#and lots of other things obviously. but this is the one that hit me yesterday

[everysongineverykey]

replaying undertale is like crossing the street. if you don't look both ways beforehand you'll get crushed. by the mettaton poster in alphys' lab that says "thank you for making my dreams come true" on the back

[just-spacetrash]

.

[sophiamcdougall]

I am never going to complain about Greek Duolingo again

I mean, I am. But still.

So, as some of you know, my family has been coming to this tiny Greek seaside village for several years. Just over a week ago I came out here with my mum, under the impression that early September, after the height of the summer heat, would be a good time to have a holiday. ANYWAY Storm Daniel had other ideas about that. Locally things are improving (I'm actually really pissed off about the disaster-porn tone of most English-language media coverage, but that's another post). The power is back on, there's running water most of the time, and though the latter is not drinkable, a truck from the government came and handled out free bottled water yesterday. But we are currently kind of stuck. Can't do tourist things. Can't go home. There aren't any local flights out until Saturday and the road to Thessaloniki is still closed.

So this evening, feeling kind of aimless and depressed, I go down to the nearest beach with a couple of binbags and start cleaning up in an effort to at least do something positive. I always try to do this at least once out here and obviously, after the storm, there's a lot more plastic and rubbish than usual.

At some point I find this large, round bit of metal - some kind of machinery part, I think -- that's too big for the bag, so I take it to the bins on its own, leaving the rubbish bag on the beach. And when I come back for it, something among the stones beside it moves.

Specifically, it pulls its head sharply inside its shell

So, meanwhile I've been trying to learn some Greek with the help of Duolingo.

I currently have a 33-day streak and... I have questions. Shouldn't I be able to use the past or future tenses by now? Shouldn't I be able to say "x is like y"? I can't do those things. But one thing I absolutely can say all day long is έχω μια χελώνα : I have a turtle.

This is far from the limit of Duolingo Greek's turtle-related content. "An obsession with turtles" is my mother's characterisation. I can inform you that the turtle is not a bird, and, improbably, that the turtle is drinking milk. I can introduce you to a turtle in company with a horse and an elephant. As far as Duolingo is concerned, it really is turtles all the way down.

Now this, you may be able to see, is not a turtle. It has claws rather than flippers. It is a tortoise. I know there are wild tortoises in Greece: my aunt once rescued a pair of them shagging in the middle of the road -- but that was up in the mountains. I've even seen one myself, but it was also on a road and very dead.

I am 95% certain they don't belong on beaches. There's nothing for it to eat, except, unfortunately, a lot of plastic. Even if it gets off the beach it will immediately find itself on a road where it could get hit by a car. I'm pretty sure it must have been washed down by the floodwater and has been just sitting there, dazed, ever since.

Now obviously the first thing I want to do on encountering this unusual animal is to go and tell my mummy, so I do. The tortoise immediately brightens her day. She agrees that the tortoise is not happy on the beach and needs to be taken somewhere safe. it gets surprisingly wriggly when picked up so we put it in a carrier bag with some grapes and cucumber and go looking for somewhere to rehome it.

We find a path leading up between the houses towards a likely-looking field, but before we get very far a dog in a yard goes berserk and a man's head pops over a fence and demands to know what we're doing. He does this in English, as evidently we're just that obviously tourists.

"I found a tortoise on the beach!" I explain. "We want to find somewhere to put it."

"A what," he asks.

"It's like a, you know," I begin and then to my astonishment I find myself saying... "μια χελώνα"

"Oh! A turtle!" he says.

"But from the land. δεν είναι χελώνα", [it is not a turtle,] I say, as I am worried he will tell me to put it back near the sea where I found it. As it turns out it actually IS a χελώνα, Greek does not distinguish between turtles and tortoises, but I don't know that; I can't even name the days of the week or identify any colours other than pink yet, give me a break.

The man's entire demeanour changes and thaws. He does not worry about my turtle-that-is-not-a-turtle conundrum. He knows where οι χελώνες come from and where η χελώνα μας belongs. He leads us through a gate into a courtyard area.

"[somethingsomething] μια χελώνα," he explains to the assembled onlookers, of whom there are, suddenly, a surprising number.

"ΜΙΑ ΧΕΛΩΝΑ!!!" crows the throng of delighted small children, who are, suddenly, everywhere.

"μια χελώνα!" I agree, accepting that at least for current purposes, that is what it is.

"Μπορούμε να δούμε τη χελώνα σας; [can we see your turtle?]" asks an adorable little girl, shyly, and I understand??

The children fucking love looking at the χελώνα and showing it to them is kind of magical?

I finally put the tortoise down on the grass of this wild area off to the side of the courtyard, and marvel aloud that it is weird that I barely know any Greek except how to say μια χελώνα.

"I think she will soon run off," a kind lady called Aspasia assures me, seeing I remain slightly anxious about its fate. "I don't know why I'm saying 'she'. I suppose because χελώνα is feminine in Greek."

"Yes! I know that!" I exclaim, thrilled.

"Well done!" she says. And also she asks if we are OK for drinking water after the storm and if we need any help with anything and is just generally incredibly lovely and now we know more of the neighbours!

So "μια χελώνα" has just become, by a long way, my most-used and most understood and all-around most conversationally successful phrase in Greek. So I guess I have to admit I was wrong to doubt Duolingo's wisdom: it is correct to be obsessed with turtles. And I concede that prior to learning how to count to ten or to distinguish right from left, the simple ability to yell the word TURTLE over and over again is, it turns out, a crucial element of the responsible traveller's social skills.

(I am pretty fluent in Italian and turtles haven't come up in conversation even once?)

[hayleythesugarbowl]

hello! I've been seeing a lot of smosh vidcon content lately as well as rewatching shayne guesses and it made me brainstorm a bit!

How about a Spencer x reader where he freaks out about his favorite creator being at vidcon (the reader obvi) and the other cast members trying so hard to get them to meet and they hit it off? *you know Kiana would be allll over helping a bestie out lol*

or maybe even the same kind of thing but instead of meeting, reader is one of Spencer's fav youtubers in Shayne's guessing favorite youtubers video? Shayne immediately knows it's spencer and kind of outs his crush! reader is a big fan of smosh so she sees the video and it goes from there!

absolutely adore your work and keep it up queen! 🫶

See You Online || Spencer Agnew x reader

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • smosh masterlist  ⋆˚｡⋆୨୧⋆

summary: when you see a smosh video of spencer saying you’re one of his favorite youtubers, you begin to interact online. then, when you both attend vidcon (and spencer’s friends convince him to talk to you) you hit it off

word count: 2.6k

warnings: mild language

a/n: hey darling! so i kind of went with both of these ideas and i hope you like what i did 🤭 i included some fake insta/yt in this because it fit so this is partially a social media au. fem!reader. enjoy!!

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     “Well, this is obviously Spencer.”

     Shayne tapped his pen against the desk as he looked at the screen in front of him.

     Three YouTuber names had appeared next to him for the viewers to see. 

     “What makes it me?” Spencer’s teasing voice came from off camera. 

     “C’mon,” Shayne said. “We got Retro Game Corp, MandaloreGaming, and (Y/n) (Y/l/n).”

     He continued. “Everyone knows you love retro shit. MandaloreGaming sounds like just the kind of nerd thing you’d be into. And (Y/n)—that one’s just self explanatory. I mean, Spencer’s obsessed with (Y/n). Ask anyone in the office.”

     “Ok woah,” Spencer piped in again. “I don’t know about obsessed.”

     “Dude, you just told me yesterday that you watched her videos until two in the morning the night before,” Shayne addressed him.

      Then he faced back to the screen, to the viewers. “Spencer’s got a little bit of a crush on (Y/n). It’s uh, it’s honestly adorable.”

      A woman’s muffled voice came from offscreen. 

     Shayne laughed. “Kiana said Spencer would have (Y/n)’s babies.”

     “Dude!” Spencer yelled at Kiana offscreen. “What if she sees this!”

     “There’s no way,” Shayne laughed. “There’s no way any of the YouTubers from this video are seeing this.”

      “Imagine,” Spencer joked. “I’m like, ‘hey (Y/n), hit me up’, and then she sees this, bro.”

      “Hey,” Shayne raised his eyebrows. “You never know. I mean, I married a YouTuber.”

      “Just an excuse to bring up Courtney,” Spencer coughed.

      “Anyway,” Shayne put his hands on the table in front of him. “We’re getting a little off track here. We’ve established Spencer’s in love with (Y/n). Now—do I even have to guess?—show me Spencer!”

      He pointed to the side as an imagine of Spencer popped up on the screen. 

      “Well, thanks for that easy round,” Shayne joked. “Now, let’s see the next set of YouTubers…”

     And that was where you stopped watching the video every time. You’d seen the whole of Shayne Guesses Favorite YouTubers before, but when you went back to rewatch it, it was always this clip.

     You’d been sent this specific clip by hundreds of people. Your followers and subscribers on all different platforms. The comments ranged from ‘oh my gosh look at this’ to ‘you have to see this smosh video’ to ‘petition to get Spencer and (Y/n) to go out’.

     What they didn’t know, was that you’d seen it long before they began tagging you in it.

     You were a huge Smosh fan, and had been for years. Imagine your shock when you yourself were named in one of their videos. 

     You’d only been a creator for a little over a year now, but you’d quickly gained a following and were becoming more and more popular online. It still all felt so surreal, and seeing yourself named as someone’s favorite YouTuber—especially on one of your favorite channels—felt like a huge moment.

      That, and you were flattered by Shayne’s comments about Spencer. You thought it was sweet that he enjoyed your content and—you couldn’t stop the blush from spreading to your cheeks—you. 

      That was what prompted you to leave a comment under the video—a comment which Spencer responded to.

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Can Shayne Guess Our Favorite YouTubers? Smosh Games • 721k views • 38k 👍

comments 2.9k

yourusername ✓: does this count as being in the youtuber and the celeb crush vid?

♥️ by creator

spennser ✓: it was actually only until 1am i swear smoshyyy651: spensser LMAOOOO chumbawumbasnumbertwofan: the fact that (y/n) (y/l/n) saw this ✋😭 y/nstanforlifeee: oh my gosh my queen is here 👑 I love you and your vids (not as much as Spencer apparently asksfsk)

mya_sol: how many times have you watched 8:04? me: yes

yourfavoritepizzaplace: ‘spencer would have (y/n)’s babies’ KIANA THATS WILDDDD 💀

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    And from there, you began interacting. Leaving comments and likes on each other’s videos and instagram posts. Leaving fans to obsess over your every interaction, to make compilations, to wonder if you were dating.

     Because you’d be lying if you said you didn’t read most of the comments about you two. 

    You enjoyed your little online back-and-forth. You’d known who Spencer was before the Shayne Guesses video had come out. Watching Smosh on-and-off for years, you’d seen him in multiple videos.

     It still felt so unreal for him to know who you were—not only know who you were but like your videos.

     And now look at you, messaging him and liking his posts like you were old friends. Spencer pretty much liked and commented on every one of your feeds or stories or uploads.

     After your original comment on the Smosh video, things just…took off. You didn’t really know how it started, one comment led to another, and suddenly it was like you had always congratulated each other and left witty comments on each other’s pages. 

     You smiled as you stared at the screen of your phone, looking over your’s and Spencer’s latest interaction. You couldn’t deny that he was really cute. You’d always thought so. 

     You thought of Shayne saying that Spencer had a crush on you and you felt your smile grow bigger.

     Your empty suitcase caught your eye as you looked up, sitting on your bed and reminding you that you still had to pack.

     You set your phone down. Fangirling over Spencer could wait. You still had yet to pack for your flight that that was in two days, and you didn’t want to leave it ‘till the last minute—or, more last minute than it already was.  

     You had been lucky enough to be invited to VidCon this year, and you were thrilled about getting to go as a creator and meet other artists who had inspired you. You were less thrilled about the packing.

      You stood up and walked towards your closet, starting to decide which outfits you wanted to bring, daydreaming about what VidCon would be like. All while thinking about Spencer.

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yourusername

liked by hannahmontoya, spennser, and 21,449 others

yourusername: new vid up now !! 💌

view all comments

haleypham: about to go watch it right now xoxo love you

yourusername: stop ilysm 🤭

ynsgirlfriend: WAKE UP SHE POSTED 🙏

spennser: guess what i’m going to be doing at 2am

⤷ liked by yourusername

darlingdaisy: please do a grwm next i need to see your skincare routine!!

ryla768: we’re being fed well today 🙇‍♀️

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spennser

liked by yourusername, filmingamanda, and 17,914 others

spennser: it’s giving cat lady

view all comments

phatchanse: *cat queen

yourusername: my cat says to tell ur cat hi

spennser: my cat says ur cat’s pretty cute carmensanfransisco: LOL 😂🐈 urmom17: oh my gosh she commented spencer are you freaking out? spennser: urmom17 shitting my pants fr

jessicarabbitsimp: who else has noticed spencer and (y/n) all over each other’s igs 😏

smoshismylife: love you spencer 🫶

──────────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆────────── yourusername

liked by spennser, iamjordiofficial, and 32,712 others

yourusername: thx for 100k 🥂

view all comments

spensser: yay i contributed

⤷ liked by yourusername

yourusername: how’d you have time to create 100k accs tho? ⤷ liked by spennser

lucindajones101: congrats girlie!! you deserve it

ynfan7: my queen 🧎‍♀️

butterflyenjoyer: been here since the beginning 🥹 keep shining!!

getyninasmoshvideo: the way spencer makes an appearance on all her posts 😭

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VidCon was amazing. 

      Today was the first day, and you couldn’t wait for all the festive still to come. You had already seen so many cool presentations and been a part of so many workshops and met so many interesting people. 

      And now, as you stood at the table set aside for you, staring at the slowing line of people still waiting to meet you, you thought that this was definitely your favorite part.

     You’d gotten to talk to people who watched your channel and hear how your content had impacted their lives or inspired them to create. It really made it all feel worth it. It made you love your job and all of the opportunities it had given you.

     You’d been here for nearly two hours already, and still there were a few more fans waiting to speak with you and get a picture.  

     You smiled to yourself as the last of the people filed through, letting the momentary silence wash over you. You had just picked up your phone to take a quick selfie for a later post, when you heard a commotion to your left.

     You turned to the source of the noise and had to do a double take when you saw the entire cast of Smosh at a setup similar to yours, having their own meet and greet.

     You didn’t know why in all of your thinking about Spencer you hadn’t assumed that Smosh would be at VidCon. It seemed obvious now. They were YouTubers, weren’t they?

     Speaking of Spencer, you saw him talking to Courtney and your heart did a little flip in your chest. After interacting with him online these past few weeks, and watching his channel for these past few years, it seemed crazy to see him in person. 

     As if sensing your presence, he looked your way and you turned away in time so it didn’t look like you’d been staring. You didn’t think he’d caught you watching him. 

     “Wait? Spencer, is that (Y/n) (Y/l/n)?” Courtney’s voice carried over the several feet that separated you.

     “Oh, is it? I hadn’t noticed,” you heard him say sarcastically, even though your back was turned to him. You stepped a little bit closer to their location, pretending to be fixing something on your lanyard.

     “Dude, you have to go talk to her,” you heard a male voice—Shayne? You didn’t dare turn around—say.

     “No way man,” Spencer answered, “What would I even say?”

     “You’ve been commenting on each other’s instagrams for like a month, you’ll think of something,” Courtney said.

     “Yeah, but that’s different. This would be, like, a real conversation,” he answered. “I don’t actually know her. What if she thinks I’m just some creepy fan, and it’s like bro back off.”

     You bit your lip, stifling a giggle. Oh, what he didn’t know.

     Then the music in the venue picked up and you couldn’t hear their conversation for nearly a minute. You walked a few feet back over to your table, picking up and looking at a few of the gifts fans had given you, finding a new way to look busy. This went on for another minute before you heard a new voice say,

     “What’s this about Spence and (Y/n) (Y/l/n)?”

     “Just that Spencer’s going to go up to her,” Courtney announced. 

     “I’ll get the popcorn,” the voice said. 

     “No, Kiana,” you heard Spencer say. “That’s not what’s happening.”

     “You’ll regret if forever if you don’t go talk to (Y/n),” The voice—Kiana—stated. 

     “No way. That’d be like if I asked you to just ‘go up and talk to’ Darren Chris,” Spencer said

     “My favorite white guy,” Kiana joked.

     “Hey bro, I thought we established that was me!” Spencer said in outrage. 

     “You will be if you go and talk to (Y/n),” she finished. 

     “I will not be manipulated,” you heard him say, and you stifled another chuckle. 

     “No, but you will be shoved,” Kiana said.

     “Wait what?” Spencer got out, before you heard a scuffing sound.

     You turned around just as Kiana pushed Spencer and suddenly he was right before you. 

     “Hey,” he said, looking uncomfortable, shooting a glare behind him at Kiana. “I heard there was a meet and greet?”

     You smiled. “You just missed it, actually.” 

     “Damn, next year then,” he said.

     “I suppose I could make an exception,” you teased. “I wouldn’t want to be the one to take away anyone’s Favorite White Guy title.”

     Spencer winced. “How much of that conversation did you hear?”

     “What conversation?” You winked at him. 

     “I can’t remember,” Spencer said, smiling as he rubbed a hand along the side of his face.

     You were both silent for a moment.

     “So,” Spencer started, breaking it. “I would tell you that I love watching your content—until a very reasonable hour of the night, might I add—but you kind of already know that. And I bet you’ve already been told that by hundreds of people today.”

     “Not by anyone nearly as cute though,” you replied, before leaning in to mock-whisper. “And I don’t mind hearing it again.”

     “Also,” you continued. “I could say the same to you. I love Smosh—I’ve watched your channel for years. You guys are all so talented.”

     “Really? No way,” Spencer smiled. “You watch Smosh?”

     “Really,” you smiled back. “I did know who you were before the Shayne Guesses video, you know.”

     “Don’t remind me,” Spencer said, shaking his head.

     “I thought it was sweet,” you told him, laughing. “And if that video had never happened, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

     “Or at Buca Di Beppo tonight at 8?” Spencer said, with trepidation.

     “Or that,” you agreed, nodding. “Are you asking me out on a date, Spencer Agnew?” 

     You felt a blush creeping up your cheeks. 

     “I guess I am,” he said. “Unless you’re going to slap me, in which case no.”

     “Only if the date goes badly,” you teased. “And if you don’t make 100,000 more accounts to subscribe to my channel with.”

     Spencer grinned. “Done. And I can introduce you to the rest of the gang.”

     “Are they good with me crashing your guys’ dinner?” You asked. You couldn’t believe you were going to meet the members of Smosh.

     You couldn’t believe you were going on a date with Spencer. 

     “Oh, they already know about it. They’re listening to every word of our conversation right now.” Spencer pointed a thumb behind him and you looked over his shoulder to see all of the Smosh cast watching you.

     They all waved at you.

     “Hey girl hey!” Kiana called to you, smirking at Spencer. 

     You waved back at them, grinning. 

     “Well, I don’t want to keep you from meet-and-greet-ing any longer,” you said, turning back to Spencer.

     “Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?” Spencer joked, gesturing between the two of you.

     “Doesn’t count,” you said back. “Technically we’ve already met on the internet.”

     “Yeah, well, you’re much prettier in person,” Spencer said, as he backed up towards the rest of the Smosh cast.

     “Well then,” you said, only a little bit breathless. “I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

     “Unless I see you on the internet first,” Spencer said, turning around and walking away. 

     You couldn’t wait. Not only did you have your date with Spencer to look forward to, you also had the rest of VidCon to get to know Spencer better and hopefully hang out with him before all this was over. 

     You turned to leave as well, walking in the opposite direction of Spencer as you tried to think where you had to be next. It was hard to focus when all your thoughts were occupied by something else. Someone else.

     You were almost out of earshot when you heard Kiana’s voice, carrying over the crowds of people.

     “Get over here, loser. I’ll take my thanks in the form of cash and/or worsted weight yarn.”

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yourusername

liked by spennser, co_mill, and 41,813 others

yourusername: had the best time with spennser at vidcon ‘24 ❣️

view all comments

kianaparker: ok but i’m glowing (also yw 💁🏾‍♀️)

⤷ liked by yourusername

spennser: new phone who dis?

yourusername: definitely not your gf ⤷ liked by spennser materialgorl199: GF?!? AHHHHH heatherscandystore: wait they’re together? I’m so happy for them ily both sm 🤭

jessicarabbitsimp: I KNEW IT WAIT 😭

thirdcutestsmoshboy: i met both of them there and they were so sweet

ynislife: so are they dating???

angelagiovanagiarratana: GUYS 🥹

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ˋ°•*⁀➷ hope you guys enjoyed this little bit of a different format. i had sm fun writing this. check out my other spencer fics if u want more like this 🎀

[bluecollarmcandtf]

Construction Dog Co.

Each one of these dumb brutes belongs to me! They once had their own lives and careers, but I replaced all that with the blind obedience of a dog. My words dictate their reality, so they'll believe anything I say. That's why it seems perfectly normal for them to wait like this every morning. They'd kneel there all day if I let them, but they need to work eventually!

"Get off your knees, dogs! Hop to work! It's the only thing you're good for!" I yell it with venom, but I relish seeing my words soaking in into their minds. With just a simple command, I've convinced them all that they are animals, good only for hard work and manual labor.

The men rush to their feet, scrambling to pick up where they'd left off yesterday. I don't bother understanding the minor details of their day to day responsibilities. I have different boys programmed to manage all that crap for me. I really only bother watching them sweat their days away.

Being the supervisor can get a bit boring, especially after hearing, "Thank you, boss. I love you, boss," for like the seventh time in a day. It kind of loses it's meaning after awhile.

That's why I often use them for entertainment. Watch this!

"Hey, you two!" I call, pointing at two sweaty workers nearby, "You're in love with each other. Make out!"

Despite being hot and exhausted, the two men drop their tools and perk up. When they meet each other's eyes it's like they're seeing one another for the first time. They practically slam their bodies together in a race to each other's throat, and within seconds the two guys are lost in a world of dirt, saliva, and lust.

I do this with my men often, but who could blame me! I handpicked each one of them because they were strong and hot. If they're going to be hypnotized work slaves, then I need to enjoy how they look.

"You too aren't doing anything else but each other for the rest of the day," I command with a laugh, "Got it?"

"Yes, sir," their replies are moaned out between breaths.

A lot of my laborers were straight before they met me, but these two were creeps about it. I think I found them at the gym, hitting on girls between every set. I obviously enjoyed erasing their raunchy personalities. I find it even more enjoyable watching them grope and slobber over each other, knowing that those bodies would've never done that before I came along.

Those jagoffs are just the beginning of my day! I leave them after they've tumbled to the ground, humping each other like the dumb animals they are.

"You there!" I point to a different guy, quietly stacking blocks nearby, "Get over here and clean the floor as I walk. These Timberlands are brand new and I don't want mud on them."

"Yes, sir," the worker answers and rushes over, throwing himself to the ground before me.

I chuckle and study the poor loser in front of me. With just a few short words, I have him scrubbing a place for me to walk like I'm his king. I scoff in disbelief when I finally recognize who the guy was.

"Wait, are you that jerk from the bank?"

"Yes, sir," he admits quietly, keeping his head lowered towards his work.

"Well shit, you've come a long way! Can you believe that a week ago you were some fancy banker who tried to deny me a loan?" I give his head a little nudge with the toe of my shoe, "This is a much better place for you...uh... Robert...or was it Roger?"

"Reggie, sir," he quickly corrects me.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore," I scowl at him, "Forget your name. You're just a construction dog, now. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Who are you?"

"I'm...I'm just a construction dog." I can tell he believes it now, too. I'm probably the only one here that knows his real name, and I'll definitely forget it within a few days.

"Good boy," I pat him on the head, "Now, you're going to stay ahead of me and keep clearing the floor for me to walk."

Reggie mumbles "Yes, sir," and crawls forward to scrub away the dirt in my immediate vicinity. Continuing on my tour, the poor guy struggles to keep up on all-fours, but a good work animal must get used to that position.

By the end of the day, my entire pack of men is sweaty and exhausted. I usually make them all work the maximum shift with no breaks, so it makes sense for them to be tired. Still, they are programmed to come and kneel before me, waiting to be dismissed. They're all a bit antsy for a rest, but I like to test their patience.

"Alright, boys. You're dismissed for the night."

With a collective groan, they climb back to their feet, marching off to the bunk house.

The bunk house is where I keep them when they aren't working. It might seem tight but each guy has enough room to sleep; although, I make them share because I don't want to purchase anymore bunk spaces. I don't really like to spend any money on them. They have access to the porta-john out back, but otherwise they aren't allowed to go anywhere else. I also only gave them the clothes they work in, so they sleep in them too.

Needless to say, it stinks in there. Between the heat, body odor, unwashed clothes, and lack of showers, they've created quite the stench. I avoid their home as much as I can, but sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me. This is the first time I've seen it in weeks.

"Come on boys, don't look so glum!" I chastise them, "Smile! Act like you're happy to see me!"

I watch as a switch goes in each of their minds. Slowly, they snap out of their foggy eyed depression, and light up. The energy of the room transforms as reassuring smiles spread across each of their manly faces.

"That's better! You boys are a tight-knit team! You love each other!" I add, "You don't mind the back-breaking work, or the smell, or anything as long as you're together."

The men become even more at ease, relaxing into the arms of their coworkers. My heart is warmed a little, seeing them getting along with each other so well. They're acting like energetic little puppies now.

I'm ready to leave them for the night. It's time for me to return to my luxury condo down the street, but before I do, I catch sight of one of my workers. An idea springs into my head.

"You, there. Come with me."

"Yes, sir," he answers, though he seems genuinely disappointed to be leaving his buddies.

I lead him outside and hose him off to remove at least some of the mud and sweat. We walk all the way to my apartment. Luckily, he's mostly dry by then so I take him inside.

"Is this going to take awhile, sir?" he asks nervously, "I'm pretty tired and my bedmate is going to sleep soon."

"Shut up and get on the bed," I command.

His mouth snaps shut and he obediently approaches my soft king bed, crawling onto it like I told him to. I sigh when I notice that the stupid oaf still tracked a lot of mud in. I'll have to make him clean it all up later.

"Now, you aren't going to speak or move unless I tell you too," I instruct, "But you will realize that anything I do will be exactly what you want: no matter what I do..."

He gazes back at me numbly.

"Tell me you understand."

"I understand, sir," he instantly repeats.

Tonight is going to be a long night for him. Too bad he still has to wake up early and report to work. I'm already planning on sleeping in. I don't mind keeping my workers waiting for a few hours while I rest. It's my company after all, and they're just dogs for labor...

[unforth]

Alright not to like liveblog my breakdown on main but yesterday was a really bad day after a really bad, like, 4 months, and I've hit a bit of a breaking point and one of the only things in my life that can give is running @mdzsartreblogs , @tgcfartreblogs , @svsssartreblogs , @erhaartreblogs , @tykartreblogs , and @cnovelartreblogs , so that is what has to give. It's been a 99-out-of-100 days thankless job. A small number of people do say thank you and yall I appreciate you so much (HUGE shout-out to the artist I met at Flamecon who gifted me a zine when I said I ran these blogs, @bonesblubs you rock) but I have never done an act of fandom labor simultaneously this labor intensive yet this invisible before and, uh. It sucks. I spend an hour or more a day on this every day, if it's under 2k hours since I started the first of these in September 2020 I'd be shocked. And I do it because I love it but doing it means I don't have time or energy to do other things I love. And I really don't want to just quit, but I can't keep this up.

In a last-ditch effort to try not to just give up, I'm making the following changes:

1. Only watching one tag per fandom for the MXTX fandoms. I am going to check *only* #tgcf, #svsss, and #mdzs. Artwork posted to any other tag, I will not see unless a mutual reblogs it.

2. Reduced tagging (even more). I'm only going to tag characters and maybe overarching au type (eg, "modern au," "fantasy au"). I'll no longer tag creatures. I will continue to tag the same common trigger warnings I already tag.

3. If a work's appearance doesn't make it obvious what it is AND the tags aren't clear, I'm not going to reblog. I can't keep spending 5 minutes or more trying to figure out what I'm even looking at, scared that if I guess wrong the artist will get mad at me for mistagging their work. If I do reblog, I'll tag only the artist name and/or whatever else I can identify for sure.

4. I am no longer going to follow #link click. The fandom is just too big. I've started dreading checking it. If I was more into it and less busy I would make another spin off just for it but neither of those is true. (The art is so good, I hate to do this, but. If you love link click, highly recommend the main tag, lots of great stuff there.)

5. I will no longer tag any non-cnovel content in the art/post. Like, if someone draws, idek, Xie Lian and Marinette from Ladybug, I'm not gonna put any tags for Marinette, just for Xie Lian.

6. Basically if I run into something hard to tag or confusing or unclear, my new policy is I'm not gonna fricken bother.

I think those are everything but idefk, I cried for 3 hours last night and got 4 hours of sleep so I'm mostly fueled by exhaustion and desperation right now and my memory is even more fried than usual.

How artists can help. This is obviously all optional. You do you. But since some people might want to know what would make my life easier, I'm sharing. I'm not claiming I feel entitled to dictate how people fandom or anything like that.

1. Put the tags for the character(s) and ship(s) early in the tag list.

2. If you make art for a fandom that isn't one of the big ones (right now the only big danmei fandoms on tumblr as far as I can tell are the MXTX fandoms and maybe 2ha) I am begging you to use my tracked tag #cnovelartreblogs

3. Do mdzs art? Tag #mdzs. Do tgcf art? Tag #tgcf. Do svsss art? Tag #svsss.

4. Not only artists, but everyone, *please* stop tagging fandoms not discussed and/or depicted in your post. It's gotten to be stupid common for people to blanket the danmei fandom tags with posts only about one fandon (like, svsss-only works also being tagged mdzs and tgcf and 2ha for some damn reason). This isn't about just my sideblogs tbh this is just fandom etiquette that seems to have been forgotten or never learned by many. Tagging unrelated fandoms isn't "reach," it's annoying. People go into the #mdzs tag to see mdzs, not whatever not-mdzs stuff people have decided to tag for ~reach~, and seeing the same post in 8 tags, none of which it's related to, is so damn irritating, and makes scrolling the tags looking for content that IS relevant take that much longer. Knock it off.

Okay. I think that's as much as I'm prepared to meltdown where everyone can see. Thanks in advance everyone for your understanding, and apologies to everyone about to see this 8 times as I reblog it to each sideblog.

At least I'm not tagging it to everywhere. 🤣🤣🤣

[game-set-canet]

hey could you make one where the reader is also a tennis player and carlos and she are mixed doubles rivals 🫶🏻

It's Even

Pairing: Carlos Alcaraz x f!reader

category: fluff

warnings: none

Author’s Note: ok, this turned out way different than I intended 🙈 but i hope you like it, lovely anon 🤍

* Y/N = your name * Y/L/N = your last name

MY MASTERLIST

(via Instagram @ carlitosalcarazz)

♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦

"Well...?", you look up from your phone, confused, as Grigor plops down on a chair next to you.

"Good morning, Grigor! What do you mean by 'well...'?"

"What do you think about the draw?", Grigor grins mischievously.

You raise an eyebrow, sceptical:  "What about the draw?"

The Bulgarian leans back, his grin widening: "So, you haven't seen who we're playing in the first round yet?"

Now your curiosity is piqued and you put your phone aside: "No, Dimitrov, enlighten me!"

Grigor leans in conspiratorially and shrugs nonchalantly: "Why don't you ask your boyfriend... and while you're at it, ask him what tactic he and Cristina plan to use for the match."

You feel a gentle blush spreading across your cheeks. Hearing the word "boyfriend" in connection with Carlos gives you butterflies.

You brush a strand of hair from your face and try to play it cool: "We're playing against Carlitos and Cristina?"

"Mhm...", Grigor nods slowly and meaningfully, "And don't you dare get those heart eyes again! Yesterday's practise was enough for me!", Grigor starts laughing, “As soon as Carlos started practising on the court next to ours, you couldn't hit a single serve!"

The gentle blush deepens into a rich tomato red and you shake your head vigorously: "That was because of the wind! And you know it!"

"Of course! The wind!", Grigor leaves no doubt that he doesn't believe a word you say, "Just make sure that doesn't happen during the match, whether your better half is on the other side of the net or not."

*** *** ***

"I can hardly wait for our match tomorrow!", Carlos has one arm around you while your head rests on his chest. You're both lying in the big hotel bed, eyes on the TV.

You smile and lift your head to look at your boyfriend: "You’re really excited about it, aren't you?"

Carlos beams at you and nods: "Of course! It's going to be our first time playing against each other!"

At that moment, you recall a tweet you saw during the rain delay: »Sometimes Carlitos is just like a golden retriever puppy« and the author of that tweet was obviously right.

You grin, furrowing your brow and your hand absentmindedly strokes Carlos' left side up: "But we play against each other all the time?"

"Practise doesn't count! A real match is something entirely different!", his eyes shine with excitement and you feel that special flutter in your stomach, you love him so much.

"Oh yeah, and why's that?"

Carlos makes a grand gesture with the arm that's not around your shoulders: "Because it's going to be something special! Imagine the atmosphere!"

Now you can't hold back a laugh and poke him in the chest: "Carlitos, it's a first-round match, not the Roland Garros final!"

"For me, it has the same importance!", Carlitos matches your grin and you know he's at least partially serious.

You slide away from him a bit and sit up, looking down at him: "So, to you, the Roland Garros final is the same as our first-round match?"

Carlos' grin widens: "Absolutely! Because I'm playing against you!"

"True, and that's why you should be ready for something you've never experienced in a Slam final: you're going to lose."

Your expression is triumphant as you see Carlitos clutch his chest dramatically: "Ouch! What makes you so sure?"

"Grigor and I have already won a title together, and Cristina and you are playing together for the first time."

Carlos just shrugs, the grin returning to his face: "I've achieved a lot of things that seemed unlikely."

You ignore the slight increase in your heart rate at seeing that dazzling grin and toss your hair over your shoulder: "True. But not this time. This time, you’re going to lose."

Carlos doesn't say anything in response, he just pulls you close and gives you a long kiss.

*** *** ***

"Can I give you a tactical tip?" Grigor leans over, a bit out of breath, while you take a long sip from your water bottle, "If you’d stop staring at him, maybe you could actually play tennis."

You nearly choke on your drink and throw an annoyed look at your doubles partner: "And if you’d stop making double faults, maybe we could actually win."

Grigor makes a face and nods slowly before grabbing his tennis racket again: "Well, at least he’s staring at you the whole time too, so I guess it’s even."

Thankfully, it's very hot today, so no one notices your ears turning red. The match has been pretty even so far, but definitely not a highlight reel. Internally, you have to agree with Grigor: your level today is far from outstanding - the same goes for Carlitos. Surprisingly, the stands were almost full, and the crowd is cheering loudly.

"Why do I keep playing with you?", you mutter as you get ready to head back to the court.

Grigor grins widely: "Because you can’t play with Carlos: you two would just stare at each other’s butts the whole time and instead of high-fives after winning a point, it would be a five-minute make-out session."

You have to resist the temptation to throw a tennis ball at his head.

*** *** ***

In the third set, the match finally picks up and Carlitos starts showing why he’s called the golden boy. You also begin to play up to your second-place WTA ranking. Especially the tiebreak is a hard fight, lasting almost 20 minutes.

"Game, set, match, Dimitrov and Y/L/N!"

You hear Grigor sigh in relief next to you: "I thought this match would never end!"

You start laughing as you hug each other enthusiastically.

At the net, you first shake hands with Cristina and then with Carlos.

"I told you you’d lose.", you tease and Carlos laughs softly.

"It’s okay.", he still holds your hand in his and your eyes move from your interlaced hands to his face.

"Even though you claimed yesterday that today's match was just as important as a Slam final for you?"

"I don’t mind losing to you because I’m always so proud of you when you win!"

There it is again: his beautiful smile and your heart skips a beat.

Carlos leans over the net and kisses you.

The crowd cheers.

♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦ - ♦

tagging: @bluetackbaby @lxndonorris @fedalev @purplecloudarcade

[penelope-potter]

Your Part Of The Deal~

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel

Pairing: Alastor X Fem! Owl Hybrid! Reader

Summary: You and Alastor made out a deal in a tricky situation. Now you have to keep your part of the deal...

Continuation from the first story; 'Small Box'

Warnings: No one

Here's Part 1

♥♥♥

♥♥♥

The morning 'sun' of hell shined through the curtains of your room. Reddish, orange light fell on the floor and on the side of your bed enough for you to open your eyes and to yawn.

You needed a few seconds to put the pieces back together because something felt strange about this day. It was the second you brushed your fingers over your lips as it hit you. You almost jumped out of the bed instantly as your mind brought you back to the very moment of yesterday where you and Alastor were trapped into Charlie's old closet. The deal. The kiss.

Fuck. The kiss...

You brushed your finger over your lips again and your heart started to beat as fast as it could this early.

You sat back on the edge of your bed as your memories of yesterday came back. The group found you two inside the old thing. Charlie agitated you two were trapped in it, Angel laughing his ass off, Husk giving you a kind of terrifying look. Nifty only caring about the mess you two brought with you and Vaggie ready to rip Alastor's body up every second. You instantly excused yourself and told her to fix it tomorrow before you almost tripped over your feet to run away from this situation. Freaking idiot!

You cursed yourself as you stood up and closed your eyes again. How stupid it was to actually make a deal with him, even if you never wanted to. He said he didn't owned your soul but why was this green light present, which was always present when he was about to take someone's soul?

The thoughts swirled in your head so long that only the light knocking of someone outside of your door could bring you back.

"(Y/N)? Is everything alright? Can I come in?"

Charlie.

You exhaled.

"Yes."

You fell back on your sheets as you could hear her coming in.

"Uhm well...h-how did you sleep? You seemed so...turned upside down yesterday-"

"I made a mistake."

You got up, looking at her. She blinked in surprise but smiled carefully.

"But why? Is it because of the closet? Well because-"

"No it's not about that..."

You started, and ran your fingers through your hair.

"I- I made a deal with Alastor...as we were- as we were stuck in the closet. It was a bad idea really. He said he didn't own my soul but I think he still do somehow...I- I trusted him but I don't know if I can really trust him after all."

You said breathlessly.

"What do I do now?"

Charlie looked at you with wide eyes and worry. She placed herself next to you and layed a hand on your shoulder.

"Well, I made a deal with him too and he said I still own mine, so I think there are other ways to make a deal with someone and to give them something other than your soul."

Her calming voice calmed you down a bit, but your heart still pondered inside your chest. There wasn't really something you could to about it, could you?

"Okay...okay thank you- Charlie."

You said smiling with all the force you could bring up now. She scanned your face with worry, obviously not believing you a single word.

"(Y/N), I think you are not okay with all of this..."

She started.

"You can tell me what's wrong you know. I love you guys- all of you, including you. We are friends and you helped me a lot too with my problems..."

She said, sheepingly looking to the side before turning to you again.

You inhaled first before telling her about your deal with Alastor. Charlie as she was- already with a high pitched voice and her fists up in the air.

"Aww how cute! I always knew there was something with you two!"

"Shhh not so loud!"

You shushed her and looked around as if you could sense it that way if someone is hearing too.

"Okay, I will not talk to anybody about this, promised!"

Her grin absolutely wide, she holds up her left hand and the other over her chest.

You laughed a bit.

"Alright, and could you maybe hold the others back in their place? I don't even want to take one step outside because everyone will tease me about this. Not to speak of Alastor."

Your face grew red.

"Shit, how should I act now? I messed this all up before what the fuck should I do now?"

Charlie laughed a bit.

"Well you can start by keeping your promise. You know- touch him and stuff."

She barely couldn't hide her smile and as you told her to stop she just screamed in your ear that she couldn't help herself.

You took an incredible long time to change and an even longer time to actually go through your door.

You ignored the laugh of Angel as he came out of his room himself and you also ignored the look everyone else gave you. You were just glad to not spot Alastor around and you already sighed in relief as you found him in the kitchen. The air smelled like coffee and toast and you froze in place. It came you in mind that you never really thought about how to start a conversation with him. You only thought about how to act around him. He sang along a tune from his cane, which leaned

against the kitchen counter. His sleeved were rolled up, exposing his arms till his elbows.

Shit, do something before the others come in!

You slapped yourself as you slowly made your way to the deer demon, whose ears peaked up by the sound of your footsteps. The second his head turned to you, you instantly forgot everything you made up five minutes ago.

"Good morning dearest!"

He happily sung, his smile impossible wide this time.

"Good morning... Al."

You said and hoped he accepted the nickname as well. His eyes glimmered as he bend down to you.

"Still flustered hmm? Well, I didn't changed my mind- it is still a delighting view~"

You pressed your lips together as you could hear the footsteps of Husk and Angel and the chatting which grew louder with each step.

If you didn't do something now, you won't do it for the rest of the day- you thought to yourself as you smiled and tried to appear calm as you brought all your courage you ever had in your soul together and placed your hand on his shoulder blade. He flinched by the sudden feeling of your touch and you also jumped a little but hide it as you leaned in too.

"Old tease. Tell me how to make myself useful and how to handle the torture the rest of us will give us in five seconds, rather than making fun of me will you?"

You hand slides back and forth for about one second before you pulled back. The shiver in your whole body was strangely a good feeling. He only stared at you, in completely shook. Shook that you actually keep your part of the deal. It was what he wanted, and the sudden burst of emotion flooding through his stomach felt strange. Unfamiliar. But not bad. Not bad like the touches he received before and which made him disliking them so much. No, from you it was different. It was different yesterday as you lied on him and he could hold your warm body against his. It was different now, the frame of your face so close to his and your fingers seemingly tried to burn through the fabric right to his cold skin.

He even felt a bit frustrated that it ended so quickly, but he set the rules himself. He'll just have to wait a few days, because now he's sure that you'll keep your promise.

"You are right darling...how about you pass me the salt would you?"

He answered to your question he almost forgot, and caught himself shaking as he reached for the salt you gave him. What was this now? The sudden burst of your confidence in combination with such a mundane touch almost brought him to his knees, when you lied on him yesterday for longer than just two seconds.

Oh in which game he got himself into?

Each day you grew more confident.

Yes you even looked forward to each morning and your little ritual. The others simply lost interest in teasing you all and each time and just continued to stare at you two acting almost like a couple each day.

"What's wrong with them?"

Angel asked and sipped his coffee, his eyes never leaving you two. Today was day 8 so one day more than a week. You had to come up with a new place to touch him without it turning out weird, because you already took every spot of his back, his shoulders and his arms. Even his hands you brushed yesterday which brought Alastor to almost choke on his coffee. His hands were slender, felt defined and his sharp claws brought shivers down your spine by just thinking of how they felt on your back earlier.

"I don't know, but I'm too sober for this shit."

Husk answered and bites in his toast.

Today you scanned over him a while because you searched for a spot to not make him feel weird so he just raised an eyebrow.

"Hm, what's the matter dear? Lost track?"

He asked, you laughed.

"No, just trying to find a spot..."

You said in a concentrated way and he chuckled.

"Go ahead dear. Surprise me."

You titled your head, because there was a spot you wanted to touch since day one you came into the hotel.

"Everything is fine with me. No matter what you do, I'll have to keep my part of the deal~"

He sung and you grinned to yourself as you nodded.

"Alright."

You watched him placing some eggs on the plate, and raising your hand to his head. You were excited as him as you gentle stroke his undercut, the short hair a bit itchy. He stiffed up and you flinched back a little, only for him to raise his finger and looking at you.

"Oh what was that? You know the rules, the time has to increase..."

In his eyes were something that was very much different from his usual look. It was filled with some kind of attachment, desire. You got lost in his eyes and just started to caress the back of his head, up to his longer hair and grew even this brave to touch his ears slightly. They shudder by your touch and his whole head flinched a bit as he turned his whole body in your direction.

You slowly stopped your movement and stared at him. Suddenly the worry of him already owning your soul grew more present than ever before.

"Is- is everything alright-"

He bend down at you, your heart racing in your chest, as you looked slightly sideways to the other pair sitting there and staring holes into your bodies.

You flinched as he suddenly took your wrist which was still hovering above his hair and a sudden swirl of black magic gulped you two.

You appeared into his radio tower as you opened your eyes again.

You looked around confused as you turned your head but he already pulling you closer to him so that your bodies crashed together.

Your eyes grew wide as you stared at him.

"Did- Did I do anything wrong? You said you were okay with-"

"Would- would you please be quiet for a moment...?"

His eyes couldn't decide where to look at so he just let go of you suddenly.

You watched him as he paced up and down the room, his expression almost painful.

"Alastor?"

You asked and worry flooded your gaze.

"I- I think I've made a mistake dear..."

You looked confused as he turned his gaze to you, his eyebrows itched together and his smile more forced than anything else.

"Why?"

"Because-"

He let out breathless.

"Because I'm feeling things I should not feel. I don't know how to process this attachment."

He run his fingers through his hair, in a possessive way rubbing a spot up and down as he continued walking forth and back.

"It's okay we can stop if it's making you feel uncomfortable-"

"No you don't understand, d-dearest..."

He calmed his already raising voice and his breathing grew more and more desperate.

"I grew fond of this, but- but this can't happen..."

He grew silent as he stopped his rubbing and looked at the tufts of hair in his hand.

"Alastor what are you doing!"

You said outraged as you walked to him, taking his hand into yours.

"Stop it! Please will you?"

You begged, looking at him with such a worry in your eyes it’s making him sick.

"It calms me."

He didn't knew why he told you that. It was a thing he kept to himself. You gently shook your head.

"Well it's a bad habit. Tell me what's going on inside of you and we can try to fix that."

You said, holding his hand with your both, looking at him pleading.

"I can't-"

"Yes you can, tell me how you feel."

The calming in your voice soothed him enough to do as you said.

"I want your touch. Every time it happens- it's not enough..."

He breathed out.

"I...I want you (Y/N). More than I've ever wanted something in my life. You are so kind to everyone. Even to me..."

He laughed awkwardly as he looked down at your hands.

"Even to me... you try to fix me when there is nothing left to fix-"

"Don't say that."

You stepped closer to him, the heat growing inside of him.

"You are important to me. And we can make this work. Whatever...this is between us."

You said, smiling slightly.

"We can take baby steps if you like. When it's the thing you want too..."

Overwhelmed by your kindness his legs started shaking, so he lost balance. You catched him, as he hugged you deeply. You blinked and hugged him back, slowly sliding to the ground for you two to sit.

"You are afraid of me. This can't work."

You heard him mutter into your neck.

"No Al. I never was afraid of you. I simply didn't know how to interact with you because I didn't wanted to to something wrong..."

He breathed out and you could feel him still shaking, his hands grabbing you like his life would depend on it.

"You could never accept the monster I am. I did terrible things I'm not even able to tell you-"

"Well isn't it the reason why we are here?"

You said, rubbing circles on his back.

"This place is all about second chances. If you can life with them it's alright. If not, I'll be with you even when all of hell itself is already redeemed. I will still be by your side. I would go everywhere with you but we don't have to take this so big right now. Let's concentrate on this thing between us first alright? Tell me every terrible thing you ever did and let me love you anyway. Will you?"

He let go of you a bit to look at you, a single tear flooding his view. You wiped it off and gently stroke over his features.

"It's okay. You are okay. We'll be okay."

He looked at you as if he would try to figure out if you saying the truth.

"Do you want to try it?"

You asked.

"Yes. Sweetest."

You chuckled.

"There you are."

You smiled, wiping a strand of his torn up hair in place.

"You showed me the real you. Thank you for trusting me."

You leaned your forehead against his.

"We can make this work. We make a deal remember?"

You stroke his neck in hopes to calm him with that. You were shocked but touched. He showed you the real side of him. He must be honest with you.

"I want to try it."

The static of his voice completely gone. You smiled.

"Great."

You smiled, as he looked at your lips.

"Well...since I've touched you the whole time and you did nothing I...guess now it's your turn."

You said grinning, he confused.

"This wasn't our deal..."

"Oh come on now, you are the big scary radio demon. You can bend your own rules."

You winked at him and his casual expression came back.

"I guess you are right...you teased me every day I think I have to repay you for that..."

You smiled and bend forward.

"Go ahead."

The second you spoke it out, he grabbed your face and kissed you deeply. His hands exploring every inch of your body while you did the same. He moaned into the kiss and you smiled as you caress the spot where he pulled his hair out to soothe the pain it must bring with it.

You both pulled back panting.

"Thank you dearest."

"Don't."

You said, smiling.

"You started this so I have to thank you."

You pushed him slightly backwards so he dropped on the floor, as you placed yourself on top of him.

"We will figure this out together."

You said, entangle your hands together.

"Yes..."

He answered.

"Of course we will.~"

~~~~~~~~~

There you are! I got so motivated I wrote this down in one :))

Also tagging this sweeto who requested a part 2 <3

@docvar3n

[dark-frosted-heart]

Melted by Summer's Lust - Roger Barel (Part 2)

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this.

Unfortunately, it rained on the third day of our stay.

(What can we do indoors…That’s it!)

Kate: Roger, do you want to do this today?

I took something out of my travel bag.

Roger: …An embroidery kit?

Kate: Yes. It was something Victor gave me in case I had some free time when the weather got bad. Let’s do it together. We can embroider Ale on a handkerchief!

Roger: …I’ve never done it, but I can give it a shot.

Maybe it was because I looked desperate that Roger took the embroidery kit with a wry smile.

After that, we proceeded to embroider while chatting idly.

(Maybe working with my hands is what I need to calm down. And…)

I peeked at Roger who sat across from me, focused on embroidering. 

(It’s kind of cute seeing him working on something small when he’s so big.)

–

Kate: Done! I’ll call it “Memories of Summer”.

Roger: You embroidered beer and meat? Did yesterday’s meal taste that good?

Kate: It was definitely good, but what I liked was that you made it! What did you embroider?

Roger: This one’s done.

Not only did he embroider Ale, but he added flowers to it too!

Kate: This is so good…! I can’t believe it’s your first time!

Roger: Probably because I do a lot of sewing.

(I see, he put his suturing skills to use…)

(I’m glad I got to see another new side of Roger)

--

—Night of day 3. The day French kissing is allowed.

I had a lovely time embroidering with Roger during the day, but everything changed when night hit.

Kate: …Haaa… Wait…Roger…

Even when I said his name, Roger didn’t stop.

His deep kisses stole my breath and his tongue explored my mouth—my body lost its strength.

(Roger’s pace is drawing me in…!)

I closed my lips tightly against him.

Roger: —You think that’ll work?

My attempt to stop his incessant kisses was easily thwarted and he parted my lips with his tongue.

Kate: Ah…Hnnn…

(...Prey can never escape the huntsman)

(The only thing I can do is…to distract myself from this pleasure that was like a potent drug)

…And as each day went by, the hunter’s sweet trap continued to affect his prey.

Roger: …Alright, it’s been an hour.

Even though Roger let me go after saying that, I couldn’t get up.

(One hour…? …Ah, right)

(Each night, we only touch each other for one hour. So we’re done with today’s session…)

I quietly touched my lips, chasing what remained from our deep kisses.

Roger: Do you…wanna keep going?

Kate: …! Well…um…

Roger: Oh? That’s a good trend. You left some extra time the first two days. Nice to see you’re more in the mood today. Let’s keep at it ‘til the last day, yeah?

Kate: Yeah…

I nodded when Roger flashed me a refreshing smile, but my body ached after he declared that we were done for the day after all those kisses that set my body aflame.

—And so the 3rd night went by while I’m left wanting more.

--

At noon of the 4th day, we were at the beach.

Roger: The sand’s hot so careful you don’t burn your feet.

Roger kept an eye on me as he made his way into the water until it reached his knees.

Roger: Oh, the cool sea water feels good…Kate, come on.

Kate: I-I’m fine just watching from here!

I spread out a sheet on the sand, set up an umbrella to protect myself from the sun, and sat down.

As if to show I didn’t plan on going in the water, I opened a book I brought with me.

Roger: …You can read anywhere, you know.

Exasperated, Roger made his way back onto the sand and snatched the book away.

Roger: Come on, let’s go.

Kate: Woah!

He picked me up and immediately carried me toward the water.

We had fun splashing each other, building Crown Castle out of sand, and collecting beautiful seashells…

I ended up having a really good time with Roger.

(I think I’ve had all the fun one can have at the beach)

Feeling exhausted, but satisfied, I plopped down on the beach and stared at the waves.

Roger: By the way, Kate. Why’ve you been avoiding me since this morning?

Kate: …I knew I couldn’t get away with it.

Roger: Obviously. You’re the one doing something weird like reading by yourself when you said you wanted to take a vacation with me. So, why’d you do it?

—The huntsman’s eyes are locked on his prey.

Kate: Well…Last night, I got too executed when you were kissing me… After I woke up this morning, all I could think about was last night so I tried avoiding you.

Roger: That so? You didn’t wanna be aware of me so you stayed away. You gotta endure it.

Kate: Okay…

Roger: …I know why you did it, but it makes me feel sad and lonely. Wanted to enjoy this vacation with you, but if you’re keeping your distance…it hurts me too.

Those unusually meek words grabbed at my heart.

Kate: …S-sorry, Roger. For avoiding you…

Roger: …Will you stop avoiding me?

Kate: Yes!

Roger: Can I touch you?

Kate: …Yes.

Roger: Can you keep up with this 5 day thing?

Kate: Of course. We only have 2 days left, so let’s do our best!

After I said that, he held my chin and kissed me.

Roger: Ha…That’s the spirit.

Where did that sad and meek Roger go?

He had his usual wicked smile.

(His mood changed so quickly. Could he possibly…)

Kate: …You were faking just now, weren’t you?!

Roger: Didn’t I tell you? I do whatever it takes to get what I want.

Kate: ~~! This…cruel egoist!

Roger: Say what you want, you fell for me.

Kate: Gah…! You’re so lucky I love you!

Roger: Yeah, I am lucky that you love me. I got to learn about love because of you

—The way he was so happy about it left me speechless.

I was overflowing with feelings for Roger, even the cruel side of him…

After initiating a kiss, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.

Pushing and being pinned down—

We were so absorbed in each other that we didn’t care about the sand getting in our hair and clothes.

Kate: …Roger.

Roger: Hm?

Kate: …You do realize that today’s still the 4th day, right?

My heart raced as Roger sat me up on his lap and continued kissing me.

Roger: I know. That’s why we’re doing this. Wanted to push you past your limit…to see what’d you do.

His eyes that were studying me were filled with desire.

That gaze was almost enough to make me collapse in his arms, but I reigned myself in.

Kate: …Then I’m going to do that to you too. The first one to give in before the 5th day loses. Do your best to endure it.

Roger: Sounds good. That’s the way to go.

(Ugh…! I’m already struggling because of how happy he looks…)

(...Since it’s a rare vacation, I want to fully enjoy with him to the end)

—Is it the summer heat that’s boiling my brain or the heat from love that’s making me stupid?

And so began our lewd battle of wills.

[softtdaisy]

mick + "you slept like a baby. it was kind of cute."

Pairing: Mick Schumacher x female!reader

Words: 811

A/n: here comes my baby Mick. I’m soooo happy to finally write for him, I hope I did him justice 🥺

First, you heard some game noises. The one from your boyfriend’s favorite video game.

Then you heard some complaints in German. Needless to say there was only man you know that could be saying them.

You open one eye, trying to adjust to the sun shining in the room, then the other. You were still sleepy and your glance was a little blurry. But it didn’t take you long to recognize and remember where you are. The TV showing the video game you just heard, the poster of an old f1 gp on the wall, one his father won obviously, the shelf with all the trophies and all Angie’s stuff in the corner of the room. Yeah, no doubt. You were at your boyfriend’s place.

Your head was on his lap so when you turned around, you saw his beautiful and serious face. You loved how his blue eyes seemed bigger when he focused on winning his game. Or he was biting his lips without even noticing it when it got harder. The sun was shining on his face and it was like a beautiful painting. Yes, Mick was definitely an angel, as if you needed confirmation;

His face softened suddenly and a smile appeared on his lips. “Good morning, Mein Liebling” he said with a low voice, knowing that you just woke up. One of his hands left the controller so he could brush your hair with so much tenderness. If you thought about sitting up, you clearly abandoned this idea. How could leave his lovely touch and body when it was the most comfortable and safest place you know.

“You shouldn't have let me sleep” you yawned, which made him laugh. “We were supposed to spend the day together.” You felt guilty about falling asleep. Not you meant to. Mick came back yesterday from a two weeks trip with Mercedes. As usual, you had been studying a lot while he was gone. It was the advantage of being alone: except for when Mick texted you or called you to make sure you were taking a break, you could work as much as you want. The only problem was that you sacrificed most of your nights to do that. So when you stopped, all the tiredness hit you. 

The music stopped playing. You turned your head slightly to see that Mick put the game on pause. And before you could ask anything, his second hand meet your face to make you face him again. Then it was his soft lips that met yours for a lovely and tender kiss. You felt his blond hair brushing your forehead. “You needed some sleep.” he spoke against your lips. “So I let you sleep.”

That was pure Mick. He always put the others first. Not that he considered letting you take a nap a sacrifice. Especially considering he was home for two weeks and he had planned many things with you. But if you told him that you wanted to travel with him during his break, he would cancel all his plans and go with you. He would do anything for you, from doing the craziest thing to watch you sleep peacefully.

Mick sat up straight and helped you cuddle against him. "Plus you slept like a baby.” He laughed, still brushing your hair. You hit him in the chest, which, of course, made him laugh even harder. “It was kind of cute!" 

“You watched me sleep, Schumi?”

“Do I have to remind you that you didn’t fall asleep on my lap?” you frowned. You didn’t? You questioned Mick with a confused look and he answered by shaking his head. “I promise you didn’t. You were lying next to me, reading your book. I took it away when I saw you sleeping. I don’t know if it’s the movement or if you just remembered that I was more comfortable than your favorite pillow, but you ended up here.” 

It wasn’t a surprise. Anytime you were sleeping together, either you or Mick would find its way to the other. Even when you didn’t feel asleep in each other’s arms, you would always wake up with Mick’s body pressed against yours, his arms around you and, sometimes, his lips on your hair like he wanted to give you some love even while asleep. Anytime it happened, you saw it as a reminder that Mick was your soulmate.

Now that you were well awake, you didn’t plan on spending the rest of your day doing nothing. So you took the controller on the bed and gave your boyfriend a challenging look. “I heard you had some troubles, wanna fight?”

“You heard?” he answered, confused, but still looking for the second controller beside the bed.

“Well, you watch me sleep, I listen to you playing. It was kind of cute!” you added, trying to sound like him.  

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not reminding a coworker to punish one of our students due to my concerns over her home life?

I (20F) am a teacher at a local daycare. I teach the school-aged group, which is kids aged 5 to 10 years old. I have a student, I will be calling her Joann (6F) who gets herself into trouble occasionally. It's never anything malicious, but she's young, and usually needs lots of reminders on rules, keeping her feet on the floor, keeping her voice down, things like that. I used to discipline her exactly like my other students- and sometimes she'd get her card flipped from green to orange or yellow. It meant that her behavioral problems were never severe, but she would get in trouble sometimes. I talked to her mother about it, and one time, she ended up telling a very irresponsible lie that could have jeapordized my job. She told a teacher that I let the kids talk, run around, play with toys etc while they're supposed to be silently watching movies. This would be me openly defying my co-teacher (50F) and our schedule, and encouraging bad behavior. They'd told the lie in order to try and get away with talking and playing toys during movie time. My co teacher asked about it and obviously I told her it wasn't true. I had a serious conversation about this with Joann's mom. Usually she doesn't do things like this and it could've cost me big time, even if I didn't get fired it could be a complaint, cost me my co teacher's trust and friendship, or gotten me moved to a different age group. Her mom hit the roof. Screamed at her until Joann was in tears and threatened to beat her in front of all her "little friends" (which is illegal to do on daycare grounds btw, she was implying this would happen at the daycare) and it honestly even scared me. She forced the child to apologize to me and left with her. I felt so bad because the girl was only 6, and clearly very scared.

I only got more concerned for her from here, she told me multiple times that her mommy gives her "pop-pop" (some sort of spanking or hitting, as she uses this term and "whooping" interchangeably and tells me that it hurts and makes her scared) when she gets her card flipped even once. A single card flip is a minor behavior issue, maybe something to have a chat about at home but never a serious concern. I brought this up with the Director (basically my boss, and the owner of the daycare) and she explained to me that unfortunately, Joann's mother hitting her at home is not something we can call CPS about, as it's only illegal in this state if she leaves visible marks, which I've never seen on the child. She suggested I adjust my disciplinary style for Joann to focus more on time-outs and other punishments and less on card flips. The director also brought this up with my co teacher so she was in the loop.

Yesterday, Joann was misbehaving. It was something small, like leaning in her chair, but it had been happening so often and we'd had to remind her so many times that it got on my co teacher's nerves, and she told the kid that she was going to flip her card because she was just not listening, but mentioned she'd do it once she got up, because she was busy. I wasn't, but I made no moves to get up and silently hoped it'd slip her mind. I didn't want her mom to see that Joann got her card flipped and end up hurting her. In the end, she totally forgot and Joann went home with a green card.

I feel bad because I know Joann needs discipline and does need to have talks at home when she misbehaves, and taking that away can be bad for her development. But I also can't be sure her mom has those talks with her, and I know for a fact she's hitting her. So, AITA? TL;DR: Intentionally let my co-teacher go without disciplining a student at the end of the day, because I knew her mom would hit her when she got home.

What are these acronyms?

[dontcallthedoctor]

TEMP CHARACTER THEMES!!!

HIYA, FELLAS!!! This is gonna be a loooong post, so strap in!!! (I've srsly been writing this post for four days end me)

Yesterday, I announced that Kinger had won the music poll and that he shall be next to get his own theme. Sadly, yesterday was also the day I realized I've been hit with musical writer's block, so it might be a short while before I come up with anything good—I REALLY wanna get something out for Halloween tho!!

Since people may be curious abt what's in store for the other characters, I thought it'd be fun to present my ideas to you all, and give u all a little insight as to how my dumb little music brain works lol

Obviously, I haven't written much of anything original for anyone but Pomni yet, so in the meantime, I've picked out some temporary themes for each respective character that I feel fit them well, and hopefully they'll give you all an idea what I wanna achieve with them musically! A lot of thought went into figuring out each character's respective musical identities, so I hope these example pieces resonate with you as much as they did with me!

That said, if you have other ideas as to how these characters' themes might sound, I'd definitely love to hear about them! Feel free to comment em below or DM me if you wish! Feedback is greatly appreciated!!!

Just as a disclaimer, barring ofc Pomni's Theme, NONE OF THESE ARE MINE, NOR DO I CLAIM AUTHERSHIP OF THEM! That out of the way, let's begin with...

Pomni: I briefly explained my process behind this one in the original post, so I'll elaborate a little more here for those unaware, alongside this slightly extended version of it (a whole twenty seconds YIPPEE)

Pomni’s Theme kinda ended up being a homage to the music of Danny Elfman. I came up with the melody one night just by playing around on my piano. It was this weird, off-kilter, sorta sad-sounding tune that really resonated with me, and thought it sounded perfect for Pomni, so it became her motif. My friend @pasta-yy worded it perfectly when they said it sounded like "Pomni-flavored despair" lol

It wasn’t until I decided to make it a full song that I realized “WAIT THIS MAKES ME THINK OF DANNY ELFMAN”, who I’ve always admired, so I took to his early work for inspiration. I’ll cite Simone’s Theme from Peewee’s Big Adventure as the main influence in terms of "musical flavor" for this one. It helped me find / flesh out the circus-y style I was aiming for!

This composition isn’t quite finished yet, but I plan to post updates on it the whole way! I’m really excited for you all to see where this one goes!

Someone said that Pomni’s Theme sounds like the opening theme from Laimin! Anmin! Suya Rhys Seikatsu (Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle), an anime I haven’t seen, but I kinda hear it in some parts, at least in terms of chord progression!

Ragatha: For the rag dolly, I envision a sweet, somewhat-haunting tune. Imagine if a music box melody was arranged for orchestra. Very lush, very beautiful, very mature first and foremost, but with an undercurrent of sadness. Like Ragatha herself, the pathos is well-camouflaged beneath the happiness and the optimism, but is still undeniably there and perfectly in line with what we know about her character so far.

This particular track is led by accordion, which I'm not entirely sure fits Ragatha, but everything else is a pretty good representation of what I hope to achieve with her!

Jax: Prolly my favorite thing about Jax is how differently he carries himself in relation to everyone else. He's maliciously annoying, self-aware, and ironically more of a jester than the character who's avatar is a literal jester. He embraces being stuck in the circus like it's his first choice, instead of something he's settling for. He's an intriguing character and i'm curious to see how he'll evolve (or de-volve if Goose's comments are anything to go by)

In writing this, I'm struggling to put into words how exactly I want his theme to sound, but this track is a pretty good encapsulation of it! There's a sort-of confidence in it it and a jaunty forward-momentum that carries through the whole piece. I think that vibe really suits Jax. There's also an air of non-chalance that parallels how lackadaisical he is with everything. I feel that, since Jax doesn't take much of anything seriously, neither should his music lol

It almost reminds me of the music Vince Guaraldi composed for the Peanuts specials. His character themes always had this hip, carefree vibe to them, especially tracks like Peppermint Patty, which will also be an inspiration on Jax's tune.

Gangle: In case anybody hasn’t caught on, Gangle is my faaavorite character from the show, and I really want to do her justice, so it took me a good while to figure out just what I wanted to do for her.

That being said, the genre I'm gravitating towards most for her (at least while writing this) is gypsy jazz. For those who may not know, gypsy jazz (or jazz manouche) is a French style of jazz that uses solely string instruments; mainly violin, guitar, and double bass. It's a beautiful genre of music, and I think it's a perfect fit for Gangle <3

I imagine something playful, gentle, unassuming, and a tad saucy, at least when she's wearing her comedy mask. For her tragedy mask, I think it'd be fun for the tone to turn dramatically sad, and have the music structure fall apart, much like her mask. I'd really like to integrate piano in some way to highlight her sensitivity.

If anyone has any other ideas, please lemme know in the comments or DM me if u wish! Gods know I could use some inspiration ^^

Kinger: And now we come to Mr. Poll Winner himself! I'm honestly really glad that Kinger won, because I have more confidence in the ideas i've come up with for him than I am for a great majority of the others.

Knowing what we know now, I see Kinger as a very sweet, sentimental, yet ultimately tragic figure, so like with Ragatha, that's definitely something that's going to influence how his theme will sound.

This is probably my favorite of the temp themes, and definitely the one I want to stick closest to when I start writing for him. Everything about it just screams "Kinger" to me and I think is a near-perfect musical summarization of his character; the plodding simplicity, the almost-dreamlike surrealistic quality to the melody, the subtle melancholia, the chord progression, all of it. I think it gels with Kinger exceptionally well, which is why I've included two versions; one light, one dark.

The question is: do u all agree? ovo

Zooble: In searching for the right genre for Zooble, I've settled on what I call “Motown lofi”. Something that gives off swanky 90s “cool” vibes. Funky, mellow, bluesy, with a lil extra punch. Zooble is mostly low-energy but very much a plain-speaker, so I think this kinda music of music pairs nicely with them!

Amon Tobin’s Like Regular Chickens is another good example of what I'm going for. This one's very strange, kinda abstract, and prolly not most people's cup of tea, but I think it's neat and a pretty fitting sound for Zooble (maybe a little less intense in parts lol)

Caine: The logic behind Caine's theme is that it should be "annoying to everyone else, but he would love it". Something that he'd have no problem listening to every day on repeat, but nobody else can stand.

My first idea was really garish, campy carnival attraction music (more generally, Hammond organ music), represented in the first half. That stuck for awhile, but then I thought abt doing a pastiche of 80/90s sitcom intro type music, represented in the second half, which I think also works.

I feel like both could work, maybe even together, but I'm still undecided. I think wacky obnoxious organ music is PERFECTLY in line with Caine as a character, but the 90s route might be the more appropriate way to go, since it would to share some continuity with Digital Days from the credits (one of my fav songs from the soundtrack along with Not Alone and Somebody Real) We'll see what happens LMAO

Bubble: I’d always jokingly entertained the notion of making a theme for Bubble, but never put much serious thought into it until @mikiib asked for it, so here he is on this list.

The idea I settled on was “underwater Mario level?”, and the more I thought about it, i’ve decided that’s the direction i’ll probably go with Bubble’s tune. I imagine it being very "spacey" and floaty. Very peaceful and relaxing, but still rich with untamed weirdness, which is what makes Bubble fun :3

Mik also had the idea of using bubbly noises as percussion, which I DEF want to try! I've never really been experimental with percussion before so this'll be a fun opportunity to branch out!!

Other Characters: Last month I wrote a sweet militaristic-y march song for the Princess and the Candy Canyon Kingdom, but as far as other characters, I can't think of many I'd like to dedicate entire fully-fledged arrangements to, at least not presently. Maybe little ditties tho, that'd be fun!

I kinda wanna write something in tribute to Gummigoo since I really like him and think he deserves it. Something very ethnic and full of fun tribal instruments.

I have one for Baron Mildenhall that I haven't posted yet, and I've got a spooky lullaby I wrote for Ghostly (as well as for @mikiib) that I'll probably post tmrw for Halloween. Martha might get one too, she seems fun :3

[literaryavenger]

Broken - part 4

Summary: You get woken up, still in Bucky's bed, by a very unpleasant guest.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Warnings: Minimal use of Y/N. Language. Innocent and broken Bucky. Tony being an insensitive asshole. Reader still being dramatic, lol. My poor attempts at being funny.

Word Count: 2.4K

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

A/N: I finally finished this chapter! I have some ideas for like one more chapter but after that I do not know where to go with this. excellent. Yes, it will take a while for me to keep going. Sorry. It's also getting harder to choose a Bucky photo to put here, lol.

Masterlist

You wake up to the sound of someone near you yelling. Again.

Slowly, You open your eyes, taking a moment to adjust to the morning light.

After you’re no longer blind, you look for the source of the noise that woke you and see a very angry looking Tony yelling at Steve.

Something about 'how dare he go near her' and 'if she gets hurt I'll kill you both', those are the only things you're able to understand between the yelling and your still half-asleep mind.

It takes you a second more to realize that you’re not in your bedroom, so you look next to you and see Bucky already awake, watching the scene that's unfolding before you without making a sound.

The fear and hurt on his face are like a bucket of cold water that wakes you up completely.

You turn back to the other gentlemen and, finally, you’re able to comprehend what's happening. 

Apparently Tony and Steve went looking for you in your room to talk about yesterday and, not having found you there, asked Jarvis where you were.

The AI promptly snitched on you, and Tony came barging in to 'save' you from Bucky, Steve hot on his trail.

Steve obviously wouldn't let Tony hurt him, so, Tony being Tony, is being a dramatic bitch acting as if he walked in on Bucky straight up choking you and not the a good way and not just two grown ass adults peacefully sleeping.

So Tony started yelling about wanting to do something drastic about the situation and waking up both you and Bucky in the process.

Because fuck sleep, right?

You’re not really sure how long the current events have been going on for, or how long you just sit and watch after waking up, trying to get a handle on reality.

All you know is that the moment the words 'he's gonna kill her and it's gonna be your fault too' come out of Tony's mouth, you've had about enough of both of them.

You take both of your shoes, which were in front of the bed where you left them the night before, and throw them at the screaming idiots with as much strength as you could master which, when you train everyday with a trained assassin that pushes your limits further and further, is a lot of strength.

You hit Steve in the back of his head and Tony deadass in the face. Thank god for Clint's lessons. And for the fact that you were wearing combat boots yesterday.

The second Tony gets hit, he turns to the bed with a murderous look on his face, probably thinking it was Bucky, but when he sees you wide awake and with a satisfied smile on your face he quickly pieces things together and calms down a bit.

Steve is just confused, but when he also realizes what is happening, he looks kind of amused at the sight of you and Bucky on the same bed.

When the men's attention is finally away from each other and on you, you ask the question you’ve been wanting to ask since you were very rudely woken up. "What the fuck are you two dumbasses yelling for?"

Steve cringes at your choice of words but seems to think better of saying anything seeing that you're already pretty pissed at them.

"Hey! You don’t get to ask questions right now!" Tony’s still yelling and suddenly you wish you had more military approved shoes to throw. "What the hell do you think you’re doing sleeping with this monster?!"

"Tony, stop with the name calling, for the love of God!" Steve says, clearly as exasperated with him as you feel.

"Yes, for fuck sakes, Tony, stop. You can’t just keep showing up every time I’m near Bucky acting like he’s planning my murder!" You feel Bucky tense up next to you at your words, so you turn towards him "alright, poor choice of words, but the sentiment remains."

You turn back to Tony, who's about to say something, surely some more insults for Bucky, but you don’t give him a chance.

"I’m getting really tired of your judgment, of you thinking you know what’s better and making decisions for me. I thought I was clear yesterday: I don’t care what you think Bucky is, I have a brain of my own and can make my own decisions based on my own opinions. The Bucky that I met is nothing like you say he is, and I’m not going to avoid him just because you have hang-ups. I’ve been kicking ass since before you decided to play superhero and definitely can take care of myself. I don’t need to be saved from anything, especially not from Bucky, who’s been nothing but quiet and sweet and right now is about the only person in this tower who has never lied to me. Now, get the fuck out of here and, unless somebody’s ass is on fire or dead, do not bother me. And you better leave Bucky the fuck alone or I’m going to be pissed. Clear?"

You honestly didn’t think that would’ve been the end of it, but to your, and Steve’s, surprise Tony merely nods his understanding before stomping out of the room.

"Same goes for you, Captain Dumbass. Out, now." you tell the blond super soldier, who looks like he was dying to say something.

Thankfully, he thinks better of it and, with one last smile towards Bucky, leaves the room.

You sigh, relieved that they’re gone, but now the room is eerily silent. Just when you can’t take it anymore and are about to say the first thing that goes through your mind, Bucky finally says something for the first time since you woke up.

"Thank you." it’s so quiet that you almost think you imagined it, but when you turn to face him you find him already looking at you and he keeps going "You didn’t have to do that. You know, defend me. So, thank you."

"Don’t worry. He was being an ass, he deserved it." you smile at him "Let me know if he bothers you again, I’ll be sure to shove one of his helmets up his ass." he smiles at you, but it falls almost instantly.

"I don’t deserve your kindness…" he looks away from you and it breaks your heart a little.

"You actually believe that, don’t you?" you say quietly, more to yourself than him.

"Bucky, look at me." you say with the same soft voice you had yesterday while you were helping him.

You wait patiently until he looks you in the eye and when he does, you slowly move your hand towards his face. When he doesn’t pull away or stop you in any way, his eyes never leaving yours, you let it sit on his cheek.

"I hope you know that I really meant what I said. I don’t think any of the things Tony does. It doesn’t matter to me who you were, I see who you are now and that’s what’s important. Everyone deserves kindness, but, based on everything I’ve heard these past two days, I think you might deserve it more than anybody. The world failed you once, I’ll be damned if I let it fail you again. Okay?"

He looks at you with teary eyes and, before you know it, he's giving you a hug much tighter than yesterday, almost like he's afraid that if he lets you go you’ll change your mind.

"Okay." he whispers into your shoulder when you hug him back just as tight.

You can’t help the smile that creeps onto your face. There’s just something about Bucky that draws you to him and maybe, just maybe, the feeling’s mutual.

You let Bucky decide when he’s ready to let go and after a few minutes he does. You give him one last smile and then move to get out of bed, when his voice stops you again.

"Can I ask you something?" you look back at him nodding. "yesterday, at the gym…" he starts and you tense a little, knowing where he was going with this so you decide to cut him off before he even gets the chance to ask anything too specific.

"It was nothing, I was just angry and needed to work off some energy" you get up and put on your shoes while you talk "honestly sometimes I lose track of time while I’m working out, it’s no big deal."

He must’ve seen the change in you tone and body language, because he quickly says "I’m sorry, it’s none of my business, I didn’t mean to make you mad."

You stop on your tracks as you were making your way towards the door, turn around and look at him.

He seems to feel actually bad just at the thought of upsetting you, which makes you feel guilty for giving that impression. This was just a topic you weren’t ready to talk about.

"I’m not mad, Bucky, I promise. I just don’t particularly want to talk about it." he nodded his understanding. "tell you what, I was thinking of taking a quick shower and changing and then going to the big kitchen to get some breakfast. How about we meet in 15 and go together?"

He seems to hesitate a bit at the idea of going to the kitchen where everybody else is going to be, and you can't blame him.

You yourself would gladly avoid everybody, but the big kitchen is just better stocked than the one on your floor.

"C’mon nobody will bother you and, if they do, they’ll have to deal with me. I’ll make us pancakes." you add with a smile, trying to convince him.

Finally, with a smile, he nods. Nobody can resist pancakes.

With a victorious nod of your own, you leave his room and go next door to yours where you take a shower and change into some comfortable sweats.

About 15 minutes later you come out of your room to find Bucky already waiting for you, leaning on his door. As soon as he sees you he pushes himself off his door and smiles at you, then you both make your way to the elevator in silence.

It's a comfortable silence, not like the one before in his bedroom, this was one you didn’t feel the need to fill, and apparently neither did he.

You make your way to the kitchen and you pat one of the stools at the island, signaling at Bucky to sit. He does and then watches as you make your way around the kitchen picking all the necessary things.

You work in silence, but you can feel Bucky’s eyes on you the whole time. Not like it bothers you.

It isn't like when guys ogle you in bars, where you know what they’re thinking just by the look on their face, and is never clean thoughts.

No, Bucky’s gaze feels like being seen for the first time in your life.

Somehow you just knew he wasn’t thinking anything dirty, every time your eyes meet his and you give him a smile he gives you the cutest smile back, and you can't help but think that his face looks like a little kid’s on Christmas.

You somehow feel like he's just so amazed by you and he makes you feel like you're the only person in the world at this moment.

Every now and then a different Avenger enters the kitchen, but you do your best to ignore them all. You're still pissed and don't feel like yelling at anyone else today.

You finish making pancakes and make a plate for Bucky and then one for yourself. Knowing he's a super soldier and probably has as fast a metabolism as Steve’s, you give him a generous serving, still leaving plenty for everyone else.

Yes, you're angry, but you aren’t cruel.

You sit down next to Bucky and smile at him when he says a quiet ‘thank you’.

You watch people come in and out, throwing a thank you for the pancakes but then giving up when you won't even look at them.

That is, until Scott came in. He sits in front to you while he eats some pancakes, and when he's finished he tries his luck. "Hey, Cassie’s coming over later. Do you want to hang out with us?"

You narrow your eyes at him, pointing your fork in this direction. "Are you using your cute daughter to get me to talk to you? ‘Cause that’s a dick move."

You hear Bucky chuckling and turn your head towards the amazing sound with a surprised smile on your face, but before you can comment about it, Scott answers you.

"Can you blame me? You won't talk to any of us, what’s a guy gotta do to get his best friend back?" He says laughing.

You turn back to him and can't help but laugh at the pout he's giving you. "Fine, you win. Just stop making that face, please, you look like a sad puppy."

"That’s why it works!" he laughs victorious "She’ll be here around eleven. See you later." he puts his plate in the dishwasher and leaves. You do the same thing with yours and Bucky’s plates and then turn to him.

"Ok, so I have a couple of hours before Cassie gets here. Do you have anything planned for today?" he shakes his head no and you hum in response, but before you can propose anything Steve comes into the kitchen.

"Hey Buck, ready to go?" at Bucky’s confused look, Steve elaborates "We have a meeting with Fury. We need to discuss your hearing, remember?"

"Oh, right…" is all Bucky says, glancing at you before he gets up while looking at the ground.

He almost looks sad at having something to do today, even if it’s something important. Steve looks from you to Bucky a couple of times, but your attention is solely focused on the brunette, still trying your best to ignore Steve.

"Well, I’ll find something to do." you tell Bucky, getting a little closer to him.

"Come find me when you’re back? You know, to tell me how it goes?" you try your luck and, when he looks up, his eyes are a little wider, even if he was smiling, clearly surprised that you still want him around.

"I will." he says. You return his smile and give him a quick peck on the cheek before making your way to the elevator.

"Bye, Bucky." you say as you get on it, and hear him say ‘bye’ while the doors close, as you think about a way to make yourself busy for a little while.

You completely miss the way Steve grins at Bucky and the groan that Bucky lets out at his friend's stupid face before going his own way with him.

Part 5

Taglist: @aesthetic0cherryblossom @buchi91 @sapphirebarnes

[writersp3n]

Yandere Sebastian dealing with a darling who’s goal is to escape and she will stop at nothing until she’s free she even hides in lockers so he can’t touch her

···➯ 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐧' 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤

⋆.˚ ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐗 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤!𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞; Masterlist and other things regarding my blog are on my site. Finally finished this!! Request are welcomed!! AO3

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠; Kidnapping, drug use, reader being drug, mentions of surgery, cursing, harassment, non-consenal groping, Dead dove do not eat (?).

𝟏𝟏/𝟏𝟑/𝟐𝟒 | 𝟏.𝟏𝐤 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬

✂〰〰〰〰〰

Hurriedly stepping into a nearby locker, you turned off your flashlight and calmed your breathing. You know he’s following you, it had gotten dead quiet a few doors back. You looked behind you and saw the tip of his tail going into a vent above you. “I know you're still here.” His tone sent down your spine. You could hear his fin thump against the ground, as he shoved desks around. “I don't know why you hide from me, darling. I’m only trying to protect you.” You heard a door close, before watching Sebastian’s figure move past the locker you hid yourself in. You could hear the lockers around you crack and knock against the walls and each other. “It’s dangerous down here, especially for a girl like you.” Another locker hit the ground clanging, “I was able to persuade them to give me a copy of your file.” That’s when everything went quiet, just Sebastian's heavy breathing could be heard. The lights flickered, you saw it, you know he did too. That's when you heard one of the lockers be lifted back up as he grunted before you heard it open and close. Besides the growing noise of Angler getting closer, it had gotten quiet after that. Your locker was quickly opened and closed as Sebastian shoved his way in there with you. ─────────────────── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆──────────────────── Before you could do anything, he wrapped himself around you and covered your mouth. Angler came crashing down the hallway, and light bulbs busted through its wake. You were shaking in fear, reality dawned on you, Sebastian has you. You're never leaving this hellhole, “This game of hide n’ seek you’ve been playing with me, was quite enjoyable darling.” He whispered in your ear, as he massaged and groped your flesh. “But funs over. I have a business I need to run, collect whatever the last expandables had when they died.” And with that, he pushed open the locker door with you being held in his other arm. You kicked and tried to rip yourself from his agonizing grip to no avail. As Sebastian made his way through doors, your restless attacks slowed until they came to a stop. You heaved, tired from trying to break free. “Fighting is no use, obviously” laughing as he re-adjusted his grip on you. “But it was quite enjoyable to see.” ────────────────────⋆⋅♰⋅⋆────────────────────

“Surgical room 13.” He spoke with a deadpan voice, as he opened a metal door with a keycard. “It’s quite funny don’t ya think sweets?” He questioned, “I remember this room and the events that played out like yesterday. The first surgery I ever had in my life, they took A Great White Shark’s DNA and put it in my bloodstream. And took swapped our livers with each other.” He was talking to you, He didn’t care if you said anything back to him or not, he was focused on something else. Rumming through drawers. You were somewhat paying attention to his words, more focused on your surroundings. Glancing up, you saw a surgical light, at least that's what you think it’s called. You saw one like it one time “Ah, here it is. This will make it a lot easier for me to get things done with you with me.” You heard something like glass clatter against the metal drawer that caught your attention quickly. You glanced up at Sebastian, he had a syringe in his hand, with a small glass container with clear fluid on the drawer. Panic settled within you, and you started to pull away kicking, screaming, scratching, anything to get out of his grip. Sebastian set the syringe down for a moment, placing you on the cold metal table. “Se—Sebastian!” you called out in panic. You didn’t know what that container was, but you didn’t want to find out either. “L-look, Sebastian, we can work something—anything out! Please,” you sputtered, trying to get out of this mess. Sebastian ignored you completely. Not even a grunt of acknowledgment came from him. He used 2 of his arms to hold you down as he grabbed the restraints on the side of the table and secured your legs, arms, and wrist.“I wouldn’t have to do this if you would just be still and relax,” he sneered. “Relax? You want me to relax after this,?!” You nearly yelled at him. He chuckled, “You should watch who you're yelling at. What position are you in to yell at me?” He questioned. You sighed in defeat Sebastian was right. Firstly, you're strapped down to a table as Sebastian prepares to shoot whatever is in that container in your veins. Secondly, Even if you weren’t strapped to a table, you had no idea where you were. This was not a path you had taken before, hell you didn’t if it was one.Last but not least, you are human and Sebastian was some type of fish beast. What the fuck were you going to do against him. “Just stay still doll, it’s not going to hurt.” He spoke as he pulled your arm straight, preparing to give you the shot. You inhaled sharply and breathed out. You felt a small pinch in your arm, as Sebastian injected the clear liquid into your body.

“See? All done love.” He spoke placing the syringe on the metal tray next to him. “All that fighting, just for you to give up in the end.” He paused, “But I see how you lasted this long, always fighting til you can’t.” He continued. “And me of course,” He chuckled. As he unbuckled the restraints, that chained you. Your brows furrowed in response. “Aw, how cute.” He teased, voice laced with amusement as he watched your muscles shift. “You really think you lasted this long on your own?” Before Sebastian could continue his little speech, the room shook. Metal clattering against the tables, some falling off completely. Sebastian scooped your limp body in between his arms, before leaning himself against the wall of the room. Waiting for the angler to pass, you tried to raise your arm to no avail. “C’mon, let me take you back to the shop.” He spoke pushing himself off the wall and opening the door into the bleak hallway. “It’s safe there, and trying to leave will get you nowhere, by the time we get there, the dosage would’ve knocked you out.” ────────────────────⋆⋅♰⋅⋆──────────────────── He was right, in the end. Running got you now, fighting got you now where. That was the reason you got into Urbanshade in the first place, fighting. You knew the fighting ring would get busted sooner or later, you just hated you were there when it happened.

@bendyzipper, @valarieshiftier, @theomegaalphaa, @witchybeloved, @brainrottingforhotpixels, @sunflower0sky, @smallguy001, @nightfox67, @starheart-blog, @completelysleepy, @cafe-elysium, @avacadosworld, @criticaltrinket, @pokiiki, @jabiall, @vxnom100

[st7rnioioss]

ੈ . ݁₊ ⊹used to be my girl, pt. 2

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: chris sturniolo x reader

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: (hardly any) angst, bad writing, happy ending?

a/n: forever sorry this took ages to finish. do i hate it? obviously. am i finally relived it’s over? absolutely😜

ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

you woke up the next morning on the couch, the lack of curtains in your living room causing the sun to blare right onto your face.

“what the fuck,” you mumbled to yourself, obviously not very fond of sleeping right there, instead of taking approximately fifty steps to your bedroom instead. now your back hurt.

while getting up the couch to make a cup of coffee, the events from yesterday flood over you. the yelling, chris not seeming to give a fuck, the breakup..? it all hit you like a train, and you realised you and chris might’ve been over by now. even tho he hurt you repeatedly, you always saw something in him, something you could change. but that never happened.

you shook your head, wiping the tear that had rolled down your cheek to try and forget it, moving on with your day.

all of a sudden, while the cup of coffee was brewing and you were grabbing a few eggs from the fridge, your door opened after a few knocks. your blood ran cold instantly.

running from the kitchen to the entrance, you grabbed an umbrella to poke or hit whoever was breaking in your house.

“what- get out! what the fuck are you doing!” you yelled, realising it was chris in your house, rolling your eyes as you considered if you wanted to hit him anyway. it wouldn’t be that bad.

“wait! just- stop. don’t fucking hit me.” he said, closing the door while he reached out to take the umbrella from you, which he eventually did. men do have bigger muscles - biologically.

“look, i just want to talk. can we please just talk this out, without hitting anyone with umbrellas?” chris asked, looking almost like he was pleading you.

you got a little embarrassed when you realised you were still in your pyjamas, while he was fully dressed. but that was besides the point.

“why? you made yourself very clear last night. i just need you to grab your things and leave, chris.” you mumbled, closing your eyes as you pinched the bridge of your nose.

chris rolled his eyes, grabbing you by your wrist to drag you into the living room, basically throwing your down on the couch.

“i- i just need you to listen. look, last night, i just kinda realised that i really fucking love you. a lot. but i just hate commitment, it scares me. for the past few months, i’ve genuinely enjoyed myself while spending time with you, i just never said “i love you” back, because i got scared. i didn’t want you to depend too much on me, if i couldn’t fulfil what you wanted -” chris started, and before you could register anything, he had basically confessed his love to you. which he had never properly done.

“- because you deserve the world. i just never had the balls to say it, but here i am.” he chuckled, a tiny smile playing on his lips. he had an apologetic look in his eyes.

you stayed silent for a second, looking up at him from the couch. it caught you so off guard the he all of a sudden had changed his mind, and wanted to stay.

“what?” you just asked, rubbing your forehead.

chris sat down on the chair on the other side of the coffee table, resting his elbows on his thighs.

“look- i really love you, and i- i can try to make this work, i promise. but i just don’t want you to be disappointed if i can’t. just give me a chance, please?” he said, looking down at his fingers and shoes. you could tell he was a bit nervous, which was odd since it was chris.

“chris, relax. we can try, if you really put in the effort. i know you can do it, you just have to try. now i know how you feel, that’s all i really wanted. but if this doesn’t work out.. i just want you to know, im not up for another chance..” you tried to give him a soft smile, but it turned more into an apologetic one instead.

you were still hurt. you saw much more in this than he did, and he made that clear yesterday.

he looked back up at you, a glimpse of hope in his eyes, but he still had a shocked expression on his face as he nodded. you know he probably expect that from you, but why not at least give him a chance.

ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

the next few months was spent with chris, and honestly, you didn’t mind. you actually had a lot of fun.

from the endless amount of picnics in your backyard, hours spent by the beach, long nights tangled in the sheets, you both definitely saw more and more good outcome of this. and not once did you question the second chance you gave him.

over time, you both fell in love again, but this time, in a completely new way. chris put one hundred percent dedication to try and fix what he ruined, and you gave him that chance to change. and he did.

before, you probably had to choke out an “i love you” from him. the before uncertain love confessions, if there even were any, were now something chris did on a daily basis. and neither of you were scared to now go by boyfriend and girlfriend, whether if it was at home, out in public, or on social media.

ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ🐇་༘࿐

taglist: @chrissgirlsstuff @toriinie @cupidzsq @iluvmattyb @ratatioulle @emma4eva @riasturns @sweetbabydoe @bambi-slxt @elliewrites1 @its-jennarose @abbypost @chrisstopherfilmed @sturniolossss @ducksturniolo @junnniiieee07 @urfavvev3lyn @vschrissturn @keerahsturn @twitchstreammattsgf @domaniquessidehoe @sturniolossss @k-l-a-w-s @pearlzier @pjmpcyy @mbsbaby @christhopersturniolo @mattspolitank @sarosfilms @sturnhrts @ivonchetooo1239

[joels-shitty-puns]

The Key To Your Heart - Track 4

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x Musician!Reader

Gif by:@sh214

Series Summary: After writing your feelings for Pedro into a song, it gains a lot more popularity than expected. Ultimately it brings both criticism and support, with new possibilities around the corner.

*! New warnings will be listed first !*

Series Warnings: 18+ only (MDNI). Mentions of food, weight loss, weight gain, dieting, weighing, potential eating disorder, food guilt. Potential for puns/dad jokes (name of my blog, and the fic) should give that away. This is my first fic which should be its own warning, lol. Also some cursing. Mentions of masturbation (f) maybe more smut later idk. Sadness, reader is pretty depressed. Poor body image. Rude people. Bullying-ish and just lack of support? Anxiety. Age gap! Reader is in her mid 20's, Pedro is current age (48).

Other stuff: Reader is plus sized. AFAB. Inexperienced. Also has a dog, but you can pretend it is another creature probably. Further, in case it isn't clear, italics almost always are the reader's inner thoughts!

Word Count: ~2.3K

Series List: Here!

Miss last chapter? Here!

Hi there! To those of you who have read and are still with me, THANK YOU! I love you all. I'm sorry that my chapters are taking longer and longer. Work has been a bit more hectic lately and I also just had some serious writer's block with this chapter. That being said, it feels a little rough and I apologize if its awful lol. But either way, thanks for hanging in there with me and please let me know what you think! Your comments make me happy!

__________

You groaned, stepping out of bed and drifting towards the bathroom. Your face was sticky and your eyes stung from crying late into the night. It was silly, naive, and frankly stupid… but sometimes you can't control how hard emotions hit. Seeing that Pedro didn't actually watch your video was a let down - to put it mildly. Obviously he's a popular guy. A star. He has better things to do.

You should be grateful he even responded to your Instagram message before. Even though it hurts, surely he has more interesting things to do than message someone like you. Just because you wrote a song and he said he liked it doesn't mean he owes you anything more.

So after a fitful night's sleep, you were utterly exhausted; physically, mentally, and emotionally. Luckily, it was still your weekend and you could rest today. 

More like spend the day wallowing in your self pity… you think, disdainfully at yourself.

Looking in the mirror, you notice your puffy eyes. There's some new acne, and a mop of frizzy hair on your head. After using the toilet, you step on your bathroom scale before your shower; a morning routine you started during years of dieting. Another 3 pounds. Up again?!

You look in the mirror, pinching your stomach with a sigh. I guess I shouldn't have had those cookies yesterday…

The food guilt creeps up as you think of the goodies you've eaten recently. Cookies yesterday, fast food the day before. You were bitter that you weren't one of those people that could just magically eat whatever they wanted without gaining an ounce. 

But you aren't, and you should know better. 

Frustrated with your appearance, you begin your usual internal debate about how to fix it.

Maybe I should go back on the diet…

But the diet caused you so many problems. Remember the stomach issues? The hunger? The lack of joy? Binge eating on cheat days until you were sick?

But! I lost so much weight!

Yeah, until you started gaining weight…

Maybe I didn't cut enough. People said I looked so good. I was *almost* skinny.

Maybe people would like me more if I was skinny… Maybe Pedro would like me if I were skinny. There's no way he would be with me looking like this.

These were the debates that plagued you for months… years… a lifetime.

You showered, tears beginning to flow again as you tried to push out the thoughts. He was probably just busy, but either way you knew you didn't have a chance. 

Your friends were right. You were an obsessed fan. It was… concerning, as they said. They pitied you when you felt sad about your feelings. Just find someone you actually have a chance with, they pushed. Someone real.

But... he did message you. Maybe he didn't even know you had an interview yesterday? Maybe he watched it later. You were being utterly ridiculous. It didn't matter anyway.

But what you didn't know was that Pedro felt just as disappointed. He wanted to be the one on your list. The one you loved. He went to bed just as mopey as you did and woke up just the same.

_____

Having washed away your bad feelings as best as you could, you gave Skipper a kiss on his little forehead and made some coffee while scrolling Instagram. You were nervous to see what people had to say about your interview, but you had to face the music eventually.

As you could have predicted, people were running through the potential suspects (or prospects, that is) who have brown curly hair and brown eyes. Some supported you and loved your interview. Others criticized you for being too chicken to show yourself. 

You weren't used to this level of attention, and you really weren't sure you enjoyed it. But you were grateful to have your two lives kept separate, your true persona still shaded in privacy.

What you did not predict, was a notification popping up from Pedro, interrupting your scrolling. Forgetting to breathe, you immediately clicked on it. If the message were food from the oven, you would've burnt your hand the way you grabbed it so fast. 

Perhaps I should've been a little more chill about opening this so quickly... Oh well.

Pedro Pascal messaged you: "Hey! I watched your interview yesterday. You did fantastic. I know fame is new to you and you're nervous, but you're a natural."

Your heart swelled. He did watch it!! He must have just been busy during the live stream.

You replied: "Pedro! You watched it!?! Thank you so much. That really means a lot to me."

Pedro read your message immediately, but instead of sharing in your level of excitement, he was hit with a wave of confusion instead. She must just be trying to not hurt my feelings. She already knows I watched it.. unless she didn't even notice my name. Or she didn't care enough to look for it…?

He decided to play along with it anyway. "Absolutely, I did. I've had it marked on my calendar since the day it was announced a couple days ago and watched it as it was streamed live."

His response took you by surprise, and then made you angry. If he really watched it, he would know that they gave you a list of the people who watched it live. Why was he lying to you about it?

You started to plan out your response, maybe even send an accusatory comeback, but then you thought about it again.

Why would he lie about it? What would he gain by lying? He messaged you.

With this in mind, you instead chose to take a different approach. One better designed for fishing. One you had to be very careful about, so as not to reveal the fact that you looked for his name.

"Wait!? You watched it live? I didn't see you on the list. You're one of the few people I've spoken to who actually seem genuinely friendly and interested in having a conversation with me. I had sort of hoped you were listening."

There. That doesn't sound too revealing, right? Totally friendly…

Pedro opened your message and was met with both confusion, and something else he wasn't expecting. Hope. Did you look for his name??

Still, he wanted to address the confusion. "You didn't see me on the list? That's odd.. but I'm sure there were a lot of names to scan through. Maybe my name was just buried in that list."

You knew it wasn't buried. He was the only name you looked for. The only name you cared about seeing on that list, not that you'd admit that to him right now. But you also didn't want him to feel that insignificant either.

"There were a lot of names, I'll give you that. But I swear you weren't there. Were you logged into your account? Maybe your Internet crashed, or you missed part of it?"

Instantly he remembered the ten or so minutes that Oscar interrupted him. 

Oscar!

"Oh shit! That's it. Oscar barged into my house while I was watching it and I slammed my laptop closed."

"Oscar… Isaac? Wait, why did you slam your laptop closed?"

"Yeah, that's the one. And… I don't know. He just surprised me, I guess. It wasn't a planned visit."

Slamming your laptop closed is an odd reaction to your friend visiting, but okay, you thought.

"So you closed your laptop, and missed a few minutes. And that must have been the moment they pulled the list of viewers."

Pedro replied. "It must have. But I was there, more than happy to listen to what you had to say"

If my name had been on the list, would her answer have been different? When asked whether the man she loved was on the list and she said no, would my name have changed anything? Pedro wanted to ask you these questions. But he couldn't. Not only was he scared, but he also didn't want it to come off as some douchey comment that made you uncomfortable. He wanted to get to know you better, even if just as a friend, and he wouldn't let a silly little crush ruin that.

You sent a response that could be deemed as friendly or neutral, still cautious. "Thank you Pedro. I'm really glad you watched it."

He replied without hesitancy. "Of course. But, I am sorry that your guy wasn't on that list."

He sounds genuine. Not like he's fishing for information like everyone else on the internet. In turn, you decide to be playful with your response. Risky, but still not too revealing. "It's okay. It turns out that list wasn't as accurate as I once thought it was" you typed with a smirk.

"So maybe he was watching after all," Pedro answered.

"Maybe he was."

Pedro soon changed the subject, "I did enjoy hearing about your favorite things, though. You may know this already, but I love movies. Some of the ones you mentioned are a couple of my favorites as well. But as for your favorite books, I haven't read them, but I've been meaning to find a new book to read."

The fact that he was a reader made your heart flutter; the thought of him sitting with a book, his glasses perched on his nose, brow furrowed as he stroked his thumb over his lip in deep concentration. You were overjoyed at the thought of him reading *your* favorite book and potentially having someone to talk to about it. Before you knew it, you had frantically sent multiple excited messages.

You: "Oh! If you read any of my favorite books we HAVE to talk about them!"

Second message: "AGH the first book I mentioned is my favorite, out of all of them. The ending blew my mind. And the characters were just so amazing! Well except for that one guy.. but I won't spoil that…"

Third message: "But my favorite character has the greatest lines!!! Sometimes I like to quote it but nobody else gets it. And the way the author describes the settings is so magical, it makes you want to be there."

Pedro caught himself smiling at his phone, wrapped up in your excitement, as you were finally able to talk to someone about your favorite book. It was adorable how happy you seemed.

He started to type a reply when you sent another message. "Shoot… I'm sorry. I got a little too carried away…"

"Who told you that?"

Huh?

"Who told me what?" You asked.

"Who made you feel like you had to stop talking when you became excited about your interests?"

His question took you aback, but your mind struggled to pinpoint the answer to it. There's been so many people that have told you that over the years. People you assumed were friends. An old crush who didn't like multiple text messages at once. Classmates who would complain or make fun. It was routine.

"Oh. It's not a big deal. It's just something I've heard over the years. But I also know how I get and I don't want to be too much. I'm sorry. I don't want to monopolize the conversation too much either. But hey, you didn't mention, what are your favorite books?" You tried to change the topic.

Pedro felt that protective feeling bubble up in his chest again.

"Over the years!? There have been multiple occasions?" Pedro shook his head, even though you couldn't see through the text. "I'm sorry anyone ever made you feel that way or said anything to imply that your interests weren't worthy of being heard. Fuck them. They should be thankful that you shared your interests."

They should be grateful to hear your beautiful voice get so excited. To get to see your excitement and smile, Pedro thought to himself angrily. He hoped he could someday witness you getting excited over your interests in person too.

"Thank you Pedro. But really, it's okay. I know I get a little… obsessive and crazy, especially with sending multiple texts, so I don't blame them. Haha. :)" you tried to soften the mood.

"I don't want you to ever feel that way with me. I liked hearing you talk about your interests."

You began to type, but Pedro beat you to the punch.

"In fact… if you'd like to talk more," he gave you his phone number. "Feel free to text me, or you can call me too. I like talking on the phone, but I know not everyone does."

Holy shit. Is this real life? Did Pedro Pascal just give me his phone number? And ask me to call him?

Truthfully, your introverted self really didn't like talking on the phone. But the idea of talking to Pedro, hearing his voice on the other end of your phone was too much to handle.

What you didn't realize, was that Pedro wanted it just as bad.

Your fingers danced over your phone keyboard, trying to find the right words for a reply. What do you say when the love of your life (that you didn't think you would ever have a chance with) gives you his phone number?

Pedro watched anxiously as the three dot-dot-dots of typing appeared and disappeared over and over. His heart was racing, and he began to worry he may have overstepped this time. 

Why did you give her your number? She's going to think you like her!!! 

But you do like her, you idiot, Pedro berated himself.

He ran his hand down his face, waiting for your response in agonizing suspense. But instead of hearing the pop of a notification, his phone began to ring instead, an unknown number displayed on the home screen.

Wait… is that her? Is she CALLING me?!

He answered frantically, practically dropping his phone in the process. 

"Hello?"

"Hello? Pedro? It's me.."

You heard him give a breathless laugh before answering with a gentle "Hi."

_____

Thank you for reading!! Let me know your thoughts :) More will be coming soon. I know this is a painfully slow burn lol. Thanks for being patient.

Next chapter! Here

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