#and they don't work weekends which i knew but i was hoping they'd call on Friday when i dropped it off but they didn't :( | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anonymooseforever007 · 1 year

Text

Field Deer. Forest Horse

(Platonic Tommy Shelby x Female reader)

Summary: Arriving home from work Tommy is surprised to see Finn's best friend waiting on his front step with a bundle in her arms asking for his help. This can't be t.... why is it moving?

In which we also see how much of a little horse girl Thomas Shelby really is....

A/N: Hi Y'all! No Trigger warnings for this one aside from mentions of assumed pregnancy (but no actual). Also despite what Tommy first thinks, this story is entirely platonic in both the readers relationship with Finn and Tommy, and there are not actually human babies. I just have an idea that anytime Tommy is approached with a squirming bundle he thinks it's gonna be related to him somehow. This was really fun to write! Enjoy❤️

WC-2.7k

Main Masterlist

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

Tommy Shelby had just arrived back home when he heard someone calling his name. Looking to his front steps, he saw his youngest brother's best friend hurrying towards him with a bundle in her arms.

"Tommy! You're home, great! I need you to help me."

Now Tommy hadn't seen Y/N in a few months truthfully, he was usually busy with work and she lived in London. Most weekends Finn would end up going down to her place to cause whatever trouble they could, away from Polly's watchful eye. So really, her and Tommy's paths rarely crossed. But Tommy was still fond of the girl and the slight stress in her voice, didn't stop his growing concern....

Nor did the suspiciously wrapped object in her arms ease his fears and....Oh great, it was moving.... Pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, Tommy tried to recalled what Y/N looked like the last time he'd seen her, hoping the bundle wasn't what he thought it was.... Please tell him Finn hadn't been that stupid...

"Tommy, it is really important! About a baby. Finn won't help either and I don't know what else to do!"

Fuck....

Pinching the bridge of his nose harder, Tommy closed his eyes again and tried to control his breathing. Yes, he was extremely pissed that Finn not only gone off and gotten his best friend pregnant, but also hidden the secret from his family for months. Now he'd obviously not been able to face the consequences and left the poor girl and babe all by her lonesome. Fucking really Finn? Tommy thought the family had raised him better than that. But despite Tommy's annoyance, he knew it wasn't time to take it out on the girl before him. If she really did just have a baby, she need more than just his help. He'd have to call a family meeting and once they all met the kid, they could take turns tanning Finn's ass. Sure, it wasn't too much different from what Tommy and John and Ada themselves had done. Come to think of it, not a single firstborn of the Shelby siblings had been "expected" so to speak. But at least they'd taken responsibility for their late night actions. And Tommy would be damned if his little brother didn't have to do the same.

Talking one last deep breath, Tommy opened his eyes and looked down at the girl now standing a few feet in front of him. He could see her clothes were dirty from something and she had some small scratches on her left forearm. But still he was more concerned about the squirming mass in her arms. Running a hand though his hair, Tommy tried to think of the best way to console the girl. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Tommy began his speech about how she really was family now.

"It's gonna be alright Y/N. I know things may see tough right now, but I promise we'll be here to help you. Finn may not have the balls to help with this baby, bu..."

Stepping back, Y/N tilted her head, confused at Tommy's words. It was at that moment another noise came from the small blanket and for the first time Tommy saw light brown hair poking out from the blanket....But something seemed off about it.

"Tommy what are you talking about? Finn's not lacking the balls for anything, he's just still stuck at the office doing work. Polly said she'd skin him if he didn't get those papers done today. Besides he's not the one I need to talk to about the baby.... You are."

For a second, Tommy's heart stopped as an absolutely terrifying idea entered his mind.

It wasn't Tommy baby was it?

In the back of his mind, Tommy knew it wasn't true. But it also wouldn't be the first time, someone gave him the "surprise you're a dad" talk. She wasn't really tying to tell him it was his kid... was she? He didn't even remember that last time he saw Y/N, let alone ever..... She was his brother's best friend. Tommy wouldn't do that, no matter how drunk or high he'd gotten. He wasn't Freddie fucking Thorne for fucks sake...rest his soul. Shaking his head, Tommy's brow furrowed. No, that was completely impossible, there had to be some other explanation.

"Y/N, I don't know what you're going on about but that's not my kid."

"....Of course it's not your kid?" Y/N's eyes widened at she realised what Tommy was thinking. Her own nose scrunched at the idea of it all and she chucked at Tommy's concerned face. "Oh Tommy do you think it's a real baby," she asked and moving forwards again, Y/N pulled back the blanket showing Tommy the truth. "Well it is a baby, but it's not a human baby. Look."

A baby deer.

That's what it was. A tiny little thing, that couldn't have been more than a week old. It probably weighted less than Tommy's briefcase. Stepping closer, he could also see it was injured. A few deeper scratches marred its back and Tommy could make out a few deeper wounds that reminded him of the imprint barbed wire left. Not to mention the poor thing was shaking harder than Tommy himself after a nightmare. Gently reaching out, Tommy lightly touched an uninjured part of the fawn's back, frowning when it flinched. Forgetting his previous concerns, Tommy quietly shushed the trembling animal and held his hand out for the fawn to smell. He was more than happy to ignore the problems of people, but Tommy always did have a soft spot for animals.

"What happened to it?"

Pursing her lips, Y/N remembered the scene she'd dragged the small thing from only an hour before.

"I found her on the side of the road on my way back to London. Pulled off to have a snack and found her crying all wrapped up in this old wire fence. And that wasn't even the worst of it Tom," Y/N revealed, "I looked around for her mum, and she was dead just a little ways down. I think someone hit her while crossing the road and the poor baby got stuck in the wire in her panic. I'm telling ya, Tommy, that doe has been there for a few days, I can't even imagine how hurt the baby must be!"

Y/N sighed, holding the baby deer a bit closer, as if she could cuddle away all its trama. Not even a week old, and it had already seen so much. Y/N had spent the next hour with her pocket knife trying to cut the poor thing out of its wire prison. She'd even gotten a few scrapes of her own when the fawn was panicking too much and wouldn't hold still, throwing itself as hard as it could to get away from its rescuer. Eventually though, the deer seems to accept its fate, though constantly shaking, as Y/N cut the final ties. Not that that was even the end of everything. So badly hurt, the fawn could barely even stand and Y/N knew if she left the baby by the road it would die. And she couldn't bare the thought of that. Tommy listened quietly as she explained her tale, still gently petting the fawn's head with two fingers.

"And so I brought her here. I was gonna go to Curly at first, seeing as I think he'd know the most. But then Arthur said Curly had gone down with John to pick drop the new horse off at May Carlton's place. So I decided to come here next. Based on what Finn said you'd probably be the next best help! You know more about them than I do!"

Tilting his head, Tommy raised an eyebrow at Y/N's words. Truthfully, Esme or Polly would have been the best to go to for a hurt animal. And he loved Curly too, but Tommy couldn't fathom why Y/N would go to him for help. Curly actually hated deers, they were one of he few animals he'd never enjoyed.... at least outside of Polly's stew. He may have been nicer to the baby deer, but Tommy knew even then, he'd probably be reluctant. And then Tommy himself was also a bit of a wild card when it came to the animal. Sure he'd hunted them before with his brothers, but Tommy never really looked much into the animals deeper that. Nevertheless, he accepted Y/N's plea, carefully taking the small creature from her arms, already making a mental list of supplies he'd need.

"Y/N? I'm still gonna help you with it, but I can't promise it'll do much yeah? I'm don't know much about deers and I'm definitely not any animal doctor. I guess we can try, but I'm not making any fucking promises."

Beaming at him, Y/N clapped her hands twice, pleased at his cooperation.

"I knew you could do it! After all, horses aren't much more than field deer!"

Tommy froze in his steps, tensing up like he'd been shot. Did she really just.... Tommy turned around so fast, Y/N was scared the fawn would go flying from his arms.

"Fucking what?"

Nervously Y/N laughed. Even holding an adorable baby deer as gently as he did his son, Thomas Shelby's narrowed eyes were slightly intimidating.

"You know, horses....They're basically like deer, but bigger... and live in fields.... So they're Field Deer."

Mouth opened, Tommy looked down at the small deer in his arms with distaste, almost as if he was reconsidering his entire offer to help.

For lack of a better word, Thomas Shelby was offended. Possibly more so than he'd ever been in his life.

"Deer aren't anything like horses."

"Yeah they are."

"How."

"...They both have hooves and fur and noses..." Y/N started off, hesitating. Truth be told, she knew nothing about either animal, that's why she wanted Tommy's help. "They both eat a lot of leaves and flowers and grass, and th..."

"Horses don't just eat leaves or flowers or grass. They mainly eat hay." Tommy interrupted.

"Hay is a type of grass, wise ass," Y/N shot back. "Besides you can't deny they look alike and act alike! Wave an apple slice in their face and they're practically the same species!"

Tommy scoffed.

"Horses are big and majestic and strong, and if trained right aren't afraid of anything. They're smart and loyal and good, and if you find the right one it'll help you for years," Tommy defend, thinking of all the horses he'd had before. "You won't ever find an animal as good as a horse mark my fucking words. While deer.... deer freeze in their steps the second they see danger. They're weak. You saw that today didn't ya?"

Gasping at his audacity, Y/N glared right back at him, reaching out to cover the poor fawn's ears, as if protecting her from Tommy's uncalled for blow.

"Thomas Shelby, how dare you! Now maybe deer aren't as big or powerful as horses, but that's taking it too far! Speak the differences all you want, but not that one. The poor thing's still shaking and you have the nerve to be so cruel! Apologise right now!"

Tommy didn't even have to look down to feel the constant shaking in his arms....alright maybe that was a low blow. But he still wasn't going to apologise to the deer. It's not like it would even understand him.

"I'm not doing that."

"Yes you are." Arms crossed, Y/N waited patiently for Tommy to give in. She didn't even have to press him. For as cruel as Tommy could be to people, he did quite like animals. Only around him a few times, Y/N had already witnessed the gentle way he'd spoken to his horses or Cyril. The fact he'd even taken Cyril in when Alfie "died" was enough for her to know Tommy couldn't turn away an animal in need, even if he "hated" the man it came from. She was sure the small bit of conscious he so often locked away would be free soon. If only for a few minutes. And right she was, only a few seconds later, the small animal let out a pained whine and Tommy's eyes shot down to it. Carefully petting its head again, with blue eyes meeting chocolate brown, he hesitated a bit before grumbling.

"Alright, alright, shouldn't have said that to ya should I? Wasn't very nice of me was it? I said I'd help ya and I will. You're gonna be alright."

Nuzzling into his touch, finally, the deer stopped shaking. Tommy smirked softly at his achievement and Y/N smirked gently at Tommy, knowing she'd won the argument. She didn't understand why Tommy couldn't recognise the similarities and was so against the titles.

"See, she even falls right into the palm of your hand, after a few nice words Tom. Just like all the horses do. Proving my point further. You may not think it, but you can't deny the truth forever! Field. Deer."

Sighing, Tommy just rolled his eyes, recognising how the woman got along so well with his family. When it came down to it, she could be just as stubborn as the rest of them. However, unlike the rest of his siblings, Tommy didn't have any blackmail he could use to make Y/N back down.

"Alright maybe they are similar yeah? But you can't just call a horse a fucking Field Deer. That's just disrespectful to them. Horses are the stronger ones, and more useful." He turned, finally walking into his house, heading for his office where he knew bandages were kept. Y/N playfully rolled her eyes and headed after him.

"Alright Tommy, I'll keep that in mind."

Tommy nodded his head, still absentmindedly rubbing the fawn's head. Its breathing had gotten deeper now, not from injury, but from the fact that Tommy's gently pets had lulled it to sleep.

"Good. Horses aren't Field Deer... If anything deer are .... Forest Horses."

It was Y/N's turn to freeze before she belted out cackling, finally realising where Tommy's initial defensiveness came from.

"FOREST HORSES! Fucking Hell! You weren't mad I said deer were like horses at all were ya! You just got pissy because I related the horse to the deer, instead of the deer to the horse!"

She laughed again, while Tommy just stood by silently. Even is she was right he'd never admit it. No, the Thomas Shelby would never confess he got into an argument over a childish nickname for horses. Especially if it was an argument he "lost" in the end.

"Alright, alright. You've had your fun. Now go run to the kitchen and grab me a bowl of water yeah? And if you find Francis tell her to take one of Charlie's old baby bottles and fill it with some warm milk." Tommy cut in, nudging you towards the hall with his left foot as his hands were still full of the sleeping baby deer. "And after I'm done looking at this one, you're gonna let me look at the scratches on your arms too....Don't wrinkle your nose at me, it won't hurt that much."

Saluting the older man mockingly, Y/N nodded twice before tapping the sleeping deer on the nose.

"Any other orders for the nurse, doctor? Should I bring some hay for the little filly or a blanket that's been heated over the mantle?"

Scoffing lightly, Tommy just shook his head.

"No hay for the baby yet nurse, but get to it quick, yeah. Suppose to have a family meeting in a few minutes and I don't need them poking fun of me for going soft, now do I?"

"He says as he cuddles the injured baby deer," Y/N mumbled to herself, already halfway out of the room. "Not that I can blame him though, she is pretty cute."

Watching Y/N walk turn down the corner, Tommy took it upon himself to finally step into his office. The only one inside was Cyril, whose head immediately shot up at the new smell. Lumbering over to the couch Tommy had settled down on, the large mastiff gently sniffed the small creature. After a few moments, Cyril looked at Tommy and then back at the deer. Then he sat down and rested his head on the edge of the couch, staring curiously at the fast asleep fawn. Reaching over to pet the dog's head, Tommy let out a small laugh.

"You like her, don't you boy? That's alright I think I do too. Maybe we can keep her around for a bit eh? What do you say Cyril? Want a new friend?"

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

#Tommy Shelby x reader #tommy Shelby imagine #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders imagine #tommy shelby #peaky blinders #Thomas Shelby x reader

552 notes · View notes

theesirenteller · 11 months

Text

"𝙋𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙮, 𝙄 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 !"

IN WHICH MARCUS MISSES HIS DAD'S GF

"Don't cry papi, you know he'll be back before you know it." Rhea attempted to comfort her son. The seven-year-old was deeply saddened by his father's absence over the last month. What felt short to some, was a big deal to the boy. His father was his hero, his best friend, and his role model.

"Can we go visit, Piffy?" Marcus asked with a sniffle as he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his fist.

"Of course we can." She replied with a gentle smile, "I'll call her and see if she's home first."

"No, Let's surprise her! she makes funny faces when she's surprised." He insisted with a smile forming across his face.

Marcus had developed a close bond with Epiphany over the last three months. She was always sweet to him and smelt like candy. She reminded him of Strawberry Shortcake from TV. Always energetic and happy. She knew over a hundred games for the park and taught him them all. Marcus loved playing Just Dance, a K-pop edition at her apartment. Other times, they'd have movie nights when he spent nights with his dad. Epiphany made so many bright colored sweets that the boy thought he was in a bakery. His favorite was her peach cupcakes with chocolate-dipped strawberries on top. Plus, it made Marcus happy to see his dad happy. He always looked happy and playful whenever Epiphany was around. The eight-year-old loved teasing his dad about his 'crush' on Epiphany.

It didn't take much longer than thirty minutes for Rhea and Marcus to arrive at Epiphany's apartment building. Rhea had been there twice; once to formally meet her with Marcus and the second time for dinner the weekend before Thanksgiving. Rhea thought Epiphany was a sweet woman. Definitely sassy and perhaps a bit young, but she fit right in with their family. Marcus held a bag of churros in his hands for them to share as he awaited beside his mother inside the elevator.

Meanwhile, Epiphany had been in her living room working out. She needed something to distract her from spamming Mick with 'how's Chris doing' text messages. She understood Christopher had shit going on and had to lay low but did it hurt to text her himself or to give her a five-minute phone call? Dating her ex-dealer was so not fun sometimes. And then, there was Beth. Epiphany took a week off of work just to not face the smug-looking squirrel. Annoyance, anger, and sadness were what she felt; and instead of moping, Epiphany decided to channel that into working out.

An R&B ballad of the K-pop group, Red Velvet played as background music to her swift hip-whining. A mind-to-muscle connection was what she focused on to move her lower waist and hip area as effortlessly as she could. Twenty-five lbs weights were gripped in her fists, which she rotated in circles above her head. Her lavender sports bra and shorts were drenched in sweat, tightly clinging to her body like a second layer of skin. The sudden bang against her door caused her to stop and turn around. "Coming!" Epiphany rushed to throw on a terry-cloth robe before heading downstairs.

She ran past her bright-fuschia pink kitchen with her heart beating rapidly at the thought of her lover being on the other side of the door.

"Hi Piffy, I missed you!" greeted Marcus's squeaky voice with glee.

"Hi Epiphany, it's nice to see you. Sorry to drop by on such short notice." Rhea added.

A smile had finally formed across Epiphany's lips for the first time in months. "Aye dios mio, Hi!" she greeted before quickly stepping aside, "Please come on in. It's nice to see you both." The way Marcus ran to her and embraced her with a warming hug made her heart swoon. She had no choice but to squeal as she crouched down and hugged him in return.

"I missed you too, sweetie pie. It's been boring without you." she cooed before giving his forehead a peck.

Rhea smiled gleefully at the sweet interaction between her son and Epiphany. It was all she could hope for in any relationship Christopher had. "I got us Churros and nutella dip." Marcus showed off, holding up his paper bag.

"Ooouuu awesome, how about we watch Ponyo while we eat them?" Epiphany suggested. The boy nodded his head eagerly before dashing off to the staircase beside the kitchen.

"Thanks for bringing him by, Rhea." she said sincerely, "He's really sweet and well…I've been really bummed out since Chris went M.I.A."

"Marcus too, he asked for you and in a way I think spending time with you…makes him feel closer to his father." Rhea replied, "You'll get used to it. Or, at least I hope you do because Marcus is attached to you and Chris…well, it's just nice to see him take someone seriously."

The dancer nodded, biting at her lip as she sank deep into her inner thoughts. If only Rhea knew that Epiphany felt like she was in deep to the point of not going back, "You think he takes me seriously?"

Rhea only smiled and comfortingly tapped her shoulder, "Yea chica, I do."

"Well then, I'll be sure to give him three ass-whoopings for Marcus, you, and I." Epiphany grinned.

"Momma! Eiffy! Hurry up!" Marcus called from upstairs causing the two women to chuckle and make their way over.

#rio; dealer fanfic #theesirentellerstories #theesirenteller fanfic #marcus good girls nbc #rhea gg #rhea good girls #marcus good girls

47 notes · View notes

zilabee · 2 years

Text

Harry Nilsson and John Lennon

Quotes from "Who is Harry Nilsson (and why is everybody talkin' about him?)"

Harry Nilsson: I was still working at the bank and I, I hated the beatles because I said shhhhi, you know they're beating me to the punch... and then there was that moment when you say well you're either with them or agin 'em, and I decided to go for the latter [sic] and I said yeah, they really are... that good.

Jimmy Webb: We'd be arguing about the Beatles, and he'd say "The Beatles are the ONLY band! There's only one band. That's the Beatles. No one else matters."

Harry Nilsson: So one day I was, early, five in the morning, I got a phone call and there's this voice, long distance, hello hello who is it? It's John. John who? John Lennon. Is this really John? He says yeah I just want to say you're fantastic man, we're listening to you all weekend you know it's great great great, it's fantastic. Uh. the following Monday I got a phone call from Paul, how are you, just calling to say you're fantastic, you know, oh you're great, really love what you did and all that stuff you know, Derek played it for us and hope to see you soon. Clunk. The next Monday morning I get up, comb my hair, five o'clock in the morning, waiting for a call from Ringo. There was no call. But he ended up being the best man at our wedding so that's okay.

Ray Cooper: [The Beatles] uh, y'know, pronounced him to the world and said 'listen to this man!' and we did.

Micky Dolenz: I remember that's one of the only times I've ever seen him kind of patting himself on the back and tooting his own horn. He said 'you know they think I'm like the fifth Beatle'.

Harry Nilsson: I got a phone call and it was from Derek Taylor and uh, Derek said 'hey, the lads, the beatles, the fabs, would like you to come and join them for a session, they're recording at Abbey Road'. I thought right, Jesus, this is about as good as it gets.

Harry Nilsson: That first night in London I spent at John Lennon's house, and he gives me like a hug and he smiled and he put me at ease instantly. So I, for some reason I would say anything in front of this man and it would be okay. That night we spent the entire night with a little help from our friends, uh talking. Just sitting and talking. All night, till dawn, till seven or eight o'clock in the morning. And John and I on and on and on and on about marriage, life, death, divorce, women, what's it all about, you know, what are we doing?

Diane Nilsson: He said that he and John were a lot alike, that they'd had similar childhoods, and um, I wasn't surprised by that. So I, you know, it was clear that John had a lot of anger. He didn't hide that. Harry hid it, but John didn't. So. I thought that was very interesting.

Rick Jarrard (Harry's producer): Harry, after he went over to England, and was with the Beatles, or with John, I really don't know which. He changed. He changed and became somebody else that I no longer knew. Out of the blue I got a telegram that said 'I'm finding another producer' and basically that was the end of Harry's and my relationship. [...] I never saw Harry again after that telegram. Never spoke to him, never saw him.

Harry Nilsson: John was one of a kind, I mean there was just no one like him, he was tough as nails, he just uh, fearless and said what he felt. You know, that's something, he was always ahead, he was always a couple of steps ahead of you.

Jimmy Webb: To have John, was like giving Harry the best present he could have... That almost made up for the fact that his father left him. And there may be some of you out there saying, yeah, Webb's being the amateur psychiatrist, but I think that almost made up for it. Because Harry really wanted to be one of the Beatles.

_____________

'Pussy Cats'

Micky Dolenz: They were like in each other's face. It was like a duel.

Perry Botkin, Jr: They were a friendship made in Hell as far as I'm concerned. John had his troubles, Harry had his troubles, and they got together and really, that was when Harry really blew his voice.

Jimmy Webb: He and John Lennon were egging each other on as to who could scream the loudest and scream the longest and with the most ragged, actually self destructive vocals on tape as possible. He told me one time that there was blood on the microphone. Harry told me.

Perry Botkin, Jr: I believe it was purposeful. Not consciously, but I believe that he was - I can't believe I'm getting into all of this first of all - I really, I think he was for some very bizarre reason, trying to self destruct.

Jimmy Webb: That was the saddest thing that ever happened to me in my life, was when I realised that he, that he was in that much trouble vocally and that he didn't know how to tell me, and that he didn't want anyone to know and it's just hard for me to talk about it, I just can't talk about it...

_____________

John's Death

Mark Hudson: I was with Harry on the night that John was shot, and he was in the studio, it was that Monday night and we were all watching the football game and all at once a flash came on the screen that said John Lennon had been shot.

Van Dyke Parks: It devastated him. Because I don't think that Harry felt that they'd had their last conversation.

Yoko Ono: Well it was so severe, that we didn't talk about it. Between us.

Mark Hudson: I don't think he ever really dealt with it. And right after that he went into major gun control. [...] It was all for John but I really sort of think it was sort of a ghost that stayed with him forever.

Harry Nilsson: My name is Harry Nilsson and I'm the National Chairman of the End Handgun Violence Week which takes place between October 25th and October 31st. If you want to help please write to... Too bad we have so many people dying every year from handgun violence, thank you.

Terry Gillian: The whole focus of his being seemed to be about trying to get gun control laws.

Lee Blackman: And Harry, who was a very private person, and was rarely seen in public, went public with this, he went on television talking about the importance of handgun control, he formed an organisation for handgun control, he went to Washington and lobbied with lawmakers...

#harry nilsson #john lennon #the beatles

102 notes · View notes

silvertsundere · 3 months

Text

Silver Talks AniManga (14/07/24)

pretty chill week this time around this should be all the shows I'm watching for this season too, which is a lot less than last and all but 1 is on the weekend which is nice as well

green - new series/new to me blue - finale/completed

Anime

Mayonaka Punch Ep1

I decided to watch this months ago when it was announced cause it's PA and I like how the designs looked a lot. At first from the info they had revealed I thought it was gonna be about vtuber but nope it's just normal youtubers. The first ep was really good tho. Did a good job setting up our 2 mains here and their motivations and some others of the cast. It also looked very good as you'd expect from PA. It's kinda funny that the plot kicks off with the main character punching one of her previous partners when we just had that last season in Jellyfish. Also both the OP and ED were good, I liked them quite a bit

But anyway, pretty fun ep 1, the 2 mains got good voices (Fairouz Ai and Hasegawa Ikumi) and the rest of the cast looks like fun too. Not expecting to be blown out the water by it but it'll be a nice ride if they keep up the energy from this ep (which I expect from PA)

Bye Bye, Earth Ep1

Decided to watch this on a whim cause the PV I saw some months ago piqued my interested. Went in not expecting much, and good thing I did cause it's Liden so you know you're in for nothing special. I don't got much to say, its was a pretty generic adventure story start and there was nothing impressive about the episode, tho the OST by Kevin Penkin was p decent. Also, apparently this is based on some OLD LN that ran from sep 2007 to feb 2008 and only had 4 vols, with 12 chaps, which seems like an odd choice to adapat in 2024. Curious to see if they're gonna do it all or not and if they'll do the katangatari approach of 1 chap per ep. Tho, I don't know if I'll stick with it yet, we'll see how the next few eps go, but this is the only show I got on friday so prob gonna stick with it cause why not

Manga

Kaiju 8: B-Side Ch12 (Finale)

That was a nice little spinoff. We knew from the start it wouldn't be that long, since it's based on the novel but it was still nice seeing some more about these characters. It helps that they're my favourites too but yknow lol. The stories were nothing too special to be fair, other than Narumi's showing his backstory as an orphan the others didn't add anything to the characters we didn't know already, just went more in depth into details that were in the main manga.

The artist for it wasn't the one from the main manga. The one for this had a series on jump some months (years?..) ago called Super Smartphone which ended up axed. It was understandable but the art was pretty good so I was hoping they'd come back eventually, and come back they did, with slightly more polished art. Outside of the normal stuff, the action scenes were really good too which we never got to see much of in SS. I'll be looking forward to the artist's next work be it solo or teaming up with an author.

#silver talks animanga

3 notes · View notes

ivarlover · 1 year

Text

UNDENIABLE PART 3 (Sequel to UNLEASHED)

Alex + Modern Ivar

Mentions of Female Reader + Hvitserk

This was supposed to be just a one-shot, but the story has come alive for me, and the need to write more can't be ignored. At this point, I have no idea how many chapters this will end up consiating of. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! 🔥 This is the last chapter of Undeniable. However, there will be another sequel called Unexpected that I will hopefully be posting soon. After Unexpected is finished (& I have no idea how many chapters it will be), that will be the end of this roller coaster ride. This chapter has thoroughly kicked my ass! Hope it's worth it! 😘

Summary: During a hot weekend with your classmate, Alex, and his best friend, Ivar, the two of them had their own fun together. And now, it had turned into what looked like a confusing situation in the light of day. What did it all mean to them now? What would happen with their friendship? Can they move forward as friends or has all been lost? Is friends to lovers even a possibility at this point?

Inspired by a naughty conversation with a friend of mine. 😍 (You know who you are).

Warnings: This chapter: A little bit of heartache but also all the feels. Smut, Ivar being Ivar.

The sequel in general: Totally NSFW, Unprotected anal sex (male receiving), oral, male to male contact and more, heartbreak, and a bad case of the feels, and smut, with me, there is ALWAYS smut 🤣

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

*LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ON OR OFF OF THE TAG LIST*

Words: I don't know; there are many, many words 🤣

-------------------------------------------

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

-------------------------------------------

It was finally here. The after-party was scheduled to begin in almost an hour, and there were already people arriving. You didn't know who the newlyweds were, but you were certain they had more money than you were accustomed to. They'd rented out the entire bar for only their guests, so it was closed to the public.

You watched as the bouncers continued to turn people away and how sad they looked learning they couldn't enter for a second night in a row. You couldn't help but to feel proud knowing your friends had accomplished this, of course, with your help. "I can't thank you enough for your help tonight, Y/N. Looks like we're going to need as much as we can get. Did you see how many people are already here?" Alex buzzed passed you, headed for more champagne.

"Alex, you're very welcome, but remember, you're the boss. Let us help and you, I don't know, you just stand here and look pretty. I got this. Which table gets the champagne?" He smiled his flirty smile at you and told you which table. "Yes, sir," you smiled back and headed toward the table.

"Y/N?"

"Yes?" you replied.

"I like it when you call me sir."

"Oh my God!" you blushed and punched him playfully in the chest.

"Nah, seriously, Y/N, thank you," he grinned proudly, "For everything."

You shrugged and went to work. It was almost weird for you, thinking about that hot weekend you'd had with him and Ivar. It was great but so much had changed so fast and now, all you really wanted was for him to be happy with Ivar like you knew he could be, like you knew he wanted. You made a mental note to have a heart to heart discussion with Ivar as soon as you found the chance. Alex and you had become really close friends really fast and you were determined to sort out this mess the two of them had made.

-------------------------------------------

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

-------------------------------------------

"So much for me standing and looking pretty, huh?" Alex said as the two of you ended up at the bar at the same time for the first time all night. He was washing glasses beside you. "Damn, I think we needed more help."

"No. It's ok. Don't freak out now. Look at the time. We're almost at the end. Everyone is happy and having a good time," you reassured him.

"This has been one hell of a night! It's a good thing we closed the place to the public. There's no way we would have had enough space for more people," Alex laughed.

"Oh fuck!" Your heart completely stopped.

"What? Oh God, what is it?" Alex panicked.

You just pointed to the door. Ivar and Hvitserk were standing just inside it and you could see Hvitserk standing in front of him, clearly trying to hold him back. Ivar flung his arms around and shoved Hvitserk out of his way. He headed toward the bar and he made eye contact with you. He had a murderous look across his face that appeared to be directed at you and Alex.

"What the fuck is wrong with him? Doesn't he know how big this event is?" Alex was frozen in his spot.

"I got this. You go get Hvitserk and keep him with you. He doesn't even need to be in here!" You walked into the crowd and stopped in front of Ivar. "Ivar, this is not the time or the place."

"What's it fucking to you?" He slurred his words a little and as you got closer to him, you could smell alcohol on his breath. Just great. You had no idea what he was like when he's drunk or what he was capable of.

You began, a little sweeter than before. "Ivar, look around you. This place is full of people. People who paid you guys good money to be here. Don't ruin their wedding night. You know Alex will talk to you. Just wait until we close up later tonight and you sober up some."

He looked at you straight in the eyes and said one word, "No!" He managed to walk around you, or stumble was more like it, and went straight to where Alex stood at the bar, headed to Hvitserk.

You gave Alex an apologetic smile and went to Hvitserk yourself, praying the whole way that at least he was sober.

"So, that's it? We're done? It's all over before it even begins?" Ivar's voice was so harsh and cold.

Alex looked at him, sadly, "Ivar, are you drunk?"

"No, I'm not fucking drunk! I'm pissed! Answer my damn question, Alex!" As he got louder, people around them began to stare. "It's seriously all over before it even begins?"

Alex tried to calm him. He wasn't sure how to answer him in this state. "Ivar, let's go talk in the back and I..."

"Fuck no! Answer me here!"

Alex had seen him like this before, just never had it directed at him. He spoke quietly. "Ivar, we don't know what the future holds, but you have to recognize the timing is not in our favor right now."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Alex dropped his head. After the last couple of weeks he'd had, he couldn't believe he was shutting this down. "Ivar, please. Can we talk later? When everyone has left from here?"

Even in his drunken stuper, Ivar recognized the pain in Alex's face and he suddenly felt bad. Just as he was going to apologize, you and Hvitserk walked up.

"Hey, Ivar," you said, "Want to go with me to the office?" He looked at you with a funny smile. "Oh my God! No! Jesus! I meant for you to get some rest until everyone is gone."

He laughed and looked at Alex, who still seemed taken back by this entire situation. "Umm, yeah sure. I guess so," he answered, thinking only of Alex now.

As you walked him toward the office, you playfully smacked him in the shoulder and said, "You're such a pervert."

"Hey, I wasn't sure what you were offering," he replied and you punched him this time.

-------------------------------------------

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

-------------‐------------------

"What the hell was that all about?" Hvitserk asked Alex as you and Ivar walked away.

Alex smiled. "Umm, long story. For another time."

"Right. Something tells me I don't even want to know."

"Yeah, probably not," Alex answered, laughing. Then he saw the serious look across Hvitserk's face. "What is it?"

"I'm just trying to figure things out here. How did you manage to make my baby brother so angry with you and yet so into you all at the same time?"

"Wait. What?" Alex was floored. He stumbled over his words, "I, I, umm, did no such a thing! Why would you even say that? You know we've been best friends for years, Hvitserk."

"Yes, I do, but this, this is more than just best friends. I've never seen him like that over any woman and Alex, you know he's been in love with one before." You both grimaced at the memory of her. "This is way deeper than friendship."

Alex tried to keep his composure. "You've never seen him act like what? I really don't know what you're talking about. He's not into me. He's just drunk."

Hvitserk was persistent, "Alex, you can knock off that innocent act with me. I know something happened with you guys, and don't worry. It doesn't bother me. As long as he's happy, I'm happy. And he is convinced he'll be happy with you."

Alex stood there in shock for a minute, trying to decide how best to answer. "Wow! I wasn't expecting that. Look, I'm not going to violate his trust like that. All I will say is our friendship took a turn that neither of us were expecting at all and now, we're just trying to navigate through the changes. It's difficult, Hvitserk."

"It's not, actually, Alex. When you feel that strongly about someone, that's major. You don't just let them slip away from you so easily. Especially if your feelings are as deep as his seem to be. All he talked about to me all afternoon was you and how he may have fucked up the first real, true thing he's ever found. I don't need details, man. I just need you to fix this. There's no reason the two of you should be suffering like this when you both clearly want the same thing. And if it's mom, don't worry about her. He can handle her. I promise you that."

"I, umm, I really don't know what to say." Hvitserk was one of the last people that Alex had ever expected to be so insightful or accepting of everything.

"You don't need to say anything, man. Not to me, at least. Just promise me you'll talk to him before you leave tonight."

Just as Alex started to answer, you walked up. "He pretty much passed out as soon as his head hit the sofa," you laughed, looking at the two of them. "Alex, you have to talk to him. Tonight."

"Ok, ok already. The two of you don't need to gang up on me! I plan on talking to him. I want to even," Alex smiled at their genuine concern.

You turned to Hvitserk, "Now, I can give you a ride home." Then you turned to Alex, "It's ok, right? I'll be right back. And don't worry, Hvitserk, Alex will be sure Ivar gets back home." You smiled.

Hvitserk put his hand up, "No, I'm fine. I don't want to leave. I'd really like to stay here with you guys. I can even help out with whatever you need." You and Alex both gave him a confused look. "Seriously, guys, it's not the alcohol that I have a problem with. It's umm, it's drugs. When I'm high is the only time I ever want to drink. You can ask Ivar. He understands this now. He drank most of the evening in front of me and it didn't bother me. It's my mom who didn't want to leave yet. She wanted to be sure I am seriously ok. Although, Y/N, I wouldn't mind you giving me 'that ride' a little later." He gave you that same shit eating grin of Ivar's.

"Oh my God! You're horrible!" You playfully smacked him on his arm.

"Yeah, but something tells me you like it," he continued to smile as you began to blush. Of course, he was right. There was definitely something about these Lothbrok boys that you couldn't get enough of.

"Ok, ok. Sorry to break up the relentless flirting, but we still have work to do," Alex interrupted them. "Hvitserk, if you're sure Ivar won't disown me for letting you stay, we definitely could use the extra help."

"I'm sure. Where do you want me, boss?" Alex rolled his eyes and put him and you to work but not before giving you very specific instructions to watch out for him, while he went to the back for more bottles of alcohol.

-------------------------------------------

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

-------------------------------------------

The night was finally winding down. It had been almost two hours since Ivar had came in demanding answers from Alex and the place was thinning out. You had checked in on Ivar a few times and he'd just smiled and waved you off. Alex had sent you and Hvitserk to close off a section of the bar and begin having people move to the other side of the bar.

Alex was behind the bar, throwing out empty bottles. He was smiling at the success the evening had been. He'd just had the DJ do a last call and was happy that they'd be closing soon. He was more tired than he'd expected to be.

One of the bartenders alerted Alex that the office door was open so Alex told her, "I bet someone thought it was a bathroom. I'll be right back." He needed to go check that everything was ok with Ivar and to close the door back.

To his surprise, just as he got to the end of the bar, he ran straight into Ivar. It was like colliding with a brick wall. He'd forgotten just what a muscular body Ivar had. He wasn't sure how in the hell he'd forgotten but this was a nice, shocking reminder. "Oh, um, hey. I, uh, I was just headed to check on you."

"What for?" Ivar's voice was cold, but he was definitely sober now. Staring, his eyes piercing through Alex's, he asked, "If everything is over before it even began, then why bother?"

Alex felt sweat beads on his forehead. He looked up at Ivar and blushed when he saw just how sexy Ivar looked, even with his anger directed at him. "Ivar, umm, it..."

Ivar interrupted him before he could finish, "It wasn't over at all, was it?" He walked closer to Alex, pushing Alex backwards against the wall. He placed his left hand on the wall beside Alex's head. Alex panicked, not having a clue what was coming next. "And it still isn't over." He placed his right hand on Alex's cheek. Before Alex could say a word, he leaned in, pressing his body against Alex's, breathing heavily into Alex's stunned face and grazed his lips against Alex's, just lightly kissing him. He slowly pulled away and looked at Alex for reassurance. Alex's face was shocked but his lips were still puckered up and slightly parted, clearly waiting for more, as he leaned toward Ivar, chasing the kiss.

Alex was in a complete daze. Ivar leaned in again and tenderly kissed Alex on his lips once more, his heart racing, his chest heaving, his feelings undeniable. He kissed Alex as if it were the first time and the last time. As their lips pressed together heatedly, he couldn't get enough of this feeling that surged through his veins, this feeling of contentment, of overjoy. He held Alex's face between his hands as they became completely lost in eachother. They were the only ones in the room, hell, in the world. Nothing else mattered, nothing else existed, just the two of them and this loving, sensual kiss shared between them.

That is, until the clapping they heard from behind them. Ivar slowly pulled away from Alex and looked around, stunned. Several staff members and even a few guests were clapping and whistling and making cat calls. Alex immediately blushed, feeling the heat rushing to his face.

A little embarrassed, Ivar dropped his head. He looked back at Alex and then decided to make the best of it. He turned back to everyone and bowed before them and said, "'Thank you. Thank you, guys. Now, the show's over." He leaned back, laughing and a few people clapped again before going on about their business.

He grabbed Alex's hands and turned to look him straight in the eyes. Ivar then said to him, "Umm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so umm, well, forward here in front of everyone but I couldn't help myself. I'm scared as hell to want you, so, so scared, but here I am, wanting you more and more every day. And umm, I'm, umm, I'm even more scared to lose you. How I feel is undeniable, Alex, and I can't do this to myself anymore." His eyes began to water and he dropped his head. His palms were sweaty. The anticipation of what Alex's response would be was almost too much to bear.

Squeezing Ivar's hands, Alex stared at Ivar in complete disbelief. He hadn't expected any of this. He'd really thought that giving Ivar space had really been what he wanted and needed. He put two fingers under Ivar's chin and pulled his head up to face him. "Hey, my feelings are actually undeniable, too, Ivar."

Alex felt a sense of relief run all through his body. He leaned to Ivar and closing the small gap between them, kissed him back quickly and then pulled away from him almost just as quickly as it had began. "Will you come back to my place when we're finished here so we can really talk? Just the two of us? And no interruptions. We have an audience here and I'd really rather talk when it's just the two of us." He then looked over Ivar's shoulders. "That is if Y/N can keep an eye on Hvitserk for you. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Look," and he pointed across the bar, behind Ivar.

When Ivar turned around, he saw you and Hvitserk on the other side of the bar, making out. He laughed and turned back to Alex, "He's always in competition with me." Alex laughed. "Yes, Alex, I'd really like to talk with you more when we're finished here. We have lots to discuss, I guess, huh?"

"Great! Guess I should get to work then," Alex finally exhaled. He hadn't realized that he'd pretty much been holding his breath, maybe for the last two weeks even. He didn't know what would happen, but he felt better than he'd felt since that weekend at your place.

"Ok, where do you need me?" Ivar asked and Alex put him to work out on the floor as he went back to working behind the bar.

The bartender who he'd spoken to earlier smiled at him. "What?" Alex asked her.

"Umm, nothing."

"That's not nothing. What are you all smiles about?"

"Umm, well, it's about time," she answered.

"That?" Alex really had no idea what she meant.

"Well, we've all been watching you two for some time now. We knew it was just a matter of time before the two of you got together. And I, personally, am glad."

Completely shocked, Alex asked her, "What? Are you serious? Is that what the clapping was all about?"

"Yes!"

"How did you all even know?" He was extremely surprised.

"Can I speak freely?"

"Of course," he answered her, placing the glasses back in their spot.

"Well, I think, literally, everyone knew except for the two of you, of course. Just the way you guys treat each other and speak to each other. True relationship goals, ya know? It's rather sweet. And since I know you both so well, it makes me very happy. The two of you deserve it," she patted him on the back. "So, do whatever you need to make it work. Something tells me you won't regret it, Alex."

Alex let that soak in as he finished up behind the bar. Had they been that obvious? Seemed like nearly everyone around them had noticed except for themselves. Apparently, neither of them were particularly good at hiding their emotions. He smiled to himself as he thought of it all and continued cleaning.

-------------------------------------------

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

---------‐‐--------------------

They were finally in the car ride back to Alex's place. You had all too eagerly agreed to see to it that Hvitserk got home safely and all but jumped on Alex and Ivar for suggesting it.

The event had went well. The couple had thanked Alex and Ivar and said they were putting in a word for them with some of their well known associates. Only good things could come from this evening and it certainly called for a celebration.

Although, the Uber ride to Alex's was kind of quiet. Alex looked over and watched Ivar looking out the window and wondered what he was thinking. He tried not to be a paranoid idiot but he couldn't help it. What if he was having second thoughts about everything? What if the staff in the bar had embarrassed him and he realized this was something he couldn't do? Alex knew Y/N had been right about the need for them to defend anything that may happen between them. Maybe it would be too much for Ivar. He wanted to ask him about it but he didn't want to begin a conversation like that in the Uber.

As if instinctively knowing what was going through Alex's mind, or maybe just from feeling him stare, Ivar looked over to Alex. He saw the concerned look on Alex's face and just placed his hand on top of Alex's, that was sitting in the seat between them, and gave it a gentle squeeze. He sweetly smiled at Alex and said, "We've come a long way umm, since that first night, umm, that we opened the bar, Alex. I'm so happy where we've ended up so far and umm, extremely excited to see what happens from here." He winked at Alex and Alex couldn't help but smile with relief.

Well, that was obviously nothing to do with the bar and everything to do with their current situation. Alex took a mental note to try to stop expecting the worst. He knew it would be a challenge but he also knew he just needed to let go of his fears.

-------------------------------------------

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

-------------------------------------------

Once they were inside Alex's place, he kicked his shoes off at the door and headed to the kitchen. "Hey, would you like beer, wine, or liquor? I think we've earned ourselves a celebration, don't you?"

Ivar loved that he still felt so welcomed as he took his jacket off and hung it up by the door. "I'll take a beer," he answered, following behind Alex. "And did my pig of a brother eat all of that pizza last night or do you still have some? I'm actually a little hungry."

"There's definitely still pizza. I'm not sure why Y/N ordered so much for just two of us but I guess it's a good thing she did because I'm kind of hungry, too," Alex answered, pulling the pizza and two beers from the refrigerator. "Help yourself. You know where the plates and everything are. I have got to go take a shower before I can feel comfortable enough to eat or even talk at this point."

Ivar looked at him, smiling. "What?" Alex asked him.

"Nothing. Umm, I'm just glad it's still the same with us," Ivar blushed a little.

"I'd have it no other way, Ivar. And umm, if you want a shower when I'm done, you're more than welcomed."

"Aww, you mean I have to wait for you to finish first?" Ivar flirted. Alex gave him a serious look that said now wasn't the time to be naughty. Ivar coughed and straightened up, "I'm umm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, man."

"It's ok. I'm not uncomfortable. I umm, I just feel like we really need to have that talk. I'll be back. Please, make yourself at home."

As Ivar set about warming his pizza, he thought about the conversation they desperately needed to have. His palms were sweaty and his heart was racing. For a moment, he felt more nervous about this than he had about being intimate with Alex and he knew that definitely said a lot. However, he knew he could do it. He had to get everything out in the open and off of his chest.

Ivar went ahead and warmed up Alex's food, too, and set their plates on the table. He got himself another beer and went to put some music on in the living room. The silence was deafening to him right now.

Just as he was finishing his second beer, Alex came through in sweats and a white t-shirt. As Ivar looked over to him, he realized just how much he liked this look on Alex. "Hey, I've already got your plate here at the table with mine. Come eat."

Alex looked at Ivar's still very full plate. He asked, as he sat down with him, "Why haven't you eaten your food yet?"

"Well, I knew you wouldn't be too long so I just figured I'd wait for you." Ivar warmly smiled.

They ate and talked about the after party and all the highlights of the evening. They discussed Y/N and Hvitserk and laughed at how into you he seemed to be. They laughed and drank and talked a little about almost everything. Everything except for the one thing they needed to. It seemed the elephant in the room couldn't get any bigger.

Alex stood up to take the plates to the sink and Ivar stopped him. "I've got this. You've already worked too hard tonight."Alex gave him a curious look. "Don't look at me like that. Go. Go get comfortable on the sofa and rest your feet. I said I've got this."

Holding his hands up in mocked defeat, Alex played, "Ok, ok. You've got it. I understand. And Ivar, thank you."

Alex went to the sofa as instructed and waited for Ivar to join him, mind wandering out of control.

Moments later, Ivar sat down beside Alex with two more beers. Handing one to Alex, he smiled softly. They sat there in silence for a few minutes with nothing but soft music playing in the background.

Alex felt nervous and glanced over at Ivar only to find him nervously glancing back at him. At the same time, they both began to speak.

"Alex,"

"Ivar,"

Simultaneously saying each other's name, they laughed. "Do you mind if I go first, Alex? I really need to say what's eating away at me. Umm, before I lose my nerve."

Alex gestured to Ivar, "The floor's all yours."

Alex shifting in his seat, Ivar's voice small, Ivar began, as he looked straight into Alex's eyes. "Alex, I know I already said this, but I am truly sorry for hurting you. It really wasn't my intentions. That night," he dropped his head and swallowed thickly. Clearing his throat and looking back at Alex, he continued, "That night at Y/N's everything took me by surprise. You've always meant the world to me so I never thought anything about it. And when you first touched me," Ivar coughed, "I felt a surge of emotions. And umm, I decided to listen to Y/N. She was right. As soon as I got out of my head, she was right. But Alex, I certainly wasn't expecting everything else." He stopped, trying to gather his thoughts to be sure he expressed himself the way he wanted to.

Alex felt uncertain of where this was going but he sat back and waited, giving Ivar the time he needed. It was worth it. Ivar was worth it.

Ivar sighed and began again. "Forgive me, Alex. I just don't want to fuck this up. I, umm, I was so confused. I've been with other people before. You know this. Even with women who meant a lot to me. But you and I, we connected on a level that I've never experienced before in my life. Sure, the sex was amazing," he blushed, and sweat beads began to form on his forehead, "But I never expected the emotions that came along with it. It confused me. It scared me. It..." he was cut off.

Alex interrupted him, "It's ok, Ivar. You don't have to..."

Ivar reached up and gently placed his finger over Alex's mouth. "Shhh," he smiled. He scooted closer to Alex and grabbed both of his hands and held them in his lap, rubbing his thumbs over the back of them. Alex's heart rate sped up so quickly, he was sure Ivar could feel it in his hands. "It terrified me, Alex, and I'm still terrified but, umm, now I know why. I-I'm terrified to actually love someone this much, much more than I've ever loved anyone else before, and there be the possibility that the feelings are not mutual."

He placed his hand on Alex's cheek as a single tear ran down it that he caught and wiped away. "I'm terrified of what it means to give myself to you wholeheartedly, heart, mind, body, and soul, and maybe be rejected in return. I'm terrified to love you, Alex, and the possibility of losing you over it, but, umm, Alex," he slid closer to Alex on the sofa and leaned in closer to his face and held it between both of his hands, staring deeply into his eyes, "I'm even more terrified of walking out that door without ever trying to give us a shot, without ever telling you how I feel. Because that's just it. I love you, Alex. I'm in love with you. I know that now. My feelings for you are undeniable. I love you, and I've always loved you. I want to shout it from the rooftops! I can't hide it any longer. I have never felt like this about anyone else in my life before, Love. When I'm with you I feel like I'm whole, like that empty, black hole in my heart is finally full. I've never known love this pure before, Alex. I want to share my everything with you!"

Ivar was trembling all over. He couldn't remember another time when he'd been this completely scared to his core or this vulnerable to another. He was a ball of emotions as a tear began to roll down his cheeks.

Alex sat in silence for a moment, trying to take it all in. He was in a daze and completely stunned at Ivar's admission. This was intense and probably even more intimate than he and Ivar had been yet. He knew just how big this was for him, for them. He worried his heart would burst from his chest before he could could even say anything. He tried to gather his thoughts and make some coherent response. He stared blankly at Ivar, missing the panic as it stretched across Ivar's face.

Ivar took his silence as rejection and began to pull away from Alex immediately, his heart beginning to crumble. "Oh. Umm," he dropped his hands from Alex's face and his body stiffened, "Alex, I'm umm, fuck, I-I'm sorry. I'll umm, I'll go..."

Just then, it registered with Alex what Ivar thought was happening. As Ivar's eyes began to water up even more, Alex placed his hands on either side of his face and pulled him to him. His soft lips reaching Ivar's, his kiss cut Ivar off in mid sentence. He tenderly kissed Ivar, it taking a moment for Ivar to catch up to what was happening and kiss him back. Alex's hands quickly wrapped around Ivar's shoulders, and he held him tightly as he pulled away from their kiss and buried his face in Ivar's neck.

He stayed there for a moment, breathing Ivar in, before pulling away and facing him. He saw Ivar's worried look and said, "Ivar, you don't know how relieved I am." He moved a strand of Ivar's hair away from his face. "Ivar, umm, I-I am in love with you, too. I love you more than anything in this world," he smiled warmly. "And umm," Alex dropped his head as he felt the blush color his face, "I've known it for quite some time."

Ivar was just as stunned as Alex had been. His heart swelled in his chest and bubbled over into tears that steady streamed down his face. He tried to catch his breath as he spoke, "Alex, oh my God. Alex, I never knew. Are we really this fucking lucky?" He cupped Alex's cheek in complete disbelief and smiled through his tears, finally taking a deep breath. "I can't remember the last time I was this fucking happy. I have been so fucking scared I was going to lose you over this."

He pulled Alex in for a tight hug and they could feel the hard thumping of their combined heartbeat. They sat, reveling in eachother's arms for several minutes before Alex finally spoke.

Alex laughed and said, "We've really tortured eachother these last two weeks, huh?"

Ivar broke their embrace and looked Alex in the eyes and said, "Alex, promise me that whatever happens from here on out, wherever we end up, we will always be honest to eachother about everything. We're going to have big enough issues defending our love fron the very beginning so as long as we have open communication, that's one less thing to worry about." Alex smiled at him with pride.

"Oh wait. Fuck! I'm sorry, Alex. I just automatically assumed that we'd be together after all of this. I realize I should ask you how you feel about any of that. So," Ivar combed through his hair nervously with his hand, "Where does this leave us? What's next for us?" Ivar was still so nervous. This seriously was all so new.

Alex smiled at him. "Ivar, I am all yours. I love you, and I want nothing more than to be with you. Officially. That is, if you'll have me." Alex couldn't help the singe of fear that coursed through his veins. He knew what Ivar had just told him but it almost seemed too good to be true. He was still insanely scared.

Ivar's smile stretched widely across his face, "Of course I want to be with you, too! 'If I'll have you,' " he mocked Alex, "Are you serious? I'll happily "have" you," he gave his devilish grin, "In every way possible, Alex."

Alex blushed but leaned in to kiss Ivar again. Just as he deepened the kiss, Ivar pulled away from him. "Umm, Alex? This is going to sound kind of twisted coming from me, I know, but.."

Alex interrupted him, "I like you twisted, preferably twisted naked between my sheets," he gave a mischievous smile.

Ivar couldn't help but smile back at that. "I'm serious, Alex. I-I umm, I feel like maybe we should take things a little slow."

Alex gave Ivar a gentle kiss on his forehead before pulling away to rest his forehead on Ivar's. "What worries you, Ivar? We've already went all the way. We know we connect in the bedroom as well. Am I missing something?" He tried not to panic before hearing Ivar's reasoning but it was definitely easier said than done.

"Well," Ivar began, "It's not necessarily that I'm worried. I can't even believe I'm going to say this, but umm, I just want to be sure that everything isn't based solely on sex. We have so many new aspects of our relationship to explore and develop and I want to build our emotional connection as well as the physical one. You see the best in me and I want to give you my very best."

Ivar gently placed his hand on Alex's cheek and Alex could feel his warm hand trembling. "I need you to know that I have never had that kind of sexual experience before. And I don't just mean by being with a man, Alex," he grinned. "I've never felt so connected on such a deep level, especially not during sex. It was quite intense and some of the best sex I've ever had." He felt himself blushing but continued, "And Alex, I want that to be the same in other aspects of our relationship, too. I want to spend my days doing nothing but making you happy and showing you how much I truly, deeply love you."

Ivar looked at Alex for understanding and followed up, "I just wanted to be sure you know this has nothing to do with our sex not being fulfilling because it is, more than words can properly explain. I just want to also express my love for you in other ways as well and think we should just take our time."

This was a first for Ivar. He shocked himself at just how true this feeling was and even more that he was so openly and honestly telling Alex, but this was the very reason he wanted to be with Alex. He knew he wouldn't be judged for being so honest. For one of the very few times in his life, sex wasn't the priority and this was why he knew that this immense feeling was real.

Alex grabbed Ivar's hand, still pressed against his cheek, and pulled it to his mouth. He gently kissed the back of it before looking back at Ivar. "And this, my dearest Ivar, is exactly why I love you so. You always look out for me, for us. You just want what's best for us and I appreciate that. Of course, I'm ok taking things slow," he felt his heart was going to explode out of his chest. "However, it may be a little difficult sometimes," he said as his eyes quickly scanned over Ivar's hard body, "Because, damn! Look at you," he gave his best flirty smile. He hadn't been ready for Ivar to say all of this and he'd be lieing if he said he wasn't blown away by it. He leaned over, hugged Ivar, and kissed him on his cheek.

Ivar felt better having said everything he needed to. He was still in disbelief that this was real. He looked at Alex, who was still smiling from ear to ear even though he still had a look of worry on his face. "So? What's that concered look on your face, still?"

As Alex pulled away, he answered him, "Ivar, I do have a question. What about your mom? And what about everything with Hvitserk? That's why I stopped everything last night. Your mom was clearly way too perceptive and was not happy about what she suspected. I know you have a lot of responsibility right now with your family, and I understand that. I just don't want to make things even harder on you, Ivar. I'd hate for you to resent me."

Giving a gentle, sweet smile, Ivar began, "Alex, that's so sweet of you but please, don't worry about my mom. When she sees how happy I am with you, she'll be fine with it. It may take her a minute to adjust but she honestly just wants her boys to be happy. And for whatever reason, if she can't accept you as my choice, then she'll quickly realize how serious I am about you because I definitely won't lose you over her prejudices. This is my life and she'll have to accept that. Don't worry."

Alex's eyes widened at Ivar's words. He was a bit surprised but he'd be lying if he didn't admit that he was really relieved. "What about Hvitserk, Ivar? I know he needs you right now."

"Hvitserk is the reason I got my nerve to come to the club tonight. He understands and just wants me to be happy. His problem is controllable and he will probably stay with me for a while even once mom returns home. He needs to make new friends and stay away from those losers back home. He will be ok, Alex. It's just, being with mom makes him a little crazy. I'm sure you can see why," Ivar laughed. "Being here will be good for him. Don't worry about him. I promise I could never resent you." Ivar smiled sincerely. He could hear Alex's sigh of relief. "So? What next?"

Alex grabbed the TV control from the table, "I was tired, but now I'm wide awake. If you're not sleepy yet, how about a little Netflix and chill? Do you need another beer?"

Ivar smiled with pride, happy to see their relationship was otherwise the same as always, "No, I'm good with this one still."

-------------------------------------------

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

-------------------------------------------

Alex settled on the sofa, and they found a good movie to watch. Ivar looked over to him and decided to move closer. He rested his head on Alex's shoulder and looked up at him, "Is this ok?" he asked.

"Of course it is," Alex responded, kissing Ivar on top of his head and his arm coming to rest around Ivar's shoulders. Holding him snug, they cuddled together in front of the TV.

They began watching the movie, and it all just felt so natural for them to be together this way.

As he felt Ivar's breath against his his chest and Ivar's muscles beneath his shirt as he gently rubbed his back, Alex was a little too distracted to really pay much attention to the movie, but he didn't say anything. The feeling was nice.

After a few minutes, Ivar looked up to Alex, smiled sweetly, and just stared.

"What? Do I have food on my face or something?" Alex laughed.

"No," Ivar laughed, "It's nothing. I-I'm just happy," he smiled a smile that melted Alex's heart.

Alex couldn't resist that smile and placed his left hand under Ivar's chin and pulled his face up some toward him and leaned down, and kissed him. It was a gentle, quick kiss, and he pulled away from Ivar.

Ivar felt a little dizzy as if he'd been spinning in circles. He sat up beside Alex and looked over to him, his heartbeat quickening. Alex looked back at him, "Seriously, what is it? What?"

Ivar leaned over Alex's body and, with his right hand, pulled Alex's face closer to him and kissed him back passionately. It was slow at first but rapidly changed to a more heated kiss, his hands roaming down Alex's chest.

Reluctantly, Alex pulled away from him. "Hey, as much as I love this, I think we need to stop. I want to respect your wishes, Ivar, and I'm not so sure I can if you continue kissing me like that."

Feeling heat surge through his body, Alex straightened up and sat back on the sofa a little futher away from Ivar so he could catch his breath, desperately trying to ignore how he was feeling. "Umm, what is this movie even about again?" he nervously laughed.

Ivar sat there in his thoughts for a moment. He looked over at Alex, who was fumbling with the remote control. The more he watched him, the more he was sure of his next actions.

He slid over on the sofa closer to Alex yet again. Alex looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, trying not to be affected by his proximity.

"Oh, fuck this!" Ivar practically cried out. He leaned over to Alex and grabbed him with both hands, pulling him so close that he could feel the heat radiating from Alex's skin. Ivar's heart raced with anticipation as he quickly picked Alex up before Alex even knew what was happening, and swiftly sat him in his own lap so that Alex was straddling him and facing him

Alex's eyes widened as he was completely caught off guard by Ivar's strength. "What the..." and before he could finish his sentence, Ivar's lips crashed into his, his hand going to the back if Alex's neck and holding him firmly. They embraced as the kiss intensified, Ivar's arm wrapping tightly around Alex's waist.

Alex broke the kiss and leaned away from Ivar. Confused, he brought his hand to Ivar's cheek and began, "Ivar, I thought you said you wanted to take things slowly. I can't be with you this way and not want more. You.. umm, you're just too much for me to resist." Feeling defeated, he looked down.

Ivar looked up at him, catching his eye again, and flashed his devilish grin. "Good!" he laughed. "I can't resist you, either, love. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking saying we should take things slowly. Fuck that! I want you. Now." His eyes had an almost pleading look in them as he waited for Alex's response.

Excitedly, Alex grinned, "Then, take me. I'm all yours."

Ivar didn't hesitate for another moment. He grabbed Alex on his hips and squeezed. His hands then slowly traveled up Alex's sides and back to his waist, giving him goosebumps. He slipped his hands just under Alex's shirt and marveled for a moment at Alex's hard, muscular chest as his hands explored it. "Damn, Alex. You have so many muscles. I want to count them."

Alex looked down at him quizzically. Ivar smiled and answered his questioning look, "With my tongue."

Alex dropped his head backward, laughing but quickly stopped and looked back to Ivar as he felt Ivar lift his shirt up. Leaning forward, Ivar placed his hot, wet lips on Alex's stomach, just beside his navel, and began to softly kiss him. Alex felt buttflies doing somersaults with each kiss from Ivar's moist lips.

Looking up at Alex, into his eyes, Ivar pushed his shirt up higher and trailed his tongue slowly up Alex's chest behind his shirt, all the while, never losing their eye contact. "Damn, I lost count of your muscles. I'm not very good at math. Guess I'll have to try again."

"Oh fuck!" Alex placed both of his hands on Ivar's head and intertwined his fingers in his hair. He gave a little tug and Ivar bit him on his nipple. Alex moaned out in erotic pleasure.

In his most sultry voice, Ivar said, "That's it, love. Let me know you like it."

"You've ruined me. I was a good boy," Alex panted, "That is before we started all this."

Ivar pulled his mouth slightly away from Alex's skin. "Oh? I can stop then," he teased.

"No the fuck you can't!"

Ivar nodded, "That's what I thought." He yanked Alex's t-shirt up and completely off of him and dropped it in the floor as Alex shivered. "Now, where were we?"

Once again, Ivar began tracing Alex's muscles with his tongue. He looked up at Alex who was struggling to sit still in his lap. He grabbed him by his waist and held him tightly as Alex moaned. Ivar pulled Alex until he was leaning over him, his chest heaving, and he began kissing Alex's collarbone up to his neck. As he gave a gentle nibble, he felt Alex's entire body jolt in his hands. "Fuck! Take me, Ivar!" Alex panted. "You're driving me crazy. I.. fuck, I want you so badly. Now!"

Alex began to untie his sweats and Ivar removed his mouth from his neck and placed his hand over Alex's, stopping him. "No, not here, love." Alex looked at him, confused. "Hold onto me," Ivar began to slide forward to the edge of the sofa and Alex wrapped his arms tightly around him, not sure what Ivar was doing. Ivar placed his hands under Alex and before Alex knew what was even happening, Ivar stood up.

"Oh hell!" Alex exclaimed, his heart beating harder from the excitement and his legs interlocking around Ivar's hips. Ivar smiled and began to take a step. "You sure I'm not too heavy? You, you don't need me to walk?"

Ivar flashed his devious smile, "Where's the fun in that?" Alex gulped and before he knew it, Ivar slammed him against the living room wall that was behind them.

"Holy shit!" Alex gasped.

Still holding onto Alex tightly, Ivar pressed his body against Alex's and his lips ghosted over Alex's mouth, breathing him in. Ivar signed in enjoyment. Alex's eyes rolled into the back of his head as his back arched. Ivar began kissing up his neck again, sending chills all over Alex's body. Alex pulled Ivar's shirt up and gently caressed his hard body, reveling in the feel of it.

Ivar slowly made his way to Alex's mouth and sucked Alex's tongue into his own mouth as Alex whimpered. The kiss took his breath away. Somehow, everything felt different than the last time, more passionate, more intimate and Alex was taken back at this realization. He wasn't quite sure what it was or why, but he was enjoying every second of it.

------------------------------------------

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

-------------------------------------------

With his hands still tightly on Alex's ass, Ivar broke their kiss, nearly out of breath. "As much as I'm enjoying my hands full of ass here, I need to touch you. Are you holding onto me tightly enough?"

Alex studdered, "I..Ivar, this really isn't necessary. I, umm, I can walk."

"Shut up and hold on!" IvaYr demanded. With Alex still in his arms, Ivar swiftly pulled Alex off of the wall and began to walk with ease again, headed toward Alex's room. Alex eyes widened. He was blown away by Ivar's strength. He always knew he was strong, but this was insane.

As Ivar approached Alex's bed, he leaned over it and laid Alex down with a thud. Alex looked up at him in dismay and Ivar grinned down at him. "Sorry," he nearly whispered. He hovered over Alex for a few moments, looking him deeply in his eyes but saying nothing. Alex began to squirm with anticipation and swallowed loudly. Ivar leaned back and told him, "I.. umm, I'm sorry, Alex. I need to use your restroom. Don't move. I'll be right back."

This was perfect for Alex. You had given him some of your muscle relaxing, dilating tablets that they'd used at your place, saying how he'd need them more than you and now he was certainly glad for it. He quickly crawled up his bed to his night stand and grabbed them from the drawer and the bottle of water he had sitting there from the night before and took some. He was a little surprised at how nervous he felt but his excitement was much stronger. He then laid back against pillows propped on his headboard and impatiently waited for Ivar to return.

-------------------------------------------

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

-------------------------------------------

With both hands on each side of the bathroom sink, Ivar leaned forward and looked at himself in the mirror. What the fuck was wrong? He couldn't figure out what was going on or why his nerves were suddenly so shot. Turning the faucet on, he splashed cold water in his face and rubbed his hands over it. "Get a fucking grip, dumbass!" he said to himself, "It's just Alex."

Ivar walked back into Alex's bedroom where he saw Alex waiting on the bed, shirtless, still, and quite beautiful. He gulped as Alex looked up at him with his bedroom eyes and patted the bed beside him. "You planning on joining me or are you just going to stand there? You like what you see?" Alex flirted and smiled widely.

Ivar swallowed, "Obviously." He crawled up the bed to Ivar's side and laid beside him. His voice shaking, "I.. umm, I love you." His heart was pounding.

Alex turned to his left, facing Ivar. He moved his right arm across Ivar's body and cupped his cheek. "And I," he smiled, "Love you." He straddled Ivar and Ivar's eyes widened. Alex leaned down to kiss him while his hands found their way to the bottom of Ivar's shirt. As Alex leaned away from him, he pulled Ivar's shirt up and over his head. "We won't be needing this." He threw it somewhere behind him.

Ivar nervously smiled and placed his hands on Alex's hips. Alex looked him directly in the eyes, "It's ok. Calm down. It's just me." Ivar felt his face blush, surprised Alex had sensed his nervousness but almost relieved.

Alex leaned down and began kissing Ivar's neck. He trailed wet kisses down his neck and to his collarbone as his hands ran over his firm chest muscles.

Ivar's breathing picked up and Alex smiled as he continued with his gentle pecks. As he began kissing his chest, Ivar's hands started rubbing Alex's back.

Alex started to undo Ivar's pants as he looked up at Ivar. He saw the stressed look across his face and sat up, moving his hands away. "Hey, did you change your mind? We don't have to do this, ya know. I wont be upset."

Ivar grabbed his hands and held them. "No, that's not it. I.. I want this. I wa..want you."

"Then what is it, Ivar? Talk to me. I don't want to do anything you have seconds thoughts about." Alex's concern outweighed his desire.

"Fuck! I don't know. I just, umm, I'm nervous."

Alex smiled, "With me? Why? We know this is good." He motioned between them, "Really good, remember?" he sheepishly smiled again.

"It's just, do you know how long it's been since I've been with someone that I was in love with, Alex?"

Alex couldn't help but smile at how sweet he found Ivar's concern. Always wanting to please. He remembered how very different it was seeing this vulnerable side of Ivar and his smile softened and widened even more. Then he saw the seriousness in Ivar's eyes and tried to comfort him. Rubbing his hands, that Ivar still had in Alex's, he answered,"Yes, Ivar. It's been two weeks," and he winked.

Ivar actually smiled at this. He hadn't thought of it like that. It's just that he felt so intimidated. "I-I'm just worried that I, I'm gonna fuck it all up." He ran his hand over his face as he sighed.

Alex placed his hand over Ivar's heart. "Look. This is all that matters. The only way you can fuck this up is if you fuck me and leave me," Alex grimaced. "And you're stuck with me now. I'm not letting you leave me again. You are what matters. Not the sex. If you want to wait, we can. If you want to continue, we can. But Ivar, if we continue, you have to get out of your head. Stop worrying. My feelings for you will never change based on the quality or volume of sex we have. Or don't," Alex smiled sweetly at him, hoping he'd eased some of his worry.

"I'm sorry, love. I, umm, I guess I just needed reassurance. This is just too fucking good to be true." Alex couldn't believe how nervous Ivar was. He squeezed his hands and brought them to his mouth, kissing his knuckles.

As Ivar looked up into Alex's beautiful face, he felt his heart skip a beat. This beautiful creature sitting in his lap was actually in love with him. What had he done to deserve such an amazing person? As his eyes followed the shape of Alex's body, the definition of his chest and arm muscles, the warm smile on his face, the love he held in his eyes, his hesitation slowly began to disappear and his nervousness somewhat subsided. He knew it would still be there in the back of his mind but he was determined to ignore the small voice in his head telling him he wasn't good enough. He loved this man. He wanted this man. And he was going to show him just how much.

Just as Alex began to say something, Ivar sat straight up so he could reach Alex's lips. He put his arms underneath Alex's armpits, pulling him closer, and grabbed Alex's head from behind. Pushing his face closer, he planted a hungry kiss on Alex's mouth, sucking his lips and entering his tongue to, again, play chase with Alex's. As the moment grew more intense, Ivar couldn't believe he'd even been so worried. This is right where he was meant to be.

His courage growing, Ivar quickly turned, still holding Alex tightly against himself, and rolled Alex over onto his back, falling roughly halfway beside Alex and halfway on top of him.

-------------------------------------------

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

-------------------------------------------

Words escaped Alex's lips as Ivar leaned over him and gently kissed him but he quickly pulled away as panic spread across his face. "Alex!" his voice cracked, "We can't do this! It's way too soon to do this without any of those tablets of Y/N's! Oh fuck! It will not be pleasant for you at all, love."

Alex laughed, pulling Ivar back to his mouth and kissed him as Ivar pulled away again. "Alex, seriously. We can't make..."

Alex placed his finger over Ivar's mouth. "Calm down, you fucking protective sweetheart!" Alex grinned, his heart bubbling over with joy at Ivar's thoughtfulness. "It's ok. Y/N gave them to me the other night! I already took them when you went to the bathroom earlier. I also have plenty of lube." He felt Ivar instantly relax.

"Aww, thank fuck," Ivar looked relieved. "You should have started with that. Next time start with that. Fuck!" He wiped the sweat from his brow, "So when will you be, umm, ready?" he shyly asked, blushing again.

Alex smiled, "I already am!"

With a smile on his face, Ivar leaned down and began softly kissing Alex on his neck. It was as if Ivar's soft lips were massaging his skin that literally felt like it was on fire, and his tongue was savoring the taste of him with every painfully slow lick.

As Ivar's wet, erotic kisses slowly traveled down to Alex's chest, he looked up to Alex and their eyes locked in a steamy hot gaze of desire. Alex felt his heart began to race as Ivar's kisses trailed lower and lower over his torso, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Ivar placed his right hand gently on Alex's chest as just his fingertips ghosted over his hot skin. His touch was electric. Never breaking their gaze, he slowly, barely, rubbed Alex's abdomen up and down while holding his weight on his left arm and continuing with his kisses.

Alex's hands combed through Ivar's hair as one grabbed a handful and gently tugged, and the other found Ivar's shoulders and squeezed. Ivar smiled into Alex's chest as he continued lower.

As Ivar reached Alex's waist, he grabbed the drawstring to Alex's sweats with his teeth and held it in his mouth. Alex loudly gulped. Ivar began to pull the drawstring until he untied the sweats. Smiling from ear to ear, he looked up at Alex. Winking, he asked, "Do you still want me, love?"

Alex's heart began to pound and between his heavy panting, he answered, "Fuck! That was so fucking hot! I have never wanted anything or anyone more."

Ivar quickly raised himself to his knees. With Alex lifting his body from the bed, Ivar slid Alex's sweats completely off of him and instantly dropped them to the floor, licking his lips.

Alex blushed as Ivar scanned his body with his eyes. His hands automatically went to cover himself, but Ivar caught them and laid them to either side of him on the bed. "That won't be necessary, love. Trust me when I say, I like what I see," Ivar smirked.

Intertwining his fingers with Alex's, he bent Alex's arms back so that his hands were beside his head. He slowly crawled over Alex's body, their eyes locked in a gaze of pure desire, as Alex's breathing began to speed up, and his hands in Ivar's grip squeezed tightly.

As Ivar hovered over Alex, his hand slowly trailed over Alex's chest, lightly and softly grazing him with his fingertips, igniting flames of passion all over every inch of Alex's body. As he reached Alex's stomach, he broke their enchanted kiss and whispered in his ear, "You're sure you still want to do this, right?" and he nibbled Alex's ear, sending chills down his spine.

He held Alex's hands there as he leaned down to kiss Alex. Alex felt as if he would melt into the bed as their lips met with a fiery passion. The way their tongues danced together, the sensation of their lips touching and caressing eachother, the warmth of their breath on one another, and the closeness of their bodies, skin on skin, made them become as one as they were lost in the moment, consumed by their heated passion. It was as if they were the only two people in the world, and absolutely nothing else mattered at this moment.

Alex moaned, "Of course! Absolutely!"

"You know the drill. You tell me if that changes."

Alex only nodded his head, unable to speak any longer. Every touch from Ivar's warm hands to Alex's hot body felt electric to Alex.

Ivar moved his hand further down until he finally reached Alex's already hard, throbing dick. Staring directly into Alex's eyes, he wrapped his warm hand around it and gently squeezed. He began pumping his fist up and down around it while watching Alex's eyes roll into the back of his head.

Alex whimpered when Ivar leaned back down and began kissing up his neck. Breathing heavily into Alex's ear, he asked, "Where's the lube, love?"

Alex pointed to the nightstand beside his bed. Ivar removed his hand and mouth from Alex and leaned over him to the nightstand. As he did, Alex rubbed his hands down Ivar's chest, admiring the feel, to his waist. He began to undo Ivar's pants while he leaned up and licked his collar bone. Ivar jolted, and Alex smiled. He nibbled on Ivar's shoulder and his plump lips, then kissed over the marks he left. Ivar hummed in delight.

Alex began sliding Ivar's pants down and as he reveled Ivar's ass, he grabbed his cheeks and squeezed before giving his ass a slap, sending chills over Ivar's body.

Ivar helped take his pants the rest of the way off, and suddenly, he felt nervous again. "I, umm, I want to make this perfect, Alex." He felt himself beginning to panic.

Alex placed his hands on each side of Ivar's face and looking him deeply in the eyes, said, "It already is, Ivar." He softly kissed Ivar and smiled as he pulled away from him, "Shhhh, stop worrying."

-------------------------------------------

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

-------------------------------------------

Ivar gave Alex a pillow and nervously told him, "Facing me again, ok?"

Alex placed the pillow underneath himself and laid back again. "Definitely. I have to see you."

Grinning, Ivar sat back on his knees again, in front of Alex's widespread legs, and squeezed the lube into his hands. He coated himself with the lube, spreading it, very generously, all over his very hard cock. Looking at Alex, he gave himself very slow, tantalizing strokes as Alex whimpered.

Alex bit his bottom lip as he watched. He leaned up again and softly said to Ivar, "I want a taste." Not giving Ivar an opportunity to respond, he forcefully pushed him backwards and yanked his feet out from under him.

Ivar started to protest but as he opened his mouth to speak, Alex shoved two of his fingers into Ivar's mouth. Ivar's eyes widened but he began to suck them.

Alex flinched and leaned forward to face Ivar's cock. Wasting no time, he sucked the tip of Ivar's dick into his mouth. Ivar squeezed his eyes shut and his breathing began to pick up.

Alex twirled his tongue around Ivar as Ivar began to squirm. Then Alex took as much of him as he could into his mouth and began bobbing his head up and down as his hand found the base of Ivar and started to pump up and down in sync with his mouth.

Ivar was completely consumed by the moment. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he lost track of where he even was, conscious only of Alex. He moaned in pleasure, only urging Alex on.

Alex glanced up at Ivar and was pleased to see what his work was doing to him. Gripping Ivar tighter with his hand, he let his tongue concentrate on the tip of him while his other hand began to lightly rub his side up and down.

The sensation of Alex's tongue and lips working their magic combined with his hands on Ivar's body was too much. Ivar jolted up and pushed Alex off of him. Startled, Alex's eyes widened and his hands grasped at Ivar but Ivar quickly pushed them beside them on the bed and held himself slightly above Alex. "Love, you still want me inside you? I can't fucking take anymore of that. It's too fucking hot," Ivar practically growled.

Alex bit his lip and shook his head yes. Ivar grabbed the lube and slowly squeezed it out and let it run down Alex's butt cheeks. He smiled widely as Alex jerked from the feeling. "You like that, humm?"

Ivar placed his hand on Alex and rubbed the lube all over his entrance as Alex squirmed. Even though he was still wet from Alex's mouth, he still put more lube in his hand and lathered himself up. Looking down at Alex's red face, he asked, "Are you ready, love?"

"Fuck, yes!"

Ivar positioned himself at Alex's tight opening as he leaned over his body. He could feel the heat radiating from Alex's skin and he smiled. He slowly pushed the tip of himself into Alex and waited a moment as Alex gulped and tried to adjust. "You ok?" Ivar, ever caring, asked.

"Yes," Alex answered, placing his hands up around Ivar's neck, as he stared deeply into his eyes, fluttering around Ivar's thickness.

Ivar slowly pushed himself deeper into Alex until he finally bottomed out. He remained still for a moment, gazing into Alex's loving eyes, still not believing this was real. He wanted it to be perfect for Alex so badly and wanted Alex to know, for sure, how he felt. Pushing his nerves aside as best he could, and trying to ignore what a wreck he was, he leaned down to quickly kiss Alex and then told him, "I will seriously never get tired of this."

Alex cupped his cheek and raised up a little, and kissed him back. "Neither will I," Alex panted.

Slowly, Ivar began to rock his hips, moving back and forth inside of Alex. He held himself up on his elbows, on each side of Alex, so not to crush him and looking down at him, asked, "Is this good with you, love?"

Alex's breathing sped up as he answered, "Oh my God! Yes!"

Ivar, remembering Alex's preference from the last time they were together, pulled back to almost exit Alex altogether and then began to slam back into him, but as he made eye contact again with Alex, he felt the need to take his time and savor the moment. He moved himself back into Alex slowly, passionately, their breathing increasing, their hearts pounding, and their desire for eachother growing even more. As Ivar reached as far as he could, with the flick of his hips, he thrusted into Alex one hard time. Alex moaned out, "Damn! Do that again!" and Ivar did, never losing eye contact, making everything even more sensual.

Lost completely in eachother, they began moving together in perfect harmony, their breathing almost in sync. They locked eyecontact and interlocked their fingers in eachother's hands, squeezing tightly. The closeness and rush of emotions they each felt as they explored eachother's body with eagerness was so intense, it was almost overwhelming. With their moans of pleasure echoing in the stillness of the night, flames of passion ignited every inch of their bodies like a wildfire burning hotter and hotter, their bodies fitting together perfectly like puzzle pieces.

Ivar's long, slow thrusts into Alex were intoxicating and Alex could barely catch his breath. Alex broke their eye contact and pulled Ivar down to him and feverishly began kissing him as his hands got lost in Ivar's hair. The kiss was a long and languorous kiss that caused Ivar to jolt forward into Alex with another hard thrust. Alex whimpered into Ivar's mouth as they hungrily continued their kiss.

Skin on skin, becoming connected as one, the intensity of their passionate kiss increased. Sweat glistened over Ivar's body as his slow stroking up into Alex began to grow a bit faster and harder. Ivar's touch was electrifying on Alex's skin as he lightly trailed his fingers down Alex's side leaving goosebumps along the way.

Alex was trembling when Ivar's hand finally reached between them and found his hard, pulsating cock. Alex's heavy breathing led way to a muffled groan with the heat from Ivar's hand slowly stroking him in rhythm with his pelvis. Ivar kissed from Alex's lips to his jaw and slowly up his jawline to his ear. His voice small, "I love you," he whispered into Alex's ear and Alex thickly swallowed. Alex then wrapped his arms tightly under Ivar's arms, hands holding onto his shoulders. Using his hands on Ivar's shoulders for leverage, he thrusted into Ivar causing Ivar to moan in surprise, "Fuck!"

Alex did it a second time and Ivar dropped his head, nearly collapsing. Alex turned his head to Ivar's ear, "I love you, too."

Ivar was taken back. He couldn't remember ever exchanging those three words before during sex. As much as he'd thought he'd been in love before, now he thought maybe he hadn't been. He, at least, knew it had been absolutely nothing like this. He'd barely said it to his ex at all but definitely never like this. This was another first for him and he struggled to hold back the tears. He felt more vulnerable now than ever.

His movements slowed almost to a complete stop as he buried his face into Alex's neck. Alex, sensing the change, turned to Ivar. "Hey, hey. What's wrong, Ivar? What happened?" He rubbed his hair away from his face and kissed his cheek. "Hey, talk to me."

Still moving painfully slowly, Ivar raised his head up. Tear filled eyes stared back at Alex. "Oh, fuck! What is it? Are you ok? Look, we can stop," Alex panicked, trying to sit up and stop Ivar's movements.

"Shh, it's ok," he said softly, placing a finger over Alex's lips. "I'm just, umm, I'm happy, love. That's all. I promise. And that's as new to me as everything else." Alex looked deeply into Ivar's eyes for confirmation that he was being honest, but he could already tell he was. "Happiness, like this, is sincerely a new, new thing for me. I won't lie. I'm a wreck, Alex, but I'd really like to finish this if you still want to."

Alex was stunned. How could he tell this beautiful creature who was looking down at him so lovenly no? And so he didn't. "Of course, Ivar. I want to finish this with you. We can talk later." He pulled Ivar to him and kissed him again, barely stopping for air. He then pulled away from him and began to blush. "Umm, is there... uh, do you think..?" he stumbled over his words.

"What is it, love? What do you want?" Ivar asked, his voice dripping with concern.

"Ummm, well, do you think it's possible for me to umm, be... FUCK, on top?" Alex quickly covered his face with his hands, trying to hide his embarrassment.

The thought aroused Ivar even more and, removing Alex's hands from his face so he could see into his eyes, he shot him his devilish smile. "Oh, fuck yeah!" he gulped. "But it may be a little too painful for you."

"Umm, can we try?" Alex asked, all too eager.

"Of course." Ivar was so excited, he'd already forgotten about how tight his chest felt, all lost in his emotions. He decided to focus on the physical aspect of it all, knowing he could pick apart every one of his feelings later. He hadn't expected this emotional roller coaster but the excitement he felt now took over. He slowly pulled himself completely out of Alex as his heart rate increased rapidly and Alex moaned. He rolled over onto his back beside Alex. "I'm all yours, love." He flased his flirty smile once more.

Alex asked him to sit up and lay back against the headboard of the bed. Ivar did as requested. Alex grabbed the bottle of lube and and put more into his hand. As he gripped Ivar's hard dick and began to spread it all on him again, Ivar's head fell backwards, moans of pleasure exiting his mouth. Alex crawled into Ivar's lap and hovered his body over him. Looking at Ivar, he asked, "Are you ready for this?"

"Fuck yes, love! Just don't hurt yourself. I'll be ok if we have to stop."

Smiling, Alex answered, "Always putting me first. Thank you, babe." He leaned down and quickly kissed Ivar and then sat back up, lining himself up with Ivar as Ivar held himself in place.

Alex slowly began to sink down onto Ivar's now throbing cock. As the tip entered him, Ivar removed his hand and grabbed Alex by the hips, trying to help steady him. Alex moaned out, "Oh, fuck!"

"Take it easy, love," Ivar said, focusing only on Alex's reactions.

Alex slowly lowered himself more and more onto Ivar as Ivar patiently waited for Alex to be ready for movement. The tightness Ivar felt was almost too much for him and he wasn't sure how long he'd last this way but all he could think about was not hurting Alex.

The two were so hyper aware of the other's body and reactions that it was almost distracting. Alex asked, "Are you ok, Ivar? Do you need me to stop?"

"Oh, hell no! I'm good, love. Take your time," he smiled.

Alex finally sank all the way down onto Ivar, swallowing up Ivar's twitching cock. He wrapped his legs tightly around Ivar's hips, interlocking them behind him, bringing the two of them even closer. The intimacy Ivar felt was overpowering as he looked up and into Alex's eyes. He placed his hand on Alex's cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. His heart was pounding harder than it had all night as the kiss grew more heated. He wrapped his other arm around Alex and held him tightly as he panted into Alex's mouth.

Alex pulled slightly away, Ivar's lips chasing his. "Please stop me if I hurt you." Ivar only knodded.

Keeping his eyes locked in their gaze of passion, Alex slowly began to rock his body. He groaned unrecognizable words. Wrapping his arms around Ivar, they both now sat in a tight embrace as Alex's movements began to speed up a little.

Alex gulped and moaned with every movement. "Are you ok?" Ivar asked, willing to stop if needed.

"Yes. It's a good pain, remember?"

Ivar removed his right arm from their embrace, still holding Alex tightly with his left, and slowly trailed his hand up Alex's back and down his chest, sending chills all over Alex. Still looking him straight in the eyes, his hand found Alex's ever ready, hard cock and quickly wrapped tightly around him. He began to stroke him up and down as he leaned forward a little and kissed Alex's collarbone. Ivar's hand motions made the pain Alex felt subside into pleasure.

Alex felt heat spread throughout his body as he continued to move painfully slowly up and down on Ivar. The closeness and intimacy he felt looking into Ivar's eyes staring back at him in complete wonder was breathtaking. He knew he would never get enough of this intensity.

Ivar's heavy breathing sped up with each small movement of Alex's hips. Staring into Alex's eyes, still, he thrusted his hips forward, jolting upward and into Alex. Alex whimpered and Ivar did it again. Within seconds, the two found their rhythm and Ivar began fucking up into Alex as Alex rotated his hips seductively.

With every thrust from Ivar, sounds escaped Alex's mouth, echoing into the room. As Alex moved his hips in sync with Ivar's, their passion grew even more. Ivar's grip around Alex's waist and back held him tightly to him as his hand pounded up and down on him even harder. Their stare intensified, an unspoken agreement not to look away from eachother, and Alex, again, softly said, between pants, "I love you."

A tear rolled down Ivar's cheek and Alex caught it with his finger. He brought his finger to his lips and slowly licked the tear from his finger. Ivar gasped, his heart beating even faster than before, and he knew he couldn't handle this anymore.

Before Alex even knew what was happening, Ivar moved forward, held onto Alex even tighter, and quickly turned to his side, landing Alex on his back with himself hovering over him, still inside him. Alex's eyes widened as he gulped. "Did I hurt you? Are you ok?" Ivar asked him, concerned.

"I'm fine. You, you just shocked me. Damn, that was fucking hot," Alex whimpered as he responded.

Ivar leaned down and hungrily kissed Alex as he slowly began to move inside of Alex again. Trembling, he looked back into Alex's eyes again. As he slowly moved his hips, he brought his hand to his mouth and spit into it. Alex gasped at the sight as he shivered in anticipation.

Ivar's hand found Alex's hard dick again and wrapped tightly around him. The sensation of Ivar's wet palm sent chills down Alex's spine as Ivar began pumping him up and down again along with his stroking in and out of him.

Something about it, now, was slower, calmer, and way more intense than anything between them had been as of yet. Alex's heart rate sped up and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

As Ivar held Alex's gaze, every movement was more sensual than the one before. Alex's hands tangled in Ivar's hair and he pulled him closer. Ivar dropped his head to the nape of Alex's neck and he feathered kisses up it as Alex whimpered. When he reached Alex's ear, he softly bit it before raising his head back above Alex and once again, staring into his eyes

With every roll of his hips, pounding deeper into Alex, Alex's heart fluttered and his tight grip around Ivar vibrated causing Ivar to arch his back with his eyes rolling into the back of his head. "Cum for me, love! I want to hear you yelling my name as you cum for me," Ivar's raspy voice commanded.

Clutching Ivar's shoulders, Alex began thrusting up into Ivar in sync with Ivar's movements, causing Ivar to groan out Alex's name in pure extasy. The two of them melted into eachother and as they moved together, lovenly, passionately. Ivar whispered, "I'm close, love. I need you to finish first."

Alex was already close to his release and as Ivar leaned down and licked Alex's lips, it was enough for Alex as it sent electric shocks throughout his veins. His entire body tensed up as white, silk streams of his cum shot out between them as he called out, "Oh my God, Ivar!"

Alex clinched his ass cheeks around Ivar and held him even more tightly as Ivar's pace picked up and fell out of any kind of rhythm. He grinded into Alex sloppily and his movements quickly stammered as his entire body stiffened and twitched. He shot his load as he tried to tell Alex, "Alex! I'm, I'm..."

"Yes, babe! Now you cum for me!" Alex said, breathing heavily.

Ivar slowly stopped his movements and collapsed on top of Alex with a thud. Alex grunted and Ivar grinned, "That was absolutely fantastic, love. I've...umm, I've never experienced anything like that. Not even the last time we were together. Fuck!" He swallowed thickly and slowly pulled out of Alex and rolled to his side, his arms still wrapped around Alex.

Hot and sweaty, and very messy, they still laid there entangled in eachother, taking in everything and coming back down together. As their breathing slowed and heartrates returned to normal, their grip on eachother never loosened. They laid like that, intertwined in eachother, in complete silence, comfortably enjoying breathing eachother in.

Not really wanting to break the peaceful, comfortable silence, Alex hesitated, "That really was fantastic, Ivar. I, umm, I don't think... umm..."

"What is it, love? You know you can tell me anything," Ivar tried not to panic, rubbing his hand over Alex's cheek and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"I-I don't think I've ever made love to anyone before, Ivar. And that, umm, that's what that was, right? It was so different and so amazing. I've never experienced anything like that before either," Alex blushed and looked away from Ivar's piercing eyes.

It hit Ivar like a ton of bricks. No wonder he had been such a wreck. It was more than just having sex with the one he loved. It was making love with him, which had such deeper meaning than he'd ever imagined. The connection they shared was unreal and seriously like no other. He couldn't put words to it. Alex looked back at Ivar and saw the understanding and realization in his face. "I, uh.. I..ummm," he tried.

Alex cupped his cheek and replied, "I know. Oh my God, I know. It's ok. You don't have to say it. Believe me, I understand completely." He smiled and kissed Ivar deeply.

Ivar pulled away, "Now, you know the rule, love. You can't do that, or I'll have to have my way with you again."

He gave Alex his shit ass eating grin again, and Alex laughed, "You're terrible."

"Yes, and you love it. Let's go get washed up," he continued to grin. "Oh, and Alex?" he said as he sat up in the bed and looked back at Alex.

"Yes?"

"When we come back to bed, I want to be entangled with you the rest of the night just like we were right now, ok, love? I'm seriously not letting you go this time."

Alex smiled as he felt warmth spread all throughout his body, "Absolutely, Ivar. I wouldn't have it any other way."

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

@istorkyou @vero-maris-zamo @chapada010101010 @ivarhoegh @lostasalice-thisway @lonewolf471 @lemonsarepink @covidinducedsocialreject @tessakate

#ivar the boneless smut #alex hogh andersen imagine #alex hogh andersen #ivar the boneless imagine #ivar the boneless fic #alex høgh andersen #alex hogh Andersen smut #modern ivar #ivar the boneless fanfiction #ivar smut #ivar imagine #alex hogh andersen × modern ivar

19 notes · View notes

thenotebookwizard · 1 year

Text

I'll be fine!

Second day of the CageBlade shipweek! Have a sickfic that got away from me.

TITLE: I'll be Fine! (CageBlade Week 2023 Day Two: Sick)

FANDOM: Mortal Kombat - All Media Types; Mortal Kombat (Video Games)

RATING: T

SUMMARY:

Grandma hmmed into the phone. "You'll be giving me regular updates, Sonya Blade, don't think you won't. But you need to call in bigger guns than me. You need the one person every stubborn man will listen to, even when they don't want to. You need his mother."

Johnny Cage might be a showrunner now. He might be a champion of EarthRealm. He might even be (mostly) successfully dating Lieutenant Colonel Sonya Blade. But he still has hidden weaknesses that he won't admit - even to himself.

When he gets sick, Sonya gets the call. When he doesn't want to admit he gets sick, Sonya has to make a call.

She learns a few things about him. Whether she wants to or not.

Sonya got worried when Johnny cancelled a date.

He never did that. Even when it was irresponsible and meant he was skipping out on work or other engagements to spend time with her.

(She did not admit to herself the reason she never called him on that was liking how high he prioritized time with her. Admitting that sort of thing was not something she did.)

When she got his call, she was just leaving work. It had been a slow day when everyone had been catching up on paperwork and reports. Jax had even made them start inventory and she knew tomorrow would be even more boring - the whole SpecOps Division was going to clean and organize. Everything.

It had to be done, but her part of that was mostly standing around watching the NCOs making the enlisted crew and low-ranking officers do the hard work while she scowled. She didn't even have to make sure they did the work right; that's what the NCOs did.

She'd much rather be in the mix with them, scrubbing walls and counting ammo, but she had been informed (several times) she couldn't. Whoever she helped would be seen as being 'favored' and that at a certain rank, she had to learn her job was to figure out what needed to be done instead of doing what needed to be done.

She didn't like it.

"Hey babe!"

She frowned. His voice sounded - hoarse. Even a little out of breath? She gave him a pass on calling her 'babe.' This time.

"Johnny? You okay?"

He coughed a little. "Oh yeah, I'm good. Well, not good. I have to cancel tonight...I mean, I don't want to, I just don't see how to get out of having to cancel. We've got the scripts for the last part of season two and I'm showrunner now and I know I promised we'd hit that new Texas barbecue place you wanted to try, but I..."

Sonya sighed. "Johnny, you're fine.We're fine. You're being a responsible grown up and doing your job. We can go this weekend and then I will tell you if it's actual Texas barbecue or not. Until then, it's an allegedly Texas barbecue joint."

He chuckled. Almost rasped. She did not like that.

"You said not to wear white, right? Do I have to wear camo or something? Because I don't think I own anything in camo."

His voice was definitely strained. She was suddenly convinced postponing their barbecue date was a good idea - and him taking the night off was an even better idea. Not that he would.

Ever since he'd been promoted to showrunner, he'd been working a lot. About the only times he took off was when they went out somewhere. He always found time for her.

(And, apparently, to talk to her grandmother - which was a conversation she was glad they'd had, but was still surprised at.)

Sonya actually chuckled. "No, you don't need to wear camo, but wearing white would be a bad idea. Worse than the hot wings. Just jeans and a black t-shirt. Nothing you'll hate ruining." She really was looking forward to his first experience with Texas barbeque and was hoping the soldier who'd told her about it was right about how good the place was. "Don't work too late. You sound like you need rest."

She knew better than to tell him how bad he sounded. Johnny Cage never admitted when he was sick. When she'd first met him, she was sure he was one of the men who got the 'man flu' every time they got the sniffles.

Only to find out Johnny Cage didn't admit weakness like that. He didn't admit when he was hurt, even when he ended up with a sprained ankle and bruises all over his ribs from a stunt gone wrong. Or when he got food poisoning and just worked through it with increasingly bad jokes.

"I wish. The network sent back a bunch of notes on these and I hate all of them, so we have to go through them and find a way to keep what we need and..."

Sonya clucked at him. "You'd better not stay up all night on those, Johnny Cage."

"Erm...no promises, babe. My crew is counting on me, you know? Since Sarah actually listens to me, sometimes."

Sonya scowled at the name. She did not like the network representative. She'd given Johnny creative control over Warriors of Light and then proceeded to make him solely responsible for the series in ways she now knew weren't normal, even in Hollywood. She put immense pressure on him, demanding public appearance after public appearance, and even made him take her to two or three galas when he'd been planning to take Sonya.

The woman had even called her to inform her of the change of plans, letting her know it wouldn't be 'appropriate' for her to be 'on Johnny's arm' at certain events.

The woman was on Sonya's shit list for a lot of reasons.

All the while, Johnny was making Sarah's career for her with a TV series that was blowing the ratings curve and streaming numbers.

A series based off their real life fight for the fate of the world. The series certainly wasn't a faithful retelling of things, but there was enough reality there she sometimes had trouble watching, and she often wondered how Johnny managed to both develop and act through the series without having flashbacks.

She heard him cough again and winced. There was nothing to it. "Don't make me call her."

Right then, if there was anyone Johnny Cage would listen to, it would be her grandmother.

"Hey!" Johnny was breathing harder than she liked. "No need for that. I'll call her in a bit anyway, because I gotta know if there's a way to sweet talk the network into dropping the arguments against a few things."

Sonya climbed into her car, rubbing the bridge of her nose. He meant 'a way to sweet talk Sarah' into things. She clenched her jaw, and forced herself to sound calm.

That woman could make her mad even when Johnny didn't even mention her.

"Fine. Fine! Just - take care of yourself. Okay?"

He coughed again. "I promise to eat! I do. And - I'm sorry. They sent everything back at the last minute. I really don't like cancelling on you. I hate it. I," he swallowed hard, but Sonya wasn't sure if it was because his voice sounded like he was gargling gravel or if it was because he wasn't good at sincere emotion, "miss you."

Sonya heard the smallness of his tone and realized Johnny really did feel bad about cancelling. She was disappointed, too, but he almost never cancelled, so she wasn't going to get on him about it.

She sucked in her own breath, steeling herself and forcing the words up through the wall in her chest that kept her emotions buried in her gut where no one could at them.

"I miss you, too. I'm not mad. Worried about you, but not mad."

She could almost hear the smile, and she did hear the slow breath of relief. "Thanks, babe. I will make it up to you, I promise."

She rolled her eyes. "Uh. I'm not a princess. You don't need to make anything up to me for having to do your job. Now go. Get it done and get some rest. You sound like Raiden after a bender."

Johnny laughed. "Yeah, I know. Sounds worse than it is. I would say it's from talking too much, but there's no such thing for me."

Sonya sighed. "Bye, Johnny. Go be responsible."

She started her car, connected the bluetooth, and called her grandmother. She might be the only person who could get through to him - if anyone could.

"Grandma! Hi. So."

Sonia Morgan huffed. "If you're calling about your boy, I know. That Sarah woman has him in a bind, and fully expect to hear from him tonight."

Sonya paused, dodging into late afternoon traffic. Her car slid into an opening with the ease of long practice, and she settled into the slow ebb and flow of rush hour.

"I think he's getting sick."

Her grandmother sighed. "Probably. One of the camera people brought their kid to work and they had something. They decided to follow Johnny around half the day and he didn't have the heart to avoid the cute little typhoid mary. He's probably tired and worn down enough to have caught something."

Sonya remembered Johnny telling her about his little shadow. A little boy following him around all day trying to mimic Johnny and all his martial arts moves. About how Johnny had even shown him a few real moves and stances and -

Shared his lunch with the kid.

Well, crap.

As - adorable - as Johnny with a kid sounded, she was less than happy it had been a sick kid, but Johnny was usually infuriatingly healthy. But he'd been pushing himself hard to get the season finished on time and on budget, and probably not eating well.

Sonya sighed. "He an idiot."

Her grandmother chuckled. "The good ones usually are, dear. He's your idiot, though, so get ready for it."

"Ready for what?"

Her grandmother's chuckle turned into a gleeful cackle. "Taking care of him. Unless you plan to let someone else force him to rest, tuck him into bed, and make him take his medicine?"

Sonya growled under her breath, barely braking in time to avoid rear-ending the moron in front of her.

"What? Grandma, he's a grown-ass man. If he's sick, he can take care of himself!"

Her grandmother was almost giggling now. "Oh, Sonya. Dear, you know better than that. He'll keep trying to work until he collapses. Then what will you do? Let little miss Sarah set him up with a nurse in some fancy medical center? That's what these Hollywood types do, you know."

Sonya privately doubted Sarah cared enough to worry about those sorts of things, but she did know if Johnny got too sick to work, Sarah would make him pay for it.

"Fine. I will make him take care of himself if he gets sick. Even though he's a grown adult."

Her grandmother sighed. "It's not as scary as you think it is, dear. Sometimes, our people need a little bit of help from us. It's okay to help them. It doesn't make you a nursemaid or anything of the sort."

Sonya ignored the comment. "Gotta go, Grandma. Traffic is hell! Love you!"

Her grandmother sighed, and Sonya hung up the call.

Johnny Cage did not need her to take care of him. He did not need a nursemaid - and she was hardly a caretaker.

Even if he got sick, he'd be just fine.

~* ~

[Come get him.]

Sonya blinked at the text.

Stephanie Grey texting her was hardly unusual. To her surprise, she got along with her boyfriend's co-star. The woman playing Sasha Steel, her Warriors of Light alter-ego, was nothing like her - she was soft spoken, happy and cheerful, and impossible to get mad at.

(It didn't hurt the woman Johnny kissed on screen was happily married to a beautifully grumpy LA cop named Esther.)

Sonya ducked out of the warehouse where her team's gear was stored, waving at the Sergeant First Class glowering at the crew cleaning, organizing, and counting everything in the warehouse.

He waved back, giving her a look that clearly said:"You don't need to be here, anyway."

Which he'd already told her. Three times.

She found a shady part of the alley and sent back.

[What?]

[Come get Johnny. He's sick. Really sick. He needs to get out of here before the Wicked Witch sees him. We have three days before we get the soundstage again and he doesn't need to be here.]

Sonya sighed. It was barely mid-morning and leaving on a work day like this was bad form. She should be here to at least pretend to supervise.

[I can meet him at his place after work. I'll call him and make him go home.]

There were three dots blinking at the bottom of the text for a long minute before her phone rang, startling her.

She saw the number and winced.

"Stephanie?"

The other woman practically growled at her. "Come get him, Sonya! He can't drive himself, and he looks half dead. Get him out of here and get him better before Sarah sees and fucking screws us all! He's really sick and he needs someone to make take care of his damn self.!"

Sonya sighed. "I'm on duty. I have to see if I can get away, okay? I can't just sign out and leave!"

Stephanie sighed. "I know, okay? Esther's the same. You have duty and all that, but - it's bad, okay, and he's pretending like he's not even sick, and I'm getting worried. Not just about Sarah, but about him."

Sonya heard the genuine concern and near-panic in the actress' voice. Alarm bells went off in the back of her head, and she nodded - even if the other woman couldn't see her.

"I'll do what I can. I'll text you."

Sonya went back into the warehouse and the Sergeant just looked at her, arms crossed.

"I might have bail, Sergeant. You've got this?"

The man gave her a flat look that told her just what he thought of her question.

"Permission to speak freely?"

She waved at him, trying not to fiddle with the phone still in her hand. Just the idea of leaving mid-morning to get her sick boyfriend from work made her feel all manner of awkward and off kilter.

Even if she was now officially worried.

"Get the fuck out of my warehouse, Lieutenant Colonel. I don't need you standing here while I make the grunts clean and count. I know you're all about being involved, but you don't need to be this time."

Sonya nodded, a faint sense of relief uncoiling in her gut. She held up her hands in surrender. "Fine. Fine. I'll leave you to it, Sergeant. Just remind them I'll be - "

He cut her off with the expert insouciance of an experienced non-com. "Inspecting the work. Yeah. We know. You'll be more bored inspecting than watching them clean. Guaranteed."

Sonya couldn't help but smile a bit. "Understood, Sergeant. Carry on."

This time, she went straight from the warehouse towards the admin building where Jax and the SpecOps command group was doing paperwork she'd already finished.

She called him on the way there.

"Jax, it's Sonya. Look, I gotta ask about taking the day. I know it's a work day, but..."

Jax just grunted. "If you're asking me for a day off, then I don't give a fuck. You have more leave than any four of my officers combined, and there's not a damn thing for you to do. See you Monday."

Sonya shook her head. "Jax, it's Wednesday. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Nope." Jax sounded sure of himself, and almost smug. "We're on stand down, we don't need you for anything, so I'm giving you leave. I should have thought of it before you asked, but now that you have, I have an excuse to make you get off base and not breath down everyone's necks. That said, what's got you actually asking for even part of a day?"

Sonya tensed. She wasn't going to lie to Jax - not about this, but she worried about how it might sound to him.

"Johnny's co-star called. She wants me to come get him. He's -well, apparently, sick enough his crew is calling me for an extraction."

Jax huffed. "He's an idiot, you know that, don't you? He's been a lot less annoying lately, but he's still an idiot. Go rescue your boyfriend from himself. I'll call you later and make sure you're good."

Sonya would never tell him, but she heard actual fondness in Jax's voice. She knew he and Johnny picked on each other, but she'd also heard Jax telling people that Johnny wasn't a fake - when she wasn't supposed to be able to hear.

"Yeah, but he's my idiot. I'm going! And - thanks."

Jax made another grunting noise. "I'm just glad to get you out of Sergeant Harris' hair."

~* ~

Johnny looked like hell.

After Sonya had bullied her way into the shockingly well-guarded building where Warriors of Light was officed, she hadn't had any trouble finding Johnny. It wasn't the first time she'd visited him, or been on set. She'd worked with Stephanie more than enough on her 'character' that she even recognized some of the crew members by sight, if not by name.

Johnny was sitting in dilapidated spinning chair at the u-shaped table the writers work on, staring at a bound script. Slumped in the chair, his skin grey. A sheen of sweat on his forehead and cheeks, and at least two days of whiskers on his face.

There were bags under his eyes, and his lips were dry and chapped. His eyes were dull, and he was squinting at what he was reading.

She leaned against the door and crossed her legs.

"Hi Johnny."

He looked up. "Hey yourself. What are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you!"

His voice was now a hoarse rasp, and she saw just how bad off he was when he looked up. There was a sheen of sweat on his face, he was pale, and his eyes were red.

Sonya crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him. "I told you to take care of yourself."

He coughed, trying hard to hide how hard he was coughing. He looked around at some of his co-stars and co-workers. "They called you, didn't they?"

Stephanie stepped around Johnny, her long dyed-blonde hair swinging and flowing in a way Sonya had never gotten her hair to do, even if hers was even longer than the actress'.

"I warned you, Cage. Get up. Go home."

She plucked the script out of his hands, and pushed the rolling chair toward Sonya.

When Johnny tried to jump to his feet, three things became apparent. First, Johnny was in worse shape than she suspected, because he stumbled and wavered on his feet, as if the world were spinning around him before catching himself on the back of the chair.

Two, he was definitely trying to play it off because he looked almost like he was about to strike a pose, but he didn't have the energy or balance to pull it off.

Third: Sonya had gotten there a bit too late, because Sarah Walters sauntered into the room, smiling like a cat stalking a mouse.

"What's this I hear about our star being sick?"

The bottle blonde, whose hair was almost as well-dyed as Stephanie's, was smirking.

Sonya knew how much she resented Johnny, who she had given creative control of Warriors of Light when she could have very easily put herself into the same position. She had lost a lot of potential income from the series by not stepping in personally. So now, she made sure to squeeze every penny and pittance of use out of her star as she could.

She hadn't believed in Johnny or his series, and had been glad to put him in a position where failure would have ruined in him.

He hadn't failed.

Johnny waved her off. "I'm fine, Miss Walters. Really. It's just a little cold, you know?"

She took an actual look at him, and the first hints of actual concern flickered across her face, but Sonya saw it. It wasn't real concern for Johnny - there was a distance in her eyes that made something deep in her chest start to unfurl claws.

Before she could open her mouth and say anything, Sonya stepped past her. "Come on Johnny, let's go." She looked over at Sarah Walters with the same hard, cold look she gave all of the people who had told her she could never be -would never be - an officer in SpecOps. "He'll be back on Monday."

Deal with it.

Sarah looked around the room. And she saw several of Johnny's co-stars holding their phones.

Sonya almost felt like they were hold guns from the looks on their faces; as if there were some kind of showdown at high noon happening. Stephanie's thumb hovered over the screen of her phone, the light from it reflecting on her glasses.

"I wonder." Her voice was flat, devoid of its usual cheer. "I bet Johnny's fans would be worried if he were sick."

Sarah's eyes widened, and Sonya felt the threat in the air, as if Stephanie really were holding Sarah at gunpoint.

Stephanie had a power Sarah didn't like; she was currently the darling of the fandom. Beloved and put up on an impossible pedestal. She had gained over a million followers during season one alone, and both the fans and the press were eating out of her hand.

"I really don't think Johnny would want his being sick put out in the world." Sarah was actually, physically backing up. "He's surprisingly private. Since he'll be back on Monday, maybe hold off any posts about thing that might...delay production."

Stephanie slid her phone back in her purse, but didn't let go of it or pull her hand out.

"You really think so? That things can wait until Monday? If he's really sick, we should tell the fans. I mean, we know network policy on delays. Wouldn't want them to worry about the season not finishing on time, right?"

Sarah's jaw was tensed. "Everything certainly can wait until Monday. In fact, I'll send an email about it. Give Johnny time to feel better."

Stephanie smiled and pulled her hand out of her purse. "I'm so glad to hear that! I bet you need to get back to your office, so we won't keep you here! Thank you!"

Sonya had never heard a more polite and well mannered way to say:Bitch, leave. Even her grandmother would be impressed.

As Sarah walked past her, Sonya leaned down and whispered softly. "I don't have a twitter. Or a facebook. I have a very bored press office full of people who know Johnny personally."

Not that she would actually use the expertise of her press office to cause problems for Johnny's nominal boss; that would be unethical. Their expertise in information warfare wasn't supposed to be used for personal gain or destroying network executives who really, really had it coming.

Sarah didn't know that, though.

She gave Sonya an appraising look, as if redefining how much of a threat the Lieutenant Colonel actually was. Something in Sonya's face must have convinced her, because Sarah gave her a barely perceptible nod before hastily departing.

Sonya knew there was real threat in her eyes. The threat was more slap upside the head than PR nightmare but Sarah didn't need to know that, either.

Sonya looked over at Stephanie. "I have never seen a phone become as threatening as a gun before. I'm impressed."

Stephanie grinned wickedly. "She knows better. One post from me about a sick Johnny Cage with a picture of him looking like death warmed over and a caption of 'not allowed sick leave' and the internet would figuratively burn the studio down. Only reason I didn't is he would hate it."

"I would. I really, really would." Johnny croaked out. "I am starting to agree with the going home for the day thing, since I think if I let go of this chair, I'm going to pass out."

~* ~

Sonya loved and hated Johnny's apartment. The place was too big for one man, even one man who hosted parties like Johnny did. Three bedrooms and an office, a breakfast nook and a giant kitchen seemed too much for one man.

She loved it because it felt like him - larger than life and covered in trophies of his successes. Lately, pictures of them had appeared all over it, too. Pictures of them at the awards gala he'd taken her to. Pictures of them at the announcement of season two of Warriors of Light.

Pictures of them at a hot wings eating contest on base on the fourth of July, Johnny's fancy white shirt covered in buffalo sauce. Pictures of them at the Memorial Day picnic, Johnny holding up the ribbon for the best civilian run of the obstacle course.

(She'd been proud of him that day. His time was as good as some of the SpecOps troopers. The press had eaten it up once the video had been posted by one of he soldiers.)

There were pictures of their friends - the cast of Warriors of Light, Jax in full uniform, Liu Kang and Kung Lao working forms in front of a waterfall, Stryker standing next to a police memorial. He had shaolin mandalas on his walls and a pair of crossed spears on his wall he swore were a mysterious delivery from Scorpion.

Sonya almost believed him.

She helped him over to his couch and helped him lay down slowly. He let out a slow breath and coughed wetly as he tried not to groan.

"Just need a nap. I'll be fine tomorrow. Promise." His voice was muffled by the arm he had over his face.

Sonya sighed and closed the blinds on his windows - using a fancy touchpad built into the wall. She hated the touchpad, because it took six menus and a bunch of buttons to do what she could have down with her own hands, but Johnny thought it was the best toy ever.

"Then nap. I'm going to get you some water and tylenol."

"Uh huh." Johnny was already halfway out by the time she got to his kitchen. A bottle of cold water and two tylenol were easy to find, and she set them on the counter.

She heard his snores, and pulled out her phone, calling the other person she knew who knew Johnny.

"Grandma, he's really sick."

There was a sigh on the other side of the line. "Of course he is. Is he cooperating?"

"He can't not cooperate right now. He's passed out on his couch, and I practically had to carry him inside. I'm going to get some medicine and water in him, maybe try to find a thermometer or something. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Hrm. You do, you just don't know that you do. But as soon as he feels better, you'll need backup, dear."

Sonya nodded. It would take more than just her to keep her stubborn idiot from getting back up and going back to work. He was taking his role as showrunner very seriously, and she knew he would feel like he was letting his cast and crew down if he didn't crawl from bed to go to work.

Like with everything he did, once Johnny had grown a sense of responsibility, it was larger than life, overly dramatic, and unhealthy.

"Well, I guess I'll be calling you a lot."

Sonya flinched. "What?"

"You heard me, Sonya. Pry his phone from his hands and call his mother. She'll want to know he's sick and he'll listen to her."

"But..."

"Don't tell me this is the first time you'll be talking to her." There was a note of disapproval in Grandma's voice.

"Yes." Sonya hated her voice sounded so small.

"You two have been together nearly a year now, and you haven't even had a phone call with his mother? I know many things about that boy, and one of the first things I learned is how much he loves and respects Mrs. Rose Carlton."

Sonya rolled her eyes. If Johnny weren't Johnny, she might have called him a momma's boy. He loved his mother. He sent her money every month, even though she told him not to - she'd seen the texts. He talked about her often, and quoted her to anyone who would listen.

He found time to eat with her at least every couple of weeks, even if it was at 4 AM when she got off a night shift at the hospital. He sent her random gifts, and donated money to any charity she so much as mentioned.

But thus far, she'd been too afraid to actually converse with Johnny's mother. That was a bit - real. She was still finding her way through a relationship that was remotely serious, that just so happened to be with a genuine celebrity. That was complicated enough without trying to navigate her way through what sure to be an awkward relationship with the woman who had raised Johnny Cage.

But it was call his mother, the nurse, or force him to go see a doctor. She knew which option Johnny would prefer, and she knew which one would be easier.

"Fine." She pushed the word out. "Fine! I will call her. I don't need his phone. He put her number in my phone months ago."

She'd been mortified to know he'd shared her number with his mother, too, but hadn't had the heart to tell him not to or that the idea terrified her.

What if she doesn't like me?

Which felt stupid. It was stupid. She was a grown woman. A Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army and a special operator. She'd fought in places all over the world, places not on the world, and was arguably very successful, well spoken, and presentable.

Presentable. That's the best I can think of myself. I'm a special operator who has fought for the fate of the world and I'm presentable. Great.

Grandma didn't laugh this time. "Good. Dear heart, this isn't about you. He's sick. You need to take care of him, because he won't take care of himself. Maybe 'can't' at this point. He's been too busy trying to take care of his own people, and I know you understand that. Call her. And you'd best be calling me to tell me how he is. Love you!"

The line went dead. Sonya took Johnny the bottle of water and pills, but when she touched his face to wake him, he was burning up.

Definitely a fever. She had no idea how high, and she didn't know where he kept anything but the painkillers and stomach meds.

She helped him sit up, and this time he did groan.

"Oh. Ugh. My head is killing me. Sonya? What are you doing in the studio?"

Sonya was helping support him as he sat up. "You're sick, Johnny. I told you to take better care of yourself, damn it." She was getting more scared than worried - he didn't even realize they'd gotten him home! "Here. Take these, okay?"

He blinked owlishly, but let her put the pills in his mouth. When he fumbled with the water bottle, she cracked it open and held it up to his mouth to get a drink.

He winced when he swallowed the pills, but he took the bottle from her and drained most of it. Sonya took the bottle from his hand and set it on the coffee table. She helped him lay down again, running her fingers through his sweaty hair.

"You rest, okay? I'm going to call someone who can help."

He nodded, shifting his head so she could keep brushing through his hair. "Mm hm. Just gonna nap a bit. Be fine after sleep. You'll see."

Sonya covered him with a patterned, handmade blanket he'd bought on some trip because he thought it was 'cool' and tugged off his shoes. Something she would never admit to him she'd done.

She went back in the kitchen, her thumb hovering over her phone. She found the contact easily enough, but -

She hesitated. Then swiped. And pushed the call button, ignoring the butterflies dive bombing in her gut. The first time she was calling his mother and it was to tell her that her son was really sick.

"Hello?" There was a very confused and somewhat hesitant voice on the other end of the call.

"Hi. Um...I'm Sonya Blade. Is this..."

"Rose. I think I might be excited about this call if it weren't for the tone of your voice, Sonya. What's wrong?" There was a hint of panic in her voice.

Sonya gulped, and clenched her fist. She hadn't wanted to scare her!

"He's sick. Really sick. Fever, and he didn't realize we'd gotten him home. I just wanted to let you know. I'm here with him. I've got him, as soon as I find where he keeps his medicine and stuff."

There was a pause. "Oh, hell. He did it to himself again, didn't he?"

Sonya shook her head to clear it. "Did what? Pretended he wasn't sick until he damn near couldn't walk?"

Rose sighed. "Yeah. That. Stubborn boy. He does this every time. Hurt or injured, he just can't resist pretending. Learned it from that ass I married. Sonya, I'm sorry, but - I know we don't know each other, I just need to know. How bad is it really?"

Sonya had no idea what possessed her, but the truth came tumbling out before she could stop it. Before she could think about painting a lie and finding a way to take care of it herself. Before she could stop herself from admitting she wasn't sure if she was going to be calling for help getting him to a doctor before dinnertime.

"I'm scared. It's bad, Mrs. Carlton. I know how much he hates it, but I'm going to have to find a way to get him to a doctor or a doctor to him."

"Hells bells, that boy. I'll be there in an hour. What have you done so far?"

Sonya had no idea how to process what she had just heard. His mother was coming here? "Um...tylenol, just a minute ago. Water. He's asleep on his stupid expensive couch and you live in LA? I thought you were further out."

"Johnny moved me here after his first big movie. Even though he insists I shouldn't work, I'm a nurse practitioner at Cedar Sinai. We can get a doctor to him if we have to, but - the press." She signed again and Sonya could hear her moving around. "His mother coming to visit isn't newsworthy. A doctor making a house call might be. I want to avoid that."

Sonya felt her self starting to get a big angry at that. Why was what the press thought more important than Johnny being sick?! "I don't really care about the press. If he needs -"

Rose cut her off. "I don't give a flying backwards monkey fuck about the press, sweetie. I care about how embarrassed and upset my son will feel if this isn't life and death and they get wind of it. I don't want those Hollywood sharks to have a damn thing to hold over him and I don't want him in any facility he can sign out of AMA. I would much rather you and I keep him trapped in that mansion he calls an apartment until he's better."

Sonya let out a sigh of relief. "He would do that, wouldn't he? And don't worry about the sharks. We have the current one muzzled. She knows better than to try something, if she doesn't want her name to synonymous with 'toxic workplace.'"

Or get punched. Because that's still an option.

Rose laughed softly. "Oh, I think I like you. He would and has, the little shit. I'm on my way."

~* ~

By the time Rose arrived, Sonya was well past worrying about what her boyfriend's mother was going to think of her. Johnny was silent and asleep on his couch and his breath rattled in his chest.

There was no knock at the door or warning. The door just opened and a tiny woman forced herself in. She was carrying a vast array of bags - two satchels, a duffel and at least two backpacks. She had light reddish-blond hair, was wearing a long white coat, and radiated intensity.

In retrospect, Sonya should have known Rose wasn't going to knock.

The door opened and Sonya reacted; she was up off the arm of the couch, her gun in her hand, sighting down the barrel. She'd been half in a daze, wiping his forehead with a cool cloth.

The woman stared right at her, her eyes wide for a moment. Then she sighed. "Oh, put that thing down, girl, and help me with some of this."

Sonya made the gun disappear back into the holster at the small of her back, flipping the safety back on with the ease of long habit. Before the motion was finished, she was halfway to Rose, grabbing bags from her.

She was down at Johnny's side before Sonya had even relieved her of all the bags, dumping them around herself. The former ER nurse practitioner had a device on his finger before Sonya could think to go close the door, and was listening to his chest with a stethoscope by the time she got back from locking it.

With quick, practiced movements, she had a swab in a gloved hand and was swiping around inside his mouth, making Johnny groan in annoyance, his hand trying to bat it aside.

The device on his finger beeped and she looked down at it. "Good 02 sat. High fever. Some chest congestion - sounds worse than it is. My money is on the flu."

She pulled out a test tube with liquid in it and dropped the swab in it, swishing it around, before capping it and setting it in her front pocket. Sonya went back over to Johnny's head, replacing the wet cloth.

The woman stripped off her gloves and stood back up with a grunt. "Oh, I am getting too old for this nonsense. I'm Rose Carlton. His mother. Thanks for not shooting me."

Her smile and her proffered hand were at odds with the moment Sonya found herself in, but she shook Rose's hand. "Sonya Blade. Sorry about the gun. It's...an occupational hazard."

Rose sniffed. "Given the only things I know about you are 'soldier, blond, southern, and amazing,' I'll have to take your word for it. I know more about your grandmother than I do you, even though he talks about you all the time." She shook her head. "Scare off one girlfriend and suddenly he won't tell his poor mother a thing."

Sonya perched back on the arm of the couch, her fingers threading back through his hair. Right then, she didn't care much about what someone thought of her. He was sick, and miserable, and - she wanted him to get better.

"Another occupational hazard. I can't really tell you what I do or who I do it for, but I can tell you I'm an active duty officer and Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army assigned to JSOC. He keeps things about me quiet because I asked him to. And my grandmother adores him."

Rose tilted her head, then shrugged. "One of those jobs. Okay. I can't say I know what those are like, but again, I'll take your word for it." She hesitated, then knelt down by her son again, this time taking his arm and rolling up his sleeve. "My son is an odd one. He's special, Sonya. Very special. But he is one of the lucky few - he has a genetic predisposition towards bad reactions to the flu. Did he get his vaccine this year?"

Sonya nodded, surprised at that. She wasn't surprised he hadn't told her, but knew he was militant about people around him being vaccinated.

"We got it at the same time. He did a whole publicity stunt with it, donating a bunch of money to a clinic in south LA. We both got the shot on live TV." She grimaced at the thought. She didn't like needles and she didn't like the publicity, but the Army hadloved the idea of her getting a vaccine on live TV with her celebrity boyfriend. In uniform.

"Sounds like him. He went to junior high in that part of town, you know. He got his shots at a clinic very much like that one." She sniffed as she put his arm back on the table, having given him some kind of shot. "That was an anti-emetic, by the by. That way, if we wake him up, we can pour fluids and something resembling food down his throat." She patted her pocket. "If this comes back positive, then it's the flu. If not, we'll need more tests. Even with the flu shot, the virus sometimes mutates just enough to get him. If he was exposed to someone who had it, he just would have had to be near them."

"Like a kid with the sniffles following him around and sharing his lunch?" Sonya looked down at Johnny, realizing how scared she had been until his mother got there with all her frenetic energy. And competence.

I need to learn how to take care of someone with the flu.

Rose looked at her son. "Oh, Johnny. Just can't say no to an earnest kid, can you?"

Sonya laughed. "He can't. I was told this one was running around trying to copy him all day, doing martial arts moves. How could Johnny Cage refuse his most ardent fan?"

Rose laughed with her. "Oh, sweetheart. You know him well, don't you? Johnny lives for adoration and validation. He chose the best and worst career for it, didn't he? Well. We've both been exposed to a possible virulent strain, so we're both here for a day or two. Best let your people know. I already let my boss know, and she's not happy, but she's a mother herself, so she's letting it slide."

Sonya nodded. She could text Jax later. First, though. "I'm on leave until Monday. So's he. I'll text the cast and crew later, but if I don't text grandma soon, she's going to skin me alive from Texas."

Rose smiled at that. "Oh, call her and put her on speaker. I'd love to have a chat with this woman."

Sonya grimaced, but did.Poor Johnny. Didn't see this one coming, did he?

"Sonya, dear? Did you call her? Is he all right?"

Rose piped in. "Oh, he's fine, Mrs Morgan. Rose Carlton here. My boy got himself exposed to the flu - which is bad news for him. He'll be fine, unless I'm wrong about what it is, but I know I'm not."

"Good." Her grandmother stated with a firm smugness Sonya knew meant an 'I told you so' was coming later. "Fine boy you've raised, Mrs. Carlton. You should be mighty proud of him."

Rose looked over at her son. "I am, most of the time. I hear you've been teaching him southern manners?"

Sonia Morgan laughed softly. "No offense meant, Mrs. Carlton. If he's going to date a southern girl, he has to know how to talk to her family without getting shot."

Rose gave Sonya a low, somewhat accusatory stare, and Sonya felt herself flush. "Oh, I think I can see that. I didn't take any offense, Mrs. Morgan. Johnny was raised for the world he was in and the world he wanted to go in, and as soon as he needed to know more, he learned it. That's all that matters to me."

As the two women talked about her boyfriend, Sonya let herself relax a little more. Just a little more. Johnny was going to need her over the next few days.

~* ~

Sonya and Rose were trying to find something to cook, but Johnny didn't have much in the way of food. He never did. She knew what she could do, but she hated doing it. She could call one of his services and order groceries easily enough - she just hated spending his money.

Or having someone shop for her.

There weren't many options, though.

Everything else was done. Jax knew. The cast and crew knew. The hospital knew. They'd gotten Johnny upstairs to his bed - he'd woke up enough to realize he was home and sick and he'd repeatedly told them he'd be fine. Several times. He'd tried to get himself upstairs on his own, but it had taken her and Rose to help him.

The test had come back, revealing the flu.

They'd gotten plenty of fluids in him, a whole fistful of meds and vitamins, and a bowl of soup (which Rose had brought in one of her bags) and he was sleeping again - but his color was already better.

He was going to be okay, which left Sonya feeling relieved, scared, and at loose ends.

As she closed the pantry, Rose was shaking her head. "How does he feed himself? The crap craft services provides?"

Sonya laughed. "Sometimes. But usually, he orders specific foods, supplements, etcetera delivered to the set or wherever he is. He'll splurge at restaurants, but he's way more food conscious than anyone I know. He's careful, unless he gets distracted. Eating the right amount of calories and not under or over doing his exercise."

It was one of the few places in his life Johnny Cage showed real discipline. His health and his training were important to him, and he kept to his regimen with the focus and dedication of any soldier. More than some.

"Well, I'm calling his people and making them bring us dinner and groceries. Boy can afford it, and I haven't seen him in weeks. Now he's sick, and I'm not okay with that."

Sonya nodded. It was easier to live with if his mother did it. Not completely, but - somewhat easier. "Rose. How serious is this genetic predisposition thing?"

She waved Sonya off. "It's not. Unless he gets it. If he's careful, and he usually is, it doesn't matter much at all. Usually, if he sees the symptoms, he's to the doctor, gets the anti-virals, takes a day or two to sleep it off, and he's fine. This time, he left it too long and got sick. He looked a lot worse than he really was, because the symptoms are really bad. He'd have lived through it as long he got enough to eat and drink and got the meds to keep it out of his lungs - cough meds and expectorant, all over the counter."

Sonya was struck by the memory of him being so out of it on the couch he hadn't realized he'd gone home.Medic training for me.

It would be something to do during stand-down. Not even Jax could tell her not to get additional training, no matter what her rank was.

She ignored how fast she made that decision. She ignored why she made that decision. She ignored that she was going to get training because her boyfriend was susceptible to the flu.

Rose finished her text to - whoever Johnny' s 'guy' for groceries and food pick up was - and set her phone down. She gave Sonya a long, measuring look. She seemed to come to some conclusion, but was still fighting for the right words.

"Sonya. My son is - special. Unique." Her voice was grave. Quiet.

Sonya almost rolled her eyes. He was one of a kind all right.

Rose shook her head. "No, listen. There are things he doesn't tell people. Things that are different about him. Why he doesn't get sick as often. How he recovers from injuries so fast. How he does some of his fancy stunts - things that aren't as CGI as he says they are."

Sonya started, and nodded slowly.Oh. That.

The things that made him a fighter for Earthrealm. The things that made him able to stand up to monsters like Goro and warriors like Sub Zero.

"I know. Don't worry. I know."

Maybe more than even you do.

Rose let out a slow sigh. "Good. Good. I'm glad. I just - I wanted to make sure you knew. It's hard, because no one ever believes it. Having a kid who can crack walls with green fire or dash across the house with shadows streaking behind him...it's a different kind of life. Without Master Boyd and the movies, I don't know what would have become of him. I really don't. I'm sure there are others like him, but when he's getting better, you might have, might -"

Sonya reached out and put her hand on Rose's shoulder. "It's okay. I know what he can do. And I believe in him. There are others. More than you might think." She pointed at the picture of Liu Kang and Kung Lao. "That guy there? Without the hat? He throws fireballs. We know a guy who can do all kinds of shit with lightning."

He's a god, but what can you expect from one of them?

"Oh." Rose sagged against the counter. "Oh, Johnny, what have you gotten yourself into?"

Sonya shook her head. "Nothing."

Lie.

"Nothing he can't handle. It's - mostly over, now. It's how we met. Finding the others. I can't - I can't tell you anything, Rose. Not a thing, other than - be proud of your son and know he's not alone in the world. Know he's not the only one and that there are those who stand with him, just like he stands with us."

Rose blinked and stood up, glaring at Sonya. "Warriors of Light. His new series. It's real?" Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking.

Sonya shook her head. "It's not. He made it up for TV."

Mostly true.

Rose sagged again. "Oh. Okay. I thought, because that Sasha character looks so much like you, that..."

"Look. Rose. I won't lie to you and say Johnny's talents didn't get him into trouble or that Sasha Steel isn't based a little bit on me, but I will tell you that very little of what happens in Warriors of Light happened in real life. It's a TV show. Not a documentary. The only danger he's in is from himself and from, apparently, the flu. No one is trying to kill him or drag him off to fight interdimensional wars."

Right now. That's all over, right? Not going to happen again until the next generation - and Liu Kang is in charge of the next generation of Earthrealm fighters. Not me. And not Johnny.

That felt a little like a lie.

Rose shuddered. "Well. Good. At least it's just a TV show."

~ * ~

Sonya leaned against the headboard of Johnny's absurdly large and obscenely comfortable bed, reading on her tablet. She'd found one of his t-shirts and a pair of her sweats to change into and was keeping an eye on him while he slept. He'd woken up just after she and Rose had eaten and had more to eat and drink. He'd whined about the soup and told them both he was 'just fine' and was going back to work in the morning.

She couldn't help but reach out every few minutes and touch his shoulder or his face in the darkness. She knew Rose said he hadn't been on death's door, but it felt like he had been.

When her knuckles grazed his cheek, she felt his fever had broken. She felt him stir and heard a low groan.

"Sonya?"

"Finally decided to actually wake up, Johnny?"

He made a sound that was almost like speech as he slowly pushed himself into a semi-upright position. He fumbled on the nightstand for the water bottle that always lived there. Sonya grabbed it from next to her and handed it to him.

He popped the cap and drained a good portion of it. When he was done, he made a face. "Ugh. I feel like - fuck. That kid have the flu or something?"

Sonya almost growled at him. "Don't you dare try to play this off, Johnny. Yes, the kid had the flu. Now you do. You almost passed out at work, Stephanie made me come get you, and now I'm stuck here with you and your mother until at least Saturday. Thankfully, we're both off until Monday."

Johnny sagged back into his pillows. "My mother? Please tell me you did not call my mother."

Sonya smirked. "Oh, I did. And she came running across town to put you to rights. Grandma had me call her if that makes you feel any better. The two of them were fast friends, by the by."

Johnny nodded. "Makes sense they'd get alone. Forces of nature, the both of them." His voice was still hoarse, but not nearly as bad as it had been. "Oh, I hate this. I'm real bad at being sick, Sonya. Real bad."

"That's why your mother's here. She can fight with you so I don't have to."

Johnny slumped over, leaning against her. He made a sound that was between a whine and whimper. "I'm going to get fussed at, aren't I?"

Sonya slid and arm around him. He was almost cute, if he weren't whining. "Probably, but your Mom seems like she's the forgiving sort. She didn't even fuss at me all that much when I accidentally pointed a gun at her."

Johnny's eyes widened. "You what?"

#CageBlade Week #CageBlade #Mortal Kombat #fanfic #fanfiction #fandom #writing #me #slice of life #domestic fluff #if you squint

6 notes · View notes

mwolf0epsilon · 2 years

Text

There's Something Lurking in the Guard Barracks

Summary: After a sudden spike of random animal attacks begins to plague the Coruscant Guard, Hound is put in charge of investigating whatever might be the cause of so many vode ending up in the medbay with their ankles bitten to shreds...

[Rhythm and Red Alert are @lost-on-kamino 's boys. Croissant is @gaeasun 's lad.]

THIS STORY IS ALSO ON AO3

---

A mystery had reared its supposedly ugly head in whatever dark corners of the Coruscant Guard Barracks that no vod had ever bothered to map out. A mystery that lurked, stalked and bit whoever was unfortunate enough to catch its fancy. Attacked at such a speed and in such an unexpected inopportune moment, that none who'd been attacked had been able to see the perpetrator.

All that the victims knew was that they'd been alone in some unassuming area of the barracks, and that whatever had latched onto their poor defenseless ankles, certainly had jaws of steel at its disposal.

Animal attacks were no new occurrence when it came to the Guard. Animal attacks within their own base however... Well, there was a reason why the massiffs were allowed to roam outside of kennels at certain hours of the day. It wouldn't do well to let a plague of rats run rampant.

But this was no rat. At least not one Hound was familiar with.

It all began on a typical Prime Day, as most inconveniences for the Guard often did. Between cranky Coruscanti folks giving them a hard time because they didn't want to do their own routines, or the Senators deciding that overworking them on the weekend wasn't enough, Prime Day always opened up a new week with any given kind of problem.

Hound had been called in to speak with Fox for a reason or another (you never knew these days), and found his superior officer with a limp and a rather sour look on his face. Which gave away immediately that things were about to get really interesting for the head of the K9 Division.

"There's a pest problem in the vents." The marshal commander told him, as he massaged his aching ankle. "Something big's made its home in there, and it karking bites. I want you to deal with it."

"Did you see it, sir?" He'd asked out of curiosity, hoping to know what exactly he (and by proxy Grizzer) would be working with.

"...Not even a shadow." Fox hesitantly admitted, mouth twitching slightly as he mulled over it. "I'd just gotten into my office, set down the stacks of datapads I had to get through, and then the next thing I knew I was on the floor clutching my Force-damned ankle because something caught me from the vent behind my chair... Just barely heard it skitter away back in through the ventilation..."

"Uh... That's too bold for a rat, or even a tooka..." Hound scratched his chin in thought. "Have you gotten a rabies shot from the medbay, just in case?"

"Of course I did." Fox rolled his eye at this. "I may not like getting my jabs, but I'm not risking ending up a frothing twitching mess on my office floor just because I got bit by some unknown pest with whatever disease it caught outside..."

"Right, I'll try to figure out what bit you sir. I'm sure it's nothing good ol' Grizzer can't sniff out and deal with!"

It turned out to not be as simple as that. Whatever was hiding in the vents was not making itself available for removal without a fight. And unfortunately several other vode ended up finding themselves in the same situation as the marshal commander.

With limps and preemptive shots straight from the medbay. The line got longer every day, and by the end of the week Hound was at a loss for what to think of the whole situation.

He'd never encountered a critter that left him so stumped.

"I don't understand. I've dealt with all sorts of pest infestations before..." He bemoaned as he ate his lunch with Rhythm and Red Alert, right next to the riot trooper gear storage closet. "Rats, roaches, spiders... Kriff, even someone's runaway pet lizard that started breeding with the local population of geckos!"

"Well, not every animal operates the same way." Rhythm offered his thoughts on the matter. "Maybe we've got ourselves something a little smarter than a street tooka or a spoiled lizard."

"Or maybe something from down under came to the upper levels and we actually have a potential bio-hazard on our hands..." Red Alert gulped at the prospect of such an event taking place.

"That's what preemptive shots are for Red." Hound huffed. "Whatever is in the vents isn't some mutant from the under-levels. It wouldn't have survived climbing into the lower sector's vents all the way up to our level... Not with the measures in place to keep stuff like that isolated down there anyway..."

"You never know..." Red Alert shrugged, pausing to look up when he caught sight of Olly walking into the room looking a little flustered. "There you are! Olly I haven't seen you all morning!"

The larger riot trooper didn't respond, merely frowned and looked around the room before slumping his shoulders slightly.

"Hey, you seem down big guy..." Rhythm frowned as well, noting his friend's apparent distress. "Is something wrong?"

"Hm..." Olly shrugged. "S'fine... Just can't find something..."

"You can't find something? It's not like you to misplace your stuff..." Red Alert blinked. "You need any help finding it?"

"No... I'll... Has to be around here somewhere..." Olly shook his head and walked back out of the room, picking up the pace as he carried on looking for, well, whatever it was he'd lost. How odd.

Ah well, whatever was going on with the rather long named trooper could wait. Hound still had a mystery on his hands after all. He could help with another later.

"So, you're both helping me trap whatever is in the vents."

"Yeah sure!" Rhythm grinned.

"Uuuh I don't think--"

"Great, thanks guys. I'm thinking we block some of the vents and bait the one in our quarters. Then we trap it with like, some kind of container." Hound grinned.

"We don't even know how big it is!" Red Alert protested.

"Just big enough to fit in the vents, not too bad!" Rhythm shrugged.

"That's the spirit!"

With a plan as solid as this, surely the three of them should be able to catch one measly bitey creature. They were highly trained soldiers after all! The pride of the Guard no doubt.

Which is what they assumed, until they'd all ended up in the medbay getting their own jabs. Their ankles torn to shreds like everyone else's.

"I am starting to think Fox should call a specialist to deal with the vent problem." Croissant sighed as he finished administering the preemptive rabies shots.

"I don't understand... We should have seen it coming." Hound was at his wit's end. "Nothing should have gotten past us!"

"And yet, here all three of you are. This stuff isn't cheap you know..." He held up the vial of medicine, grimacing at how little remained. "And you need several more just to make sure you don't end up contracting the damn disease..."

"We don't even know if the thing in the vents can catch it, much less transmit it through a bite." Rhythm pointed out. "I didn't feel teeth, just really strong jawbones..."

"Jawbones that bit with such force they drew blood!" Red Alert whimpered.

"Grizzer wouldn't even go near the vent... What is in there that's scaring my massiff?!" The idea that some horror from the deep had really gotten into the barrack vents was starting to become more plausible.

"OOOOOOOOUCH!!!!!!!"

All four jolted slightly at the shrill scream outside of the medbay doors. Then, they gawked as Fox (for once clad in his officer grays rather than his armour) rushed in through the door, something relatively vent sized firmly attached to his unprotected backside.

"I wonder if it might be that thing?" Croissant deadpanned as he watched the marshal commander spin around gracelessly, in an attempt to shake off whatever spiky nonsense was currently trying to rip his shebs apart.

A minute later, the door opened again.

To everyone's surprise Olly was the one opening it, which was highly unusual considering the unusually tall riot trooper hated going to the medbay. The confused look on his face swiftly changed to one of absolute joy, which was another surprise.

He rarely openly expressed anything other than mild annoyance.

"Cabur! I've been looking everywhere for you!" without giving Fox so much as a warning, the larger trooper stopped him by the shoulders before prying the creature from it's grip on the marshal commander's aching behind. But not without a parting gift in the form of ripped piece of grey fabric and part of Fox's underwear as well.

"AAAAAACK!!!"

"Olly, what the hell?!" Croissant chose to ignore the happy riot trooper and the beast he was holding, in favor of helping their commanding officer off the floor where he'd fallen after getting the creature pulled away from his rear-end.

"What even is that...?" Rhythm blinked as he stared at his friend.

Olly paused to look at the others. He held out the animal in question, revealing its spiky shell, long gangly limbs, spiny tail, prehensile neck, and rather unpleasant looking snooty face.

It appeared to be a turtle of some kind. Which was likely why Olly wasn't afraid of holding it.

"This is Cabur. She's a shiro that I found in one of the upper floors in a public fountain..." He offered as a form of explanation. "And I've been looking everywhere for her. I was afraid she'd gotten lost."

"I... What was a shiro doing in a public fountain?!" Red Alert stared at the creature in horror, flinching when it appeared to glare at them and snapped it's jaws threateningly. "They're indigenous to Naboo, not Coruscant!

"Nevermind that, you knew what could have been biting everyone and you didn't say?!" Hound stared incredulously at Olly.

".... You never asked." Olly shrugged in turn.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Hound put his face in his hands. "This whole time you knew and could have helped.... Everyone's ankles are ruined! Fox's ass is ruined! No offense ori'vod..."

"My ankles and shebs hurt less than the jabs..." The marshal commander grumbled. "My dignity however..."

"Our stash of preemptive medicine is nearly gone." Croissant pointed out. "Which might be a problem in the future..."

"Well... At least if that thing has rabies, we won't catch it anytime soon with all the jabs we got?" Rhythm offered, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Turtles can't catch rabies." Olly pointed out calmly.

"....Kark, then yeah, this is terrible." The communications officer groaned. "All of this worrying for nothing..."

"Again, you never asked." Olly rolled his eyes and walked out of the medbay, turtle menace in tow. At least he seemed quite happy with the situation.

Maybe next time something like this happened, Hound would decline any pest related problems.

#Eps Writes #star wars #the clone wars #commander fox #sergeant hound #clone ocs #communications corrie rhythm #riot trooper red alert #clone medic croissant #riot trooper olly olly oxenfree #cabur the shiro #In which olly gets a pet and it becomes everyone else's problem :)#wrote this one for a quick giggle

29 notes · View notes

kidelune · 11 months

Text

TW: Mature themes, death, violence, blood, all that jazz. Read at your own discretion.

I'm writing this down now while it's still fresh on my mind, so in the case I'm ever found and arrested for it, I'll have this log as some sort of proof. Or even a confession.

[October 29, 2023, Somewhere between Yongsan and Incheon]

On the 29th of October of this year, four days ago, I was supposed to land safely on Japanese soil by 6 in the evening. My dad had agreed to pick me up from the airport and together we planned to grab a meal and some beer on the way back to Kyoto, where we live. It cuts me deeply now to remember how happy I'd been that day. After such a fun weekend spent with my boyfriend and friends, and of course, getting back to pops, which always excited me to all ends. I spent all morning holding my precious partner before he went to work, then gave him my afternoon, too. We had some lunch together right before my flight, though eating had been a challenge as parting for us was nothing short of bittersweet. We already knew we'd be apart for four days; he had work. And yet it had never occurred to me then that on top of that, I'd disappear entirely.

In hindsight, my joy had been a red herring of sorts.

Something strange happened around eleven, same day. The other gangs have been more aggressive lately, especially the Greens who've recently suffered a few greater losses than they've had to deal with in a while. The general goal had shifted from yielding for peace to blood for blood. They wanted Gun-pyo's head and would not stop until the hit is finally made on the right man. So around eleven that morning, I heard the burner phone I'd stolen a while back ringing for the first time since I found it. At first I had no clue what the sound was, until I realized during the second time it went off from somewhere in my closet. I found it but waited for the call to go dead prematurely, then waited until the very last ring to pick up. Up to my ear, while standing within the darkness asleep among my jackets I heard someone on the other end murmur, "I know it was you."

And for a horrifying moment the voice sounded like it came from the other side of my closet door. It didn't, but remembering now how I felt back then, how I held my breath and flushed with ire, I'm sure, despite everything, that I would've killed him on the way out.

Instead I quietly shrugged it off, drowned and then smashed the phone, blackmail material be damned. Because according to my logic and possibly greed, yeah it was me, so fucking what? Everything has already gone to shit and I was not about to be in Korea at all after the three following hours anyway.

At least I thought I shouldn't have been, but life wouldn't be life if it didn't have other plans in store for me, of fucking course. Halfway to the airport I'd asked my hyung to drop me off somewhere quiet so I could get a taxi instead, right after I noticed we were being followed. He has a kid so I didn't want him to get in trouble along with me if it came to it, although he'd stubbornly refused to abandon me at first. I hope to tell him soon that although my insistence got me kidnapped almost immediately after, I don't regret it. I could've died like he said, but I lived, after all.

As I expected though, my kidnappers were an odd mix of Greens, Reds and Blues, all guys we did business with. And I'm under the impression, still, that they'd followed me from home or somewhere too close to home for my comfort. I tried to fight them off and run, but I had nothing to protect myself. Next thing I knew I was somewhere in an abandoned building, disoriented as all hell. I didn't know in the beginning where exactly I was, though it couldn't have been too far from where they'd first apprehended me as I likely was not out of it for long. Alas, in that short amount of time they'd moved my unconscious body on location, stripped me of my clothes and belongings entirely, and was bound by the wrists and ankles on my knees.

I braced myself for a beatdown as soon as I was conscious again and rightfully so, as a beatdown I received after every question and threat of theirs I refused to answer (Tell us where your boss is. Do you know what will happen to you if you keep secrets? If you just talked, we wouldn't have to kill you). So their priority hardly was to keep me alive and that's the thing, I didn't mind it. I never could mind a split lip, some deep and tender bruises and black eyes, not even a stab. Even if they broke my bones and spit in my swollen eye and open wounds, I wouldn't snitch, though not for loyalty—not even fucking close. I have people to protect and if I had to die to guarantee their safety, I would.

Realizing this, the bastards started to burn my shit. Threw my suitcase and handbag into one of the braziers in the area. I lost my phone in that fire, alongside a lot of precious memories, messages and some of my skin. Which they burnt with a rod that's been cooking in the flames, dragging the thing down my back with a slowness so infinitesimal the space momentarily became hell itself. I saw red, I saw white, and then I couldn't see at all but just squirm there with the smell of my burning skin. While I tried to hold in my tears I imagined: this is what it must feel like to an angel having its wings ripped off.

That was the first night I disappeared.

[October 30, 2023, Somewhere between Kyoto, Japan and Seoul, South Korea]

The following section will be literal word of mouth, though as verbatim as I can help it. I trust my pops wouldn't lie to me.

He said and I scribe: he knew something was up within the first hour after I was supposed to land in Japan. I've warned him in the past before that while apart, if I ever went for more than 24 hours without replying to his messages or calls, assume I'm missing or dead. So he was more than prepared for situations like this though he also thought about waiting a while—maybe my phone had ran out of battery and I somehow forgot to charge it, while simultaneously forgetting he was picking me up. He went home, he said, and waited precisely another two hours before finally booking himself a flight to Korea for the morning. Nothing could get in the way of him finding me at that point, dead or alive, he said.

Much to my dismay, that's how he met Byungwoo for the first time. Instead of how I'd planned to introduce them in Japan, they were forced to meet prematurely at the expense of my safety. In front of my apartment proper, both of them desperate for some kind of sign of life from me. Maybe one of them might've even hoped it was all a bad dream and that they'd wake up in the next minute to me back in their realities. I would've hoped the same, yet that was our reality: his immediate suspicion upon seeing my boyfriend—who at the time to him was just another stranger, possibly some unsavoury figure from another gang waiting by the door for me to show up or come out. But pops' ability to read people is really impressive. Always has been. He could tell right away after getting closer that Byungwoo meant no harm, that they were both vulnerable flies approaching the same trap.

He told Byungwoo straight up about my position: his guess on point, being that I'd been taken somewhere and my phone had been shattered to limit contact. I don't really want to repeat what he'd said about Byungwoo's reaction to this, though. It truly breaks my heart to disastrous degrees to think about his face, the horror overtaking the beauty he'll always possess. The instantaneous panic, then a worry so raw and harrowing that it'd probably kept him up at night, waiting for who would not return so soon, nor as whole as he'd left. Who might've never returned. All I ever wanted was to do better for him. To not leave him behind to sleep and eat alone again, or have him worry to the point of tears and anger he hardly knew. All I wanted and will want, breathing or six feet under, is for him to be happy. Yet I've failed him again, to the point where my father had to warn him about getting near my apartment, lest he wanted to get hurt.

But in scenarios like this, I'd noticed, he becomes as determined as he is afraid, my partner. Last time I returned home hurt, he swore that he'd kill the people that wanted to hurt me. The hatred in his eyes at the time shocked me more than anything ever has before. It was real. Have you ever loved someone so much that you'd risk in a heartbeat something so incredibly horrendous for their sake? That'd make the two of us, at least. They ended up tracking my phone together. Two months or so ago Byungwoo and I decided to install a tracker app on our phones so he could track me in the case of an emergency. This was life or death, pops'd said, after they finally came across a distinct crosshair on the map that would serve as the first clue to my location.

Desperate but hopeful, my father rushed to Incheon with his eyes wide open, diving headfirst and alone into a full blown brawl between too many gangs to count. Kim Junseo, a legend of his own time, returned and purposely falling within the same trap his son did.

In the name of love. In the name of blood.

#kk.log #kk.written #i didn't know how else to write it without going into other povs

2 notes · View notes

nataliescatorccio · 1 year

Note

hi becca! i hope you're doing okay! i've been thinking about fandoms and streaming a lot these days and how much more enjoyable watching TV shows was.

do you think streaming killed fandoms and the whole culture(? not sure what to call it) of watching shows? because we used to wait weeks for 1 episode and we could theorise and write fanfic and discuss things etc vs now we get a whole season in one day and if you don't watch it immediately, oh well, get ready to be spoiled. and honestly i hate the way it is now sometimes i just don't want to spend 12 hours straight watching a new season, but i can't possibly blacklist and avoid every single spoilers. i still want to be on the Internet and talk to my friends and not live in fear of when i'm getting spoiled (okay that's a bit of an exaggeration but you know). and of course there are still fanfictions and fanart and beautiful gifs, but everything comes at you all at once. you can't even digest anything. i'm forgetting new shows faster because i watch the whole thing in one sitting and i don't even process a lot of it and i just forget later on. maybe it's just a me thing though... but to me, even if i hated waiting because something ended in a cliffhanger, 1 episode per week was so much better. it kept me excited for next week, i could read theories, discussions, read fanfic about something that was completely different from what happened in the next episode. it was so fun. and i feel like fandoms who were getting their content 1 episode per week live(d) longer? everything is getting cancelled nowadays after like 1 day of streaming and it's hard to find people you can follow who still engage and are present in the fandom...

hi anon! had a busy few days but it's friday now and the weekend and that has definitely brightened my mood- i hope it has yours too!

i completely think that streaming has a lot to answer in the way our consumption of media has changed, and i really do believe that extends to fandom culture too for all the reasons you've highlighted. i made a mini rant on this a couple of years ago and it picked up traction and got a lot of interesting additions on this topic which i really wish i could find now, but to summarise there was a lot of talk about how bingeing and binge culture has been detrimental to fandom spaces because of the rush to consume media and move on to the next big thing. we don't have the time to appreciate media anymore, and most of us feel more dissatisfied with what's produced because we rush through to an ending that that doesn't feel fulfilling simply because we haven't had time to sit with the storyline. no one wants too get to attached to anything because the reign of fandom feels so short lived, either because it's cancelled or because the strains of producing quickly consumable storylines take its toll on everyone working to create the content that they can't sustain the standard expected.

i really miss weekly releases too and some of the most enjoyable series i've watched in the past year have included the last of us and house of the dragon which were released an episode by week, and it was just so nice to be within that fandom space. even though most people knew what was going to happen within these storylines because they're adaptations which meant little speculation, it still brought people together to discuss and digest what they'd watched and also create. creating takes time and often feels exhausting when everything is thrown at you all at once and you're not the fastest person to get your ideas out there, instead weekly releases allowed creators to notice details and curate art around that. i do wonder if in the future the pendulum is going to swing back towards weekly releases because of the level of engagement, and therefore profit that surrounds engagement, that surrounds it. i'd really like it to, because i do think binge culture comes with a lot of problems, and i don't just mean in an online world because the recent strikes have highlighted how the attitude of 'i can consume this and throw it away' is having huge impacts on people's livelihoods

#Anonymous

4 notes · View notes

thedivinelights · 2 years

Text

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Pairings: Ebenezer Scrooge/Isabel Fezziwig

Summary:

Ebenezer Scrooge has spent these past two years fixing bonds he had destroyed, building bridges that he had burned. No more did people look upon him and fear. It was safe to say his future was averted.

Then the cracks began to appear, showing him the one he had carelessly thrown away years ago. He knew there was more to be done.

Perhaps happiness was not fully out of his reach just yet

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey, Ebenezer!"

Scrooge groaned under the covers of his sheets as his large and blue visitor banged a spoon against their golden rhyton with a loud clanging sound that easily drowned out the sound of his own alarm clock ringing at 7 past.

"Ye gods, man, why are you here so early?" Scrooge grunted in annoyance as he willed himself out of bed, stretching out the aches of the morning.

"You know I don't like to waste any time, Scrooge." Present replied as one of their cheerlings popped out of their rhyton with a dizzied expression before passing back out into it. The ex-miser let out a huff. Present calling him by 'Scrooge' usually meant that a lecture was due.

"So you always tell me." Scrooge grumbled under his breath as he put on his clothes for the outdoors, briefly checking his pocket watch as he did so.

A smile graced the man's features as he looked upon the words — once a painful reminder — engraved into the cover. Present immediately noticed and pondered a question they'd been wondering for a while.

"Have you thought about going back to see her?"

Scrooge gave a sigh, pocketing the miniature clock and adjusting his cravat as she once did, "I highly doubt she wishes to see me after all this time. She seemed quite happy with her family, and I would hate to put that happiness under duress with my sudden appearance."

"But it's been twenty years." They countered, gesturing in a rather exaggerated manner whilst following him down the large flight of stairs, "Neither of you are getting any younger and... well, sooner or later you'll lose your chance."

Scrooge looked at them in perplexity as he reached the living room, turning to face them fully, "That is odd. Were you not the one to tell me to live in the present?"

"I also told you to do the best you can with the time you have." They dropped the unconscious cheerling onto Prudence, causing her to bark in annoyance that they paid no heed as they poured out some wine that they summoned from the kitchen for themself.

Scrooge looked a tad disconsolate, yet still Present continued, "Things are not always what they seem, Ebenezer. I hope you'll remember that."

He looked up at the giant, eyes widening, "Wait, what do you-!"

Before he could even finish, the sound of his doorbell ringing caught his attention. He turned back to Present, who had disappeared as soon as they came and leaving the man with far more questions than answers. Making a mental note to speak with Present when they returned, he made his way to the front door and flung it open to reveal Bob Cratchit on the other side.

Prudence, in her excitement, sprinted towards Bob and tackled the young man, only keeping his footing thanks to Scrooge.

"Prudence..." Scrooge chastised, to which Prudence whined in slight shame before making her way back to her master's side, "I am truly sorry about that, Bob. What brings you here this fine morning?"

Bob gave a slight grin as he pulled out a flyer from his coat pocket, which Scrooge took and read as he spoke, "I have some good news for you. The charity committee has asked if you would like to participate in the annual park fundraiser for the orphanage this weekend. They're looking for volunteers to help with the games and activities for the children to enjoy. I assumed it would be a good idea to gain more goodwill and make our business far more well known."

Scrooge's eyes lit up, a small spark of excitement within him at the prospect of spending time outdoors and doing some good, "I do believe that is a wonderful idea, Bob. You've most certainly outdone yourself this time."

Bob's chest puffed up slightly with pride as he said that, "Thank you very much, Mr. Scrooge! And don't worry, I'll let the committee know you've decided to attend."

Scrooge nodded, still smiling, "Brilliant. Oh, and do give my regards to Ethel and the children. They are always welcome in my humble abode."

Bob nodded back, giving a small wave of farewell before practically skipping down the stairs and out of Scrooge's view. The older man beamed a grin at his partner's antics before he himself made his way out into the chilly streets of London. He waited for Prudence to make her way out the door before locking it up himself and checking to see if it was done properly. Once, twice, and then when he was satisfied he took his cane from under his shoulder and made his way to his counting house, ready to begin the day with a smile.

---

On the Saturday when the charity event was due to commence, Scrooge walked alongside Bob through the main street and towards the park, his cane tapping onto the pavement below as they walked.

"Quite a busy day today." Bob muttered slightly, dodging the large crowds that were forming as they made their way through a multitude of stores.

Scrooge appeared to have no difficulty and eased his way through them, "Well, the holidays are on the horizon. It only makes sense given people's tendencies to shop for gifts last minute."

"Like you, perhaps, Mr. Scrooge?" Bob teased.

"Hardly so, Bob!" Scrooge defended, feeling a tad embarrassed, "And please, it's 'Ebenezer' now! We're business partners, remember?"

Bob remained unconvinced. Despite his constant reminders, he absolutely refused to stick with the name 'Ebenezer' and understood that this latest reminder was a way to swerve the conversation. He had been certain that Scrooge was clearly reminded of the year before last where the older man's presents were clearly rushed with signs of messy gift wrapping, "Mhm... changing the subject, are we?"

Scrooge was just about to give a sharp retort in response when the sudden sound of clanging reached his ears and he immediately tensed up. The duo were currently passing by a blacksmith's shop, with the owner himself hanging up chains at his window front to showcase them. Scrooge squeezed the top of his cane hard enough that Bob wondered if he would end up breaking the damn thing with the force he was emitting.

Despite his newfound happiness and fulfilment after the ghosts had visited him that fateful night, Scrooge could not shake the haunting image of Jacob Marley's chains from his mind. The memory of him, his ghostly form draped in heavy chains that clanked and clattered as he moved had even ingrained into his mind even to this day. Those chains had been a physical manifestation of the weight of Marley's own greed and selfishness, and the sight of them had filled Scrooge with dread. He began to develop a fear of chains and bondage, unable to bear the sight or even the thought of being shackled or tied up.

Bob — or anyone else who knew him, for that matter — never understood this sudden fear, yet they all made the conscious effort keep Scrooge away from anything that even remotely resembled those linking pieces of metal. He moved to Scrooge's side, squeezing his shoulder before gently leading him away from the shop until he felt him relax enough for him to let go.

"Thank you, Bob." Scrooge stammered slightly, his voice a tad weaker from his usual strong tenor. He ran his hand through his hair, giving himself a moment of calm before he continued.

"I truly should be getting over this irrational fear of mine." He chose his words carefully as he spoke, not wanting to reveal the true nature of why he developed this merinthophobia.

"All of us have something we're scared about, Mr. Scrooge, and it takes quite a while before you can heal from such a thing." Bob gave a reassuring smile, "Give it time, I'm sure you'll be free of it eventually."

Scrooge smiled weakly, and though he wasn't sure if he could fully agree with Bob's words he took them to heart nonetheless.

Straightening himself up once again, he fixed his hat and cleared his throat before once again walking towards the park, Bob following not far behind. They were greeted with a small group of volunteers who were setting up the tables filled with food and small mini games all around the fields in the park. He looked around, already noticing some children who were playing on the side while their parents made their way to the event.

One of the people at the event — a young woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties — suddenly noticed Scrooge and Bob and made her way over to them with a cheerful grin.

"How wonderful of you to join us, Mr. Cratchit!" She shook hands with Bob first before looking up at Scrooge and shaking his hand, "And you must be Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge. I am Elizabeth Rothschild, the woman in charge of this wondrous event. I truly must thank you for your kind donations to our cause."

"It is always a pleasure to work with you, my lady." Scrooge gave a bow as he spoke, "The little ones at the orphanage deserve the same capability for a wonderful Christmas as everyone else. I merely wished to give them that chance."

Elizabeth gave him a smile, "You can be certain that they most certainly are pleased with the gifts they've been given. I myself could hardly believe my eyes when I saw so many toys all at once."

"I'm glad they enjoyed them. Many of those came from Jenkins' Toys & Games, a store I would highly recommend visiting. The man who owns it is one I know well."

The trio ended up chatting for a small while with Elizabeth giving a rough outline as to how they were to proceed. She was to say a few words introducing herself and what her committee wished to achieve. She would then invite the two men up onto the stage where they themselves would say a few words before commencing the activities. A rather simple affair, Scrooge believed, and one he was more than happy to oblige to.

Yet the more he began to talk with Elizabeth, the more he began to be reminded of something familiar. Her blond hair, her blue eyes, the way she carried herself with poise and grace... she reminded Scrooge so much of... of...

"Mr. Scrooge, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked, forcing Scrooge out of his trance.

"Hm? Oh, forgive me, you..." He gave a smile, "...you merely remind me of someone I used to know, is all."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged and said nothing in response. Bob glanced over at his former boss, having a mere inkling as to what it was he was mentioning, but decided not to comment upon it as well. After a few long minutes, they eventually made their way to the stage where a crowd was slowly beginning to form. Children, both from the orphanage and not, were all sitting at the front, rather fidgety and would have gone straight to the activities were it not for the adults behind them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for coming this fine winter's day." She motioned to the children in front of her, "As we all know, Christmas is a time of giving and spreading love and warmth, as we all gather here to celebrate the holiday season, I would like to take a moment to remind us of the less fortunate children who are spending this Christmas without a loving family by their side. At this orphanage, these children have been given a safe and nurturing environment to grow and thrive. But they still need our support and help to provide them with the basic necessities and opportunities that every child deserves. Your donations this day will go towards providing these children with essential items such as clothing, food, and educational materials. It will also help fund activities and programs that will enhance their physical, mental, and emotional well-being."

She turned to Scrooge and Bob, "And today, we are especially fortunate to be joined by two incredibly generous donors who have made significant contributions to this cause. I would like to take a moment to introduce them to you and to express our heartfelt gratitude for their support. Everyone, may you please welcome Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge and Mr. Bob Cratchit!"

The crowd's cheers drowned out all the background noise around them, with Bob and Scrooge hastily making their way up the snowy steps of the stage. The younger man motioned for the older to speak first, which he did with some apprehension. Refusing to let his nerves get the better of him, Ebenezer Scrooge steeled himself into a brave facade and spoke.

"Two years ago, if you would have told me that I'd be standing here before you all this very day, donating my hard-earned wealth to these children, I would not have believed a single bit of it." He motioned himself in a way that mocked his former self, full of greed, "I would have shouted 'Humbug!' and forced you all to pay your loans with exceeding interest!"

This got a laugh out of many, causing Scrooge to return to his normal posture with a genuine smile, "Yet now I see that it is not money that defines us, but our heart. Our spirit. And as I look around I am reminded of the true meaning of Christmas - giving and helping those in need. And that is exactly what we are doing here tonight, as we come together to support the orphanage and the children who call it home."

Bob moved in to continue where he left off, far more noticeable in his nervousness, "I-I know that this time of year can be especially difficult for those who do not have a home or a family to celebrate with. That is why I am so grateful for the work that the orphanage does to provide a safe and loving environment for these children. Mr. Scrooge and I encourage all of you to give what you can to support the orphanage and its mission. Whether it be through a financial donation, volunteering your time, or simply spreading the word about the important work that they do."

Scrooge swiftly cut in, "Or enjoy some of the wonderful activities that Miss. Rothschild has planned, as some of you are most certain to agree."

He looked down at the children below who were grinning at his words, winking at them all before continuing alongside Bob in unison.

"So, without further ado... let the games commence!"

The children all dashed off into different direction, screaming and laughing as they did so. Bob swiftly began to make his way down the steps, and Scrooge moved to follow suit until a familiar face caught his eye.

She was far back in the crowd, and far older than when they last met, but Scrooge's eyes were not failing him just yet and he recognised the kind smile he knew all those years ago.

"Isabel...?" He muttered, though he immediately got off the stage as he noticed her beginning to move, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Isabel!" He called out, much louder than the first. He heard her gasp in surprise, before turning to face her former flame.

"Ebenezer!" Isabel's smile widened as she made her way over to him, "How lovely to see you!"

"I should have known you would attend something like this." Scrooge's heart fluttered at the sight of his dear Isabel. Despite the years that passed, she still looked as beautiful as ever. Perhaps the only indication of her age would be the greying strands of hair forming upon her once fully blond hair.

"You were quite the sight up there, I must say." Isabel held her hand to her chest as she spoke, "I've heard what you've been doing these past two years, and I am most glad you've gotten rid of Marley's influence upon you."

As she motioned, Scrooge noticed the golden band upon her finger and the flutter in his heart dropped like a heavy weight, "Yes... well, I've most certainly done all I can to atone for the things I've done. It has not been easy, but it is most certainly worth it."

The old money lender gave a smile, "And how have you been, Isabel? Is your husband treating you well?"

Isabel fiddled with the ring in her hand, her smile wavering a tad but refusing to falter, "He is. His name is Solomon Rothschild, have you heard of him?"

Scrooge's eyes widened slightly, "So that is why Miss. Rothschild appeared so familiar..."

She looked on with a sense of pride, "Indeed. She is a kind woman, one of three of my children, all grown up now."

Scrooge was briefly reminded of the vision he saw just before his time ran out with Past. A cruel twist of fate for him to see her future without him in it, yet nevertheless he believed she was happy. Her children appeared so full of life, her husband kind and loving.

"Your husband sounds rather familiar." He stroked his chin in thought, before finally remembering him from a newspaper article, "He is a barrister, is he not? I recognised him from the recent robbery case of the nearby jeweller's."

Isabel nodded, her voice softening, "He is a very successful man. Gained the respect of many in our community. He's the reason this event even exists to begin with."

"That's wonderful news," Scrooge said, his heart sinking at the mention of Belle's husband. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you, Ebenezer," Isabel said, her voice seeming a bit colder than usual, "I'm very happy with Solomon. He's been a wonderful husband and father."

Scrooge was surprised by Isabel's slight but sudden change in demeanour. He had always known her to be warm and open, but now she seemed distant and guarded, especially at the mention of her husband. He couldn't help but wonder if there were problems in her marriage. But for now, Scrooge decided to keep his concerns to himself and support her however he could. After all, he could hardly deny it when she said she was happy, and he intended not to pry any further.

They both continued to chat for a while, reminiscing about old times and learning more about new ones whilst also finding ways to entertain the orphans together. And when the day continued onward, seeping into the evening, much of the crowd at the park had dispersed. Bob and Elizabeth soon went over to them as they returned from escorting the children safely back to the orphanage.

Bob gave a grin to Scrooge, placing his hands upon his hips, "Well now, this has been a rather successful day, wouldn't you agree?"

"Indeed it has Bob." He replied before tipping his hat towards Elizabeth, "Now I do believe Mr. Cratchit and I should be departing soon. There is still much paperwork to be done back at the office."

"I can take care of that Mr. Scrooge." Bob turned to face Isabel, "You should probably escort Mrs. Rothschild back to her abode. It is getting rather late and Elizabeth and I will finish clearing up here."

The knowing glint in his business partner's eyes did not go unnoticed by Scrooge and he gave a small frown at the mere notion. But despite it all, he couldn't help but oblige.

Scrooge turned to Isabel, his eyes filled with so much warmth and love that she felt she could cry at any moment.

"Shall we?"

Now she couldn't help but oblige.

#2022 scrooge #scrooge: a christmas carol #scrooge a christmas carol #ebenezer scrooge #isabel fezziwig #isabel/scrooge #ghost of christmas present #bob cratchit

4 notes · View notes

dhampiravidi · 10 months

Note

[PINNED]: sender pins receiver against a wall (For Oraia~)

Her lovely had called asking to see her within the next few days, sounding frustrated. Of course, Oraia had her assistant (who knew about Oraia Levantinis and Artemisia Stavros) clear her schedule. She didn't have any supernatural matters to resolve, anyway, so it was no problem.

She expected Anna Marie to want their usual weekend, which consisted of some fairly passive activity (suntanning on a mostly empty beach, sightseeing somewhere where flowers thrived, taking some horses down a trail, etc.), followed by a meal and several rounds of passionate, loud sex that didn't end until both women were sweaty and panting. Being the person she was, Oraia always treated her love to a quiet shower or a scented bath afterward. But she had a feeling that Rogue wanted something different. The goddess texted the heroine with her alternative, and smiled as she received an address as confirmation.

They had Avengers West's official gym all to themselves, thanks to Anna Marie's connections. Oraia didn't exercise often, beyond frequent swimming, and the running and fighting she did when trying to do her part to save the world. Weightlifting was...well, it wasn't something she was amazing at, to say the least. Anna had to keep correcting her form. But Oraia never stopped smiling, liking the little touches and encouragement she received. She especially liked when she stuck her ass out and had her girlfriend check to see "if it was engaged enough". Then...she got into trouble.

It was a date, and Oraia was who she was, so after a while of her date not talking (beyond giving exercise tips), the curious woman began to prod--literally. She smacked the other woman's tight ass whenever she got the chance, and stole her weights, saying she could lift Oraia and the weights if she really wanted a workout. Basically, she riled Anna Marie up until she was frowning, and then she innocently asked her to spar.

Initially, the superhero pulled her punches. She was used to doing so, given how strong she was. Well apparently, she'd forgotten how strong her opponent was, and how they'd shoved each other around that other time. Oraia trapped her in a hold for the fourth, and Anna Marie was practically spitting venom. She was quickly released.

"You don't have to be anyone else for me. Come on," Oraia said, getting into a fighting stance. The moment she nodded, Anna Marie grazed her chin with a punch and then tackled Oraia, hands around her waist. They flew back, all the way into the magically-reinforced walls with a sound THUD. It wasn't often that someone hit her hard enough to actually daze her. She tried to get up and found herself pinned to the wall by her shoulders (and, well, strong hands).

"Ah got you," Anna hissed, green eyes flashing with a determination and fury that Oraia had never seen before. But then those eyes softened, and the X-Woman faltered, hands falling. She'd seen the pain in her lover's face. "Ah-Ah'm real sorry--Oraia, Ah didn't mean t'hurt ya, not really--"

"Shh, sunflower. Nothing some nectar won't fix, if I even need it. I was hoping I'd see this side of you, actually."

"...why? If ya were any weaker, Ah coulda'--"

"But I'm not." Oraia smiled, holding Anna's pretty pouting face in her hands. "I told you to give me all you had. You sounded stressed out earlier, so I thought you needed to hit something. Better me than a fragile little punching bag. And I enjoyed seeing you flexing, and lifting, and ogling--"

"Ha, ha." But she was smiling. She casually rested one hand on Oraia's hip, and slipped the other into the woman's panties. "Guessin' this is a lil more 'n sweat, hm?" Anna smirked as she began to slowly work her fingers back and forth, earning a breathy chuckle in response.

"How indestructible are the showers?"

#oraia: thread #oof #thanks for the ask!#abrushwithdeath #oh gosh I'm horrible haha #every time it's them I write some kind of foreplay or smut

0 notes

dreamescapeswriting · 4 years

Text

Unspoken Challenge ~ Bang Chan [M]

WORD COUNT: 4.2K

GENRE: Smut, fluffy, nerdy/dom chan

PAIRING: Nerd Bang Chan x Reader

WARNING: Light choking, squirting, Chan dom...I think that’s it

A pen was tapping over and over again on the desk behind you and it was starting to stress you out. The class was already hard enough you didn't need some moron making it worse, you took in a deep breath trying to push down the urge to smack whoever it was behind you. They'd done nothing but tap the pen onto the desk as if they were anxiously waiting for something to happen. As time passed the pen tapper got faster until you finally snapped, turning around and slamming your hands onto the desk making the pen tapping stop.

"Do you have any idea how god damn annoying you are?!" The boy behind you smirked as you snapped at him, he'd been doing it to wind you. Felix was the University player and liked it whenever girls talked back to him, it gave him a reason to shamelessly flirt with them.

"The dog bites, I like it." You rolled your eyes at the boy who had a giant smirk on his face. Lee Felix, he was one of the popular students at your university and you hated him and his group of friends. They did nothing but wind you and another student up - Christopher Bang - claiming that you were both cheating on tests or they would come up with some kind of nasty rumour about you both this week alone it was that you'd slept with the entire football team. It wound you up that they were always so cruel to Chan when he was nothing but sweet to everyone he met, it didn't bother you so much when they were mean to you but when they were mean to Chan it pissed you off.

"What's up princess? Chan cant get it up and satisfy you in bed?" A bunch of snickers followed the comment he made but you just rolled your eyes again, turning to face the front of as you started waiting for time to pass. 'princess' was Chan's nickname for you, no one else's and it irked you that someone else had the audacity to use it on you. All you had to do was make it through this one lesson and everything would be fine, you could go and find Chan, Minho and Seungmin and go for lunch. The only thing getting you through this lesson was the thought of lunch with your boyfriend and two close friends.

"We all know what you're after, a good dicking but you're not going to get it from Chan," Felix whispered in your ear as he leant forward to you. He noticed you watching the clock above the teachers head and chuckled softly,

"You can come to me anytime, I'll show you how a real man should fuck you..." Hearing his words you drowned out his voice thinking about the first time that you and Chan had been together...How he was nothing like you thought he would be. See, everyone had Chan pegged to be the super quiet, shy and nerdy type...Which he was but once you got him into the bedroom it was as if an alter ego took over. You called him Christopher since Chan hated whenever someone would call him by his long name.

"Running late?" Minho smirked as you began sprinting towards the student library as you ignored him but he just ran alongside you, teasing you repeatedly as you rushed to get to the door.

"Minho, fuck off. If I'm late again Chan will kill me." You mumbled as you slowed down to a walk outside the door, pushing the double doors open to see Chan had already packed up his things.

"Chan I was caught up at work-"

"Whatever, you clearly don't want to get through the class. I'm not wasting my time with you." You hated that he was blowing you off, you'd been trapped at a late shift so you couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't as though you had Chan's number so you could let him know what was going on. He was so private he wouldn't give you his mobile number or where his dorm was, you'd tried to get it from him but he wouldn't tell you.

"Chan I need to pass this class, work kept me behind and made me do a later shift...I want to pass this class please-" You were following him out of the library as he walked away from you, keeping his head down as he tried to ignore the fact that you were there. You weren't going to let him get away with ditching you, not when you really needed this from him. There was no one else you could go to. No one was as smart as Chan and he knew that.

"It's Friday night, just go out and drink...Whatever it is you do on a Friday." He mumbled to you, stopping himself from walking when you stood in front of him. This was the first time he looked at you properly today, you weren't in your normal attire. Normally you'd be in jeans and a low cut top but today you were in a diner dress and some tennis shoes. The nametag on your dress being the giveaway that it was your work attire.

"We can do this Monday, I have plans tonight." He mumbled moving away from you but all he could think about was the dress you were wearing and the way you looked in the dress. He wasn't an idiot, he knew you were good looking but he also knew you were out of his league so he was never going to do anything. That didn't stop his mind from wandering about things though, the things he would do to you if you were his and he could have his way with you. Punishing you for being late to an important study session, punishing you for the way you wore low cut tops and bent over in front of him. Sometimes he thought you only did those things just to tease him.

Minho chuckled at you as you watched Chan walking away, his leg was kicked up on the wall behind him as he laughed at you.

"You're not going to drop this are you?" You shook your head at his question and demanded Chan's dorm room number. You knew they were living in the same dorm building and he had to know where Chan was. There was no way you were going to not study, Chan was the smartest kids in the university and not to mention in your course. He was your only hope of passing the test on Tuesday.

The door swung open but Chan didn't seem too happy to see you standing there. The smile on his face dropped and he rolled his eyes, he thought you were the pizza he'd ordered himself. His ''plans'' for Friday night were to sit alone watching the new Anime that had come out with a pizza.

"I told you we could study Monday-" He went to shut the door but you pushed your foot in front of it stopping him from doing so if you were anybody else he would have continued to shut the door.

"Chan, the test is Tuesday. Please. I'm hopeless without your help." He nodded at you not disagreeing that you were hopeless in it and not being able to resist the puppy dog look in your eyes so let you into his dorm room.

"You get one hour, any more than that I'll charge you." You excitedly threw your arms around him, jumping up and down as you thanked him over and over again but his mind was racing. You were still in the diner outfit that made his mind wander over everything, he could feel your chest pressed against him that made him bite his lip.

"Y-Yeah, come on in." He stuttered out, pushing his thick black glasses onto his face as he shut the door behind you.

"What exactly is the part you're struggling on?" He questioned as he walked you into the living area of his apartment, sitting you down and sitting beside you with his own books.

"If I say all of it will you kill me..." He raised his eyebrows at you and shook his head, he had no idea how you could have been struggling with any of it. He was helping the tutor grade papers and all of yours were on par with his. You were smart to say you were one of the popular girls in the University,

"I've been behind because of work, I haven't had time to get as much studying as I would like done." He nodded along with you and then he started questioning you on small bits from the classes that week. Wanting to know what you did and didn't know so he could come up with a studying style that would be best for you.

Later that night you woke up to a blanket being laid over you, you flinched looking up to see Chan standing there. He'd been grilling you for most of the night with questions and when his pizza finally arrived he shared it with you. Choosing to help you rather than throwing you to the curb like he said he was going to do,

"You fell asleep, you looked peaceful so I was going to just-" You shook your head, telling him that he didn't have to explain himself to you.

"C-Can I come over during the weekend? I don't have a shift so I can study for longer. Unless you have plans?" You suggested, getting up from the sofa and hunting around for your bag, the only plans he had would be the anime and he liked the idea of helping you far more than that.

"I don't have plans...You can come tomorrow." He whispered as he began walking you to the door, checking outside of the door to make sure the male tutor wasn't around and you wouldn't get scolded for being in the boy's dorm. The one rule on campus, no girls in the boy's dorms, no boys in the girl's dorms.

"Thanks for this Chan, I owe you one." Without even thinking, you stood up on your tiptoes to give him a small kiss on the cheeks. His ears began to turn a bright red colour making you giggle as you quietly snuck out of his room and headed home, looking forward to the weekend of studying with him. Chan's hand slowly raised to his cheek as he touched where your lips had been, he groaned to himself ignoring the tent that was starting to pitch in his jeans. It was just a stupid kiss yet his mind kept wandering back to the butterflies he'd been feeling.

The next night you were sitting together after studying all day, it felt as though you were in class rather than studying. Chan had different tests laid out for you, flashcards and study folders all laid out for you to work from.

"I could rip my eyeballs out, how do you get all of this done." You yawned at him, it seemed as though he just glanced at a page and the information would instantly be implanted into his brain.

"You're like one of those Aliens, aren't you? You absorb information with one glance!" The fake gasp that came from you made Chan laugh which sent butterflies to your stomach, you'd not heard him laugh like that before. The smile on his face was enough to make your whole body feel like you were floating, he looked so cute when he smiled like that. A small dimple on his cheek and the way his eyes scrunched together,

"You have a really pretty smile," You whispered before you even realised you were talking aloud, a giant blush spread along Chan's freckled cheeks and his ears turned a brighter red than before.

"I'm sorry cutie, I didn't mean to embarrass you." You squeezed his cheeks playfully but his hand gripped onto your wrist to stop you from babying him like you were,

"Don't treat me like I'm a baby, I'm not." He growled at you, you were taken back a little not expecting this side to come from him it and interested you a lot.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just playing...You are cute though Chan." Your comment was only met by another growl and he moved away from you muttering something under his breath that you didn't hear.

"Chan?" You went to reach for him to apologise but he grabbed your wrists again, pinning you to the sofa below him. You squirmed under his grasp looking up into his dark eyes as he stared down at you,

"I'm not some cute little nerd," You let out a small whimper as you looked up at him. A pool went down to your core at the way he looked at you, his eyes had darkened over and it wasn't the nerdy Chan you knew. You squirmed once again under his grasp.

"Squirming so much and I haven't even touched you," He smirked and you could have sworn the nerdy Chan you knew was gone and replaced with whoever this was now.

"You're so pretty when you're scared...Maybe I should fuck you dumb huh? Then maybe we can fill the brain with the study material...Stop you watching your phone every four seconds." He'd caught you reading through something on your phone that wasn't the work he was setting you and he didn't care what it was he just didn't want you to waste his or your time. This side of him made you excited but you also wanted to tease him for it see what else he was hiding under the nerdy persona he was exhibiting,

"I bet you'd cum as soon as you put it in me," You challenged, looking him in the eyes as you bucked you hips up to meet his. He licked his lips watching you as he nodded along with what you were saying, not agreeing with you but accepting the unspoken challenge.

"Is that a bet?" You nodded your head at him and he smirked, throwing his glasses down onto the coffee table where your books were left unattended now.

"If I win, you study all weekend and you owe me a favour." He told you as he let go of your wrists completely watching to see what you do.

"And if I win, which I will...What do I get?" He shrugged his shoulders,

"Whatever you want, but trust me, kitten-" He bent down to whisper in your ear this time,

"You're not going to win." His voice sent shivers down your spine and you bit down on your tongue as you watched him closely, wanting nothing more than to make out with him on the spot.

"What makes you so sure? You're just a nerd-" You stopped talking as soon as he pulled the hoodie off from his body revealing a pack of abs you never would have guessed were under there.

"Concentrate darling, anyone would think you have a thing for the nerd." He growled grabbing you by your neck and standing you up as he carefully walked you towards the bedroom. He hadn't even touched you and you could feel how wet you were, practically leaking through your panties.

"Strip," He ordered as he slammed his bedroom door shut, sitting on the edge of his bed as he watched you closely. You smirked at him, slowly undoing the zip of your black jacket before revealing a black lowcut top you'd worn a couple of times before. He kept his eyes on you, giving no inclination as to what he was feeling or thinking as you stripped.

"Slowly," He whispered getting down onto the floor in front of you as you got to nothing but your panties. You hissed as he slapped your thighs and you slowly began to lower your panties.

"So fucking wet for the nerd." He chuckled as he watched the way your arousal stuck to your panties before he threw you down onto the bed. Kissing you roughly as he let his tongue explore your mouth you wrapped your arms around his neck as you relaxed into the kiss. Feeling sparks fly out of your body the moment he kissed you. The kiss intensified and he smirked, dragging you to the edge so you were displayed out for him, he ran his hand over your thighs.

"Spread them," You did as he said and looked at him as he watched you closely.

"Do you want me to touch you?" You nodded desperately, hopeless for some kind of touch from him.

"Where do you want me to touch you? Use your words," You wanted to scream at him just to touch you but you didn't, you stayed quiet as you looked at him.

"H-Here," You whispered running your own finger over your clit but he slapped it away before slowly rubbing his thumb over your clit. You bit your lip, holding back the moans that were trying to escape from you,

"Don't hide the moans, let everyone know who's making you feel good." He ordered you as he thumb continued to rub your clit in circles vigorously. You moaned out, rolling your head back against the mattress as you enjoyed his touches. Pathetic and high pitched whimpers leaving your lips whenever he would change the direction of his rubbing,

"Feel good baby? Is the nerd making you feel good?" He questioned in a condescending tone that only made you more attracted to him. When you didn't answer him he wrapped his other hand around your neck, applying a small amount of pressure making you choke out a moan.

"Answer me."

"Yes! F-Feels so fucking good!" You cried out only to be met with a slap against your clit making you cry out again, he let go of your neck and pushed two fingers into you.

"So tight princess, have you not fucked someone in a while?" He questioned as he began to rock his fingers in and out of you, using his other thumb on your clit again.

"N-No...N-Not s-since last year." You whimpered not knowing why you were telling him you hadn't been laid in a while.

"Maybe that's why you're always so pent up...Just need a good fucking," You nodded at him as you desperately began to plea for him to let you cum. He only rubbed your clit faster and smirked up at you,

"Can I cum? Please?" He chuckled darkly as you begged for him to let you cum, you were dripping down onto the sheets each time he pulled his fingers out of your cunt.

"Want you to ride my thigh first." You were shocked at his words but without hesitation, you pushed him to sit down on the bed and you straddled his thigh. Moaning out as the thick fabric came into contact with your bare core.

"F-Fuck." You whimpered as you began to slowly move your hips on his thigh. Rocking back and forth as he put a finger on your clit making you cry out.

The friction was getting too much for you and you were crying out his name. Your head laid on his shoulder as you rode his thigh.

"You can cum now, like a good girl." He whispered, and just like that you did.

"Chan!" Your hands dug into his arm as you continued to ride his thigh. Cumming onto the fabric of his jeans before he pushed you down onto the bed again, your legs were shaking as you begged for him to fuck you instead of teasing you.

"I-I get it, I shouldn't have said what I said...Y-You win." You whispered as he began to unbuckle the belt on his jeans.

"You're still so wet princess, and look at the mess you made." You glanced at his trousers and felt the heat rush up your body in embarrassment.

"I want you to make a mess like that on my cock, can you do that baby girl?" You nodded at him,

"Y-Yes Chan," He smirked at how easily you'd turned into a begging and whimpering mess for him.

"Stand up," You did as he said and he walked over to you, chuckling as you struggled to keep your balance. As he kicked off his boxers you sank down on your knees to get a good look at him. He was huge, larger than you had been expecting and it made your mouth water. You wanted to taste him, you needed his cum but before you could even put your lips on him he shook his head at you. At first, he was going to let you but after seeing how excited you had been to do it he stopped himself wanting to prove you wrong.

"Lay down and spread your legs." You did as he sat and he smirked watching you.

"Good girl, so wet for me as well." He chuckled as he began aligning himself at your entrance before sinking into you. You moaned out as he stretched you out, your walls clenching around him as he grunted.

"So fucking tight," You mewled out in response to him and he chuckled moaning when he began to push in and out of you. His hands gripped onto your hips as he began to thrust in and out of you, moaning our your name.

"Feels so good," You moaned out as you felt his cock moving in and out of you. Your walls gripping around him as if he belonged inside of you.

"Shit Chan," You whimpered as he continued to move inside of you, his hips slamming into you as you felt your next orgasm approaching, you squirmed underneath him. Digging your feet into his ass to make him hit deeper,

"So good!" You screamed out, dragging your nails down his back as he continued to push into you, the feeling making your head spin as it felt as though you were floating. The wet sounds filled the air with the sound of slapping skin and moans, both yours and Chan's as he continued fucking into you.

"I can feel you getting closer, do you want to cum?" He questioned, reaching down as he began rubbing your clit. You cried out at the touch and he chuckled darkly, slapping into you harder you rolled your head back in ecstasy.

"Cum." He commanded you and you did. Screaming out his name as you rolled your head back, gripping onto the sheets around you as you came harder than you ever had done before. You whimpered feeling your orgasm keep ripping through you as you clenched and twitched around him, an unfamiliar wetness came from you as you squirted around him moaning out loudly as it did.

"S-Shit! W-What-" You didn't have time to question what it was as Chan began to pump into you. Grunting loudly as he came into you hard, filling you up so much you came around him again at the feeling.

"F-Fuck." You cried out as you came down from your high, panting heavily as he pulled out of you and laid down beside you on the bed.

"Whoa." You whispered as you turned on your side to look at him, the blushing shy Chan was back and you giggled softly.

"Where did he come from?" You questioned, running your finger up and down his chest and abs as you waited for him to answer,

"Where did who come from?" He frowned looking at you as he wrapped a blanket over your body, not wanting you to get sick or catch a cold.

"Christopher." You winked at him and he chuckled shyly, shaking his head at you.

"I hope it wasn't the last time he comes out to play...I-I enjoyed that." The same smirk was back on his lips once he heard your words,

"Well if you study and pass your test maybe he'll come out to play again." He winked at you as you leant forward to give him a small kiss on the lips.

The bell rang waking you up from your daydream, you practically jumped out of your seat to get out of the classroom but Felix was faster. He raced up behind you and grabbed your elbow so you would turn to face him,

"Come home with the big boys," He whispered to you, trying to be as seductive as possible but all he was doing was coming across as a cock.

"No thanks, my boyfriend is waiting for me." You turned around to see Chan standing against the wall, he was wearing an oversized blue sweater you'd gotten him and the new pair of thick square glasses.

"Hi!" You yelled out, snatching your arm away from Felix as you walked over to Chan,

"Why was Felix holding onto you?" He questioned, wrapping his arms around you protectively as he eyed up Felix,

"He was just being an idiot. Telling me how he could fuck me how a real man should," Chan scoffed at the comment and looked at Felix.

"Trust me, the way she screams my name at night I'm surprised you haven't heard." He smirked at Felix turning you around and walking away from the boys who were all watching after you as you giggled to Chan about what you both had planned for that night.

Tagline: @taestannie @kneel-begyourpardon @channiewoo @minholuvs @lkwonmj

2K notes · View notes