at a time, “Where would you like it?”

“Downstairs,” you reply, “Where’s Javier?”

Patrick looks to the floor, “He’s in the guest room.”

“Locked in, too?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

You laugh sarcastically. Patrick places the tray at the end of the bed and, when he catches you staring at the open door, he nods once, then ducks his head and leaves again. The lock clicks immediately behind him, and you’re trapped once more. 

     The sun sets, and the bedroom grows dark. You turn on Ari’s bedside lamp and pick at the pasta Patrick brought up. Admittedly, it was delicious. The man certainly knows how to cook. And the fact that Ari knew your favorite type of pasta and even went so far as to inform him of such a detail would normally make you swoon. However, given your circumstances, you don’t feel too keen on giving Ari brownie points. 

Soon after you shove the tray back to the end of the bed, the lock clicks again. You don’t get your hopes up this time, which is why a thrill shoots through you at the sight of Ari. His tie is loosely hanging around his neck and his top three buttons are undone, but you push past how that makes you feel.

When he sees you, he remains expressionless. You stare at him, pressed against the headboard with your arms crossed, not willing to speak first. 

Silently, Ari reaches into his pocket and tosses you your phone. It lands on the mattress, but you don’t reach for it. You just stare — openly, intensely. 

He sighs, “I had to.”

“No you didn’t!” you exclaim, “Ari, I actually cannot believe you’d do something like this to me.”

“You don’t listen,” he explains as he removes his tie, “Look, Y/N, I’m not trying to be some fucking tyrant asshole. I have rules for you because they will keep you safe. If you break the rules just to mess with me and something happens to you, I’d never forgive myself. You need to learn that it’s not always fun and games with us. The attitude’s cute, but in my line of work, it could get you killed.”

You scoff, “Well, you don’t have to treat me like a fucking child, Ari. You could’ve told me that.”

“I did!” he shouts, “So many goddamn times.”

You know he’s probably right, but you don’t want to cave. You want him to grovel and slide a hand between your legs and—

You’re frustrated, you realize. You want him so bad, despite the entire day of torture. He watches as you squirm on the mattress and begins to unbutton the rest of his shirt, but doesn’t speak again. 

“Fine. I’ll listen better,” you shrug, “But do not lock me in here again. How did you even come up with that?”

He swallows, “Nick says I’m too soft on you.”

“Oh, nice, Ari. You left me without an orgasm and then locked me in our bedroom alone all day because of something one of your boys said to you?”

He smirks as he toes off his shoes, then removes his dress shirt. The jacket and shirt get tossed lazily onto the dresser, and when he looks back at you, shirtless, muscular, and just the tiniest bit angry, you feel the slick run down your thighs again.

“You a little frustrated, baby?” he teases you, stepping closer, “You want me to make it better?”

“Fuck off,” you mumble, although, inside, you’re preening for him. 

“Oh, now, that’s not very nice,” he grins and steps over to the bed, pulling the comforter back and exposing your bare legs. He swallows when he sees you dressed in his boxers and tee shirt, “You’re certainly a sight.”

“I am,” you say confidently. 

Ari laughs and leans down to kiss you, but you’re not done being petty. You turn your head away from him, listening to the low growl that escapes him. You try, and fail, not to let that impact you in any way. 

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” he tells you, “While I’m gone, you might wanna find my good girl and let her know that daddy’s ready to play.”

You can’t help but look up at him as he says these words to you. He smirks when he sees how wide your eyes are, how much you secretly want him. He kisses the tip of your nose, then releases you and steps into the bathroom. He doesn’t bother closing the door, and you listen as he turns the water on in the shower. 

He wants you to follow him. He wants you to come to him, on your own, and beg. You know this. You’ve given yourself the pep talk all day. Don’t give in. But, when you see him drop his boxers into the floor of the bathroom, you can’t help yourself. He shifts just enough that you can see his hard cock before he steps into the shower, and that’s all it takes. 

You pull his shirt over your head and drop it on top of his clothes, then remove the boxers of his you’re wearing and add them to the pile. 

Ari doesn’t even seem surprised when you slip into the shower. He doesn’t react when he feels your hands on his back. He has one hand on the tiles of the shower and the other is lazily stroking his cock, which makes your mouth water. 

He turns slowly, his hair wet and his eyes hazy. He examines your body from head to toe, stopping for an extra beat and observing how swollen and desperate your clit appears. 

“I’m sorry, daddy,” you whisper, “I’ll be good. I’ll listen, I promise. I just don’t want you to treat me like he did, you know?”

Ari’s shoulders drop. He stares at you for what feels like forever before he steps closer, then cups your cheek in his free hand. 

“Baby, that’s not at all what I was trying to do.”

“I know,” you nod, “You just want to keep me safe. I get it.”

“You’re my only family,” he practically whispers, allowing a new vulnerability to be seen in his eyes, “The reason I have for coming home at night. If I didn’t have you anymore…”

He trails off, and his hand falls from around himself. You reach down and take over, listening to the way his breath hitches at the sensation. 

“I love you, Ari,” you say, “I will always be here, waiting on you to come home. Even when you act like a fucking asshole.”

He grins, “That’s my girl.”

He leans down and kisses you, not at all surprised when you let him take control immediately. He backs you up against the tiles and deepens the kiss while the steam fills up the shower, only adding to the heat you feel at this moment. 

You claw at his back, desperate for him to do something, anything, to dull the ache between your legs that he’s responsible for. 

“I know, I know,” he murmurs against your lips, as if he can read your mind, “Hold still, princess. Daddy’s gotta eat before he takes you back to bed. I’m gonna make it up to you over and over and over again.”

You whimper as his hand comes down and cups your thigh, pulling your leg around his waist. 

“Oh,” you slip out before you can stop it, melting in his arms. 

“Mhm. You can be as loud as you want. Just let me enjoy my meal, okay?”

You nod helplessly as Ari pins you against the wall, holding you up as he kneels, tossing your legs over his shoulders like it’s nothing. 

“Okay, daddy,” you whimper, knowing you’re absolutely in for it for the rest of the night. 

You can’t walk the next day, but it’s completely and totally worth it.

a/n: thank you for indulging my slutty side. this idea just came to me and i had to write it. we'll be back on plot with the next part (maybe) lol. i hope you liked it! comments and reblogs are very much appreciated!

*i no longer have a tag list. follow @mackupdates for updates <3 thank you for reading!

[run-me-through-but-not-like-that]

Loyalty

Summary: Izzy Hands has always been loyal, always needed somewhere to place that loyalty, even the crew of the Revenge knew that and could respect it to some extent. Only...they didn't think it was possible for him to be more loyalty to somebody that wasn't Blackbeard. At least...until you come back.

Word Count: 8331

“First mate Hands! Three vessels approaching,” Buttons called from up on the quarterdeck. He didn’t turn to look for the first mate, or anyone else for that matter, he just stared out at the open ocean and the three specks in the distance that were approaching in a V formation.

“Fuck,” Izzy strode over to his side and pulled out his spyglass to get a good luck at the approaching fleet. Three vessels. Three of them. There was no way the Revenge and her crew could take them on, he hoped the winds were right to flee.

All worries of fleeing or fighting left Izzy, leaving him cold and in shock. The flags raised on the three ships were familiar, causing an aching in his chest. A distinct flag he never thought anyone would see again and, somehow, he knew that nobody else had come across the design and claimed it for themselves. Somehow, for some inexplicable reason, he just knew. The way Edward always knew how the weather would turn. He felt it in his goddamned bones, in his very being.

“Fuck…” Izzy’s curse came out weaker this time, breathier.

“Orders?” Buttons asked, not seeming perturbed in any way by Izzy’s reaction. Maybe he just didn’t notice. Izzy hoped he didn’t notice.

“Drop anchor, raise Blackbeard’s flag…and prepare to let them board,” Izzy ordered stiffly.

As if from nowhere, the fucking scribe appeared, always showing up at the worst times. “We’re letting them board?” he asked, both insubordinate and concerned. Where did the little shit even come from? “Shouldn’t we, like…be moving in the other direction, very fast?”

“Nobody fucking asked you,” Izzy snarled. “Just do as I said, I’ll deal with the captains,” he didn’t give them any time to argue with him, already leaving.

“You’re really going to do what he said?” Lucius asked, turning to Buttons. He could smack himself, looking to Buttons of all people for some sensible behaviour.

“Aye, they are the orders,” Buttons nodded. That was that.

“Oh my God, we’re going to die,” Lucius whispered to himself, frowning at the three dots in the distance.

-

Izzy knocked on the door to the captain’s cabin and waited for some muffled shout to be invited in. He already knew this was going to be tricky, so he entered as formally as he could, not looking to cause problems. Not this time. He closed the door and stood in front of the couch where the two captains sat.

“There is a fleet approaching, three ships, we’re preparing to let them board,” Izzy reported.

“Let them board?” Bonnet asked, eyes wide and curious.

“Why the fuck are we doing that?” Edward asked lowly, at least giving Izzy a chance to offer a reasonable explanation.

“It’s Captain L/n,” Izzy told him. Bonnet blinked, wondering if that should mean something to either of them.

Clearly, it meant something to Edward because he tensed a little, glaring at Izzy now. “...so you went above my head?”

“They aren’t here for a fight. We’ve raised Blackbeard’s flag, they’ll know who we are. They aren’t going to raid us,” Izzy reasoned.

“If they’re here, they’re here for us. It’s not a mistake,” Edward agreed with that at least. 

Izzy just nodded, letting Ed believe whatever he wanted to believe. Izzy already knew why you were here, there was only one thing you would come for.

“You know each other?” Stede asked.

Izzy felt the need to roll his eyes but hold himself back. “We used to sail together,” he answered instead before insisting, “they aren’t going to attack us.”

Edward huffed, throwing himself back in his seat. “Fine, whatever. Let us know when they’re preparing to board,” he dismissed the first mate.

“Aye, Captain,” Izzy nodded, taking his leave without complaint nor hesitation.

“Is everything alright?” Stede asked Edward carefully.

“The crew will be fine,” Edward promised, putting those worries to rest. “Haven’t seen L/n in years, they got into some trouble a while back and disappeared. Looks like they got themselves a fleet together, though…”

-

The largest ship in the fleet expertly pulled up along the side of the Revenge and dropped anchor. The crew of the Revenge watched, antsy and curious, as the other ship’s crew prepared the gangplank.

Edward and Stede had come up onto the deck to overwatch the crew and to greet the boarding crew. Izzy stood by Edward’s side, trying not to fidget or bounce his leg in anticipation.

On the deck of the other ship they could see the crew thrumming about, securing the ship, preparing. Izzy’s gaze wandered to the helm, heart skipping a beat when he saw the familiar figure speaking with a member of their crew.

Izzy could already feel the excitement bubbling in his chest.

Once the gangplank was secured, the other crew’s first mate and a gunner crossed over to the Revenge, introducing themselves curtly before glancing over their deck.

“Is Israel Hands here or are we wasting our time?” the first mate asked.

Immediately, the crew of the Revenge was looking at Izzy.

“Fucking hell,” Izzy muttered to himself. “They send you over as a threat?” he asked, unamused.

The first mate looked him up and down. “Yeah, you match the description,” they nodded. “The crew understands?”

“They’ll behave,” Izzy sighed.

The first mate nodded to the gunner, and the gunner returned to their ship. During the wait, Izzy could still feel the eyes on him, and could feel the unasked questions from the crew.

It must have been only a minute at most but, for Izzy, it felt like hours, before you were crossing over the gangplank. Hopping down onto the deck of the Revenge with practised grace.

“Too cowardly to board first?” Edward asked accusingly.

“Too busy to sit through small talk if Israel wasn’t here. I don’t like wasting my time,” you rolled your eyes, not rising to whatever fight he wanted.

Then, in an instant, all of your attention was focused on Izzy. He was older now, of course, as were you, but you would recognise him anywhere. He was looking at you the same way he used to, devoted and adoring, like you were the only other person standing on the crowded deck.

It was too much for him, seeing you, having you look at him like that.

You always could read Izzy well, you would consider yourself fluent in Israel Hands, and you could tell that he was practically shaking to hold himself back, to keep himself composed. You wouldn’t make him wait any longer, you weren’t cruel.

“Oh, Israel, I’ve missed you,” you strode over to him confidently, quick to wrap your arms around him.

Izzy returned the embrace like it was second nature, letting out a heavy sigh of relief, practically melting against you. You couldn’t help yourself, having to run a hand over his hair before forcing yourself to pull away and release him.

Well, you released him for the most part. Your hands remained against his upper arms. “I’ve been away for too long,” you observed but both of you were already well aware of that.

“Where have you been?” Izzy asked, the only thing he could think to say. You had been assumed…dead, disappearing without a trace. Yet here you stood, very much alive. Older than he last saw you but perfectly recognisable to his eye.

“You know about how the navy got a little too close, had to lay low for a while. Got a new crew together, started operating in different waters, took years for everything to cool down but once I got word, I sailed right over here,” you explained, not aiming to make him wait for such an important answer. “Sought out Jackie, of course, she knows everything. Found the Anne but you weren’t there, got into a boring conversation with the quartermaster. Wasn’t making the same mistake once I tracked down the Revenge.”

Izzy seemed to think your story over, trying to figure out whether you were telling the truth or not. You had never lied to him before but you understand that disappearing for years can damage somebody’s trust in you. If his trust in you had faded, you’d make sure to earn it back.

Izzy thought over the details, he supposed they made sense. There technically hadn’t been any proof of your death, just rumours, and the British had continued their search for you after your supposed death. You always had been clever, able to get out of difficult situations. And you were always careful, wouldn’t have risked the lives of your crew by returning too early to the Caribbean.

Izzy gave a slight nod, assuring you that he believed you. That he was glad you were back.

The sound of shifting beside you reminded you that you weren’t as alone as you would have liked to be.

“Alright. I suppose I should speak with the captains of this vessel,” you addressed it to Izzy, not anybody else. Like nobody else mattered.

“If you must,” Izzy mumbled, filling you with a feeling of fondness.

With a hand against Izzy’s back, you turned to the two captains, Izzy following your movements like it was just a natural thing for him to do.

“Sorry to invite myself over but I’ll be out of your hair soon enough,” you promised the two of them, only one of them familiar to you.

“Izzy makes it sound like you and he were friends and you know Edward…I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if you stayed for a little while. Got reacquainted,” Bonnet, you assumed he was, offered.

You looked at Izzy questioningly. “He’s being serious,” he told you with a sigh.

“The Gentleman Pirate,” you nodded in understanding and Stede preened under the recognition. You considered it for a moment before nodding, “I can’t stay long, I have business to attend to, but it would be rude to turn down your offer.”

“Wonderful!” Stede clapped his hands together, though Edwarded looked decidedly less happy about it.

“I’ll let the crew know we’ll be anchored for a little longer than planned,” you announced before turning to Izzy. That’s when the crew really noticed it, the way your gaze locked in and softened as soon as it turned on to Izzy. “Israel, do you have a cabin?” you asked.

“Yes. I’m the first mate,” Izzy answered, as if it was obvious, but not with the irritation he would if one of the crew had asked such a stupid question.

“Good,” you nodded before shrugging, smiling at him. “Though you’ll be staying in my cabin, of course.” The way you said it wasn’t demanding, just as though it was a given.

The captains would sleep in their cabin, Jim and Olu would sleep in their room, Lucius would sleep between Pete and Fang, the crew would sleep under the stars, and Izzy would be staying with you in your cabin. That’s just the way things were.

Izzy just nodded, relaxing at the idea of being welcome in your cabin once again.

“First mate needs to stay aboard the ship,” Edward commanded. In all fairness, it was a fair demand to have.

“We’ll stay anchored, don’t you worry. I’ll even leave a couple crew members over here if it makes you feel better. But Israel will be staying with me,” you really didn’t think Edward was asking too much, just for some security that you would kidnap his first mate, but you made sure he knew that you weren’t asking him.

“Izzy,” Edward looked to his first mate then, expecting him to agree with him.

“I’ll be fine, Edward,” Izzy promised him.

Edward opened his mouth to argue but no words came out, he looked stunned. You decided that was enough of a confirmation for you. 

The crew just watched, feeling dumbfounded, as you spoke quietly against Izzy’s ear and guided him over the gangplank and onto your ship. Watched how your hand sat against his lower back, thumb stroking up and down against his leather waistcoat. Watched how easily Izzy let you lead him.

Once you crossed over to your ship, you quickly announced to the crew that you would be sticking around for a little while. Your crew just nodded, accepting the small change in plans, and starting preparing for their stay.

With your crew up to date and content, you led Izzy to your cabin. As soon as he was through the threshold and the door had clicked shut behind him, Izzy felt himself relaxing completely.

“I thought you were dead,” Izzy heard his voice before he even realised he was speaking. It was quiet and water.

“Oh, sweetie,” you were in front of him in an instant, his face cradled in your hands. “I won’t lie, it was a close call for a while, but I’m here and I’m perfectly fine. Better than ever, actually. Went from one ship to three…just one thing missing, the very thing I’ve been tracking down since I returned to the Caribbean.”

“And what’s that?” he asked quietly, desperately. He needed to hear it.

“Oh, please, you just like to hear me say it,” you accused fondly before your expression softened completely, thumbs brushing over his cheekbones. “You, baby.”

Clearly, that was the right answer, because Izzy all but threw himself into your arms. Clinging to you.

“I’ve got you, sweet thing, and this time I’m not going anywhere,” you promised, carding fingers through his hair.

“You’ll have to leave, you have a fleet…responsibilities…” Izzy mumbled into your shoulder.

You paused for a moment, earning a displeased sound from the man in your arms. “It really has been a long time, I didn’t realise I had to ask,” you whispered, prying him off of you as gently as you could but you needed him to look you in the eyes for this. “I want you to come with me, Iz. Will you come with me? Will you come home?”

Izzy felt like he was floating, glowing. He felt warm. “Nowhere else I’d rather be,” and everything about the way he looked at you told you that he meant it.

You smiled, kissing his temple before guiding him back into your embrace. It was good to have him back in his arms.

“Edward won’t be happy,” Izzy warned you. All he really wanted was to lock himself away with you, to lock the world out, but he couldn’t ignore the reality on the other side of your door.

“Nobody with a lick of common sense would be happy about losing you, baby, but we’ll handle it,” you promised.

“He won’t like that you’re poaching a member of his crew. Especially not his first mate,” Izzy was fretting, he always was so good at that.

You buried your fingers in his hair, gently massaging his scalp. “Let me handle it, sweetheart. Do you trust me to do that?”

“‘Course, I do,” Izzy almost sounded offended. Offended that you thought he wouldn’t trust you.

“I’ve got you. Edward never really did, he knows that,” you soothed him. There had always been an unspoken understanding. He could run around with Izzy trailing after him but he was only ever borrowing the man. No matter what, no matter what he did or what they became, Israel Hands was yours and always would be.

“I’m yours,” Izzy stated firmly.

“I know, Love. Just as I am yours.” Izzy hummed as you pulled back just enough to press a tender kiss to his lips.

You always did that, always insisted on it. You were his just as he was yours, you belonged to each other in any way you wanted too. His loyalty was always reciprocated by you.

When you pulled away from him again, you noticed that a few tears had slipped down his cheeks.

“Oh, love,” you cooed, brushing away the tears.

“Sorry,” Izzy apologised, feeling like he had somehow ruined the mood. A reunion was supposed to be a happy thing and he was happy, and yet here he was crying.

“Don’t apologise, it’s alright,” you tutted softly. “What’s wrong?” 

“Just…missed you,” he confessed.

“I missed you too, more than I ever realised possible.” In all honesty, you were a little surprised you haven't teared up yet. You supposed you had more time to process, having been searching for Izzy for so long, while Izzy only just realised you weren’t dead today.“Come on, let’s get you comfortable and maybe some tea,” you suggested.

“That sounds nice,” Izzy nodded softly.

“I’ll get you some comfortable clothes, I got you a few things,” you offered, unfortunately having to release Izzy completely.

“You didn’t need to do that,” he frowned a little, watching you move through your cabin.

“I just wanted to be prepared if you agreed to come with me,” you shrugged. As if buying Izzy some extra clothes was a big deal, you would do anything for him, this was nothing.

“‘Course I’d come with you,” he responded quickly, as if you might actually be doubting that.

“I know, love. It’s just been a long time, I suppose I had to prepare myself in case things had changed,” you admitted with a small sigh. Mostly, you had felt confident that you and Izzy would fall in together like anything had barely changed, because the two of you were just…right.

“They haven’t.” It wasn’t the complete truth. So much had changed between him and Edward since you first went your separate ways, things had changed in ways that he hadn’t even thought possible. A lot of that change began when they got word of your disappearance, Edward hadn’t liked how Izzy mourned then Ed’s dark moods started getting more frequent.

So much had changed, but not the way Izzy felt about you. That just wasn’t possible.

-

“No wonder Izzy’s been a miserable pain in the arse,” Lucius commented, sounding somewhat sympathetic for the prickly old man. Almost as if he had developed some new understanding, even if he had been a pain in his arse.

“What do you mean?” Pete asked with a little frown. 

In truth, the whole crew had been thrown by the recent events. The pirate captain who boarded their ship with grace and confidence, barely acknowledged Blackbeard and Stede before whisking Izzy Hands away without a single complaint from him.

“He’s been separated from the person he loves!” Lucius declared like it was the most obvious thing in the world, grabbing the attention of the rest of the crew that lingered on the deck.

“Oh…oh yeah, I can see that,” Pete nodded. He hadn’t really considered Izzy having some long lost love that made him the way he was but now that Lucius mentioned it, that did look like a sweet reunion, the restraint obvious on both sides. Then Pete frowned, suddenly feeling a little sad. “I couldn’t be apart from you for years, babe.”

“Aw, neither could I, babe,” Lucius lent into his side, kissing his cheek that plastered a grin on his face.

“Iz isn’t like that, don’t worry,” Edward scoffed, coming up behind the two of them, drawing more attention to their conversation.

Lucius only jumped a little at the sudden appearance before frowning in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“Iz,” Edward shrugged, “he isn’t all sappy or whatever.”

“You’re kidding right?” Lucius just looked at the bearded man, certain that he was joking with him. He wasn’t. “Sure, clearly he shows it in a different way. He’s a devoted little fucker, but he’s very clearly sentimental. I’ve never seen him look so…relaxed and comfortable than when they hugged him.” He couldn’t truly believe that Edward couldn’t see that. Perhaps denial was more rampant in pirates than he first thought.

“They used to sail together, they were his superior for some time. He’s just loyal,” Edward shrugged again, though seemed a little less sure of his words this time.

“But…more loyal to them than he is to you…” Lucius observed, making Edward frown. “If that weren’t true, he wouldn’t have even left the ship, right?” he wasn’t sure why he was pushing the matter so much, maybe it was his own nosiness.

Clearly, Edward didn’t like what he had to say though because he was soon stomping off with Stede hurrying after him. Probably with a lot of questions about what just happened.

-

You couldn’t help but smile against the rim of your teacup. Already, Izzy looked more relaxed than he did when you first stepped aboard the Revenge. He sat on the other side of the couch, his feet propped up in your lap, shoulders drooping with tiredness, and his hair slightly mussed up from your attention as he sipped from his own cup.

A knock on the door had him tensing, though. You tried not to react too much, hoping he could fall back into that safe space the two of you had once created together a long time ago. You just dropped one hand down to his ankle as you called for the guest to let themselves in.

Your first mate stepped into your quarters. The whole time the two of you conversed about Captain Bonnet having apparently invited you and Izzy to dinner in their cabin, you rubbed soft circles against Izzy’s ankle. He managed to relax under your touch, not seeming to mind the extra set of eyes in the room then.

“Dinner?” you hummed, “what do you say?” 

Izzy was pondering over his answer before he even truly processed that you were asking him. Nobody asked his opinion about things these days, Edward used to of course but recently it was just whatever whim either he or Bonnet wanted to pursue.

“Sure, have to face them sometime,” Izzy muttered into his cup before drinking from it again.

You gave his ankle a small squeeze of reassurance before facing your first mate again. “Tell the captains we’ll be there,” you ordered. They nodded and left without another word, you were pretty sure they knew that you didn’t wish to be interrupted unless it was an emergency for a little while. They knew how much time and work and even coin in some cases you had put into tracking down your dear Israel Hands.

Once the door was shut, you gave Izzy a moment to be sure that your first mate was gone, before turning to him with a serious expression.

“Izzy, we don’t have to tell them that you plan to leave or anything yet. We’ll hang around for a few days so everything’s not so sudden, okay?” you assured him. “I thought we’d have at least until the morning before seeing them again, if I’m being honest,” that earnt a small blush from Izzy, “I’ll just follow your lead on the matter.”

“Thank you,” Izzy sighed, deflating against the arm of the couch. In the back of his mind he was vaguely grateful for the fact that you had tutted at him and shoved a cushion behind his back when he sat down.

“Anything for you, my darling,” you smiled, stroking your hand up and down his calf as you finished your tea.

-

You were right on time for your dinner with the captains of the Revenge, you didn’t want to be any ruder than necessary after all. Edward had his back up as soon as you stepped through the door and he noticed Izzy’s new clothes, clothes that he was certain Izzy didn’t own and yet seemed to fit him almost perfectly. 

Of course, you had to make some guesses about Izzy’s sizes when you bought the clothes but you could easily have them tailored to fit him perfectly, you were pretty pleased with yourself for getting it this close anyway. 

Stede had also seemed a little thrown off, blinking at Izzy’s new look. Honestly, it wasn’t a drastic difference. He had just switched his leather pants to black cotton for the sake of comfort and was wearing a deep blue shirt, he always had preferred to wear darker shades, under his waistcoat.

Stede shook it off quickly, politely welcoming you and inviting you both to sit at the table. Izzy sat by your side without any prompting, without even thinking about it really, while Edward and Stede sat opposite you both.

You were at least rather impressed with the meal their cook, Roach, had prepared for the four of you. It just about made up for the tension that lingered at the table.

“So, how do you know Edward and Izzy?” Stede asked, a clear attempt at making polite conversation. You could appreciate the effort.

“Used to sail together, long before Edward or I became captains,” you told him.

“They were on the first ship I joined,” Izzy added, making you smile a little. You hadn’t really expected him to tell any sort of story but you weren’t disappointed about it in the slightest. “They were a few years older than me.”

“Took my little dove under my wing,” you teased, tapping your knee against his under the table and making Izzy blush. You had wondered if he would fluster as easily as he used to, assumed that he wouldn’t, but you were definitely pleased to find it was just as easy as ever. “I became quartermaster shortly after Israel joined us and he was the smallest boy on the crew,” you recalled fondly.

“Fuck off,” Izzy muttered, “just ‘cause you had a growth spurt.”

You gave him another fond smile, one that was reserved purely for him, before looking at Stede again. “We sailed together for a good couple of years before Edward joined the crew.”

“Yeah, then we mutinied Hornigold,” Ed grinned, perking up at his chance to contribute.

“Me and some of the crew had already made plans to head out on our own, we all agreed I would captain,” you nodded, “Izzy and Eddie left with me at first, guess it was just easier that way. Once we raided a decent ship, Edward wanted to leave and captain his own crew, wanted to build a legend.”

“I knew he could do it and I wanted to help him achieve it,” Izzy smiled a little to himself.

“And they did it,” you grinned proudly at Izzy. You were honestly proud of both of them but Izzy had always been so dear to you, Edward knew you only had eyes for him.

“Legends are just that, though,” Izzy sighed, “then the legend gets bored of his own story.”

“Iz-” Edward’s expression dropped.

“No, Edward, it’s fine. Guess I got tired of it too,” Izzy confessed, poking at his food a little, “...around the time we caught word of Y/N’s disappearance.”

You couldn’t help yourself, feeling the overwhelming need to comfort him. You placed your hand on top of his.

“Knew something changed, wasn’t sure what it was,” Edward admitted with a small frown. He knew something had changed, could slap himself for not realising what it was.

“Guess I realised a legend doesn’t really mean anything. At that point it just assured our safety, other crews didn’t fight back, raids were less risky, and that was enough for me,” Izzy continued, letting you take hold of his hand properly, letting it ground and support him, “but it wasn’t enough for you and you got bored.”

Edward nodded his agreement, looking a little guilty about it. “Just became a trudge, y’know?”

Izzy agreed, he did know, he had seen it on Ed’s face day after day. Surviving had been enough for him at the time, still would be if your fleet hadn’t sailed towards them he imagined.

“Sorry, Iz,” Edward sounded genuinely apologetic, a heaviness lingered over their time together and all either of them could really do now was acknowledge it and offer condolences.

“Me too, Ed,” Izzy returned, as equally apologetic and guilty looking.

You were almost smiling, proud of them for being able to see things from each other’s perspective even if it was only just a little bit right now. Then Stede had to go and talk. “Well, I hope we can all agree that things worked out in the end,” he smiled and knew he meant well but…

Edward didn’t respond, just gave him a faint smile, while Izzy scowled and you blatantly ignored his comment.

The rest of dinner continued in mostly silence, Stede occasionally commenting on some side and how it was prepared or asking questions about your travels during the time of your ‘disappearance’. You had actually enjoyed the conversation until he said ‘that sounds marvellous! A real adventure!” Again, you knew he meant well, and he was right in a way, some of the things you did and saw could be described as marvellous, it wasn’t all misery once you pulled everything together, but it left a sour taste in your mouth.

It wasn’t long before it came to dessert, Roach bringing in a tray of different flavoured tarts. Roach received the compliments for his hard work before leaving the captain’s quarters.

Stede and Edward were quick to pick their favoured flavour, familiar with the cook’s pastries. You glanced over them, considering, before picking the one you thought you’d prefer.

Before you ate, though, you noticed Izzy frowning at the selection in that way he does. Not frowning because he was upset or displeased, more out of confusion and thought than anything.

“Here, you’ll like this one,” you picked up a lemon tart and placed it in front of him, “it’s lemon and the texture is more like cream than jam.” If Izzy’s preferences in sweets were anything like they used to be, you were certain he would prefer this tart.

Always trusting your advice, Izzy took a bite of the tart. Your heart fluttered at his little hum of approval. There was so much to learn about Izzy that was new, but it was comforting to be reassured that you still knew him well.

“Good?” you asked, casually.

“Good, thank you,” Izzy nodded, taking another bite of the dessert.

Stede watched the little interaction and felt familiarity pang in his chest, he could easily recall sharing new recipes and luxuries with Edward. He always assumed that Izzy couldn’t stand anything that wasn’t for the purpose of base survival, now he wondered if he just didn’t like him and the Revenge. Yeah, that seemed to make the most sense…

After eating, the captains of the Revenge asked you both to share a drink with them. Izzy had given you a small nod and you had accepted their invitation. Stede poured you each a port and chattered about his recent adventures with Blackbeard and his first mate. The exaggerated storytelling and rambling was enough to have Izzy’s patience wearing thin.

“You should check in with your crew,” Izzy suggested quietly when he saw the chance, a light lull in conversation. You took the hint, he wanted to leave and you wouldn’t deprive him of that. There were other places you would rather be as well.

“Good idea, hun,” you smiled, nothing but adoration in your expression, as you placed your empty glass down. “Always one step ahead,” you placed your hand on Izzy’s shoulder as you stood.

You said your polite goodbyes to the captains before heading for the door, Izzy right by your side, only holding back a few inches when you had to pull the door open.

“Izzy,” Edward’s voice brought you both to a halt, turning back to face him. “You’re not leaving, are you?” he asked. It was obvious that he meant for good, not just for now.

“Ed…” Izzy sighed. He really had hoped this would wait until morning, to give him just a little more time with you before he had to deal with this.

Apparently that was enough of an answer for his captain, former captain? “After all these years?”

You glared a little, not liking that Edward was making Izzy feel bad but you let it go, not wanting to involve yourself unless you thought it truly necessary.

Some like hurt flashed across Izzy’s face, some old ache returning. “I thought they were dead, Edward. I thought that I left, and they died, and I would never see them again,” he told him with some slight panic. You moved closer instinctively at his distress, placing a hand against his back. “I can’t lose them again,” Izzy confessed plainly, voice rough.

Edward was about to speak but you got there first, needing Izzy to understand what you wanted from him. “You won’t lose me if you stay, Izzy. I hope that isn’t why you’re coming with me. You’ll always be mine.”

“I know,” Izzy looked at you with wide eyes, eager to correct you. “I want to come with you.” That was all you needed to hear.

“Izzy-” Edward tried again.

“Ed, if you can give up Blackbeard, I can give up First Mate Hands,” Izzy insisted. He couldn’t be sure that Edward was going to try to convince him to stay but he refused to risk it, couldn’t handle that right now. Today had been…a lot, and that was a wild understatement.

“We’ll stay for another couple of days, but we can’t stay any longer,” you told the captains. “But it’s late, we’ll discuss this further tomorrow if you wish,” the way you spoke assured them that there was no room for argument but that you would keep that promise. If they wanted to speak further on the matter, it would happen tomorrow, not tonight.

Izzy was tense as the two of you left the cabin but pressing into your touch the whole way across the deck and the gangplank. You didn’t speak until you were aboard your ship again.

“How are you feeling, love?”

Izzy actually took the time to consider it, to assess himself and try to put words to how he was feeling. He never was particularly good at that but you had always insisted on him trying his best. “Good…good, actually,” his answer was a little quiet, a little breathy, like he was surprised by his own answer.

“It’s okay if you’ll miss him, he’s been your best mate for years,” you told him.

“Just don’t want to hurt him,” Izzy confessed sincerely.

“He’s a grown man, he’ll manage. And you’ll see him again,” you wanted him to know that if he wanted to see Edward again, then of course he would be able to and you would make sure it happened.

“I’m not having second thoughts, I want you to know that,” Izzy’s glossy eyes focused on you again, his words firm, like you could ever doubt him.

“I know that, just making sure you’re alright, hun,” you promised, rubbing small circles against his back. “Now, should we go to bed?”

“Please,” Izzy let out a heavy breath like some weight had been lifted from him and he could finally breathe properly.

Without hesitation, you led Izzy back to your quarters where he could properly unwind and the two of you could get properly reacquainted without any further interruptions.

-

The next day you had made yourself comfortable over on the Revenge, not wanting to be too far away from Izzy as he continued on with his first mate duties. You couldn’t help but watch over the strange crew with amusement, they were certainly endearing but not the best sailors. You bet the whole thing was driving Izzy insane.

“Still have your midday coffee?” Izzy asked, bringing you out of your musings.

You turned to him with a smile, accepting the warm mug from him. “I do, I always get drowsy this time of day. Don’t have to sneak them anymore now, though,” you sipped the coffee, sighing, pleased, as you lowered the cup. “It’s around lunch, did you get yourself something?” you asked.

“Nah,” Izzy shrugged.

“Go and get something, even if it’s just an orange. If you don’t fancy anything down in the galley, my cook will whip something up for you. They love a challenge,” you insisted, your demand soft and made out of nothing but care.

“An orange is fine,” Izzy rolled his eyes, “I’ll get you one too.”

Before you could huff and insist that he doesn’t need to fetch you things, he was already gone. You shook your head in slight exasperation but smiled fondly as you sipped at your coffee, made just the way you like it. It seems that he had remembered some things as well.

“He makes quite the little errand boy, huh?” a younger man came up to your side.

You instantly went tense, expression darkening as you turned to him and lowered your mug. “You’re Spriggs, the scribe?” you squinted at him.

“Izzy talked about me?” Lucius asked, preening somewhat.

“He’s mentioned you,” you nodded, letting him bask in the satisfaction before stepping up to him. “One more word about him and I’ll slice your dick like an onion.”

In an instant, Lucius froze and stared at you with wide eyes. “Why an onion?” he was already cursing himself for asking a stupid question instead of fleeing. He didn’t know you well but he had a feeling that you would follow through on the threat.

“Would you rather I cut it into neat little segments like an orange?” you cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Uh…no?” Lucius answered carefully, unsure if you even wanted an answer.

“Go,” you rolled your eyes as he scampered off.

Izzy returned shortly after with two peeled oranges. “Why did the scribe look like he was about to hurl?” he asked, only a little accusingly.

“Dunno,” you shrugged innocently, accepting one of the oranges.

Izzy hummed, standing by your side, close enough that your arms brushed against each other’s. “You threaten him?” 

“Maybe…”

“...dick onion again?”

“It’s effective,” you smirked to yourself, “nobody says a bad word about you if I have anything to do about it.”

Izzy huffed but you caught the way his cheek turned a light pink. “Don’t need protecting.”

“Of course you don’t, you’re a fucking vision with a blade. But I like taking care of you…and maybe I like threatening people just a little, but mostly taking care of you,” you teased, leaning your shoulder against his. “I’m always going to have your back, Izzy, my love,” you kissed his cheek.

Izzy sighed but was unable to suppress a little smile. He’ll forgive himself, he didn’t think anyone saw it.

-

It was just like Izzy to insist on doing his job until he had officially left The Revenge and joined your crew. You didn’t mind though, patiently waiting for him to finish his nightly rounds.

The rest of the crew was sitting around with some drink and telling stories, they had pestered you to join them and you didn’t see the harm in it. You accepted the bottle of rum they handed you but mostly just held it in your lap as you listened to their tales.

Izzy finished up his rounds, as satisfied with the condition of the ship as he could be. He glanced around the deck to see where you were waiting for him and saw you sitting with the crew. Suddenly, he felt unsure if he should interrupt but there was a little voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that it was you, and there was no such thing as interrupting when it came to the two of you.

“Finished my rounds,” Izzy announced as he came up to the group, getting your attention.

Immediately, you turned your attention to him with a smile. Unfortunately, you didn’t have the time to respond before the others were speaking.

“Join us, Izzy,” Lucius encouraged. You looked him up and down but saw that he was being sincere, so you didn’t comment on it.

“Yeah, they just told us all about the Hornigold mutiny. Totally badass,” Pete grinned, hooked on the stories you had to tell.

Izzy frowned at the group, all looking at him with varying levels of eagerness but all seeming pretty welcoming, before looking to you. “Are they mocking?” he asked with a small snarl.

“No, darling. They just enjoyed the story,” you assured him, smiling even when your heart ached. “Do you want to sit or do you want to go back to our cabin?”

Truthfully, Izzy didn’t want to spend time with the rest of the crew but he didn’t want to ruin your fun either…

So, he just sat beside you in response.

You smiled and shifted closer to him, placing a hand on his knee. “This guy is fascinating,” you told him, gesturing to the Swede, who preened and blushed under your comment.

“Really?” Izzy asked, unamused.

“The stories he has are insane. Don’t know how many of them I believe but entertaining nonetheless,” you insisted, “born under blood rain, now that’s a great start to a story.”

Izzy rolled his eyes but he had to admit that was a tale he and Ed might have tried to sell under the legend of Blackbeard.

“Drink?” you offered your bottle to him.

“No, thanks.” 

You nodded, placing the rum bottle beside your feet.

The crew quickly fell back into their dramatic stories, trying to one up each other in entertainment.

Once you were certain that the crew was distracted enough, you lent into Izzy and spoke low against his ear so only he could hear you.

“We don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” you could sense he wasn’t exactly comfortable, you didn’t have to know him that well to realise that, and you didn’t want him to force himself to do anything.

“It’s fine,” Izzy mumbled back.

That just confirmed to you that you were right.

“Come on, let’s turn in for the night,” you patted his knee, shifting to stand.

“No,” he clasped your hand tightly, stopping you from standing, looking a little worried when you met his gaze.

“What’s wrong?” you squeezed his hand comfortingly, making sure to stay quiet and now draw anyone’s attention.

“Nothing, it’s fine. We can stay.” Izzy couldn’t quite hold your gaze and you made up your mind.

“Well, it was good sitting with you guys but I really should go check on my crew,” you declared as you stood from your seat, gently tugging Izzy to his feet again. Despite his halfhearted protests a second ago, he followed without argument.

The crew wished you a goodnight and didn’t try to stop you when you left, returning to your ship with Izzy in tow.

You greeted your own crew and bid them all a goodnight before disappearing into your quarters.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Izzy complained as soon as the cabin door was shut. “You could have stayed if you wanted too.”

You nearly rolled your eyes. Of course you could have stayed if you wanted too, just as he could have stayed without you if he wanted, or asked to return to the ship if he wanted. You didn’t roll your eyes though, understanding that this was stemming from something deeper.

“All I want is to be with you, my dove,” you promised him, taking his hands in yours. “I’ve spent enough time drinking and telling tales and I haven’t spent nearly enough time in your company.”

“You sure?” How could the infamous Izzy Hands, best sword in the Caribbean, look so vulnerable and unsure? His eyes just gave everything away.

“I’m completely certain,” you answered firmly but with an underlying tenderness.“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want or aren’t comfortable with,” you quickly kissed the tip of his nose.

Izzy flushed and grumbled a little but you still saw the way he smiled to himself. “Are we still leaving tomorrow?” he asked.

“We are. If you’re still okay with that,” you nodded.

“I am.”

You smiled softly, placing a hand on the back of Izzy’s neck and touching his forehead to yours. “Good. I was thinking we could have breakfast with Ed and Stede in the morning, say goodbye properly before heading out. It’s your choice,” you suggested.

Izzy hummed in thought before nodding slightly, leaning into you some more. “...we can have breakfast.”

-

You had decided to host breakfast in your quarters, figuring it would be the polite thing to do, where Izzy’s belongings had already been put away neatly, like they had been there all along. You couldn’t wait for the cabin to properly look like it was lived in by Izzy.

After breakfast, which went surprisingly well, you and Izzy walked Edward and Stede to the gangplank. “It really was good seeing you again, Edward,” and you really did mean it, you had been friends once upon a time. “No hard feelings, right?”

Edward looked at Izzy and saw the way the tension in his shoulders was less than he could ever remember seeing. “Yeah, no hard feelings,” he nodded, a little hesitantly.

You smiled, glad. You really hadn’t come to cause trouble, just to get your Israel back.

“And it was fascinating to meet you, Captain Bonnet,” you hadn’t fully decided if that was a compliment or not. Izzy did seem fond of him and that had clouded your judgement, you could admit that. 

“Likewise,” Stede grinned, “feel free to visit anytime.”

“See you around, Iz,” Edward nodded to his former first mate and long term friend, a weight to his words.

“See ya, Edward,” Izzy nodded back, just as heavy.

Edward and Stede returned to the Revenge and your crew took down the gangplank.

“Ready, love?” you asked, touching your hand to Izzy’s elbow.

“Ready,” Izzy nodded, sounding sure of himself.

You shouted for the crew to raise anchor and set on the course you had previously given them. The crew called back their acknowledgements and got to work.

You smiled at your bustling crew before leaning against Izzy, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “Welcome home, my dove.”

“Don’t think that petname really fits me anymore,” Izzy grunted, making you chuckle.

“Nonsense. You’ll always be my dove,” you tutted. Izzy sighed softly as you ran your fingers through his hair, honestly enjoying watching a competent crew working again. “We’re heading to port, going to give the crew some extra coin and shoreleave for a job well done. Think they can manage sailing straight for a few days,” you hummed.

Izzy looked around the deck, seeing your crew bustling and busy, talking between themselves as they worked diligently. “Look like they have it handled,” he agreed.

Your hand settled against his lower back as the two of you returned to your quarters. Once inside, you shrugged off your coat and folded it neatly over the back of a chair. The cabin had already been cleaned up from your breakfast meeting.

“Can I ask a question?”

You frowned a little as you turned to Izzy, hoping he was only asking such a question as a formality. “Of course,” you nodded.

“What is my position among the crew?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You already have a first mate and I don’t like the title of ‘bed warmer’.”

You were taken aback by his words, as if you would ever refer to him as such or allow anyone else to do so. “Izzy, you don’t think…that’s not how the crew sees you, I promise. You’re a respected pirate, a respected member of the crew. When I told the crew just who we were looking for, they were excited to have Israel Hands on the crew.”

“I would just like to know my position,” he sighed, still as stubborn as ever.

“I suppose I didn’t really think about it, was too focused on just getting you back,” you admitted. “I would offer you the position of first mate but…well, mine is very loyal and put a lot of work into helping me track you down. It would be wrong to demote them. But you’re far too qualified for a lower rank,” you thought out loud before your face lit up, an idea coming to you. “How do you fancy being co-captains?”

“Co-captain?” Izzy gaped at you. “You’re joking?”

“If Blackbeard can do it, so can I,” you shrugged.

“Co-captains, a fucking stupid thing,” Izzy muttered. He really wasn’t ready to be taking ideas or suggestions from Stede fucking Bonnet. “Could just be…could just be your partner…”

“Partner, captain. Whatever you want. Either way, you’ll be respected and listened to aboard this vessel. You have my word,” you vowed.

“I believe you.” He always did, you never gave him a reason not to.

You met him where he stood, snaking your arms around him. “I can’t believe I have you back.”

“I can’t believe you’re back,” he breathed, settling his hands on you, just needing to touch and feel. Still needing to remind himself that you were alive, you were here, and you were real.

“Never going anywhere without you again,” you promised. “Will have to fucking kill me,” your dedication sent a shive down Izzy’s spine. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” It felt like a prayer falling from Izzy’s lips. How long had he longed to hear you say those words again, to be able to speak those words again?

“Thank you for keeping this,” you whispered against his lips, toying with the ring on his necktie.

“As if I’d ever stop wearing it,” Izzy had never even considered it, had only taken it off of his finger before it began to feel heavy on his hand. It was too easy for him to see, to remind him. So he moved it to his neck, wanting everyone to know that somebody had gifted him such a ring once, cherishing it, while clad in black in mourning.

Izzy didn’t need to mourn any longer because you were here, holding him and kissing him. He would have to put his ring back on his finger.

[divinityandfanfics]

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

The Galaxies Above

PRODUCT INFO . when a wanted angel is oblivious to what is going on in the galaxies above, not even knowing that she is a goddess, kento nanami strikes. but, does he get distracted while doing the mission?

PRODUCT CONTENTS . different power system (kinda) , assassin nanami , space being nanami , christianity / belief in God involved , kinda dark story

As they stood in moonlight’s embrace, their baby daughter was born. “She’s beautiful, Satoru.” The God of Galaxies, Suguru, said softly. “Yes, she is.” Satoru, the God of Space, agreed without any hesitation.

Suguru chuckles, pressing his thumb on their baby daughter’s face. “My angel. She’s going to grow up and turn into a Goddess. Maybe even better than me.” Suguru said playfully, looking at Satoru.

“Mhm. She’s going to grow up and turn into someone like you and me, love.” Satoru said, squishing his daughter’s chubby cheeks. “I’ll name her (Y/N) Gojo.” Suguru said, cradling his daughter with a smile on his face, happy with his family.

As they were sleeping in the cold breeze of the night, Suguru and his baby daughter were sleeping soundly as Satoru sat in the corner of their palace, watching the moonlight. He slowly closed his eyes, praying for the health of their baby daughter to the Holy One, the only being above all else.

“Lord, protect my newborn. Give her the riches she should store in her heart.” Satoru prayed before going to sleep with his new family. “I love you, my dearest.” He said, kissing his baby’s forehead and his lover’s before drifting off to sleep.

HELLISH-FLAMES NATION

“We need to make a plan to ambush those goddamn monsters.” Toji said with hatred in his eyes. Stabbing the tree next to him. “We need to find a way to avenge our sacred land. Where only we will rule. Where nobody will interfere, like those angels!” Toji yelled, and the devils cheered for him as he grinned.

“Those weaklings have no right to invade our land. HELLISH-FLAMES belong to us, and only us devils!” Toji roared, the devils jumping and agreeing with him.

“Tonight, we will invade their land like how they invaded ours! Get ready for battle!” Toji said, grabbing a cursed tool. The devils roared in rage, they planned on invading GOLDENSKIES by midnight, getting their things ready.

GOLDENSKIES EMPIRE, 11:56 PM

The hand of the clock was so close to midnight, the devils waiting at Heaven’s gate. Once the clock hit midnight, the devils all attacked in unison, their voices spilled with anger.

The angels tried to fight back but they were outnumbered as multiple angels were still asleep. Suguru had heard this catastrophe happen and was awoken. He woke Satoru up as they both unleashed a roar that woke up every angel who was still asleep.

“You devils! We will destroy you, once and for all!” Suguru cursed, flying up in the sky to create a force field which will permanently make every devil banish. Yet, it almost took his life. Satoru looked at Suguru, before his gaze drifted to their baby daughter.

He then set her to Earp, the Planet of Humans. He put her on a random doorstep, leaving to go help Suguru up in the Galaxies.

Suguru groaned as he tried to hold them back, Satoru appearing to help him. With their magic together, the force field was created. The devils all got banished from the Heavens, going back to HELLISH-FLAMES.

Afterwards, the angels who survived all surrounded and formed a circle over Satoru with his unconscious lover, Suguru. Satoru nuzzled against his neck, before falling unconscious himself.

The angels brought them both to their temple, to talk with the Guardian of Life, and the Guardian of Death. To see if they’re still alive. They brought them both to Archangel Yuki, Guardian of Life, and Archangel Choso, Guardian of Death.

“Oh, Archangels! Show us if their hearts are still beating, if their lungs are still breathing, and if their brains are still thinking.” Angel Ino chanted.

Archangel Yuki and Choso appeared before them, walking forward, Archangel Yuki felt their hearts. “This.. I’ve never seen anything like it!” Archangel Yuki smiles.

“Even though they are not alive anymore, their hearts are still beating for each other in Choso’s realm. Let them be free in peace, they sacrificed themselves for the sake of everyangel. They are now in THETRUEREALM. Thank you for making me feel their love for each other.” Archangel Yuki smiled, before vanishing with Choso.

EARP, 4:23 PM

A baby started to weep, and the old lady heard it from inside. Said old lady opened the door, met with a crying baby girl covered in white cloth that shines throughout the afternoon breeze.

“Wow, what a beautiful baby!” The old lady was shocked, carrying the baby in her arms. “Oh, don’t cry pretty baby! You’ll probably have such a future as beautiful as you.” She murmured.

“Maybe whoever left you here couldn't take care of you. Or, was in grave danger and just wanted to keep you safe.” She smiled down at the baby, then entered her apartment complex, setting the infant down the couch, giving her gentle belly rubs.

“Who would’ve left you here? You look like a daydream.” — “You know, I always wished for a child of my own. And my prayers have finally been answered. I’m Utahime Iori.” Utahime smiled, carrying the baby in her arms.

“What should I name you, little angel?” She asked, and the infant smiled up at the old lady, making Utahime melt. “So cute! I’ll name you Angel. Since you look like one.” Utahime muttered, holding the baby up in her arms as if inspecting her.

“Now, let’s go and get you all dressed up.” She said, before going to one of the rooms and giving Angel proper clothes.

HELLISH-FLAMES NATION, 3:48 AM

“Ugh, those stupid angels got to us again.” Toji’s assistant, Shiu, muttered, scoffing. “Don’t worry, Shiu. Devils always win in the end.” Toji reassured.

“We’ll use the power of space beings, one that will surely get us victory. We just need to get their daughter, then threaten to kill her when they don't undo the shield they have created.” Toji grinned, satisfied with his plan.

“So, out of all of our workers that are omnipotent beings in space, who do you choose?” Shiu asked.

“Pick the most dangerous. Convince it that angels have done us wrong. Then, tell it to get the daughter of Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo. All of them know how to detect Angelic Aura, am I right?” Toji asked.

“Yes, Kento Nanami would be the perfect candidate for that job. He has death touch.” Shiu informed, fixing his tie. “Death touch?” Toji repeated, his eyes widening.

“That’s the deadliest ability ever.” Toji grinned, nodding at Shiu. “He’s perfect. Get him.”

“Right away.”

“He’s in the Space Chambers. Line 1620.” Shiu pointed towards the tall building floating in space. “He’s in the last line? That's how dangerous he is, huh.” Toji murmured, a hand rubbing his chin.

“Actually, he’s the last in that line.” Shiu smiled, “Meaning Kento Nanami is the most powerful we’ve ever captured.”

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

@bitch-be-nimble well, not at the time. (the whole motivation behind this notfic with buggy in disguise was to see if i could write a post-roguetown encounter without making shanks lie when he tells whitebeard he hasn’t seen buggy since roguetown.) but it’s funny you should ask!

this got stupid long. okay, you know what? i’m just gonna post this first chunk of the story, it ends on a fun note and i won’t feel like i need to rush the rest if i’ve shared this much with y’all.

a little over a decade later, as the red force prepared to leave marineford:

it was buggy’s fault. undeniably. if he could’ve just kept his stupid mouth shut—but of course he couldn’t! not after the way shanks just treated him, pulling on his strings like a goddamn puppet master, like he still knew buggy after all these years. not when buggy knew for a fact that shanks wouldn’t recognize him without his nose acting as a big red flag.

(of course he hadn’t forgotten about that day. he never spoke of it, but it was on his mental tally of ways shanks had screwed him over. spooked him into eating the chop-chop fruit, constantly stole his thunder, beat him at cards (by cheating! by cheating at cards better than buggy!), ruined his plans for the future, kissed him one time in a back alley in east blue—and without even asking first!)

and this was the first time he’d been near shanks since that day, so of course it was on his mind. shanks hadn’t changed much since then, except that oh wait, he’d lost a fucking arm somehow! and nobody seemed to be able to agree on how.

buggy couldn’t bear to ask for the story.

he had to know.

he could not ask.

“looking at you, i can’t tell which of the rumors is true,” buggy said. (not asked!) shanks was sitting on a barrel, watching other members of his crew do real work, so buggy figured it was safe to bother him. he glanced up at buggy. “did you go after whitebeard and get punished for it like that crocodile guy, or did you try and see if your armament haki was stronger than a sea king’s teeth?”

shanks huffed out a little laugh. “are those the only rumors these days?”

“the only ones i considered remotely plausible.”

“well, the second one’s not far off,” shanks said.

buggy stared. that couldn’t be the whole story. not for him.

shanks sighed. “look, buggy, i’m sorry, but i don’t have time for this right now. unless you know my ship better than me, and can figure out where we’re going to place a twenty-two foot long corpse—” he cut himself off with a shake of his head. “any other day, i would love to sit down with you and catch up. just not today.”

right. buggy flushed. shanks was an emperor. even though he was the youngest and weakest of them, that still required a certain something. leadership. responsibility. just because he still looked like the shanks buggy knew, slacking off, doing as he liked, didn’t actually make him so.

“buggy,” shanks snapped.

“does he have to be lying down?” buggy blurted out. shanks blinked up at him, surprised to hear him try to be helpful. “i mean, i know how normal bodies work, death stiffness wears off eventually, but this is whitebeard. if anyone could stay standing the whole of his death, it’s that guy.”

shanks frowned. “i did consider that, briefly. but if we’re wrong, having to clear that much space in the time it takes him to fall over…”

buggy cringed. “right, that’d be way worse.” he thought about alternatives. this boat of shanks’ was nice, but it did not have that kind of room to spare, not if he was taking shipless pirates aboard (which, of course he was; this was shanks). “what about one of the whitebeard fleet ships? are any of them stable enough to carry him? they’re his crews, i bet they’d be honored to be his last ride.”

shanks nodded. “there are a few still seaworthy.” running his hand through his hair, he muttered, “but like hell i’m getting involved with the intracrew politics there. i’ll ask marco, he’ll know which one to pick to step on the fewest toes.” getting to his feet, shanks visibly swayed for a moment.

“whoa, are you—?”

“i’m—fine,” shanks said, pinching at his brow. he glanced at buggy, who had foolishly reached out to, what, steady him? offer an arm to lean on?? he didn’t know what he’d been thinking. shanks sighed. “it’s not as fun as we’d thought it’d be when we were kids, is it? being the ones in charge.”

“oh, i don’t know,” buggy said, thinking back to that moment, fresh out of impel down, when anything seemed possible with all those guys at his back, cheering him on. “it has its moments.”

shanks considered him for a moment. he smiled. “i guess it does. thanks for the suggestions, buggy. go find a spot to lie down, would you? you look like you could use some beauty sleep.”

and buggy knew he shouldn’t say it. even in the moment he knew it was stupid. but he could never leave well enough alone when shanks took a cheap shot at him, and that day had been on his mind. so he said, “gee, and here i thought i was gorgeous.” and because he really couldn’t help himself, it seemed, when shanks gave him a blank look, he fluttered his eyelashes and added, “with stunning eyes.”

shanks stared.

in the time it took for buggy to blink, he was shoved into the closest wall. he’d tear shanks a new one for halfheartedly trying to give him a concussion, but the hand that’d pressed him shoulder-first into the wall was drifting up, up his neck, cupping his cheek, and buggy found himself as lost for words this time as last.

shanks leaned in. just as he got too close for propriety, he sucked in a breath. he whispered, “that was you?”

buggy gave him a look that said obviously. that said how else would i know about it? that said why? does it matter?

did it matter? he stared up at shanks, and, far from the first time, had no idea what he was thinking.

shanks took a step back and laughed, rubbing his hand over his mouth. “oh god,” he said under his breath, “i really don’t have time for this right now.” eyes shutting, he sighed, and to buggy it looked like he’d aged ten years in an instant. someone out of sight called for their ‘boss,’ and the exhaustion, the previous, unreadable emotion, it all fell away. here was red-haired shanks the emperor, for the first time since he’d cowed the marines into allowing the whitebeard pirates their dead. he stalked off, calling out, “get some sleep, buggy,” over one shoulder, cool as anything.

buggy, feeling distinctly uncool and like he’d never sleep again, scurried away in search of a private corner he could panic in. he found a deck a level or two up that was deserted for the moment—crew quarters, maybe?—and huddled by the railing. had anyone seen that? stupid, stupid—

“did you see that?” someone a deck below said excitedly to their companions. “captain buggy got that emperor mad enough to shove him into a wall, and then without a word forced him to retreat! he’s truly amazing!”

buggy buried his face in his hands and groaned. so stupid.

“hey, quick question,” said someone at buggy’s elbow some time later. “are you trying to get us all killed?” it was mr. 3—er, galdino, or whatever his name was, looking very fearful and annoyed and sweaty. or maybe that was the wax? buggy didn’t know much about him, or how his powers worked.

“how’s that?”

“word among the men,” this was how galdino had been referring to the prisoners who’d followed the two of them out of impel down lately, ‘the men,’ like they were buggy’s soldiers or something, “is that red-haired shanks kabedon'd you, and you turned him down. you realize he’s our only possible ride out of here at this point, right? why antagonize him like that?”

buggy’s face screwed up. like he needed to be reminded of the distance between him and shanks. but also: “the hell’s that word mean?”

“kabedon? it’s when someone shoves you into a wall to intimidate and flirt with you.”

“flirt with—” buggy sputtered, face hot. oh shit, was that really what they were saying? “god no, no way! shanks would never—”

“i’m just reporting what i’ve heard,” galdino said, shoving his glasses up his nose. “oh, no one’s made the flirtatious connection but me, but they all say the two of you got up close and personal, and red-hair’s been red-faced ever since. i just put two and two together.”

“it wasn’t like that,” said buggy, who couldn’t have told galdino what it was like, since he still had no idea himself.

“no?” galdino joined buggy at the railing. they had a good view of the main deck from up here, including a cluster of men having a serious-looking discussion. since the group included shanks and marco the phoenix, it was probably about whitebeard and ace, and where they were taking them and how to do it. shanks looked tired, but it wasn’t obvious like it had been when it was just the two of them. there was something on his face that buggy recognized from the day the news about roger’s arrest broke. a quiet, sad kind of tired.

feeling eyes on him, shanks glanced up. their eyes met for a moment, maybe two. then shanks turned away, face slightly, undeniably redder, rubbing his hand over his mouth.

galdino leaned in close to buggy’s ear. “you sure about that, buggy?”

blushing bright enough to rival his nose, buggy stomped off, steaming, muttering curses against smart-mouthed wax men under his breath.

but no, he wasn’t sure at all.

[middlingmay]

Going through my drafts and found this alternative scene for when John and Gale got together in TODCL. In this version, after Gale and John made up, Gale hinted that he'd like to go on a date, hoping John would take the hint and ask him out on one. But John took it as a different hint altogether:

Curt parked haphazard over the entrance to the lot. All the better. He didn't need nobody interrupting the reaming Bucky had coming for him. Inside, despite the pathetic fragment of hope Curt held that he'd gotten it all wrong, he saw Bucky wrist deep in an old tool box that should have been thrown out long ago. He was all dirtied up in his overalls. “Goddamn it, Bucky what have you done?”

Bucky looked up, the bags under his eyes heavy and dark despite having mostly gotten over that rotten cold he'd been fighting. “What do you want?” Short and brusque. “You wanna tell me why Buck is going on a date, and it's not with you?” Bucky gripped a rusty, unrecognisable tool like he wanted to throw it. Curt almost wanted him to try, but instead he took a breath and turned back to the tool box. “Because he asked me to set him up on one.” “Really? Buck said, I want you, Bucky Egan, who I’ve been eye fucking for months, to set me up on a date with another man?” “We agreed to be friends, and he said he wanted a date. Friends set friends up all the time. It's not a big deal.” Curt didn't have Bucky's self control, and wasn't that just all the proof he needed of how far these two fuckin' idiots had pushed him. He hefted up an empty oil can and hurled it at Bucky, who dove out the way. "HEY!" “You fuckin’ idiot! You know what, Bucky? I hope this guy is something. I hope he sweeps Gale of his feet! Then you'll realise what a thick skull you’ve got.” John sneered bitterly but his eyes glittered all the same, “Yeah, stick the knife in why don’t you.” “I don't have to! You're doing a great job all by yourself. God damn it Bucky! He thinks he's going on date with you! He's with Marge now, getting ready. He's excited! Or do you know that anyway? And this is payback for what he did? He breaks your heart so you break his? Get the ledgers even? You son of a bitch." But as angry as Curt got, John didn't rise. Curt saw the thick swallow of his throat and the flex of his hand and the short jerk of his head; all signs that Bucky wanted to let loose and reign a little hell with that Egan temper. But something kept his eyes down and his shoulders hunched. “You got it wrong Curt.” “Yeah, we’ll fuckin’ see. Good little Catholic ain’t you? Self flagellating like a pro. Fuck sake.”

[featherandferns]

JJ smut with prompt 19 plsss

19. Make me.

Hi lovely! Sorry for the delay and thank you for your patience! This is a little short but I hope you like it <3

Content warnings: sexual content

storeroom - prompt 19

“You’re such an asshole!” you seethe at JJ.

He scoffs and rolls his eyes, petty to the max. “And you aren’t?”

“Why can’t you take your job seriously?” you hiss. “They’re actually paying a decent wage and folks here are paying a lotta money for a decent meal, and you’re slacking on the job.”

“You’re not my fucking manager, okay?” JJ snarls, stalking towards you. “You don’t getta tell me what to do and what not to do. You’re a waitress, alright? So you better pucker up princess and pull the stick from out of your ass.”

“Watch your fucking mouth blondie,” you spit.

You square up to him as if you could lay him out in a second on the storeroom floor. Clearly sending the two of you to top up on supplies for the function tomorrow, after hours, wasn’t the smartest move from your supervisor.

JJ Maybank was a dickhead. He seemed to know which buttons to push with you to have you foaming at the mouth and blowing steam out your ears. He seemed to enjoy pushing them too. Did so until you were at your breaking point with him and his stupid face.

“What? You want me to stop putting you in your place?”

“I want you to stop talking full-stop, so I can get maybe a moment of peace in this Goddamn restaurant,” you bite back.

JJ smirks, cold and cruel. “Oh yeah? Make me, princess.”

You glower at his face. His stupid, handsome, gorgeous face.

You can’t say why, or when, or even how, but you and JJ are suddenly kissing. He seems taken aback, stumbling forward, pushing your back against the precariously balanced boxes of napkins and tea lights. Pulling back, eyes wide and mouth somewhat agape in shock, you and JJ regard each other a moment. Eyes flicking over features; breathing heavy and disjointed. There’s a moment where you both seem to debate whether or not this is the right thing; debate saying this out loud; then simultaneously agree on one common thought. Fuck it. You’d always thought JJ was kind of attractive. Well, more than kind of, but there was no way in hell you’d ever tell him so.

The make-out that follows is filthy and messy and confusing. JJ ends up with his back against the wall with you pressing against him. You both groan as his hard-on rocks against your crotch.

“This is a bad idea,” JJ says. His hand creeps under your shirt, messing to undo your bra.

“Definitely,” you pant. Your eyes are fixated on his lips and you can’t help but kiss him again, sinking your teeth leisurely into his lower lip for just a second.

“Fuck,” JJ groans. He yanks your shirt over your head and you shuck off your unfastened bra. Impatient, JJ palms at your breasts. The fact that both of you are on the clock, in the restaurant’s storeroom seems to be of no concern to either of you. “We should probably stop.”

“Probably,” you mumble. You unzip the fly of his work pants (they’re so fucking tight on him it’s almost criminal how good they make him look) and slip a hand hastily into his boxers. JJ stammers out a moan as you rub at his erection. Something shoots through you, be it attraction or hate. The two lay on a thin line.

“I don’t even like you,” JJ stammers.

You look up at him with that. Hooded eyes and swollen lips, he’s rosy cheeked and overtly horny. Squeezing at the head, making him moan, you can’t help but smirk.

“You sure about that, blondie?”

JJ stares down at you. His white button-up is still fastened and it’s unfair. You want to see him – all of him. Nobody should be allowed to be this attractive and this much of an asshole. The world is full of cruelties.

You continue working him with your hand, grinning malevolently when you feel him throb under your hold, already getting close. Men are so fucking simple.

JJ sighs. There’s a twitch of a grin to his lips, mirroring yours, and there’s this thrilling, terrifying thought that comes to your mind as he takes you in, like a predator observing its prey.

He’s going to wreck me.

[houseofbrat]

You don't just "sit this one out" if you're the future Queen. A state visit is a must attend for her (and she looks capable of attending) so there are weird shenanigans going on here. I really can't stand all the lies. I so wish the truth would come out from someone, anyone. It's beyond odd that the lid has been kept on this thing so long.

Whoa, she is OUT.

Kate loves getting glam for the cameras and what a great way to reintroduce her to the public after whatever happened to her. It does seem like she’s being punished and seriously she’s been nothing but loyal. She went after Meghan with that same Rottweiler energy Cam showed Diana. That wasn’t worthy of a reward? It just shows we know nothing of these folks. But they’re having a much harder time pretending they’re normal, aren’t they? The magic spell is getting threadbare…

Why should she be there? Why should she get to wear a pretty dress and jewels when she can’t be bothered to do any actual work?

She’s recovered enough to do multiple photoshoots and a video shoot to tell us she’s “not out of the woods” so nobody expects her to show up at a patronage but somehow healthy enough for glam events like Wimbledon or Trooping.

KP leaked that she’s not attending because she wants to focus on her Carol concert 🙄 Or even if this is her being “punished” which is to say held accountable for not wanting to do the boring day job, I see no issue with it.

She looks really unhappy, like on the verge of tears almost. What the hell is going on?

Nothing is worth this and it’s pretty obvious that dealing with him is terrible for her health. She’s good at playing the long game. I don’t know why she doesn’t divorce him, lay low, outlive him to spit on his grave, and have her son take care of her in her old age.

She will always be taken care of, but I am assuming they are holding custody of the kids over her so she can go nowhere.

What do you mean? They're obviously so in love! Every gesture, every glance shows it. You people are just jealous of their eternal bond

/s XD

What a difference a few months make ... thinking back to that stunning smile in the carriage at Trooping the Colour. In June, it was like she had the upper hand. But she should have realised who always had the power - and it's not the one who marries into that family. It is a cursed title from that point of view.

Whatever she's had to agree to, it is too much. No wonder they looked so awkward at the Qatari reception. It was like a divorced couple, trying to be civil. The body language screamed "Get me out of here!"

William's ONLY JOB is to put on a happy face for the public and he can't even be bothered to do that. He's riding in a goddamn carriage for 5 minutes and the effort of seeming OK was too much for him to manage. This is a hair away from being Kate's version of Diana's Taj Mahal photo. They look as miserable as Chuck & Di did their last few outings. The only difference is that Kate can't bolt like Di did

One habit I noticed from Prince Phillip was that he generally walked with his hands clasped behind him. Because he didn't have to worry about carrying anything (he always had staff around to take care of those kinds of tasks), it made him seem more powerful. When William walks with his hands clasped in front of him, he looks like he's uncertain, vulnerable, protecting himself.

The point of royals attending events isn't to just talk to each other! Jeez. They're supposed to mingle. They are part of the fucking host family

I have had warmer conversations with waiters. The Press must be paid a ransom to keep quiet about this, but there again cancer silences all questions from utter lack of work ethic to why can you not bear your wife?

Their behaviour to the King has been vile from moment one and it continues into this cancer charade. I feel they would have rained on any of the king’s parades figuratively and literally. From Coronation to cancer. Odd her illness was announced on the pre planned press release date of the King’s planned prostate surgery. Nothing, including lateness at a coronation happens by accident.

Finally why is she the only person dressed as though she has popped in post church? Her dire coats dresses and that hideous hat, why? If we only get her a few times a year trot her out in high fashion designs from up and coming British designers. Their cos playing middle class people is frankly embarrassing for state funded multi millionaires who don’t pay their tax

Why the hat? It does look silly. No one else is wearing one. Something is going on. It looks like they are about to have a heated argument. She is talking at William and he looks over his shoulder to see if anyone is listening behind them. They both look totally unengaged and disinterested.

I know this is stated over and over again, but for someone with such enormous privilege and without the demands of modern motherhood, she looks like hell.

So basically she's only showing up for fancy dress photo-ops? It's giving half-in, half-out. You know, the same thing her BIL and SIL were prohibited from doing even though they were wanting to be financially independent.

Exactly. It is beyond me how so many people do not see this.

[cescalr]

wait hello?? please elaborate on the green haired lalna, i never watched soi

oh sure!

In... hmmmmm one episode, The Hand? maybe? where Honeydew and Xephos head into an ancient technological ruin (implied to be a giant death robot of some ilk), they find a whole bunch of "evil" honeydew clones that have degraded to mindless violence (implied they're non-sapient, lacking the mental capacity to go beyond base instinct because of how long they've been down there multiplying ad nauseam, each clone generation worsening with nobody to maintain the mechanisms), and tonnes of broken vats. However, one single cloning vat is still working - and there's a guy inside! That guy is fully buttoned up labcoat LividCoffee, with, for some reason, green hair. It's neat :D and fascinating. Lore wise. Extremely fascinating.

I went looking for proof - it's not The Hand (that's the "finale" lol); it's Doppelgängers - for some reason those episodes merged together in my head.

I also appear to be remembering him being alive completely wrong - for a uh, given value of 'alive'. given he's a zombie! and there's two of him. Whoops? I can't actually see good TM (hi, blind here) but people kept saying their hair was green back in the day and i absorbed that information. if it's wrong, I refuse to agree with reality! green haired lalna my beloved.

Also, again, my brain clearly likes to lie flagrantly to me, because while the honeydew clones are made by broken old machinery, that's because honeydew and xephos were fucking around again <3 idiots. I wonder what happens when you stand in the goddamn cloning vat and flick the lever.... buddies..... c'mon.

Anyway - there's two zombie (green haired! I'm not delusional!) Lalna's, which is even more fascinating than my shoddy memory allowed the situation to be, because that implies YogLabs devolved to making clones of clones at some point - along with giant death robots, but they were already doing that - after the Honeydew clone had to replace his original body because Testificate Betrayal Incident, even though Xephos knows with certainty that that's been worsening the quality of the cloning process due to.... well, all the failed Honeydew clones. and the Honeydew graveyard. That he makes Honeydew clones dig up. No he's not gone mental with grief what are you talking about.

Ahem. Judging by the state of SOI!Honeydew's clones, i think it's a mix of SOI!Honeydew being a pretty late-on clone-of-a-clone himself (remember, in Yogs canon all respawns are because of YogLabs, so in SOI for them to respawn - since they can respawn, I should say - they have to be clones.... though the time loop makes me question the metaphysics of it all; do they need vats in the present if the future is the past? Existential. Too existential for me. I like to think they do have vats in the present, in the bowels of what remains of YogLabs, deep in the heart of the desert (imo, it's the source of the desert, given that one YogLabs episode where, surprise surprise, Xephos had his team invent a thing that did the sand-ening process you see in SOI; in SOI, sand is like this organism that eats everything it touches, turning it into more sand, which works with YL lore because, hey, that's what the thing they made did! Tangent. Sorry).) and the machines being super borked. Amnesiac 1st gen clone Xephos* (original Xephos is currently running around as Israphel, imo - protag Xephos is a clone of an earlier, more stable version of the man who did a lil' rebellion <3 because orig!Xeph went. Um. Megalomaniacal) obviously wouldn't know any better than to flick the lever, lol. Just noting all that as I think it corroborates the ideas about YogLabs and cloning the canon gave me. (though i clearly need to rewatch the canon, given all my minor inaccuracies add up pretty heavily towards bad meta, and I hate making bad meta :( I love meta! I have an creative writing degree!!! I don't wanna make bad meta!!!!!!!)

Anyway: Green Haired Lalna! The reason it's so fascinating to see our zombie boy duo is that this is his first and only appearance(s) in SOI; we never meet an alive Lalnable Hector or Lalna LividCoffee. This implies a lot; there's no Lal alive because all his anchor clones are dead, perhaps. Or his clones are the characters Duncan Jones portrayed, made unrecognisable by time, the time-loop amnesia, and mechanical mishaps with the cloning process so they look a lil' different - it could explain why everyone in SOI is.... Like That. (Everyone in SOI acts like a faulty clone(-of-a-clone-of-a-clone-etc); a little not all there, in some respects, and extreme caricatures of themselves besides). There's a bunch of options! All of them pretty valid, 'cause of how fast and loose YogsMC plays with its own continuity, as an improv semi-scripted series with.... plenty of unfinished storylines. More for me to mess with! As a writer i appreciate the sandbox. As an audience member I shake my fist at the sky in great torment! /joke. Am a bit miffed still, though. Over a decade later (jeez. youch. augh. I was 11, holy shit....).

I think I'll have to change what I said in the tags of the Lalnable post, though, because i was working off of bad memory for that opinion.

I still think FB!Lalnable Hector is a direct clone of anchor lalna, but i'm no longer certain either of the lalnas we see in SOI are original lalna - rather, also direct clones of anchor lalna used to created manpower for the operation of the giant death robot; why hire a 12 man crew when you can clone one from the same man at 2x speed? And as we can see in YL 2nd gen (clone-of-clone) clones aren't unstable enough for this to be a bad idea; Honeydew post-replacement may have less.... wherewithal... but he's not entirely incapacitated by clone degeneration - current YL!Honeydew may be a poor imitation friend for Xephos, but he could still pilot a death robot! So I think I'm going with: whatever war YogLabs was fighting in to warrant the death robots (we know Xephos is spending a lot of YL prepping for war with various foreign nations, so this isn't an unlikely event - in some ways he appears to be actively seeking that outcome, because he's speedrunning self-fulfilling time-loop shenanigans i guess.) got desperate enough they used cloning to bulk up manpower numbers, and in typical YL fashion they borked it by cutting corners on the mechanisms of this fact, by using sub-par machinery and clones-of-clones-of-clones, who can definitely pilot death robots but may not have the sheer brilliance of their original (lalnable hector, in this instance, being a certifiable genius, and his clones are smart, but less-and-less so due to the way YL cloning works) so they fuck up more often and thus the systems in place start failing, and lo and behold you have two zombie Lalnas in cloning vats, how did they zombify?????? How??????? What was in the genetic material sludge they were floating in for [time loop confusing the timeline; no actual idea how long it takes for All That to go down] to do that.

Anyway; now i have thoughts!!! So many of them. Thank you for the ask or I'd have gone on with my goldfish sieve memory assumptions about SOI/YL/Lalna and been worse off for it. Also, I just like canon accuracy. Being able to fuck with canon and take it to its logical extremes is what i find fun, personally. Canon complicit, i heard it called - I like that one. Not compliant. That implies bowing under pressure. No no. I'm in on the evil scheme entirely willingly. Enthusiastically, even!

Anyway: Yeah. Green Haired Lalnable Hectors / LividCoffee(s) my beloveds. I do wish one of them had been alive, because I love SOI's silly little grandfather paradox (Xephos = Israphel, and all it's horrible no good brain melting implications) interpretation, and if one of them had been alive then you could infer a second grandfather paradox - lalnable hector's clone is his original existance; wait, what? - because fucking with whatever 'original' timeline absolutely screwed and destabilized this one. And it didn't even work! Xephos, you never cease to amaze me in the many ways you can fail spectacularly at things. Pathetic main character that never wins long-term <3 Doomed by the very narrative he created! Glorious.

... this was a Lalna ask. Lol. Sorry! I never get to talk about yogsmc. I have so many thoughts.

Anyway: that's basically it, I think? Lalnas in vats; do with this what you will! Fascinating stuff, truly.

(That was not particularly well constructed, lol, but i hope it was interesting anyway!)

[solarbird]

I’ve been thinking about the “weird” label being used – very effectively – at the fascists lately.

Personally, I’d prefer the word “bizarre” but, well, weird’s what we got and it’s working great at fucking ’em up, so keep it going. I’ve seen a couple of other people say that “weird” invokes the “weird uncle” who ruins family gatherings by going off about conspiracy theory bullshit, and I have to agree – that’s a good connection to make.

On the other hand, I know a lot of weird people, people who are weird in good ways, and they’re seeing all the old bullying coming right back at their faces again.

Importantly, I think there’s a dividing line here, and I even think it’s one people kind of get. So being reminded of that line’s existence might help some people.

Americans are just fine with individual people being weird. Artists, writers, other ‘creatives.’ Makers. Inventors. They should be weird. Neither Doc Brown nor Jillian Holtzmann nor Rick Sanchez are what you’d call normal people, and it’s fine.

But Americans aren’t actually fine at all with politicians being weird. Yes, individuals can be weird – even gloriously weird – but politicians should not be weird.

(And yeah, I’m looking at you, “goodspaceguy” of Seattle.)

So if you’re weird, just remember: you’re not also a politician. Maybe you’re a gadfly, or even a little arty, if not an out and out artist, writer, inventor, musician, maker – for me, for you, for all of us, weird is a positive. The creativity part, that’s the weird.

But for a politician?

Weird is not a positive, and I think the difference is power.

Particularly if your power is power over others.

You do your weird, I’ll do my weird, we can be weird and it’s okay. Maybe we can be weird together Just don’t make me do your weird, that’s not okay. YKINMK, but for weirdness.

But add actual power to the mix, and things change.

Political power makes your weird suddenly into my weird, whether I want it to or not…

…and nobody likes that.

Except them.

Which is part of why they’re so goddamn weird…

…in the bad way.

I’ve had to spend a lot of time in politics – far, far more than I ever wanted. I’m pretty good at this shit. I’m real good at enemy intelligence and trends plotting, particularly long term – far better than I’ve been given credit for, even if like everyone else I’m not perfect. In some ways, I’m obscenely good at this, but all those ways are really, really weird. And I should never be a politician.

So. If you’re feeling bad about all the “weird,” just remember – they’re talking about weird politicians. Weirdos who are creepy and all about power.

And if that’s not you, then, well – relax. It’s okay.

It’s not about you…

…and you are just fine.

95 days remain.