#ask Essie

[bigtreefest]

Which of your favorite babes go wild when they see you in these outfits 🤠

Big sweater, soft shorts and fluffy socks.

Thigh highs, short skirt and a tank top.

Nothing but jewelry.

Oh I love this, Cate!! And I’m trying to come up with some answers I think are not expected, but super fitting. But in general, I just love the thought of babes going feral and vice versa. That’s love to me🫣 ok let’s get into it:

Big sweater, soft shorts, and fluffy socks - Jake: Jake loves when you’re cozy. He purposely keeps the house a couple degrees cooler so you pull out your fuzzy clothes, or better yet, steal some of his. When he sees the fabric hanging off of you and the way your shoulders are up in your ears and your hands are rubbing together from the chill, he immediately engulfs you in his big, warm arms. From a hold that strokes your back, his fingers tease the hem of the sweater, sliding up and rubbing your bare skin, eventually creeping underneath the waistband of your shorts until he can feel your arousal. Homeboy would crawl inside that sweater if he could.

Thigh highs, short skirt, and a tank top - Curtis: Curtis loves you in anything you wear, but there’s something so sexy about this outfit. It’s far from your normal attire, so he knows you specially did it for him. And from where he’s sitting when you waltz in, he can see everything. The way your nipples are pebbled in the tank top, how there’s nothing under that skirt except your thigh highs, the way those all hug your soft body so perfectly for him. It’s all so feminine to him in the best way. When he pulls you down to him on the couch, you can see how dark his pupils are, and he immediately flips you over, working his way down your body, paying special attention to nip at those thighs.

Nothing but jewelry - Steve: It started as a joke. You walked in the room as Steve was sketching by the window like he always loves to do. He looked up from his notebook with a soft smile, knowing it was you and went to look back down but did a double take at seeing you a silk robe. Once you knew you had his attention, you dropped it, his jaw did the same. You giggled at his reaction, saying ‘paint me like one of your French girls’ in reference to the movie you made him watch last week. All you wore was the small gold locket he gave you on your one year anniversary, and the engagement ring that came a year after. Taking in the sight, Steve dropped his notepad and pencil, gravitating toward you in the hazy morning light, a twinkle of fondness and mischief in his eyes.

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

"Open marriage" is one of the most absurd yet elegant ways of admitting that you are an adulterer.

[11queensupreme11]

I've been having a brainrot upon rereading tsunami, what if the traumatized babies Essie, Hime, and Percy met? This is like pre-ror Percy so she's still a bit intact in sanity. I imagine their discussion goes like this.

If Essie, Hime and Percy meet:

Essie: and oh yeah, my dad is also crazy obsessed with me-

Hime: No way yours too?? *with sparkling eyes*

Essie: Yeah, he used a spell on me to uncover my memories and also saw my trauma *sweat drops* not fun times.. He also is convincing me to move with him and be isolated from the world.

Hime: ooh, yeah same! He kept me and my mom sheltered all my life. I only got out because of my teacher who turns out was also crazy obsessed with me.

Essie: *flashbacks to alabaster, cause he's like her teacher before* NO WAY YOU TOO??

Percy at the side having a terrified expression: what the fuck is happening in Y'alls worlds??!

-

Essie: So my current boyfriend ended up kidnapping me but I forgave him, he had to do it for crazy titan army *while drinking tea casually*

Percy, having a terrified expression: Ethan did WHAT?!

Hime, casually: oh my fiance tried to baby trap me

Percy, more terrified: WHAT?!!?

I'm just imagining them trauma dumping but it looks like they're trying to one up each other's trauma 😭😭 and Percy's like 'holy shit, not me tho stay safe yall' like percy, babe, your gonna experience that in the future but crank it up to 100 instead 😂😭😭

i love imagining percy just looking at these girls in horror and pity and going "WHEW! thank gods that's not happening to ME"

and then BAM, her life ends up being a hundred times worse than theirs cuz she experiences all that AND MORE!!!!! 💀

plus her yanderes are all-powerful gods (and a really really powerful 'demigod') so rip to her 😭

[steviebbboi]

Oh so angry! Looks like Ransom’s just decided your punishment and is ready to enact it. What did you do??

Gif source

A/N: Okay, OKAY, twist my arm! I didn't think this would be a whole ficlet but hereeee we are. Thank @bigtreefest for this hot lil number 🙂‍↕️

Disclaimer(s): This is an 18+ fic only (MINORS DNI). You are responsible for the content that you consume, please be mindful!

Warning(s): daddy/princess kink, praise kink, softDom!Ransom, spanking involved, protective and posessiveness from Ransom, maybe some naivety from the reader but their relationship is consensual and genuine, and a shitty Linda (ofc). Some mild degradation and explicit details of smut, and implied smut.

Word count: 1.8k~

Divider by @firefly-graphics <3

Ransom started giving you that look. The look that lets you know that you’ve pushed him too far. You were coming from another tyrannical Thrombey family dinner when your usual calm demeanor started to crack. All facilitated by one comment made by Linda.

“Ransom, you’re not serious about this harlot, are you?” 

You suppose that you should have been grateful that she had at least waited for you to be out of hearing distance, but her poor timing had resulted in you walking back into the parlor right about when she called you a harlot. 

The silence in the room as the rest of the family turned to look at you had been deafening. You also couldn’t help the grimace that took over your face once you saw all of their eyes on you (she didn’t exactly make it unknown that she didn’t like you but you just never expected for the facade to break). 

But it wasn’t really the comment made by Linda that ate at you. It was Ransom’s lack of response – his silence, that spurred that beginning burn of tears in your eyes that you didn’t dare let fall in front of them. 

Ransom stood there for a minute staring at Linda before he looked back at you. His face was so stoic and his jaw was clenched. He looked angry, but he still didn’t say anything. He merely got up from the armchair, strolled over to you to take your hand with his left and grab both of your coats in his right. Dragging you to the door with you stumbling behind him quietly, and you both left. 

During the car ride, tension filled the space like it hadn’t before. With his family, Ransom always gave you the pep talk of preparing for the worst with his parents’ lack of empathy, or Joni’s incessant, passive aggressive demeanor. But he never prepared you for his own added insult to injury. 

“I think that you should take me home tonight.” You mutter quietly interrupting the tense silence. The tears dried up and in place sat an air of resignation. You knew what you were getting into when you got into a relationship with Ransom–but this was an entirely new experience and you needed the time and space to process it. 

You could feel Ransom looking over at you as he drove. The trajectory of his destination hadn’t changed but he indicated that he heard you by suddenly pulling the car over on the empty road. 

Not even bothering to look over at him even as the car turns off, you sigh and turn away from him to stare out at the dark woods next to you. It was an eerie place to be in during the night, especially when there was already so much anxiety present in the space. 

“Look at me, Princess. Now.” Ransom said with such a firmness that you gave up your stonewalling and turned your head to meet his determined gaze. 

Once his eyes met your tired ones, you can see his expression soften. “Don’t listen to Linda. She’s a cunt of a woman who looks beneath any and all who aren’t Harlan, and you know it.”

You let out an exasperated sigh and respond, “Ransom, you know that I can really give two fucks about what Linda says, or anyone would say about me.” 

He looked at you expectedly, “But?”

You feel a white rush of hot frustration seep into you as you say, “BUT I care about what you say about me! You didn’t even try to say anything back– would it kill you to just fight for me for once?” You didn’t wait for his response before continuing with your rant, “I think that you might even agree with her, I mean, are you even serious about me at all?!” 

Panting at the exertion of your accusation, you look away from the silent man and turn to look straight ahead to huff out one last defeated sigh. “Just take me home, please.”

More silence filled the enclosed space for what felt like an hour, in totality, it took really more like five minutes for Ransom to simply say, “Get out the car.”

Confused by the demand, you look over at him with a furrowed brow before catching that look on his face. The ‘look’. 

Swallowing thickly at noticing his expression, you stutter, “W-what?”

“You heard me. Get. Out. Of. The. Car.” He repeats with an even sterner tone. 

Shuffling for your seatbelt, you haphazardly push for the release until you could clumsily get out of the car. Anger taking over the confusion once more, you slam the door shut hard and make sure to flourish it with an exaggerated huff. 

A moment later, Ransom gets out of the car too (only increasing your initial confusion, heightening your frustration) and proceeds to walk to your end of the car only to bypass you and reach for the sedan’s back door to open it. 

Crossing your arms to keep up with your attitude, you look at him with a pointed frown. He looked over at you expectedly and demanded for you to get in the back. 

Now in a full blown tantrum, you stomp two steps over to duck back into the backseat of the car and force yourself to scoot over once Ransom stepped in behind you. 

Sitting next to him, you could feel the red hot anger boiling in your body while simultaneously also experiencing the lack of space between you. A different kind of heat fills you since you can’t help how attracted and in sync your body was with his. You pressed your thighs together and you felt a throb ripple between your legs. 

Without saying anything, you know that Ransom is analyzing your every move and has definitely noticed you clenching your thighs. Trying to cover it up, you cross your legs in fake boredom. But as your bare knee touches his, you let out a squeak as he suddenly pulls you by your crossed leg to straddle him. 

Suddenly you were on top of him, your arms instinctively going around his shoulders and resting on the seat cushion behind him. 

“Now that you’re facing me like a good girl, I want you to repeat what you just said to my face.” He merely said with that ‘look’ still on his handsome face. 

You were gripping his coat on either of his shoulders and bit your bottom lip, now unsure of how to gauge this reaction from him. “What do you me– ow!” You shriek.

In the middle of you asking, Ransom laid a sharp slap to your ass. You couldn’t help that your pussy reacted to the smack and you flush as you felt a gush of wetness seep through your thin panties.

“Ransom, what the fuc– argh!” He proceeded to slap your ass again. 

“Princess," I said: repeat what you just said to my face. Now.” Ransom said quietly.

Breathing heavier at the darkness in his tone, and the way that the space was only lit by one road light further down the path only emphasized the intensity of his request. The atmosphere felt weirdly intimate, like you were the only two in the world. 

“But which– ah!” A moan slipped this time as he slapped your ass, this time, it was harder. 

Ransom gave you a ‘tsk’ and said, “Princess, don’t you wanna be a good girl for Daddy?” 

You let out a small whimper and nodded your head pathetically. At the small tears gathering in your eyes, Ransom’s eyes softened a bit and he lifted one hand to stroke your hair away from your face to tuck it behind one ear. 

“I know you do, baby. So, do what Daddy is telling you. Repeat to me what you just said.”

You sniffle a bit before saying, “Are you serious about me at all?” Instead of this being repeated in frustration and anger, it was said meekly. The truth was that you have always felt a little insecure in your relationship together. He was Ransom Drysdale. He had status, means, resources. And you were the opposite of all of those things. You suppose you always felt like you were waiting for him to finally realize that and dump you to find someone else more suited to his needs.

Ransom cooed at you, as if he was able to read your mind, before stroking your hair again, “See, pretty baby, was that so hard?” He unzipped your coat slowly and threw it over to the passenger seat before lifting up the skirt of your dress to reveal your soft ass merely covered by a lacy thong.

He fondled your cheeks for a minute, humming his satisfaction at how smooth your skin felt, and how there was so much of you for him to grip onto. He gripped both of your cheeks suddenly with both of his hands and you let out a squeak in reaction to his tight grasp. 

The ‘look’ returned to his face once more and he made sure to capture your hooded gaze with his own. “Don’t you ever doubt how serious I am about you, Princess. You know that Daddy loves taking care of you, right? So much so that I knew that those fuckers didn’t deserve another minute of your time. We left because they don’t deserve the luxury of a response from me, nor do they deserve it from you. Understand now, pretty baby?”

Actively listening to him, you proceeded to let out the tears that you’ve been holding back while nodding your understanding. It all makes sense now- Ransom has always tried to protect you from his family. He valued your presence and respected your time enough that his first instinct was to get you out of that space and back to a place where you are very much wanted – with him.

Ransom only gave you a soft smile at the sight of your tears. He was proud of you for listening to him and for seeing things from his perspective. He’s only ever wanted to keep you safe, and he made sure to remind you of that every single time you’ve ever misaligned with that view. Your cute reactions and tears only further confirmed for him that he was the only one that could ever keep you like this. No one can ever take you away from him.

You shift in his arms a bit to get more comfortable and you release a quiet gasp at the same time that he lets out a sharp inhale as you both notice how his hands then naturally lowered so that the tips of his outer fingers were now barely brushing the covered lace of your pussy. 

Ransom hums out a low growl while he proceeds to stroke along your inner thighs towards the wet spot on your underwear. He starts slowly rubbing the thin fabric that covered your clit. You mewled again, feeling so turned on already from his punishment but also from how much care you were feeling from him at that moment.

“Now, Princess, we’re going to stay here while I spank this pretty little pussy until you remember how much I love you.” 

Welp! Honestly, is a punishment from Ransom ever really a punishment? 😏 I also just love a soft!dom!Ransom tbh.

Reblogs and comments are much appreciated and v welcomed :) thank you for reading!

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[brandycranby]

Surprise blurb bomb!

You’re at the pet store, looking for something small to keep you company in your first apartment. You just need some company! Maybe a fish, or a bird, or a bunny will help. Perhaps a hamster? As you’re walking up and down the aisles, you’re not even paying attention to what’s going on around you. Someone had spilled a bag of dog food and you slipped on the kibble bits! You brace yourself for the hard fall, but it never comes. A set of strong arms wrap around you and beautiful eyes are all you see when you open yours that we’re squeezed shut. Who’s your hero babe?

oh oh it'd be ex-marine!curtis ofc 🥺 with his service dog

to be very honest, nothing was going well today for curtis today. first he missed his alarm, then he threw up from his hangover, and then clifford threw up from eating too much grass.

so clearly the universe was telling him to hunker down on the couch and- what was it the kids call it? oh, rot.

he might've if it was him three years ago, freshly back stateside and more terrified of the mundane world than urban combat. the outside was simultaneously too overwhelming, too unpredictable and also too harmless compared to the bloody skills he'd acquired.

better to lock away a beast, right?

get out of your head, man. think about the seasons, spring always comes again. you can learn, you can grow. work past it.

it had taken a full year of the VA counselors to pound that into his head and another year with clifford by his side to make him start to believe it.

progress, right?

and progress means reluctantly dragging himself into the car with cliff, who really deserves a pet store trip for putting up with him, and mustering up the energy to get inside while it's still quiet hours.

deep breathing and staying positive.

it's that same positivity that gets cliff a new squeaky ball for his off hours and him an armful of you as it turns out.

bonus clifford pov

person close to daddo? cliffy protects and does his best to get between there, yes, very good, step away from daddo please

daddo doesnt want cliffy to do that? cliffy bad? 🥺

new person makes good noises, very sorry noises, and more good noises for cliffy. cliffy likes but cliffy work >:00

cliffy doesnt even nibble on floor foods

daddo spendin' lotta time here, cliffy sits then hmm

daddo makes shy noises, cliffy notices, and he's still holding paws with persom 👀

cliffy understands

cliffy so smart

[dragon-subway]

hey!!! for that colour ask game yesterday how about fen or essie with 'primary but evil' :3

let’s go Essie, I don’t draw her nearly enough recently. Do I think she’d actually make this pose in a fight? No, it’s way too open for her style, but let’s imagine she’s dramatically posing for a picture or something hehe :3c

[dampfoxes]

Here are two pictures I took of Joe today at Wellygeddon

[atopvisenyashill]

aegon executing essie and sylvenna is worse than anything rhaenyra has done.

im joking but im also not. that part made me ridiculously upset, even after all the atrocities that happened during the dance and you're one of the 5 people who might understand lmao.

aksjd YOU’RE VALID ANON!!

The young monarch, who had celebrated his fifth nameday only two days previous, was carried back to the Red Keep slung over the back of a horse, chained and weeping. His mother walked behind him, clutching the hand of the Dornishwoman Sylvenna Sand…

His mother, Essie, who had presumed to style herself Lady Esselyn during her son's brief reign, confessed under torture that Gaemon's father was not the king, as she had previously claimed, but rather a silver-haired oarsman off a trading galley from Lys. Being lowborn and unworthy of the sword, Essie and the Dornish whore Sylvenna Sand were hanged from the battlements of the Red Keep, together…

It’s just as bad as Blood & Cheese for me because the cruelty here is the point, just like B&C. Chaining a sobbing five year old up to death march him and his moms to be tortured, and then hanging them instead of beheading them because they’re “unworthy” of the sword so they get a slow death choking to death in front of each other. It’s meant to bring them low, to put them in their place, to build a wall between Essie & Sylvie and the noble class. It’s unsettling I think in part because of the focus on the trio as a family unit, and the “queerness” of it. We get several comments in TWOIAF and F&B bringing focus to how weird they are, how radical, and to have that little spark so brutally snuffed out. It really hurts!!

It’s a wildly unnecessary move too - I whack Jaehaerys constantly but when given the choice to take revenge or heal the kingdom after maegor’s reign, he explicitly chooses healing! he only executes those who tortured his brother, tyanna, and the kingsguard who refused to take the black! he very specifically reconciles with the faith & the warrior’s son by asking them to join him because their crime was attempting to take power in a power vacuum left by the failings of the crown. that’s exactly what sylvie & essie do! but aegon retakes the capital and refuses to heal the damage he and rhaenyra did - instead he makes it worse, turning the violence that had been used on him onto the people who stepped up where he failed AND all this after it was the greens who initially started locking the population of KL into the city like cattle to a slaughter. No way out, no king or queen around, and no blood on Sylvie or Essie’s hands but it doesn’t matter; because they’re lowborn, they deserve to die. To choke to death in front of each other, their weeping wailing son ripped away and made to serve the family who murdered his mothers. To remind him always that he is worth less, that his mothers are lower than shit in the sewer. Unendingly tragic, and so completely avoidable, but again - the evil of it is the reason it’s done.

[ronearoundblindly]

Lifeguard!Steve Rogers…

[satbkpromptweek]

By popular demand, we will be having our first SatBK Week! These are the prompts for each week, with a bonus prompt for only the boldest and bravest knights! C:

While this is scheduled to start June 18 and go through June 24, there is no time limit and you are welcome to participate however you are able- one day, all days, 3 days over the span of several weeks, etc. 

I invite all SatBK enthusiasts to submit their fanworks- art, fanfic, poems, drabbles, songs, sculptures, gif edits, etc.! All of your creative works are welcome!  

Please reblog this post to spread the word, and if you decide to participate, please use the hashtag #SatBK2023 so I can reblog all your submissions! 

Thank you, and looking forward to seeing everyone’s amazing works!

[smimon]

Maybe giant k can also give a kiss to make-up artist essi? Or katri from yle?

Ahhhh much love to the hard-working Yle employees 🥰🥰🥰 what would UMK be without them!

Thank you! 💚

[bigtreefest]

hubby, one night stand, bff: curtis, ari, jake 😏

Brandy! This is…I think you’re trying to break me. This is cruel is what it is…😭

BFF: Jake. I think we’d get along pretty well as friends. I’m fact, I already think he’s really similar to my friends, and honestly myself. His intelligence would lead to such stimulating conversation, but I don’t think it would turn competitive. I think we’d genuinely be able to let each each other and share in some hobbies. Maybe cooking and baking. Or he can teach me more survival skills he uses while I teach him wilderness medicine.

I just…this is tricky. Idk where to go from here.

If I have a one night stand with Ari, I know it’ll be amazing, but if I marry him, that’s every night. But also, workaholic dad for our kids? Triggering. Okay, okay. So one night stand with Ari.

Marry: Curtis. Oh, my sweetie babe. The reluctant leader. A hard worker with intelligence that needs exercised more. The man who acknowledges his childhood mistakes and has become so altruistic. So sweet. So tender, so comforting. Big beefy boy I get to love and be loved by. We get to look up to each other in our own ways🥺

Referring to this post

[idreamofticklehugs]

Hi! You don't have to respond, I know you're on break. I just saw you liking things again and that your asks were back on, so...

I just hope you're doing all right. Is it crazy to say I've thought of you a few times in the past month and hoped you were okay? The worst part about staying anon is that this is my only avenue of communication. ... maybe that's gone on for too long.

Regardless, this is just me asking after you. I hope everything's going okay in your life, and that you're getting rest and whatever else you need right now.

Take care, friend.

🎮

Hello friend 🫂

It’s only as crazy as me turning my inbox back on after realizing there was no other way to communicate with you. I’ve nearly put up a post addressing you more than once.

I am well. Life has changed rather drastically for me but they are growing pains. My break from posting is indefinite but I will still be checking friends blogs and answering DMs. This break is healthy and good for the sake of my specific set of circumstances right now. They are for very personal reasons, which can be so easily misconstrued on the internet; the reason I have not explained it publicly.

My friend, I respect your anonymity and will never push you to reveal yourself. My inbox will remain open, but there may come a time when I need to close it. My DMs are open. I’m here if you’d like to talk. Thank you for checking on me. It means a lot.

[11queensupreme11]

how'd you learn how to write smut thats actually good?

OH GOD BRO LEMME TELL YOU 💀💀

the first time i ever started writing smut was for the essie series, and it wasn't going well... AT FIRST

cuz you see, it was super bland 😭 like dry as fuck, the kinda smut you'd read from a victorian novel written by a god-fearing religious lady 😭😭😭😭 like i didn't even type out the name of their body parts, i was just SUPER FUCKING VAGUE 💀

i tried looking at 'how to write smut' guides on WATTPAD, but like, it's WATTPAD so you could probably tell how that went 😭😭😭

i just kept my boring victorian era smut in the drafts for a while, decided to take a break, and just started to read some ao3 fics and some tumblr oneshots. this was NOT my first time on ao3 and tumblr but as i was reading, i started to realize what my issue was:

i kept holding back on the smut!!! i was purposely making my smut super bland and boring because i was too worried about what my readers would think, and what i REALLY wanted my smut to be like was the horny ass smut fics you would see in ao3 and tumblr!!!

so, i went "fuck it, i'm gonna write the unholiest thing ever" and bam, my smut was born 🥰

(so in other words, i was too shy to even type out the word 'cock' in my goddamn smut, but then i got inspired by the horny fics on ao3 and tumblr and lost all inhibition)

[andro-dino]

just wanted to ask on how axyl and essi would look like on zero g. just curious to find out about this. i wonder how they grew up and what jobs do they have now.

HOOHOO I actually do have some really old doodles for both of them

I think I’d probably change both of these a little now but I don’t really feel like drawing new versions of em so im using the old ones for now

Axyl’s design is more inconsistent bc their design is based on myself and it’s weird thinking about the future so im kinda like euegjsurger with them appearance-wise, but as far as their plot goes, their main overarching character development ties heavily with how they feel about themself as a blader, and by the time masters/fury rolls around, whether or not it’s really something they wanna continue to pursue. Ultimately, though it’s a very hard decision to make, they end up retiring as a blader, though they do continue to do some mechanic work, and that’s pretty much where they’re at in shogun steel. Some mechanic stuff but mostly just sticking to themself and doing their own thing. and maybe moving in with Zhouxing and getting a cat and a dog with him who knows the world is a beautiful place really

Essi I honestly don’t really have as strong of an idea for. Her main plot ever since her initial creation way back in second grade was always tied really heavily to gingka’s plot in fusion, so afterwards it’s kinda just up in the air for her. She’d still be a blader and I think she’d probably be traveling the world a lot, maybe helping with restoration stuff, but other than that I don’t really know. She’s kinda just chillin I guess, focusing on herself and vibin as much as she can.

[brandycranby]

Andy hits a milestone for legal cases won. It’s great, he’s taken out to a nice dinner you get to attend with some coworkers, but the thing is, budgets are tight. There’s glittering no watch, no special cufflinks. His gift from the city for the occasion? Embroidered hand towels. Luckily, they’re the good kind. Soft, yet durable. Good for spinning tight and whipping at each other. Able to be….tied. They hold knots very well😈

a/n: take this triple drabble uwu 🤲🏻💕💕

The only consolation he has, Andy muses, is the look on your face when you see what's inside the sleek black box the city administrator handed him. There's not a doubt in his mind that you would have made a good lawyer with the honesty that you confront the world with. No rules, no games. Just pure unadulterated truth.

"I'm literally going to fling manure on their Cadillacs."

"Honey." His tone is fond, indulgent even as you list all the ways you'll vandalize city hall and the ungrateful bozos that gave him hand towels. It's a little deserved - Andy wonders who made the executive decision to choose towels for some reason. Not even a nice wine?

Hand towels.

It's an oddly domestic choice and secretly, he swears to never voice this out loud near you, it might be because he's chosen to get married again. To you. Who can be reckoned as a chore-focused housewife as much as a donkey can be an opera singer.

"Not even a sexy Rolex!" You snap one of the, admittedly, luxurious hand towels in emphasis. The rage in your tone is partially for show, partially realistic; Andy, in the middle of taking off his corporate armor for the night, looks smaller than you remember him being. The all-nighters are taking its toll and wearing him out. Even his plush swimmer's muscles seem diminished.

He pauses in the middle of fingering the second towel in the set, twisting it this way and that, "C'mere." You listen, albeit a little huffily, holding out your hands when he gestures. "I'm not saying it's not a shit gift, but it can keep on giving."

It's no sexy leather belt and the cloth is a lot more forgiving than ideal, but the makeshift handcuffs he eventually knots up will serve its purpose.

"Now, you want to treat me better than the city?"

---

soooo shtinky, sooooo husband