#and i might make another for my favorite one shots later too! this was pretty fun

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I have made a first pass at a flowchart for my fics! This one only has multi-chapter fics on it (because I don't want to put 100 fics on there, fifteen took long enough). It'll be more legible if you open it in a new tab and zoom in!

Thanks to @blakbonnet for suggesting the flowchart idea, I had a lot of fun making it. Give it a look and find the fic you should read on my ao3 here!

[xotaemintol]

MARKHYUCK X FEMBLACK READER //APT.// <PT.1>

♡ “All you gotta do is meet me at the…” ♡

[She/Her pronouns, plus size friendly. Warning, this fanfiction will contain; heavy drinking, cursing, drunk sex, oral sex, vaginal sex, kissing, unprotected sex, implications of cheating, and more. Part one contains; Heavy Drinking, stripping, and cursing. If any of these things are triggering for you, please look away, thank you.]

[What is APT? 아파트 (AH/PA/TU), is an Korean drinking game. Two players or more stack their hands and chant: “아파트, 파트, 아파트, 파트, 아파트.” as they wave their hands, alternating them between each other. One player picks a number and another counts, as this player counts everyone moves their hands to the top starting from the bottom. The player with their hand on the top takes a shot and the game continues.]

(Please ignore any mistakes 😭 this was deleted 2 times, and I’ve rewritten all of this from memory, so bear with me. I’m also debating on finishing this, but you let me know what I should do.)

Leave it to Jisung Park to cancel plans he made at the last minute. You should’ve known better than to listen to him when he said he wanted to join Mark and Haechan to throw you a small house warning party. Not even 30 minutes later and he had already backtracked.

“Sorry, I can’t make it tonight, another night okay?” He said. You could strangle him. You had ordered enough food to feed four grown men, and just as you expected, he canceled.

But, luckily for you Mark and Donghyuck were on there way. They sent a text to the groupchat reassuring you that they’d be coming tonight, unlike Jisung.

You sigh and grab three shot glasses to sat them on the coffee table. Placing them down you smile. At least you can count on the two of them, so you don’t feel too bad. It’s not even 15 minutes after their text that you hear your doorbell ring, excited, you squeal and rush over to the door as you call out in a singing tone; “Coming!”

You check the small monitor beside the door, just to be sure that it’s them before—just as you assumed, it is. With a large smile on your face you open the door and squeal happily.

“You came!” You hug them both as Mark laughs. “Duh, we told you we were.” Haechan says jokingly in a snarky tone.

You roll your eyes playfully and look down at the bags in his hands. “Whoa, is that just alcohol?” You ask. Mark nods, “I told him we don’t need that much, but he said-“ “What’s a house warming party without enough alcohol to kill a bear?” You laugh and nod your head in agreement as you step aside to let them in.

Mark shakes his head, they take off their shoes by the door and you lead them back inside.

“It’s just the three of us though, we can’t drink all of that.” Mark agrees with you, but Haechan only waves the two of you off. “It’ll be fine, you can keep whatever you don’t drink tonight—think of it as a gift from your favorite man.” You snicker and sit down on the floor in front of your couch.

They look around the apartment for a second before sitting down. “Damn, this might be nicer than my place.” Mark says. You scoff and look up at him with a smile, “You mean your hundred billion dollar apartment? Yeah, right.” Haechan grunts softly as he sits on the couch beside you.

He sits the bags down on the table and begins to empty the contents out. “Might be? Mark could spend ten billion dollars and his apartment would still suck compared to yours.” You watch as he empties the bottles out of the bags. “What? Why?” Mark asks. Haechan look at him with a smug expression and says; “Because, your apartment doesn’t have a pretty woman.” He says simply.

“Yours doesn’t have one either.” “Says who? Y/N comes over all the time.” “Sure she does. She basically lived with me before she moved.” The pair continue to bicker, but your attention shifts to the sheer amount of alcohol Donghyuck bought. Silently, you count the bottles.

‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11…’

Your eyes widen and you turn to Haechan saying; “How much do you expect us to drink tonight? Aren’t you both lightweights?!” Mark immediately disagrees, so does Donghyuck. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.”

_

After giving them a tour of your apartment, you decided that it would be nice to watch a movie while waiting for the food to come. None of the three of you had even acknowledged the bottles of soju sitting on the table. You were too busy trying to figure out what to do next to beat the settling boredom.

“Let’s watch another movie.” You suggest, “There’s nothing to watch.” Donghyuck states. You hum softly as you scroll through the endless movies on the screen. “Terrifier?” Mark immediately disagrees. “Absolutely not, it’s just gore and cruel and unusual punishment.”

“Ballerina?” “We watched that last month.” “A quiet place?” “No, we watched that too.”

You continue going back and forth with Mark until Haechan finally speaks up and says; “Let’s play 아파트!” You turn to look at Haechan and with a confused expression you ask; “What’s that?” He grins.

“A drinking game.” He slips off the couch and sits on the floor beside you. “So, we all put our hands on top of each others and go ‘아파트 파트, 아파트 파트,아파트 파트.’ And then we start move our hands up to the top of the stack and then who’s ever hand is on top has to drink.” You stare at Donghyuck slightly confused, slowly nodding your head with a puzzled expression.

He shakes his head and sucks his teeth. “Mark,” he says, “Come here.” Mark—seemingly already knowing what the game is, sits beside you on the floor and rolls his eyes. “Look, we’ll show you.” Mark puts his hand in the middle and Haechan places his hand on top, Mark puts his hand above Haechans and then Haechan puts his other above Marks.

“Okay, now—since I suggested the game, we say ‘Hyuck’s game, Donghyuck game, game start’ and then we wave are hands like this.”

To demonstrate, they begin waving their hands while alternating which one is on top and which one is on the bottom while chanting; “아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트.” When they stop Haechan’s hand is on the bottom, while one of Mark’s is on the top. “Okay, so since my hand is on the bottom, I pick a number and Mark counts.” You nod and watch. “9.” Mark rolls his eyes and sighs before counting to nine.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.” After counting Mark’s hand is on top again. “Since Mark’s hand is on top he has to take a shot, and then it’s his turn to choose and I count.” He says, “Sounds easy, right?” You nod, this time fully understanding.

“Yeah, easy when he isn’t cheating.” Mark mutters, “There is no cheating, you’re just bad at the game.”

_

After just 20 minutes Mark is 5 shots deep, you’re 4, and Haechan is only 1. You quickly realized after your third shot that Donghyuck is strangely good at this game, and Mark is strangely bad at it. Luckily, it was your turn and you were really starting to grasp how to win.

“아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트!” The three of you chant, your hand ends on the bottom and you look over at Haechan with a grin. His poker face is killer. He’s been so calm this whole time, laughing as you and Mark—mostly Mark, filled your glasses to the brim and took shot after shot. But you can’t let him win, so before shouting out a number you think. You glance around you for a second before hesitantly shouting out; “7!”

Mark begins to count and you nervously move your hands upward. “5, 6, 7.” “YES!” You jump up as Donghyuck’s hand lands on top. You laugh as he presses his tongue against his cheek, chuckling as Mark pats his shoulder. “Bottoms up Hyuck!” You tease.

You quickly sit down and pour his shot, pouring until the alcohol is almost overflowing. “Drink! Drink! Drink!” He laughs in amusement at your cute reaction and takes the shot to his head. Just like the first one, he makes it look easy.

As he sits his glass down you gasp and lean onto Mark in a playful manner, you place on hand on his chest and the other on his thigh. "Watch out Mark," You say in a fake whisper; "I think he's planning something." But Mark doesn't respond. His foggy mind is distracted by the smell of your lotion.

Usually he's used to you being so close, but in his impaired state he feels a little shameless. His desire to get a better smell of your scent is a little stronger than his morality, so, he leans in close to smell you a little more. But, just as he does you turn around and look at him. He flinches back and quickly looks away from you, turning red from his neck up as he nervously laughs.

"Be careful, we can't let him win." You add. Haechan, who watched silently laughs and adds in a teasing tone. "Yeah Markie Pooh, don't let me win." You snap your head over to Haechan and jokingly poke his chest as you glare at him. "I'm watching you, don't get cocky Hyuck." He smirks and looks down at you with his eyebrows raised. "Watch all you want," He says. "I don't mind."

You laugh and roll your eyes as you sit up. "Alright. Let's keep going."

The game continues and once again the three of you begin the chant. This time, Mark's hand is at the bottom and Donghyuck counts. Just as expected your hand ends up on top. "Damn it!"

You grab your glass and Haechan fills it to the brim. You huff and quickly down the drink, "Alright! Let's go." Haechan laughs and nods.

"아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트!" This time, his hand is at the bottom. "8." Haechan calls out. Mark inhales deeply and begins to count. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." You silently prayed for Donghyuck's hand to end up on top—but, conveniently for him, this time it's Mark.

You grab another bottle of soju and fill Mark's shot glass. The game continues like this for another five minutes until it's finally Haechan's turn to drink again, but before taking his shot he looks at the two of you and says. "Let's make this more fun." "How?" You ask. His grin tells you that he has a mischievous idea in mind.

"Let's strip after every shot." He suggests. "What?! No!" "Okay." Your reaction is completely different from Mark's. In your mind, the added element of stripping would add a million times more thrill to the game. Currently, there isn't much at stake other than a hangover for everyone. But stripping, adds a certain type of excitement and risk that would make this game even more fun.

As you turn to Mark you ask; "Why not?" Donghyuck leans over your shoulder and repeats after you asking in a teasing tone; "Yeah Mark, why not?" Mark rolls his eyes but before he can respond you say; "C'mon Mark, it'll be fun!" Mark looks at the both of you for a second, the mischievous look on Haechan's face and the excited one on yours spell danger, but—he agrees either way.

"Okay, fine." "Yes!" Haechan takes his shot and this time, instead of continuing the game, he begins to peel his shirt off his body. As he does so you watch with wide and surprises eyes. As he does so you watch with wide and surprises eyes. You grin as he tosses his shirt aside and reach to touch his chest, but he covers his body with his arms and stops you.

"Uh, uh! This isn't free ma'am!" He says jokingly, "But for you..." He moves his arms and allows you to freely touch his chest. You laugh as your hands roam his chest saying; "I love this game." You look over at Mark and grin. "Sorry Mark," Your hand pauses for a moment and you give him a fake pout. "But I hope you lose."

"What?! Why?" Mark asks with a laugh, you grin and shrug your shoulders saying; "I gotta see how much you have in common with Spider-Man." He scoffs and rolls his eyes, but Haechan laughs at your joke.

"Whatever, let's keep playing."

Again the chanting starts. "아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트!" Now that the stakes have been raised, every time the word leaves your mouth your hands feel sweater and your heart seems to beat a little faster. A mixture between excitement and anxiety fill your drunken body, and when your hands finally stop—with yours at the bottom, you almost jump up in excitement as you yell out; "YES!"

They laugh at your excitement, but as soon as you throw out a number, Mark's laughter stops. Donghyuck counts and your hands begin to move. "3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10." "DAMN IT!" Mark curses as his hand ends up on top, but you can't help but cheer. "Yeah baby! Strip! Strip! Strip!" Haechan laughs loudly at your reaction and at Mark's loss as he pours him a shot, only filling the glass half way this time.

Mark huffs loudly and takes it, he slowly drinks it down and then slams the glass on the table. "Take it off! Take it off! Take-" You stop and cover your mouth as he glares at you playfully. You retreat to Haechan and lean your back against him while chanting a bit quieter, "Take it off, take it off." Haechan now following along behind you to further antagonize Mark.

Reluctantly, Mark slowly strips himself of his shirt—only to reveal a white tank top underneath his T-shirt.

“Aw man! What the hell?” You roll your eyes in annoyance and sit up. Mark can’t help but laugh at your reaction. “What?” He teases, “Were you that excited to see me naked?” With zero hesitation you say yes. “Why are you wearing two shirts anyways?” “I always wear an under shirt.” You roll your eyes and look away from him.

“Yeah, alright.”

The game continues and this time Mark’s hand is at the bottom, the two of you stare at him—waiting for him to shout out a number. You can tell he’s nervous from the way his eyes dart around. His cute smile as he thinks gives you butterflies.

“Uhm, 12!” You laugh and shake your head as you begin to count. “1, 2, 3…” You slowly, the anticipation is killing Mark, but entertaining for you and Haechan. “7, 8, 9, 10, 11…” You laugh, knowing that it’ll be on Mark again and finally say 12. Mark groans loudly as Haechan bursts into laughter.

“Take it off! Take it off!” This time, you’re fully expecting him to take off his shirt. But of course not. “Socks count as clothing.” Mark says. You whine and roll your eyes. “What?! How! That’s not even fair!” Haechan stops you and says in a calm tone. “No no, let him take of his socks.” “After that, he’ll have to take his shirt off.”

You look at Donghyuck and softly gasp in excitement. “You’re right!” Mark laughs in disbelief at the both of you and takes both his socks off.

As the game starts again you feel even more determined. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but the room suddenly feels a bit hotter. Tension rises with every second but it only makes the game even more entertaining.

Your hands stop again, but this time Haechan’s hand on the bottom.

In a relaxed manner Haechan calls out his number; “7.” Both you and Mark, are expecting him to have set up Mark to take his shirt off, it only makes sense. Nervously, Mark begins to count, but unexpectedly, your hand ends up on top. “NO!” Mark laughs as he claps his hands. “Ha!” Donghyuck joins him and pours your shot.

“Whatever, youll end up taking it off either way.” You take off your shirt and then drink the alcohol in your glass. When you sit it down the two of them are shamelessly, staring at your breast.

“If you’re gonna stare at least don’t make it so obvious.” You joke. “Hey, it’s not my fault your heart is behind your breasts.” Haechan says, you laugh and playfully shove him as Mark sits silently, turning red as he tries his hardest not to stare.

“Okay, let’s go.”

This time, the chanting is a lot slower. The game feels more fun, but you also feel a little anxious. Sitting between the two of them like this isn’t completely out of the ordinary, you’ve changed in front of them more times than you can count on your fingers and toes—but something about this, the energy and the heat radiating of their bodies makes it feel different.

“아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트…” repeating the process, only this time you’ve picked the number—Haechan counts and your hands move. Your breathing becomes deeper and slower. Finally, your hands stop and to your luck, Mark’s hand is on top .

You high five Donghyuck before pouring Mark’s shot, only filling it half way. “Drink up.” Mark shakes his head and picks up the glass. He takes a second before sipping it down, and when it’s all gone he sits it down then slowly slips his shirt off.

He tossing his shirt next to yours, before he can say anything your hands are already on his body as if they have a mind of their own. He doesn’t even stop you. Instead he watches with a smirk on his flushed face

“Are you happy now?” He asks, you nod and look at him. “Very.” You respond. He leans his head back and smiles with his tongue pressed against his cheek, “You act like you’ve never seen us without a shirt on before.” Haechan says. “Yeah, but usually y’all act like I’m a criminal for looking.” Mark grabs your hands and raises his eyebrow at you. “You’re acting like one.” He says playfully.

You laugh and put your hands up. “Can you blame me?” “Yes.” Again, the game starts. “아파트 파트, 아파트 파트, 아파트 파트!” The pace picks up again as excitement builds and your hand is on the bottom. “13!” Mark counts, his speed also picking up. “9, 10, 11, 12, 12!”

The two of them cheer loudly as you hand lands on top. “Let’s go!” Mark shouts, they high five and laugh—but after you’ve taken your shot they both realize what comes next and their excite smiles slowly fade.

“Oh, wait. You don’t have to-“ Before Mark can finish you stand up and begin unbuttoning your pants. “Rules are rules.” You shove your pants down, trying not to let your underwear get caught—when they’re down to your calf’s you place your hand on Haechan’s shoulder to keep your balance.

You struggle to get them off your leg, it only hits you now just how drunk you are. Luckily, Mark notices and helps you. He looks up at you as he slowly slides the pant leg down your calf, the look in his hazy eyes is a mixture of embarrassment and arousal. Your own reflection almost the same thing.

You look down at him a little longer, staring into his eyes as the tension stirs—quickly becoming sexual. It’s only when Haechan clears his throat that you look away. You chuckle anxiously and stumble a little as you place your other hand on Marks shoulder so you can get the other leg down. But just as Mark did, Haechan helps you get it off.

Placing one hand on your foot and the other on your knee, just above your shin he looks up at you with a look similar to Marks. A confident one, one that’s equally as sexual. His hand slowly slides down your leg to push the fabric off your—now, warm skin. When it’s bunched up at the bottom he pulls it all the way down then tosses them to the side with his own shirt.

Slowly, you sit down with the help of Haechan and inhale deeply.

“Should we keep going?” He asks, you nod your head and then look to Mark who seemed to be waiting for your answer before giving his own. “You aren’t gonna quit now, right?” Mark shakes his head. “What about you?” Haechan shakes his head as well. “Okay, good!”

You clap your hands together and put them in the middle, they quickly follow suit—in your stomach the heat you felt becomes a scorching sensation. As you move your hands the tingling sensation in the depths of your body becomes stronger.

“9.” Mark says. As he slurs his words, Haechan counts to nine. Mark moves his hand, then you move yours, then Haechan, then Mark, then you, then Haechan, then Mark, then you again, and finally Haechan.

Standing up Haechan locks his lips and slowly pulls the strings to his feet sweats loose. As they come undone you feel a soft throb between your legs, you watch shamelessly. Too intoxicated to pretend that you hadn’t ever thought about a moment like this. He slowly shoves them down his thighs, his face turning red as the bulge in his underwear is put on full display.

The moment you notice it you feel a sensation similar to having to pee, that heat quickly turns into a wetness.

Neither you or Mark make a comment about the erection in his boxers. At this point, you’re sure Mark must be on the same page. It’d be pointless to point it out.

“Should we keep going?” Mark asks, before Haechan could answer you respond for him. “Why would we stop?” Both your words are slurred. “Exactly, I’ll be damned if I’m the only one exposed tonight.” Donghyuck sits down and you laugh a little. “See, this is why I’m glad I don’t have a penis.” You comment, “What does that mean?” Donghyuck asks.

“Exactly what I said.” You look at him, but his expression makes you look away immediately. His eyes are low and the grin on his face makes you feel unbelievably horny. “But anyways…” You clear your throat and sit up. ‘Relax.’ You think to yourself. But the feeling between your legs is so intense already.

“C’mon, you said we should keep going.” Everyone places their hands in the middle again, but now, there’s no chant. You move your hands and when your hand is on the bottom, you give a number and silently pray that it doesn’t end up in you being completely bare. “1…2…3…4…5…6..7…8…” To your luck, Mark’s hand is on the top. This time, he doesn’t reach to grab his glass; instead, he stands up and unbuckles his belt.

Again, you sit mesmerized. Admiring the way his hands look as he yanks his belt through the loops, even in your drunken state you can still recall all the times you’ve thought about being on your knees in front of him as he took his pants off.

His belt hits the floor with a loud clanking sound, but you don’t look away to see where it landed; you’re too busy watching him remove his pants in a rushed manner. You lick your lips as you see the band of his boxers. Just like Donghyuck, when he’s finally removed them you can see that you were right. He’s in the same boat. The erection in his boxers is as clear as day…..

[writingmysanity]

New Favorites

pairing: sanji x fem!baker

Prompt: Red

word count: 1924

TW: mentions of getting drunk, drinking, kisses. This is Fluff -- as requested @stray-kaz making the love cook happy! sorry meant to post this this morning (almost 12 hours ago) but our hot water heater went out and ended up having to boil water to get clean and between the process and the warmth of the bath... took most of the day (including my taking an impromptu nap afterwards) but please, have this unbeta'd first edition to the #rainbowdrabblechallenge <3 I hope you like it. this is yet another continuation of my series of one shots and commit to the bit for Sanji and his baker! i love them your honor.

========

Giggles echo harshly outside of the kitchen, bouncing off the walls and resting at Sanji’s feet well before you actually come stumbling through the door. He pauses in his cleaning to watch you, your eyes flickering around the kitchen in confusion until they fall on him, a large smile crossing your face. The sight is enough to cause a painful thump in his chest as a smile of his own eases onto his face. 

“Hello, sweetheart.” he hums, straightening from where he had been scrubbing at something, another scuff on his otherwise pristine floors – but what is he to expect with the likes of pirates around? 

Another giggle escapes you as you stumble further in, your eyes never leaving his. The action nearly earns your face to his floors as you catch yourself on the table. His hands linger in the air where he had lurched forward to catch you had you fallen. 

“I should sit,” you sing, slumping into the seat beside you. 

“You should” he agrees, eyes softening over your drunken form as you lean back to take another drink from the bottle. “Have you been drinking with zoro?” he inquires, leaning against the countertop, watching you. You hum in agreement, earning a scoff from the tall cook. 

“That was a bad idea,” he sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. You shrug with a sloppy grin. 

“Maybe!” you nearly shout, but, catching his wince, lower your voice considerably. “But the wine you got was too delicious. And then I thought of you… so I had to see you.” you state as a matter of factly, nodding firmly. You groan at the action, your vision swimming around you – his brilliant eyes the focus. 

He chuckles.

“You’re drunk,” he can't help his smile. You sought him out while you were drunk, and for some reason, that felt like an accomplishment. 

you don't pay his comment any attention as you lean forward on the table, eyes zeroed in on him, resting your head on your hand. 

“Goodness, you're gorgeous.” you murmur, meaning to speak more to yourself. Unfortunately, you might as well have screamed it, your voice echoing perfectly back to the blond man who had begun trying to scrub at the dishes in the sink. He pauses again, quickly coming to the conclusion that he won't be able to get any work done with you like this. 

“You’re really drunk,” he comments with an exasperated sigh, hands stilling in the water. You nod with a sheepish grin. 

“Sure,” you slur. “But you're still hot.” 

His movements are slow, well aware of your eyes on him as he dries his hands before stepping over to you. Your smile seems to grow the closer he gets, the unbridled excitement in your eyes earning another painful thump in his chest. That smile drops when he leans for the bottle of wine. 

“Last drinks, pretty girl,” he hums as you try to tug the bottle away from him. You whine, eyeing it. 

“But it's good.” he nods, trying to keep from laughing at you outright. It may not be taken well with you being so far gone. 

“That is why I bought it,” he agrees. When you continue to pull it away from him, he sighs, settling into the chair across from you. “Can I have a drink?” he asks, hand outstretched. He is shocked when he finds it in his grasp moments later, your drunken giggles settling around him again. 

“You’re going to drink with me,” you sing, elongating several of the words drunkenly. He swirls the bottle in his hand, noting how light it already is. There are perhaps only a few drinks left in it. With a shrug, he tips the bottle back, swallowing the rest. The weight of your gaze causes the heat to rise up his neck as he gives you a sweet smile. 

“Not much to drink, love.” he states. “We should get you to bed.” you shake your head quickly, fumbling forward as you reach for his hand. He lets you take it, palm resting upwards so that he can wrap his fingers around yours – an anchor as your head sloshes like the sea fumbling along the shore line not too far away. 

“But I just got here,” you whine, looking up at him pleadingly. “Play a game with me?” you request sweetly, jutting your bottom lip out in a pout. He sighs, setting the bottle off to the side, nodding. 

“What game?”

“20 questions!” he snorts, shaking his head. 

“Fine,” he agrees. “Who goes first?” you tap your chin slowly, the movements clumsy and over dramatic as you pretend to think. 

“You.” 

“What is your favorite color?” he asks plainly, motioning for you to answer as your nose scrunches, a pitiful frown twisting your face for a moment. 

“Awe,” you grouch. “You’re no fun!” The implication that you were hoping for something more, either naughty or personal, does not escape his attention. Though neither of those things are good options with how far gone you are. 

He is sure you won't even remember this come morning. 

“Just answer the question,” he hums, offering you a smile. You pause, staring up at him, eyes softened with wonder as you watch the ocean in his eyes, the way the waves seem to calm as he smiles. The gentle sloshing of the ship resting in the harbor doesn't help as you tip back and forth, clutching his hand like the lifeline it is. 

“Blue,” you hum, laying your head on your arm that is outstretched for his hand. He softens, reaching over to tuck your hair behind your ear gently.

“Your turn,” his voice is soft, slow. Sighing contently, you shift your head to rest your chin on your arm instead, looking up at him through your lashes. 

“Favorite color,” you grumble, hiding your smile. He snorts. 

“Ah, no fun,” he mimics, eyes sparkling in the low light of the moonlight glittering through the galley window behind you. He goes to answer, his mouth open to speak when you perk up quickly, jerking back. With your hold on his hand, you jerk him forward slightly in your excitement. 

“Can I guess?” he pauses before nodding, head tilting to the side, smile stretching in amusement. 

“Sure, sweetheart. Give it a go.” there isn't a moment's hesitation as you bounce up onto your knees to get closer to him, tugging him down to you until you are nose to nose. 

“Red,” you state as a matter of factly. 

=====

Since that night, Sanji has not been able to see the color the same. He sees it in everything, and in it, he sees you. 

He could live in it, now. 

“What do you think?” you call out to the cook, catching his attention from the gourds he had been staring at for what seems like forever. Blinking quickly, he refocuses on you, a broad smile tugging at his lips as he steps closer to you. 

“Perfect,” he breathes, rubbing the crimson fabric between his fingers, delighting in how your cheeks seem to warm, darkening to nearly the same color. Clearing your throat, you turn back to the vendor with your Berry as she laughs quietly at the exchange. 

“Thank you,” you smile, trying to ignore the way your cheeks seem to warm further when his fingers brush yours. His fingers wrap lightly around your finger tips, tugging them lightly to lead you away from the stall. 

“Come, love,” he grins, his voice a rumble in your ear. “I can hardly wait to see you in that.” he looks pointedly at the dress hanging limply over your arm. 

======

“Where did you bring these from, again?” you ask from the kitchen as Sanji goes to lock the door for the night. You can hear the clipped sound of the open sign being flipped followed by the click of his heels as he makes his way back to you. 

“Island in the south seas,” he hums, settling in behind you with a smile, his hands resting on either side of you. 

Smiling brightly, you turn in his arms to look up at him, a large vibrant strawberry in hand. 

“They're perfect,” you giggle, lips stained red from the last one you ate. He swallows a bit before forcing a teasing smile to his lips. 

“I brought them thinking you could bake something with them,” he grouses playfully. You laugh, tapping the strawberry to your lips.

“Have you tasted them?” he shakes his head. 

“I did well to keep their existence hidden from the crew,” he huffs. “Mainly Luffy.” grinning up at him, you take a bite of the strawberry, your eyes never straying from his. Your eyes flutter closed with a sigh, tongue darting out to catch the juice threatening to slip past your lips. 

“Would you like to?” you hum, looking up at him through your lashes, the strawberry resting in the open between you. His breath shakes as he presses closer, fingers tugging your chin towards him. 

“Yes,” he breathes desperately. 

=======

The evening has been calm, both of you settling into the familiar rhythm you've created every time Sanji is able to drift to your shores. He grabs the basket he put together, topped by the blanket he had insisted on buying at the market the other day. 

“Red?” you question, fiddling with the edges. He just smiles, shrugging. 

“It’s my favorite color.” he insists gently. 

Beaming up at him, you link your arm with his when prompted. His visit had been peaceful, no need to duck and hide from various marine patrols as you would usually have to. Their ships have yet to dock for the month, and Sanji plans to be gone by the time they do. 

“You’re in your thoughts again,” he states, calling your name gently, poking your cheek as you shift on the blanket. Blinking quickly, you turn to face him, smiling softly. He is laying out on the blanket beside you, one arm resting behind his head watching the sea without a care in the world. 

“Sorry,” you mumble, shifting to grab a snack from the basket. He shakes his head, turning his gaze back to you. 

“What is bothering you?” he asks gently, tugging your hand, imploring you to not bottle it up, to share your burdens. 

There is a pause as you stare at the blanket, picking at it before lifting your eyes to meet his again, smiling sadly. 

“The marines will dock again in a few days' time.” he nods slowly, knowing where this is going. 

“Indeed they will,” he agrees, bringing your hand to him, brushing his lips along the knuckles. “Will I lose what little time I have with you to the thought of my leaving?” he asks gently, frown twitching at his lips. 

Humming in thought, you set the sandwich down as you shift to settle over him, your back to the ocean. He stares up at you in open appreciation, one hand coming to rest on your hip as you lean forward before you start to pepper kisses all over his face – his cheeks, nose and forehead before hovering over his lips, admiring the brilliant crimson marks littering his skin. 

The red he had picked for you two trips ago, and his favorite. You grin to yourself, noting how the red brightens his already brilliant blue eyes, making them pop. 

Red may not be your favorite color, but it is a close second. 

“No,” you answer him, leaning down to kiss him properly.

======

tag list:

@stray-kaz @fanaticsnail @sordidmusings @rainbowpitofdoom @gingernut1314 @short-honey-badger

[joelslegalwhre]

"Stop flirting." "Then stop teasing." | Dieter Bravo x f!reader

word count //  2k

pairing // dieter bravo x fem!reader

summary // You're interviewing Dieter for his new movie, and no matter how many years you've been together - recently married too - he loves to flirt with you like the first time you've met.

warnings // age gap (reader is in late 20s, Dieter in his 50s but only mentioned once), Dieter flirting needs a warning, fluff, reader and Dieter are married, Dieters mind is pure smut who's surprised, allusions to smut, reader wears a dress and gets her nails done, use of the word "Daddy" like once (don't read it if you don't like it), use of nicknames (baby -like a hundred times, peach), also little disclaimer; I'm reading smut like my life depends on it but I've never properly written it so bare with me pls, not proofread

a/n // I saw a TikTok for this a while ago about Pedro (the account is pedritolovesu) and got super excited to write a little something for Dieter with it.. so have fun y'all

I'm a whore for age gaps, sorry not sorry

main masterlist

the gif is by a7estrellas (I found it on Pinterest)

"First of all, thank you for your time, Dieter." You started the interview. "It’s my pleasure." He answered with his signature grin, his fingers playing with the ring on his finger.

"Tell me, what was your favorite part about filming the new Cliff Beasts movie?"

"Oh, there are a few," Dieter began to tell some stories from the set, stories you already knew about, because he had told you all of them right after they happened. Calling you late at night, during the day, or sometimes just right after you woke up. 

Interviewing Dieter was still something you found a little strange, but in a good way. 

It didn’t happen often, but when it did, work felt a little less like actual work. When Dieter was there, it was easier, and you instantly felt like you’re home again.

Today, it was just the two of you, no co-stars or other interviewers. Which also meant, no distractions from the looks Dieter gave you.

"Well, that sure sounds like a lot of fun." You smiled at him, when he had finished, "Oh it was." He grinned, but his eyes never left your lips once when he spoke. 

You tried to give him a warning look that said "stop it, concentrate", but you already knew it would do nothing to stop Dieter. 

The interview went on for a little longer, you asked him some fan questions you had gotten before the interview for him, which Dieter all answered perfectly. 

His flirting didn’t stop though. His eyes couldn’t stop wandering between your lips and your eyes, and the subtle winks weren’t as subtle as he thought. „Stop it, Bravo.“ You whispered in a short break, while the crew was angling the camera for another shot. 

"Stop teasing me and I might." He threw you an air kiss, jokingly, making you chuckle.

Not everyone knew that you were married to Dieter Bravo, although it was pretty obvious when you were in situations like this one. And your last name didn’t hide the fact either. 

Dieter managed to keep most of your relationship from the public. But of course the majority of people, especially his fans, knew. And there was nothing wrong with that, you didn’t want to hide anything. It was just nice to have some privacy then and there, so you didn’t make a big fuss about it.

The first time rumors had reached the media that Dieter Bravo was off the market, you had already been dating for almost a year. And the real shocker wasn’t the obvious age gap, with Dieter being twice your age, but the fact that he dated someone for longer than a month. 

"Sorry guys, the camera just stopped working, one second. Sorry, Dieter." Your camera man said all of a sudden. „Oh shit, okay.“ You nodded in surprise. "Yeah, no problem man." Dieter assured him. Not a second later, some of the crew was back around Dieter, to freshen him up. 

When he took something out of his pocket that suspiciously looked like the small box, he had his "drugs on the go" -how he liked to call them- in, you raised your eyebrows and shook your head, "No. Definitely not here". Dieter was down bad for you, and literally did anything that would please you, so to the obvious surprise of some crew members, he stuffed the box back into his pocket with a sigh. 

"Fine, fine."

"You know I don’t care, but not at work. Please?" you gave him your best pout, you knew he couldn’t say no to.

"Yeah, yeah okay, baby." Dieter looked up at the guy who was relatively new to the team that always surrounded Dieter.

What was his name again? He couldn��t remember.

"Happy wife, happy life. Isn’t that the shit they say?" He shrugs and goes on, "I’ll do what my girl wants. No one can tell me shit, but you bet she can."

The expression on the guy’s face changed from surprised to confused and then surprised again, making you giggle quietly. "Oh, you’re married?" He asked, eyebrows raised. Dieter shot him a lopsided grin, "Heck yes, we are." Dieters eyes locked with yours and you couldn’t help but grin like an idiot. There was nothing that made you as happy as knowing you’re married to him, his drug problems aside, being Mrs. Bravo was so different to anything you had imagined as a little girl. And you loved it. 

"Alright, cameras are working again, guys." The camera man announced, and the crew quickly left the two of you alone again. 

As the interview went on, you asked Dieter some more questions about the new movie, how shooting under quarantine was for him - horrible, he had called you what feels like a hundred times a day, whining about being alone and horny- and if there were any new movies coming up with him. Dieter answered everything you wanted to know, giving the fans some insights into the film and little sneak peaks. One being a short scene, which was currently playing on a little screen next to you. Later on, the video would be seen during the interview clips, but the screen was for you to know when to go on with the interview. 

Dieter had other plans, though. He didn’t pay an ounce of attention to what was playing on the screen, his attention on your nails instead. 

"Did you get your nails done?" He asked, leaning forward to hold your hand and inspect your new set of nails. 

He had only seen you when he fell into bed, the night before. He didn’t usually come home as late as he did yesterday, but the press tour has really been "kicking his balls", to quote him. So you must have gotten them done either yesterday or today, there hasn’t been a time Dieter didn’t notice a new set of nails. Not once. 

"Yesterday, after work." You softly smiled, showing Dieter the nails. So he was right. "They match the ring." He gave you one of his cocky grins. "That was the intention." You grinned back at him. Neither of you had noticed that the video was long over, and the camera was back on the two of you. Faces inches apart and both of you with a stupidly content smile on your faces. "They look fucking amazing, baby." He said, almost whispering in awe. "Thank you, Dee." 

"Uhm, guys." someone from the crew cleared their throat. Your head shot up, and you quickly slid back into the position you had before.

"Oh my- sorry, sorry," 

Dieter leaned back in his chair and grinned at you, again. And as much as you wanted to keep professional, you had to smile at him too. 

"You should see her nails, they match our rings." Dieter said straight into one of the cameras, a cocky grin on his lips once again. You shook your head with a little giggle. So much for being professional. 

"So, back to the movie, as we could all see right now, it’s very promising." You went on, trying to act like you didn’t just want to grab Dieter’s hand and drag him to your car. Driving straight home, laying next to him in bed, nice and warm, cuddled up in his arms. 

Only a few more hours, you told yourself.

Dieter had to hold back like hell not to kiss you senseless in front of the crew members. He’s had a shit ton of media work today already, now that you were his last interview of the day -only some minor things to do afterwards- his mood has changed for the better, drastically.

He wanted to throw you over his shoulder -hell, he starts to think like a fucking caveman- carry you out of here and rip that fucking dress off of you. He’d even be fine with cuddling, anything that involved having you close to him. Although he wouldn’t quite be himself, if he wouldn’t also think about dragging you to the next empty room and fuck your brains out right now. 

Dieter was down bad for you, and -a thing he never thought was possible for him- it only got ‚worse‘ when the two of you got married. Calling you Mrs.Bravo for the first time had him almost come in his jeans. 

The interview was finally done, and you got up from your chair to get rid of all the mics and cables.

"Do you know when you’re coming home today?" You asked Dieter, back still turned to him, untangling a cable that got stuck in the chair somehow. "Hopefully fucking soon." He’s had enough of behaving, he desperately needed to feel you, even if it was just a quick kiss, his cock already painfully hard in his jeans. 

"You look fucking beautiful today, baby. The most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen." Dieter whispered in your ear. He wrapped his arms around your waist, as he pressed your back against his chest. "Well, thank you, but I’m still working, you know." You chuckled, joking with him. You couldn’t care less that you were at work right now, and Dieter knew you well enough to know. 

"Yeah, working pretty hard, interviewing your husband in that tease of a dress, baby."

You grinned, the dress was one of his favorites, and it showed enough skin without being too exposing to wear it for work. 

"You know I fucking love it." He whispered, so only you could hear it. "Really? I had no idea, Bravo." You teased him with a grin, turning your head to see his face. 

You could feel his stubble on your cheek as he got even closer to your ear and pressed you tighter to his body. "Can you feel what you do to be, baby? I’ll rip that fucking dress up the second we’re home." His bulge was pressing against your lower back, and your body immediately reacted to it. 

"I thought you loved it? Wouldn’t wanna ruin it, would you?" You kept teasing him, feeling his grip on your waist tighten. "Don’t challenge me, baby."

"Or what?" You looked at him with a spark in your eyes. He nuzzled his nose in the nook between your neck and shoulder. You closed your eyes at the feeling, stopping a moan from escaping your lips. "Or I’ll take your cute ass to that storage room right now and let everyone hear how good your husband treats you." He said with a low groan, sending vibrations through your whole body, straight to your core.

It took you every inch of will power you had left, not to make a head start to that damn storage room down the hall. You could feel the wetness pool in your panties. 

Instead, you turned around in his embrace and slung your arms around his neck. Playing with the strands of his now almost salt and pepper hair, you got on your tiptoes, brushing his lips with your own. "I’ll be waiting for you at home, Daddy." It elected another groan out of Dieter, his eyes closed, probably imagining what he’d do to you later. 

You gave him another soft kiss, and caressed his cheek, running your finger down bis jawline. "I’d do something about that, if I were you." You smugly grinned at Dieter's noticeable bulge in his pants. "I’d be careful what to say, peach." He muttered into your ear. Oh, you couldn’t wait to get home.

Everyone had left the room by now, leaving the two of you behind. 

"I love you." you whispered, looking into his chocolate brown eyes. There was no more joking in your voice. No more teasing. 

"I love you too, baby." Dieter pressed his forehead against yours and his nose gently nudged against your own. "I love you." He repeated and closed the little gap between you. You smiled into the kiss, letting your hands wander from his soft tummy to his back.

"I can’t fucking wait to get home." Dieter grunted out between kisses. 

I had to include this Dieter picture because🥵

I have an update blog now, so follow @joelslegalwhrereads if you want to get updated when I post💗

taglist: @alexxavicry @snow30285 @queer_poncho (tell me if you want to be added to the taglist) 🖤 @mountsgirl (thank you for being the best bestie I could ask for🫶)

buy me a coffee if you want🖤

[miradanii]

More Transformers Spoiler thoughts...it's a jumbled mess.

1. I don't know why I didn't catch the rocks in the mines were moving on their own for the first time.

2. Also, I noticed and kept laughing way too much when someone said the word MINERS. Like I can't. It's the point where I wish there was a secondary word for it so I can stop giggling when someone on screen refers to them.

3. Silverbolt and Jetfire are in the race!!! And now gives me a shit ton of questions aside from the organic life that's on the surface of cybertron.

4. they did a close up shot of Optimus grabbing on to D-16 when he's about to go off the edge of the road. Had an ouch in the moment.

5. I wanted to watch this movie again cause someone pointed out how D-16 licks his teeth before fighting Starscream and...yeah wow one side of me appreciates small details about a character. Like think of Chihiro in Spirited away putting on her shoes and after standing up tapping the tip of her feet so the shoe feet's right before walking off. There's a lot of mini actions characters kinda do that you might miss and it's just wonderful attention to detail....and the other side of me just wanted to witness this man's tongue for myself because I did not catch it the first time. Because my first thought seeing the screenshot was...."they have tounges?" And I see it right?

I won't comment further.

6. Watching a second time had me pay way more attention to D-16's decent and inevitably to become Megatron. Cause I have seen some of the criticisms. Of maybe it coming out of nowhere or could do a bit more and yeah maybe? It felt much smoother second time around.

7. I also didn't realize Sentinel was the one who told him to "Rise Up" and not even like 10 minutes later D-16 uses it in his grand speech/as Megatron in the aftercredits. Orion making such a bad move to tell him not to be like Sentinal just ahhhh. So this reminded me of a show that did the same thing, a friend turning evil before their eyes, but despite being a good person, she says all the wrong things in the moment. Literally everything wrong.

Orion begging D-16 not to be like Sentinal is not what should even be said at the moment. It just made him more defensive and double down.

8. Facial expressions that are ingrained in my head

-B-127's face when D-16 is arguing with Oron nearly insulting B in his face.

-Orion's really sad during the second half of the movie

-Megatron's optics slightly dimming for a few seconds when Optimus tells him that he's banished from Iacon.

-Elita's change of expression when they reach the surface and Optimus looks at her though in the trailers seems romantic (knowing the history of Oplita) but it's more relief and a I told you so kind of way????

9. I like Elita more now. Her dialogue is what uplifts it for me, mostly in the realm of a supervisor in desperate need of a promotion. Idk if you work 9-5 or a nightshift that spans 10 hours her dialogue is really funny to me.

My least favorite trope is when there's just "girl that is competent and kick ass". For once, Transformers One doesn't let that bother me.

Pretty much due to all the characters having the same level of combat knowledge or scenes punching Orion because it's funny. Arguably Elita-1 doesn't heave weapons like the dudes, and is a fucking bike...and she's pink but overall it's not like there's anywhere in the film that remotely mentions any type of sexism or "girl needs to prove something". She was kinda already doing that with her job until she got fucked over.

Having at least another character relating to her goals in the movie helps too. She and D-16 emphasize wanting to rise the ranks and fear demotion/living through it.

(Now that I think about it...Elita hinting to becoming close to Optimus after Megs is more entwined in the story than I thought. It feels like a slow friend switch and then B-127 is also there).

I wanna see the movie again so I can she Elita-1 and D-16's interactions. Cause I can't think of any specific ones at the top of my head aside from the fight at the end.

10. I love B-127. I think he's a bit older given his immediate knowledge of the High Guard (idk)??? Yeah it's a gag pointing out WaveWave but I like it's his character moment where he just contributes to knowing something.

[rikitachiquita]

bananas for you 🍌 || s. jake

•synopsis: y/n didn't really enjoy science but her crush did. and a silly experiment on bananas might help her with said crush

•genre: oneshot, y/n x jake, highschool au, written (0,5k words) and screenshots

Science was not y/n’s favorite subject. But indeed it was jakes. 

Obviously, like a normal teenage girl at school, since her crush liked one subject, she had to like it too. And she also liked having good grades, so studying wasn’t that. Either way, if she ever failed the subject she could ask Jake to tutor her. But that was her secret plan b.

Today was a very fun day, because it was lab-day. They would be doing some type of experiment related to the dna, the topic they were learning lately.

The teacher caught your attention “Ok class, today we are going to extract DNA from bananas” the whole class let out a little gasp, excited to be doing something different than usual.

“But before that, let’s have a brief introduction. Did you know that all bananas share the same dna?  They are all clones! and there’s only one type of banana that is eaten in the entire world! That's why they are always endangered: if they get infected by a parasite, they risk extinction. that already happened in the 50s: your great grandparents probably ate a different kind of banana that doesn’t exist anymore because it was infected by the parasite of panama. And it’s possible that we won’t have bananas in 50 years” the teacher explained

“Ok now i’ll make small groups of 4 people to do the experiment”

He made the groups and you ended up with Danielle, your best friend, Heeseung and Jake. jake. your crush. This was going to be fun.

The first step was to take a banana and smash it very well until it was basically liquid.

“Smash the banana” said Heeseung to Jake

“But maybe the girls want to do it. y/n do you want to do it” Jake said

“I don’t but I know Danielle and she can’t wait to do it.” You responded with a smile and gave Danielle a funny look. your best friend seemed very happy that you mentioned that. She quickly took the spoon and started smashing the banana. Heeseung in the meantime, was taking videos to make a report later on.

“Do you know what she is saying?” asked Jake, close to your ear so you were the only one that heard the question. she was referencing to danielle, who was still smashing the banana, while also singing quietly the same part of a song

“Chulo.” you responded

“What?” asked the boy

“Chulo, that one reggaeton song that is really catchy”

“Oh my god I love that song actually” he said smiling fondly. his smile was so pretty that it almost made you mad

“Do you also like reggaeton?” you asked surprised, since he didn’t look like the type of guy to listen to that kind of music.

“Yeah I actually do, surprisingly. You do too, right?”

“Yeah, it fills me with energy, especially in the morning when i don’t feel like getting out of bed” you admitted

“Y/n, we should go to that one cafè place that only puts reggaeton together after school” Jake proposed with a small smile

“That is such a good idea, I can't wait” you responded, blushing.

The experiment was long forgotten

masterlist

• author's note: another fruit one shot cause they are so fun, i love them!!!! i did this experiment at school last week, so yeah i had to make this. i hope the science part is actually right 😭 anyways yeonjun being the teacher is so funny to me. check the other fruit one shots!!

[hannahbarberra162]

Ik the initial one-shot wasn't yandere, so ignore if this is annoying lol but the murder attempt might be a good point for those types of feelings to start developing. You're still a resource before anything else, but there's still a... shift afterward. Marco is much kinder to you than you expected him to be when you're terrified to start "donating" once more- sighing and rubbing your back while you blubber hysterically about being left alone in that room again. He's familiar with PTSD and it helps if you've been obedient up until this point. He'd made it clear you wouldn't be hurt if you obeyed, and you did, but you were nearly killed regardless. This isn't your fuck up. He's responsible. Considers moving the equipment to a different room, but assigning crewmates or nurses to stay with you in shifts is a much easier option. Thatch dotes on you too, if he's alive- you're getting treats, rules be damned.

It’s definitely not annoying! Yandere is one of my favorite tropes, I have to stop myself from adding it into most things I write. Even my nicer fluffier ideas make me think “hmmm but what if dark? What if kidnap???” Like for Struck Twice By Lightning (a lighter story I’m writing w/ Shanks x reader) I have an alternative yandere ending just because uh…it’s too much fun. Also, Thatch isn’t going to die, silly Nonnie. He never dies! Neither does Ace or Whitebeard or Izou or anyone else I love! Everyone is just on Laughtale, waiting for us to get there. 

ANYWAY, I love your idea Nonnie. 

~~~

You had begged Marco, truly begged him on hands and knees, to move the phlebotomy equipment to another room. Unfortunately, space was at a premium on the ship, even one as large as the Moby. The phlebotomy room had been built to unique specifications, there wasn’t anywhere else where the equipment could fit and had the right electrical connections needed to run the apheresis machine. He had a busy day ahead of him, there was a lot to do and plan after yesterday’s attack. But you were pale and shaking, afraid to go into the room, much less stay there for the six hours you needed to. Of course, he could just drag you in and sit you down, put the IV in your arm and leave. But you’d been compliant so far and he didn’t want to punish you. After all, this was his oversight in security, you hadn’t done anything wrong. Marco sighed and rubbed his temples. He’d tell Haruta to take over the meeting for now and ask Deuce to manage the infirmary. 

Crouching so he’d be at your eye level, Marco took your tear stained face in his hands. You had dark circles under your eyes, Marco knew you hadn’t slept the night before, which caused his own sleeplessness. He forced you to look at him, even though he was pretty sure you hated him in that moment. And maybe always. “Listen. I know you’re scared yoi. It’s understandable. But I can’t move the equipment, you have to be in this room. I can stay with you, if you want. Would you like that?” You averted your eyes from his face but nodded almost imperceptibly. He guessed you would have preferred Deuce, but Marco didn’t feel comfortable leaving you with anyone below Commander level. You were friendly with Thatch, maybe you’d want him to sit with you later. And Thatch had been baking up a storm for you since yesterday, baking treat after treat to try to find something you liked. Thatch wanted to get you to like his desserts, if he had to try every recipe on the Grand Line. The chef was always warm and pleasant company, getting people to relax in his presence was one of his gifts. Marco would allow the brief interruption in your strict diet if it helped you relax.

“We can take a break after one session if you’d like yoi.” You took a shuddering breath as Marco took your hand in his. Squeezing it gently, Marco walked you into the room. It had been cleaned of all the blood but the memories remained. You perched in the chair, pivoting your head every few seconds to check outside the window. Your hypervigilance was concerning even if it was justified. Marco didn’t want you to think they couldn’t keep you safe - they were a Yonko crew after all. There had been multiple fails yesterday that culminated in the assassin gaining access to you, but that wouldn’t make you feel better. Marco quickly turned on the aphoresis machine and prepared the equipment, watching you wince as the needle entered your arm. You were still squeamish, not wanting to see the needle insertion. He took a step back to check his work. Looking at you on the padded chair you were…small. Scared. Exhausted. Anxious. Marco didn’t like it, he needed to ensure his prized resource was healthy. “Would you like to hold hands? Would that make you feel better?” You nodded once again, still not speaking. Thinking back, Marco wasn’t sure you’d actually spoken since right after the attack. Marco took your clammy hand in his, noting the chewed nails and bloody cuticles. He’d heal those too, once it was time. He couldn’t let you out of your cage, but he could make it more comfortable.

[archenarrow]

Meta Shaped Thoughts

So the Meta remains one of my favorite things in fiction and my brain is full of it again, as it does periodically. I'm just gonna ramble an amount and try not to spin off on too many tangents but still probably will go off on several.

Basically, started with the transition from Agent Maine, to the Meta, to that third thing that happens post AI fragments. Y'know, that thing where it's still just what's left of Maine under that helmet, but it seems to still identify as the Meta. The Councilor refers to it as Agent Maine again, but he is still distinct from who Maine was before Sigma got into his head. Also its pronouns shift around with these, Agent Maine is he/him, the Meta is it/its, post AI the pronouns sometimes go either way (I think, I will admit that I haven't checked recently).

Anyway, though, starting with Agent Maine: he is on the Freelancer leaderboard for the scenes we see, but he is consistently low on it. In fact, every time we see him fight a Freelancer level foe in season 9, he loses. This is very much in contrast with how we saw the Meta in seasons 6-8. The Meta had been portrayed as an unstoppable death machine in pretty much every appearance it had. It wasn't impossible to drive it off, but it always came back stronger. Agent Maine on his own wasn't this dangerous, however he was indestructible. It reminds me of the old Sgt Rock comics. For those who didn't read them, the Sgt Rock comics are about Sgt Rock, a U.S. army sergeant during World War 2. Sgt Rock was a boxer before being a soldier, and while he wasn't a great fighter, it was impossible to keep him down. Having to beat the immovable object became a rite of passage in order to fight the actually good boxers. Anyway, I feel like Maine might have served a similar role with the Project Freelancer leaderboard, you need to be able to beat him in order to really make it into the big leagues of the Freelancers. Like, Maine just doesn't stop. He can't beat Tex in sparring, but he's the only person who is able to keep fighting past the point where his armor is supposed to be locking him in place. He seems at a stalemate with the Charon/Insurrectionist ODST up to the point where the other guy gets a gun, but being center massed with a sniper rifle, having a magnum mag dumped into his throat, shooting him with a magnum again, hitting him with a truck, then hurling him down and off an overpass all fails to kill him. Another thing is that he seems friendly with a few other Freelancers, I see people bring up his relationship with Wash, but he also seems like one of the folks who is closer to Carolina based on their banter during the heist. She jokes with him about being a baby, his lack of subtlety, and shows way more concern for Maine's injuries during the heist than she did with say North's injuries at the oil platform.

And that leads into Maine being paired with Sigma, Carolina giving up her AI so that Maine can communicate more easily (there's probably another tangent in here about ableism in Project Freelancer). Carolina later feels responsible for what Sigma would do to Maine. but we immediately see Maine becoming thematically more the Meta, even if the transformation takes time. There's the very obvious stuff, like the sequence of Maine gearing up before the assault on the Insurrectionist base, how it shows that we are very much entering Meta territory now. And the switch is immediate, from this point onwards, Maine doesn't lose a fight. In fact, Maine/The Meta begin getting back at everything that had previously bested Maine. Maybe some of this is just showcasing how much of a difference having an AI and being able to use his equipment (I forget if it's canon that Maine's equipment was strength enhancement or if that was a fan idea) makes in a fight, but there's a feeling of vindictiveness to it when Maine holds the soldier who'd shot him before helpless for a prolonged period before finishing him off. How he gives the other soldier from the freeway a moment of relief and then realization before throwing her into the sea. And also that friendliness with the other Freelancers seems to dry up, there is no more banter with Wash or Carolina, even when fighting alongside each other. The most we get is other Freelancers looking on Maine from a distance with concern about these changes. Maine's transformation into the Meta, the parts of it we see onscreen at least, is fast. His characterization changes rapidly once he is paired with Sigma, of course culminating after the crash of the Mother of Invention, the additions of Eta and Iota making the Meta fully into what it was when we first saw it in Recovery One and season 6.

But then Maine's body outlives the AI fragments, even if it still seems to identify as the Meta rather than Maine. And we see some personality changes, reverting more towards what Maine was like beforehand. It jokes with allies, heck the fact that he can work with allies again is notable. But ultimately, he still has that need to acquire AI again. I do feel like there's a few different reads on what that need to reacquire an AI. I think some of the things in the show itself blame it on Maine himself and some desire for power on his part, especially that bit at the end of Restoration. But the more interesting read to me is that it's more akin to an addiction. The Meta has been the Meta and can't go back, he can't just be a human brain working on its own now, it needs something to guide him. It literally can't function like it used to without another mind to run its equipment.

Anyway, that's a pile of thoughts on the Meta. I think that's most of the coherent stuff so I'm going to post this while my brain just kinda keeps chewing on it.

[showtoonzfan]

As I’ve said before, the Fizz episode is the only episode of the entire second season that I’m interested in, and it’ll be like a big bang to me, cause I CANNOT wait to see how they fuck it up. It’s going to be a train wreck and I’m here for it, I have so many predictions, so here’s a list of them!

— I always referred to it as the “Fizz and Ozzie episode” but I feel like most of it will be about Fizz and Blitz and their backstory, judging by the trailer shot of them as little kids again and the one where Fizz is seemingly singing to Blitz but then drops him. Also bc Blitz always needs to be in every single damn episode and Viv refuses to show someone else’s perspective lol.

— It would be nice if we dove into how Fizz met Ozzie, how he took him in and how they started to perform/date, but I honestly don’t think we’ll see much of that, and for all we know, the shots of Fizz performing could be in modern time instead of a flashback. Judging by the two shots of Fizz and Blitz fighting that was at that panel, this episode is definitely more about them then his relationship with Ozzie tho.

— I have the feeling that the “Hell finding out Ozzie is a hypocrite and dating Fizz” conflict probably won’t be resolved, I mean look at Ozzie’s for Blitz and Stolas lol. It either won’t be resolved and the episode will be unfocused, or resolve it too fast and in a forced/underwhelming way. I highly doubt it’ll be a huge conflict anyway since Viv never really dives into the class system in the first place.

— Fizz and Blitz will either patch up things up immediately at the end of the episode, or not so Viv can use the characters/conflicts for another future episode that obviously won’t be planned. I already know they’re going to paint Blitz out to be this guy who’s sweet and deep down wants to make amends with Fizz so I won’t waste my anger for that, (how much you want to bet Blitz being responsible for Fizz’s body was an accident and he never meant for it to happen so the fans can say he’s an uwu baby who must be protected) but if Fizz actually ends up forgiving Blitz at the end of this episode (especially if it turns out he’s responsible for Fizz’s missing his arms and legs) I’ll be pissed because even if Fizz DOES end up forgiving Blitz, doing it at the end of this episode would feel too fast and forced. I don’t want this to be Loo Loo Land again lol.

— Stolas may or may not appear in this episode to do the crystal deal. Ofc it would be WAY too much to cram in for an episode that already seems to have a lot in it, but they might do it. I will be honest, I 100% doubt the “Stolas making a deal with Ozzie to give Blitz a crystal” plotline will actually go anywhere tho. Knowing that this season clearly wasn’t planned and that Viv is making stuff up/pulling things out of her ass, this probably won’t go anywhere since Stolas later in the season is clearly going to be taken in by Imp anyway, and we gatta push him and Blitz being together regardless of they’re doing the book deal or not. Anyway that shot of him sitting in a room and the clock ticking could be from another episode, but of we do get Stolitz content here, who knows, maybe Blitz will see how healthy Fizz and Asmodeous are and want that with Stolas.

— Knowing that Fizz is one of Viv’s favorites, I wouldn’t be surprised if this episode DOES jab at Blitz more and really show how hurt Fizz was by him. Like I said tho, they might patch things up quickly. Either way, gatta love how she clearly plans to show how negatively Fizz was affected by Blitz but can’t do the same with Octavia, Verosika or Barbie since they’re females and boring to her.

— If this episode has another pointless M&M B-plot like Loo Loo Land, Seeing Stars, or Western Energy did, I swear.

And that’s pretty much it. We can all predict that Blitz burned Fizz somehow, there’s not much to say other than it’s ganna show how they used to be friends and make a soap opera about how bad Blitz feels so.

[not-wholly-unheroic]

A Comparative Analysis of Hook’s Ship and Cabin in Popular Media Portrayals

Part 3: Steven Spielberg’s Hook

Not gonna lie—visually, Hook is one of my favorite versions of the character because both the captain himself and his living space are just so incredibly over-the-top with lots of attention to detail. The costuming and set designers really went all-out on this one.

Dustin Hoffman’s Hook has a ship like no other! His Jolly Roger leaves absolutely no doubt from the second you lay eyes on it that it is a pirate ship and throws all sense of practicality out the window in favor of lavish decadence fit for a king. From the outside, the cabin itself is reminiscent of a large skull wearing a bicorn hat with two large windows serving as the eyes. Perhaps most interestingly, the very center of the hat bears what appears to be a slightly altered version of the Eton crest with a skull and crossbones over it. This “knock-off” Eton crest (which was probably altered in the film for legal reasons) or one similar to it, shows up in multiple places inside the cabin as well.

If you look closely and zoom in on the two images above, you’ll notice one (not colored) crest over the piano, one on the desk, and one over the fireplace (which, by the way, does not seem practical on a wooden ship). Some other neat details I noticed in these shots include what looks like gramophones on the desk, images of fencing stances on the wall, and that the bottom of the bed which lowers down from the ceiling appears to be painted. I don’t know for certain but believe that the painting is meant to be this image used for promotional material but not ever actually visible in the film. (Thanks to the HookPosting community on Facebook for the image.)

Interestingly, it still features the hook on the right hand. Perhaps that’s why it was never shown in the film. If this godlike portrayal is how Hoffman’s Hook sees himself, it borders on pathological narcissism.

Back to the cabin itself… When the camera pans over to the other side of the room, we see another mock Eton crest in the background. In another, closer shot, we can clearly see the words “Good Form” over this one. This guy is Eton OBSESSED! (Which, to be fair, is pretty canon.)

We get a few more interesting views of the cabin in the scenes where Hook is attempting to teach Jack and Maggie. There is another self-portrait—though this one is a bit humbler and more realistic. Again, narcissist much? But what’s especially intriguing to me is the fact that if you zoom in close, you will notice that below the painting, there are black and white photographs. Now, so far, everything else about this Hook screams 17th century with the one odd exception of the gramophone(s) on his desk. But one might explain that away as something he picked up while visiting the outer world. But to have photographs would seem to imply that he (or someone he cares about) is from a much later time period. The one seems to be a photo of a young man (Perhaps Hook himself?) while the other is, I think, a couple (His parents? A younger Hook and his former love?). There is another black and white photo, too, that you can see in a shot behind Jack and Maggie that looks like it might be of a sports team… Might this be a team photo from his time at Eton? Unfortunately, without better quality close-ups on these images and input from the set director, there is no way to know for certain, but it certainly is intriguing…and it might explain Hook connecting with Jack over his love of sports.

Hoffman’s Hook is an enigma. His ship is unlike anything that sailed during the Golden Age of Piracy—far too gaudy and over-the-top, both inside and out, to be practical. And yet, there are details that no child would think to make up like the ever-present Eton crest and the black and white photographs. The clashing of time periods apparent in his wardrobe and personal effects lines up well with Barrie’s own conflicting information regarding Hook’s murky past, but it leaves us as the audience a little unsure what to make of this man. Perhaps, Hook and his ship are still the product of Peter’s imagination…but since Pan has grown up in this retelling, the details of Hook’s cabin have shifted to reveal the same larger than life character as imagined by an adult.

[1425fivefive]

hii amelia, i've been really enjoying your fic process posts and i'm wondering if u have any advice for new-ish fic writers? i wrote a few one shots back in the days when i was really young and although im fond of them it's not great work. now that i'm writing a new one (landoscar brainrot has forced me to get back to writing) longer format too, i really want it to be good- i don't know how to make sure it isn't absolute shite before posting it because after rereading it a thousand time for editing my brain is incapable of telling whether it's any good. but anyways. if you have any wisdom or tips and tricks for writing/editing to share i'd be endlessly grateful 🥹💛

Hi lovely anon, thank you so much for sending this ask!

First of all, I just want to say how much I adore you for wanting to write and share it with people! It took me a very long time to get comfortable enough to share my work publicly and I still get really bad indigestion every time I'm about to post a fic because I'm convinced this will be the fic that makes everyone realize I'm actually a terrible writer. So I fear the feeling of "this is absolute shit and everyone will hate it" is maybe a permanent thing, at least for me.

BUT, I do have some tips for making sure things aren't "absolute shite" before posting (below the cut because it's a bit long).

First, taking some time away from a fic can be really helpful, just to be able to see the fic with fresh eyes. I know that can be hard because you want to just post things, but stepping back can help you come back and read the fic as a fresh reader.

Second, I always try to make sure everything's formatted correctly. So, proper dialogue tags (comma vs. period), sufficient line breaks, making sure a new character speaking or a new action is a new paragraph, etc. (here's a post I shared ages ago about proper fic formatting).

Third, and this is the most important to me especially with a longer fic, I try to think about whether any parts of the fic are boring. Not slow, but boring. Try and look at each scene and think "what is this scene trying to accomplish?" That can be a variety of things (character development, plot, character interactions). But once you feel like the scene has achieved that thing, it's okay to move on to a new scene. One of my biggest complaints about most fics, especially longer ones, is that scenes can feel draggy or repetitive of other scenes. I cut so many scenes from Learned Behavior because I realized I was only including them because I liked one little piece of dialogue from it or had some other attachment to a random thing about the scene. Don't be afraid to delete scenes by copy-pasting them into another Word doc or Google Doc tab. You might be able to rework them into something else later down the line, but not every scene you write needs to be in the final fic

Fourth, there is such a thing as over-editing! I, at least, edit so much as I write that most of the time the "first draft" is already pretty polished (like I wouldn't be horrified by posting my first draft). When I start spending ages editing, I often start making things worse because I'm overthinking every sentence and it stops flowing together and sounding like me. I try to remind myself that I wrote/edited the sentences in a certain way for a reason

Fifth, remember that this is just for fun! At the end of the day, "good" vs. "bad" art is highly subjective. My least favorite fic I've ever written is my second most popular fic, while my personal favorite will probably never come anywhere close to my most popular fic on AO3. It's also just really hard to judge objectively whether your work is good or bad! If you have a decent time reading it, then I'm sure other people will enjoy it too

Anyway, I'm so sorry for the ramble, but I Iove hearing that you want to share your fics! I have total faith they will not be absolute shite, and my inbox is always open to talk about writing 💕

[seresinsbabe]

Push and Pull

Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x fem!reader

Synopsis: It was always push and pull between you and Bradley until one night he pulled for the last time.

Warnings: THIS FIC IS 18+ MINORS DNI, allusions to smut, tiny bit of angst, fluff

I do not consent to having any of my work shared on any other platform. If you see any rendition of my works on another site know that it has been posted without my permission.

————————————————————————

“So, are you single or is some other sailor about to walk in and kick my ass for talking to you?”

How exactly were you supposed to answer that question? Because technically you are single. Though with the way you could feel Bradley’s eyes boring a hole into you right now it seemed like the sweet sailor in front of you and might get his ass kicked.

This was how it had been for months between you and Bradley. A constant push and pull. One minute he was pulling you close, saying sweet things and making promises that you knew were empty but couldn’t help but believe they weren’t. Then the next he was pushing you away, reminding you that this agreement was supposed to be nothing more than sex. Two friends fulfilling a need for one another. It was irritating. You just wanted a firm grasp on where you stood with him but he could never give you that.

Every time you tried to have that conversation with him he either got pissed off and walked away or he distracted you with sex. Neither reaction was conducive to sharpen up any blurred lines.

From his spot by the pool tables Brad kept his eyes on you. You were too pretty for that fucker. Too smart, too kind, just too good for him. Bradley could tell from here all he was interested in was getting your clothes off.

You’ve done nothing but get her clothes off. The grating voice in his head reminded him. He hated that voice. Mostly because it was alway right and oddly sounded a lot like Hangman.

He hated that he couldn’t stop himself from being a total asshat with you. Every single little promise he’d made you and never fulfilled ate at him. Because he did want to follow through with him. He really did. Like the one where he promised to teach you how to play piano. Or where he took you to his favorite secluded spot on the beach.

Why he couldn’t commit he didn’t know. Well…that wasn’t true. He did know. The last thing he wanted was to leave a wife and kids the way his dad had. To die on a mission or in training. Even if he knew a life with you was what he wanted. Hangman had told him more than once that he was stupid for keeping you at arms length. He was right. Phoenix had told him he was a dick for toying with your emotions and that you deserved better. And she was also right.

You deserved better than the guy currently holding your attention and you deserved better than Bradley. He was selfish in his inability to let you go, but he just wasn’t sure he could live without seeing that heart stopping smile on your pretty face. Or seeing the way your eyes crinkled when you really laughed at something. Or hearing you cry out everytime you came on his cock. So he couldn’t let go, not until you made him.

“No, no I’m single.” You smiled up at the sailor and moved just a little bit closer. Both because you are mildly interested in the guy, even if you’re mostly sure he just wants a quick night, and because you want to see if Bradley will react.

The guy, he’d told you his name but you didn’t remember, grinned in return and placed his hand on your hip.

It wasn’t but a minute later that a familiar strong grip was tugging you away. “She’s taken.” Your eyes narrowed and your brows furrowed as you looked up to see his face. Jealousy swimming in those pretty hazel eyes.

“Bradley!” But he didn’t say anything, just shot the guy a warning look before whisking you away into the Hard Deck bathroom.

Your back hit the door as soon as it was closed, Brad’s palms resting on either side of your head as he caged you in.

“Why do you do that to me?”

“Do what to you?”

“Flirt with other men.”

You rolled your eyes, a frustrated huff coming from your lips. “Because Bradley. I. Am. Single.” You enunciated the words. “You’re the one that keeps making it clear we are fuck buddies and nothing more.” Your finger jabbed into his chest.

Bradley let out his own frustrated huff. He did this to himself and now it was up to him to get himself out of it. Was the Hard Deck’s bathroom really where he wanted to do that though? From the look on your face it was clear it was now or maybe never.

“I don’t want you to be single.” Smooth Chicken Little. Real fuckin’ smooth. He really hated how much that voice sounded like Hangman.

Your face scrunched up again — this time in confusion.

“Then why did you tear me away from a potential boyfriend?” You crossed your arms over your chest as you stared back up at him.

He gave you a sarcastic look.

“You and I both know he just wants to fuck.” You rolled your eyes in response. It was always the worst when he was right. Bradley almost never let you live it down, but you’d put up with it because it was cute the way it made him so happy.

“And that’s any different than you how?” You asked, gearing up to be emotionally disappointed by the aviator once again.

Bradley looked like he was in pain as the gears in his mind spun. All hands on deck as he tried to find the words to tell you how he felt. When he couldn’t find them he just kissed you only to have you push him away.

“Stop it! Bradley stop always trying to distract me with sex! Kissing me or fucking me isn’t going to make this prob-” He cut you off with another kiss. This time his arms wrapped around your waist to pull you flush against his body and it was all you could do to melt into him.

When the two of you finally broke away you were both breathless. “Me. Be with me.” Bradley didn’t dare open his eyes. Just rested his forehead against yours as he waited for you answer him by pushing him away.

“Wh-what?” You were confused because you were certain you would never hear those words from the pilot. “I thought this was nothing more than sex between friends.”

He let out a half assed chuckle and finally opened his eyes. The hazel orbs meeting yours, searching them to find an answer.

“I was stupid, for a lot of reasons I can tell you about later, but I need you. I want to be with you. Please?” He sounded so sincere and a little desperate. Your voice caught in your throat and your hand came up to cup his cheek.

“Please don’t play with me. I can’t take any more of this Roos.” You couldn’t help the whimper. Because you liked him, hell maybe even loved him, but your heart couldn’t do anymore push and pull.

It felt like a stab in the heart hearing how broken you sounded. It hurt him even more knowing he was the reason you sounded like that.

He started to shake his head, swallowing the lump that formed in his own throat. “I’m not playing baby, I promise.” His lips found yours in another searing kiss and you knew he was being sincere. Whatever had made him come to his senses you were thankful, and hopeful that it lasted.

“Take me home Roos. Please.” All he could do was nod and pull you from the bathroom to do exactly what you’d asked of him — to take his girl home.

[running-with-the-feels]

I'd like more drunk kaui liang pls if that's okay

That is delightful!

Koala Bear Kuai Liang has a reputation among the defenders for how cuddly he is, and while Hanzo is the one usually bearing the brunt of that, other characters have too.

Jax once had to deal with Kuai Liang hugging him for a full five minutes in dead silence

Frost has been picked up in a bear hug and swung about, much to her confusion (and joy bc lets be real, bbygirl is touch starved and craves affection)

Imagining that Liu Kang and Kung Lao never died (bc f that), Liu Kang once had to deal with Kuai Liang hanging off of his back like a cape (made difficult by the fact that Kuai Liang is about 7 inches taller than Liu Kang in my hc)

Kung Lao and Johnny have both made out with a drunk Kuai Liang (while also being drunk themselves and y'all, I got drunk headcanons for the whole roster if you want em, just say the word) and maintain that it was a heavenly experience

Kung Lao's exact words were "if I didn't know that Hanzo would burn me alive for it, I would be at Kuai Liang's doorstep begging to bed him.

Johnny has bedded him and seconds that sentiment

Kuai Liang is also a surprisingly good dancer when drunk, like no matter how many he's had he can still bust a move with the best of them (then he tries to walk normally and trips and falls on his face)

Tipsy Statue Kuai Liang also has a reputation, with there being an entire gc dedicated to pictures of him standing still and unblinking as he tries to hide the fact that he's tipsy.

Also gonna sneak my Autistic Kuai Liang headcanon into here bc I will die on this hill, but once he gets chatty he will infodump on the nearest person. Out of all the defenders, Sonya is the one who tolerates it best bc she's used to it from Johnny. Hanzo obviously is a close second, and only in second bc he keeps getting distracted by how pretty Kuai Liang is when his brown isn't constantly furrowed.

Further into the Autistic Kuai Liang headcanon, always has the urge to run his hands through Hanzo's hair as a stim but restrains himself. Until he gets drunk in which case his hands rarely ever leave Hanzo's hair

bless him but Hanzo is Struggling with that

Kuai Liang doesn't tend to do shots, But, he will if it is part of one of Johnny's games (I hc that he gets all the defenders together at his mansion every now and again as "team building")

his favorite shot is a jaeger bomb and his least favorite is tequila

He refuses to drink cocktails, not bc he doesn't like them but bc Johnny makes them strong enough to kill a man and the last time Kuai Liang drank one he very nearly made a Bad Decision (almost slept with an equally drunk Erron Black)

Slightly sad drunk Kuai Liang hc: the way he behaves when he is drunk is very similar to the personality he would have had if he had never been kidnapped by the Lin Kuei, like if he had lived a normal life he would be something like that. At least, that is how he thinks of it, even if the reality is somewhat different.

Side note: I might make a tier list of all the people Kuai Liang either has/will/would never drunkenly made out with if anyone is interested in that? lemme know

Whenever Kuai Liang drinks, he is around friends too, like that's not something he does on his own or in public for him it's only ever social. After a while, all the defenders kinda get to know how they all are when they're drunk so they look out for one another.

For Kuai Liang this usually means he's gently guided towards a bed whenever he starts looking sleepy, usually by Hanzo, and bc he's super tactile whoever it is has to hold his hand until he's fully asleep or he'll cry

It is, in fact, the only time any of them have ever seen him cry and they all hate the sight of it now and will avoid it at all costs.

I'm sure I can think of more later, so lemme know if you want them. I've also seen ppl on tumblr do a thing where they answer asks in character, I have no idea if I'd be good at that or if anyone wants to see that but if you have any questions for drunk (or sober) Kuai Liang, feel free to send them over?

[centralperkchenford]

At the moment I cannot write short one shots and I don’t if it’s good or bad but anyway.. a follower sent me this request in messages. So I hope you enjoy this!

Also this is me decompressing after a long day at work. So that’s why it’s going up so late. I spent the whole night on this. And nothing else.

You taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else

Chenford x Lucy and Tim looking for clothes that they left at each other’s houses

Or

Four times Lucy and Tim look for the clothes they're looking for are at the others house +1 time they're not ❤️

1

Lucy threw yet another shirt to the her floor, letting it join the other ten shirts on the ground. There were also some panties and bras in the mix. She was looking for a particular shirt. It was yellow and flowery and a little short but it was one of her favorites and she couldn’t find it. She knew she had it the other day, had blew past in favor of wearing a dress for date night with Tim. But now she wanted to wear that shirt and she couldn’t find it. Anywhere. It wasn’t in her closet or her drawers. It wasn’t thrown on the chair which she sometimes did when she was tired and had a long day or Tim…

Tim

She grabbed her phone off her dresser and pressed his name frantically.

“Hello?” Tim answered and she could hear the hint of concern in his voice. It was date night but he wasn’t suppose to pick her up for another hour.

“Tim. My shirt is it there?” She says quickly and she’s pretty sure it was all mumbled together so he probably didn’t understand her.

“What? What shirt?” He asked and now she hears confusion in his voice too.

“My yellow, flower top. Is it at your house?” She says and she hears him walking probably back to his bedroom. There’s rustling on the other end of the line and Lucy taps her feet impatiently.

“Uh.” He said and Lucy doesn’t like that at all. “Hold on babe. It might be in the bathroom when we.. when I…” He trailed off and Lucy felt herself blush because that was only last night and it was intense to say the least.

“I found it!” Says Tim and he sounded triumphant. “Oh.”

“What? What’s wrong?” She asked him confused by the sudden change in his voice.

“Were you planning on wearing this tonight?” He asked. She sighed because she was but by the sound of his voice that probably wouldn’t be happening.

“Well yes.” She admitted. “What’s wrong?”

“I think it got wet and it was laid out to properly dry and it smells..”

Damnit

She was so focused on getting Tim into bed after they showered that she didn’t even think about her shirt thrown on the floor by Tim’s frantic and desperate hands.

“It’s okay. Can you just lay it out? I’ll wash it later.” She said signing and going back to her closet.

“Sure thing baby.” He said reassuringly. “I’ll see you soon okay?” They both hang up and Lucy shifted through her clothes, finally picking a wine colored cocktail dress that hugged all her curves perfectly. She knew Tim would appreciate and maybe entice a repeat performance of last night.

She was right. On all accounts. They barely made it through dessert because Tim was staring at the cutouts on the side of her dress that teased just a little bit of her soft skin. Luckily the dressed didn’t end up on the bathroom floor this time rather the foyer of his house. Lucy didn’t regret anything.

2

Tim sighed looking at the TV longingly and then down at his plain t-shirt where his lucky Ram’s jersey should be. Not a stupid plain t shirt that will probably make his team lose the game. The thing was he didn’t know where his jersey was, he never took it anywhere in fear that this exact thing would happen. He would lose it. He tried to think where it could possibly be when his phone rang.

It was Lucy and it was a FaceTime call. He picked it up right away, and when he answered his jaw dropped to the ground. His girlfriend was sitting back on her sofa legs up on the arm rest. Wearing his jersey, it was way too big for her and even laying down he could see it went past her pants.

“What are you doing with my lucky jersey?” He snapped although he didn’t mean to snap. She frowned at his tone and then sat up.

“This old thing?” She asked. “You left it at my apartment a week ago.”

“Why are you wearing it?” He asked this time calmer. She shrugged her shoulders.

“The Rams are playing tonight right?” She questioned him. He nodded slowly, wondering where she was going with this.

“Well I thought since you wanted to watch it on your own I would wear it to support you team or whatever.” She waved her hand around. “Do you want it back?”

He did. But his stomach was doing this weird somersault and he felt like his heart could burst out of his chest. She knew how important the game was to him and didn’t want to interrupt his evening but she still wanted to support his favorite team. Because of him.

“Tim?” She said. “Are you okay?”

He nodded and then walked toward his door grabbing his keys on the way out. “I’ll be there in a few Luce.” He hung up before she could reply and then he was making his way toward her apartment.

He barley had time to open the door when she opened it. “You hung up on me you jerk.” She said but she pulled him in for a kiss. “I’m glad you are here.”

He hummed against her mouth and then tugs at his jersey. Lucy bit her lips and looked up at him.

“Do you want it back?” She asked and there’s a hint of seduction in her voice. He nodded and she grinned pulling the jersey over her head leaving her in just her sports bra and panties.

“Ah.” Said Tim weakly. “You are.. ” And he nearly swallowed his tongue as she pressed herself against him the soft fabric of his jersey on his neck.

“Do you want to watch the game?” She asked him running her hands over his chest.

This god damn woman would not let him breathe for a second would she?

“C-can you record it?” He asked her and she furrowed her brow.

“I think so?” She answered hesitantly. “I’m not sure—” Tim cut off the rest of her sentence by crashing his lips into her causing her to stumble a little.

“I can watch it later.” He said. “I have more importantly things to do right now.” He lifts her up so her legs are around his waist and she buries her face into his shoulders.

“Tim Bradford missing a a Rams game who would of thought.” She said giggling as he carried her toward her bedroom.

Never in a million years did he think he would miss a football game because of a woman. But here was and to be honest he didn’t mind one bit.

The Rams ended up winning and it turned out he didn’t need his lucky jersey because when they scored the winning goal he wasn’t wearing his jersey. It was balled up in the corner of Lucy’s bedroom.

3

“Dear lord.” Lucy groaned from her room. “How do I lose panties?” Her room was once again a mess as she looked for her favorite pair of underwear to wear on date night. They weren’t particularly sexy or special but they were tough because no matter how many times Tim’s hands got on them they stood up. It was amusing to see his face when he realized once again he hadn’t ripped them (which he loved to do- it was why she invested in cheaper underwear).

She knew they were clean and she knew they had to be here somewhere but where? And why couldn’t she keep track of her damn clothes?

She laid down on her floor frustrated but knowing she had to get up soon to get ready because Tim would be knocking on her door in a few minutes and she wouldn’t be ready. She supposed she didn’t have to wear underwear, she could surprise him and watch as he tried to find words. Decision made she pulled on the rest of her outfit which luckily was a long dress and her shoes just as she heard a key in the lock. She peeked her head out from the door and saw Tim come in. He had his normal long sleeve collared shirt on and sports jacket over it with dark washed jeans that made her mouth water.

“Hi baby.” He greeted her. “Are you ready?”

She nodded and bounded over to him and leaped into his arms. “Just about.” She promised him and then turned away to get her purse and keys. She turned back to him looping her arms through his and they headed out the door.

Dinner was pleasant and they had a nice evening and actually made it through dessert until Tim’s hand started to slide up her bare thigh and she watched as his facial expression changed from relaxed to desperate.

“Lucy.” He said lowly. “Why aren’t you wearing any.. underwear.”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “I couldn’t find my date night panties.” She explained like it was obvious and it was to her. She watched as Tim’s eyes darkened.

“You mean the ones I can’t tear apart?” He growled. “These ones?” And he pulled her underwear from his sports jacket and tosses them to her under the table.

“Why do you have these? And why are they in your jacket?” She hissed back perplexed. And he gave her a look.

When she didn’t say anything or react he reached for them again and took them back stuffing them in his jacket.

“You put them in here when I got you off in my truck the other day.”

“Wait but.. so they aren’t clean?” She asked and she didn’t know why that was what she was worried about.

Tim gave her another look. “No? I forgot they were in here and realized it earlier. Now why couldn’t you wear other.. ones?”

“They are expensive Tim. You have ruined at least six pairs of my favorite underwear.”

He blushed but he also looked a little smug a little which Lucy found adorable despite still being perplexed by this whole situation.

“Or did you just want to taunt me?” He reached under again and tugged on the thin shorts. “Jesus Luce.” He mumbled. He waved the waiter over with his other hand. “Check please!”

And yeah maybe she did want to torture him, she wanted to see the desperation turn feral as he pushed her into her bedroom door and realized there wasn’t anything stopping him from getting to work.

They did not make it to her apartment that night. And when there was literally nothing to stop Tim from going all in he took the chance and boy it was worth. She decided she’s going commando more often.

4

Tim knew his sweatpants were somewhere in this house. He never left the house with them on so they had to be here somewhere. He hoped Kojo hadn’t found them when he was missing Tim during the day and torn them to pieces. He liked those sweatpants and it wasn’t because he basically had sex every time he wore them around Lucy. There wasn’t it at all. He just liked them okay?

He went through his neat closet and pulled some of Lucy’s things out grinning when he saw them. And then he dug some more. They weren’t here, they weren’t at his house. He never took them to Lucy’s he had a few pairs there and he preferred to keep these here just in case.

But the only logical place they would be was his house

Unless….

As if on cue his phone rang and he snatched it up not bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Hello?” He answered still shuffling around his room hoping he had missed them somehow.

“T-Tim?” Came Lucy’s voice and it was shaky and she sounded scared. He froze in place before straightening up.

“Luce? What’s wrong?” He asked urgently.

“I- uh I god this is stupid but I had a nightmare a-and it woke me up. Y-you are usually here but..”

“Breathe babe.” He said gently. “Just breathe.”

He heard her take a few deep breaths and then she’s sobbing and Tim is on alert again.

“Baby what was this nightmare?”

“I just- yo-you were dead and when I reached over you weren’t there but I know you worked late. So you- went home but..” She’s mumbling her words again and Tim walked out of his bedroom quickly, momentarily forgetting it was 11:00 at night.

“I’m on my way to you baby.” He said soothingly. “Keep breathing. I’m here and alive.”

His heart was breaking knowing how desperate she must of been when she realized he wasn’t there.

“Stay on the phone with me.” She requested softly and Tim didn’t think he could hang up on her if he even tried. He props his phone up on his dashboard and then puts it on Bluetooth so he can hear her through his trucks speakers.

“I’m sorry Tim.” She said. “I know you are tired. You just want to go to bed.”

Tim shook his head forgetting that Lucy couldn’t see him.

“I want to be there Luce. I promise.. I’m five minutes out.”

She sniffed and Tim was relieved she was finally calming down.

“Why were you up?” She asked after a few minutes of silence. And Tim hesitated for a quick second because honestly his missing sweats were the least of his worries now. He just wanted to get to her. The thought of her waking up alone and terrified made him nauseous.

“I couldn’t sleep.” He said. “Long day.” It’s not a lie either. It was a long day and he missed Lucy.

“Oh.” She said and there’s another silence as he pulls into her apartment parking lot.

“I’m here baby.” He muttered. “I’ll be at your door soon.”

“Okay.” And Tim sighed at the one word answers but he slides out of his truck and hurried towards the front doors. Soon he’s standing in front of Lucy’s door. He pulled his key out but the door flew open before he can do much more.

Lucy jumped into his arms the minute she saw him and he stumbled back a little.

She was wrapped around him so tightly that he couldn’t really walk in. But he managed and then as his hand made their way down her body he felt a familiar fabric.

His sweats

He pulled back so he can see her properly and looks down to her legs. Sure enough she was wearing his sweats. They are way too big and are basically falling off but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Where did you get these?” He asked her playing with the waistband.

“I stole them last time I was at your house.” She admits bashfully. “I love them and they are so comfortable. I.. they smell like you.. I’m sorry.” She buries her face into his shoulder and he carried her over to the sofa placing her gently on it. He kneeled in front of her and looked up at her. His heart breaking a little more when he saw unshed tears in her eyes.

“Don’t apologize babe.” He said and he wanted to say more but all he can do is really look at her. “I’m sorry you had a nightmare.”

“I usually can get through them but this one was bad. You were just gone. I can’t lose you Tim I won’t survive.”

Tim knew exactly what she was talking about because he felt the same way about her. He wouldn’t survive losing her. He would be a shell of himself and he would never come back from it.

“I know how you feel.” He muttered. “But I’m here. You are here. We are okay Lucy. And I don’t want you to ever feel like this again.” He took a deep breath as she looked at him curiously.

“What do you mean?” She asked him. He took her small hands in his and kisses her knuckles.

“Move in with me.” He said and her mouth fell open. “So you never have to be alone. So even when I’m at work late. You won’t have reach out for me because you know I will be there soon. So you don’t have to steal my clothes anymore you can have them in one place. I love you Lucy and I want to always have you in my space.” At this point Lucy was half laughing and half crying.

“So you give me my underwear back right away?” She teases him. He shook his head in amusement.

“Exactly. So what do you say?” He asked. Lucy nodded and jumped on him again knocking him over.

“Of course I’ll move in with you. I love you too.” She muttered and then kissed him hard. “When can we start packing?”

They end up packing that night and then they fall into bed around 2am wrapped around each other knowing that they will have this almost every night.

+1

Two weeks after Lucy moved in with Tim, she found herself looking for a shirt, this particular was the shirt she wore the first time they slept together. She wanted to wear it out because that night they didn’t leave bedroom or the apartment. She grinned just thinking about it.

She shifted through the closet, he had made room for her and honestly he really didn’t have that much. She had been able to fit all her clothes in perfectly. The shaker was not there, she knew she had hung it up at her apartment so the logical thing for her to do was to hang it up here.

She sighed and flopped down on the bench at the end of his bed. She was half dressed and Tim would be home soon.

She spotted a box in the corner of the room and frowned. They had unpacked most of her stuff in the days after she moved in. She wasn’t sure why there was still a box left. She got up and made her way towards it. She looked inside of it and found a pile of her clothes.

Huh she thought. When she packed up she wasn’t exactly neat but she did the best she could in folding them and not just throwing them in.

She went through them coming across the shirt she was looking for. She shook her head and realized this was the first time in awhile where she didn’t have to call Tim looking for her clothes. She had them all right here in their home.

She finished getting ready just as she heard the door open and Tim call out: “Lucy, I’m home!”

She grinned at that word home.

He didn’t have to pick her up for dates anymore or drop her off. They rode together into work most day and rode home together. If Tim had to work late she just caught a ride with Nolan or Aaron.

They went to the store together, they cooked together and fell asleep and woke up together. It was perfect domestic bliss.

When she woke up to a nightmare, Tim was there to hold her. When he wasn’t she would wrap herself around his pillow.

It wasn’t always perfect. They would fight and be angry and then they would make up and it was all worth it.

Lucy had her hair gathered up in a ponytail debating whether or not to wear it up or down.

“Wear it down.” Came Tim’s voice from the door way and she spun to face him. He was in his normal outfit. Jeans, shirt, jacket. But he looked perfect as always.

“Down?” She asked him and he nodded. He came over and released her hair and sighing as it cascaded down her back.

“You look beautiful.” He muttered. He pulled her closer by her sweater.

“I love you.” He said. Lucy sighed knowing she would never tire from hearing him say those words.

“I love you too.” She said and then adds: “Are you ready? I’m starving.”

He nodded and she reached up to kiss him.

“You know what’s the best thing about living together?” He asked her as they headed to his truck.

“Hmmm?”

“I can bring you home and you don’t have to worry about leaving anymore. Because you already are home.”

Lucy smiled at him. “You are my home Tim. But you are right it’s nice to come to a place where I know you will always be.”

Later that night as they laid tangled in the sheets Lucy slipped out of bed and slipped on Tim’s shirt before crawling back into bed.

Tim was her home and she guessed he always had been.

She couldn’t wait to see this home turn into more.

Tim subconsciously pulled her closer in his sleep and she sighed.

Yep this was perfect. For the first time in a long time she slept peacefully knowing Tim would always try to be right next to her

[haptronym]

Hey!! This is the anon from a while back who had that convo with you about quirkless discrimination with your cannon vs fannon posts. The one who sent a way too long ask haha.

I still haven’t picked back up BNHA, just still dinking around in the earlier seasons with my writing after dropping it so long ago due to the exact reason you outlined; I stopped watching due to a certain character stagnating while saying they’re changing. Which I find amusing how prevalent that problem is in so many arcs that it’s the reason I stopped watching the show actual years ago (though not solely, it was that + a combination of other things with that arc but it really exasperated it) and you’re now talking about the same exact issue for the end of it. I don’t even feel like I can say it’s due to external pressures rather then just a weak point of the writer at this point tbh.

But, besides that, on the topic of why I initially started this ask, I just wanted to say it’s interesting to hear the story has still done squat with quirklessness, really goes to show the whole glaring divide in exactly what we where talking about so long ago. Full circle kinda?? It really is such a shame the show never went into it and kinda failed to scratch the surface of anything with how compelling it would have been and how easily it could have tied into the whole of the series’ themes.

But hey, like you said, there’s always fanfics. Just thought I’d send in an ask about it since it was fun talking to you about it last time.

Now that it’s over, I might give the show another shot, for old times sake, we’ll see!

Oh as an add on, as the fannon vs cannon anon, I do want to put a note that since I haven’t seen the thing myself I’m not making too strong opinions on it or agreeing with everything in that post, just contemplating the specific stuff I talked about in that previous anon ask as a sort of now outsider to the series.

This isn’t a “oh you’re wrong!” but making sure people know I’m not blindly following things I’ve read about a series rather then forming opinions around it from first hand cannon, HA! I’ll do that when I maybe start watching it again…one day…

-

(The post under discussion)

Hello again! Glad you're still enjoying the fandom space and haha, it's ironic that this issue is why you dropped the show. I'm also going to caveat that I'm not trying to dunk on Horikoshi or be a bitter hater. The issues I'm bringing up are par for the course for most serial writing, way harder to avoid than they seem. I really liked MHA overall and have huge respect for Horikoshi's writing, art, and ability to keep his sanity while bringing this behemoth to life.

Anyway, a response.

I mentioned a few aspects where quirklessness got brought in later in the story, but overall, yeah, it still felt kind of… vestigial. To me it felt like the author threw it out there at first thinking it was a cool idea, then later went "ugh, shit, that's not actually where I want to focus. I can't retcon it, so let's just... minimize it and move on." A lot of times when big series start, they toss out a whole bunch of possible story hooks and then narrow down to just a few that they're actually going to spend serious time on... anyone who gets hooked on a premise that doesn't end up being developed further can be left feeling disappointed.

I suspect this is exactly the reason why MHA has such a giant fandom. The show's clown-car cast means that pretty much no character really gets "deep" treatment. Instead we get 1,000 tantalizing flashes of really, really cool possibilities. We get sucked in by an awesome idea, get frustrated when the cool character/premise barely gets touched again after that, and then feverishly fill the empty space with fanfic and fanart. (I'm lucky that my favorites, Izuku and All Might, were about the most main of main characters, and even they felt somewhat shallow. I can't imagine the agony of being, say, a Momo fan.)

Unfortunately when a story does this, it also means that it's inevitably going to disappoint its fanbase. It tossed out 1,000 awesome ideas but it only has space to cultivate a small handful of those into proper plotlines… not only is it sad to see all the unused plot threads peter out, but usually the realized story ends up outright contradicting at least a few very popular fan theories and hopes. This doesn't mean the story's bad, far from it. But in these weekly-chapter stories where fans have years or decades to get attached to their interpretations and predictions, praying each week that yes, it seems like a long shot, but maybe the story will veer off into X… things quickly spiral into enormous bitterness when those decades of hope are finally snuffed out for good. (This same phenomenon makes me dread the eventual end of One Piece…)

MHA had a lot of people going "it's not like other shonen!" because it had lots of promising ideas. But it turned out that… yes, it is just another shonen. Shonen are tons of fun, and I love MHA overall. But man, it got hit hard by those high expectations.

I was a bit harsh (and incorrect) in my post, saying Izuku/All Might haven't changed at ALL, and that quirklessness meant NOTHING. It gets outright confusing when there are characterization backsies like the ones I described. Which is canon: the single panel where a character says "quirklessness is a big deal to me!" or the way that every other character behavior and plot point screams "sure doesn't seem like it"? They're both real. And this discrepancy depends on the reader's interpretation too: I'm extremely picky about characterization, while someone less anal might not see any contradiction at all. So we get All Might fans insisting that the show made quirkless issues into a huge enormous part of the plot/characters, and meanwhile I don't see it, and get annoyed and preachy because it feels like the narrative is being unfairly ascribed depth and profundity that I really wanted but never actually saw from it. How dare!

ANYWAY, I highly recommend checking out the rest of the show. I have a feeling the final arc is going to look amazing in animated form once it's finally done. The final section is a combo of delightfully over-the-top shonen insanity and surprisingly weighty outcomes. We can debate whether it really earned those outcomes, but I'm at least pleased that it tried.

[3mcwriting]

Regret, Part 2: Moving On

Regret Masterlist

Warnings: Language, references to sex, alcohol consumption

Synopsis: Your boyfriend, Steve Rogers, the lead singer of the internationally famous band "The Avengers" was a fan-favorite. From his chiseled muscles to his movie-star smile to his old-fashioned manners, everyone loved him. But you were okay with that. Because he would never cheat on you. Right? Well...

~~

"Come on girl, get up," Nat said, hitting you with a pillow. "We're going out tonight and I'll drag you out of here by your ankles if I have to."

You groaned, turning over and staring at the ceiling. "Whyyyy?"

"Because you've been sulking for 2 months, you need a fun night to party and get over that asshole," she announces, planting her hands on her hips. "Plus you haven't even gone to work and I've used up all of my self-control to not beat up that dick and that she-demon."

"I think I'm aloud to sulk after finding out my boyfriend of 3 years cheated on me with a woman I thought was my friend," you pointed out. "Besides, I'm still getting al my work done. It's just...remotely getting it done- Which, can you blame me? I see both of them at work."

Her eyes softened. "Honey, I know. But I think going out and just letting loose for a night will be good for you. Plus, who knows? You might just meet a hot person who all you want is for them to-"

You threw a pillow at her, effectively cutting off whatever innuendo she was about to say.

She smiled. "So...does that means you're going?"

"I don't have much of a choice, now do I?" you asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope." Nat said, popping the 'p'.

"Ugh, I don't like you sometimes," you muttered, finally getting off of your ruffled bed.

"Nah, you know you love me," she said with a wink.

You threw another pillow at her.

•••••

Two hours later and you had finally found an outfit Nat deemed acceptable. It was simple, comfortable, but still suitable enough for a club. You let her do your makeup, knowing that her deft hands were much better than yours.

You groaned "Why did I agree to this?"

"You didn't have much of a choice," Natasha said, checking her phone. "Ok, now, come on. We're going."

When the two of you arrived you quickly got out of the Uber and looked at the hulking structure in front of you. Nat pulled you inside, immediately heading to the bar. You sat down on one of the stools, your best friend ordering two shots of straight vodka.

"Cheers," you told her, quickly downing the drink in the hope it would make the night slightly more bearable. You winced, the liquid burning as it slid down your throat. You tried to relax, to just focus on the music.

You turned to Nat.

"Wanna dance?" She asked, downing another shot and dragging you to your feet.

"I have a feeling this is another thing I don't have a choice in," you said, voice barely discernible as you began walking with her onto the dance floor.

"Your feeling is right!" Nat yelled as she began dancing. You closed your eyes, moving along to the music.

"I'm gonna grab us some more drinks!" you yelled over the crowd.

You were pretty sure she hadn't heard you, too focused on the gorgeous woman who had begun dancing with her. As the woman got closer and closer to Nat and you saw her wrap her arms around the other woman's neck, you grinned.

At least one of you was having fun, you thought as you nursed the glass of soda in your hands.

"I'll take a whiskey on the rocks," a tall man with bleached hair and gorgeous silver-blue eyes told the bartender, a faint accent detectable. "And what would you like, love?"

"No thanks," you told him, slightly surprised he was talking to you. "I got my drink."

"Gin and tonic?" he asked.

"Just soda."

"Just soda?" he questioned, a smirk on his face. "You're at a club and you got plain soda?"

"Well, I gotta take care of my friend," you explained, sipping at your drink.

"Ah, designated driver?" He slid onto the stool beside you, propping his face on his palm as he looked at you curiously.

"Kinda," you told him, shrugging a little.

Normally Nat got too wasted for you to let her get herself home and she didn't like waking up in strangers beds. Plus, it wasn't exactly safe to be by yourself as an inebriated woman trying to get home. So normally around 2, you'd drag her out of the club and she'd eat all your ice cream then pass out on your couch.

"So, you can't drink, but how about a dance?" Accented voice like honey.

"Why not?" you said, standing up with him.

He grabbed your hand, gently pulling you to the dance floor. "So...what's your name, gorgeous?" He put his hands on your hips as you moved along to the beat of the music.

"No names, that's too serious," you told him, memories popping up that you hurriedly pushed to the back of your mind. You just wanted to get lost in the moment.

"Names are too serious?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Yup."

You closed your eyes, enjoying the feeling of his body moving so close to your own. His arms slid further around your waist but never going too far south as he pulled you almost flat against him, both of you still dancing. With the newfound closeness, every little sway or bump was felt by the both of you.

"Well, is dancing like this too serious?" You shivered at his low voice whispering into your ear, your breath hitching as soft lips brushed your neck when his head dipped down.

"Dancing is all fun."

Your voice was a lot more breathless than you'd like to admit.

"And your name?"

"Giving you my name gives you trust, however little. And my trust seems to be in short supply recently." You let out a laugh, the noise harsh.

"Well, whoever cheated on you is a damned idiot," he declared, a soft kiss brushing your cheek.

"How did you know?"

"A beautiful woman sitting at the bar in a club, sipping a coke while watching her friend have the time of her life. An incredibly handsome man approaches said woman asking for her name and receives a response of, 'no names, that's too serious.'" He raised an eyebrow at you. "Then proceeds to say that her trust is in short supply. An asshole did you wrong and I have no problem with giving you a good time." His voice was firm, a promise held in those words.

Before you could realize what was happening, he was fluidly spinning you to face him and dipping his head down to capture your lips with his.

Your eyes shut as you wound your arms around his neck, gently tugging at the soft hair at his nape as he deepened the kiss. As you moved your lips against his silky ones, you could taste the whiskey on him as his tongue slid into your parted lips. You tugged at his hair a little harder than you meant to, causing a low groan to rumble from him.

The moment shattered as a loud crash rang out along with a yell from a familiar voice.

"All of you asshole in the crowd who are cheaters better watch out or I'm gonna beat your ass!"

Your eyes snapped open, quickly stepping away from the man as you searched for your friend. Not searching long, you found her standing on the bar throwing her heels at the security guards who were rushing to pull her down.

Well shit.

"I gotta go," you told the man, rushing to your friend.

"Come on, Tasha, let's go home," you said, gently easing her off the bar.

"Yay! Ice cream! But first we gotta beat all those fuckeeeers and then we get ice cream."

"Sorry Nat, no beating the fuckers tonight," you told her, a pout appearing on her face.

•••••

"Ugh, I should've just called in sick today, my head feels like shit." Natasha groaned as the two of you walked out of the elevator. "

"Uh uh, there's no way in hell I'm facing them for the first time since the breakup without my best friend," you told her, dragging her along with you as you walked to the auditions room where two new people were trying out for the band.

"You seem a lot better than I thought- Wait, did you sleep with someone last night?!" Natasha asked loudly, making you shush her quickly when several sets of eyes turned to the two of you.

"No, I did not sleep with anyone last night-" you hesitated, "-just your idea to go to the club wasn't as bad as I thought."

"So you did sleep with someone!"

"Would you shut up a bit, Nat?" Your eyes darted around, very aware of the other people who could hear the conversation. "I didn't sleep with a man...I just had a really good kiss."

"Ooh, a really good kiss?" Her eyes glinted. "What's he look like?"

"He looks like..,"

"Hey! Don't stop! Tell me what this mystery man looks like."

"Turn around and you'll see," you told her as your eyes met a set of silver blue ones.