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tangtownie · 4 years ago

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Ranny Daddy - Reader Insert x Ransom Drysdale (College AU)

Author’s Note: Okay, so this was supposed to be a quick re-write of an old story of mine but it kinda got away from me. This was originally about John Murphy from The 100, so if any of you want to thirst over him with me, drop into my inbox! ❤️

Anyway, College AU because the potential is just too damn great. An enemies to lovers kinda vibe, although they’re just FWB.

Also, the song inspo was one of my best friends that read this, and then told me that she’d found the perfect track to match it. So I listened to it, and agreed, and also realized that this story was really supposed to be about Ransom all along. So thank you, my darling! ❤️

About the title, I just… I don’t know. Before I started the re-write I had to name the document something, and when I was done, I kinda loved the title.

As always, dividers by the brilliant @firefly-graphics

Warnings: So… A lot of fucking cursing, smut, smut and smut, both reader and Ransom are kinda toxic bitches that are only soft for each other, kinda dub-con as reader is drunk when they get nasty, but she initiates it, Daddy kink, possessiveness and jealousy, unprotected sex. Ransom kinda switches between Dom!Daddy mode and soft!Daddy mode.

Song Inspiration: Violent Minds by VUKOVI

Word count: 4.283

The sound of his laugh was all it took. My stomach flipped and I could barely keep from jumping his bones right then and there. He had this douchy laugh, and it was just one of the things that I hated about him. He was crude, disrespectful and completely manipulative. He would always treat me like a plaything; grabbing my ass whenever he wanted, calling me every single pet name he could think of and of course, threatening to beat up any guy that got too close. It was honestly just so offensive and belittling and so damn sexy.

The scowl that always rested on his face, his rough hands that were always toying with me. God, how could someone so stupid be so damn intoxicating? I was not even sure how it all started, just that ever since I first slept with him, my body had been craving his like he was a damn drug. We had absolutely nothing in common and my friends all hated him, just as his friends all hated me. Another loud and obnoxious laugh drew my attention back to his group and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at those idiots. Ransom actually had quite the following and of course, they were all morons.

“Ugh, could you imagine actually dating one of those guys?” My friend Katy’s voice was the first thing in a while to pull my attention from Ransom. I was pretty jealous of that skank sitting in his lap and flipping her hair around like it was nobody’s business, not that I would ever tell him or anyone that. “Ugh, tell me about it.” I decided to turn my back on the scene, knowing that if I did not I would keep staring at them and probably see something that I did not want to see. Katy quickly sat down next to me and started going on about some rapport that was due in a few weeks. It was a typical day for us, meeting in the cafeteria for coffee and gossip in between lectures.

I leaned my back against the table and tried not to cringe at the excited squeal coming from the girl in Ransom’s lap. “God, what about having some self respect?” Katy questioned and I shot her a confused look. “That girl in Drysdale’s lap? I mean it’s not like there aren’t any chairs available. And those constant hair flips? Like “Oh my god, my hair is so fake but if I just keep flipping it around, maybe no one will know.”” I could not help the loud laugh falling from my lips as Katy finished talking.

She laughed happily with me and I pretended not to notice Ransom staring daggers at me, as him and his little posy had clearly heard everything Katy said. “Fucking sorority girls.” I was still laughing, a little louder than usual just to make sure Ransom heard. “Anyway, babe, I have to get to class. But swing by my place later, alright?” I quickly gathered my things, before pecking Katy’s cheek. “Of course! Bye babe.” She gave my ass a little slap as I walked away and I couldn’t help the smile on my lips, already feeling my mood improving.

Finally making my way across campus, I slipped into my usual spot next to Eric just before class started. I pulled out my books and laptop. “I swear to god this class is going to be the end of me!” Eric sighed dramatically. “Hon, you say that about all of them.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the offended face he shot me. “I’m serious. College is just too damn hard.” I huffed slightly as I nodded in agreement.

“You got that right.” College was hard, but I had also never felt as at home as I did here. I had my own little apartment just off of campus and it was a crapbox, but it was my crapbox. I had made some great new friends that were just as sarcastic and bitchy as me. And I was finally studying psychology. I did not really know what I wanted to use it for, but I also did not care. As cliché as it sounded, I was having the time of my life.

As per usual, Eric and I were the last to leave class, taking much too long to pack up our things and laughing as we did. Making our way back to the main building, my phone buzzed and I reached into my pocket to check it. As I saw whom the text was from and what it said, my breath hitched in my throat.

RD: “Your tits look great in that top 😜”

My eyes quickly scanned the vicinity, searching for him. Before I found him, my phone buzzed again.

RD: “Why are you wasting your time on that loser when you know how good I make you feel?”

I did not realise that I had stopped walking until Eric’s hand was on my arm. “Hon, are you okay?” His warm green eyes peered into mine curiously. “Yeah.” I quickly cleared my throat and shook my head trying to rid it off the flashes of my latest adventure with Ransom. “Yeah, I’m great. I just thought I dropped something.” I could not tell if he really believed me or not, so instead I started talking again.

“Anyway, Katy’s coming over, so I should run. But I’ll see you soon, okay?” He nodded quickly and waved at me as I started walking backwards, away from him. Once he started walking as well, I turned around to see where I was going and almost immediately crashed into someone. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed. I dropped to the ground to help pick up the things that I had so rudely pushed from their arms.

“Well, how could I complain when you just dropped to your knees in front of me?” Ransom’s smug voice made the hairs on my arm stand up and I slowly got back up. “Hmm… Well, don’t get used to it, baby.” I smirked at him before offering his notes back to him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with someone I actually want to see.” As I pushed past Ransom and his friends, a quiet gasp went through the group and I knew I would pay for that one soon enough.

When I made it home, I was greeted by what looked like a bomb crater and I was reminded of my stressful morning and the fact that I needed some new batteries for my alarm. I went into my bedroom to put my bag down and change into something comfier. I reached for my black cotton pencil skirt and tossed my jeans over the chair. I decided to take my top off as well, wearing only the skirt and my cropped flannel.

Katy was supposed to be here soon, so I ducked back out to living room and started cleaning up. I had managed to get the worst of it, just as there was a knock on my door. “Come in.” Katy quickly poked her head through the door opening, a smile covering her entire face. “Ugh, babe, you will not believe what happened today!” I could not help but mirror her smile as I looked at her. “Why? What happened?”

She put her bag down next to the door before riding herself of her coat and shoes. “I got the job!” She squealed and started jumping up and down. “What? Oh my god! That is amazing!” I squealed right back at her and ran towards her to jump around with her. “I know! They called me just as I was getting out of Brit Lit. Oh, I just can not believe that I will be working at a real publishing house!” Her squealing was reaching dangerous heights and I almost could not make out what she said, but that did not stop me from continuing to jump around squealing with her.

After hours of dishing, drinking and celebrating, Katy finally had to go home. Pouting, I followed her out to the front door, watching her quietly as she put her coat and shoes on. “Text me, when you’re home safe, okay?” I asked. She shot me a quick smile. “Of course, babe. I always do.” She gave me a quick hug and then made her way out the door. I wandered back into the living room again and started cleaning up, again. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Confused I made my way back to the door. “Babe? Did you forget something?” I asked, pulling the door open. The face that greeted me however was not Katy’s.

“Hugh?” The surprise was as evident in my voice as it probably was on my face. He was leaning against the doorframe smirking down at me. “God, I thought she would never leave.” He practically growled as he pushed his way past me. “No, please. Come on in.” The sarcasm was dripping from my voice, as I closed the door after him. When I came back into the living room, he was smirking again. “Looks like you girls had fun.” He looked sceptically at the empty bottles of wine and then back to me.

He smiled slightly as he noticed, that I was swaying a little. “Yeah, well, we did. Why are you here, Hugh?” I said, stumbling a little as I reached for my wine glass. “Oh no, I think you’ve had plenty.” Ransom quickly snatched it from my hand before I could empty it. I pouted again, trying to take it back from him. In my drunken struggle for my own damn drink, I did not even notice the breath hitching in Ransom’s throat as the buttons of my flannel had come undone and my chest pressed against his or the way he tensed slightly, as I whined in his ear, before giving up and resting my head on his shoulder.

“You smelly really good.” I mumbled as I nuzzled my face in his shoulder, slowly wrapping my arms around him. He laughed quietly before resting a hand on my lower back. “You’re so drunk.” His tone was almost gentle. A giddy smile broke out on my lips, as I looked back up at him. “You’re being nice to me.” I said quietly before continuing. “Don’t get me wrong, your douchy holier-than-thou attitude is sexy as hell, but I don’t think you have ever been nice to me before.” His eyes sparkled at me and that signature smirk crept over his lips again.

“Sexy as hell, huh? And here I was starting to think that you were getting tired of me.” Shocked, I quickly shook my head no but had to stop as I stumbled slightly again. Ransom’s arms locked around me and held me tight against his chest. “I could never get sick of you, Hugh. I mean, you’re not a very nice person and I don’t actually think we have anything in common, but fuck… I cannot get you of my mind and I am not even sure why. It can’t just be the sex, even though the sex is pretty damn great.”

I let my head fall onto his chest again and sighed deeply. “Stay with me.” His hands squeezed my hips in response. “Sure, babygirl. I’ll stay.” A shiver made it’s way down my spine at the pet name. “Fuck, I love that.” I mumbled before pressing a hard kiss to his lips. Ransom’s grip on my hips tightened and I lingered there for a while, loving the feeling of his hands on my hips and the warm feeling of his skin against mine. Slowly pulling away for air, I took his hand in mine and lead him to my bedroom.

As we reached my bedroom Ransom’s hand fell from mine. I wandered over to the chair and softly tugged my skirt off, before turning to face him. “What are you waiting for? Strip.” My words seemed to pull him from his thoughts as his eyes went from scanning me all over to looking straight in my eyes. “What?” He sounded like he was choking on the word. I walked over to him, closing the distance between us again. My hands quickly grabbed the edge of his shirt and started pushing it up his chest.

“Strip.” I raked my nails carefully over his nipples and a light moan escaped his lips, before he helped me pull his shirt all the way off. Our eyes met again and for a few seconds we just stared at each other. He gently reached out and started unbuttoning the few remaining buttons on my flannel. As he did the last one, his hand moved up to my shoulder and slowly pulled it off. I let my fingers wonder about his chest again, tracing invisible patterns.

An impatient huff left his lips before he roughly grabbed my neck and crashed his lips onto mine. Almost instantly, I kissed him back. I let my arms settle around his neck and pulled myself even closer to him. Our teeth clanged together, as he greedily tried to swallow every breath of mine. His other arm snaked around my waist as he started guiding me back to my bed. Suddenly, he shoved me onto the bed and he smiled as my boobs bounced from the contact with the bed. I let myself get comfortable, knowing that Ransom liked to watch me. I let one hand twirl around some hair while the other rested comfortably on my bare stomach. My eyes locked with his again, as I patiently waited for him to join me.

Too much time had passed and I was starting to get cold and frankly also a little annoyed with him. “Come on, Hugh, just-“ His sharp voice interrupted me. “No.” There was a playful light behind his glaring eyes. “No?” I questioned, as I sat up. “Exactly, babygirl, you know that’s not my name.” A shiver travelled down my spine again at the pet name and Ransom noticed it, smirking from ear to ear. “What are you talking about, Hugh? Of course, that’s your name.” He shook his head, still glaring at me, before leaning down to whisper in my ear.

“You know it’s not. And if you keep calling me that I might just have to punish you, babygirl.” My breath hitched in my throat as his scent took over my senses. He was so close; he smelled divine and damn it, if I hadn’t been thinking about this all day. I had to close my eyes to keep from pouncing on him. As everything I had been fantasising about all day started flooding through my mind, I remembered the last time Ransom and I had been here and a smile curled around my lips, before I opened my eyes and spoke.

“Oh, so Daddy wants to play, huh?” My tone was low and breathy. A strangled gasp escaped his lips at the pet name. “It must be my lucky day then, because I’ve just spend all damn day thinking about Daddy’s rough hands pinning me down while his big beautiful cock pounds into me.” I barely got the last word out before Ransom was all over me, pinning me to the bed with a ravenous growl. His entire body pressing against mine, as he kissed me like it might be the last thing he ever did.

My hands quickly tangled themselves in his hair and I arched my hips up to meet his. Ransom‘s teeth sank into my bottom lip and he tugged harshly on it. I couldn’t help the loud moan falling from my lips or my hands tugging harshly on his hair. His hands roughly grabbed my hips, his fingers digging into the skin as he pushed me upwards. A whimper escaped my lips when I couldn’t reach his any longer and I could feel him smirk against my throat. He slowly made his way down my body, sucking and licking all over, leaving a trail of hickeys over my neck, chest and stomach.

He stopped just as he reached my thong and I almost could not bear to look at him; so sinfully gorgeous, his hair falling into his beautiful blue eyes and his thin pretty lips already swollen and red. One of his hands moved to my thong, hooking his fingers inside of it and slowly pulling it down. I squirmed impatiently and he laughed at me. He casually flung it over his shoulder, before suddenly plunging two of his fingers deep inside of me.

I gasped loudly, surprised by his rough actions and clenched around his fingers. My eyes fell shut as he build up a steady rhythm and I relaxed again, relishing in having him so close to me. “No, no, babygirl, got to keep your eyes on me.” A strangled moan escaped my lips, as I struggled to focus on him. Our eyes locked and I watched him closely, as his gaze never fell from my face despite his fingers being buried knuckles deep inside of me and him placing shallow kisses on my lower stomach. He smirked at me again. “You’re such a good little girl, aren’t you? So eager to please Daddy.”

His deep voice rumbled against my skin and my hands forcefully grabbed the sheets to keep from pulling on his hair. “Look, how responsive you are, babygirl. You fucking love this, don’t you?” He curled his fingers inside of me and I panted loudly as he brushed against my g-spot. I could feel the pleasure building and knew that I wouldn’t be able to hold it in much longer. As Ransom mercilessly poked at my most sensitive spot, I could not help but lift my hips up, trying desperately to create some friction. He chuckled deeply before pinning my hips to the mattress. “Easy, babygirl. We’re almost there. Just relax.” His hand slowly crept across my stomach, until it reached my waist. Before I registered what had happened, Ransom had pulled his fingers from me and quickly turned me, so that I was on my stomach.

Surprised and confused, I let out a huff of air. “Hugh, what the-“ A high-pitched moan interrupted my sentence as he smacked my ass. I panted harshly, both from surprise and pleasure. At first it stung, but I couldn’t even pretend not to like it. His hands settled on my hips again, before he pulled me to him. My ass was flush against the front of his jeans as I was supporting my weight on my arms. “I told you, that’s not my name.” His deep voice made the goose bumps rise on my skin and a low moan escaped my lips.

He was so damn hot like this, all rough and angry and dominating. “You better play nice, if you don’t want me to stop.” He hummed slowly as his hand caressed the spot that he had just slapped and I grinded my ass against him. His erection was pressing tightly against me and all I could think of was having him inside of me again. “Daddy, please.” I impatiently begged for him and relished in the moan he tried to suppress. Another slap was delivered to my ass and this time I did nothing to hide how much I loved it.

A pornstar-like moan fell from my lips as I threw my head back and grinded against him again. His hands fell from me but before I could complain, I heard the sound of his pants being unzipped and seconds later they were thrown to the floor next to my bed along with his boxers. Ransom roughly slid his fingers through my folds, collecting my wetness and I arched my back at his touch. A sinful slurping sound filled the room as Ransom sucked my wetness from his fingers. “You taste so damn good, babygirl.” He hummed softly, as I moaned back, loving his filthy words.

His hands wrapped around my hips again and he pulled me harshly against him. His hard dick was rubbing all over me and I was loosing my damn mind from all of his teasing. I opened my mouth, completely ready and willing to beg for him again, just before he slid into me. A high-pitched whimper fell from my lips as he bottomed out and I relished in the feeling of being full of him.

Too quickly he pulled out, before slamming back into me. “Fuck.” Ransom grunted from behind me, building a fast and hard rhythm. His fingers were digging into my hips, trying to pull me as close as physically possible. I arched my back up and was met with his warm chest against my back. His hot, laboured breath was falling down my neck and only drove me closer to the edge. One of my hands tangled themselves in his hair and the other desperately grabbed his arm, digging my nails into his skin.

“You take me so well, babygirl. Letting my cock pound into you while you moan like a damn pornstar. You’re so fucking hot, baby.” Ransom’s voice was raspy against my neck and I almost lost my mind, when he intertwined our fingers and wrapped our arms around my waist. My legs started to shake beneath me and I let my head fall on his shoulder as he continued pounding into me. I moaned loudly as he pressed against my g-spot. “Just like that, baby. Take it. You’re mine.” Ransom practically growled in my ear, as he sped up.

He led me back down on the bed, pressing his lips to my neck and shoulders. His hand resting next to my head as he continued fucking me from behind. His other arm was still wrapped together with mine and around my waist, lifting my ass up slightly to meet him. Every time he thrusted into me, I moaned loudly, trying desperately not to fall over the edge just yet. My walls clenched around him and all I could see, hear or feel was Ransom.

“Mine.” He grunted harshly. “All mine.” My hand desperately reached for something to grab, but only found my sheets. “Yours.” I was surprised by my own voice, but it was like I had lost all control of it. “I’m yours, Ransom, any time, any day. All yours.” His head rested in the crook of my neck and he slowed down his thrusts. Slowly dragging himself out, before slowly pushing himself back in but never missing my most sensitive spot. “Ranny, Daddy, please. Please let me come.”

The desperate plea also left my lips without me controlling it. His hand flew to my clit and rubbed fast circles on it. A loud moan fell from my lips and my knuckles were turning white from grasping at the sheets. “Just let go, babygirl. I’ve got you.” I could feel the vibrations of Ransom’s voice through his chest and with a loud whine I finally let go. My eyes rolled back into my head as I clenched and unclenched repeatedly around him. My arms gave in and my pillow muffled the moans and profanities mixed in with his name.

He continued thrusting into me, riding out my high until he stilled. He was deep inside of me as I felt him release inside me. His loud groaning of my name, eliciting even more clenching on my behalf while his hips continued grinding into mine. My loud whimper mixed in with his panting as he slowly pulled out of me. He collapsed beside me on the bed and suddenly grabbed my face, slamming his lips back onto mine. His tongue eagerly met mine and I hurriedly wrapped my legs around his hips, trapping him there.

As I broke away for air, Ransom kissed his way down my neck and I could not stop the question falling from my lips. “Did you mean what you said?” He hummed softly against my neck, before biting down on one of the hickeys he had left there earlier. “Well,” he said as he broke away from my neck to look me in the eyes. “The sex is pretty damn great and I can’t seem to stop thinking about you.” He brushed a few wayward strands of my hair away gently. “Not even when you’re completely ignoring me or making fun of my friends or pretending that you aren’t jealous of the girl sitting in my lap.”

A blush quickly spread across my cheeks at his last comment. “I didn’t think you noticed.” I said while running my fingers over his chest. “Oh, baby, I always notice you. Besides, it’s not like you could hide anything from me any more. I know all your tells.” His signature smirk was plastered on his lips again. “So the skank from today?” I couldn’t help but ask. A small laugh left Ransom’s lips. “Was just a skank that means nothing to me, yeah. Now, what about that boy-toy of yours?” Ransom narrowed his eyes at me in suspicion. “My boy-toy is named Eric and is actually gay.” I said and smirked at him.

“What?” The surprise was evident in his voice. “Yeah. I actually think that you know his boyfriend Liam. Apparently, he’s in a lot of your classes.” I shrugged as I finished talking. Ransom wrapped one of his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. “Jesus, how the hell did I not know that? I’m a damn idiot.” I rested my head on his chest, before speaking. “Yeah, but I guess you’re my idiot now.”

#imagine #chris evans #reader insert #ransom drysdale #fan fiction #smut #reader x ransom #reader x ransom drysdale

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dirty-urie · 3 years ago

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Jam Sesh

Second Person

Brendon x Female Reader

PFTW Era

Smut Oneshot

NC-17

3.3k Words

Warnings in order of appearance: real person fic, alcohol, slight insecurity, fingering, some dirty talk, penetrative sex

Author's Notes:

This is... not my best work. I don't really like anything about it, but instead of wasting any more of my time on it, I'm just publishing it and hoping that my dislike for it is just me being self-critical and not because it's a really bad fic. Normally I'm all for hyping yourself up, but meh, I'm just not feeling this one, and that's okay because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want. Hope you like it though lmao

He answers the studio door and pulls you in for a hug, which is a little awkward with the guitar on your back, but you make it work. "Y/N!" He exclaims happily.

You're a little surprised that he answered the door and didn't accidentally get caught up in his work. It's not like Brendon would purposefully stand you up; he's just a little bit of a mess sometimes. But he looks happy to see you, and that's all that matters. He motions you inside, and you follow him, collapsing on the couch next to his desk.

"Beer me, Brendon!" You request, and he does, grabbing a beer from the mini-fridge in the corner of the studio and handing you the tall silver can. You wrinkle your nose. "How successful does the band have to get for you to stop buying Coors light?"

"Hey! I like Coors light," he defends, grabbing yours and replacing it with a pretentious-looking IPA. "There you go, a fancy beer because you're my guest."

"Thank you. I'm sure it'll still taste like stale piss, but now it'll taste like fancy stale piss." You joke, taking your guitar out of its case.

He laughs and takes a sip of the beer he stole from you. "Oh shit, is that new?" He gestures to your guitar. "I haven't seen it before."

"New to me. I found it at a thrift shop for 20 bucks, but it barely looks used and look, it's a fender," you say, handing him the guitar.

"Woah, Y/N, this is a find," he says, playing a few chords.

You take your guitar back and start messing around on it yourself. Brendon makes his way over to the drums and starts playing along with you. You try not to ogle or anything, but he looks fucking good giving his all to the instrument. Almost makes you wonder how he'd be in bed... intense, totally in-control. Shit, you need to stop letting your mind wander; you're just as bad as the throngs of thirsty fans. Plus, you came here to play guitar with one of the most talented musicians you know, you shouldn't let your hormones get the better of you.

After a while, you start getting hot in the stuffy studio and stand up to take your jacket and shirt off, leaving you in a white tank top. That helps for a bit, but the heat is still getting to you. "Hey, B, I'm getting hot in here. Do you mind if we go outside?"

Ever since you took your jacket off, he's been laser-focused on the drum-kit, so you're not sure he hears you at first.

"B?" You repeat.

He stops his drumming but doesn't stand up. "Oh yeah, no problem, let me just tidy up the studio a bit. Can you bring the guitars out?"

"Yeah, sure," you step out of the studio with the guitar you brought and one of his acoustic ones, but when you step out of the studio, you notice dark clouds coming towards the house.

"I think it could rain; we probably should leave the instruments inside, just in case," you tell him, walking back into the studio and leaving the guitars on the couch. You notice that he's still sitting behind the drums, his head in his hands. "Hey, Brendon, you feeling okay?"

He waves you off with a laugh, still not really looking at you. "Yeah, yeah, I'm great. Just a little headache; I'm probably dehydrated. I'll bring out some waters with the next round of beers."

"Okay, if you say you're fine, I'll wait for you outside," you say suspiciously, leaving the studio.

You settle into the outdoor sitting area, kicking your feet up on the coffee table. Brendon comes out with two more beers and two water bottles, still looking a bit distressed.

"Sorry, I cut our jam session short," you apologize, as he sits in the chair across from you and crosses his legs.

"What? Are you kidding me? We were at it for hours," you swear he blushes after he says that, but he's probably flushed from drumming, "and even if it was cut off, I just wanna hang out with you, no matter what we're doing."

"Aww, I'm so glad we're friends. Ooo, and now that we have time to talk, you can tell me all about that tour story that you didn't want to write out in an email."

You two exchange stories for another half hour, but Brendon still looks pink even after he hasn't been drumming for a while now.

"Hey, you still look really hot. You wanna jump in the pool? I don't have a swimsuit, but I could just wear my tank top and panties and then change back into my t-shirt and shorts after," You suggest. He looks a little panicked if you interpret correctly, but you're not sure why. And he's getting redder but the second. "Brendon, you look really flushed; you should cool off."

He laughs, but you don't get the joke. "I actually think I should get into the air-conditioning, we could watch a movie? Plus, those dark clouds are getting awfully close. We'll get rained-on as soon as we hit the water." Sure enough, as soon as he says that, the sky opens up, and it starts pouring. You both dash through the rain to the house. He unlocks the door, and you both go inside, laughing.

Your top is positively soaked through, and you're shivering in the cold house. "You mind if I shower real fast? I don't want to catch a chill."

Brendon is looking at something behind your head, not meeting your eyes. "Well, um, you could, um, shower here. But wouldn't you rather be all comfy at home?"

"Would I rather drive through LA traffic in the rain in wet clothes than take a warm shower in your mansion? No. I'm gonna shower." You turn around, walking into his bedroom and then deeper into the en-suite bathroom. His shower is large and fancy, and you almost don't want to get out once you're sufficiently warm. You do though, it is a drought, after all. You wrap yourself in a fluffy towel and then rummage around his bedroom for dry clothes. He clearly needs to do laundry because his drawers are sparse, and his hamper is overflowing. Still, you manage to find a long t-shirt and a pair of his boxers to wear underneath.

Brendon walks in and freezes when he sees you. "Are you," he trails off, takes a deep breath, and then starts again, "are you wearing my underwear?" He eyes the black briefs you stole that are peeking out from under the t-shirt you also stole from him.

"Yeah," you say dismissively, putting your wet clothes in your purse.

"Y/N," he says exasperatedly.

"Mm? Something wrong?"

"Something wrong? Y/N, you're wearing my underwear!"

"So?"

"So my dick has been in them!"

You turn to look at him, rolling your eyes. "Your dick has been in your hands, too, but it's not a big deal because, like your underwear, I presume you wash them." He gives you a look that tells you he's not convinced. "Plus, you loaned me sweatpants after I ripped my shorts a couple of weeks ago, and are you honestly telling me your dick has never been in those?"

"That's different!"

"It is not." He gives you another exasperated look. "Okay, if it's that big of a deal, then I'll take them off, geez," you relent, tugging on the bottom of the underwear.

"Ahh!" He exclaims, turning his head, shielding his eyes, and waving his other arm in your general direction as if to ward you off. "Let's all keep our clothes on."

"What is wrong with you? Why are you being so squirrely? Does my gross body really freak you out that much?" You accuse.

His eyes widen. "Shit, no, I love your gross body, fuck, I mean, I love your perfectly normal body," he stutters while you stare in silence.

"You've made your point," you say, not bothering to hide the offense in your voice. You grab your bag and storm out of his bedroom.

"Y/N, wait," he calls.

You stop and whip around to face him, "You've been weird around me all day, Brendon! When I took my jacket off in the studio, your eyes were glued to your drums! When I said we should swim, you offered to watch a fucking movie instead! When my shirt was soaked through, you looked right past me at the wall! When I asked to shower in your house, you nearly kicked me out! And now you're having fucking conniptions over your underwear!" You shout. "Brendon, I know, believe me, I know, that I don't look like your other LA friends. That I'm not model-skinny or anything, but god, you could put some effort into not making me feel like a freak."

Brendon furrows his brows. "Y/N, of course, I don't think you're a freak."

"Oh really? Because Nicole has been buck-naked right in front of you, and you didn't bat an eye, but apparently, the sight of my arms without a jacket is so disgusting that you can't look at me." Tears are streaming down your face now.

His face falls, and he rushes towards you, "Y/N, sweet girl, oh my god, no, no, that's not it at all. I," his voice trembles, "like you," he says quietly.

You scrunch your face in confusion. "Brendon, of course, you like me; we're friends, but that doesn't make any of your behavior today acceptable."

"Are you really going to make me spell it out?" he asks. "I am attracted to you. Very attracted to you. And this whole day, I've just been trying not to get aroused by the sight of you because that's gross and objectifying and disrespectful, so I've been staring at the ground and thinking about Margaret Thatcher naked so I didn't have to go jerk off in the studio bathroom," he confesses.

"Oh."

"And now I've made things awkward," he rubs the back of his neck. "So, um, see you later, you can keep my clothes. I won't need them back. Probably do something creepy with them once you gave them back anyway. Er, that was a joke. I should shut up."

Your offense and then confusion morph into understanding and then shock and delight. "Yeah, you fucking doofus," you laugh. "You absolutely should shut up."

You take two steps forward, closing the gap between the two of you, and grab his chin. You lean in, and your lips meet his without any reservation. He kisses back, unsure. Then, you take more initiative, looping your arm around his back and pulling him against you.

Brendon stays tentative but enthusiastic, letting you take the lead. "Fuck. Margaret Thatcher naked, Margaret Thatcher naked," he chants against your lips.

"How's that distraction working out for you?" You ask knowingly, pressing your hips against his.

His cheeks warm, and must be blushing. "I think you can feel as well I do that it's working out poorly." He's trying to make a joke, but he's right. You can feel him hardening against you as you kiss. You finally remove your lips from his but keep yourself pressed against him. He turns his face away, blushing like you suspected, and grinning from ear-to-ear.

You run your hand down the side of his face. "For what it's worth, I'm very attracted to you too, if you didn't pick up on that already. Probably why I was so upset," you say softly, "I can leave if you want to be responsible and take this slow," you offer. "Or," you trace the hand from his face down his neck to his chest, "you could take me back to your bedroom and apologize for hurting my feelings." You fake a pout.

Brendon's eyes darken, and he grabs your hand to practically drag you into his bedroom. He slams the door behind you, pinning you against it. "Is this okay?"

"More than okay," you breathe out, and he kisses you hard. You reciprocate, not caring how sloppy and desperate you feel with your probing tongues and clashing teeth. He parts to breathe and then buries his face in your neck, nipping and kissing. You tremble, grateful for the door behind you, so you don't collapse. One of his hands is above your head, supporting himself against the door, and the other is on your hip. He plays with the waistband of the briefs you're wearing, a silent plea for permission.

"Touch me," you beg, and he doesn't feign any confusion, just slips his hand under the fabric and strokes your swollen clit with his index finger. You moan, trying to ask for more, but your vocal cords aren't working. He seems to understand, though, because he moves his hand back to gently slide his middle and ring finger inside you. Instead of thrusting them like you expect, he curls them and rubs against your g-spot. At the same time, he's still stroking your clit, now with his thumb, and kissing you. His coordination is crazy good, but it makes sense with all the instruments he plays. Your core is starting to feel warm and buzzy, and you're only half-shocked that he's coaxing an orgasm from you so soon. You don't know how you're still standing; your knees are weak, and your brain feels like it's filled with a static of lust and pleasure.

Brendon feels you tightening around his fingers and speeds up ever-so-slightly. The small part of you that's still lucid feels his dick, hard and pressing against you where your bodies meet. He isn't rutting or grinding against you, just keeping you pinned against the wall with his hips, and somehow the self-control is even hotter. He presses harder on your clit, and that does it. Your orgasm explodes through you, soaking the underwear you're wearing. Your legs turn to jelly, and you slump forward onto Brendon, who supports your dead weight easily. "That's it, come for me," he coaxes softly. You bury your face into him, feeling blissed-out and overstimulated all at once, unable to do anything but ride it out.

"Y/N, darling, can you move over to the bed with me?"

You nod, letting him support you as you take small steps to his bed in the middle of the room.

"Good girl. Can't believe this is really happening; I can't believe I get to touch you. Dreamed about you for so long," he marvels.

You crawl into his bed, settling back onto your knees. "Dreamed about you too," you admit. "God, can I take my shirt off, Brendon?"

"Pretty sure that's my shirt, actually."

You giggle. "Well then, can I take your shirt off?" You wink, regaining your composure.

He laughs. "Yes, please. In both senses, take my clothes off."

You pull off the t-shirt you're wearing and throw it on the ground, exposing your stomach and breasts to his hungry eyes. His chest rises and falls quickly as he soaks you in silently, trying to get control of himself. "I like looking at you in my underwear." His voice is gravelly.

"Well, wouldn't you rather look at me without your underwear?" you offer.

He swallows and nods. You strip completely. You know your cunt is shiny with your juices, and you're pretty sure that's what's caught his attention. Brendon takes his shirt off, and now it's your turn to stare. He unbuckles his belt and unzips his jeans before taking them and his underwear off. His leaking cock settles against his stomach. He approaches the bed and gets in next to you, rolling on his side to face you.

"Fuck me," you moan, grasping his erection and stroking.

Brendon lets out a choked sound and gropes around the nightstand for a condom. He grabs one and hands it to you to roll on him. You spread your legs in expectation, and he takes the cue to enter you. He slides in easily with how wet and ready you are for him. You don't wait for him to start thrusting; you're too impatient. Instead, you rock your hips up to meet him. He hisses, not expecting the motion, and tenses his entire body to stay in control. It feels like it takes him forever, but eventually, he starts moving, slowly dragging his cock up and down. You squeeze your legs together to better feel him, and he hisses before his thrusts quicken, already working desperately towards release.

You can practically feel the veins running across him. "You're so much thicker than I would've guessed. Fill me up so nicely," you tell him. He throbs at your words, and you suspect the praise is turning him on even more, so when his hips snap forward perfectly into your g-spot, you praise him again. "So good, B, keep this angle, please." Your suspicions are mostly confirmed when he moans, and his thrusts falter a bit as a wave of pleasure washes over him. His hand moves to stroke your nipple while he supports himself with his other arm to avoid crushing you. You move your hand between your bodies to touch your clit, but instead, decide to form your fingers in a V and feel him moving between them instead. He hisses at the new sensation, and you love affecting him with your touch.

You finally do move your other hand to rub your clit, fast and hard. There are so many different pleasure points being activated on your body that you don't know what to focus on, so you don't focus on any; just let all the feelings meld into one as you lay back and mostly let Brendon do all the work. And god is he working hard; his muscles are tense and shiny with exertion, his head is thrown back with an expression of sheer bliss on his face, and his thrusts are unrelenting. Not to mention the hand still fondling your breast. He's gorgeous, too caught up in fucking you to muster any speech. You'd feel bad that he's putting so much effort in while you just get to lie back, touch yourself, and meet his thrusts when you can if he didn't seem so deeply gratified himself. Not only is the friction around his cock divine, but he also loves getting to pleasure you. Seeing your mouth fall open, unable to keep moans from escaping. The sex is messy and unrefined, neither of you quite knowing how to drive the other crazy yet, but pulling out every trick you can think of. You feel like a gamer smashing all the buttons to see what will work.

Despite the usual LA climate, the rain outside is pouring harder, and it's adding to the intensity and frenzy you both feel. "Shit, I'm close to coming," he groans.

"Hang on for me a little longer, Brendon, please. Just five more minutes," you plead. Admittedly, you could come too, but you only get one first time with Brendon, and you don't want it to end. He cranes his neck to suck behind your ear, clearly trying to get you to come faster.

"No fair, you already came," he complains, moving your hands out of the way to rub your clit himself. You use your free hands to play with your nipples, now rock hard from the constant stimulation.

"Shit, okay, come," you allow. As you say it, the first clap of thunder booms through the house. He sighs in relief, kissing you deeply as he lets himself go, getting lost in euphoria. You love feeling his hot come gather in the condom, and it triggers your own orgasm. You shriek as your second orgasm of the day is more intense than the first, and you're pretty sure you soak his bedspread just like you soaked his underwear.

He pulls out quickly and tosses the condom before snuggling up against you. "Guess your weird, gross body is good for something after all," he mumbles against your neck, already falling asleep.

"Hm, if only we could find a good use for yours," you retort, wrapping yourself around him.

#brendon urie smut #brendon urie fanfiction #my work

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hankwritten · 3 years ago

Text

The Weight of Other People’s Thoughts

Demoman/Soldier, 2k

Request for @lilythedragon05, Scotland

It was a bad idea to follow that tugging cord at the center of his being, the one that called him to Ullapool, and he never would have dared to entertain it if he knew it would have brought him here.

Jane sat by the ocean, stone’s throw from the town, but his distasteful frown kept his eyes locked firmly ahead instead of gazing dubiously at it. What had he been thinking? Coming to Ullapool had only make him feel worse, not better, a smirch against Tavish’s memory if there ever was one. Rubbing in Tavish’s face that he’d never go home again—and here Jane was, free to frolic across the whole damn planet, even if it took him to stupid countries ending in ‘land’.

He leaned further over his knees, barely feeling the sea breeze as he thought about his dead friend.

His murdered friend, he reminded himself. Murdered by someone who he thought he could trust, who now had to carry that guilt with him for the rest of his life.

Everywhere Jane looked it reminded him of Tavish. Maybe that’s why he’d come: self-flagellation. Appropriate punishment. Or maybe he was so desperate not to forget, he’d take the pain that came with remembering. Torturing himself truly, since he could look on the hills and surrounding coast that he had once only known through enthusiastic descriptions, see for himself the places where a young Tavish had played with dummy-grenades. He could imagine him talking to the local shopkeeps. He could practically see him walking up this very path, groceries in one hand, a newspaper filled with fried fish in the other as he took a large bite out of it-

Wait.

Tavish stopped dead, his face enveloped in utter shock. Still mid-chew, he said, “Jdra-ne?”

Jane leapt to his feet. “Apparition!” He pointed an accusing finger at the offending spirit. “Do not think for a second I will be cowed into repentance by the spectral manifestation of my guilt!”

Tavish nearly choked as he tried to swallow his bite of fish. “I…what?”

“Ghosts serve no purpose on my journey to recovery,” Jane continued. “Not even ones that look like my dead friend! Be gone creature of the other world!”

“What I- I’m not bloody dead.”

Jane squinted at him. He definitely didn’t look dead, totally opaque, no fettered chains representing his sins in life and his guilt over failing to help his fellow Man.

“…Are you sure?” Jane pressed.

“You’d think someone would know if they were dead,” Tavish grumbled poignantly, now glaring at Jane for some reason.

“I killed you though. It was-” -pickaxe right through the sternum, crushing, all the red bits coming out when they should have been in- “That was definitely fatal.”

“Aye, was, but I managed to limp my was back into Respawn range. Took a better part of an hour, but I made it.”

There was something odd to Tavish’s voice, something he wasn’t saying, but the realization that he might actually-seriously-really be alive was starting to set in and Jane was too afraid to believe it.

He took a step closer, past the bench he’d been enjoying his solitude at and completing a full circle around the Demoman. Tavish’s head followed him all the while, up until Jane came to a stop in front of him. “…Promise you are not a ghost?”

“I’m not a ghost,” Tavish said, as convincingly honest as he’d always been. Not that his acting skills hadn’t covered for his mendacity before-

-no, no that was a trick, it all turned out to be a lie a damn lie-

“Fine then. You’re not.” Though Jane would keep his eyes peeled for phantasmal anyway. “What the hell are you doing here then?”

“I live here,” Tavish huffed. “Gravel Wars are over, wasn’t going to spend the rest of my years in some blighted desert. Better question is what are you doing here, yank?”

Crap. Well, maybe a half-truth would suffice. “You always talked so much about Scotland I thought…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”

Tavish stood there, one hand still clasped around his groceries. The moment dragged on, vast seas of unsaid things between them, of regrets still festering, to which he ended with, “would you like me to show you around?”

Jane looked down, trying not to stare at his shoes but instead at the foreign soil around them. “…Sure. Why not.”

“Everything is incredibly vertical,” Jane complained as they climbed up yet another hill Tavish insisted was part of the journey.

“Aye, that’s why they call it the Highlands, BLU.”

Jane hated how fucking smug he sounded. Hated, and missed it all the same, missed how this bastard could set a fire in his gut just with one of his damn smiles.

“And there she is,” the Demoman said proudly as the crested the final ridge.

“Damn. Really went to crap in the last couple centuries.”

“Oi, don’t point fingers at me! I’ve only been around for forty of those.”

DeGroot Keep was shriveled and hunchbacked since Jane had last seen it, folding under its own legacy as ages had eaten the tallest spires first and chewed its way down to the cob. Still, he could just make out the choke points, the parapets, the places he used to go charging into with his mêlée weapon held high—all sanded down by the years, the vaguest memories of control points where a portal in time had briefly allowed Jane to witness their existence.

“So what,” he asked, following Tavish into the slight dip in the Highlands where the Keep nestled, “you live in here like some sort of anti-Italian?”

“An anti- what now?”

“Anti-Italians! Despises sun, allergic to garlic, doesn’t show up in mirrors, no sex life. Basic literary reference, RED.”

Tavish rolled his eye. “No, I’m not squatting in the dilapidated castle. Got a perfectly nice home down in the village, I just happen to have inherited this along with…all the other crap.” He waved his hand. “I’ve considered shelling out to having it restored but…dunno. Seeing it go from its heyday to this makes me think that in another couple hundred years it’ll just fall apart again.”

He sat on a piece of tumbled rock, one that used to hang over the Keep’s gate, a bright and shining keystone now used as a stool. Jane joined him.

“Don’t get much of this at home, do you? Old crap. Yer country’s still a wee babe you know, nothing’s even falling apart yet.”

“Incorrect!” Jane amended. “There are plenty of old things in America!”

“For last time lad, Thomas Edison wasn’t immortal, and he didn’t be build a second Shangri-La under Pennsylvania Avenue.”

“Your statements reveal both your ignorance and your compunction, but I was actually talking about mounds.”

“Mounds,” Tavish repeated dubiously.

“Yes! Mounds! Fourteen hundred years ago Americans were building ceremonial mounds in order to track celestial events! They look like animals from the top, lynx, bears, fish, all that crap. I used to walk next to this bird one every day on the way to school.”

Tavish blinked at him, tilting his head. “No offense Jane, but including Native people usually isn’t in your worldview. Where’d you even learn all ‘o that?”

“My mother taught me, so think insinuating more cyclops—lest you show disrespect against her memory and I am forced to take out your other socket!”

Tavish raised his hands defensively, but there was a smile creeping at the corner. “Alright, alright, I get ye. A Mum’s honor is a serious thing.”

“Hm. Good.” Jane glanced ahead, suddenly afraid of lapsing back into silence, as though Tavish would start to slip away from him if they did. “How is your mother?”

“Ah…she passed some years back.”

“…I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s alright.” Tavish paused. “I still see her sometimes.”

“Metaphorically or…?”

Tavish glanced at him, but then away just a quickly, as though frightened of what he might see. “I’d rather not talk about it, if that’s alright with you.” Instead, he stared ahead, the sun setting between its cradle within the mountains. “Heh. At least there’s something that’s the same no matter where you go. Always a sunset.”

“Guess so.”

Still, Jane found he liked this one better than the ones back home. At least, better than all the ones he’d seen before he’d met Tavish.

The next day was spent in the village, and Jane couldn’t help but yearn for more of Tavish’s time, more of his attention. His friend. His friend who was still alive. Tavish had a kind word for every person they passed, all of whom didn’t seem to notice Jane at all, simply starting up a conversation with their fellow local and submitting to the rhythm of the morning. Breakfast was some sort of potato scone, but Jane wasn’t hungry, so he just walked beside Tavish as the other man ate. They found themselves at the same bench where they’d first run into each other.

“So,” Tavish asked. “Ullapool everything you thought it would be?”

“Hm. It’s…nice. It is obviously not perfect for geographical reasons entirely outside of its control, but. I understand how it made you the man you are.”

“Me? Nah.” Tavish wiped off his mouth with his sleeve. “I made myself like this.”

Again, he wouldn’t look at Jane, wouldn’t say what they were both thinking. That things had gone wrong, that they had both fucked up. One of them more than the other, but Jane had found him again, and maybe they could still figure something out, still have time to unearth all that they had deemed too dangerous and buried in the sand.

Jane reached forward, and put his hand over where Tavish’s was resting on the bench.

And watched it pass straight through.

Jane sprang away. “I knew it! I knew you were a ghost!”

Likewise, Tavish stood up sharply. “I am not. I bloody told you I was’t.”

“Liar! I will not be swayed by any more perjury from your ethereal mouth!”

“I’m not lying!” Tavish snarled at him, his eye dark and narrowed, burning hotter than the words would imply. “I never lied. I never wanted any of-”

“Blasphemy!”

“Would you just listen for-!”

“You cannot guilt me apparition! For I know that-”

“Shut up! Just fucking shut up!” Tavish’s fist closed around the neck of his scrumpy bottle, half drained before noon, and threw it full force at Jane’s head.

Jane raised an arm to block the incoming blow, but the impact never arrived. A second ticked by, then two, then three, and slowly he lowered his forearm to reveal the panting Demoman behind it, shoulders heaving and an inscrutable expression tearing across his features.

“How’s that for the truth you bleeding idiot,” he said.

Jane looked to Tavish, then rotated his neck slowly, staring at the bottle that had landed in the grass behind him. He blinked, willing what he was looking at to make sense, to suddenly disappear and go back to where things were a second ago. To believe he hadn’t seen that bottle connected with his own nose.

There was something he didn’t want to do, but he did it anyway, turning his gaze forward inch by agonizing inch, staring down at his own hands. Fully taking how translucent they were.

The moment shattered, Tavish tore his eye away. “Fuck. Fuck I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve…”

Jane was still looking at his hands. There was panic, deep and overwhelming rising within him, but there was no raised pulse to accompany it, no sweat on the back of his neck.

He lifted his chin to Tavish. “What? I don’t…”

“I didn’t die,” Tavish said thickly. “You did. I killed you and I walked off and you just bled out for who knows how long and-”

-the pickaxe but also a sword, just as deadly buried two feet into his chest and the man above him trying to shove it in a few extra inches, strangled screaming as it pushed deeper-

Jane hadn’t been paying attention to the last half of Tavish’s muttered confession. The Demoman was crying now, pawing furiously at his one lone eye as stared out valley below them, looking anywhere but at Jane as his sclera turned red.

“I’m sorry,” he sputtered. “Christ Jane I’m so fucking sorry. If you came to haunt me or whatever I just- I just want you to know that you can’t hate me more than I hate myself. That it’s been killing me every day since.”

He collapsed on the bench, curling away from Jane as he buried his face in his hands.

It could have been some sort of trick. A ghost bottle or…no Jane wouldn’t even try. He attempted to remember what flight he had come in on but couldn’t. He grasped for how many years since the Gravel Wars had ended, and couldn’t find the answer.

Jane was a ghost, yet everything still hurt as much as it had when he had lived. Immaterial, and he still so badly wanted to touch Tavish’s hand.

He sat on the bench next to him. “I didn’t come to make you feel bad, Tavish.”

“Then why did you come?” It sounded like it was meant to be venomous, but instead it only sounded empty—empty and wet with tears, like a plastic bag trampled into a puddle.

Jane looked down at his hands. His useless, ghost hands that he could still knit together. “I…I wanted to see you,” he said truthfully. “I missed you.”

Tavish looked at him, bleary-eyed. He whispered, “I missed you too. So damn much.”

“Whatever I was doing before, I missed you enough to come here. To someplace I thought you would be.”

A panicked jolt crossed Tavish’s face. “You’re not leaving, are you?” The same man who a moment ago thought Jane had come to smother him with guilt was despondent at the idea that Jane might go after all, that he wouldn’t get a chance to hurt himself with his own regret anymore.

“No, no not yet,” Jane said. He tried his best to wrap and arm around Tavish’s shoulder. The mortal shivered where their skin met.

“Okay,” Tavish said quietly. “Okay. Good. Thank you. I don’t think I can…When I saw you sitting up here I couldn’t believe it could be fore something good. That the only reason you’d want to haunt me would be because you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you.”

It was true. Even though he remembered now, remember lying there, thinking how they’d killed each other, Jane had only ever hated the man who’d believed the TV’s lies.

“I really did come because I was thinking of you. Missing you.” Jane paused. “Today was fun. I’m sure you have a lot of other places to show me, right private?”

“…Sure. Sure whatever you want.” Tavish wiped at his nose. “I’m sorry Jane.”

“It’s alright Tavish.” He held his head in the crook of Tavish’s neck. “I’m sorry too.”

#demosolly #boots n bombs #tf2 fanfiction

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fastcarsgovroom · 4 years ago

Text

Don’t really know what to make of still it but here goes (the Lando Norris issue) Pt 3

This is about the Lando Norris and Max Fewtrell (and other involved streamers) issue so you don't need to read it if it's not in your best interest to. I don’t know if this thing is supposed to have blown over or anything, but I’m posting because heck this is my blog and I want to post about things I think are in line with my personal philosophy (and maybe in-group).

The entire rant is in five parts:

Part 1 is where I describe very basically the entire situation, essentially what I saw happening through posts on the tumblr, twitter, and reddit Lando Norris tags

Part 2 is me trying to describe why some fans felt what they felt and reacted the way they did

Part 3 is the videos and what was said of them and how I interpreted them

Part 4 the ‘misinformation’ idk

Part 5 is like, a rant.

Part 3: What was actually said?

The clips of Lando and Max F saying things that were, for the lack of better words, questionable. Clip urls taken from one of the OPs who brought the issue to our attention (hope it’s all right I didn’t credit).

TW for talks about sex, sexism, and misogyny

If anything, listen to the clips for yourself and ignore the wall of text. Make up your own mind. I’m only writing what I’ve seen, and as a way to make sense of it.

Under the cut

The relevant videos are (not in chronological order)

1. Star signs

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_qqblm5bUU51y0rtc3.mp4

How I’d describe it: Max F brings up star signs (like, the zodiac) because his chat was discussing it. Lando reacts by saying that if a girl asks about star signs, ‘you get up and leave’, apparently in reference to his personal experience with a girl in conversation about star signs. Max F comments that the girl has ‘dodged a bullet’ based on how, for the lack of better words, passionate (’salty’) Lando’s reaction was. Lando retorts that Max F ‘wouldn’t have wanted to be with her,’ providing some information (where the girl was sitting), which causes Max F to recognize the girl and react in an amused but equally passionate way. The other streamer quoted “she crazy”, supposedly in relation to the girl.

How people have interpreted it: Others have interpreted is as being a sexual encounter, Lando being dismissive of a female-skewed topic of interest (star signs) and only listening to her in hopes of a sexual encounter (edit: the more ‘obvious’ “listening to women in hopes of a sexual encounter” is clip 4, added below. But I’ve also seen people claiming ‘dipping’ (said by Max F) and ‘coughing’ (said by Lando) here to be references to sex, along with the ‘you wouldn’t have wanted to be with her’ as, of course, having sex, so I’ll leave this interpretation up. Again, I may be getting this wrong), that Lando and friends were making fun of the girl (’she crazy’, ‘you wouldn’t have wanted to be with her’, how Lando said the topic was ‘so boring’ at the mention of star signs, etc.)

How I interpreted it: Personally, I don’t think we have enough context as to what really went down. I can see how you could come to the above interpretations, but I also, personally, find relating it necessarily to a sexual encounter a reach. Yeah, it could be the men hanging out and getting to know a young woman (girls) but just not jiving with her, or thinking that the woman’s interests were weird and boring. Personal conversations, essentially, that probably has no place on a public stream, but it comes across as being said carelessly and immaturely rather than with malice.

2. ‘Stealing’, ‘don’t want to talk about it’, ‘that [descriptor]’

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_qqbm90Esu01y0rtc3.mp4

How I’d describe it: This clip starts with a streamer (honestly I can only identify Max F and Lando, sorry) saying Max is bitter, to which Lando adds that it’s because Max F ‘did not receive love from a girl’. This seems to upset Max F, who retorts that if he should ‘tell a few stories’ about Lando, implied to be embarrassing ones. There was a lot of ‘yours’ and ‘mine’ (Lando and Max F) thrown around about the women. Max F brings up that Lando ‘tried to steal mine (Max F’s)’. Lando refutes this, and Max F looks more upset and says repeatedly that he does not want to ‘have this conversation’ with Lando. Lando continues on, referring to the girls as ‘the [descriptor]’, i.e. “the old one?”; “the top golf one?” and “I did not try to steal that one.”

The other streamer appears to take issue with this, saying ‘that one?”, and Max F adds “can we stop talking about it like that?” and doubles down and tells Lando to stop the conversation.

How people have interpreted it: This is the more egregious clip; people took offense at how the women were spoken about (’yours’, ‘mine’), the implications that they can be ‘stolen’, and how Lando referred to them as ‘the [descriptor]’. Some also interpreted Max F’s it as referring to a girl. This all leads into the perception that Lando and Max F were objectifying the women and talking about them in terms of conquests (presumably sexual).

How I interpreted it: I think Lando and Max F were quite disrespectful in how they were talking about the women, more so Lando because he continued with the conversation (in a public stream) despite Max F telling him to stop. It does sound like ‘locker room banter’ about relationships, which is still, ultimately, misogynistic, immature, disrespectful, and inappropriate, especially in a public stream.

What I don’t get is how ‘the/that [descriptor]’ was taken as intentional and malicious objectifying, and how the ‘it’ was referring to a woman and not the entire situation.

3. ‘Cowboy’

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_qqbq6nhmZR1y0rtc3.mp4

How I’d describe it: The clip starts in the middle off in-game banter, with Lando asking Max F if has any other digs at him, to which Max F replies that he does have ‘plenty off digs’ at Lando. Lando brings up ‘cowboy’ as an apparent dig, to which Max F retorts is ‘not a dig’, but was ‘brilliant’ and ‘very good’ for Lando. The Toy Story reference of ‘there’s a snake in my boot!’ is brought up, to which someone says ‘not the only snake, haha’ in a mock-jokey voice.

How people have interpreted it: There’s probably more backstory to this in previous streams, as OP mentioned. Some have taken issue with, again, discussing personal situations involving a third party (OP has mentioned that the nickname ‘cowboy’ is in reference to a woman). Some also claimed that the nickname ‘cowboy’ is a sex position, so took offense to how it sounded like Lando and Max F nicknamed a woman they knew after a sex position, then openly talked about her in a public stream. Some said the nickname was from the woman’s social media handle, which had a cowboy emoji.

How I interpreted it: This one is weird. I have no idea what the context is. I have no idea how people came to the conclusion that ‘cowboy’ was a sex position. Is the ‘snake’ in reference to male genitalia? I don’t know? I have no interpretation of this other than things without context always sound so weird. There’s entire twitter accounts about shows and podcasts lines taken out of context, which just sounds bizarre.

4. ‘Reward’

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_qqbfwzG9GC1wg3eue_720.mp4

How I’d describe it: I’m not sure if I can describe it without transcribing the whole thing or putting my own interpretation / narrative here. It’s a public stream, sure, but it sounds as coherent as a bit of disjointed conversation you’ve eavesdropped on (To me, anyway. I’m not being obtuse on purpose maybe I’m just dim).

Clip starts with Lando and Max F sounding very amused with something, with Lando telling Max F about an encounter(?)/incident(?)with ‘cowboy’, referencing ‘rounds’ (round 2… round 6). There’s more banter, Max F saying he was ‘worried’ that Lando was talking about someone else, that he will whatever Lando is doing is ‘good for [him]’, and is ‘healthy’.

Lando says it was “bit boring, really”, to which Max F says ‘oh, 100%, yeah waffle. Complete and utter waffle’ and “gotta do you what you gotta do, listen to her sometimes you know what I mean? Sacrifices do bring on great things.”

How people have interpreted it: Essentially, Lando is telling Max F about his hookups with ‘cowboy’ (the rounds being, well, rounds of hookups). Lando is saying that being with ‘cowboy’ is a bit boring, but Max F saying that Lando has to make sacrifices (his time? listening to boring conversation (’waffle’)?) in order to maintain said hookup partner. The takeaway was that Lando and Max F discussed sexual encounters with a woman (’cowboy’) on public stream, called her ‘boring’, and implied that she should only be listened to in context of getting a hookup is disrespectful. Many were disgusted.

Some, perhaps not having watched the clip, attributed the ‘sacrifices for women’s attention / sexual gratification from women’ comment to Lando. Others are angry and disappointed that Lando did not speak up against the comment, which indicates that he too is complicit with the notion that women should only be listened to for sexual gratification.

How I interpreted it: There’s a lot of innuendo here and ‘keywords’ that are attributed to sex and hookups (i.e. ‘rounds’ being hookups / rounds of sex; Max F’s implication that the many rounds (6) are ‘healthy’, a common description for sexual activity as being a healthy part of the human experience.) So, yes, I’ll believe that they’re most likely talking about their sex life. Why did I use so many words to come to that conclusion, and not just say ‘they are talking about their sex life’ out of the bag? Because that was my thought process so idk what to tell you other than what I did. Maybe it’ll come across as being apologetic and intentionally obtuse, who knows.

Without the context, it’s not going to be very obvious.

So if I’m taking it as their conversation about sex, then the “sacrifices do bring on great things,” will very heavily imply that Lando has to have boring conversations with ‘cowboy’ for sex. Let’s be clear, this is a very disrespectful and demeaning take. It’s also unfortunately a very common one that’s thrown around everywhere in media, among immature men (young or old, lets be real). It’s also very normalized, so I get when people say they find it ‘normal’ or ‘typical’. This doesn’t excuse the comments or topic of conversation.

On the other hand, I can also see a POV that Max F may have said things ironically or sarcastically, since it is a sentiment often used (women are nags) and both Lando and Max F are known to be sarcastic, dramatic, and dry at times. This is a reach to the other end of the ‘harmless banter’ spectrum, but without context, maybe it’s possible.

Still don’t know why ‘cowboy’ is necessarily a nickname derived from a sex position.

Part 4

#tw misogyny #tw sexism #tw sex #tw objectification #lando norris #max fewtrell #long post

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gagmebucky · 5 years ago

Text

my first steve fic... don’t drag me about the characterization please i did my BEST and that’s all the matters, really 😌

[boxer!steve. size kink. doll.]

His jaw ticks. “It’s not a challenge, doll,” he bites out. “It’s a warning. If I tried to get inside you, I’d split you in half in the process.” His eyes flicker down, and your nipples are pebbles against the thin, easily-rippable fabric—you’re testing him, and he’s failing. “Goddamn it,” he hisses underneath his breath. “That - that shouldn’t turn you on.” Bristling, he drops his hand and pedals backward—he’s on his last thread, and it’s his sole chance to make a clear-headed decision.

in which steve can’t resist what he feels for you. (includes boxer!steve x coach’s-daughter!reader, steve’s pov, dirty talk, mild choking, size kink, grinding, unprotected sex, creampie kink, overstimulation.)

—

Steve Rogers has impeccable self control. He knows how to control his emotions, to maintain a clear head amid the mist of commotion, to command his body to follow his head and not the violent, primal instincts that prickle underneath his skin.

And despite the lifelong effort required to uphold this principle, he’s found great fortune in the endeavor. Most don’t realize it, but in his occupation, there’s a certain level of restraint necessary in order to be successful. He has experienced it on both ends so he’s aware of just how important it is.

Growing up, he hadn’t known better. In the numerous instances where he’d been provoked and pushed, he gave in; consequently, suffering gravelly. Knuckles split, bones broken and face bloodied, his anger got the better of him, and his opponents always got the benefit.

But that’s where your father came in, and showed him the way to fight back and win every time, to redirect his mania into his fists and funnel them in tactful blows that resulted in trophy after trophy. Once Steve learned how to do that, everything became a breeze. It’s more than a combat style but a way of living.

Ultimately, he gets what he wants because he can make logic-based decisions and utilize his visceral drive in executing them. And a wallet fat with unmatched winnings, a house for his family and a luxurious apartment of his own, his name on the lips of the masses, it’s a fucking amazing life—for the most part, anyway.

Except for the one part: you.

The problem with self control, he has come to realize, is that when he truly desires something, he sees the cons of that thing. Usually, if it outweighs the pros, he’ll stop it before it begins. However, in the case of you, that formula isn’t working like it’s supposed to.

You see, he knows he can’t have you, and he knows why. You are the daughter of his mentor, the only child of the single reason that he’s evolved into the East Coast’s Golden Glove Champion three times in a row, and pursuing you is beyond disrespectful.

So why the fuck can’t he get you out of his head?

That’s what he keeps asking himself. Another glorious win, and it won’t stop rattling inside his skull like a hammer on a gong. The crowd is chanting his name but yours is beating a tattoo inside his rib cage. The post-win rush surges through his veins and hits harder than any blows he’s ever received but spotting the proud tilt of your lips amongst the masses is like punch from God themself.

His clean-shaven jaw locks as the referee lifts his right arm and everyone goes wild, losing your face in the fanfare. This is the part where he basks in it, where he loses himself in the victory of sweat and blood slick across his skin; money and recognition, a reminder of the advantages of self-discipline; his reward of what he gets when he uses his brain and not the urges that prickle underneath his skin.

This time, however, it’s not as gratifying as it’s supposed to be. No, it’s fucking agitating because instead of being the thing that gets him what he wants, it’s the obstacle in his way.

He can’t pin-point exactly why the desire is striking him this intensely but he suspects it has something to do with the fact that you’ve just returned after a while, and your father is still gone—which means you’ll be upstairs in the gym’s apartment, alone, when he comes to see you (and he will come and see you, what’s the quote about looking and not touching?).

The tension in his muscles advises his better judgement not to. The wild thump thump thump of his heart to the tune of your name dictates he find some other not-forbidden girl to release the mania coiled inside him before he does; that, it’s not like you’d mind he greet you in the morning—in fact, you’d understand.

Except, he feels like a live wire right now, and there’s a pull inside him that feels like you’re the only thing that can fray his edges back into stability.

You’re on the counter when he walks in. Barefoot, you’re kneeling on the flat surface to reach a high shelf in one of the kitchen’s cabinets. One arm stretched above your head, you blindly search for the contents for a cup, palm slapping against wood as you do. After seconds of failure, a cutely disgruntled noise leaves your throat, and you shuffle up to your toes.

For a moment, he’s entranced by the display. A smile quirks the corner of his lips, running his gaze down the outline of your figure. Adorned in a tank top and ass-hugging jeans, there’s not a flaw in sight; other than his hands not on you, exploring every inch, crushing your body against his. Oh, that and you’re about to fall.

“Oomph!” expels in a feminine grunt when you flail backwards and collide with the cushion of his embrace. His forearm hooks around your waist like an anchor and packs you against his chest before gently sliding you down his body to the safety of the ground. In doing so, momentarily, he’s caught up in how you feel against him, your back huddled into his front like puzzle pieces.

Everything about him is big, and it occurs to him that everything about you is small. His herculean stature dwarfs yours: six-foot of towering strength versus your soft, shorter frame. You barely require an ounce of strength to be lifted, and his blood rushes to his lower region with what he can do with that knowledge.

Subconsciously, he tightens his hold until you tilt your head back to blink up at him with those enamoring big eyes. With that, he snaps out of his daze and relinquishes you with a quiet, “Sorry.” Before you can respond, he reaches beyond to grab the item of your desire and hands it over.

Your lashes flutter. “Thanks, killer,” you breathe cheekily as you accept it, the delayed rise and fall of your decolletage slowly regulating. You step out of his space. leaving him cold in your wake, and pad over to the sink with your back to him. “You did good out there, by the way.”

At the praise, his smile restores, and he inches toward you. “Just good?” he echoes after you’ve turned the faucet on and off and crosses his arms in faux offense.

Lips curled around a drink of water, you whirl around and finish a swig. Droplets glisten on your Cupid’s bow, and he swears you’re doing this on purpose when your pink tongue licks the liquid clean. “Do you really need little ‘ole me feeding your ego?” you tease and lean against the counter.

“You are little,” he agrees with a perfunctory nod.

You roll your eyes playfully and set the half-full cup down. “No. You - you’re just huge.” You gesture pointedly at his broad, muscle-laden build; dragging your stare down his squared shoulders to his defined abdomen to the tree trunks he has for thighs. An airy quality lingers in your voice, almost high pitched, as you add, “I don’t understand how your competitors don’t go running for the hills when they see you.”

Taking another stride forth, head cocking, he observes you. There’s something in your expression he can’t quite explain but it pumps confidence into his blood. He glances at himself, white under armor t-shirt and gray sweats, but there’s no downplaying the physical strength he possesses. “You think I’m intimidating?”

You scoff and shake your head vehemently. “To other people, yeah. Me? Not so much.” A devious grin curves into those alluring lips of yours, and you straighten against the counter (not that it helped any with the height difference). “I could take you better than any of those losers you’ve gone against.”

He laughs, husky and genuine. “Oh? Is that what you think?”

You stand your ground and encroach upon him, stabbing a finger into his chest. “It’s what I said, isn’t it?”

Alarm bells ring between his ears, but he’s too lost in the beautiful arrogance on your face to listen. “Okay,” he says then backs up to the middle of the room where space is more ample and beckons you over with both hands. “C’mon then.”

As he expected, you don’t back down. You smooth your hand through your hair and kick off the bottom cupboard. Rolling your shoulder, you enter his orbit; a friendly competitiveness gleams in your dilated pupils, darkening enough for him to notice beneath the kitchen’s warm-toned luminences.

Your stance is nothing less than perfection (much like the rest of you). Orthodox, you project your right side but spread your weight evenly through both legs; a smidge wider than your shoulders, you bounce on the balls of your feet. Hands in a loose fist, your elbows are drawn together, and your chin tucks, looking up at him through your knitted eyebrows.

There’s no question about your combative ability but his just more developed—given this is what he does for a living—so while you’re fast and your punches twist like it comes straight out of the textbook, he has the upper hand.

In a half-hearted demeanor, he humors you. For a moment, the both of you encircle each other, him with a suppressed smile, you with concentrated brows. Like lightning, you advance on him and push through a superlative jab. But as quick as you are, he’s quicker.

Deftly dodging your knuckles, he catches your dainty wrist. A squeal escapes your throat as he wrenches it behind your lower back. The swift action draws your body against his once again; the dull ridges of your back molds so close to his front that he knows you can feel the hammer of his heart beating an imprint between your shoulder blades.

You wiggle briefly, and he has to bite down on a groan at the faint jean vibrations against his sweats, but you eventually relax with a long whine of, “No fair!”

“You said—”

“Not what I meant,” you interject breathlessly, a salacious underlying in the words that he can no longer play oblivious to—dawning on him in a gut-clenching heat. “When I said I could take you, Rogers, I wasn’t talking about in a fight. Though, I won’t mind if we got a little violent. . .”

His breathing hitches. “I knew it.” A truth he long-buried—the strike of realization he avoided confronting in an attempt to hinder his own feelings—hurtles in his rib cage as he unwillingly accepts the reality you want him in the perverse idiosyncrasy he wants you. That beastly part of him roars in ravenous elation while his practiced erudition advises you in a low and pained plead, almost a groan, “You gotta stop.”

With a breezy laugh, a twinkling song of laughter, you repeat a doubtful, “Stop?” and do the exact opposite. Your body careens into him, specifically your ass grinding encouragement against the hardening bulge in his pants. “Doesn’t feel like you want me to.”

You’re right. “I don’t.” The reply rumbles through his chest and wrenches out strangled. The grip on your wrist increases before vanishing altogether. “But you’re Coach’s daughter, and out of all the things not to do, you’re number one on that list.”

Freed, you twirl around and retain the lack of distance. You look up at him with unwavering seduction. “When you’re looking at me like that, does that really matter anymore?”

Again, you’re right. But that’s not the issue—not the prevailing one, that is. “I’ve thought about you a million different ways but in reality, I’d break you,” he admits in a ragged exhale and licks his bottom lip. Another analytical once-over confirms his deduction; your danity frame clashing with his would be something beastly. “How would your daddy react knowing I ruined his pretty little girl?”

To his pleasure and displeasure, it doesn’t dissuade your attraction. No, it seems to have heightened it instead. “Is that a promise?” you ask, lust scintillating in your eyes like moonlight on the ocean, and he has to recoil away because you’ve got too much power over him with a look like that. “Steve—”

Your hand grapples his before he can get far, an earnest strength he doesn’t have to bat an eyelash at. But it’s that—another reminder of your size differences and how easily he could bend and fold you to his liking—that has a carnal current torrenting from the depths of his soul, demanding an innate action.

On impulse, he lurches forward with an inhuman growl and herds you backward until his hips are trapping yours against the counter edge. His hand wraps around the column of your neck, partially spanning your jaw to tilt upwards.

“In every one of those fantasies, I use you like a rag doll—fast and rough, never gentle. And you wanna know why? ‘Cause you’re fuckin’ small and it’s the only possible way for me to fuck you,” he rasps, strained and serious, imploring you to understand the gravity of his words. “That’s in the case, that I can even fit inside you in the first place. So, you may say you can handle me but the truth is, you wouldn’t be able to take just one of my fingers.”

The speech is to deter you; invoke some common sense in that intelligent brain of yours because all of his is withering by the second. In lieu of his intention, it excites you further. Your pulse races against his palm but the flames in your gaze tell him it isn’t from fear. “You seem so sure about that but. . . but I don’t think so,” you purposely goad that volatile and competitive aspect of him. “Why don’t we try and see who’s right?”

“No,” you state simply, following after him. “I - I think you’re scared. I think you don’t want to admit that someone as small as me could take you so easily—and I mean easy—where everyone else fell to their knees.” A coy smirk upturns the corner of your lips. “Though I also wouldn’t be opposed to getting on mine right now.”

That’s it. The last shred of ascetic lessons from the past six years bursts into ash. The fire ignites an unhinged frenzy, tunneling into his veins and coursing through his blood like the water of a previously dammed river now freed of placating obstruction.

With unrestricted strength, Steve hauls you into his arms, cording underneath your ass and hoisting you high around his abdomen. In a gnashing kiss, he crushes his lips against yours. There’s no delay in your response, returning his passion in a rivaling degree.

That formerly-leashed, hedonistic entity within him preens from its shackles and livens with unhinged reign. Electricity crackles underneath his skin and tingles violently in feral need. Every filthy imagining he’s conjured of you strobes through his mind, and he feels like a man who hasn’t eaten in years, and you’re the delectable T-bone steak he gets to devour.

You moan into his mouth, a pretty vibration he swallows, as he laps up your taste. The musical sound, the way you explode on his tongue, it all goes to his head like a hit off a drug and slithers down his spine to the ache in his cock.

His hips snap forward, and his grasp on you intensifies; clutching your ass, he’s rocking your center into his cotton-clad erection roughly. Shards of pleasure ricochet through him, but it’s not enough—he needs more, needs more of your titillating sounds, more of your body on his, of you coming undone because of him, you making him fall apart.

As you writhe against him with breathy sounds, he sets you on the counter and goes for your pants. Logic evades him at this point—like the fact it’d be the same amount of time with less effort it’d be if he slipped off—and his hands tear the denim material down the middle. Using little effort, he continues to remove what separates you, doing away with your panties next. All the while, you’re gasping in surprise and possibly outrage but he can’t focus on that right now.

“You don’t understand,” he speaks laboredly, shoving his sweats to his knees to reveal he’s gone commando. “How bad I’ve wanted you. How hard it was—how hard you make me—to keep from myself taking you in every disgusting way I dreamed about.”

Slicked with precum, his veined manhood is just as thick as it is long; past lovers have gawked at the formidable steel, shying away immediately after, and he’s always understood that. But you, you look at him starry-eyed, licking your bottom lip like you want him exploding on your tongue.

And as much as he’d marvel at the sight of your cheeks stuffed like chipmunk with his cock— has thought how hot it’d sound when you’re gagging relentlessly around him—he’s got his attention lasered on that tiny prize between your thighs.

A teasing triangle of perfection, daring him to completely abuse and batter as he pleases. You’re glistening like diamonds in the sunlight, effectively blinding him in a bind of corporeal desire—there’s no thinking, only action; no right or wrong, just what he wants.

His hands pinch underneath your knees and slide you to the edge. In tandem, he slots himself flat against your weeping heat, squishing the length of his cock between the split of your slit, burrowing himself there as if it’s his new home.

Mutual moans and shivers expel through you both. It’s better than he’s ever imagined; mentally-created experience has nothing on the raw reality. Soft like silk, the honeyed aperture of your sex is eclipsed by his tanned thickness, barely shrouding a third of him, his tip twitching at your navel, and it’s a snapshot to behold.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he rasps, jaw locking before he reels you tighter and snaps his hips forward, rutting against your throbbing clit. It’s the match that starts the fire, a million sparks prickling all over that has him taking you like a madman.

“S - Steve!” you cry, music to his ears, as he hooks his elbows under your knees, bending them over his shoulders, and works your divided folds up and down the length of his translucent-white dribbling cock. Your arms shoot around his neck desperately while you bury your face in his neck, mewling into his collarbone; the vibration unmistakably his name.

“I am going to fuck you, doll,” he promises through gritted teeth, using his hands palming your ass to grind your little pussy into him harshly, at the same time his hips rock into the assault. “I am going to shove every inch of my cock inside you, make it fit if you can’t. But first—first, you’re going to cum on my cock then you’re going cum around it.”

Your weight is nothing to his hulking strength, bouncing you in undulation like you’re his own personal fuck-toy (somewhere in that darker, aggressive facet of him chides that’s exactly what you are; a wanton toy to use to his desire).

Every upward thrust is grating over your bundle of nerves, coaxing gush and gush of your essence. Mixed with his own liquid arousal, it further lubricates his slippery anatomy and empowers quicker ministrations—filling the room with your crescendos of whimpers and moans.

“Y’like it when I make your pretty lil’ pussy grind against my cock? When the tip rubs over your soft clit?” he says, winded, in your ear as you shake like a leaf in the steel cage that is him. “Or d’you like knowing despite how bad I need to be balls-deep inside you I have to wait ‘cause your tiny pussy won’t be able to take it yet?”

“Oh. God. Steve—” you moan, raking your nails into his flexing back muscles, and he revels in the faint sting. “I - I—it feels good. Fuck, it feels so good.”

Shocks needle down his spine and gnaw in his lower stomach while static nibbles at his limbs; a prelude to a knee-buckling reckoning. “Y’gonna cum for me, beautiful?” He can feel the tautness constricting in your body, the crook of your calves as your toes curl. “Want you to. Wanna know what’s gonna happen when you do?” He doesn’t wait for a response, especially when you’re borderline incoherent. “It’s gonna loosen you up for me. Get your pussy prepared to take all of my big, fat cock. And, you fuckin’ will. Y’hear me?”

At that point, he’s unsure whether you nodded or not because your head does bob, but so does the rest of you. His neck muffles your cry as you buck wildly against him, and if that isn’t telling enough, he can feel your engorged nub pulsating with euphoria.

And he can’t resist it. The threat of his violent upcoming orgasm; the fact that he knows your channel is clamping down hallowly; the earlier declaration of being able to handle him easily, it all overwhelms him.

In a millisecond, before his mind comprehends what his instincts are doing, his hands slip from underneath your bottom to either side of your slit, and his thumbs spread your opening. He heaves you up, and when gravity brings you down, his well-endowed cock drives into your spasming insides.

With an audible wet slush and slap of skin, he powers through your channel harshly until he’s seated to the hilt. In the throes of your orgasm—before he could stretch you first like he intended—inches that outwardly reached your belly button, width that dwarfed your mound invades your walls in one blunt movement.

The orgasm is still flooding you but it’s combined with the convulsions of vanquished hollowness and encompassing fullness. To be perfectly fucking honest, it’s heaven: snug, fervid heaven. And he wastes no time losing himself in you, fucking you through your stimulation while you’re rendered to a babbling mess.

“Oh - oh, my—Steve!” you squeal as your rubber-band-like resistance desperately tries to accommodate the intrusion of his size. “Big—you’re big—I didn’t realize you were so b - big—”

“But you’re going to take it, aren’t you? Said you could, swore you’d handle me like no other before, right?” he croons and continues to decimate your swollen valley. “I told you you’d cum on my cock and around it, and that’s what you’re gonna do.” The order has your strangling heat fluttering in delight. “Unless you aren’t as big and bad as you claimed to be.”

You gasp and cling tighter. “I can - I can,” you whimper, and it’s so cute—he can’t wait to fuck you until you pass out. “Just a minute. I can’t cum yet—n - not yet.”

He laughs huskily because he knows he’s gonna to make you do exactly that. “Yeah, we’ll see about that, doll,” he practically purrs and cinches you closer so with each pass of his hips, your sensitive clit is chafing against his pubic bone; it has the intended effect of forcing your swollen walls to quiver around him.

“Shit,” you choke. “I can’t - I can’t—”

Motivated by your disbelieving insistence, he reaffirms his grip and pistons through your folds quicker. He ebbs deeper and deeper with the combination of his hips ramming in and his hands controlling your body so your channel swallows him all the way.

Rising sensations pulse within him at an alarming rate, numbness climbing up his toes to cover him completely, encasing his nerves with an escalating bliss. In a minute, he’s going to blow and empty the contents of his balls into your never ending, clamping depths—and he can’t wait to see your reaction when he does, what it’ll look like to have his thick white dribbling out of you.

That thought spurs him on, and he abruptly props you on the kitchen counter. There’s no break for your used pussy as he slithers a free hand to fist your throat, laying you flat against the cold granite.

“You are gonna cum for me,” he growls, voice unrecognizable with animalistic carnality. The sheening and flushed exertion on your face, the moans vibrating up your esophagus and the wriggle of your body is mesmerizing and provoking. “And you’re going to make me cum while you do it. Your tiny pussy is gonna milk my big cock until I’m flooding you full of me.”

He ruffles your shirt up and out of the way, giving him a glimpse of the single hottest thing he’s ever laid his eyes on. As his hips jut back and forth, the indent of his bulbous tip prods visibly from your stomach; he can see himself bulging low in your belly.

He releases the unholiest of groans as lightning zaps through him, tactfully shocking his pressure points while his blood pumps to his dick, and he swells bigger inside you. The temperature is boiling to the top, and when your warbling voice breaks into his haze, “Steve—Steve—Steve—!” his eyes snap open.

His gaze drags further down, he’s greeted with the eyeful of your exploited mound: puffy and swollen from his unyielding, punishing onslaught, your clit peaking through faintly as if beckoning for his touch. Of course, he obliges you—he has zero idea how he managed to deny himself of you in the past.

The second he thumbs at the little nubbin, you’re sobbing his name and squelching around his cock. In a domino effect, the lava blasts from the bottom of his gut to your enveloping convulsions; sheathed to the hilt, a visual ingrained in his memory of his cockhead pushing up inside your stomach, he pours all the mania he’s kept locked away into you.

Riding out the wave, he watches how you cream around him when he retreats from you. A ring of clear white contrasts against your bruised sex and his tanned length, the mix of your essences oozing down his balls and onto the floor.

“Fuck,” he says hoarsely. “That’s hot.”

There’s a periodic twitch of you, and he glances up to see you staring at him, glossy-eyed but undoubtedly satisfied. “You. . . that was. . . God,” is all you manage, and pride blooms in his chest—at the fact that you kept up, and at the fact he did you good. “You’re amazing.”

“You did good, doll,” he speaks roughly, the hand around your throat tracing your pulse. “I couldn’t have thought of a better way for this to have gone. . .” Despite his recent orgasm, there’s a hunger clawing back to the surface as he observes the way you’re splayed out like an offering, fucked to the point of limpness. “Or, to be going. . .”

“S - Steve,” you whimper but it isn’t a protest, far from it, he can tell.

So he continues to trail his hand to your clit, encircling it while you give a half-hearted bleat. He rakes his teeth over his bottom lip and maneuvers his hips until his growing semi is teasing your cum-dripping entrance. “Y’said you could handle me, doll,” he murmurs and promptly glides right back into you, and a wanton cry tears from your lips. “Let’s see how true that is.”

[masterlist / feedback]

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you smut #steve rogers smut #steve rogers imagines #marvel imagines #marvel smut #steve x reader #i AM doing the loki one i just wanted to make it clear this is the steve one #my writing #this twas a RIDE BITCH #it would've turned out better but last night i found out that one of my finals was due TODAY so i was scrambling #also... i might b a little ? like i took an extra dose of my anx meds #anywaysies did not mean for it to be THIS long #my bad!#DONT DRAG MY CHARACTERIZATION I KNOW I KNOW #i got lazy at the end rip

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tomboyneedshercoffee · 5 years ago

Text

Who’s in Charge Pt2 || Maze Runner X Reader

Summary: Y/N does her best to make Teresa feel welcome in a glade full of boys, but one particular greenie ruins her plans and makes her question her insanity.

Word Count: 2.4k

Author’s note: This is somewhat a continuation off of Who’s in charge and If i continue this mini series, I really want to explore the idea of being a girl in a leadership role. Not only that but the somewhat glamorization of how awesome it would be to be the only girl in a glade cause unless they all look like Minho, that would be TERRIFYING. I love attention but goddamn Y/N in any fanfic fandom is an attention WHORE!

Warning: LOTS OF CUSSING, incel type shit ew, blood and wounds

Part one || Part two

A lot has changed in the glade in the past couple of months and as the first in command, it didn’t make your job any easier. After the greenie that disrespected you, the glade got two more people, a boy named Thomas and to your surprise, another girl. Her name was Teresa and although the two of you weren’t close, it was nice to have someone you felt like you could automatically trust.

The greenie you didn’t like very much was named Theodore and while everyone else called him Teddy, you always just called him greenie because he still acted like an immature shank. You haven’t had any interactions with him since but word from the other guys was that he would not stop gawking at Teresa.

“ Has anyone seen Teddy? Fry said he hasn’t been back since lunch,” Newt asked as you continued to write down the medical inventory to help out Jeff.

“ Yeah I saw him go down to the huts about 10 minutes ago. He looked like he was in a hurry,” Jeff said as he pointed over towards the window with his pencil.

This wasn’t the first time Teddy had flaked on his duties but after your altercation with him, Newt was usually the one to reprimand him.

You rolled your eyes as you looked down at your clipboard,” I’ll go find him. I have to stop by Teresa’s room anyway since she’s gonna help me rebuild the fence with John and Gavin.”

Newt leaned against the doorway and picked up a small bandage to wrap his finger with,” How’s she liking the glade so far?”

“ I mean, as much as she can like it. I think she’s after Thomas yeah?” You said, raising your eyebrows at him, as you walked out the door with Newt following close behind,” I swear those lovebirds are hiding something. Something tells me that it isn’t all just love at first sight.”

“ Well you’re never wrong so I’ll keep an eye out,” Newt laughed softly as the two of you parted ways.

You continued to walk across the Glade at a normal pace, not so much enjoying the glade itself but the quietness of today. You knew Minho and Thomas were gonna be back any minute and those two were always responsible for the rambunctious crowd of boys every night so you savored the trip.

Given that Teresa was a bit nervous with all of the boys around, you gave up your hut so that way she would have some privacy. Although Teresa seemed to be really familiar with Thomas, you knew that sleeping outside surrounded by boys wasn’t the safest feeling. You did miss how your hut was tucked a bit away from everyone else and that the big tree near your window gave you cool shade during the harsh sun. But it was just for the time being, whenever that was.

You knocked on the door and heard Teresa’s voice on the other side,” One second! I’m changing!”

You gave a quick response and waited outside her door, tapping your fingers against your clipboard in an unknown beat. Once you stopped tapping, you heard something rustle in the leaves on the other side of the hut that was covered by a small part of the forest. You scrunched your eyebrows together as you walked over, thinking that maybe it was just another rabbit.

When you turned the corner, you saw Teddy watching through the corner of Teresa’s window. You looked through the window to find Teresa already stripping off her top which made Teddy hold his breath.

Without thinking, you stomped over and grabbed the back of Teddy’s shirt before dragging him away from the window. I knew I should’ve listened to Alby to make those stupid ugly curtains. Teddy let out a loud yelp as you dragged him farther away and closer to the center of the glade where some of the boys were building another shelter.

“ You stupid fucking pervert!” You shouted as you practically launched him onto the dirt,” you’re disgusting! After everything, this place has done for you and you think you can spy on women like some kind of ...stalker!”

You were well past mad, you had never felt anything like this before. Your whole body felt like it was building up with pure steam, almost ready to explode like hot dynamite. You were nothing short but disgusted, out of your whole time living in the glade, none of the boys had ever done something so terrible.

“ R-Relax! I wasn’t even doing anything wrong-”

You didn’t know what came over you, maybe it was because you hadn’t slept all day or because you hadn’t gotten mad in so long so you were practically itching to get into a fight. You felt your legs pump more blood than ever and in an instant, you pounced on him and started slamming your fists into his face without mercy.

You felt like a well-oiled machine, every time you smashed your fist against his body, you felt your other arm recoil and do the same thing over and over again. You couldn’t even pay attention to anything that was happening around you, all you could do was throw punches. With every punch, you still managed to yell through your gritted teeth,” Ungrateful! Little! Pig!”

Even with his limp, Newt was the fastest to make it over to where you were and tried to rip you away from Teddy, yelling at you to stop. Gally, who was nearby building the shelter, practically picked you up off of Teddy but you still struggled against him.

“ Y/N! You need to calm down-”

“ I am tired of people telling me that to calm down! I am calm!” You shouted as you breathed heavy against Gally, who was using all of his strength to hold you back,” he’s a disgusting pig!”

“ What the hell is going on?” you craned your neck to see Thomas and Minho jogging over to where everyone seemed to circle. You laughed out loud, knowing that once Minho found out what Teddy had done, he would be toast.

Gally let you go and dropped you to the floor not so gently,” There’s been a slight problem. Y/N and Teddy-”

“ Slight problem?” You exclaimed as Minho came to your side, helping you up all while looking at your bloody and bruised knuckles,” Teddy was watching Teresa through her window while she was changing. That isn’t a slight problem Gally! How would you like it if he peeked through your window!”

While some boys laughed at your comment, Minho and Thomas’s head snapped towards Teddy, who was still lying on the ground but sat up on his elbows. His nose was bleeding and by the looks of it, you were sure you gave him two black eyes.

“ She’s lying! She just started attacking me out of nowhere cause she’s fucking crazy!” Teddy spat out blood as you tried to lunge at him again but Thomas pulled you back.

“ What did you just say?” Minho said through gritted teeth as he started walking towards Teddy but Newt and Gally both stepped in between Minho,” say that again, I dare you.”

“ Everyone just stop!” Newt snapped as he turned to look up at Minho,” take Y/N somewhere to cool off while Thomas and I will take Teddy to Clint. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Minho nodded all while keeping his eyes locked on Teddy’s bloody face. Minho was stubborn and as much as he wanted to bash Teddy’s head in, he knew when it was right to follow the chain of command. You shook Thomas’s grip off of your shoulders as your eyes caught Teresa’s, her face flushed in embarrassment.

Before you could muster out a word, Teresa took off back towards your hut, pushing past a group of gladers who were crowding around. You took one sweeping glare towards all the loitering glader’s which made them all spread out back to their posts.

“ Let me patch you up back real quick. You look badass but your knuckles look gross,” Minho hesitated as he attempted to ease the tension in the air and his own blood pressure.

You looked between Minho and where you last saw Teresa, wondering where she could be. You couldn’t imagine how terrified she must have been, especially since she probably saw you beat the hell out of Teddy like there was no tomorrow.

“ Just give me a few minutes, I’m going to go find Teresa,” You said as you rubbed your fingers over your battered fists,” I think she just needs someone to talk to after all of that.”

You and Minho said your goodbyes and before you knew it, you found Teresa on the edge of the deadheads picking at the grass laid before her. You awkwardly sat down next to her and from the looks of it, she had just finished crying.

“ I want to say sorry for what you might have seen. The last thing I wanted to do was scare you or to make you think I’m such a violent person,” You apologized as you watched her expression carefully,” but I’m even more sorry that your privacy was invaded on. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to fix this.”

Instead of giving a sad look, Teresa smiled and let out a dry laugh,” No offense, but there isn’t anything you can do to fix this. It’s literally in their DNA to be so stupid.”

You were completely taken aback. Yes, nothing could ever take back what happened to Teresa but she couldn’t be talking about all of the guys in the glade, could she?

“ I don’t think that’s true and neither do you. Teddy is a sexist pervert for sure but plenty of the glader’s are nice guys. One bad seed doesn’t make the whole tree go rotten,” You said thoughtfully, not wanting to undermine Teresa’s experience.

Teresa turned to you and thought for a moment,” So when you first came up in the box, you weren’t terrified of being the only girl?”

“ Well, I was just terrified because I was alone for the longest time until Newt came up,” You admitted but then you really tried to give your honest opinion,” but yeah, I guess I felt different when more boys would get sent up. It’s not that I was scared at first but I just didn’t know what to expect with all those...hormones.”

You realized that you had never said that out loud before; revealing your feelings for being the only girl in the glade before Teresa and once you actually said it, you felt something wash over you. You weren’t sure if it was sadness or guilt or shame, but you didn’t feel good about your emotions right then and there.

Teresa noticed this too and didn’t say anything else, allowing you to speak more.

You cleared your throat, not even thinking of the right words to say because all you wanted to do was spill everything you had bottled up for years,” The more boys the box sent up, the more stares I would get, even if I was just bending over to pick something up. It felt gross knowing that they were eyeing me up and down like I was just some piece of meat but all of a sudden when it came to me being in a leadership position, they all acted as if I suddenly didn’t matter.”

“I completely understand how you feel. It’s like a cruel joke; they want you around to help engage their sexual fantasies but once you make an executive decision, you’re not fun to be around,” Teresa said, thinking about her past memories of being one of the few female researchers at WCKD,” are they still like that with you now?”

“ I hardly catch any eyes thanks to Minho being as protective as he is but I wonder if he’s just doing that out of the kindness of his heart or because he is trying to get in my pants,” you laughed honestly, knowing that in your heart he was genuinely a sweet guy,” but I don’t know. I can tell sometimes they don’t take me seriously. Remember that last meeting we had and when I gave my proposal, no one really cared but when Newt said it two minutes later, everyone thought he was a genius. I don’t think they mean to do it but it still hurts.”

That was something you were always insecure about; not being taken seriously. You were reminded of that every month when a new glader would show up and they assumed you weren’t the first in command. How was it that you all had no past memories yet in the glade, they already had some form of prejudice against you? You didn’t understand that in a world filled with hardly any societal norms that you were still treated unfairly.

“ But I love everyone here with the exception of a few. At the end of the day, we’re pretty much family. As much as Minho annoys me or how much Newt pesters me, they’re the greatest friends in the world,” You said as you thought back to all of the times they had your back,” but shuck I wish I had a day of peace without the boys tearing down the glade. I just want to get out of this goddamn place already.”

Teresa nodded sympathetically, but knowing that she was one of the reasons you were here trapped, she said nothing.

After a moment of silence, Teresa wanted to clear her head of WCKD’s old thoughts,” What are you going to do about Teddy?”

After this whole discussion, you had completely forgotten why you had come over in the first place.

“ Honestly, I don’t know yet. We’ll keep him in the slammer until we figure something out. Whatever it is though, I know it won’t be enough for how you were violated. I really am sorry that happened to you Teresa, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” You asked as Teresa smiled and gave your hand a small squeeze.

“ I’m just glad I have someone to talk to.”

You nodded as you sat there, not being able to hold in your smile.

Me too.

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celestias-right-hoof-mas-au · 3 years ago

Photo

WARNING: Although this particular chapter does not depict violence or cursing, future installments will. As this story is based on an adult parody of MLP called The Mentally Advanced Series. I would encourage that if you had not watched it to do so to get a grasp of the world in which this takes place. Many of the jokes, lore, and otherwise are in reference to MAS, not just simply My Little Pony. I have also made a supercut that includes every reference and appearance of Celestia in the series. In case watching the entire MAS series maybe too time consuming. If you find Celestia, or other canon characters, used in crude and unpleasant depictions offensive, this is your warning. However, I would appreciate that you take a look anyway with an open mind. Celestia Supercut Link

Next >

The morning sun shimmered through Valiance Ascalon’s window. The large pale horse finished packing her briefcase and donned her metallic purple and gold armor. Her parents, a large albino shire and a dusty unicorn, awaited her along with the whole town of Salo at its entrance for Valiance’s departure.

“... And remember to mind your manners, she is generous, but easily disrespected.” Valiance’s mother, the unicorn, warned as she stood on her back legs to give her daughter one final hug.

“I know, Ma. You’ve told me several times.” Valiance replied warmly, returning the hug.

“Don’t you forget about us either, write to us when you get the chance.” her father, the shire, said gruffly.

“Yes, Pa, I knooow.” Valiance teasingly replied as she also gave him one more hug, “I’ll be sure to write to you as soon as I get settled.”

“Hey, Valiance!” called a young colt who squeezed his way through the crowd, “I heard you’re going to Canterlot to work for Celestia. You better be nice, or she’ll have ya flailed!”

“Junior!” the colt’s mother barked, slapping him in the back of the head.

“Ow! What’d I do?! I was only telling her the truth!” the colt yelped, rubbing his head.

Valiance chuckled, adjusting her helmet on before kneeling to the colt, “Thanks for the warning, but I think I’ll be ok.” She gave his mane a good ruffling before rising to her hooves. Within a few short strides, all she ever knew was behind her. Then, for one last time, she looked back to the town and proudly declared, “Hail Celestia!”

“Hail Celestia!” cheered the villagers as they watched Valiance make her leave and waved goodbye.

The town of Salo was located on the dryer half of the Hayseed Swamps where its residents lived in relative isolation for generations. Its closest neighbor was Dodge Junction, and even then, the walk Valiance had traversed, had taken from dawn to the early afternoon. It wasn’t the first time she had visited the junction for its train station, however, this time was different. Whether it was with her parents, with her classmates, or helping any of the local farmers deliver goods, Valiance had seen her fair share of mainland Equestria, if but briefly and never alone.

Butterflies aggressively fluttered in her chest once she sat down in her seat on the train. The pony adjacent to her only quickly flipped through his paper as she attempted to gain his attention.

“Sorry,” Valiance blurted out, “I’m quite nervous, it’s the first time I’m riding the train alone, heh, what about you?”

The business pony shot her a look with half opened eyes, “Lady, it’s my job.” He flipped his paper to shield himself from the bizarre mare, yet her striking size and armor left his curiosity to be satisfied. Closing his eyes and taking in a sharp sigh, he threw his paper to his side and asked, “So what's your story?”

Though the stallion could not see her face underneath her helmet, a gleam in Valiance’s eyes shimmered and a smile grew on her lips, “Oh! I am on my way to Canterlot to serve no other than Princess Celestia herself!” “That explains the getup, but why would you wanna do something like that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? What could be more meaningful in life than serving Celestia herself?”

The stallion paused for a moment before lightly chuckling, “I get it now. You’re one of those cultists, aren’t you?”

Valiance gasped, “I-I beg your pardon? A cultist?”

“Yeah, every couple of years some loons come outta the woodwork sacrificing foals in the name of Celestia. It makes sense too, since you’re here at Dodge Junction. You probably swam outta the Hayseed Swamps, didn’t you?”

“Well… yes. But I assure you, we’re not cultists. And we don’t sacrifice fillies. How could you say that to someone you just met?”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” He smiled while patting her shoulder, “I’m a cultist too. There’s a bunch of freaks and weirdos like us in the city. You’ll feel right at home.”

Valiance sunk deep into her seat, regretting opening her mouth. As the stallion returned to his paper with a comforted smile, Valiance hoped her new acquaintance's words were exaggerated.

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

It was late afternoon when the train had finally reached Canterlot. The cultist gave a friendly wave as Valiance rushed off trying not to look back. She quickly looked towards the station’s clock and noted, ‘I better grab a room so I can hurry to the military signup office before it closes.’ She briskly booked a room in the closest hotel she came across and rushed to the castle. With five minutes to spare, Valiance slammed the door open to the enlistment office.

“Excuse me, there’s no need to cause a ruckus.” the front desk pony insisted as he shuffled a stack of papers, “How can I help you?”

“I’m so sorry, but I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to sign up.” Valiance panted, removing her helmet.

“Eager to enlist? Never heard of that before. Well, here’s the papers, be sure to read thoroughly and don’t pretend like we didn’t warn you.” the secretary grunted as he handed Valiance a stack of documents.

Valiance thought to herself aloud, “Wow, who would’ve thought it was so easy.”

“That’s what they all say.” the secretary winked, “Let me know how it goes in a month. They always beg to get out.”

Valiance’s signature sealed her fate in every document and with a smile stamped across her face, no less. Her stomach was tingling in excitement as the secretary looked over her papers.

“Welcome to the royal army, soldier.” the secretary remarked while stamping her documents, “You’re in luck, the next boot camp starts up in a few days. Here’s a card of where it will be and what time. Don’t be late, cause we’ll find you if you are.”

Valiance took the card while she giggled and jumped in place. Just that morning, she was back at home, and now she was working for the God Princess herself. Suddenly, she stopped, “Won’t I need a physical and mental examination of some sort?”

“Sure. But that’ll come when boot camp starts. Not to mention, you look healthy enough. But between you and me, everypony gets accepted. Where do you think the masked guards come from?” the secretary asked as he leaned in closer, “Just don’t ask them about that. In fact, don’t ask them anything, ever. Don’t talk to them.”

Valiance tightened her lips, “Thank you. I’ll, uh, be sure to keep that in mind.” Slowly she backed out of the office, wishing the secretary a goodnight, and into the evening air. With the amber glow of her magic, she wrapped her mane up as tightly as she could before placing her helmet back on. Despite the secretary’s warnings, Valiance didn’t feel any less enthusiastic about her success. She stretched and cracked her neck, wanting nothing more than to grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to her hotel room for some much needed rest. Thinking back to past field trips as a filly, she recalled the castle garden also led to the entrance and began to make her way through there as a shortcut.

Inside, beautiful plants of nearly every kind flourished. Contrastly, horribly disfigured marble statues with faces of pure fear and agony drew the eye from every direction. ‘I don't remember the sculptures in the garden being so… what was it? Avant-garde?’ Valiance thought as she looked at a statue of a goblin-like creature mooning her, a lone pigeon sitting right on its exposed bottom.

"They say that my work inspired the art of Jeffrey Dahmare." A low voice echoed from behind. Valiance froze at the sound and slowly turned to face the source. Towering over even her, hair glistening in the colors of day, stood the God Princess, Celestia. A confident smirk graced her lips, “Do you like it, Pale One?”

Before Valiance’s knees could buckle from Celestia’s poise, she kneeled and lowered her head, “Your majesty, it’s an honor to be in your presence.”

“I couldn’t help but be drawn towards your armor. It’s a vintage design. Where do you come from?”

“The village of Salo, ma’am.”

“Salo, you say? My, it has been a long time since someone mentioned that name. One of the few populations I needed not show force for their cooperation. Your people’s naivete is amusing, however, your innocence is admirable to an extent.”

Valiance held her breath, unsure of the princess’ intentions behind her statement. Yet, after a moment, she replied with slight shakiness, “Much obliged, your majesty.”

“Tell me, why are you here, Pale One?” Celestia asked.

“As you said, our devotion to you is as strong today as when Salo was founded. To serve and to die for you would be my greatest honor.” Valiance replied humbly, “Today, I signed up for the royal army, in hopes of bringing glory to you, and the ponies of Salo.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed and her grin grew wider. After a few moments of silence, Celestia turned away towards the castle. As she departed she called back to Valiance, “I expect nothing but the best from my soldiers.”

When Celestia left the premise, Valiance sprinted out of the castle grounds, heart pounding, and mind racing. Rushing to her hotel room, she threw off her armor, leapt onto her bed, and screamed into her pillow. Not a more perfect day could’ve existed for Valiance and in a few days her dream of servitude would begin.

Before then, Valiance pulled out a pen and paper and began a letter to home about her first day in Canterlot.

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mirkwoodshewolf · 5 years ago

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The city kid and the horse whisperer; Charles (Joe Mazzello Wooly boys) x reader

*Author’s note*

Okay let me first start off by saying I have NEVER WATCHED WOOLY BOYS SO IF YOU HAVE AND I GET ANYTHING WRONG, I AM SORRY!!! There’s just no way for me to watch this film unless I buy it. But I figured I give this a shot, hopefully you all like it and I’m planning on one more Charles fic in mind but until then I hope you all enjoy this one.

Warnings: drowning (just vague scene of it, not really any major details), some flirting, playful banter, teasing (platonically), and a writer who has no idea about this film other than from what she’s seen in the trailer and a clip or two of the movie.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@ixchel-9275

@psychosupernatural

@simonedk

@dancingcoolcat

@queensdivas

@queendeakyy

@kairosfreddie

@geek-and-proud

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

____________________________________________________________

I watched from afar as Charles was struggling to get onto Whiskey and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. How could someone that is related to the great AJ “Stoney” Stoneman, and not know how to ride a horse? Guess city folks really don’t get it. I stood there with Stoney’s white stallion ‘White lightning’ as I continued to stroke his mane.

“He really is trying isn’t he boy?” he grunted as he turned his head towards me and nickered softly. “Oh come on he’s not that bad.”

“I swear every time I hear you talk to them, it’s almost like you do have witch-like powers.” Stoney’s voice soon spoke up. I turned and smiled at the old man who’s been the only real positive male figure in my life.

“Just call me one with Mother Nature’s creatures.” I joked.

“You know; you are the youngest rider out of Shuck and I. And Charlie there won’t really listen to a bunch of old geezers like us. Why don’t you give him some tips on riding?” I chuckled softly.

“That’s funny.” When I heard Stoney not laughing nor chuckling along, I looked back towards him and said, “You’re being serious?” his brow raised. “Stoney, he won’t listen to me. You know that right?”

“Well he’s pretty pissed off at me and Shuck doesn’t really believe he can be a Wooly boy. Besides no one else is a better rider than you. Remember how you bested them Spratt boys last year at the rodeo?” I grinned smugly, “You lasted longer than either of them arrogant little assholes did on the bull ride, a full 20 seconds.”

“Yah those boys hadn’t let me live it down ever since. Always challenging me to a rematch or claiming I was cheatin.”

“My point is, I think my grandson could do better with some company around his age.”

“You sure this is about letting your grandson learn to ride? Or are you just avoiding him?”

“He’s getting no better teacher. Hell might be good for you too.”

“What are you talking about you ole coot?”

“I maybe old and sick my dear but I know when a mare is interested in a stallion. And sweetheart you’ve been eyein my grandson the second he arrived here.” I punched his arm which made him groan. “Didn’t I ever teach you about respect for your elders?” he teased.

“Yes but I counteract that when said elder person decides to be a busybody towards young one doing the ‘disrespecting’.” I teased back to him. I looked back towards Charles who was finally up on Whiskey but was struggling on trying to keep him calm. “Alright, but only because if I don’t then Whiskey’s gonna piledrive him to the ground.”

I walked right over to the riding ring and I leaned up against the fence as I could hear Charles say to Whiskey.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy. Easy. Just—hold still…..”

“He can sense your uneasiness yah know?” Charles suddenly turned towards me which made Whiskey nicker nervously.

“No offense but I have ridden a horse before, okay?” I raised my brow at his arrogant attitude before he suddenly deflated, “Okay. It was—virtual saddle. And I—don’t remember it being this high.”

“City kids and your fancy tech. You can try to make it as easy as you can or make it seem you’re really doing it but all that crap, doesn’t even come close to what people like us do.” I hopped over the fence and placed my hand on Whiskey’s strong neck and took one of the reins and whispered soothingly. “Easy big guy, steady young buck, steady.”

Whiskey’s nervous pacing soon stopped as his head touched my shoulder and the only thing that moved from him was his tail, whipping every now and then.

“Good boy Whisk. That’s a boy.” I patted his neck before giving it a gentle and soothing stroke.

“So it—it is true.” I heard Charles say.

“What’s true?” he tried to get down with ease but his foot got caught up in the stirrups. As he tried to wriggle it out, I couldn’t help but softly smile and try to hold in my laughter.

“That you really can talk to the horses.” He said as he finally got himself free.

“Well it’s not really talking. I mean yeah it is but it’s also showing respect. These creatures have been around and helping mankind for literally millennia’s. They gave us speed, power, and companionship in a way. Cowboys in the wild west had no one but their posse, if they had one, and their horses. One thing that mankind seems to forget is how to respect those that have helped us. That’s why I always treat any horse of Stoney’s with respect and dignity.”

“But—aren’t they just animals?”

“Just because they’re animals doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings too.” I sassed at him. The two of us stared at each other as I unhooked Whiskey’s saddle. “Your grandad wants me to help you learn how to ride. So be ready tomorrow at dawn.”

“Can’t we start after breakfast?”

“No can do Yankee-doo. Besides, I needed to go out hunting anyways for Shuck, might as well give him his winnings before he nags me to next month.”

“Winnings for what?”

“Oh last month he and I had a bet on whether or not Stoney would actually have the guts to go see yah in the city. I bet he wouldn’t, so—you can pick the story from there.”

“Am I supposed to be insulted that you lost a bet because of me?”

“Don’t kid yourself city boy.” I laughed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go put Whiskey up before you do anymore further trauma to him.” I took the reigns and led him toward the barn.

“I didn’t—”

“Loosen up Yankee I’m kidding again!” I laughed as I turned my head towards him before grinning and turning my head back to continue to the barn.

The rest of the day was just helping Stoney around the farm and by the time the sunset we all sat around and had dinner before I finally decided to retire for the day. I showered, brushed my teeth and put my hair up in a bun before finally falling asleep.

Early the next morning as soon as the rooster crowed, I woke up and stretched myself out. I got on the first pair of clothes I could find before heading downstairs to the kitchen to see Charles asleep on the couch. I grabbed an empty vase and filled it up with cold water. I walked over to Charles and shook him.

“Oi get up.” He groaned tiredly and turned away from me. Okay but don’t say I didn’t give him a chance. I then dumped water on his face which immediately woke him up.

“What the hell!?”

“Oh good you’re awake. Get up and get dressed.”

“For what?”

“Oh don’t tell me you forgot about our riding lesson.” He groaned again as he almost went back to sleep. “You know I can dump the rest of this water right? Or would you rather have me hogtie you till you scream uncle?”

“Didn’t know you were that kinky.” He teased as he peeked out from underneath his pillow. I blushed and turned aside before dragging his butt out of the couch.

“Just get dressed and meet me in the stable!” I didn’t once look back at him as I raced outside and ran towards the barn.

I had just finished saddling up Whiskey and now I was saddling up my stallion “Tornado”, a pure black mustang. Few years back Stoney and I came across him after he had a nasty encounter with a mountain lion. After chasing the demon cat away, Stoney and I took Tornado to the farm and I stayed with him and healed him up.

Now if I told you it was all trust and immediate connection between us, you’re wrong. Tornado definitely proved himself to be a pure, wild stallion. Hell if I didn’t know any better I’d say he was the leader of his herd. He wouldn’t even let me anywhere near him for 3 days till finally his injuries got so bad I feared he was gonna die.

So it was then I stepped in and cleaned out the injected wounds, wrapped him up and stitched him. Every now and then I gave him peace offerings of apples and water which he gladly took. Weeks passed and he showed great improvement, of course his wild nature still stayed (and of course I was dumb enough to think I could try to ride him, got my ass whooped a few times)

Finally I knew that I wouldn’t be able to ride him so I let him go. He raced off and never did I think I would see him again.

Until one day seven months after Stoney and I had rescued him; I was out alone scouting for the annual hog trails when the Spratt brothers tried yet another of their failed attempts to flirt with me. After I had denied them, the youngest and most relentless one Billy got so assertive that he had the nerve to cup a feel of me. Well I’ll have you know I didn’t take that sitting down, so I gave him a right hook so hard, I heard a crack of his nose.

Pissed and beyond angry that I had the nerve to attack his brother, Owen took me to the edge of the cliff we were on that overlooked the river and he pushed me down off the 10ft cliff. I fell into the river and was dragged down the rapid miles away from the trail.

As the river overtook me and forced me down underneath its rapid current, I thought I was dead for sure. But the next thing I see running up along the side of the river was a large black creature. I almost couldn’t believe it myself but I recognized that shape and pure black stallion anywhere, it was him. The wild mustang.

I watched as it jumped into the river and actually swam after me. He put himself between me and the rest of the current as I reached out and grabbed onto him. He then swam with all his might against the current to get us to the shoreline before the river could sweep us away further downstream.

I almost doubted it but Tornado proved to be one strong mustang. He reached the shore line and got me out of harm’s way. Exhausted from traveling down miles of strong rapids, I collapsed on the river’s edge and instead of him abandoning me. Tornado knelt down and stayed with me till I woke up around nightfall freezing cold.

When he noticed that I had woken up after passing out, he adjusted himself so that I could not climb up onto his back and actually ride him. He stood up and trotted back the 20 miles back to Stoney’s farm.

Now three years later, Tornado has not left my side. I saved his life and he repaid me back by saving mine. After that debt was paid, we had this—incredible bond, and that is something that no one can ever take away from us.

Once I hooked him up I said to him.

“I don’t know Tornado, maybe I’m just going crazy.” He nudged shoulder and gently nibbled the ends of my long hair. I giggled and shoved him away from my hair. He nickered at me as he moved his head towards mine so that he and I were staring at each other eye to eye. My forehead touching his muzzle. “You Mister are as much of a busybody as Stoney is.”

“So, are we doing this or not?” Charles’ voice suddenly rang out. I backed away from Tornado and I said.

“Well you seem eager.”

“Not really. I just didn’t want to get water dumped on my head again.” I scoffed softly as I grinned.

“Normally I’m a bit easier when it comes to wake up calls. But you’re still not getting the hang of being here on the farm are yah? Here we wake up as the sun rises and go to sleep as soon as it sets. If not for us you wouldn’t have any of those vegetables or fruits. Nor your wooly sweaters at Christmas time, or even the milk and eggs you eat every breakfast.”

“Alright, alright I get it. So—is the black one mine?”

“Not unless you wanna get kicked across the barn. Tornado don’t let anyone but me ride him.”

“Is he picky or just clingy to you?” Tornado huffed at Charles and I saw him stomp his front right hoof in a challenging gesture.

“Steady Tornado, steady. For your information smartass, he’s a pure bred wild stallion. He’s only ever really trusted me.”

“Why’s that?”

“That’s a story for another time. You’ll take Whiskey again, but before we ride; I’m gonna teach you the proper technique on how to mount him cause let’s face it, after yesterday—you’re gonna need it.” I walked up to him and he and I stood beside Whiskey.

I told him the proper way on how to mount a horse on the left side, how to hold the reins and which foot to step onto the stirrup before shifting your weight to fully mount the horse. I mounted onto Whiskey so that he could properly see how it was done before I got off of him and stood on the right side of him now.

“Okay city kid, your turn. Like I showed you, hold the reins first and foremost before you even think about stepping up.” He took hold of the reins and waited a bit for Whiskey to get used to him before he used his left foot to get on the stirrup. He counted down softly to himself before finally hauling himself over with ease and as soon as he was on Whiskey, Whisk started acting up again, this time circling around nervously.

“Okay, okay now what—hey, hey what do I do now?”

“Take hold of the reins and even them out. Don’t grip them though. If you hold them too tight, it’ll show Whiskey you’re nervous. Ease and loose.” He did as I told him and Whisky immediately calmed down his nervous circling. “Now with your legs, don’t tuck them inward. Let them come outward. Have you ridden a motorbike or anything?”

“I once went boat racing with some friends of mine one summer.”

“Okay that’s good. You know how you have your legs relaxed and your knees pointed outward?” he nodded. “Do that.” He adjusted his knees and for the first time Whiskey didn’t react at all.

“I did it. I did it!” Charles laughed happily.

“Great kid don’t get cocky yet. You just got on the horse. Now you need to learn to ride.” I grabbed my hunting rifle and wrapped it around my shoulder before I mounted on Tornado and urged him outside with both my right foot and clicking my tongue.

Charles followed awkwardly behind me, I could hear him nervously telling Whisky to slow down.

“Telling him to slow down will only make him speed up. Try not to have your legs kick him every time too, that’s a sign to him that you want to go faster. And keep those reigns even.”

“Maybe we should just give this up. There’s no way I’m ever gonna ride a horse in New York City.” Charles whined. I stopped Tornado and turned him around and I said to Charles.

“Listen Charles; I know you think this is pointless. But out here, this is life. Best way any of us get around here is through horseback. Not everyone is automatically born a horse rider. We all had to learn, your grandad, Shuck, the Sheriff, even me. Hell I was worse than you were when I first started. But how bout I give you a little piece of advice my teacher gave me.”

“What?”

“He told me ‘(Y/n), life is like a horse itself. Somedays you’ll be riding freely like a bird in the sky. Other days it’ll haul you off and slam you smack down into the ground it’s like all your insides are busted. But it’s up to you to get back on that horse and ride on. Cause if you don’t, then you’re just sitting there in the dirt watching life go by without you. And only the dead need to do that’.” Charles looked at me in awe and he said.

“Damn. That’s—that’s deep.” I nodded. “Who was your teacher?” I smiled softly and said.

“You’re living with him.” We continued onward the trail and didn’t speak another word to each other for a while.

As the day got brighter and the sun moved higher into the sky we finally reached the entrance to the forest trail, the perfect place to get Shuck a deer.

“We’ll tie off the horses here and continue on foot.” I urged Tornado onward closer to the forest. Charles urged Whiskey behind me, suddenly a bunch of birds suddenly flew out from the bush which startled Whiskey and the next thing I heard was Charles exclaiming as he was knocked off to the ground and Whiskey running into the forest.

I steadied Tornado and got off his back and raced towards Charles and stood over him.

“Can you move?”

“I think so.” I held my hand out to him and he took it. I helped him up and groaned in pain as he rubbed his head.

“You don’t have a concussion do yah?”

“Yeah, my vision isn’t blurry or anything.”

“Good. Well most likely Whisk ran about several yards into the forest. He usually don’t stay scared for long when something startles him, especially if he finds something to eat.” We walked towards Tornado and I grabbed his reins and we walked into the forest.

Low and behold we soon found Whiskey standing beside a tree eating some grass and wild flowers not even a half mile as soon as we entered the forest. I walked up to him and grabbed his reins and said to him.

“A bunch of sparrows Whiskey and you go running off like a big fat ninny!” he raised his head and allowed me to tie his reins to the tree. I whistled for Tornado and he came up to me and allowed me to take the saddle off of him to lighten him up.

“Aren’t you gonna tie him up too?”

“He gets restless is he stays tied up. So I allow him to just roam around a bit whenever I go out hunting or we go for a ride. But he knows to stay close so that he can hear me call out for him when I need him. Like I said, pure blood wild mustang. You can take him out of the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of him.” I took the reins off of him and he happily spat out the metal bars between his teeth and shook his head.

I smiled and stroked up his muzzle as he nickered in gratitude before turning around and trotting off deeper into the woods. I hung the reins over a thick branch right beside where Whiskey was tied up and took my hunting rifle off my shoulders. Standing there for a bit I looked around and said.

“This way.” We walked Northeast for about 10 minutes till we finally reached a good rest stop near a small creek where animals would be coming for a drink. Charles and I perched up against a tree and waited.

“So—how did you become part of my grandfather’s farm?” a slight smile came at the corner of my mouth.

“That is a long story.”

“I think we got time.” I adjusted myself to fully turn towards him.

“Your grandad has been with me since all before I was born. My father used to help him out when he was growing up before he met my mom. Sadly when I was born, my mama died. Complications from the birth or something like that. After that, my dad was ruined. He drank—a lot. Then when I was—six, maybe seven my dad got the final strike when he and I got into a car accident when he was drinking and driving. After that, Sheriff put him away and Stoney actually stepped up and took me in.”

“I’m—I’m so sorry (y/n) I……”

“Didn’t know. It’s fine. I…..really don’t like to talk about it much. Never went to see my dad cause let’s be honest he never really was a father to me. I was just a visitor to him. Sometimes he’d get so drunk he’d get confused and just call me ‘little tenant’. So Sheriff did me a solid and I hold no grudge against him. Until I was told when I was 14 that my dad died in prison. I never really cared to ask how he died. But Stoney’s been good to me, as have Shuck and the Sheriff.”

Suddenly the sound of a twig snapping alerted me. I cocked my gun and raised it up to my eye as I aimed forward towards the shrub. Only to see a mother deer step out and a second later, her baby. I lowered the gun and smiled lovingly as the mother deer and her baby walked towards the creek to get a drink.

“Do you—ever miss your mom?” I heard Charles ask. I looked up at him and that’s when he said, “Sorry stupid question.”

“No it’s not stupid. And yeah. I wish I got to know her, that way I could decide for myself whether we would get along or just end up hating each other.” The reason why I mostly said that was cause I knew how Charles was towards his mom. His face immediately turned to regret as he said.

“Guess I should really rethink about how my mom’s been treating me lately.”

“Take it from me Charlie boy. Never take life for granted, cause you never know when you got something that someone else doesn’t. Be thankful that your mom is still in your life and is doing what she does because she loves you. Yeah it may seem cold at times but that’s tough love. And coming from your grandfather’s bloodline no doubt she’s a Wooly girl, just in a city environment and adapting as the times and laws change.”

It was then we both heard the chittering of squirrels just nearby. One squirrel had a surprisingly good sized nut all to himself but there was another squirrel slowly creeping up on him wanting to steal it.

“You know if you wanna hear something really stupid. When I was a kid, sometimes I used to commentate on what an animal might be thinking in a situation.”

“Seriously?” he chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah go on laugh it up.”

“No I’m not laughing. I think it’s—kinda cute. What do you imagine those squirrels are saying right now?” I chuckled and said.

“Well the one with the nut is probably saying ‘hmm I lucked out today. Got me a really big nut. This’ll last me till winter time for sure.’ Now the one coming up behind him is saying, ‘that nut will be mine. Bucky always gets the big nuts, well not this time’.” We then watched as the squirrel behind quickly stole the other squirrel’s nut and took off running.

As the squirrel who had the nut previously chased after the thief squirrel I continued to commentate the chase scene.

“Oi Daryl that’s my nut give it back!”

“No way Buck finders keepers!”

“I found it give it back you thieving rodent!” Charles softly laughed hearing my ‘squirrel’ voices as we watched the two squirrels chase each other up and around the tree they were standing near.

Unaware that the mother deer and her fawn had left and that another deer was coming in for a drink. This time an adult male one.

Charles and I continued to watch the squirrel’s chase each other and I continued my commentary till I stopped when I heard a twig snap. I turned my head and that’s when the large buck and I met eye to eye. Slowly and carefully I raised my gun back up to my eye as the buck soon took off running.

“Cover your ears!” I said to Charles as I fired the shot and the buck immediately dropped to the ground mid run. After a few minutes of it not moving, we walked towards it and I handed him some leather gloves. “Put these on. Never know with bucks, I heard of one case where someone took a 8 pointer buck without gloves and ended up with lime disease.”

I put my gloves on as well and the two of us worked together to carry the 6 pointer buck back towards Whiskey.

After getting him tied onto the Whiskey’s back, I whistled for Tornado and within minutes he came trotting back towards us.

“Hey big guy, have a good time roaming?” he nodded as he nickered happily. “I’ll bet you did. Unfortunately though, we’re gonna have to saddle you back up boy. But we’ve done what we needed to do. Come on boy let’s get you hooked up.” I walked back to get his saddle up ready for travel. Once he was good and ready, I mounted onto him and said, “Alright, let’s go.”

It was roughly mid afternoon when we were about 3/4th of the way back to Stoney’s farm when I stopped by the river and I said.

“Hey Charles,”

“Yeah?” I got off of Tornado’s back and I said as I grabbed the pail bucket from one of the tacks I had on him, “I just remembered I promised the Sheriff some of Stoney’s fresh river water. Think you can fill this pail up to that I can take it to him?”

“Why can’t you do it?”

“Yeah and leave you to watch Tornado? Please he’d snap you like a twig.” Tornado gave a proud huff as Charles submitted.

“Fair enough.” He got off of Whiskey and took the pail from me and jogged towards the river. As soon as he went down, I smirked and got off of Tornado and whispered into his ear of my devious plan. I saw Tornado blink one eye at me, like he was winking at me before he silently walked towards Charles. Oh man was this city kid gonna get a surprise.

Tornado finally stood over Charles and he still had no idea what to expect. Next thing he would know was something shoving him into the water. As he fell into the river, I couldn’t help myself from laughing, while Tornado reared up and whinnied what sounded like a laugh.

“Did you tell him to do that?!” I walked towards the river’s edge wiping a tear away.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. You’re just too easy. Here, let me help you.” I reached my hand out for him. He took my hand before he said.

“No, let me help you.” next thing I knew, I was pulled into the river right next to him. I resurfaced and saw him now laughing at me. I splashed some water in his face to shut him up and soon it escalated into a water fight between the two of us.

After our water fight ceased, Charles and I stared at each other exhaustedly. The way his auburn hair shined under the sun reminded me of the reddish tint that the sunset makes especially during the summer time. And the way his pale skin gleamed off of the water’s reflection, it was like looking into a fresh pail of milk. The two of us continued to stare at each other till he finally broke the silence.

“(Y/n)?”

“Uhh—yeah?” I whispered softly.

“Do you……uhh….I mean has anyone t-told you—” he stammered nervously.

“Told me what?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have really pretty—”

“So there you two are. I was beginning to think you both decided to hit the trail and take off out of the state line.” We looked up and there on their horses were Stoney and Shuck.

“Sorry Stoney, we were just……” I started off before Stoney once again said.

“No need to explain. We can see what’s going on here.”

“It’s not like that you old coot!”

“Seems our horse whisperer has finally gotten on the horse after all.” Shuck teased. I groaned and got out of the water as Charles followed behind me.

“Here Shuck, I got you yah damned deer. My debt has been paid and now I bid you all adios.” I said as I unhooked the deer from Whiskey and dropped it at Shuck’s horses feet before going on Tornado and riding off back to the ranch.

As the day went on I avoided Charles or anyone for that matter. I kept myself busy around the farm, caring for the sheep and of course taking care of the horses. Currently I was brushing Tornado’s mane when I heard the voice of the boy I really didn’t want to hear right now.

“Hey (y/n).” I circled around Tornado to hide my face from him as I kept brushing Tornado. “Are you really not gonna talk to me anymore? You’ve been avoiding me all day.” I bit my bottom lip as Tornado looked right at me with a slight huff. He lowered his head and nudged me away from his side before finally nudging me outward so that I now stood in front of him, but also in Charles’ line of sight.

“Damn you stallion.” I muttered to my horse as he bopped his head up and down nickering and whinnying. I turned towards Charles and I said.

“Okay. You’ve got me now. Now what is it?”

“Well when you talk like that it almost makes me not want to say it at all.” He grouched.

“Well sorry I wasted your time then.”

“What is wrong with you?” I scoffed. “No seriously, ever since the lake you’ve gone back to the cold-hearted girl that I first met when I came here. Did I do something wrong? Cause I swear I didn’t know Stoney or Shuck would come looking for us.”

“No it’s not something you did per-say.”

“Then what is it? Tell me cause right now I’m completely……”

“I LIKE YOU OKAY!?!?” There was dead silence in the air. Charles’s eyes turned from anger to shock in the manner of a second. His mouth slightly dropped as he just gawked at me.

“You….. you like me?”

“Please don’t make me say it again Charles. I—I’ve never really been interested in any of the boys in this town, but then your grandad drags you here and……I don’t know you made me feel things I’ve never felt before. But I didn’t want to be all smoochy-gooey-goo about it. That’s just real sissy stuff but I—” I was interrupted by feeling Charles grab my arms and shutting me up with a kiss.

I froze right there on the spot for a moment not even believing what was happening till finally I succumbed and kissed him back. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I felt his wrap around my waist bringing me closer. After awhile we separated for air, our breaths mixing in together in a warm dance.

“I—I’m sorry. I’m sorry I….I didn’t mean to do that. I mean not the kiss that I mean kiss you so suddenly, I was just….” This time I interrupted him with a kiss. This time, it was much more softer and meaningful. I separated from him and he whispered. “Your eyes.”

“My what?”

“Back at the lake. I—was going to say you have really pretty eyes.” I smiled happily and leaned my forehead against his.

“Thank you. No one’s….ever really said that to me.”

“I’m more than happy to say it to you as many times as you want. Hell I’ll say you have a pretty foot if you want me to.” We both laughed and I said through my giggles.

“Please don’t though. I’ll just take the ‘pretty eyes’ compliment.”

“Hate to break it to you angel, but I’m gonna add more cute body parts to compliment.”

“Such as?” he cupped my face in his hands and just stared into my eyes.

“Well I love this pretty nose,” he kissed my nose. “And these pretty cheeks,” he kissed both my cheeks, “Especially when they get red from either the sun or from you blushing.” He teased. I poked his side which made him curl inward for a brief moment before he continued, “And those pretty lips.” He gave me a soft and ginger kiss. “I especially love your lips. They’re not all poofed up or overly coated with lipstick like the girls have back home. It’s natural, with a hint of cherry chap stick.”

“Farm work can cause chapped lips. And the cherry was the only flavor available when I first started working here. Guess it just kinda stuck.”

“Well I love it, please keep getting that flavor.” I nodded as he leaned in and captured my lips one more time in a passionate kiss. This time I was now pinned up against the wall and I felt Charles’ hand slowly slid down my side, to my hips and slowly back around.

But before I could feel his hand go any closer towards my butt, that’s when Tornado let off a warning neigh. Not just any type of neigh, it’s the type of neigh that almost makes a horse sound just like a demon. Charles immediately backed up as Tornado huffed through his nose and glared at him. I laughed softly and said.

“Oh you mind your own business Tornado. I’ll bet you were way worse with the mares of your herd.” I playfully swatted him with my cowgirl hat and he walked back towards his stable but kept his eyes on Charles. After locking him up in his stable, I turned back towards my auburn city boy and took his hand and the two of us walked out of the stable together.

“Is he ever gonna warm up to me?”

“After seeing that, probably not. But no worries, I think the only approval you’ve got to face and already gained was your grandad’s and Shuck’s.”

From that day on, Charles and I continued to grow closer and closer with each other. He slowly improved on his farming skills and dare I say, he went from city boy to Wooly boy in a matter of a few weeks. Never have I been more proud to call that city kid my boyfriend.

#joe mazzello #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello imagines #joe mazzello fanfic #joe mazzello fanfiction #wooly boys #joe mazzello wooly boys #wooly boys fanfic #wooly boys imagine #wooly boys imagines #joe mazzello fluff #wooly boys fanfiction

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elswordimaginesdrabbles · 4 years ago

Text

Read the Air; It’s Hot Alright

Ain x reader

Warning: long

drawn by @21andree10 on Instagram

(y/n) let out a sigh of relief as they sunk into the lukewarm water. They were truly blessed to stumble across hot springs which they could have all to themselves. It was their night to relax and get rid of all the stress from battle… The El gang was quite exhausting to be around sometimes, especially since there weren’t any peaceful moments; every single person had a thing to complain about or start a fight for no reason.

Their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by another figure stepping into the water. Mind racing, they thought who could it have possibly been? No one dared use the mixed hot springs because they didn't want to deal with the opposite sex- but there it was, some possible predator stepping all over their territory.

“Ah, (Mr/Ms) Thief. I didn't know you'd be here as well,” Ain greeted with the ever-present smile. Turns out it was just the oblivious priest invading their space.

They didn't bother giving him another glance as he sunk most of his body into the water. It was impossible to comprehend why he didn't choose the other side of the bath; it was already tiny enough. An awkward silence followed, (y/n) blowing bubbles out of boredom while Ain closed his eyes as if to meditate. For the first time ever, he wore a peaceful expression in front of another living being.

“(Mr/Ms) Thief,” they groaned, “if you don't mind me asking, what is the point of those ‘hot springs’?” *bubbles stop*

(y/n) stared at him bewildered, but they didn't ask if he was joking; he never did anyway. They sighed and gathered all their intellect to answer the question as seriously as possible.

“Well, you see… hot springs… help you relax.”

“?”

“The water… you get in it… it feels good???”

“...I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”

“Aaaah, how can you not get it?? Just shut up and relax in the water!” flailing their arms around, they missed one crucial detail…

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, it seems your towel slid off a bit.” they covered themselves instantly as a blush quickly formed on their cheeks.

“You didn’t see anything.”

“...Alright.” he didn’t pursue the subject further, which (y/n) was very thankful for. After a short while of mildly awkward silence, they took it upon themselves to break the quiet atmosphere since it was getting unbearable.

“Anyway, why do you keep calling me (Mr/Ms) Thief?? It’s not gonna take long for me to feel insulted, y'know?”

“I don’t mean it as a derogatory term, of course. Yet, when we met, you tried to swipe all of our food during an expedition in Sander… I still don’t understand Elsword’s decision to take you in.”

“Wow. Just wow. I’m not talking to you anymore.”

“Did I say something out of line? If so, I apologize.” his unwavering smile diagnosed (y/n) with a severe case of pouting.

“Aren’t priests supposed to be more social? It’s like you came from another world!”

“...Is that so?”

“You don’t even know what hot springs are!! How can I possibly believe you’re human?!” his passive aggressive expression told (y/n) something they weren't supposed to know…

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t make that face and change the subject.”

“That would be most wise, (Mr/Ms) Thief. If I were you I wouldn’t speak about a secret this important.”

“Wait wh- Holy- You’re not actually human??? That’s it, I’m not letting you drop this ‘till you tell me what you are.”

“I can’t understand how that would help you in any way.”

“It’s not about help here, it’s about what I want. So spill it or else I’m letting the whole gang know.”

“...!”

“I wonder what Elsword will have to say about our alien comrade…”

“Foolish human…” he mumbled inaudibly, quickly switching back to a smile to tell his story. “Alright, I’ll ‘spill it’, as you said. I was sent on a mission by Goddess Ishmael-”

“Hold on a minute, Goddess? And Ishmael as well?? Don’t tell me, or are you the El Lady too?!”

“...I feel as if you’re mocking me.”

“You’re delusional mate, there’s no way around it. Or is it a priest trick where you pretend to be God’s messenger to attract followers?”

“I truly have no words. I had no idea a mere human could cause such an offense. Convince me not to strike you down this instant for disrespecting the Goddess.” his booming voice was no match for (y/n)’s savage laughter.

“I’d like to see you try...! Come at me, pretty boy!” Ain deemed the situation not worthy to break his pendulum over and began chanting his gibberish in German. Before he could even get halfway done, (y/n) launched themselves onto him, making sure to pin Ain’s hands in place. They completely annihilated any chance he had of fighting back. After securing a dominant position, they delivered their lines.

“Here’s reason one: you’re just a pretty boy outside the battlefield, and second, would your Goddess like the idea of her messenger murdering a human? I think not.” they slowly loosened their tight grip on him as he pondered on their words. Shortly afterwards, Ain made his thoughts clear.

“I suppose I should thank you for reminding me. I lost sight of my mission and acted out of line, so I apologize.”

“...Hmm? I didn’t quite catch that.”

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, I said, you have disrespected the Goddess. An apology is in order, no?”

“Fine, fine. I am sorry for disrespecting the Goddess. There. I won’t do it again.”

“I will make sure to relay your message to the Goddess.”

After the very heated debate, silence took over. They were too tired to try anything else and just quietly accepted their predicament; being forced to share hot springs with the strange alien priest.

“Why is this a place of relaxation? It feels as if it’s an elaborate trap I’ve mistakenly stepped into,” he pondered.

“Because you’re doing it wrong, dummy.”

“Then how would the right way be?” Ain asked confused.

(y/n) didn’t respond. He waited, and waited… “You just shut up. That’s it.”

“Is that all I have to do?”

“Yes. That’s all there is to it.” making a surprised face, he processed her words. His features relaxing, Ain looked up into the night sky. It was quite late judging by all the stars visible, and he wondered what he was still doing there; resting was mandatory since heavy battles awaited them the next day, yet he was wasting time with a human nonetheless.

Light snoring interrupted his train of thought. He glanced at (y/n), only to find them in an apparently deep sleep. Ain let out a chuckle, but stopped himself midway in shock. It was too genuine for his liking, and he couldn’t comprehend why a simple gesture provoked such a reaction. Yet he felt tired as well and didn’t bother thinking about it anymore.

Ain decided to wake them up; it would be bothersome in battle if (y/n) caught a cold.

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, you should wake up.” No response. “(Mr/Ms) Thief?” they didn’t answer the next time either, so Ain was stuck on what to do. He settled for lightly shaking their shoulder, but he’d soon find out that wouldn’t be the wisest decision… once the tip of his fingers touched their bare skin, they suddenly got up, headbutting him in the process, somehow. He truly felt that and hissed in pain, while (y/n) was frantically looking around as if woken from a daze. They eyed the nearby floating towel and realized that Ain wasn’t wearing anything. Then they jumped to a conclusion.

“P E R V E R T !”

And Elesis kicked down the door.

“Whose butt do I have to kick?!”

~A thorough scolding and some misunderstandings later~

Everyone had gone to their rooms for the night, but (y/n) decided to hang around for a little while longer. The staff at the inn was more than glad to cater to all their needs and brought them a Lanox specialty; they grumpily slurped from the glass, but then thought it actually tasted pretty good. It was mostly water with a tint of exotic fruits, just like the sweet, sweet syrup they used to-

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, can I have a moment of your time?” (y/n) spat the drink, accidentally splashing their lower face with it. They glared at the cause of her misfortune.

“I was wondering if you could clarify something for me.” they grabbed their drink and started slurping loudly, while also avoiding eye contact as much as they could.

“I will take that as a yes, so I’m going to ask my question.” they spat their drink again.

“I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter,” they sighed. “Have a seat,” they pointed to the other side of the table.

“Sir, would you like a drink as well?” asked the waitress who just snuck up on him out of nowhere. (y/n) got a little spooked, not even their skills were that godlike.

“Of course, if you don’t mind. What would you recommend?”

“The Lanox Nectar is the best we’ve got. I’ll bring one on the house for you, sir!”

“Thank you~.” (y/n) watched the very human exchange with widened eyes.

“Is something wrong, (Mr/Ms) Thief?”

“I’m the one who should be asking that.”

“?”

“Here’s your drink, sir!”

“Gah!” (y/n) couldn’t help but lose their composure at the sight of the sneaky waitress. Once again, the wannabe thief got bested by a staff member who was just doing her job. Then she vanished and no matter how hard (y/n) would squint, there wasn’t any trace left of the mysterious girl.

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, I’d like to ask something about the hot springs today.” he didn’t even touch his drink and already got down to business. ‘Ah shit, here we go again’ they thought. “More specifically, about the way you reacted at the end.” They remembered with a somber expression the event and the excuse he dared to give: ‘It was an accident’, he said, but they didn’t buy one bit of it. They wondered why they were still hanging out with that pervert.

“Why did you shout ‘pervert’?”

“Because you are one.”

“I don’t understand why I’m a pervert, so I was wondering if you could explain.” ‘This guy’s a lunatic’, thought (y/n), but humoured him nonetheless.

“Do you really not know? Do I really have to talk to you about this? What did I do to deserve such harassment?”

“Oh, am I questioning something inappropriate? If so, I apologize.”

“Yes, it’s highly inappropriate…” then a yellow light bulb appeared above their head. “But it can’t be helped, can it? I’ll just have to explain it to you so that you won’t do it again.”

“That would be most helpful, (Mr/Ms) Thief.”

“Now, now, disclaimer (...). Here I go:

When two people share a bath together under the full moon, an ancient ritual is unleashed. The only way to prevent it from happening is for the people to wear towels. When yours fell off, I was really worried! So that’s why I shouted for help.

...Also, I forgot to mention, but only chosen people can perform the ritual correctly, and I panicked because we aren’t chosen. Get it?”

“Interesting… I never knew such a thing existed. I can’t help but wonder, what are the consequences of a ritual performed incorrectly?”

“A big explosion, of course.”

“I see now… So you were just trying to help me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I understand now what Ms. Knight meant about ‘some things are just forbidden’. She was talking about the ritual going wrong, no?

“Yep.”

“If you don’t mind me asking-” Before he could finish his sentence, they got up and spoke.

“It was really nice talking to you Ain, but it is really, really late so I would like to go to sleep. Good night!”

“Ah, you’re right. May we resume this discussion another time?”

“Of course, of course! Good night!!”

“Have a good night as well, (Mr/Ms) Thief.”

There were only so many brain cells a person could afford to lose.

~to the beds, onwards we go~

(y/n) stared blankly at the ceiling, endless minutes of shuffling around having just passed. They usually slept like a log, but something wasn’t right this time. A bad feeling lingered in the air, and no matter how much they tried to shrug it off it was still there.

Inevitably, they got up and groaned. It was their duty to check for possible intruders; or at least that’s what (y/n) told themselves. They reached out for the emergency pocket knife, only to find it was gone.

Then, anger took over. Nobody dared swipe their weapons like that, and if they did, they’d have to speak to the unholy pair of fists (y/n)’s got.

Silent footsteps right outside the room made their ears perk up. They prepared a fighting stance, ready to face the intruder head on. By literally headbutting them.

The door opened suddenly. (y/n) didn’t waste a single second and grabbed the other person’s shoulders, striking in full force. They were more than ready to pin them down-

“Ahh, (Mr/Ms) Thief… This is the second time today. I see you’re quite relentless when it comes to violence,” he rubbed his head in an attempt to alleviate the pain. “I may not be as weak as a human, but I still take damage.”

“Ain?! What are you doing in my room this late at night? And without knocking, no less???”

“Was I supposed to knock?”

“YES. What if you had walked in and found me naked or something…”

“But you said the ritual can only fail when two people share a bath together under the full moon. Did I hear it wrong?”

“Ugh… Just stop talking.”

“Either way, I didn’t come here for nothing. I sensed… demons.” his expression darkening as he spoke.

“Ooh, that makes sense! Hey, hey…” she approached him and whispered quietly, “Do you think those demons you’re talking about snuck into my room and stole my weapons?”

“There is no doubt in my mind. Such filth....” his eyes spelled ‘anger’ and his mouth shouted ‘murder’. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, there was someone else who thought the same.

“Then let’s go give them a piece of my fists.”

~one sneaking montage later~

“Do you think this is their room?” spoke (y/n), their eyes glittering in excitement.

“I’m not certain.”

“Then we’re about to find out.”

“About to find out what?” they jumped into a clumsy stance, startled by Ciel’s sudden interruption. Ain just glared and mumbled inaudible insults.

“You’re making quite the ruckus in the middle of the night. Did you need something from Lu and I?” just then, (y/n) noticed Ciel was carrying a tray full of freshly baked cookies.

“Ooooh, can I have some?” Ain glared at them repulsed.

“How can you talk so casually to this… to this-!”

“Pretty please? Just ignore him, by the way, he’s stupid.”

“!”

“I made them for Lu, so…” staring into their puppy eyes, he sighed. “Alright, you can have one. But only one.”

“Thank youuuuu!” they squealed in delight while grabbing a cookie. “...You didn’t hear anything.”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” he chuckled.

(y/n) very rarely got to eat sweets, so holding one in their own two hands they couldn’t help but study every inch of it. Drooling at the chocolate chip, their eyes turned into glittering stars. Ciel smiled at the sight; but just as they were about to take a bite…

Ain slapped it out of their hand.

The other two gasped, but (y/n) didn’t hesitate to kneel on the floor and stuff it into their mouth. The guys watched in shock, while their taste buds were assaulted by heavenly flavors.

After an uncomfortable silence accompanied only by chewing noises, (y/n) got up and faced Ciel, her tone turning dopey.

“Thank you! I love you! Welcome to the team!”

“Thanks…?” Ciel was stuck between feeling flattered or repulsed by what he just witnessed.

“Sorry for suspecting you of stealing my weapons! I didn’t know you made such good cookies… heheh…”

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, that’s no way to behave around a demon. Cease at once.”

“Shut ep, grumpy face. I know just what you need… you need a cookie.”

“...What?”

“Cieeeeeel, can I get a cookie for Ain too?”

“Um, sure?” Ciel was still in shock and couldn’t think too much. The thief snickered evilly.

“Eat the cookie, Ain.”

“Preposterous.

“I’m gonna force you to eat it.”

“Stay away from me.” he glared at the cookie revolted, hoping that it would disappear. Instead, (y/n) extended their hand.

“Say aah~” before he could slap the cookie away, they attempted to kick him as hard as possible. Unfortunately, the attack was too heavy and they fell on their butt immediately afterwards. “Oof!”

Ain kneeled before them to check if they were unharmed.

“heheh… *hic*”

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, are you alright?” he could only watch as their smile got bigger and their movements dizzier. Ain had no clue about what could've possibly happened, since he'd never witnessed such strange behaviour before. ‘Is this a human function I was not aware of…?’ he thought.

“Did she drink something this evening?” Ciel inquired, but Ain leered.

“I didn't give you permission to speak to me like that, demon.”

“I'm not too happy about that either, but (y/n) doesn't seem well. Do you want to help them or not?”

If it had been any other person, Ain would have refused without even thinking about it; yet looking more attentively at (y/n)’s dopey face, something just wouldn't let him leave them like that.

“...I'll let it slide just this once.” all the softness drained from his face, he glared disgusted at Ciel. His hatred ran deep, despite the situation at hand.

“We should carry them to their room.” spoke Ciel while putting the tray full of cookies in front of his door. The instant he stepped towards the pair, Ain wrapped his arms around their shoulders as to shield them while aggressively staring Ciel down.

“...Or maybe you should carry them.” he backed away in realization.

“Ooh, are we hugging? Do you like me?” Ain forgot that the thing he held close was actually sentient. With a click of his tongue, he avoided their hopeful gaze, which brought upon a great disaster to the land of Elrios.

Incoherent bawling echoed loudly through the whole inn. Tears spilled like waterfalls from (y/n)’s eyes who was rubbing at them like a little child. Ain’s hands froze in mid air; it felt as if he'd just set off a bomb and he was really confused as to why. They kept going, Ciel starting to threaten the priest with his menacing gaze.

Wishing for (y/n) to be quiet already, he put a hand over their mouth, the noises now muffled. Slowly, the whining subsided and Ain almost sighed in relief before a pang of pain shot through his palm.

It was getting more and more painful, and only then did he realize that (y/n)’s teeth were sinking into his skin.

“Oh, you little f-”

“Ciel, what's with all this ruckus in the middle of the night? Where are my cookies?” Lu spoke after opening the door, a most peculiar sight entering her vision. “What have I just walked into…? Ciel, answer me this instant!”

Chuckling nervously, he replied “I'm not too sure either, Lu…”

Ain, with his hand still in (y/n)’s mouth, spat angrily “You filthy creature dare show yourself before me? Know your place and begone.”

“Huhu, how ironic of you to say that while kneeling on the ground, bested by a human!” Lu smirked, gaining the upper hand. Ain reacted by yanking his arm away from (y/n)’s grasp, making them whine and flop on their face.

Ain got up and dusted himself off: “I have business to attend to. Don’t get in my way, demon.” he snarled, to which (y/n) gasped.

“Demon? Did you just say demon?!” they spoke excitedly. “The demons took my weapons!” shouting, they then slapped themselves so hard the sound of it echoed through the whole inn. The other three watched in shock, each with a face more hilarious than the last.

Charging up their inner energy, (y/n) let out a long fierce battlecry. “You!” they pointed to Lu, “You stole my weapons!”

“What a bold accusation! I, Luciela R. Sourcream, steal a commoner’s belongings? How ridiculous. Ciel, put them in their place!”

“Lu, I think we should give them a chance to explain first.”

“...I’ll listen to you just because you baked my cookies on time.”

“They’re really good, by the way,” (y/n) spoke without thinking, making a grave mistake. The bomb was set off.

“CIEL!! How could you defile my cookies so?! I TRUSTED YOU!” whined Lu dramatically, stomping the floor with her small feet. He hurried towards her to calm the storm. While Ciel was distracted, Ain grabbed (y/n)’s hand and whispered into their ear:

“Let’s make haste.” before (y/n) could complain, Ain took them swiftly to the lobby.

They stared at him confused and more than ready to complain about the situation, yet Ain silenced (y/n) by putting a finger over their lips.

“We’ve successfully escaped the demons,” he smiled. “Now we can focus on figuring out your strange condition.”

“There’s nothing to figure out…” they grabbed his hand and moved it away from their face. “Anyway, it was that drink’s fault! It tasted weird,” spoke (y/n), quite proud of themselves.

“I see… Do you have any ideas where we could start?” Ain inquired with his eyebrows raised.

“Hmmm… I feel like I’m missing something…” they rubbed their chin as if a beard was there,” OH! I know! That girl who served our drinks! The blondie with the ponytail, remember?!”

“There was someone like that? I didn’t even notice.”

(y/n) opened their mouth to remind him of the event, but a gut feeling told them it would be futile to do so. ‘There is also another matter to take care of’, they thought.

“That girl stole my weapons! And drugged me! That’s it, I’m gonna go look for her. She better pray for her life.”

“Ah, an occasion to spread the word of Ishmael. How wonderful,” he beamed.

“Ain, no, you stay right here ‘till I’m done. It was a figure of speech anyway…”

“?” visibly confused, he prepared to ask what (y/n) meant by that, only to notice them stomping towards the counter.

“I would like to speak to the manager.” with a booming voice, they slammed their hand on the wooden surface to attract attention. Staring the girl into the eye, they noticed her blonde hair, tied into a ponytail.

“IT’S YOU!” they pointed,”You’re the one who drugged my drink!” The girl looked right, then left. Finally, she stated in a deadpan tone, “Ah, shit.”

In less than a second, she was gone from (y/n)’s sight and sprinting towards the employees’ back door.

“Excuse me?! I’m not done with you, you little wh*re, I’M TELLING THE MANAGER AND YOU’LL GET FIRED AND YOU’LL HAVE NIGHTMARES FOREVER OF THE DAY I RUINED YOUR LIFE-” shouting more nonsense, they tried jumping over the counter to chase her but a certain priest stopped her just in time.

“That’s not an appropriate way to behave, (Mr/Ms) Thief.”

“And that’s not an appropriate way to tell me my ways are not appropriate.”

“You’re quite childish, aren’t you?” he chuckled. All of (y/n)’s defenses cracked because of that one simple gesture, and steam started coming out of their ears. Taking a deep breath, they tried to calm the burning chaos inside of them and smirked.

“I’m going to Ciel now.”

“May I ask about the reason?” he furrowed his brow.

“Nay, thee shan’t.”

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, surely, you wouldn’t actually stand near filth such as that?”

“What can I say? He’s much more pleasant company than you; trust me, I know.”

“Unbelievable…” he looked visibly offended now, ready to strike someone down in less than a second. “I apologize, but I won’t tolerate this sort of behaviour, thief.” Ain spat their nickname like he’d spit one of Ciel’s cookies, making them gasp dramatically.

“That’s it, I’m murdering you. Better pray to Ishmael while you still can.” (y/n) spat back, preparing their fists.

“After I teach you a lesson, I think it would be most enjoyable to have you pray alongside me.”

“Did you just say enjoyable? Did you just say enjoyable?! I will completely mop the filth out of this floor with your moppy hair!”

“I find it hard to believe that you would stoop to words this lowly, thief. Be warned, I will not go easy on you this time.”

“If only I had my weapons… You’d be crying on the floor right now.”

“I highly doubt it.”

“Look, I’ve made lots of people cry before, what makes you think you won’t be one of them?!”

“I have plenty of reasons. It is truly regrettable that I even considered having a tiny speck of respect for you… Not only do you fraternize with the demons, but you also act like a degenerate human being.”

“Tiny? Tiny?! You want me to mourn for a tiny speck?!”

“It matters little to me whether you mourn or not.”

“Wh- It was supposed to be an exaggeration, you massive idiot! Why do you have to take everything so seriously, it triggers me deeply on a personal level!!”

“Any last words, thief?”

“Yes. Feel my wrath!” they lunged, while Ain was prepared to break his pendulum.

“You know Ciel, this is really entertaining. I don’t regret having my cookies stolen in the middle of the night, just because I got to see this!” (y/n) got a glimpse of Lu and Ciel watching their fight, before their fist finally collided with Ain’s chest in a very underwhelming manner. Then, as a balloon without air, they deflated, landing unceremoniously on the floor.

Ain looked at the scene with a confused smile, wondering why (y/n) started giggling out of nowhere with their face in the ground. Did they have a plan? Was it just another strange human ritual?

“I can’t watch this anymore…” Ciel sighed and tried to approach (y/n), yet a tiny hand stopped him midway.

“How dare you offer help to those people? The cookie thief and the hateful priest?! Ciel, I thought highly of you, but it seems it was wrong of me to do so…”

He gasped dramatically and retaliated in less than a second. “I apologize, Lu! I will go bake another batch of cookies just for you and leave those two to their own devices.”

“Chocolate chip cookies, don’t forget.”

“Yes! I will certainly leave those two to take care of themselves and definitely not check on the situation later!”

“Good job! I surely do not regret choosing you as my butler, Ciel~,” beamed Lu, walking away with Ciel in tow.

“...Ah.” Only then did Ain realize that the odd acting human was in his care. ‘What is there to do now?’ he thought, for (y/n) had started to munch on the carpet. Then, he remembered humans didn't usually eat carpets.

“Thief, cease this disgraceful behaviour at once.” After he spoke, a pair of curious eyes settled on his magnificent coat. (y/n) could only imagine the deliciousness of such a minty looking beverage and leaped towards it in an attempt to get a taste. He noticed before they even thought about it and intercepted their attack with a quick slap on the forehead.

(y/n) responded by hugging the floor and sobbing into it, to which Ain didn't bother reacting to anymore. His face spelled ‘I'm done’ yet the thief kept on crying the same sentence: “I'm hungryyyy…”

Ain gazed upon their snot filled visage, a repulsive sight which was supposed to engulf his entire being with disgust. Yet, despite all of his alarms having set off, he kneeled before (y/n). He recalled a similar sight which had only taken place recently; Elsword felt defeated when In and Jin escaped, but his sadness was gone as quickly as it came since Ms. Knight had ruffled his hair and offered words of encouragement. ‘Is that what’s missing?’ he thought, his gloveless hand finding its way onto their head as if to comfort.

Almost gone by unnoticed, their sobbing had gotten quieter. The more Ain would pat their head, the less they'd cry, and so he thanked Ishmael for this newfound wisdom.

“...Let's get you to your room,” he mumbled, grabbing (y/n) and pulling them over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Without a sound, Ain traveled through the whole inn twice, probably even three times before he remembered where (y/n)’s room was; after all, it was by sensing their energy he stumbled across it the first time.

Ain laid their body on the bed as roughly as he picked them up, but he received no reaction. Instead, (y/n)’s sobbing had turned to silent tears as they covered their face with their palms.

‘A pitiful sight’, he thought; yet he could not stand still and watch since a strange feeling had wormed its way in. Then, the priest decided it'd be a good idea to repeat what he had done earlier and pat their head.

(y/n) on the other hand, couldn't even tell whether they were hungry or in complete despair for no reason in particular; but what they did know was someone's gentle hand comforting them and a gentle voice whispering ‘sleep well’. They did not know if it was actually real or not as they dozed off into a state of nothingness.

~darkness~

The bed was an incredibly soft surface and (y/n) wouldn't have gotten out of it if it hadn't been for the hot springs. It was finally time to relax and forget about all the worries that had plagued their mind for weeks.

On their way to the place in question, they grabbed a jerky and gulped it down in a second. ‘It's a lot tastier than usual’, they thought.

(y/n) sighed relieved. Fixing up their towel to make sure it wouldn’t fall, they opened the sliding door.

What a wondrous occasion for them to be able to finally savour the joy of hot springs! It had been a really long time since they'd been to one.

“Come in, (Mr/Ms) Thief. I’ve been waiting for you,” Ain had gotten there before them, but they didn’t mind too much and stepped into the water. They were really tired, and once they sunk their body into the hot springs their entire being relaxed.

“Would you mind if I gave you a massage?” (y/n) shook their head.

“Come here,” they approached him and he then tended to their sore back.

“You’re really good at this… I should ask you to do it more.”

“I’m glad to be of assistance.” a brief moment of silence followed as his firm hands ran over their bare skin. They felt themselves getting quite hot.

“...Do you hate me, Ain?”

“Why would I hate you?”

“I dunno…” their posture slouched.

“Just so you know, I don’t hate you. You don’t have to be sad.” his fingers moved onto (y/n)'s shoulders, their back straightening once again.

“I was a bit mean to you…”

“But I couldn’t hate you for that.”

“Maybe more than just a bit…”

“You’re still dear to me, (y/n).” they suddenly turned their head to face him, barely believing what they just heard.

“...Really?”

“Really.” he tucked a strand of hair behind their ear, staring at them lovingly. They didn’t know how to react.

“...I’m sorry for trying to hit you..”

“It’s alright. I forgive you.”

“I’m sorry for calling your hair moppy.”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry for disrespecting the Goddess…”

“It can be easily solved.” they frowned. He gently caressed their head as he pulled them into a hug.

“...You’re really hot.”

“I’m flattered.”

“No, I’m… nevermind.” they gave into his touch and closed their eyes.

“You can sleep if you’d like. I’ll take care of you.”

“...You’re different.”

“I could say the same about you.”

Enveloped in warmth, they didn’t bother giving another argument.

“Look at me.” he raised their chin, gazing into their sleepy eyes.

“...Why though?”

“I just wanted to see you from up close. That’s all.”

“I should consider that creepy, but I’m too tired to care…” he chuckled, admiring their face even more. “What about the massage?” they asked innocently.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I got distracted.” his hands returned to their shoulders, making them even sleepier than before.

(y/n) looked up into the night sky. It was quite late judging by all the stars visible, and they wondered what they were still doing there; resting was mandatory since plenty of delicacies awaited them the next day, yet they were killing time with this pervert nonetheless.

Fluffy gray hair tickling their neck interrupted that train of thought. Not long after, a pair of arms wrapped around their torso, the towel seemingly gone.

“You will make a fine trophy to my wife collection.” he smiled wickedly, and (y/n) remembered: he was still a priest.

~darkness ends~

They woke up in a cold sweat, questioning reality with a distressed frown. Events of yesterday mingled with their dream, instilling uncertainty in what they were currently seeing.

“You're awake. How are you feeling?” inquired the man seated at their bedside. Upon closer inspection, they noticed his dark blue hair and identified him as Ciel; yet, (y/n) couldn't shake off the feeling that they were expecting someone else.

“I feel… fine, surprisingly. What happened yesterday?”

“You don't remember…?” he asked confused and (y/n) scratched the back of their neck. “Well, you weren't in your right mind, to say the least,” a tiny smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but (y/n) didn't notice. If they had, they'd have punched it right off.

“Either way, I made you some breakfast,” he offered them a plate. “Don't tell Lu.” Ciel added a little more serious than usual.

(y/n) studied their dish; it was smaller in quantity than what they were used to, and so it made up in craftsmanship. Not only was the pancake softer than anything they'd ever touched, but it also had a smiley face drawn in chocolate topping, together with a small ‘get well soon’ next to it.

(y/n) had never seen such effort put into breakfast before and couldn't contain the little blush that covered their cheeks. Ciel smiled at the sight.

Yet, despite the good start they'd gotten, (y/n) couldn't take their mind off the dream they just had. Who was it that they dreamed of? The thief could only feel disturbed and slightly horny, but the reason remains unknown.

The person in their dream had a name; what was it? It stood on the tip of their tongue…

“Ciel, wasn't there another guy with us?”

“There was? I'm fairly sure I found you alone.”

“Never mind… I probably just dreamed it all.” slouched (y/n). They could not tell why that person they forgot was so important to them and it frustrated them endlessly.

“Which parts do you remember from last night?” spoke Ciel, attempting to make conversation. (y/n) pondered on the question and didn't answer too quickly.

“...I was drinking what seemed like normal juice, but then I realized the sweet syrup in it was supposed to mask the taste of a drug. Something distracted me from that, but I just… can't remember what.”

“Drug?! Do you know who did this to you?”

“Yeah. It was the blond ponytail girl at the counter who I went to question with… with….?”

“With who?”

“I don't know. I don't remember,” they replied sheepishly to which Ciel sighed.

“I think I know what girl you're talking about. She also tried to break into my and Lu’s room, but not without good reason. We caught her a while after I found you unconscious; the whole El gang suspects she might be working with the demons.” (y/n) nodded in understanding, although they spaced out in the middle because the explanation was getting too long.

“We'll be waiting for you downstairs. Until then, eat your breakfast and take your time.” before leaving, Ciel ruffled their hair and (y/n) stopped responding.

At that point, they truly felt that something was missing and it wasn't just their memories of last night. Something like… something that would barge into their room and complain about getting along with a demon, even though Ciel was only half demon. Something that would throw the pancakes on the floor without an ounce of hesitation.

“(Mr/Ms) Thief, would you like to explain what that is in your lap?” and there he goes again, coming in uninvited with a glare that could kill.

(y/n)’s dream came back to them in an instant and they didn't know whether to hug themselves in embarrassment or run for their life. They couldn't even utter his name because of the overwhelming emotions that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere. Yet what they said was this:

“You don't have a wife collection, do you?”

“??? Are you trying to distract me from the devil’s food? Give me one reason why I shouldn't obliterate it right this instant,” Ain spat.

‘As grumpy as ever’, (y/n) thought and laughed out loud, a little relieved that their dream was far from reality. On the other hand, the priest was livid from that reaction.

“What did you just say about me, you puny human? I'll have you know I am Ishmael’s most trusted agent. No matter where you may hide I will find you and wipe you out in the name of the Goddess with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this land, mark my words. Laugh, human, I'll serve the divine retribution you are owed nonetheless and you shall perish by my wrath.”

(y/n) did their best to abstain from laughing even louder, but it was to no avail; the gates had already been flooded, a swarm of pure joy took over their mouth and even stomach, for the endless laughter had made it hurt.

"Wow, and here I was, actually disturbed by you for some weird reason-" wiping off an imaginary tear they squeaked out, hiding their relief. Ain was not amused.

"I will not tolerate-"

"Nom." (y/n) nommed a quarter of a pancake, interrupting his incoming speech. Ain's aura had turned menacing as he approached the hungry thief's bed.

"Oh, do you want one too?" (y/n) munched; Ain froze.

"Preposterous."

"Dont lie, you know you want it."

"Such audacity. Take that poison away from my sight. Now."

(y/n) smirked and nommed another pancake. "Om nom, very yum. Me like."

Ain looked mortified as they ate pancakes one by one, until only half a piece remained. It was doused in chocolate to the point of feeling like a wet towel when touched; just the way (y/n) loved it.

"Are you suuuure you don't want any?" No answer.

He thought a little more; weren’t they in such a predicament because of him? His incompetence led to (y/n) laying in that bed after a shaky night they had no choice over. It was his fault only, for not noticing the subtle details and letting a vital member get almost injured from sheer stupidity from his part. Ishmael would believe that he had to atone.

Defeated and upset with himself, Ain shut his eyes and whispered, "Just one bite…"

(y/n) beamed at the response and gladly gave him the bite he asked for. At first he looked like he'd spit it out the instant he put the pancake in his mouth, but his face didn't lie as his features slowly relaxed. He hummed in delight.

And when things seemed to be going well, the dream came to their mind again, along with an idea.

"Hey Ain, you're really hot."

Perplexed, he spoke: "I'm not. My coat may seem warm, but was that supposed to be a question?"

"I didn't mean it that way."

"Then what way did you mean it in?"

(y/n) giggled.

Elesis: “You’re finally here! What took you so long?”

Ara: “Um, m-maybe it’s not very appropriate to ask that..?”

Aisha: “I don’t buy it one bit. (y/n)’s not smart enough to handle a guy like Ain.”

(y/n): “Oi, wanna fight?”

Rena: “Ahem.” the whole El gang’s attention was on her. “We have more important things to deal with, don’t we?” Everyone looked at the suspect; she seemed regretful.

Raven: “You should explain yourself now, while you have the chance.”

Add: “Can’t you see she clearly doesn't want to speak? We should just end her here and now.”

Eve: “Any allies of the enemy should be exterminated.”

Add: “See, even Eve agrees with me…! Kuku..”

Elsword: “Now that everyone’s here, tell us: why did you make a deal with the demons?”

Lu: “And to bring me down, no less. To bring me, Luciela R. Sourcream, down…!”

???: “What could I have possibly done…?” For a brief second, her and (y/n)’s eyes met.

Ain: “(y/n) and I can prove that Emily concealed vital information. When confronted about the drugged drinks, she avoided answering and ran away.”

Emily: “tsk..”

(y/n): “Why’d you do it though? Other than peace, don’t you have everything you need?”

Emily: “You know, maybe if you didn’t have your heads so far up your asses, you’d be aware. What kind of heroes are you guys if everyone's starving to death even when working their hardest?! Why should we care if demons invade us when even in this so called peaceful world we have nothing anyway!”

(y/n): “...Girl, have you looked at yourself?”

Emily: “...?”

(y/n): “Those mad skills of yours… they got me wondering if I was working in the wrong field. If you can even call what I’m doing ‘working’. You can move in the shadows better than I can, and I’ve been doing this for years! I’m surprised you’re not a demon by how fast you were moving.”

Emily: “...What are you on about?”

(y/n): “There’s a great future ahead of you, yes, you’re destined for greatness! You can get into places I’ve never been able to, you can swipe treasures I never even knew existed… Greatness, I say!”

Emily: “So you’re saying…”

(y/n): “Eat the rich, Emily. Eat the rich and sleep on their skins.”

Chung: “Ahahah, I don’t think that’s the lesson she had to learn…”

Aisha: “That’s a little ironic, coming from royalty…”

Ciel: “Now, now, whether or not we’ve learned anything, why don’t we eat this celebratory cake I’ve baked just for this occasion?”

Elesis: “Wow, what a convenient cake! I’m all for it!”

Lu: “Huhu, my butler never disappoints, as expected.”

Ain: “But doesn’t it seem like someone took a huge bite out of it?”

Elsword: “No way… (y/n), you betrayed us?!”

With a fistful of cake, (y/n): “I’d rather betray the world than let the world betray me!” then laughed proudly.

24 notes · View notes

minijenn · 5 years ago

Text

Universe Falls Chapter 75

AN: Just realized I never posted Gravity Falls Drift on here in the usual format so here’s this super fucking late whoops my bad oh well byeeeeeeee

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/189818825584/universe-falls-chapter-74

Chapter 75: Gravity Falls Drift

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“They told me there wasn’t enough room on the road for the Universe. And I told them, the universe is my road.”

Steven grinned confidently as he adjusted his sunglasses before gripping the steering wheel in front of him. And then, with a deft move of the gear shift, he pressed the pedal to the metal, more than ready to take on the road ahead.

“Pew! Pew! Pew!”

The young Gem was slightly caught off guard however as he looked to the passenger seat, or namely, to Mabel, who sat alongside him, leaning out of the open car window as she held her fingers together in the vague shape of a gun. “Oh, were we not doing the whole cop thing?” she asked, noting Steven’s look of confusion.

“Well, if you were, you guys aren’t really doing a very good job of it,” Dipper noted with a casual grin as he came to stand beside Mabel’s window. “No offense.”

Before either of the pair inside the car could counter this, a sudden knock on Steven’s window caught their attention. Connie smiled as the young Gem turned to her, offering him a bright wave until he rolled down said window to greet her.

“Oh, hey, Connie!” Steven grinned, taking off his sunglasses before opening the door to the brand-new used vehicle. “Thanks for letting me practice, Dad,” he said to the former rock star, who stood by, admiring his new set of wheels as he had been for the past several hours now. “Hey, maybe one day when I’m older, you can teach me how to actually drive using it!”

“Eh, l-let’s not get ahead of ourselves there, Schtoo-ball,” Greg remarked with a small, if not anxious chuckle. “We’ve still got several years until--well, then again, you are 14 now so… Oh boy…”

“Your new car is sooooo cool, Mr. Universe!” Mabel quipped excitedly as she got out of the car herself. “Though… ya might wanna think twice before you move into it. It seems like it’d be just a bit too small to live in it like you do your van.”

“Heh, thanks for the concern, Mabel, but the van’s still home sweet home,” Greg said. “I just thought that now that I’m swimming in dough, why not get a new car?”

“A new car?” Connie questioned, looking over the vehicle, particularly its bumper. “But it’s got this big ‘used’ sticker on it.”

“I like to think of it as more experienced than used,” Greg grinned, slapping a sticker of his own, one that read ‘Dad on Board’ over the one the car came with.

“So what kind of car is it anyway?” Dipper asked, curious.

“Glad you asked,” Greg proudly placed a gentle hand on the top of his new vehicle. “This baby’s a Dondai Supremo, from the era of frosted tips, mood rings, and slap bracelets.” A beat of silence passed at this, in which all four of the kids simply stared up at the former rock star, completely clueless as to archaic period he was talking about. At least, until he kindly clarified. “You know, before you kids were born.”

“What a time to be alive,” Connie remarked, impressed.

“Whoa… that’s like… forever ago!” Mabel gasped, awestruck. “Then that means this car must be super old!”

“Ah ah ah,” Greg wagged a correcting finger. “Not old, experienced. I’ve had my eye on this Dondai even way back when.” At this, the former rock star pulled out a stack of photos, depicting a younger version of himself in a car lot, fawning over a then brand-new Dondai. “I loved that car. I wanted that car.” The series of photos eventually reached a bizarre conclusion as the younger rock star was caught romantically sharing a plate of spaghetti with the car before ultimately being chased out of the lot by security. “A-anyway,” Greg cleared his throat, tossing the photos aside. “Another great thing about these cars? They’re crazy on the road.”

To prove his point, the former rock star took over the driver’s seat, pointing out several of its best-known features to the kids. “Front wheel suspension, tons of ponies, and best of all, it has a tape deck!”

Greg readily inserted a favorite cassette of his into said tape deck, allowing the Dondai’s strong speakers to play out a laid-back beat across the car wash’s parking lot. Caught up in the chill vibes of the music, the former rock star “rocked” out to it via air guitar as the kids decided to pitch in to help him spruce up the new car up a bit. Taking up wet sponges and a hose, they began washing the Dondai in the hopes of making it shine as if it were completely new rather than lightly used. However, they didn’t get very far into it before the lighthearted mood of the afternoon was interrupted by an unexpected, unwelcome arrival.

Said arrival came in a sharp yellow sports car, one that sped down the hill that led toward the car wash, loud booming rock music rising over its roaring engine. The group gathered at the car wash all got a good scare as it drifted aggressively onto the otherwise empty lot, spinning a tight circle to turn itself around before grinding to a stop. And yet, as unruly and downright disrespectful as this sudden entrance was, the person behind it was hardly surprising at all as he rolled his window down to bark out an order right off the bat.

“Give me a wash, old man,” the teen called, barely even sparing a glance out the window as he continued the conversation he was having on his phone.

“Uh, right away, young man,” Greg responded, dutifully taking up a bucket and a sponge to head over to do just that.

“Huh, you know, that really rude guy seems kinda familiar…” Mabel noted with a frown.

“Yeah, I--wait,” Connie squinted to get a better look at the teen. “Is that-”

“Kevin…” Steven scowled, instantly set off as he squeezed the water out of his sponge in quiet fury.

“Ugh, that guy?” Dipper asked disdainfully. “He’s still around? I would have thought he’d been kicked out of town for being the biggest creep ever.”

“Yeah, he should have been,” Mabel agreed, sticking her tounge out in disgust. “He was super icky at that part, especially when he flirted with you guys like that,” she said to Steven and Connie in particular.

“Tell us about it…” Connie glanced down, rubbing her arm. She did take pause however as she spared a glance over at Steven. The young Gem’s expression was consumed in a rare type of fury, fury that was all directly aimed at Kevin alone, even if he didn’t seem to be aware of it whatsoever. And in light of that newfound, almost unsettling fury, Connie couldn’t help but be instantly concerned for Steven’s wellbeing in light of being met with one of the biggest obstacles they had faced during their first time fused together.

“I didn’t say iron the socks,” Kevin huffed as he continued on the phone. “I said I want my socks pressed. And--whoa, wait, wait!” He snapped at Greg quite suddenly as the former rock star began wiping down his wheels. “Careful with the tires, grandpa! I got a big race today and my car has to look as beautiful as me.”

“Back off, Kevin!” Steven exclaimed, boldly rushing to confront the callous teen in his father’s defense. “He’s not a grandpa! He’s just a regular pa!”

Kevin took pause at this, lowering his sunglasses a bit to give the young Gem a dry, cursory look. “Have we met before? I think I’d remember a twerp like you.”

“You do remember a twerp like me!” Steven shot back harshly, his hands in tight fists at his sides.

“Uh, y-you… you just look like another guy we know!” Connie hastily interjected with an uncomfortable laugh, Dipper and Mabel joining her in doing the same.

“Yeah, t-though totally not like this really scummy guy who was at this party we cra-” Mabel was abruptly cut off before she could give too much away by Dipper quickly covering her mouth just in time.

“Uh, l-like Connie said,” he said much more cautiously. “You look like someone we know. That’s all.”

“Tch, that’s impossible,” Kevin scoffed, rolling his eyes at the kids. “There’s only one Kevin.” At this, the teen turned his nose up at the kids, coldly speeding off in his car every bit as noisily as he had arrived without even sparing any of them a second glance whatsoever.

“Hey!” Greg called after the sports car as it zoomed out of sight. “He forgot to… Eh, what do I care? I’m rich.”

However, even in light of Kevin’s departure, all was not well, especially not with the young Gem as he let out a frustrated growl, glaring off in the direction the teen had went. “Augh! I hate Kevin!” he huffed hotly, ignoring the startled looks the others sent his way upon hearing this.

“Whoa, Steven!” Dipper exclaimed, practically shocked. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you hate someone before.”

“Yeah, or seen you this angry,” Mabel noted before muttering something to herself with a discreet smile. “It’s kind of cute…”

“Yeah, watch the four letters, bud,” Greg cautioned with a frown. “Hate’s a strong word.”

“It’s a strong feeling…” Steven grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Do you kids know that guy?” the former rock star asked, curious to know exactly who Kevin was to have elicited such a strong reaction from his son.

“Well, kind of…” Connie explained apprehensively. “When we fused into Stevonnie, we met him at a dance and-”

“And he was a creep!” Steven interjected harshly.

“Steven!” Greg scolded, surprised once more by his son’s severe language.

“What? That’s five letters!”

“He kept asking us to dance with him,” Connie continued much more calmly. “Even though we said no. It was really… uncomfortable.”

“He didn’t even care about how we felt at all!” Steven professed, still quite upset by the unsavory experience. “He only cared about himself and getting what he wanted! He’s the worst!”

Greg wavered upon hearing this, his stern expression turning sympathetic as he met his son’s clear anger evenly. “I… had no idea that happened,” he sighed softly. “I’m really sorry. But that guy? He’s not even worth the time of day. Don’t even give him the satisfaction of thinking about him.”

“Thanks, Mr. Universe,” Connie smiled, thankful for such good advice.

“Yeah!” Mabel chimed in with a supportive smile. “Why think about a loser like Kevin when you could think about ice cream, or puppies, or roller coasters, or-”

“Or literally anything else,” Dipper interjected before Mabel could keep her otherwise endless list going.

Despite the bout of light laughter everyone shared over this, Steven didn’t join in on it. Instead, he kept his gaze on the ground, his expression still quite cross and bitter. It had been quite awhile since he’d felt like this, and it certainly wasn’t a feeling he enjoyed stewing in for very long. And yet, for whatever reason, he couldn’t let that feeling go, not as long as he remembered Kevin and what he did to them. Not as long as he thought about how terrible it had felt then, and how it still cut deep, even now.

Which was why, even hours after the fact, the young Gem thoughtlessly held onto that feeling, willingly letting himself fall even deeper into it all the while.

The starry evening sky was crisp and clear and warmed by the lofty summer air. Normally, such a night would have been a relaxing sight to the kids, but even as they sat comfortably atop the Dondai to admire it, a noticeable air of discontent still hung over them all. Discontent that the others could all practically feel from Steven in particular as he heaved a long, frustrated sigh.

“Um… you ok, Steven?” Dipper asked, glancing down from the spot him and Mabel were sharing on the car’s room with apt concern.

“Never been better,” the young Gem replied, disgruntled as he continued reclining on the hood.

“...Are you still mad about Kevin?” Connie asked, looking over at him knowingly.

“Yes!” Steven instantly admitted, his expression souring even more at the mere mention of the haughty teen.

“Well, that explains a lot,” Mabel noted, leaning forward somewhat. “But Steven, remember what your dad said; Kevin’s such a major jerkface that he isn’t even worth thinking about!”

“Ugh, I know!” Steven groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes before he sat up to turn to the twins. “But it’s not that easy! You guys only watched what happened; me and Connie were there when he--a-and it was… we just… AUGH!” The young Gem let out another angry growl as he flopped back down onto the hood, barely even able to articulate just how much of a negative impact the awful experience really had on him.

While the twins exchanged a worried glance over Steven’s rare anger, Connie simply kept her sights steadily on him. And, when she spoke a moment later, her tone was much softer, yet it still carried a hint of lingering satisfaction all the same. “Steven… I know how you feel,” she said, sitting up. “I’m mad about what happened too.”

Steven finally stilled at this, looking to her with apt surprise as he also sat up once more. “You don’t seem mad,” he noted, concerned.

“I’m thinking mad,” Connie sighed, shaking her head. “I still feel like there’s something… big I wanna say to him, you know? Something to make him think, like we’re thinking.”

“Ooo, maybe you guys could call him a major jerkface to his face!” Mabel suggested pointedly.

“Uh… somehow I don’t think that’s really gonna help, Mabel,” Dipper remarked, deadpan.

“To bad we can’t just… race against him,” Steven said, remembering just how much shallow pride Kevin seemed to have over his impressive vehicle. “Then we could use the first place ribbon to wipe that smug look off his face!”

“Well, that’s not the worst idea ever,” Dipper said with a shrug. “Just a little flawed given the obvious problem with it…”

“Really? What problem would that be?” Mabel asked, somewhat obliviously.

“Uh, we’re kids,” Connie replied, furrowing her brow. “And kids can’t drive; that’s against the law.”

“...We weren’t kids when we met Kevin…” Steven pointed out with a growing smile as he looked to Connie hopefully.

Connie smirked at this, understanding the young Gem’s intent almost immediately. “I smell what you’re steppin’ in,” she noted somewhat deviously.

“Ew,” Steven returned, his own wry grin still apparent.

“Ohhhhh my gosh!” Mabel gasped, getting the point of the plan herself. “Fusion racing! Its like regular racing, but with fusion! I LOVE it!”

“Uh, ok, but we all realize that this whole thing is still pretty illegal, right?” Dipper asked with a frown. “I mean, it’s not like either of you have driver’s licenses that are gonna just… fuse along with you, right?”

“You don’t need a license to drive a Dondai,” Steven remarked, taking on a cool, sauve tone.

“...Yes, you do,” Connie noted. “But then again, street racing is pretty illegal too, so… I guess two wrongs make a right in this case?”

“It will,” Steven’s tone turned serious once again at this, solidifying his resolve toward this plan and how it could--or at least he hoped it could--at long last set this egregious wrong against them right. “Especially if it finally helps take Kevin down a peg like he deserves…”

Out of all of the various hills and outlooks surrounding Gravity Falls, Demon’s Peak was by far the most notorious, and the most popular with the town’s young racing crowd. Most of its long, winding stretches of road were covered by a dense forest canopy, concealing much light at all during the later hours of the night. And as that road led to the top of the small mountain, drivers who took on its challenge were often met with a perilous journey filled with sharp turns and narrow paths along the way, not to mention the countless rumors of the peak being haunted, which of course, had contributed to its famous name. However, many of the town’s teens still flocked to the mountain each Friday night to get a taste of the high-octane thrills each race had to offer.

This night was no exception as a large crowd had gathered at the base of Demon’s Peak, many within it bringing their own vehicles to compete for the title of the fastest racer around. And yet, try as they might, there was really only one among them who could even hope to come close. A fact that they were all bitterly reminded of as a certain yellow sports car zoomed past the finish line in first, just as it always did.

A loud, disappointed groan arose from the bystanders as Kevin rolled his window down to smirk triumphantly over the car he’d just bested. Jenny returned that smirk with an irritated scowl, her frustration only growing as she pressed against the wheel of her car. “Ugh! My practice didn’t pay off at all!” she groaned, frustrated. “That was so bad.”

“I know, baby,” Kevin grinned as he stepped out of his car and walked past her. “I’m the worst.”

Jenny simply returned his smug, flirtatious remarks with another bitter scoff before she rejoined the spectating crowd herself. “Ugh… what a creep…” she grumbled as she came to stand alongside her friends.

“Seriously, and I thought I was a jerk,” Robbie remarked, his arm casually flung over Tambry’s shoulder. “But Kevin’s on, like… a whole other level.”

“Tell me about it,” Tambry remarked dryly, texting away as she usually did.

“Oh, I will, I-”

“Don’t, babe,” she glowered, briefly glancing up at her disgruntled boyfriend.

With yet another competitor beaten, Kevin also reconvened with his pair of friends, or rather, his partners in racing. One was clearly the muscle of the group, a large, intimidating, towering young man who barely even looked like teen with his impressive frame and noticeable facial hair. Flanking him was a much smaller girl, one with a keen, expensive fashion sense and layers of makeup to spare to match her practically flawless golden hair. Despite the drastic differences, both of them carried the same exact air of haughty arrogance as Kevin himself did, one that was apparent as they surveyed the crowd of apparently much less “fabulous” teens before them.

“Yet another flock of losers down,” the girl remarked, eyeing Jenny, Robbie, and Tambry smugly. “So… who’s next?”

“Anyone else think they can beat us and my Himitsu X-12 on the downhill course, step right up,” Kevin formally offered the challenge, though nobody seemed to take it. Instead, several members of the crowd seemed to shrink back at the offer, all of them too afraid of the inevitable shame they’d face upon so much as even trying to beat Kevin and his friends at their own game. “Oh, come on,” Kevin teased, disappointed by the lack of any real competitors. “How are we gonna get a cool-down lap if no one wants to go?”

“I’ll race you!”

The entire mood of the crowd shifted to surprise as a new car drove onto the scene--a certain Dondai, to be exact--driven by a certain fusion who, after a few self-taught driving lessons, had come more than ready to race.

The bystanders’ muted amazement continued as Stevonnie stepped out of the car, their expression stern and brazen, even as they faced their old foe once again. While Connie’s father’s jacket had been rather large on her, when she fused with Steven, it now fit Stevonnie perfectly, adding a unique sense of flair to their already bold style. As the fusion properly stood, they fluffed the collar of said jacket, briefly glancing down to the Dondai’s tinted window to exchange a discreet nod with Dipper and Mabel as they watched everything from their hidden spot in the back seat of the car. After all, even though the twins couldn’t exactly compete in the race itself, they were still dedicated to standing by Stevonnie’s side for any support they could offer, especially when it came to getting back at Kevin for everything he’d done.

As baffled as Kevin and his pair of friends were by this unexpected challenger, before any of them could say anything to Stevonnie, Ronaldo happened to run up to them from the crowd instead. “Ah! Is that a ‘96 Supremo?!” he asked the fusion enthusiastically.

“Uh… I think it’s a Dondai?” Stevonnie replied, looking to the car behind them.

“A Supremo is a Dondai!”

“Whoa. Really?”

The teen adjusted his glasses, dumbfounded at this. “..Are you saying you don’t know the true power of the Supremo?”

“Uh…” Stevonnie frowned, unsure of what to say. Briefly, they looked back toward the twins for help once more, both of whom shrugged, just as clueless as they were.

“Hey!” Kevin suddenly interjected, glaring at the fusion from across the lot. “That’s why I knew those brats at the car wash; they’re you!”

“Oh, you mean those ten year olds you flirted with at that party a few weeks ago?” his female friend asked with a sharp, teasing smirk. “Creep.”

“Ugh! For the last time, Lacy, I didn’t flirt with them!” Kevin growled before turning back to the fusion. “You twerps totally tricked me by looking like... that. But your whole ‘two kids in a beautiful trench coat’ routine isn’t gonna fool me this time, so don’t even try it!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Stevonnie shot back just as coldly as they slammed a hand down on top of the Dondai. “And I’ll show you what I’m made of when I beat you at this race!”

While a ripple of “oos” and “aahs” passed through the crowd at this, Kevin himself was hardly phased as he instead let out a smooth, sardonic snicker. “Oh. I see what’s going on here.”

“Do you?” Stevonnie asked, crossing their arms disdainfully.

“Yeah,” the teen smirked knowingly. “You’ve had a taste of Kevin, and now… you’re obsessed.”

Needless to say, Stevonnie was absolutely taken aback by such a remark, as were the twins inside the car as they met the fusions shocked look of disbelief evenly as they looked toward them once again. Yet even so, Stevonnie was absolutely having none of it, especially not from Kevin. Not again or ever again. “What?” they asked harshly, essentially whispering the word through their tightly-clenched teeth.

“I get it,” Kevin shrugged innocently. “I have that effect on people. Its cute. But aren’t I a little old for you?”

By this point, Stevonnie was far too set off by the teen’s continually slimey behavior to even come up with a coherent response. Instead, they simply let out a frustrated, disgusted groan, their hands shaking in fists of tight fury at their sides. Even so, they were more than ready to keep this argument going, at least until Kevin’s friend, Lacy, happened to interject.

“Ugh, enough already,” the girl rolled her eyes, clearly bored. “I swear, Kevin, I’m gonna puke if you keep this going any longer. Let’s just settle your whole ‘baggage’ with this fashion-blind wanna-be on the road, k?”

“Y-yeah!” Stevonnie agreed, glaring Kevin down once more. “You wanna race or not?”

“Do you?” Kevin raised a critical eyebrow at the fusion.

“Uh… yeah?”

“Hmph, then I guess you didn’t hear,” the teen smirked coldly. “Tonight’s race is a tag-team gauntlet. Three on three, with each racing one leg up to the top of the mountain and back down again. I’ve already got my team with Brock,” he nodded over to the mighty teen alongside him, who simply nodded gruffly and silently. “And Lacy here.” Lacy offered Stevonnie a patronizing grin and playful wave, her ego clearly large enough to match Kevin’s own. “So… where’s yours?”

“Uh, a-a team…?” Stevonnie frowned, briefly taking a look around the group of teens gathered behind them. Despite their initial support of the fusion however, they were all quick to avert their rather pleading gaze for help, none of them willing to face could very well be an embarrassing defeat against Kevin and his friends. “Um… well… I don’t…”

“No team, no race,” Lacy interjected, wagging a finger at the fusion. “Those are the rules.”

“Yeah, so if you can’t follow the rules like us ‘big kids’ here,” Kevin added, hands on his hips. “Then why don’t you go back to kindergarten and play with the rest of your little friends, hm?”

Stevonnie took in a sharp breath at this, gearing up to shoot back just as harsh of a retort back at the callous teen. That is, until they paused to actually consider a part of what he’d said, something that actually managed to give them a timely idea, especially as they turned to glance down at Dipper and Mabel still inside the Dondai beside them. “‘Little friends’, huh…?”

“You want us to what?!” Dipper asked, completely shocked by the outlandish idea Stevonnie had just proposed to him and Mabel.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy,” Stevonnie began, pacing around the secluded clearing they’d pulled the Dondai into to talk this out with the twins. “But I-”

“But I LOVE it!” Mabel suddenly interjected, stars in her eyes. “Just wait until Kevin and his jerky friends get a load of MAVEN! They won’t know what hit them once we blaze past ‘em on road, leaving them behind to eat our sparkly fusion dust!”

“That’s the spirit!” Stevonnie agreed brightly. “So obviously, Maven’s in but… we can’t be a real team without Stepper too…” The fusion looked to Dipper with a hopeful, pleading smile. “So… what do you say, Dipper?”

The most Dipper could really do was let out a small, relenting sigh as he looked between both Stevonnie and Mabel, knowing he couldn’t very well say no to either one of them. Even if the entire situation as a whole was an odd mix of ridiculous and risky. “Ok, fine,” he said. “But… this is gonna be tricky. I mean, you look normal enough, Stevonnie, but Maven has four eyes. And I don’t even wanna know what they’d say out there if they got a load of Stepper’s extra set of arms….”

“No woes, bro-bro,” Mabel grinned, tossing an arm over her brother’s shoulder. “That’s where Mabel comes in. Now, Steven… if you will…” Her smile widened as she extended a hand out to Stevonnie, who was more than happy to comply by gracefully unfusing. And with Steven and Connie apart, the latter was just as ready to go from one fusion right into another.

However, what none of the kids spotted as that fusion was formed in the usual flourish of radiant light, was a bright flicker of purple flame sparking in the nearby woods. Nor did they notice the lone figure, completely obscured by shadow outside of her more fiery features, discreetly watching the entire scene from afar. “Well, well… How interesting…” she grinned deviously to herself. “Better get a front-row seat. After all, this is one race I’m not about to miss…”

Though they had agreed to allow Stevonnie enough time to gather their “team” together, the longer Kevin and his friends were left to wait, the more impatient they became. Said impatience was first voiced by Brock, albeit in his usual wordless way in the form of deep, disgruntled grunt.

“Yeah, I know,” Kevin huffed, annoyed as he glanced up from his phone. “They’re taking forever. Should have expected as much from a bunch of dumb kids.”

“Who knows?” Lacy remarked with a broad grin. “Maybe they chickened out. You know how little kids get when they’re scared. They’re probably running home to their mommies and daddies even as we speak.”

Both Kevin and Lacy broke into a round of mocking, vindictive laughter at this and even Brock let out a small, albeit very slow chuckle. However, that laughter was short lived as the Dondai came speeding back toward the crowd, albeit rather haphazardly to the point that several of the teens had to hastily leap out of the way just to avoid being hit. As surprised as everyone was by this wreckless arrival, it soon became apparent that Stevonnie wasn’t behind the wheel this time as a seemingly new figure entirely emerged from the vehicle instead.

“Hi, everybody!” Maven cheerfully exclaimed the moment they burst open the door. The fusion rose to their full height just as brightly, showing off their more “mature look” as they decided to dub it in the form of the sweater now tied around their neck, their long hair tied up tight and most importantly, the pair of dark sunglasses completely concealing their upper pair of eyes from view. Confident in that look, Maven strode forward, clearly happy to be there as they continued waving to the dumbfounded crowd while passing them by. “Hey! Hiya! Maven here, ready to race!”

“Tch, looks like they managed to scrounge up a team after all,” Kevin remarked with a dry glower, though it soon turned into a flirty grin as he looked Maven over. “Hey there, baby, I-”

“Whoahohohoho--whoa, whoa,” Maven instantly cut him off, aggressively shoving a finger over his mouth to silence him. “Back it up there, big guy. You really oughta learn to quit while you’re ahead before you go and embarrass yourself. Again.”

Kevin was admittedly quite taken aback, especially as he met the rather dour, disapproving glare Maven was sending his way. Even so, he did his best to play it off with a cool scoff, backing away from them as he maintained his usual pompous demeanor. “O-oh yeah? Well, maybe you should learn that socks and sandals together are about the biggest fashion mistake anyone can make! Same goes for wearing sunglasses at night!”

Maven was clearly unaffected by such shallow remarks, however as they simply shrugged easily. “Eh, it’s a look. One that I can totally pull off. Makes me stand out in a crowd, ya know?”

“Ugh, whatever,” Kevin scowled, crossing his arms. “So, where’s the rest of your team? Did ‘Stevonnie’ or whatever their name is wimp out and head home?”

“Nah, Stevonnie and our other teammate Stepper are just… a little busy right now…” Maven turned, sparing a brief, wry wink over at the Dondai. From its back seat, Dipper and Connie spared a peak outside the window, not wanting to give their cover away, to the point that they had already carefully cautioned Maven not to do exactly that. Not that they believed such caution would do much good when it came to the somewhat flighty fusion but still, it was a protective measure all the same. “But don’t worry, they’ll be ready when they need to be. For now, Kevin,” they remarked pointedly, turning back to the teen. “Are you ready to race me?”

“Oh, I won’t be racing you, sweetheart,” Kevin grinned evenly. “I’ll leave that up to Brock.”

“Oooo what?” Maven said with a challenging grin. “Are you too scared to take me on your… self…?” The fusion stopped short as they noticed the large shadow looming over them. When they turned however, they were met face to face with the practically massive form of Brock, who easily towered over their own impressive height, making them feel quite small by comparison. Even so, Maven took it in stride, offering the much larger teen a wry, cheerful wave all the same. “Oof, you’re a big fella, aren’t you? Say, what kinda diet does a guy have to be on to get that… you know…” Maven trailed off, puffing their chest as they flexed their muscles to show what they meant. “Is it a protein thing, or like a balance of the right vitamins and minerals, or do you, uh….” The fusion frowned as Brock turned without answering a single one of their questions, instead heading toward Kevin’s car to begin the race in earnest. “Oh, um… good talk, I guess?”

“Don’t mess my car up, or you’re done, you hear?” Kevin remarked to his teammate, his tone cold as Brock barely managed to squeeze his way inside. As always, Brock simply nodded silently, his expression stern and unreadable as he turned his sights toward the starting line ahead.

At the same time, Maven returned to the Dondai, eagerly taking the driver’s seat as they gripped the steering wheel confidently. “Alrighty,” they grinned, adjusting their mirror to get a glimpse to catch a view of Connie and Dipper in the back seat. “You guys ready to be a part of the best, most action-packed race ever!”

“Uh… maybe we could tone down the ‘action-packed’ part, just to be safe?” Connie purposed, anxious.

“Remember what we talked about, you guys,” Dipper reminded cautiously. “You need to drive carefully. Losing to Kevin and his pals are one thing; but sending the car plummeting over the side of a cliff with all of us inside it is… something else entirely. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who would rather not have that happen.”

“Aw, relax, Dip-bro,” Maven assured, adjusting their shades. “I got this. Not only are we gonna beat Kevin and his cronies, but we’re gonna do it in style.”

“That’s… kind of what we’re afraid of…” Connie muttered, exchanging a nervous glance with Dipper.

Even so, the race was clearly all set to begin, the pathway leading up the mountain clear and open for both cars competing on it. And, with a swift wave of the checkered flag, the first leg of the three-part race was at last underway.

“All right!” Maven cheered, daringly pushing the clutch forward as they pressed the gas pedal all the way down. “Full speed ahead!”

Both the Dondai and the sports car blasted forward right out of the gate, their engines equally thunderous as they peeled out onto the road. For the first stretch, both vehicles were neck-and-neck, clocking in the exact same speed as they rounded the first bend uphill. However, as that turn leveled out, Borock began taking on the slightest lead, something that the pair of passengers in the Dondai’s back seat were quick to notice.

“He’s getting ahead!” Connie warned, glancing back to the fusion in the driver’s seat.

“Not for long!” Maven grinned, shifting gears to gain more speed. The Dondai suddenly jerked forward on that speed, throwing Connie and Dipper back into their seats, though Maven readily thrived on it as they leaned forward, exhilarated, especially as they passed Brock by. “Whoo! This is so fun! Its like I was born for the road and the road was born for me!”

“Uh, m-maybe you should keep your eyes on that road!?” Dipper suggested tightly, holding onto his seat for dear life as Maven recklessly swerved around another hairpin turn.

“Hey, no worries, Dip-bro!” Maven assured, glancing back at the pair to the point that they weren’t looking at the road at all. “Like I said, I got this in the bag! There’s no way that big guy will ever catch up to us! Especially not when we shift into turbo!”

“T-this car doesn’t even have any turbo gears!” Connie exclaimed, aptly frightened by Maven’s dangerous driving.

“Wait,” Dipper gasped as he caught sight of what awaited on the road dead ahead. “Maven, no-”

“MAVEN YES!” the fusion exclaimed, pushing the Dondai as hard as it would go toward the natural ramp made up of a handful of logs. They still had a solid lead over Brock as he trailed behind them, but with this new, risky route in mind, Maven hoped to claim a victory that would be all but guaranteed.

As the Dondai reached that ramp, Dipper and Connie were mutually covering their eyes out of sheer terror for what could very well be their painful demise in the very high likelihood that the vehicle didn’t stick the landing. Even so, Maven took the leap confidently, their sunglasses flying off to reveal their upper pair of eyes, which were practically sparkling with excitement as the car soared into the night. For a few brief, breathless seconds, the car was completely weightless, until gravity began to bring it back down toward the road. Or rather, toward the entirely new pathway that had suddenly been paved, as if by magic, right as the Dondai landed solidly (and above all else, safely) upon it.

However, said magic pathway did divert its driver off of the main path, something Maven didn’t notice until they happened to catch sight of a familiar yellow sports car breezing past them out their rear view mirror. “Hey!” the fusion exclaimed, grinding the Dondai to a screeching halt within the wooded clearing they’d accidentally driven into. “What gives?! This wasn’t part of my totally awesome plan to victory!”

“Maybe not yet… but it could be!”

“Huh?” Maven blinked, surprised as they looked around the clearing. Likewise, Dipper and Connie exchanged a confused, still quite breathless from the harrowing leap they’d just miraculously survived.

“Who said that?” Connie frowned, looking out the window to notice the surrounding trees were encompassed by an odd purple glow.

“I don’t know… but I’m gonna check it out,” Maven said, summoning their grappling shield just in case.

“So are we,” Dipper said, Connie agreeing as they all slowly, carefully got out of the car. The woods were strangely quiet as the kids all grouped together, Maven still brandishing their grappling shield as they looked around for anything out of the ordinary. The race was all but forgotten in place of a possibly more important threat, one that, even without their swords, Dipper and Connie were more than ready to back Maven up in facing.

And that supposed threat soon made itself known as a bright, mischievous laugh began echoing through the woods. It was accompanied by a ring of sudden pinkish flames that surrounded the kids and the Dondai, catching them off guard even more as they all pressed a bit closer together defensively.

“Who’s there?!” Dipper demanded brazenly.

“Show yourself!” Connie added just as sternly.

“Yeah! I got a whole, loaded grappling shield here and trust me, you do not want a piece of it!” Maven warned, holding said weapon aloft. “I should know, I’ve accidentally bonked myself in the head with it more times than I can count and it really smarts.”

The odd, chuckling voice didn’t respond to any of these threats, however, as it was instead replaced by the loud din of an approaching roaring engine. The kids still had no idea what to expect as the shape of a motorcycle soon began to materialize amidst the flames, though what was even stranger was that its silhouette soon seamlessly transformed into the shape of what seemed to be a racecar. However, as the flames finally began to burn out and the wild laughter quieted down, that car somehow became a vibrant bike once more. A bike carrying an even more vibrant rider.

The motorcycle screeched to a stop right before the startled group of kids, allowing them all to get their first clear view of that rider. Based on her sharp horns, claws, fangs, and tail alone, she clearly wasn’t human, as if her bright purple skin and matching, literally flaming hair weren’t telling enough of her otherworldly nature. Yet beyond that, her entire look fit her high-speed ride quite well, from her pink torn jacket, to her slick black leather skirt and gloves. All this was topped off by a sharp black biker helmet, with a pink visor that obscured her eyes but did reveal her large, broad, toothy grin.

“Beware foolish mortals!” she began, hovering high over the dumbfounded group of kids, displaying her claws threateningly as her flaming hair burned brighter. “For you have incurred the wrath of-” She cut herself off sharply as a sudden small shield zipped past her, nearly hitting her in the process, though she happened to dodge it just in the nick of time. “Hey! I was trying to pull of a dramatic entrance here!”

“Oops, sorry!” Maven apologized as they reeled their grappling shield back in. “Please, continue.”

“Ugh, no, forget it,” the biker groaned, annoyed. “It’s already ruined. ‘Sides, I’m not really one to drag on with a bunch of dumb ‘theatrics’. Really just drags things down to a crawl if ya ask me.”

The kids still had no real idea of what to think about this strange being, though even so, Dipper was the first to speak up to get a better read on her. “Uh… who and… what are you, exactly?”

“Ooo, gettin’ right to the point,” the biker grinned, levitating a bit lower. “I like that. Well, since you asked soooo nicely, the name’s Zoom. And I’m what your kind calls… a speed demon.”

“A-a demon?”Connie asked, exchanging mutually nervous glances with Maven and Dipper.

“Aw, what?” Zoom asked with a patronizing smirk as her visor disappeared to reveal her set of five multicolored eyes. “Are you kiddos scared of a big, bad demon? Lemme guess, it’s ‘cause of this guy, right?” Her devious smile widened as she positioned her hands in the shape of a triangle over her singular, center eye.

“B-Bill?!” Dipper exclaimed, aptly alarmed. “You… you know him?”

“Ugh, wish I didn’t,” Zoom finally scowled as her visor reappeared. “Cipher’s a total chump. Gives all of demon-kind a bad name. Sorta like how those ‘friends’ of yours give racers a bad name.”

“Kevin is not our friend,” Maven clarified much sharper than they usually would have.

“Yeah, I kinda figured seeing how you kiddos are so dead-set on beating him in your little race,” Zoom noted, casually reclining back in midair. “I’m usually not too keen on all these punk mortals, thinking they can tear it up on my turf. I’m the only one with enough skills to really race around here; that’s why they call it Demon’s Peak. ‘Cause it’s mine.”

“Uh… well, we’re… sorry for racing on your peak,” Connie began earnestly. “But we-”

“Eh, don’t be sorry,” Zoom shrugged. “Believe it or not, I’m actually a big fan of how you kids operate. The whole ‘sparkly, glowy magicking into the same person’ thing? It’s a pretty killer angle, even if it pales in comparison to what I can do on the road.”

“Uh… you mean… fusion?” Maven asked, somewhat confused.

“Sure, if that’s what you wanna call it,” Zoom said, leaning in closer to Maven to get a better look. “And just look at you! Lovin’ the look, especially the whole four eyes thing you’ve got goin’ on. Almost as wicked as my look. Almost.”

“Wow, thanks!” Maven grinned, warmly accepting the compliment. “You know, for a demon, you’re awfully nice.”

“Yeah, sure, ‘nice’,” Zoom said, emphasizing with air quotes. “Anyway, enough talk about you, let’s talk about me. See, like I said before, I got a little… problem with so many mortals racing on my mountain. But I think you kids might just be the solution I’ve been looking for to curb that little problem once and for all…”

“Uh… how do you see that?” Dipper asked, somewhat uneasy.

“Simple,” the demon crossed her arms confidently. “You wanna take those chumps down a peg, right? Well, you’re never gonna do it in an old hunk of junk like that,” she seamlessly teleported behind the kids to take a seat on top of the Dondai. “Though I will give ya points for keeping it classic. So here’s the deal; I’ll use my special “speed demon powers” to help you kids win the race.”

“In exchange for…?” Connie asked, worried.

“Nothin’!” Zoom smiled amicably. “You get to win and I get the satisfaction of watching a bunch of dumb, tresspassing losers drive home with their tails between their legs. Everyone leaves happy! Well, ‘xcept for… ‘Kyle’ or whatever his name was.”

“Kevin,” Maven corrected. “And… I… really kinda like this idea! Especially if it involves putting Kevin in his place.”

“Uh, Maven?” Dipper interjected. “A word?” The fusion agreed, leaving Zoom on standby as both Dipper and Connie pulled them aside. “This is a really bad idea,” Dipper began in a tense whisper. “She’s a demon. And we should all know by now that deals with demons are practically destined to end badly.”

“Aw, but c’mon, Dipper,” Maven protested. “Zoom seems really cool! And if she wants to help us out, then why don’t we pitch in to help her in return? After all, wouldn’t you be mad too if a bunch of strangers started racing all over your mountain?”

“I highly doubt this is actually Zoom’s mountain, you guys,” Connie frowned. “But still… she could give us a leg up in the competition… which we’re currently losing, by the way.”

“Yeah, we are,” Maven crossed their arms, disgruntled. “To Kevin and his friends…”

“Wha--Connie!” Dipper exclaimed, caught off guard. “You’re supposed to help me be the voice of reason here!”

“I know… but... maybe this won’t turn out as badly as you think it will, Dipper,” Connie proposed thoughtfully. “That’s all I’m saying.”

“You better believe it won’t!”

The kids were all caught completely off guard as Zoom suddenly interjected into the conversation, appearing seemingly out of nowhere as she hovered in the space between them. “So, do we got ourselves a deal here?” she asked, extending a hand out to Maven in particular.

Maven took pause at this, glancing between Dipper, who shook his head disapprovingly, and Connie, who simply shrugged indecisively. Even so, though one half of the fusion themselves wasn’t quite sure what to do, their other half had essentially no doubts. Kevin deserved to be humbled, needed to be knocked off his high and mighty pedestal. And if beating him and his friends in this race was the only way they knew how to do that, then they would just have to do whatever it took to win. No matter what.

“Deal,” the fusion said, shaking the demon’s hand solidly.

Zoom simply smiled at this, her fiery hair blazing brighter as her visor flashed with unknown intent. “Perfect…”

“Ugh, keeping us waiting again?” Kevin asked as he stood alongside Brock and Lacy at the end of the first leg of the race. “What’s wrong with those dumb kids and their dumb friends?”

“They had to have chickened out for real this time,” Lacy remarked, touching up on her makeup. “Figures they wouldn’t be able to hand the heat, right, Brock?”

Brock simply nodded, his icy expression set straight ahead as it always was. Even though he’d crossed the finish line without contest quite some time ago, he’d hardly celebrated the easy win like Kevin and Lacy had. Still, the latter pair were more than happy to claim victory in the first third of the leg of the race, confident that they’d be able to do just as well in the other two rounds.

“Ohoho, look who decided to show up after all!” Kevin called as he spotted the Dondai finally approaching. “What, did you get lost on the straightaway up here?”

“Nope,” Maven remarked smoothly as they stepped out of the car. “I was just… taking care of some business, is all.”

“Heh, well, while you were busy with your ‘business’,” Kevin said with a pointed grin. “Our boy Brock here was basically driving circles around you. Or at least he would have if you had been here.”

“Oh, I know,” Maven nodded coolly, adjusting the shades they’d recovered their upper eyes with. “Congrats, by the way. Though, I’m sorry to say, that’s the last one you guys will be getting tonight.”

“Oh, really?” Lacy asked with a scoff. “And why is that?”

“Mm… let’s just say we’ve got a little extra… team spirit on our side…” the fusion grinned, looking beyond the trio to the forest behind them. Or rather, toward Zoom as she casually sat atop a distant tree. The demon’s visor disappeared, allowing her to offer Maven a playful wink, one that the fusion readily returned, albeit with one of their hidden upper eyes.

“Whatever that’s supposed to mean,” Kevin rolled his eyes. “So is your next racer coming or not? You’ve already made us wait on you guys twice now and we don’t have all night. Kevin needs his beauty sleep.”

“Next racer… oh, right!” Maven exclaimed, hurrying back to the Dondai. “Uh… lemme get go him! Be back in a jiff!”

“Ugh, seriously?!” Lacy groaned as the fusion took off once again. “More waiting!?”

Mabel and Connie both sat on the hood of the Dondai, watching with anticipation as the light of fusion steadily died down to reveal their ‘next racer’. Like Maven and Stevonnie before him, Stepper’s attire was somewhat changed, though only really in the form of him wearing Dipper’s jacket as opposed to his usual vest. Even so, the fusion was diffident right off of the bat, especially since half of him was largely still opposed to most of their rather risky undertakings this evening.

“Ok, Mabel... “ Stepper began, frowning down at his lower arms. “You came up with a pretty clever solution for Maven’s extra eyes, I’ll give you that. But… how exactly are you planning on hiding these?”

“Hm… you do propose an interesting challenge, dear… technically half-brother of mine…” Mabel nodded thoughtfully. “But… if I recall correctly, Dipper happened to bring his backpack along with him, didn’t he?”

“Uh… yeah?” Stepper shrugged, confused. “It’s in the back seat. Why?”

Mabel didn’t answer, instead sliding off the hood to fetch the aforementioned backpack. Connie and Stepper watched curiously as she dumped everything out of the pack before pulling a pair of scissors out of her sweater. “Um, Mabel?” Connie spoke up, quite bewildered herself. “What are you doing?”

“Less talk!” Mabel exclaimed, digging the tip of her scissors into the backside of the pack. “More snip!”

“Wha--hey!” Stepper gasped, reaching for the pack. “Mabel! That’s my, o-or that’s Dipper’s backpack!”

“Correction, Ste-bro, it was Dipper’s backpack,” Mabel grinned as she turned to present her finished product to him. “But now, it’s your backpack, ‘specially made just for you, Stepper!”

“Um… thanks?” Stepper said, half smiling as he took the pack before his expression and tone turned deadpan and flat. “Yeah, thanks, you cut a gaping hole into the back of it. Super helpful.”

“You bet it is!” Mabel proclaimed proudly. “Especially when it comes to tucking away those extra arms of yours out of sight where nobody can see ‘em…”

“Oh? Oooooo…” Stepper’s eyes widened as he looked back to the backpack with newfound realization. “That’s brilliant, Mabel! Well, at least it will be if it actually works…”

“Well, try it on and find out,” Connie encouraged with a small, curious smile.

Stepper did so, sliding the back on before (albeit a bit awkwardly) bending his lower arms behind his back to slip inside the pack’s opening. It took a bit of doing, and while it wasn’t the most comfortable setup in the world, it certainly worked in concealing his lower arms perfectly fine. “Oh wow!” Stepper smiled excitedly. “We might actually be able to pull this off after all!”

“You’d better, kiddo.” The fusion gasped in alarm as Zoom suddenly materialized out of thin air alongside him. As startled as he was, his shield journal flashed into his grip, a small shield forming over it as he braced himself for an attack he found he didn’t have to unleash after all.

“Oh, hi, Zoom!” Stepper greeted, blithely at first before shifting into clear distrust. “Ugh… you again. How exactly do you plan on ‘helping’ us anyway? What, are you gonna turn our car into some sort of soul-eating monster? Turn the road into a lava-filled death trap? P-possess us to make us a better driver?!”

Zoom barely even flinched at any of these suggestions, instead only letting out a wry, amused chuckle after the fusion was done. “Ohoho, all good ideas! When you think, you really think big, dontcha, four arms?” she proceeded to playfully pinch Stepper’s cheek at this, something that set the on edge fusion off even more, especially given the demon’s sharp claws. “But… luckily for you, my strategies are a little more… subtle. And you’ll just have to wait to get a taste of them until you’re actually out on the road.”

“Hmph, I’ll be looking forward to it…” Stepper remarked dryly, crossing his arms.

“Uh, speaking of the road, you guys should probably get back into the race,” Connie reminded.

“Yeah, you don’t wanna keep Cody or Kameron or what’s-his-face waiting,” Zoom teased, turning Stepper’s cap backward as she floated past. “Or more importantly, you don’t wanna keep me waiting. See you on the road, kiddos.” The demon let out another smooth chuckle as she called upon her bike once more, revving it loudly before driving it out of sight in a bright burst of her iconic purple flames.

“Ugh,” Stepper growled as he straightened his cap, though he still left it on backward as he took his seat inside the Dondai. “Let’s just get this over with…”

Compared to Stevonnie and Maven, Stepper was admittedly much less comfortable behind the wheel, a fact that was made obvious given how touch-and-go the fusion was in so much as driving back to the start of the next leg of the race. The Dondai slowly, almost cautiously approached the trio of waiting teens, largely as a result of Stepper trying his best to drive as safely as possible, especially after the wild ride Maven just had.

“A-alright,” Stepper began somewhat unsteadily as he got out of the car to face the teens. All the while, he made sure his lower pair of arms were safely secured out of sight within his backpack, hoping to come across as normal enough. Or at least, to not completely blow the cover they’d all been scarcely keeping up so far. “Let’s race?” he offered the trio an apprehensive smile, one that none of them returned as they instead offered him a shared cursory look.

“Are you kidding?” Lacy spoke up, hands on her hips. “I have to race you?”

“Uh… yeah?” Stepper raised an eyebrow as the girl walked up to him. “What of it?”

“Tch, I knew this was gonna be easy, but this?” she laughed, essentially circling the confused fusion. “Schoolyard backpack? Baseball cap? What are you, 12?”

“N-no!” Stepper snapped, flustered. “I-I mean… t-technically not right now I guess, b-but whatever. It doesn’t matter how I’m dressed; I can still race laps around you!”

“Heh, maybe if we were racing tricycles,” Lacy mocked, leaning in close to the fusion. “You know, despite your garbage taste in fashion, you are pretty cute. Say, why don’t you and I ditch the rest of the race and go have a real good time…?”

“Augh!” Stepper instantly recoiled in disgust at such a flirtatious suggestion. Even so, he was hardly surprised by it; after all, this was one of Kevin’s friends who was offering it in the first place. Even so, the fusion was quick to regain his cool, adjusting the sides of his jacket as he took a large step back from Lacy. “Sorry,” he said with a cold glare. “But I’m already spoken for.”

“Hmph, your loss,” Lacy shrugged, heading back to stand alongside Kevin and Brock. “Enough talk; let’s race.”

“Finally,” Stepper groaned, turning to get back into the car. He was still largely simmering with anger even as he got back behind the wheel, largely ignoring the surprised looks both Mabel and Connie were sending his way as he did. “She’s going down…” he grumbled crossly, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“Ohoho! Feisty Stepper!” Mabel grinned excitedly. “I like it! Throw some of that fire under our tires and we’re sure to win!”

“Well, between that and Zoom’s help, I’d say our chances are pretty good,” Connie noted with a relieved smile.

“We don’t need her help,” Stepper scoffed, annoyed. “We can do this on our own.”

“Oh, can you now?”

“Ah!” the fusion gasped as he glanced to the passenger seat, only to find a certain speed demon casually reclining in it. “Will you stop doing that?!”

“Aw, c’mon, kiddo,” Zoom grinned playfully. “I just figured I’d hitch a ride, get a taste of how you are on the road before I make my move.”

“No need,” Stepper huffed, pulling up to the starting line. “I’m just fine on the road, thanks.”

“Lemme guess,” Zoom said knowingly. “This is your first time ever getting behind the wheel, right?”

“Uh, technically it’s my third,” the fusion corrected. “But it’s also sort of my first--b-but it doesn’t matter. I can do this.”

“We’ll see about that…” the demon remarked, getting comfortable in her spot in the passenger's seat.

“Well, we believe in you, Stepper!” Mabel cheered brightly.

“Yeah! You’ve got this!” Connie warmly agreed.

Enthused by their encouragements, Stepper resteeled his grip on the wheel, blocking out any further distractions as the countdown to the start of the race began. And yet, the moment the flag came down to start it, Lacy instantly sped off, the sports car blasting out onto the road that led the rest of the way up the mountain. However, Stepper on the other hand, noticeably did not.

“Uh… Stepper?” Mabel frowned, leaning forward from her spot in the back as she noticed Stepper’s relatively low speed. “We gonna… pick the pace any time soon?”

“Um, no?” the fusion scoffed, keeping his eyes on the road. “The signs say the speed limit is 30 miles an hour here. I may be trying to win, but I’m also trying to keep us from crashing. Unlike another fusion I happen to know.”

Mabel stuck her tongue out at Stepper upon hearing this, at least until Connie worriedly interjected. “Uh, ok, but… we’re never even gonna catch up to Lacy at this rate. Staying under the speed limit is important, but I think, in this case, it might just be ok to break it…”

“And risk speeding off a cliff?” Stepper asked incredulously, still maintaining his slow, steady pace. “I don’t think so.”

“Yawn,” Zoom groaned tiredly. “You’re puttin’ me to sleep with all this ‘safe driving’, kiddo. Looks like you need my help more than I thought. So… why don’t we turn up the heat?!”

“Wha-” Stepper cut himself off sharply as the demon suddenly disappeared, only to reposition herself on top of the vehicle. Then, before the fusion inside of it could even try to protest, Zoom slammed her hands down on top of the car hard, engulfing it in a bright, purple aura. The Dondai suddenly catapulted forward, flames of the exact same color erupting from its tailpipe as Stepper panicked under this newfound burst of manic speed.

“W-what’s happening?!” the fusion cried, desperately trying to maintain control over the car as it zipped around a sharp turn. To help the effort, Stepper hurriedly pulled his lower arms out from his backpack, gripping the wheel with them as well in the hopes that they’d give him some better leverage. A tactic that, surprisingly enough, actually happened to work.

“I’m happening, kiddo!” Zoom laughed loudly from her spot atop the Dondai, her flaming hair flickering wildly in the wind. “And if there’s anything you should know about me, it’s that I race… to WIN!”

“Whoohoo! Yeah, you do!” Mabel cheered, pumping her fist as she took a peek out the window. “Look! We’re about to catch up!”

“I-If we don’t crash first!” Connie exclaimed, aptly fearful.

“Aw, relax,” Zoom scoffed in amusement. “I like you kids too much to let ya crash. But as for your little friend up there… well, she’s an entirely different story…”

As the Dondai sped forward, Lacy did largely the same in Kevin’s car, brazenly confident in her victory to the point that she was hardly even trying at all. “Tch, looks like ‘baseball cap’ should have thrown in the towel when he had the chance,” she smirked as she adjusted her rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of her own reflection. “There’s no way he’ll ever be able to catch up driving so--what?!” Lacy snapped harshly as she stole another glance out of the mirror to see the Dondai rapidly approaching from behind. “Hmph, looks like he’s more than just a pretty face after all…” she noted before shoving the car’s clutch forward aggressively. “But so… am I!”

While the sports car got a hitch of speed, Zoom responded in turn, pressing the Dondai even further as she disappeared out of sight to carry out the next part of her plan. At the same time, Stepper’s eyes were wide as he watched the speedometer waver wildly back and forth, never able to settle on a single speed as he continued using all four of his arms to keep the car on track. “I-I can’t stop it!” he cried, slamming his foot on the break only for the car to continue on its haphazard way. “W-what do we do?!”

“Win, silly!” Mabel exclaimed, exhilarated as she pointed out the front window to what lay ahead. “Look!”

The fusion did so, only to find that Zoom had taken up a perch atop the sports car this time, where she briefly glanced around before finding exactly what she was looking for. A burst of purple flame materialized above her hand, one that she instantly lobbed toward the forest far ahead of her. Her aim hit true, striking one of the several shorter trees bordering the road squarely at its base. The blast was enough to uproot the tree entirely, sending it careening forward into the road right as Lacy sped toward it.

The kids inside the Dondai all let out a startled gasp as they saw this, genuinely frightened that the teen would actually end up in a deadly crash. However, Lacy herself managed to spot the falling tree just in time, letting out a terrified scream as she slammed hard on her breaks. The sports car spiraled out, coming to a sharp stop just shy of the downed tree now barring up half of the road ahead. Shaken by the harrowing experience, Lacy took a moment to catch her lost breath, her usually pristine hair and makeup completely askew. However, she was about to receive an even greater shock as a certain Dondai suddenly drifted past both her and the tree in her way.

Stepper spun the wheel hard to avoid hitting the tree himself, finding a place on the small patch of the road not covered by it. As he did, the Dondai swung out to the point that its front window was briefly facing the sports car, effectively allowing him to be face to face with Lacy. And, even despite his own abject terror, it was an opportunity the fusion wasn’t about to waste as he flashed her a broad smile, lifting three of his four hands away from the steering wheel to offer her a playful, teasing wave.

“WHAT?!” Lacy gasped, dumbstruck as she saw this, though only for a moment before Stepper sped past her entirely. Acting quickly, she forced the sports car back into action but it was already far too late now. The Dondai had gained an incredible lead, still pressed on by the otherworldly power Zoom had fueled it with. And, unlike before, Stepper reveled in this lead, letting out an excited laugh, one that Connie and Mabel gladly shared as their car glided swiftly over the finish line at the peak of the mountain, completely uncontested.

With one victory in hand, Zoom finally cut her magic off, at last allowing the Dondai to come to a safe stop. The moment it did, Stepper, Mabel, and Connie all piled out of it, more than happy to celebrate their unexpected triumph together. “W-we did it!” the fusion exclaimed, both sets of arms happily embracing himself. “We actually won!”

“Correction: I won,” Zoom remarked, taking up her usual spot on top of the Dondai as she appeared out of nowhere. “You… well, you mostly just sat there screaming the entire time, but I guess you were there, so kudos to you for not dying, kiddo.”

“Uh, yeah, speaking of that,” Stepper’s smile finally faded into a disapproving look. “Can we talk about how you nearly killed someone back there? That wasn’t part of our deal.”

“So what if it wasn’t?” the demon shrugged, unconcerned. “You won, didn’t you? And that’s what you wanted, right?”

“W-well… yeah, but…”

“But nothin’, kiddo,” Zoom turned her back to the kids. “Far as I’m concerned, if you wanna win any race, then you’ve gotta be willing to do whatever it takes. No matter what…”

Upon hearing such an ominous statement, the kids all exchanged a mutually concerned glance, all of them silently wondering exactly what the demon’s true intentions really were. And yet, they didn’t get a chance to figure that out as the loud roar of a familiar engine sounded out from just down the road. “Look alive, kids,” Zoom advised, smirking as she disappeared into her usual purple flames once more. “The final lap is about to begin…”

If there was one thing the kids could all agree with the demon on, it was that. Which was why Mabel and Connie quickly piled into the back seat as Stepper concealed his lower arms once more, just as the sports car pulled up alongside the Dondai.

“Look, I’m not crazy, Kevin!” Lacy snapped, getting out of the car first as Kevin and Brock sullenly followed. “He really does have four arms, see?!”

Her companions took a skeptical look over at the fusion, who simply offered them an innocent smile and wave, his lower set of arms still completely hidden away inside his pack as they’d been before. “Yeah, ok, whatever, Lacy,” Kevin scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Sounds to me like you’re just coming up with excuses about why you lost,” Stepper pointed out with a patronizing smirk. “But there’s nothing to be ashamed of. I am pretty great behind the wheel after all.”

“Tch, suuuure you are,” Lacy deadpanned crossly. “If driving like my grandma is what you call ‘great driving’.”

“Hey, it was enough to beat you, wasn’t it?” Stepper snarked right back.

“Only ‘cause you cheated.”

“W-wha--how’d you--I-I mean, no, I didn’t-”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Kevin interjected, coming to stand between the pair. “You ‘ladies’ can always argue about which one of you is prettier later. ‘Cause now, it’s time for the main event.” The teen turned to Stepper, who only had a severe scowl to offer him and nothing more as he continued. “Tell your friend, Stevonnie, that Kevin’s ready for ‘em. And this time, the winner takes all.”

Upon hearing this, Zoom simply laughed quietly to herself, perched against her bike just past the nearby treeline as she watched the exchange unfold. “They always do, bud,” she grinned, her visor flashing mysteriously as she prepared to get in place for the race’s final leg. “They always do…”

Stevonnie let out a deep, steadying breath as they pulled the Dondai up to the starting line. The last third of the race would lead all the way down the mountain back to where it had all begun, taking a much shorter path than the two-segments of the race that had led up to the peak to begin with. Even so, it was a tricky stretch of road with sharp turns and narrow passages aplenty. Even so, the fusion was determined to tackle both it, and more importantly Kevin, head on in the deciding lap of the currently-tied race.

“You know,” Kevin spoke up, looking out his open window with his usual smooth grin. “This mountain pass has some really beautiful views. Shame you’ll only be seeing my tail lights the entire time.”

Stevonnie gripped the steering wheel tighter at this, agitated as they clenched their teeth and let out a hissed response. “You wish.”

“Don’t listen to him, Stevonnie!” Mabel encouraged from the back seat in a bright whisper.

“Yeah, he’s just trying to get inside your head,” Dipper added just as supportively. “You can do this! H-hopefully in a much less dangerous way than the past two rounds…”

“Thanks, guys,” Stevonnie grinned, remaining subtle as they set their sights on the road ahead. However, as they waited for the starting flag, they failed to see Brock send Kevin a subtle signal from the sidelines. One that only the teen saw, prompting him to get the race started before the flag even fell.

“It’s Kevin time!” he grinned, slamming his foot on the gas to peel out from the starting line several seconds early.

“Shoot!” Stevonnie exclaimed, startled as they quickly gathered their bearings, pushing the Dondai into motion itself. The vehicle took off, speeding down the road at a steady, yet confident pace, matching the fusion’s own determined confidence as they made their brazen attempt to win this race once and for all.

At the same time, Kevin also carried an air of confidence in his own driving, assured that he’d be able to turn the current tie in his favor, all for the sake of maintaining his undefeated title. However, he was quite caught off guard upon catching sight of none other than the Dondai starting to gain on him from behind, in no small part thanks to another round of help from a certain unseen speed demon.

Zoom smirked as she reclined against the back of the Dondai, the bright flames sparking out from her feet giving the vehicle the exact boost of speed it needed to catch up. It was a boost Stevonnie readily took as they steered the vehicle deftly, shifting gears and barely even flinching as they breezed right past the very disgruntled Kevin.

“Ha ha!” Stevonnie goaded, sending the bitter teen a taunting grin, that is, at least until they spotted what awaited them on the road ahead. “Uh oh…”

“C-cliff!” Mabel yelled warningly, hugging Dipper fearfully as the Dondai sped toward it.

At the same time, by now the race had reached a point where the group of spectating teens at the foot of the mountain could see the competing cars clearly again. And as the Dondai approached the dangerous cliff turn first, needless to say they were all beyond captivated to see what would happen.

“Oh my gosh!” Ronaldo exclaimed, lowering his binoculars. “This is it!”

“A-are they gonna crash?” Jenny asked, worried.

“Should I be recording this?” Tambry asked, poising her phone to do just that.

“No! We’re about to witness the true power of the Supremo!” Ronaldo said, pointing back toward the mountain.

At that exact moment, Stevonnie reacted just in time, shoving the car’s gear hard as they slammed their foot on the break. At the same time, Zoom maneuvered around the car, using her powers to craft a few extra inches of road to give the fusion enough space to make the tricky turn. And, through this partnership, they fortunately did, drifting skillfully around the turn before quickly straightening back up once again. “Whoa…” Stevonnie gasped, amazed, especially as they spotted Zoom gliding past their window. “Zoom, did you do that?”

“Eh, yeah, just a little trick I picked up a few decades back,” the demon shrugged casually. “No need to thank me, you kids winning will be thanks enough.”

Stevonnie didn’t get a chance to ask what she meant by this as she vanished into thin air once again, ready to help whenever needed. However, in place of the speed demon, something else soon began speeding by the fusion’s window, and a much more unwelcome sight at that.

“So you do know how to use that thing,” Kevin remarked with a wry, somewhat vindictive smirk.

The fusion did their best to ignore him, remembering the twins’ advice as they paid attention to the road instead. However, as they approached the next turn, Kevin remained tight up against them, never passing them as he instead opted to remain neck-and-neck instead for some reason Stevonnie couldn’t possibly begin to understand. As both cars cleared that turn, they were essentially inches apart, nearly scraping against each other as their speeds remaining consistent all the while, neither of them daring to slow down whatsoever.

“I know you wanna be close,” Kevin began, once again peering over at the fusion smugly. “But this is a little clingy.”

“Ugh,” Stevonnie stuck their tounge out in disgust at this, shuddering at this blatantly flirtatious remark.

“Ew, seriously?!” Dipper remarked quietly from the back seat. “Can this guy be any more of a scumbag?”

“Can anyone?” Mabel asked, quite baffled herself.

“What’s the matter?” the teen continued to patronize the frustrated fusion. “Feel like giving up yet?”

Stevonnie growled, gripping their steering wheel tightly to the point that they could bottle up their growing anger no longer. “Why do you have to be such a jerk all the time?!” they snapped hotly, more than ready to receive one of Kevin’s usual catty responses. What they actually got, however, was perhaps the very last answer they could have ever expected.

Kevin was quiet at this as he glanced down, his smile falling into an ashamed frown. “Truth is… I don’t mean to be this way. I-I just lash out because of my little brother.” He took in a sharp breath, clearly trying to hold back tears as he continued. “He’s sick. Been sick all our lives. Sometimes, I think if I act real cool and never let anyone see my pain… t-then maybe the pain will go away. A-and maybe…” He briefly trailed off, covering his eyes with his hands as he choked out what sounded like a sob. “I can take his pain away too....”

Stevonnie stilled at this, exchanging a brief, surprised glance with the equally dumbfounded pair of twins in the back seat. With this brand-new bit of rather tragic context revealed, it was as though their entire demeanor toward Kevin had changed. While his behavior was absolutely abhorrent, yes, perhaps there really was a grounded, grieving reason behind it after all. And in light of that fact, Stevonnie couldn’t help but feel rather guilty for their own attitude toward him as well. “Kevin…” they began sympathetically, earnestly. “I-I… had no idea…”

The teen didn’t respond at first, instead still crying, at least until his ‘sobs’ steadily turned to a bout of harsh, mocking, hysterical laughter instead. “Dude!” he cackled deviously, satisfied that his sob story had worked perfectly. “I don’t even have a brother! I’m like this because its funny!”

“Oh what?!” Mabel exclaimed, appalled from the back seat. Her initial reaction was to leap forward to give the callous teen a piece of her mind herself, though she was narrowly stopped by Dipper pulling her back just in the nick of time.

“Like I said,” he scoffed, just as disgusted as his sister was. “Total scumbag.”

“Augh! You’re awful!” Stevonnie snapped back at Kevin, absolutely floored by his despicable lie.

“You better believe I am,” Kevin chuckled, still quite amused as he his car finally began speeding past the Dondai. “Chowzers.”

The teen offered the fusion a playful wave as he passed them by, barely even paying any mind to how absolutely outraged they were by his terrible behavior. “KEVIN!” they yelled after him, forcing the Dondai to go as fast as it could possibly go. By this point, they didn’t care about anything, not about whether or not Zoom was lending them a hand, not about what obstacles might be on the road ahead, not even about the concerned pair of twins calling for them from the back seat. As far as they were concerned, the only thing that mattered now was Kevin and how they were going to beat him, no matter what it took.

And with that sole, sharp thought in mind, everything else seemed to disappear, the forest around their vehicle turning to sheer darkness as Dipper and Mabel’s worried cries turned into strangely distant echoes. Some part of the fusion noticed this, gasping in surprise as the road ahead suddenly seemed to narrow to a dangerous degree. “W-what’s happening?” they asked, suddenly nervous, at least until their former rage returned full-force. “Ugh… Kevin!”

That fury wavered back into shock as they stole a glance out of their rear-view mirror however. The road behind them was crumbling, rapidly falling to pieces behind them to to the point that soon, there would be nothing left for them to stand on at all. “W-wait!” they cried, both panicked and angered as they returned their bitter glare back toward the Himitsu before them. “No! We have to beat him! He deserves to lose!”

The fusion could barely, barely feel two pairs of hands on their shoulders, desperately trying to shake them back into reality. Likewise, the panicked cries had all but fallen on deaf ears as they tried their best to lock their focus onto the car currently in the lead, refusing to back down until they’d finally passed it. Until they finally bested him. Until they finally won.

And yet… just before they could…

Stevonnie lashed back in shock, their terror and anger finally overwhelming them in the form of a ghastly image of Kevin’s face, looming large and powerful before them. That image overtook their entire window, rushing for them with glowing red eyes as it prepared to devour them entirely. In a last ditch effort to avoid it, the fusion snapped the steering wheel hard to the left, closing their eyes tightly in an attempt to avoid their gruesome, hateful fate.

And as they did, it was with a flash of bright, blinding pink light that everything suddenly went black.

“-even! Steven!”

“Connie! Wake up, you guys!”

“H-huh?” Steven slowly opened his eyes, groggy yet largely unharmed. He was quick to notice that they had unfused, largely since he sat shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Connie, still buckled up in the Dondai’s driver’s seat.

“Oh, yay!” Mabel cheered, catching the young Gem’s attention. Both her and Dipper stood just outside the open door, fawning over the pair with immense concerned written all over their faces. “You’re both alive!”

“N-not that we thought you were dead,” Dipper clarified. “I mean, we somehow didn’t hit anything, but still, you can never be too careful.”

“Ugh, what happened?” Connie asked, rubbing her sore head.

“We don’t know!” Mabel answered honestly. “You guys just… shut down and wouldn’t listen to us even though we were super scared for you! And then ‘poof’! You unfused!”

“And without Stevonnie, the car spun out so… here we are…” Dipper added with a worried frown as he offered a hand to help Steven out of the car first. “Are you guys ok?”

“I think so,” Connie said, accepting the help that Mabel was extending to her. “Are you ok, Steven?”

“...Yeah,” the young Gem nodded, quietly glancing down as he stepped out of the Dondai. He stopped however, upon noticing Connie turn to face the road leading down the mountain, her expression stern and solid as she looked away. “W-what are you doing?” Steven asked, confused.

“What are we doing?” she turned the question back around as she turned to face the others.

“Uh… I thought we were racing…” Mabel pointed out with a frown.

“Well, at least we were…” Dipper noted, knowing their chances of catching up to Kevin were practically non-existent now. .

“W-we’re getting back at Kevin!” Steven added instantly. “We’re about to beat him at his own game! We’re about to win!”

“Yeah…” Connie nodded solemnly. “But… why do we even have to play his game?”

“B-because!” the young Gem exclaimed tightly, his anger starting to build up all over again. “He… h-he’s… augh!”

“I know!” Connie agreed, understanding Steven’s frustration all too well. And yet at the same time she also knew, there just had to be a better way of dealing with that frustration than losing themselves to it as they had mere moments ago. “So why should he get to have any say over how we feel?”

“H-he doesn’t!”

“But he’s the reason we’re racing,” Connie pointed out. “Steven… he’s the reason we all fused…”

Needless to say that Dipper, Mabel, and Steven alike were all taken aback by it, unable to deny that this was completely true. Because like it or not, the very reason they had formed Stevonnie, Maven, or Stepper this time around had been solely for the sake of this race. Solely for the sake of trying to beat Kevin and his friends at their own twisted games.

“W-we… we are obsessed with him…” Steven muttered, letting out a small, shaken gasp of realization.

“What were we thinking?!” Mabel pouted regretfully. “Fusion is supposed to be for fun--and the occasional throwdown with uber-powerful bad guys--not for major jerkfaces like Kevin!”

“W-we really let ourselves get carried away… didn’t we?” Dipper noted, just as perplexed by their mutual error.

“We did…” Connie nodded with a sigh. “But… it’s not too late. I wanna finish this race… but not for him.”

Steven paused as he noticed the hand Connie was offering him, one carried a message of solidarity rather than spite. And as he met that hand, suddenly he completely understood. What Kevin had done to them, how he made them feel was awful, yes. But holding onto those feelings, letting themselves linger in just how awful it all was, was doing none of them any good. And chances are that besting him in some simple, silly race wouldn’t change that fact. The only ones who could have any sort of power over how they felt were themselves. Which was why there was no doubt between any of the kids as they all exchanged warm, resolved smiles with one another as they came together; this time around, they were going to feel better, win or lose.

“For us!” they proclaimed in an affirming unison, ready to take this last leg of the race on together, no matter what happened.

And yet, before Steven and Connie so much has had a chance to try and fuse again, a sudden blast of bright purple flame broke out between the kids, quickly forcing them apart. And in the midst of those flames, Zoom herself materialized, her expression absolutely outraged as she hovered high above the startled kids. “What do you dumb kids think you’re doing?!” she hissed harshly, her clawed hands in tight fists at her sides.

“We’re gonna get back into the race!” Steven exclaimed brightly.

“Yeah!” Connie, Dipper, and Mabel readily agreed, though Zoom, on the other hand, was having none of their shared enthusiasm.

“You’re gonna LOSE the race at this rate!” the demon snapped angrily. “While you brats were sitting around here ‘talking about your feelings’ or whatever, that chump Kelvin is taking the lead! And you’re just gonna let it happen?!”

“Uh… sure?” Connie shrugged, unconcerned.

“Yeah, it’s just some silly ol’ race,” Mabel smiled with a wave of her hand. “Who cares if he wins as long as we’re having fun?”

“I CARE!” Zoom shouted furiously, her flaming hair flickering wildly. “We had ourselves a deal, kiddos. I help you brats out, so you could win! That’s what ALL this was about! That’s what it was always about! That’s what everything’s about: WINNING!”

“Yeesh, somebody’s a little over-competitive…” Dipper remarked with a bit of a wry smile, eliciting a brief laugh from the other kids.

“Oh, what am I some kind of JOKE to you now?!” Zoom growled, snapping her fingers to call her set of shapeshifting wheels onto the scene. “Well, we’ll just see who’s laughing when I’m standing in the winner’s circle, kiddos! Catch you in the photo-finish… NOT!”

The speed demon let out a cackling, wild laugh as she hopped onto her bike which was quick to turn into her otherworldly car as she took off, barreling down the road in a burst of violet flames. The kids stood by, watching her all the while, hardly minding as she, much like Kevin, got an impressive lead ahead of them. Yet even so, they hardly minded, instead exchanging a blissful shrug just shy of Steven and Connie reclaiming each other’s hands, engulfing themselves in the light of fusion once more to face this final lap, and whatever came after it, together. And this time, they were going to do it entirely on their own terms.

The Himitsu thumped rhythmically with the electro tunes blasting through its speakers, Kevin nodding along with them as he rounded one of the last bends of the race with ease. He hadn’t the faintest idea as to what happened to the fusion, nor did he care; all he knew was that his victory was all but guaranteed, just as it always was.

That is, until an entirely new competitor blasted her way into the race entirely out of nowhere.

“Tch, finally,” Kevin grinned, spotting the shape of a car approaching from behind in his rear-view mirror. However, it only took a second glance at the fiery pink car to see that this vehicle was not the Dondai he’d been expecting. “Wait, wha-”

“Outta the way, slow-poke!” Zoom shouted, honking her horn obnoxiously as she easily caught up with Kevin. “I don’t got the time or patience to deal with a second-rate novice like you.”

“Hey!” Kevin snapped, offended and absolutely dumbfounded as he glared over at the demon. “W-what and who are you supposed to be?!”

“Oh, me?” the demon smirked. “Nobody important. Just the demon who’s gonna win this race without even trying!” Zoom let out another rowdy laugh as her car swiftly roared past Kevin’s, leaving the teen even more baffled, and even more set off than before.

“Over my beautiful dead body!” Kevin scowled, shifting the Himitsu into high gear to catch up with the speed demon. He managed to keep a good pace behind her for quite while, that is, at least until his other competitor finally returned to the race. The teen’s cold grin returned as he caught a glimpse of the Dondai out his window as it pulled up alongside him, knowing that it wouldn’t be able to keep that tie going for too long if he had anything to do about it. “You caught up,” he remarked to Stevonnie. “I was worried you’d miss seeing me win.”

Much to the teen’s surprise, however, Stevonnie didn’t even spare him a single glance, instead looking forward with a calm smile on their face. “What, so you’re shy now?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at them. Still, the fusion didn’t answer, even as they happily began to catch a bit of a lead on him. Shocked and appalled by this, Kevin accelerated, pushing the Himitsu hard, even as both cars rounded another tight turn. However, it was only as they cleared this turn that Stevonnie finally happened to glance away from the road… and toward the view on its other side instead.

“Whoa…” the fusion gasped in amazement, taking in the grand sight before them. From their spot on the mountain pass, all of Gravity Falls could be seen laying out before them, bathed in the cool, milky light of the full moon. From the mysterious floating cliffs to the north to the glistening lake to the east to the temple statue towering high into the western sky, the charming little town sat peacefully, resting easily under the beautiful canopy of endless stars hanging over it. Stevonnie couldn’t help but smile as they took in those stars, elated by just how lovely it all was now that they had spared a moment to enjoy it. Briefly, they glanced back at Dipper and Mabel behind them, both of them pressed against the window to catch a glimpse of the radiant outlook themselves and admiring it just as much as they were. And as the fusion met their delighted smiles, they reveled in them and the fun they were having, to the point that they didn’t even notice, nor did they care as Kevin raced past them altogether. After all, simply being here, together, was more than enough for any of them.

However, even as the finish line came into view, Kevin himself wasn’t the first to cross it. Zoom sped over it, cackling wildly all the while as her tires treaded flames behind them. The spectating crowd all gasped in surprise at this unexpected racer, especially as her car seamlessly shapeshifted into a motorcycle as she peeled past them, high on the adrenaline of her easy victory. “Let this be a lesson to you, punks!” Zoom shouted back to the confused crowd with a sinister smile. “Demon’s Peak is my turf! And anyone who thinks they’re good enough to race on my turf better be ready to put the best to the test! See ya, LOSERS!”

With yet another triumphant laugh, Zoom raced off into the woods, leaving a very baffled group of teens behind in her wake. “WHOA!” Ronaldo shouted first, trying his best to capture any photos he could of the demon for his blog. “Who was that?!”

“I dunno... “ Robbie remarked, hoping to get another glimpse of the retreating demon himself. “But she was kinda hot--ow!” He was quick to rub his sore ribcage the moment after Tambry harshly elbowed it to remind him to keep his eyes on her instead.

Mere moments after Zoom claimed her victory, both the Himitsu and the Dondai came careening across the finish, the former only barely scraping a clear victory past the former. The crowd let out a collective disappointed groan at this, knowing that, as always, Kevin had triumphed in yet another race.

“Aw, I was rooting for you, Dondai!” Jenny called supportively.

“Kevin is the worst!” Ronaldo exclaimed, briefly putting his phone down. “Boo!”

“Hmph, guess that crazy pink girl wussed out…” Kevin noted to himself as he got out of the car, not spotting any signs of Zoom in the vicinity. “Uh… I mean, that’s right! First place, baby! It’s like I invented winning!”

“Actually… I think you were in second…” Stevonnie noted with a small, cordial smile as they approached the smug teen. All the same, they offered their hand out to his, maintaining their even calm, manner all the while. “Still, good race.”

“You… tryin’ to kiss my hand with your hand or something?” Kevin asked, eyeing their hand suspiciously.

“You know, Kevin, you were right,” Stevonnie said, still smiling.

“I know,” the teen said, turning away before looking back to the fusion, slightly confused. “...About what?”

“The view from the mountain was pretty great,” Stevonnie grinned warmly, nodding back up to the mountain itself.

“H-hey! Don’t try to teach me a lesson! You lost!”

“Eh, third place isn’t so bad,” Stevonnie shrugged, accepting that fact as they made their way back over to the Dondai. “For my first time driving a car!”

“Ugh!” Kevin scoffed, agitated by just how unbothered the fusion seemed to be. “Look at you! Y-you’re so obsessed with me, you’re gonna drive away!”

Stevonnie did just that, smiling contentedly all the while as they began to drive off away from the mountain, even as Kevin tried hurrying after them to prove his point. “Fine! Go play with some kiddy toy cars with your dumb baby friends! I-I could beat you at that too! Don’t forget! You’re obsessed with me! Obsessed!”

“Yeah, you guys are totally the obsessed ones…” Dipper deadpanned to Stevonnie as the Dondai continued driving away.

“Looks like he’s got me pegged,” Stevonnie shrugged just as sardonically, taking one final glance at Kevin out of the rear-view mirror before they passed over a hill, blocking him from sight.

“You guys!” Mabel cut in blithely. “This was so much fun! We should really break out Stevonnie, Maven, and Stepper back to back like this more often! It’s like we had our own personal fusion party!”

“Well, it would have been more personal if it had been just for us from the start…” Stevonnie noted thoughtfully. “But yeah… it was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?”

“You can say that again, kiddo.”

“Huh?” the fusion gasped, looking over to see Zoom casually reclining in the passenger seat once more. “Zoom… y-you’re… not mad?”

“Pfft, please,” the demon scoffed with a small chuckle. “I was never mad to begin with. I was just itching to get out into the race myself, so I did. And I’m glad I did. The look on all those chumps’ faces? Classic!”

Zoom let out another amused snicker, eliciting shared looks of apt confusion from all of the kids until Dipper finally addressed it. “Wait, I still don’t understand. You helped us in the race, yeah, but what was really in any this for you to begin with?”

“Ooo, did you wanna teach us an important lesson about how winning isn’t everything?” Mabel asked, curious.

“Uh, no,” Zoom scoffed. “Like I said, winning is everything. I just did all this to mess with you kids.”

“Uh… why?” Stevonnie asked with a frown.

“Because it was a total blast!” the demon grinned brightly. “This is the most fun I’ve had in centuries! Gotta hand it to you kiddos, you got a ton of spunk. Well, for a bunch of mortals, at least. Maybe next time you’re in my neck of the woods, we can have ourselves a real race.”

“Yeah,” Stevonnie smiled, allayed. “Sounds like fun.”

“Well, this demon’s gonna call it a night,” Zoom stretched out with a fake yawn as she began hovering above her seat. “I’ll see you kids around. Keep it real.”

“Always,” all of the kids agreed in solid unison as the demon disappeared for the last time. Still holding onto their warm smile, Stevonnie turned some relaxing tunes on to accompany the drive home. A drive that each of the kids readily enjoyed as they rode through the crisp warmth of the beautiful summer night solely for themselves… and for each other.

As they did, a single engine drifted its way up to the very top of Demon’s Peak, awash in vibrant purple flames. As it came to a slow, easy stop, its enigmatic, demonic rider proudly sat upon it, smiling up to the full moon above her, always ready for another race.

#jen writes #universe falls #gravity falls #steven universe #crossover #au #steven #connie #dipper #mabel #stevonnie #stepper #maven #kevin #greg #gravity falls drift #please dont read these chapters on dumblr they're not formatted correctly alsdjlkasdalsdl

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allisondraste · 5 years ago

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Temperance (25/?)

Pairing: Nathaniel Howe/ Female, Non-HoF Cousland

Story Summary: Nathaniel and Elissa were childhood friends, but time and distance tore them apart. In the aftermath of the Fifth Blight, and Ferelden’s Civil War, both Elissa and Nathaniel must attempt reconstruct their tattered lives. As a series of events lead them to be reunited, both are reminded of so many years ago when things were much simpler.

Chapter Summary: Unable to sleep, Nathaniel decides to do what he should have done a long time ago.

Notes: I know the entire story is marked for this, but I just wanted to add a brief TW reminder for discussion of trauma and posttraumatic symptoms.

First Chapter Previous Chapter [AO3 LINK]

Denerim, 9:31 Dragon

Nathaniel closed the door to his room and leaned back against it with a sigh. His heartbeat pounded in his chest, throbbed in his ears, and his head was spinning. He made the journey to Denerim specifically to see Liss, and still he was completely unprepared for the staggering reality of standing in the same room with her for the first time in nine years. He had nearly forgotten the effect she had on him, how hard it was to breathe around her without the words spilling out. Years of hiding and denying, telling himself she was his past and not his future, ignoring her letters, becoming involved with other people, and he still loved her just as much as he did the night they kissed on her bedroom floor.

He should have written to her. The girl he loved his entire life wrote him a letter confessing that she loved him too, and he had been a coward. What was he so afraid of? His father? The distance? The lung-crushing, overwhelming fear that he would love her like that forever and never get to be with her? He laughed bitterly and flopped down on his bed. The joke was on him, wasn’t it? His father was dead, he was just down the hall from her, and he was paralyzed. How could he tell her his feelings now? If he could go back in time and kick his own stupid eighteen year-old arse, he would.

Still, he could not dismiss the hope that blossomed in his chest. Despite everything that had happened in the time they were apart, despite Liss’ new sharp edges and bitterness, she still ran to him and embraced him, told him she missed him. That couldn’t mean nothing, could it?

Nathaniel inhaled, and breathed out a long, slow breath in an attempt to quiet his restless mind and soothe his restless body so that he could sleep. He did not actually want to sleep, discouraged by the threat of taint-fueled nightmares looming over him. He rarely wanted to sleep anymore. He wondered if they would ever go away.

Just as he began to drift off, a knock at the door jolted him upright, and he was thankful he had not bothered to undress. He slid out of bed and rushed to the door, only partially wondering who might be knocking at such a late hour. It was something Liss had always done. Had she come back?

He pulled the door open and flinched at the dark hair and pale eyes looking up at him. Definitely not Liss.

“Lucia,” he asked furrowing his eyebrows and blinking a few times. Her tired eyes and nose were swollen and red from crying, although her face was dry now. Every bit of it was out of character for the stoic, put-together woman.

She eyed him knowingly, a small, muted smile curving on her lips. “You look like you were expecting someone else.”

“And you look like a mess,” he replied quickly, a reflex, “No offense.”

“None taken.” Lucia looked down at the floor as she kicked at it with her boot. When she brought her eyes back up to him, there were tears welling up in them. “Can we talk?”

Nathaniel nodded and stepped out of the doorway so that she could enter. She walked into the room hesitantly, looking around as she did so. She stopped and stood, still as a statue at the center, eyes fixed on the fireplace. He closed the door and moved to stand beside her.

“Would you like to sit?”

She took a deep breath and blinked slowly before turning to look at him and nod. She was so deliberate in her actions, even the small ones, a stark comparison to Liss. Nathaniel pulled out a chair for her at the small table in the corner of the room. He sat down in the chair across from her and waited for her to speak.

“Sorry to bother you,” she muttered, “I know it’s late.”

“It’s fine,” he reassured her, “I wasn’t sleeping.”

“I thought you might have… company.”

“No.” Nathaniel laughed and shook his head.

“You and that woman, Elissa,” Lucia stated,“You two seem close.”

“We were,” he admitted, shifting in his seat, “Our fathers fought together during the rebellion, and our families were allies. We were friends as children. I haven’t seen her in years, though.”

“What is she like,” she asked, straight-faced, lips pressing into a thin line. That’s what she had come to talk about, then.

“Lucia, I don’t think—“

“Please, Nathaniel,” she insisted, eyes watering, “I need to know.”

“I know that you probably want to hear that she’s a horrible person,” he began, with a sigh, “I can’t give you that.”

“That’s not what I want,”she explained, smiling gently, “I already know that she isn’t. If she were, Alistair wouldn’t care for her as he does.”

“He cares for her?” His tone was a bit sharper than he would have liked.

“Yes.”

“I suppose it would be hard not to,” he grumbled, shaking away the jealousy he had not earned. “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know,” Lucia said, voice cracking, and she began to wipe at her eyes, “I have no right to be angry with her, because I am the one who left without any assurance that I would be back. I am the one who didn’t write to Alistair the entire time I was away. It’s my fault all of this happened. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better for me to just have sacrificed myself to kill the Archdemon like all of the other heroes from Blights in the past.”

Though he knew it was disrespectful, Nathaniel couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head at her.

She frowned. “What?”

“Do you hear yourself?” His laughter died down and he fixed her with a serious expression. “Your relationship is on the rocks, so you think you should have died?”

“It’s not that simple, Nathaniel,” Lucia stated tersely, “Defeating the Archdemon without a Grey Warden dying still involved a sacrifice. Something I had to ask of Alistair. We made the decision together with the expectation that we would face the consequences together.”

“But you left,” Nathaniel remarked, “And now you think that everything that has happened since then is your fault.”

“Yes.”

“That’s bullshit,” he stated firmly, and she flinched, clearly not expecting him to argue.

“I caused this,” she protested, “If I had just died like I was supposed to none of this would have happened.”

“Maybe not, but you’d be dead, and the world would be worse for it.”

“I—thank you.” A lone tear rolled down her cheek and she didn’t stop it this time. “I must sound like such a whiny child.”

“You sound like someone who has been through too much to only be—“ he trailed off, attempting to recall if she’d ever told him her age. If she had, he couldn’t remember. “How old are you anyway?”

“Nineteen.”

“ Nineteen? Andraste’s blood.” She was even younger than he expected, barely more than a child.

“I know. I am old enough that I should be able to handle things like this. It’s just a bump in a relationship, not the end of the world.”

“Nineteen… and you raised an army, killed an Archdemon.” He laughed in disbelief. “You saved Ferelden.”

“After all of that, you would think I’d be better at managing my personal affairs,” Lucia shook her head and sighed.

“Are you even listening?” Nathaniel raised his voice slightly, frustrated. “ I am trying to tell you that you’re being too hard on yourself.”

“But—“

“When I was nineteen, I was in Starkhaven, drinking too much and making incredibly poor decisions.”

“Worse than mine?”

“I ignored years of letters from someone I loved, and threw myself into a relationship with someone else I didn’t love because it was convenient.” He shrugged. “So, I don’t know. It depends on what qualifies as worse.”

“I can’t imagine you doing something like that.” Her brows pressed together, lips curling into a frown. “You’re such a thoughtful person.”

“That’s just it,” he answered, lips twitching into a smirk, “Everyone makes stupid mistakes when they’re young. Everyone behaves selfishly from time to time.”

“I don’t know that I appreciate my current situation being reduced down to youthful behavior. It feels more serious than that.” Lucia’s expression was sour, but she laughed anyway.

”It always does.”

“Do you regret your decisions?”

“Every day.” He sighed and offered her a reassuring smile. “I wish I had recognized my mistakes when I was nineteen, instead of wasting years of my life trying to figure it out.”

“Did you figure it out,”Lucia asked, bright eyes blinking at him, her hands on her chin.

“That’s why I came to Denerim.”

“Your ‘personal business,’ right. I wondered, but did not feel it was my place to ask.” She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly, as if attempting to read his mind, and he suddenly felt very self-conscious.

“The reason I hesitated to tell you about Elissa is that she is the reason I am here,” he confessed. “I love her. I thought my opinion would be biased.”

“Oh.” Lucia’s smile dropped from her face. “I’m sorry. I have been so caught up in my own concerns. I didn’t even think. I can’t imagine you feel any better about seeing her and Alistair together than I do.”

“It wasn’t my favorite thing to walk in on, but it doesn’t really matter.” Nathaniel laughed and raked a hand through his hair. It was more embarrassing to speak about than he would have anticipated. “I’m just happy that she is alive, that I got to see her again at all.”

Lucia stared blankly at the grain of the wooden table, something it seemed all of the women in his life tended to do when they were thinking.

“What’s on your mind,” he asked.

“I suppose I am having a harder time dealing with all of this than you are.” She looked up at him and smiled. “I have very negative thoughts about Alistair and Elissa both.”

“That’s only fair.”

“I wish I could forget it all, pretend none of this ever happened.” She slammed her fist down on the table as she spoke, and a small patch of ice formed where her fist landed. “Damn it,” she hissed at the lapse of control and stood up abruptly, her eyes wide and jaw clenched, “I need to get some air.”

“Are you going to be all right?”

“Yes,” she replied with a decisive nod, “Thank you, Nathaniel. For everything.”

Lucia turned and left the room before he had the opportunity to tell her he did nothing to warrant a thanks, but she probably would not have accepted that response anyway. She was an interesting woman, so mature and responsible and some ways, despite being completely inexperienced in others. There was nothing he could say that would make her broken heart ache any less, nothing that would relieve her anger. She would have to give herself permission to feel them, a lesson Nathaniel could stand to learn himself. He hoped, for her sake, she figured it out sooner than he did.

Nathaniel did not need to worry about nightmares, as sleep eluded him entirely. He lay awake as hour by painstaking hour passed by, mind buzzing, until he could bear it no longer. He sighed forcefully and got out of bed, walking to a desk at the other side of the excessively spacious room. Thankfully, the fire still burned in the fireplace, warming the room, and providing plenty of light for him to see what he was doing. Taking a few pieces of parchment from one of the drawers, he sat down to write.

Tom,

I received your letter, and as much as I want to be angry that you’ve runoff to Maker-Knows-Where, Antiva, and asked me to keep this a secret from our sister, I am only relieved to hear that you are alive and happy. I know that I’ve been a piss poor excuse for a brother since I left for Starkhaven. I should have stayed in contact with you and Delilah, written more often, come home sooner. I should have stood up to Father in the first place and protected you both. For all I pretended to be brave, I was just a frightened little boy. I am sorry that I failed you.

I am a Grey Warden now— long story, but it has been good for me. The work is distasteful to put it lightly, but it is honorable, and something I can be proud of. I remember how Father hated the Wardens because our grandfather abandoned his family to join the ranks, never to be heard from again. I can’t say why, but I no longer believe that story. If you ever decide to come back from the dead, I will have to introduce you to some of my comrades; there is a dwarf, Oghren, who I think you’d get along with rather well.

Delilah’s married. And pregnant, due in just under a month if I have kept proper track of it all. She and her husband fled from Amaranthine to Kirkwall to escape disease and darkspawn. He has family there, and the last I heard everyone is safe and happy. She misses you. I’m sending something of hers along with the letter. She once gave it to me, but I think it would better serve you now.

It is good that you’ve stopped drinking. I’m proud of you, and for more reasons than just that.

I hope that Antiva treats you well. Stay out of trouble.

Love,

Nathaniel

Nathaniel tugged at the collar of his shirt and pulled at the twine that held Delilah’s tiny golden ring she’d given him when he spent his first summer in Highever. It had been his constant reminder that he was loved, and it kept him company for many, many years. He did not need it anymore. He had Delilah, he had the Wardens, he had Fergus, and if the Maker willed it, he would have Liss, too. Nathaniel knew that Thomas would be fine, but sentimentality got the better of him and wanted his brother to have it. He removed the ring from his neck, and tucked it inside an envelope along with the letter, and sealed it with a wax stamp. He would take it to the Antivan contact later, when the market opened.

Placing the envelope to the side, he picked up another piece of parchment and placed it in front of him. He still had one more letter to write.

Dear Liss,

I think we can both agree that this letter is long overdue. I am not certain where to begin, other than to say that I am sorry for never writing to you . I was young, stupid, and hurting so much that I could hardly stand it. Losing you was like losing a limb, some large part of myself that I could learn to live without, but only if I pretended I never had it in the first place. I am not saying it was a good choice, but it was the only way I knew how to cope. It was selfish and inconsiderate, and I hope that you can forgive me.

I have many regrets, the biggest being that I never told you how I felt about you. There is no time like the present, I suppose. Even if it is too late, I need you to know, or it will drive me crazy for the rest of my life.

The truth is, Liss, I love you. I have loved you since the day you crawled out from under my bed on my first night in Highever, and I wasn’t even old enough to know what love was. I just knew that being near you made me feel better, and that there was nowhere else in Thedas I wanted to be. It frustrated me to no end that you could not see all that I saw in you, that you thought you were so average. You could not be average if you tried.

I want you to know that regardless of where we go from here, no matter what happens between us, I won’t think any differently. You were my best friend, and all of the memories from my childhood I care to keep are with you and your family. I do not know what I would have done without you.

I missed you, Liss, more than words could accurately convey. I know you are tired of apologies, but I don’t care. I am sorry that I never told you any of this before. I am sorry that I was so terrified of my father that I let him come between us. I am sorry if I ever once made you think I didn’t care about you. I am sorry that I waited until the night before I left to dance with you, to kiss you. More than anything else, I am sorry that I wasted nine years of my life pretending that I could be happy without you.

It is good to finally see you again.

Sincerely Love,

Nathaniel

He folded the parchment and and breathed deeply, only then realizing that he’d been holding his breath. All of his feelings were right there, on one small slip of parchment. It would be as easy as handing it to Liss, or leaving it somewhere for her to find. It would be even easier to ball up the letter and toss it into the fireplace, but then he’d be in the same position as when he started. He decided to do neither, to compromise with himself, and place it in his pack for safe-keeping. At the very least, it would be a reminder for all he needed to say when he found the courage to tell her in person. He would prefer to tell her in person anyway.

Writing the letters had not taken as long as Nathaniel expected, and since returning to bed would be a fruitless endeavor, he got dressed and decided to get some air. As he walked out of his room and down the hall he wondered if Lucia had ever found her peace, or if she’d struggled to sleep as well. He doubted she had been successful. The woman barely slept on the best of days.

He reached the vestibule and images of Liss running toward him flashed behind his eyelids when he blinked. He could still smell her perfume, her hair, proof that he had not simply imagined her presence. He pushed past the heavy wooden doors that lead out to the courtyard, and the crisp air of early morning. Stars still hung in the night sky, even as the sun peeked up from the horizon in subtle pink rays.

Nathaniel stepped out further into the courtyard and past bunches of evergreen plants that stubbornly flourished despite the weather. There was a rustle of something— fabric maybe—, footsteps, and he noticed a person several feet before him, silhouetted by the moons’ light, though he would have recognized Liss anywhere. She sat on a stone bench, staring up and out into the sky.

He approached her quietly, hoping not to startle her. She flinched and stood abruptly as he reached the bench, turning swiftly and throwing her whole body into an attempt to punch him. He noticed her intention, however, and caught her arm just before she hit him. She inhaled sharply, and looked up at him, trembling. Her eyes were wide, mouth opened as if she were about to scream until she met his gaze and relaxed immediately. He could only imagine why her first instinct was to punch, why she looked so terrified. He was glad his father was dead.

“Nate,” she said in acknowledgment, as he released her arm. “I— I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he assured her firmly, “Its my fault for startling you. I should know better.”

“Ever since the attack on the castle, I’ve been so jumpy,” she explained as if he’d asked her to, “It’s like my skin is on inside out.” She laughed nervously, sat back down on the bench, and continued. “I have to stop punching people.”

“To be fair, it’s early. You can’t have been expecting someone else to be here.” He took a seat beside her.

“I never expect to be the only person around,” she said, “That’s the problem. It’s always in the back of my mind that someone is waiting to hurt me.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Nathaniel admitted.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Liss shrugged. “That’s just how I am now.” She brought her gaze to meet his, and offered him a smile that did not reach her eyes. “Why are you up so early? You always hated waking up early.”

“I still do. Years of strict schedules while I was a squire did nothing to change my opinion about that.” He paused and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Warden nightmares?”

He sat back up to shoot her a perplexed expression. How did she know about those? He remembered Alistair and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “No, thankfully. I just couldn’t sleep. What about you?”

“Sleep and I don’t have a good relationship these days,” Liss explained, “Every night, without fail, I wake up from nightmares in which I had to relive the night my family died. It’s hard to go back to sleep after that, so I come here or walk the battlements, anything to get the smell of iron and smoke from my nose, to help me stop seeing my brother’s wife and son lifeless on the floor every time I close my eyes.”

As she spoke, Liss clenched her fists, tighter and tighter with each word, until her knuckles were white. Tears formed in her eyes, and even in the dim light Nathaniel could tell she fought to hold them back. He still didn’t know what to say to her, especially since she had responded so poorly to his apologies before.

He chose to say nothing, placing his hand over one of her clenched fists, to show her his sympathy rather than tell her. She snapped her head toward him and glanced between his hand and his face a few times. A painful, tense moment passed before she opened her hand and laced her fingers through his.

An unexpected wave of heat rushed to his face, as if they had never held hands before. They had, in fact, held hands many times, more than he could count, but it had been so long. Her hands were no longer perfectly soft and delicate. Calluses marked her palms from wielding her sword, and her grip was more firm. He had expected her to pull away from him, a subtle rejection of his concern and affection, but she didn’t, and now his heart climbed up his throat as if it intended to escape through his mouth.

“I am sorry that I snapped at you last night when you tried to apologize,” Liss said, breaking the silence and tension between them, “It was just the last thing I wanted to talk to you about. My trip to Highever was… difficult, and I just— I wanted to think about anything else. I knew the sniveling mess it would make me.”

“I understand,” Nathaniel reassured her, brushing his thumb back and forth across her hand.

“One moment, I had everything. I had a home, a family, and I was at least comfortable with who I was and my place in the world.” Tears dropped from her lashes as she spoke, and she squeezed his hand more tightly. “Then everything was taken from me all at once. I spent an entire year alone and frightened, worried that your father would find me at any moment, that I’d be killed. I am ashamed. I should be stronger than this. Fergus has learned to cope with it, but I can’t.”

Liss lost her composure entirely and began to sob, tears streaming down her face, her shoulders shaking. It broke his heart to see her this way, and to be powerless to make her feel better. There was nothing he could do, except sit with her as she grieved. He remembered when his mother died, how Liss had come to his room, and how he’d been inconsolable. He had wanted her to stay then, even though she didn’t know how to help. It had been good to not have to mourn alone.

Releasing her hand, he closed the distance between them and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close to him. She brought her tearful eyes up to look at him briefly before throwing her arms around him and pressing her face into his chest. He held her as she shook and sobbed, hands clinging to the fabric of his shirt. It must have been so difficult for her, to lose everything and pretend to be strong, to hold it all back just to keep going. He wished he could have been there for her sooner, but he was there now, and he would hold her together so that she could fall apart.

Liss eventually calmed, but did not move from his embrace. Her breath was warm against his tear-dampened shirt, and as she spoke, the words vibrated on his chest. “See, this is exactly why I can’t talk about it,” she mumbled.

Nathaniel laughed. “This is exactly why you need to,” he said, instinctively pressing a kiss to her hair.

Her head shot up at the gesture, and she examined him, eyes relentlessly searching his face for something he could not determine. The sun had risen higher above the horizon, brightening her face with a soft golden glow. It would be inappropriate to tell her she was beautiful now. She would almost assuredly think he was mocking her, but he thought it. He couldn’t help but think it.

“What is it,” he asked as she continued to stare at him so intently he wanted to squirm.

“I...um.” She seemed lost, and glanced around as she searched for an answer. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mhmm!” She laughed nervously despite the confidence she tried to convey, and pulled away from him, standing up and straightening out her skirt. “I should probably go and get cleaned up. We have a council meeting today, and I would prefer to not look like this.” She motioned to her face with her hands.

Liss turned to walk away but froze in her tracks and spun back around to look at him. “Thank you, Nate,” she said softly, “Talk to you later?”

“Of course.” He nodded and she smiled in return before heading into the palace.

Perhaps later he would tell her everything.

#dragon age #nathaniel howe #nathaniel howe x cousland #howesland #cousla #dragon age origins #dragon age awakening #update #temperance #my wriring

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taexual · 6 years ago

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HOLIC - 8 | jb x reader

pairing: Im Jaebum x Reader

genre: enemies to lovers au | roommate au

warnings: some strong language + angst

words: 3.1k

disclaimer: i do not own the gif, please let me know if it belongs to you, so i can give proper credit

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Work was awful. It tended to be this way on Tuesdays because that was usually the day when so-called high-class socialites swarmed to art galleries to purchase pieces that’d make their guests think they knew anything about art, and, on top of that, crowds of artists and photographers gathered here, trying to get meetings with every possible staff member, wanting their work exhibited here. But today was bad even by those standards.

At first, the iPad you usually used stopped working. You were informed that they were doing maintenance on the servers today but you didn’t expect the entire system to crash on you just when a particularly pompous woman asked you for more information about one of the photographers whose works she’d enjoyed at the exhibition last week.

You told her the name but she wanted more details that you couldn’t provide her with because no matter what you pressed on the damn tablet, it would only display errors.

“I’m very sorry,” you said, feeling cold sweat wash over you. An epic escalation was awaiting, you could feel it. “We’re having some technical difficulties today, if you could just wait a moment, I—”

“I think I’ve waited enough,” she responded in a thundering voice that almost made you flinch. “I came to an art gallery to buy something from you, did I not? Why am I being forced to wait when I’m not even sure I want to invest in this… artwork, at all.”

Already having learned to be patient with similar snobby attitudes, you gave her an apologetic smile.

“My apologies, ma’am, this should be fixed soon and then I can answer all questions you might have about the photographer,” you said and then tried to get rid of her by sending her to a floor you didn’t work at, “in the meanwhile, could I interest you in the photography exhibition on the second floor? The theme is—”

“I could not care less,” she cut you off again. You understood her irritation so you could forgive her for not really listening to you, but, Jesus Christ, did she have to yell? Her loud voice echoed all through the gallery. “Find me someone who can answer my questions immediately. Or better yet, find me the manager. I refuse to be treated with disrespect by incompetent staff members.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” you said, hating the endless apologies that passed your lips. You wondered if she could tell they were fake. “My manager is the owner of the gallery and he is, unfortunately, away on a business trip. I can direct you to my supervisor, though, if you’d like.”

“You better do that,” she responded, crossing her arms over her chest and nearly scratching herself with the huge, sharp-edged rings on all of her fingers. “And don’t give me attitude. I will not tolerate that.”

You didn’t realize that explaining the hierarchy of the gallery – since she was so eager to talk to someone higher up – was a form of giving her attitude, but, for the sake of not getting kicked out for bad customer service, you nodded wordlessly and guided her across the gallery to where Eva, your supervisor, was having a conversation with one of the new photographers, whose exhibition the gallery was preparing for.

“Eva,” you said, not bothering to address her in a formal way. She wasn’t much older than you and the two of you spent so much time together at work that neither of you bothered with the formalities anymore. “There’s a snobby woman ten steps behind me. She is a nightmare. The system crashed, so I can’t help her, and now she wants to talk to you.”

Eva bit her lip, not particularly happy to be dragged away from the photographer – you tried to get a look at him, but he had turned away, watching the paintings around him instead, while he waited for Eva to give him her attention again.

“Could you keep her occupied for just one moment?” she asked. “I’ll be with her in a second. I’m kind of busy right now.”

“She is a nightmare,” you repeated, emphasizing the word for more effect. “I’m sure she’ll sue us if we don’t accommodate to her wishes right away.”

Eva groaned.

“I swear this is the tenth time this had happened in the past few weeks,” she said, after excusing herself from the photographer, who – aside from being very attractive – was a lot kinder than the snotty, problematic woman. “It’s time the staff here grew some balls. You, included, by the way. It would really take some weight off my shoulders if you just found a way to deal with her without getting me involved.”

Eva – probably – didn’t mean it personally but you took offense. You couldn’t exactly intimidate the woman with your status in the gallery and she wasn’t listening to anything you tried to tell her. On top of that, her loud voice truly gave you the chills. You felt bad for her children if she had any.

Confused what to do with yourself now that you were subtly scolded, you glanced at the photographer next to you, nodded at him as a way to excuse yourself as well – Eva hadn’t asked you to keep him company, after all, and you really wanted to get out of here, anyway – and then headed to the staff room to finally inhale.

The system still wasn’t fixed when your workday came to an end and you were forced to stay up later to help the IT team test out the updates they’d attempted to install after finishing with the maintenance. They had you walk around the gallery and scan the names of the photographs and the paintings while they checked if the system recognized the names and provided the user of the program with all the information about the artwork possible.

You knew this would make your job easier in the long run, but you were completely not in the mood to spend the whole night at the gallery, hence all of the complaining the IT team had to endure from you – they got their revenge on you by constantly criticizing the way you used the tablet, though, and that didn’t really help your self-esteem.

You ended up getting home three hours later than usual and, naturally, feeling three times more exhausted and upset than usual, too. To be honest, you just wanted to jump into the shower – which, you weren’t sure if you’d even enjoy – and then go to sleep. But, aside from not knowing if the hot water was back or not – Jaebum was on the phone with someone when you got home and you haven’t parted on a good note anyway, so you didn’t ask – you also realized you had no idea if the sheets on the mattress in your room were fresh or not. You had initially planned to sleep here because you weren’t in the mood to spend another night in Jaebum’s room, no matter how comfortable his bed was, but he did have sex here last night.

Groaning because you just couldn’t relax today, you walked out of the bedroom and saw Jaebum walking out of his at the same time.

“Did you change the—”

“I called the—”

Both of you had started to talk at the same time and both stopped, watching each other for a moment or two.

“You go,” you told him then. If he had something offensive to say to you, you’d rather get it over with faster so you could spend the rest of the night sulking. You’d planned to do that anyway.

“I, uh, I called the maintenance,” he said. “They said they’ll be here on Friday at best but Monday for sure.”

You closed your eyes. “That’s next week.”

“I know,” Jaebum said. When you opened your eyes, you saw him bite his lip while avoiding your gaze.

God, you could feel an outburst coming but you made no attempts to stop it. Maybe a part of you thought he deserved to hear it after being the cause of your inner misery ever since you moved in here.

“I’ve never had a roommate before,” you said and waited until he dared to look you in the eyes. “But, I swear, you are the worst imaginable roommate in the world.”

“W-wh—”

“You shut the fucking hot water off! And why? To get back at me for getting your water bottles out of the fridge,” you were louder now. “Well, guess fucking what? You can fix the damage I’ve done within an hour the most – your stupid water can get cold again. But you—you do shit without thinking about the consequences, you broke my—”

“I let you sleep in my room!” Jaebum cut you off, your aggression brushing off on him as he threw his hands in the air. “I tried to make it up to you for that.”

“I left you no choice the first night,” you disagreed. “And it doesn’t even matter. Does it look like I want to sleep in your room? I’m sort of left with no other option since I still don’t have a proper bed.”

He was going to object – the first syllables of his counter-argument were already at the tip of his tongue – but then you pushed past him into his bedroom. There was no point in asking him if he’d changed the sheets of your bed. You weren’t going to sleep there.

“But since you’re obviously so kind to me,” you said, glancing at him over your shoulder one more time. “I’ll be sleeping here again.”

He was taken aback for a moment after you slammed the door of his bedroom in his face – if he wasn’t so angry, he’d have admitted: this was a real power move – but then he tried knocking. Gently at first, but harsher after you didn’t react and didn’t open the door.

“Jesus, I’ll fix your damn bed!” he yelled at you through the door. “Just lose the fucking attitude and talk to me like a normal person. I was trying to be nice to you.”

The attitude, again. First, the rich, snobby bitch at the gallery insisted you gave her attitude for just doing your job. Then Eva countered by saying you don’t even have an attitude at all, or else she wouldn’t have to do your job for you. And now Jaebum was accusing you of the same thing even though you just told him the truth; not in a particularly nice way, but you had to put it out there.

After you simmered down, though, – while staring at the books piled by the wall in front of Jaebum’s bed for a whole hour, – you realized that if you hadn’t let the comments made at work get to you this badly, you wouldn’t have bitten Jaebum’s head off. Maybe he deserved that for all of the snarky comments he’d said and the things he’d done, but he was truly trying to have a normal conversation with you today, so maybe you should have been more understanding.

Sure, you’ve argued with him this morning – it got kind of bad, really – but you were still forced to live him and being civil with each other would have surely made this experience appear less like a torture.

Or maybe, another part of your brain disagreed, you should have truly let him know that he was not going to get away with everything by just being nice to you. Maybe you should have slapped him, too, for more effect.

As two sides of your brain gnawed at each other, arguing about what you should have done and said, you heard another knock on the door of the bedroom. It didn’t take a genius to guess who was behind the door, but you still hesitated before opening it because you weren’t sure how to act.

You did feel guilty about the outburst in the hallway. You’d always been a firm believer that the best way to resolve any issue was to have a calm discussion about it; it’s just that sometimes, you acted before you allowed yourself to think.

Maybe you’d feel better with yourself if you didn’t yell at Jaebum after you opened the door. So, you just stared at him.

He stared back, truly having expected you to scream at him. He had prepared what to say to you but he forgot all of that when you just looked at him, no words leaving your lips.

“Uh…” he said, lifting the plate in his hands slightly. “I brought cupcakes.”

Not having expected that – the two of you were now, clearly, involved in a wordless fight which one could surprise the other one better, – you looked down at the chocolate treats on the plate in his hands. “So you have. Are those the ones Lily brought over?”

You had moved away from the door slightly – Jaebum wasn’t sure if you did that consciously, though – and he slipped into the room. After you didn’t object against him being in your personal space – even though, technically, this room was his – he nodded with a small smile.

“I hadn’t slept with her when she brought them, though,” he said, putting the plate on the bed and sitting down next to it. “So, I’m sure they’re not poisoned.”

You let out a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a chuckle and sat down on the other side of the plate. You didn’t feel like talking about the way he’d handled everything with Lily. Actually, you couldn’t even remember why you were so upset about it, in the first place. Jaebum and Lily’s relationship – or lack thereof – wasn’t really your business. Maybe you’d allowed your personal feelings to get in the way and that’s why you yelled at him this morning. And this afternoon.

Both of you took a cupcake off the plate each and, after unwrapping it, began to eat. You stayed quiet for the most part, but when the cupcakes were halfway finished, you sighed again.

“Sorry for bursting out like that when I got home,” you said, choosing to only apologize for the most recent fight. A small part of you still considered Jaebum worthy of the harsh words you’ve said to him after Lily had left. “I had a long day at work.”

Jaebum nodded as a way of accepting your apology but didn’t make a big deal out of it, asking instead, “what happened?”

“It wasn’t… I guess it wasn’t truly horrible,” you said. “I’m just sensitive to that sort of stuff, maybe. I can’t be myself when I work – I’m not sure anyone can – so that means I can’t stand up for myself, either. I just have to let the visitors and even my superiors walk over me.”

“Yeah, that sucks,” Jaebum nodded. “You have to put up with every degrading thing they say if you want to keep the job.”

“Exactly.”

“I laughed mid-track at my station today,” he said then and you looked at him, curiously. “I didn’t realize the mic was on when I was reading a text on my phone during one of the songs, and I just burst into laughter before a part of me went, oh, but wait… I don’t remember pressing the button.”

You tried to gasp but just the image he put in your mind made you chuckle. “Did you boss realize?”

“No, he wasn’t working today, thank God,” he said, smiling, too, now that this got you to laugh however softly. “I would have been fired for sure. He’s a no-bullshit sort of fellow.”

“I’d have loved to hear that, though,” you said. “What time is your show?”

You already knew Jaebum worked at a radio station because he’d mentioned that during one of your late-night conversations back when you still thought he was a girl, and he thought you were a guy. He never elaborated much – and you didn’t really push – so you found yourself rather excited to find out a little more about him. He was starting to feel like Def to you again.

“Two to four,” he said, explaining why he was still at home most mornings. “It’s this really uncomfortable time because most people are already done with lunch but not done with their work day yet, so no one really listens to the radio at this time.”

“What do you do there?” you asked. “I mean, what is your show about?”

“Up-and-coming artists,” he said, sounding unusually sad. “They’re not really that, though. I just basically play underrated songs that no one knows. People send them to me – well, not to me, personally, but to the radio station – and I pick the ones I like the most and play them. It takes me a while to get through all the Soundcloud mixtapes we get sent, but I don’t mind. I don’t get to talk a lot during the show.”

“I can imagine how many days you make by doing this,” you said and Jaebum gave you a confused look, so you explained, “well, I think when someone hears their song on an actual radio, they really lose their shit, you know what I mean? It doesn’t matter to them what time the radio show is on. They’re just excited to hear their song playing and they’re probably very grateful to whoever chose it. You’re the reason for their happiness.”

“Huh,” Jaebum looked away from you, a slight rosy shade adorning his cheeks. “I-I forget that sometimes. The job—it’s all mechanical. I listen to music without thinking much of the artist, but you know what? You’re right. If it was my song playing there, I’d be losing my shit as you put it.”

You snickered at that but then an idea hit you. “Why don’t you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Play your own song at the radio,” you said, reminding him – and yourself, too – that the two of you knew more about each other than you had pretended to know for the sake of acting as hateful roommates to each other. You weren’t really complete strangers to each other, after all.

“Oh, man, no,” he shook his head, his eyes scanning the room wildly for a way to change the topic. He was like this when it came to his music. He refused to talk about it overly much over texts but he was even worse in real life. “Anyway, I came here to make amends and maybe make you feel better about your day at work. Shocking, yeah? But, look what happened: it’s you comforting me.”

You laughed. “Get out of my room before we actually bond.”

He laughed at this, too, but then stopped, “oh, well, technically, this is my room.”

“Oh, I’m not going back to sleep in my room,” you said. “You had sex there, that mattress is… marked.”

“Oh, God,” he visibly cringed at your choice of wording. “I changed the sheets, I’m not some animal.”

You chuckled, but your mind was starting to wander. Now that you’d finished eating Lily’s cupcakes and the topic switched to Jaebum and Lily’s previous activities, you couldn’t help but remember Jaebum’s scared face when you told him a girl had been knocking on your door.

And then, before you could think twice about it, you asked, “hey. Remember, the other day, when Lily first came over?”

“Yeah?”

“When I told you that there was a girl behind the door, your face kind of…” you couldn’t find a way to describe it properly but Jaebum seemed to understand what you were getting at as he looked away, his face paling slightly again. “Uh, what was that about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s nothing,” he tried to dismiss it. “I just… for a moment, I thought it could have been my ex-girlfriend. She’d reached out to me recently but I didn’t reply and I thought she might have found where I lived.”

Oh, this was loaded. You didn’t know Jaebum had a clearly problematic ex, but, more than that, you had no idea she was trying to get back together with him and he was, evidently, terrified of that. There was so much you wanted to ask him but before you opened your mouth, he stood up from the bed, taking the empty plate with him.

“Anyway,” he said in a somewhat forceful way as if he was letting you know that you weren’t going to discuss this topic further. “I’m going to go to bed. Well, your bed. You sleep here.”

You tried to smile despite the change of topic. “You don’t mind that?”

“No,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I don’t.”

chapter directory

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mooosicaldreamz · 6 years ago

Note

idk how you & lynne are able to write so much. tbh y’all are a blessing. i did a random # generator for the things u said prompts so i’m submitting 40 for supercorp!

according to lynne i have sucked up all the inspiration in the apt, which is apparently a finite resource, so i guess i will be the one producing any writing today…….anyway here it goes. things i said when you met my parents. @narraboths said there was only one choice when i was given this prompt.

One second, Kara is flipping Lena’s omelette over in the pan with careful and steady precision, dancing to the Real Estate song pouring out of Lena’s way-too-big sound system, when the door opens.

It’s been three months of dating, two blissful months of having great sex, one month since Lena had insisted Kara take a key to her large off-campus apartment and told her to go get milk and kale on the way back from her radio journalism class. Kara had got the milk, some cookies, a giant bouquet of shitty grocery store flowers, and forgotten the kale, but Lena had kissed her anyway.

She had met Lena freshman year in their shared Intro to 18th Century Lit class, and they had been through a lot of nonsense to get to here - Kara had dated this shitty dude named Mike, Lena had nearly blown up their friendship group by dating James for three weeks sophomore year. But Kara had felt it this past summer, while Lena fell asleep on the phone because she was in Turkey with her brother and Kara listened. It would be this year that they would figure it out.

They had, and that was awesome. What was not awesome was Kara turning away from the electric stovetop and seeing someone other than Lena in the doorway, while wearing an FBI t-shirt reading Female Body Inspector (gifted from her sister in a fit of drunken Amazon shopping) and boxers covered in tiny little flying cupids. Last night, when Lena had taken them off of her before giving her some inspired head, she had said they were cute.

The woman with brown hair and a Valentino bag did not look like she would share such an opinion. Kara recognizes her immediately, of course. Her first instinct is to punch the woman, because Lena had just finished a phone call with her mother that set her in such a mood that she demanded Kara drive to the dispensary just on the edge of campus and buy some edibles. They had sat in the dark and watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and then when that had worn off, Lena had cried and Kara had kissed her face all over.

“I didn’t realize Lena had a roommate,” Lillian Luthor, drawing to her full height. She’s taller than Kara, serene-looking and unperturbed. Kara was very perturbed, because she was wearing boxers and had nothing as smart as that to say back, besides a colorful string of curse words.

The door opens again. Lillian sidesteps the wide arc it makes as Lena barrels in without looking up from her bag.

“Darling, I hope some of that food is for me, because I’m starving, and I think my mother wants to have dinner with me tonight-“

Kara makes a strangled noise. Lena looks up her way and the smile on her face is pretty enough that Kara forgets that her mother is watching and smiles back. But then Lillian makes a soft coughing noise, and a look of deep horror rushes over Lena’s face as she looks over from Kara to the visage of her mother, dark and batlike in the corner of her formerly sunny kitchen.

“Lena, there’s an FBI agent in your home,” Lillian says, deadpan. It would be funny if Kara didn’t feel like dying.

They go to breakfast because in the process of getting dressed and resolving to burn her FBI t-shirt, Lena’s omelette burns and Kara’s assembled collection of breakfast items get sneered at by Lillian. Apparently Rice Krispies is not a meal to be eaten by anyone with a job over the age of eleven.

“You do have a job, I assume,” Lillian says. Kara doesn’t muster a response, just holds tighter to Lena’s hand as Lillian’s driver takes them over to Salt and Pepper. Lena’s jaw clenches.

“You know, mother, when you insisted on having a key to my place, I thought you’d agree that barging in without warning was a healthy boundary,” Lena says.

“I was in town, and you weren’t answering my calls,” Lillian says, breezily. Watching the two of them talk at each other is sort of like watching Winn and his nerd friends play Pong. Kara isn’t sure how or when to interject.

“You want me to go to that awful gala with Jack, I know,” Lena says. Her head drops against the seat of the car, and her neck rolls as the car moves along. Lillian cocks her head.

“I see now why you didn’t like the idea. You might’ve told me. Surely Kara has a dress suitable for the occasion,” Lillian says. The smile on her face does not meet her eyes. Kara is not inclined to smile back. She just grips Lena’s hand and draws patterns across the back of it, trying to bleed some calm into her. It isn’t clear that it works, but when the car rolls to a stop and Lillian insists they sit in the window seat at the restaurant, exactly where Lena hates to sit because the early morning sun is apparently too bright on her, she gives Kara a small smile.

“What all is good here, then?” Lillian asks. Food is something Kara is capable of talking about to almost anyone, so she gives it a shot, letting Lena take a long drink of water.

“I’m a big fan of the eggs benedict,” Kara says. She feels Lena’s hand arrive on her thigh in a soft, reassuring gesture, and it provokes her to give a smile to Lillian. There’s nothing but a frown in return.

“Certainly not very healthy,” Lillian says. “Lena, I certainly hope you haven’t been eating things as fattening as eggs benedict while you’ve been gallivanting with this one.”

“She eats a lot of kale, actually,” Kara says, dropping her hand under the table and holding Lena’s hand. Lena is rubbing her forehead with her spare hand in much the same gesture as she makes when she’s been staring at blueprints for five hours. Kara likes it then, because Lena with her reading glasses and work face on is cute, susceptible to snuggles, and always open to buying them late-night cheese fries at Devil Dawgs. But this Lena is not as fun.

“That would explain the sallow look,” Lillian says.

Kara knows the definition of the word sallow, definitely read it in her SAT prep classes, and it’s not how she would describe Lena. Lena is gorgeous, has been gorgeous since she stood up on the first day of class and said her name was Lena Luthor and that her favorite book was Siddhartha, and Kara had watched her take studious notes for an hour and a half. She was beautiful the day she kissed Kara in the freezing cold rain on the corner outside McDonalds right after Kara had tried to eat three McNuggets at once. She was beautiful when she came and she was beautiful this morning when she had let Kara keep her in bed for five minutes extra so that they could share sleepy, morning breath kisses. Kara is certain she will be beautiful in graduation robes, and wedding dresses, and holding babies, and solving world hunger.

So she can’t help but take offense.

“I’m going to the restroom,” Lena says. She stands abruptly. Kara watches her go with some worry. It’s too early in the morning for Lena to be crying about anything, but it looks all the same like she might be about to when she turns the corner into the restroom.

When she looks back to the table, Lillian is looking at her.

“So, a journalism major,” Lillian says. Kara stares at her. Apparently the spate of silence is too long. “Are you going to speak? Or stare?”

“Yes,” Kara says. Frustration is thrumming through her, an old anger that’s mostly quelled when she’s around Lena, absorbing the atmosphere of Lena. Her therapist used to call it orphan anger, which had seemed sometimes crass, but usually just as descriptions go.

“Which one?” Lillian asks. She smiles, takes a sip of her water. Kara feels her hand as though it were separate of her body reach up to grip the edge of the table.

“Why are you such a jerk to her?” Kara asks. She leans a quarter of the way over the table to make sure that no one overhears her disrespecting what is supposedly an adult.

“I’m sorry?” Lillian asks. She looks intrigued, like Kara has said something surprising and she’s halfway interested in hearing what else she has to say. Or like how people look at puppies barking at mirrors. Like it’s amusing. It makes Kara feel crazy.

“She is so - good, and she tries so hard to impress you when she doesn’t even need to, and you’re such a jerk,” Kara says. “Why?”

She doesn’t mean for it to sound so impassioned and sad, but that’s how it comes out, and it makes Lillian smile very gently.

“I don’t think you know your place,” Lillian says. “Perhaps you should find it.”

“My place is with Lena,” Kara says, and she smacks the edge of the table so hard that the water glasses shiver. “I’m with her. And you know what? She doesn’t need you.”

“I want what’s best for my daughter,” Lillian says.

“So do I,” Kara says. “And that includes you not being a jerk.”

“You may not understand Lena and I’s relationship, but I do care about her,” Lillian says. She leans back in her seat like she’s won something. Kara almost stands up and swings, but instead she chooses to reach into her lap and place her napkin on the table in front of her, standing slowly.

“I’m going to go check on her and make sure she isn’t crying because you’re a jerk,” Kara says. “When I come back, you can either be gone or in a fifty percent better mood, which I’m sure is the best your robot heart can manage, or else I’m going to make my friend James who works here drop hollandaise on your stupid, jerky head.”

Lillian stares at her. James, who’s just arrived at the table to take their drink order, stares at her. She brushes back him with a very dark look that has him scurrying backward.

She finds Lena in the women’s restroom, leaned up against the sinks and staring at the ceiling as though it might collapse down upon her. There’s no hesitation in wrapping her arms around Lena, pressing kisses up the column of her neck until she starts giggling and pushing Kara away.

“I’m sorry I left you out there,” Lena says, reaching up and pressing her long fingers into either side of Kara’s jaw, pulling her down into a quick kiss. It’s something like cool rain after an oppressive heat, kissing Lena right now in this restaurant bathroom after yelling at her mother. The sinks are fancy and the lights are bright and her mother is decidedly not here.

“It’s alright,” Kara says. “I left her out there. I’m sure that’s not in the etiquette books.”

“I read the etiquette books,” Lena says, kissing her again. “It was not in the etiquette books.”

“Is making out in this bathroom in the etiquette books?” Kara asks. Lena kisses her and keeps kissing her, and they super make out for a solid thirty seconds before Lena draws back with a sigh.

“As much as I want to keep breaking the rules of etiquette books, we should probably go out there and suffer through,” Lena says. She keeps pressed close to Kara, and Kara keeps holding onto her. She loves feeling Lena. Loves Lena. She had been meaning to tell her so.

“Your mother sucks,” Kara says. “But just think. When we get married, I can hand deliver the invitation and I’ll dunk it on her the way Winn does with his 64 controller when he wins at Mario Kart.”

“Oh, when we get married?” Lena asks. She’s smiling so pretty that Kara can’t think of the words inside her brain even though she’s real smart sometimes. So she just leans forward and kisses Lena again. “It’s only been three months, Danvers.”

“If you ever think of breaking up with me, just know that whoever you date after me will not dunk your wedding invitation in her face,” Kara says.

“I suppose we can’t break up, then,” Lena says, smiling.

“Probably not,” Kara says.

It takes them five more minutes to get out of the bathroom, and Lena is even smiling when she sits down again, her hand wound up in Kara’s. Lillian is still there, and Kara feels like she needs to mime buckling in. She settles for taking a drink of her mimosa, which James has taken the liberty of delivering for her without even her ordering. She’s glad they’re all still friends.

“I apologize, Lena,” Lillian says. She sounds like someone is holding a gun to her back and she’s swallowed a razor, but Kara grins as wide as she pleases. She does not elaborate, but Lena looks nearly stunned. Kara squeezes her hand. “Tell me about…journalism, Kara.”

Kara does.

#cassie writes fic #lipstick??? in my valentino whitE BAG?#and who are you exactly

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aglarelen · 6 years ago

Text

The Frat Boy Lumberjack Universe

And without warning...Here’s Frat Boy Lumberjack!Chris Fic!!!

This is the first story from a universe inspired by @sfreeborn in this post, and thus, the Frat Boy Lumberjack Universe was born. I started with a small tiny idea, until my over active, wordy ass imagination got a hold of it and it has spawned multiple story ideas. Most of which, like this one, are inspired by “Desperado” by The Eagles. Hopefully, I’ll get to write them in some way or another, but until then, enjoy this offering. I hope y’all like it.

Comments are appreciated, but as Erykah Badu said, “I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit.”

One Important Note: I did use a real Fraternity name, although the characterizations are fictional. It’s tough to research and create a fictitious fraternity, so I named it and based it on high school friends who joined and guys I knew in college from various houses. I mean no offense to any member of the real fraternity, past or present and get nothing from this but the comments of my readers. It was simply the easiest thing to do so that I wouldn’t get stuck in the research and never finish the story.

Word Count: 3518 (This should be a warning in and of itself. 😄 I’m a wordy bitch at times.)

College/Frat Boy AU, fluffy stuff

Including: Frat Boy!Chris Evans x OFC, mention of Frat Boy!Sebastian Stan x 2nd OFC, btw Thomas “T” Easley amazingly looks just like Tom Hardy lol

In Three Quarter Time

“Don’t you draw the Queen of Diamonds boy, she’ll beat you if she’s able. You know the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet.” - The Eagles “Desperado”

Elloree was in the mood for a beer, but not a frat party. Her roommate, and best friend, Daniella was dragging her out anyway. It was a stroke of luck that Elle had been assigned Dani as a roommate freshman year. The two young women got along well, becoming fast friends, although their tastes could be quite different. Dani was beautiful, a social butterfly with a romantic attention span to match. She flitted from one boy to the next, never promising anything to anyone, beyond tonight. Her weakness for frat boys drew them to the party that evening.

Dani’s current crush was a brother at Tau Kappa Epsilon, TKE. The Tekes were hosting and it was the only reason that Elle hadn’t refused to go outright. She was well acquainted with many of the guys. Their president, Tom, had adopted her as a little sister during the first football game her freshman year. A particularly angry fellow had taken offense at her penchant for jumping to her feet. The commotion attracted attention. He got indignant and disrespectful. The Tekes got aggravated and protective. She had been sitting with them ever since, the only female allowed, because she could be just as rowdy as they were. Two weeks later, T introduced her to a pledge named Chris.

They spent the rest of the game talking, flirting, and bonding over their shared love of football. The problem came later that night, in the form of a sorority girl named Bethany. Bethany was the very model of the negative sorority stereotypes with a sense of entitlement that entered the room before she did. A tall, thin brunette with a short skirt and long legs, she laid claim to Chris, on the idea that Sisters got dibs on pledges. Chris had been distracted by the fancy, shiny new toy in the room before Elle even arrived. She couldn’t blame him, Bethany made it too easy. She made it her mission to get and keep Chris, flaunting it in Elle’s face every chance she got.

The only bright spot was that Bethany was not allowed at football games. Brothers could sit with their girlfriends separately, but pledges were required to sit with the group as a bonding activity. This guaranteed Elle time with Chris and they became close friends. Fall slowly faded toward winter and the weather got colder. Like many of his brothers, he grew a beard, and it aged him. He went from a fresh faced boy to a super sexy man. She loved his aesthetic, equal parts ball caps and plaid shirts, keg parties and Carhartt, and called him “frat boy lumberjack.”

Elle was falling harder than ever, but the new look seemed to annoy Bethany. Elle noticed how Bethany’s perfectly made up face would screw into a look of disgust when Chris kissed her cheek. She continued to mention he should shave, despite his protests. Many times Elle would come in from class grumbling about how she had seen the couple at lunch, Chris fawning over her and Bethany nitpicking him. The only time Bethany seemed to really enjoy Chris was when they were drunk and all over each other.

When spring semester ended, she was glad. Heading home for the summer was just what she needed, family, friends and no Chris. Out of sight, out of mind, she thought. She was wrong. Soon she began to see him in the people she passed on the street, or the guys in the food court at the mall. His face invaded her dreams and it was driving her mad. By the time fall semester rolled around, she was done. Her feelings were drowned out by annoyance and she tried her best to avoid him. Most days it wasn’t too tough, but game days it became a chore.

The first home game, Elle returned to the fifty yard line seats with the Tekes. Although, she avoided Chris, sitting next to T, who had become like family. She tried to ignore him, but wondered why he was still sitting with the group. No longer a pledge, he was free to sit with Bethany. Elle was annoyed. Added to the smiles he flashed as he passed her on campus, it seemed that he was purposely trying to get under her skin. It was the reason she wasn’t in the mood to party, but tagged along for Dani’s sake. She was needed in order to make the appropriate introduction between Dani and the object of her affection.

Arriving at the party, Elle quickly scanned the crowd, and saw no sign of Chris or Bethany. Relief washed over her as she lead Dani through the familiar house to the kitchen. There she found Mack, the Gatekeeper and one third of the Musketeers, as she called Chris’ buddies. Knowing her well, he handed her a Stella with a wink and smiled. She returned the smile and tapped her bottle to his as she turned to Dani.

“So, have you caught sight of your prey,” she asked and took a swig of beer.

Dani was leaning on the counter, peering from the pass through into the crowd of revelers, “Not yet.”

Elle laughed, “Could you give me an idea of what he looks like?”

“Hot guy, blue eyes,” she said waving her hand as if this should be all Elle needed, “When I saw him he was wearing a TKE shirt.”

“You know who you just described,” Elle rolled her eyes and took another drink.

Dani turned suddenly, “Sorry, I couldn’t see his hair color. He had a cap on and disappeared into the science building before I could catch up.”

“Okay, just let me know if you see him,” she sighed, “or him.”

“I’ll warn you,” Dani smiled, knowing which him she was referring to.

“Elle,” the loud voice drew her attention. Tom was across the kitchen in two strides, wrapping her in his large arms, “I’m glad you came.” Releasing her, T stood between the two women and draped his arms gently over their shoulders, “What are we doing, ladies?”

Elle chuckled, “Looking for a man.”

“I thought you only had eyes for our boy,” T teased.

“For Dani,” she rolled her eyes, “She saw a hot guy the other day in a teke shirt. Wants me to introduce her.”

“There he is,” Dani exclaimed, “Grey shirt, black jeans.”

T saw him first and called out, “Seb,” motioning for the man to join them. The man’s face lit up when he saw Elle and quickly made his way through the crowd. T kissed each woman on the head, “Be good ladies,” and left the room.

The man in the grey shirt appeared in the doorway and greeted Elle, “Itty bitty.” She rolled her eyes at the nickname and chuckled.

“Sebastian,” she indicated the woman next to her, “This is my roommate Daniella.” Turning to Dani, she reversed the introduction, “Dani, Sebastian.” Dani extended her hand to shake Sebastian’s, but he took it and lifted it to his mouth for a kiss, without breaking eye contact.

Elle rolled her eyes again, “Okay, my work is done. I’ll be out in the swing.” Taking her beer, she walked out the back door and over to the swing. Sitting down on one end, she pushed slowly with her toes. She watched Dani and Seb through the kitchen window as they laughed. Knowing Dani’s ways, Elle hoped that Seb wouldn’t be mad at her. Last year Seb had dated a sorority girl for four months and Elle had seen how hard he’d taken the break up. He moped around for weeks. It was good to see him happy again, but how long would that last if Dani jumped to another guy tomorrow.

Elle’s eyes drifted up as she thought. Before she realized it, she was staring at Seb and Chris’s darkened window. He must be out with Bethany, she thought, grumbling. As long as they didn’t show up at the party, she’d be fine. Hoping for the best, she leaned back and looked up at the sky. The slow movement of the swing helped to relax her and her eyes closed as she drifted. She never even noticed the figure approaching from the house.

Chris made his way downstairs looking for a beer. He’d been in his room since the game ended trying to get some homework done, but all he could think about was Elle. He’d been looking forward to sitting with her at the game. He wanted to talk to her, to let her know that Bethany was gone. She wouldn’t be ruling his life anymore, keeping him away from Elle. But she had ignored him at the game, sitting with T, and not once looking his way. He had realized that he screwed up and was just looking to drown his sorrows when he entered the kitchen.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and turned to leave. Glancing out the window as he turned, he caught sight of her. She was sitting on the swing, head leaned back, eyes closed, drifting slowly back and forth. As he stood watching her, a hand came to rest on the back of his neck, squeezing slightly as words were spoken, “You break her heart and we’ll have words.” T was standing next to him, the grip on his neck just tight enough to emphasize his meaning.

Chris raised the bottle and spoke, “I think I’ve done enough already. It was pretty clear at the game that she wanted nothing to do with me,” his voice echoed the defeat he felt. His eyes never left Elle as he took a long pull from the bottle.

T’s hand moved to his brother’s shoulder, “People put up walls to protect themselves. Sometimes, they leave a window open.”

Chris turned his head, not quite looking at T and sighed, “I don’t want to hurt her. I just want her to be happy.”

T clapped Chris on the back, “Go tell her.”

Hesitantly, Chris walked out the door and across the small yard. Words swam through his head, but nothing seemed to work. Tired cliches and greeting card sentiments just weren’t going to do. He moved toward the swing, quitely coming to a stop a foot away, “Mind if I sit?” His voice was low, but she still gave a little start at the sound before gesturing her approval with a nod. Chris carefully took a seat, trying not to move the swing too much. Waiting, he let her move the swing as he matched the rhythm. They sat in silence for a long while, neither really knowing how to start.

“I deserved that,” he finally spoke softly, “at the game today. I don’t blame you. I did it to myself. I made a mistake. I made a lot of mistakes.” He was rambling. He knew it. She knew it. Her hand came to rest on his forearm and he calmed. When, after a few moments, it remained, he tentatively placed his on top. She made no move to pull away and he risked a quick glance in her direction. Her head bowed, she stared at their hands and he stared at her.

Chris wanted to move, to gather Elle in his arms and hold her tight. He desperately wanted to go back, back to the night they met and erase the past year. He wanted to push Bethany away and find Elle, to get back all the time they’d lost. He needed to tell her why he had been so weak that night, weak enough to fall for the illusion that Bethany presented. For the first time, the words fell into place in his head, and he just let them fall from his lips. “She’s gone. I ended it. I should have done it sooner. I don’t know if it was foolish pride or pity, but something just kept me hanging on.”

He ran his thumb over her skin, “It’s over now and I sure as hell don’t miss her. She was a poor substitute for what I really wanted.” Taking a deep breath, he continued, “What I saw in your eyes scared me. I wasn’t ready to stand up and be that man. Bethany just wanted a boy toy, so I let her take control and you paid the price. I let her hurt you. I hurt you.” Chris put his finger under Elle’s chin and lifted her face. His eyes met hers and he held her gaze, “That’s not going to happen again. I’m not going to hurt you anymore.”

Elle’s heart ached as she looked into his eyes, so sincere, and yet she knew what he meant about fear. She was afraid of what he might do later. He was right, men were weak when it came to creatures like Bethany, beautiful, confident, and bodies built for distraction. She cupped his cheek, “The best laid plans of mice...”

He finished the quote for her, “and men so often go astray. You don’t believe me.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” she began her voice thick with emotions she was trying to hold back, “I just understand all too well. There are two types of women, security blankets and ‘big boy’ toys. Security blankets make you feel better. They’re the old reliable, there to fix you up when you fall down and comfort you when the world hits back. They eventually get left behind as you grow out of them.” She dropped her hand playing with the hem of her shorts, “ ‘Big boy’ toys are the fancy ones you take out and show off, shower with attention, and raise your status. Bethany. Me, I’m a security blanket.”

“Your wrong,” he said, “I don’t want Bethany.”

She jumped in before he could continue,”Why not? She’s gorgeous, tall, thin, always perfectly put together in her heels and tight clothes.”

Chris laughed and shook his head, “She’s fake, all makeup and high maintenance. It’s all a front that she puts on for the world. It’s armor to hide the insecure, jealous, petty, ugly person she is inside. She likes pledges because they’re young and easy to fool. Once you figure out what she’s really like, it’s over.” He threw his head back and raised his hands to the night sky, “Why did I fall for her? I don’t even like all that shit.” He dropped his hands, slapping his thighs, “I like wet hair and sweatpants. I like sneakers and ponytails. I like you.” He let his head drop as he leaned forward, his forearms on his knees.

Elle thought for a moment about what he’d just said, then looping her arm through his, she leaned against his shoulder, “That’s funny, cause I like frat boy lumberjacks with hearts of gold. I like good morals, a guy who loves kids and desperately wants to be a dad.”

Turning, he kissed her forehead, “She didn’t know that.” He was quiet for a moment before he continued, “She never really listened to me. She always wanted to change the way I dressed and begged me to shave.”

She suddenly lifted her head, “Don’t you dare!” Reaching up, she ran her fingers along his jaw and the soft new growth from where he’d buzzed his head for the summer. “I want you just the way you are,” she smiled and pulled him closer, pressing her lips to his. It was soft and careful, as if she was unsure how he’d react, but she should have known. He had always treated her with the utmost care and respect. His hand moved to her cheek, the touch gentle and loving.

The kiss was so different. Bethany was hot and hungry or cold and emotionless. Kissing Elle was wonderful, warm, and meaningful. His fingers curled into her hair and he combed them through the soft waves as he pulled away to speak, “I’ve been waiting all summer for that.”

“Waiting all summer,” she asked, disbelieving, “You could have called.”

Chris chuckled, “Could’ve called? You ignored me at the game. Would you even have picked up?”

Elle scoffed, “Yeah.” He dropped his head and cocked an eyebrow at her. “Well, maybe,” she stumbled over the words when he grinned, “not on the first try.” She collapsed into his arms in a fit of giggles. Gasping for air as she tried to explain, “I, I was so, so done with Bethany and,” she took a deep breath, “and with you. I was just happy to be home.” Her voice lost some of its mirth as she continued, “I thought ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ but it ended up being ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ It made me angry that she could have you and I couldn’t,” she huffed.

He giggled as he squeezed her tight in his arms, “You were jealous.”

“Oh, I,” she began to protest, but admitted defeat, “was, so stupid.”

“Not stupid,” he shook his head, “I’d be insane if you were dating someone else.”

She balled his t-shirt in her fist and thumped his chest, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Covering her hand with his, he sighed, “It’s over. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I hurt you, but it’s the past. I just want to be here, tonight, with you. And every night, for as long as you’ll have me.” He was getting emotional, and blinked away tears as he thought about the things that he had missed. His mind drifted to memories he wished he had, Christmas, snowball fights, lunches in the Campus Cafe, late nights in the library, Valentine’s Day.

He remembered the night of the spring formal with Bethany. He went because he was supposed to, not because he cared. Elle was playing ‘Call of Duty’ with Georgie and Mike, and didn’t know Chris was still there. She was in the kitchen when he came downstairs. Her breath caught when she saw him and she nearly dropped her beer. “You look good,” she said a tiny smile curling her lips, “but your tie’s crooked.” She put the bottle on the kitchen island and reached to straighten it. He didn’t protest just watched her face as she bit her lip. “There,” she said patting his chest with both hands, “Behave.” He had kept his promise, despite Bethany’s attempts otherwise.

His heart clenched at the memory, and an image formed in his mind, fueled by the Disney movies he secretly cherished. He waited as Elle descend the stairs, sparkling like a princess in the light. He imagined holding her in his arms as they twirled around the dancefloor. His mother was a dancer and she had taught her boys how to do it right. No lazy swaying in her household. Her boys were gentlemen, and Chris could waltz. The skills were wasted on Bethany, who spent her time taking selfies and getting plastered. He willed the memory to be replaced by the one he imagined.

He didn’t even realize what he was doing until Elle giggled, “What are you humming?”

He had been swaying ever so slightly to the beat, " ‘Moon River.’ ”

“You know ‘Moon River,’ ” she asked, a bit surprised.

He huffed, “There’re a lot of things you don’t know about me.” Pushing to his feet, he pulled out his phone and began tapping. She glared at him wondering what could be so important on that phone that he would walk away. Suddenly, a melodic trill filled the air as the phone connected to the speakers in the yard. Now, she was really confused. Setting the phone on the patio table, he held out his hand, “May I?” Blushing furiously, she took his hand and let him pull her up. To her surprise, he assumed a perfect ballroom hold. Then, with a smirk he called out, “Hey, Siri. Play ‘Moon River’ by Henry Mancini.”

The song began and he lead her into a waltz. The look in her eyes was a mix of astonishment and pure joy. They danced without a care, as if there wasn’t a frat party going on only yards away. Chris wasn’t what she had expected him to be. He was more than your typical frat boy, more than your typical boy. He was surprising and she couldn’t wait to learn more of his secrets. “Well, Christopher,” she laughed, “what other talents are you hiding?”

He smiled, “In time, m’lady. In time,” and gave her a twirl. As the song ended, he pulled her close and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “This,” he said resting his forehead against hers, “is how it should feel.” They stood for a while enjoying the moment. Then he moved suddenly, leaning to the side, and hooked his arm behind her knees. She squealed as he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the swing. Sitting down, he rested her in his lap and began to slowly push the swing back and forth. She nuzzled into his neck as his arms tightened around her, agreeing that this was exactly how it should feel.

Tagging: @sfreeborn and @katiew1973

#my fic #Chris Evans #Frat Boy!Chris #frat boy lumberjack #Chris x OFC #Sebastian Stan #Frat Boy!Sebastian #Sebastian x OFC

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