#anyway if you need me i’m going to try to figure out how to fish in stardew

[fingertipsmp3]

Love that the second entry in my cry log for 2023 is going to be “experienced unexpected dentistry”

[katsu28]

summer's golden haze - chapter three

pairing: lando norris x reader

summary: bar hopping, damsels in drunken distress, and a late night heart to heart. (5.1k)

warnings: swearing, alcohol, lando talks about the hungarian gp shitshow

a/n: yes this is me maybe slightly projecting my feelings about hungary onto my characters okay! they're my barbie dolls to play with i can do whatever i want 😌↕️ anyways hope u enjoy <3

previous chapter | masterlist

“Hello? Are you even listening?” 

You blink, bringing yourself back to reality and back to the current conversation. Your friends are looking back at you with matching concerned, albeit a little annoyed expressions. “What? Sorry, I was—I’m here, sorry. What’s going on?” 

Samira tuts, but not unkindly. They all know you’ve got a million things running in your mind at the moment. “I was saying our dinner reservations got canceled. Something about the kitchen having to close down for maintenance, I dunno. Anyways, it frees us up tonight and we’re trying to figure out what to do instead.” 

“Oh. We could stay in? Order some food, watch a movie?” 

“I know what we need,” Camille gasps suddenly, eyes lighting up like she’s just had a brilliant idea. “We’re going bar hopping tonight.” 

“Bar hopping? We haven’t done that since—” You pause, taking a moment to think. You haven’t been bar hopping since Samira got dumped by her girlfriend a few months back, the time before that when Maren finally cut ties with her situationship last year. The only time you all go bar hopping is after a breakup. They think what happened with Lando is the same as breaking up with a partner. “Guys, seriously, I’m fine. He was never even my boyfriend anyways!” 

“Say what you want, but you’ve been super out of it these past few days. You need to let loose, do something that makes you stop thinking of Lando and start thinking about yourself again.”  

You scowl, crossing your arms over your chest. “I think about myself plenty.”

Camille rolls her eyes at you. “I mean not in that mopey, sad ‘I say everything is fine even though it’s not’ way. There’s more fish in the sea than Lando. Find one, or don’t, it’s up to you. But you need to forget about him.” 

Your lips press into a thin line as you sink back into your seat.

You don’t want another fish in the sea. You want the weird little crab with the cute accent and the sparkly eyes, the one you’ve already let back into the water.

The one you can’t have. 

Things haven’t been too awkward with Lando yet, but they definitely aren’t the same. Two people who really like each other but have decided to remain friends doesn’t really scream smooth sailing from now on to you. The wound is still fresh, and there are hints of it as you spend more time with the guys. 

Immediately filling the empty seat next to each other like it’s second nature but then having to awkwardly scoot away when your shoulders bump or your hands brush. Lingering glances across tables and rooms until one of you breaks and looks away first. Finding him first in a place full of other people and drifting towards him, only to come to your senses and switch up directions at the last moment. 

You wish you could say forgetting Lando would be easy. It really isn’t—not when your friend groups have basically melded into one big one, and everyone gets along so well. It would’ve been easier if you’d gone your separate ways, but you don’t think your heart would’ve liked that very much. Not that it enjoys skipping a beat every time you catch Lando’s eyes on you a little too long either. 

You wrinkle your nose, brows following. “I’m sad and mopey?” 

“A little bit.” 

“Okay, fine. Fine, let’s go bar hopping,” You concede, letting your shoulders drop. 

If you’re going to get over him, you might as well start right now. 

That’s how you end up in bar number one of the night, four tequila shots on the bar table in front of you. You eye the unassuming little glass warily, even as each of your friends snatch one up eagerly. 

Samira, as if sensing your hesitation, nudges yours toward you. “It’s one shot, babe. It won’t kill you.” 

“I know that,” You insist, throwing your shoulders back. “I just…need a second.” 

“Take all the time you need. We’re going all night.” 

Tonight isn’t about your feelings for Lando. Tonight is about you moving on, moving past what could’ve been with him and looking forward to what might come next. With or without him. 

You hold up your shot towards them, grinning big. “Here’s to moving forward, and making memories that’ll last a lifetime!” 

Clinking your glass against all of theirs, you throw back the clear liquid as smoothly as you can, only wincing a little bit at the burn of it going down your throat. It isn’t your usual drink of choice, but change has to start somewhere, right? 

-------

As far as bars go, this one isn’t the worst one you’ve been to tonight, but the fun has started to wear off for you. You’d stopped drinking around bar number two, the buzz of your much tamer drink choices after those first few shots starting to die down bit by bit. On the other hand, your friends are still going full steam ahead. You’ve honestly lost track of how many drinks they’ve had at the bars you’ve hit tonight, but they’re holding on pretty well. 

“Fuck boys!” Samira exclaims, slamming another shot glass down onto the table with gusto. Maren and Camille agree wholeheartedly with identical slurred ‘yeah, fuck ‘em!’s that make you chuckle into your glass of water. 

You know they’re just trying to make you feel better about your decision, and in a way, it helps. You’d finally been able to talk about what went down that afternoon without feeling an indescribable rush of guilt, and although they were disappointed at first, it became less when you’d told them why. They’re your best friends, and they know you better than anyone, so they know for a fact Lando’s lifestyle was not the one for you. 

Tonight was supposed to be all about forgetting your feelings, but as the night went on longer and your inhibitions became lower, you still couldn’t help but think about Lando. That mental box you’d put him has burst wide open already. 

You’re a little embarrassed to admit it, but you’d done a little research on him after getting home, which turned into a deep dive of his career, his life, anything that piqued your interest in him. You were curious to know what a guy like him saw in someone like you. 

It felt a little weird to see him outside the Lando you’ve gotten to know him as, because he seemed…different. He’s still the same sweet guy you know, but on video he’s a more tame version of himself. 

Carefully chosen words and shy smiles, he wears his confidence like a suit of armor on camera, to protect himself against the world. Here, he’s all bursting grins and loud belly laughs, unfiltered and so, so happy. He seems so normal, it’s hard to remember that he’s not just your everyday guy. Lando is one of the best and well known racing drivers in the whole world.

Making sure to separate the two is important if you want to stay firm in your decision. 

Somehow it hits nearly four in the morning, and it’s about high time you make the executive decision to call it quits and go home. The only problem is, you’re the only semi-sober one out of the four of you. You have the car, but you don’t trust yourself to drive in this state. None of your friends are in any shape to be of any help either, not when Maren is nearly passed out on the tabletop, and Camille and Samira drunkenly swaying with each other right next to you. 

You don’t really trust any rideshares at this time of night in an unfamiliar place, and even then, there’s no way you can get them all home by yourself. There’s only one other thing you can think of, one other person you can call to help you out. The one person you were hoping to not have to call. 

The moment your finger hits Lando’s number, you have half a mind to hang up. You’re about to, but then the line connects. 

“Yeah, what?” Lando’s voice is gravelly, thick with sleep. A little grumpy. Of course he’s grumpy, it’s nearing three in the morning and he was probably asleep. You feel bad that you've woken him up, but you couldn't think of anything else. 

“Lando? I’m so sorry to be calling you this late, I just didn’t know what else to do.”

Immediately, he sounds more alert when your name leaves his lips. “Is everything alright? What’s up?” 

You gnaw on your lip in contemplation until he says your name again, gentler this time. “We’re at a bar in town and the girls are really drunk and we need to get home, but I had a few drinks too so I didn't think I should drive. And I tried to call an Uber but at this time of night I don’t—” 

“Hey, no, it’s okay. I can come pick you up.” He interrupts your rambling and you're grateful for it, because the more you talk the more you think this was a bad idea. You’re asking him for too much, you're stretching the limits of an already awkward friendship too far, you're— “Just tell me where you are, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” 

“Really?” 

“Of course. Drop me your location and stay there.” You can hear rustling on his end of the line, pounding on a door, someone’s groggy voice saying something you can’t make out. Then Lando’s voice fills your ear again, soft yet firm. “Hang tight, ‘kay? Be there soon.” 

“Thank you so much,” You breath, truly grateful. He hangs up, and you can finally let out a breath of relief. Lando is coming. You won’t be stranded here. 

Lando jumps out of the car as soon as it pulls to a stop in front. He’s got on some nondescript jumper with the hood pulled up over his head and a random pair of joggers, and he definitely doesn’t look like he’d just been roused from his sleep. In fact, seeing him all disheveled with worry like this is kind of doing it for you. 

You’re in the middle of apologizing again when Lando crashes into you, arms wrapping around you tighter than you’re expecting, nearly squeezing the breath out of you. You meet Max’s eyes over his shoulder, who you’d just realized was also here, and he doesn’t look surprised at all. He looks rather smug, actually. 

“Are you okay?” Lando holds you at arms length, worried eyes scanning you for anything out of place, any injury. Other than your pride, you remain unharmed. Though that pesky fluttery feeling in your stomach is back again, as is the warmth in your chest, and it isn’t from the alcohol. 

His hood has fallen off from the force of his hug to reveal the tornado of curls on his head, flat on one side from his pillow most likely, as are the lines on his face from what was probably a good night’s sleep. Until you called, that is. 

You blink at him, caught off guard by the amount of care he still seems to have for you. It feels like an impossible feat to tear your gaze away from his. “Yes? I mean, yeah, I’m fine. You—wow, you got here fast.” 

“I thought maybe something—nevermind.” He cranes his neck around you to glance at your half asleep friends on the bench. “Are…they okay?” 

“Yeah, they’re fine. Tequila, y’know?” You shrug. 

Max lets out a snort of laughter from where he’s wandered over to check on them, waving a hand in front of Samira’s face. She swats at him halfheartedly, mumbling a sleepy, “Fuck off, Fewtrell.” 

“Sorry to wake you too, Max.” 

“Oh no, you didn’t wake me. He did.” He juts his chin over at Lando, who still has a hand around your elbow. You can’t help but let your eyes drop down to it, and Lando does too, inhaling sharply before letting go. Still, the warmth from his grip lingers. “And not very nicely might I add.” 

“I had to get you up quick!”

“You nearly took my head off with a pillow, you dickhead!” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want a kiss on the forehead?” Lando snorts. 

“Not from you!” 

“Come off it already, won’t you?” Lando turns his attention back to you instead, rolling his eyes playfully when he finds you stifling a giggle behind your palm. “You said you had your car?” 

“Um, yeah, it’s around the corner. We can just leave it here, I’ll circle back and pick it up in the morning.” 

Lando clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “It’ll probably be stripped for parts by tomorrow. How bout we split up? Two and two?” 

“Well, we all know who you want,” Max says knowingly. It makes your cheeks flame hot and Lando’s flush pink, but Max doesn’t waver in his shit eating grin. For some reason, you find his candid bluntness refreshing, even if it is poking fun at what’s going on (or not going on) between Lando and yourself. “You guys take Maren in your car, I’ll take these two and meet you at your house.” 

Max manages to coax Camille and Samira to their feet with little trouble, and before you know it they’re off, leaving you alone with Lando and a very sleepy Maren. He rocks back on his heels, biting the inside of his cheek awkwardly, like he’s not sure what to do. 

“Should we—” 

“I think—” Lando bites back a laugh, gesturing for you to speak first. 

“We should probably get going.” 

“Right. Let’s get her in the car then, yeah?” 

You couldn’t be less well versed in cars if you tried, but even you know the one Lando came to your rescue in is expensive. You’re almost too reluctant to even sit in it. But then Lando’s hand touches softly against the small of your back as he pulls open the door without hesitation, and you have no choice but to help Maren in. 

Not like you had much of a choice anyways, what with him being the knight in shining armor to your damsel in distress call. 

“Did you have fun? Before having to play mum to the girls, I mean.” Lando asks a little while later, not taking his eyes off the road. 

You blow out a deep breath, sinking back into the plush leather of the passenger seat. The soft smoothness is heaven on your skin. “Kinda. The first few drinks, at least. Felt a little out of place, honestly.” 

“What, you didn't charm some guy the same way you charmed me?” Silence fills the car like cement as soon as the words leave his mouth. A pang of something sharp shoots through you, something akin to hurt that flashes through your chest but is gone a second later. 

No, you shouldn’t feel hurt. You’re the one who hurt him. Even though he’s told you over and over that it’s okay, it’s fine, he understands your decision, Lando has every right to express his true feelings, no matter how it makes you feel. 

“Sorry, that was—that came out wrong. I just meant—” 

“I know what you meant,” You say quietly. He wants to know if you met someone else, and the answer is no. No, you didn't meet another guy, because all you could think about was him. But you’re just friends. You’d made certain of it. So why did you feel like you’d done something wrong? “I didn’t meet anyone else.” 

“Oh. Cool.” 

“Is it?” 

A muscle in his jaw clenches as he swallows thickly, nodding. “Yeah. I mean, if that’s what you want. What you’re looking for.” 

“I don’t think I’m looking for anything right now,” Your voice is soft, nearly a whisper. 

I’m not looking for something that isn’t you, you could add. You don’t. It wouldn’t do anything other than hurt him, and yourself, even more. 

The rest of the ride home is basically silent, and Max is waiting on the sofa with the other two when you finally get there, entertaining a story that Camille is telling not unlike one would with a child, uh huh-ing and wow, that’s so cool-ing until he realizes you’re finally here. 

You take over from then, thank him profusely yet again when he says he’s going to head home, before corralling all three girls into the bathroom like a zookeeper with their animals. 

One by one, you help each of your friends through an abridged version of their night routines until they’re all ready for bed, and then you tuck them into the same bed as best you can. You’ve relegated yourself to the floor with a littering of pillows for the night. It’ll be easier to get to them if they need anything during the night if you’re all in the same room. 

You’re surprised to see Lando in the doorway once you’ve gotten them all settled in for the night. You thought he'd left with Max, but apparently not.  

He glances up as he hears you approach, frowning. “You’re gonna sleep on the floor?” 

You shrug. “Yeah, it’s fine. I can keep an eye on them that way. You can, erm, you can go home now. Go back to sleep.” 

“No offense, but I’m pretty sure they’ll sleep through the night. Plus, you must be knackered too. You should get some rest, yeah?” You want to say no, but your body’s response betrays you in that moment, because you yawn big, and it makes him chuckle. “Come on. Sleep in your own bed. I’ll watch over them.” 

“No way.” You shake your head insistently, despite the enticing offer. “You’ve already done more than enough, Lando, I can’t ask you to stay up all night. I’ve got them covered.” 

“You shouldn’t either.” He shoots back, chin tilting up in challenge. You match him as best you can with your eyes growing heavier and heavier by the moment, and eventually, he backs down, hands up in mock surrender. “How ‘bout we take shifts? The living room’s right across the hall, if we camp out there and anyone makes a racket, whoever’s up will be able to hear them.” 

You twist your lips to the side in thought. “Deal. I call first watch though.” 

“I can live with that. Why don’t you go freshen up, or something?” 

“Is that your way of telling me I stink?” 

Lando’s eyes glint with mirth, teasing smile curling his lips. “Maybe.” 

“Well, maybe you don’t smell too good either!” That’s a total lie. He actually smells really nice, a mixture of remnants of his heady cologne from the day and something fresher, a little citrusy. His soap, maybe? 

A hot shower certainly does wonders to sober you up the rest of the way, and as you’re toweling your hair dry enough to where it won’t be dripping water down your shirt, you take a good look at yourself in the fogged up mirror. 

This is fine. You can spend a night alone with Lando without feeling anything towards him. You can do this. You’ve done harder things than this. 

Lando’s frowning at something on his phone when you make your way back into the living room, scowling like whatever’s on the screen has personally wronged him. It isn’t the first time you've noticed his demeanor turn sour like this, and your concern is piqued each time. 

You clear your throat as if to announce your presence, offering him a small smile when his head whips up. “Hi. Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just work.” He tosses his phone on the coffee table, dragging a hand forward through his curls, mussing up the front before raking them back. It doesn’t seem to do anything but make them messier, but you suspect it’s more of a nervous habit than anything.

He smiles back at you as you sit a respectable distance away from him on the sofa, though even that looks entirely forced. Something is wrong, and it’s eating away at him. 

“Look, I know things aren't how they used to be with us, but I hope you know I’m still here for you. You can always talk to me if you need to.” 

Lando gnaws on his bottom lip, head tilting from side to side like he's unsure. “Really? You’d do that for me?” 

“Friends are there for each other.” 

He blows out a deep sigh, sinking back against the pillows like a deflated balloon. “Yeah? You’re sure?” 

“I’m a good listener, remember?” You nudge his knee with yours gently. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m all ears.” 

He isn’t ready right away. For a little while, you sit in silence. You get the feeling Lando doesn’t have much experience with letting people in very easily, but it's okay. You’ll sit here as long as he needs to get his thoughts together. 

Finally he speaks, but even then, his tone holds hesitance. 

“I feel like everything is going to shit. The car is great this season, it’s better than it's ever been before, so that’s not the problem. It’s me, I’m the problem, I keep fucking everything up," He sighs, shoulders slumping. "And my team work so hard for me to be able to perform and deliver and I feel like I’m just letting everyone down, y’know? They deserve someone who can give them better than the shit stuff I’ve been putting out these past few races.” 

Lando as a person is impossibly hard on himself, you’ve come to learn—always thinks he could’ve done better, even if what he’s already done is enough. The same is true when it comes to his job. 

You’d know—you checked. In your uninformed opinion, the results he’s been achieving in the races are great. To be finishing high in the top five out of twenty of the best drivers in the world in almost every single race recently, it’s enough to make anyone proud.

But when you think about it from a competition perspective, a cutthroat drive with everything you’ve got, put everything on the line perspective, you get a sense of why he’s beating himself up. 

To know he can win and still fall short, race after race…god, you can’t even imagine how he must be feeling. 

You might be clueless still, but at the very basis of it all, you understand. Lando has worked so hard for so many years, put in blood, sweat, and tears, and he feels like he’s not living up to expectations. 

You know what it’s like to have such high expectations placed on your shoulders and nearly be crushed by the weight of everyone counting on you. Surely not on a scale as large as his, but you understand the struggle. 

Then he goes into the race in Hungary a few weeks back, and you can tell there’s some lingering hurt in him about what happened. 

“It’s like they were guilt tripping me or something. Telling me I’ll need the team in the championship fight, that I should do the right thing and give up my position. Call me crazy, but that just didn’t sit right with me at all. They want me to be a team player and that’s fine, I’m happy to, but I dunno…” Lando trails off, nose wrinkling like the words leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

You notice him picking at the skin below his nail and move without thinking, closing the distance between the two of you and redirecting his fiddling fingers by linking them with your own. 

It gets him to stop picking, but it also makes him stop talking. Whatever words are about to come out of his mouth die into a drawn out exhale, eyes drawn to your joined hands like a magnet. 

“Yeah? Keep going, I’m still listening,” You urge gently, nodding. Lando blinks at you, as if he’s lost his train of thought. “Hungary? The team?”

“Uh…yeah. Right. I was—I guess I just didn’t think they’d pull all that crap over the radio. Like, everyone could hear what they were saying—other teams, the commentators. It was on live broadcast too!” His fingers tighten around yours ever so slightly, dark brows knit with frustration. 

Even though you know close to nothing about the sport, what his team pulled seems like a dick move. You understand wanting to put their drivers in the best position possible, but airing things out on a radio where everyone can hear it feels wrong to you. Then again, you have no idea what goes on within a team at this type of performance level. 

“It’s like, they knew I’d do what they wanted me to do and I did, but for a moment, I almost didn’t. I almost went against team orders, and that’s…” He laughs humorlessly, shaking his head. “You don’t do that. You can’t. You listen to what your team says and you do it, and that’s the end. My boss has been calling every now and then, trying to get me to talk and shit, and I just don’t really wanna talk about work right now. I don’t even wanna think about it.” 

“Oh, Lando…” You sigh. Your thumb rubs circles over the prominent ridges of his knuckles, hoping it brings him some sort of comfort.

“I know I probably sound like such a brat right now, but I’ve given everything I have to McLaren and it still doesn't feel like enough. They want more, and right now…I’m not sure how much more I’ve got in me.” 

“Can I be completely and totally honest with you right now?” 

“Yeah, please.” 

You hesitate, taking a beat to reply. You don’t want him to take your response the wrong way. “I’m not gonna sit and pretend like I have any clue what it’s like to be in your situation, because I don’t. But I do think you’re being too hard on yourself. Yeah, sometimes you might not get the results you’d hoped for, but you’re doing the best you can, and that’s all you need to be doing.” 

Lando doesn’t need your advice, and you’re in no place to be giving any in the first place. He just needs someone in his corner, someone who cares about him to tell him that it’s okay to not be perfect. You want to be that person, even though you’re both still trying to settle into this new dynamic with each other. 

Thankfully, your words seem to soak in, easing the tension in his shoulders just a little bit. “Thank you. I think I really needed that.” 

“Glad I could help,” You say warmly, squeezing his hand. 

“Y’know, I just realized that I’ve never said any of that out loud to anyone.”

“Do you feel better?” 

Lando chuckles, and somehow, he even seems better. Like whatever was weighing him down was gone. “Yeah, I do. I feel…lighter, actually? Is that weird?” 

“Not at all. That’s what letting things out will do for you.”

“Maybe. But maybe it’s more than that, maybe it’s…you.” 

Your breath hitches in your chest. “Me?”

“You make me feel like I can be myself around you. Like, the real me, not the me the rest of the world knows me as. I feel genuinely happy around you, and I—I can’t just sit here and ignore it any longer. I still really like you. And I know what you said about us, and I know why, but I can’t help the way I feel around you. The way I feel about you.” 

“Lando, I—” 

“I swear I’m not trying to change your mind or make you feel guilty, or anything like that! I just had to say it before it made me explode,” He adds, exhaling shakily. “In the spirit of letting things out.” 

You’d be lying to yourself if you said you hadn’t been starting to question whether or not you’d made the right choice by deciding to walk away from Lando, because the more you get to know him, the more it chips away at your resolve. He’s kind and sweet and funny, and he gets you like nobody else has before. It’s been hell these past few days, tiptoeing around each other when all you want to do is kiss him senseless.

Right now, you want to kiss him senseless. He’s right here in front of you, holding your hand, looking at you with those stupid sparkly eyes. You want to say it’s the leftover alcohol buzzing in your veins making you feel this way, but that would be a lie too. 

Fuck it. 

You cross the already dwindling space between the two of you, sliding a hand around the back of his neck, and kissing him softly. Lando freezes for a split second, but before you know it, he’s kissing you back, guiding you closer until you’re nearly on his lap. His hands roam your back, curling into the material of your shirt, thumbing under it just a tiny bit to stroke at the warm skin there. 

It isn’t at all like the first time you kissed. He lets you set the tone, following your slow lead without question. 

You’re not sure how long you keep at it—lazy, gentle kisses punctuated with hushed giggles and tiny satisfied noises from the both of you.

Lando takes a pause every so often, pulling back just enough to look at you, take in the sight of you breathless from his doing, and every time, his mouth curls into a squinty, close mouthed smile. You can only bear the fondness in his expression for a few seconds before growing too aware of the way he looks at you and kissing him again. 

Your brain doesn’t want to stop, but apparently your body decides you’ve had enough action for a day, because at some point you feel your eyes start to droop, chin following.

As if sensing your exhaustion, Lando pulls away, chest rising and falling heavily. He’s breathless, lips kiss-swollen as they curve into a soft smile. “We should stop. You need to get some sleep.” 

“No! We should talk about this. Us.” 

“I agree, but I don’t think you’re really in the right headspace to do it right now.”

“I’m fine! I’m okay, I swear.” 

“You just nearly fell asleep whilst we were making out.”

“For a second!” You whine, letting your head thunk against his chest. A chuckle vibrates through him. “Don’t laugh at me, I’m tired.” 

“Then go to sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning,” He insists, lips pressed to the crown of your head. You sigh through your nose. You’d argue a little more, but Lando is right again. All you want to do is go to sleep. “I’m not going anywhere, alright? I’ll be here when you wake up, we can figure it out then.” 

“Promise?” 

“I promise.”

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[stunies]

FLUFFTOBER DAY 19 — GHOSTS. ghost! hayato suo x f!readerﾉ sfw + fluff ﾉ no other warnings ﾉ link to october masterlist!

you seem to be the only one who doesn’t mind the ghost that’s trailing behind you. your friends want to hire someone to get rid of him, but you’re weirdly defensive over what’s supposed to be haunting you.

“I t-think something’s here.”

If you had heard these words come out of your friend’s mouth only a couple months ago, you’d probably feel some sort of dread or… fear. Anything else aside from endearment, at least. Instead, the confirmation that he’s still here with you only warms your heart and brings a smile to your face- much to her alarm.

“Oh, it’s okay,” you try to give her a reassuring smile, but it only seems to unsettle her even further. “Don’t worry about it. He’s the nice ghost I was telling you guys about.”

That’s right- they had genuinely chalked that up to a dragged out joke of yours this entire time. She almost wants to kick herself for being the first one to have to find out that his presence is, in fact, real. Very, very real.

“…Nice?” She’s hiding behind you now, clinging onto your jacket as some sort of safety precaution, you think. “You’re sure, right? One hundred percent sure…? That he’s.. a friendly ghost?”

“Mhm, I’m sure.” She isn’t quite sure why you look like you’re about to laugh in such a situation, but decides against bringing it up now. “We can leave in a second anyways. I just need to grab my wallet.”

This seems to relieve her, even if only a little.

“I swear he’s nice though, so you don’t need be so scared. Right?” You call out to whatever is lurking in the room, and something on your desk starts to roll. Your friend jerks her head fast enough to see that it’s a pen.

A red pen. Oh. How scary. It falls onto the floor with a light tap- his way of saying ‘yes,’ you’ve learned.

Your friend latches onto your arm with a nervous whine, and you laugh a bit. “You’ll hurry, right? Please?” Her voice drops to a low whisper, in case he can hear her. “I don’t want to stay near him any longer….”

A small frown tugs at your lips. Maybe this kind of thing was scarier for other people. You’re so used to him that it doesn’t really make sense to you anymore. “It’s okay,” you pat your friend’s head- the same way someone would comfort their dog. “I like him a lot. It’s nice to have him around, especially when it gets stormy. I’ve always been really scared of those— the thunder and stuff.”

She gives you a nod of agreement a bit too quickly, and you know she’s just agreeing so the two of you can get out of here faster. “I guessed his name a couple weeks ago,” you continue talking about him anyway, rummaging through your drawers to fish out your wallet, “but it took me a really long time to figure it out.”

“I wrote it down letter by letter, and he would move something when I landed on the right one.”

“O-oh… and..? His name is….?”

She wants to know if he’s an infamous ghost. Maybe it’ll confirm if he’s an evil one (she’s sure he is).

“Suo. That’s what we settled on, and that’s the name he responds to. Though I want to guess the other part of his name soon..” you say through a soft smile, as if telling your friend about finding love for the first time. “Ah. Found it. We can leave now.”

The name alone sends a violent shiver down her spine- goosebumps prickling her skin and it’s enough to make her just want to leave and never come back. “Let’s go then,” she grabs your arm, maybe a bit too roughly for Suo’s liking because you wince, and the light above the two of you flickers once.

A warning.

She ignores it somehow. “We shouldn’t be here any longer. And you too. He’s gonna start messing with your hea-”

A book on your desk crashes onto the floor, and her eyes go wide. A second warning, this time to keep her mouth shut.

“Come on already- h-hurry!” She’s tugging harder now- doesn’t listen when you tell her to loosen up the grip on your arm because it’s starting to hurt you.

Suo doesn’t seem to like that either, because the lights flicker much more violently this time. One, two, then three times before shutting off entirely, leaving you two alone in the dark and it falls eerily silent the next second.

“Ah..” you laugh sheepishly, hand gingerly rubbing at your arm. “Well, he’s mad now, so..”

dividers by @adornedwithlight

[newtthetranswriter]

Hello,

Is it possible to have a one shot about Natsu reuniting with his s/o after he left for his 1 year of training ? Like he left only a letter for them ( the same way he did for Lucy ) but his s/o is upset when he come back ( bc seriously who leave like that ) like an angst/hurt to comfort kind of one shot? Thank you !

Word Count: 3168

Paring: Natsu Dragneel x gn! Reader

Warnings: Possibly Ooc Natsu and Lucy, Canon typical violence

A/n: Hello thank you so much for requesting this. I had a lot of fun writing this so I hope you enjoy it and that it reaches your expectations. Anyway, have a great day and remember to hydrate or diedrate.

    After the fight against Tartaros I had spent a few days in the hospital to recover from the few injuries I had received during the fight. Natsu visited me on the first day checking in on me to see if I was okay, but before I could make sure he was okay he said he had something he needed to do before leaving. On day two Lucy told me that Master Makarov had decided to disband Fairy Tail. It also felt like she was hiding something else but I didn't push it.

    When I was finally free to leave on day three, I was shocked that Natsu and Happy hadn’t shown up to walk me home. I brushed it off as they were busy trying to figure out what we were going to do now that Fairy tail was no more, I made my way to our shared home. Reaching the small house on the edge of Magnolia, I was stunned by how quiet it was.

   “Natsu, Happy, I’m home.” I called out, opening the front door expecting to be greeted by one of them. “Hello, Natsu, are you guys home?” I said looking around the space. It was weirdly clean considering Natsu and Happy were known to be bad at cleaning up after themselves. Looking around some more I noticed that there was a small envelope laying on the counter. I cautiously picked up the envelope, taking note of the wax seal that was pressed with N in holding it closed. Gently breaking the seal, I pulled out the contents.

    Dear Y/n,

   Happy and I are going on a training mission. We’ll be back in a year or so. I would have asked you to come along but I know how much you like being around our friends at Fairy Tail, so I figured you would want to stay behind. Plus you’re still recovering from the fight and I need to start training soon if I want to beat Zeref. Anyway stay safe and don’t forget that I love you. Also Happy wants you to know that he left some fish for you so you don’t have to worry about getting back to work right away. Well we should be off, again stay safe, I love you and I’ll see you in a year.

  Sincerely,

Natsu and Happy

P.s. there’s also a stash of jewel in the small box on our nightstand. Feel free to use it however you want.

  By the time I finished reading the short letter, I had tears streaming down my cheeks. Not only had the Guild I called home for most of my life just up and disbanded, but the one person who promised to be by my side no matter what, left. Not only did he leave, but he felt that a note was better than telling me to my face that he planned on leaving. I probably sat on the floor in the small makeshift kitchen for a couple hours before I decided to get up.

   As I was making my way to what used to be mine and Natsu’s shared room, there was a knock at the door. Hoping that maybe they had decided to come back for me, I wiped my eyes reaching for the door. Before I could welcome them home, I made eye contact with Lucy. Realizing it was in fact not Natsu but our close friend, I broke down in tears once again. Not being able to hold myself up, I slumped against Lucy crying into her shirt.

   “Hey it’s going to be okay.” She said softly while patting my back. “Let’s get you sitting down and then you can talk about it if you want.” The blonde said gently moving me off her chest and ushering me to sit on the small couch in my living room.

   After another hour of me crying into Lucy’s shoulder, I finally stopped and just looked forward to the empty room. “It feels wrong not having those two causing mayhem.” I whispered out as if talking any louder would break something.

   Lucy nodded as she rested her head against mine. “I know not having Natsu lighting something on fire is weird.” She said, before lifting her head off mine. “I’m sorry, I should have told you when I visited you yesterday at the hospital. I just didn’t know how.” she explained, I could tell from the shakiness of her voice that she meant it.

   “It’s not your fault Lucy, actually I’m kind of glad you didn’t tell me. I might have blamed you for it. But after reading the letter I know the only person to blame is Natsu.” I said, looking towards the letter that I apparently never set down. “I want to understand and accept that he’s going through a lot because he had to watch Igneel die, but I can’t help but be angry.” My emotions were a mess as everything set in. “He just left me with only a note and expects me to be okay with that. What am I supposed to do Lucy? Fairy Tail is done, so I won’t be able to find any work, and everyone from the guild is going to be leaving town soon so what am I supposed to do?” I asked hoping my close friend would have some answers.

   She sighed before pulling me back in for a hug. “I’m not sure Y/n, but we can figure it out. I’m sure of it.” Lucy said. It was silent for a moment before she spoke again. “Hey, why don’t you join another guild? I heard that Wendy and Carla are going to join Lamia Scale, maybe you could go with them.” She suggested.

   I thought for a moment, she was right, I could join another guild. But what would I do with my house? It's not just mine after all, it’s Natsu and Happy’s as well. I can't just sell it, and what if they come back sooner. Everything was running through my head a mile a minute. I looked to Lucy before my brain settled on a single thought. “What are you going to do?” I asked hoping that hearing her plan would help me figure out mine.

   “Oh, I was going to try and get a job with sorcerer weekly. I’ve always wanted to be a writer so maybe I could get an editing position there.” She said after a moment of thinking. 

   Taking in the information I thought for a moment, before making up my mind. “I think I’m just going to stay here for now.” I said, earning a confused look from Lucy. “I can find a job here in town and that way I’m here if Natsu and Happy come back early.” I said with a weak smile.

   She still looked confused but sighed. “If that’s what you really want, then okay Y/n. But don’t get your hopes up, I doubt Natsu would say he’ll be gone for a year if he doesn’t mean it.” She said standing up.

   “Well it’s Natsu who knows what he’s thinking. And plus someone has to keep the house clean while they’re gone. I’ll be fine, and think of it this way at least you’ll know where to find me if you ever need me.” I smiled up at her. “Promise that if you make it big working for Sorcerer Weekly that you’ll write to me and keep me updated on how things are going.” Lucy nodded, smiling before leaving. That night I barely slept, thinking about Natsu and how I hoped he was okay.

    When I woke up the next morning, I was startled by how quiet and cold the house was. But after walking out to the living room and seeing the discarded letter from Natsu on the table, I was reminded of everything that happened. I sighed before going to make myself a quick breakfast and deciding that after eating I would head into town to find work. Without Fairy Tail and without Natsu, I would have to find work soon.

    Time Skip

    It’s been a year since Fairy Tail disbanded. Which also means it’s also been a whole year since I last saw Natsu. I had stuck to what I told Lucy that night and got a job in Magnolia, staying in the house I once shared with Natsu and Happy hoping that one day they would finally return home. Lucy also kept her word and after she moved to the Capital for her job with Sorcerer Weekly, she would send letters regularly to keep me updated on her life and any information she had heard about our Fairy Tail family. Eventually as the Grand Magic Games came around, Lucy sent me an invitation saying that since she was working as a reporter for the event, she was given an extra ticket and thought I might want to watch the games. Needing a small break from Magnolia, I left for the capital ready to spend time with Lucy and see what the current top Guilds had to offer.

   The games had been interesting enough. Not as crazy as last year when Fairy Tail completely wiped the floor with the competition, but it was still fun to watch. As the final battle to decide the top guild ended, I was stunned into silence feeling a very familiar Magic start to envelope the stadium. The whole stadium followed suit as a hooded figure appeared in the arena. After a moment heat started to take over the arena and I could hear Lucy saying something about everyone needing to leave.

   Focusing on the figure and the feel of their magic I knew right away who it was. “We need to find some wizards who can fight him off.” Lucy said as the figure produced flames and began fighting the wizards in the stadium.

   “Lucy I don’t think anyone in this Stadium is going to be strong enough to fight him off.” I said as I walked up next to her, holding my arm over my face trying to block the heat. She looked at me confused. I just nodded towards the fight. “Just watch.”

   She still seemed confused but turned back to the fight. As the heat rose and the stadium began to melt I watched as realization struck Lucy. Just as she was about to say something, the announcer beat her to it. “It’s Natsu Dragneel.” Earning a massive cheer from the crowd. 

   As if on queue from the announcement, a familiar blue cat popped up between me and Lucy. “Hey, It’s been awhile. How you doing?” Hearing the exceed’s voice I turned and offered a small smile. 

   Lucy also turned to our flying friend. “Happy, you’re back.” She exclaimed, still covering her chest after Natsu’s heat melted her clothes.

   “Yeah, well Natsu insisted on challenging whoever won this year’s Grand magic Game. So here we are I guess.” Happy explained.

    I nodded, turning back to the fight, or well what was supposed to be a fight but looked more like an execution. “They don’t seem to be putting up much of a fight.” I heard Lucy say as she observed the same thing as me. I watched for only a few more seconds, listening to Natsu yell as he took on random wizards who jumped into fight him, before turning to Lucy.

   “I’m gonna head back to your apartment to rest.” I said, earning a confused look from both her and Happy. “I’m just tired and it’s super hot right now. It was nice seeing you Happy.” I explained as I walked away giving a gentle wave towards Happy. 

   As I walked away I heard Happy begin to follow me. “Wait Y/n, don’t you want to say hi to Natsu?” I paused in my trek out of the stadium. He wasn’t wrong. I did want to say hi to Natsu, but actually seeing him for the first time in a year all my emotions i thought I suppressed came rushing back.

  “Look Happy, I’m glad to see that you both are ok but I can’t see him. Not right now. I need to take some time and gather my thoughts.” I said looking at the cat. I watched as his face dropped. “Hey don’t be sad, you’re Happy you should be happy. I’ll talk to him later. You guys have fun with Lucy.” I offered him a gentle smile.

   He looked off to the side before sighing. “Okay, but we did miss you while we were gone.” He said as he gave me a quick hug. I returned the hug patting his head before waving him off and moving to leave the stadium.

   After I reached Lucy’s apartment, I realized I would only have a short period of time to process everything before Lucy came back and Natsu would definitely be with her. I sighed before deideng that I would go for a walk to clear my head. Quickly writing a note on a spare piece of paper saying I would be back later, I left the apartment again.

   I had been walking around the city for quite a few hours just thinking of how to deal with Natsu being back. Sure I was happy that he was okay and that he came back but the hurt from him leaving felt fresh. Taking a seat on one of the many little bridges that dotted the town, I sighed watching the water. I thought I had finally found a quiet place to work out my emotions, but before I could really start thinking, I heard footsteps approach from the side.

  “You’re avoiding me.” I froze up at the sound of his voice. “Why?” Natsu asked as he sat next to me. Refusing to look at him, I shook my head. “Don’t lie to me Y/n, I could smell you at the stadium, and then at Lucy’s apartment. Plus Happy said that you needed to gather your thoughts, whatever that means.”

   My shoulders sagged as I sighed. “I’m sorry. I just got scared, I guess.” I said not knowing what else to say.

   I could feel the bewildered look he was giving me without even looking at him. “Scared, of what? It’s just me. I’m the same guy I’ve always been.” He said as if it was the most obvious answer. Sensing that I still wasn’t ready to talk he sighed. “I should be the one apologizing. I left without talking to you first and that was terrible. I didn’t think that Gramps would disband the guild so I figured you would still have everyone in Fairy Tail to lean on. I was so focused on getting stronger and fighting Zeref that I failed to see I was being a shitty friend and an even shittier boyfriend.” Natsu said, hesitantly reaching for my hand. “I’m sorry that I left like that. Please let me make it up to you. I’ll do whatever you want me to just please don’t leave me.” Hearing the hurt in his voice, I finally looked at him.

   It was rare to see Natsu cry and so seeing the tears gently fall down his face startled me. I wanted to just cave and accept his apology and let things go back to the way they were, but I needed to say my piece. “I agree you were a shitty friend and a shitty boyfriend. I was already hurt physically from fighting Tartaros, then Lucy told me the Guild broke up and to top it off when I got home all I was greeted with was a letter. I was broken, I thought I wasn’t good enough, that the reason you didn’t bother to wait for me to heal was because you figured I’d just hold you back.” I began venting out the feelings I had kept bottled up for the past year. “Natsu I waited for you everyday. I woke up hoping that it was all just a dream and that you and Happy would be there arguing over whether or not fish should be cooked. And it broke me to live in our little house all alone, it took everything in me not to abandon it and move on.” I watched his face fall even more at the idea of me leaving our shared home. “But every time I got close to giving in to my dark thoughts and leaving, I remembered that you were out there somewhere and you would need somewhere to return to.” I explained, watching as his face slowly lightened up. 

   Taking a moment to breathe, I thought about what else I need to say. “I’m not saying we can go back to exactly how it was before, but I would be ok with trying again. Just promise that if you want to go on an extended training mission again, you talk with me first. And I mean actually talk to me, not just leave a letter saying you’ll be back in a year.” I said, giving him a pointed look. 

   And like magic, Natsu went from a hurt puppy dog to a puppy that was just given his favorite toy back. “I promise. I’ve missed you so much, I regretted leaving you behind every day I was gone.” He said with a bright smile. “Can I hug you now?” I laughed at the question, but nodded. I was quickly pulled into his arms, and I couldn’t help but sigh as I was enveloped by the familiar gentle smell of smoke that always lingered on him. “I really did miss you.” I heard him say as he buried his face in my neck.

   Patting his back and nuzzling into his scarf, I let out a small sound of agreement. After spending a few minutes in Natsu’s arms, I finally pulled away as a question suddenly struck me. “How did you find me all the way out here? We’re nowhere near Lucy’s apartment.” I asked.

   He tilted his head for a second before speaking. “I followed your scent, obviously. When we got back to her place and Lucy read your note, I wanted to head out right away, but her and Happy made me wait to give you time to think.” He explained like it was obvious. “Speaking of Lucy’s place, do you know the way back cause I have no clue where we are.” He asked.

   I laughed, of course he was able to track my scent after hours of me walking around but ask him to find a specific apartment in the big city and he draws a blank. “Yes, Natsu, I know the way back. Let’s go before Lucy and Happy start thinking I killed you or something.” Natsu laughed in response before offering his hand to help me stand up. Once I was standing he pulled me into another hug, placing a kiss on my forehead before pulling away and motioned for me to lead the way.

[slutforleeminho]

I have a Suggestion • Han Jisung

Jisung has a suggestion as to how to help you with your insanely high sex drive

You would never consider yourself a slut, but the constant ache in your lower region made it difficult to keep your pants on. You discovered this in high school when you’d come home and make a b line straight to your nightstand where you kept your vibrator and some lube just in case. But you never needed it, your panties were always soaked at the end of the day. The littlest things would get your heart rate up and body burning with need, like that one time freshman year when a very handsome boy had to squeeze between you and someone else, placing his hands on your hips and slipping through the small space, rubbing his entire front against your back and his lower half against your ass. You had to run to the bathroom the relieve the pressure that was building up. And that very same boy is now someone you would trust with your life.

Han Jisung.

He was your best friend and also the only person who knows about your problem. Well it wasn’t a problem at first but it turned into one when you started to go out every Friday and Saturday night with intentions to get railed by complete strangers. And jisung didn’t like that at all. “Are you trying to get aids?” He’d asked you after the third weekend of you going out and not coming home till the morning. And then he started staying over at your place on the weekends just to hold you hostage so you could go out and fall into temptation. But little did he know he wasn’t making it any easier on you, especially when he walked around your apartment in nothing but a towel hanging lowly on his hips, showing off his toned stomach and a prominent v line disappearing underneath the material. And a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, while he walked to the room to grab something out of his bag. He always slept in your bed with you, “to make sure you don’t run off in the middle of the night” he explained while settling under the blankets and letting out a satisfied hum. You didn’t mind sharing a bed with him at all, but it made it difficult on the nights you so desperately needed to touch yourself. And you won’t even lie, sometimes…. you did, with your best friend less than a foot away from you. And you could’ve swore that those nights your orgasms were so much more intense. But you couldn’t figure out why.

It was currently Saturday night and jisung was in the kitchen making you both dinner. It was a sweet gesture but it made your whole body heat up from the sight of him. You finally decided to stop ogling him and walk into the kitchen, and throw your top half over the kitchen island and groan as loud groan of frustration. “Can I pleeeeease just go out tonight? I’ll only be gone for a couple hours.” You smile up at him, giving him your best puppy dog eyes, hoping the cuteness would seduce him into letting you leave, your underwear is probably already ruined so you need to get out of here before you do something you’ll regret. “No” is all he says, continuing on the food. “You let you head fall onto the counter, with a loud thump and a whine coming from your mouth. “This is so annoying” you started flopping around like a fish, your whole body convulsing. “You aren’t my dad y’kow” your voice somewhat muffled by your hair thrown all over your face. “I might as well be, now get up before you get your hair in the food. Why are you whining anyways?” He asked as you straightened you body and fixed your hair.

“It’s uh… kinda tmi” You avoided eye contact by looking at you hands.

“Well go ahead. I already know all your dirty secrets anyway” Did he know you masterbate with him right next to you while you look at his beautiful face as a visual? Probably not.

You took a deep breath and said it before you could think too much about it and chicken out. “I already got off this morning and I still feel like I’m gonna explode. So please let me go out.” Your voice was high pitched. “I have a better idea” You waited for him to continue, open to anything at this point. “ let’s watch porn together, and you can touch yourself if you want too. But I don’t want you out there sleeping around with other guys.” You were stunned for a moment but then imagining the outcome of this. “I don’t know. I get really….. weird when I’m in the mood.” You said recalling the other times you’ve almost gone crazy chasing after your high. “I don’t think straight and I take things too far.”

“I’m okay with whatever you choose as long as you stay.” You could already feel list clouding you senses and you don’t think you couldn’t go without some kind of release tonight. You finally agreed after some time and jisung reassuring you that nothing would change between the both of you and that this was just him helping you out as a friend. He placed his laptop on the coffee table in the living room and pulled up the website “he often uses” he had said. You both sat in the floor in front of it, your backs pressed against the sofa. “What do like to watch?” He turned his head to look at you, while you were staring at the choices on the computer screen, all of the were just regular maleXfemale in missionary. You looked back at jisung almost embarrassed to tell him what you always watch but you do anyways.

“Lesbian” Your voice lower than a whisper. Jisungs eyes got bigger and his dick twitched in his pants. If he wasn’t hard earlier (which he was, seeing you get all needy and beg to let you go out and get dicked down) he was now. He nodded and clicked on the search bar to type it out, and letting you pick which video. You clicked on a video by you favorite creators. A sweet couple, both beautiful, and one of them had the sweetest moans. The video is mostly forplay, one of the girls sucking on her tits and groping her ass and eventually rubbing her middle finger up and down her cunt, making her whimper and grind against her hand. You glanced over at jisung, his arms were crossed and his legs were spread, giving you the perfect view of his hard on. His eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration and his lip tucked between is teeth. He was breathing heavily and you could tell he was just as horny as you were now. “I’ll be right back” you said, abruptly standing up and heading to you room. You returned with a blanket and jisung thought nothing of it, you were probably just cold. But as time went on he noticed a little bit of movement under the blanket right in between your thighs. He was so focused on the slight movements he didn’t notice you were staring at him, not halting your movements even a little. When he did look up and meet your gaze he almost came in his pants. You looked so fucked out already, your lips parted and eyebrows scrunched a little from the pleasure, but what really had him going was the way you were looking at him while you did it. I. Fact your hand sped up once you made eye contact and you looked him up and down. “Touch yourself” you finally said. “I don’t have a blanket” he smirked looking down at your covering. You flung it from off your body and threw it at him. “Here you can have mine” you retorted. His jaw almost hit the floor when his eyes scanned over your body. Your short you were wearing earlier we’re now around your ankles along with your underwear. But what shocked him the most is that the movement under that blanket wasn’t just your hand rubbing your cunt, it was a pink dildo. So that must’ve been why you went to your room.

Even with Jisungs eyes on you, you didn’t stop your movements, still plunging the toy in and out of your dripping cunt. He sat there for a moment, surprised by your boldness. “Jisung” he pulled his eyes away from your body to look at your face. “That looks painful” your eyes trailed down his own body. His eyes followed to where yours were looking, and landed on his crotch, where his jeans have gotten significantly tighter. “Ji please” your voice was airy. You rarely called him that unless you were really desperate and trying to convince him of something. He finally gave in and placed his hand over his bulge and started palming himself through his pants. Letting out a sigh of relief, you were right, it was getting painful. But that only lasted a few minutes before you wanted more. “Take off your pants” It went on like that until his pants and underwear were discarded and joined the pile of your own clothes. He was lazily stroking his cock while staring at the screen. While you were staring and him. His toned thighs, the way his hand wrapped around his length, the precum beading at the tip before he swiped his thumb over it to use as lubricant. It was making your insides flutter. Soon he was aggressively pulling at his cock, trying to relieve the building pressure growing in his lower abdomen. You were fucking yourself at the same pace, attempting to match his movements. You were both getting so close but you just couldn’t seem to fully get there. “Ji…. “ he snapped his head in your direction to see what you needed, only find you with your head thrown back over the couch cushion with your eyes screwed shut and you face contorted in pleasure.

Were you…… moaning his name?

Your eyes slowly opened and your head tilted to look at him one last time before you exploded. “Fuck Ji” you let out a drawn out moan and you whole body convulsed and twitched as the wave of pleasure crashed over you. Jisung couldn’t help but watch as you reached your end, squeezing himself a little harder while thrusting up into his hand while spurts of cum painted his hand and thighs. His hand slowed as he came down from his high even though he was still hard. But you didn’t stop, you kept going even after your orgasm. You arched your back from the overstimulation but kept going while letting out small whimpers. “Not enough” you said quietly, still out of breath. “What do you mean?” Jisung asked, clearly confused. “It’s not enough Ji I need……” your wrist finally slowed and you pulled the toy out of you and set it to the side. You sat up straight and looked into his eyes. “I need you to fuck me Jisung” his eyes widen and his lips parted like he wanted to respond but he couldn’t. “Please” you begged.

He wasn’t about to miss possibly his only chance to be with you.

“I thought you’d never ask” he shot up from his spot on the floor and hovered over you, placing his lips to your neck and his hands on your covered breasts. You moaned as he sucked on the most sensitive spots on your neck and collar bone. He raised your shirt up until it was over your head and thrown across the room. Once you were completely exposed to him he dove into your chest, sucking and licking at your nipple and then moving to give the same attention to the other one. Your fingers were tangled in his hair, gently pulling and urging him to continue. He trailed down your abdomen and lest soft kisses on your inner thighs. After some encouraging from your whines and whimpering he finally licked a long stripe up your center before diving in and sucking on your clit.

“Shit Ji” your back arched and your eyes rolled to the back of your head. His tongue worked wonders on you, pushing in and out of your entrance and nudging you closer to the edge once more. He pushed two fingers inside of you and curled them while roughly sucking on your clit. Your fingers pulled harshly at his hair making him moan. The vibrations shot through your body and your legs began to shake and your body convulsed as your second orgasm hit you hard. Your thighs wrapped around his head and his tongue slowed as you came down from your high.

Before he could even say a word you were pulling him up to you and begging for more. “I need you inside me” you wrapped your legs around his torso and pulled his shirt off of him. “You weren’t kidding when you said you don’t think straight” he smirked down at you. “Do you wanna stop?” You raised your eyebrows at him, daring him to say yes. “No” is all he said. “Good, cause I might cry if we do.” He was about to say something smart but you cut him off by kissing him. Aggressive. Aggressive was the only word to describe it. All teeth and tongue, moaning into each other’s mouth. Desperate to feel something, anything, you placed you hand around his throbbing cock and aligned it with you core, squeezing it slightly. You ground your hips upwards and his tip pressed against your entrance but didn’t quite enter. You were the first one to break the kiss. “Please just put it in Ji” you felt like you would explode if you didn’t release soon. “You’ve tortured me enough tonight”

“Oh not nearly enough” he was smiling ear to ear which worried you.

“Save it for another time”

“There’ll be another time?”

“If you don’t want me going out then yes” apparently that was all it took for him to finally push in, filling you up perfectly. The stretch was amazing, he may not be the biggest guy you’ve been with but he was at least in the top five.

His thrust started out slow but soon sped up, per your request. He was hitting every spot just right, making your toes curl. You ran your hand down his abdomen, he didn’t have abs but he was toned, and the firmness was making you clench around him. With every thrust you could see his muscles clench and unclench, you could hear his heavy breathing and quiet moans. You could see a thin layer of sweat building on his skin, the way his hair was sticking to his forehead and his lips were parted. His eyes were screwed shut, probably trying his hardest not to cum to soon. You never looked so closely at the people you slept with, but now you were taking in every detail of him, drinking in the way he moans your name and holds you so tight. It was so intimate and was going to have you coming for the third time very soon. “Oh my gosh” was all you could get out before you wrapped your arms around his neck and pulling him closer to you, and moaning his name as your walls clamped around him making it hard for him to move. But the tightness made his hips stutter and suddenly he was spilling his seed into you without a warning.

He collapsed on top of you, unable to move as he came back to earth. Your fingers played with his sweaty hair while you both just layer in your living room floor completely naked. “That was the best idea you’ve ever had” you stared at the ceiling until he lifted his head to look at you. “Are you satisfied now?” He asked jokingly. “I could go another round” you answered not so jokingly.

PLEASE READ

First i would like to say THANK YOUUU SO MUCH FOR 200 FOLLOWERS!!!!!!! This is so exciting! And I would also like to apologize for not being active. After the passing of Astro member Moonbin and some personal things happened, I felt like I needed a break from everything. And after this incident I created a twitter and instagram account dedicated to saying kind things about skz. I know people say we can’t help them but I’m sure as hell going to try. They’ll probably never see it and that’s fine but I just want them to know how loved they are. Please I beg you go follow it so it can grow and reach more stays and possibly skz, it’s stayville143 and you can dm that account of something you would like to say about them and I’ll surely post it. I’m so sorry for the long message but I’m tired of seeing these idols lose their lives to hate. And I don’t think I could take it if something happened to any of straykids.

Taglist: @yumiblogs

[formulawolff]

Would love a blurb on this if you can -

gg getting baby fever watching Jack with Toto over a home race weekend… something she hasn’t considered until being with Toto, given we’re in Austria this weekend, I’m in my feels 😂

me thinking about this concept:

here’s a short blurb for you! (and for me too let’s be honest here)

“he asked if we could come by the garage,” susie shoots you a wink, “ever since he figured out papa’s new girlfriend is also his favorite driver, he’s been asking to see you nonstop.”

jack shuffles over to you, a crumpled paper in his hands. he sways on his feet, a bashful grin apparent, “i-i have this for you.”

kneeling to the concrete, you’re at eye-level with the youngest wolff, tenderly accepting the paper out of his hands, “why thank you, jack. that is so kind of you to bring me something!”

“he made it with the nanny,” susie states, fishing her phone out of her pocket, “so god only knows what’s on that paper. i apologize in advance if—“

“daddy!” a squeal catches your attention, your head lifting towards the entrance of the garage.

there stands toto, engulfing his youngest in his arms, hoisting him onto his shoulders. at the massive grin on toto’s face, signature dimples and all, your heart flutters. yet, the team principal’s eyes are on you, his gaze softening the moment your eyes meet.

“guten tag!” susie chirps, “i see jack found you.”

“it was a surprise visit,” a chuckle rumbles in toto’s chest, “i was planning on meeting with some journalist for an ‘exclusive interview’ but they rescheduled for tomorrow. it must not be a pressing matter. so, i had some time and figured i would—“

“come and see your lovely lady?” susie teases, folding her arms across her chest, “you’re not subtle, toto.”

at her remark, you can’t help but notice the crimson hue dusting his cheeks, flourishing into his neck, “well — i, um. yeah. that was my plan. after this quick visit i was going to—“

“meet with us.” susie finishes, her tone light and airy, “well, looks like it all worked out because jack was begging for us to come by the williams garage.”

“would you like some lunch?” toto shifts his body, jack fiddling with his hair, “i was thinking of bringing you some anyway. you need to eat. you have a busy day ahead.”

“how about the three of you all have lunch together?” susie suggests, checking her watch, “my partner is going to be coming in at any moment now, and i need to meet up with her. this is her first grand prix so i want to ensure she has a good time.”

“will you bring her by the paddock?” you arch a brow, jutting out your bottom lip, “pleaseeee susie! i want to meet her!”

“maybe,” susie puckers her lips, “if things are going well, yes. she’s a little nervous. i don’t want to overwhelm her.”

“we’ll handle jack,” toto offers, “we’ll get him some lunch too.”

“thank you,” the corners of her lips curl into a wide grin, “both of you. this means a lot!”

“go get your girl!” you stick out your tongue, “and make sure she comes by the williams paddock!”

“no promises,” susie starts to stroll out of the garage, her voice carrying, “i will try my best!”

taking numerous steps forward, you wrap your arms around toto’s muscular torso, nuzzling into his polo as jack pats your head, giggling.

tilting your head upwards, you can sense toto leaning in instinctively, pursing his lips for a kiss. yet, jack intervenes.

“no kissing! mama says you have cooties.”

“who?” toto inquires, “me? surely i don’t have cooties. you might be the one who has cooties!”

at the raised octave in his voice, you can’t help but melt. keeping jack on his shoulders, toto motions his head towards the mercedes paddock.

“come on, let’s go get some lunch.”

at the playfulness in his interaction with jack, your mind can’t help but wander.

maybe you would want your own child with toto.

or two.

two wouldn’t hurt.

[sjsmith56]

Neighbourly

Summary: Bucky meets the new neighbour but it doesn’t go well at first.

Length: 5.4 K

Characters: Bucky Barnes, OFC (named but not described), OMC (2 named characters, one described, one not)

Warnings: Cursing, Bucky being a bit of grumpy jerk at first, reference to bad marriage, ex-husband makes an appearance, Bucky’s inner voices chew him out a bit.

Author notes: This is quite fluffy.

🪟 💐 🍕

The first time they met was when a big crash from the hallway outside Bucky’s apartment door startled him. Then he heard the swearing even over the sound of his music.

“Fucking shitty paper bag!” yelled the female voice.

He stood at his door looking out the peephole, seeing a woman bent over picking up scattered groceries and muttering. Unlocking his door, he opened it, causing her to glance in his direction.

“Need help?” he asked.

There was a big sigh, then she looked up and hesitated when she made eye contact.

“No, I can handle it.” She bent back over, then looked over her shoulder. “Thanks anyway.”

“Suit yourself,” he replied and closed the door, returning to his book and his music.

The second time they met was about a week later when he heard three knocks on his door. Looking out the peephole he saw the same woman, facing his door. Unlocking his, he opened it and gazed down at her. She swallowed, as if realizing he was bigger than she originally thought, then scratched her head.

“I locked myself out and the super isn’t answering the door or my phone calls. One of the neighbours said you sometimes are willing to climb up the fire escape and … and break in.”

Bucky resisted the urge to smile but folded his arms over his chest.

“What’s in it for me?”

“What?”

“It’ll cost you.”

“How much?”

He shrugged. “How much you got?”

She clamped her mouth shut, as if attempting to stave off something from coming out of it, then shook her head.

“Never mind. I’ll figure something out.”

Turning away she headed for the stairwell, and he closed his door, locking it. That was when he heard the crying, and he slumped against the wall.

“Good going asshole, you made her cry.”

“I was only joking.”

“Yeah, she thought it was hilarious.”

Unlocking his door again, he went to the stairwell where she was sitting on the top step. As she heard him approach, she wiped her eyes with her hands and looked out the window at a building across the street. Silently, he sat next to her and fished out his handkerchief, handing it to her. She took it and wiped her eyes again.

“Sorry, I was trying to be funny, but it wasn’t.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she agreed. “I don’t have much of anything, not even a job, and I burned through a good portion of my savings to move here, which is looking more and more like a stupid decision.”

“Divorce?”

“Something like that.” She sighed. “Can you help me?”

“Yeah, I can. Wait here and I’ll climb up there.”

She nodded and watched as he went down the stairs. A few minutes later, she heard her door open, and she turned around to see him waiting for her in her open doorway. Standing up, she walked towards the big man and entered as he stepped out into the hallway.

“I had to break the lock on your window, so I’ll head to the hardware store and pick up a new one. I can get you a new chain as well, as the one that’s on your door has seen better days.”

“Thank you,” she answered, then she put her hand out. “I’m Brooke.”

He shook her hand, noticing he had forgotten to wear his gloves. “Bucky.”

She nodded, then handed him his handkerchief back and closed the door, locking it. Bucky stood there for a moment, then put his handkerchief back in his pocket. Returning to his apartment he put his jacket and gloves on, and headed to the hardware store, more of a little hole in the wall operated by a bent over old man, Isaac. As the bell over the door tinkled with his arrival, Isaac came out from the back.

“Bucky, what do you need?”

“A new window lock and a door chain,” he replied, letting the old man search the cluttered shelves for them. “How are you, Isaac?”

“You know how it is for us elderly folks,” he chuckled. “Everywhere hurts but I’m not ready to retire so I work through it. Helps to own the building. If I had to pay the going rent for this size of store, I’d have been out of business years ago.”

“Well, I like your store. Reminds me of when I was a kid and I’d do odd jobs, like sweeping the floor, or cleaning out the storeroom.”

“You need a job, Bucky? If you know bookkeeping, I could use your help.”

“No, I’m on call for the Avengers and can’t commit to regular hours,” replied the super soldier. “My new neighbour needs a job. Maybe I should ask her?”

“A lady? Is she pretty?” Isaac peered up at Bucky with his watery eyes.

“Yeah, she is attractive.”

“You should ask her out. That would be neighbourly.”

“I just met her a week ago and I don’t think she’s looking for company,” answered Bucky. “I think she’s going through a breakup.”

The old man hummed. “That’ll be 8 dollars and 47 cents.” He watched as Bucky opened his wallet, taking out a ten-dollar bill. “Faint heart never won fair lady.”

“I’m not a coward, Isaac,” answered Bucky. “I just don’t want to pressure her when I don’t know her story.”

The old man dropped the change into Bucky’s hand and put the lock and chain into a small paper bag.

“So, start with coffee. That’s no pressure.”

“Thanks, I’ll think about it.”

With a wave, he left the store and headed back to his place. It used to be so easy back in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Women wouldn’t leave him alone, especially when he was in uniform. But that was a lifetime ago and he wasn’t the same man. His anxiety made him clam up or say the wrong thing. A lot of women now were also suspicious of a man who came on too strong, usually with good reason. They sweet talked their way into a woman’s life then made her life miserable by trying to control her, equating it with being masculine. He huffed a little, angry at guys who believed in that alpha male shit.

“You’re working yourself up over it again. Let it go.”

He was getting bothered by thinking of it again and breathed deeply as he walked. Soon, he was at the door to his apartment building and headed up the stairs to his floor. Knocking on Brooke’s door he could hear music inside then footsteps before hearing the sound of her looking out the peephole.

“I have your new lock and chain,” he said, holding the bag up.

She opened the door and stepped back as he stepped in.

“Do you have any tools?”

She shook her head, and he headed back to his place, picking up what he needed. The door was ajar, and he stepped inside to see her unpacking a box of books.

“Me again.” He headed over to the window and unscrewed the broken lock, then lined up the new lock. “Do you have any toothpicks or matchsticks?”

“No, why?”

“I put them in the hole of the old screw, just to fill it in a bit and provide something for the new screw to grab onto. I think I have some. Give me another minute.”

He came back with some wood glue, and several toothpicks and broke them in half. He poured some glue into the holes left behind by the old screws, then stuffed the broken toothpicks into the small holes. After he fitted the new lock over it, he screwed it into place, testing it several times.

“There you go, almost as good as new. Now the door chain.”

She smiled at him and kept unpacking the box, although she glanced over several times as he replaced the door chain. When he tested it, he was satisfied and unlatched the new chain, then opened the door.

“All done.”

“How much do I owe you?” she asked.

“I broke the lock so nothing for that,” he said. “As for the chain … have coffee with me sometime. There’s a nice coffee shop about a block away. I just like regular black coffee so I’m a cheap date, even though it wouldn’t be a date. It would just be neighbours catching up on neighbourhood things.”

A slight smile crossed her face and she nodded.

“Okay, I’ll buy you a coffee. Tomorrow morning at 9:30?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he said, smiling. “See you then.” He stopped. “I almost forgot. The owner of the hardware store is looking for a bookkeeper. I said I would ask if you were interested. His name is Isaac and he’s a sweet old man. If you are interested just tell him you’re my neighbour.”

About 15 minutes later Bucky heard Brooke’s door open and close, and footsteps heading towards the stairwell.

“I guess she’s interested in the job.”

That night, Bucky was called for a mission, and he slipped a note under Brooke’s door explaining that he had to go out of town for work, apologizing for missing their coffee date. It would be another week before he saw her again.

When he returned it was late, he was exhausted, and he fell into bed immediately, still in his clothes. It was light when he woke up and he quickly had a shower, then went across the hall and knocked on the door. There was no answer and as he listened carefully, he couldn’t hear any signs of her being there. He went to the coffee shop, but she wasn’t there so he walked past the hardware store, glancing in and saw her at the counter. Opening the door, he stepped inside, the bell on the door announcing his presence.

“You’re back,” she smiled.

“You’re here,” he answered. Then he looked around, noticing the store wasn’t as cluttered as it had been. “What’s happened here?”

“I got the bookkeeper job, then Isaac asked if I could help him organize the store better, so we worked on it all week and this ….” She gestured all around her. “This is what we did. He asked if I wanted to work the counter as well, so I’ve basically got a full-time job now. What do you think?”

Bucky smiled, noticing how excited she seemed to be. “I’m happy for you. You and Isaac obviously hit it off well. Where is he?”

“He’s upstairs in his apartment having a late breakfast. I could call him for you, if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. I was just hoping for that coffee date.”

“The date that isn’t a date, you mean.” She grinned. “Isaac told me you think I’m attractive.”

“I might have said something to that effect.” His face felt warm. “I guess I have to wait until you have a break.”

“Or, we could have a real date.” Now her face was warm. “I kind of owe you for the job. It’s only fair.”

“Tonight?”

“I’m off at 5, and I would like some time to get ready. Pick me up at 6:30?”

“6:30,” he smiled. “Do you like Italian?”

“Love it.”

“Until then.”

He felt a little self-conscious when he left but when he stepped out onto the street, he felt good that somehow, he managed to change a brief coffee date to a real one. Now, all he had to do was get ready. First, he stopped and picked up some flowers. Despite Sam telling him that men didn’t do that these days it was one habit that he really didn’t want to give up. He liked giving women flowers and he thought Brooke might appreciate the sentiment.

Next, what was he going to wear? Right now, his wardrobe was almost exclusively Tshirts, Henley shirts, and well-worn black or blue jeans. He looked down at his scuffed boots. They wouldn’t do. Perhaps a switch to nicer jeans and a button-down shirt would be good. His leather jacket was a little worn as well, so maybe a cloth one would be a good change, especially with the warmer weather. There was a little men’s wear shop on the next block. Perhaps he could go there, tell them what he wanted and not have to spend too much time deciding on colours and styles. When he found himself in front of the shop window, while looking at the mannequins he almost turned around and walked away but a man inside saw him and waved him in. With a deep breath, he opened the door and entered the shop. The man looked him over before speaking.

“Let me guess, you hate shopping for clothing but now you have to attend a special event and you don’t have anything nicer.”

“I have a date.” Bucky’s answer was brief and to the point since his anxiety had already increased. “It’s still casual but these clothes aren’t nice enough for that.”

“I see. What were you thinking?”

“Nicer blue jeans, a button-down shirt, cloth jacket, and nicer shoes than my boots. We’re just going to a little Italian restaurant I like. It’s nothing special but I want to look better than I do now.”

The man studied Bucky as he walked around him. “Do you know your size?”

He shrugged. “I just took what I thought looked right and tried them on. Then I bought extra so I didn’t have to come back. I have issues.”

“Would you allow me to measure you, properly? I promise to make it as quick as possible, but these clothes are a little snug and you want a little give in your clothing for comfort’s sake.”

“I just want solid colours, nothing patterned, or fancy. I’m just an ordinary guy.”

He asked Bucky to remove the leather jacket, then measured quickly around his chest, neck and back. He measured the left arm, noting the firmness of it but not saying anything. Then he measured Bucky’s waist and inseam. Quickly he picked out a couple of button-down shirts, showing them to Bucky, then a pair of dressier jeans and a pair of chinos. Taking them to the dressing room, he left them on the chair and stepped back.

“Try these on. If the shirts are a little snug, we can try a different cut, but I think you’ll like this. The chinos are nice for something a little dressier than jeans but still casual. We can pick out a jacket when you come out as well as a pair of shoes.”

Peeling off his clothes, Bucky put one of the shirts on then pulled the blue jeans on, looking at himself in the mirror. He went out to the front and the man looked at him approvingly.

“Okay, try the chinos.”

With a little sigh to indicate he was approaching his limit for patience; Bucky tried the other shirt and chinos on. Although he liked the feel of the pants’ fabric, they felt even tighter than his normal jeans, plus they were short, barely covering his ankle. It must have been evident on his face because the man found another cut and handed them to him. Reluctantly, he tried them, admitting that he liked the look. When he came out the man was pleased. He had a couple of cloth jackets for Bucky to try, helping to put them on, then stood behind him as the super soldier looked in the mirror, choosing the dark navy one. Finally, he brought several pairs of shoes out, but Bucky didn’t like their look and he didn’t want sneakers. The man brought out a dressier boot which Bucky tried on and nodded.

“I like these,” he said. “Now, tell me truthfully. Do I look good?”

“Yeah, you look really good. You’re a handsome man with a fit body. You should be wearing clothing that emphasizes that. Are you satisfied?”

“Yeah, I am,” smiled Bucky briefly. “I’ll take the jacket, boots, jeans, chinos and both shirts. Might as well have two looks, right?”

“That’s the spirit,” said the man. “Bring everything to the desk once you’ve changed and I’ll ring it up.”

Ten minutes later Bucky was walking home, balancing the flowers and his shopping bags in his hands. it cost more than $300 to update his wardrobe, which was highway robbery. In 1941, $300 would buy him more clothes than his closet could hold. But it wasn’t 1941 anymore, and he really did want to look nice for his date with Brooke.

When he arrived home, he took his new clothes out and hung them up. It would have been nice to wash them first, but the circumstances wouldn’t allow it in the time before he picked Brooke up. Then he took his other clothes off and had a shower, washing and conditioning his hair. When he looked in the mirror after, he wished he had time for a haircut.

“You’re fine. Put some of that product in.”

“Shut up.”

He shaved, for all that was worth as he would have a five o’clock shadow before the end of the night. Then he got dressed, deciding to go with the chinos. As he stood in front of the mirror again with his shirt open, he ran his hand through his hair. When he first got it cut, at that place that specialized in cutting children’s hair and keeping them happy while it was done, the stylist (are there no barbers anymore?) said to put the pomade on dry hair so his hair looked more natural. Gone were the days of slick shiny hair. Now, just about anything went in men’s hair styles except for slicked back, which apparently looked sleazy. Who was he to argue? Rubbing the pomade through his hair just like she told him, he styled it until he was satisfied and washed his hands, then did up his shirt and tucked it into the chinos.

He bought a spray to protect the boots from water damage and sprayed them as instructed on the can, coughing at the chemical smell, then leaving them to dry. The clock on the microwave showed 5:30. He sighed at having to wait another hour and put the TV on, watching the early news, turning it off after 5 minutes because it was all the same thing, trouble in the Middle East, global warming, and crime rates up in the New York area.

“Stop thinking negative thoughts.”

“It’s in my nature to think that after all the shit I’ve been through.”

“But you’re going on a date with a real nice woman. Put some music on.”

He breathed out heavily, then went over to his iPhone and opened it. He found his Benny Goodman playlist and started it, linking it to the Bluetooth speaker he picked up in a clearance bin, turning it up high enough to drown out the stupid voices in his head. Sitting in his armchair, he closed his eyes and let the music distract him, bringing him back to a simpler time. It must have worked because he noticed the clock on the microwave suddenly displayed 6:25. Turning it off, he put his phone in his pants pocket, slipped on his boots, slid a knife down beside his ankle, donned his jacket and picked up the bouquet of flowers. With his door locked, he took the two steps to Brooke’s apartment and knocked. There was no sound. He knocked again. That was when he heard the sound of a restrained whimper, followed by the whispered murmur of a man’s voice, audible only to his enhanced hearing.

“Stay quiet.”

Returning to his apartment he placed the flowers on his counter, then climbed out the window to his fire escape, taking it up to the rooftop. Quickly, he headed to the other side of the building and down the fire escape there, approaching Brooke’s window silently. Instead of coming down the stairs, he climbed on the outside of the landing and let himself drop, using his metal hand to grasp the railing, while his feet quietly slotted onto the open grate of the platform. Climbing over, he peeked in the window but didn’t see anything. Checking the window lock that he just installed the week before, he found it still locked, so the man obviously didn’t enter this way. He must have come in through the door. Pulling his knife out he carefully jimmied the lock without breaking it. Thank goodness for some of his assassin skills. Quietly, he lifted the window up and climbed into the kitchen, slipping off the boots so he didn’t make a sound. Calming himself, he listened for sounds then heard it; Brooke’s worried voice begging the man not to hurt her.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Brooke. Did I ever hurt you before? No, that’s not the type of man I am. I’m going to take you home. The city is too dangerous for you. If I can break in, anyone can.”

“No, I won’t go with you. We’re done, Ray. The papers were signed.”

“Don’t care. We promised til death us do part and I’m holding you to it, regardless of what some piece of paper says. Now pack.”

While the conversation was happening Bucky silently stepped closer to Brooke’s bedroom, until he was just outside the door. He pulled his cell phone out and dialled Brooke’s number; later he could explain why he had it, since she didn’t give it to him. It rang in the bedroom and the man picked it up, seeing the (unknown) as the number.

“Who is it?” Ray asked, angry.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Let me answer it.”

“No funny stuff,” he warned.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded in Bucky’s ear. “Hello? Who is this?”

“Bucky. Hit the floor.”

She looked at the phone and dropped while he leaped in and tackled the man, knocking him against the wall. Straddling him, Bucky grabbed the handgun the man was holding and turned it against him, aiming it at his forehead. Slowly, Brooke stood up, approaching Bucky and the man.

“My ex, Ray,” she said. “He found out where I lived, picked the lock on the door and was waiting for me when I got home from work.”

“Are you okay?” asked Bucky, without taking his eyes off Ray. “Did he hurt you?”

“Who are you? Brooke, who is this guy?”

She smiled. “My neighbour. He’s an Avenger. Perhaps you’ve heard of him, Bucky Barnes and no, he didn’t hurt me.”

“The Winter Soldier?” Bucky pressed the gun into the man’s forehead, shaking his head. “Are you going to kill me?”

“If Brooke wants me to,” he answered. “What do you say? I can take him out permanently and make it look like a suicide.”

“As tempting as your offer is, no,” she answered, then she dialled 911 on her phone. “I would like to report the breaching of a protection order. My ex-husband broke into my apartment and attempted to abduct me at gunpoint. My neighbour came to my rescue, but I need a couple of officers to take my ex into custody. I wish to press full charges.” She gave them her address, then sat on the bed. “They’re on their way. How did you get my number?”

“I checked you out,” answered Bucky. “Had a hunch you were leaving a bad situation. I can delete it if you want.”

She smiled. “No, keep it, but I get yours in return. Did you have reservations?”

“Yeah, but if you take my phone, you can change them to a later time, if you still want to go out.” She reached into his pocket, held it to his face to unlock it, and found the email confirming the reservation. Calling them, she changed it to an hour later. “You knew who I was.”

“Your left hand was visible when we shook hands. I kind of checked you out, too. Isaac said you were a kind man.”

Ray squirmed. “Wait, you were going out on a date? With him?”

They both looked at him as if he was rudely interrupting and he shut up, still looking at the gun in Bucky’s hand as if it would go off at any moment.

“You look nice,” said Brooke. “You dress up well.”

“I kind of went overboard and bought some new clothes,” replied Bucky, glancing at her. “You didn’t get a chance to get ready.”

“No, jackass here was all over me.”

“I’m not a jackass. Brooke, I love you.”

“No, you don’t, Ray. You wanted a mommy to look after you and cater to your every whim. I wanted a man who pulled his own weight and didn’t make me feel like a prisoner in my own home.” There was a knock on the door. “That should be the police. You can let him up now.”

She left and Bucky stood up, emptied the gun and put it on the bed, before offering Ray a hand.

“Leave her alone, Ray. Let her have her own life.”

“With you?”

“If that’s what she wants. I’m just her neighbour and maybe her friend. Whether it goes further than that will be up to her. But if I see you anywhere near her again, I’ll make it my business.”

He pushed Ray ahead of him, then alerted the officers that the gun was unloaded and on the bed. While one cuffed Ray the other went and retrieved the gun, placing it in an evidence bag. Brooke swore out the complaint, then thanked the officers as they left with her ex-husband. She looked at her watch.

“I’ll be ready in 15 minutes, if you want to wait for me,” she said.

“Yeah, just let me grab something from home,” said Bucky, pulling his boots back on. “I’ll be back right away.”

She left the door unlocked for him while he returned for the bouquet of flowers which still looked fresh. Letting himself in, Bucky looked for a vase in the kitchen, filling it with lukewarm water and pouring the plant food in, using a long spoon to stir it until it dissolved. Then he cut the ends of the plants off with his knife and arranged the flowers, bringing the vase into Brooke’s living room and placing them on the coffee table. He went back to the kitchen to lock the window he jimmied, checking it was still securely fastened. Brooke walked into the living room, putting a sweater on as she walked, and stopped at the sight of the flowers, while Bucky entered from the kitchen.

“You got me flowers,” she stated, seeming surprised.

He shrugged as he looked at the arrangement. “I always brought my dates flowers before the war. It’s old fashioned, I know.”

“I like it. Thank you.”

She beamed at him.

“Damn, she’s cute when she smiles.”

“You’re welcome. Shall we?”

She allowed him to open the door and walked out into the hallway first, as he followed her. Taking her keys out she locked it, then looked at the lock, remembering her ex-husband broke in.

“I can put a new lock in,” he said, taking a closer look at what she had. “These are relatively easy to pick. I can get you one that’s better.”

“Could you pick it?”

Shyly, Bucky smiled. “Probably. But I won’t, unless you want me to.”

“I’ll give you a key, since you’re a good neighbour.”

“I promise to use it only when necessary.”

They walked down the stairs, then he opened the door, letting her out ahead of him. Placing himself between Brooke and the street, Bucky offered her his arm and she took it. They didn’t talk on the short walk to the restaurant, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable for either of them. Once there the hostess seated them right away and asked if they wanted drinks. Bucky chose a beer, while Brooke chose a white wine. After studying the menu, they made their food choices, then waited for their drinks to be served.

“So, do you date much?” she asked.

“No. I think you’re maybe the third date I’ve had since I moved in to that flat.”

“I find that hard to believe,” she smiled. “I mean, you’re so charming at first acquaintance.”

She said it with a straight face then started to laugh. Bucky smiled with her, as their drinks arrived.

“Touché. I was kind of grumpy that day. I am really sorry that I made you cry. That was inexcusable.”

“You made up for it quickly,” answered Brooke. “Especially today. Although, I may have to move now that Ray knows where I live.” She sighed. “I signed a six-month lease as well.”

“I don’t think he’ll bother you again.” Bucky drank his beer. “I kind of told him if he showed his face around you, I would know and make it my business. That wasn’t too presumptuous, was it?”

She sipped her wine and shook her head. “No. I hope that’s just you being neighbourly.”

“It is. Once I update that lock on your door, I can also talk to a friend about a security system,” he said.

“Another Avenger?”

“Yeah, but he knows that stuff and would do it as a favour. You would just have to promise not to reveal his identity.”

“I’m good at secrets.” She smiled, sipping her wine, then looked towards the kitchen as the server brought their food. “This looks good.” She noticed the size of his pizza. “You going to eat all that?”

Bucky nodded. “High metabolism. Means I burn through food quicker.”

“Aah, that explains why you’re grumpy sometimes.” He paused, holding the first piece in midair. “You get hangry.” He shook his head, confused. “Hungry and angry, hangry. It started out as a pop culture term used by a certain chocolate bar for their commercials but apparently scientists have confirmed that a combination of low blood sugar and the hormones released when your stomach is empty can make you feel irritable.”

“Is she serious?”

“Seriously?”

Brooke nodded, then smiled. “We’ve all been there. I might have been a bit hangry myself, at the time. I don’t usually cry in front of strangers, which you were then.”

“And now?”

She looked at him seriously. “You’re a good neighbour who’s quickly approaching the friendship line.”

It was strange how good that made Bucky feel. His friendships were few and far between, usually forged over many weeks of acquaintanceship and shared experiences. All of his stronger friendships were with men, like Sam, and Isaac. Yori had been a friend, but still hadn’t spoken to Bucky since he confessed to killing the man’s son when he was the Winter Soldier. Leah … well, she was an acquaintance who pulled back as well, after he told Yori.

“Hey, are you still with me, Bucky?” asked Brooke. “You kind of went somewhere else for a moment.”

“Yeah, sorry,” he smiled, then picked up another piece of pizza. “I don’t have many friends. It wasn’t exactly a skill that my captors wanted me to retain. I’ll try not to disappoint you.”

“You won’t.”

They talked of many things during their meal, and on the walk home, as Bucky carried Brooke’s take-out container of her leftovers. When they finally got up to her door and she unlocked it, Bucky handed the container to her.

“Should I kiss her?”

“No, you’re not even fully at the friend stage yet.”

“But I have to do something, and a handshake isn’t enough.”

“You’re somewhere else again,” said Brooke, looking up at him.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Just arguing with myself over whether a kiss goodnight is too much but a handshake isn’t enough.”

“I see.” She looked up at him. “Well, a kiss would make it weird and quite frankly, so would a handshake. How about a hug, a quick one?”

Without waiting for an answer, Brooke quickly wrapped her arms around Bucky’s shoulders and hugged him. He barely had time to put his arms around her back before she was pulling away, but she was right. It was better than a handshake and a kiss would have made it weird. With a nod of his head, he went to his door and unlocked it. They both waved, a little self-consciously, then stepped into their apartments and locked the doors. Strangely enough, they both leaned against the wall just inside their doors and wondered if perhaps someday a kiss would feel just right.

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One Shots Masterlist

[cakerybakery]

To further the After Eden idea of Lucifer/Lilith/Adam/Eve having adventures on untamed Earth.

I would give Adam an axe as a weapon/tool. He’d be more the fighter/protector of the group as one of the strongest in it. He’d use it of course for normal axe stuff, chopping wood, makeshift hammer, can’t think of a third thing. But also against wild animals trying to eat them. Plus he uses a guitar or axe as a weapon in the show so it’s fitting.

He’s a bit more likely to stick around camp when they make camp. He’ll explore with everyone else but he’s not prone to going off alone, at least not very far. He was created to be the first man and protector, it makes him uneasy if he can’t quickly get back to the group he low key thinks of as his to keep safe. But he has a disproportional sense of danger.

He’s over confident in himself and under confident in everyone else. He lacks a sense of danger about terrain, particularly if they’re in a group as he’s overly confident he can keep them safe from a few rocks or a little bit of water. But if someone is doing something by themselves, even mildly dangerous, it freaks him out.

A half rotting log over a river? It’s fine. Eve in a tree? PANIC!!

Eve I think would have a cast iron pot. Lucifer used a good deal what was left of his power to make it for her. It’s heavy but she won’t let anyone carry it for her as she feels it’s special since Lucifer had to use up so much of his powers to make it. It helps keep them all fed as she now can make stews or boil oats, roast foods too. It’s more versatile than just roasting on a stick or eating things raw. If she figures out bread she could make some in it too. Plus it packs a wallop.

She’s a bit of a gather by nature and does tend to wander off or climb stupidly high just to reach possible food. Adam practically has a full time job keeping an eye on her. He is easily goaded into getting things for her when he says that’s it’s too dangerous.

“But I need that fruit for breakfast tomorrow. I’m sure my big strong protector can get it for me if it’s too dangerous for little old me.”

“Darn rights I can! Just watch me!” … “wait, how did I get in this tree??”

Lilith would rather avoid danger at all costs, not just for the group as a whole but to avoid putting Lucifer in a position that might trigger his anxiety. She carries a spear/trident. Mostly it gets used for fishing. I’m not sure which I prefer she has so I’m thinking she has both. She tried to use a spear for fishing but the fish too easily slipped off so she and Eve developed the trident to hook fish. But the spear is better for protection. She uses a sharp rock for the spear as it lasts longer in a fight but the trident is wooden and carved since that’s easier to replace or fix if she smashes it against a rock trying to fish.

She thinks Adam is too protective. She can take care of herself, thank you very much, and so can Eve. They don’t need Adam hovering all the time. And then immediately hovers over her tiny husband.

Lucifer doesn’t really want a weapon. He’s just as strong as Adam, having been reduced to a mere mortal man (mostly). Which is still hella strong as the only mortal man is Adam, he just doesn’t look it and is incredibly weak compared to how he was as an angel.

He has a bow and arrow, he was a cherubim according to one version of the bible and in modern times we tend to associate cherubs with cupid and bows and arrows so I thought it was fitting. It also gives him a long distance attack which I think would be similar enough to his angelic powers that he’s more comfortable with it than Lilith’s spear or Adam’s axe.

Most of his powers have been reduced to some fire starting and mild healing. He tends to be more of a support role.

Adam looks at him and goes, “you’re a tiny guy, you should stay here with Eve.”

Lilith looks at him and goes, “you’re too sensitive for this, why don’t you sit this one out.”

Eve looks at him and goes, “do it anyways.” Partly to get him out of her ‘kitchen’ and partly because she knows he’s not as weak and helpless as the other two think. He’s an angel for goodness sake, wings or no wings. He’s just as strong as Adam, he has some of his powers left, he’s way more resilient than the three of them, and he’s not going to get better mentally if everyone treats him like some delicate little flower.

It’s one thing not to purposely upset Lucifer, it’s another to act like they can shelter him from the fact that Earth is wild and dangerous and they will on occasion be in danger and they’ll get hurt, this is what they signed up for when they decided to tell heaven to fuck off.

And because I forgot this bit last time. Lilith and Lucifer are married. Adam and Eve are married. But Adam and Lilith sleep with both Lucifer and Eve but not each other, much. At least not one on one and she doesn’t want to get pregnant by Adam so that’s 100% out. Lucifer and Eve sleep with Adam and Lilith, but not each other, much. They’re more a friends with benefits type thing.

[noopienoopiernoopiest]

Leo Knut - #1 - A Terrible Idea

Day One: @noots-fic-fests - Fic-O-Ween. Thanks as always to @lumosinlove

Rated: G

CW: Food

Warning: Vaincre Spoilers

Leo liked to think that he was a good partner.

He was always there to lend a hand when Finn or Logan needed it. He was always available for kind word or a big hug. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his two.

And this was simple.

Should have been simple.

Their families had decided on various different plans for American Thanksgiving, and the three of them had decided that more than anything they wanted to spend it together. The ink was barely dry on Logan’s contract with the Rangers, and they knew now that for the next four years, this was going to be one of the few times during the season that none of them would have a game and get to see one another. As luck would have it, Logan had played an early home game Wednesday against the Penguins and had driven down to Gryffindor early. By the time Finn and Leo were done with their game against Montreal, he was there.

Leo wanted everything to be perfect. And perfect for Thanksgiving meant a dinner. A good one. The best one.

He’d done Thanksgiving dinner more times than he could count, but he’d always had his mama and her sisters as back up. Wyatt had surprised Eloise with a trip to Bali, so she was half a world away and without a phone. This was the first time he was attempting it all on his own.

Still, it shouldn’t be too complicated. It was just a lot of simple dishes all together at once. How difficult could it really be?

“Are you sure you want to do all this, Soleil?” Logan had asked, taking in all of the various groceries and prep that had taken over their kitchen by the time he got there.

“I already tried to talk him out of it,” Finn said, putting his chin on top of Logan’s head. “He said—”

“It’s a tradition. Besides, I want to do it for you,” Leo said, ignoring Finn.

“Exactly.”

“Is there anything we can—” Logan started again.

“Our instructions are to go to the living room and stay out of his hair,” Finn replied dutifully, nodding.

Logan’s eyebrows pulled together. “But I want to see you, Leo.”

Leo smiled. “You’ll see me plenty afterward. I promise.”

“But it’s, like, ten in the morning. Are you really going to start cooking now?”

Finn snorted. “Lo, he started like three days ago.”

Leo came up to both of them, kissing Finn’s cheek and then Logan’s forehead. “Trust me, it’ll all be worth it.”

That had been six hours ago.

Now, it looked as if a battle had been waged in the kitchen. Leo was usually pretty militant about organization while he was cooking, but that had been before his gravy had broken for the third time and he’d managed to scorch the rice and beans and had to start them over.

He was frantically trying to keep the cheese sauce from splitting and trying to figure out exactly how he was going to fit in three pans of various vegetables into the oven in the last thirty minutes of the turkey cooking.

“Baby, do you need—”

“I’m fine, Fish.”

“…You don’t seem—”

“Fine, Finn.”

“Are you s—”

“Finnegan.”

And then a few minutes later. Leo had his back to the doorway, but he could feel someone lingering there. It had to be Logan. Finn would have already started talking.

“Tremz, not now. I’ll be done soon.”

He couldn’t understand why they didn’t understand he was doing this for them. It had been effort. Lots and lots of effort over days of work. Baking pies and preparing bread, stewing turkey giblets and necks for stock that underpinned the gravy and the stuffing. Planning the menu, the grocery lists, the shopping. Weaving all of that in between practice and games and travel and everything else. It was almost done if they could give him an hour it’d be finished and he could relax.

He didn’t even turn around. He heard a sigh and the shuffling of feet and that was it.

Leo tried to distract himself from the lead weight in his stomach with mashing potatoes and pulling the stuffing from the oven, but it was there anyway.

And then, finally, it was done. The table was set.

Finn and Logan were both silent when they sat down.

“Looks great,” Finn said quietly.

“Ouais, Soleil.”

They made their plates, and Leo was finally ready to sit back and enjoy the fruits of all that labor.

And then tragedy struck.

Well, tragedy had started three days earlier when he’d decided to salt brine the turkey. Salt and baking powder. Salt and single action baking powder.

Finn reached for his napkin, discreetly trying to make a gagging noise without being rude.

It wasn’t the kind of mistake he made. But he did. The turkey looked perfect.

Logan winced, but kept chewing, swallowing determinedly.

As soon as he put it in his mouth, he could tell it wasn’t perfect. It couldn’t have been farther from perfect.  

Single action baking powder. Not double. Double would make it…

Taste like metal. Like baking soda.

Suddenly, Leo was aware of the wreck in the kitchen behind him, the sweat and stains on his T-shirt, the reserved, cowed expressions on their faces.

If it hadn’t already tasted vile, it would have tasted like ash anyway.

He wasn’t aware of the tears before they started to fall.

“Excuse me,” Leo said before leaving the table.

He just made it to the bathroom before the crying really started. What was he doing? He’d spent all day on this, and for what? He turned on the sink and wetted his hands, pressing cool water to his cheeks. He studied his red eyes in the mirror. His hair was frizzy, and he looked tired.

There was a gentle knock at the door before it was pushed open and Logan was there, pulling him into his arms, and the tears started again.

“Shhh, Soleil. It’s okay. It’s okay,” he soothed. It didn’t matter that Leo was six inches taller than him, in an instant, Leo folded himself into his chest and let himself cry.

“I’m sorry. God. I’ve been the worst,” Leo snotted.

“Non. No. Leo, no. It’s alright. You were stressed. We know that. We know you wanted it to be good for us.”

“This was a terrible idea,” Leo said.

“It wasn’t. Shh. It wasn’t. You always try to make everything so good for us. Finn and I know that.”

“And you’re not here that long!? You’re leaving tomorrow and I spent all day snapping and distracted,” Leo continued to rant.

“Peanut, look at me,” Logan pulled back, using the sleeve of his too long sweatshirt to wipe at Leo’s face. Leo was sure he looked a mess.

Logan didn’t seem to care. He offered Leo a small smile.

“You’re okay. It’s okay. We love you, Leo. It’s so good that you want to do things for us, Peanut, but it’s all okay. I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Logan said, nodding his head like that was all there was to it.

Maybe it was.

“Okay, folks. Good news. There’s Thanksgiving pizza arriving in t-minus seven minutes,” Finn said coming in the doorway. “Everything else is delicious and who even likes turkey anyway? Worst poultry in my opinion,” Finn sniffed. 

Leo couldn’t do anything but pull him into their hug.

---

Afterward, after Finn and Logan tackled the kitchen and Leo was showered and snuggled into Finn’s oldest Harvard crewneck, Leo thought that it had been perfect anyway. Perfect as they’d laughed watching Finn try to combine cheese pizza and cranberry sauce, perfect as Logan balled up pieces of rolls and put them in the hood of Finn’s sweatshirt for him to find later.

Now they were all crammed on the couch. It was big enough for all of them, but each of them preferred to gather at one end and invade one another’s space. Leo’s head on Finn’s shoulder, breathing in Logan’s cologne as they watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

And Leo was so grateful for them.

“Thank you,” he said quietly into Logan’s hair.

Logan didn’t say anything, just reached up to kiss temple.

Leo figured it maybe wasn’t what he’d expected, but maybe that was exactly what made it better.

[tinybeetiny]

Disrespected Part 2 Alternate Ending: P.S

NonIdol!SeonghwaXafab!readerXnonIdol!Soobin

So a lot of this will be a little bit of a repeat of the other ending… but a lot will be different I hope you enjoy it anyways 🙂 thank you @n1nme4r I’m happy I can give an alternative ending where she doesn’t forgive him because same

Angst

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Cw: explicit language

Part 1 Part 2 Happy Ending

Masterlist | Ateez Masterlist

Seonghwa paced around his bedroom trying to figure out how to apologize to you. Nothing could excuse what he did and how he treated you, but he had to try. He had to think of some way to make this right. He loves you, he really does and he can’t explain why he did what he did and there’s no excusing it. He’s just hoping he can fix it before it’s too late.

He raised a shaky hand to your door, hesitating for a second before finally knocking. What if you weren't home? What if you didn't forgive him? What if you found someone else? What i- his thoughts were cut off by the door opening. You feel your eyes widen at the sight in front of you. The bags under Seonghwa's eyes were very prominent and he was wearing his lazy day sweatpants. "What are you doing here?" you ask crossing your arms "I um I just wanted to uh I" Seonghwa started to stutter, you couldn't help but look at him like he was stupid. He let his friends insult you, HE insulted you and now he's here at your door blubbering like a fish "ummm... I'm just going to close the door" you say as you awkwardly start to close the door "wait" he shouts and next thing you know his arms are wrapped around your waist, his face buried into your tummy "I'm sorry Angel, I'm so fucking sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me but fuck, I fucked up really bad. I hurt you in ways I never wanted. I don't think you're boring at all and I am so so fucking sorry about ditching you on our movie night. You're so perfect, a literal Angel and I'm so sorry for not treating you as such" Seonghwa was on his knees begging you to forgive him but the damage was already done "Seonghwa, you do realize that that wasn't the first time you ditched me right? You did it during our café date, our picnic date, and on our year anniversary. If I bored you that much why didn't you just end things instead of hurting me?" you questioned pushing him off you

"Please Angel, give me another chance. Let me make this up to you. I never thought you were boring, I should have never let them talk about you like that, I should've defended you. Please, I will do literally anything you ask, I just want to make this up to you" he whimpered, tears streaming down his face. You just stood there contemplating, you loved him a lot but he hurt you more than anyone ever has and you definitely didn't want to go through that again. You sigh as you take a step back in your apartment and he looks up at you with hopeful eyes “Look Seonghwa i appreciate you coming over and apologizing but I just don’t see us working things out or getting back together” his heart shatters at your words, he was hoping you’d at least be willing to talk things out “No no no no please Angel, please. I will do ANYTHING please don’t this. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry. I swear I’ll treat you right. I’ll drop my friends. I’ll tell them to apologize too. Tell me what I need to do please” he was sobbing at this point but for some reason, you don’t feel bad. You spent so many nights in his place, wasted so many tears, worried for him when you didn’t need to, and you were done. “There’s nothing to do. No more chances. If I’m being completely honest, this relationship should’ve been over a long time ago but I held on because I thought things would get better, YOU would get better. I don’t want you to drop your friends, I don’t want you to force them to apologize to me, I want you to leave and let me be. I want you to leave and live your life like you always do, without me. It should be a lot better now that I’m not being a bore to you” and with that, you shut the door leaving Seonghwa to wallow in his sadness.

In the weeks that followed Seonghwa continued to try and win you back but failed every single time. You don’t know how many gifts, flowers, or notes you’ve thrown away. Sometimes you think about keeping some just because of how nice they are… but wouldn’t that just encourage him? You didn’t want that. You finally blocked his number seeing as ignoring his thousands of texts and calls wasn’t enough. Seonghwa was in shambles, he finally realized he couldn't smooth talk his way back in anymore. The guys finally stopped talking bad about you when he snapped, yelling at Wooyoung for making some comment about the way you were dressed. He didn't mean to make a scene but he couldn't take it anymore. "She's trying to dress cute now? How much of an attention whore can you be?" Wooyoung cackled as Mingi and Yunho laughed along "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" the voices in the courtyard seised and everyone turned to look at the group at their round table. Seonghwa stood feeling his hands shake with anger "Woah, what's your problem?" Wooyoung was confused as to where this was all coming from "YOU! You're my fucking problem. All you do is run your mouth" At this point both boys were up and at each other’s throats “Don’t give me shit when you’re the one that started this all. ‘I don’t even like my own girlfriend’ isn’t that what you said? The same exact words. Didn’t Hongjoong tell you it was wrong to talk so bad about her? So don’t try and act all high and mighty now” Wooyoung spat before snatching his bad up and storming away with San at his heels. When Seonghwa turned to leave he saw you standing there, eyes widened in shock. He watches as your friends whispers something in your ear before dragging you way from the scene

A few months went by and Seonghwa still held onto the hope that you would change your mind even after everything that happened, but you never did. He would see you around campus from time to time, laughing and smiling with your friends, never sparing him a second glance. “Dude why are staring at her? Are you still not over her!?” He barely heard Yunho right beside him, too engrossed in following your movements, seeing who you interacted with and how you interacted with them. Confusion seeps in when he sees Choi Soobin approaching you, two coffee in hand. The confusion soon turns into jealousy when he sees Soobin hand you one of the coffees watching as your eyes widen for a moment, the anger steps in when he sees a soft smile spread on your face, your eyes twinkling the tiniest bit. “Umm Hwa, you’re about to snap your pen in half… and I don’t think you want ink all over the place” Seonghwa looks down to his clenched fist “shut the fuck up San” he seethes gathering his things and storming off, the group of friends just stare at his figure as he walks away.

Seonghwa’s head was full of questions. Since when did you talk to Soobin? Since when did Soobin bring you coffee? Since when do you drink HOT coffee? He didn’t understand. He thought he was making some progress, especially when you made eye contact with him the other day and held his gaze for 2 seconds. But boy was he wrong, little did he know you were searching for Soobin who was conveniently standing a few feet behind him. He felt his hope dwindle when he had heard from Yunho’s girlfriend, whose brothers girlfriends cousin was friends with one of your friends, that you had a date tonight. An actual date!

He didn't know what he was thinking but here he was dressed in a black hoodie and sweatpants, sitting a few tables down watching you laugh with Choi fucking Soobin. It didn't help that this was the same restaurant he brought you to on your year anniversary. The same restaurant he left you at to go to the bar with his friend. Now you’re here with another man looking happier than you ever did with him. He watched as the date came to an end and when you stood up to leave you made eye contact with Seonghwa. Your face changed from happy to irritation, Soobin placed a hand on your should confused to your sudden mood change. Seonghwa stood to make a hasty exit but he had to pass you two in order to leave. Soobin gave him a little nod when he brushed past them but he couldn’t even look at you two.

As Seonghwa sat in his room alone he could help but think about how happy you looked without him, with someone else. He finally accepted that you were never coming back to him and that someone else was giving you everything that he never did. Soobin’s friends absolutely adored you and he has nothing but amazing things to say about you. You were a little cautious at first just with everything you had gone through but it was like night and day with the two relationships, you finally felt appreciated and loved.

[immeasurablesaladagere]

ur doing gods work for the house md agere community we salute u 🫡 can we please get a little!chase fic w/ cg!wilson ?

Lil Chase, my beloved. Little content warning for Chase's backstory and his feelings about it, this one's a bit angsty, but happy ending with cg Wilson fluff to make the medicine go down :)

*pats head of Chase* This kid can fit so many mommy issues.

-----

Word Count: 1983

Summery: Wilson gets a call from Chase after-hours. He needs a pickup from a bar after his regression is triggered by something that reminds him of his past, and he's unable to get himself home.

-----

Just as Wilson was about to sit down on the couch to enjoy a night of pizza, beer, and watching the game, his phone rang. He groaned. So close.

“Popular with the babes, are we?.” House said, mouth full of pizza and distracted by football.

“It’s probably work. I can’t just have one night to myself, can I?” He grumbled, fishing his phone out from his coat pocket. He liked to keep it out of sight when he was off work, but it always came back to haunt him anyway.

“Cancer babes then, even better.”

“Cancer babes? God, you’re terrible.” It amazed him sometimes just how often House came up with new ways to violate the most basic forms of decency. After over a decade of friendship he figured he would be desensitized to it by now. As much as he wanted to let the phone ring out, he knew that if it was the hospital he needed to pick up, so he answered it. “Hello, this is James Wilson?”

The other end of the line was filled with background noise. “Hey Wilson, it’s Chase.”

Huh. Chase wasn’t working that night, as far as he knew, and it didn’t sound like he was in the hospital. Maybe it wasn’t a work call after all? 

“To what do I owe the pleasure? Are you looking for House?” He didn’t think he remembered House’s phone going off, but maybe he had put it on do-not-disturb to avoid talking to people. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Uh… No, not— Well, kind of. I um… Could you pick me up from the bar?” Chase’s voice was strange and unsteady, almost lost to the noise that Wilson now knew was rowdy-bar ambiance. Wilson’s confusion must have shown on his face, because House raised a curious eyebrow at him from the couch.

“Who is it?”

Chase, he mouthed silently. “I… guess so? Can’t you call a taxi?”

There was a bit of shuffling before he responded. “No.” He didn’t elaborate any further.

“And why not?”

“Because I…” Chase made a choked sound that sounded almost like a whine, “Because I’m kinda regressing and I-I can’t—“ His voice was wavering, “I just need to go home. Please.”

Oh. There was no way Chase would choose to regress in a bar which meant it had been triggered somehow, and a bar was probably the worst place Chase could be if he was little.

“Oh yeah, okay. Okay. I’ll come get you.” He grabbed his coat and tugged it on, “Are you in a safe place right now?”

“…Think so, I’m in a booth by myself. I wanna go home.”

“I know you do, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Which bar?”

“Milly’s.”

It wasn’t far. He could probably get there in twenty minutes, maybe fifteen if he drove quickly. “Okay. Stay where you are, I’ll come find you. Try to stay big until I get there, alright?”

“Okay…”

He hung up and grabbed his keys from the bowl on the entry table. 

House paused the TV. “One of the ducklings?” He asked with a knowing look.

“Something set Chase off and he’s regressed at a bar. I’m going to pick him up.” He tugged on his shoes.

“And let me guess, we’re babysitting tonight, then?”

“I’m not just going to leave him at his apartment by himself, House.”

House nodded and stood up, grabbing the unopened beer bottles with his free hand. “I didn’t think you would. I’ll get rid of these, go get the kid.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right back.”

-

He managed to make it to Milly’s without a speeding ticket. It was a Friday night, so he wasn’t surprised to see that that bar was packed, overflowing out the front doors as drunk college students stumbled in and out. He could hear the obnoxiously loud music from outside, and air inside was stuffy and smelled like weed. He sure was a long way from his partying days… God he felt old. He pushed his way to the back of the bar, scanning for Chase until he eventually he spotted his blonde hair tucked into the corner of one of the furthest booths where the crowd had thinned to old men drinking alone.

Chase didn’t look great. He was hunched over and looking around anxiously, but he also didn’t look entirely present. Something had obviously scared him, but he would have to wait to find out what.

Wilson approached the booth slowly. “Chase?” He had to shout to overpower the volume of the bar, but he tried to make it as unthreatening as possible.

The second Chase recognized him, he shot up out of his seat and instantly latched onto his jacket sleeve. “Wanna go.” He said urgently. 

He refused to make eye contact, staring hard at the floor, and he clung to Wilson’s back the entire walk back out to the car. It took some light prompting to get him to let go, but once he did Wilson guided him into the passenger seat and buckled him in before getting in himself.

It was painfully silent as they pulled away from the bar and started back towards his and House’s apartment. Wilson’s mind was whirring with questions and possible scenarios that could’ve lead Chase to this. It was unsettling to see a little who was usually happy and sweet reduced to staring blankly out the passenger window. But Chase would talk if he was ready, he reminded himself.

After a few minutes Chase seemed to rouse slightly, taking notice of their surroundings. “Where are we going?” He asked quietly. His voice was high-pitched and soft, a tell-tale sign that he was regressed completely.

“I’m taking you back to mine and House’s place. We’re going to look after you tonight, is that alright?”

“Don’t have to, I’ll be okay.” Chase muttered, looking uncomfortable. It was better than staring off into the void.

“I know you will, but it would make me feel better if you stayed with us.” 

Chase seemed to consider this, then shrugged slightly and tucked his knees up to his chest in the seat. “Okay.”

Wilson didn’t have the heart to tell him not to sit like that, so he just let him be. He was about to turn on the radio when Chase spoke again.

“…She looked like Mum.” 

Wilson winced. “Who did, buddy?”

“A lady at the bar. She looked like Mum.” Chase sniffled.

Well, there was his answer. Chase hadn’t disclosed every detail of his past to him and House, but he knew that his mother was a neglectful alcoholic for most of his life. It made sense that seeing someone that looked like her getting drunk at the bar would upset him.

Wilson reached across the centre console and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, rubbing small, comforting circles as best he could while keeping his eyes on the road. He didn’t know what to say, and he didn’t like not knowing what to say. Between him and House, it was his job to be good at the “emotional, mushy side”, as House would so-lovingly call it. He was good at comfort, he was good at kind words and fixing boo-boos, but when it came to this… 

“I’m sorry, Robbie...” 

They stayed like that until they drove into the parking lot, and then Chase kept a firm grip on his jacket until they got up to the apartment.

“We’re back!” Wilson called, shutting the door.

House hobbled out from the living room carrying a stack of folded pyjamas with a stuffed dog balanced on top like it was sitting, both from the bin of supplies they kept for situations like this one, and held it out to Chase. “Here. Go change and come back, we’ll find you a movie to watch or something.”

Chase hesitantly took them and silently shuffled off to the bathroom.

“So, what’s wrong with him? Kiddie usually only looks that miserable when he’s an adult.”

Wilson rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. “He saw a drunk woman in the bar who looked like his mom, apparently.” He said in a hushed voice, “You should’ve seen him earlier, he was just staring off at nothing.”

He walked to the living room and threw his jacket over the back of the armchair, and to his surprise, the living room was completely different than when he’d left. The alcohol was gone, but it was also slightly cleaner. A small stack of children’s movie DVD’s sat on the coffee table, and there was a small pile of snacks beside them. “Huh. I didn’t think you were so proactive.”

House gasped in mock-offence and sat on the couch. “How dare you? I take my roll as part-time babysitter very seriously.”

“Sure.” 

He went to the kitchen and grabbed a green sippy cup from the cupboard, filling it up with water from the sink. He wasn’t sure how much alcohol Chase had before he called, and even if he didn’t seem drunk a cup of water wouldn’t hurt. When he came back to the living room Chase was sitting on the end of the couch opposite House, wearing the pyjamas and holding the stuffed dog tightly to his chest. Aw.

Wilson handed him the sippy cup and sat down in between them, sifting through the stack of movies. “So, what are we watching?”

“I was just about to ask that myself.” House said, “We have Finding Nemo, all of the Toy Story’s, Lilo and Stitch—“

“Lilo and Stitch.” Chase cut him off, grabbing the case and pushing it into Wilson’s hands, “Can we watch it, please?”

Wilson smiled. “Sure.”

His his credit, Chase made it more than halfway through the movie before he began to doze off, slowly drooping to lean against Wilson. He gently took the sippy cup away before it could spill water all over the couch, and with his hands now free, Chase wrapped both arms back around his dog and nuzzled into it.

“I think someone’s sleepy, don’t you, House?”

House shook his head. “No I’m fine, thanks. Him on the other hand…”

Chase didn’t object at all. His eyes were closed, and as much as it pained him, Wilson knew he would have to get up now if he wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight. He carefully got up and guided Chase to lay down. He only fussed for a moment until Wilson draped a blanket over him, and he settled.

They all had work the next morning and when they all got up, he had no idea if Chase would want to talk about what happened. He probably wouldn’t; Chase was only slightly less emotionally repressed than House was when he was big, but if by some chance he did, Wilson would be there to listen. “Goodnight, Robbie.”

“Mm… G’night, mummy.” Chase mumbled, and with that, he was dead to the world.

Wilson gaped. He was frozen solid, afraid that moving would somehow disturb the moment or make Chase realize what he just said and freak out. Did he really just..?

“Ouch. Well, I guess we know who the favourite is.” House whispered, with a stupid amused smirk on his face. “Mummy Wilson, huh? It’s got a nice ring to it I guess.”

“Did he mean to—? When he wakes up tomorrow he’s…” Wilson trailed off. He was caught between being overjoyed that Chase had put so much trust in him as a caregiver to give him such a deeply important name, and bemoaning that it had to be Mummy of all things. Sweet, innocent Chase had just sentenced him to a lifetime of “Mummy-Wilson” jokes, and somehow his chest was still full of butterflies.

“He’s gonna die of embarrassment? Oh yeah.” House snickered, then yawned, limping off to his room. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight, Mummy.”

“You’re an ass.”

[demvalhaken]

Just a silly

Guys I swear I’m working on more art, I’m trying to not overwhelm myself again. I’m also trying to really get the lore right and make it pretty cool and awesome and, uh, not shitty

Btw just for your information, my world does have a Pandemonium city, hehe silly reference :3

I love old literature references, like The Divine Wattpad Fanfiction

I think Dante’s Paradiso, Purgatorio, and Inferno are basically like the first fanfics to ever exist, but that’s just a theory, a game theory-

I love rambling btw so you can just ignore this next part

Anyways this is just some shitty concept art of a demon from probably Heresy. I’m still trying to describe every single environment of every single ring and how I want their specific populations to generally look like. Guys, I have to design like 12 different species and cultures and like stuff. Maybe I should’ve just sticked to the deadly sins and not every single ring in Dante’s Inferno plus the more widely known. Also I’ve probably said this before but Wrath is composed of like four different sub-rings. You’ve got Wrath, Violence, Anger, and Heresy. I know how crazy it sounds but just LET ME COOK. I want to make all the four rings of Wrath not so different because you know, it’s all in the same ring plus there’s freaking harpies (So add that into the list of species I need to design) Btw you know Cerberus? What if all the dogs in Hell are just from them and Satan just keeps Cer as a family dog? That’s actually kinda adorable, maybe too adorable for the literal SATAN. Guys I think I might do that. I’m still also trying to figure out how I’m gonna design all the seven princes. For Beelzebub, they’re just a literal bat because the fly thing wasn’t really working for me. Leviathan is just a literal fish and Belphegor is I DONT EVEN KNOW?! If you’re wondering why Satan isn’t stuck in the bottom of Hell, it’s because I just don’t really want him to be there due to already established lore stuff. Okay I’ve yapped enough

Btw, you can ask questions if you’re interested in my shitty story. Stay a menace to society, eat this up, and go eat some holographic meatloaf

Damnit, Pinterest got me again

[yowyowyaoi]

Kisame’s Daily Texts from the Akatsuki

From Deidara

Me and Tobi found a big muddy hole full of earthworms, let’s go fishing! 😁

We finished it last night, sorry 

I was just teasing him!

Exploding or boring?

Not a tea person but thanks anyway 

LMAOOO he probably pissed himself 🤣

Pls tell Itachi I’m not gonna hurt her I just want to pet her for a while!

Leader said he’ll kill us if we do it again so no probably not 😓

You gotta use the conditioner too or else it won’t be effective 

I’ll ask him but he don’t really like places like that. Says they’re too happy 🙄

From Hidan

If you have two does that mean one sleeps while the other fucks or ?

No offense but it’s literally so boring I can’t sit still that long 

I would say he’s giving you blue balls but.

Can’t imagine giving a shit but 🤷‍♂️

Tried that once. Got the mask halfway off and suddenly felt like I was drowning. Never again.

Old bastard said no 😑

You need to watch him he takes like two bites and pushes the plate away 

How? Half of us are gay half are insane and some are both 🤣

One dick, two dicks, your dicks, BLUE dicks! Lol get it??

From Sasori

Thanks but water erodes my “skin”.

I’m done reading it, you can borrow if you like.

Please make sure he puts on sunscreen he’s too stubborn to listen to me.

Don’t really remember all that well but I believe it was ice cream.

He has to *want* treatment and so far he’s turned down every offer Kakuzu or myself has made.

They make for more appealing puppets if they have some unique physical characteristic while they’re still living.

I’ll probably marry him some day but first he has to work on not blowing himself to bits.

Oh of course. You know you don’t need to ask.

From Kakuzu

Hey I almost beat you and I’m 60+ years your senior.

Just this once … no charge. Worth it to see him freak out like that.

I’m not very well-versed in animal anatomy but I can take a look and try my best.

EVERYBODY pays. Itachi too.

Fits nice. My thanks.

This place is falling apart, if it’s not one thing it’s another.

It’s annoying but I don’t see any serious long-term effects.

From Konan

That’s so sweet, thank you ☺️ 

Write down the exact kind for me, I’ll pick it up the next time I go to the market.

He’s a sweetheart isn’t he? 🥰

I’ll take your word for it, but ducks are so cute I don’t think I could eat one.

Come to my room I have some eye drops that’ll help him.

If I let that happen no work would ever be done and they’d likely kill each other.

So many miles, with these heels it’s hard on my feet.

If you want it that rare then there’s really no point to me cooking it at all 😒

At this point the yelling has become background music.

Me on one shoulder and Itachi on the other. You big show-off 😁

From Tobi/Obito

You only beat me because Deidara distracted me!

Forty cookies isn’t even that many. Plus Itachi ate two more.

Kakuzu said to earn the money myself so I stole one of his bounties 🤷🏻‍♂️

Itches. A LOT.

Can’t stand tea but if you have any hot chocolate, yeah.

You should hang out with Zetsu more often then. Like one never-ending picnic.

He really wants to go but I don’t have a pole. You have a spare?

Yeah but he might let us get a fish-tank if YOU said you needed it, like for health or something 

Sushi? Isn’t that cannibalism?!

Fuck him AND his perfect ass. Literally and figuratively.

Don’t give me that “kid” shit, we’re like the same age!

From Zetsu

You want to split that guy’s leg with me? He was very fat, lots of good meat 😋

He’s a good man but doesn’t his dubious emotional state concern you?

It’s a lot like hearing two voices at once. Constantly. 

It’s no fun if they don’t scream a bit first. You know this.

I did the scouting; that lake about five miles up the road is both deep and fairly clean.

Let’s hide under his bed and scare him. I bet money we can get him to soil himself while crying for that damn Jashin 🤣

From Nagato

I thank you for the tea. It helped me to sleep.

Well, keep an eye on him.

The pain is worse when I stand but Sasori is working on prosthetics for me that may solve the problem.

As long as you return in time for your next mission.

Get that looked at as soon as possible. We can’t afford to have you out of commission.

I do, but she deserves so much better than myself.

I’ll speak to Kakuzu about getting you a new one.

If you two are going to do that, please keep it away from our hideouts. It disturbs Konan to hear the screaming.

From Itachi

I ate this morning. Promise.

That wasn’t Hidan’s fault, I’d forgotten to take my pill so my reflexes were slow.

Just consider it. Uchiha Kisame. Say it out loud. It’s beautiful 😌

Can you check if I left that shirt in your room?

Dei and I went there last night. The manager banned us for life because Dei set off a C3 in the men’s room. 😑

Fine. You buy the skirt I’ll “model” it for you.

Sad. Come stay with me please.

You worry too much.

That picture is for YOUR EYES ONLY. 

Aww what do you mean? Kitty loves you she’s not trying to eat you!

It’s one that Konan gave me. It’s really good you’d probably like it too.

Tea?

I didn’t *fall* in, he *pushed* me. Big difference.

Mom taught me when I was younger. I can teach you too if you want.

You’re mine too. Always ❤️

[twst-drabbles]

OCs 1

Summary: Danger only continues to climb, leaving behind more and more scars and injuries that you have just gotten almost numb to. But, of course, your friends have to react to it, because they care too much.

(Yaaaaay I got all the main requests out! Now I just have the Fish's Eye to get through. Eventually. I will be opening up the inbox for all requests at some point. Keep an eye out for that! Also hehehe, my OCs! I swear, I do care about them!)

Just when you think things are fading, that the scars and old injuries on your body were receding, something always comes around to mess you up all over again.

It really feels like you’re getting used to risking your life for the sake of saving people. In your mind, they’re your dumbass friends, but you really can’t call them that when you’re over here being a bigger idiot than any of them.

You don’t have magic, and magic refuses to heal you in the way it does others. But you go on anyway, letting your legs take you forward to grab another reached out hand, another knocked out body, and shield another person caught unawares.

You stopped keeping track how many bones you’ve fractured, how many scars you’ve gained, how nerves you’ve damaged.

You’ve almost learned to live with it, but, as always, you can’t really keep to that state of mind.

Not with all these students reminding you every so often.

“I don’t understand how you can forgive them,” Valenio hovered by the doorway, clearly intending on following right behind you as some sort of moral support. “After all that, I feel uneasy even being in the same room as any of those housewardens.”

As if those same housewardens also don’t feel uneasy whenever you’re in the same room. You’re not some taboo subject that shouldn’t be seen or touched.

Valenio means well, you know that, but it irritates you all the same.

“Don’t think about it too deeply, buddy,” you sighed out as you walked past him, “It’s a mess, but I can handle it. Just, focus on your own things, ‘kay?”

Antas was… more direct about it.

“Simply put, those pixies of yours wouldn’t stop filling my ears with their bell-like voices,” Antas waved about, as if they were still ringing in his ears, “Injuries and scars such as this are rare, you know. They think your body is giving up on you, that you’re on your last legs.”

Ah, that explains the stacks upon stacks of berries, tiny potion jars and other get-well commodities you’ve seen being left on your window as of late. But, even with that truth of those pixies concern, it’s easy to see that this was just an excuse to stretch out his own brand of concerned.

“Yeah yeah, don’t pay it too much mind,” you’re trying to keep it out of yours in the first place, even through all the occasional pain and itching, “If I’m actually dying, you’ll know about it.”

Tul’Veith is gentle to you, infuriatingly so, whenever you two meet up. He was already straining himself worrying over his body and studies, and here he was, constantly struggling to bring you more potions just to help you out.

“It took me a little bit, but I managed to get my hands on some amazing ingredients. Uh, here, this one should help with pain.”

And, you have to push it back to him. You know he’s not telling you the whole truth. He pulled from his own treasures that he used on himself, to help his own ailing body.

If you let Tul’Veith start with this worrying, he’ll never stop. And you’ll get distracted, and probably even think that you need this and drain him of everything he has.

“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out myself how to deal with it.”

Just, he really needs to stop.

And Vio, he seethes. Well, he’s always seething against something, like the whole world has somehow wronged him in every way it can think of. But, when you’re around, it seems as though it gets deeper, more sour.

He bites into his lips until they start to bleed, and he tugs at his hair until it’s out of its ponytail and is just a curly mess.

“Sorry, I didn’t sleep well at all.”

But, he doesn’t point anything out. He trudges on and at least pretends to have a normal day, coming up with every excuse to explain his mood rather than blow up in your face about your recklessness, and blow up at everyone else that gave you these scars.

You leave him alone, because as much as you appreciate him not saying anything, you don’t want any part of his mood.

Cheridal’s been persistent. He comes over to your dorm more and more, often taking up task that are generally tedious to do, like cleaning your forks and spoons to a mirror shine.

“Really? Nothing to talk about or say? No anger or resentment to speak of?” Cheridal asked as he wiped away every drop of water from your utensils before putting it in its proper drawer.

“Stop fishing, Cheridal,” you flicked water at him, almost cringing when your rubber gloves slipped down your arm, but you tugged it back with your teeth, “I don’t hate anyone. I don’t need anyone to take revenge for me.”

“Just, saying, the offer is still open.”

So he says, like he wasn’t eager to correct a perceived injustice. Your feelings are more than enough to get him to act, doesn’t really care if everyone else did something wrong or not.

You won’t let something like the state of your body be the reason you hate anyone. This was just the result of your actions. A reminder that not even magic would be able to save you if you do anything too stupid.

Whatever happens, you’ll be sure to face it as best you can.

[gtbutterfly]

New Jen and Gabby story! (No title yet) Chapter one

I'm writing a new story set after my borrower story about Jen and Gabby. This is set roughly a week or two after the finale of the first Jen and Gabby series, Jen has started teaching Gabby how to borrow, and they're temporarily staying at Rebecca and tims house while Jen looks for a new place for them to live. I'm happy to be writing these characters again, and I hope you enjoy it. Criticism is appreciated!

Original story:

__________________________________________________

It was around sunset. The air outside was cool and the sky was clear. Some trees and houses across the street blocked the lowering sun and created shadows that seeped through the window. Inside, there was a turned on lamp sitting on a desk in front of the window still. The bottom of the lamp had a ripped out piece of cardboard taken from a shoebox, not more than two inches wide either way. It was taped to the side of the lamp's base with a piece of folded tape. On the cardboard, there was a marking in the center made with a pencil. She stood across from the lamp at the other end of the desk. Her sister was watching at her side as the young tiny tried to focus on the target. she got into a throwing position, and threw the toothpick with all her force, grunting as she did it. The tooth pick spun in the air and bounced off the cardboard hitting it with its side. It landed on the ground, bouncing a bit before settling. 

“Wow, good job, Gabby, that was great for your first try!” the borrower's older sister said. 

“Oh, it was supposed to hit it with the pointy end and stick on it,” the younger borrower said, disappointed. The older sister approached her and patted her on the back.

“Hey, it's alright, you did great! Your not gonna get it all the time, not even when doing it for real,” the older sister said, “I know I don’t,”

“Jen, why are we learning how to throw the pointy thing anyways?” Gabby asked.

“Well, sometimes, you won’t have a fishing hook to use to climb things, so you’ll have to use your needle,” Jen said, taking her needle out of her belt and showing her sister the non-sharp end. “See the little hole, there?”

“Uh-huh,” Gabby said.

“Humans put string through there to make clothes and blankets and things. We can use them to make a grappling hook and string if we need to. real hooks have holes just like it.” Jen explained.

“Ooh,” Gabby looked at her sister's needle in interest. “When do I get a sewing needle like yours?”

“When you're done training with the toothpick and you won’t hurt yourself,” Jen patted her sister's head.

“Ok! So when are we learning how to fight with these?” Gabby asked,

“Eh, I dunno, you can’t really be taught that, I think,” Jen said, walking away, putting the needle back in her belt. “I figured out how to defend with this thing when I first started borrowing on my own. Mainly against bugs that were around in the vents or kitchen, sometimes mice and rats,” she turned back towards her sister, “it mainly just comes from instincts, we probably shouldn’t worry about that. For now it's more important to focus on traversal, like climbing tall objects and staying out of sight, alright?”

“Uh, ok,” Gabby said, looking down and nodding. “Oh, what if a human takes me again? What should I do?”

“Stab them and run as far as you can. Come on, you know this, Gabby.” Jen said, walking towards her and getting on her knees, placing her hand on Gabbys shoulder. “Besides, once you learn how to climb, move efficiently, hide, and all that stuff, you won’t need to worry about escaping a human, just not getting caught in the first place, alright?”

“Sigh, ok,” Gabby nodded.

“You're not still scared from when you were taken before, are you? You can tell me if you are,” Jen asked,

“N-no…” Gabby stuttered. Jen sighed.

“Gabby, remember, I’m here for you. I’m not going to let you get kidnapped again. Not for as long as I live, ok?” Jen reassured her.

“Ok…” Gabby said, looking at her sister. “...what about after?” Jen looked down for a second,

“Um…well, then you’ll be ready to face the world on your own. Ok?” Jen gave a soft smile. Gabby nodded. The two sisters hugged each other tightly.

“Thank you, Jen,” Gabby said,

“It's fine,” Jen said, rubbing her sister's back before letting go of her and standing up. Suddenly, both of the borrowers flinched. There was a shake in the ground. Gabby let out a small yelp, while Jen’s eyes widened and she reached for her needle, before they both remembered. “Oh yeah…” Jen sighed, looking across the room at the approaching human. She had a blue sweater on and on her shoulder was another borrower, hanging on to some of the human hair and part of the sweater. She got on her knees before the desk the two borrowers were on and smiled.

“Oh…hiii Rebecca,” Gabby said, letting out a smile but backing away slightly at the same time. Jen got in front of her. 

“Hey guys, how are you two little ones doing?” Rebecca said, taking the other borrower off her shoulder. Jen cringed.

“Fine, fine, everythings great.” Jen said bluntly. “How was yours and Tims date? It seemed awfully short.” The other borrower jumps from Rebecca's hand onto the desk.

“It wasn’t a date, we just went out.” Tim said.

“That's what people say when they go on dates,” Jen said.

“What did you do then?” Gabby asked.

“We went to the store, looked at some things, and then we got takeout for dinner and brought it back here.” Tim said.

“We got chinese! Do you two want any?” Rebecca asked.

“No reason not to,” Jen shrugged, stepping towards the edge of the desk. 

“Chee….chinese?” Gabby thought aloud, “is that like, the…uh, noodle with the red sauce?” she asked.

“No, it's the brown noodles with the grease on it with the broccoli and stuff mixed in,” Jen said, attaching her fishing hook to the edge of the desk.

“Oh, that's much less messy!” Gabby smiled, walking up behind Jen as she tossed the string off the edge of the desk so they could climb down.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that, guys, you're our guests.” Rebecca said, “I can carry you to the kitchen,”

“Its fine,” Jen said, “Gabby would rather walk, and I’d rather stay with her,” 

“Yeah,” Gabby said, grabbing onto the string, hugging it with her arms and legs and slowly sliding down as Jen watched and smiled.

“Huh, she's already going down ropes by herself,” Tim said. 

“Yeah, she's learning pretty well,” Jen said, grabbing a hold of the string herself and sliding to the floor. Tim climbed into Rebecca's hand, and she picked her up and walked behind the two borrowers that were on the floor, who were making surprisingly good pace, even given how the borrowers had to practically jog to keep up with the human towing over them at normal walking speed. Rebecca looked down at Jen and Gabby as they moved alongside her. Jen glanced up at Rebecca, causing the human to look forward and away from them. She looked down at Tim in her hands. 

“Think they’re ok?” Rebecca asked quietly to Tim, just about whispering. 

“It's fine,” Tim said back, “I’m sure it's nothing against you,” he reassured her. Rebecca looked past Tim at Jen and Gabby on the ground, worried about them not liking her. After some walking, they were at the kitchen table. Jen took out the fishing hook again and prepared to throw it up to the top of the table, before Rebecca bent down and stopped her.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, I can give you a lift if you’d like,” Rebecca offered, 

“Oh, that's fine, we wouldn’t want to bother you,” Jen said, unwrapping the string and getting ready to swing the hook. 

“Oh, it's barely a bother, you two barely weigh anything to me,” Rebecca smiled, “come on, I insist,” the human said, holding her hand out for them. Jen sighed, putting the hook back into the bag slinged over her shoulder. 

“Come on Gabby,” Jen said, taking her nervous sister's hand as they both got into Rebecca's palm. Gabby struggled to stand up a bit, while Jen kept her sister from falling over. Rebecca raised the borrowers up to the table and let them get off. She also places down Tim from her other hand, before pulling a chair from the side of the table, and sitting down. She took some paper plates from a stack that was already on the table and scooped the chinese food onto one from a styrofoam container. 

“I’m guessing you two don’t get warm meals like this too often,” Rebecca said. Jen stood over the paper plate and looked at the pile of noodles, vegetables, and meat on it. She could feel some of the heat from the food on her face.

“Yeah, not really,” Jen said, picking up one of the ends of the noodles and looking at it. “Usually only when the last humans we were borrowing from left it out, and even then it would be cold, and hard to bring back,” she cut a small piece out of the noodle and tasted it, before cutting a much bigger piece and giving it to Gabby, who started eating it immediately. 

“Y’know, some borrowers at the trading market use candles and matches to try cooking stuff,” Tim said, trying to add to the conversation.

“Please, the only thing anyones ever successfully made with the ‘candle stove method’ is tea,” Jen said, “most people are too worried about started a bigger fire, or making smoke that humans would see and follow,” 

“Well, since you’re with me, you’ll be able to have as many warm cooked meals as you want!” Rebecca exclaimed, “I am great cook, after all, maybe I could even find a way to make small meals that are your size,”

“Uh, thanks, but I think we’ll be fine,” Jen said, looking down, taking a bite out of the other half of the noodle. “Tomorrow I’m going with Nora and Liam to find a new house for me and Gabby to borrow from. Hopefully we’ll be out of your hair soon after that,” 

“Oh…” Rebecca looked sideways for a moment, “well, you can always stay here as long as you’d like, ok? In Fact, you can stay here if you want,”

“Uh, no thanks, we…um, wouldn’t want to disturb you or Tim,” Jen said awkwardly.

“Yeah,” Gabby said, “we don’t want to be here when you do whatever gross stuff Jen was talking about to each other,” 

“Gabby!” Jen tugged on Gabbys arm slightly to get her to stop talking. Tim and Rebecca snickered a little.

“Oh, we don’t do anything that…physical, really, it's mainly just cuddling, y’know,” Tim said,

“Yeah, it's really warm and comfortable when we do it, nothing… weird…about it,” 

“...riiight,” Jen said, seeming a bit uncomfortable, Gabby looked at her.

“What would be weird about cuddling?” Gabby asked, confused.

“Well anyways,” Jen said, quickly changing the subject. “Rebecca, Saras coming here for…’tutoring’ tomorrow, right?” 

“Oh, yeah! It’ll be great to talk to another human that knows about you cute little guys,” Rebecca said, Jen groaned slightly. 

“Ooh, Saras coming tomorrow?” Gabby asked, “I can’t wait to see her again, she was really nice when she found me back at her house. I never thought I’d be friends with a human,” 

“Me neither,” Jen said, 

“Well, I’m also a human friend of yours, right?” Rebecca asked. Jen looked down sheepishly,

“Well, uh, you see, your…” Jen looked over at Gabby for a moment,

“You're an adult! It be weird for me to be friends with an adult,” Gabby said, “I’m not friends with liam, Nora, or Tim,” 

“Well, I mean, of course your not,” Tim rubbed his arm, “I mean, we’re not friends like, that, but we’re still…uh, acquainted with you,”

“Your like her godparents,” Jen said, 

“Yeah, yeah…something like that,” Tim said. 

“Or god siblings, since I’m raising her, and our parents are dead,” Jen said,

“Yeah, yeah…” Tim said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Hmm, maybe I could be your god-parent. How does that sound, tiny?” rebecca asked Gabby, lean towards her, “I could take care you if anything happen to you sister,”

“Oh, no, sorry,” Jen said, pulling Gabby back a bit, “I already told Liam and Nora they could adopt her if i…y’know, so,”

“You did?” Gabby asked,

“Yeah…when you weren’t around,” Jen answered,

“But-” 

“Anyways,” Jen cut Gabby off, “we should probably be getting to bed now, I’m getting up earlier tomorrow to scout out new houses, and Gabby probably shouldn’t stay up too late,”

“Aw, are you sure you two haven't had enough to eat yet, little ones?” Rebecca said. Jen rolled her eyes, Gabby just seemed confused.

“This is the amount we usually get to eat,” Gabby said,

“But are you sure it's enough?” Rebecca asked,

“Goodnight, Rebecca,” Jen said, holding Gabbys hand as they both walked to the edge of the table. 

“Oh, would you like me to help you get down?” Rebecca asked, “if you’d like, your welcome to sleep in the dollhouse tonight, I can get another bed for Gabby to sleep in,”

“No thanks, we’ll sleep in our usual spot tonight,” Jen said, taking her fishing hook out and attaching it to the edge of the table. 

“Oh…okay then…goodnight, tinies,” Rebecca said as she watched Jen and Gabby slide down the string. She sighed as they left the room by themselves. “They don’t like me, do they?” she asked Tim,

“What? No, Jen and Gabby…tolerate you enough,” Tim said, rubbing the back of his neck. “They’re both perfectly fine with you,”

“Really?” Rebecca asked, “half the time they don’t let me help them get around the house, and they won’t even let me know where they’ve been sleeping.” she let out a groan, “and after I’ve been so nice to them, offering them food and shelter and warmth,” 

“A Lot of tinies like to be independent, especially from humans,” Tim said, touching Rebecca's large human hand. “Jens is no different, she’d rather provide for her and her sister. That's why she’s been looking for a new place to stay,” Tim explained. Rebecca sighed.

“I just wish they realized how much better their lives would be with my help. I just want to help them, y’know?” Rebecca said. “If only they trusted me as much as you do,” 

“Hey, even I didn’t trust you at first,” Tim said, “Remember when we first met?”

“Heh, I remember it everyday,” Rebecca said, leaning on the table, laughing a bit while reminiscing. “You were all alone, cornered at the bottom of my sink, just begging me not to hurt you, heh,” she sighed, “you were so cute, scared like that,”

“Uh, I guess i was, huh,” Tim said, scratching his head a bit,

“It was so nice comforting you, petting you and hugging you to calm you down,” Rebecca said, “Jens not like that. Shes not scared at all, she always seem angry, or stern or whatever,”

“You know, you’ve made a lot of progress with Jen,” Tim said, “she’ll warm up to you eventually, I’m sure of it,” 

“What about Gabby? She seems nervous around me, doesn’t she?” Rebecca asked,

“I dunno, Gabby hardly even knows you,” Tim said, “she’s known the rest of us for ages,”

“But isn’t she friends with that Sara girl?” Rebecca asked, 

“I guess they got time to bond one on one,” Tim said, “like we did,”

“Hmm, tomorrow I have the entire day with Gabby…maybe I can get her to like me then!” Rebecca exclaimed, “and once Gabby trusts me, Jen will have to trust me too,”

“Huh, that seems like it could work,” Tim thought out loud, “how would you get her to like you? Even without Jen around, Gabby is going to be pretty cautious, given how Jen teaches her to be,”

“Saras coming tomorrow, right? I’ll just ask her how she became such good friends with Gabby.” Rebecca said, scooping up Tim and holding him in front of her face. Tim let out a yelp that Rebecca didn’t notice, startled by suddenly being picked up. “Soon enough, Gabby and Jen will be as close to me as you are!”

“Heh, yeah,” Tim said while being held by Rebecca, before looking down and thinking about what she said for a moment. “...wait….” Before Tim could finish his thought, Rebecca got down to her knees, causing Tim to feel a bump, before abruptly being plopped onto the ground.

“You talk to Jen and Gabbygabby to make sure they’re fine with me and everything. I’m gonna go get some things that we can do with Gabby tomorrow, I’m pretty sure we have some old board games somewhere around here," Rebecca said before walking away.

“Uh, alright,” Tim said, knowing Rebecca probably didn’t hear him. He rubbed the back of his neck, and started walking towards where Jen and Gabby went.

Jen and Gabby had been sleeping behind a TV stand in Rebeccas living room. It was no more cramped than the average borrower living arrangement, and was full of wires that attached to the wall. It was slightly dusty, and there were old dvd and game cases, some of which the tinies slept under to avoid being seen, folded to stand up like tents. They both had borrowed clean rags and cut up blankets from around the house to sleep on. It was dark there, and the borrowers could turn on a small pen light that was down there if they needed light for any reason. Jen was slightly worried of the wires sparking and causing a fire, but she hadn’t told anyone, especially not Gabby so she wouldn’t be worried too. Between the TV stand and the wall was the only place that Rebecca wouldn’t find them accidentally. Jen had made an agreement with the human that she and Gabby could have their own place to sleep at night without Rebecca knowing exactly where they were, just that they were in the house, and as part of the deal, Jen and Gabby had to be out in the open during the day. Jens side of the agreement was mainly out of issues of trust, and she assumed Rebecca’s was the same, when actually, the human just wanted to be able to see them during the day time. Tim knew where they were, though. Behind a TV stand was a common place for borrowers to hide from humans. He knew about Jens and Rebeccas agreement, though, so he hadn’t told Rebecca where they were. As he walked behind the black stand, he saw Jen tucking Gabby into her makeshift bed under a open movie case for extra darkness and so she wouldn’t be seen. 

“Jen, how long will you be gone tomorrow?” Gabby asked her sister, who was onher knees over her as she sat up on the carpeted floor.

“Around the whole day.” Jen said, “I should be back by the time your getting already asleep. Don’t worry though, I’ll be back before you know it,” Jen said, patting her sisters back. 

“Really? You’ll be careful, right?” Gabby asked, Jen smiled.

“I’ll be fine, I promise I’ll be back before you fall asleep tomorrow, ok?” Jen answered,

“Ok.” Gabby said.

“Make sure you be careful tomorrow, ok?” Jen told her sister, “if you feel in danger, or uncomfortable, or anything like that, run away, ok? Defend yourself if you have to. Get to our safe spot, alright?”

“Alright,” Gabby said, “um, is our safe spot here, or in the vents?” she asked,

“Here at first, and if you can’t be here for any reason, go to the vents, alright?” Jen said,

“Alright,” Gabby said, with a light smile, “goodnight Jen,”

“Goodnight, Gabs,” Jen said, standing up as Gabby laided down and closed her eyes. Jen walk away, stopping when she saw Tim standing across from her. “How long have you been there?” she asked quietly,

“I just got here,” Tim said. Jen sighed, walking towards him.

“So, what's up?” Jen asked, “did Rebecca tell you to ask us if we like her again?”

“Yeah,” Tim said, “she's hoping to make friends with Gabby tomorrow,” 

“Make friends? How?” Jen asked,

“She's thinking of playing board games, and talking to Sara about how to get her to like her,” Tim answered,

“Good, good.doesn’t sound to bad,” Jen said, “maybe Sara will get her to stop being so babyish to us,” 

“Y’know, I’ve haven’t really met Sara, yet,” Tim said, “what’s she like? Why are you two so close to her compared to Rebecca?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m too close to her, we only spoke once,” Jen said. “I dunno. She just seems a lot more understanding than Rebecca is. She never talked down to either of us, never called either of us ‘cute’,” Jen said looking down, “never insisting we stay with her over and over again,”

“Well, I guess Rebecca has a bit of an infantilization issue with you guys,” Tim said, “I’ll try talking to her about it,” 

“Thats what you said last time,” Jen said, rolling her eyes,

“Well, I’ll make sure to really tell her this time.” Tim said. Jen sighed.

“Thanks, Tim.” She said, walking away from him towards where she was sleeping. “See you in the morning,”

“Alright, good night, Jen,” Tim said, leaving Jen and Gabbys spot.

[changingplumbob]

New Goth: Chapter 4, Part 6

James practices his dad skills with some uncle time.

CW: Low Level sim spice. Content Warning Guide

To wind down from the social worker interview James decides to see if any of the fishing crew are free for the afternoon. He looks in the lake opposite his house while he waits for them to show up. Nothing too tricky in there, maybe he could catch something for Alexander to cook.

Harvey: Adoption eh

James: Yeah. Ophelia and I didn’t have kids but, I want to leave behind someone I’ve raised

Harvey: I can get that. I’m the same, keep hoping mine will announce impending grandfather-hood

James: The young do things in their own time

Harvey: I guess, when I think of being in my twenties it feels like lifetimes ago

James: I know what you mean

James: Where is your son anyway

Harvey: He said something about needing the internet. I thought the internet was what we had on our phones

James: No I think that’s wifi

Bob: That’s data actually

James: *sighs* I don’t know, technology keeps changing. Now fishing, that’s something that has remained the same

The group murmur in agreement as they enjoy the moment of peace.

James: Hello girls

Savannah: Good afternoon Uncle James

Mercedes: Hi Uncle James

James: What are you two doing here

Savannah: Papa had to go into the lab today for work so mama told us to get the bus here after school

Mercedes: She doesn’t think we’re old enough to look after Viola and nana says the three of us are a handful for her

James: I’m afraid I agree with your mama, come on in

Savannah: I’m going to go find Milton. Try and show him a proper doll story

James: How about you Mercedes? You like math right? Care to play some chess

While James and Mercedes face off on the chess board Savannah and Milton play with the dollhouse.

Savannah: I didn’t realise you can wear bear suits to your school

Milton: I can wear whatever

Savannah: I wish that was us

Mercedes: Having unicorns (uniforms) can be fun

James: And why is that

Mercedes: *grins mischievously* The teachers have trouble telling us apart

James: Fancy that

Savannah: Well our main teacher can tell but not the other ones

Rahul swings by to pick the twins up as Alexander gets home and heads for the kitchen. He’s considering what to cook when Milton comes to find him.

Milton: Can I help with dinner

Alexander: Sure. I just need to figure out what to make

James: Make some Poke bowls, I caught some fresh fish today

Alexander: Okay, meal is set. Milton grab the stool so you can reach the counter

Milton drags over the step and is at a proper height to work on the counter. Alexander provides help here and there but since he’s preparing his own ingredients it’s mainly James who makes sure Milton doesn’t get his paws dirty.

James: Mrs Ali said she’ll accompany her here for dinner tomorrow

Milton: Is she trialling us or are we trialling her

Alexander: Both I imagine, sweets?

James: Yes. It’s a chance for us to make sure we don’t clash with her, and it’s a chance for her to meet us before agreeing to stay

Milton: Did the social worker say what she’s like

James: I imagine she’ll keep us on our toes, but she’s not mean, I made sure

Alexander: Why don’t you think about what you want to ask her tomorrow Milton? Then you'll have some stuff prepared

Milton seems pleased at this idea, although it is hard to judge his feelings in the bear suit. Following dinner for humans and cats James makes sure to fit in snuggle time with his furbabies.

After making sure Milton gets to sleep James finds Alexander in their office finishing the day's work column.

Alexander: She’ll keep us on our toes will she

James: Mrs Ali did say she can be competitive for attention, and tricks gullible people, but we can handle that. When I tell you her background you'll understand

Alexander: You have faith in my abilities to handle her?

James: Yes I do. You’re sharp, you’ll see through fictions I imagine, and you’ll have me. If there’s something I can spot it’s a lying teenager

Alexander: I'm finished here so... care to go and pretend we’re still lying teenagers

James: And what would we be lying about

Alexander: My level of experience? And our relationship status

James: *laughs* Do you need me to teach you again

Alexander: What can I say? I’m just a boy in love with my tutor

Yeah... they go woohoo.

With an important dinner coming up Hamlet and Gertrude get some cute new threads. Hamlet opts for a tidy sweater while Gertrude gets a fancy dress that she’s happy to sleep in. Milton pats Hamlet before heading off for school, Alexander assures James he won’t work late and eventually James starts to vacuum the mansion. He wants to make a good impression on Ariadne, can’t have her thinking she’d be living in a pigsty. Or that he would expect her to clean like some sort of Cinderella character.

Of course as a retiree James can spend a large chunk of his day living my dream, snuggling cats. He also likes programming and from chats with Joey feels like he should try to teach himself. There are a few online courses but Joey emailed copies of his old coursework for James to get a ground level understanding of coding. Both cats stay near despite Gertrude being aloof, she’s James companion so she likes to keep an eye on him.

Milton: Hey Uncle James

James: Hey kiddo, how was school

Milton: Not bad. Reynaldo and I discussed voidcritters for most of lunch

James: Do you want to invite him over after school some day

Milton: Maybe. Hey do you know math as well as volcano stuff

James: Of course. What seems to be the problem

Milton: Times tables. I know the tens but my teacher said I need to start on the fives

James: Don’t worry, we can work on it together, we have time before our dinner guests arrive

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