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uzumaki-rebellion · 12 days ago

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Love Blues (Part 2) by Uzumaki Rebellion

Pairings: Elijah "Smoke" Moore x Annie Moore (Sinners)

Warning(s): Mentions of Hoodoo, Explicit Sex, Supernatural Elements, Romance, Some Violence, Angst, Smoke's POV, Pre-Sinners movie.

Series Summary: Smoke Moore has returned from WWI with his twin brother Stack and meets Annie for the first time. Smitten immediately by the young Creole beauty, Smoke longs to make Annie his own. But he has to get past his brother and another rival suitor first.

Word Count: 3.8K

Masterlist HERE.

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"Hey sweet mama

Baby don't you go too far

Hey sweet mama

Baby don't you go too far

I wanna know where you is every minute

Who you're with and where you are"

Keb Mo – "Love Blues"

Smoke and Stack sat across from their childhood friend Bo Chow in the back of the Chinese grocery store that served the negro community in Clarksdale.

Sitting among stacked boxes of canned goods and crates of fresh produce, Bo looked over the bank loan application that Smoke filled out for the opportunity to borrow enough money to open a business he and his twin dreamed of since they were little boys.

A juke joint.

Music and dancing steeped heavily in their blood directly from their father, Cash Moore. Their momma told them both tall tales of what their father could do with a banjo, but it was his guitar playing that set Clarksdale on fire.

That's when the rumors started.

Cash left the tenement field life to become a full-time musician a couple of years after the twins were born. He went on the road for weeks and came back with fistfuls of money and a strange new way of playing a Dobro Cyclops guitar with a sparkling silver resonator. He'd been a right-handed player all his life until he paraded back into Clarksdale playing left-handed.

There were whispers he bargained with the devil at the crossroads.

His new music sounded sinful. Lewd. Exciting. Capable of leading masses of good Christians astray if he ever recorded a song one day. When Smoke asked his mother about it, Taiwo only said that folks were afraid of the songs Cash sang because they changed people in ways that weren't natural.

One time, Cash played at a juke in a nearby town and a woman pulled a straight razor out of her purse and sliced her husband's throat in front of the entire joint. When asked why she did it, the woman told authorities the music revealed to her that her husband was cheating, and he planned to run off with another woman and their children from a second family he created.

At another gig Cash performed in, a docile husband listened and wept into his liquor at the bar. He whisked out a gun by the third song and shot dead two of his running buddies in cold blood. He told the crowd that the guitar whispered to him a plot by his friends to swindle him out of his share of profits distilling gin.

Taiwo hinted that his father's music could do more, but Smoke refused to believe in magical guitars and devils hanging out at crossroads around midnight. The only devils he knew for sure were white men and white women. So unless they were plucking his daddy's guitar strings, all the hearsay was just superstitious nonsense.

Taiwo seemed hurt by that response. Most times, any talk of their father upset her because of what Smoke had done to him a year before he left for war to escape the law.

"Whatchu think?" Smoke asked.

Bo nodded his head.

"I think you filled out everything properly. How much money do you have already for collateral?" Bo asked.

"Four hundred. Plus, we got our daddy's old car we can use, too," Stack said.

"That's good, Stack. Real good. Your exceptional conduct records in the military should help secure a decent amount to get y'all started."

Smoke asked him to look over their application because Bo's family successfully received loans to open their two grocery stores that had become an economic hub for the Chinese in Clarksdale. He'd known the Chows since he was seven, and they'd been the only Chinese people to interact with Black people. In Smoke's view, an invisible divider separated white, Black, and Asian people, and the delta's Chinese community received more leeway to flourish than the Black community. Some even started to act like white folks, turning their noses up at fraternizing with the colored customers who kept their pockets full of plantation field money.

"When you headed over to take it?" Bo asked.

"Today," Smoke said.

"Let me know how it turns out. They usually make a decision in two business days."

They all shook hands, and the twins headed out of the store through the front.

"Y'all going to Cornbread's jump up tonight?" Bo asked.

"You taking Grace?" Stack said.

Bo's face turned slightly pink in the cheeks. He brushed back a lock of glossy black hair from his forehead and grinned so hard that all of his teeth showed.

"Boy, you in love," Stack said.

"I'ma ask her to marry me."

"When?" Smoke said.

"Tonight."

"You ask her parents for permission first?" Smoke said.

"Not yet. But I want to know that she wants to marry me before I embarrass myself…in case she says no to a formal courtship later."

"That girl ain't sayin' no to you," Smoke said.

"I hope not. George Yun and his family have been taking meals together with Grace's family. I think they're planning to marry her off to him. He teaches at the new private Chinese school over near Maybelle."

Bo's forehead creased, and the smile turned limp on his lips. Stack placed a hand on Bo's shoulder.

"Well, if it don't work out with Grace, you can always go back to your fine ass ex, Trenna Wells, and have some negro Chinese babies. What would we call that mix? Negronese?"

"Man, shut up," Smoke said.

Bo laughed.

"I don't think Trenna's folks or my parents would approve of that. That whole situation blew up in my face."

"Y'all were just young, that's all," Stack said. "Had you been older, maybe things coulda been different."

"I don't think so, Stack."

"No need thinking 'bout the past. You got Grace now," Smoke said.

"See y'all tonight, then?" Bo said.

"We'll be there. Won't we, Smoke?"

Stack threw an arm around his twin, and Smoke nodded.

"C'mon, let's get this application over to the bank," Smoke said.

They wandered down the block to check on the old Model T-Ford their father left behind. It was one of the first expensive things Cash bought while traveling the road as a musician.

Before the severe personality change in him, he used to carry his sons and wife around like they were fancy people. Smoke missed that side of his father. The loving, playful side that kissed all over their mother and spoiled the twins. Maybe the devil did get to him after all.

Smoke and Stack eyed their surroundings. White people weren't fond of colored people lingering around town if they weren't there for business. Too many vagrancy laws were on the books to give those white racists an excuse to arrest them for loitering. New structures and businesses were being built as they strolled toward the Bank of Clarksdale. Passing King's Tamales, they smelled the strong savory odor of hot catfish, chitlins and the popular chicken tamales soaked in beef broth.

"Remind me to pick up some tamales for momma and Mrs. Henry," Smoke said.

Stack nodded, his attention diverted by some young white women walking out of a dress shop, giggling and staring at him.

"Just cuz you fucked a few Frenchies overseas don't mean that shit flies over here, baby brother," Smoke hissed under his breath.

Stack adjusted his focus on the bank looming in front of them.

They both stopped to check out their clothes, making sure their ties were straight and their suits still looked crisp from Taiwo's iron.

"We look good, nigga. Let's go get this money," Stack enthused.

"This shit gotta go through. That uppity Mound Bayou bank manager did us dirty, so this is our only chance to get legit funds to make this juke work."

Stack glanced at several white carpenters working on a new business structure. One worker was a negro, Beau Willie Jennings. Smoke had butted heads with him when they were younger. Beau Willie carried a stack of wood beams on his broad shoulders inside the unfinished frame and cut his eyes at the twins.

Smoke looked over their application again. Took a deep breath.

"Let's do this."

The bank was no cooler inside when the twins stepped across the threshold and looked around. Nothing but blotchy white faces peered back at them with looks of disgust. A pinched-face white man with salt and pepper slicked-back hair rushed over to meet them before they wandered any further toward a teller.

"May I help you…gentlemen?"

The banker wore round glasses that perched precariously at the end of his bulbous nose. Smoke held up the application.

"We'd like to apply for a loan," Smoke said with a steady voice.

"Step over here, please," the banker said, holding out his arm to usher them away from the white people waiting in two lines.

They followed, and Smoke noticed the name sign on a small desk hidden by the side of the main counters. Mr. Peacock.

"May we sit?" Stack asked, turning up the charm by smiling.

Mr. Peacock hesitated for a split second before nodding in the affirmative. He looked over the application as the twins settled into uncomfortable wooden chairs.

"Three hundred dollars is what you're requesting. You want a loan for what, exactly?"

"A juke joint," Stack said.

"A social club for the negro community," Smoke clarified.

"Social club?"

Stack looked over at Smoke. He cleared his throat as a signal for his younger brother to hush.

"Yes, sir. We envision a place where hard-working colored folk can come to listen to pleasant music…dance a bit. As you can see on our application, we have enough collateral to cover any fears of a default."

"Looks like you have all the money you need to open a place without our help."

Mr. Peacock dropped the application on his desk for Smoke to pick up.

"Well, sir. We're trying to establish credit and build up our reputation with the Clarksdale business community."

"I'm afraid we can't help you with that. You can try some of the new colored banks that are cropping up—"

"Ain't no colored banks in Clarksdale…sir," Smoke said.

Mr. Peacock folded his hands on his desk.

"Well, when one opens up, you two be sure to be the first in line."

"Dontcha have to have some type of review process? I heard it took two business days to get a final decision. We have cash money we can show you, and we also have a car that we're willing to put up for collateral, too," Stack insisted.

"As the bank manager, I make all final decisions on loans. The answer is no. Good day, gentlemen."

Mr. Peacock stood abruptly.

Smoke balled his hands into fists. It would be easier to rob a bank than to go about things the right way in the south.

"Y'all can give Chinese people money, but not us? Niggas that picked the cotton that built this bank, built this town…built this damn country?" Stack barked.

Smoke placed a hand on his brother's arm and rose from his seat. He left the application on the desk.

"I'd like a formal rejection in writing…by two business days."

"Nigger, you come back here in two days…. I'll have you both thrown in jail…or worse."

Smoke leaned in, ready to snatch the man across the desk, but Stack patted his midsection.

"Forget these crackers," Stack said. "We'll figure something out."

Smoke stormed out of the bank with his jaw clenched and his temples throbbing with anger. They headed to their car and Smoke kicked the front tire hard.

"We fucking fought for this country…fought for that cracker ass bitch's freedom, and we can't get a damn bank loan to build something for ourselves?!"

"Calm down, Smoke. We can use the money we have and just open up a smaller place."

"We can't do that. The cash we have now has to hold us for another year. I want us to pay off momma's house note and buy some land for us. The whole point of coming back here was to stay outta the fields and working a menial service job for these rednecks. Be our own bosses."

Stack nodded and held Smoke's shoulders.

"Look me in the eye," Stack said.

Smoke huffed and tried to keep his hands from shaking.

"Smoke?"

Stack shook him and Smoke locked eyes with him.

"We got this. Listen…we survived Germany. We have enough money to not work for a year or more if we stretch it out. Let's think about going somewhere else. Back east…or maybe even Chicago. Shit nigga, we some young hungry twenty-year-old men who traveled the world. Germany… France… England. We can do anything we set our minds to together. Right? Together forever!"

Stack shook Smoke's shoulders again to loosen him up. He grinned at his older brother.

"Let's go get these tamales for momma and 'nem, and think about a new plan. Ain't no rush. We did hard, brutal work three years overseas, so we deserve a long break. Relax."

Stack pulled out some tobacco and rolling papers from the car and prepared a cigarette for Smoke.

"Here," Stack said, handing it to Smoke.

Smoke stuck it between his thick lips and Stack lit it for him with a gold-plated lighter. He took a long drag and let the smoke flow through his nose. Stack joined him in smoking and they puffed away until a couple of nosy white men watched them from across the street.

Smoke threw the unfinished cigarette on the ground next to Stack's. They strode down the rust-colored dirt street with their heads on swivel, keeping aware of the proximity to whiteness all around them until they reached the negro-friendly side of the street where they could walk on a sidewalk.

"Stack! Smoke!"

Cornbread hustled over to them carrying a sack of flour, his wide grinning face as shiny as the sun.

"Happy birthday, nigga!" Stack said.

Stack patted Cornbread on the back and then pretended to box with him.

"Man, don't make me drop this flour. My momma will have a fit if I don't get this by her house in one piece. The jump up starts after four. We'll get a big roaring fire going later and have a good ole time. Some fellas from the Clover Hill plantation and Anderson plantation are coming over to play music, too. Hope you got some money to throw these dice tonight," Cornbread said.

"Y'all wanna see me run your pockets until they got holes in them?" Stack joked.

Cornbread chuckled.

"Man, you still owe me seventy-five cents from the last time we played. Don't think going to war made me forget about that!"

Smoke slipped inside King's Tamales while his brother joked around with Cornbread. The sweltering food shop had too many scents that messed with his head after being pissed off from the bank manager. A part of his rage stemmed from knowing that the racism was to be expected. Hope was a tender thing for a negro in America. Smoke wanted more, wanted something for himself and his brother that freed them from being casualties of white people's whims.

He stared at the various food items behind the display case. The fried livers looked enticing swimming in sautéed onions. Catfish, tasty greens cooked with meaty ham hocks, and the chicken tamales he wanted lured him to the end of the case.

"What put all those lines on your forehead?"

Smoke jerked his head up.

Annie.

"You work here?" he asked.

"Sure do. What can I help you with?"

A pale blue head wrap covered her lustrous hair. The heat from the shop drenched her smooth skin with perspiration, but she still looked lovely. The white apron that cinched her waist accentuated her figure. Smoke glanced over his shoulder and looked for Stack and Cornbread through part of the glass window that didn't have the painted menu items covering it. His twin and their friend cackled loudly like women, and their voices were loud enough to hear through the glass.

Two weeks had passed since the last time he laid eyes on Annie in person alone. He heard her voice in his mother's house early every morning, though. Taiwo and Annie shared a daily cup of coffee and went outside to harvest special plants and herbs that grew freely in the wooded area behind the property. He wouldn't come out of the bedroom he shared with Stack until after Annie left with his mother. By the time they came back to prepare the gathered items they collected, he and his brother were long gone, scouting for old friends and drinking at the old abandoned barn that would become the jump up location for Cornbread's birthday celebration.

Smoke and Stack slept in their old bedroom until ten every day. Taiwo never bothered them. She knew the suffering they went through to make it home alive, and she wanted them to rest for as long as they needed each morning. Stack snored through his slumber as Smoke listened to Annie speaking to their mother. He could never get the nerve to join them without waking his brother up. From his daily observations, and Stack's grumbling, it didn't appear that his twin made any forward progress getting Annie to be his woman. Perhaps…there was a chance for him.

"I need to get two dozen chicken tamales. Throw in six fried livers, too," he said.

"Coming right up," she said.

Annie quickly reached for parchment paper and scooped out the tamales first. She double wrapped them and did the same for the fried liver.

"You're not going to tell me what's got you looking so upset?" she said.

He didn't want to re-live the disappointment. Her soothing brown eyes reached an ache in him to confide in someone other than Stack. He loved his brother's optimism. However, Smoke just wanted to vent without getting a list of suggestions on how to fix things at the moment. Annie's eyes held patience in them. She quirked up the left corner of her mouth in an inviting smile.

"We tried to get a loan from the bank. They turned us down even though we had enough collateral to cover the borrowed amount we needed."

"What did you want a loan for?"

"A juke joint."

"A juke joint?"

"Yeah. Our people need places of our own to have fun. We shouldn't have to have a good time in raggedy places."

"I agree," she said.

She placed the food in a brown paper bag and set it on top of the counter for him.

"That'll be fifty-one cents," she said.

He gave her a dollar, and she went to the cash box. She wrote his order in a ledger and gave him change.

"Is that Cornbread out there with your crazy brother?" she asked.

"Yep."

"I suppose you'll be at his get together tonight."

He perked up.

"Are you going?" he asked.

"I am."

"Is Stack taking you?"

"I'm going with friends."

Stack burst through the door.

"Let's go. Gotta get ready for later…"

Stack's voice trailed off when he glimpsed Annie behind the counter. He rolled his eyes and took his place next to Smoke.

"What happened to you on Tuesday?" Stack demanded.

Annie closed the cash box and stared him down.

"I know you're not coming in here talking to me with that tone, Elias Moore. I already got a daddy, and he don't even raise his voice at me."

Stack bolted closer to the display case to fuss with her.

"I came by your house and told your mother I was looking for you. We were supposed to go hang out. She didn't tell you?"

"You never asked me to go anywhere, and you sure didn't get my daddy's permission to do so."

"That's why I came by on Tuesday, because he works in the afternoon…and your momma likes me, so I thought she'd tell you I was coming back to see you."

"I had to work on Tuesday."

"Okay, well…what time you get off work today?"

"Why you wanna know?"

Annie's lips curled up, and she tilted her head in a way that Smoke liked. Watching her go at it with his brother was a treat. He'd never met a woman so flippant and under-impressed with Stack.

"Cornbread's jump up is tonight. I can pick you up and take you in my car."

"I already got a ride."

"With who?"

Stack had a vein throbbing down the middle of his forehead. Smoke lowered his eyes to hide the mirth in them.

"Stack, I know you not coming up in here disrupting my work to fuss with me like you're my man or something. You best turn around and go back where you came from with all that heat in your throat for me."

"Okay…okay…forget it then. Go with your friends. Don't come bothering me when you see me there."

"Ain't nobody worried about bothering you," she snapped back.

Stack turned around and stomped out of the shop.

"Thanks for the food," Smoke said, backing away.

Stack stormed back in.

"I'ma give you one more chance," Stack blurted.

Smoke used his shoulder to nudge his brother back toward the door.

"Let's go before you make a fool of yourself in front of her," Smoke whispered.

"She playing hard to get," Stack mumbled, leaving the shop.

Smoke turned around to face Annie.

"Sorry about that."

"Chien jappô li pas morde," she said.

"What?"

"The barking dog don't bite."

"You don't like him?"

"I do like Stack. He's a lot of fun, but I like someone else better."

Her eyes twinkled.

He took a chance.

"Anyone I know?" he said.

"You might. I think he's kinda shy though. I'm hoping he'll dance with me tonight."

"Maybe he will."

Smoke left King's Tamales feeling better than when he first went in. Stack failed at getting with her, and it was clear as the blue sky above his head that Annie Belizaire was feeling him. Knowing that, he wouldn't let her out of his sight for one minute at Cornbread's party.

Part 3 HERE.

A.N.:

If you want to read about Smoke and Stack with their parents (and learn about Cash Moore BEFORE he turned bad), check out my very first "Sinners" fic, "A Gathering of Waters" HERE.

Taglist:

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@bigjh

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#annie x smoke #annie x elijah #sinners fanfiction #sinners smut #michael b. jordan #wunmi mosaku #annie and smoke #smoke fanfic #smoke fanfiction #uzumaki rebellion #sinners movie #love blues

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crios31 · 1 year ago

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Chapter 2: Traveling to Japan

Story building and smut (Cunnilingus, cowgirl, creampie, doggy style)

Lenght 2700 words

You are at the airport and it’s finally time to board your plane to Japan with Wendy for a new chapter of your life.

“Take care of each other over there.” Says your mother, hugging both of you. “Ah, I almost forgot, it’s the file concerning the scholarship program plus some other things that I deemed useful.” She releases her hug before giving you the files which you put in your backpack. “Thanks mom.”

“Say hello to everyone on our behalf.” asks your father when it’s his turn to hug you.

Your goodbyes now done, you board the plane , waving one last time to your parents on the way. Inside the plane, you both go to your place in first class and follow the instructions of the crew before the take-off.

An hour later, the plane is now at cruising altitude so you decide to read the file your mother gave. On the seat beside you, Wendy is reading a book.

The first part of the file is about the public information that you mostly know. That the program is for girls that show aptitude academically or athletically and it was created by your Mother after she opened her first school. Scholarship recipients are accepted in all your Mother’s school or can in another school if they don’t want to move, in both cases all of their living expenses are taken care of. The rules they had to follow are simple, maintaining good results and good behavior.

The second part is about the non-public information. To start, the real way to enter the program is that your mother chose them, the academic or athletic potential being one more reason. By entering the program, there is more than just living expenses that are taken care of, more financial support could be given like paying a family debt. Other specific issues can also be resolved. Another benefit is the possibility to have access to private tutoring to skip grades in order to graduate earlier. In exchange for all of that, one more rule exists, they are not allowed to date.

Regarding the selection of those that will work for you, most of them cannot refuse it. Wendy was one of the exceptions. For the selection process of the applicants it is a strict one, a minimum age requirement of eighteen moreover the appearance and personality are taken into account for the decision. Those that fall short will be recommended to other employers, also a possibility is to become a standard employee in one of your ventures because of their skills. In those two cases they will become exempt from the rules of the program after graduation. In exchange they will only be asked to recruit people that could enter the program. This part also contains detailed data about the cost of the program, the number of recipients and so on.

Finally, the last part of the file begins with a note explaining that the goal of the program and the selection is for you to have people you can trust at your side and that you’ll slowly take responsibility in the program. After this section of the note you read “Grandkids?” followed by a winking smiley, both seemed to have been handwritten by your mother. This addition from her makes you laugh. The end of the note informed that the documents following it are profiles of girls she deemed ready for selection.

From your first look, there are around twenty candidates' profiles and all of them are older than you. You take your time studying each of them, taking notes. You also ask Wendy to look at each of the profiles after you’re done with it.

Later during the flight, you have just finished sorting out the profiles with Wendy in order to select a first batch of girls that will work for you.

“We are down to three sir, two of them are studying in the University that you will join, while the last one is studying in another one, in Seoul. How do you want to proceed?”

“For the one in the other University, just give her the news and explain to her that she can focus on University for now. For the others, we'll contact them to set up a meeting, starting with this one.” You give a specific profile to Wendy.

“Kim Minji? Understood, I'll arrange that during our stay in Japan.”

A few hours after the plane landed at Narita Airport, you have settled in at your hotel. Sitting in the hotel’s restaurants you are savoring with Wendy some Kobe’s beef. Finishing your plate, you look on your left, through the window at Tokyo’s nighttime view.

“So delicious I really wanted to taste this if I ever had the opportunity to come to Japan.”

“I’ll make sure you can try as many specialties as you can during our stay.”

“So many things come to my mind!”

As you talk, the waiter takes your empty dishes and quickly comes back with the dessert.

“Oh it’s so good too, I’ll try to do one later.”

You smile looking at the baking fanatic. “Do you want to try mine?” You push your plate toward her.

“Yes, thanks.” She quickly takes a big spoonful of your dessert. “It’s delicious too.”

“You can finish it”

“Really? Are you full?” She asks her spoon hovering above the dessert.

“Not really but I will eat another dessert in our room tonight.” You answer, looking at her in the eyes.

She raises an eyebrow at your answer before focusing back on the sweet treat in front of her. When she finishes it, you pay for the meal complimenting the service and the food to the waiter, then you exit the restaurant.

In the elevator, you take a look at Wendy, in particular her miniskirt and you can’t stop yourself from touching her butt.

“Sir?” She turns her head toward you in surprise. Two floors later, the elevator stops for other people to enter, in reaction, Wendy immediately shoves your hand away from her. You wait for them to turn their backs to you before once again grabbing her behind, but this time your hand is under her skirt. Her body becomes tense and you smile mischievously at her when your eyes cross hers. You continue to fondle her ass, sometimes brushing your middle finger against her pussy, as the elevator goes up you can feel her slowly becoming wet.

When you arrive at your floor, you reluctantly stop. Wendy quickly passes the opened door of the elevator and you follow suit, after entering your room she sits on the bed looking at you.

“Couldn’t you wait for us to be in the room to do that?”

“No, your cute little butt was too tempting.” You walk toward the bed, stopping in front of Wendy, you lean forward putting your hands on her tights. “And it was fun watching you get all flustered.” You give her a quick peck.

“Fun for you.” She complains in a low voice feeling your hands behind her knees.

“Now let’s have some fun, shall we?” You suddenly lift her legs causing her to yelp as she loses her balance, her upper body falling on the mattress. You grab her panties and take it off from her body. Placing your hands on the back of her thighs, you spread them.

You get on your knees as you begin kissing her legs, starting from her calves, slowly making your way up her leg. She feels the touch of your lips approaching her pussy, you alternate from one leg to the other. Wendy's growing excitement makes her breathing quicker as she bites her bottom lip.

Finally arriving at your destination, you take a look at her glistening folds. You lick her lower lips before inserting your tongue inside her. As you explore her pussy your jaw gets wet from her nectar.

“Fuck… that’s feel good.” She gasps, putting one hand on your head when you replace your tongue with your finger in order to tease her small bud with your mouth. You hook your finger toward the roof of her pussy. Her angelic voice gets louder and her walls get tighter as you continue with your task.

“I’m getting close.” Hearing this, you put a second finger in her and intensify your tongue’s work.

You feel her grip in your hair tightening and the heels of her shoes burying in your back, causing you some pain. But soon enough her hips rise from the bed taking support on you with her legs and the mattress for her upper body. From her mouth comes a scream of pleasure as she orgasms.

Her body relaxes, freeing you from her legs. You stand up and look at Wendy who is still feeling the aftermath of her climax. You take off your shirt her wipe your face of her slicks

“Do you want me to return the favor?” Wendy asks in a soft voice.

“Maybe another time, for now I want to be in you.” You get naked finally freeing your member, climbing on the bed, you give a long kiss to your partner.

“Then let me be on top.” She says as you let her push you to lay on your back. Wendy takes off her shoes then standing up, she unzips her skirt while looking at you. As the garment fell at her feet she smiles feeling your gaze on her exposed lower body. She places herself above you, taking a hold of your cock to align it with her entrance.

“Damn feels good.” You say watching your length disappear in Wendy when she lowers body.

“You’re stretching me so much.”She began to ride you, taking support on your chest. At first, she starts slowly before gradually increasing her pace.

On your side you're not inactive, taking hold of her waist to help her before sliding a hand under her top. You feel her abs as she drops on you, moving your hand higher, you take hold of one of her boobs over her bra. Her breast in your grasp, you start kneading it.

Locking eyes with Wendy you feel the grip of her walls around your member getting stronger, in response you raise your hips meeting halfway when she drops on you.

“Sir... Shit! I’m coming.” She stops moving her body tensing up as she cums, her walls clamping around your cock.

“I’m close too.” Using both your hands you lift her body before bringing her down, each time hitting her cervix. Soon enough, you discharge a big load inside her.

Following your release Wendy falls on you, her head resting on your chest and you both take some time to catch your breath. You feel yourself getting soft in her as you put your arms around her.

“Let’s get something to drink.” You say giving a light smack on her butt before releasing the hug.

“I’m so full, good thing that I take birth control or I would end up pregnant before long.” Says Wendy as she gets off from you with your semen leaking from her slit.

“Yeah, it’s too early for a kid.” You follow Wendy, taking the glass of water she hands you. While you clench your thirst she takes off her top and bra. You look at her nude body moving to the front of the window.

“I dreamed about visiting new countries and right now I can enjoy this beautiful view.” She says watching the city’s light. “And in addition to that I get to travel with a handsome man.” Turning her head she gives you a wide smile.

“Well now that I know this information, I’ll have you accompany me every time I travel abroad.”

“That would be nice.” She responds with a chuckle. “I heard good things about you before but I didn’t expect you to treat me so well until now. I hope it’ll stay like that”

“Well, you are someone fun to be with,plus you are also a smart and attractive woman. So, I see no reason to change it.” While talking you approach her, taking her into your embrace.

“Thanks.” She whispers, as she puts her hands on top of yours. Both of you stay silent observing the outside but at one point Wendy feels your cock hardening against her butt. “Someone wants more.”

“Always, and I don’t think I’m the only one with how you're grinding your butt against me.”

“You caught me.” She bends over leaning on the window.

You slightly bend your knees to align your cock with her pussy, putting your tip against it. “Hope you’re ready because I won’t stop until the end.” Taking a firm hold of her hips, you thrust all your length inside her in one go.

“Ahhh! Fuck so deep!” As she takes your onslaught, Wendy has to tiptoed and progressively gets her body closer to the window. Soon enough she finds herself with her upper body stuck against the glass. Under your thrust against the entrance of her womb, her pussy begins to twitch as she orgasms.

As you warn her before you continue to fuck her hard throughout her climax as you are far from yours. Following this, she cums again at least twice, hence her eyes are now rolled back, her mouth is open with only moans coming out of it. Furthermore, the only reason why she is still standing is you.

“Where do you want me to cum?”

“Anywhere, just cum.. it’s too much.” She barely answered between moans.

Following her words, you quickly make a decision as you are reaching your limit. You take out your cock of her snatch, placing it between her asscheeks. Giving a few thrusts to finish yourself, you then release streams of semen across her back.

You release your hold on Wendy’s waist. Without any strength left in her legs, she falls on the floor, resting her upper body against the window.

You take a few steps back, relishing the sight in front of you with the city and Tokyo’s Tower as background. Through the fog on the glass caused by your frolicking, the city’s lights are partially illuminating Wendy’s naked body and her cum covered back

“I agree with your earlier comment, this is a great view.” You immortalize this scene with a photo.

During the following days, you both explored the streets of Tokyo. Visiting the traditional district of Asakusa with its Sanctuary and the National Museum of Tokyo. Other places you get to see were, the Kokyo Gaien National Garden where you both enjoyed the peace and quiet before having a tour in the Imperial Palace of Tokyo which is beside it. Along the way, you also tried a lot of different kinds of food.

At the end of your stay in Tokyo, you take the Shinkansen to Osaka. After arriving and dropping your luggage at the hotel, you take a taxi, remembering some memories linked to this city during the ride.

The taxi stops in front of a two storey house, after paying the driver you ring the doorbell. A few moments later, a man who looks to be in his early forties gets out of the house, opening the gate to Wendy and you.

“Ah, good to see you kid.” says the man in Japanese

“Good to see you too, Uncle. Here is a gift for receiving us.”

“Thank you, oh nice wine, I think I drank some in the past, with your father. By the way, who is this young lady?”

“This is Wendy. Wendy, this is uncle Kosaku” You make the presentation as Wendy doesn't speak Japanese and your uncle, while he can somewhat understand Korean he is not fluent in It.

“Let’s get inside, the other should be waiting for you.” You both followed him inside the house. Immediately after taking off your shoes, your hear footsteps quickly approaching you. You only have the time to raise your head before someone hugs you.

“I’m so happy you’re here! I missed you so much!” says the owner of the feminine voice, hugging you.

“I missed you too, Sana.” You say, returning the hug.

#kpop smut #red velvet smut #red velvet wendy #wendy smut #red velvet #girl group smut #m reader #male reader #son seungwan

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howtofightwrite · 1 year ago

Note

re: the question about stunning someone with head trauma (and how you Should Not unless you're okay with them dying) would knocking the wind out of a character be a better way to have that happen?

Yes, but no.

So, knocking the wind out of someone is a lot safer. I wouldn't say perfectly safe, this is how Harry Houdini died, after all. However, it's a lot safer that head wounds, and usually wouldn't result in any major injuries.

The downside is against a trained opponent, who's ready for the hit, it's not going to work. This isn't called a, “sucker punch,” without reason. If your abdominal muscles are tensed for the punch, they will absorb a lot of the blow. So this works better against the unaware or the untrained.

The other problem is, it's not going to take someone out for the duration of the scene. In a self defense situation, winding your attacker is great, because it lets you create an opening to start your escape. But, it's not going to stun someone for minutes. From personal experience, you can measure the time you gain from winding your opponent in seconds.

There are combos that start with winding someone and lead into more painful blows that can extend that opening. But, there is a continuity of force: Incapacitating someone for longer requires inflicting harm that is increasingly difficult (impossible) to moderate.

If the goal is to escape from someone who means you harm, then yeah, an elbow strike to their stomach, will give you the opportunity to get out of there.

If the goal is to have a prolonged conversation while standing over a defeated (but still living foe), that's not really something you can do intentionally. At the same time, intentional application of lethal force isn't as reliable as you might expect. For example, gunshot wounds to the head are only fatal ~98% of the time.

The issue with this train of thought is that the individual inflicting harm cannot moderate for the desired outcome. Knocking someone out, only for them to recover, is 100% possible. However, you can't do that intentionally. And having a character who does bounce another person's head off the pavement until they stop twitching, is an incredibly violent act, and it's not going to be a casual, “well they're just knocked out.” It's a, “Carl, that kills people,” moment.

If you want a character that is disproportionately violent, and probably scares everyone around them a bit, this will feed into that presentation. If you want a character who's a good person because they don't kill people, then attempting to inflict life altering injuries on someone is probably not the best way to demonstrate their ethics.

(Remember, Batman doesn't kill people, he just shatters their spines; leaving them at the mercy of the American health care system. So, the real moral lesson of Batman is that it's better to be psychologically unwell and wealthy, than economically disadvantaged. You can murder half of the city, and he'll gently deposit you in a padded cell that you can escape from whenever you get bored of the place, but if you so much as imply that you'll resort to less than legal means to put food on the table for your starving family, he will end your existence as a vertebrate.)

And, yes, I fully realize that, by the nature of his character, and comics, Batman (like most superhero comics) is poorly suited to discuss the complex factors involved in street level crime. This this is more of a critique on the treatment of “violence is okay, so long as no one ends up in the morgue,” more than a specific character critique.

There's another part to this that worth remembering, and I know I've said this before, but when you're writing, violence offers diminishing returns. Violence releases the tension you've been building. You can think of it like a rubber band gun. Until you pull the trigger, that rubber band is under tension, and the moment you release it, you hit your audience. Now, getting hit a rubber band is a sharp, and somewhat unpleasant experience, but the second time is going to annoy you less than the first, and if you're constantly bombarded with them, you'll quickly become numb to their impacts.

I'm not saying that you can't, or shouldn't, use violence, however as a writer, you are paying a very real cost whenever you use violence to resolve a scene. It's something that you do need to consider carefully. Part of my aversion to questions like this comes from this structural consideration. A lot of writers make the mistake of using non-lethal violence somewhat indiscriminately. This can absolutely harm the credibility of your characters, and your world.

There is absolutely a place for violence in stories, however, this is a tool that is most effective when used sparingly, or deliberately. (This doesn't mean the violence itself needs to be deliberate, just your use of it.)

A lot of the time when someone says, “I want to use violence to temporarily remove a character from the scene,” that's a scenario that will harm your story. There are a lot of ways to remove a character from a scene, and I don't mean, “alternatives to fighting,” like hiding from them or talking them down. The limit here is your creativity, and in a lot of ways, violence is the least interesting way to achieve your goals.

-Starke

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#how to fight write #writing advice #writing tips #writing reference #starke answers

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thejujvtsupost · 11 months ago

Text

My Clothes Look Good On You

I’m getting back into the swing of writing, so it’s probably not my best work but it’s a start. Smut starts next part.

Lmk if you wanna be added to the taglist 💗

Notes: F!reader, Pro boxer!Toji, light age gap (Toji is early 30's and reader is mid 20's), pet names (angel, baby, sweetheart), reader is smaller than Toji, getting together, reader is a medic/nurse, light violence (boxing injuries)- the usual series notes.

The texts started not even a day after you met Toji.

Usually stuff like ‘You should come to the gym tomorrow, I can show you a few things.’ And ‘You working for my next match? It’d be nice to have a good luck charm.’

You weren’t expecting anything like this from him, you thought giving him your number was for medical advice or something professional. So his flirting and interest in you was a surprise- one that had you blushing, but you didn’t think he was too serious about it.

And to Toji’s credit, he was nothing but sweet and respectful. It didn’t matter how busy his typically packed schedule was, he was always checking on you, trying to learn more about your life.

“Why don’t you come by the gym after your shift? We could get somethin’ to eat.”

‘I can’t 😕 I’m stuck filling out applications. Maybe another day?’

The reminder of your unemployment stressed you out further. It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know you lost your main job after the match. You told him a lot about the work you did with Shoko, but the few hours you had at the clinic weren’t enough to sustain you and everything was going wrong. Your savings were drying up.

‘Whatcha applyin for?’

‘The usual. I’m running late but I’ll talk to you later!’

You didn’t give any specifics, it was embarrassing enough that you got fired. You managed to get an interview at a different hospital, a welcomed change from the countless application denials.

Honestly, fuck Mother Nature.

The interview didn’t go well at all. You had thought there was hope with this job, but at the end of the interview the boss outright told you that they would be going a different direction. You left quickly after that.

Asshole.

The rejection stung. To add insult to injury, it was absolutely pouring rain. Of course you weren’t prepared, too focused on the interview and your clothes were getting more soaked by the minute.

“Fuck!” Your phone was dead, your wallet at home, failing to notice the essentials were missing while worrying about what questions you might be asked was your own fault. You should have paid better attention.

You took an Uber there, so your only option was to walk home, already out of the way of the train station. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad…

The rain was a bitter cold, and your entire body trembled with the pain of the wind whipping against your shaking form not twenty minutes into your trek. The world swallowing you whole would be a blessing.

Or, maybe the real blessing was the gym you recognized up ahead. For the first time in a while, you felt a glimmer of hope.

It would be warm in there, and maybe you could borrow a phone to call a cab. You doubted Toji would still be there, but surely someone was still working out, right? It was worth a shot.

Increasing your pace until the door was at your fingertips, and pulling it open- it was unlocked. You could cry. It was warm, and most of all, dry.

You peeked your head into the main room and saw a few people doing their thing, until your eyes landed on Suguru.

He saw you out of the corner of his eye and smiled, about to welcome you in (under the assumption Toji had invited you) until he saw the state you were in. Shivering, wet and probably bound to get sick.

“What the hell? Don’t tell me you walked here, you should’ve rescheduled or something.” He pulled a few towels out from a large cabinet full of them and offered them to you. “Toji’s not worth getting rained on.”

“Toji’s not what now?” The sight of Toji with his bag on his shoulder to go home made you smile a little through the chatter of your teeth. “Woah what the hell?”

“That’s literally what I said, I can’t believe you didn’t at least send someone to pick her up before you dragged her out like a needy bastard.”

Toji ignored him and took a towel to help get some of the water out of your hair, it was a welcomed gesture. “‘Thought you were workin’ sweetheart, don’t tell me you quit your job to come see me, it’ll go to my head. What were you doing in the rain like that? You’re soaked.”

You knew he was teasing you lightheartedly, but the mention of your job had you nearly tearing up with the stress. “About that…”

Suguru took that as a cue to leave you guys alone, “C’mere, you’re gonna get sick.” A much larger hand took yours and led you to the locker room. “I have some clean clothes in my locker and you can change in the bathroom.”

“Oh I couldn’t-” the protests started as soon as he pressed shorts and a shirt over to you.

“Yes you can, I’ll get a bag for your wet clothes.”

Truly, you were freezing, you hadn’t stopped shivering and you probably wouldn’t any time soon. You sighed in resignation and changed in the aforementioned bathroom, cringing at how huge his clothes were (but enjoying the scent secretly.)

Toji was waiting with a spare jacket you slipped on right away and a plastic bag for your wet clothes, but when he saw you dwarfed by his he laughed. “Holy shit, you’re s’cute. C’mon, you look like you need cheered up. I’ll take you to mine and order takeout. Sound good? Then maybe you can tell me what’s got you down too.”

And you probably shouldn’t go with a man that you hadn’t known for too long, but you were hungry and wearing his clothes and tired, and maybe a little weak to his smile-

“Yeah, okay. I’d like that.” You tried to look grateful, but you couldn’t muster too much emotion other than sad.

Once again a large hand took yours and this time led you to his car in the parking garage.

He waited until you were full and warm with your phone on the charger and the tv low in the background before he started asking questions.

Well, more like he was looking at you with concern and you cracked. “I got fired.”

“What? Today? What happened?” The way he sounded ticked off on your behalf made you feel even warmer. Seriously, you can’t be giving in to his charms, but… he was sweet with you and considerate…

“Three weeks ago… after the fight I ran into my boss. I was wearing clothes with the logo of the clinic I work at with Shoko and moonlighting is against the rules but it’s hard with what I was making at my day job. I needed the money from working a second one and I got caught and the stress is so much to handle I don’t know what I’m gonna do if I can’t find someone hiring!” It all came out of you like word vomit and (more than) a few tears of frustration followed.

“Aw sweets, you should’ve told me you were looking for a job, I could’ve helped. Working that many hours isn’t good for you. But they were dead wrong t’fire you like that.” He wiped your tears and his other hand rubbed yours soothingly and it was nice to be touched gently after several weeks of constant stress.

You sniffled and took in a breath, getting that off your back helped more than you thought it would, Toji’s hulking, kind presence was a balm to a wound. “It’s been a lot to handle, I thought today’s interview was going really well until they rejected me at the end. Didn’t even wait to send me a half assed email, just told me outright. I thought they liked me for the job I don’t know what I said wrong.”

“I don’t know sweetheart, they’re crazy not to hire you. Maybe they were scared of how good your resume looked.” His joke made you let out a giggle and a sigh.

“Thanks for cheering me up, and sorry if you had other plans. It’s Friday night and you’re stuck with me crying on you.”

Toji’s brows furrowed, “Who said I was stuck? The only plan I had was text you enough to bother you and get takeout.”

It was your turn for your brows to furrow “It’s literally Friday night, you weren’t going out?”

Suddenly the floor was super interesting to Toji and he scratched the back of his neck with his free hand before looking at you again.

“I thought I was being pretty obvious about it, but I’m not interested in going out unless it’s what you. ‘Don’t want to rush ya, but I’m kinda trying to win you over here. Y’know? Woo ya, that’s what the kids call it these days I think.” His cheeks were flushed red and it was endearing.

“Woo me, huh? You’re sweet, you know that?” You really didn’t think he was serious before, and now he truly had your heart fluttering.

“So… is it working so far?”

You leaned forward to kiss him softly on the lips, chaste but sweet. “What do you think?”

Toji pulled you in for another kiss, unable to let you go so soon. “Can I take ya on a date?” He pulled away panting.

“I think I can pencil you in.”

That night you slept better than you had in ages. Toji’s bed was comfortable and he was warm, holding you all night. You woke up before him to pee and crawled back in bed, you shouldn’t be acting so boldly, you weren’t even technically together yet. But Toji made it hard to not want to be around him. No one had treated you so sweetly in years.

“Wow, leavin’ me all alone like that. Cruel.” Toji was awake when you came back, evidently.

“My clothes are probably done in the dryer, I should get out of your hair.”

Strong polar bear arms wrapped around you tight, “Nah.”

Your lip lifted in amusement. “Nah?”

“Nah. It’s only four, go back to sleep. Gotta eat breakfast first later anyway. And I was gonna invite ya t’the gym with me, got something to show ya. If you want, at least.” He finally peeked an eye open to check your reaction, not wanting to seem too clingy or pushy.

The way he sounded content to keep you (while not making you feel held hostage) made your heart feel warm and gooey.

“If you’re sure… I don’t wanna interrupt your day.” By now your protest was only half hearted. How could you not want to stay with him?

Toji adjusted the blankets and his arms tightened, slowly pulling you closer to cuddle in case you wanted to pull away from him for personal space. “So sweet. You are my day.” He kissed the top of your head to reassure you that you weren’t a burden.

Unsure what to say to that, you rested your head over his heart and tangled your legs with his— and you think, Is this what people mean when they talk about butterflies in their stomach?

Prev <- Series index -> next

🏷️: @pelicanpizza @tadabzzzbee

#jujutsu kaisen #jujustsu kaisen x reader #reader insert #jjk x reader #no use of y/n #toji series #pro boxer! toji #toji x y/n #jjk ship #jjk fic #jjk toji #jujutsu kaisen toji

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gretavanmoon · 11 months ago

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A Perfect Ten - Part 1

Josh x female reader - FWB

8.4k words

+ So this story started out as part of the Fidelity Series, but after a few asks for a part two, I figured why not, let's rebrand it a little bit ;) Story loosely based off of "Finish What Ya Started" by Van Halen

+ After befriending your coworker Josh at your new workplace, the both of you realize you need each other in more ways than one. Things might get a little cloudy as an ongoing judge of actions takes place, leaving the both of you wrapped up in a back and forth neither of you saw coming.

Warnings: Smoking, Drinking, Cursing, Drug Use, Mention of Breakups and Heartbreak, Sadness. Smut: Kissing, Touching, Dirty Talk, Praise, Heavy Flirting, Oral M!receiving

New town, new job, new life.

That’s always how things went in the movies, and every time, the girl always got her happy ending.

The idea is there, and you were beyond ready to do whatever it took to make it happen. How hard can it be, right?

After you’d managed to knock the first new off your list when you moved out of your ex’s house and to the next city over, the “job” part was next in line. After a week of filling out applications, you finally landed on the perfect selection, a serving job at Angelo’s Pizza.

You’d started this new job about about three months ago, and you finally felt like you were getting your footing with the flow of things. You’d been a server for as long as you could remember, but getting used to a new restaurant with new people and new menus and management could sometimes prove to be difficult. You were handling it with as much grace as you could, and the money was killer, so you stuck it out.

“You coming to the bar with me tonight?” your new favorite coworker, Josh asked as he stared into the kitchen from the expo window, rolling a pile of round coasters across the countertop.

“Mmmh…” You mumbled under your breath. “I dunno, I’ve been here since lunch and my feet are absolutely killing me.”

”Ugh don’t be such a prude, Y/N,” he responded, taking a pepperoni and cheese in one hand, and a supreme in the other. “We’ll be sitting down the whole time. Ya know. In barstools.”

“Shut the fuck up,” you teased, elbowing him in the ribs. “I guess so, but I can’t stay out late like last weekend. I open tomorrow.”

“Oooo, a clopen. That sucks. Well, I don’t. So I can get drunk, and you can watch me.” He flashed you a giant smile before taking off with the pizzas in hand, disappearing into the sea of people seated in the crowded restaurant.

Josh had befriended you on your very first day, comforting you after your manager harshly scolded you for ringing something in incorrectly.

“Don’t worry about it,” he’d said as you pouted in the chilly walk-in. “I still fuck my shit up all the time. The cooks don’t really care, plus if you mess somethin’ up, we get to eat the fucked up pizza.” That was the only thing he said to you the entire day, but it really stuck with you, immediately making you feel a lot better about your tiny mistake.

Now, after a few months of working side by side with Josh, you’d actually gotten to know each other fairly well, and you’d even go as far as calling him one of your good friends. You’d managed to get to know all your coworkers on a surface level, but Josh actually took the time to listen to you when you spoke, and showed real interest in the things you had to say, no matter how menial.

He was cute, and around the same age as you, but there was something about Josh that you couldn’t put your finger on. It was something that struck you, making him stand out from the rest of the guys you worked with. His aura pulled you in, and the way his eyes sparkled in the neon that covered the walls of the restaurant didn’t help the fact that he sometimes made your heart skip a beat. You decided that it was just his looks, though, catching you off guard every once in a while as you were around him more. Most importantly, he made you feel welcome. Like a good friend should.

The more you got to know Josh, the more open he became with you, and you quickly learned that his real personality outside of work was a little bit different than when you were on the clock. It’d become almost a habit, now, joining Josh at his favorite dive bar down the street when you’d both end up on the same closing schedule. It was like Groundhog Day, Josh would ask you to come out, you’d find an excuse to turn him down, but you always left Angelo’s with your hand in his as you tiredly dragged yourselves down the street. Sometimes other coworkers would join you, but it was always the two of you left shutting the bar down, joking and laughing with one another as you waited for your Ubers.

Josh was quickly becoming a norm for you. A fun, platonic norm. And though you were both flirty with one another, it never felt as though it would go past anything but that. Just friends. And you were very content with that.

So tonight, as things wound down and the patrons closed out their tabs, you felt as if you really could use a nightcap or two to reward yourself for not making even one mistake on your orders today.

As you tied the oversized trash bag closed, you met eyes with Josh as he skillfully swiped the mop across the sticky, sauce-covered floor.

He grinned when he saw you looking, making your stomach drop. “What?” He asked, biting his lower lip in as he staved off a full-on smile.

“Nothing. Just thinking about how you roped me into going out again tonight,” you said with faux aggravation.

Josh sucked in his teeth as he plopped the mop back into the big yellow bucket, rolling it over to where you stood. “Actually, I asked you out with me for another reason. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was gonna get absolutely shit hammered, tonight.” His tone was serious rather than silly, and you instantly felt like something was wrong.

“What’s the other reason?” You pressed, lifting the bag from the can. “Everything okay?”

He shook his head and swallowed, opening the double doors to the kitchen to go and dump his bucket. You followed closely behind him with your trash.

“Eh, not really. I’ll tell you all about it when we get there. Let’s lock this bitch up.” He flashed his eyes to the floor as he spoke, which was unlike him. He always spoke with such confidence and effortless ease that his dismissal of looking you in the eye struck you as strange.

The two of you finished up your closing tasks and said goodnight to the line cooks, grabbing up your things from your lockers and stuffing your aprons back inside. Josh was quiet the whole time, again striking you as out of the ordinary. You hadn’t known Josh long, but you did know him well enough to know that something was off, and he wasn’t handling it well.

“Think I’m going straight for liquor tonight,” he said as you walked arm in arm down the crowded sidewalk to the bar. He tilted his head back, blowing a puff of air above you as if he was trying his hardest not to cry.

“Damn,” you answered. “You must really be going through it, friend.” It was also unlike Josh to drink liquor; each time you were around him, he’d always chosen draft beer.

You both stepped inside the dimly-lit dive bar, letting the old smoky smell and sticky floors envelop you in their right-at-home feeling. You both took up camp on two stools at the end of the bar, closest to the back wall. The bartender Roy approached you, throwing down two bar napkins in front of you as you got comfortable in your seats.

“Evenin’, guys. Sex on the Beach andddd, Josh, we’ve got a Kolsch and a pale ale on tap, and also a—“

“Jack Daniel’s. Neat, please,” Josh interrupted Roy, causing him to contort his face with surprise.

“Been waiting on you almost five years and never known you to drink liquor. But, alright…” Roy responded as he left for a minute, returning and placing your drinks in front of you. “I’ll keep the tab goin’.”

It was silent between the two of you for the first couple of minutes, both of you sipping your drinks as you relaxed your muscles from the long workday. Finally, you decided you would have to be the one to speak first, for once.

“Okay, spill. What’s got you on the hard stuff tonight?” you asked, turning to face Josh in your stool.

He leaned on his elbow, his tight black t-shirt squeezing his toned arm just right. “I got dumped last night.”

You felt your eyebrows jump to your forehead. “What?! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Josh…I didn’t even know you had a—“

“Nah, it’s okay. I could kinda tell shit was going sideways, anyway, ya know? Almost expected it. But, still doesn’t make it hurt any less.” He disconnected his eye contact, tilting his glass back all the way and finishing off the last bit of his whiskey.

You were almost stunned speechless. You hadn’t seen Josh show any emotion that even came close to sadness before, and you struggled with how you were going to react.

Roy brought the bottle of Jack over, filling Josh’s glass with another two fingers. Roy gave you a quick look of intrigue, questioning Josh’s actions in the same way that you were.

“How long were you together?” you asked, tiptoeing with caution, given that he might not want to go into much detail.

“Four and a half years,” he said blankly.

“My god, are you serious?!” you choked out with disbelief.

He nodded hard as he kept his eyes trained on the bar in front of you, spinning his stool in tiny tight circles. “Yeah. Long time.” He sipped his drink again.

“I really am sorry, Josh. That’s a long time to be with someone for it to just...” you placed a hand on his arm as you spoke.

He crossed his arms in front of him. “Yeah, it’s fucked,” he growled, leaning back in his stool.

“You wanna talk about it?” you asked.

“No, that’s why we’re here.” He slammed his hands on the bar top, motioning for Roy to refill your already almost empty cocktail.

Roy brought your new drink over, stirring the drink with the tiny straw for you. Josh lifted his glass into the air, forcefully clinking it against yours. “To moving on!” He said, finishing the drink off once again.

——

An hour or so later, you and Josh had managed to find yourselves significantly intoxicated again, engaged in a deep passionate debate.

“Ever since they banned smoking indoors, the American bar scene has been fucked!” Josh drunkenly yelled overtop of the loud music and large crowd that had joined you inside the bar.

You had to laugh. “Josh, not everybody loves breathing that shit in! It makes some people really sick!” you challenged.

“Ah, hell. You come into a bar, you expect to be around smoke, all there is to it. All there is to it!” He crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders in defiance of your argument.

“You can go outside and smoke, Josh. Easy as that. Just get over it!” The two of you were glassy-eyed and giggly, feeling your liquor take hold of you as you talked. Josh brought about a warmth in you that you’d never experienced before, and you’d be lying if you said your…attraction? to him wasn’t amplified when you were drunk.

No, not attraction.

Something else…

You had no idea what to label the feeling, because you’d never felt it ever before. You took it in stride, though, embracing the completely new emotion as it came. It was almost like you craved his attention, and fed off of him engaging with you. You wanted to please him, but not in such a way that was sexual.

…You didn’t think.

No. You just craved his recognition. Wanted his eyes on you and no one else. Wanted to make him laugh, be the one who made him forget about everything else. It wasn’t a jealousy thing, it was a matter of possessiveness. You wanted to protect him like a best friend. And anyone who dared cause him unhappiness would have to deal with you.

‘Is this insane thinking?! Am I crazy for this?’ You drunkenly asked yourself as you washed your hands in the bar bathroom sink, giving yourself a disapproving look in the mirror. Probably, maybe…but he seems to feel the same about you... You had noticed that the second you’d inadvertently struck up a conversation with another guy at the bar, Josh quickly stole your attention away again, bringing up a whole new topic of conversation that had nothing to do with the last.

He charmed you. Drew you in. Challenged your thoughts and opinions…made you talk like you’d never talked before. Laugh like you’d never laughed.

“You’re really smart, Y/N. I didn’t really notice that about you, before,” Josh smiled as he leaned over toward you on the bar. His cheeks were tinted the prettiest pink from the alcohol, his eyes twinkling from the flash of the old TV above you.

“Uhh, thanks, I guess?” you chortled, feigning being offended.

“No I mean, you surprise me. Keep me guessing, every time I turn around. Never had a friend like that before. I’m usually so bored with everyone I meet. You make me like, think. Ya know?” He explained as you nodded sweetly in understanding. You knew you were blushing.

“Last call!!” You heard Roy yell across the still-crowded room. You made blurry eye contact with Josh again.

“Damn, we didddit agin,” you stammered. “Let me pay, you’ve had a hard couple’a days.”

“No no no, no you don’t. I asked you here, my treat. Plus, my drinks were fuckin’ pricey tonight.”

“But Josh, let me treat you, for once...” You jutted your bottom lip out as you begged him. You watched as his eyes landed on your lips, stealing his attention again. Suddenly, you felt excited.

“Alright, alright. But I’m leavin’ the tip,” he agreed. “I just needed some sympathy…that’s all I wanted tonight.”

“And you got it, didn’t you? You forgot all about your messy breakup?”

“For the most part, yes,” he laughed. “But I like to look at the long run, ya know? Like to take each step, one by one. Let myself live in the sadness, as long as it helps me heal.”

You scoffed as you signed your name on the receipt and pulled your coat on. “Psh, Josh, didn’t you just cheers me and say ‘to moving on’?”

He stood from his stool, wrapping his right arm around your neck tightly. The smell of his cologne mixed with the remnants of pizza filled your senses, temporarily making you dizzy as he squeezed you in his grip.

“I did, Y/N, I did. But I’m also drunk, now. Sooo. And also, I don’t really wanna go home yet. ‘M gonna walk you to your Uber then hit up Chauncey’s…they stay open ‘til 2.”

You turned in his grasp, your face within inches of his as he still held you tightly. “Don’t go back out, Josh. No sense in drinkin’ your sorrows away by yourself.” It felt like you were outside of your own body; all you wanted was to go home and strip down and crawl into bed, but for some reason, your mouth told Josh that apparently you didn’t want to go home, either. “Come back to my place. We’ll have one more drink, and we can share the blunt that TJ gave me yesterday.”

“TJ? The line cook?” Josh seemed surprised. “You letting strangers give you drugs now, Y/N?”

“He’s hardly a stranger, Josh. Why, you jealous?” You teased, while also testing the waters of what the hell this feeling the two of you apparently shared could actually be.

“Fuck no, I’m not jealousss. I’m…I…” Josh opened his mouth, but nothing came out after that. “I don’t know, I just—“ You were still tightly wrapped up in the crook of his elbow, his face so close to yours that you could smell the liquor on his breath as he struggled to speak, his hooded eyes bouncing around the room as he slurred.

You decided to save him. “It’s alright Josh. You don’t have to come over. I’ll smoke it allllll by myself…” you sneakily wrapped your arm around his back, giving it a couple playful pats.

He looked down at you through his lashes, his jaw clenched tightly together as he pressed his mouth to your ear. “You really want me to come over?”

You nodded. “I do. Come on, it’ll be fun.” More than anything, you wanted him to know you were the reason he had such a good night, and the reason he was able to forget about his breakup.

“Okay, jackass. You talked me into it. Let’s go get high.” He released you from his grasp as you confirmed your Uber on your phone, and your overwhelming satisfaction of claiming his attention again propelled you out the door.

——

“Cute place. You decorate it yourself?” Josh teased as you both entered your apartment. It was only half-decorated and you hardly had any furniture, spending most of your days working and saving up money to finish furnishing it.

“Shut up, dick head!” You shoved him backwards as he laughed. “I haven’t finished making it cute yet.” You pulled the bottle of liquor from the cabinet, shaking the little bit that was left. “I know you’ve been drinking whiskey, but…vodka’s all I’ve got.”

“Ah, it’ll work.” Josh responded, plopping down on your couch. “M’already fucked with a hangover tomorrow, might as well do it up.” You caught sight of his pretty light brown curls sitting on top of his head, and you felt another rush of that strange excitement soar through you.

You made the two drinks and joined him on the couch, pulling the blunt up under your nose as you breathed in its earthy scent. Josh took the drink from your hand, raising his eyebrows as he watched you smell the rolled marijuana.

“TJ usually has good shit, I will say,” he winked, sipping his drink.

You pulled your feet up underneath you on the couch, scooting yourself closer to him. “Thought you said I shouldn’t take drugs from strangers…”

“I never said you shouldn’t, I just meant that next time you should get your weed from me.” He spoke without a care, taking the blunt from your hand and bringing it to his own nose.

“Ah, well I was unaware I could do that, Joshua.” You snatched it back from him, taking the lighter from the table in front of you and lighting the end of the blunt. You inhaled the smoke slowly, noticing that Josh hadn’t responded to you.

You glanced at him, finding the most devastating half smile on his face. You swore you felt your skin tingle.

“Did you just call me by my government name, Y/N?” He whispered, leaning his head down to you.

You exhaled the smoke you didn’t realize you were holding, nodding slowly. “Yeah, you mad about it?”

You passed him the blunt. “Nah, kinda liked the way it sounded, actually.” You watched as his lips made a perfect O around the tip of the blunt, and you found yourself wondering what kind of lip balm he used to get them to look…like that…

You felt your eyes grow heavy as your first hit found you, the THC entering your system quickly. Josh must have noticed, as he giggled at your appearance. “Told you TJ had good shit.”

“I swear to god I’m already fuckin’ high…” you laughed, taking another big hit.

“Mmm, no baby, you’re crossed. But not all the way. Yet.” Josh’s voice was gritty and buttery all at the same time. And the fact that he called you baby had you feeling that same feeling again. He calls everybody baby, though…all the girls at work…you’re not special.

The two of you sat and smoked until the blunt was a roach, and the air around you was thick with haziness. Your entire body was heavy and floaty, and you swore you could feel the blood pumping through your extremities. The conversation with Josh was so easy, so effortless, and the way the two of you held the complete attention of one another continued to astound you.

“So tell me about you. What’s your real story?” Josh asked, the both of you sitting facing one another completely, now.

You sipped your vodka drink. “What do you mean, real story?”

“I only know a little bit about you, where did you come from? What’s in your past?”

You took a deep breath. “Well, believe it or not, Josh, I kinda just got broken up with recently, too.”

“No way, you’re kidding. When? What happened?” He pressed.

“Ahh, about a month before I started at Angelo’s. I’m from about twenty miles away, up north a bit. Came here looking to start completely fresh. Still close enough to my family, if I need them. Ya know…” you trailed off. Josh’s eyes were telling you to continue.

“I got dumped, too. After a year of being with him. I thought we were serious, but apparently not. It didn’t hurt me too bad, I’m alright. Liking my new life pretty well, actually.”

Josh dramatically leaned back on the couch cushion, throwing his free hand over his face. “Ugh, god…how embarrassing. You handled bein’ dumped like a goddamned rockstar. I’m over here down in the dumps.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay, Josh. Four and a half years is a lot longer than one…”

“You’re right, I guess.” He sat back up, bringing his attention back to you. “So what was his reason? What was his last straw?” He asked, moving his face closer to yours. Your body was vibrating from the alcohol and the weed, and the presence of Josh sitting so close to you on your couch. You were positively buzzing.

“He uh, didn’t really give me one. Just said it was over,” you whispered, feeling your emotions flying all over the place. Josh’s hand reached up, twirling a piece of your hair between his fingers. “He also said I was a bad kisser, or something stupid.”

Josh winced at your words. “A bad kisser? I highly doubt that, Y/N…”

“And why do you doubt that?” You giggled.

“Because. I have a hard time taking my eyes off your lips, I can only imagine how hard it would be to take my lips off of them…” he smirked a little, laughing through his nose.

“You’re fuckin’ stoned,” you laughed, leaning your face onto his hand.

“And? I speak nothing but the truth, baby.”

“Mmmhm, yeah. Shut up,” you complained.

“I’m serious. I bet you really are a good kisser. That guy was just…stupid.”

“Maybe I’m a horrible kisser, how would I ever know?” You shrugged, feeling your body about to jump out of your skin simply from having this conversation with Josh.

He held his first two fingers up, motioning for you to come here. “Come on. Show me how you like to kiss.”

“What?! No, I’m not gonna do that,” you blushed, pulling away from him with shyness.

“Baby, it’s me. I’m just trying to judge your kissing skills. I’ll be completely honest with you, tell you if that guy was right or not,” Josh said, holding his hands out to the sides.

You stopped, staring at him through your slit eyelids, trying to figure him out. He met you with sincere eyes, and though you were both extremely intoxicated, you didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least.

“I’m serious. Just kiss me,” he ordered matter of factly. “S’no big deal.”

You took a deep breath, feeling the air surrounding you heavy with normalcy, but also heavy with yearning.

You slowly pulled yourself in closer to him, gently wetting your lips as your mind went back and forth on whether or not to do this. Your breath became a little chopped, nerves bursting through the wall of your drunken carelessness.

Finally you were close enough to feel his breath on your lips, and your hands naturally shot up to cup his jaw. He clenched it, his eyes falling heavy again as his breath caught. Your heart was absolutely pounding from your chest being in this close proximity with him.

“Do it,” he whispered. “Show me.”

You finally let your lips press gently to his, your hands still cupping his jaw, as his hands sat comfortably in his lap. The feeling of them was exactly what you had imagined. Soft, supple, and sweet, with the tiniest bit of sting on them from the leftover liquor. You finally exhaled, pulling away a bit to gauge his reaction.

“You can get into it, baby,” he smiled, urging you to push through your nerves. “I’m just here to help, s’just me…” his voice was like honey, the sound of it tearing through your body as he motivated you.

You leaned in again, this time letting yourself be a little more brazen, a little more steadfast as you worked to prove your ex wrong. Worked to impress Josh. Worked to show him. You opened your mouth a little, letting your tongue skirt across his bottom lip. The flavor of him almost knocked you down.

You began to get into it some more, letting your high take over, and letting your guard down as you found yourself really, really enjoying kissing him. You perched up a little bit, moving to your knees to get a better stance.

“Mmmhmm… keep goin’ baby…” Josh mumbled when you broke away for a second. His words urged you on, and you felt brave enough to push your tongue further into his mouth, but only a little. You didn’t want to overwhelm, just experiment. His tongue met yours in the process, tasting each other for the very first time.

Your hands curled up in his hair, squeezing at the roots a bit. He let out a little whine, so quiet that you almost didn’t even hear it. It ignited something inside you again, and you knew you had to drive it home. Had to prove yourself. You pulled away for a second, hissing in air as you bit his bottom lip, pulling it out a little and making eye contact before pressing into him again, both of you moving in such unison that you were fully involved in the sultry kiss, now.

At this point you felt like you were teetering on the thin line of platonic kissing; you were still trying to prove yourself, but also…he tasted so good…

You felt the need to be touched. You reached down and grabbed Josh’s wrists, pulling them up to rest on you- one hand on your thigh, and the other around the back of your neck. You wanted reciprocation. He obliged, and as you licked into his mouth, his hand squeezed into your thigh, strong and needing. His fingers felt like burning embers on your leg, and you wished that you had changed into shorts when you got home.

His hand pulled at the back of your neck, burying your mouths further into one another for a few seconds as you watched his brow furrow, his eyes peeking open just a little to take you in.

“Fuck, baby…he was wrong, you proved him so wrong…” Josh said, smiling against your lips as he delved back in. Your mind was swimming from his words of praise, and you decided that though this was simply an act between friends, you knew that you could kiss him all day long, never tiring of the feeling of his lips on yours. You were completely surrounded by him, by his warming presence. His scent, his sounds, his touch… It was all too much. You felt like you were drowning in him, but you didn’t dare try to pull yourself from his waters.

Your hands squeezed at his hair one last time as you let them drift down his cheeks and neck, tickling the back of it before rolling across his shoulders. You slowly brought them down to his pecs, and finally rested them on his cheeks again, pulling his face away from yours for a split second before landing one last peck.

When you finally disconnected, you took in the sight of him…hair disheveled, eyes black and glazed, and his hands still rested gently in the places that you put them.

“Holy fuck…” he breathed.

“Oh my god, was it bad? It was bad, wasn’t it? He was right, I’m a horrible kis—“ you were completely cut off by Josh’s lips on yours again, this time forcefully pulling you into him. This kiss was pleading, unbridled, and wanting, and each time you pulled away, you both were panting with want.

“What the fuck are we doing?” You breathed when you broke away.

“Kissing contest,” he answered, his hand respectfully staying on the back of your neck. “I think I’m winning, though…”

“Mmm, I don’t know about that…” you said with a bit more confidence in yourself after seeing how you made him feel.

“Yeah you’re right,” he agreed through an inhale. “You’re kicking my ass at this experiment.” He drove his tongue into your mouth again, but it didn’t make you want to retract…it made you want to pull it in further. You began to feel the heat that the two of you were emanating, and the sweat that was forming on your skin.

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t completely turned on, but you would never let him know that. You couldn’t. You’re just friends. One friend helping another get over his ex by having a kissing contest. Makes total sense.

Finally you pulled away again, covering your mouth with your hand. You laughed, making Josh in turn laugh with you. “Well? What’s the verdict? Was he right?” You asked.

“Fuck no, he wasn’t right. You’re a hell of a kisser, Y/N.” Josh’s smile stretched all the way across his face, completely blissed out in his high. His hand came up to shyly wipe at his eyes as he huffed a breath. “God damn, you left me a panting mess, baby.”

Your heart stopped at his words, feeling more confidence in yourself than you’d felt in a long, long time. Suddenly, the wildest idea to ever come across your mind escaped right through your lips.

“Josh, we’re just good friends, right?” you asked.

“Yeah, baby. Real good friends,” he wiped his hand across his mouth before extending both arms across the back of your couch.

“Do you—do you care if I finish what I started?” you asked in an absolute moment of weakness. The look on his face turned up into surprise, and you weren’t sure how he was going to react to your question.

“What uh, what do you mean, Y/N?”

You moved toward him again, wanting to feel him again. Feel his hands on you again. Be the center of all his attention again.

“Can you judge something else for me, Josh? I’ve always wondered how well I…performed…and who better to be the judge than my very good friend? Who will be completely honest with me?”

WHO even are you?! You felt like a person outside your own body. The confidence he was giving you was…

“This ain’t no way to treat the broken-hearted, baby…” he replied, his voice a soft breath of air as his head lulled backwards. You paused again, unsure how to take him. “But I’ll be your judge…”

“Really? You will?” You asked, feeling vulnerable, but also wanting to show out for him.

“Mhm. If that’s what you really want…” He bit his lower lip into his mouth, letting his eyes fall onto your lips like they had been doing all night.

“Just friends…” you reiterated.

“Just friends,” he parroted, lightly tapping your cheek with his hand.

This was absolutely something you never did, and definitely wasn’t something you could ever even see yourself doing with Josh, of all people. You were supposed to be making him forget about his ex, letting him talk through it… hell, he was just dumped twenty-four hours ago. But there was something other-worldly spurring you on, whispering in your ear to just do it. And he was letting you. Was it wrong? Maybe, probably… but honestly, where was the harm in it? You were both obviously into each other, and as long as you were just making each other happy, you didn’t see anything wrong with it.

Besides, this new need to make him think about nothing but you at every single second was making your head spin, and you wanted his focus completely on you, right now. You moved to press your lips to his again, letting things naturally heat up so that you could continue on with your intentions. You took a deep breath, confidently removing yourself from the couch, placing yourself in the floor in front of him. It was at this second that you were extremely thankful for your liquid courage, and the fact that you were too stoned to care about much else besides pleasing Josh. He almost made it easy.

“Ten,” Josh said out of nowhere.

“What?” you asked.

“I give your kissing a ten out of ten. Seriously,” he said, smiling from the corner of his mouth as he ran his hand along your arm, peering down at you as you kneeled on the floor.

You felt your face turn beet red, and you halfway didn’t really believe him.

“Stop playing, you don’t have to be nice,” you erred.

“M’not just being nice. Seriously, I rate it a ten,” he stated, and you knew by the sincerity in his voice that he was telling the truth.

“Wow. Didn’t expect that, honestly,” you pulled a few strands of hair behind your ear. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Now, you gonna finish what ya started, or not?” There was a darkness in his tone that you hadn’t noticed yet, and it made your stomach turn over with nerves. But even more so, it lit a fuse in your chest that was slowly burning, ready to explode at any given second. And with each passing minute, you wanted to impress him even more.

You maneuvered yourself on your knees, gripping his thighs and pulling them apart so that you could place yourself between them. Your hands stayed there on his legs, squeezing and kneading at his muscles as you moved your hands closer and closer to where you both really wanted them to be. You could almost physically see him getting harder through his dark jeans, and you could hear his breathing picking up, too.

You let your hands drift to his groin, squeezing the muscles there as he leaned down in his seat, giving you extra space as his head fell back on the cushions. You found the button on his jeans, pulling the fabric sideways and undoing the button with one hand and unzipping the zipper.

“Damn, alright…” Josh laughed, holding his hands up. “Show off.”

You took that as a tiny win, and decided to keep it going, playing on his words from earlier. ‘You keep me guessing at every turn…’

You pushed your hair back behind your shoulders, and leaned yourself down, letting your mouth meet his boxer-covered dick. You nipped your teeth lightly at it, making him hiss. You could tell just from this little bit of contact that he was well-endowed, and you felt your mouth physically watering for him. You needed to taste him. Your lips bounced around, peppering little kisses all over… the indirect contact making his hips jut up a little.

You sat back, motioning with your hands. “Pull them down for me,” you demanded of him, and he gave you the sneakiest smirk, leaning back and pushing his pants and boxers down far enough to spring himself free.

You weren’t wrong. He was perfectly sized, and it reassured you that you were okay with going forward with this. What you did notice, though, was he wasn’t as hard as you wanted him to be. Your hands rested on his thighs again as you sized him up, licking your lips as you prepared yourself.

Josh had been the one urging you on all night, but suddenly, it felt like there had been a little bit of a shift. You finally brought your moistened lips to him, licking little circles around his tip, starting slowly at first, then picking up a little bit of speed. You swirled and gently suckled, and you felt him take in a big breath of air into his lungs. You glanced up at him, finding him looking up at the ceiling as he bit his lips.

“What’sa matter, Josh? You okay?” you pressed, knowing that you could stop at any second, if that was what he wanted.

“No, yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry, I just… this is the first time someone else…since…” he didn’t need to say anything more.

“God, yeah. I’m sorry, your breakup is so fresh, I’m sure this is more mental than anything, for you…” you agreed as you sat back. “We don’t have to–”

“No. Yes we do, Y/N. I’m just…” You could tell Josh was having a hard time with his words again, for the second time tonight.

“Just what? You can tell me…” you tried comforting him, placing your hands lower on his knees.

He swallowed, placing a sweet hand on the side of your face. “This is the first time I’ve um…been…with a woman…in a very long time.”

“Oh,” you muttered, his sentiment catching you off guard a little. You hadn’t realized you never even asked the name of his ex, let alone any details about the relationship.

“But it’s okay, Y/N,” he smiled, letting his thumb brush your cheek. “I may be wallowing in my sorrows, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want this, want you to do this. Just…in my head a little bit,” he admitted, putting a hole through your heart.

You sighed. “It doesn’t feel wrong?” Your voice was tiny as it escaped you.

He quickly shook his head side to side as he layed back on his elbow behind his head. “No. That’s what’s making me freak out a little, it doesn’t feel wrong in the least,” he swallowed. “Maybe I…Maybe I wasn’t as in love as I thought I was.”

You smiled a pitiful smile as you rested your elbows on his knees, taking a deep, recentering breath of your own as the heavy air fell silent around you.

“You’re really fuckin’ pretty, Y/N,” he complimented you out of the blue, his thumb still grazing your cheek. “And I’m really into you.”

“You are?” you asked.

“Yeah. I know we said we’re friends, but friends can do this. Right? Doesn’t stop the fact that I’m attracted to you.” His glossy words made your stomach do flips again as you realized maybe his feelings were the exact same as yours. Unexplainable, but still overwhelmingly good.

“Yeah. I really think friends can do this,” you agreed. And you were serious. If you were going to be this person for Josh, then he could also in turn be this person for you.

“Plus, the feeling of your lips on my cock just now…” He laughed through his nose. “Might be in competition with your ten out of ten kissing. And you hadn’t even shown me what they could do, yet.” He stopped there, biting both his lips into his mouth as he slid his hips down again, cocking an eyebrow.

Good god, you’d hoped he would have a little bit of a dirty mouth.

“You want me to keep going?” You asked.

“Fuck yeah, I do. I gotta judge your skill, don’t I?” He played, removing his hand from your cheek and running it through your hair. He gripped it a little, making you stiffen your neck. Your eyes flashed to his, and you didn’t even need to say anything, he knew what you meant. He nodded, giving you the go ahead, and you prayed that he wouldn’t remove his hand from tangling up in your hair.

You slowly leaned down to him again, starting things up just as you had before. Your tongue swirled on his tip, wetting it in circles as you let the saliva build up in your mouth. Around and around you took it, descending further and further onto him with every rotation. You heard him breathe out, his hips shaking a little beneath you. As you got as far as you could get, you pursed your lips down, tightening them around the base of his dick before sucking hard, pulling up and off of him completely. His hand tightened in your hair, showing you that he was liking it so far.

He let out a groan, followed by a little laugh. “Fuck yeah, Y/N…”

You quickly found a rhythm, letting your head begin to bob as you worked your tongue and cheeks, alternating forceful suction mixed with light little pops of your lips. His hips were jutting with every movement, and the sounds that were coming from him were enough to keep you going, keep you striving to impress him…

You took him in your hand, gripping at the base and using the saliva that had dripped down as lubrication to move your hand, twisting and pumping it. “Jesus Christ, you’re…”

You took a second to glance up at him, seeing his jaw tightly clenched and his chest heaving with labored breaths. He brought his other hand down, pulling the hair that had drifted down away from your face, pulling it all back to the nape of your neck and holding it tightly there. You nodded, letting him know you were okay with him guiding your movements.

“Mhm,” you hummed on him. “Show me how you like it.”

He let out a choke of breath and readjusted in his seat, spreading his legs wider for you. He gripped a little harder on your hair, pulling you up and across his stomach, your faces almost touching as he brought his mouth close. He didn’t say anything, just hissed through his teeth as he scanned over your face. He then used a little bit of force to push your head back down to where it was, and you resumed your work.

Fuck, what the hell is happening… your chemistry with Josh was absolutely off the chain. You felt like you would follow every command he would ever give you, let him use you in the worst ways, completely trusting him to do as he pleased. You were absolutely yearning to satisfy him.

“I’ll show you exactly how I like it baby, but this is your show, remember? You’re calling the shots…” he growled, his voice deeper and more grating than it was earlier. You shrugged one shoulder, replacing your hand around his base. You moved it up and down opposite of your mouth, making his whole body start to shake. Your tongue worked on him, as your mouth drifted down as far as it could possibly go, with the help of Josh’s light guidance.

The weed had contributed to your slow, languid movements while the alcohol made your inhibitions fly out the window… the beautiful combo of the crossfade sending you both into a blurry and slow-motioned entanglement. You swore you could listen to his noises and praises on repeat as they dripped from his lips, quiet and comforting, as devious as they were.

“So fuckin’ pretty, Y/N… so fuckin’ pretty…” he mumbled, lightly thrusting himself into your mouth as your neck began to ache a little. “Slow and steady, just like that…”

He puffed out a quick breath with a blow of his lips, and you could tell that he was enjoying himself just as much as you were. Normally, you would finish up the job, and expect repayment, but getting Josh to even feel the tiniest bit of pleasure at your hand was enough. It was that draw, that need to make him feel good. Keeping him and him only in the spotlight. And if you had to guess, you were doing a pretty good job at it.

After a few seconds, his movements became jostled, and his once slow grinding movements started to falter. You felt him start to throb in your mouth, and you knew it wouldn’t be long until he was crumbling beneath you, all at the mercy of your mouth.

“Hey, you want me to–” he said, suddenly shuddering.

You nodded again, pleading with him to let it all go. You wanted the whole thing, wanted him to have the full experience. You needed to see what he tasted like.

His breath started to pick up as he gripped your hair tighter, his hips pushing his dick further into your mouth as you let him graze the back of your throat, tears pouring from the sides of your eyes. “Come on baby, come on… just a little bit longer…fuck…”

Finally, he was letting it all go, filling up your mouth as you swallowed his bitter-sweetness down, savoring the taste of him on your tongue. His whole body went rigid as he came, shaking and jerking as you worked to make sure not a drop was left behind. You squeezed your hand around him, pulling him up into your mouth. His whines were like music to your ears, pathetic and pitiful as he worked to come back down to earth.

“Son of a bitch, Y/N… that was…” he said as you sat back up, wiping your mouth off with the back of your hand. He caught your jaw in his grasp, squeezing your cheeks together and forcing you to open your mouth. He pulled you closer, bringing you in for a heated kiss that left you smoldering for him.

When you finally pulled away, you met eyes with him, and you could tell he was completely blissed out. “S’been a long time since I’ve had anything like that.” He admitted, pulling your back up to sit by him on the couch again.

He tucked himself back in his boxers but decided to forgo buttoning back up. “Really? Even in a four and a half year long relationship?” you asked.

“Ah, I dunno. We were long distance, so… it was few and far between but. Really I meant being with someone who actually showed passion about making me feel good. You know what I mean?”

You couldn’t help but smile. That was exactly what you wanted out of this. For Josh to feel that you wanted to be there.

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I just…wanted to make you feel good,” you admitted, shrugging one shoulder up as you brushed your disheveled hair back into place. “So, what’s my rating, huh? Give it to me straight.”

Josh closed one eye and looked up with the other as if he was thinking really hard. “Uh, nine and a half.”

Your mouth fell slack, and you felt the soreness in your jaw joints. “Ah! Why the half?!” you argued. “Not a ten?”

He chuckled. “Would be a ten, but I only took away the half because I know that I won’t be able to feel you like that all the time.” You both stared at one another as you let his words sink in.

Could you, though?

“And because I feel like you were holding back, a little. Weren’t you?” he pressed. His statement took you by surprise, because he was right.

“...Maybe…”

“You shouldn’t have. It’s just me, remember. Guess you’ll have to show up and show out next time. See if you can get a perfect ten,” he said with nonchalance.

“Next time?” you spat without a thought.

He shrugged, squeezing his hand around your thigh. “Sure, why not? If you want to, of course. Might be fun to have a little situation we’re both comfortable with… no strings attached type thing…”

You ran over the idea in your head, not really seeing anything wrong with it. You nodded, agreeing with his outlandish proposal.

“But, there is one thing, Y/N,” he swallowed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “Obviously I… um. I didn’t make you feel good, tonight. But, just give me some–”

You cupped your hand over Josh’s mouth. “Josh, honey, shut up. You don’t have to explain it to me. I understand, and it’s okay. If we’re gonna do this, it's all gonna be in good fun, right?”

He nodded from behind your hand. “Right,” he mumbled.

“And I certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable with you, so. I’m pretty positive we could just sit here and look at each other and we would have a good time,” you laughed, pulling your hand from his face. He caught your hand in his, and gave it a sweet squeeze.

“Not sure I’d be able to sit by you for too long without something happening. You’re a fuckin’ treat, Y/N. I swear.” His eyes traveled down your body again, and you watched his gears turn as his gaze drifted over your breasts. “Thank you, for tonight.”

“Thank you,” you whispered. “We still friends?”

He took your chin between his fingers. “Yeah. Good friends.”

As the air between you finally started to settle and the intoxication turned into sobriety, you realized that the night was nearly about to turn into morning. You didn’t have to be at work until 11, so you were going to be able to get at least a little bit of sleep before your shift tomorrow.

“It’s too late to get an Uber, Josh. Just stay here,” you more demanded than suggested, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch and tossing it overtop of his lap. You stood, stretching your body as you made your way toward your bedroom.

“What, you not gonna invite me to your bed?” He asked, throwing you off.

“Uhh, I mean, sure–”

“I’m kidding, Y/N. We’re friends. Friends don’t sleep in beds together. Friends sleep on couches.” You watched as he burrowed himself under the puffy blanket and made himself horizontal.

“Maybe one day you’ll end up in my bed.” You tossed the joke over your shoulder, walking down the short hallway.

“And maybe one day you’ll get a perfect ten.”

xoxoxo jules

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gretavangroupie · 1 year ago

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G13 - Finish What Ya Started

Spinning Now: "Finish What Ya Started" by Van Halen (1988)

Pairing: Josh x Female Reader

Word Count: 8.2k

Description: You and Josh, your favorite new co worker, decide to share more than drinks as what started as a normal night turns into something you never expected.

Warnings: Smoking, Drinking, Cursing, Drug Use, Heavy Flirting, Praise, Dirty Talk, Touching, Mention of Breakups and Heartbreak, Sadness. Smut: Kissing, Oral M!Receiving

New town, new job, new life.

That’s always how things went in the movies, and every time, the girl always got her happy ending.

How hard can it be, right?

“You coming to the bar with me tonight?” your new favorite coworker, Josh asked as he stared into the kitchen from the expo window, rolling a pile of coasters across the countertop.

“Mmmh…” You mumbled under your breath. “I dunno, I’ve been here since lunch and my feet are absolutely killing me.”

”Ugh don’t be such a prude, Y/N.” He responded, taking a pepperoni and cheese in one hand, and a supreme in the other. “We’ll be sitting down the whole time. Ya know. In barstools.”

“Shut the fuck up.” You teased, elbowing him in the ribs. “I guess so, but I can’t stay out late like last weekend. I open tomorrow.”

Josh had befriended you on your very first day, comforting you after your manager harshly scolded you for ringing something in incorrectly.

“Don’t worry about it.” He’d said as you pouted in the walk-in. “I still fuck my shit up all the time. The cooks don’t really care, plus if you mess somethin’ up, we get to eat the fucked up pizza.” That was the only thing he said to you the entire day, but it really stuck with you, immediately making you feel a lot better about your tiny mistake.

So tonight, as things wound down and the patrons closed out their tabs, you felt as if you really could use a nightcap or two to reward yourself for not making even one mistake on your orders today.

As you tied the oversized trash bag closed, you met eyes with Josh as he skillfully swiped the mop across the sticky, sauce-covered floor.

He grinned when he saw you looking, making your stomach drop. “What?” He asked, biting his lower lip in as he staved off a full-on smile.

“Nothing. Just thinking about how you roped me into going out again tonight.” You said with faux aggravation.

Josh sucked in his teeth as he plopped the mop back into the big yellow bucket, rolling it over to where you stood. “Actually, I asked you out with me tonight for another reason. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was gonna get absolutely shit hammered, tonight.” His tone was serious rather than silly, and you instantly felt like something was wrong.

“What’s the other reason?” You pressed, lifting the bag from the can. “Everything okay?”

He shook his head and swallowed, opening the double doors to the kitchen to go and dump his bucket. You followed closely behind him with your trash.

“Think I’m going straight for liquor tonight.” He said as you walked arm in arm down the crowded sidewalk to the bar. He tilted his head back, blowing a puff of air above you, watching as the cold air turned it into steam.

“Damn.” You answered. “You must really be going through it, friend.” It was also unlike Josh to drink liquor; each time you were around him, he’d always chosen draft beer.

You both stepped inside the dimly-lit dive bar, letting the heat warm your chilly bones from the cold autumn air. You both took up camp on two stools at the end of the bar, closest to the back wall. The bartender Roy approached you, throwing down two bar napkins in front of you as you got comfortable in your seats.

“Evenin’, guys. Sex on the Beach andddd, Josh, we’ve got a Kolsch and a pale ale on tap, and also a—“

“Jack Daniel’s. Neat, please.” Josh interrupted Roy, causing him to contort his face with surprise.

“Okay, spill. What’s got you on the hard stuff tonight?” You asked, turning to face Josh in your stool.

He leaned on his elbow, his tight black t-shirt squeezing his toned arm just right. “I got dumped last night.”

You felt your eyebrows jump to your forehead. “What?! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Josh…I didn’t even know you had a—“

You were almost stunned speechless. You hadn’t seen Josh show any emotion that even came close to sadness before, and you struggled with how you were going to react.

Roy brought the bottle of Jack over, filling Josh’s glass with another two fingers.

“How long were you together?” You asked, tiptoeing with caution, given that he might not want to go into much detail.

“Four and a half years.” He said blankly.

“My god, are you serious?!” You choked out with disbelief.

He nodded hard as he kept his eyes trained on the bar in front of you, spinning his stool in tiny tight circles. “Yeah. Long time.” He sipped his drink again.

“I really am sorry, Josh. That’s a long time to be with someone for it to just...” You placed a hand on his arm as you spoke.

He crossed his arms in front of him. “Yeah, it’s fucked.” He growled, leaning back in his stool.

“You wanna talk about it?” You asked.

“No, that’s why we’re here.” He slammed his hands on the bar top, motioning for Roy to refill your already almost empty cocktail.

——

An hour or so later, you and Josh had managed to find yourselves significantly intoxicated once again, engaged in a deep passionate debate.

“Ever since they banned smoking indoors, the American bar scene has been fucked!” Josh drunkenly yelled overtop of the loud music and large crowd that had joined you inside the bar.

You had to laugh. “Josh, not everybody loves breathing that shit in! It makes some people really sick!” You challenged.

“Ah, hell. You come into a bar, you expect to be around smoke, all there is to it. All there is to it!” He crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders in defiance of your argument.

No, not attraction.

Something else…

…You didn’t think.

Is this insane thinking?! Am I crazy for this? You drunkenly asked yourself as you washed your hands in the bar bathroom sink, giving yourself a disapproving look in the mirror. Probably, maybe…but he seems to feel the same about you... You had noticed that the second you’d inadvertently struck up a conversation with another guy at the bar, Josh quickly stole your attention away again, bringing up a whole new topic of conversation that had nothing to do with the last.

He charmed you. Drew you in. Challenged your thoughts and opinions…made you talk like you’d never talked before. Laugh like you’d never laughed.

“You’re really smart, Y/N. I didn’t really notice that about you, before.” Josh smiled as he leaned over toward you on the bar. His cheeks were tinted the prettiest pink from the alcohol.

“Uhh, thanks, I guess?” You chortled, feigning being offended.

“Last call!!” You heard Roy yell across the still-crowded room. You made blurry eye contact with Josh again.

“Damn, we didddit agin.” You stammered. “Let me pay, you’ve had a hard couple’a days.”

“No no no, no you don’t. I asked you here, my treat. Plus, my drinks were fuckin’ pricey tonight.”

“But Josh, let me treat you, for once...” You jutted your bottom lip out as you begged him. You watched as his eyes landed on your lips, stealing his attention again. Suddenly, you felt excited.

“Alright, alright. But I’m leavin’ the tip.” He agreed. “I just needed some sympathy…that’s all I wanted tonight.”

“And you got it, didn’t you? You forgot all about your messy breakup?”

“For the most part, yes.” He laughed. “But I like to look at the long run, ya know? Like to take each step, one by one. Let myself live in the sadness.”

You scoffed as you signed your name on the receipt and pulled your coat on. “Psh, Josh, didn’t you just cheers me and say ‘to moving on’?”

He stood from his stool, wrapping his arm around your neck tightly. The smell of his cologne mixed with the remnants of pizza filled your senses, temporarily making you dizzy as he squeezed you in his grip.

“I did, Y/N, I did. But I’m also drunk, now. So. And also, I don’t really wanna go home yet. ‘M gonna walk you to your Uber then hit up Chauncey’s…they stay open ‘til 2.”

You turned in his grasp, your face within inches of his as he held you tightly. “Don’t go back out, Josh. No sense in drinkin’ your sorrows away by yourself.” It felt like you were outside of your own body; all you wanted was to go home and strip down and crawl into bed, but for some reason, your mouth told Josh that apparently you didn’t want to go home, either. “Come back to my place. We’ll have one more drink, and we can share the blunt that TJ gave me yesterday.”

“TJ? The linecook?” Josh seemed surprised. “You letting strangers give you drugs now, Y/N?”

“He’s hardly a stranger, Josh. Why, you jealous?” You teased, while also testing the waters of what the hell this feeling the two of you apparently shared could actually be.

“Fuck no, I’m not jealous. I’m…I…” Josh opened his mouth, but nothing came out after that. “I don’t know, I just—“ You were still tightly wrapped up in the crook of his elbow, his face so close to yours that you could smell the liquor on his breath as he struggled to speak.

You decided to save him. “It’s alright Josh. You don’t have to come over. I’ll smoke it allllll by myself…” you sneakily wrapped your arm around his back, giving it a couple playful pats.

He looked down at you through his lashes, his jaw clenched tightly together. “You really want me to come over?”

You nodded. “I do. Come on, it’ll be fun.” More than anything, you wanted him to know you were the reason he had such a good night, and the reason he was able to forget about his breakup.

——

“TJ usually has good shit, I will say.” He winked, sipping his drink.

You pulled your feet up underneath you on the couch, scooting yourself closer to him. “Thought you said I shouldn’t take drugs from strangers…”

“I never said you shouldn’t, I just meant that next time you should get your weed from me.” He spoke without a care, taking the blunt from your hand and bringing it to his own nose.

You glanced at him, finding the most devastating half smile on his face. You swore you felt your skin tingle.

“Did you just call me by my government name, Y/N?” He whispered, leaning his head down to you.

You exhaled the smoke you didn’t realize you were holding, nodding slowly. “Yeah, you mad about it?”

You passed him the blunt. “Nah, kinda liked the way it sounded, actually.” You watched as his lips made a perfect O around the tip of the blunt, and you found yourself wondering what kind of chapstick he used to get them to look…like that…

You felt your eyes grow heavy as your first hit found you, the THC entering your system quickly. Josh must have noticed, as he giggled at your appearance. “Told you TJ had good shit.”

“I swear to god I’m already fuckin’ high…” you laughed, taking another big hit.

“So tell me about you. What’s your real story?” Josh asked, the both of you sitting facing one another completely, now.

You sipped your vodka drink. “What do you mean, real story?”

“I only know a little bit about you, where did you come from? What’s in your past?”

You took a deep breath. “Well, believe it or not, Josh, I kinda just got broken up with recently, too.”

“No way, you’re kidding. When? What happened?” He pressed.

“I got dumped, too. After a year of being with him. I thought we were serious, but apparently not. It didn’t hurt me too bad, I’m alright. Liking my new life pretty well, actually.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay, Josh. Four and a half years is a lot longer than one…”

“He uh, didn’t really give me one. Just said it was over.” You whispered, feeling your emotions flying all over the place. Josh’s hand reached up, twirling a piece of your hair between his fingers. “He also said I was a bad kisser, or something stupid.”

Josh winced at your words. “A bad kisser? I highly doubt that, Y/N…”

“And why do you doubt that?” You giggled.

“Because. I have a hard time taking my eyes off your lips, I can only imagine how hard it would be to take my lips off of them…” he smirked a little, laughing through his nose.

“You’re fuckin’ stoned.” You laughed, leaning your face onto his hand.

“And? I speak nothing but the truth, baby.”

“Mmmhm, yeah. Shut up.” You complained.

“I’m serious. I bet you really are a good kisser. That guy was just…stupid.”

“Maybe I’m a horrible kisser, how would I ever know?” You shrugged, feeling your body about to jump out of your skin simply from having this conversation with Josh.

He held his first two fingers up, motioning for you to come here. “Come on. Show me how you like to kiss.”

“What?! No, I’m not gonna do that.” You blushed, pulling away from him with shyness.

“Baby, it’s me. I’m just trying to judge your kissing skills. I’ll be completely honest with you, tell you if that guy was right or not.” Josh said, holding his hands out to the sides.

You stopped, staring at Josh through your slit eyelids, trying to figure him out. He met you with sincere eyes, and though you were both extremely intoxicated, you didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least.

“I’m serious. Just kiss me.” He said matter of factly. “S’no big deal.”

You took a deep breath, feeling the air surrounding you heavy with normalcy, but also heavy with yearning.

“Do it.” He whispered. “Show me.”

You finally let your lips press gently to his, your hands still cupping his jaw, as his hands sat comfortably in his lap. The feeling of them was exactly what you had imagined, soft, supple, and sweet, with the tiniest bit of sting on them from the leftover liquor. You finally exhaled, pulling away a bit to gauge his reaction.

“You can get into it, baby.” He smiled, urging you to push through your nerves. “I’m just here to help, s’just me…” his voice was like honey, the sound of it tearing through your body as he motivated you.

You began to get into it some more, letting your high take over, and letting your guard down as you found yourself really, really enjoying kissing him. You perched up a little bit moving to your knees to get a better stance.

At this point you felt like you were teetering on the thin line of platonic kissing; you were still trying to prove yourself, but also…he tasted so good…

His hand pulled at the back of your neck, burying your mouths further into one another. “Fuck, baby…he was wrong, you proved him so wrong…” Josh said, smiling against your lips as he delved back in. Your mind was swimming from his words of praise, and you decided that though this was simply an act between friends, you knew that you could kiss him all day long, never tiring of the feeling of his lips on yours. You were completely surrounded by him, by his warming presence. His scent, his sounds, his touch… It was all too much. You felt like you were drowning in him, but you didn’t dare try to pull yourself from his waters.

Your hands squeezed at his hair one last time as you let them drift down his cheeks and neck, tickling the back of his neck before rolling across his shoulders. You slowly brought them down to his pecs, and finally rested them on his cheeks again, pulling his face away from yours for a split second before landing one last peck.

When you finally disconnected, you took in the sight of him…hair disheveled, eyes black and glazed, and his hands still rested gently in the places that you put them.

“Holy fuck…” he breathed.

“What the fuck are we doing?” You breathed when you broke away.

“Kissing contest.” He answered, his hand respectfully staying on the back of your neck. “I think I’m winning, though…”

“Mmm, I don’t know about that…” you said with a bit more confidence in yourself after seeing how you made him feel.

“Yeah you’re right.” He agreed through an inhale. “You’re kicking my ass at this experiment.” He drove his tongue into your mouth again, but it didn’t make you want to retract…it made you want to pull it in further. You began to feel the heat that the two of you were emanating, and the sweat that was forming on your skin.

Finally you pulled away again, covering your mouth with your hand. You laughed, making Josh in turn laugh with you. “Well? What’s the verdict? Was he right?” You asked.

“Fuck no, he wasn’t right. You’re a hell of a kisser, Y/N.” Josh’s smile stretched all the way across his face, completely blissed out in his high. “God damn, you left me a panting mess, baby.”

Your heart stopped at his words, feeling more confidence in yourself than you’d felt in a long, long time. Suddenly, the wildest idea to ever come across your mind escaped right through your lips.

“Josh, we’re just good friends, right?” You asked.

“Yeah, baby. Real good friends.” He wiped his hand across his mouth before extending both arms across the back of your couch.

“Do you—do you care if I finish what I started?” You asked in an absolute moment of weakness. The look on his face turned up into surprise, and you weren’t sure how he was going to react to your question.

“What uh, what do you mean, Y/N?”

You moved toward him again, wanting to feel him again. Feel his hands on you again. Be the center of all his attention again.

“Can you judge something else for me, Josh? I’ve always wondered how well I…performed…and who better to be the judge than my very good friend? Who will be completely honest with me?”

WHO even are you?! You felt like a person outside your own body. The confidence he was giving you was…

“Really? You will?” You asked, feeling vulnerable, but also wanting to show out for him.

“Mhm. If that’s what you really want…” He bit his lower lip into his mouth, letting his eyes fall onto your lips like they had been doing all night.

“Just friends…” you reiterated.

“Just friends.” He parroted, lightly tapping your cheek with his hand.

Besides, this new need to make him think about nothing but you at every single second was making your head spin, and you wanted his focus completely on you, right now. You moved to press your lips to his again, letting things naturally heat up so that you could continue on with your intentions. You took a deep breath, confidently removing yourself, and placing yourself in the floor in front of him. It was at this second that you were extremely thankful for your liquid courage, and the fact that you were too stoned to care about much else besides pleasing Josh. He almost made it easy.

“Ten.” Josh said out of nowhere.

“What?” you asked.

“I give your kissing a ten out of ten. Seriously.” He said, smiling from the corner of his mouth as he ran his hand along your arm, peering down at you as you kneeled on the floor.

You felt your face turn beet red, and you halfway didn’t really believe him.

“Stop playing, you don’t have to be nice.” You erred.

“M’not just being nice. Seriously, I rate it a ten.” He stated, and you knew by the sincerity in his voice that he was telling the truth.

“Wow. Didn’t expect that, honestly.” you pulled a few strands of hair behind your ear. “Thanks.”

You took that as a tiny win, and decided to keep it going, playing on his words from earlier. ‘You keep me guessing at every turn…’

You sat back, motioning with your hands. “Pull them down for me.” you demanded of him, and he gave you the sneakiest smirk, leaning back and pushing his pants and boxers down far enough to spring himself free.

“What’sa matter, Josh? You okay?” you pressed, knowing that you could stop at any second, if that was what he wanted.

“No, yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry, I just… this is the first time someone else…since…” he didn’t need to say anything more.

“God, yeah. I’m sorry, your breakup is so fresh, I’m sure this is more mental than anything, for you…” you agreed as you sat back. “We don’t have to–”

“No. Yes we do, Y/N. I’m just…” You could tell Josh was having a hard time with his words again, for the second time tonight.

“Just what? You can tell me…”

He swallowed, placing a sweet hand on the side of your face. “This is the first time I’ve um…been…with a woman…in a very long time.”

“Oh.” You muttered, his sentiment catching you off guard a little. You hadn’t realized you never even asked the name of his ex, let alone any details about the relationship.

“But it’s okay, Y/N…” He smiled, letting his thumb brush your cheek. “I may be wallowing in my sorrows, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want this, want you to do this. Just…in my head a little bit.” He admitted, putting a hole through your heart.

You sighed. “It doesn’t feel wrong?” Your voice was tiny as it escaped you.

He quickly shook his head side to side as he layed back on his elbow behind his head. “No. That’s what’s making me freak out a little, it doesn’t feel wrong in the least.” He swallowed. “Maybe I…Maybe I wasn’t as in love as I thought I was.”

You smiled a pitiful smile as you rested your elbows on his knees, taking a deep, recentering breath of your own.

“You’re really fuckin’ pretty, Y/N.” He complimented you out of the blue, his thumb still grazing your cheek. “And I’m really into you.”

“You are?” You asked.

“Yeah. I really think friends can do this.” You agreed. And you were serious. If you were going to be this person for Josh, then he could also in turn be this person for you.

“Plus, the feeling of your lips on my cock just now…” He laughed through his nose. “Might be in competition with your ten out of ten kissing. And you hadn’t even…” He stopped there, biting both his lips into his mouth as he slid his hips down again.

Good god, you’d hoped he would have a little bit of a dirty mouth.

“You want me to keep going?” You asked.

You slowly leaned down to him again, starting things up just as you had before. Your tongue swirled on his tip, wetting it in circles as you let the saliva build up in your mouth. Around and around you took it, descending further and further onto him with every rotation. You heard him breathe out, his hips shaking a little beneath you. As you got as far as you could get, you pursed your lips down, tightening them around the base of his cock before sucking hard, pulling up and off of him completely. His hand tightened in your hair, showing you that he was liking it so far.

He let out a groan, followed by a little laugh. “Fuck yeah, Y/N…”

You took him in your hand, gripping at the base and using the saliva that had dripped down as lubrication to move your hand, twisting and pumping it. “Jesus Christ, you’re…” You took a second to glance up at him, seeing his jaw tightly clenched and his chest heaving with labored breaths. He brought his other hand down, pulling the hair that had drifted down away from your face, pulling it all back to the nape of your neck and holding it tightly there. You nodded, letting him know you were okay with him guiding your movements.

“Mhm.” You hummed on him. “Show me how you like it.”

The weed had contributed to your slow, languid movements while the alcohol made your inhibitions fly out the window… the beautiful combo of the crossfade sending you both into a blurry and slow-motioned entanglement. You swore you could listen to his noises and praises on repeat. “So fuckin’ pretty, Y/N… so fuckin’ pretty…” He mumbled, lightly thrusting himself into your mouth as your neck began to ache a little. “Slow and steady, just like that…”

“Hey, you want me to–” he said, suddenly shuddering.

You nodded again, pleading with him to let it all go. You wanted the whole thing, wanted him to have the full experience. You needed to see what he tasted like.

He tucked himself back in his boxers but decided to forgo buttoning back up. “Really? Even in a four and a half year long relationship?” You asked.

“Ah, I dunno. We were long distance, so… it was few and far between but. Really I meant being with someone who actually showed passion about making me feel good. You know what I mean?”

You couldn’t help but smile. That was exactly what you wanted out of this. For Josh to feel that you wanted to be there.

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I just…wanted to make you feel good.” You admitted, shrugging one shoulder up as you brushed your disheveled hair back into place. “So, what’s my rating, huh? Give it to me straight.”

Josh closed one eye and looked up with the other as if he was thinking really hard. “Uh, nine and a half.”

Your mouth fell slack, and you felt the soreness in your jaw joints. “Ah! Why the half?!” You argued. “Not a ten?”

He chuckled. “Would be a ten, but I only took away the half because I know that I won’t be able to feel you like that all the time.” You both stared at one another as you let his words sink in.

Could you, though?

“And because I feel like you were holding back, a little. Weren’t you?” He pressed. His statement took you by surprise, because he was right.

“...Maybe…”

“You shouldn’t have. It’s just me, remember. Guess you’ll have to show up and show out next time. See if you can get a perfect ten.” He said with nonchalance.

“Next time?” You spat without a thought.

You ran over the idea in your head, not really seeing anything wrong with it. You nodded, agreeing with his outlandish proposal.

“But, there is one thing, Y/N.” He swallowed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. “Obviously I… um. I didn’t make you feel good, tonight. But, just give me some–”

He nodded from behind your hand. “Right.” He mumbled.

“And I certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable with you, so. I’m pretty positive we could just sit here and look at each other and we would have a good time.” You laughed, pulling your hand from his face. He caught your hand in his, and gave it a sweet squeeze.

“Thank you.” You whispered. “We still friends?”

He took your chin between his fingers. “Yeah. Good friends.”

“It’s too late to get an Uber, Josh. Just stay here.” You more demanded than suggested, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch and tossing it overtop of his lap. You stood, stretching your body as you made your way toward your bedroom.

“What, you not gonna invite me to your bed?” He asked, throwing you off.

“Uhh, I mean, sure–”

“I’m kidding, Y/N. We’re friends. Friends don’t sleep in beds together. Friends sleep on couches.” You watched as he burrowed himself under the puffy blanket and made himself horizontal.

“Maybe one day you’ll end up in my bed.” You tossed the joke over your shoulder, walking down the short hallway.

“And maybe one day you’ll get a perfect ten.”

-xo, Jules

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varyathevillain · 6 months ago

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Ancient Rome Sidequest Mapping

here's a post of something interesting I've found ages back, and posted on (X)Twitter, concerning the Ancient Rome Sidequest. needed to save this because I am nuking/closing my accounts there.

this is following Sasha and Grizzop's path step by step, and how, back then, the GM mastery made my jaw drop.

when describing the room (or more like a hall) in RQG126, it's mentioned being lit by braziers, and that Zop and Sasha fall down onto a mosaic floor, the same one which is broken in present time. the closest imagined restoration of the Ancient Rome including intricate mosaic? Domus Transitoria. It was Nero's first palace, which, according to Seutonius, spanned all the way from the Palatine to the Esquiline, and according to historians had floor and wall mosaics, and in these times mosaics were restricted to only being on walls and floors. when the palace was replaced by Domus Aurea, mosaics were instead placed onto the vaulted ceilings, changing the art of future and partially influencing future mosaic art. there is also a 'gardened avenue' towards temples, which fits the path Sasha and Grizzop take. not to mention that Templo di Apollo lies *very close* to Domus Transitoria (the previous statements are backed up by following articles, in Italian, because I couldn't find English ones that didn't butcher the things I wanted to show)

romanoimpero.com/2020/05/domus-transitoria-di-nerone.html https://romanoimpero.com/2010/09/tempio

they get into a temple district (temple of Diana and then down the Palatium towards Aventinus, with actual real life temples somewhat applicable to the ones we hear about in the podcast), and that's how they figure out that there are still corresponding gods in Rome. the distance between the temples described? that they 'don’t have any sort of distance between them, next to each other on the streets', unlike the modern ones; which makes sense as Palatine Hill is very... compact in the building placement, even in ancient times.

there isn't much left from the actual temples except from preserved ruins by Italian archelogists, but there are skilful, artful depictions of how temples could've looked like in ancient times, for example temples of Apollo and Cybele in Palatine:

then we get to see the untouched Servian wall, which is then magicked by whoever is in charge (I don't think we get to know if that's just the Mars people, or several sources, or something else) to protect the city.

(Servian wall is in black here)

Servian wall is the first defence of the city of Rome, constructed around it in the early 4th century BCE. later on it would be succeeded by superior Aurelian walls; but by that moment in history (late 3rd century AD) in RQG that city did NOT exist as a bastion anymore. then, after they visit the temples of 'Pluto' (meet Cicero) and Mars, all three of them through the districts with human population, which corresponds to the parts close to Forum Romanum, also where, coincidentally, real life Cicero resided for some time!

and then, Cicero takes Grizzop and Sasha down into the sewers, which makes perfect sense because that district is where the Cloaca Maxima goes through!! there are several historical suggestions about how the system was formed, from an open air canal into underground sewers. BUT! that isn't what is interesting to us! what is interesting is that the passage partially connects the temples, which makes sense, because in this case temples are also in need of water system for the non-godly treatment of their residents and patients.

and then the three of them move towards the underground part/inner workings of temple of Jupiter, which, in fact, completely corresponds with position of the temple of Jupiter Stator!

depicted here in yellow, information of it referenced per this article

per "Rambles in Rome", the temple of Jupiter Stator, vowed by Romulus when his army was fleeing before the Sabines, if Jupiter would stay their flight; hence the name. "Romulus built a temple to Jupiter near the Porta Mugonia" (Dionysius, ii. 30). It was restored by Scipio, A.U.C. 459 (Livy, x. 37). It was in this temple that Cicero made his first oration against Catiline (Plutarch). Cicero says that here the goods of Pompey were offered for sale.

Rambles in Rome, as referenced

and the temple of Jupiter Stator like a light walk away from where the Colosseum would stand. only there is no Colosseum. there is the domed hall in which the big Mars vs Jupiter battle happens, the other part of which they can't even see, being underground and so far away. then, as dragons escape and Sasha and Ciciero are free to go, they trace their steps back out the Cloaca Maxima until they reach dead end and have to reach outside to gatehouse near Pons Subilicus (the temporary bridge dated ~1AD), just outside Forum Boarium

and that's why when they get out of the sewers they can 1) see the destruction of the walls 2) see the destruction of the palace in which Grizzop and Sasha were dropped 3) be only steps away from going away from inner city, while also technically being on Rome territory.

they have also, in my opinion, crossed Tiber afterwards and started going Northwest, because after some time it's mentioned that people flocking to necropolis, which, at that point, were on Trans Tiberim/more North and closer to Vatican/Campus Vaticanus, ergo, on the other side of Tiber.

"The Vaticanum, or Campus Vaticanus was originally a level area between the Vaticanus Mons and the Tiber. During the Republican era, it was an unwholesome site frequented by the destitute. Caligula and Nero used the area for chariot exercises, and renewal was encouraged by the building of the Circus of Nero, also known as the Circus Vaticanus or simply the Vaticanum. The location of tombs near the Circus Vaticanus is mentioned in a few late sources."

I am not in any way shape or form the One and True source on this, and will gladly take critique from people more versed in the topic than I am; this was made originally for my personal use, and then I figured out hey, this is really interesting! and also I wanted to save this for everyone else who used this for their musings/fics.

#Rusty Quill Gaming #RQG #RQG Ancient Rome Sidequest #RQ Gaming #Sasha Rackett #Grizzop drik acht Amsterdam #Ancient Rome Sidequest #RQG Cicero #text post #Varya rambles #long post

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dearchose · 8 days ago

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Without you

@legendoflinkficfight

Rating: General

Flags (if applicable): None

Prompt: The adventure is over, Link (or Zelda) has to learn to live in a world that is quickly moving on.

Prompter: @sunny-porridge

Word Count: 872

<< Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom >>

<< Grief / Mourning >>

Read on AO3 HERE

Dear Zelda,

Things have not been the same without you by my side. I know it’s foolish of me to feel this way after defeating the Demon King Ganondorf, after saving the land…even more so for me to write this as if you would ever read it.

These past weeks have done nothing but remind me that you're gone. Everytime I look up at the sky, I see a constant reminder that fate and I have failed you… You who always stood up before danger if it meant you could save a life, you who always knew the right words to make the people around you smile… you who I took the freedom away from. Because of my failures, you are eternally trapped as the shell of who you once were.

I still feel as if you're watching over me somehow… and yet, your presence hauts me in a way I can't explain. It feels like a curse placed upon me to keep me from moving on like the rest of them. Hyrule has known, cried and mourned whilst I have yet to understand. You sacrificed your soul for this kingdom without ever looking back. These memories of yours, you cried them out until there was nothing left for you to hold onto. I lost you before I could ever learn to love you. I sometimes wonder if I would have been able to gather as much strength as you have to save all of us. I may know how to wield a sword, but I fear I may never have what it takes to have a heart as full as yours has always been. I wish you were here to guide me, to show me the way through this life I never once asked for.

Still, they all cheered “Long live the King”...

…

Dear Zelda,

When I first woke up from my second slumber, I met Rauru. He kept me company. Although, I could feel he was grieving. I now know his pain. He used to look at the golems as if he was trying to free them from their duty but never could. Sometimes I like to go back to the Temple of Time, the one high amongst the clouds and climb to the top so I can admire the sky’s changing colors. The warmth reminds me of you. The heart aches don't stay as long as they used to, but when they persist, I like to visit you. I lay in your golden presence, the soft wind caresses my face and flows through our hair. For a moment of peace and quiet, I become but a memory of us. I think of all we could have done, all we never will never do, what I wish I could give back to you. This crown, it only belongs to you. They were wrong about me, they spoke lies they were too blind to see.

For an everlasting second, your presence takes me in an embrace and I hear those same lies spoken in this voice I almost forgot. From this sweet gentle voice of yours, I almost want to believe that it is not only trickery and deceit. I almost want to stay in this warm embrace forever, but over everything, I want to forget this world without you ever existed. In the time it takes for me to close my eyes, I remember. I wanted you to be, but you only were. The you I wished to see, I lost it when my hand failed to reach yours.

When the moon settles in the sky and the cold breeze rocks me back to this tormenting reality, my view opens as wide as teary eyes can. It pains me each time I have to leave. I glance at you as we part in a way that was never real. The night falls again. I silently walk through empty halls you left behind to a room drained of colours. No star in the sky could ever light my life again like yours did before I put it out.

…

Dear Zelda,

I dreamt of you last night. You were just like I remember: you were almost gone… My memories of you started to fade. All that is left of you is but a light with a brave smile. The warmth of your hands, the soft sound of your voice… they are gone. I think I thought so much of you I wore off your face from my mind. I still feel you watch over me, but I now know that it was only you telling me to move on.

I haven't seen you roam the sky in quite some time. maybe you accomplished your task when you erased yourself from my memory. I don't think I will ever forget the pain I felt when I lost you, but I now see what you meant to tell me. It's not my fault, not my failure, not the burden I’m meant to carry. May we be free of your memories. They caused us enough pain, it was time we let them go… I will find another light to guide me. Please, don't miss me.

To the one I could have loved

Link

#legend of link fic fight #legend of link fic fight 2025 #loz fanfic #loz fanfiction #totk #loz tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #angst #angsty fanfic #loz #zelda #the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #totk spoilers #tears of the kingdom spoilers #AO3 #ao3 fanfic #grief #grief / mourning

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perpetualexistence · 1 year ago

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Alley Cats AU: What Noah Did

Here's the queer coming of age story that I didn't expect to write until suddenly I was going all out with it!

Noah started off as just that one nerd that's in the library all the time. He would mostly hang by himself, though occasionally he'd hang out with Harold and Cody. Or more accurately, let himself get dragged into a hang out. Nerd solidarity against bullying or whatever. He didn't start attempting to put himself out there until the possibility of class representative came into play. He didn't truly care about it per se. It was something nice for college applications, though. He knew he'd be fighting Courntey for it, but they were already fighting for valedictorian anyways. He was fairly confident he could handle her. He actually started looking a bit forward to their rivalry and started putting effort into his campaign.

Noah's fall from potential class president to complete exile began with Justin. Everyone at school knows they hate each other, though no one quite knows why it started. There are rumors that Noah asked Justin out and got rejected. Others think Noah simply has no heart and Justin was just the poor guy who found himself in his crosshairs first. Others that Noah's simply jealous of anyone with pretty privilege. The only thing everyone can agree on is that Noah started it seemingly on a whim while Justin did nothing to deserve this.

Justin made sure that was the only story that circulated.

The real story begins with Noah and his budding sexuality. Or rather, asexuality. During middle school he never really got why other people were bothering with sloppy make out sessions or school crushes. He'd heard about and knew the rush of endorphins that happened when you saw someone hot, but he never felt it himself. He found out about asexuality and suddenly things made sense.

Noah's a logical person who likes it best when there's certainty in his life. He hated it when he didn't know what was going on with not wanting a girlfriend or even sex at all. It made sense that he was above emotional things like that. Aromanticism and asexuality clicked for him, and he was perfectly content with those labels.

Then Justin happened.

His personality was horrendous and vapid. But when Noah looked at Justin, he felt his heart flutter, his breathing quicken, his mouth go dry. Noah doesn't feel strong emotions often, so when they do they hit him like a truck with cut brakes plowing through a barrier into oncoming traffic. He suddenly understood what everyone meant when they arbitrarily declared what 'hot' meant. To want to hold and be held, even kiss. He hated the thought usually but something about Justin made him crave to twist their tongues together. Part of him is thinking 'I'd tap that' when he barely even knows what 'tapping that' means.

This throws everything for a loop, because how can he be asexual if he suddenly does want to have sex with someone? Did Justin flip some kind of Gay switch in Noah? Is Justin an exception? What exactly is it about him that makes him feel this way? He has a lot of questions he didn't ask for. The answer relies on someone he hates. Joy.

Made even worse is the fact that Justin starts flirting with him. Noah's got no clue where this is coming from. It's making his heart do things and he doesn't like it. Eventually he decided 'screw it', dragged Justin somewhere private, and started making out with him.

Noah liked the kiss. At least, he thinks he does? If he was enjoying this his mind shouldn't be able to wander like this. Unless that was normal? For once he in his life he barely knows what he's doing but he sure isn't going to let Justin know that. He lets Justin take over. Just closes his eyes, tries his best to have his brain just stop thinking and-

Click.

Noah's an idiot.

His eyes immediately shot open to the camera Justin had hidden on him this entire time. Noah Mudaliar doesn't feel strong emotions often, but he can certainly recognize what rage feels like.

Justin tries to play this off as just a simple bet. It's not like he's going to show everyone the photo. He just needs to show the proof he bagged the most stubborn boy around. Besides, Noah dragged him away, so he can't pretend he didn't want this. And he's got a reputation, right? Trying to be class rep? Justin can help get a few votes on his side in return for Noah keeping their little secret. And if he doesn't want that offer? Well. Nobody wants a fool for a class rep, will they?

Justin's lucky that he's athletic and Noah isn't.

Noah despises Justin now. And he knows no one will believe him over whatever story Justin makes up. The worst part, though? Noah didn't even get any answers about what he wanted. He's just as lost and confused. Combine that with angry and prideful, and you get someone on a warpath.

Noah may not be able to make Justin's social life a living hell, but there's something else he cares about deeply. His upcoming modeling career. So, in retaliation for Justin ruining everything, Noah makes a virus that automatically deletes any email that comes from a modeling agency. Justin will have no idea he's getting offers, and when it gets out he's snubbing everybody, his career will be shot.

Unfortunately for Noah, Justin happens to catch one of the emails automatically deleting itself one day. He goes to Harold to find out what's happening, and eventually it all leads back to Noah.

Justin in his fury calls Noah a jealous troll trying to ruin him for no good reason and paints himself as an innocent victim. Noah can't share the real reason why he did it because he doesn't want his reputation to become all about how Justin tricked him. It might also mean admitting he was only willing to go into it because he was confused about his sexuality, which is DEFINITELY not something he wants circulating.

He's upset that now he's questioning everything because part of him wants to do it again, another doesn't, and the kiss didn't even resolve his question on whether he's gay or asexual or who the fuck knows. And now everyone is bullying him for bullying Justin and messing with his future.

He's the first to find the alley as he runs to breakdown with this mess of emotions he has no idea how to deal with. He starts to use it when he wants to hide/read in peace. The library's not an option because people know to look for him there. It's like this for a while, and Noah's fine with it. It's just high school. He can manage. He can do alone.

He can do alone until the day he finds a girl screaming and beating up a trash can in his alley.

Alone becomes alone together.

<- What Alejandro Did | AU Masterpost | What Eva Did ->

#alley cats au #total drama au #total drama #td #total drama noah #td noah #total drama justin #td justin #td au

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accio-victuuri · 2 years ago

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MY SEPTEMBER READS. 💓

It’s been a productive month of reading for me, limited to manhua/manhwas. most of these are still ongoing so that may stop you from wanting to pick it up.

previous reads & recs : ( there are ofc novels, manhua/manhwas i have read that are not included here but enjoyed, for example — tgcf. )

Q&A Rec answered July 2021 //Recent Reads Series: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // November 2022 // January - March 2023 // April - August 2023

Solo novel recs: Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword // The Moon is Coming to Me

Traces of the Sun ( 2 seasons completed, Ongoing )

One of my favorites and the photo I used for this entire post. The best thing here is that the MC is a necromancer in a sense, cause his power is restoration. The primary use if of course to restore and fix his environment like building etc but he somehow did the “forbidden” application of it which is to restore dead humans. This is set in the future and has that scifi kind of feel cause humans have “powers” and there are doorways that open — which teams have to complete to “win”. If you like that kind of premise then you will enjoy this. It reminded me of The Earth is Online so I had no problem getting into the plot, but if it’s your first time — it might be confusing.

The ML ( Hyeon ) is a red flag kind of guy and makes a deal with the MC ( Yiseon ) at the start of the story. It can be pretty dark & gloomy at times but hang in there. The quests are really exciting and the team dynamic is good <3 Their romance is kinda slow burn and i live for how Hyeon “changes” because of Yiseon. I’m really hoping for a happy ending!

The Promise ( 41 chapters completed )

I WANT MORE. I NEED. I understand some projects are only allowed upto a certain number of chapters but this was too good and could use more chapters or even side stories. I need to see An Nuo happy and enjoying the real world! 😭😭😭😭

Anyway, I picked this up cause I wanted another scifi/dystopian type of story after reading TOTS. This has that same trope. People with powers, and this time MC is someone who has a low level to no power, spending his time at an underground laboratory that treats humans as lab rats. Then comes the ML, someone from the “outside world” who needs to awaken his other power so he decides to go to the lab. They meet and well, that’s where the story starts.

If you can’t tell, I enjoyed this story so much!!!! The MC is the best. An Nuo <3 he’s so smart and I feel for him cause he was born in the lab, so he’s never seen the real world. He doesn’t know what a blue sky even looks like. As a reader, I was so invested for him to succeed and gain his freedom after 18 years of being a prisoner. Then you have ML, AHHHHHH!!!! He starts off as an asshole but then becomes so devoted so he’s forgiven. 😂😂😂😂

I’m looking for stories that are similar to this, so if you know one, let me know. ^^

Again ( 60 chapters completed ; ongoing side stories )

Regression. Entertainment Industry Setting. My weakness, so there’s no way i wouldn’t like it. But even tho it’s a trope I like, it’s still exceptional! Even if you don’t like this trope, it’s a solid story.

So you have the MC Han Nokyoung, who is an A list celebrity with a foul attitude. A scandal happens and he dies — then wakes up years before the incident so he decides to change things to have a better ending. He becomes entangled with Kang Junil in his “new” life — the same person who caused his scandal/downfall.

I like how the story flowed, and how the MC was portrayed as the scumbag he was in the past. There was no excuses, he was foul and did things that harmed people. So he has to atone. He has to change things if he wants to have a better future. There were also parts that I was scared that things will not change even if he chooses a different direction. The MC & ML romance too! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I love them! They are destined to be together. <3 KANG JUNIL BEING POSSESSIVE IS MY FAVE!

SKETCH ( Ongoing, Season 1 completed )

thank you for @ourbeloved1011 for recommending this!

They are precious! The art is beautiful! 💟

Modern story with two people trying to find their way into a relationship. The MC (Yikyung) is a smol bean that we must protecc! He loves too much and is the kind of person the ML (Joobin) just needs. I have to say it’s one of my comfort stories. It’s sweet. Funny and the smut is very hot without being vulgar. I swear, you can have 3 chapters of smut and it’s glorious!!!!

The age gap is also delicious. Even if it’s ongoing, I encourage you to read it. 🤍

HEARTHROB/ High Pulse ( Ongoing 24 chapters )

I usually don’t pick up stuff that’s just 20+++ chapters cause I think it’s too early to get a hang of the story or i would want more and have nothing. However I was intrigued, since it’s High School setting and Omegaverse.

Shut up. They are so cute! There is something about first loves & young love that gets me! It’s not all fluff and cute — i just wanna wrap them in a warm blanket and let them be happy. Anyway, in this setting, the MC/ML are turning 18 and that’s the time that they will be differentiated into Alpha/Omega or not. ML is expected to be an Alpha, and MC into an Omega. The MC has a heart condition, hence the title.

It’s just sweet. Sometimes i need a story that will make me squee!

LOOK AT THEM <3

( one of my favorite parts of the story 🤣🤣🤣 )

Love Meter 100 % ( 7 chapters completed )

A short and hilarious read!!!! MC is addicted to playing a RPG that is BL themed. He has a favorite character that he likes and one day, meets someone who looks exactly like that.

Don’t expect a ground breaking story. The plot twist is very nice tho.

Reunion ( Season 1 Completed ; Ongoing )

This story should be adapted into an Anime or a TV series cause it’s that good. The story telling is A +. If you love a non linear narrative and unreliable narrator then this is for you. My god. The mystery. The heart ache. The yearning. I’m freakin clenching my fists while reading it cause i can feel everything. Even how the panels are drawn adds to the story. Definitely up there as one of my top reads of the year.

the art style is gorgeous. the conflict is — AAAAHHHH!!! I can’t say too much to not spoil anyone reading this but if you read the summary, you’ll get an idea of what’s going on. MC pretended to be someone and had a relationship with the ML. Things happen, ML comes back and they meet each other but he (ML) forgot what happened (or did he????) and well… we try to uncover what really took place that summer and how they can have their happy ending this time.

This is a treat to experience. As a reader, you have to try and piece things together. You also can’t trust their recollections of what happened yet.

If there is 1 story you have to read in this post, let it be this one. It needs more audience!

Blood and Love ( Ongoing ; Chapter 20 )

The combination of someone who is fascinated with vampires + is a sunshine boy meets an actual vampire premise. Add that with uncensored smut. I really enjoyed it for what it is and i got so much secondhand embarrassment from the MC being such a simp 😂😂😂

No Moral ( Season 1 completed ; Ongoing )

I chose this because it’s set in a law firm — ML being a partner & big shot and MC a new junior associate. I did enjoy reading First Class Lawyer before so i thought to give it a chance, I made the right decision. 💕

It’s plot heavy and there are technical words but it didn’t turn me off. The cases are also interesting and this honestly makes me want to pick up the novel cause i wanna know what happens next. The hints of potential romance between them is 💓 and I hope that they get to a good place together.

I really like the character of the ML. Seheon Kang. He’s such a bitch. He reminds me of “Harvey” from the tv series Suits, all the attitude but none of the vices & women. He has family issues and will do everything to win. He may come off as stone-cold but he actually cares in his own way. Most of the comments I read about him, especially early on in the chapters is that he’s an asshole and they hate him. But it’s him. That’s how he is. I guess most people are going into this thinking it’s a “romance” and the ML should be this gentle dude. Well, “No Moral” is so much more than a romance. Even if this wasn’t a “BL” i would still read it for what it is. I love seeing him slowly lose his walls because of the MC tho. All I want for him is to have his freedom and get the taste of “someone” being on his side and will never leave him.

As for the MC, Yunshin, he’s definitely and Idealist. This is why he often gets into conflict with the ML. He’s young and usually does pro-bono cases ; He believes that the law always sides with the “innocent”. Tho he may come off as naive sometimes, I still that fight in him, especially when he does his best to pass Seheon’s tests!

I am excited for where this story will go ♥️

Everyday I want to be Number 1 ( till Chapter 23, Ongoing )

The trope of MC being the second place all the time and he wants to beat the ML who is always first place in academics and everything else. Then they get close and sparks fly ✨ I have read novels and other Manhuas like this but this one still got me.

A feel good read. Not sure if i’m gonna continue but I liked what i read so far.

Someone like you ( Season 1 completed ; Ongoing )

It’s sad and depressing. LOL. Idk why I picked it up but so far, I can’t help but feel frustrated with what’s happening. Some people who read this compared it to “Reunion” because they had a shared past and got separated. Also the gaps in ML’s memory regarding the MC. Also the MC thinking that their relationship is doomed. However, I think what’s lacking here is there is no “hope”, even if they communicate well, i feel like they keep going back to step 1. I understand why but it’s not making me want to continue on to the next seasons.

The art is very pretty tho ^^

Merry Marbling ( Chapter 33 ; ongoing )

First of all, everything is so pretty ✨ How can I resist? All panels are a treat!!!!

I was here mainly for the art, but I didn’t expect to get invested in the story that much. It may look like a superficial high school / slice of life kind of story but it’s so much more than that. Ian ( black hair ) is Mister Perfect. He is known as the “Angel” of their area and he literally can’t do no wrong — everyone likes him. Enter the new student Yugun, my dear sickly-angry-kitten son 😂😂😂 He doesn’t know Ian’s “history” & doesn’t get the hype about him. The story flows on their journey of being strangers to enemies to friends to lovers. 💕

I’m loving their character growth. Ian who does his best to please his mom and be the “perfect son” to being able to express himself and not think too much about what people will say. I really feel sorry for him, cause he’s a kid — he is allowed to make mistakes. The instances where he cries and almost has breakdowns when he does something wrong is not right. And it’s Yugun who calls him out on it, also encourages him to let loose sometimes. Yugun— who is closed off starts believing that he can have people to depend on, especially Ian. I really love Yugun 😂 He is chaotic. Don’t let the cute face fool you. He is a savage.

It’s also a really funny read. ^^ + the side characters are the type who add to the story, especially Mi Rye!

Follow your Heart ( completed )

Hello! Look at how beautiful they are! I am weak. Very weak. An upright taoist cultivator who lives high up in the mountains and a demonic cultivator that owns the Ghost Valley. My favorite trope! 😍😍😍 Also Mister Demonic Cultivator waited for his love to come back after 100 years. I mean…. This Manhua is a combination of all my favorite things!

The pairing reminds me so much of Hua Cheng x Xie Lian 😭😭😭😭 I wish there were more chapters, cause it’s only 53 but part of me thinks they already told the story they have to and there is no use in prolonging it.

Anyway, the story is not that deep, compared to other plots in the same genre. You only have to know a few people and their goal is clear. If you’ve read or even watched stories with Cultivation World as the backdrop, it’s easy to get confused and there are a couple of subplots, you won’t have that problem with FYH. Ye Zigue needs to find his body and transfer his soul core in order to live again, also find out the truth about what happened years ago. The best part for me tho is the ML. Jiang Shu. 💕 He has that whole Hua Cheng thing going on for him. AHHHHHHH!!!!! He is perfect. Exactly the type of ML I prefer reading about. I usually prefer modern manhua/manhwa setting but decided to give this a go cause it’s already completed, so happy that I made that decision <3

Civilian A ( Chapter 24 ; Ongoing )

I should stop picking up stories that are only 24+ chapters but I can’t help myself. Esper/Guide trope which I haven’t really been reading that much of. I think it’s the same as Sentinel/Guide. && the art is beautiful so….

The pairing is Gold! Especially the ML, Yool, who is a scary S+ Esper who everyone avoids but for some reason is a puppy to our MC. There is obviously some backstory here, early on in the chapters, we are given the impression that they knew each other when they were young. ML did something along the way to keep MC safe and forget him. I recommend that people wait this out, the recent chapters are just getting exciting. Tho romance is a big part of the story, there is also a backdrop of politics and some commentary on the society. Definitely one that I will be waiting on every week to update. 💜

==============

BONUS: Other books ( physical ) I have finished this Month. <3

I’ve been wanting to try “before the coffee gets cold” trilogy and decided why the hell not. It’s definitely my kind of read. It’s not a very long book and you have 4 “short stories” in each but they are connected at some point. The concept of time travel here is unique ( you can only go to the past or future but you have to be seated in a particular chair. you can’t get up from your spot. nothing will change in the past or future no matter what you do or say. you can only see people who have been in the cafe too. your time is up when the coffee gets cold. ) and the stories will affect you. Reading this makes me want to visit this cafe lol to experience it. ☕️ only finished book 1 & 2, i’m saving the 3rd for October.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0. I rewatched the movie for the nth time so I picked up the manga too. I’ve also been collecting the official volumes and will get to that next. ^^ and I’m a Yuuta Simp so… 🤷🏻‍♀️

Kimetsu no Yaiba Volume 1-5. Same with JJK, i’m getting the volumes so reading em too. A perfect read to de stress after work.

Dune - I’ve always wanted to read this book cause as a sci fi fan, everyone said this is one of the best, but that made me so intimidated by it that i didn’t pick it up for years. and the fact that the copies i see are the really small and thick ones. But I watched the film last year and really enjoyed it, even re watching it so that’s when I knew i could “handle” it. I enjoyed every bit of it and I can’t wait to see the scenes come to life in the film this November ^^ I’m not planning on continuing on with the other books tho, I’m fine with just this one.

I have to say it’s been a really good reading month for me and I hope to maintain my momentum in the next couple of months. Not putting too much pressure on myself tho, but I hope I get to discover more enjoyable reads. ^^

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rms10 · 6 months ago

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Favorite ATLA Characters

Someone asked my 10 favorite ATLA characters through DM, but I thought I'd just post it out in the open. It's a tough question, especially if I'll try to put them in an order, but here we go:

Katara: Katara is my favorite character in the show. An indigenous person trying desperately to connect with and preserve their heritage and spiritual connections is a natural connection for me. Additionally, she is simply so well written and (voiced) acted throughout the show. To me, she's a masterclass in very clearly showing characterization through actions, inflection, and tone without stooping to exposition.

Aang: I've always enjoyed the idea of having a good character whose struggles/conflict are primarily internal and/or against outside influences taking them from their path. Aang really fits the bill. The more I've explored the show and the informing cultural touchstones, the more his character seems to come alive and really do a nice of job of providing a satisfying arc that runs just enough against standard Western norms to challenge the (assumed/primary) audience while also not skewing so far that he's unrelatable.

Sokka: On any given day, he and Aang might swap places in this list, but they'd retain the 2 and 3 spots. I have a special place for the original gaang of three as my top characters. In real life, I'd probably end up like Sokka, the meat and sarcasm person with no powers, which might also explain why I put him below the other two. Still, he has a phenomenal arc, and he provides a really interesting character who adds importance and depth to the group.

Zuko: He stole the redemption arc that the villains in most stories want, even if it was pretty clear he'd change sides from very early in the series. His constant backtracking really comes off as an authentic person struggling to reconcile their experiences in the world with their preconceptions they left home with, especially someone striving for acceptance like Zuko. The fact that he remains with a lot of bad traits, even after switching sides, just adds to the depth of his character. (Ironically, it seems like a lot of fandom sand those rough edges down to smooth them, which really robs him of his great character. Probably my biggest complaint about Zuko isn't the character, but how fandom tends to handle him.) At times I get very critical of Zuko, but that's more about people in the fandom whitewashing his sins, as the actual character is (mostly) forced to own them in the show.

Iroh: What is there to say? Great character. Some really wonderful real-world applicable sage advice, and an excellent character arc of his own, both before the show, but also during the show. It's subtle compared to Zuko who's not subtle, but it's still in progress during the show. Iroh goes from aiding the Fire Nation to eventually sending Zuko off to redeem the Fire Nation, while he goes to liberate Ba Sing Se. Much like Zuko, the worst part of Iroh is really how fandom tends to coddle him and completely overlook his flaws and mistakes - issues that the show is explicit about.

Toph: She's a lot of fun and runs counter to the other characters in a nice way, plus the representation she gives (not to mention jokes) really add something to the story. I know a lot of fans would rank her higher, but for me she just doesn't have as strong of arc as the previous characters (possible exception of Iroh). Some of that is that she's only in the show for only slightly over half of it. She also starts off as a master bender and her character at the end is much as it is when she joins. I also find that I don't have a lot of investment in her post series.

Mai: Her characterization is very strong, from the beginning. She masks with that indifferent vibe. We see it constantly - how she doesn't follow Azula's commands when she doesn't see a point in them, or doesn't want to, and it all builds steadily toward that betrayal of Azula in S3. That's so satisfying and perhaps that most badass moment of the entire show, or at least the one that was the biggest surprise. Plus, I really enjoy her arc with Zuko and how they evolved throughout S3. It feels about right for two teens trying to figure it out with the chaos going on around them.

Suki: It's pretty clear from a first watch that she was supposed to be one-off, but she came back and served an important purpose, and then she comes back again. It would have been easy to make her just Sokka's love interest (after she kicked his butt), but the Kyoshi Warriors are so excellent, and as their leader she's really tops. I am very invested in her fate post series, and both dislike her handling in the comics (like so many others, but the tonedeafness in sending her off to serve as personal guards to the Fire Lord was really bad) and then we know nothing of her beyond. I realize we have less info on her than the next two characters, but I still just like her a lot.

Azula: There's a lot of good reasons she could be placed higher in the list, especially as she's a more central character than several above this spot, but I still enjoy them more. While she makes a great antagonist, there are a few places her characterization was bent for the sake of the plot (at least IMO). Still, her final breakdown, was pretty much the perfect end for her, as it leaves the audience empathetic to the fact that she's part of the debris left behind by the Fire Nation's warmonger - the ultimate demonstration the show spends a lot of time on, that the people of the Fire Nation are also suffering due to the war.

Ty Lee: ty Lee is a lot of fun. Her character is fine. It just has less development and is less interesting than the others to me. I still enjoy it and I enjoy where she ended up post series.

OK, 10 was a lot and my order might shift a bit. Also, I actually like most of the characters in the show, at least the recurring ones. I have criticisms of most characters, but overall they're fairly minor. After all, if I didn't like the characters, then it'd be a bit strange to hang out in the fandom to my mind. I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts.

#avatar the last airbender #katara #aang #sokka #zuko #iroh #toph #mai #suki #azula #ty lee #personal takes on avatar characters #favorites in some sort of order that may well change in 5 minutes

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mistressfannie2 · 1 year ago

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What kinds of things would you ask of a plaything / slave that you think would turn away lesser applicants?

The commitment would be too big to handle.

First, I'm not one of those fake Doms who asks for money/gift cards/bitcoin after 3 DMs. I've never asked for money and I don't really want more than what I earn from my real life career. But I want control over their money or at least a part of it. Like a small budget to use as I see fits.

In a perfect world, I would have them locked out of their bank account entirely. I would get their pay check, I would pay their rent/mortage/utilities cable/phone/internet... and give them an allowance for food but ask for receipts so I would also control what they eat. I would set any money left in a low risk investment for them. It's their money, not mine. But I also know that it's too big of a commitment for almost anyone, especially over the internet. I'm not dumb. There are way too many scammers, and it would not be safe.

I would ask them to set up security cameras in their home and give me full control of them. If I ask them to wear an outfit, or practice doing something, I want to make sure they comply. I would set many rules like bedtime, curfew, if they can have people over or not... And with those security cameras I could know if they are good or not. It would be a 24/7 thing. Of course they would have to go to work and I would never jeopardize that part of their life... but they would need to come back home when I say, stay fit and eat healthy. And I would know because of the cameras.

And of course, even if I don't want to share my identity, I would ask their full address. Not for blackmail. But I would probably send them "gifts" (paid with their "small budget"). Who doesn't like to receive a new toy as a surprise?

They would have to be single... or with someone really open to those kinds of things. I would love to have a couple of pets. I would make them interact with each other in a certain way. But, I don't want to deal with "my wife can't found out". It can be a closet sissy outside in public, but not in their home. It makes them too hard to train. And I want them to be true to themselves.

And last, I really don't share my identity for reasons that I don't share either. My face can not be associated with anything going on here. So no pictures, no videos, no names... Anyone can call me Mistress Fannie... and that's the only part of my real life I would share. It makes it really hard to commit to someone you never saw and never will see.

Am I right? Would it be too big of a commitment?

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coldshrugs · 1 year ago

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talk me down

pairing: io laithe/estinien varlineau word count: 1.8k note: this is a modern au in which io and estinien are roommates but io has been offered an orchestra chair in a city across the country; she accepts it. estinien is grumpy about it. some cursing and alcohol mentions.

There’s nothing between them—not like that anyway—so why is he bothered?

Io would be stupid not to take this opportunity. Estinien told her that much. He insisted. And when it became real, well… it was easier to be excited about an application than the acceptance.

Now it's easier to hide.

Estinien shifts his weight and the fire escape creaks, another notch in his confidence that this place is actually suitable for inhabitants. The rent is cheap and the neighbors mind their business. That's always been good enough, because Io made it home.

The sounds of her going-away party stream from the window he crawled through. He tries not to think about each second bringing tomorrow that much closer. Focuses instead on the cars a few stories below, the wail of a siren in the distance, the glittering lights and warm breeze and none of it works.

Two years in this apartment together, a few years of therapy and studying and feeling each other out before that. “Friends” doesn’t feel like the right word, but it's the word he's got. The word they use.

Tomorrow he will take her to the airport and watch her fly east, and that will be that.

“Hey,” she says, more question than greeting. Io is already halfway through the window by the time Estinien turns around. “I thought you’d be out here. Everything okay?”

Last he saw her, she and their friends were getting a little rowdy during a drinking game, making the kind of memories he isn’t ready to accept as only memories. Each time she laughs, it’s a reminder this is finite. This isn’t how his life will be next week, or six months from now, and will they even be in contact next year? Just… fuck. So he came out to the fire escape (where it’s easier to hear her if he can’t see her), a reasonable behavior any of the people inside would expect from him.

Except for Io, who knew a going-away party was not his idea from the moment she walked through the door. And she knows he’s not out here just for a smoke.

Her hair has frizzed a bit with the sheer amount of body heat in their apartment. She wears an alcohol blush and a smile that says I can leave you alone if you want. But that’s the last thing he wants so he digs deep, past his natural inclination to run away.

“Just needed some air.” He lights a cigarette and leans against the rusted metal railing. An invitation if she wants it. “You know how it is. How I am.”

Io nods, and the sobering breath she takes, the mental armor she slips on to be around him right now... it kills him. He thought he was doing a decent job of keeping his sulking to himself. Her eyes flick to his, then out at the restless city as she says, “If there’s one thing I know, it’s you.”

But she decides to ignore the eggshells for now and pulls up next to him at the railing, their backs to the noisy street below and the bright lights beyond. Shoulder pressed tight to shoulder, and there's nothing between them.

They face the worn, brown-brick building. Their home. Tucked into the corner of the fire escape, Estinien catches only blurred glimpses of the party inside, but someone (Thancred) has found his guitar and a chorus of off-key voices squeeze out of the partially open window to join them in this already public hideout.

Io hums along for a line or two, then nudges him gently. “You like this song.”

“Alberic likes this song,” he corrects.

“And you like what he likes. Albie may not be your dad, but your taste in music? Something genetic about that.”

A tiny part of him wishes she would stop. That she wouldn’t put her blowout evening on pause just to stand in the dark with him. That she’d do him the service of pretending she doesn’t know his life inside and out.

But the bigger part of him is selfish.

He nudges back. “Yeah, well, you try being impressionable and depressed at fourteen, getting dragged to Blue October and Hinder shows every month. Not my fault it stuck.”

“I think it’s sweet.” Io shrugs. “It’s not just Albie, either. I like how you pick up things from people you love.”

What does he say to that?

His responses snag on "I like how you," trying to twist it into something... Something. So he takes a long drag from his cigarette and says nothing. As they stand there, listening to their friends (badly) sing this song, leaning on each other a little heavier than before, he wonders what she thinks he’s picked up from her.

The song ends in a round of cheers and whoops that cut through this little calm. Estinien shakes his head. Maybe they should go back in. He might be more fun after a couple of shots.

Next to him, Io laughs. The sound is small and out of focus, her real laugh. It’d be lost in the noise inside, so he commits to a few more minutes on this metal deathtrap.

“What?” He passes her the cigarette and she takes it without looking.

He looks though, watching the way their fingers graze, barely, handling something small and smoldering so delicately. Watches her follow some movement from inside, her smile creeping from lips to eyes until the skin on her nose wrinkles. A strand of dark hair blows across her cheek. She raises the cigarette to her mouth, pulls in a slow breath, and his smoke rolls between her lips and into the night.

She passes it back to him, still looking inside.

“Urianger just cleared the table for a tarot reading, but Tataru picked up his spread like he dealt her a hand of poker.” She mimics holding the cards, laughing again. Looks like her buzz is back, and maybe he’s catching it too. “He looks crushed. Ugh, I'll miss this. How am I supposed to do this without you guys?”

Estinien chuckles. He takes a final draw and stubs out the finished cigarette. “They'll be lost without you and you know it. You won't be left out of anything, whether you like it or not.”

“What about you?” She turns to him, breaking the line of warmth at their sides. Replacing it with a teasing smile. “Can't wait for me to go so you can finally have some peace and quiet?”

He looks through the grates under their feet, thinking about this apartment—this city—without Io: Never finding his clothes in her laundry, no surprise takeouts when he’s home late from work, not getting absorbed into her fucking obscure dramedy binge-watches. Her quiet hope, the music she radiates even in silence. The thing that’s taking her away.

How did she come to occupy so much space in his life, burning through him, like smoke in his lungs? Their friends won't be the only ones lost without her.

“That’s not true.” His lop-sided grin feels out of place in this sea of sudden nerves. Honesty has never been a difficult thing before tonight. “I’m gonna miss you like hell. I just—” he looks at her, and now he’s the one being watched. She holds him in those big, dark eyes, and maybe there is something between them. Maybe it’s always been there, dormant, or intrinsic and now he's forced to see it for what it is. “I just worry you leaving means we won’t… be like this anymore. That you won’t miss me like I’ll miss you.”

“Estinien—”

“Io—”

“Hey,” she says. Comfort, not a greeting. She surges forward, arms around his neck and waves of puffy blue hair in his face. He feels her cheek on his neck. Her breath, warmer than the night.

The railing is a sharp pressure against his back as he wraps his arms around her, squeezing her closer. The wind moves their hair and clothes, but they stay, swaying when one repositions an arm or chin. The lights and sounds fade to nothing. There’s only this.

Estinien isn’t ready to let go when Io loosens her grip and pulls back. He hasn’t fully etched the feel of holding her this close into his memory—then there's another feeling. Io presses a kiss to his cheek, so soft he isn’t sure it’s real. She turns her eyes on him again, and his are wide with surprise.

“Estinien." Her voice is low. It shakes. "All I can think about is how I miss you already.”

She lingers, too close to the corner of his lips, arms loose around his neck. Her full weight leans against him, trusting him to hold them both upright. What the fuck is happening? He hasn’t processed her breath rushing over his mouth or her half-closed eyes when she pointedly brushes her nose against his.

He doesn’t know when he started wanting this, but good god, he does. Whether she is in the next room or two thousand miles away isn’t going to change that.

He nods. Their faces glance. There is something comforting in the way even that new touch feels natural. They hover in the almost of it all, and Estinien wonders for the first and final time what Io’s lips will feel like against his, how she tastes.

They meet, then they sink. He follows her lead, the gentle press and the beginning of a hungry rhythm. Her hand drifting from his shoulder to the nape of his neck, and he shivers at the thought of her sliding it into his hair, fingers tangled and tugging—

Glass breaks, and so does their kiss.

“Shit!” Cid’s unmistakable voice is thick and slurred.

Io bolts toward the window. “What on earth did they do?”

“Hey,” Estinien says softly. She turns back to him and when they're eye to eye, he knows she finds his meaning without the need to spell it out. She’s confused like he is, and sheepish delight brightens her expression as she waits for him. “Are we okay?”

“We’re always okay.” She climbs back into the apartment and pokes through the window again. “Now please come back inside. I don’t want to be at the party you planned if you’re not there.”

She air quotes you and planned. Estinien laughs through his nose, but even this pulls him toward her.

“Fine. Move so I can get through.”

They rejoin their friends. Tomorrow still fucking sucks. The difference is now Estinien thinks about how his life will be next week, or six months from now, and how many times he will have kissed Io by next year.

#azia writes #io/estinien #io laithe #otwr au #i truly do not know what is happening anymore but #i'm having fun #i miss writing modern stuff like. the energy i had during the wayhaven days flowed through me for this one #i'm not editing this. it's just write and post. BYE #i feel like. they're not saying or doing enough in this #but that's fine because in the story of this au that's in my head all of this means so much a;sljfdlsk

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gretavanmoon · 1 year ago

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G13

Spinning Now: "Finish What Ya Started" by Van Halen (1988)

Pairing: Josh x Female Reader

Word Count: 8.2k

Description: You and Josh, your favorite new co worker, decide to share more than drinks as what started as a normal night turns into something you never expected.

Warnings: Smoking, Drinking, Cursing, Drug Use, Heavy Flirting, Praise, Dirty Talk, Touching, Mention of Breakups and Heartbreak, Sadness. Smut: Kissing, Oral M!receiving