#and to think there were so many points in time i thought i'd never make it

[rebloggingoriginalcontent]

Oh, yeah, when I was a minor I 100% lied about being an adult all the time. I don't regret it and I don't think it was a bad decision.

Do you know what I DIDN'T do?

Make romantic overtures to people online - ever

Read or watch anything that was marked "adults only" unless I knew it was safe for me (and stopped if I realized I'd been wrong)

Search words that might return results that made me upset (and hit the back button immediately if I saw something weird)

Talk to anyone who said they didn't want to talk to minors (because that would be rude!)

Talk to people in private messages unless I'd been talking to them for a long time in public forums, and even then we'd only talk about familiar things

Here's why I lied about my age, even though I didn't like lying in general:

I was taught internet safety, including the fact that some people target minors differently from adults (so I didn't admit I was minor)

I was at no point ever in a situation where it was anyone else's business. If it became someone else's business that usually meant I didn't want to be in the situation.

Many websites I liked were age-locked - even though I wasn't using them for anything inappropriate for children

And, most importantly:

I absolutely did not care what STRANGERS thought I should do on the internet. What are you, my mom? I'm not your responsibility.

Please. Please. PLEASE. Note that I was taking care of myself. I was being safe. I was obeying my parents. I never once had a poor experience with a stranger, except in the sense that I met rude people.

I was a good kid. A scrupulous one, even!

I was good according to the rules I cared about - not arbitrary internet rules.

There's something that I find equal parts hilarious and terrifying.

On one hand it is so funny watching the generation previous to mine (I was born in 84) absolutely say the most unhinged shit online, doxx themselves, and get fired, after spending my entire childhood teaching me online opsec because every stranger was a potential murderer. Social media done rotted their brains.

But on the other I'm seeing kids coming up, seeing them spew all their personals online, and using that to model their unsafe behavior and put themselves at incredible risk because the internet actually got way more dangerous than it was, ironically, when I was coming up being told I had to basically outsmart the fuckin CIA. Now the actual CIA and other bad actors (government, private, and individual) really are out there and these kids are watching fucking meemaw post a photo of the front of her house practically captioned with her fucking SSN and thinking, "yeah, sure, the adults know what's safe."

I gotta be a fuckin millennial about this and beg younger folx to listen to the VCR generation: hide yourself online. Nothing should go there you wouldn't want in the hands of the person who hates you the most.

Be safe, be smart, be a fucking ghost.

[doverstar]

I'd love to defend Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life for a minute (I don't usually make long posts and may delete this later for that reason) because I feel like writing something inconsequential.

Other people get lots of comfort watching the original show (especially in the fall). I feel cozier watching AYITL. The characters are much older; the dizzy, flighty, still-growing-up feelings for Lorelai and Rory have faded, and it's full of moments that make it clear that certain things in their lives are definitely always going to be there. Constants. Luke, Stars Hollow, family, Kirk, Taylor, the changing of the seasons. Now - for my defense. (I'm rambling.)

Okay, many, many people don't like the revival. I understand. It's different in a lot of ways from the original show, and lots of expectations were not met. When I first saw it, it threw me too. But I didn't dislike it. In fact, the more I rewatched it, the more I thought it was almost better than the first show. The leading ladies are not flashy young stars anymore - Rory is Lorelai's age when the OG show first began, and Lorelai is gracefully and fabulously careening toward grandma times with all her wit and charm, all her most comfy habits, and it makes me want to hang out with her more than Season 1 of the show ever did. And I think the fact that ASP came back to write for these characters again and end it on her terms, at last, was an absolute win, and I love how she did it because it fixed so many things I thought were wrong in the show.

Lorelai is self-centered, terrified of commitment, and has no idea how to put others before herself and not run away during the hard times - unless something involves Rory.

Rory is self-centered, thinks she is special, and has no idea how to deal with not getting what she wants. The consequences of her actions almost never directly affect her, and when they do, said consequences are quickly stamped on and snuffed out by her mother/friends/family.

Emily is self-centered, desperate to be in control, and finds her worth in what other people think, in how things look, and that includes what Richard thinks.

In the show, Lorelai has moments where she learns to stay and learns to put other people who are not Rory before herself. Those moments don't last. She definitely has good intentions, but they're all conditional. She only has good intentions up to a point - and that point is usually when someone or something threatens her happiness and feeling of safety, or Rory's happiness and feelings of safety (understandable; that's her child).

In the show, Rory is told she is the sweetest kid in the whole world. Rory is told she'd never do anything to hurt anybody. Rory is told she's special, she's smarter than her peers, she's not like other girls. Rory 100% believes that. She also probably has a bit of a problem with living up to that image - she wants to be all of those things, and thinks she is, and can't handle it when it seems like people think she's not. (That may or may not have something to do with Christopher, who always had somewhere more important to be, or with Lorelai, who was so cool and strong and sure of Rory.)

And the show has moments, too, where Lorelai has to face the music and see that she's screwed up or is hurting someone with her behavior (Max, Chris, Luke, Jason, Emily, Richard, Sookie), but very very often, Lorelai breezes her way through that music and keeps moving, and flits to the next thing or person that will make her happy, because she does not know how to stay and stand and fix what she's broken. Because it only matters if she is happy and if Rory is happy. (The same thing goes for Rory in the show - consequences come, but Rory rarely has to properly deal with them herself. She is coddled and propped up the whole way.)

Now, to my point!

I watched AYITL and noticed something was different right away. Lorelai is with Luke (she should be), who is the opposite of her - constant, loyal, selfless, determined to stay no matter how hard things get. But they're not married. Lorelai is scared to really commit, and marriage is one of the hardest things you can commit to - ever. And Lorelai is not happy. Rory, for her part, is not perfectly settled as a reporter or a journalist or any of the things she was always told she could be. And she's not happy. And Emily, bless her, has lost her husband and her false sense of control is spinning away, and of course, she is not happy.

And A Year In The Life takes the show's clumsy half-arc of these three Gilmore women and perfectly completes it.

Lorelai's fear of commitment and habit of bolting when things get hard drives her to push every new chef out of the Dragonfly, refuse to expand the inn to better accommodate Michel's needs, shun Rory's tell-all of her past mistakes, shame Richard at his funeral and break Emily's heart, and worst of all, nearly wreck the closest thing to a proper relationship she's ever had: the one she has with Luke. She can't face that she misses her father, loved her father, and that maybe her mother is right about her relationship status. She can't face that people might read Rory's writing and see all her flaws and all her mistakes growing up in printed ink, and she can't run from that. And when Rory insists, Lorelai cuts ties. Lorelai has spent years avoiding marriage with Luke. She has spent years hurting her mother in an effort to defend herself at all costs. And she has spent years ensuring the Dragonfly Inn is exactly what she wants it to be; because changing it would be uncomfortable, and as a result, she won't commit to a new chef, she won't expand, and she's about to lose Michel the way she lost Sookie.

Rory's bubble of self-centeredness and assurance that she's special is popped with the needle of reality at last: she is not special. She's a young woman who has to actually work hard to find a job and make some money, like everyone her age. She is talented and she is smart, but she's not God's gift to journalism, and people keep saying no, and people keep asking her to prove her skills and her merit, and she doesn't know how to deal with that because everyone has always told her she can do anything she wants and she's the best. She wants a distinguished career and can't find anyone who will take her on; she tries to write for a raging batty feminist (hello Alex Kingston I love your work) and that goes sideways; she wants Logan Huntzberger but she turned down his proposal and now he's engaged and it has to be a secret; she wants somewhere to live - just not Stars Hollow because she's better than the thirty-somethings stuck back home. She wants Lorelai to approve of her book and insists her mother give her this, as if Lorelai hasn't always given her whatever she could. And when Lorelai says no, Rory does what she wants anyway and almost fractures their relationship over it.

Emily's control is completely gone - she can't control her emotions, she can't control her tongue, she can't control her maid or her maid's handy family, she can't even control a stupid painting of her late husband. She's on a downward spiral and her anchor is dead. She tries to regain a sense of worth, because surely that will bring happiness back. She tries to gain it from how many possessions she has, that doesn't work. She tries to gain it from Jack, who is not well-suited to her but he makes a matching accessory to the life other people will see. That doesn’t work. She tries to gain it from therapy with Lorelai, control her daughter at last, that doesn't work. She tries to control Richard's headstone, that doesn't work. She even tries to find solace with her beloved D.A.R, and she finds that emptiest of all.

A Year In The Life has these women finally face their flaws head-on and grow. The way characters should.

Rory: Rory is confronted with the fact that she is not special and has to move home like everyone else her age and get a job she does not want, because that's life, and that's what everyone else has to do in the real world. And when she's at her lowest, pouting, she gets advice from someone who has faced his own flaws long ago and has grown and who knows her at her best, and encourages her to get up and work hard (Jess Mariano, ladies and gentlemen). And she does. Rory hits bottom and takes Jess's advice and works at understanding her mother, who is not perfect, and even goes to interview her father, who is also not perfect. She fights with Lorelai over the book and insists on her own way, and when Lorelai refuses, Rory can only blame herself. She has a rabble-rousing night with her LaDB boys and winds up sleeping with Logan in one more bubble of fantasy, one more umbrella-jump of escapism, like the old days, because Logan is her weakness. And when she wakes up the next morning, Rory turns and walks away from Logan and the affair and her insistence on having what she wants regardless of who she hurts (hello, Dean Forrester and her affinity for taking spoken-for men) for the final time. And the consequences of her desires? She’s pregnant. (Come on, we all know the baby is Logan’s; Rory’s life rhymes with Lorelai’s.) She goes to Christopher to interview him for the book and is subtly asking her father why he wasn’t in her life, because she needs to know what to do with her baby and her lover. She didn’t go to Lorelai to figure that out. She went to her dad, because the truth is, Rory didn’t have her father, and part of dealing with the consequences of her actions is to work out how to take care of this baby and whether or not that means involving the father. She’s owning up. She goes to Lorelai and offers to give up this book; she doesn’t make excuses or whine, she wrote the book anyway because she believes in it, but when she’s gotten three chapters in, she respectfully goes to her mother and asks her to read it and then, for the sake of Lorelai, not herself, Rory promises to quit and throw the book out if Lorelai does not approve. Because Lorelai is more important to her than herself. Rory has worked hard and made mistakes and gotten pregnant and she has stared the world in the eyes and seen she’s not special. And she has to deal with that. And she does, finally, deal with it. And she’s happy.

Emily: Emily is confronted with the fact that nothing is inside her control—except what she does. Worth does not come from what she owns or who she’s with or what she’s wearing, and it didn’t come from her marriage, either. That wasn’t why she married Richard anyway. She is miserable and alone, and part of that is her fault. She married Richard because she loved him, and she keeps coming back to Lorelai because she loves her, and she opens up her house to Rory when Rory needs a place to write because she loves her. Emily looks around at what she has and recognizes what has worth and what doesn’t, maybe for the first time, with clear vision. She recognizes that she can’t control everything. At first, that fact keeps her down. She forgets what day it is, the curtains are closed, and she doesn’t get up in the morning. No Richard, no Lorelai, no reason to move. And then Lorelai calls her, and tells her about who Richard was and what Richard did and how it mattered, and that inspires Emily. She can get up. She buys a place on Cape Cod, totally opposite of the sort of life everyone admires and expects to have worth, and she does what she’s really always been best at—she loves. She takes care. She took care of Richard, she took care of Lorelai and Rory when they needed it, and she takes care of Berta and her wonderful family, instead of having a maid take care of her needs. She packs up and moves out, she sends Jack away, she reveals the D.A.R. for what it is and quits them forever, and she takes a job at a whaling museum because she just likes it. It’s nothing fancy, and neither is her oceanic house or the music she plays in it or the clothing she wears, because none of that is worth anything anyway. Her family is. Her friends are. She gets the painting of Richard done right and brings it with her, and she gives up attempting control of everything and only takes control of how she behaves. She gives Lorelai what Lorelai needs for the Dragonfly, and her only stipulation is that she gets to spend more time with her daughter and Luke. She loves, she takes care of others, she helps. And she’s happy. And now, the best for last. The star.

Lorelai: Lorelai sits in that stupid Stars Hollow Musical and hears a song that perfectly describes her problem—it’s never or now. Make a commitment. Do something hard. Make your life about something other than your momentary present happiness and comfort, the way you do with just Rory, sometimes, but make it a permanent change. Make change permanent! Don’t run away! …And then she runs away. She’s been miserable, she’s hit bottom, like her mother before her and her daughter after her. She’s losing friends, she’s losing Luke, she’s losing Emily, she’s losing Rory over the manuscript, and it’s all her fault. Lorelai tries to breeze past it. She does Wild. She does what she’s never done before, she does something hard and uncomfortable, but she does it for herself, and therefore it doesn’t quite work. She tries to hike, Dipper Pines won’t let her hike, she meets other women her age who think this hike is gonna fix things, it doesn’t, and she gives up and goes to get coffee because that’s her go-to. (Coffee is speedy, bad for you, and only a temporary rush—kind of everything Lorelai clings to, actually.) But the coffee shop is closed, and when Lorelai is denied that allegorical Band Aid, she goes around back and sees a great view and finally finds clarity. She didn’t need the hike—she needed to think. She needed a moment of silence and introspection to gain the insane courage to finally stop moving, stick around, and face her fears. To put her eyes on herself and then take her eyes off herself and onto other people—namely the people she loves. Lorelai calls Emily and cries, because it’s hard to do this, it hurts, but with one story, she proves she loved her father, and she knows her father loved her, and the fact that she’s calling shows that she knows Emily loves her too, and she loves Emily, and has loved them both all along. It gives Emily the strength she needs to get out of bed. That was hard, but Lorelai did it. And now she’s going to do more hard things—she’s going to commit. It’s never or now, and Lorelai chooses now. She goes home and the first thing she does is propose to Luke and become Lorelai Danes overnight. Hard. Scary. Just right. She patches things up with her daughter, and chooses Rory over herself—for the hundredth time, yes, but when it’s at its hardest for her to do. “I’ll read it when it’s done.” Lorelai expands the Dragonfly. She goes to Emily for help, which is also super hard, but this time it’s not for Rory – it’s for her, and it’s for Michel, and it’s for the Dragonfly. And she accepts Emily’s affectionate terms. Lorelai chooses Rory, Luke, Emily, and Michel over herself, and commits, and she doesn’t run away. And she’s happy.

And all of it is earned. Finally earned.

I could talk more about the incredible writing, about ASP at her best, about the perfect themes and scenery and the very intentional end to Paris, Lane, Kirk, Taylor, Dean, Jess, Logan, Chris, and the general cast’s stories, but I’ve already rambled for too long.

Suffice it to say: A Year in the Life is my Gilmore Girls. It’s best version of the story. I think it was expertly done. Not perfect, but an ending that was earned.

[astrxealis]

dear gods i adore horror tbh but i am way too sensitive to it

[mychemikuromance]

...

[mrfancyfoot]

Today I logged into facebook for the first time in nearly 4 years and went through every profile in my friends list (like ~300) and purged out all the assholes (anyone who openly voted for Trump, other conservatives, and those who I strongly believe did). I've done this before so there weren't many but there are a number that have been wishy-washy with being outward in their bigotry and it helps me keep a mental list of people that deserve only the most very basic level of respect that I can muster because they certainly do not respect me nor people I care about nor many of their fellow human beings. Most disheartening is seeing friends and family who continue to put effort into engaging with people who argue in bad faith and weaponized ignorance.

I dated a man for nearly a year who went to women's and pro-choice rallies and liberal groups with me and said many times that he "was on my side" but turned out to be lying the whole time because he knew I definitely wouldn't date him otherwise. I'd known him for years before since we ran in the same friend circle. I wasn't the only one he had fooled. He slowly lifted the mask until we were constantly arguing because of his bigoted and racist remarks. His favorite thing to do was act oppressed and show me the most obvious Russian propaganda that he would get upset at me for fact-checking and asking for real sources. He wanted to argue, so what he hated most was when I refused to argue with him. Nothing I said was going to change his mind, so I wasn't going to humor or tolerate it (we didn't last long after that point, but by that time, I was afraid of leaving without an excuse that would be "good enough" for him). He legitimately wants civil war so that he can play survival hero and feel validated in his hatred. It didn't come on quickly and a lot of the comments started as "odd" off the cuff things through the time that we dated. He was very much pretending to be a kind person and once really called out, that pretense dropped. He thought I was more like him and that a lot of my regard and kindness for others is "fake." Because that's what a lot of people like that do - they fake being kind for optics, they are not actually kind people, and therefore presume that everyone else is doing the same thing. It's given me major trust issues.

Can't say this enough: these people feel validation in their bigotry when you continue to associate with them. They need to be dropped. They need to learn that their shitty beliefs mean that they get shunned. Make them feel uncomfortable. Quit tiptoeing around and coddling their delicate little feelings because they might get upset. It's okay for them to get upset because someone was mean and told them they don't like them because they think gay and trans people shouldn't exist. I once made a post about how a raped 11 year old child should never be expected to give birth, was told that it was "god's will" and like 5 people piled on the guy so badly he told us to stop being "mean" to him and was terrified to talk to me at work ever again (I have since cut all ties and no longer work with him). I'm personally extremely tired of playing nice for the sake of possibly "converting" someone - especially because you can be polite in telling someone to fuck off with their beliefs. Their beliefs are dangerous, are going to result in people losing their lives, and a frightening number of them are completely okay with that. We need to stop being tolerant of intolerance. It is okay to cut people (including family) from your life when all their presence does is bring you stress and harm.

In a similar vain, don't let the people who chose not to vote (or "protest voted") stick their heads in the sand to escape blame. They are just as culpable as anyone else who directly voted for Trump and other conservatives. They need to grow the fuck up.

For a lot of liberals, it's really uncomfortable to be confrontational and feel like you're being intolerant of someone, but it's way past time to play hardball and call them out instead of coddling them, especially as we're going into the holiday season where many of us will be seeing family with shitty views and targeted family that may need someone to stand up for them. Let them know they're shitty and inappropriate and a disappointment and unworthy of your regard because they certainly lack it for others. Obviously still be safe, but many of us very likely aren't losing anything of value in that scenario. Not having bigoted family members in my life in any way has made me so much happier.

A helpful tip to those who may find themselves in a confrontation: do not stay engaged. Let your views be known and then disengage. Because many of them love to argue and feel like they're defending themselves (many are addicted to those feelings of hatred and overcoming "oppression"), what they don't like is being ignored and feeling like you're rinsing your hands of them. They don't deserve your stress and constant efforts. There are ways to open a dialogue when they are willing to discuss civilly with an open mind, but if they bring intolerance, just shut it down.

(via jhig8bd0cczd1.png (PNG Image, 744 × 810 pixels))

[euniexenoblade]

since we're talking about call outs lately, i've been called out many times, most of which are made from lies and sometimes by altering screenshots, but the most effective call out i ever got was like, in early 2015 there was a tumblr user everyone knew was a terf, but she would say "actually i support trans women" this was before crypto terfs were as talked about so the language wasn't really there to say "hey this person is a crypto terf." but yeah some people put posts of this woman on my dash and i made a random post on my blog "why do yall reblog her shes a terf" and of course she searches her own name daily, found my post, and replied to it that me calling her a terf was racist. that was it. no other interaction. but she went on all night talking about me being racist and just making things up as she went "oh i bet she says the n word all the time irl" kind of shit that had, like no basis? But her follower base took it 100% and i literally had thousands of anons telling me to kill myself, trying to goad me into being racist (didnt work), and the most concerning thing was i got hundreds of anons being like "what was the point of doing hrt if you still look like that, you should kill yourself." It was like, violent and overwhelming. and on top of it I'd get random young teenager trans people who followed her and bought into her bioessentialism showing up in my messages being like "you give trans people a bad name" "you're why transphobia exists" etc etc it was fucking crazy.

but i lost like, no followers because everyone around me understood, this woman was a terf. this all set up the real one though.

later in the year a teenage "communist" trans girl made some snarky comment about me being racist on a post of mine blowing up. i ignored her cuz like, who cares it's just some random teenager. but i guess people were looking for a reason to hate me cuz that blew up, lots of people just took that at face value no need to investigate. when someone finally did send the girl an ask being like "hey how is she racist" she replied "I dont remember but I know she is" and even more people just took this as 100%. the thing is, i do remember her being one of those "you make trans people look bad" terf following young trans people, it's not that she didn't remember, it's that she didnt want to admit she followed a terf and she believed a terf just saying shit. I lost like 3/4s of my followers, i had a lot of people i thought were my friends just stop talking to me, and going forward every time i got a call out there would usually be a line of like "also she's racist, everyone already knows this" all cuz this girl needed to make a snarky comment cuz she just loves terfs.

the thing about the "i dont remember" bit is it made some weird game of telephone. "I dont remember" became "oh she's racist, i think she says the n word" which became "she called black bloggers the n word" like people just made shit up about me and connected it to this call out. and when id be like this isnt true id be met with a "this is just known, youre a known racist" and it's like, to this day i will still find people be like "hey good on you for growing as a person and not doing that any more" and its like I NEVER DID IT TO BEGIN WITH

[confused-pyramid]

Breaking Point

pairing: art donaldson x fem!reader

summary: You and Art were hitting partners (and a bit more) in college, so when you run into him a decade later at the U.S. Open, old sparks reignite...

word count: 3.4k

warnings: SMUT, p in v, oral (fem!receiving), slight marking, drinking

a/n: I watched Challengers last night and then wrote this whole thing in one sitting. Nothing in this is really canon other than Art being a major simp lol so no spoilers for the movie! I usually make playlists (or at least find a few songs that get me in the zone) when writing, so I thought I'd start sharing them here too if people are interested!

You should've known he'd be here. You've been following his career for the last decade since you graduated, and ever since he won Wimbledon last year, he's been tennis royalty, but a small part of you still thought you wouldn't run into him here. At the fucking U.S. Open.

Stanford was a lifetime ago, and you haven't kept in touch with anyone from the college team, but there was always something about Art Donaldson that stuck with you. Ten years later, that hasn't changed.

"It's been so long," he calls out when he spots you from across the practice courts. "I didn't think I'd see you."

You didn't either, and you still haven't decided how you feel about it yet, but when he jogs over to your side, you just shrug. "Guess it's your lucky day."

He smiles, and his teeth glimmer in the bright sunlight. "It certainly is."

The loud thwacks of tennis balls hitting rackets echo around you, but you can't seem to focus on anything but the man standing in front of you. He looks good.

He was beautiful in college too, whether he was training across the net or slipping into your bed, but it feels different now, with so much time apart. He looks like a man now.

"Anyway," Art says, jerking you back to reality. "We should get a drink sometime. To catch up."

He adds the last part almost as an afterthought, but it doesn't escape your notice how his eyes have been trailing up and down your body since he walked over.

A drink could mean almost anything with Art Donaldson, but you're too curious to refuse. "Sure. This weekend, after the semi-finals."

He nods, his eyes glinting with amusement, and you grab your bag from the bench beside you before looping the strap over your shoulder.

You walk off the practice courts after one last glance over your shoulder, and you feel his eyes following along until the doors swing shut behind you.

***

He should've expected this. You were a firecracker in college, and you kept him on his toes every single day you were together, so he really should have known what he was getting into when he met you for drinks that weekend.

Instead, he's one too many beers in, and his buzz is only enhancing the glow of your beauty in the hazy bar light. Your dress isn't even that low cut, but something about the shadows glancing over your strong shoulders reminds him of late nights in the Stanford dorms after a hard practice when there was only one thing he wanted more than sleep.

"You played really well this morning," he says genuinely as he sets his beer back onto the table. "After that first set, Mueller didn't stand a chance."

You flash him a dazzling smile as you shrug, resting your chin on your palm. "I had her after the third game, but thanks. It was a quick match."

Art hasn't taken his eyes off of you since you sat down, and while prolonged eye contact usually makes you nervous, you find that you're actually enjoying the attention quite a bit. Attentiveness was never an issue with him, and you would normally give in to your urges, but there's just too much history with him, and you can't afford to lose focus. Not when the title is so close you can taste it.

"I hear the networks are eyeing you for a commentator post," you say, trying to change the subject.

You trace your finger around the rim of your nearly empty margarita, before lifting it to take a final sip, and you don't miss how his throat bobs as you lick the salt off your lips.

"Uh, yeah," he mumbles, clearing his throat. "It was just some chatter, but I'm not looking to retire anytime soon."

You frown. "Is that right?" He's playing better than ever, but he definitely hasn't been himself out on the court in years.

He glances down, clearly trying to avoid the scrutiny, and when his eyes land on your empty glass, he changes the subject again. "You want another drink?"

You shake your head, knowing that another will lead to a less than fun morning, but he isn't done yet.

"You sure?" His eyes find yours again, and this time the eye contact feels primal. "It doesn't have to be here."

Your eyebrows lift and you tilt your head with a knowing smile. "Where were you thinking?"

"I don't know," he shrugs, before his lips curve up into a cheeky grin. "My room's nice."

You saw it coming from a mile away, but it still pulls a laugh out of you. "Oh, I'm sure it is, but this isn't college anymore, Art. You should get some sleep...focus on your match in the morning."

You push your glass forward and stand up, nodding at him as you turn to leave, but then you see him stand too out of the corner of your eye.

"I'll walk you to your car."

He looks at you with a hint of amusement in his expression, and you can't help but want to play along, even though Art Donaldson was nothing but trouble for you.

You don't respond, instead just stepping out from around the table and walking out the front doors of the bar. You don't have to turn back to know he's right behind you, and when you reach your car, parked in the center of the nearly empty parking lot, you spin around.

He doesn't stop walking until he has you practically boxed in by your driver's side door, his face less than a foot from yours as he tucks his hands into his pockets.

He had pushed his sleeves back at some point in the night, from the humid summer heat of the bar, and you can see the veins on his forearms now, under the dim light of the street lamps.

"This is me," you say jokingly, tipping your chin at your car as he looks at you with an expression you can't distinguish. "I'm good from here."

He doesn't move.

It's not that you expected him to give up so easily; you had just forgotten how persistent he could be.

Art's mouth stretches into a slanted smile. "Do you remember the Davis Invitational? Junior year."

Speaking of his persistence...he had been pursuing you for months, not in any tangible way, but you always knew what he was thinking.

After the invitational, where you and Art had been the respective men's and women's champions, you had gone back to his dorm to celebrate. Three hours and just as many vodka shooters later, he had finally gotten you in his bed. Not that you were complaining.

Art knew his way around your body, and even that first night, he had managed to get you off more times than you can remember.

"What about it?" you shoot back, your eyebrows raising at the insinuation.

"Nothing," he says with a shrug, but you don't miss the humor glinting in his eyes. "You just used to be a lot more fun to celebrate with."

"Fuck you," you spit out, shoving his shoulder harder than you mean to. He barely budges, instead grabbing your hand and tugging you a few inches closer, and suddenly a wave of lust washes over you, making your breath hitch.

You press your thighs together under your dress, hoping he can't feel the heat spreading across your skin, but then his smile turns to a smirk and you know you're done for.

"What do you think?" he whispers, leaning in so close that his lips brush over your earlobe. "Want to celebrate?"

Molten lava pools in your gut and you are only peripherally aware of his hand sliding down your hips to the flowy edge of your dress. His fingers glide over your skin as his hand goes under the loose fabric, before rising up to grab your ass, drawing your hips flush with his.

Your arousal is already starting to soak through your panties, but the feeling of his hard bulge pressed up against you sends you flying back to reality.

You lift your hands to his chest and push him back so that he's a few steps away from you. It's not far enough, but at least you can't feel him from there. "I'm not fucking you, Art."

He shrugs, his smirk only slightly shaken. "Who said anything about fucking? I just wanted to talk."

You huff out a laugh. "You're funny. Besides, I'm too tired for this. I need to rest up before my match."

"What about tomorrow night then?" His lip is still curved up in a smirk, but there's an earnestness in his gaze that surprises you.

"What makes you think you'll still be here tomorrow?"

His mouth spreads into a wide smile. "I always win."

You snort. "Fine. Win your match and we can talk."

You don't miss the grin on his face as you climb into your car and leave.

***

You win your next match in straight sets again, so by the time you're out of the locker room, Art's match is still in play. Driven by a mixture of curiosity and intrigue, you head over to his court and find a seat halfway up the stands.

He has won two of three sets, and he's leading the fourth, so with the prospect of the match ending soon, you use the time to observe him from a different angle.

His form is much better than it was in college, and you've seen him play countless times on TV, but you haven't really let yourself see how good he looks out there. The sinewy muscles rippling in his arms as he lifts them to serve. The rugged sturdiness of his legs as he races back and forth across the court.

You wish you could be down there with him, running your hands over the smooth lines of his abdomen, tasting the drops of sweat as they roll down his body-

The crowd erupts in cheers, and you are thrust back into reality as Art throws his arms into the air with a loud whoop. The scoreboard confirms his victory, and you clap along with the audience as he shakes his opponent's hand and heads over to his chair.

People around you stand up to leave, but you stay in your seat, watching as he grabs his bag and stuffs his rackets inside. When he wipes a towel over his face, his head turns up and his eyes immediately go to you, like he knew you were here the whole time.

Your stomach does an involuntary flip and he flashes his eyebrows at you as you bit the inside of your lip, trying to hold back a smile.

When he ducks back down to grab his things, you stand up quickly to avoid letting him see your blush and follow the rest of the crowd off of the stands.

***

You hear it late that night. Three little raps on your hotel room door, just before midnight.

You're in the finals, and you don't have any friends here to celebrate with, so you were sipping a beer and watching old match recordings when you heard the knock.

There's no one else who would come to see you this late, so you're not surprised when you open the door to find Art, dressed in a tee shirt and comfy-looking pajama pants.

"What are you doing here?" you ask, even though you already know the answer.

Art just looks at you, his pupils already massive. "You said if I win, we could talk." He shrugs. "I won."

"Okay," you concede, opening the door wider to let him in. "Just talking then."

He nods, before following you inside and shutting the door.

"You want anything to drink?" you ask as he trails behind you.

He shakes his head. "I'm good."

You grab your beer bottle from the side table and sit down on the floor, crossing your legs beneath you.

Art sits across from you, his feet in front of him and his elbows on his knees. You were assigned to a modestly sized room, but for someone as tall as him, the space must feel cramped.

"How did the match feel?" you ask, taking a swig of beer.

He thinks for a moment. "It was close at first, but once I shook my legs out, it became a breeze."

"Your legs were never the problem," you say, leveling him with a serious look. "It was always your attitude. Or your confidence."

He frowns, his eyebrows scrunching slightly. "I'm plenty confident."

"You are now," you tell him as you swirl the bottle around in your hand. "You won Wimbledon, you have a reason to be confident."

That makes him smile. "So you're saying my legs are fine."

"Yeah," you say before you can process what you're saying. "You looked good out there."

His smile turns to a smirk so fast it nearly gives you whiplash. "You think I look good?"

You let out an exasperated scoff. "At tennis."

His grin doesn't falter so you roll your eyes at him before lifting the bottle to your lips to take another swig. When you tilt the bottle back down to swallow, his hand reaches forward to take it from you. Your grip on the beer doesn't loosen, so the motion sends you pitching forward.

Your mouth parts with a small yelp as his arm wraps around you, tugging you closer, and before you can process what's happening, his lips are on yours.

If you let yourself think too hard, you would realize that there is way too much shared history and way too much baggage here for this to be a good idea...so that's why you don't.

Instead, you let him pull your body flush against his and when his tongue slides over the seam of your lips, you grant him access immediately. Your shirts come off in quick succession and you gasp as his hands run up and down your body, his strong, calloused fingers grasping at every inch of purchase they can find. Yours reach up to tangle in his messy hair, and when his lips move down your neck, your grip tightens, making him moan quietly against your skin.

Something about being on the floor takes you back to your college days, when you'd both be so worked up after practice that you couldn't even make it to the bed, but that feels too real right now.

"Art," you whisper as he runs his lips and teeth over your neck, before replacing it with his tongue to soothe the quickly blossoming marks. "Art, the bed. Now."

It takes him a second to process your words, but when he does, he loops an arm around your waist and lifts you up and onto the bed in one motion, before pushing you back onto the covers.

By the time your head hits the bed, he's already pulling your shorts and panties down, exposing you to the cool air. His lips follow the path of his hands as they trace up your legs, making you squirm under the hot touch of his rough fingers. He presses wet kisses to the insides of your thighs before spreading them apart and dropping to his knees on the floor in front of you.

"So wet for me," he whispers, almost to himself, before he dives in, his mouth making lewd noises as he licks a thick stripe up your core. "You taste so good."

He lifts your legs over his shoulders to give himself some leverage as he makes a mess between your thighs, licking and sucking your clit into his mouth before fucking you with his tongue.

His grip on your thighs is the only thing keeping you pinned to the bed as you writhe beneath him, trying to not squeeze your legs together from the heat spreading up your core.

His mouth feels amazing and it takes only minutes before you're already nearing the edge. You don't want to come until he is inside of you, though, so you yank his hair, pulling him up and off of you.

He looks up at you through his lashes, and he looks ethereal with his disheveled hair and his chin wet with your slick.

You, on the other hand, look like heaven itself with your eyes half-hooded from pleasure, and he can't help the grin that crosses his face as he licks his lips and climbs over you onto the bed. He lets you taste yourself as he kisses you again, and he lets out a low groan when you bite his lip just hard enough to sting.

"Fuck me," you gasp, your voice too breathy to be actually authoritative. "Fuck me the way I like."

Art grins at your desperate tone and the wild lust in your eyes, committing this image to memory for a later time when you're much further away.

He kicks his pants off as he lifts you both further up the bed, and after covering himself with a condom from his back pocket, he lines himself up and slowly pushes forward.

He gives you a few moments to adjust to his size before slowly pulling out nearly all the way and then thrusting in again.

The slight pain turns to pleasure almost immediately, but he keeps his pace steady so as not to hurt you. You need more right now, so you wrap your legs around him for leverage and flip him over so that you're straddling him.

He groans as his head hits the pillow, and when he tries to sit up, you press your hands to his chest, pushing him down as you ride him. This position gives you a lot more control, and you use it to your advantage as you bounce yourself on his cock, feeling the way he fills you up so fully from this higher angle.

His fingers dig into your hips as he helps lift you up and down, and his eyes are practically feral as he watches the spot where his cock disappears inside of you.

He's the perfect size to fill you up completely, and with each swivel of your hips, you get closer and closer to your climax, which is approaching so fast you can taste it.

You cry out when he hits exactly the right spot deep inside of you, and his eyes fly to yours as your movements start to stutter from your impending release.

Needing to see the look on your face when you come, he pushes your lower back forward so you fall against his chest, before lifting himself up to meet you halfway. With one arm locked around you, he brings his other hand down between the two of you to rub quick circles over your clit. The new angle lets him thrust up into you, and the increased pace of his movements mixed with the speed of his fingers sends you flying over the edge.

Your mouth falls open with a loud cry, and you squeeze him so tightly he's practically seeing stars. You look so beautiful when you come, like a goddess sent down here just for him, and when your eyes meet his, he finds his own climax.

His body jerks forward with the force of his release, and you let him thrust a few more times as he finally finishes inside of you.

After pulling out, he tugs you down to lay next to him, and at first you let him, but the emotions warring inside of you don't stay quiet for long.

You know that whatever this was isn't going to go anywhere. You didn't work in college, and you won't work now, and you don't want anyone to get hurt again, so you have to make a choice. Now.

"I need to get some rest," you say quietly, a tiny part of you hoping he doesn't hear you. "Before the next match."

"Yeah," he sighs after a beat. "Me too."

You let him hold you for a moment longer, before he unwraps himself from your body and sits up, tugging his shirt and pants back on. You tug the sheet back and wrap it around your torso as he stands up and walks to the door.

You're not sure what you're expecting as he goes to leave, but what you get is a silent nod as the door swings shut behind him.

[twinksrepository]

Post training workout

Rating: 18+

Pairing: Sylus X F!Reader

CW: Smut, smut with Feelings, Boxing & Fisticuffs, Pain, Foot Massage, Drinking, flirting, Dirty Talk, Grinding, Neck Kissing, Vaginal Fingering, Orgasm, Hair-pulling, Condoms, Biting, Clothed Sex, Vaginal Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Big dick, Begging, Rough Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Finger Sucking, Overstimulation, Aftercare

Word count: Roughly 7K

A/N: Sylus keeps saying you need to get better at dodging, and you take him up on his offer for some training. Afterwards, he has a bit of a different workout in mind for you.

I am down bad for this man, and after seeing that workout quality time well this settled in my brain. I'd say I'm sorry, but I am anything but.

Prefer AO3? You can read it here.

You let out a squawk as you find yourself on your back once more looking up at the black ceiling while your chest heaves and the sweat drips down along your neck. “If you think you’re impressing me, Sweetie you’re doing a poor job of it.” You bite your tongue to keep yourself from retorting verbally at him. You’ve lost track of how many times in the last hour Sylus has knocked you on your ass, all under the pretense of training. 

The slightest pressure of his foot against yours as he makes a tapping motion against the inside portion of your sneaker. “Back up on your feet, it’s not break time yet.” 

You let out a noise of frustration instead of moving, still staring at the ceiling as you try to slow your breathing and catch your breath. “I thought you said you’d help me train, Sylus? This is just you sending me to the floor.” 

“It is training.” The blackness in your field of view was replaced by a rather attractive face with a sharp jawline and two garnet eyes staring down at you, the corner of his mouth turned upward just enough to be called a playful smirk. “At this point, I’m not sure how you’ve managed to evade being skewed by wanderers Miss Hunter.” His voice teases as he looks down at you, yet the longer you remain on your back that smirk fades into a look of neutrality. “Get up Sweetie.” There’s no doubting the annoyance in those three short words. 

You grumble as his face disappears from overhead but you roll over onto your side in order to get your feet under you before standing. A few rotations of your shoulders and hops in place to try and loosen the bruised muscles along your body. A distraction from the pain racing along your butt and lower back.

“Really?” A single eyebrow raised as he watched you before giving a chuckle, brushing his damp hair away from his eyes. It doesn’t matter how sore you feel, or how fast your heart has been racing, yet that one motion has the tempo increasing. The muscles of your face widened into a grin that you’re sure if you had a mirror you’d see a smile akin to those on the female lead in romance movies when she thinks the heartthrob isn’t looking. “Keep smiling like that Sweetie and you’ll be back where you were in no time.” Too bad this isn’t a movie and Sylus never seems to miss anything. 

“I still don’t see how this is training.” Your smile fades as you quirk your nose, sliding your right foot out to take the proper stance with your weight forward and lifting both of your arms so your wrapped fists are in front of you. Just like he had taught you a while back when you had been throwing what you thought were proper punches at the bag hanging in his personal gym. 

“Simple. You’re terrible at dodging Sweetie, this is meant to help you get better.” 

“You keep knocking me on my ass!” Dropping your hands and losing your pose as you stomp your foot at him. It sounds more like he’s been enjoying seeing you sprawled out on the floor. 

“You’re just proving my point.” The moment your guard dropped he sprung, a quick jab to get you to move. At least you could read the flow of his arm to see it’s a feint, shifting your weight and throwing your arms up as you sidestep the sweep of his leg. “Ah, the kitten can learn.” Stepping back with his hands in front of himself before he throws another punch, one you block well aware he’s holding back even as the sting from the impact races down your arm. “I was starting to wonder if that first bit of light sparring when you got me to take a knee was an accident.” 

“You’re so funny.” Watching his movements as you remain on the defensive, taking the openings he leaves you aware he’s trying to lull you into a false sense of security. A soft hum of approval as you keep moving, the sweat running down your neck as the bottom of your tied back hair bounces between your shoulders. Your breathing grows more ragged the longer you keep up the momentum of blocking and dodging. 

“Just pretend I’m a wanderer as your breathing gets heavier, they won’t let up unlike me.” Smirking as he switches tactics, throwing faster punches. It’s hard to focus when you can see the fine sheen of sweat on his skin fly off as he moves. Precise and quick. 

“You know how to let up?” Panting the words as you twist out of the way of another attempt on his part to put you on your back. Grinning as you jab with your right watching those crimson eyes of his on your hand, this time you’re going to put him on his back! A swift surge forward of your left leg to the inside of his to try and hook his inner calf to put him off balance. 

Except he clearly saw through your bluff, turning to the side and grabbing your fist in his hand, making use of your moment to let you swing yourself around so your back is pressed against his chest. “I may be merciless, but I stand by my morals of not taking advantage of the weak.” Your shirt is plastered to your back from the liquid pouring from you because of the workout, yet you can feel the fluid trapped in his black tank top seeping into the dry portions. “A kitten needs to play fight in order to learn how to use its claws after all.” 

Something in his voice makes you shiver, or it could be the way his breath washes down over the cartilage and cooling the area. As much as you like to banter with him you realize during this entire workout he’s just been playing with you. “You mean I’m covered in bruises for nothing!?” 

“Of course not.” Chuckling again Sylus doesn’t let go of your hand, instead dropping his chin atop your head. “You keep reminding me how I can’t go on missions with you when you’re working, if I can’t keep you safe I need to make sure you get better at looking after yourself, Sweetie.” 

His words have your slowing heart speeding up again, your stomach clenching in response to the bluntness of it. A reminder that as much as the words he does speak never say it, he does care for you and you’re starting to realize it isn’t just a passing fancy of his. That his feelings run a lot more than skin deep. Parting your lips as you get ready to retort, only for an alarm to start to beep from outside the padded area. 

“Times up.” Releasing you at last, you turn to watch his stride towards the device to cease the noise. “You showed some improvements, but you could always do with more training.” Smirking in your direction before his eyes rake over your form. “Now go have a shower.” Tossing a towel from the bench at you that obscures your vision as it unfolds and lands on your head. 

“Sylus!” Only to find him gone as you pull the fabric away, huffing as you leave the gym towards the room that serves as yours within his home. “Here’s hoping the hot water helps with my muscles, I’m already starting to hurt.” 

As you hobbled your way into the living room, the hot water from your shower hadn’t done anything to help with the tightening of your muscles. If you hurt like this now, you’re not looking forward to what you’re going to wake up to tomorrow. It didn’t help your mood that you could already see the distinct changing of the skin along your butt to signal you had bruises. 

Dropping onto the couch with a soft noise of discomfort, closing your eyes as you take a deep breath. Letting your head fall back against the plush fabric, Sylus has good taste and thankfully he finds a certain level of comfort just as important as style. 

Hearing the door open you crack an eye open, watching as the man himself strides in with a wine glass in hand taking a sip of the deep maroon liquid. “You look tired Sweetie.” He starts his teasing right away, joining you on the couch close enough to place a hand on your thigh. Even though his touch is light it still elicits another soft noise of pain from your throat and you can’t keep the wince off your face. “I’m surprised, I thought you’d be in better shape.” 

As much as his eyes have a hint of concern, nothing else about his demeanor indicates he’s worried. “I’m just not used to using my muscles like that.” It’s the truth, swinging a sword, shooting a pistol. None of those have you using your body the way you had today and you’re starting to realize that was what he had been getting at with his training. Even if you had been on your back a lot more than you had wanted. 

“The hunter academy should have more hand to hand combat training then. If someone like you is in such rough shape after a simple workout like that Miss Hunter.” Rolling your eyes as Sylus places his glass down on the stand beside him. Letting out a squeal as you feel the coldness you’ve come to associate with his evol wrap around you, on your back once more except this time your legs are resting against his lap. “Don’t come to expect this sort of treatment in the future.” 

You don’t get a chance to question him, your neck arching with the crown of your head hitting the armrest. His fingers dug into a knot you weren’t aware of at the back of your right calf, a dampness forming on your lashes as he kept working the area before the lines of lightning stop racing up your leg. “Wow.” It’s like your brain short circuits as the pain is replaced by relief, those long digits of his moving along the skin of your calf with gentle pressure now. 

“That all you have to say?” Shaking his head a little at your answer but his hands don’t stop moving, the heat from his palms sinking into the muscles and you start to relax more in his hold. 

“I wasn’t expecting a massage.” 

“All our time together and you still seem surprised when I do something nice for you.” Pausing just long enough to take a sip of his drink before he glides his hand along your lower leg. “You wound me, Sweetie.” You wince as he places a bit more pressure than necessary, biting your lip, except it isn’t from the pain. No, it’s to keep yourself from letting out a noise that borders on obscene when your core clenches in response. 

Flicking your eyes to his face, hoping he didn’t notice. 

No such luck as he smirks like the cat that got the canary. Or. A more accurate analogy, the crow that got the shiny object it had been eyeing. 

“If you didn’t drag me into trouble so much ah~” You can’t hide your noise this time, even if it had been pointless. Arching your back away from the cushion under you as his hand moves higher along your leg, you aren’t sure if it’s a blessing or a curse that you wore a skirt. 

“Trouble she says, are you saying I drag you into trouble when we have our little dates at the arcade?” Humming as the tips of his fingers brush the area just inside your knee, alternating pressure as he slides his hand along the area slowly moving higher. 

You don’t have a retort, instead, you watch his face with your eyes narrowed. Curious if he’ll tease you more or just keep moving his hand a little higher closer to where you want him to be. 

“I know what you want Sweetie, are you sure?” Smirking as he trails his hands down, back closer to your foot. “You are feeling rather tense, I wouldn’t want to make you sorer than you already are.” A slight pinch to the skin above your ankle that has you making another soft noise, trying to tug your feet away from his hand. 

“I can handle a lot more than you think.” The words are out of your mouth before you can ponder any kind of consequence. 

That rich melodious laughter of his rings out in the room, his upper body shaking and his grip on your leg grows tighter. A single corner of his lips upturned as those crimson eyes seemed to flash. “That almost sounds like a challenge, Miss Hunter.” Reaching for his wine glass and finishing the remaining liquid, and you’re squealing again as you find yourself airborne for a moment. A firm shoulder under your side and the view of a nice butt and you jolt up and down. 

“Sylus!” Flailing a little as he starts to stride out of the room and down the hallway towards his bedroom. “What are you doing!? Put me down!” 

“Unless you’ve grown more voyeuristic, as to what I’m doing I thought that would be obvious.” His long legs easily take him down the short distance of the hallway and you flush as the implication of his words sink in. The twins were around earlier, and you definitely don’t want them walking in on the two of you. 

Tossed on his bed like you're a sac of some kind, you bounce on the fabric of the bedspread scrambling to right yourself. Except one of those large hands of his reaches out and wraps around your ankle, dragging you to the edge. “Sylus!” Your voice is an odd mixture of giddy and admonishing as the thick comforter bunches under you around your butt and back as you reach the edge. 

There’s a hint of mischief on his face, holding your leg straight up in the air parallel to your body. Letting out a small chuckle with your foot close to his face, the long digits of his other hand work the fastener on your shoe to loosen it enough to drop it to the floor. “Yes, Sweetie?” Smirking as those same fingers glide down your calf, this time a trail of goosebumps rising along the skin in the wake of his touch. 

“I…” Trailing off when his lips ghost along the soft skin of your ankle, causing you to gasp, a reaction that has him grinning from the feeling of his lips against your skin shifting. “I don’t like when you just toss me around.” You sound like a petulant child, not exactly what you want at the moment but you are annoyed at the way Sylus has been tossing you around today. 

“I’ll try and keep that in mind for next time.” Sliding your leg so it’s against his shoulder he repeats the process of grabbing the other one to repeat the action of removing your shoe. Taking his time as those sharp eyes of his watch you as if he can see every minuscule movement as you react to him.

“Next time?” You’re trying to slow your heart rate, shuffling a small amount to try and get the excess fabric under you into a more comfortable position. 

“You could use more training, I like to think I’m a decent workout partner.” Smirking down at you well aware that wasn’t what you had meant and you call him out on it, saying those exact words. “What I plan on doing to you could be considered a workout.” Raising an eyebrow before tilting his head and nipping at your skin. His voice is a little deeper and your body responds in kind, your stomach clenching as you feel a warmth starting to form in your core. 

“And what are you planning on doing to me?” Biting your bottom lip as you try and reach out to touch him, but he’s just out of reach. 

“I have some thoughts.” Seeing your attempts to reach him, he trails one of his palms down along your legs before closing the distance to let you intertwine your smaller hand with his. “Though I have several options.” Rubbing his thumb along the edge of your finger. “Like if I should take you like this, with your legs up in the air while I buck into your soft warm core. Giving your legs a chance to recover from earlier.” 

He says it so nonchalantly like he’s talking about what to have for dinner instead of how he’s going to fuck you. 

“Or.” Letting his voice trail off before leaning forward so your legs are pressed a little against your belly and wedged against his upper body. “Maybe I should take you on your back, with my arms caging your head in while I ram you into the mattress, my entire body weight sinking into you.” A soft noise echoes around the room, and you realize it came from you when your core gave a throb. A dampness starts to form inside your walls at the thought of him pounding you into the mattress. 

“The one I’m really starting to like though, is me relaxing while you ride me.” Chuckling now as he guides your joined hands to his mouth and trails his lips along your knuckles. “Since you can handle a lot more than I think.” 

That has you hot and bothered as your stomach clenches again and your skin blazes with heat, hearing your own words from earlier thrown back in your face. All three options are something you want. The tip of your tongue poking out to moisten your lips as your eyes connect, a hint of a glow in his right eye and you feel your heart starting to race in response. It feels like he’s waiting for you to say something in regards to which option you might want. 

“I don’t have to work tomorrow. What if we did all three?” Your voice is tentative as you ask the question like you’re unsure of the answer.

“Oh Kitten.” Laughing he pushes your feet away from his shoulders so your legs drop down to his sides almost as if framing him between them, letting his weight press you down as he leans so your chests are aligned. A brush of those pink lips that so rarely uptick into a smile along your own. “I think now you’re being a little greedy, you can’t handle all of that.” Another game of teasing, both verbal and physical as the position has his crotch lined up with yours and he’s using it to his advantage as he softly grinds against you. 

Your eyes start to blink rapidly as your brain short circuits, a soft moan rising out of your throat as the action has you feeling more like you're floating in a haze. Shivering from the wash of his breath against your face, an odd sensation as the heat from his arms beside your head warms the air around you. Finding some semblance of thought, you trail your hands along the sleeves of his sweater to his broad shoulders before the tips of your fingers find the skin of his neck. It’s like blaze lighting along the fingertips, his skin warm though you can’t tell if it’s because you're distracted by his lips that he’s keeping just out of reach or just how hot he runs. 

Lifting your head to try and make the connection yourself, your efforts just earn you a chuckle from him as he tilts his face to the side so your lips brush against his cheek. “I need an answer Sweetie.” 

You’re a little frustrated, sliding your hands higher so you can toy with the grey hairs along his neck. Huffing as you think about where the conversation has gone, if he is leaving it up to you, you have an idea which one you want. “Like this.” Your voice sounds unsteady as it rings out in the room, more like you’ve asked a question instead of giving him an answer. 

He lets out a hum, allowing more of his body weight to press you down into the mattress as he lowers his head so it’s beside yours instead of above it. “Like this?” A deep rasp right next to your ear, the point of his nose ghosting along the top of the shell. “It would be an interesting angle.” A roll of his hips and you can’t deny the firmness rubbing along your sex through several layers of clothing. The damp fabric of your panties clinging to your skin as he moves adding to a delicious friction you hadn’t been expecting as the cloth rubs against your clit. “I could buck into you as hard and deep as I want.” Dragging his teeth along the skin of your neck before soothing the area with his tongue. “You’d have little control, are you sure you want that Miss Hunter?” A slight dig with his teasing about your preference to remain autonomous in your life.

A hitch in your breath as you slide your hands upward, through the longer locks of his hair giving them a little tug that makes Sylus hiss through his teeth. He’s not the only one who can tease, even if you have to be careful. Not because you’re worried you might hurt him. No, because anything you dish out to the leader of Onychinus he is happy to return with interest. “I trust you.” The words are far more confident as you rake your nails along his skull, gasping as he snaps his hips far rougher this time jolting both you and the mattress under you. 

“Not the answer I was expecting.” Raising his head so he can look down at you once more with a smirk gracing his features, at least before it softens somewhat as he stares at you. If you had to put a word to it you’d say it’s the closest thing Sylus has to a look of adoration with the curve of his eyes and the slight curl of his lips. Those same lips are just inches away from your own, close enough that every breath he takes washes against your skin in a way that makes you shiver. “I’ll have to make sure I try and restrain myself today then.” Whispered so his lips ghost over yours before he closes the final distance. If there was a way to describe the kiss it would have to be unhurried, a slow and methodical movement that makes you hum in pleasure. Sensual in a way as he dominates and controls every aspect of the connection before pulling back just enough to slide his tongue along your bottom lip. 

You know what he wants, parting your lips but you aren’t going to just go along with it. Flicking your tongue out to meet him and trying to halt him from plunging the muscle into your mouth. Your attempts to keep him engaged in a sloppy open mouth kiss has him groaning, the noise hiding the shifting of his arm. Too involved in the mess of saliva connecting the two of you to notice his hand trail down your side and across your hip as he pulls his body away just enough to form a space for his hand to slip under your skirt.

As two of his fingers sink into your core up to his knuckle you gasp, your back arching away from the mattress and full into his chest, any thought to keep up the dance of tongues gone and Sylus seems to relish the chance to sweep the wet muscle into your mouth. Coiling it around your own after swirling it along the inside of your cheeks, like he’s reacquainting himself with the space. A chuckle that shakes his chest as those two digits curl and expand inside your slick walls. 

Your hips jerk in response, your hands falling away from where they had been tangled in his hair as your brain tries to make sense of his assault on your senses. His fingers keep moving, stroking the ember that had slowly been building inside of you into a fire and coaxing more liquid from your pussy. Your mind can’t keep up so your body starts to respond, trying to lift your hips so his fingers are deeper inside of you. Chasing after them as best as you can, moaning in frustration as his mouth remains connected to yours, his tongue still sliding along yours in a dance that grows more and more desperate. With his body still as close as it is and those thick thighs of his between your legs, you can’t chase the sensation of forcing those digits deeper inside your slick channel. A rumble that might have been a groan deep in his chest, if he was anything else you might have thought it a purr of a predator of some kind. 

Except crows don’t purr. 

You’re starting to feel lightheaded when Sylus finally pulls away, the wet strands connecting the two of you thinning before breaking. Feeling the splatter of the liquid on your chin as your chest heaves, pressing harder against his as you try to suck in oxygen to ground yourself from the way his fingers are churning up your insides. 

Another noise from you that sounds like a cross between a squeak and a mewl when the tip of one of his fingers brushes against a bundle of nerves that makes your eyelids flutter. “So wet, Kitten.” Sylus is panting just as heavily as you are, though he has the full use of his senses unlike you allowing him to continue his onslaught. Kissing along the column of your throat and leaving a wake of damp skin behind. “I thought you might have a bit more control than that.” Still teasing you with his voice as he blows a cool breath along where he had been, another gasp from you as you shiver. Your fingers fisting the material of his bedspread under you, an involuntary response as you keep trying to find a way to ground yourself and gather your scattered thoughts. 

“Sylus~” It’s all you can manage, your body tensing up as his fingers keep working your dripping core, the amount of liquid gushing from you down past your folds and onto his fingers. 

Shushing you gently as his lips caress the skin near the hollow of your throat. “Just relax.” Adding a third finger to your walls, making you cry out and arching your body once more. Very much the opposite of relaxing. 

Your eyes are clenched shut, a sight that has Sylus grinning. Licking his lips at the way your face is pinched in pleasure and trying to fight off how close you are, the slight hint of perspiration dotting the edge of your hairline. The flush painting your cheekbones and the tip of your nose, all because of him and just his fingers. All those hours spent learning your body, the things you like, and the best way to get a response from you are well worth it as his chest swells with an emotion he thought himself incapable of. 

You’ll be the end of him. He doesn’t doubt it for a single moment. 

“Sylus!” Your voice takes on an edge he recognizes, one that means you’re almost at that precipice of tipping over. 

“Almost there Sweetie, you need at least one to loosen you up before you can take me.” It’s partially true. You can take him without an orgasm, but he prefers sinking into your tight core when you’re more than ready for him. A bit of patience so he can let loose when he stuffs you full of his cock. He’s never been one for quickies anyway, and you can’t walk straight after he fucks you regardless if you’ve had enough prep or not. 

Hearing his words you nod, your eyes still closed as you focus on the way those broad digits rub all the right places. The way he works them inside of you so he’s brushing against different places and making you see bursts of light behind your eyelids when he hits certain nerve clusters when he curls them just the right way. 

You keen as his hand twists and his fingers hook to stretch you out more, feeling his thumb start to press against your fabric covered clit. His fingers keeping the part of your underwear out of the way that would have covered most of your opening as he plunges them in and out of you. Your breathing ragged as you hover so close to that point of release. 

It isn’t his fingers that push you over. No. 

The arm he still has above your head shifts, still keeping part of his weight off of you but his fingers can grip your hair. Tugging on it just hard enough that your neck arches, and he plunges his tongue past your parted lips in time to his fingers. 

The assault of pleasure and pain has you screaming his name into his mouth as you cum around his fingers. Squeezing them as if you were trying to milk his cock with your walls before going boneless as your mind blanks from the force of your orgasm. 

Pulling away Sylus can’t help the swell of pride in his chest, taking in your bruised lips and blissed out expression. Raising an eyebrow as he stepped away, his gaze going over the mess of fluid that’d seeped from your core and soaked your underwear as well as his bedspread and the front of his pants that had been close to your cunt. A piece of information to tuck away for the next time he wanted to fuck you after a workout. He’s never made you squirt before and this was the closest he’d come. 

Keeping one eye on you as he opens a drawer to grab a packet, watching the rise and fall of your chest as you stir starting to sit up. “Sylus?” A soft call of his name as if you’re dazed and looking for him. He finds it adorable, the way you turn your head seeking him out.

“I’m here Sweetie, just grabbing a condom.” As much as he’d enjoy making you squirm and flooding your core with his cum until it has nowhere else to go but drip from your folds and down your thighs, the two of you aren’t there yet. “You made quite a mess.” Smirking at the flush that covers your face at the sudden realization, laughing as he strides back towards you and the bed. 

You’re mortified as you cover your face with your hands feeling the heat from your cheeks in your palms, you can feel the slick from your release still dribbling out of you and down your thighs. “It’s your fault.” A crack in your voice as you say it that makes him grin, aware you can’t see it right now. 

“If that’s meant to deter me, you’re doing a bad job Sweetie. Telling me that mess is my fault is just going to make me want to do it again.” Closer to you once more he drops his head to lean his forehead against yours. “And again.” 

“You’re egotistical.” 

“If you say so.” A spark of mischief in his crimson gaze, tilting his head to kiss the corner of your mouth. “Now, are you sure about your choice? Last chance to change your mind.” You’re still going to get railed but you believe him about having the final say in how he’ll fuck you.

“Are you backing out now?” Aiming for a teasing tone as you go in for a kiss, one he doesn’t pull away from this time. Aware of your hands trailing down his chest to the hem of his grey sweater, your fingers hooking into it and tugging it upwards. Again, a motion he lets you carry through with until he has to lift his arms. Chuckling he leans back to let you slip the material over his head, not missing the way your eyes drop down to his chest and the visible swallow you make. 

“Never.” Tossing the clothes to the side, Sylus grasps one of your hands in his larger one. “Like what you see, Sweetie?” It doesn’t matter how many times you see Sylus naked, or partially naked, he’s well built and damn if he doesn’t know it. 

“I think you already know the answer to that.” A small breathy laugh of your own rings in the space, trailing the hand not clasped in his downward to his belt and working your way to the clasp at the front of it. Releasing your other hand and letting you work the buckle to free the leather of his belt before your hands tugged the metal teeth of his zipper down. Growing bolder and slipping a hand inside past the fabric of his underwear to grasp his hard length. Humming at the feel of his warm flesh sinking into your palm, pumping along his hard shaft awkwardly within the confines of his pants. 

Sylus lets you continue for a few moments, breathing through his teeth as your palm glides up and down his length. A squeeze here and there as you tease him, smearing the precum that beads at his slit along his shaft before he wraps his fingers around your wrist and pulls it away. “That’s enough teasing.” Turning your hand to kiss the back of it before nipping at the skin between your thumb and index finger, enjoying the short little gasp you make. 

As he drops your hand Sylus wastes no time pushing his pants and underwear down enough to free his aching cock, tearing the edge of the condom packet and sliding the latex down his shaft to his base. “Leave it on.” His eyes focused on you and how you had started to remove your clothes, one hand on your shoulder and pushing you back down on his bedspread. “After all, I didn’t say anything earlier about taking your clothes off.” 

Spreading your legs and slipping between them, two of his fingers pushing the fabric of your sodden panties aside and humming in appreciation at the sight of your slick sex. You’re still dripping from earlier, tapping the head of his dick against your clit, the whines you make like music to his ears. 

“Sylus!” Crying out as you feel frustrated that he’s still teasing you. 

“What’s the magic word?” Another few taps before sliding his shaft along the outside of your walls, smearing your juices along the latex covering his skin. He can feel the heat of your skin through the material, throwing out a reminder back to earlier in your relationship when you had told him to stop just demanding your time.

“Please Sylus!” You look so desperate, pleading for him, so different from the hunter that waltzed into the N109 zone trying to sell her soul while looking for answers. A look that he knows is only for him, and he enjoys giving in to those pleas when it suits him. Using his hand to guide the head of his cock to your pussy, feeling the tip breach your entrance before he snaps his hips as he splits you open with his length. 

Hissing through his teeth at the tightness of your walls as you make a noise like a scream that sounds something like this name. The fire in your belly bursts back to life after cooling from the break between your last orgasm and now. Sylus doesn’t hold back, not with the slickness inside of your cunt as he ruts into you with sure snaps of his hips. Every move has him slamming into you to the base of his cock before pulling out until the tip remains in your heat. A blistering pace that has your hands grabbing fistfuls of the bedspread between your fingers and clasping it tightly enough that the joints turn white. 

With your eyes narrowed from the pleasure flooding through your system you watch Sylus standing between your legs. The glint of light off the damp skin of his chest, and the way his abdomen clenches each time he sinks deep inside your pussy. Every thrust deep, your walls stretched to the limit around his girth hovering just before that edge of pain. All you can do is moan and mewl in response to him, feeling the inferno of desire and arousal growing steadily by the minute. 

It isn’t long as he pants how perfect you are, with his hands at your hips to keep you from sliding back on the bed while he drills into you. The dampness that had started on his skin is more like a thin layer of sweat now, tossing his head and some of the drops fall across your skin and across the fabric of your clothes. The sight makes you clamp harder around his shaft. Turned on by the flush growing along his cheekbones and his pectorals all from the effort of him bucking into you with the force of a wild animal while maintaining the same precise movements as when he was sparring with you earlier. 

A symphony of his name on your lips and Sylus tries to grin, but his breathing is growing more and more labored. Grabbing your legs and holding them against his chest, listening to the tempo of your breathing increase as the change has you tumbling over that edge as you squeeze him like a vice. He doesn’t let up, rutting into you through your orgasm, holding your ankles in one hand with both leaning against one of his shoulders allowing his other hand to toy with your clit. Pulling a second orgasm from you in short order, his thumb sliding the hood back to flick the bundle of nerves directly. 

Tears form on your lashes as your back arches, letting go of the fabric of the bedspread to wrap both of your hands around his wrist to try and stop the onslaught on your core. It’s too much, but you can’t find the words as your fingers scramble to try and push his way. 

“Just a little more.” It’s more of a grunt, the ease that he normally speaks lost to his exertion, each word broken by a pant. “You can handle that, can’t you?” 

The fluid from your tears is running down the sides of your face now, you aren’t sure you can and Sylus takes note of the almost warring expression you’re sporting. There’s a bubbling in his gut accompanying the tightening of his balls, your sweet cunt milking him has him almost to the goal line. Changing the angle of his upper body so your legs are pointing back towards your body, your ass in the air with his balls slapping against the skin as he keeps thrusting into you. Sliding his hand from your clit up along your stomach and chest, giving one of your cloth covered breasts a squeeze to make you gasp on his way. Wiping his fingers across the damp skin of your neck before pressing two of his digits against your lips. 

“Suck.” Sliding them into your mouth and pressing down on your tongue. The taste of sweat and other bodily fluids is enough to ground you, to take away the focus of your exhausted and overstimulated core just long enough for Sylus to ram into you he’s going to leave a permanent imprint of his cock inside your walls. His nostrils flare as that steady rhythm of his finally snaps and he cums inside the condom, his hips still surging forward as if he could pump his seed deep inside your pussy. Slowing to a stop with his tip nudging against your cervix and pulling a third orgasm from you that makes you whine as everything goes white. 

As the sweat drips from his hair onto his neck, he watches you through hooded eyes. Enjoying the way your clothes cling to your body from sweat and the way your skin seems to shine in the dim lighting. Your lips parted just enough to see the tip of your tongue poking out. His fingers are coated in saliva but for now he doesn’t care, carefully removing himself from your slick channel, a thick ring of cream around his base on the condom. Maybe next time. Whispered inside his head. 

You groan as his evol wraps around you and moves you more onto the bed as he slips away, you can vaguely hear the sound of running water. The longer you lay there in the post afterglow with your heart rate slowing down you take deeper and deeper breaths. Sitting up in a snap as cool fabric touches your abused sex. Sylus is there, wiping the soft wet cloth between your folds. “You’re a mess.” He’s back to teasing and you’re still too exhausted from just having been pushed to the edge and thrown over that many times to form any real retort. 

“You don’t look much better.” 

“Trying to be mean? It doesn’t work with clipped claws Kitten.” Chuckling he presses the cloth a little harder into your sex. “After everything, I just did for you.” 

You let out a soft noise, the haze in your limbs lifting and you use your arms to push yourself into a semi seated position. “My clothes are soaked, and I need a shower.” Grumbling as you rub at your face, the damp trails from your tears earlier still on your skin. 

“Later.” Leaning closer to catch your lips in a kiss, his fingers hooking the edge of your shirt. “I remember someone earlier saying she wanted all three options, and the night is still young Sweetie.” 

Suffice to say, when morning came with you tucked away in his bedroom well away from the rays you’re glad you have the day off. Because you’re not getting out of bed with how sore you are, instead you sleepily snuggle back in against Sylus’s chest, earning a chuckle from him as he places bids at an auction. One hand resting against the small of your back and tracing patterns. 

Maybe he’ll have to convince you to do training more often with him if it keeps you there for several hours of sex and passed out in his bed. 

Masterlist

[sergeantneko]

Hi there! I'm Neko, and I found your post as a reblog from a friend of mine. I've played all of the 3D zelda games, and I write fanfics for the series. I'll answer these as best I can!

1: I've never really thought about it, but if I were to do so, I would put Skyward Sword in Spring, Breath Of The Wild in Autumn, Ocarina of Time in Summer, and Twilight Princess in winter.

2: Assuming you mean 2D as pixelated. I haven't played any of the 2D retro titles (pretty much any of the pixelated ones), however I have played all of the 3D top-down ones. I'm gonna pick one of those, if that's okay? Defo either Link Between Worlds or Spirit Tracks.

3: Skyward Sword! She's SO FRICKIN' CUTE.

4: That's a really hard one. Of the ones I've played, I'd say Phantom Hourglass.

5: I cannot justify picking just one soundtrack, so I'll pick out a few of my favourites instead. Colgera's battle theme (ToTK), Ganon's battle theme (OoT, That 23/16 time signature is insane and I love it), Yuga Ganon battle theme (ALBW, same reason, song is set to 7/8 time signature and it's just as insane), Tarrey Town theme (BoTW), Tal Tal Heights (Link's Awakening Remake), and so many more that elude me.

6: Nope! Bring it on, I love a challenge!

7: There are too many to list, but there is one that I love that others don't. That being the Water Temple from Ocarina of Time. Most people hate it because it's confusing, but I saw it as an experience. And that experience was fucking good, for me anyway.

8: Spirit Tracks for sure. The music, the story, I love it. The controls are not fun, and using the flute was fun if flawed, but everything else makes that tolerable.

9: Hmmmm... I'm gonna go with Tingle on this one.

10: The hookshot! It can get you to many places, and it has been a staple in traditional zelda games! So fun shooting it out and then zipping to the place it sticks.

11: That ones a toss up. I love all of his incarnations. I think Wind Waker is top due to him actually having some sort of humanity. He just wanted what was best for his people, and I can understand his plight. However, the way he went abouy it was wrong.

12: Ocarina of Time. It was the first Zelda game I ever played. And I was enthralled the entire time. Since then, I have managed to play every 3D Zelda game up to now, and it's my favourite franchise.

13: Breath of The Wild. The character designs and lore is incredible. Not much more to say there, really. Nintendo did an amazing job with this entry, and the one after it too.

14: Master Sword. No question.

15: Gerudo Desert, specifically the one from Breath of The Wild.

16: I don't really have one, they're all great.

17: Twilight Princess. It's my favourite in the series for a reason, and atmosphere is a big factor.

18: Again, Twilight Princess. Quite the dark game, especially in contrast to other entries.

19: Same as above, for the same reasons.

20: Same as above.

21: Skyward Sword! The painterly style is fucking awesome. If you're further away from an object, the shader makes the object look watercolored. They improved that effect in the HD remaster on switch, and it's beautiful.

22: I don't really have a favourite. They're all good!

23: Spiritual Stones please.

24: Either Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess for items.

25: Midna.

26: Spirit Tracks.

27: Breath of The Wild. Mainly cause it pertains to being a breath of fresh air for the series as a whole with it being open world, and the whole place being mostly wilderness at this point.

28: Skyward Sword, up to a point.

29: Hookshot!

30: Ocarina of Time title theme.

31: City In The Sky from Twilight Princess. The entire dungeon is the "I am confusion" gif.

32: Breath of the Wild.

33: Mix of both. It wouldn't be a Zelda game without either.

34: Hmmm... That's a tough one. I think overall I might have had the most trouble with the second Ganon battle that takes place within Hyrule Castle in Echoes of Wisdom.

35: I didn't really have much issue with any of them except for Demise in Skyward Sword. Took me a little while to learn his patterns.

36: that one's between Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Both cinematic games, and both incredible in their own way.

37: I have no idea. If I had to give an answer, the Likelike's are weird.

38: The Dead Hand, as well as the ReDeads and Gibdos from Ocarina of Time. Both EXTREMELY creepy.

39: Echoes of Wisdom.

40: Tingle.

41: I have three. Song of Storms, Serenade of Water, and Requiem of Spirit.

42: The Couple's Mask.

43: Goron Mask.

44: The Anju and Kafei quest.

45: Tarrey Town.

46: Skyward Sword HD

47: Each game fulfills something different for me, and so I can't say that any one game is the most fulfilling for me.

48: I love the one incorporated in Breath of The Wild and Tears of The Kingdom. Amazing shading style that blends Cel shading with semi-realistic graphics.

49: Fairy.

50: Modern Hylian Shield, BoTW and ToTK style.

Hope this gives a little bit of insight into my views on the series!

🌟 TLOZ asks 🌟

1. Is there a Zelda game(s) that you associate with each season or time of year?

2. Favourite 2D title?

3. Favourite incarnation of Zelda?

4. Least favourite entry in the series?

5. Favourite LOZ soundtrack?

6. Is there a Zelda game that intimidates you/looks too hard?

7. Favourite dungeons?

8. Most underrated Zelda game?

9. Least favourite character in the series?

10. Favourite item?

11. Favourite Ganon characterization?

12. Which Zelda game has the most sentimental value to you?

13. What Zelda game, in your opinion, has the best character design?

14. Master Sword, the Four Sword, Great Fairy's Sword, the Koholint Sword, or the Biggoron Sword?

15. Favourite location within Hyrule?

16. Favourite location outside of/parallel to Hyrule (Termina, Lorule, Holodrum, Subrosia, the Dark World, Labrynna, the Great Sea, etc)?

17. Most atmospheric game?

18. Which Zelda game feels most mature to you?

19. Which Zelda game has the darkest story to you?

20. Favourite 3D title?

21. Prettiest Zelda game?

22. Favourite incarnation of Link?

23. The Pendants of Virtue, the Spiritual Stones, or the Goddess Pearls?

24. Game with most impressive/useful lineup of items?

25. Favourite companion (Midna, Ezlo, Navi, etc)?

26. Favourite handheld title?

27. Game with the best title (Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess, Link's Awakening, etc)?

28. Most wholesome Zelda game?

29. Favourite item to use (aside from the sword & shield)?

30. Favourite title theme from a Zelda game?

31. Hardest dungeon played?

32. Game with the best map design?

33. Do you prefer puzzles or combat?

34. Game with the hardest boss?

35. Game with the hardest final boss?

36. Which game had the most engaging story, in your opinion?

37. Least favourite enemy?

38. Creepiest enemy?

39. Which Zelda game, in your opinion, had the most satisfying ending?

40. Most out-of-place thing in the series?

41. Favourite ocarina song?

42. Favourite non-transformation mask from Majora's Mask?

43. Favourite transformation mask from Majora's Mask?

44. Hardest sidequest in the series?

45. Best sidequest in the series?

46. Favourite remake/remaster (Ocarina of Time 3D, The Wind Waker HD, Link's Awakening for the Switch)?

47. Most fulfilling Zelda game?

48. Favourite graphical style within the games (cel-shading, realistic, 16-bit, etc)?

49. Favourite thing to keep in a bottle?

50. Favourite shield?

[izvmimi]

unable to ever bask in peaceful quiet for too long, you rouse from your unintended sudden nap, where izuku holds you close with one arm to keep you from rolling from atop him to the floor, and the other hand scrolls on his phone, ever preoccupied with the latest news, considering how often it's his responsibility to deal with it. as you move, he shifts to accommodate you further, pressing a kiss to your forehead before you're fully up and looking at him.

"did you like your nap?" he asks, softly.

you didn't remember falling asleep, but it's not uncommon for you to doze off the minute you lay on top of him, and he chuckles as you mutter something about not knowing what the hell happened. but then your eyes quickly grow wide, and as if this were a normal topic of conversation to transition to upon waking, you're back to laying close on him, pressing your chin to his chest as you ask,

"how many lifetimes do you think there are where i haunt you as a ghost?"

izuku blinks rapidly, stunned by the sudden question, but you are nonchalant, your feet swinging in slow flutter kicks as you wait for him to respond. as he thinks, your fingers card gently into the curls of his hair, examining each one as if they were nothing but fine silk.

"excuse me? what exactly were you dreaming about, love?"

your eyes shift back to him. "it's not that odd of a question. what's your guess?"

his phone falls somewhere in the crevices of the couch cushions, but izuku doesn't bother to dig for it, now focused on your question.

"doesn't that involve you dying before me?"

you shrug. "yes but that's a moot point."

his eyebrows furrow together. "that's not a 'moot point', i expect there to be very few universes where you die before i do."

you roll your eyes playfully.

"what, because you'd 'never let me get harmed'?" you tease.

his lips pull into a frown, and now he's cupping your face. "are you doubting me?"

you sigh, and shake your head. "listen, there're a lot of things that could happen you'd have no control over like critical illness, a car accident, a boat capsizing-"

"you'd literally never be on a boat without me-" he interrupts.

"still not the point," you insist, pressing a finger to his lips. he pauses, but then makes a pretend motion to bite it and you retract your finger with a sharp, playful look.

he holds you tighter.

"i don't like this game," he finally says. you ponder for a moment, but his eyes are pleading for you to stop imagining your death even for a hypothetical situation, and you decide to free him from the thoughts for just a moment. laying your head against his chest again, you let your arms find their way around his waist and let out a long exhale.

"the point of it all is that i'd never let you go, okay? even if i die," you murmur into his t-shirt. you can feel the rumble of his laughter through his body so close to yours; you revel in the way he rubs your back gently, and agrees.

"same, but i don't think i'd go straight to haunting," he muses. you scoff.

"even if i immediately fall in love with someone else?" you ask.

his hand abruptly stops its petting motion.

"...never mind, i'm haunting."

you're the one to break out in laughter this time, as he peppers more kisses to the top of your head, and you continue to lay together until you fall right back asleep.

[starkeysprincess]

rafe is the type where if you gently try to tell him that he’s a little selfish in bed he’ll “make it up to you” (he says that sarcastically) by tying you to the bed and making you cum over and over again with his fingers, mouth, even a few of those toys you thought he didn’t know about and ruining them for you but not his cock no matter how bad you’re crying because you “clearly didn’t appreciate it before” 🙂‍↕️

wait, i love this cause he would pull this shit fs warnings: slightly mean!rafe, light bondage, mentions of overstimulation, oral (f receiving), fingering, use of vibrator & i think that's it ??? a/n: sorry this is short, im working on assignments but i wanted to write this & post it as soon as you sent this earlier so sorry if this is shitty

"i'll make it up to you" were the exact words that left his mouth, leaving you to believe he was going to be gentle with you but you should've known better by the cocky little smirk on his face.

maybe telling your boyfriend that he's a little selfish in bed probably wasn't your best idea because it led you to your current situation, which was having your wrists tied to the headboard of your bed, your legs pried open and his face buried between your legs.

you attempted to close your legs but his large hands pinned your thighs down to your bed, squirming under him, on the verge of your third or fourth orgasm but at this point, you're not sure because you lost count.

your brain is fuzzy, the only thing you really remember is how many times he made you cum with his fingers and now he's determined to make you cum again but with his mouth instead. he's enjoying the sight of you writhing just from his mouth and he chuckles against your dripping cunt as you cry out, cumming on his tongue.

your eyes shut, trying to control your breathing as you're relieved when he pulls away and moves away, your legs trembling and clit throbbing from the previous orgasms. he admires your panting, trembling form for a few seconds and your eyes spring open when you feel a familiar vibration against your clit.

you look between him and your vibrator that was in his hand with wide eyes. "what? didn't think i'd know about this, huh?" he grins, pressing the vibrator further against your clit, "you can never hide anything from me, princess".

he pushes two of his fingers inside of you causing you to gasp while he continued to toy with your clit with the vibrator, increasing the speed the more you whined and whimpered.

you're not sure how much more you can take and all you want is to feel his cock inside of you. "r-rafe" you stammered out, your voice shaking, tears welling in your eyes. "r-rafe" he mimicked, his eyes glued to yours as he's pushing his fingers in and out of you, curling them.

he sets the vibrator to its highest setting, making your tears stream down your face, "so fuckin' pretty when you're cryin' for me" he grins. "p-please" you stutter, "what is it, baby?" he hummed, "n-need you inside of me" you plead.

"no can do, baby, just giving you what you want, what you desperately need" he teases, "thought i'd make it easy for you?" he tsked, "you clearly didn't appreciate my cock so i gotta show you what happens when you call me selfish".

tagging: @oceandriveab / @babygorewhore / @xxbimbobunnyxx / @drudyslut / @drewstarkeyslut / @rafescurtainbangz / @hallecarey1 / @heartsforvin / @redhead1180 / @eddieslut69 9 / @eternalbuckley / @kisses4angel / @hyperfixationgirl / @emilysuperswag / @ihe4rttwd / @42internetgirl / @lilacheavenn / @monkichixo / @rafesthroatbaby / @zyafics / @sturnioloshacker / @dragonslutsblog

[cookinguptales]

You know... I had an experience about two months ago that I didn't talk about publicly, but I've been turning it over and over in my mind lately and I guess I'm finally able to put my unease into words.

So there's a podcast I'd been enjoying and right after I got caught up, they announced that they were planning on doing a live show. It's gonna be near me and on the day before my birthday and I thought -- hey, it's fate.

But... as many of you know, I'm disabled. For me, getting to a show like that has a lot of steps. One of those steps involved emailing the podcasters to ask about accessibility for the venue.

The response I got back was very quick and very brief. Essentially, it told me to contact the venue because they had no idea if it was accessible or not.

It was a bucket of cold water, and I had a hard time articulating at the time quite why it was so disheartening, but... I think I get it a little more now.

This is a podcast that has loudly spoken about inclusivity and diversity and all that jazz, but... I mean, it's easy to say that, isn't it? But just talking the talk without walking the walk isn't enough. That's like saying "sure, we will happily welcome you in our house -- if you can figure out how to unlock the door."

And friends, my lock-picking set is pretty good by this point. I've been scouting out locations for decades. I've had to research every goddamn classroom, field trip, and assigned bookstore that I've ever had in an academic setting. I've had to research every movie theater, theme park, and menu for every outing with friends or dates. I spend a long time painstakingly charting out accessible public transportation and potential places to sit down every time I leave the house.

Because when I was in college, my professors never made sure their lesson plans were accessible. (And I often had to argue with them to get the subpar accommodations I got.) Because my friends don't always know to get movie tickets for the accessible rows. Because my dates sometimes leave me on fucking read when I ask if we can go to a restaurant that doesn't keep its restrooms down a flight of stairs.

I had one professor who ever did research to see if I could do all the coursework she had planned, and who came up with alternate plans when she realized that I could not. Only one. It was a medical history and ethics class, and my professor sounded bewildered as she realized how difficult it is to plan your life when you're disabled.

This woman was straight-up one of the most thoughtful, philosophical, and ethical professors I've ever had, one who was incredibly devoted to diversity and inclusion -- and she'd never thought about it before, that the hospital archives she wanted us to visit were up a flight of stairs. That the medical museum full of disabled bodies she wanted us to visit only had a code-locked back entrance and an old freight elevator for their disabled guests who were still breathing.

And that's the crux of it, isn't it? It's easy to theoretically accept the existence of people who aren't like you. It's a lot harder to actively create a space in which they can exist by your side.

Because here's what I did before I contacted the podcasters. I googled the venue. I researched the neighborhood and contacted a friend who lives in the area to help me figure out if there were any accessible public transportation routes near there. (There aren't.) I planned for over an hour to figure out how close I could get before I had to shell out for an uber for the last leg of the trip.

Then I read through the venue's website. I looked through their main pages, through their FAQs to see if there was any mention of accessibility. No dice. I download their packet for clients and find out that, while the base building is accessible, the way that chairs/tables are set up for individual functions can make it inaccessible. So it's really up to who's hosting the show there.

So then and only then I contacted the podcasters. I asked if the floor plan was accessible. I asked if all the seats were accessible, or only some, and whether it was open seating or not. Would I need to show up early to get an accessible seat, or maybe make a reservation?

And... well, I got the one-sentence reply back that I described above. And that... god, it was really disheartening. I realized that they never even asked if their venues were accessible when they were booking the shows. I realized that they were unwilling to put in the work to learn the answers to questions that disabled attendees might have. I realized that they didn't care to find out if the building was accessible.

They didn't know and they didn't care. That, I think, is what took the wind out of my sails when they emailed me back. It's what made me decide that... yeah, I didn't really want to go through the trouble of finding an accessible route to the venue. I didn't want to have to pay an arm and a leg to hire a car to take me the last part of the journey. I didn't want to make myself frantic trying to figure out if I could do all that and still make the last train home.

If they didn't care, I guess I didn't either.

If they'd apologized and said that the only venue they could get was inaccessible, I actually would have understood. I know that small shows don't always get their pick of venues. I get it. I even would have understood if they'd been like "oh dang, I actually don't know -- but I'll find out."

But to be told that they didn't know and didn't intend to find out... oof. That one stung.

Because.... this is the thing. This is the thing. I may be good at it by now, but I'm so tired of picking locks. I'm tired of doing all the legwork because no one ever thinks to help me. I'm tired of feeling like an afterthought at best, or at worst utterly unwelcome.

If you truly want to be inclusive, you need to stop telling people that you're happy to have them -- if they can manage to unlock the door. You need to fucking open it yourself and welcome them in.

What brought all this back to me now, you may be asking? Well... I guess it's just what I was thinking to myself as I was tidying up my phone.

Today I'm deleting podcasts.

[inbabylontheywept]

Weird Grandpa Story #2

I remember asking my mom once, if her dad had gotten ornerier as he'd gotten old. I'd heard about that happening, and it would've made sense for him. He was already the orneriest old cuss I'd ever met. Couldn't even imagine him being grumpier than he was.

Instead of answering the question directly, she told me about what it was like going to church with him as a kid. Their church was a small Mormon ward out in the sticks of Colorado, and he served as their Bishop - mostly by virtue of being the only one willing to do that much unpaid work. He was also the ward pianist. He actually liked playing piano, and he liked having an audience, so it was more or less understood that he was willing to be the bishop in exchange for being the pianist. 

Which could've been a good trade, but there were a few problems.

The first problem was that Grandpa Dale played every song at about triple speed. He was a deeply impatient person, and that extended to how he played music. The second problem was that he had a bad habit of cursing under his breath. That would've been a scandalous  enough habit for a Mormon bishop, but was made much worse (and also much funnier)  by him being pretty damn deaf. So what he thought of as "quiet" cursing under his breath was more of just a verse hoarse way of yelling. I only visited him for a week or two every summer, and I still learned most of my bad words from him. 

So every Sunday would start with a quiet prayer, and then Bishop Grandpa Dale would go to the piano, sit down, and play the nightcore version of Praise to the Man. He would occasionally play other hymns, but he really, really liked that one. This would continue until he hit a wrong note, which was basically inevitable because his music philosophy was that if he could play a song flawlessly, it was time to play it faster. So he'd play until he hit that wrong note, at which point he would scream-whisper SHIIIIIT and, because he did not actually read music so much as memorize it, the only way he'd be able to get his rhythm back was by going back to the start. 

If it was a good Sunday, he could get it in two tries. Some Sundays took as many as five. 

I learned two things about Grandpa Dale from this story. The first was that he could play piano. I'd never actually seen him do that before. Still haven't, come to think of it. Second was that the man that I visited once a year, who always seemed on the verge of exploding, who scared the absolute dickens out of me, was actually the chilled out version of the man my mom grew up with.

And it helped knowing that, actually. I'm actually a pretty anxious person, and my mom is, also, a pretty anxious person, and as a teenager we'd sometimes get in these doom loops where we'd wind each other up until our springs cracked. She'd be worried about me growing up to be happy, and I'd be worried about letting her down, and my worrying would make me unhappy, and my unhappiness would make her unhappy, and we'd just kind of dissolve into these anxieties like cotton candy in the sea and become totally unbearable to be around for a bit. Then my dad would sit us both down and very politely tell us that we were being crazy. He had this quote how being sad that someone else is sad that you're sad is the emotional equivalent of being a Klein flask and that at some point you have to just say I am allowed one (1) single layer of emotional recursion, at most, and ideally zero. 

And it was always kind of embarrassing and silly, but when I was tempted to be more upset with my mom about it, I could remember the piano story and go: Sheesh. She has more of a right to be anxious that I do. For me it's really just genetics, but she grew up with the Cactus-Killing Gopher-Smasher. A whole 18 years of that. I spent two weeks every summer with that guy, and I love him, but I always came home feeling like I'd survived something. She's a trooper.

[woso-dreamzzz]

Leaving VI

Alexia Putellas x Teen!Reader

Summary: Your schedules don't match

You love Alexia.

You were only little when your father died. You didn't quite understand it.

Your father was a football fan, a big Barcelona supporter so all of his daughters got taken to games with him.

Alba was never that into sports, even just watching them.

Alexia was definitely sporty. You think she was what your father really wanted. She plays football and she adores it.

Your father was already sick by the time you were born. He was already struggling but he still took you to matches. It didn't click with you like it did with Alexia but he could still some athletic speck in you.

He took you to a tennis match instead. He'd never had much interest in tennis but he seemed to know what would appeal to you. You were tiny and Mama had been worried that you wouldn't be able to sit through a match.

But you did.

You sat through a whole match and fell in love then and there.

You were still little though and your father was still sick but he took you to as many lessons as he could.

He was a football fan but he could learn tennis for you.

He never could in the end, not when he died so suddenly.

But then Alexia took over. She didn't understand tennis and she still doesn't understand but she took you to every lesson and went to every match.

You just wish she understood the difference in your schedules.

She was getting ready for another round of Euro qualifiers even though Spain had already qualified. You were at Wimbledon, trading shots with Iga on the practice courts.

"Have you called your sister yet?" She asks, sitting down next to you as you guzzle down your water.

You roll your eyes. "In a minute."

"Do it now."

"What are you? One of my sisters?"

You're teasing her.

Iga is the world number one, by a lot of points. You sit just outside of the top ten. It's a little annoying, your own inconsistency. You can pull it out of the bag during big matches like Grand Slams but you suffer a bit in some of the less grand tournaments.

You're officially the youngest player this tour so you know you're getting babied by some of the other players, Iga especially.

You hadn't thought she had even known who you were until your coach told you she was the one who pushed him to take you on.

She thought you were on your way to being one of the greats.

She also thought you would make a great doubles partner one day.

It was different moving to Poland, away from your Mama and your sisters but Iga made it easy.

She was easy-going and you practically lived at her place so, yeah, you guess she took the more sisterly role in your life with Alexia and Alba at home in Spain.

"Go and call your sister," Iga laughs, spraying you with her bottle until you shriek and run off," And grab me a protein bar or something!"

You roll your eyes but head off, pulling out your phone to video call your sister.

It rings for barely a second.

"Hi Jenni," You say," Can you give Alexia back her phone? I need to talk to her."

"You don't want to talk to me, mini Putellas? I'm offended!"

"If I wanted to talk to you, I'd have called you!"

Jenni laughs before Alexia appears on screen, snatching the phone away from her ex.

"How are you?" Alexia asks, cramming her face onto the screen.

"I'm good!" You laugh," You look good too. Covered in sweat."

"You can talk," Alexia teases back," Have you just had a workout?"

"Practice pitch with Iga," You say," We've got matches coming up."

Alexia frowns. "What do you mean?"

"We've got matches in the next few days. It's Wimbledon, remember?"

Alexia shakes her head. "No. That was last year."

"It happens every year, Ale," You remind her," Me and Iga are competing and then it's a quick turnaround for the Olympics."

Alexia's frowning. "No, because I've got a match on the twelfth. You're flying out with Mama and Alba."

"The Wimbledon final is on the thirteenth. I need to stay."

"What?"

"Iga's out and I've got a real chance. I could really do it."

"But...What about my match?"

"What about mine?" You counter with a sigh," Ale, our schedules just don't match this time. I'm sorry."

"But..."

It's clear to the other girls in the room that Alexia's getting a bit distressed as her mouth opens and closes as she tries to formulate a response.

"But..."

"Listen, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Hey, wait-"

You put the phone down and Alexia just stares down at it, frozen as she looks at your profile picture.

"What's up with the long face?" Jenni pokes her in the cheek. "You're more frowny than usual."

"Nothing. I just...My sister can't come to the game."

"Well, duh, Alexia. She's got Wimbledon to win. She can't just fly out to us."

"I know but..." She blows out all her air. "Never mind. I'm just...I'm gonna go."

When you were little, Alexia tried to go to as many of your matches as she could manage. Sometimes she would come straight from her own games, still in full kit to catch your last ten minutes or so.

It was difficult but it worked.

You've gone professional now and branched out, travelling the world to take part in tournaments and games so you can work your way up and become the world number one.

She shouldn't be upset about you missing her match and her missing yours because that's just how sports work. So many went on at the same time that it was impossible to make every match but, still, a deep pit forms in Alexia's stomach as she thinks about missing your final.

Across the world, you prepare.

You practice on the courts with Iga and your coach. You eat well. You sleep well. You watch Alexia's match on the tv and wish you could be there but Alexia's no longer the only athlete in the family.

She had her career and you have yours.

Paolini is who you face in the final and she keeps you on your toes the entire time. She hits hard and fast and you go one set down immediately.

You pull it back though, managing to equalise the next set and then it's all to play for.

You take a few gasping breaths as you guzzle down your water, leaning back in your seat.

You look up at your box, where your family is watching.

Mama is there, of course, and so is Alba. Alba looks incredibly bored. You know she only comes to the tennis because of you and you're glad she's trying to be supportive but she truly looks like she's about to fall asleep in her seat.

Mama looks much more engaged. She'd told you once that she preferred the pace of tennis to football. There was less risk of injuries in tennis, no one around to slide tackle you or crash into you.

The most harm your opponent could do was smash a ball into your face and that rarely happened. Sure, you could slip and fall but it's not like footballers didn't do that too.

Out of the two sports her daughters played, Mama always found herself calmer at the tennis.

Mama waves at you and nudges Alba in the ribs so she can look up from her phone to wave too.

Your brows draw together in confusion.

There's an empty seat between them and you can't understand why.

So, you just kind of stare as you puzzle out who could be sitting there.

It's not until she comes back, with two beers and a hotdog that you realise who is filling that seat.

She looks exhausted. You can tell even through those stupid big sunglasses and the even stupider hat she's wearing.

She must have gone straight from her match to the airport to get here in time and crashed in Mama and Alba's room to keep it all a secret.

So, Alexia sits in her seat and you grab your racket.

You've got a set to win.

[agent--shadow]

"I never wanted to. I just..." He takes a long pause trying to figure out how to word that period of life in a way that made sense. "After... After my youngest sister...." He winces again as his throat tightens a little. "Took her own life, I wanted to make sure my remaining family had everything they needed. I checked the help-wanted board for weeks, nothing."

He looks up a bit, but not at anything in particular, just dwelling in his own thoughts. "Eventually, I found a single flier tucked into the crevices, I thought it was odd that you wouldn't put it out openly, but I should've known." He grits his teeth as he pulls his hands up to his head, trying to quell the painful regret swirling through him. "How I wish I hadn't found that flier."

"The job paid well, though I didn't know what I'd be doing on the daily. Some days I'd be restocking products, other days I was mining ore. Though it almost didn't matter, I got to come home every day with a little treat for my sister. I got to give her a little bit of joy in a bleak world. But..." He trails off as he forces the sobs in his throat to die in his mouth. Thinking of everything after. He'd tried so hard not to, to just forget that it ever existed, that it'd ever matter again. But of course it mattered. Of course he'd have to relive the story again. No matter how many times he tried to push it down, it would always come back.

"One day..." He fights to steady his wavering voice. "Our parents were able to get on a program to take people out of the country. To a better place, a happier place, a calmer, more peaceful place where we could all live happily ever after. Except we didn't. I don't know what happened, mom and dad didn't explain anything to me except 'she's gone now' and she was." Kai has lost the battle with his raging emotions, tears are streaming down his cheeks, he's practically yelling, forgotten who he's talking to at this point. He hasn't told anyone this, not in a long time, never in this much detail. But it's finally clawing its way out of his mind, and he's not sure if it's for better or worse.

"The company I was working with was also in our new place, I didn't care anymore. They told me to do something, I did it. Life was dull, I didn't know why I was still living it. I guess so my parents still had a living child? I don't know what I owed them," his voice was full of disdain, yet more steady. "But they didn't take it well when Rose died, I didn't want anyone to go through that again, so I just continued."

"Eventually, I was talking with a coworker, and they said they had something for me, something to take the pain away. to make everything better again. At that point I was willing to try anything, I trusted them, I went down an alley way and they strapped me into a device, I didn't care that it was oddly suspicious, at least if it killed me I might get some peace. But it did something so much worse..." He clenches his fists below the table as his squeezes his eyes shut, trying to get the swirls of green in his eyes to go away. All he wanted was to pass out, to die, maybe. But... If Lilac was alive. If there was even a sliver of a chance he could see her again, to apologize for what he did, what had happened, he had to stay on, just a little longer.

"I blacked out, I didn't wake up again until I was standing in an alleyway surrounded by a lot of my coworkers who were chuckling. I had a bloody nose, I remember that's the first thing I noticed, my left jaw was sore, someone had punched me. The second thing I noticed were her cries. I froze, I forced my eyes open, stuff as they were, and I saw my own sister-" his voice wavers again as he palms his head in shame. "Crying out in pain, with My. Knife sunk deep into her right shoulder. So deep that her arm..." He breathed deeply, trying not to retch. "It was barely attached to her body."

For the first time in the interview Kai looked his interrogator straight in the eyes, grief taking over his. "She looked into my eyes. Those young, once innocent eyes. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to for me to understand. I had done that. My own flesh and blood betrayed the very thing I had sought to protect. It was the first time I'd seen her in years, and I almost took it away."

Kai has pulled his knees up to his chest on the chair, trying to find solace one of the only ways he knew how. By hiding his shameful face from every respectable person. "I'm sorry." Though he knew it wasn't close to enough.

Questioning and Revelations

After some medical attention, Kai (@agent--shadow) finds himself inside one of the agency's interrogation rooms. Several signal blockers have been set up, cutting him off from any outside communication.

Handler Ellie walks in the room, her eyes cold and strict. She puts down an analog recorder, several digital microphones and cameras have littered the room.

"I would appreciate it if you would cooperate with this questioning, young man." Despite her words implying it was a request, her tone was clearly implying that it wasn't an option to be uncooperative.

She checks her watch, checking the time. If her guess is right, Handler Blue (@blueorchid-95) will arrive in half an hour. She would've heard about Kai's location around this time and once she hears about this, it would not be pretty.

[adalindofcabinsix]

that kind of love never dies | chapter two

summary: the one where jake realizes the complexity of a supposedly simple plan.

pairing: jake x mc

word count: 1.4K

warnings: tkolnd takes place after the events of episode 10; cover images found on pinterest; english is not my first language.

author’s note: i love this chapter. it was so much fun to write jake's first meeting with mc. the game left many unresolved questions and i will try to answer them based on the information we already have and a little imagination.

masterlist

Without any hesitation, he nodded. There was no point in lying now, not after everything they had done to get Hannah back. And, even if it bothered him a little, Barbara had won his trust.

“A penny for your thoughts.” The hacker asked, seeing the confusion in her eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

“It's a long story.”

“I have time.” She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting.

Jake took a deep breath to calm himself. They definitely didn't have time. However, he knew he would need to do his best to make her trust him again.

“Long story short, an old alert from Nym-0s showed results yesterday saying that you bought a plane ticket to Switzerland. Since the airport was close to Duskwood, I thought I'd better investigate.”

“Have you been following me since New York?”

“Not exactly, I bought a nonstop flight from Tokyo to Zurich.”

“Why didn't you tell me who you were when we bumped into each other at the airport?”

He hated the fact that his tone was more hurt than angry. Jake opened his mouth to apologize, then closed it. Looking over her shoulder, he noticed the presence of a hooded figure standing in front of the open door of the chinese restaurant, hunching his shoulders against the pouring rain.

Barbara's cell phone immediately started ringing with a call. Frowning, she reached for the device inside her bag, and Jake didn't need to understand portuguese to know what was written on the screen.

“Unknown number?”

“Yes.” She lifted her head, meeting Jake's eyes.

“Great.” He said ironically, taking the cell phone from her hand and sliding his finger to the left to reject the call. “Come on, I'll explain everything to you on the road.”

“All right.” Barbara answered, allowing Jake to lead the way. “But if you're lying about who you are, I'll break your nose.”

“It's fair.”

The hacker kept walking , and she ran to keep up with him, dodging a puddle of water. Two minutes later, they stopped in front of a gray Mercedes-Benz crowned with a red convertible roof parked behind the Gates Hotel.

“Please tell me it’s not stolen.”

“It's not stolen!” Jake looked at her offended, opening the passenger door.

“Sorry! It's just that in my mind you were poor. Which, when you think about it, doesn't make sense, right? How would you do everything you do without money?”

“You are impossible, Barbara.” He shook his head in disbelief.

“I can't be impossible, Jake, I exist.” She replied, rolling her eyes theatrically. “I think you meant that I'm unbelievable.”

“Get in the car straight away.” He ordered, but he was smiling, his eyes filled with something like pleasure.

“I have some questions.” Barbara announced when they stopped at a red light.

“Of course you have.” Jake smiled amusedly, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Earlier, at the airport, was our meeting on purpose?”

“Yes. I couldn't risk my position by tracking you via cell phone so I had to be creative.”

“Something tells me you're the type to put trackers in people's favorite coat pockets.” She was surprised when he didn't deny it. “Seriously?” Barbara scoffed, rubbing her hands down her arms.

“That worked, didn't it?” He said, undoing his seat belt. “Here, you must be cold.”

Before Barbara could object, Jake took off the leather jacket he was wearing and handed it towards her.

“Thank you, Jake.” She accepted the offer, her cheeks blushing beautifully as she quickly looked away from the defined muscles that were marked by the white t-shirt.

“You're welcome.” He looked straight ahead again, covering his mouth with the back of his left hand to hide a smile of pure satisfaction.

He looked straight ahead again, covering his mouth with the back of his left hand to hide a smile of pure satisfaction.

“Were you in Tokyo this whole time?” Barbara questioned, placing the jacket over her shoulders.

“Tokyo, New Delhi, Manila... I needed to keep myself busy so I didn't think about you too much.”

“I'm unforgettable, aren't I?”

“Too unforgettable for your own good.” He agreed, replacing his belt and accelerating the car to get them moving again.

She sighed loudly.

“Yeah, I guess that explains why the FBI won't leave me alone.”

“What?”

“You have no idea why I'm here, do you?”

“Considering who I saw at the chinese restaurant, I think I might have an idea.”

“They sent some messages yesterday, inviting me to that same restaurant we talked about last time. The writing was very similar to yours, but it wasn't the same.”

“You knew it wasn't me and you came anyway?”

“We had an agreement, and as a future lawyer, I couldn't let them get away with this so easily.”

“What was your plan?” He waited for an answer, but Barbara just shrugged. “What? Didn't you have one?”

“We brazilians work better under pressure.”

Jake had to stop himself from giving her an irritated look.

“Well, at least this time the FBI is innocent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Old habits never die, right? I figured something was wrong when you didn't go directly to Duskwood, so I accessed the security cameras around the hotel and watched the footage from the past two days.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Nothing too out of the ordinary, but there was one guy who caught my attention. I think I've seen him before. Anyway, I've run his face through facial recognition software and will have confirmation by the end of the night.” He met her eyes, his expression becoming serious. “Barbara, do you understand how…”

“Stupid to come here alone without knowing what I would face? Yes, the reality is starting to knock. In my defense, I would never imagine that someone from the outside could have access to our conversations.”

“Breaking into the FBI database is complicated, but not impossible. This guy was supposed to be looking for information about me and ended up finding you along the way. I'm sorry for bringing you into this.”

She made a nonchalant gesture, dismissing his apologies.

“You're only here because I was impulsive and played my role as a decoy very well, so I think we can say we're even.”

“I will always be in your debt.” Jake declared softly, weaving through traffic with ease.

The rest of the trip flew by, and the next thing he knew, he was parking near the Aurora's curb.

“What are we doing here?” Barbara looked at him uneasily, her voice sounding louder.

“I need to drop you off somewhere safe before I go back to get my gear from the hotel I'm staying at.”

“A bar is the last place I would think of, I have to admit.”

Jake snorted.

“As much as you approve, we only came here to get Jessica's address.”

“I thought you gathered information on all of us when Hannah was kidnapped.”

“I did, but Jessica moved out a few months after Richy got arrested. And since the FBI is monitoring activity around your friends' digital data, I'm forced to do this the hard way.”

“You mean... Talking?”

“Talking to Phil.”

She stifled a laugh.

“You can wait in the car if you want.”

“I'm not leaving you alone with this guy.” He rolled his eyes, stepping out into the drizzle that was decreasing with each second.

“In that case, why not go to Lilly or Dan?” Barbara commented, carefully slamming the car door. “I'm sure it would be less unpleasant for you.”

“I don't want others to know I'm in town.” Jake said, stopping beside her under the bar's canopy. “Not yet.”

“You're avoiding your sisters, aren't you?”

“It is complicated.”

“I know it's none of my business, but they'd be happy to hear from you. Especially Lilly.”

“Since when have you been Lilly's defender?”

“Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are.” Barbara laughed, brushing an invisible speck of dust off her dress. “How do I look?”

Jake analyzed her from head to toe for a few moments, seeing the way Barbara's hair fell over her arm in messy locks, how her smudged mascara highlighted the beauty of her light brown eyes, and how her dress, almost completely dry, outlined each centimeter of her body.

“Beautiful.”

“I'm serious, Jake!”

“Me too.” He smiled adoringly, intertwining his fingers with hers. “Come on, I don't want to prolong this any longer than necessary.”

taglist: @daniiiworlds; @labemquarts; @deinily