#and this one was the absolute right one to join

[girl-lostconnection]

Acceleration AU (part 3) 4.5k

Warnings: Plus size!fem!Reader, Soap x Simon, Simon x Reader, Reader x Soap, Reader is mad as fuck, unhealthy coping mechanisms, unhealthy attachment, possessive behaviour, suggestive themes, insecurities, Reader slutshames herself a little, touchy Simon

You don’t know what the fuck are you doing out in this bloody pub, nursing your fruity cocktail and trying to pull your skirt lower.

It’s dim-lighted here, entirely too warm and crowded for your comfort. But the stubborn pride, the aching pit in your stomach don’t let you get up and leave like you usually would.

No, you aren’t leaving until you get what you came for.

Simon’s words are still ringing in your ears, Simon’s voice digs a hole inside of you the size of a fucking coffin. You feel like lying down in this hole and burying yourself down there.

But it’s not fair. It isn’t fucking fair and you refuse to wallow in your own misery just because you are getting your heart broken. Just because the man you spent your whole life with found himself a relationship.

(Doesn’t matter if you weren’t exactly in a relationship with him. Doesn’t matter that you never talked who you are to each other. Doesn’t fucking matter)

There is a scratch on the inside of your skull and the scratch suspiciously feels the same way worried eyes of Johnny “Soap” MacTavish feel when you almost throw a bloody mug of tea in Simon’s face.

When you got so mad you felt like screaming and raging, like moving away and changing your name and never saying another bloody thing in your entire life. Joining a covenant maybe.

[ “You could’ve said that you want me here for Christmas.”, - Simon is one heavy silence in a trenchcoat, arms crossed over the chest, lips thin line of a frown.

You know he hates this conversation. You know he hates fighting.

You need to do it anyway.

“You could’ve asked. You know it’s important. You know what it means and how much it matters.”, you are upset beyond anything, Soap’s tense shoulders just adding to the heat of the moment.

Because it’s not his bloody fault, because Simon is a grown man who should’ve known better than to throw a bone your way.

Not when he knows you snarl at things like that.

“I’m a grown man, luv. I don’t need your bloody permission to go somewhere, you are not my mum”, Simon snaps, eyes heavy. You know he’s becoming defensive now, that Soap looking uncomfortable as hell just agitates him further. That you being this upset drives him up the wall.

“Thank fuck”, you spit out and leave, ignoring his heavy steps right behind you, ignoring the way he tries to stop you, ignoring the “luv, please, it’s getting dark already”.

Because Simon cares, of course he fucking cares, you know that and you know him.

But the ugly roaring in your head chants “hate you-hate you-hate you” and you slam the door on your way out.

Doesn’t make you feel any better.]

There is a hole inside of you the size of a coffin and you intend to fill it today.

Because you are not a bloody placeholder. You deserve love. You deserve attention.

You deserve consideration and care.

But you’ve also been so lonely and god knows you want to feel wanted. Even if just for tonight. Even if it’s a little bit and not exactly what you crave.

Can’t get everything you want, right?

So you let the stranger kiss you, his smile grazing your skin, his hands on the small of your back and he’s very bloody respectful all things considered.

And in any other circumstances you would appreciate it.

But you are not looking for a date. You are looking for…what are you even looking for? Absolution? An answer? Warm body next to yours?

You don’t know so you just press yourself tighter into the man, soft sound escaping your throat when he murmurs something — your head swimming from heat and taste of sugar on his lips. It’s intoxicating.

It numbs the ache in your chest, it warms up the ugly slick parts of you that throb for entirely different hands and eyes.

Stranger’s name is nice but simple, something along the lines of Gary or maybe Harry (you didn’t listen and now are forced to just call him “hon”), his eyes are impossibly green, his smiles wide enough to remind you Soap.

You don’t know why he reminds you Soap. Because John MacTavish is broader, shoulders wider and arms meatier — honed bulk of muscles stretching his fatigues taut.

John MacTavish has tiniest freckles in the world, has small white strip of scar crossing his right eyebrow and has absolutely sinful lips.

You get why Simon is mad about him.

You take a breath, sound a little shakier than intended, but your newfound date takes it as the compliment, rumbling in your collarbones that you are “so gorgeous. Prettiest bird I saw”.

You squeeze your eyes shut, pulling the man closer, hands wrapping around his shoulders, your back pressed into the wall behind you.

Why do you even think of Soap in this situation?

The guy presses kisses to your neck, nips at the soft skin, groans “right beauty, doll, can’t get enough of ya” and you decide that if you can’t think of anything other than bloody Soap, you aren’t gonna think at all.

You are gonna let the bloke, whose bloody name you can’t remember for the life of you, touch you more, you are gonna lead his palm between your thighs, you are gonna let him rub the wet heat of you.

Hungry gnawing creature in you getting greedier with each touch, gripping on stranger’s wrist, throwing her head back, doing things she shouldn’t.

But you’ve been doing everything you should all this time and it had been getting you absolutely nowhere.

So you let the guy get you off, his teeth grazing your throat, his fingers sending shivers down your spine, your core molten hot and in the moment you feel so good.

You feel on top of the world, smiling like that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Smiling like you know how pretty you are.

The guy (god, now you will remember him as “The guy” only, there’s no way you are gonna remember his name. No matter how good his fingers are) kisses your neck and jaw, murmurs sweet nothings.

And for a few blissful moments you are high on pleasure, pliant from his warmth and soft in your satisfaction.

For a few moments you feel whole.

Then it all comes crashing down.

Because the high never lasts long enough, because there’s not a bloke in this pub that can sate the creature in your chest.

You feel so sick you want to crawl out of your own skin, you want to run, you want to hide and scratch your make up off and scratch this fucking dress off.

The guy (god bless the bloke) carefully tucks you in a cab, kisses your forehead and murmurs “don’t need to cry, doll, it’s okay. Call me tomorrow if you’d like, yeah? I’d love to take ya out” and leaves his number in the pocket of your coat.

He pays for your cab and doesn’t try to leave with you.

For some reason his kindness makes you feel even worse.

Because it’s not fair. Not to him, nor to you. Because you were out to be stupid and to have fun and to get yourself off. And you did it, crossed out all bulletpoints off your bucket list.

Why doesn’t it get much better?

You get home at the wee hours of the morning, floorboards creaking under your weight as you kick your heels off and then the light switch clicks on.

You freeze like a deer in the headlights, looking at Simon who looks less than impressed.

Simon in sweatpants and a sweater you were wearing this morning.

Simon with heavy tension in his shoulders that you know will ache like hell in the morning, tension pain climbing up to his neck.

But he used up all your patience and you are not in the mood for reprimand, you are a grown woman, you can deal with your own shit.

You can do it without him.

Simon’s eyes linger on your neck, muscle in his jaw twitching. He doesn’t say anything. He just looks at you, something swelling in his eyes with the force of incoming tsunami. Tectonic plates shifting, oceans boiling, something big roaring to the surface.

But fuck him. Fuck him and his moods and his blond lashes and his pretty fucking boyfriend.

Fuck them both.

“Don’t.”, you spit out with such rage it surprises both of you, hiss so wounded it’s a miracle you aren’t crying.

It makes Simon snap out of whatever he’s been conjuring in his head, mouth opening again but this time his lips twist into a frown.

“Luv, wha’- did someone hurt ya?”, there is a shift in his demeanour, his whole body tilting closer to you. There is a familiar twitch to his fingers, a heavy tension rolling under his skin, squaring his shoulders — his whole body curling to wrap around you. “Luv, look at me. Come o’, sweet’eart.”

But no. No, you can’t do this today. Not right now.

Too much kindness and you will crack open like faulty glass with cracks all over it, everything pouring out of you.

“I said — don’t”, you snap, hanging your coat, your eyes stinging, the heavy hover of your brows (same one you subconsciously mimicked off Simon’s).

Simon opens his mouth to say something but you send him a glare so scalding he does a rare thing.

He closes it back and steps aside, letting you through. He doesn’t say anything anymore but there is a heavy weight of his gaze between your shoulder blades. It follows you when you pad into the bedroom to get your pyjamas and then into the bathroom.

Bathtub fills with hot water slowly but it gives you time to think. Shame finally flooding your system, your mind catching up to pleasures your body partook in and Jesus fucking Christ, what were you thinking?

Letting a stranger just touch you like that? Letting someone who’s not Simon be this close to you, this intimate with you, this soft with you.

Letting someone see you as this vulnerable wreck of a social butterfly — spreading your wings one moment and sobbing the next one. Fucking hell, the Guy must be thinking you a right nutcase right now.

There is embarrassment and strange kind of guilt curdling in your throat, your fingers twitching to finally wash the night away, to slide under the water surface and lie in the bathtub until you feel like a person again. Until you don’t feel this ashamed about something not shameful at all.

A quick glance in the mirror does absolutely nothing to soothe the restless creature in your chest because holy fuck. That’s why Simon was staring.

You look like a bloody mess!

Your neck is littered with hickeys all the way down to your cleavage, purplish marks covering your skin. It does look like someone tried to either devour you or kill you. Maybe both.

Fucking hell. Fucking fucking hell.

You wash for what feels like forever, angrily scratching off the make up, too rough and too quick, your eyes stinging, your skin too tight and too hot, your chest gurgling with wet shuddering breaths.

You don’t feel better. If anything you feel worse.

There’s a small dread-filled expectation that Simon is standing his guard right outside the bathroom door, that you will need to speak to him in a sorry state you are in.

But he isn’t there.

Soap is.

Not even right behind the door — he is in the living room, right across from you, his head snapping up when you finally emerge.

He’s wearing Simon’s T-shirt and you don’t want to let it get to you but it’s been a long night and fuck, do you feel like crying right now.

But it’s a different thing that gets you.

Johnny is standing with a handful of blankets, right next to couch that has been properly made to sleep on it, pillows and stuffed toy laying on there.

There’s a steaming mug on the coffee table. There’s a chocolate bar and a plate of pills. If you had to guess, probably painkillers.

It makes your chest clench and if this bloody Scotsman says a single fucking thing you will throw something in his head.

You don’t need his pity. You don’t want his kindness.

But Johnny just steps aside letting you plop yourself on the couch and drapes a blanket over your shoulders. Johnny passes you the mug and sits next to you.

For some reason you let him.

For some reason you press your cheek into his shoulder and cry — ugly fat tears streaming down your face, his hand coming up to slowly carefully rub your hand. It’s strange.

It’s not like Simon’s engulfing embrace, it’s not the way guy from the pub hummed his sweet nothings. But it’s good. It’s comforting. It doesn’t make you feel like a total wreck.

Johnny sits with you, letting you cry it out, not making a sound. Like he knows that you need this moment for yourself. Like he knows that this is not about him. This is about you.

You sit like that long enough for your eyelids to start dropping lower involuntarily, your body getting heavier — tired from shame and aching, wrung with the events of the day.

That’s when Soap finally starts talking, calloused fingers rubbing small circles on your forearm.

“I’m sorry.”, he murmurs quietly before finally looking at you, face a little softer, eyes a little warmer. Like he gets it finally. “I didnae ken you had plans with Simon. For Christmas. I wouldnae asked him if he said something”

You give him a silent shrug of your shoulders which feels more of a twitch rather than conscious expression of your “it is what it is”.

You close your eyes, tucking your legs under the covers and letting Soap wrap you in a blankets.

His eyes linger on your neck for a moment before he looks at you again.

“Was everything…consensual?”, there is a worried heavy crease between his brows and it’s not funny but you still smile at him earning yourself an eye roll.

“Don’t laugh at me, lassie, I’m serious. Simon is driving himself up the foockin wall.”, he shakes his head and fond exasperation in his face makes something in your chest clench painfully. God it would have been better if he was mean to you.

“I’m out here because I reckoned you woulnae mind some company.”, he murmurs, cocooning you in your blanket like you are some kind of helpless creature and you have to smack his palm away to stop him from wrapping you any tighter.

“ ‘m fine. I’ll talk to Simon tomorrow”, you breath out, curling around the stuffed toy, too tired to smack Soap’s hand away when he strokes your head, warmth of his palm soothing dull throbbing pain under your skin.

This is nice. You shouldn’t get used to it.

“I’m sorry too”, you finally say, words slurring out, your eyelids getting heavier when you look up at Johnny and you aren’t sure what it is there in his face but he looks at you like he gets it. Like it’s okay to be a wreck. “I…yeah, it was consensual. Just- I’m not like that usually”, you don’t know why you try to justify yourself to him. You owe him no explanation.

But his eyes still soften when he hums, nodding, his thumb carefully massaging your temple.

“Ah ken. It’s okay. Sometimes we do things for ourselves. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Ahm just glad ye’r safe”, he chews on his lip before adding, laughter glimmering in his eyes. “And responsible. Even got yerself home in one piece. Ah was right bloody mess in similar circumstances, completely off my foockin’ trolley”

The notion does in fact make you feel a little less like shit and you chuckle, closing your eyes, slipping into dark welcoming nothing.

“Can’t imagine someone not wanting you. You are a beauty”, is the last thing that stumbles out of your mouth, before slumber swallows you.

Soap sits there for some time, palm still covering the side of your hand, eyes soft when you nuzzle into the pillow. You are the one to say that, hen.

He uncurls himself off the couch, finally pads back in the bedroom and crawls in bed — Simon’s hands coming up to pull him close immediately.

“Yer a bastard”, Soap murmurs, nose nuzzling in Ghost’s neck, eyes closing as he melts into warm embrace.

He doesn’t like the clench in his chest, he doesn’t like feeling out of place, he doesn’t like taking someone else’s place.

He doesn’t like making someone feel the way he was feeling. Not when he knows the desire to fill the emptiness inside with whatever works best.

“I know”, Simon’s voice is a low rumble, hands wrapping tighter around Soap’s body, keeping him closer. “Feelin’ like one too, sergeant”

“Good”, Soap hums and curls into Simon further. The bed under him smelling like you, the bed bearing your every trace, the bed a live reminder that somewhere along the way things got more complicated that they should have.

It’s only in the morning that Simon crawls out of the bed, hands wrapping Johnny tighter in the blanket — it’s cold in winter and the last thing he needs is for his sergeant to catch cold. He will probably need to crank up the heat higher, it’s freezing outside the warmth of covers.

It’s still early enough for all of you to sleep but you are very much awake when Simon pads out, awkwardly stilling in the doorway when his eyes meet yours. Look who’s now looking like a deer in the headlights.

“Mornin’.”, he rasps out, voice rough after sleep, hair a mess that curls at the ends. Like he has been tossing and turning all night.

You two haven’t talked save for the yesterday’s fight which had less than ideal results.

God, he hates fighting with you. Hates the tension, hates feeling out of place, hates not being able to melt into you like usually.

“Can I?”, he nods to the couch you are still plastered over and moves your legs out of the way when you give him a slow nod, your blanket-covered ankles now in his lap.

Sitting like that, on the edge of a bloody couch Simon looks like a sleep paralysis demon (a really attractive one, but you are sure you are biased).

The same way he’d sit on the edge of your bed after dumb teenage fights, after breaking your mug, after announcing he has enlisted — his palms massaging your feet absentmindedly.

Just to feel that you are still here.

Tangible, warm, real. His.

“How’d ya feel?”, there is no more fight in him, no more tomb-plate pressure on your shoulders to cave in and speak to him. No more restless energy — all of it drained out yesterday, was bitten out on his nails, splintering one in the process.

When you cut him off, sounding like you weren’t just mad at him. Like you were in pain. Like you were hurting.

Like he hurt you.

“It wasn’t fair”, he says, brown eyes meeting yours, thumb rubbing the roundness of your malleolus.

Simon doesn’t know how to just say that he’s sorry. That he shouldn’t have snapped like that. That he was wrong and he hurt you and he felt like absolute failure yesterday when you stumbled home.

Pretty as sin, glitter on your cheeks, somebody’s marks all over your neck.

Simon doesn’t know how to say that he almost lost it then and there, that he has never felt this mad, that he wanted to get out of the house and hunt down whoever dared to leave hickeys on you.

His fault, should have never let you out of sight, should have never let you leave upset, should have called and told you everything proper, should have been better. His fault, his fuck-up, his mistake.

And then you were misty-eyed and upset beyond anything he ever saw and his heart sank in his stomach, squeezing out white hot “minemineminemine”.

Because he won’t just hunt down if whoever kissed you all over took advantage of you. He’d kill them. He’d tear them limb from limb, he’d choke the life out of them.

Simon doesn’t know how to admit how scared he was that he pushed you away and you might have needed him and he wasn’t there.

Simon doesn’t know how to describe the sheer relief he felt, straining his ears to eavesdrop on your conversation with Johnny.

Simon doesn’t know how to say that he was wrong.

So he says the closest thing he can muster.

“You were right. To be upset with me”, he murmurs quietly, fingers curling around your ankles, palms warming you up. “I should’a waned you proper way. Should’a asked instead if Soap can come to celebrate with us”, he sighs, tilting his head from side to side — bones cracking and granting temporary relief from throbbing in his nape.

You sigh as well, the feel of his fingers on your legs so familiar it’s almost painful. The touch so tender you feel like snatching your legs back.

But god knows you are a weak weak woman.

You don’t. You let him touch you more, bolt of molten heat shooting up the underside of your knee when his knuckle presses on the centre of the sole of your foot.

“John is pretty”, you say suddenly, blurting it out to fill the silence. Because you know that Simon isn’t good with saying he’s sorry. And as much as you appreciate this sad attempt at apology, after everything that happened you aren’t entirely sure whether he’s sorry or just feeling guilty.

“He is very pretty.”, Simon nods stone-faced, softly squeezing your legs one last time before he moves you aside to work his way beside you. “You are very pretty too. Both of you are bloody beauties.”, he hums and you feel his faint grin pressing into your shoulder when he kisses it. “ ‘m surrounded by real dolls ‘round here.”

“You’re laughing at me”, you roll your eyes, smacking his hand when he repositions you to tuck under his side. Closer. So he can drape an arm over your stomach, pressing your back in his chest. “And don’t weasel your way on my couch, you big brute.”

“I’m laughing with ya, sweet’eart”, Simon murmurs finally stretching out behind you, grunting in satisfaction when your body slots into his like a well-oiled piece of puzzle. “Never at ya.”

Simon is a heavy warm presence, scarred fingers on your skin, callouses scraping ever so slightly.

Simon is a four-finger grip, stump of absent trigger finger a living reminder that he always comes back. No matter the cost.

He hums something in your hair, rocking you both in his embrace, his cheek pressed to the top of your head. Simon is warmth and safety, heavy silences and heavier gazes. Simon is everything.

And right now this big everything is purposefully lulling you back to sleep, realisation dawning on you only when he hums again — low vibration in his chest melting you into nothing.

“ ‘m not sleepy”, is a weak protest at best because he can feel with his whole body the way you melt when he tuts and presses a kiss to your forehead.

“Yes, you are, luv”, it’s not even a question, his hands wrapped around you securely, holding close to his chest. Close to him.

Sometimes Simon thinks that it would be nice to have six hands. Or at least four. Would’ve be enough to hold this tightly both you and Soap and never let go.

But he only has two hands and two of you and a challenge of getting you both safe and warm.

Soap pads out of the bedroom half an hour later, nothing on him but Simon’s T-shirt and boxers, one of your blankets draped over his shoulders when he sits down across from the couch.

Johnny has a calculating, sharp look in his eyes, has the heavy appraisal in his gaze, his voice low enough not to wake you up.

“What am I to you, sir?”, is a weird question maybe, considering he sleeps in Simon’s bed and wears Simon’s clothes and gets Simon’s kisses. But so do you. And he saw you yesterday when Simon decided he’s going to add someone to the equation you didn’t know you were even part of.

“Mine.”, Simon is calm, with you tucked under his side and his hand draped over you to keep you there and you close. There’s a heavy weight to his words, a heat that sends a shiver through Soap’s body because baby, it’s cold outside and god, does he want in.

Does he want to be needed and loved and cared for. Does he want the same attention you are getting, does he want the same focus you inwoke in Simon.

“Then what is she to you, L.T.?”, the question is carefully worded because Johnny needs to know for sure. Because he needs to know whether to pack his bags or stay by the door.

“Also mine.”, Simon hums, pad of his thumb grazing someone’s bite on your neck. His eyes are so dark Johnny feels heat climb up his face. Like he’s witnessing something he isn’t supposed to. “You both are mine. Not gonna change”

So it’s a final decision.

Johnny wonders how long ago lieutenant decided it. How long ago he saw Soap and decided to bring him home to the only other person he’s still considering family.

How long ago he looked at his bird and decided to introduce her to the only other person that makes him feel alive. That makes him feel warm. That makes him feel home.

Soap hums and crouches down in front of the couch, testing the waters but Ghost lets him, moving a little bit to uncurl himself from covering you. Letting Johnny get close. Trusting Johnny not to wake you up. Trusting Johnny with you.

Ghost is letting Johnny in.

Soap stays silent for a few very long moment, before nodding more to himself that to anyone else and presses a kiss to Simon’s lips. He nips hard enough to draw blood, licking it off before he stands up.

“Ahm gonna put the kettle on”, he rolls his shoulders and softly swipes away the remains of glitter you didn’t wash off yesterday from your cheek. Pretty girl, you have no idea what a man is lying beside you.

You have no idea that he’s never letting go.

You have no idea there are two of them now.

Ghost hums, satisfaction rolling off him in waves, satisfaction etched in him, satisfaction dripping out of every line of his face.

Maybe he won’t need four hands. Maybe Johnny can lend him his.

Maybe with time you will lend yours as well.

Taglist: @thestoriesiread @skeletonsucker @sirbonesly @blackhawkfanatic @rpgsandstuff @danielle143 @parasite--girl @un-aesthetic @vmaxis

[loafysainz]

the parent trap (remake) | CS 55

cast: carlos sainz x fem!reader

warn: 100% fiction & remake

next chap

Part 17 THE CHAOS CAMP

Carlos glanced at Meredith, who was pacing the living room like a cat on a hot tin roof. “And what exactly do you want me to do in these three days? Sit down and knit?” Meredith snapped, throwing her hands in the air. Her voice had that sharp edge, the one that Carlos had learned to handle with extreme caution.

“Honey, it’s a delicate matter,” Carlos said carefully, keeping his tone as calm as possible.

“Delicate?” Meredith repeated, her tone incredulous. “What do you mean by delicate? What kind of ‘delicate’ requires me to be here, looking like an absolute idiot?”

Before Carlos could respond, the sound of humming drifted in from the terrace. Both of them turned their heads in unison just as Y/N casually strolled inside, looking far too relaxed for the tension brewing in the room. Her hands were in her pockets, and she had that annoyingly charming smile on her face—the kind that made people trust her, even when they shouldn’t.

Meredith’s mouth fell open in sheer indignation as Y/N walked over, clearly unbothered by the chaos she’d just walked into. “Excuse me?” Meredith sputtered, turning to Carlos with a glare. “What is she doing here?”

Carlos sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s part of the deal, honey. We’re going camping. Together.”

Meredith froze for a second before bursting out, “Camping? What’s next—matching family sweaters? Are we all becoming one big happy family?”

Y/N raised an eyebrow at that, her expression unreadable but her smirk still firmly in place. “Hey, is something wrong?” she asked, his voice perfectly casual as she shifted his gaze between Carlos and Meredith.

“Yes, something’s wrong,” Meredith shot back, her voice rising an octave. “I wasn’t aware of this.. tradition. And for the record, I don’t agree with the idea.”

“Well, you’re right,” Y/N said, her tone suddenly more serious as she folded her arms. “Imagining the ex-sleeping with your own partner is not exactly a vacation dream.”

Carlos winced. He could tell Y/N was up to something—she always was—but he had no idea where this was going. “Y/N…” he warned, but Y/N just kept smiling, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

“I appreciate it,” Meredith interjected, her mood instantly lifting at Y/N apparent support. “Finally, someone with some sense around here.”

Y/N glanced at Meredith, her expression almost too kind. “Yes, and that’s why I’m asking you to come with us.” Her voice was sweet enough to rot teeth.

Meredith blinked, utterly thrown off. “Wait, what?”

Carlos had to bite back a laugh at Meredith’s face, which was a mix of shock and betrayal. “Y/N…” Carlos started, but his ex- held up a hand, silencing him with that practiced charm.

“Seriously, Carlos,” Y/N said smoothly. “I’ve already ruined your weekend, haven’t I? It would be rude of me not to join. Please, consider it my way of making up for everything.”

Meredith looked like she might faint, and Carlos wasn’t far behind. “That’s enough, Y/N,” Carlos said with a forced laugh, but it was too late. The plan was already in motion.

Meanwhile, Matheo and Mattia were busy packing their camping gear when they spotted Meredith, dressed in gym clothes, stepping out of the house with Carlos. The sight alone was enough to make them pause.

“What’s she doing here?” Matheo asked, his voice tinged with annoyance.

Carlos smiled as he loaded the car. “Your mom invited her,” he said casually, like it was no big deal. But judging by the looks on the boys’ faces, it was definitely a big deal.

Mattia tried to argue. “But—”

“No buts,” Carlos interrupted, gently but firmly. “I expect you to be polite. Got it?”

Matheo and Mattia shared a look, both equally disgusted by the idea. But they said nothing, choosing instead to stew in silence as they got into the car.

Well, most of them. Y/N remained planted on the driveway, looking far too smug for Carlos’ liking.

“Have fun!” Y/N called out cheerfully, waving them off like a benevolent queen sending her troops into battle.

Carlos frowned. “Y/N, what are you doing? I thought you were coming with us.”

Y/N’ grin widened. “Oh, I just thought it might be nice to get a little alone time before the big day,” she said innocently, her tone dripping with fake sweetness.

“But—” Carlos started, only to be interrupted by Mattia from the backseat. “Mom, that wasn’t the deal!”

“Relax, darling,” Y/N said, her voice honeyed and calm. “You’ll have so much more fun without me, trust me.”

Meredith looked visibly panicked. “If she’s not going, I don’t think I should—”

“No, no,” Y/N said quickly, her smile growing even brighter. “You’ll do great, darling. Besides, this is your chance to bond with the kids. In a few weeks, they’ll all be yours anyway.”

Meredith’s jaw tightened, but she said nothing, slipping on her sunglasses instead. Carlos gave Y/N one last exasperated look before climbing into the car and starting the engine.

From the rearview mirror, he could see his kids sulking, Meredith stewing, and Y/N waving cheerfully in the distance.

As the car pulled away, Chessy strolled up next to Y/N, sipping on an iced coffee. “I’d pay good money to see her try to survive out there,” Chessy said with a grin.

Y/N laughed, her gaze still on the disappearing car. “Oh, you won’t need to pay anything. Just wait.”

*****

The four of them made their way down the winding trail, with Carlos and Mattia leading the way, their strides confident and steady. Behind them, Matheo trailed slightly, keeping an eye on Meredith, who was practically dragging her feet while grumbling non-stop. Meredith’s complaints ranged from the incline of the path to the unfairness of life, her dramatic tone making the entire ordeal oddly hilarious to Matheo.

Carlos glanced over his shoulder and immediately noticed Meredith’s weary expression. He stopped in his tracks, raising his hand to signal a break. “Alright, let’s take a moment. Another break.”

Mattia groaned, turning to his father with an exaggerated eye roll. “What? At this rate, we’ll make it to the lake by winter.”

“Be wise, Meredith isn’t used to this,” Carlos replied patiently as he unscrewed his water bottle, taking a few steps closer to Meredith.

“I swear, I can’t move anymore,” Meredith panted dramatically, flopping onto a nearby rock. “I don’t get how people do this for fun.”

Matheo exchanged a look with Mattia, mischief flashing in his eyes. Quietly, he picked up a rock and tiptoed over to Meredith’s backpack. Mattia didn’t need any explanation—he smirked knowingly as Matheo began slipping the rock into Meredith’s bag.

“Hey, can you pass me my water bottle?” Meredith asked, oblivious to the antics happening behind her.

Matheo hurriedly zipped up the bag, grabbed the bottle, and handed it over. “Here you go, Meredith.” He bent down mid-motion, catching sight of a tiny lizard darting across the trail. A grin spread across his face as he gently scooped it up.

Meredith guzzled down her water, sighing in relief. Everything seemed to be fine… until she caught sight of the lizard perched casually on the rim of her bottle. Her scream echoed through the forest as she launched the bottle into the air.

Mattia and Matheo clamped their hands over their mouths, their laughter barely contained as Carlos rushed over, concern etched on his face. “What happened? Mer, are you okay?”

Matheo held up the lizard with a sheepish grin. “He just had a little surprise visitor, Dad.”

Carlos couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “Don’t worry, Honey. He’s harmless. He’s not going to hurt you.”

“Y-yeah, totally,” Meredith stammered, laughing nervously as she took a step back.

But before he could get too far, Matheo, ever the troublemaker, brought the lizard up close again, this time inches from Meredith’s face. “Look, Meredith, he likes you!”

Meredith shrieked and flailed, dodging backward. “Get that thing away from me! I hate crawling things!”

Carlos seeing his kids teasing Meredith, he ordered them to leave first, “You two go on ahead.”

“Alright, alright,” Matheo relented with a laugh, placing the lizard safely on a nearby rock. But not before whispering something to Mattia, who instantly grinned. Meredith had no idea what was coming next.

By the time they reached the campsite by the lake, Meredith was in full survival mode. The twins, however, were thriving—plotting and giggling as they watched their favorite victim struggle to carry her weighted-down backpack.

Dinner by the campfire didn’t offer much relief for Meredith. The freshly grilled trout was delicious, but after the fourth serving, her enthusiasm had waned. She poked at his plate with her fork, looking forlorn.

“Hey, mom, do you want more trout?” Matheo asked innocently, though the glint in his eyes betrayed his true intentions.

“How about you call me Meredith? I’m pretty sure Y/N would prefer it,” Meredith shot back, ignoring the new call. “And no, I don’t want more trout. What are we having for breakfast tomorrow?”

“Trout,” Carlos, Mattia, and Matheo answered in unison, their timing impeccable.

Meredith groaned, leaning back in her chair. “I don’t understand how anyone likes camping. It’s mosquitoes, trout, and near-death experiences.”

Carlos raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, sniffing the water bottle Meredith had been sipping from. He wrinkled his nose slightly. “Honey, this is sugar water. No wonder the mosquitoes love you. Who gave you this?”

Meredith glared daggers at the twins, who were suddenly very engrossed in their plates. “Enough, I will go to sleep, I will take my sleeping pills and sleeping peacefully.” she stood up, and smiled as she walked over to Carlos, her boyfriend. Without hesitation, she tilted Carlos’ chin up and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Carlos melted into it, a warm contrast to the cool night air.

Matheo and Mattia, sitting nearby with crossed arms and matching scowls, exchanged a look of shared irritation. Their dad was a goner, and they knew it.

Meredith pulled back with a smirk, glancing at the twins. “Good night,” she said, voice dripping with confidence.

Matheo rolled his eyes. Mattia crossed his arms tighter, but neither said a word. Carlos, ever the peacemaker, sighed and looked at his kids. “Kids, leave her alone. I’m not marrying her just because she’s pretty.”

“Then why are you marrying her?” Matheo asked, his tone sharp.

Carlos’ patience was thinning. “Go to sleep,” he said, finality lacing his words.

The twins didn’t respond, but their silence was louder than any protest. Carlos got up and disappeared into his tent.

Hours later, under the cover of darkness, The boy’s tent flap creaked open. Matheo scanned the area cautiously before signaling to Mattia. The two crept through the shadows with the kind of stealth only mischievous children could master.

“I hope the sleeping pills worked,” Matheo whispered as they reached Meredith’s tent.

The twins carefully unzipped the entrance. Inside, Meredith was sprawled out on her mattress, blissfully unaware of the chaos about to unfold.

With coordinated effort, they lifted the mattress, struggling only slightly under its weight. As they began to move it, Meredith murmured in his sleep, “Carlos…”

Mattia slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. “Damn…” he whispered.

After the momentary scare, they continued their plan, hauling the mattress out of the tent and down to the lake. With one final heave, they pushed it onto the water. The mattress floated gently, carrying its unsuspecting passenger into the middle of the lake.

Matheo smirked, watching their handiwork. “Good night, dear mommy,” he whispered before he and Mattia retreated into the shadows, their laughter barely contained.

Meredith stirred as the cool morning air brushed against her skin. She felt something soft on her neck, half-dreaming it was Carlos. “That feels nice,” she murmured. But as she opened her eyes, she found herself face-to-face with a bird perched on her shoulder.

“What the…?!” she shrieked, startling the bird, which flew off in a panic.

Meredith bolted upright, the realization hitting her like a wave—literally. She was floating in the middle of the lake.

“Carlos!” she screamed, her voice echoing through the forest.

Back on shore, Carlos woke with a start, groggily stepping out of his tent. The sight of Meredith, flailing on a mattress in the water, made him shock. “Oh… fuck…” he muttered. He watched helplessly as Meredith toppled into the water. Shit.

Carlos’ gaze shifted to his kids, who were now standing by their tent, looking suspiciously innocent.

By the time Meredith waded back to tent, she was soaked, furious, and dripping with lake water. She stomped past the campfire, kicking a still-hot kettle with impressive force.

Carlos stood there, arms crossed, unsure what to say. “Umm… what happens now?” he asked cautiously.

Meredith pointed a trembling finger at the twins. “This is what happens! When you and I get married, I’m sending those two brats straight to boarding school in Switzerland! Got it? Now choose. Is it me or them? You have two seconds.”

Carlos looked between Meredith and his children, his expression unreadable. Finally, he smiled. “I choose them.”

Meredith blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I said,” Carlos repeated, his voice firm, “I choose my children. Do you understand?”

Meredith’s jaw dropped. She looked ready to explode, but all that came out was an unintelligible noise of frustration.

Matheo and Mattia exchanged triumphant grins, their dad’s loyalty cemented in their favor.

Carlos watched as Meredith stormed off, muttering about ungrateful families and Swiss boarding schools. He sighed, shaking his head. His kids were a handful, but they were his handful, and nothing—not even Meredith Blake—could come between them.

prev chap

[cutielando]

jealousy who? | l.n.

synopsis: in which he can't help but feel jealous

a/n: based on this request! no mentions of the reader's body in this

my masterlist

The convention hall buzzed with excitement, filled to the brim with fans in elaborate costumes.

You had spent weeks perfecting your cosplay, every detail perfect and on point. The character’s outfit was a bit daring, a form-fitting bodysuit with cutouts and a thigh-high slit, but it was exactly that they wore.

You felt proud of your work and confident in your skin as you walked through the crowds, your chin help high and an excited smile on your face.

Lando tagged along, dressed casually but donning a hat low over his face to avoid being recognized.

He had insisted on coming to support you, though now he wasn’t so sure he could handle it. His jaw tightened every time he thought someone’s eyes lingered too long, and he struggled to mask the knot of jealousy growing in his chest.

A group of fans approached you, asking for pictures with you.

Lando hung back, his hands stuffed in his hoddie pockets as he watched you pose with the fans.

However, when a guy in a similar costly to yours joined in for the photo, Lando couldn’t ignore how the stranger’s gaze swept over you.

“That’s enough” he muttered under his breath, striding over to you.

When the mini photo session wrapped up, Lando gentle but firmly placed a hand on your back, guiding you away from the crowd.

His lips were pursed, and his usual playful demeanor was completely gone. He was furious on the inside.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, noticing his tense expression.

“Nothing” he replied quickly while shaking his head, but his tone did nothing to cover up his anger.

“Lando, spit it out” you stopped walking, crossing your arms as you turned to face him.

He let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his perfectly styled curls.

“It’s just, do they have to look at you like that? You’re mine, not theirs. I’m the only one who can look at you like that” he grumbled.

You blinked, surprise written all over your face. But slowly, a small smile started tugging at your lips as realization washed over you.

“Are you jealous?” you asked, a teasing tone added to your otherwise sweet voice.

His cheeks and ears suddenly blushed, his gaze now fixated on the floor.

“Maybe a little” he admitted. “You look amazing, absolutely stunning. But it’s hard watching people stare at you like that” he explained further.

Your eyes softened, and you took a step closer to him.

“Baby, I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but this is my passion. This is what I love, and I know it might seem cringey sometimes or hard, but part of it entails embodying the character, even if I have to wear some more revealing outfits” you explained, raising your hand to hold his cheek softly.

He hesitated, knowing that you were right. He loved that you had such a different hobby compared to his, that you had found something that you love and that represents to you.

But he didn’t like the troubles that it gave him.

“I know, I know. I just don’t want anyone to think they have a chance with you, that’s all” he explained, his eyes stuck on your face.

“They don’t, and you know that. I’m all yours, and no amount of staring is ever going to change that” you said, reassuring him that you were his and completely his.

His lips curved into a small smile, the tension in his shoulders starting to ease.

“You promise?” he asked, his voice small.

“I promise” you said before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss on his lips. “Now, do you want to walk with me or should I find you a matching costume so people know we’re together?” you asked, teasing him a little.

His smile returned to his face in an instant, the jealousy already long forgotten.

“I could rock a cape” he said.

You laughed, linking your arm with his as you slowly started walking around the convention hall again.

“We’ll see about that. For now, you can be my personal hype man”

“With pleasure. But I reserve the right to glare at anyone who stared at you too long, deal?” he replied, pulling you close to him.

“Deal”

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[leebrontide]

I ever tell y'all about the South African nun I used to work with?

She's the only nun I have ever personally known. No idea how good of an example she is. I'm guessing she's an outlier in many respects.

She had a masters in social work, and worked very hard at the addiction counseling center I used to work with. All her paycheck went to supporting the order. She was, indeed, a bit severe for my taste sometimes. I guess she followed the stereotype in that way.

But I was under the distinct impression she joined the order to help protect her from retribution for her anti-apartheid activism. Don't get me wrong, she was a big fan of Jesus, but she also used to sneak out of the convent when she was young to go clubbing. The met the Pope in jeans.

When I decided to be a good ally to deaf folks by being honest when I couldn't make out what someone was saying (lol. That was a learning experience) she was the first person to offer to tutor me in ASL. (First of 4. Turns out I'm kinda deaf.)

She was AGGRESSIVELY pro queer. Like if someone said something homophobic in her presence they were IN FOR IT.

And one time, she was called in for jury duty, and she was gone for over a month. Which, to be fucking honest, was a massive pain in the ass for the rest of us, who had to cover her work. At the end she came back, looking absolutely smug. Apparently they'd put her holy but on a jury looking to convict a young trans woman of something that, if you listened to anybody but the cops, she was obviously being framed for.

The prosecution pushed hard. Several jurors were willing to convict.

But this sweet, holy troll not only gave her entire paycheck from her work to the convent, her entire living came from her order. Which meant, out of the whole jury, she was the only one who could sit there in deliberation indefinitely without loosing a cent. And she sat her ass down and argued and protested and refused to budge until this girl was officially not guilty.

None of us were irritated for her being gone so long.

She didn't always know the right words, and she didn't understand everything, but she knew the main thing- take people at their word, and trust that they know their experiences and their selves better than you do. And she was always very kind about asking me questions that might irritate.

The final thing that won her my heart tho, actually came after I was fired from that job for, frankly, being disabled. Which you'd think would be illegal but since the manager had kindly offered me what looked like a good deal, to let me go contract instead of salary, for more flexible hours, they'd talked me into signing away many of my worker's protections. So, they could get away with it.

And this nun marched right into my boss's boss's office and blasted her with the full force of her catholic guilt beam. Or however that works. I don't know. I'm not Catholic. Boss-boss was reportedly in tears. As frankly she should be! Ableism in a therapy setting is a special level of evil. Common, but still evil.

I have no point, I was just thinking fondly of her this evening, and how sometimes your allies aren't where you expect them to be.

[ayrtonswnna]

⠀⠀⠀LITTLE PRINCESS 〃 george russell oneshot.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀↳ drop a request! ↳ check my masterlist!

⠀⠀⠀george russell x lianna hamilton (hamilton!female oc)

lianna goes on a skiing trip with her brother and his team crew. her historical bickering with george russell turns to something else. ↳ fluff/crack. 4.6k words.

warnings: making out (like... twice. but good provocative making out), author recently started to get some british english studies so it might have gotten a bit carried away, characters with a backstory, lewis hamilton older brother core™ , george being really good with words, spoiled and petty character.

"Imagine you're cold, your brand-new-expensive Moon Boots are wet, you've just lost your favorite Vivienne Westwood necklace, you can't drive to save your life, your hair’s frizzy from the weather, and your older brother keeps talking about how much of a blessing it is to enjoy nature. Life is tough! Too tough!"

Lianna didn’t think joining her brother on this skiing trip would be such a disaster. She imagined cute outfits, sipping hot chocolate by a roaring fire, and maybe getting a few aesthetic paparazzi snaps for good measure. Instead? Wet boots, freezing wind, and an actual uphill climb.

“Lianna, for God’s sake!” Lewis groaned, turning back to stomp a footprint into the snow. “Can you stop whining for five bloody minutes? It’s not the first necklace you lose- and no one forced you to come. And if you don’t stop, I’ll nick those Moon Boots myself, and you can do the rest of the walk barefoot.”

“Wow. Just wow. This is who you call an idol, people? I’d be embarrassed.” She huffed, adjusting her oversized backpack like the world’s most annoyed mountain climber. “Next time, we’re going to Ibiza. Or Mykonos. Somewhere civilised. I’ll start shopping for bikinis as soon as we’re back.”

“Next time,” a voice in the back muttered. “you’ll be in red with Charles Leclerc for company. Keep up, Little Princess.”

Before she could snap back, George Russell breezed past her like he was strolling through Hyde Park, not hiking up a snowy mountain.

“Feeling sad, Mr. Russell? Gonna miss me this much?”

Mutual pining at its finest; that was their thing. George’s endless teasing, her exaggerated reactions — it was like they had their own language.

“You can’t imagine how much, Miss Little Princess,” he replied with a smirk, offering her a hand as they reached a particularly icy bit. “Now come on, or you’ll end up stuck here till spring.”

Lianna sighed dramatically but took his hand anyway. “If I fall, ruin my coat, or twist my ankle, you owe me a new outfit. And not your boring beige nonsense.”

“Noted, Miss Neon Everything.”

When they finally made it to the rented chalet — a cozy wooden house with floor-to-ceiling windows and a roaring fire — it was a much-needed respite. Lianna threw herself into the nearest armchair with a dramatic groan.

Lewis, ever the drill sergeant, clapped his hands together. “Right, we’re hitting the slopes this afternoon. Who’s in?”

Most of the group chimed in enthusiastically, but Lianna didn’t even flinch. “Absolutely not. I’m staying here. Where it’s warm. Like a normal person.”

George, leaning against the doorframe, grinned. “Someone’s gotta keep an eye on the princess. Can’t leave her alone with all this nature.”

Lewis rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. “Fine. Try not to kill each other.”

The door clicked shut, and Lianna and George were left alone in the quiet warmth of the house. The youngest Hamilton groaned, tugging a throw blanket over herself.

At least they had phone area; she had some good real fun with Tiktoks before she could feel the pair of eyes over her.

“What?” she snapped, looking up.

“Nothing,” George said, trying to suppress a grin, coming back from the kitchen. “Just enjoying the theatrics. You could’ve been an actress, you know.”

“It is just not fair, my drama is really valid. You numpty.” she muttered, fidgeting with her sweater. “My boots are ruined, my mood is ruined, and now I’m stuck here with you.”

He chuckled, plopping onto the couch beside her. “Admit it, you’d be bored out of your mind without me.”

“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “I thrive in solitude.”

“Is that why you always find me at events?” George teased. “Or why you made sure it was me driving you home after my birthday?”

Her cheeks flushed, and she threw him a pillow without hesitating. "Everyone else was smashed, and you kept offering, like, three times. I said I’d just grab an Uber, but you bolted to get the keys like it was life or death."

“If it helps you sleep at night…” He just smiled, leaning back like he had all the time in the world. “You’re gonna miss me, though. Once you’re off in Italy with Lewis.”

“Nahhh… Not at all. Maybe just some of your paddock fits, and your private jet- Oh, I love the jet. But you?” her nose crunched, ready to keep the yapping but caught off guard when she took a few seconds to look up at him.

The damn blue eyes and the prince posture, even relaxed by the couch. Something like comfort floating in between them and the freedom the driver had while scanning her face.

Her bravado faltered for a moment; he seemed so sure of what he was doing that he even leaned closer. “Maybe a tiny bit, right? We can agree on that.”

She caught her breath. “Us? Agreeing? No way on God’s green earth.”

“You’ll be gutted when I’m not around, admit it.” he winked, in a cheesy way he knew would make her laugh. He is in fact really good with that. “Unlike you, Little princess, I am fully able to recognize I will miss making fun of your over-expensive clothes and your crying when Lew wins- and the tantrums over food! I’ll even miss that...”

“Oh! You clot! I dress well and I cry a lot - my brother is the biggest winner in your sport and I don’t enjoy much food besides mom’s. And the actual problem here is how obsessed you are with me! That’s a lot of information.”

“Obsessed? Nah, that’s too much” he said quietly, “But I guess I really do notice you a lot. You’ve got a presence.”

She blinked, her cockiness crumbling. “Don’t expect me to say anything like that about you- I only notice your boring clothes and your radio calls because they’re funny.”

“Again, if it helps you sleep at night…” he replied, his head only tilted more and more to the side, closer and closer to her. She’s noticed, of course she did. Suddenly it’s getting hot; and they're in the middle of the snow.

There’s something like tension in the air, it’s weird how they can get to that sometimes. It just never happened in a one-on-one environment. Silence grew thick and his breath could reach her cheek now. It is not like they haven’t been near before. 

They stood together in a full elevator once, her body stuck in between his figure and the wall as she kept conversation with their friends also inside the cabin. Tough time for Mister Russell, he fought for his life that day.

She feels that way when he lifts her up to get across the paddock, through the high-posted gates and the half-walls, or when he jokingly approaches her from behind during parties.

It is actually surprising they didn’t cross any line yet.

“I notice when you see me from the distance and you smile. It happens more in the garage… Sometimes I even forget it’s my job to hate you.” it slid from her lips before she could stop it; but, somehow. It felt right to say. The silence was suffocating.

“You smile back every time. You wave too… Like a Little Princess.”

They might not actually hate each other; in fact, it might be the other way around. Even Lianna could see it, now that she took the courage to lean to the side and stare back. Eye-in-eye action. A bold, strong one.

George’s gaze lingered, sharp but soft in a way that made her chest tighten. His confidence wasn’t overbearing, but there was no mistaking the certainty in his eyes. That kind of focus could stop anyone in their tracks, and right now, it was aimed solely at her.

“Little Princess, huh?” she said, her voice quieter now, the teasing edge fading into something she wasn’t entirely prepared for.

His lips twitched, almost smirking. “You wear the title well.”

Her mouth opened to snap back, but nothing came out. She felt trapped — in a good way. Her heart was speeding up, and there was no denying the pull in the air, like something unspoken was gaining weight with every second.

His hand rested on the couch between them, fingers grazing the cushion as though he was holding himself back. Hers wasn’t far off, her fingers clutching the edge of the fabric. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or if the space between them was shrinking by the second.

“You’re staring,” she pointed out, her voice trembling slightly, betraying her.

“You’re letting me,” George shot back, the corner of his mouth lifting just enough to make her stomach flip.

She rolled her eyes instinctively, but her attempt at nonchalance was betrayed when her gaze dropped — just for a second — to his lips. He caught it, of course. How could he not?

His hand shifted, the movement slow, deliberate. His fingers grazed curls, moving them to the side before tracing the now free area of her face, featherlight, sending a shockwave straight up her spine. Her first instinct was to pull away, but she didn’t.

Her breath hitched. She wanted to say something — anything — but the words caught in her throat, tangled up in the pounding of her heartbeat. Her throat went dry as soon as he had more skin touching her, hand finding room in the side of her neck, the big palm rubbing against the sensitive part, gently and firmly holding her in place, as controversial it could feel.

The texture of his skin was warm, rougher than she expected, like he’d been gripping the steering wheel too tightly for too long. She’d never thought much about George’s hands before, but now? Now they were all she could think about.

Her own palm pressed lightly around his fist, and the simple connection felt intimate in a way she wasn’t ready to admit. It’s the implying; how his thumb ghosted around her cheek, secretly making way to her bottom lip, hypnotizing, striking. His fingers could get a hold of her hair now and that’s when he knew she was fully melted, just like her head did onto his hand, her eyes almost shutting closed. From the slighted touch. It would form an amazing joke if he could ever think of one at the moment. 

“Still don’t think you’ll miss me?” he murmured, his voice barely audible over the tension crackling between them.

“Not even a little bit,” she lied, though her voice betrayed her again, soft and unsteady.

He leaned closer, the shift so gradual it was like he was giving her time to stop him. His breath was warm against her cheek, and she could feel the faint scent of his cologne — something subtle but crisp, like cedarwood and rain.

They’re closer now, her body betraying her with its natural instinct to lean toward him.

“You’re terrible at lying,” he said, his lips so close to hers now that she could almost feel the words as much as she heard them. “I really thought you were tough. But here you are, practically melting under my touch.”

Her heart felt like it might explode. The weight of his gaze, the heat of his hand against her skin, the sheer proximity — it was all too much and yet not enough. With his hand still holding her in place, his thumb brushed against her lip, as let out a soft laugh, his breath warm against her ear now. “So, this is what happens when I get you alone? Can’t say I’m complaining... but don’t think I won’t use this against you later.”

Her voice came out barely above a whisper, trembling as she said, “Shut up, George.”

And then, as if her words were the permission he’d been waiting for, his lips brushed hers. It wasn’t a kiss, not yet. It was tentative, a question more than an answer. Her brother’s future-ex-teammate leading the hell they’ll turn into paradise, still keeping her where she is as he didn’t let the kiss really happen — driving her crazy. 

A single moment stretched into infinity as her mind raced and her body froze, caught between the overwhelming urge to pull him closer and the voice in her head screaming that this was a bad idea.

Her fingers curled tighter around his wrist, pulling him closer and making him smile teasingly, believing it was enough with the temptation. His lips pressed against hers, soft and warm and everything she hadn’t let herself imagine before.

The world fell away.

She didn’t move at first, too overwhelmed by the weight of it all. But then her body took over, her lips moving against his in a way that felt natural, instinctive. Her hand slid from the couch to his arm, her fingers brushing the smooth fabric of his shirt, and she could feel the muscles beneath tense at her touch.

His lips lingered on hers, teasing, before he pulled back just enough to look into her eyes, both of them breathless. The world around them seemed to fade; there was nothing but the quiet of the room and the rapid beats of their hearts, out of sync but somehow perfectly aligned.

George’s hand slid from her neck to her jaw, his thumb brushing her lower lip, drawing her attention to it before capturing her mouth once more. This time, it wasn’t hesitant. It wasn’t questioning. It was urgent, like they both knew the clock was ticking, and there was no going back.

Her hands were already tugging at his shirt, pulling him closer, her body instinctively arching into his as if it belonged there. She didn’t care about the consequences anymore. All she cared about was the heat of his skin, the way his lips moved against hers, the way his body fit against hers perfectly.

The kiss deepened, and her fingers slid to the back of his neck, gripping his hair, tugging him down as she tilted her head to get closer, to deepen the kiss. It was reckless. It was desperate. But it was also... exhilarating. Her body pressed harder against his, and she could feel the tension coil tighter inside her, like a spring wound too tight, ready to snap.

Just as she felt him pull her flush against him, his knee sliding between her legs, the door clicked.

They both froze.

The sound of the lock turning seemed to reverberate in her chest. In an instant, George shoved himself away from her, his chest heaving as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

She scrambled to adjust herself, heart pounding, cheeks burning with a mixture of embarrassment and desire.

“Hey, you guys, everyone alive?” Lewis’s voice rang through the room as the door swung open, revealing him with a knowing smirk. “Oh- Did I… Did I interrupt something?”

Lianna’s breath was still shallow, her hand clutching the side of the couch like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

George was trying his best to look unaffected, but his disheveled appearance wasn’t helping.

Lewis raised an eyebrow. “You two are weird. Seriously, what is going on with you two? Are we gonna have to start an intervention?”

Lianna shot him a glare. “What do you want, Lewis?” she snapped, though her voice was a little too shaky to sound convincing.

Lewis, oblivious to the tension that had just enveloped the room, shrugged. “Oh, I just came to grab my... uh, charger. Is everything ok down here? You both seem… Weird?” He glanced between them, the smirk still dancing on his lips. “It’s almost like you’re in a friendly competition or something.”

George shot a glance at Lianna, and in a flash, they both tried to cover the awkwardness with false bravado.

“Oh, please,” Lianna scoffed, crossing her arms, trying to play it cool. “Competition with George isn’t competition. I win every time.”

George quickly jumped in, grinning like he didn’t just almost kiss her senseless. “Never won against me on paddle, karting, chess, soccer… You even lose bets. Don’t lie to-”

“Alright, alright. Got it. You still hate each other. Got it.” Lewis rolled his eyes, clearly not buying it, but he played along.

They both nodded in exaggerated agreement, too quickly to be convincing, but it seemed to ease the weirdness, if only for a second.

“Anyway, I’m off,” Lewis said, his voice light and carefree, though he was clearly still enjoying the strange vibe between them. “We’ve all got that race in an hour, and I don’t plan on being caught in a compromising position again.” He winked at them both. “You two might want to stay away from each other until then, yeah?”

He lingered for a moment longer, clearly sensing something was off but not quite knowing what, before turning to leave.

There was a long silence between them after he left.

Lianna let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “God, that was close.”

George just exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “I swear, if he noticed anything, I’ll never hear the end of it.” He leaned against the back of the couch, his expression half annoyed, half amused.

“Well, you wouldn’t have to hear anything if you weren’t so obvious,” she shot back, though there was still a slight edge to her voice. The playful bickering was slowly returning, but there was still a rawness in the air.

“You started it,” he said with a smirk, a challenge in his eyes as he crossed his arms. “You’re the one who can’t keep her hands to herself.”

She rolled her eyes, stepping away from him. “You kissed me, George.”

He grinned. “And you kissed me back.”

“Right, yeah. ” she shot back. “You kissed me, I kissed you back, Lewis got in and stopped us. End of the story”

“Fine, It didn’t seem like you wanted to end it before Lew- Ouch, Lianna!” he started normally, but a pillow hit his face half way through it. 

“Yeah, now stand up and let’s go change. You have to snowboard and I have to sit down and look pretty in my Fendi coat. Let´s go.”

That night, long after the others returned and went to bed, Lianna found herself pacing in her room. Her mind was a storm of thoughts, emotions swirling that she couldn’t quite name. Her heart was racing, every step against the cold wood floor seeming to echo through her. That kiss, that moment — she couldn’t shake it.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed a hoodie, padded barefoot across the hall, and knocked lightly on George’s door.

"Lianna?" His voice was groggy, thick with sleep.

When he opened the door and saw her standing there, his expression softened, eyes still heavy with sleep but already wide awake in that instant. His lips parted, a mixture of surprise and something else she couldn’t quite read.

Without waiting for him to say more, she pushed past him, climbing into his bed like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Don’t make it weird,” she said, her tone dismissive but her body betraying her nerves, every movement stiff as if she wasn’t sure what to do with herself.

“My room’s freezing,” she added, but even to her own ears, it sounded like a half-hearted excuse.

George chuckled, the sound low and warm in the dim room, sliding in beside her without hesitation. "Of course. Wouldn’t dream of it," he muttered, though his voice carried a teasing edge.

The bed creaked under them as they shifted, both finding an awkward comfort in the space between them. It was quiet — too quiet — but the it wasn’t uncomfortable. They lay there in the dark, the moments stretching out between them, until Lianna broke the silence.

“So…” she started, her voice uncertain. “Do you remember that time when we were at that dinner, and you were being all smug because you knew exactly what to order?”

George groaned, rolling his eyes. “I didn’t know you hated the fact that I actually have taste.”

She snorted. “Taste? You were showing off like you were some gourmet chef or something. I swear, I almost choked on my water just to get out of hearing about your ‘expert’ opinions on wine.”

He laughed softly, the sound warm. “I was just trying to share some culture with you. Not my fault you don’t appreciate the finer things in life.”

Lianna raised an eyebrow, turning her head slightly to look at him. “You mean you just like hearing yourself talk.”

“Maybe,” he admitted, a sly grin tugging at his lips. “But at least you listened. That’s more than I can say for some people.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said, her voice a little teasing now, though there was something in it that made it feel a little too intimate. “I listened. I just didn’t appreciate it. Just like the way you act like I’m some sort of charity case when you give me rides.”

George turned his head slightly, lips barely touching the top of her hair as he spoke, quieter now. “You know, you always act like you don’t like it. But I think you do. You like the attention.”

Lianna’s breath caught, her mind racing. She had always been so quick to brush off anything too personal between them, especially when it came to him. But now, with his voice so close, the words lingered.

She shifted, unsure of how to respond, but then, without thinking, she said, “Yeah, sure, I like the attention. I’m not ashamed of it.”

George smiled, a genuine warmth in his voice when he spoke again. “I noticed. You do like the spotlight.”

Lianna shifted again, her face now resting just below his collarbone. “I never said I liked it. I just like being noticed when I want to be.” Her fingers brushed the fabric of his shirt, and she cursed herself for making it sound so... intimate.

He paused for a second, the tension between them palpable. "I get that," he murmured softly. "You deserve to be noticed."

Lianna didn’t respond right away. Instead, she let the silence settle between them. She couldn’t ignore it anymore — the way he said it, like it was just a matter of fact. Her heart skipped a beat, and she felt suddenly exposed, vulnerable in a way that she hadn’t expected.

They both lay there in the dark, the tension creeping up between them, thick but not unbearable. He spoke again, his voice quieter this time. “I know we always bicker. It’s kind of our thing, isn’t it? But don’t pretend it’s just for fun, Lianna. You know I can’t resist when you get all worked up.”

She turned slightly, her face closer to his now. “Maybe I just like getting under your skin,” she said, her words coming out smoother than she intended.

“Oh, I know you do,” he replied with a soft chuckle. “But don’t pretend like you didn’t enjoy when I noticed you, when I called you out on something. You liked the attention just as much as I did."

Lianna’s heart fluttered, the heat between them escalating with every word. “Yeah, maybe I did,” she said, her voice almost a whisper now. She was almost embarrassed by how much it was affecting her, but she didn’t pull away.

George’s fingers brushed against the side of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. “I noticed you, alright,” he murmured. “Every little thing. Every smile, every look, every time you’d act like you didn’t care, when I knew you did.”

She let out a shaky breath, her chest tightening in response to his words. “I didn’t know you paid that much attention.”

“I always do,” he whispered, his lips so close to her ear now, the words brushing against her skin. “You’re hard to miss, Lianna.”

There it was again. The weight of his words, sinking in as he said it like it was just another casual thing. But it didn’t feel casual. It felt charged, heavy with unspoken meaning.

Lianna opened her mouth, about to reply, but the words caught in her throat. Instead, she just let the moment linger, the silence swallowing them both up for a beat before he broke it with a soft exhale.

"You make it hard to keep my distance," George whispered, his lips brushing against the top of her hair.

Her heart skipped. His voice, the way he said it, made her shiver slightly. She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she simply stayed quiet, absorbing his words, trying to figure out what to say next.

But the air around them was electric now. Her body was pressed to his, the warmth of his skin making her chest tighten and her breath catch. Her hand found its way to his chest, lightly resting against him, and it almost felt like a reflex.

Then, without thinking, she leaned in. Her lips met his again, soft at first, hesitant, as if they were both afraid of crossing some invisible line. But the second her lips touched his, everything else seemed to fade away. It deepened naturally, a quiet urgency behind it, as if they both had waited long enough to let this moment stretch between them, just like they knew there’s no going back; ever since earlier on the couch. They started something that’s impossible to just stop now.

Her fingers found the fabric of his shirt, gripping it just a little tighter, and the kiss deepened, slow and sure, like they had all the time in the world. His hands moved, tentative at first, tracing the line of her jaw before cupping her cheek, his thumb brushing the skin with a tenderness that made her heart beat harder.

There was something intoxicating about the way he kissed her—like he was trying to memorize the taste, the warmth of her, but also something urgent, a silent need that they both couldn’t name.

The kiss broke, but neither of them pulled away completely. Their foreheads rested together for a moment, breaths mingling, both of them unwilling to speak. The weight of what had just happened hung there, both of them knowing that it meant something, but neither of them wanting to say it out loud.

She could feel the hum in her chest, that buzzing tension that still lingered, but there was a certain calm, too. The kiss had been slow, deliberate, nothing rushed, nothing forced. And yet, it had been more than either of them expected.

“George,” she whispered again, this time quieter, almost as if she was trying to convince herself.

He chuckled softly, his fingers tracing patterns on her arm as he pulled her closer, wrapping his arm tighter around her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

And just like that, the world seemed to slow. Their lips found each other again in the dark, softer this time, less urgent but no less electric.

Before either of them realized, sleep began to creep in. The kiss faded, their breathing evening out as their bodies relaxed into the warmth of the bed. It was as if everything that had been said, everything that had been left unsaid, was allowed to rest, allowed to settle between them.

They didn’t speak anymore, didn’t need to. The quiet stretched on, thick with the unspoken understanding that something had shifted. And as the hours passed, with their bodies tangled together, both of them finally fell asleep, the tension lingering in the silence but no longer pulling them apart.

↳ requests are open!⠀⠀↳ check my AO3!⠀⠀↳ main content's table

[servndipityz]

remember how i said nam-gyu is evil the way a middle schooler is evil? that got me thinking. a lot.

if you ended up in his group, he’d so hate it. who were you to steal his spotlight? who were you to be all buddy-buddy with thanos?

there’s nothing nam-gyu would hate more than being thanos’ shadow—except not being it. so when you join their group, he’d have two possible reactions.

perhaps he’d act just like he did with se-mi, and absolutely despise you. he’d take any chance to contradict you; when you say black he says white, and sometimes he’d contradict himself in the process just to piss you off.

“the food here isn’t that bad,” you’d say, taking a mouthful of plain rice from your container.

nam-gyu would side-eye you. “it tastes like fucking shit,” he’d mutter under his breath.

so, the next day, you’d try something else. “we’ve been eating this for three days straight, it’s starting to get disgusting.”

he’d roll his eyes, “do you think we’re in a fucking buffet or what?” he’d spit, fully aware that no matter what you said, he’d find a reason to disagree.

or maybe he’d completely ignore you. you’d just be another background character to him, a little bit like gyeong-su. but it wouldn’t stop there. eventually, it’d feel intentional. he’d turn away when you spoke, walk faster if you were next to him, cut you off mid-sentence just to make it clear you didn’t exist to him. except you’d know—he wasn’t ignoring you at all. he’d adjust every little action, carefully pretending to not care, when really, all of it was about you.

either way, his mission would be the same, to get under your skin. physical contact? absolutely not off-limits. while thanos would throw a friendly arm around your shoulder, nam-gyu would tug your hair. not in a freaky, kinky way—no, he’d do it lightly, perfectly timed while the group was huddled together, so you’d have no idea who did it. but you’d always know it was him.

he’d sneak a bite of your food. pull at a loose thread on your tracksuit. toss tiny pebbles at you when no one was looking.

but he wasn’t making fun of you—not exactly. he didn’t laugh when he pissed you off. he just wanted to get to you. he’d enjoy it in a fucked up way, a way that’d genuinely make you think, what is wrong with him?

then, one night, you’d wake up—maybe because someone was snoring too loudly or because thanos wouldn’t stop tossing around—and in the dim light, you’d notice nam-gyu curled up on his bed, sleeping in fetal position with your tracksuit jacket draped over him.

he’d be gripping it, using it like a blanket. he was always cold, and you’d taken your jacket off to sleep, but you never expected him to just… take it. the way he held it, though—gripping the edges tightly, face buried in the fabric—it’d almost make you not hate him entirely.

the strangest part would come the next morning. you’d wake up to find the jacket draped over you. you’d seen him with it, so how was it back? had he…?

you’d glance at him, sitting on his bed, rubbing his eyes as he got ready for the day. you’d stare at him a moment longer, and when he noticed, he’d throw you the rudest face ever. “what?” he’d snap.

surely, he couldn’t have put it back on you. right? but you’d still wonder.

after a while, maybe he’d get used to you. used to having you around, used to you constantly making snarky retorts at him, used to having to work together. after all, you were in the same team, so technically you weren’t the enemy.

his hair-pulls would turn more into light tugs when he wanted your attention. the deliberate attempts to trip you would start being paired with his hand hovering near your wrist, ready to catch you before you actually fell. and sometimes, after a particularl harsh game, he’d casually leave his container of food half-full, just within your reach.

“don’t look at me like that,” he’d mutter, shrugging like he was annoyed. “i’m just not hungry.” then he’d walk off, sneaking a glance to make sure you were eating his leftovers.

before long, he’d start celebrating with you after a win. a quick squeeze of your shoulder, or maybe grabbing you and shaking you around if he got too excited.

at night, he’d wait every time you needed to go to the bathroom, sitting straight on his bed and watching the bathroom door from afar just to supervise that you were getting out.

“were you watching me?” you’d ask in a hushed voice, climbing back into your bed with a raised brow.

“no,” he’d whisper, almost offended. “i just couldn’t sleep.” and he’d lie back down—on a bed closer to yours than the one he originally picked. to keep the group together, he’d claimed.

“you cold?” you’d finally ask one night, although his back would be turned to you. still, you'd see his breathing stop for a split second. he was the kind of guy whose hands were always cold, the type of guy who just was always cold.

“no,” he’d say, after a long pause. a terrible liar.

you’d sigh, “okay… but you can come closer if you want.” you’d still say. at a certain point it had become quite normal to see people doing something that resembled snuggling. some of the players got cold in the night, and others just needed to hold onto someone at that point. it wasn’t exactly cuddling, but it wasn’t weird to see.

he’d stay still, and you’d be almost able to see the wheels turning in his head.

finally he’d turn around and scoot closer. just a little. and then a little more, and more, until your bodies would be almost touching, facing each other. the way the beds were arranged allowed for the players to get quite close together, if it weren’t for the small gaps between the mattresses.

he’d look at your eyes for a small while before trying to snuggle closer and burring his face down like a cat before drifting off to sleep.

at a certain point, if he wasn’t high as balls, he’d even wonder himself if he pestered you for thanos’ attention, or actually just to get yours. he’d wonder why he was always so close to you, if he iked seeing you get mad or if he just liked seeing you. if he got a kick out of messing with you—or just being with you.

and then he’d pop one of thanos’ pills and forget the whole thing.

[hexstrapp]

Somehow Even More Jayvik Headcanons

sorry this took forever lolol

nsfw hcs under cut, minors dni

jayce Loves listening to viktor rant

vik’s voice is so soothing to him and his excitement is absolutely adorable

he often falls asleep to viktor talking to him in bed

viktor hums to himself without realizing

jayce finds his humming soothing and will join in if he knows the song

if viktor forgets a word the the language they speak, jayce would gently remind him in a way that doesn’t make him feel stupid

jayce LOVES to kiss viktor’s cheeks

literally smothers him in kisses all over his face (mostly his cheeks)

i am a firm trans viktor believer 😏

jayce kisses viktor’s top surgery scars all the time

viktor thinks he has a master poker face but jayce reads him like a book. youre hiding nothing from him

once married, viktor is So Proud of his new name and the talis crest.

he wears the colors and pendants with pride, and will always introduce himself first and last name

“its viktor right?”

“its actually viktor talis”

viktor stress smokes

jayce is a goody two shoes and tries to get viktor to stop

jayce hit that cigarette once and almost coughed himself to death

(viktor eased up on cigarettes for jayce anyway)

jayce has a fear of the cold, but mostly of his loved ones being cold.

if viktor ever shivers he will pass over his coat without hesitation

jayce loves viktor’s beard. it was so hard to grow out but he did it only for jayce

viktor pulls jayce’s tie to kiss him randomly and jayce EATS IT UP

nsfw 😛 (remember, my v is trans and i am a sucker for t4t jayvik 😙)

jayce lives to please

he will pleasure viktor first, forgetting about his own needs

until he rutting into the sheets

viktor will keep going even if he’s overstimulated

jayce usually is the one to notice when viktor needs a break bc viktor ignores his limits

jayce fainted once (the first time he bottomed) and it terrified viktor

they were kinda scared to try it again

(soon learned jayce loved bottoming LMAO)

jayce loves eating viktor out

like religiously

you gotta pry that man away from viktor’s cunt

his beard/stash would get that red tinge from when u eat too much cooch 💀💀

t4t jayvik r scissor kings

jayce will leave bruises over viktor’s hips from his grip.

he doesnt mean to manhandle him, it just happens lol

finding their “okay” positions that wont hurt viktor (and jayce after his own injury) was all trial and error

but they are so patient with each other they can just take their time for hours

their main goal is to pleasure each other, comfortably

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

IM SQUISHING THEM I LOVE THEM AHHH

ehem….

more jayvik hcs on my profile :D lmk if u have any requests for a full length fic 😏

-rome 🪐

[back2bluesidex]

Misconception - MYG ft. KSJ

Pairing: Yoongi X Fem!reader X Seokjin

Theme: Angst, friends to ? au, cheating

Wordcount: 1.2k+

Summary: You and Yoongi have been friends for nine years, you have loved him for five of those. But reciveing nothing but pain from his end you decide to move on only for Yoongi to come breaking down your resolve.

Warnings: Jealous Yoongi, bad decisions, kissing without permission, cheating

Minors are not allowed in this blog!!

A/N: Just a little piece from Six Degrees of Separation.

Read the full Series here

Yoongi knows it’s unfair and childish but he doesn’t like this Kim Seokjin at all. 

For one, he is unbelievably handsome. 

For two, he seems to really like you. 

And Yoongi never liked the guys who liked you too much. While back then, he never acted upon his disapproval because he was sure of his irreplaceable position in your life, now he is not sure anymore. 

His eyes land on you with every little chance he gets tonight. He is aware that he is staring at you much more than it’s socially acceptable but honestly, he doesn’t give a damn. 

While staring at you, he had made a couple of eye contacts with Seokjin, which really pissed him off. 

He doesn’t like being caught red-handed. 

“Can you show me the way to the restroom?” Seokjin’s voice is as sweet as his face. Yoongi absolutely hates it. 

“Sure. That door.” he vaguely points towards the washroom. Seokjin leaves but not before giving him a cryptic glance. 

As soon as the man is inside the restroom, he finds his feet working on autopilot and in moments he is standing before you. 

“You look good.” he says shamelessly as if he didn’t burn you with his cigarette just a year back. Your face morphs into hurt, then sarcasm all within a second. 

“Thanks.” avoiding looking at him, you take a large sip from your glass. Your ignorance stings him like a freshly injected needle. 

“Have you eaten anything? Or are you drinking again on an empty stomach? You know you don’t do good-” it’s his habit to babysit you and old habits die hard.

“The Yoongi that pushed me that night at Jimin’s place and the Yoongi before me are completely different. Why are you pretending so hard, Yoongi? Are you afraid I might step in between you two? If you are then don’t worry. I am not as bad as you think of me. Chill.” you cut him off, try to leave him behind but he stops you. His hand holds you in place and his heart thumps from the skin-to-skin connection. 

“I am not pretending. I am repenting. I- I am extremely ashamed for the way I behaved with you that night. I regret everything. Every single thing, Y/N.” so many unsaid words threaten to spill out of his throat. He is not sure about anything anymore. 

Not about himself, not about Hyeri, not about you. 

“I don’t know how that matters anymore. You can’t take back what you said and did and I.. I can’t go back being your friend. So, let’s just stop here. Congratulations on taking your relationship with my cousin a step ahead. My good wishes will always be with you two.” you smile but it falters. 

“Y/N, please-” he tries to say something, anything that will make you listen to him. But fate has different plans. 

“Yoongi, what are you doing here?” Hyeri butts in and the only chance Yoongi could get with you, slips away right through the gaps between his fingers. 

“Attention everyone.” Hyeri claps her hands, “thanks for joining us this evening. As you know me and my boyfriend finally decided to move in together after dating for five years. But there is more to it. Not only did we decide to move on but also to finally put a ring on each other as the first thing in the new year. So, today also serves as the official invitation for you all to our engagement ceremony which will be held sometime next month. Please bless us with your well wishes. Even though we have fifteen minutes left, a very happy new year to you all!” 

Yoongi’s blood boils. He sees red. Hyeri has truly crossed the line now. They have no fucking plan of exchanging any kind of rings for at least six more months. She is all over the place with her lies, competition to walk over you - It was the last nail in his coffin. 

He will have to take a step now. 

“What do you think you are doing?” he seethes, anger pours through his eyes. 

Hyeri acts all innocent again, “what?” 

“You know what I am talking about.” 

“Oh that? I just said it on a whim. Chill, it’s just rings. Let’s get it in installments. We can invite only a few people and get done with the engagement ceremony-” “You know what? Fuck you.” Yoongi cuts her off and leaves for the balcony. 

It’s already past midnight, a new year, a completely new day. And he will make sure to make it a new beginning for him. 

His heart drops to his stomach when an unexpected sight unfolds before him. 

Your lips are lost in Seokjin’s mouth. He is holding you by your waist, while you wrap him by his neck. He has draped his blazer on you to keep you warm. 

You two kiss and kiss and kiss not giving a damn about being caught by anyone in the action. Unbeknownst to Yoongi, his teeth girt with each other.  

This. this could have been him and you only had he not have Hyeri - wait. What is he even thinking? 

He clears his throat to break through the troubled thoughts that have clouded his mind and reduced visibility to zero. 

You two part your mouths being alert of the presence of a third person. 

You look at him, he looks at you. So many things remain unsaid, unchanged but at the same time blooming into existence. 

“I think it’s time we leave. I will get the car ready.” Seokjin announces, sounding breathless due to the kiss. 

“I will quickly see Hyeri.” You nod. 

“I will walk you out.” Yoongi joins even when he absolutely didn’t have to. 

You two get into the elevator after you exchange a quick bye and a hug with Hyeri. She had pinned him down with a glare but he didn’t care. He needs to talk to you, even when he doesn’t know what he should say. 

“Thanks for coming.” he starts. 

You scoff, “Are you mocking me?” 

He turns his head to look at you. Your lipstick is a little smeared around the small of your mouth - it’s Seokjin’s doing, he wants to rub it off, preferably with his tongue. 

Fuck! No! He scolds himself before opening his mouth to offer an explanation, “No. You joining us tonight have been fruitful to me. I got answers to so many of my questions.” 

“What?” you chuckle humorlessly, “what question? That you are finally ready to tie the knot? That you-” 

Yoongi grabs you by the lapels of your winter coat and crashes his lips on you. Later, he will blame it on his intrusive thoughts. Now, he will let himself enjoy it. 

He kisses you with intent, sucks your lower lip as if it’s his first meal after days. You stay unmoving, not kissing him but not pushing him away either. 

He bites on your lower lip, asking for entrance. You put your hands on his chest and push him away lightly. 

Your pupils are blown out. There are so many questions dancing around your eyes. Yoongi is sure he has answers to none of it. 

Your face remains blank. 

“I won’t ask you what the fuck was that. Guess we are even now.” you say. The elevator dings as if to rescue you from him. You walk out without glancing at him again. 

He remains in the elevator, watches as the door shuts, cutting you off of his line of sight. 

Yoongi really fucked up a big time.  

Read the full Series here

[tepigtrainer]

This is such a fun idea! I may have to do a few of these, but this is a good one for the parts I’ve fleshed out the most.

Wilen “Rook” Aldwir was born in Orzammar about 5 years before the 5th blight to a lower ranking Noble caste mother and a warrior caste father. After his father served alongside the Hero of Ferelden during the battle of Denerim, Wilen’s mother made the decision to move the whole family topside rather than be separated from a newly casteless husband. She held that it was the right choice, but is still very attached to her role as a noble and quietly held hope that someday there could be a case made to reclaim some measure of birthright….

Which is why it didn’t go over well when her only daughter came out as a man.

Even before coming out, his relationship with is mother was difficult through her clinging to noble traditions and expectations for how her child ought to be (very disproportionately directed at him rather than his younger brothers). Wilen remembers very little of Orzammar but immediately fell in love with Arlathan Forest when they finally arrived there as the family’s new home, which is why he joins the Veil Jumpers.

Why should he care about his mother’s stories of stuffy halls when there’s trees?

Unfortunately none of his family ever meets the Veilguard… as they lived in D’Meta’s crossing. Something that absolutely feeds his regret prison is the fact that he left his family in a sort of limbo, not fully estranged but not on the best of terms with his mother. There’s a lot of unfinished conversations that will remain so.

Heeey Howdy! 🤠 Happy Friday!

How it works: I ask you a question about your Rook(s) and you answer it with as much brevity or verbosity as you desire. You can do this whenever you want, and I’ll reblog it + add some comments! There’s no time limit— if you want to do the older ones, they are collected here! (The post is updated on Fridays!)

1/24/25– I schedule the RIH posts out one per hour between 8:30 am - 10:30 pm MST. I already have posts scheduled out for most of the day today, so your rbs will be a bit delayed! Thank you for your patience !

Today’s Question(s): Does your Rook have parents? If not, surrogate parental figures/mentors? Do they like them? Do they resent them? Are Rook’s parental figures proud of them? Do they talk to them regularly? Have or will they meet your Rook’s LI or the other members of the Veilguard?

Answer as much or as little as you like! Have fun?

[the-owl-tree]

also figured out the clan names i wanted to use so! we got mustangclan, serpentclan (might change), coyoteclan, boarclan (thank you bonefall), cardinalclan and tempestclan.

some light notes on each, might do a more detailed post later-

some general worldbuilding notes:

do not ask me how this biome functions

the cats cook, prepare food, and know how to start fire.

subranks like courier, head of patrols, head of hunting, and so on exist. their power and relevancy varies within each clan. the deputy/deputies are in charge of managing them.

not all clans have the same positions and wording.

no starclan, these cats worship a pantheon of gods and pray to the appropriate god for advice. the gods have different names and appearances depending on which clan you go to, not writing them out because i haven't figured out every name yet lol

mustangclan

leader: bearstar; deputy: duskclaw; medic(s): fogstep and foxtrot

semi-nomadic, have a few different camps scattered around the map they travel to depending on their needs.

because their camps are so scattered, they often have pre-arranged travel paths through other clans territories. in the past, they'd just brute force their way through though, with different leadership, have begun to put more value in negotiations.

heavy emphasis on might makes right, though that's begun to change. lots of value in conquest, combat, and defending one's honor through force.

names often reflect this with aggressive predators and suffixes like -claw, -strike, -bite being common.

the clan is your family, lineage and blood relations are downplayed in favor of serving one's clan.

unfortunately for bearstar, his father was the last leader...and his own daughter won the trial for deputy. no one would outright accuse such a popular leader of nepotism and spitting on their values...at least not to his face.

leader and deputy are decided through combat, i like the idea that there's a makeshift "coliseum" that all the clans can use to settle minor disputes.

you can challenge the leader and deputy for their position at any time, you just have to win through battle.

outsiders can enter if they prove they're strong enough.

mustangclan cats are blunt to the point of coming across as rude and have a dark sense of humor, which can often rub other clan cats the wrong way.

strongest ally is boarclan, whom they fought alongside in a moon's old war against coyoteclan (pre-war, who were actually three small clans in a coalition!) and cardinalclan.

most of the cats here are followers of the god of war and glory, though followers of the god of the hunt and harvest are common (though they are a popular god in all clans)

serpentclan

leader: troutstar; deputies: saugerleap & pikesnap; physician: turtlestep

stationary, reside in one massive camp that's split into three sections: exterior where the warriors sleep, middle section where the nursery, elders, and physician's den lies, and the central section where the leader, deputies, and other leaderkin stay.

essentially a hereditary monarchy, the leader here is the one that speaks with the gods. this keeps their power absolute, the physician in serpentclan is purely to help heal.

some leader lineages have placed their children in the physician position, just to maximize their power over the clan. troutstar didn't get that, had two sons with no interest in learning medicine.

family lines often have a naming theme. troutstar's lineage uses fish names.

they try to completely avoid war, troutstar has established a long history of lengthy negotiations to avoid combat (saugerleap likes to joke his father has won negotiation wars by boring his enemies to tears).

can come across as snooty and arrogant to the other clans, they find the other clans history of war and bloodshed to be, not repulsive, but almost like...embarrassing?

they don't get along with mustangclan and boarclan cats lol

completely isolated during past wars.

outsiders are allowed to join, but most are barred from every ascending to the position of leadership or even become a physician.

one of the clans that practices betrothals, though it's most used for cross-clan negotiations. saugerleap and duskclaw were briefly engaged to cement a travel path for boarclan through serpentclan territory, though that fell through after saugerleap got discovered with his boarclan boyfriend.

lots of followers of the god of water here, thanks to troutstar's long reign; also lots of followers of the god of art.

coyoteclan

leader: oxeyestar; advisor(s): goosehop, duckstrut, grousetail; saint: icesnap

once three small clans - lupineclan, roseclan, yarrowclan - that worked in a coalition; a past war against stallionclan devastated them as they were forced into one cohesive unnamed clan to better control them. when the war ended, stallionclan pulled out from this group, leaving a massive power vacuum that a new player, tempestclan, took notice of.

this ended with them putting a leader of their choosing into this new clan, renaming them coyoteclan for their cleverness and resourcefulness to survive. this move solidified the alliance between the two groups...an alliance which slowly has begun to degrade as more of the warriors recognize just how much control tempestclan assumed.

the advisors and the saint of coyoteclan are all sent from tempestclan, feeding information back to tempestclan and swaying oxeyestar's decisions.

oxeyetail was no special warrior when picked, some naive and arrogant enough to believe he was so special that the god tempestclan worships picked him out of everyone. it's gone to his head quite a bit.

leaders are picked by the advisors of the clan, though they do a bit of fog and lights to try and make it more legitimate, as if the leader really has been handpicked by a god.

anyone can join, not many want to unfortunately.

it's not uncommon for coyoteclan to skip gatherings, there's a lot of resentment. when they do go, they can come across as prickly and quick to judge. but their sharp wit can make them good conversation partners.

their closest ally is tempestclan.

while tempestclan's influence has forced a lot of them to believe in their sole god, followers of the god of the sun and day still take up the majority in coyoteclan. other popular gods are the god of luck and the god of the hunt and harvest.

boarclan

leader(s): dawnstar & sandstar; deputies: nightstride, darkwater, dewleaf, lifeseeker; healer(s): raindrop, jaycall

a big clan with five different camps, set up around their territory where they often shuffle around depending on what they need. one's probably utilized completely for the healers, acting as both a herb garden and a quarantine zone.

the non-healer camps are run by the four deputies while the leaders often circulate around each week to make sure everything is alright.

similar to mustangclan, boarclan has a big culture around combat. though, it's more considered a performance akin to art rather than a way of life. showing off your strength is encouraged.

leadership is done the more traditional canon wc style, picked based on merit. however, you can absolutely challenge a deputy, healer, and leader if you'd like. it's a big event though, everyone's getting their roasted duck legs to watch a fight.

while hereditary leadership lineages aren't law enforced, they aren't discouraged. dawnstar and sandstar are mates, with their deputies and one of their healers (jaycall) being their kittens.

two leaders only, any more is demanding too much from the gods. they used to have more, but it resulted in a civil war that killed all four of the original leaders. two makes sure there is balance.

a very boisterous and loud group, play fighting is common and loud tales of glory and survival are often told at night around a fire.

for that reason they can come off across as abrasive, loud, and disruptive. they aren't trying to be, but not a lot of boarclan cats realize how loud they are.

they used to be a closed clan, though they've opened up somewhat to idea of cats joining.

their closest ally is mustangclan but dawnstar and sandstar has been working to try and repair relationships with cardinalclan.

a majority of boarclan cats are followers of the god of beasts.

cardinalclan

king: swiftstar; next-in-line: cranegaze; magistrates: cootwaddle, crowfoot, piperstreak, tattlertail, gullcry; cleric: loonback, cormorantpelt, pelicanjaw

a very hierarchical clan, their hierarchy extends to warriors themselves though i'm still teasing out the details.

forest clan, their camp hidden away. i'm still figuring out the details, i think they operate similar to serpentclan's camp just with more layers to reflect their hierarchy.

a hereditary leadership system, swiftstar is a long line of leaders groomed from birth to inherit the throne. his sister cranegaze is next-in-line, with their youngest sister, mallardsong, being the one to inherit afterwards.

magistrates act as the leader's advisors, the next-in-lines mentors, and enforcers of the leader's rulings. despite not inheriting the throne, they command a massive amount of respect from the clan and hold a lot of sway, with some forming their own unofficial courts of cats they can rely on to get things done.

betrothals are common in the "noble" bloodline of cardinclan, with swiftstar, cranegaze, and mallardsong's parents' mateship having been prearranged.

their parents were killed in a raid organized by the previous leaders of boarclan in a bid to control a very lush piece of territory. the devastation of losing their king and queen increased the antagonism towards boarclan tenfold.

swiftstar entertaining dawnstar and sandstar's pleas for peace is wildly unpopular, especially among his own magistrates.

cardinclan only names their cats after birds, yes this will probably come to bite me in the ass if I ever try and do a full allegiance.

i'd like the swiftstar line to have some sort of surname or title? still mulling it over.

a big artsy culture encouraged by the ruling cats, portraits of the king, of the clan in its prime, and of the god of art are very popular. cats of cardinclan also love to decorate themselves for gatherings and just general special events, smearing mushed up berries on their fur and rolling in flowers.

they used to have a strong alliance with the three clans that once made up coyoteclan, but tempestclan's control has withered that alliance away.

tempestclan

leader (referred to as the "father" of tempestclan): tempeststar; saints: martinbounce, wolverinesnarl, cariboucall, lynxstrike, cougarpelt, marmotscreech, beaversnap, pikapounce

isolated in a mountain range, the harsh weather and conditions to travel to this clan has kept them from being invaded by others for a long, long time. their camp resides in an abandoned village with an old church being where camp meetings are called.

an intensely religious clan, born around the idea there is one singular god whom they must devote themselves to entirely. they are patriarchal in nature, mostly as a way to better control the numbers of their clan.

this extends down to sometimes arranging mateships for the cats of tempestclan, blightspirit's parents was an arranged mateship between cariboucall and sheepstomp, a loner who was "rescued" by tempestclan after nearly freezing to death and was coerced into joining them. yes, it's as horrific as it sounds.

saints are often from a long lineage, though they dress it up with the idea they have been picked by their god. their leader, who when ascending to leadership is always renamed to tempeststar, is mostly just a figurehead to vocalize the saints orders. an ultimate figure of authority for the cats to follow. the current tempeststar's old name was snowdancer, he misses his old name and his close friends refer to him as 'snowy' in private.

blightspirit was being trained to take over his father's position, decided to get rid of any specific healer position. saints now handle that to maximize their control and authority over the clan.

this intense isolationism in both their policies and their territory has resulted in their clan numbers dwindling, taking a heavy toll when an exiled cat, stripped of her full name and just referred to as 'wolf', took some of her followers with her in exile.

so when mustangclan left a group with a big ol power vacuum in a region with prey, herbs, and lots of kittens to bring up the mountains...the saints decided the kindest thing to do would be to lend their aid, in exchange for herbs, resources, and some apprentices. it's only fair after all they've done for coyoteclan, don't you think?

kind of a miserable place to live, either with those unable to leave or those who genuinely believe in the religion pushed by the saints.

reserved, tired, and distrustful of strangers, most of the other clans barely know what tempestclan is like. they never come to gatherings and none, besides coyoteclan, have gotten into talks with them.

closest alliance is coyoteclan, whom they essentially rule from within and take advantage of.

they pray to a different god from those in the pantheon, choosing one singular god of cats that rules absolute.

[miimo96]

Another late night SONIC 4 Concept

(Because I absolutely can't MISS with these) I've seen a lot of people say that for Sonic 4 metal might have his own robotic army, judging from what we saw in the post credit scene, and I COMPLETELY effing agree with this especially if it turns out Metal NEO is the one pulling the strings/ in control, HOWEVER, I feel like we can go beyond on that concept and spice it up a bit.

(Shout out @Jay_aRtz15 for the amazing art) Now this may sound crazy but what if instead of just having metal Sonic make an entire robot army completely of himself, why not have him ALSO make entire metal copies of Sonic's friends I.E. Metal knuckles, metal tails, metal amy, and even probably metal Shadow. Because how else would metal Sonic be able to take on all of Sonic's friends by himself, I mean I guess he could probably do it as metal NEO or even in his kaiju form, but what if instead of just making multiple copies of himself, he could just make copies of Sonic's friends instead and have them try to battle each other, a little humanity vs machines type concept if you will

heck, you could even probably incorporate characters like OMEGA into the story by having him be metal Sonic's creation as a counter measure against Sonic or maybe even Shadow, and probably have him like be the right hand man to metal Sonic, the agent stone to his robotnik you could say, and then by the end of the movie, he starts to have a change of heart and joins up with Team Sonic to take metal down, and then probably sticks with Shadow setting up Team Dark, (I mean if we can't redeem one robot, we can always redeem another) hell you could even probably introduce characters like the Hard boiled heavies, the badknicks, or even Orbot and cubot as subordinates for metal Sonic as well, if things decide to play out like this.

In the end I feel like Sonic 4 should be an Evil robot apocalypse Terminator time travel type story, ESPECIALLY if the MAIN Villain, is a Robot himself, after in Sonic Heroes, metal Sonic's whole goal is to turn the entire world into robots because he believes humanity is obsolete (kinda like Skynet) and HATES being compared to Sonic's fake, and in world that is completely overrun by machines, "Who exactly is Metal Sonic then?" But let me know what do you guys think, do ya agree with this concept or should Paramount do things differently, and what exactly do you think they should do then?

[bellysoupset]

Hiking It Up

"Hey, Mr. Moan?" Max opened a Chesiree smile at the nickname, leaning against the doorway of Vince's classroom. It had taken him a while to work up the balls, after he made such a fool of himself in the cabin with Vin's friends and passed his stomach flu to the guy as payment for taking care of him, but finally Max felt steady enough once again to try and make right of the situation.

Vince was chewing on the top of his pen, reading his student's essays with a big frown on and looking genuinely offended, and the expression took a minute to fade as he raised his head, "yeah? Oh, hi!"

Max's smile stretched even more as he saw the frown melt into a happy grin, Vince going from a wolf to a puppy in seconds, "essay's no good?"

"No, it's alright," Vin scoffed, lowering the paper again, "except for the fact there's an explain the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and how it impacted the Cold War arms race prompt in the middle of it," he circled the sentence with his pen, so strongly Max cringed on behalf of the poor loser who had just tried to use AI against Vince, "I fucking hate that stupid thing."

"It's mutual," Max entered the room, sitting on one of the desks, "so, uh- Are you free tomorrow?"

Vince's eyebrows raised, essay momentarily forgotten. His cheeks turned pink, brows meeting, "are you asking me out...?"

"What!? No!" Max squealed, cursing himself. So much for confidence, uh? "No, Monacelli, I was just- Ah, forget it."

"What?" Vince frowned at him, "you were just what?"

"It's- I'm going hiking, I was wondering if you wanted to join..." Max grumbled, dragging his fingers over his beard, nervously. Honestly, his backtracking didn't make it seem like any less of a date.

Vince probably realized that, because he was studying Max as if he was the biochemist in the room and Max was a very intriguing bug he had just found- "Sure," he shrugged, "I've never hiked before."

"You've ne- Sure? You're coming with?" Max spluttered, shocked, and Vince shrugged once again, looking confused.

"Didn't you just invite me?"

"I did!" He said quickly, "I did! And it's not a date, I swear, I'd never- You have a girlfriend, I would never- It's not a date," he bit his tongue, cringed at his own mumbling. Once upon a time, Max used to have game. Now he was a fucking mess all the time.

Vince was still staring at him, openly and unimpressed as if he was waiting for Max to stop with the hysterics. The blonde let out a frustrated sigh, he always felt so incredibly out of his depth, and really Vince was not hot enough to warrant this fucking behavior. He wasn't.

"Are we leaving after lunch?" Vince asked, oblivious to Max's mental breakdown, leaning back on his chair and removing his hair tie. His curls fell around his head like a dark mane and he combed his fingers through them, massaging his scalp and probably trying to shoo away a headache, "Max?"

Okay, maybe Vin was hot enough to warrant a breakdown. Maybe.

Max squinted at him, "yeah, after lunch," he said slowly, trying to keep his tone cool and steady, "I assumed you'd be game, since you don't have the last period tomorrow."

"Yeah, absolutely," Vince shrugged, "do I need to bring something? How does it work?"

"Gym pants and hiking boots if you have them, or any boots with a rubber sole," Max got up, deciding it was in his best interest to get the fuck out of the classroom, "charged phone, charging bank if you have that, good water bottle."

"Alright," Vince opened a large smile, dimples appearing on his cheeks and Max's heart hiccupped and he almost walked into the doorway, "I'll text if I have any questions."

"Yeah, do that," Max waved at him, dismissively, before walking out without a second glance back. How he was supposed to survive a full day hiking with Vin when it was such a hard time to even invite him out, he wasn't sure.

-----------

Max was in a really good mood as the next day rolled around. It was very sunny out and he had packed a bag with everything they might need and more.

He had picked a mild difficulty hike. Nothing too hard, but nothing so easy that Vince could do it in his sleep either, he had learned the hard way to not underestimate the ex-football star.

Vince was waiting for him in the parking lot, already changed out of his normal teacher clothes and into track pants and a compression shirt, as well as a tactel jacket.

"What do you think?" He asked, all but beaming, and it took Max a second to realize what he meant. His hair was up, but this time pulled back by one dutch braid that ended in a ponytail.

"How the hell-"

"I asked Soph to do it for me," Vince's cheeks turned pink, as he lowered his head so Max could see the braid better, "I feel like a viking."

Max rolled his eyes, inspecting the braid closer and raising his eyebrows, "yeah, I can see the resemblance. Ready to go?"

"Yep!" Vince straightened up, vibrating with energy.

It was a thirty minutes drive out of town and Max checked his bag once more, before jumping out of his truck, "alright, so our goal is to get to the waterfall at the top of the mountain," he explained, checking his water bottle, "it'll be a lot of hiking up, a little bit of rock climbing, crossing a river... Nothing too strenuous though, and the final view will make it all worth it."

"Okay," Vince was bouncing on his feet, "and do we have an amount of time?"

"It's not a competition," Max snorted, amused and gesturing for the brunette to follow him into the forest, "though I'd rather we made it there before sunset."

"On it, dude," Vince continued ahead, as if he knew the way and Max rolled his eyes, letting him keep walking until he stopped, clearly lost.

"Stay behind me, dumbass," he grinned, poking Vince's ribs.

They fell into rhythm quickly. Max didn't feel like he had to slow down at all for Vin, in fact, at several moments he felt a little breathless, while Vince was still yapping non stop, seemingly unbothered by the mountain inclination.

It was only after they had to cross the river that Max noticed Vince's speech seemed to reduce. He clearly had run out of subjects: the school, gossip about other teachers, the students, the nature, little tidbits about his childhood, the game past Wednesday that Max certainly hadn't watched and Vince narrated play by play...

"Do you need a minute?" Max teased him, wiping the sweat off his brow and leaning against a tree. He took several gulps of his water, breathing out slowly to calm his heart race. His cheeks were so red from the hiking that they felt like they were burning, but at least this time it wasn't due to embarrassment.

Vince flipped him off, planting his hands on his knees, "Got- Steep..." he gasped, before letting out a little breathy burp, "ugh, I don't feel well."

Max snorted, walking closer and planting a hand on his back, "straighten up, you're not helping yourself hunched like that-" he reached for Vince's untouched water bottle, "c'mon, take a sip."

The man's lips curled in disgust, face pale, and he wrinkled his nose, "if I drink anything now, it's coming back up."

Max rolled his eyes, ushering him to drink, "you're just nauseous because you were showing off, idiot," he pushed the bottle again, "take a small sip and we can sit down for a bit."

Vince let out a groan, taking the tiniest sip he could manage, then sat down on the stomped grass and humid gravel, "I wasn't showing off," he groaned, letting his head hang between his knees, "It was easy."

"Yeah, but you're not used to this type of exercise," Max patted his arm in amicable manner, "you're a football player, you're not meant to be hiking for hours and hours."

Vince did a small shrug, showing he understood and agreed, then planted a hand on his stomach, rubbing it and bringing up yet another dainty little burp.

"Take another sip," Max bossed, sitting down as well and leaning back, basking under the sun. He fell flat on his back, not caring about getting his shirt dirty or his hair and heard Vince let out another queasy groan.

"So what do you enjoy about this?" The man asked after another minute of silence, now much less breathless, "it's very quiet."

"The nature," Max shrugged, opening his eyes to look up at the trees and the very blue sky, "the exercise itself. Pushing myself. The animals. I have a picture with a bear cub!"

"You what!? That's so dangerous!" Vince cried out, but Max waved him off, fishing his phone to show him the picture.

"It was cute," he defended, "but yeah, I like the nature-"

"Isn't it lonely though?" Vince frowned, before smiling, "very cute picture, I'll give you that."

"Thanks," Max retrieved his phone, but his smile faltered now, "I don't think it's lonely..." he defended, feebly, "I mean, I guess? I don't- I don't do this to be alone, I'm just alone in general and I couldn't just sit at home every day so..."

Vince was staring at him again, as if Max was a puzzle, and it made him incredibly uncomfortable. He fidgeted, glaring at the other man, "what?"

"Do you feel lonely?" Vin asked, softly, voice a whole octave deeper and quieter, "being alone so much?"

Max's stomach sank and he opened his mouth to deny, then no sound came out and he clenched his jaw, looking away. His eyes were burning out of sudden and he regretted being in the middle of the fucking woods with Vince and no way to avoid this conversation, nowhere to run.

"We should get going-"

"Max," Vince frowned, not bothering to move, looking up as Max raised up to his feet, "Max."

He pressed his lips into a thin line, balling up his fists and kicked a rock away, down the mountain, "I'm not your charity project," Max said, strongly, meeting Vince's eyes, "I know you think that, I can feel the judgement and I'm not- I don't want you to be my friend because you feel pity of me and I don't need-"

"I don't," Vince shrugged, frowning at him, "I think you're a dick."

Max's mouth hung open, slapped into silence for a minute, before he let out a scoff, "no, the fuck, you don't! You're always around me now! You're not- You're lying!"

"No," Vince rolled his eyes, "I think you're a dick. I think you're a guy who came from a rough background and that you became a fucking twat because it was easier to push people away than to be rejected and I think that sucks, but I do not feel pity for you. You're a dick."

Max's cheeks burned and he looked at Vince in disbelief, eyes widening, "wow. If I'm so much of a dick then why you're-"

"You're a dick. But you're loyal and you have a huge heart, you're funny even if sometimes you're a little too mean and I like spending time with you. I don't pity you, Max," Vince made a little offended face, scoffing, "but I do think you're lonely, yeah."

This time Max didn't have a single answer, he only stared at Vince, trying to swallow down the knot in his throat and ignore the prickling in his eyes, fists still tightly balled.

Vin got up, patting his ass to get rid of the leaves, then clasped a hand on Max's shoulder, "so- Which way?"

It took him a second to collect himself, so Max simply pointed ahead and let himself fall behind. They continued to walk up, in silence, while Max's mind whirled with Vince's words.

He was so in his head, that he completely missed a hole in the ground and shoved his left foot right in it and then there was a crack and Max's vision went white with pain.

He let out a scream, falling down and cradling his ankle, going deaf and blind as the hot iron pain wrapped around his whole leg- He dared to open his eyes and then saw a flash of white in the middle of the red and his stomach immediately squeezed, nausea sending up hot bile and causing him to fold in half, throwing up in the leaves.

There was a string of something being said, chanted really, next to his head and Max's spine gave up on holding him, black spots dancing in his vision-

"No nononono, Max! MAX!" Vince shook his shoulder, cradling him with one arm, "don't pass out! C'mon, please, please don't pass out!"

[catsandcataclysms]

Oooh so I don't know much about real-life science, but science fiction science-- especially regarding other species-- is always SUPER fun for me. Here's some of my thoughts on some of your theories!!!

If they're precocial and basically able to survive on their own right away

We know, via book #19 and Aftran, that Yeerks are split from their parents:

"Three Yeerks [...] literally join together, with three bodies becoming one. Then that one body begins to fragment [...] into smaller pieces, grubs[...] The body disintegrates, and each grub that falls away becomes another Yeerk."

I suppose it's true that we don't know much about Yeerk Grubs, but caterpillar grubs tend to immediately start eating. Of course, social insects like wasps, bees, ants, etc are tended to by The Hive, but this is usually in a specialized location. From what we know of Yeerk culture and society (which is admittedly very little), I believe the implication here is that the grubs are in fact able to survive on their own, at least to a certain degree as you mentioned with baby deer.

Is taking a host a key stage of yeerk development, one that changes how the yeerk sees the world?

Aftran in #19 again:

"Oh, you can’t imagine! You can’t imagine the first time you enter a Gedd brain and seize control and suddenly, you are seeing! Seeing! Colors! Shapes! It’s a miracle. To be blind and then to see! [...] Do you see those flowers? Do you see the sunlight? Do you see the birds flying? You hate me for wanting that? You hate me because I won’t spend my life blind? You hate me because I won’t spend my life swimming endlessly in a sea of sludge, while humans like you live in a world of indescribable beauty?”

Which has my vote for "yes". But one Yeerk's experience does not a scientific conclusion make, so I'm going to pull from a lesser-remembered (or at least lesser-discussed) scene here-- that of Esplin 9466 himself, from The Hork-Bajir Chronicles.

But there were no host bodies available, not on this spacecraft. So we lived in our pool. As simple Yeerks must. And I would have lived happily enough. [...] I waited [to enter a host] impatiently, afraid. I admit it: afraid. You hear stories about what it’s like. About the hallucinatory sensory input. About the strange sensation of having another mind under your control. About the extension of your own body through unfamiliar limbs. But you don’t know till you do it. [...] Only someone who has done it can understand. It was … it was beyond description. Suddenly, I was not just myself, I was something much larger. Where my body ended, a second body began, so that very soon I forgot my own body entirely. [...] Oh! How can I explain it? The power! The joy! The feeling that I had suddenly grown huge, vast, powerful.

Which certainly seems to make it a key developmental stage! If nothing else, it lends credibility to the idea that a yeerk could be persuaded to think themselves human under the right circumstances.

However, directly after that scene, we have this:

Afterward I communicated with my friends and siblings. Many of them found the whole experience terrifying. Sickening. Awful. Not me. From that moment on, I swore that I would do whatever it took, pay any price, to have eyes again.

So I feel regardless of whether the experience is positive or negative, it is absolutely a fundamental developmental stage, imo. But it also heavily shows the bias-- the yeerks we most often see are the yeerks with hosts. Yeerks who prefer to live without hosts seem to be of... a larger majority than one might think due to, again, bias by only seeing the ones who do have hosts.

I don't have a direct conclusion or anything, but I think this honestly says so much about Yeerk culture and their development. There's just so much we can extrapolate from teeny tiny little tidbits... I love this series.

what if a yeerk didn't know/realize it was a yeerk? What if it thought it was a human kid?

I'm trying to figure out how this would happen, and imagination is failing me. There is some evidence we've successfully convinced nonhumans that they're humans — Nim Chimpsky would sort photos of himself among photos of humans, putting photos of chimps in a different pile. But Nim was a chimpanzee, sharing 99% of humans' genes. And he was taken from his mother when he was 10 days old to be raised exclusively by humans: sleeping in a bed, wearing clothes, eating with utensils, peeing in a toilet. He'd never met another chimp at the time of that study.

By our best guess, dogs don't think they're human, nor do most pets. Dogs easily learn to prefer humans (or sheep, cows, etc.) over other dogs, but the way they act around fellow dogs is completely different from how they act around other mammals of similar size/shape. This is both because dogs mostly spend their first weeks among their parents and siblings (if not they tend to die, so even shitty breeders rarely take bottle babies), and because dogs have obvious physical differences from humans. Being dogs, they probably care less that we lack fur or use language than that we smell like omnivores who rub themselves with soap, and that we move very differently from quadrupeds. Cats are harder to pin down, but they famously don't meow at each other, only at the dumb apes whose affection or tuna sandwiches they want to demand. I don't think anyone's investigated hamsters or goldfish, but I'm guessing the odds are against one mistaking a giant hand that comes from the sky to dispense pellets for being one's sibling.

So the issue with this hypothetical yeerk is threefold: 1) yeerks don't resemble humans, 2) yeerks need to see each other to feed, and 3) yeerks can't interact with humans without using a human host. Let's suppose that the yeerk is taken into a human home immediately after spawning, that the yeerk shows infantile amnesia (who knows), and that the yeerk grows up only feeding from a private pool that contains no other yeerks. Let's even suppose that we give the yeerk a Stephenie Meyer—style human host who is completely brain dead. Even under those circumstances, would the yeerk think "I'm human"? or would the yeerk think "all so-called humans are greenish slugs operating ape bodies like mech suits; we just don't mention this fact out loud"? And is that the same thing as thinking oneself human?

For that matter, did Nim Chimpsky really think he was human, or do his two piles of pictures simply mean "apes who wear clothes" and "apes who don't"? If he assumed all apes have a life stage of being hairy and good at climbing before metamorphosing into a hairless form good at running, is that the same thing as thinking himself human? Was there a different categorization in his head, and if so was it comparable to the boundaries that humans draw around the concept "human" — e.g. "like-mes" and "beasts"? He never actually learned a human language, because evidence would suggests apes cannot, so we'll never know his exact thought process.

[cloudlessly-light]

I love your fics and am going through withdrawal! lol! Would you ever write one where Emily and Aaron are together while he’s training for the triathlon and she puts him on a sex ban for the week before (since he’s not supposed to train/exert himself etc) and he’s all but feral for her?

A/N: Thank you anon, that's really sweet! I hope you enjoy our idiots being absolutely feral for each other hahaha

Title: Nothing on my mind but you Summary: The week before a triathlon you aren’t supposed to train. Aaron and Emily had different ideas of what that meant, much to his dismay. Word count: 5,1k   Rating: Explicit Warnings: Smut, dirty talk, oral sex, fingering, rough sex, multiple orgasms, breathplay, idiots in love, idiots in lust

He’s still winded as he makes his way upstairs towards the bedroom he shares with his wife. Sweat is rolling down his neck, his heart still thumping heavily in his chest. It had been a good training session, but he was ready for a shower.

“Good morning honey.” Emily greets him when he walks into the bedroom. She’s still in bed, sitting against the headboard reading and he smiles at the sight of her in one of his old shirts and his reading glasses on her nose. “Did you have a good work out?”

“Training.” He reminds her and she rolls her eyes at him. “You know you really should get glasses, sweetheart.” He quips as he rids himself of his shirt.

“Why would I when I have yours.” She smiles into a kiss as he bends down. “You’re sweaty, and stink.” Her nose scrunches but makes no move to push him away. “It’s kinda sexy.”

“Is that so?” He smirks and kisses her again and when she sighs into it he deepens it as his hand moves under the covers to feel her warm skin. “Join me in the shower?”

“Is Jack still asleep?” She’s already letting him drag her out of bed and towards the bathroom.

“Yes, but we need to hurry.” He wiggles his eyebrows at her and she laughs into another kiss as he pushes her towards the bathroom.

To Aaron, it was a perfect morning.

*

“So when is the triathlon?” Dave asks as they’re heading home from Utah, another case solved and a team that were exhausted.

“Next weekend.” His head turns as Emily grabs his hand from where she’s sitting beside him.

“Eight days.” She sighs and his eyebrows scrunches slightly at that.

“You have a countdown?” When she only shrugs with a smile he knows she’s not telling him everything.

“Of course I do.” She says simply and he wants to ask more but he’s acutely aware that Dave and JJ are both seated right across from him. “It’s important to you.”

“Well I’m excited to cheer you on.” JJ smiles at them and Dave nods along. “You’ve been training for months, time to show us what you got.”

“Part of me can’t wait until it’s over.” He admits as he relaxes into his seat and makes a mental note to ask Emily about her slightly odd behavior once they get home.

“Me too.” He hears Emily say and he gives her another curious look. Yeah he definitely needed to ask her what’s going through her mind.

*

“Good morning, sweetheart.” He mumbles the next day, his lips against the back of her neck. He had waited for her to wake up, had let his lips graze her neck and as his fingers traced gently against her ribs.

“Morning.” She drawls, her voice raspy like always in the morning. “How did you sleep?”

“Like a log.” He presses a few kisses against the nape of her neck and smiles when she shivers in return. “Turn around.” His hand is moving over her body under the covers, feels the familiar curves under his palm until he grabs her hip to pull her back against him. When she feels him through his boxers she sucks in a low breath and twists enough in his arms so they’re facing each other.

“We can’t.” She bites her bottom lip at the clear confusion on his face. “You’re not supposed to exert yourself the week before the triathlon right?” When his fingers twitch against her hip she smirks.

“Yeah, no training.” He pulls her closer but then he feels her hand on his chest, stopping him. “But no one said anything about not having sex with my gorgeous wife.”

“No training, no exertion, no sex.” She stamps a kiss to his lip when he just stares at her. “You’re officially on a sex ban.”

“You can not be serious.” He tries to pull her closer again but she shakes her head at him. “Emily.”

“Honey,” She cups his face in her hand. “you know how much I love our sex life, and we also know that we won’t be taking it easy. So for this week, we are not having sex, you’re not going to perform worse at that triathlon cause you’re too tired from making me come.” She pushes him until he’s on his back and she straddles his hips.

“This really is not fair.” He mutters and when she laughs he realizes he sounds like a petulant child.

“One week, that’s all.” She gives him a quick peck before climbing off his lap. “Seven days, you got this.”

*

Day 1

It took him another twenty minutes to realize that Emily was in fact, serious. A sex ban. A week without sex because of some ridiculous notion that he couldn’t do any strenuous exercise. He knew that she only did it to tease him, that as much as she would hate this week, he would hate it more and she was finding it enjoyable. Aaron didn’t see the humor in it, because how could he when he was married to Emily Prentiss. She was gorgeous, sexy, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and for the past three years he had gotten to enjoy her in every way possible.

Not to say that they were insatiable and were screwing like two teenagers every day, but there was something about knowing that she was just out of reach that made something inside him react.

“I never said you couldn’t touch.” She tells him as he lingers in the doorway as she’s pouring them both their morning coffee. When she turns she leans back against the counter, a mug to her lips to hide her smirk.

“You’re a menace.” He corners her against the counter and puts his hands on her waist. “And there really is no logic to your reasoning.”

She doesn’t get the chance to respond, the sound of Jack’s quick footsteps running down the stairs forcing them apart. He catches the look of satisfaction in her eye, and he swore this would be the longest week of his life.

Day 2

He is woken up by the sound of his alarm and groggily turns it off. Emily is wrapped around him, her leg intertwined with his, her arm around his waist, her head tucked into the crook of his neck. She’s everywhere and his body has already responded to her proximity.

“Em, it’s time to get up.” He whispers and she makes a noise and only buries her face deeper into him.

“Do we have to?” She makes no effort in moving and he lets himself enjoy the softness of her body against his for a moment.

“Do we have to go to work? I think we do.” He hears her chuckle, a dry, sarcastic sound that he knows she isn’t even aware of this early in the morning. “Come on sweetheart.”

She grunts but still rolls away from the heat of him and onto her own side of the bed. His hand finds hers and she lets him drag her into a sitting position. She wasn’t a morning person, she never had been.

“I’ll put on the coffee, and then I’ll join you in the shower.” He watches as she smiles lazily at him. She really was beautiful in the morning, soft and imperfect, a vision only reserved for him.

“Nice try.” She gets up and slowly makes her way towards the bathroom while rubbing her face.

“I’m only thinking about the environment, we’re saving water.” He calls after her and when she laughs he feels the familiar warmth of it settle in his chest.

“Sure you are baby.” She calls back just before turning on the shower. She’s not surprised when he still joins her only a few minutes later, his lips on her shoulder and hands stroking over her body. “You’re worse than a teenager.”

“This isn’t sex, this is me enjoying my beautiful wife.” He husks and when she sucks in a breath at the feel of him against her backside he can’t help but feel smug. This might have been her idea, but that doesn’t mean that she’d get to have all the fun.

Day 3

Being away on a case forced him to keep his thoughts on the case and not her. Which was hard, even at the best of times. It was ridiculous, the insane want he felt for her. He felt like a child, wanting something he could not have, but the thing was he had her, he knew what she sounded like, what she tasted like, how she looked lost in pleasure. And during the few moments he had to himself those images would flash through his mind.

All he wanted was to bend her over a desk and take her the way he knew she loved. It was all he could think about, how badly he needed her.

“It’s been three days.” She reminds him like he hasn’t been counting down the hours steadily. They were in a precinct in Texas and it was so freaking hot that Emily had decided to take her jacket off. He hated it, because she was showing off her collarbones, a part of the female body he always felt was deeply underappreciated, as well as her cleavage. When she bent forward he couldn’t help but to stare down her shirt, he really did feel like a teenager.

“It’s three days too long.” He mutters back as he reaches for the file she’s currently bending over to hand him across the table.

“You act like we haven’t gone days without sex before, honey.” The amusement is clear on her face, and if there hadn’t been only a door hiding them away from other people he would have grabbed her throat for that. He felt desire simmering in his veins, thrumming steadily and he couldn’t imagine how the next four days would go.

“That’s different.” He tells her and her eyebrow arches as she crosses her arms under her chest.

“How?” She catches the way his eyes drift down towards her breasts and gives him a knowing look.

“That’s when we’ve been too busy, or too tired, but this, what you’re doing right now is-” He stops when the door opens abruptly.

“Hey guys there’s someone calling in claiming to be the unsub.” Spencer interrupts them and just like that, his focus was back at work.

Day 4

They’re heading home from Texas, the case had unraveled quickly. They usually did when dealing with a narcissistic killer. He had chosen to sit by himself in the corner of the plane, blaming paperwork when in reality he needed to put space between himself and Emily. She had spent the night pressed tightly against him, and now all he could feel was her. The smell of something as simple as her perfume was driving him wild and even though he could see the way she was starting to struggle too, she was determined to last the week.

But he was struggling more than her, which was rare. Normally she would be the frenzied one, the one needing the physical part of their relationship more than him. His eyes found hers across the plane and he felt a tugging low in his abdomen when she looked at him with a filthy smirk. Then his phone vibrated in his pocket and he saw her own phone in her hand.

Emily: You’re really going to sit there the entire flight?

Aaron: Unless you want me to fuck you in the bathroom of this plane, yes.

He watches the way her cheeks tint the slightest shade of pink and he licks his bottom lip at the sight.

Emily: Three more days.

Like he needed the reminder.

Aaron: Trust me I know. And you’re going to pay for making me wait an entire week.

She bites her bottom lip at his response and when her eyes meet his again, he sees the same heat he feels reflect in her dark orbs.

Emily: Is that a promise?

It most certainly was.

Day 5

It’s been five days. Five. He’s pretty sure he’s losing his mind, because this is what it must feel like being consumed by lust. He finds himself just staring at her, the simplest, most mundane tasks making his mouth water because it was her doing them. He finds himself tenting his slacks as she bites the end of her pen when doing paperwork, because he knows just what she could do with that mouth. When she unloads the dishwasher later that same day he has to physically grab the edge of the kitchen table to keep himself from simply pushing her tights down her thighs and fuck her right there and then, because he knew what her ass looked like when she bent over for him.

And then she’s kneeling on the floor, cleaning up some of the toys that Jack had forgotten about before bedtime and he watches as she looks up at him behind long lashes and he’s tasting blood from the way he bites down on his tongue.

“You’re so pretty on your knees, sweetheart.” He comments and she immediately flushes. She’s gotten needier too and that’s part of what’s driving him insane. She stays close to him as much as possible, always touching him in some way when they’re alone, her lips searching for his. He might be falling into madness, but he’s pretty sure she is as well.

“Thank you.” She whispers instead of making a smug remark and his suspicions are confirmed.

“Too bad about your little rule, huh?” He stands from where he’s seated on the couch and grabs her chin. “Two more days.”

“R-right.” She stutters and when he lets go of her almost reaches for him.

Day 6

It had been an insane day, they had been called in early. It was local case, a child abduction that despite all odds was managed to be solved that same night, with a child going home to his parents. But because of their day Aaron had barely had time to think about anything but work. It wasn’t until he was packing up for the night that he realized that the triathlon was the next day, he hadn’t been nervous about it but suddenly excitement and nerves twisted his gut.

For the last six days he had been consumed by her, the triathlon had barely been on his mind. It dawns on him that’s probably part of why Emily had done what she did, because she knew he’d get in his head about it. He didn’t have to be the best, he knew he wouldn’t be, but he was also an overachiever and she knew that even if he hadn’t voiced it out loud, he was putting pressure on himself to perform well.

“Are you ready to go home?” Her voice is soft and tired and he didn’t blame her, it had been a long day.

He stands from his desk and wordlessly walks towards her and slams the door behind her before pressing her against it. He swallows up her sound of surprise with a kiss, his tongue delving into her mouth as his hands are firm on her hips. One hand moves to the small of her back and slips under her shirt, feeling her soft skin under his fingertips. When they break apart he stays close, his forehead pressing gently against hers.

“What was that for?” She whispers as her eyelids flutter open and her arms wrap around his neck.

“I just love you.” He smiles at the way she breaks into a grin. “And I’m so thankful for you.”

“I love you too, honey. So much.” She lets him pull her into another kiss, this one gentler as they enjoy a moment to just be.

Day 7

He’s finished the triathlon and he feels like he might die. He’s panting and gulping down half a bottle of water as his family and friends stand around him, cheering him on. Jack’s handmade sign in his other hand and something he would frame later.

“Pretty impressive, I had money on the swim killing you.” Emily winks at him and he laughs through heavy breaths.

“I practiced.” He grins match hers as she ignores his wet clothes in favor of giving him a quick kiss.

“Hey you guys want to get something to eat?” Spencer asks and the rest immediately agrees.

They all wait as he changes clothes, his entire body was spent, muscles aching but he was proud of himself. He had set a goal earlier that year, to finish a triathlon and he had made it, he had done it. He’s still grinning when he meets the rest of the team at their cars and Jack jumps into his arms.

“Are you okay?” Emily chuckles when she notices that he struggles slightly to carry Jack and he nods.

“Give me a few hours and I’ll be as good as new.”

Yeah, that was wishful thinking.

They get home later than they thought, and by the time Jack is asleep in bed, he’s so spent that he falls asleep on the couch.

“Come on honey, lets go to bed.” Emily wakes him gently and he groans but still stands. He brushes his teeth and showers quickly and by the time he gets into bed his body feels heavy.

“So much for making me pay.” She quips from beside him and he peeks up at her with one eye.

“Just you wait, sweetheart. Jessica has Jack tomorrow.”

He’s asleep before he hears her response.

*

He woke up early, so early it was still dark out. Emily is sleeping soundly beside him and he takes a few moments to simply look at her. He watches her chest rise and fall, sees her nipples through the thin tank she was wearing, lets his finger trail from between her breast to her slender neck. His eyes travelled over her face, from her slightly parted lips, to the point of her nose that he knew she hated, but he loved. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly when he moved closer to her, her dark hair was splayed around her on the pillow, she was beautiful and she was his.

His hand moved down her body again, sneaking under the covers to find the lining of her underwear. One finger trailed below the fabric and Emily sighed lazily.

“Wake up, Em.” He whispered before pressing a kiss to her shoulder, then continued further up as he carefully positioned himself above her.

“What are you doing?” She mumbled sleepily, eyes still closed but legs spreading automatically for him to fit between.

“I’m enjoying my wife.” He mumbled against her collarbone before sucking a mark into the skin at the base of her neck.” His cock was already pulsing, pushing against her through their underwear and Emily rocked gently up against it.

“Honey.” She gasps, whatever else she was going to say dying on her lips when he sucked her nipple through her tank. Her fingers find their way to his short hair as he continues to kiss down her body, still half-asleep as he drags her panties from her hips.

“You’re going to come on my tongue,” He mumbles lowly as he settles between her thighs, his lips ghosting over her clit as he speaks. “and then you’re going to come on my cock.” He nips at her thigh and she sucks in a breath. “And after, you’re going to let me come in that pretty mouth of yours.” He bites a bruise into the other thigh and she whines lowly. “Is that clear?”

“Crystal.” She gasps and only a moment later he’s licking through her.

He makes good on his word and she’s coming gasping his name with hands twisting the sheets and thighs trembling around his head. She’s still coming down from her high when he pushes inside of her, sets a pace that’s hard and rough and exactly what they’ve both been needing for the last week.

“You feel so fucking good, how do you always feel so fucking good?” He mutters against her neck as she starts to tense underneath him in no time at all.

“Harder, fuck baby harder.” Her heels are digging into his ass, her nails are breaking the skin of his back, and he revels in the sting of it. He thrusts harder, and she comes biting down on his shoulder. Later he will press on the bruise she leaves behind fondly.

“Gonna come sweetheart.” He hisses as her muffled moans turns into breathier whimpers and she nods against his shoulder. He pulls out with a groan and moves higher on the bed until he’s straddling her chest and she leans back on her elbows and opens her mouth.

One of her hands wrap around his shaft while she licks the taste of herself from his tip. She sucks hard, lets her tongue swipe across the underside of his cock as her hand twists and when she looks up at him through her eyelashes he comes with a punched-out groan. He’s gripping the headboard so hard his knuckles turn white as he lets pleasure take over as his body jerks and head falls back.

By the time he’s relaxed, Emily has swallowed and is cleaning him up with lazy licks of her tongue.

“That was so good, honey.” Her breathing is still labored as he lays back beside her and she immediately fits herself against him.

“Don’t think we’re done, not by a long shot.” He smirks against the top of her head before pulling her into a kiss, enjoying the taste of both of them on her tongue.

And he wasn’t lying, the moment the door closed after Jessica picked Jack up, he was on her. They didn’t even make it to their bedroom, and instead he pinned her between the couch and his body. He had her naked in minutes, his hands moving all over her body and his lips tasting her skin.

“Jesus Aaron.” She chuckles breathlessly as his fingers move between her thighs, a low hum of enjoyment leaving him at finding her hot and slick already.

“You’re irresistible.” His voice is thick with arousal as he turns her around but keeps her close with one arm wrapped around her chest, his hand finding her throat. The other hand moves down her stomach and he grins as he feels the muscles tense under his touch. His continues down back between her legs and lets his middle finger circle her clit slowly and her head falls back against his shoulder at the feeling

“So wet, already so ready for me.” He breathes against her ear as the hand around her throat tightens just slightly, daring her to move away from him. She nods with a low moan, and her legs spread for him, giving him more room.

“It feels so good.” She gasps and he ruts against her ass and circles her clit with firmer pressure.

“I know, baby.” He smirks against her ear before biting the lobe. “You’re making the prettiest noises for me, I’ve thought about hearing them all week.” His hand moves lower and he pushes two fingers inside of her as he lets the palm of his hand drag over her clit and she moans loudly. “Just like that.”

“Fuck, Aaron!” She feels her knees buckling and she grabs his arm with one hand as the other steadies herself against the back of the couch, her nails digging into the fabric. He knew her body better than she knew it herself, and as he continued to whisper praise and filth against her ear his fingers hooked inside of her as he continued to press his palm against her clit. The heat in the pit of her stomach was already building, her hips rocking into his hands and back against his cock which was straining inside his sweats.

His hips push forward against her ass and she stumbles slightly, stuck between his body and the couch. He only snickers at her and tightens his hold on her neck, feeling her pulse beat wildly under his fingers.

“You gonna come for me?” His voice is laced with satisfaction and she mewls as her hips buckle and her slick walls tighten around his fingers. “One week and you turn into the most desperate little thing.”

“Please, honey please.” She begs and she feels his lips curl into a smirk against her neck as his cock twitches against her ass. Any other day she wouldn’t give in so easily to his taunting, but it had been a long week, a week without his touch and even though it had been her idea, it didn’t mean that she hadn’t been struggling just as much as he had. “I’m so fucking close.” She pants and his hand tightens around her throat, slowly cutting of blood flow and making her lightheaded.

“Come for me baby, soak my fingers.” He hisses the word against her ear as she starts to tense against him. His hold on her throat loosens and she comes with a guttural groan that shoots straight to his cock. He continues to push his fingers inside of her, groans praise against her ear until her body has stopped shaking and her eyelids flutter open and she’s twisting her head enough to kiss him breathlessly.

“Fuck me.” She gasps against his lips and he hums, satisfaction dripping from the sound. He pushes her forward, one hand pressing between her shoulder blades as he urges her to bend over the back of the couch.

“Insatiable, aren’t you sweetheart?” He teases as he pushes his pants and boxers down his legs. She glares at him over her shoulder but it doesn’t have the desired effect when her cheeks are still flushed and brown orbs clouded by lust. “That’s okay, I am too.” He assures her lowly and slowly pushes the tip of his cock through her folds.

She whimpers each time he bumps against her clit. Her back arches as he teases them both, her entire body needing to feel him inside of her.

He licks up her spine, tastes the sweat on her skin before straightening. One hand wrap in her dark hair and tugs and she moans at the slight pain from it.

“My pretty thing, fucking gorgeous.” He mutters before pushing inside of her with one smooth thrust that forces groans from both of them. The hand not in her hair grabs her hip hard as he sets a pace that he’s sure is too rough, the grunt from her making his pause.

“Do not fucking stop.” She hisses through clenched teeth and she hears his breathless chuckle.

“Like I said, insatiable.” He tugs on her hair and starts moving again and she moans loudly. His hand is probably bruising her skin from his hold on her, he knows they both will have marks on their bodies for days from the way they’ve been grabbing and biting and clawing at each other. He loves it, loves when they’re desperate for each other.

“I don’t think I’m the only one.” She pants and he tugs her head back harder, forcing her to bend further. He’s leaning over her, face sweaty and eyes dark enough to look black as he looks at her flushed face.

“You’re right about that, if I could I’d spend every waking moment having you like this.” He growls as his hips move faster, their bodies creating obscene sounds each time they connect. She groans, her jaw clenching slightly and he feels her clenching around his cock. “Does it hurt?” He hisses lowly and she nods.

“Yes.” She admits, the fill of him always a lot, but the power of his thrusts blending the line between pleasure and pain.

“Do you like it?” He already knew the answer, could see the way her body was reacting to him.

“Yes.” She hisses and he lets go of her hair, forcing her to fall forward over the back of the couch.

“Filthy thing, perfect thing.” He grabs both of her hips and pushed her down against the couch, keeping her there as he continued to fuck into her. It was filthy, feral, exactly what he had been denied and exactly what he needed.

She’s starting to tense only a few minutes later, her slick walls tightening and trembling around his cock as she moans get louder and needier.

“Come with me, let me feel it.” She pleads as the pleasure builds steadily inside of her. Her body feels like it’s on fire, heat spreading through every nerve ending as he pushes her higher and higher. She feels his hips stutter, hears his groan, close to animalistic and she catches his reflection in the TV. He’s sweaty, hair messy and strong body tense as he stares down at where they’re connected. He looks wild, lost in desire and pleasure and the image is enough to make her come with a strangled cry.

The feeling of her coming is enough to force his own orgasm. He comes with a growl, his entire body twitching and cock buried as deep inside of her as possible as they come together in a messy haze of pleasure. His knees are buckling, he’s heaving for breath while Emily stays slumped over the couch, drawing desperate breaths into her lungs.

It’s not until he feels like his legs won’t give out on him that he pulls away from her and she sighs at the empty feeling he leaves behind. He’s gentle as he pulls her up to stand as well and she smiles lazily up at him before moving around the couch, dragging him with her. He lays down and she easily fits herself between the backrest of the couch and his body after covering both of them with a blanket.

“If one week gets you like this, I’d love to know what a month would do.” She chuckles against his throat and he cradles the back of her head.

“Sweetheart we both know you wouldn’t have lasted another day, don’t push your luck.” He teases but there’s nothing but affection in his voice. He presses a kiss to her forehead and she looks up at him, looking sated and content.

“So when we’re old and grey?”

“I’ll be bending you over your walker.” He promises with a smile.

[prettycopperpennies]

Angel On His Shoulder | Thanos/Choi Su-bong/Player 230 x F!Reader

Description: Demon Thanos x Angel Reader, Supernatural au, enemies to lovers

Warnings: no descriptions of gore but the setting is squid games

Part 2

Previous

Angel On His Shoulder

You felt it in your bones: everyone was going home. You absolutely believed and trusted every single one of the players as soon as the guards announced the vote. You knew they’d want to keep themselves and their fellow players safe. You glanced around the crowd gathering on the floor, preemptively proud of the decision you were sure they would make.

“What’s with the smile, angel?” you heard a deep voice ask. You turned around to see a tall, purple haired figure behind you.

“No reason,” you answered, not trying to encourage small talk between you and a demon. You turned back around, but he was not so easily discouraged.

“I think,” he continued on, walking up next to you, “you believe everyone’s about to head out of this place.”

You were more than a little frustrated he seemed to be able to read you so well. It also didn’t help that the heat of his aura always quelled the coldness you were used to feeling from your own aura. You were finding it difficult to literally keep your cool around him.

“So what if I do?” you asked with a small huff.

Su-bong couldn’t stop the smile that came to his face at your persistence. He didn’t know what you saw in mortals, but it amused him to no end.

“And what if it doesn't turn out how you think?” he asked. He felt frustrated as you didn't answer and kept looking ahead. He tried not to let it show as your action unintentionally took a dig at his ego, and continued on, “Or have you not thought of that?”

He felt a smidge of satisfaction when you once again turned towards him. You glared in his direction before saying, “I believe in them.”

“Right. Doubt isn’t really an option for angels, is it?” he asked.

“That’s not- We can- I simply don’t need,” you sputtered through a jumbled mass of words. He tilted his head as he listened to your failed attempts of excuses, openly grinning at your frowning face.

“Wow, I’ve never been proven so wrong,” he teased.

“You know what? You are going to be eating your words once these people vote,” you said, only doubling down in what you believed. You couldn't help but notice how right he was; doubt did not seem to be a skill you possessed.

“You sure about that?” he leaned in and asked as his eyes moved to a few of the players in front of you. Both seemed to be discussing the possibilities of voting O. You felt your assuredness falter for a moment, but soon you regained your confidence.

“Yes, I’m sure!” you said, choosing to assume those two players were in the minority. Surely, most of these players would want to help themselves and each other and go home.

Su-bong noticed the little hesitation in your voice, and decided to take advantage of the small opportunity.

“Alright,” he said, “So X wins and you win, but if it’s O…”

“What, like a bet?” you said, repulsed by the idea of betting on something so serious.

As your nose crinkled once again Su-bong felt his confident demeanor falter for a moment when faced with your very endearing expression. But he quickly regained his footing as he held out a hand towards you.

“Let’s call it a deal,” he said.

“I’m not doing that,” you said, not buying into what he was selling.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I’m not about to make a deal with a devil,” you said with a flat tone.

“Okay, fine,” he said with a casual shrug, but somewhere in the back of his head he felt oddly pleased you hadn’t fallen for it.

The both of you turned away from one another as a pink guard spoke up, announcing the beginning of the vote. Player 456 walked across the room, and you breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the tally ticked upwards for the X’s.

As soon as number 444 was called you hurried to the other side of the room to cast your vote. You turned to give Thanos a smug look before joining the other X’s. He simply rolled his eyes at your display, waiting for his turn. 

As the vote continued on though you felt your confidence start to falter. The group was split closer down the middle than you had expected. But you wouldn’t give up until the vote was officially done. You wouldn’t stop believing in them. You huffed with unsurprised annoyance as Thanos voted O. He turned to you, mocking your earlier move as he returned the smug expression before joining the other O voters.

Apparently you weren’t the only one who believed in these players. Player 456 pushed to the front of the crowd df X’s to give a stirring speech. You nodded your head in agreement, hoping the remaining players would listen to his warning. Thanos was easy to spot thanks to his brightly colored hair, and you made sure to give him a know-it-all look as the player spoke up in favor of ending the games. He held up one ringed finger as if to say “wait and see”. 

Moments later Player 100 was suddenly yelling back at 456. Su-bong looked back over to you, ready to rub it in your face as an argument broke out. But you weren’t looking at him. You refused to give him even more of your attention, and instead you watched the others worriedly as they started to yell. Annoyance, and maybe a tinge of disappointment, at your rejection bubbled up inside him. He was determined to get you to pay attention.

You were trying to calm the players around you, reasoning that fighting was not the answer, when you heard a deep voice cut through the crowd. You abandoned your conversation, moving through the other X’s to get a better view. You almost didn't believe it until you saw the familiar purple hair.

“If you really won, it actually works better for us,” he said, and you watched with a sinking feeling as players nodded their heads in agreement, “You can give us some tips on how to survive these games.”

You watched in shock as he hyped up the crowd, cheering them on to vote O. As he turned around he already knew exactly who’s reaction he was looking for, and as soon as he spotted you he was not disappointed. You started disbelievingly at him as he smirked and swaggered past you back to the O’s. You both looked back at the other with determination, literal lines drawn between the two of you as the voting continued on.

As the voting concluded you felt your heart sink into the ground. You were wrong. The players had voted to keep playing. But you didn't blame them. You put all the responsibility on Player 230.

Speak of the devil, you thought glumly to yourself as he approached your bunk.

“Hey,” he said, sounding frustratingly casual. You did not answer, instead focusing all your attention on a loose thread on your sheet. He sighed, leaning against your bed frame.

“C’mon, you can’t really be upset about this. Or even surprised,” he said, then paused to hear your response. But it never came, “I came over to rub my victory in your face, but it’s not nearly as fun if you keep ignoring me.”

You finally broke the silence as you said, “Victory? You cheated!”

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“That little speech you made! You interfered with the players’ decision making,” you explained.

His expression changed to mock shock as he spoke, “I can’t believe you would accuse me of such a thing as cheating.”

“I’m not counting it as a victory,” you said.

“You can’t act so surprised. Tempting humans is kind of my thing,” he pointed out. He glanced around, making sure no one was within earshot before whispering, “But just so you know, demons aren’t above cheating either.”

“Just so you know, angels don’t give up without a fight,” you said, trying to out-intimidate him. But it clearly didn’t work as he started to laugh.

“Please. That’s all you angels do,” he snickered. You gasped in indignation, but that only added fuel to his fire, “Listen, since you think I cheated then let me offer you an olive branch.”

“I’m not going to take a deal so stop offering,” you said, but he held up his hands in mock defeat.

“This isn't a deal. Think of it as an invitation,” he explained. 

You listened, curious about his “invitation”. He reached a hand out to tap a ringed finger against your X patch. A small spot of your skin, exactly where his fingertip tapped, tingled under your clothes as he did. The heat that always surrounded him seemed to cut through the fabric.

“If you ever get sick of losing, you’re always welcome to join my side,” he said.

“No chance,” you said before waving away his hand, getting up, and stomping over to a few X players. Su-bong watched you as you walked away, finding himself once again pulled in by your insistent personality.

[lonely-ey3s]

With All My Love: Chapter 10 | wondering why

Chapter 10 : Wondering Why

Word Count: 13.2k

Pairings: joel miller x f!reader (no outbreak)

Chapter Summary: There are two big events this weekend for you and Joel, Sarah’s soccer tryouts and a work dinner Joel invites you to come with him, as he is trying to sign a client and wants to take them and their partners out for a nice dinner to sign them. 

Chapter warnings: SMUT (18+ MDNI), f!oral, m!oral while driving (don’t be stupid and suck dick while your partner drives),  unprotected p in v (wrap it up ya'll), light choking (hand on throat but not choking, more possessive), anxiety, mentions of PTSD anxiety, FLUFF, joel being an absolute lover, soft!joel, panic attacks, joel being a fucking hunk, use of y/n. 

A/N: i’ve been listening to this playlist on spotify while writing this fic and ‘wondering why’ by the red clay strays has been screaming these two the whole time i’ve been writing along with many other songs but this one more than others. also, i’d love some feedback, what are some plot twists ya’ll are thinking will happen? i’m very curious to know 👀

Dividers by: @saradika-graphics 

Main Masterlist

3 weeks later    

Sarah had tryouts today, she was a nervous wreck. She was up early this morning ready to go on a run you told her you would go on last night before you were up. 

Joel woke you up to his head between your thighs and gave you some cardio before your alarm went off. 

After he pulled 2 orgasms from you with his tongue, and your alarm went off, you got up out of bed and got dressed in your running wear which consisted of some running shorts and a sports bra and lately with the weather in the morning, a hoodie. 

You went to open the bedroom door to leave when Joel got out of bed butt naked and ran to bring you back to bed, you giggled and kissed him as he tried to walk you back to bed but then pushed him to lay down on the bed, him chuckling and grinning, his hair askew from sleep. 

You stood and smiled, “I got to go, Sarah’s probably waiting for me…” you chuckled and leaned down, giving him a gentle kiss. “We’ll be back soon.” 

Joel nodded and sat on his elbows as you left the bedroom, quietly closing the door. You walked downstairs and Sarah was sitting on a barstool at the island, she looked like she didn’t get much sleep. 

“Mornin’ sweets…” you smiled and came over to her, touching her back and rubbing it, “Nerves all over the place?” 

She looked up at you, anxiety written all over her face, nodding, “I’m so nervous.” 

You leaned down and kissed her head, “Come on, let’s run it out and talk.” you held out your hand with a small smile. 

She smiled and caved, taking your hand and walking to the front door. 

—

You both went to the mailbox and did what stretching you needed to do, moving around to get the blood flowing. 

You looked at your watch and then Sarah and smiled, “Ready?” 

She nodded and started jogging on the sidewalk, you chuckled and ran to catch up with her. 

For the first mile, she kept quiet, focusing on her pace, and you watched for that small sliver of time when you could step in and start talking her off that nervous rabbit hole she was going down mentally. 

Around mile 2 you were running by her school so you made a turn to go into the parking lot, “Detour! Come on…” you shouted to her. 

She turned around and followed you. 

You jogged to the soccer field and stopped in the middle of the field, sitting down, patting the ground next to you, inviting her to come sit by you, panting softly. 

She sat down, brought her knees to her chest, and sighed. 

You looked at her, and then looked at the field, “I don’t know if you know this about me but when I joined the army I was two steps away from death’s door.” you looked at the ground, “I was with a man who hurt me and right before I left, he almost killed me.” you cleared your throat and looked at her, “I went into boot camp with 2 broken ribs, I’m pretty sure I had a head injury, among other things… but the first day we got there, guess what we had to do?” 

She looked at you, curious, “What?” 

“Run 10 miles.” you chuckled. “I had never in my life run 10 miles in one go, not even when I was in track and field in school…” you smiled, “But that was the first test, if we didn’t finish, we didn’t get dinner or get to go to our dorms.” you looked back at your feet, “I ran and ran… til my lungs burned and I couldn’t feel my feet.” you bit your lip, and leaned back on your hands, “But I did it, and I came in 6th place…” you looked at her, “Which ticked me off, I’m far too competitive for 6th place…” you nudged her and she chuckled. 

She looked at you and smiled. 

“My point is, I ran 10 miles, with 2 broken rings and other things, and completed what I needed to do with little to no experience or skill.” you sat up and faced her, “You are going to crush these tryouts because you have skill and experience, as well as drive and passion.” you touched her knee gently, “You want this, right?” 

She nodded, “Yes, so much…” 

You nodded, “Then you’re going to get it. You’re going to make the team and get first string.” 

She looked at the field and took a deep breath to calm herself, “I’m going to make the team.” 

You smiled and stood up, yelling into the air, “SARAH MILLER IS GOING TO BE FIRST STRING!” 

She giggled up at you and stood up, yelling into the air, “I AM GOING TO MAKE THE TEAM AND BE FIRST STRING!”

You smiled and nodded, “Again.” 

She yelled it again, this time louder and with more confidence. 

You nodded and smiled, “There we go. Speak it into existence. It’s going to happen.” 

She chuckled and nodded, “It’s going to happen.” 

“Your Dad and I are going to be there, Tommy and Maria too… the whole time, cheering the loudest for you, they’ll have a hard time forgetting you…” you winked and pulled her in for a hug. 

She wrapped her arms around you and tightly held on, needing a hug, and support. 

You didn’t let go until she did, and when she did you looked down and smiled, “You’re going to do amazing things, Sarah, you’re a brilliant young woman and have so much talent. I’m so proud of you.” you teared up a little. 

She smiled and teared up too, “Thank you for supporting me…” 

You hugged her again, “I’ll always do it sweets…” 

She pulled back and nudged you and started running, “Last one home is a rotten egg!” 

You chuckled and ran after her. 

You both got home and Joel had breakfast ready for you both, Sarah’s favorite, pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream and a banana peanut butter protein shake for the needed protein she had been trying to drink in the morning. 

You all ate breakfast together and she seemed to be in a better mood, laughing and making jokes. 

Around noon you all packed into Joel’s truck and drove to the school for tryouts. 

Joel dropped Sarah off as she wanted to do some warm-up drills before they started. He parked the truck and you both made it to the field with some camping chairs, hand in hand, ready to support her. 

When you made it to the field you were too anxious to sit down so you stood up and crossed your arms and stood watching the field from the sideline. You looked like a true mom like this, concerned with your kid, watching for them. 

Joel sat and watched you, smiling at how involved you had been in this whole process. He knew it meant a lot to Sarah and it was something he appreciated you doing, taking the time to be immersed in Sarah’s life and hobbies. 

A woman came up to you, looking you up and down, looking a bit snobby with her designer bag and sunglasses, “I don’t think we’ve met before, I’m Janine Andersen… and you are?” 

You turned to look at her and nodded, “Y/N… nice to meet you.” you smiled tightly and went back to looking at the field. 

She nodded, “Nice to meet you as well. Um… my girl is Cadence, number 3, who’s yours?” she probed, looking at you and then the girls, trying to see who might be yours. 

You smiled and pointed, “Sarah Miller, number 24…” 

She looked back at you, “Oh, you’re Sarah’s um… mom?” she tried to dig in, knowing the story of Sarah’s mom. 

Just as you were about to say something snarky back as you knew what she was trying to do, Joel came up behind you and wrapped his arm around you, “How you doin’ Janine?” 

She looked at Joel and smiled, slightly blushing, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “Oh, Joel, I’m good. I was just getting to know your… friend…” 

You looked at her and grinned, “Girlfriend, I’m his girlfriend.” you stuck your hand out for her to shake. 

She nodded and shook your hand, barely taking it, like touching you was beneath her, “Oh I see.” she cleared her throat, pulling her hand away, “Well, what is Sarah trying out for?” 

You clenched your jaw and turned away, she clearly was someone you didn’t want to be around with how she acted above you. Joel smiled looking out at the field and waving to Sarah, “First string. Same as your girl, yeah?” he looked at her and kindly smiled, trying to still be polite. 

She nodded and smiled, “Exactly, I guess may the best player g-” 

The whistle blew to start the small scrimmage, and you stepped out of Joel’s arms and started walking up the field, “Yeah sure, nice to meet you Janice!”, purposely saying the wrong name and abandoning the conversation, yelling toward Sarah, “Let’s go Miller!” clapping, getting hyped up.

She shouted back, “Oh! It’s Janine…” She waved her hand and tsked as you didn’t hear her, too far away. 

Sarah looked your way and nodded, then looked back at the field, getting ready to zone in on the ball. 

Joel tried to hide his smirk at your obvious jab at her, then looked at Janine and smiled tightly, “Thanks for comin’ over, but I think it’s starting and I’m gonna go join mine…” he grinned and nodded then ran to catch up with you. 

The coaches were watching every player from the sidelines opposite of the parents. Sarah had told you that this scrimmage was one of the most important parts of the tryout, so you were up the whole time, running up and down the field with her if you weren’t standing in the middle with Joel, cheering her on. 

Joel stayed and yelled from one area of the sidelines after you ran up and down a few times, not having nearly as much energy as you to run up and down with the game.

Sarah made two assists and 1 goal, you jumped and cheered for her, clapping, pumped up for how great she was doing. You were 100% the loudest and most involved on the sidelines, earning judging glares from parents and a comment or two as you passed about it only being tryouts, but you didn’t care, that was your kiddo and this meant the world to her, she needed the support. 

During the half, which was a 2-minute break she came over to you, out of breath, “How do I look?” 

You smiled and gently shook her by the shoulders, “You are doing awesome, you’re on fire!” 

She chuckled and squatted down to give herself a break. You mimicked her and put your hand on her shoulder, “Take a breath, focus on getting the ball down the field, and don’t worry so much about making the goal yourself, but working as a team. They will want someone who can do that, not a narcissist like #5 or #3 who keeps hogging the ball and losing out on opportunities to share and score…” you pointed out to the field to explain things.

Joel saw you both and smiled to himself, he pulled out his phone and took a picture, it warmed his heart you were someone Sarah felt she could turn to. It was also a relief to share the load with someone when it came to raising a kid. You didn’t overstep and try to make her your own, but you offered help when it was needed and you were always 2 steps ahead of him with her and what she was involved in. He loved having you as a partner, and one day he knew you’d make a great mom. 

The whistle blew and Sarah stood, you rose with her, “Keep pushing back at those trying to break your balance, challenge them, don’t be afraid to push back, be aggressive, but not hurtful, don’t let anyone walk over you, yeah?” you patted her back to send her back out. 

She nodded as she listened with her hands on her hips, “Got it.” She turned to run away and shouted as she jogged away, “Thanks Mom!” then picked it up and ran back to her huddle.

You smiled brightly tearing up a little, and shouted back, not wanting to say anything in case it was a slip-up and didn’t want to worry her so you settled on, “You got this, sweets!” 

— 

The second half went better for Sarah, she challenged those who tried to push her around and it paid off. She tripped up number 3 and made her trip on her own feet, stole the ball from her. She ran down the field, passed it to someone waiting, and made a perfect assist to score. 

You ran with her when she ran down the field to make the assist, “That’s it, take it all the way, go Miller!” 

When she kicked it to the other teammate flawlessly and it made it into the goal effortlessly you jumped in the air and clapped, then pointed at her, “Way to work, Miller! Great assist, let’s do it again!” you ran back down the field as that’s where she was headed. 

Joel stayed in the middle of the sideline but cheered loudly when she made the assist, “Way to go 24! Keep it up!”

The scrimmage ended a few minutes later but Sarah did great and you came back over to Joel beaming, “She’s doing so good!”       

He smiled and chuckled, “How are you not out of breath? I think you did more laps up and down the field than the ref did…” he kissed your cheek as you hugged his side. 

You shrugged and chuckled, “Didn’t feel I ran that much...” 

Joel smiled and chuckled, kissing your head, “Maybe it’s all the cardio you’ve done today that’s helped…” he smirked down at you. 

You tsked and shook your head, looking away, “Joel Miller there are children present.” you blushed as you chuckled shyly.

Joel was about to say something when Tommy and Maria came up, “Sorry we’re late, we uh… got distracted.” Tommy cleared his throat and smirked. Maria nudged him. 

“So subtle Tommy…” She rolled her eyes and looked down shyly. You chuckled and nudged her to make her smile.

“She’s doing great, she had 3 assists and 1 goal in her scrimmage which I know she’ll be happy about.” Joel said proudly. 

You and Joel both looked at her running through some drills while they assessed and timed her. 

After another half hour of drills and short assessments, Sarah and the team were instructed to sit in a circle in the middle of the field while the coaches deliberated, choosing their players. 

She looked back and you and Joel and smiled softly. You both held out your thumbs and smiled, mouthing, ‘Good job’ and ‘You got this’. 

After 15 minutes the coach blew her whistle and invited the parents to surround the group for the big announcement.

The four of you walked together and stood as close as you could behind Sarah. You held onto Joel's arm, standing close to him, he leaned down and kissed your head, putting his hand on yours, softly saying against your hair, “Thank you for all you’ve done to support her, it means a lot to not only her but to me. I love you.” 

You looked up at him and smiled, then leaned up and kissed his cheek, “I love you too.” you then looked forward as the coach started to talk. 

“Thank you all so much for the support and time you’ve taken out of your day to come and participate in this season’s tryouts. Girls - you all did fantastic and we are so happy and excited for you to be on our team, you all are very talented and we were very proud watching all of you today.” she smiled at the group of girls. 

You clapped with the group and cheered, smiling as Sarah looked back at the four of you, smiling at you all. 

“With that being said, I know you are all super eager to know your positions so let’s get to it, shall we?” she chuckled and pulled out her clipboard. 

“We will start with 3rd strings… will the following numbers please stand and come get your practice jersey over to my right?” she smiled at the group.

The third-string players were usually newer members of the team, Sarah said this was good, it meant they made the team. 

“Numbers, 2, 5, 8, 13, 25, and 37!” 

The group cheered and clapped, those girls stood, all super excited as they looked younger and were just happy to have made it on the team. They made it over to the assistant coach and grabbed their jerseys then sat back down, all the other girls congratulating them. 

The coach smiled, “Alright, next is 2nd string, will the numbers: 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 15, 22, 26, 31, 33, and 39 please stand!” 

Everyone clapped and cheered, some of the girls that were called were disappointed as they most likely wanted first string. 

You looked over and saw Janine look upset as her daughter was among that group called. You didn’t know if it was pure innocent disappointment or if she wasn’t getting her way with her kid getting what she wanted, you couldn’t make it out. But her kid seemed to be a bit spoiled as she rolled her eyes and flopped back down after getting her jersey, crossing her arms like a toddler having a tantrum. 

You hid your face in Joel’s arm as you had to let out a small chuckle at the immaturity of the girl. 

Joel looked down at you, confused, “Everything ok?” 

You nodded and smiled, “Yeah, just…” you chuckled, “... I’ll tell you in the car.” you shook your head and then composed yourself as the crowd started to quiet back down. 

Joel chuckled and kissed your head then turned back to the group.

“Alright, last but not least, we have our first strings!” the coach smiled brightly. 

Sarah looked back at you and Joel nervously, if she didn’t get this, it meant she didn’t make the team, you made eye contact with her and mouthed, ‘It’s going to happen.’ then smiled softly at her. She nodded and took a breath before turning back around. 

“Will the following numbers please stand: 0, 6, 10, 14, 16, 20, 24, 27, 30, 34, and 43!” 

You let go of Joel's arm when you heard Sarah’s number and cheered, clapping loudly with him, Tommy, and Maria. 

Sarah got up and smiled brightly, excitement beaming from her, she stood in line to get her jersey, bouncing on her toes. 

The coach chuckled and once the girls sat back down she grinned, “I’d also like to announce our team captain for this season.” she grabbed a special jacket that was for the team captain and faced the circle. The group fell silent and all turned to the coach. 

“This player is someone who has shown that they are strong player on and off the field as they have been working hard to train for this team while also maintaining a great GPA in their studies. They also exhibited the definition of teamwork in the second half of the scrimmage today which shows selflessness and the important skill of teamwork that we need to always remember. They are a beast as a forward and we know they will do great this season as one of our newer first strings. Sarah Miller, will you please stand?” 

Sarah turned back to you both and had her jaw dropped, utterly shocked. 

You giggled and clapped loudly, whistling for her, “Way to go sweets! Woo!” 

Joel clapped and whistled loudly, cheering, “That’s my girl!” 

You both were the loudest and Sarah had never felt so overwhelmed with love and support. 

She slowly stood and chuckled, coming over to her coach, but then as she started getting closer she began tearing up as she didn’t expect this at all and it became real when she saw the jacket with her number on it. 

The coach pulled her in for a hug and whispered something to her, then patted her arms encouragely, and nodded before patting her back to go sit back down. 

She put on the jacket and she went to sit back down, tears falling happily, she sat back down and laughed as her teammates touched her back or arm to congratulate her, she was beaming with confidence and happiness. 

“Thank you, parents and family, for coming out today, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful rest of your day and girls we will see you at practice on Monday!” she blew into the whistle to dismiss everyone. 

Sarah was immediately swarmed by her teammates, all giving her hugs and high-fives. 

The four of you waited to the side for her and when she made her way over you all cheered and clapped for her. She giggled and jumped in the air then you all pulled her in for a group hug. 

Afterward, you all went for a well-deserved dinner to celebrate her then back home to enjoy a game night together. 

A few days later

Joel came in through the front door after being back at work for the first time in a couple of weeks. Sarah was sitting at the table doing some homework and you were nowhere to be found. Joel assumed you were out running errands or upstairs as he hadn’t heard from you in a few hours. 

“Hey baby girl, how was school?” he came over and kissed the top of her head. 

Sarah smiled, “Good, how was work?” 

Joel smiled, “Busy…” he chuckled and got into the fridge, “Any idea where Y/N is?” 

Sarah shook her head, “No, I assumed she might be out with Maria or something, I’ve been home for a couple of hours.” 

Joel nodded but something didn’t sit right, it wasn’t like you to not leave a note or text him where you might be.

He went upstairs, maybe you were in bed, not feeling well? He opened the door and peeked in but the bed was made and no sign of you. 

Joel pulled out his phone and dialed your number, it rang, and after he felt like it rang a hundred times you picked up. 

“Hey handsome.” he could hear you smile through the phone.

Joel let out a sigh of relief and smiled, “Hey sweetheart. Where are you? I just got home and couldn’t find where you were… scared me a bit.” he chuckled softly. 

“I know, I���m sorry, I went over to Rose’s for a quick second and we just got to talking and lost track of time. I’ve helped her with some things around the house. I’ll be home soon, dinner is prepped in the fridge, can you put it in the oven at 375F and set a timer for 30 minutes?” you sounded sincerely sorry, and bad for not leaving a note or text. 

“Of course. I’ll see you soon. I love you.” he smiled and started walking downstairs. 

“I love you too, bye.” you hung up. 

Sarah looked at him, “Where is she?” 

Joel chuckled, “Rose’s…” 

Sarah chuckled and nodded, “Say no more.” 

Joel laughed softly and then did what you said and put dinner in the oven. 

About 20 minutes later, you came through the front door with Rose. “I’m home! I brought Rose over since I made extra and she hadn’t made dinner yet…” you put your keys in the bowl and smiled. 

Joel was on the couch watching the sports channel when he perked up hearing you and smiled, “The more the merrier…” he came up and kissed your cheek then gently touched Rose’s arm, “How are you today Rose?” 

You slipped past them and went into the kitchen to check on dinner, everything looked good. 

You started to take a salad mix out from the fridge and put it in a bowl. 

Rose went over and sat by Sarah, and started talking to her about school.

Joel came over and wrapped his arms around you from behind, kissing your shoulder, “I missed you today…” he said softly against your shoulder as he kissed up to your neck. 

You chuckled and leaned into him, “I missed you too…” 

He smiled, “I uhm… I have this thing tomorrow night, with some contractors, trying to get them to sign a contract with us. Tommy and I are taking them and their partners out to dinner.” he started to get a little shy as he laid his chin on your shoulder, “Will you be my date?” 

You blushed, “Is it a steak house dinner or black tie dinner?”

“Not necessarily black tie but fancier than a steak house…” he said softly as he began to rub your hips with his thumbs. 

“Will Maria be going with Tommy?” you put some croutons into the salad. 

“He’s askin’ her, but I’m sure she’s comin’...” he smiled softly. 

You smiled and nodded, “I’ll need to go shopping tomorrow for something to wear, but yes, I’ll be your date cowboy.” 

He smiled, moved to the side, and took your chin in his grasp, turning your head to kiss your lips softly. 

You smiled against his lips and he pulled back, “Need help takin’ everything to the table?” 

You nodded, “Yes please.” 

He helped take the casserole and some plates to the table. 

You ate with Rose, Sarah, and Joel before playing a game of Uno which was Rose’s first time playing. 

It was becoming somewhat of a normal thing to have Rose around since you came home. Maybe Frank was right, Joel was coming more out of his shell. He seemed just as eager and engaged when she came around since you had first met her in the driveway. You didn’t want to think of him as grumpier before you met him, but it warmed your heart that if that was who he was, you were glad to have that positive influence on him. 

You went out while Joel was at work and found yourself a dress for tonight. Joel told you he’d be home by 5 pm so you could leave and get to the restaurant by 7.

Around 4 pm you started to get ready. When Joel came home you were in a robe sitting on the bathroom sink doing your makeup, hair already done in a loose and sultry low bun. 

Joel smiled seeing you and came up to the side of you, being careful as you were doing your eyeliner, looking at you in the mirror, “Hey baby… lookin’ good.”

You smiled and blushed, taking your hand away from your eye, “Thank you, sweetheart. I just need to finish my makeup and get dressed and then I’ll be ready.” you leaned over and kissed him softly. 

He smiled and pulled you in for another kiss by gently grabbing your chin. 

You giggled and kissed him again, softly pulling back and looking at him in the eyes before biting your lip, tasting him on your lips before going back to your makeup, “Anything I need to avoid talking about or need to boast about to help with this contract?” you asked.

He chuckled and left the bathroom to go get ready in the bedroom, “Nothin’ to avoid, but if you could befriend their partners that might help.” he came in the doorway putting on his dress pants. 

You pulled your hand away and looked at your eyes in the mirror, satisfied with how you did a small wing on your eyeliner, “I can do that.” you smiled then got down from the counter and headed into the bedroom, grabbing your dress and shoes you had on the bed then went into the bathroom and went to shut the door. 

Joel put his foot in the door before you could close it, “Since when do we not change in front of each other?” he said as he buttoned up his black dress shirt. 

You chuckled and blushed, “Since today, now move your foot.” 

Joel smirked, “What are you hiding?” he gently pushed the door open, trying to make his way inside. 

You giggled and pushed against him, “Joel stop… you’ll see later if you behave tonight…”

He smirked and stopped pushing but kept his foot there, “Define behave…”

You chuckled and blushed, “Minimal funny business…” 

“So funny business can still happen…” he said lowly, “Just minimal? Easy…” 

You smirked at his cockiness and looked at him through the door and moved the robe you were wearing to open a little, revealing a sliver of some black lacy lingerie, “You sure it’ll be easy cowboy?” 

Joel’s eyes got darker and he smirked, “What else you got under there baby?” 

You chuckled and closed the robe, “Go get dressed, we’re going to be late…” 

Joel tsked and moved his foot, “Yes we are…” he smirked. 

You chuckled and closed the door, “No we aren’t!” you shouted from behind the closed door. 

Joel chuckled to himself and finished getting ready, sitting on the bed as he put on his shoes and waited for you to come out. 

You opened the door, and came out in a red dress that had a slit up your left leg, showing smooth skin and strappy heels you wore. You saw Joel and smiled, “How is this? Too fancy?” you bit your lip, feeling a bit overdressed now that you looked at yourself. 

Joel’s jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes drank you in like you were the finest glass of whiskey in front of him, “Baby… you look…” 

You blushed and looked at him, smiling, “I look what?” 

“Ravishing…” he said as he stood up and came over to you, gently running his hands down your arms to grab your hands and kiss them before letting go of one and making you spin for him.

You blushed and turned in his grasp, “Thank you…” 

He stopped when you were in front of him, and you gently put your hand on the lapel of his suit jacket, now drinking him in, “You look very ravishing yourself too, cowboy.” you slowly brushed your hands down his jacket, and then saw he had the first few buttons undone, showing some of his chest, you traced your fingers there and bit your lip then leaned up to kiss him gently, “You see now that, the button’s that are undone, that’s inviting funny business my love…” you lightly chuckled before your lips connected to his. 

He brought his hand up from holding yours, cupped your cheek, and pulled you in closer by your waist as he connected his lips to yours in a soft but deep kiss earning a soft moan from you. 

You hummed against his lips, “Think we can spare a few minutes?” you moved your hand down to his belt and started pulling it to undo it, feeling a pool of warmth in your core. 

He smirked and put his hand on your wrist to stop you, “Now now, you said minimal funny business, remember?” he moved his lips to your cheek and then jaw to gently leave kisses there. 

You grinned and bit your lip, “I said that for the dinner…” 

You needed him, that little bit of chest he was showing, and this suit he was wearing was driving you crazy, “I need you… just a taste…” you said breathlessly. 

He smirked, he liked that for once you were begging him to be late. He was going to use this to his advantage. 

He took a step back, “As much as I’d love to taste you, we need to get going…” he took your hand on his chest and put it to his lips, giving it a small kiss before walking out of the room, fixing his belt. 

You stood there shocked, for once being the needy one. 

You scoffed and bit your lip, determined to get what you want. Fine, game on. 

Joel waited by the front door for you, you walked out together and he helped you into his truck before getting in himself and starting the drive. 

He put his hand on your thigh and gently rubbed it, you listened to the soft hum of the radio he had on. 

About 10 minutes into the drive you turned your head to look at him, “How long of a drive is it?” you asked softly. 

Joel looked over and smiled at you, “We still have about 15 minutes.” then turned his head back to the road. 

You bit your lip and moved your seat belt to behind your back, before you leaned over and kissed his cheek then whispered in his ear as you undid his belt with your right hand, “Keep your eyes on the road baby… I still want a taste…”

You undid his pants which already had a hard cock pressed against them, then moved down to kiss him through his pants, teasing him. 

Joel hissed and groaned, “Baby this is funny business…” 

You pulled him out from his boxers and smirked, “Like I said, we aren’t at the restaurant yet…” You lightly let some saliva fall onto his tip then used your hand to stroke it up and down. 

His hand gripped the steering wheel at the sensation, grunting, “Fuck darlin’...”

You stroked him like that a few times before taking your tongue flat against his shaft and dragging it slowly up and around his tip, letting out a satisfied moan, “Mmm you taste so sweet cowboy…” you kissed the tip which had precum leaking out, getting a taste of it and humming before softly putting your mouth over it and sucking it gently, moving your hand up and down towards the bottom of his shaft, playing with him. 

He clenched his jaw together and let out a moan once your lips surrounded his tip, the truck speeding up a little due to his foot jerking. He quickly corrected it and grunted, “Baby fuck… I’m gonna get us in a wreck if you keep doin’ that…” 

You pulled off for a moment and giggled, “Shall I be quick about it then?” then put your mouth back around him, this time putting himself deeper down your throat. 

He let out a shaky moan and bucked his hips up, landing him to graze the back of your throat, making you gag, but you moaned at that. 

He chuckled lowly, eyes looking down at you for a moment, “You liked that, didn’t you? Gagging on my dick?” he looked back up to the road. 

You went up and down on his cock a few times before pulling up and swallowing, “I love feeling you deep inside me, whether it’s my pussy or throat, that’s where you belong…” 

“Tienes la boca sucia, mi amor.” (You’ve got a dirty mouth, my love) he groaned as you put your mouth back onto his cock, taking him slowly back down your throat. 

He stopped at a stop light and put his head against the headrest, fluttering his eyes closed as you bobbed your head up and down in his lap. The man at the light next to him looked over and could see your head bobbing up and down, he lightly honked his horn, snapping Joel’s gaze over to him, he nodded and smirked, giving a thumbs up. 

Joel turned bright red, but then his eyes fluttered shut and he grunted as he felt you push himself as deep as you could down your throat and choke, causing that tug behind his navel to begin, “Fuck…” 

The light turned green, and he got a few honks from behind him to go as he didn’t move fast enough. 

He waved his hand to the car behind him and began accelerating the truck, “Shit baby, you’re causin’ traffic delays with that beautiful mouth of yours…” he groaned and smirked. 

You moaned with him still in your mouth, earning him to jerk his hips up to the sensation, “Fuck baby…” he gripped onto the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were turning white, you kept going up and down, slurping up the sloppy head you were giving him, making a mess of his boxers, “Oh Dios, no pares, así sin más.” (Oh god, don't stop, just like that.) he babbled and panted softly. 

You kept doing that, moaning softly as you felt him jerk inside your throat, his breathing became faster and more erratic, “Mi vida, I’m going to cum…” he groaned and put his hand on the back of your neck to keep you deep on his cock. 

He felt a deep pull and then like a coil had broken he came down your throat, gripping the steering wheel and groaning as he clenched his jaw, “F-fuck…” 

You moaned and slowly pulled yourself off him, swallowing his load, as you slowly sat up. 

He was breathing hard, flushed, and lightly sweating, keeping his eyes on the road. 

You tucked him back into his boxers and softly did his pants up before kissing his cheek and leaning back into your seat, “Almost there?” 

He looked over at you and smirked, “You’re… that was…” he couldn’t find his words, still feeling high from his orgasm. 

You giggled and pulled the mirror down, fixing your lipstick and gloss, “I know…” you said confidently. 

Joel pulled into a nice restaurant parking lot less than 5 minutes later and handed his keys to the valet, then came around and got your door. 

You took his hand and walked in together to the hostess's desk. 

“Welcome to La Caléndula, how many in your party?” the hostess asked with a soft smile on her face. 

“We have 10, but the others will be there soon, I should have a reservation under Miller Construction?” he leaned up against the desk, keeping your hand in his. 

“Ah yes, Mr. Miller, welcome. We have your table ready. If you’ll please follow me.” she grabbed a stack of menus and started walking back to your table. 

Joel kissed your hand and then let you walk in front of him with his hand on the small of your back. 

She took you back to a huge circle table to fit all of you, “Will this work for your party?” she looked at Joel for approval. 

He pulled out your chair for you and kissed your cheek after he pushed it in, looking up at the hostess, “Oh yes ma’am that’ll do great, thank you.” he smiled softly and then sat down next to you. 

“Wonderful. This is Ethan, he is your waiter, you all have a lovely night.” she nodded and then walked away. 

Ethan stepped forward and smiled, “Good evening, you both look very lovely Mr. and Mrs. Miller. Can I start you out with something to drink?” 

You blushed and shyly looked down at the menu when he referred to you as Mrs. Miller, then cleared your throat and looked back when he asked about something to drink, “I’ll start with an ice water.” 

Joel looked down at the menu, “I’ll do a whiskey please.” he then looked up and smiled at Ethan. 

Ethan nodded, “I’ll be back with those and check in with your other guests once they arrive.” 

Joel nodded and then went to put his hand on your lap but you were quite far away from him, he looked up and tsked, “This won’t do…” he put his menu down then grabbed the underside of your chair and pulled you closer to him, making you giggle. 

You looked at him and smiled, “That’s better, I think too…” you touched his cheek and kissed him gently. 

He kissed you back and then heard a familiar voice and gently pulled back, looking over his shoulder. He smiled brightly and stood, “Hey good to see you Roger and is this the missus? Katherine, right?” 

You stood with him and smiled, putting your hands in front of you, politely. 

Roger smiled and took his hand to shake then pulled him into a hug, “Joel, thank you for bringing us out.” he pulled back and shook his hand then took his hand away and put one hand behind his wife on her back, “Yes, this is Katherine.” 

Joel gently took her hand and kissed it, “It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am, Roger has told me so much about you and your little boy.” he smiled and then turned to you, “This is my girlfriend, Y/N…” he put his hand on your back and smiled as he pulled you to his side gently. 

You held out your hand, to Katherine first, “It’s so lovely to meet you both.” 

She shook it and then Roger took it and shook it gently then leaned in and kissed your cheek gently, “Lovely to finally meet you, I’ve heard so much about you.” 

You smiled and blushed, “All good things, I hope?” you joked. 

Roger chuckled, “Nothing but the best I’ve heard from Joel, he never shuts up about you when someone sees your photo in his office.” he winked at Joel. 

Joel looked at you and kissed your temple, “It’s true, I’m a lucky man, always grateful to be able to express it.” 

Ethan smiled and came back with your drinks. 

You looked at him and smiled, “Katherine, Roger, please sit…” you turned to gesture to the table. 

Ethan smiled, “Mr. and Mrs. Kipper, lovely to see you’ve made it, is there something I can get you to drink?” 

They both ordered a glass of wine. 

You saw Maria and Tommy come in with another couple, you stood and excused yourself and touched Joel’s shoulder to get his attention and then walked over, “Maria you look amazing…” you smiled and hugged her gently. 

She smiled and hugged you back.

“Come sit by me…” you whispered into her ear. 

She nodded and pulled away, winking at you. 

Joel came up and chuckled, “James, so good to see you, how was the drive?” he shook an older gentleman’s hand, he seemed a bit more reserved, and quiet. 

“It was good, thank you for asking. Joel this is my wife Diane.” his wife who also seemed on the more quiet side held her hand out.

Joel shook it gently and kissed it gently, “Good to finally meet you, Mrs. Scott, I’m glad you’re here.” he let her hand go and put his hand behind your back, “This is my girlfriend, Y/N…” 

You held out your hand and gently shook her hand, “Oh my, I love your dress, it brings out your beautiful blue eyes.” you smiled as you looked at her dress up and down. 

She instantly lit up, “Oh my goodness, thank you! I was so nervous it wasn’t my color!” she shook your hand gently. 

“No, no, you look amazing, I’m a little jealous you can pull it off, I could never!” you giggled. 

James you could tell defrosted seeing his wife light up, it was like he rarely saw her like this and enjoyed it. 

You looked at him and held out your hand, “It’s lovely to meet you, sir. I must also say, your tie also brings out your eyes…” you winked at him. 

He let out a chuckle and shook your hand, “Good one, dear.” he leaned in and kissed your cheek softly. 

You smiled warmly, “Come sit, we have Roger and Katherine here.” you moved aside so they could go sit down. 

They walked past you with Tommy and Maria, going to sit at the table. Joel leaned down and said quietly, “Whatever you’re doin’ with James and Diane, keep it up. I’ve never seen that man smile.” he kissed your cheek. 

You smiled and chuckled, “Roger that.” you took his hand and led him back to the table, sitting back down between him and Maria. 

Maria looked at you, “Why are you so far away?” she chuckled. 

You looked at her and smiled, then shrugged, “I’ve got a velcro boyfriend it seems.” you chuckled and looked at Joel who was already looking at you, you blushed and pecked his lips. 

He chuckled and put his arm around the back of your chair and rubbed your back and shoulder with his fingers gently. 

About 5 minutes later another gentleman and woman came up to the table, “Sorry we’re late, traffic was horrible.” 

You stood with Joel and both of you smiled softly. 

Joel shook the man’s hand, “Paul this is my girlfriend, Y/N.” he gestured to you. “And then of course you know Tommy, and this is his girlfriend, Maria.” he gestured to them. 

You took Paul’s hand and shook it, “Paul, lovely to meet you.” you looked at his wife, “Lovely to meet you as well…” you held your hand out. 

She smiled, “Wendy, sorry. He’s a little nervous.” she chuckled and shook your hand. 

You chuckled, “Come, sit down, Ethan just came by to get James and Diane’s drink orders. He’ll come back and ask for yours.” you gestured to the empty seats across the table next to Tommy and Maria. 

They sat down and so did you and Joel. 

Ethan came by with the drinks he got for James and Diane and got Wendy and Paul’s then asked if you guys would like any starters. 

Joel looked at the table, “What sounds good to everyone?” he smiled. 

Paul piped in, “I’ve heard their cheese board is good here, shall we get two and share?” 

The group nodded, and Joel nodded to Ethan, “2 of the cheese boards, please…” 

The starters came back and everyone started doing small talk, casually getting to know their neighbors more, James sat next to Joel and talked his ear off about legal issues within the contract for about 15 minutes. 

His wife peeked over and cleared her throat, “So Y/N, what do you do for work?” 

The group quieted down a little and looked at you. Joel and James stopped talking to give you the table to talk. 

You all of a sudden got shy and looked around, “Oh… umm..” you looked back at her and smiled, “I just got back from a tour in Afghanistan about a month ago… I was an army medic.” you smiled and looked back at Maria, “Ironically, Maria and I were stationed and partners there together.” you reached and took her hand. 

Roger piped up, “Wait, so how did you end up with the Miller brothers?” he chuckled. 

You looked at Joel and smiled then looked at Roger, “We signed up for a pen pal program before we were deployed and by some miracle were writing to them both. We had no idea until weeks later.” 

Wendy smiled, “Wow, so you were out there… in combat?” 

You nodded and smiled softly, “Yeah, here and there. Mostly just stationed in our main camp taking injured civilians and soldiers that were transported in but we went on a few assignments away from the base.” you shrugged. 

James asked, “How long were you deployed actively?” 

You looked over at him, “We were over there for about 3 months, but we were both medically dismissed. We both got injured on our last assignment to pretty much make us no longer useful to the Army.” you dryly chuckled. 

“She’s being humble. I would have been killed if this one didn’t drag me out of the zone and carried me up 11 flights of stairs to be air rescued…” Maria added and put a hand on your arm. 

You looked down and nodded, “I mean… 12 flights but who was counting…” you chuckled looking up, making everyone else laugh.

“Did you have to kill anyone?” Paul asked suddenly, Wendy kicking his leg, earning a wince from him and looking at her with a ‘What?’ expression. 

You looked at him and swallowed, “Uhm, yes, Maria I think maybe injured someone when we went into our first assignment?” you looked at her and she nodded. You looked back at him, “But we um…” you looked down at your hands in your lap, taking a breath, then looked up and clenched your jaw before softly saying, “We weren’t combat trained… our jobs were to treat and save those injured in battle, so our duty was to more heal than harm, but there were a few times where we had to… you know…” you nodded and cleared your throat. 

Everyone could tell the air was heavy and that maybe that wasn’t the best question to ask someone who had just come back home. Paul immediately regretted it. 

Joel put his hand on your leg, gently squeezing it, and cleared his throat, seeing this wasn’t something you wanted to talk about, “Roger, you were telling me the other day that you were thinking of going to a Cowboys game, did you get tickets yet?” 

After that, everything seemed muffled, in slow motion, and you felt your hands become clammy, your heart slowly picking up in speed, starting to disassociate. 

Someone behind you opened a bottle of champagne and the pop of the cork startled you, you jumped in your seat and snapped out of the daze you were in. 

Maria leaned over, “You ok?” she whispered. 

You swallowed and nodded, “Y-yeah, I umm… I’ll be right back.” 

You stood up, “Excuse me, I need the powder room.” you started to weave through tables, heading towards the restrooms, you bumped into a waiter, “I’m so sorry.” you said then kept walking. 

You made it into the bathroom and instantly turned on the water, ice cold, putting your hands into it, trying to shock your senses, taking a deep breath through your nose. 

Joel stood to go after you but Diane stood and touched his arm, “I’ll go check on her…” she smiled kindly. 

He looked down at her, worried. 

“It’s ok Joel… I’m a therapist… I know what she’s going through. I’ll go help. Stay here… I’ll take care of her.” she smiled and gently squeezed his arm. 

He nodded and then swallowed, “If she needs me, send someone to the table, I’ll come.” 

She nodded and then Joel sat down and watched as Diane made her way towards the restrooms. 

James leaned in, “I’m sorry about that idiotic question Paul asked…” he rolled his eyes. 

Joel smiled, “It’s ok, he couldn’t have known it would have that effect.” he leaned in and put his hands in his lap. 

James chuckled, “Still, an idiotic question to ask anyone who’s been over there.” 

—

You stood at the sink with your hands in the sink, taking a breath through your nose, holding it for a few seconds, and then letting it out a few times. You started to whisper, “You’re safe, you’re not in harm’s way, you’re home…” over and over. 

Diane came in slowly, “Hey sweetie.” 

You jumped at her sudden appearance then chuckled, “Sorry Diane, you startled me.” 

She shook her head, “No need to apologize, are you ok?” she smiled sweetly, putting her hands in front of her to come across as non-confrontational as she could. 

You chuckled and put on a fake smile, “Yeah, yeah… just washing my hands…” you lied. 

She nodded towards the water, “Your hands are red, let me guess temperature shock to cold temperatures?” 

You looked at your hands and pulled them out of the shamefully, grabbing a towel to dry them off, “I.. uhm…” 

“It’s ok not to be ok.” she said calmly, staying where she was. 

You looked at her and froze, “Pardon?” 

“The question that Paul asked you, stupidly, I’ll add, produced a stressor in your brain. Triggered your flight or fight response as you had to think about triggers and trauma you experienced back there.” she took a step towards you, “You then disassociated and tried to shut your brain but were then triggered by the sound of that champagne bottle behind you, which sounded like gunfire, am I right?” 

You looked down shyly, “Yes ma’am…” 

“It’s ok not to be ok.” she stepped closer and gently took your hand which was ice cold still. “You went through unimaginable events and trauma that no one knows about other than maybe Maria, but even then, you experienced them together but maybe processed them differently. No one expects you to be ok after getting back so soon.” 

You let out a breath of relief and put your other hand over hers, “I feel like I didn’t go through things bad enough to feel this way.” you looked down, “I feel guilty when I have these moments of panic or anxiety. I know so many others that went through things harder than I did.” 

She sighed sadly, “Let me guess, absent parents growing up, self-raised, in a toxic relationship before going into the military, only child?”

You looked at her and raised your eyebrow, confused about how she knew all that, “What kind of psychic voodoo magic are you dealin’ with lady?”  

She chuckled which turned into a laugh, which you joined in on. 

She shook her head, “No voodoo, just years of school. I’m a psychologist.” she smiled. 

You smiled and nodded, “I see… so I’m textbook?” you chuckled and pulled your hands away, feeling exposed. 

She shook her head, “No, not like that, you just… you’ve been through a lot and maybe don’t know how to process things, you know?” she sighed, trying to reconnect seeing you were pulling away. 

You leaned against the sink, and clenched your jaw, frustrated that was who you were and she could pick up on it so easily, “Yeah, you could say that…” You looked down and sighed, knowing you needed help, “Do you uhm… do you take people like me?” you looked up at her, biting your lip nervously. 

She nodded, “I do… would you be interested in talking to me outside of this setting?” she smiled gently, slowly moving to lean against the sink with you. 

“You… you don’t think something is wrong with me?” you looked back down at your hands, messing with your bracelet. 

“Nothing is wrong with you, you’ve got a lot of scary things up in your head, things that you can’t process alone.” she looked at you, trying to find your eyes. 

You looked up at her, “I’ll warn you now, I’m extremely stubborn and am notorious for shoving things down into a little box and keeping it there.” 

She chuckled, “I’m stubborn too… and we’ll unpack that box, slowly and with a lot of support and guidance and I’ll show you how to make that box into something maybe a little bit more helpful when it comes to coping mechanisms.” she softly nudged you. 

You smiled and nodded your head softly, “That’d be nice. That little box is a bitch after a while.” 

She chuckled and nodded then stood up straight, “Do you need another minute or do you want to walk back with me?” 

You looked at her and then let out a breath, “I’ll walk back with you if that’s ok.” you smiled softly. 

She nodded and opened the door, “So, I have to know, did you really meet Joel being his pen pal?” 

You and Diane walked back together, taking your time to tell her the short story of the events between you and Joel. The version only a select number of people knew about at that table. 

You chuckled and nodded as you returned to the table, “Right? I thought it was a funny nickname too…” 

Diane sat next to James and you came over to sit by Joel, he stood up and pulled your chair out for you, you sat down and he pushed it in, softly kissing your cheek and then coming to sit by you, putting his arm around the back of your chair and leaning in close, “Everything ok?” he rubbed your skin with his thumb softly. 

You looked at Joel and touched his cheek gently and leaned in, gently kissing him then pulling away, “Everything’s ok.” 

He nodded and softened in your touch. 

Roger cleared his throat, “Did I hear something about a nickname?” he tried to engage you back into the conversation. 

You let go of Joel’s cheek and smiled at the table, smiling, “I was explaining to Diane my nickname for Tommy…” 

Tommy groaned, “Oh, no… we don’t share that with others, Sarah won’t stop callin’ me that now...” he chuckled. 

You chuckled, “I for one think Reginald is a stoic name, very regal.” you teased. 

Roger and the others chuckled. 

“Wait… why Reginald?” Wendy asked as she snacked on a cracker and cheese. 

Maria explained the story and you leaned into Joel, listening. Joel took your hand with the one that wasn’t on the back of your chair, gently rubbing it with his thumb, once in awhile bringing it to his lips to gently kiss. 

Ethan came back after a little bit of time had passed and took everyone’s orders for their entrees. 

Wendy spoke up and smiled at you, “Joel was telling us while you were in the powder room how great of a photographer you were, he mentioned you took a lot of photos while you were deployed, and showed us some you took with just a disposable camera. I was wondering if you ever thought about doing it professionally?” 

You sat up in your seat a little and smiled, then looked at Joel softly, he looked at you lovingly and kept ahold of your hand. You looked back at her, “Oh, um… I mean I used to want to maybe do bridals/weddings or portraits but don't have the equipment and it’s so expensive you know? I think that would be a great gig for me though, maybe one day?” you politely said. 

“We have a daughter getting married at the end of the year, I’d love to hire you…” she looked at you and smiled brightly. 

You looked at her, and smiled, “I uhm… I could look into some rentals or something. I’d love to help.”

Joel cleared his throat, “We can make it happen.” he kissed your shoulder and winked at Wendy, who nodded her head at him, like they were speaking in code, and then turned to talk to Roger who was sitting next to her. 

You looked at Joel, chuckling, “What was that?” 

He looked at you and smiled, “What?” 

“That like code wink and nod, what… it was like I was watching some secret message being communicated…” you said while looking into his brown eyes that just stayed looking at you happily. 

“No code, just a wink and nod.” he lied, but good enough that you didn’t push further. 

You bit the inside of your cheek and hummed, “Alright Miller…” 

He leaned over and kissed your cheek softly before James pulled him away and asked him a work-related question. 

Once Ethan came back with the food, that’s when the shop talk started between the men. 

“So you’re telling me that it takes that much time to frame it out? I think that’s overestimating it, Tommy…” Roger said after Tommy gave him a timeframe for framing out the building they want to be done. 

“Not if you want it done right. We ensure that it’s stable enough to withstand the floods we get here and in extreme cases any tornadoes.” Tommy rebutted, taking a bite of his steak. 

Roger tsked, “You agree with him, Joel?” he looked over at Joel. 

“Of course I do Roger, I wouldn’t be partners with him if I didn’t trust his word.” he smiled tightly, feeling a bit frustrated with his constant nitpicking. 

You had been listening closely to the exchange and noticed none of them had mentioned seeing the work actually being done, they maybe had no understanding of how it was done and had unrealistic expectations. 

You leaned over to Maria and whispered, “Is it just me, or has no one mentioned coming out to a site before? See how the work is done?” 

She shook her head, “I tuned them out. I have no idea.” she chuckled. 

You leaned back and looked at your plate, listening to them go back and forth about timing, you were about to burst if you heard Roger say one more thing about timing being overestimated, so you cleared your throat, “May I ask you something, Roger?” 

He looked at you and softly smiled, “Of course.” 

“What made you choose to work with Miller Construction?” you put your hands on the table in front of you, holding them together, tilting your head in curiosity. 

He chuckled, “I um… I liked that it was family-run, liked their portfolio, and they also had great recommendations.” he smiled. 

You nodded, and looked at Paul, “What about you, Paul?” you smiled softly. 

He took a breath and smiled, putting his hand on his wife’s, “I liked how prepared they were each time we met with them before we drafted a contract. I also liked Joel’s work ethic, I heard from someone he worked with previously he was very attentive and professional. I liked Tommy’s attention to detail, he makes sure everything is in order and if it’s not, from past clients he would fix it.” he nodded towards Tommy, and Tommy smiled in return. 

You nodded and smiled then looked at James, “Last but not least…” you smiled, “James, what were your thoughts?”

James looked at Joel, who was looking at you adoringly, captivated by what you were doing for him and Tommy. 

James smiled at Joel’s love for you and looked at you, “I liked how highly Joel spoke of their team, how he advocated for their time but also highlighted they do amazing work when they are on the clock. I also liked Tommy’s attention to detail like Paul said, you can tell why these two are dominating their market. They are also family-oriented. Tommy with his mom and Maria… Joel with his mom, Sarah, and you… I like working with family men.” 

You nodded, then looked at the men, “If you like all these things, and it sounds to me that you trust them and their skills… why are you all nitpicking how long it takes to frame or how long it takes to put headers on, or… forgive me but I’ve heard copper pipping at one point I think…” you chuckled and they did as well, “I just… pardon my blunt tongue, but why isn’t this deal sealed when they are clearly experts in this field?”  

James sat up and looked at Roger and Paul, “She’s got a point, we’re just pussy footin’ around at this point… delaying the project…” 

Roger bit his lip and nodded, “I guess we are…” 

Paul chuckled and looked at Joel, “How does signing tomorrow work for you?” 

Joel sat up and looked at Tommy, who almost choked on his wine, Joel looked at Paul, smiling, “Yeah, that works great. I can have my people there by noon, does that work for all of you?” 

They all three nodded and stood up. 

You sat back in your chair and smiled as the men all got up and shook each other's hands. 

Joel was over the moon this deal was over as it was taking up a lot of his time. He looked back at you as he was talking to Paul and smiled at you, mouthing, ‘Thank you.’

You nodded and blew him a kiss then looked at the women, “Now that’s over, let’s talk about anything but work, shall we?” you giggled as they all nodded. 

—

After you all shared more stories and got to know each other better over some dessert and wine, Ethan gently came over and whispered in Joel’s ear they were closing soon. He nodded and then cleared his throat, and told everyone that it was closing time. 

You all said your goodbyes and they made it to the front where the valet went and got their cars. You hung back with Joel while he paid and left a generous cash tip for Ethan in the envelope. 

He gave you his jacket as it was colder outside and kissed your cheek, “Ready, my love?” he offered his arm. 

You nodded and took his arm with his jacket on which drowned you but you couldn’t help but blush at the kind gesture. He always made sure you were taken care of and never failed to accomplish that. 

He led you out to the truck and tipped the valet then opened the door for you and helped you in, gently closed the door, and got in the driver's side. 

He turned to you and leaned over, taking your chin in softly in his grasp and pulling you to his lips, kissing you softly and slowly, moving his hand to cup your cheek. 

After a few moments you pulled back slowly, keeping your lips barely against his, whispering, “What was that for?” you smiled keeping your eyes closed against him. 

“You just… you were amazing tonight. Without you, it wouldn’t have ended that well, I just am so lucky. I…” he chuckled and smiled rubbing your cheek gently as you opened your eyes to look at him, “You… darlin’, you’re always there to support me… you’re my best friend, and biggest fan and I love you and I’ll always do whatever I can to keep earning your love…” he said before pulling you back in and kissing you deeper but still slowly, taking his time with your lips, gently and slowly sliding his hand up your thigh towards your panties. 

You combed gently through his hair to pull him closer, softly letting out a moan as you felt his hand crawl higher. You were about to crawl into his lap when the valet boy knocked on the window shyly, “Can uhm… can ya’ll keep it movin’… there’s a line.” he turned red catching you pretty much making out. 

You giggled as Joel pulled away and put his hand up, flustered but not embarrassed, lips swollen and red as he rolled down the window and handed him a $20 bill, “Apologies sir… have a good night” he smiled like a teenage boy as he looked back at you, “Let’s get you home baby…” 

Joel made a 25-minute drive into a 15-minute. 

He helped you out of the truck and then grabbed your hand as you practically dragged him inside. 

Once the front door was closed he pressed you up against the wall in the entryway, lips feverishly crashing against each other, hands roaming each other's bodies, soft moans escaping your lips as he pulled you against him. 

Sarah’s bedroom door opened and the light illuminated the hallway which cast it down the stairs. 

Joel pulled away from your lips quietly and looked at the hall, whispering, “Go back to bed, go back to bed…” praying she wouldn’t come down to check if she heard a noise. 

You both heard her cross the hall into the bathroom and then moments later the toilet flush followed by her sleepily making it back to her bedroom and closing the door. 

You softly giggled, and Joel looked down at you, eyes hungry, “Meet me in the bedroom? I’m going to go let her know we’re home and kiss her goodnight.” 

You nodded and pecked his lips gently before going up the stairs and going into the bedroom. 

Joel did what he wanted and Sarah was pretty much out, barely understanding what he said due to how sleepy she was. 

Joel made it into the bedroom as you were starting to take off your heels, “Leave ‘em on…” he closed the door and locked it then came over and knelt, putting your heel back on your foot. 

“Quiero que me pongan estos cuando vea lo que tienes debajo, mi amor. Quiero ver si los quiero encendidos o apagados mientras te follo.” (I want these on when I see what you have on underneath, my love. Want to see if I want them on or off while I fuck you.) he kissed your ankle softly, looking up at you. 

You blushed and bit your lip then stood up and took his chin in your hand, making him rise keeping your eyes on his then turning around and moving your hair to the side, smirking as you looked at him from behind your shoulder, “Could you unzip me?”

He slowly traced his fingers up your body, while he leaned down and kissed your shoulder up to your neck, humming before his fingers landed on the zipper, “I want you on your back the second this dress hits the ground, I need to taste you.” 

Your breath became quick and excited, and you nodded, “Yes sir.”

He slowly led the zipper down then moved the straps off your shoulders to have the dress fall off your body and pool around your feet on the floor. 

You turned around and sat down on the bed then laid down slowly below him to expose an all-black strapless lace lingerie set. 

He bit his lip and started to palm himself through his pants, “You naughty girl, hiding this from me all night?” 

You smirked and purred, “I’m sorry sir…” 

He slowly knelt and pulled your hips to the edge of the bed, “Come ‘ere…” he growled as he opened your legs up and put them over his shoulder, moving your panties to one side. 

You giggled when he pulled you but that was quickly replaced with a breathless moan as he drew a line up your slit with his flat tongue. 

He began sucking and flicking his tongue against your clit, giving it feverish and slopping kisses with his mouth. You moved your hands to comb through his hair which was slightly damp with lust and hunger for you. 

You arched your back and your legs began to shake as a warmth started to spread up your body from your core, “Fuck… I…” but before you could say anything he pressed his tongue deeper onto your clit and pulled an intense and gravitating orgasm from you. 

You saw stars and gripped tightly onto the bed below you with one hand and his hair with the other, begging for him to stay where he was as you started to involuntarily grind your core against him as his scruff provided the perfect sensation to make you barrel over the edge again shortly after. 

He grinned up at you from your thighs and pulled back slowly, humming, “Scoot back.” he commanded, starting to unbutton his dress shirt and she ran his eyes over your body, planning what he was going to do to you and your beautiful body. 

You felt like jello but you did what he asked and moved your body back to be more center in the bed. You sat up on your elbows and watched him undress, biting your lip and blushing, “You looked so handsome tonight, mi amor. Tenía al hombre más fuerte, guapo y gentil del edificio. Soy una mujer muy afortunada.” (I had the strongest, most handsome, and gentle man in the building. I'm such a lucky woman.)

He blushed at the comment and compliment, he unbuttoned his pants and removed both them and his boxers before crawling between your legs and nestling himself between them, his cock pressed against your weeping pussy and connected his lips with yours in a slow intimate kiss, rocking himself against you. 

You slowly laid back down, cupping his cheek and gripping his bicep to pull him closer to your body, moaning softly as he began to probe his tongue at the entrance of your lips which you granted entry to. 

He groaned and put his hand between your bodies, grabbing himself to align with your entrance before wasting no time wrapping himself around you. 

You gasped and moaned, pulling your lips away at the sudden intrusion, feeling a jolt of electricity cascade up your body. 

He moved his lips instantly to your neck and began sucking and marking it, claiming you as his with gentle marks of his affection. 

You began rolling your hips with him, creating this sea of ecstasy between the two of you. 

You gently grabbed onto his shoulders and bicep as he started to pick up the pace, making that coil deep within start to wind, pressure building. 

“You feel so good wrapped around me…” he kissed your pulse point, “All I could think of after you helped get that damn deal sealed was worshipping your body and making you come undone on my cock.” he confessed as he whispered it into your ear as he continued to roll his hips, thrusting himself deep into you as a pace and rhythm that had you dizzy and speechless. 

He moved his hand up from your waist to your breast and gently cupped it, “Come for me, my love… quiero adorarte. (I want to worship you.) 

You arched your back and your eyes rolled back as he pinched your nipple, and moved to the other side of your neck to kiss and suck on your pulse point, making that coil snap. Your legs quivered and fell flat against the sheets as your body was going through a religious experience after that orgasm. 

You could feel him grin against your skin and he pulled back, hissing as he removed himself from deep inside you, “Hands and knees, mi vida…” 

You panted softly, out of breath, “Give me a sec…” you chuckled and swallowed, trying to catch your breath. 

Joel smirked and then grabbed your lips, flipping you around to lay on your stomach then putting his arm under your stomach to pull your hips up to you were on your knees, “Patience is not my virtue tonight, querida…” he lined himself up at your entrance, “I want you now…” he pushed himself slowly in, bottoming out. 

You put your face into the mattress to loudly moan, arching your back for him, feeling him stretch you out blissfully. 

He put his hand on your shoulder to pull you up, and the other on your waist, and began pumping into you, taking the breath out of your lungs the first few thrusts. 

He groaned and held onto you, snapping his hips at a steady and brutalizing pace, making you pulse and tighten around him. 

You moved your hand and touched his on your shoulder, “Baby please don’t stop, fuck you feel so good..” you begged as you moaned out softly, praying Sarah couldn’t hear the explicit sounds coming from your mouth. 

He kept going at this pace for a few moments more, gripping the soft meaty flesh of your hips, digging his fingers into them to ground himself, he began to recklessly thrust into you harder and a little faster, and began feeling himself close to climax. “F-fuck…” he growled under his heavy and face pants. 

He grunted and then moved his hand that was holding onto your hip and put it flat against your abdomen to pull you up flush against him, wrapping his arm around you to cup and grab your breast, turning his head to whisper, “Come with me…” he whined feeling the coil about to snap, “Please, mi amor…” he pleaded, continuing to snap his hips up into you. 

You gasped and grabbed onto his hand that was wrapped around you, intertwining your fingers to his as you fluttered around his cock and came begging “Fill me up Joel, please…” 

He moved his hand that was on your shoulder to loosely wrap around your neck careful not to choke but to assert his dominance as something deep within him wanted to claim you tonight.

He put your chin up a little to moan upwards, as he sucked on our earlobe and whined and grunted lowly into your ear as he came deep up into you, his hips stuttering and stalling as he jerked himself deep into your core. 

You panted softly and leaned your head back against him, “I should come to more work-related dinners if this is what I get afterward…” you teased, lightly chuckling.

He kissed your neck and chuckled into your skin, “I’ll be taking you out to more dinners just to show you off, you and that dress drove me crazy all night…” he nuzzled his nose into the hair behind your hair and moved his hand around your throat to trace lightly down your body to wrap around your abdomen. 

You closed your eyes and smiled, “I know… I felt your eyes on me constantly…” you lightly moaned as you felt him kiss your pulse point. 

“I couldn’t help myself, I had the most gorgeous woman there…” he grunted as he pulled out of you and kissed your shoulder before slowly letting you go, “Lay down for me my love… let me wash you up…” 

He slowly moved out from behind you and allowed you to lay down in the sheets, before he went into the bathroom and got a warm washcloth, softly wiping the mess between your legs as well as gently taking off your heels and setting them in the closet with your others. 

You looked at him lovingly as he softly attended to you, and smiled, “Thank you for taking care of me…” 

He looked at you and then threw the wash rag into the hamper before getting in bed next to you, wrapping his arms around you, pulling you close as he kissed your forehead, “Gratitude is not necessary my love, I’ll always take care of you…” 

You leaned your head up and looked at him, “I love you Joel…” you said with utter love and devotion, “I am absolutely head over heels in love with you.” you smiled lovingly, and combed his hair back on the side of his head, studying his face, committing to memory every piece of it. 

He went to say something but instead gently took your chin in his grasp and brought his lips to yours, kissing your lips passionately and deeply, devoting every movement against your lips to express his undying and devoted love to you. 

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