#but I rearranged my room and bought a new shelf that will be just for the akis :)

[copperbadge]

[ID: My shower, tiled in ugly but functional brown, with the shower curtain off to one side; fixed to the ceiling is an oblong LED lamp, shining brightly down into the shower.]

Forgot to post this yesterday! That's the new little lamp I've installed in the shower for better lighting, and actually it looks kinda cool.

It doesn't work, but it looks cool. :D

I shouldn't say it doesn't work because obviously it's lit up in the photo, but it's not serving its purpose. An overhead light in that space is too high up for me to easily switch on manually, so I bought one with motion detection. In theory, when you get in, the shower the light will flick on.

In practice, the motion detection only detects a change of light, not actual movement (it's meant, I think, for something more like a garage, where when you open the door to go in, the ambient light you've let in makes it go on). The result is that in order to get it to turn on, one has to perform a kind of magical summoning ritual consisting of flicking the bathroom lights off and on, and it won't stay on unless the rest of the bathroom is dark, which defeats the point.

It was a $7 lamp, so I'm not overly annoyed. The pricier option (all of I think about $20) has a remote control, so I might go that route, but I also know of a brand with better motion sensing, so I may order from there.

Today's cleaning was mostly a form of rearranging furniture. I don't want my laundry hamper at the foot of my bed anymore -- it crowds the room and looks ugly on my video calls. I've moved it to the hall closet opposite the bathroom, but that meant shifting the storage bins already there and the majority of the lightweight jackets hanging above them. The bins mostly went into the bedroom closet, replacing a shelf I moved out of the closet and may donate, except for one open bin with the camping supplies, which I need to repack and find a home for. Right now there's just a nook of my living room that's "storage staging"; sometimes you just gotta get messier before you get cleaner.

In any case, that took about 30 minutes of a Behind The Bastards episode (The History Of American Masculinity, Pt. 1) and I'm taking it easy because I'm still battling a sinus infection, which is the reason I didn't scrub the toilet instead because I felt okay to move things around but not to get up close and personal with cleaning products. I took a few measurements of the hall closet (which has no doors) and I'm going to spend the rest of my allotted cleaning time on the sofa under an electric blanket, shopping for an appropriate set of shelving to replace what's currently there and make better use of the space. (I was tempted to try and convert it into a micro-office like you saw in trendy magazines early in the pandemic, but I prefer my office setup with a little more natural light.)

[psychovigilantewrites]

It's Been Awhile

Pairing: Jason Todd/Reader

Word Count: 5,500

Rating: Explicit, there is sex, R18

Summary: Reader visits Jason after some time.

Masterlist | Ao3

A/N: Hey guys! It's been awhile, hasn't it. Sorry it's not a Red Who update, but I promise I have not abandoned it yet.

I am extremely rusty, because I haven't been reading nor writing much lately. I have a full time job now, and I'm on my way to paving my career. I still think of you guys a lot, though. So thank you so much for sticking with me till now. To the new followers, you won't see much activity here, but I will return from time to time to post or scroll or check up on things.

I'm so rusty that a 5000 word count felt so long to me. I remember when I was churning like, 12k word count within a week. Lol, I would love to try that out again. Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you all enjoy! This is the most I've written in a while.

You kicked an empty beer can aside and heard its metallic clink against the brick wall as you walked down the narrow alley.

From all the years you spent in alleyways, you got used to the smell and the suspicious puddles. It was dimly lit, the only light source coming from the apartment windows above you. You stopped below the fire escape and jumped, hands grasping the end of the metal ladder to pull it down so you could climb up.

You counted the floors. Four, seven… twelfth. You stopped a floor below your target so you could carefully creep up to the thirteenth. You peeked through your target’s opened window carefully. His apartment was brightly lit and clean. You noticed all the surfaces like the coffee table at the centre of the living room, and the small dining table at the far side of the apartment near the main entrance, were clear of any clutter or stains. The light grey sofa near the window where you were at looked new, with fluffed cushions arranged on the seats along with a beige throw blanket.

Your target had his bare back facing you, standing at the kitchen where he was putting away the dishes in the overhead cabinet. He was shirtless, so you could see the muscles of his back ripple and flex when he reached above his head. You climbed through the window silently and entered his apartment.

“Hello there-” you started, but immediately ducked to avoid the flying mug aimed at you but missing and crashed into pieces behind you. “Wow, rude.”

“Christ,” Jason swore when he realised who you were. “What the fuck? You scared the shit outta me.”

You grinned at him. “Not my fault you’re losing your touch. You really didn’t hear me?”

“I was never able to hear you, you know that,” he scowled and crossed his arms while walking towards you. “Take off your shoes, you’re dragging dirt all over my house.”

“Not until you clean up the glass.”

“Fine,” he rolled his eyes, grabbing a broom to sweep away the shards.

You sat down on his sofa. An awkward silence passed.

“So,” you looked around his apartment. It was familiar because you’ve been there so many times before, but he had obviously done some rearranging and bought new furniture. There were definitely more books on his shelf now. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah.”

“Around… six months?”

“Without any messages or phone calls,” he frowned, looking at the floor that was now clean and clear.

“Jason,” you groaned, “You know I couldn’t.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he sighed, putting aside the dustpan. “It’s just- it was hard not knowing whether you were safe or not.”

“You think undercover has been easy for me too?” you demanded.

“I know it hasn’t- look, I don’t want to argue,” he admitted. He sat down on the sofa next to you. You felt the sofa dip at his weight. “I’ve been undercover too. I know how hard it is. I was just worried.”

You looked at him. His thick eyebrows were pulled down in a frown, his icy blue eyes staring at you intensely. He had a bruise that was healing on the upper corner of his left cheekbone, and a fresh new cut on his lower lip.

“You’re my best friend. You’re the only one I’ve known the longest. Not knowing whether you were dead or alive does things to a person,” he stressed.

“Well, I’m here now. Alive. And demanding you get me some liquor,” you winked.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, but complied. “Since when did you start drinking casually?”

You hesitated. “Since Elisa.”

“I have whiskey, bourbon, gin, tequila and beer,” he listed the contents of his liquor cabinet.

“Gin, soda and lime, please,” you ordered. Jason immediately got to work, making you your cocktail. “Bring the bottle here as well. I might want a top up.”

He raised an eyebrow as he served you and put the bottle of gin down on the coffee table.

“Aww, you even put a little lime wedge. Cute,” you teased and sipped. “Yep, I was right. Did you always used to make your drinks this weak?”

“You never complained before,” he replied, watching you pour a little more gin in your glass. “The drinks in Cuba must be strong.”

You paused, lips still on the rim of the cup. Silence fell again, before you shrugged. “I’ve taken quite a liking to rum.”

You dug through the sling bag pouch you had across your body and took out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jason protested.

“Uh, I’m lightshing a shigarette,” you answered with the cigarette already on your lips.

“One, no smoking in my house,” he snatched the cigarette from you and threw it on the table, “ Two, did Elisa smoke too?”

“She didn’t and then she did,” you scowled, “How long have you quit?”

“Four months,” he said, “I use these now. It’s helped a lot. I suggest you do the same.”

He took out a bright pink cylindrical metal tube with a straw-like tip from the pocket of his sweatpants and sucked the end. He exhaled a thick cloud of white mist that smelled of-

You burst into laughter.

“What?” he huffed.

“I’m sorry, but right now I’m just imagining bumping into you in a dark alleyway, all big and muscly, with your leather jacket and combat boots, and suddenly you smell like- what’s that, watermelon?”

“Yeah, so what?” he pouted, “I don’t even have the urge to smoke anymore.”

“You’re right, that’s good,” you smiled, “I’m proud of you.”

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes, “So, what are you doing here? You back for good?”

“Officially, my role in the mission has ended,” you explained, “But I might have to go back from time to time… And…”

“You’re leaving again?” he guessed solemnly.

You pursed his lips and looked at him. “How much do you know about what I was doing?”

“Not much,” he began, “Just that you were undercover in Cuba, leading some sort of coup?”

“Not exactly leading a coup,” you corrected, “I was hired by a private organisation to infiltrate and, uh, get rid of corrupted leaders internally, and replace them with clean people so that the citizens can have a chance at improving the country.”

“So… American intervention to reestablish democracy and change regimes?” Jason smirked, “Like Cuba in the sixties? Bolivia, Ghana, Angola, and my personal favourite, Iraq?”

“It’s not like that,” you defended, “And not American. Not CIA. Not United Nations. Jason, these people are real. They have no other agenda but to give people freedom. We’re made of many countries and nationalities- mostly third world whose countries have been ravished by colonialism and intervention. Think Che Guevara, but bigger. Richer. Way richer. More organized. They’ve been recruiting ex-agents and spies, people who can’t be blackmailed or bribed with money. People who care about change.”

“So that’s what you’ve been doing?” he realised, “Been playing Spy Kids with communists.”

“We’re not calling ourselves that,” you argued, “And we’re not going for the communist revolution. We want to go for a more organic change.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” he sighed in defeat.

“Because… I want you to come with me next,” you positioned your body to fully face him, crossing your legs on the sofa.

“What?” he asked incredulously, “And what, abandon Gotham?”

“Gotham doesn’t need people like you and me, Jay,” you whispered, “It needs Batman, and Nightwing, and Robin, and all of them. Gotham needs hope. People like us don’t belong here.”

“People like us?”

“You know what I mean,” you said sternly, “Our skills are needed and appreciated elsewhere.”

Another moment of silence of you and Jason just glaring at each other. You saw the way Jason’s eyes examined your expression, your body language. He knew you were completely serious about this.

You broke eye contact and took a few sips of your drink, feeling the contradictory refreshment and burn.

“Just think about it. You have time. I’m on a decently long break before going to the next mission,” you leaned back against the cushion and closed your eyes, “Mmm, I want to go to a nice spa. Get some new clothes. Watch movies. Source for some cool gadgets from Bruce. Spend some time with the family.”

“For how long?”

“A couple of months.”

You heard Jason sigh again. That’s how it was with Jason. Just constant sighing.

“Fine, I’ll think about it.”

You opened your eyes and looked at him. “Really?”

He was looking down into his own cocktail. “I don’t think I can go another six months not knowing what the fuck you’re doing, where you are, whether you’re dead or alive. So, yes. I’ll fuckin’ think about it.”

You felt bad. From the moment you told him you were leaving to go undercover, from the moment you went silent, you felt immensely guilty for leaving him. It was your first time without contact with him, and hell, it was difficult for you too. He was your first friend, your first family. Your life would not have been your life without Jason Todd.

“Hey,” you said softly, reaching out to his face to make him look at you. “I missed you.”

He simply stared. He looked like he was struggling to say something, or struggling to stop himself from saying something.

Then, he looked away. “So, how was it?”

“Pretty fucking cool,” you admitted, relaxing back into your usual self. “I felt like I was in a movie. Being undercover without anyone knowing sucks ass, though. Couldn’t be myself. Couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do, say whatever I wanted to say. Fuck, it was so hard. That’s when the drinking started.”

He chuckled. “Liar.”

“Excuse me?” you turned to him.

“Liar,” he stated, “That’s not how the drinking started. Something happened.”

“A lot of things happen when you’re undercover, Jason,” you snapped.

“I’m just saying,” he smirked, “You may have gotten used to lying to everyone around you. But you can’t lie to me.”

You hated how right he was.

“Put on some tunes,” you demanded, “Like I said, I couldn’t be myself. So tonight, I am going to drink and I am going to do whatever I want, and say whatever I want.”

“And as always, I’m the victim,” he groaned.

“Hush, you love it,” you giggled.

Jason stood up, grumbling. “Just take off your damn shoes.”

You complied, kicking off your boots and placed them away against a wall. Jason had always been so neat and tidy, so you respected that whenever you were in his space. He was extremely particular about hygiene as well. You were used to having your shoes off in his house, to him sanitizing his hands whenever he took off his gloves, to him always wiping surfaces with isopropyl alcohol.

He was always so well groomed too, and you never needed to worry about toiletries whenever you stayed at his. Whatever you needed, or hell, didn’t need, he had them. You remembered when you were teens and you were complaining about acne. He taught you all about skincare, haircare. About shaving versus waxing. About scrubbing between your toes and behind your ears when you shower.

And Jason showered every single day, since he was always engaged in physical activities.

And because of that, Jason always smelled so fucking good.

You caught a whiff of the scent you were so familiar with when he sat back down next to you after turning on the speakers and grabbing two bags of chips. He smelled like the cologne he wore, which was a deep pine scent with undertones of chocolate and sage. It mixed well with the refreshing raspberry of his shampoo.

“You met Grayson yet?” he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Mmm?” you mumbled, still lost in his scent. “No. You’re the first.”

“Good,” he grumbled back.

“Didn’t want to make you jealous or anything,” you giggled, poking his cheek.

He swatted away your hand, but a small smile played on his lips. “Dunno what you’re talking about.”

You wanted to retort, but let it go and took another big gulp from your glass. You topped the ice with some more gin and squeezed the lime in. Talking about Jason’s weird competitive streak with Dick would always end up with Jason sulking. You felt a little tipsy already.

“Hmm,” you hummed. And then, you had a brilliant idea. You stood up and you took your tight black t-shirt off, leaving you in your black bra.

“Why are you stripping?” Jason raised his voice.

“It’s summer, and it’s hot,” you shrugged, sitting back down closer to him. He was also shirtless, and you felt the heat radiating off his skin. “And it’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before.”

“It’s different when you’re bleeding from a stab wound and I’m pouring vodka on it,” he retorted.

“Whatever,” you scoffed, “ And you know what? This place was a smoking area before I left. And I told you that tonight, I’m going to be doing whatever I want. So.”

You reached forward to your pack of cigarettes Jason threw on the coffee table, but he grabbed your hand.

“Nuh-uh. No.”

You glanced at his grip on your wrist and back up at him. “You really want to do this, Todd?”

His expression changed to some sort of smug look that he always had when presented with a challenge. “Let’s see whether Cuba made you rusty, then.”

You smirked at him. And then, you swung your other fist towards his face, but he blocked your punch with the palm of his free hand.

You lifted yourself off the couch and used your body weight and momentum to catch him off his balance. It worked, he was on the floor, but he was so strong and it was difficult to free your arms from his grip.

So, you played dirty.

You carefully kneed his groin. Gently. You didn’t want to actually hurt him. Just to discombobulate him.

Jason swore, and his grip on you loosened just a teeny tiny bit. But that was all you needed to release yourself by twisting his arm to an angle that forced him to turn his body face down to the floor.

You continued twisting.

“Ow, ow, ow!” He complained.

“Do you yield?” You breathed.

“Yes! I yield, holy shit,” he whined.

You released him and greeted him with a shit eating grin when he propped himself back up. You had always been the better fighter. Even though Jason was bigger and stronger, you were more lithe, fast, and flexible. You used momentum, anatomical range of motion, and precise techniques in your martial art. That’s why you were always silent and could sneak up on him. That’s why you used to be the stealthy assassin, while Jason favoured loud guns and explosives.

“You know you will lose, yet you always challenge me,” you pointed out, “That’s why I think you’re a brat.”

“Like a spoiled kid?” he said, “Since when?”

“Not in that context,” you rolled your eyes. “Like, in bed.”

“Huh?” Jason sat down and looked up at you with genuine confusion. You joined him on the sofa again. This time, he didn’t stop you from lighting your cigarette. You inhaled. You exhaled.

“You know, like you have the dominant and the submissive,” you started to explain, “A brat is under the submissive category.”

“The hell?” he protested, “I am not submissive.”

“Maybe at first,” you smirked slyly, slowly closing the gap between you and him. “That’s what a brat is. You like to fight. You’re stubborn. You like to say no. But ultimately, you want to betamed.”

To make a point, you crawled towards him and boldly straddled his waist.

“Wh-what- what the fuck are you doing?” Jason sputtered, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“That’s why you like to fight me, right?” you continued, resting one palm flat on his bare chest, your other on his shoulder while you held your cigarette. “You want me to make you submit.”

You blew smoke onto his face.

“Stop that,” he gripped the side of your arms, “Did Cuba make you flirty too?”

“I always flirt with you.”

“Not like this,” he shook his head. “What, did Elisa have to seduce men? Women?”

“Unfortunately, no,” you pouted, “Elisa had to keep things strictly professional between all her assets.”

The truth was you couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“So, it’s been a while,” he stated.

“It’s been a while,” you agreed. “How about you? Any women? Men?”

“Please,” he scoffed, “Just Grayson being an ass.”

“So, it’s been a while for you, too,” you teased.

“But I’m not a perv like you,” he huffed.

“We can change that,” you leaned in closer, watching the way he had subtly wet his lips, thinking you wouldn’t notice.

“Stop,” he repeated, “You’re drunk.”

“Not drunk enough to make you yield.”

“I don’t want you to do anything you’re going to regret in the morning,” he pressed.

“Why would you think I’m going to regret anything?” You asked.

“Because you’ve never done this before,” he frowned, “This is coming out of nowhere.”

You’ve been pining for him ever since you hit puberty.

“Do you think you’re going to regret it in the morning?”

He looked away from your intense, questioning gaze. “I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

That was the reason you gave yourself for so long. You didn’t want to tell Jason how you felt because you were scared he wouldn’t see you the same anymore. Or that he would feel self-conscious around you. That he would reject you. That because of your selfish feelings, your relationship would be ruined.

You put out the cigarette in your glass.

“When I was Elisa Martinez,” you began slowly, “I couldn’t be myself, obviously. I couldn’t drink my favourite drink, or watch my favourite shows. You know how deep undercover is like, right? The complete erasure of your identity. Your history. I know some people who actually started to believe their cover story, to the point where they forgot who they really were.”

You paused to make sure you wouldn’t regret whatever you were going to say next.

“Elisa Martinez didn’t know Jason Todd. She never grew up with him. She never… fell in love with him…”

You noticed Jason’s eyes widened, and his grip on you tightened ever so slightly.

“And it was horrible, Jason,” you expressed, “I felt so lonely. So one day when I was alone in my apartment in Havana, I told myself that I wouldn’t be one of those people who gets lost in their cover identities. Unsure and confused about who they were. I vowed that when I got back here, I would truly be myself. No more hiding my feelings or my beliefs. No more stopping myself from getting what I wanted. Because I didn’t realise how having your own identity was a privilege that people took for granted.”

His eyes softened, but he still looked unsure of how to respond.

“So no,” you stated firmly, “I won’t regret it in the morning. Even if you don’t feel the same way, and you don’t want anything to do with me after this, I will not regret telling you how I feel. Because six months of struggling with identities was enough.”

Still straddling him, you crossed your arms to make a point.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat. He let go of his grip on you and ran his hand through his hair again. A habit that you noticed he did when he was either stressed or nervous. “Wow. I mean. I didn’t expect that at all.”

“I know it seems like it’s coming out of nowhere, but I’ve felt like this for years,” you confessed.

And that Jason did what you didn’t expect him to do. He reached out to cup your face, and then smiled at you.

You learned that Jason had many types of smiles. The smile that was really more threatening than it was comforting. The smile that meant he had a devious idea in his head. The smile that didn’t reach his eyes, when he was shaking hands with someone he didn’t like. The smile when he found something funny. The smile when he was thinking of the past.

And the smile that he only reserved for you.

It wasn’t just the upturned corner of his lips that made the smile. It was also the softness of his eyes, the relaxing of his brows. And the actual smile was just a brief moment, followed by his gaze into your eyes. He smiled like that at you during the first time you successfully threw a punch. And that time when you won first place at the science fair. Sometimes he would smile like that when you went on about history, and geopolitics, and the latest episode of your favourite show.

“Me too,” he simply said.

And there it was. The last time you felt this happy was when Lady Shiva told you she had nothing left to teach you.

“But you’re wrong about one thing,” Jason broke you out of your bliss.

“Huh?”

Suddenly he grabbed your hips tightly and threw you off of him, onto the empty space of the sofa. You gasped in surprise at the sudden movement, and before you knew it, he was on top of you, holding you down. He put his face above yours, lips only inches away that you could feel his hot breath.

“I am not a brat.”

And then he kissed you.

His cut lip grazed yours softly at first before sucking in your bottom lip with force. He broke off the kiss and grinned at you.

You narrowed your eyes at him.

And before he knew it, you had flipped him over, causing him to land on his back onto the floor with a loud thud.

Your knee was at his crotch again, a silent threat for him to stay still.

But you knew what had Jason blushing was your hand around his throat.

“Tsk, tsk, Jay,” you whispered in his ear, making a point to softly brush your lips on his lobe. “Don’t be naughty. You know you can’t take me.”

“I- wha-” he sputtered, and then tried to move.

“Nuh uh,” you warned, putting more pressure on his crotch with your knee, “Stay still.”

He continued to look at you in surprise, or confusion, or wonder. You weren’t sure.

What you were sure about was that you felt his cock begin to harden against you.

You chuckled softly to yourself. The truth was, you made it all up just to antagonize him. You didn’t really think he was a brat at first. In fact, all of your previous fantasies were of him dominating you, choking you, pounding into you while your hands were tied to the bed posts. Now that you knew he was into this, though, you didn’t mind. Not one bit.

“I’m going to get up. But you,” you squeezed his neck a little tighter, “You stay like this and do what I say, okay?”

You felt him gulp under your grip and then he nodded.

You stood up and put your hands on your hips. Looking down at him, you appreciated the view.

His hard chest was going up and down fast as he was panting. You saw a flush grow from his neck to his cheeks. Your gaze went down his abs, to his crotch, where you saw the outline of his hard cock and a small dark spot at the tip.

“Take off your pants for me,” you commanded.

He just stared at you.

You raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to threaten you?”

You gently stepped on his cock with your toes.

“Okay, okay!” he hurriedly slid off his sweatpants, revealing his hard on.

You never saw his cock before. You sort of knew it would be large based on the outlines whenever he wore sweatpants or boxers. But, wow.

He was perfectly long, and perfectly thick, and perfectly uncut. Though, his foreskin was now stretched back, revealing his head that was red and pulsating, desperate to be touched.

“Hey, my eyes are up here,” he grinned, his confidence and smug attitude back.

You sat back down on the couch and crossed your legs, making him confused.

“Well?” you prompted, “Start stroking.”

“What?” he asked, “Down here?”

“Mhmm,” you hummed, “Go on.”

He slowly reached for his cock and gave it a squeeze, eliciting a small moan from his lips. You bit your lips at the sound and the sight.

Fuck, he was so hot. You had dreamed of watching him jerk himself off for so long, and now there he was, sprawled on the floor at your feet.

He started to really stroke himself now, his eyes fluttered close and his mouth parted in heavy breaths.

“Fuck,” he gasped.

You saw that his cock was now slick and wet with his precum. You wanted to taste it so bad. You wanted him to shove his cock down your throat and mercilessly fuck your face until you gagged and cried.

Not today. He will have his turn some other time.

“Okay, stop,” you said in a sing-song voice.

“Wh-what? No,” he refused, still fucking his fist.

“Baby,” you stood up, “I said stop.”

He groaned and opened his eyes, his arm stilling around his dick.

You proceeded to take off your jeans, and your bra, causing your breasts to fall. Exposed to him for the first time, Jason was actually smacking his lips.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful. I want to touch you,” he whined and moved to get up.

“No,” you denied, “Stay down there for me.”

You walked over to his head, placed your feet on either side, and then dropped to your knees so you were hovering your pussy right above his lips.

“This is fine too,” he mumbled, hands going straight to your ass, kneading them. Then, he took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of your arousal.

“Mmm, you smell divine,” he whined.

That did it. You just knew that you were drenched.

He started to mouth you through the fabric, kissing your folds, nibbling on them.

“Please, take them off,” he begged.

You complied, only because you couldn’t stand not being touched. The moment you returned to your position, Jason attacked you with his mouth.

“Fuck!” you gasped.

It was as if he was making out with your pussy. Wet lips on wet lips, he licked you everywhere, from between your folds, to your opening, to your clit. It was like he was starved for you. Hungry for you. All the while, the sound of wetness and his muffled moans filled the room.

“Jason,” you sighed. You felt the familiar warmth spread at the base of your core.

He knew what you wanted. You felt him focus on your clit with his tongue, and then a finger entering you slowly.

You let out a high pitch whine when he started finger fucking you while ravishing your clit at the same time.

A second finger.

He was hitting the right spot, so deep inside you. You had thought about this as well. Whenever you saw his fingers on a trigger, or that time when he was making pizza dough and kneading. You imagined his thick, calloused fingers inside you, fucking you the way he was right now.

He quickened his pace and added more pressure to your clit.

You knew he knew you were close. You could feel it. Your body was tense, and you knew you were tightening around his fingers. You gripped his hair with both your hands, because you just needed to hold onto something.

And then you were coming.

You didn’t know you were screaming until you felt a gush of wetness between your legs, splashing everywhere.

Jason fucking Todd made you squirt.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry,” you apologised. You stood up too quickly and didn’t realise your legs were jelly, so you ended up tripping onto the wet floor next to him.

“That was so hot, don’t be sorry,” he looked at you incredulously. His face was glistening with your juices.

And fuck, was that a sight to behold.

You couldn’t help but grab him by the neck and pull him in for a kiss. You tasted yourself on him.

He crawled on top of you, sucking your lips, pushing his tongue into your mouth. One hand roamed your body while the other propped him up above you. He squeezed your breasts and your nipples, and went down to your waist, between your legs. He gripped your thigh from below and pushed it up so you were spread open.

He hooked your leg on his shoulder.

And without warning, he pushed his cock into your wet, sensitive pussy.

“Fuck!” you screamed as he bottomed inside you.

He filled you up so perfectly, that you never wanted to be empty ever again. He stretched you out so beautifully, that you thought your walls would just be molded into shape specifically for his cock.

“Hnngh,” he groaned, “You feel so fucking good. So fucking tight.”

You felt him thrust deep inside you, reaching all the spots that made you writhe in pleasure. He began pounding you hard, wet slaps made even wetter as you leaked all over his cock.

You weren’t gasping for air. It was so intense that you couldn’t breathe. Your mouth was opened in a silent scream until you actually had to remind yourself to inhale.

There were no words that you could form in that moment. Just absolutely filthy, vulgar sounds that rang through his apartment.

Through teary eyes, you watched him above you.

He was panting, breathing hard. You weren’t sure whether the moisture on his face was from sweat or your juices earlier. His dark hair had fallen down to poke his eyes, his brows pulled down in a frown. His chest had beads of sweat dripping, trickling down to his abs.

He moved his hips with precise and sharp movements. Every thrust into you was accompanied by gasps and whispers of words you couldn’t hear.

“You look so fucking beautiful,” he praised breathily, “I want to watch you come again.”

It wouldn’t take too long.

You were already feeling like you were going to unravel. The heat pooling again, even more intense than your previous orgasm.

Jason increased his pace, and then reached down to your pussy to thumb your clit.

You screamed.

It was like a wave that pulled you down and released you. You felt your body tighten and your walls clench and unclench. You felt hot liquid release from your core, just like waves crashing.

Before you knew it, you felt empty. Jason had pulled out and jerked himself off over you.

He came long and hard in a loud groan. White ribbons of cum shot out of his pulsating cock, reaching all the way to your face.

He collapsed next to you on the floor, huffing and panting.

You felt drowsy all of a sudden, but so fucking relaxed.

“Wow,” you breathed.

“Mmm,” he mumbled, “Can’t move. Can’t think. Shhh.”

You giggled and scooted closer to him, pressing yourself onto his sweaty, sticky skin and rested your head on his chest.

You felt his heartbeat drum against his ribcage.

He rested his arm on your head and played with your hair.

“I can’t believe our first time was on the floor,” he complained.

“I think it describes us perfectly,” you closed your eyes and smiled.

He kissed the top of your head. After a beat, he asked, “Will you tell me what happened in Cuba?”

“One day,” you told him, “I need time to process it as well.”

“Fair enough,” he responded, “So, uh. Are we like, official then?”

“If you want to be.”

“Do you want to be?”

“I do,” you admitted, “I’ve been pining for you for a long time.”

“Me too,” he confessed, “We should have done this sooner.”

“I don’t think so,” you thought, “I think right now is the perfect time. We figured ourselves first, we explored what we wanted to do. We found our reason. Well, I did, at least.”

“So you’re really serious about this then?” he asked, “Fully committed?”

“One hundred percent,” you stated, “I think that we can make real change. Slow change. But change nonetheless.”

“Okay, then,” he sighed.

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’m in,” he said, “I can’t promise you that I will stay for the cause. I can’t promise you that I will even believe in it. But I can’t do the silence again. You have no idea how difficult it was for me, these past six months.”

You frowned. You wondered what happened. You will ask another time.

“But I can promise you that you will always have me,” he continued, “I don’t know what this is, and what these missions need you-or us- to do, but you will always have my support.”

You felt deeply moved. “Thank you,” you whispered.

You didn’t have to worry about your identity anymore. About being confused, about being corrupted by the roles you had to play.

Because as long as Jason was there, you were you.

[bomberqueen17]

my personal hell

LOL ok so. I've been in buffalo for a week now. And i bought a car, which wasn't nothing. But I've had like. a small to-do list. We had every window in the house replaced (except for one, hilariously, which will remain as a testament to the original state of the house; it was enclosed by a three-season porch and so is a window from an interior room to an, effectively, seasonally, interior room, so we opted not to change it. we do open it in the summer. the cat loves it.) so all of the furniture was stacked against interior walls and, the house being from 1950 and having plaster walls, everything was covered in a fine layer of plaster dust. so i was gonna clean up and then put the furniture back. Simple, right? Dust things, shove things. No problem.

But like. there were shelves from the bathroom stacked in the office and I realized the contents of the shelves were untouched dusty things we'd forgotten about, so I took everything off those shelves first. Had to get those sorted, and back into the bathroom, before we could rearrange the office furniture, yeah? So I sat down Saturday morning to start on that, so we could rearrange the office furniture in the afternoon.

uh it's Wednesday my dudes, and I'm still working on that. It turns out there were depths of despair there and in the linen closet, things untouched for a decade, silted-in. I found jewelry I took off while traveling in 2012 and left in the travel toiletries organizer, and then have spent a decade looking for and pining after and trying unsuccessfully to replace. I found a very sentimental ring in a ziploc baggie in a box, lost for at least nine years. I found countless cosmetics and toiletries that dated back as far as 1998. (I haven't quite thown out that lipstick I used to wear clubbing and for sloppy lesbian makeouts in bathrooms in Edinburgh. It's no good anymore and it has to go, but. Oh man. That was this lifetime and that was me. Really???? I never did figure out how to wear lipstick without it looking really stupid after the first drink/kiss etc, I don't think there's actually a trick I just think everyone else is more patient with reapplications than my ronald mcdonald ass.)

I went out yesterday, big outing in my new car, and bought new storage bins, hopefully to corral and sort things. But it turns out my personal brain holes are myriad and vast and deep when it comes specifically to sorting and categorizing items. It's tiny decisions I simply lack the capacity to make. Every single item I pull out and try to sort into a pile and I wind up with not discrete piles of categories, but rather a single flat layer across the entire surface, with each object in its own pile because I do not know how to sort it.

And I know what happens if I sort things into a cute storage basket: it will sit there, untouched, until some calamity makes me haul the entire thing out and upend it.

So, I don't really know what to do, and I have achieved nothing else of note in the last four days. I have made an unholy mess of the office, where the furniture is still stacked, unusable, against the non-window wall, and now the floor is covered in shit. I've hauled out two big trashbags (ok, one big and one small trashbag) of things that are unequivocally expired and unusable, things I well-meaningly filed in the memory hole in 2012 or so when I bought that shelf and then never touched again, things I've just learned to do without, forgetting I owned them.

So anyway I'll probably die here, RIP.

But at least I got to use the nifty cargo net that came with my new car to hold the overpriced clear plastic storage bins I bought at TJ Maxx in place in the trunk of my beautiful new car, so that's now going to get filed and never used again but at least I used it once. It's so fancy! Bye.

[dollsonmain]

Today at work I did not cry.

I did get set loose to focus on rearranging the automotive stuff to make room for a new shipment of antifreeze. There are shelf tags but they're arbitrary so I was free to move things around as much as I wanted. Then I got to make room for some new products in the cooler

There were things with a thick layer of dust and yellowed packaging in automotive. Ew.

Then I had to do register stuff some and I don't like doing the register.

Thankfully the same family that had walked out with a lot of candy yesterday came back in today and the mom was VERY happy to pay for the items from the previous day. I didn't think they had stolen the items on purpose and feel better now that it's been resolved.

One of the boys told me he thinks I'm cute.

Two old men also told me I'm cute at different times.

Manager says her counts aren't coming back right and she thinks there's a problem with the register buttons which she had changed around a bunch after hiring me, asked me if I'd sold certain things and used certain buttons on the register and my memory is swiss cheese but I remembered one of them at least. It's also completely likely "still-confused new person screwed up" happened.

This could be avoided by making everything scan.

Just sayin'.

People were really nice and patient with me while I struggled to find the right cigarettes for them.

An older man didn't understand that I am not allowed to break a 100 without a purchase even if it's for the lotto machine, and I can't sell him lotto tickets, either, because they're all bought through the machine, so that took a moment.

More people than usual asked if we have a bathroom. We do not have a public bathroom. I'm not sure why they don't let people use the bathroom. Fear of stealing, probably.

Just sent another email to mail room job manager saying oopsie I guess that checking-in email was awkward considering I'd already been rejected by then but thanks and keep me in mind if another spot comes open please.

I hurt, I'm sad, and I'm tired.

I want to run to the newly opened 5Below but I also just want to sit and be quiet for a bit, even though I'm still in my work clothes.

[collectionconfiguration]

1/13/2024. Yesterday, unboxed Nendoroid Aqua. And though there was an empty spot in my display boxes for 1 more Nendoroid, i decided to rearrange multiple cases instead.

Ive been meaning to rearrange my Michaels display cases to better reflect my updated favorite figures. Moved Kill la Kill Nendoroids to tgeir iwn display case (with Lina and Catarina).

Moved all my unboxed Kingdom Hearts Nendoroids so far, from my display cabinet, to a display case. I realized that after i unbox Axel and Kairi, I'll have 10 Kingdom Hearts Nendoroids, so they probably should get thir own display case. After unboxing Aqua, there's no more room on my current KingdomHearts shelf" in my display cabinet. But these Michaels display cases can hold 10 Nendoroids, so my Kingdom Hearts Nendoroids are sharing with my Sengoku Basara Nendoroids. DateSana still my favorite Nendoroids, and my Michaels display cases are supposed to hold my favorites. I love that Kingdom Hearts has Nendoroids now, but they're not actually my favorite Nendoroids. But my Michaels display cases, usually for my favorites, are the only cases with that much space for 10 Nendoroids, all from tge same series.

Left empty spots for Nendoroids Axel and Kairi, that have been waiting in my room to be unboxed.

I was about to move my Spy x Family Nendoroids to my thrift store display cabinet, but i decided to leave them in their current display case, becase there's an empty spot beside Loid, that would fit Nendoroid Bond, after i preorder him.

Finally reunited my Homura Nendoroids with my Nendoroids of Devil Homura and Ultimate Madoka. I would have liked for all my Madoka Magica Nendoroids to stay in or near my Michaels display cases, since those cases' positions in my room are the most visible, which is why they're for my favorites. But they just don't all fit there.

Gave Devil Homura a boost/display riser. Her original support arm broke a long time ago, so she's not actually as high as ahe shouid be. Which wasnt a problem before. But now i need her above my 2 other Homura Nendoroids, to stay visible.

After i broke up my group of Nendoroid sorcerers, to convert their display case to instead dedicate to Kill la Kill: Lina Inverse and Catarina Claes stayed with KLK, Ernesti Echevalier moved to the empty spot beside Donatello, and Izetta moved to my new Madoka Magika display box so she could stay visible. Izetts is very pretty. I bought her Nendoroid before even getting halfway thru her anime series.

Since my thrift store display cabinet is the most easily accessible, i tried to put my most frequently photographed Nendoroids on the shelf that used to be for my Kingdom Hearts Nendoroids. It ended up being mostly Iyashikei and characters i identify with: Frozen, Kimi ni Todoke, Natsume Yuujinchou, Nichijou.

I almost moved my Kirby Nendoroids. Right now, they have their own display case, with extra unused space. So my Kirby Nendoroids almost went to help fill my cabinet's former Kingdom Hearts shelf. But then i remembered that i have Nendoroids Waddle Dee and Meta Knight, and after i unbox them, they should to into the empty space in the Kirby display case. So i moved my Kirbys back. Theyre keeping their own display case.

[bylightofdawn]

My work decided randomly at the end of last year that they were going to move the cap for PTO from 100 hours to 80.

I am a very dedicated (read stupidly obsessed with being dependable and diligent worker bee) Capricorn that exudes so much Capricorn energy you can prolly read it from orbit so suffice to it so say I have over 100 hours of banked PTO and was at risk of losing 20 some odd-hours. This is after I took two vacations last year so yeah I was kinda not happy with this new policy.

Soooooo I requested that time off before it expires on the 15th and ya girl now has 5 whole days back to back off starting tomorrow.

I'd originally planned to make a trip to Houston but sadly, I can't afford it thanks to getting the plague after my last mini vacation in December and my check on the 31st wasn't what I was expecting it to me.

Which, eh no big deal I'll just enjoy this time and do a staycation instead for the next 5 days.

I'm going to do some spring cleaning and rearranging of my apartment. My mother has been trying to fob some furniture off on me for years so I've decided to get rid of this 96 inch metal baker's rack that was housing all of my dvds and various fandom crap like lose figures and the like.

On Sunday, i went through all my DVD's BluRays etc, took them all out of the boxes and recycled them and started to put them into a binder. I had to buy a BIGGER one because 270 something wasn'r enough. All together with some DVD's being doubled up like bluray/dvs combos. I filled up a 400 space binder.

What. The. Fuck.

And that's not counting the things I didn't get rid of because it was specialty cases or things like my Red vs Blue and Star Wars stuff or ANY Of my many, many TV shows. I think I'm going to get a separate binder for those and then keep the cases but put them in a box to free up space so I can hopefully get shit down to one book shelf so I can get a small couch or love seat in my living room.

That ain't happening tomorrow though. Tomorrow is me time, I am going to play video games, read and write and then start cracking on that stuff on Monday.

The only thing that could make this vacation better was if I could get a massage or something stupidly self-indulgent like that.

So here's crossing my fingers and hoping I make some head-way in my new JasPlo fic. I'm debating breaking my own rules and posting things as I write rather than once I've finished just to see if the stress of keeping people waiting would be enough to motivate hibernating motivation or if the stress would just make me not want to write at all.

I mean is it really the end of the world if I have a WIP that hasn't been touched in six months? I dunno. I feel like my own innate sense of guilt would eat at me and I'd prolly crater like a house of cards the first time I get some shithead self-entitled comment asking why I haven't updated.

Which, LBR prolly won't happen cause how many people are going to be reading some super rarepair fic to begin with and I don't think I attract that sort of attention so no way that would even happen.

Most of the time I just feel like I'm putting stuff out into the void. Which, I'm not complaining about but I just really doubt that sort of scenario would happen.

But....you tell that to my guilt complex. I was definitely catholic in another life and have apparently carried said guilt into my next life.

Useless Edit: I ended up getting 90% of my tv series in the binder that held 270 something dvds. When did I buy all this shit that realistically I will never watch again because I own a chunk of them on digital now anyway.

I’m going to see if I can sell the random Smallvile seasons 4-10 and random Naruto seasons at Half Priced books since I’m well past my Naruto phase and what’s her faces sexual assault scandals kinda ruined the show for me forever. Same reason I got rid of all of my Kevin Spacey dvds when I was going through my dvds. But I forgot I bought both seasons do BBC’s Musketeers and I lowkey kinda want to rewatch it now. I also forgot I had seasons 1-4 of Scrubs which is one of my lowkey favorite series ever. I’m kinda excited by the things that got kinda lost in my collection. I found my Dark Angel series and kinda want to add that to the list as well

So series wise I’m pretty set. I don’t know if I’ll be watching any of my dvd or blu rays though. I plan on taking my binder of movies over to my moms house since she doesn’t know how to run Netflix ffs so the know she will get some use out of them. Or at least more than me.

I guess this semi counts as a declutter, yes? Pffft

[marshallpupfan]

As promised, here it is! The entirety of my Marshall collection!

I started this whole thing in 2019, back when I bought one single figurine to place in front of my computer monitor. Over time, as I became a bigger fan of Marshall and realized just how absolutely crazy I am about him, I ended up buying a few more things until... well, until it eventually became what you see here!

Also, let me tell you one other thing; I never realized just how much I had until I started rearranging/reorganizing a bunch of it! 😅

I figured I’d briefly talk about each section. So, let’s get started!

The majority of the plush dolls I own are on the right. They used to be located on the bottom of the big display case, but after I started to get so many more, I figured I’d transfer them to their own thing.

Some of the larger plush dolls are on the bottom (with some tiny dolls included because I couldn’t find spots for them elsewhere), and above are the ones that often get released during each new sub-series. Hopefully I’ll get to add the Rescue Knights plush soon, whenever it shows up. I just hope I can find a spot for it! lol

Though most of these are plush dolls, I reserved one shelf for miscellaneous items I couldn’t find spots for on the big display case.

Right in the middle is my TV, with a Ready Race Rescue poster above it. I also have some figurines here of various pups, though I’m hoping to add all of them some day (and perhaps others, like Claw). If you’re curious, my laptop is connected to my TV, and the image you’re seeing is my desktop wallpaper. 

I put that wooden wall art on this wall, along with the badges that came with some of the figurines. Things were a bit bare, so I printed off some of my favorite screenshots/pics of Marshall to go along with them! The one with the lucky collar is my favorite, since that smile he has there is simply the greatest thing ever. 😁

Now, onto the big display case.

The bottom two shelves house all of the vehicles I’ve collected. To make them appear nicer, I placed their respective figurines next to them. Some of the smaller ones, such as the True Metal vehicles, reside right below them.

The shelf above the vehicles has most of the figurines that’s released over the years. Can you believe Marshall’s worn so many different outfits? Fireman, EMT, Air Patrol, Mighty Pups, Dino Rescue, Pup-Fu, Moto Pups, Ultimate Rescues... the list just keeps growing!

Above that are other items I’ve managed to find, such as a snow globe, Christmas ornaments, ceramic piggy (puppy?) banks, an alarm clock, bobbleheads, a big color-changing lightbulb (that large head in the back-right), candy dispensers, bubble makers, shampoo bottles, among many other things!

And now, the last two shelves of the display case. 

The bottom one here has other misc. items I’ve collected, including lunch pails, a few Marshall-focused DVDs, Good2Grow Bottle Top heads (still missing one), more Christmas ornaments, coffee mugs, among other things. The thing in the middle is a light-up talking coin bank, which I actually imported from the UK (the first overseas item I added to my collection).

The very top houses some of the bigger plush dolls I couldn’t find room for on the right side. I included some others up there, just to fill up the empty space. There’s a few other jumbo plush dolls I hope to add here, whenever I can find them for a good price.

And last, but not least; this singular plush. It’s one of my favorites, so I like keeping him next to my bed. I suppose you could say I consider him a companion of sorts.

Well, there you have it! Pretty crazy collection, huh? There are still a few more things I’d like to do to spruce up the whole thing a bit, like make some better shelves (the one holding the figurines is starting to bend), and perhaps paint them so they’ll all match. For now, I’m quite happy with it, and I hope you guys enjoyed seeing it!

So yeah, needless to say, I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m totally crazy about Marshall! He really is my #1 favorite animated character of all time, and I feel this collection is a testament to not only that, but just how absolutely awesome/amazing I think he is! 😉

[bookwyrminspiration]

it took all morning but!! i got my new bookshelf my dad and I built into my room and anchored to the wall, then reorganized all of my books!! so because I am very excited as I have wanted this for years and been looking forward to it for months, I am sharing photos with all of you. get ready!! (under the cut)

(All IDs are in alt text)

so this was the situation I was starting out with:

to summarize, a mess. Books were stacked double and to the top of each section. I couldn’t see half my books at any given time and kept accidentally buying second copies because I forgot I owned them (if you look really closely at the final result photos down further you'll find three copies of Stars Above by David Baldacci)

I’d originally just used the corner bookshelf that I got like seven years ago, but the books I own have gotten thicker and more numerous so I borrow that mini shelf from my parents’ office. It’s not very efficient but it is more space. However I had more books still hence a small stash in the closet (no, there were no gay books in the closet to my knowledge :/)

so!! my dad and I built this new bookshelf in the same style as my corner one (because they were a custom order by a bookstore that closed that we bought the shelves from when they sold all their stock, we couldn't order any).

We didn’t stain it which is why they’re different colors, but we cut, sanded (we don't have a planer), screwed, and nailed everything together!! So this is a picture of it in place:

It’s a little funky but!! I think it’s better that way. I anchored it into the wall after taking this photo and then rearranged all of my books, electing to get rid of 9 in the process, which still left me with 375 to organize (out of 377, as one is in a different location and another my dad is borrowing). I may get rid of more in the future, but we'll see!

Took me some time but now I have two shelves that look like this!!

I know it doesn’t exactly look like it but I now have room to grow!! There is space for new books, which is something I haven’t had in literally years. So that’s what I spent my morning doing <33

i have inhaled an entire sahara desert's worth of sand and dust throughout this process but 100% worth it and would do again. I am very excited about this so forgive my ramblings but!! new bookshelf!! guys do you see it I built a whole other bookshelf

[pinkabrinka]

Please, please, never clean and rearrange another person’s living space in their absence and/or without their permission. This applies 300% more if said person is disabled. That kitchen set-up you changed? That allowed me to make breakfast as easily as possible. Your new dining room arrangement? I can’t get my walker through the room. You couldn’t find your favorite cleaning products in my house—just vinegar water? That Pine-Sol you bought and bombed the house with gives me migraines. The closed door was to keep the cats out of the bedroom and away from the wire shelf they could severely hurt themselves on. Good job opening it and leaving it ajar.

You expect me to be grateful but all I feel is violated.

[ttylfedora]

Guys, which book?

I am not projecting onto Finn. I am not projecting onto Finn. I am not projecting onto Fin. I’m projecting onto Finn DAMMIT

Anyway!! Based on an actual conversation I’ve had.

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

Enjoy!!���

“Finn, you can’t seriously be considering buying more books? You have like fifty on your shelf that you haven’t even opened yet. You just sit and reread ‘The Song of Achilles’ all the time.” Leo ranted, leaning against one of the shelves in the bookstore.

Finn looked over his shoulder at the blond, almost dropping the stacks of books in his arms.

“See, you can’t even carry them all.”

“Leo, my darling, my love, my sunshine, buying books and reading books are two different hobbies. The exist separately.” Finn answered, restocking the books in his arms so that they didn’t fall again. “Plus I need these books because BookTok recommended them to me.”

“Finn, please tell me you aren’t taking book recommendations off of TikTok.” Leo warned, rubbing his hands over his face.

“What’s so wrong with that?”

Leo’s expression widened as if the answer to his question was the most obvious thing ever.

“For one, I repeat what I said earlier, your ‘To Be Read’ list or whatever you call it probably stacks up to a similar height to me. Second of all, how many of those will you actually read?” He tried to reason. Finn just smiled back at him.

“Separate hobbies, Peanut, separate hobbies.” He giggled, wiggling his shoulders. The books almost fell out of his arms again, causing Leo to sigh, but follow his boyfriend nonetheless to the checkout counter.

“Could you not at least have bought paperbacks?” Leo asked. Both Finn, and the girl behind the till looked at him with a sense of abject horror.

“Honestly, baby, I’m offended you event actually asked that.” Finn scoffed. Leo rolled his eyes and, as the last book was rung through, quickly unlocked his phone to pay while Finn was pulling his card out of his wallet. Finn looked over at Leo with a look that can only be described as pure admiration.

“That is the first and last time I fund your book obsession. You better read those.” Leo deadpanned with a cocked eyebrow. Finn smiled as he grabbed the bag off of the counter, muttering a quick thanks to the girl that served them and they left. They only detoured to Sid’s to pick up dinner seeing as it was The Cubs weekly pizza night, in which they would stick on a movie and put the world to rights.

Finn, however, would not stop shuffling in his seat, the anticipation of rearranging his bookshelf to fit the new books on being too much to handle.

“You are such a nerd, you know that?” Leo glanced over at his boyfriend, deviating his attention from the road for a second to look at the more freckly part of his world. He placed a tentative hand on the red heads thigh and carried on driving home.

“Are you alright to grab the pi-“ Leo was cut off by Finn already closing the door as they pulled up to their apartment building, carrying only his bag of books. Leo sighed and turned around to pick up the boxes of pizza that were on the back seat and followed him in. He opened the door to an amused Logan who just pointed to their bedroom.

“You let him buy how many?” Logan asked, standing up to greet his boyfriend with a kiss to the jaw, and then the lips. He took the pizza boxes from him and started for the kitchen.

“Would it make it worse if I said I bought them for him?” He asked, scratching his head. Logan turned around.

“You did what?!” He laughed as he placed the boxes down on the counter and opened them up.

“Lo he just looked so happy. I couldn’t not.” Leo tried to explain.

For all the chirping the pair of them gave Finn for his book buying habits, they couldn’t help but love the little gleam of excitement that covered his eyes every time he walked into the bookstore, or every time he picked up a new book, or every time he got to a particularly exciting chapter.

“You are such a pushover, Nutty.” Logan laughed, pulling Leo into a hug by the belt loops of his jeans. “Such a pushover.” He sighed into Leo’s chest.

Leo laughed as he brought his hands up to run them through Logan’s hair.

“You would have done the same thing.” Leo smiled. He leant down to kiss Logan who nodded into the kiss.

“Okay, guys, right, I need you to help me cho-“ Finn cut himself off at the sight of his boyfriends in the kitchen and leant against the doorframe, heart so full of love that it might just burst. He put the two books he was holding down onto the counter and walked up to them both, wrapping his arms around them.

“You two are pretty damn cute, you know that?” He asked. He felt Logan chuckle as he looked up to Finn and kissed him. He felt Leo place a small kiss to the side of his head and pulled away. “Now, I need you both to help me pick which book to read. Please?” He pouted at the end of his question causing Leo and Logan to roll their eyes.

“What’ve you got?” Logan caved, grabbing a slice of pizza.

Finn lit up. “So, I’ve got Eragon, or Red, White and Royal Blue which everyone’s raving about at the moment.” Finn gushed, picking both books up again.

“Which one has been on your shelf longer?” Leo questioned as he walked over to the fridge to get a drink.

“Eragon.”

“So read that then”

“But Red, White and Royal Blue is meant to be really good!” Finn argued.

“Then read Red, White and Royal Blue then you numb nut!” Logan laughed, as though this was the most obvious solution ever.

“But-“ Finn started but he could see the logic in what Logan was saying. He sighed in defeat and placed both books back down. “Okay…”

“See, it wasn’t that hard now was it?” Logan questioned with his mouth full.

Finn rolled his eyes and walked over to him, placing a kiss on Logan’s head and grabbing a slice of pizza too.

“I don’t suppose you’ll be filming another ‘Fish Reads’ episode for your BookTok now?” Leo joked. Logan looked at him with pure confusion in his eyes. ‘BookTok’ he mouthed.

Finn’s eyes lit up.

“You can bet your ass I am, Nutty. OH! That reminds me, I need to go film that book haul!” Finn turned to leave the kitchen again but Leo grasped his arm.

“Nope, not today. It’s movie time and I’ll be damned if you get yourself out of this one and I don’t.”

Logan looked at Leo with utter betrayal written across his face.

“What’s so wrong with Pitch Perfect?” He asked, genuinely offended.

“Lo, baby, moon of my life, one of the two people I trust to do a food shop semi-correctly, “Finn started walking back over to Logan and cupped his face in his hands “I am not even going to entertain a response to that question.” Finn kissed the top of Logans head and backed off into the living room, Leo following closely behind.

Logan stood there in shock.

“What’s so wrong with Pitch Perfect?” He asked into the empty kitchen.

“Everything!” A dual response came from the sitting room. It would seem Logan was outnumbered on this, but he didn’t mind because any time he could spend with his boys was precious, even if the circumstances are unwilling on their end.

[imomomi]

         The doodles first started when he was 16. Little stars on his wrists when he woke up, a flower curling on his palm before class, an inky sketch of some mountains on his thigh. Rationally, he knew what they were, why they were there, but it didn’t stop the initial stab of disgust at seeing the ink on his body. He washed it off frequently and often right away. By the end of the week, the drawings became less frequent. The loss of them did not hurt, but a stab of anxiety followed when he woke inkless and alone like always. Kiyoomi had never written back. The idea of writing—what if the ink was toxic and made him sick, what if they were allergic to something and it somehow leake---he took a breath, shaking the thoughts from his head.

          He didn’t hate the idea of having a soulmate. It made life easier knowing that he didn’t need to waste his time looking for a partner. He preferred it when things were clear cut, easy to understand, and with a visible end in sight.

          Not where people can see, he wrote on his thigh, just high enough that it wouldn’t show when he was playing. His handwriting was chicken scrawl and despite his attempts to make it neater, he never managed it.

          He waited minuets, checking with such frequency that not even cleaning his room had taken his mind off it. Words didn’t always make it through. No one knew why or how the process worked. Scientists debated that the reason words didn’t appear were because communication as a human method, poets wrote about the mysteries of soulmate marks and fate, but Kiyoomi thought it was simpler than all of that. Soulmate marks lead you to your soulmate when you were ready. Relationships were messy and complicated and despite how alone he was at times, he didn’t want one right now.

          A single word followed, written so neatly it could have been its own font.

          Ok.  

          The eighty-eighth floor of MSBY’s headquarters was not a place that Kiyoomi ever dared enter. He was content in receiving his paycheck on the day he was meant to and waiting for contract negations to raise any issues. Atsumu had managed to sneak his way into the Management and Finance department the first week he’d joined the team. Apparently, the gossip among their teammates wasn’t enough to quell his nosy behavior. How he’d managed to convince him to join in on his lunch-time venture, Kiyoomi wasn’t too sure. All he knew was that he regretted his decision already.

          Couches were scattered in the main room surrounding large flat-screen T.Vs that played the news in a constant cycle. A large-open kitchen faced the back wall where a couple of people hung around, holding steaming mugs. Two people sat at one of the couches, intensely focused on a video-game they were playing. All around the floor, leading up the offices down the hall, were flowers. Some hung from the ceiling, spilling over the pots with vines drifting downwards. Large bouquets in crystal vases littered the tables. Kiyoomi could feel his nose twitching.

          “Come on,” Atsumu said, leading him down the hall where several offices were tucked against the floor to ceiling windows. They came to a stop in front of a corner office where a small shoe rack lined with slippers, some still in the plastic casing, rested outside the door. A pair of pale pink slippers were on the top shelf, bunny ears plastered obnoxiously at the front.

          “Take off your shoes. Y/N-chan hates dust. I’m pretty sure she ripped out the carpet with her bare hands when she got here.”

          “I’m surprised you’re actually doing it,” said Kiyoomi. Too often had he watched in disgust as the man went home wearing the same sweaty clothes he’d practiced in.

          “Y/N almost had a heart attack the first time I came in here, kinda made me feel bad not to listen after that,” Atsumu admitted. Kiyoomi struggled to rearrange his features to hide his doubt at the words and failed.  

          “Yet, when I tell you to stop stealing my face masks and towels, you never listen,” he said, dryly.

          “That’s different. She’s a girl. You’re Omi-Omi.”

          “So, if I miraculously gain a vagin-” Kiyoomi started.

          “Do ya ever shut up? I’m not arguin’ with ya in the middle of the hall,” Atsumu hissed, his accent coming out stronger in his annoyance. Kiyoomi rolled his eyes. If anything, it was Atsumu who started every one of their arguments, but his own boredom didn’t help.

          “No need to be so sensitive,” said Kiyoomi.

          “Put the damn slippers on,” Atsumu said, shoving the unopened packet into his gut. Sakusa smirked beneath his mask, gingerly opening up the slippers.

          They were in the office for a full ten minutes before anyone arrived. Atsumu took the time to make himself comfortable in the leather chair behind the desk, making the various figurines of the team fight. Prototypes for the upcoming season, thought Kiyoomi, glancing at the little chibi version of himself in curiosity. The door snaps open and a woman walked in harried and tapping on her phone. She wasn’t dressed in office clothes, rather in an oversized hoodie with the name of a foreign university splashed across the front and leggings. The pink slippers that sat outside were on her feet.

          “I thought I banned you from here last week,” she said with a groan, tossing a bag down onto the couch. She nodded to him in greeting, but otherwise ignored his existence.

          “I bought a friend as a peace offering,” Atsumu said, throwing a hand in his direction. Y/N’s gaze fell to him briefly, brow furrowing.

          “I don’t accept,” she said, turning to glare at Atsumu. “Human trafficking is bad. You would have learned that if you actually made it to college.”

          “Sorry for joining the team,” said Atsumu. He stood from her desk, letting her settle in. Kiyoomi watched the two interact, wondering how long they had known one another.

          “Please, I can replace you any day,” she muttered.

          “We all know you love me too much to do that.”

          “When I finally jump from the roof, I want everyone to know it’s your fault.”

          “Take me with you,” Kiyoomi muttered, shooting Atsumu a look of disgust. Her lips twitched and she offered him a smile. Kiyoomi averted his gaze immediately, not liking that her attention finally focused on him. There was something unnerving in her gaze.  

          “What do you want?” she asked.

          “Business as usual. Sakusa needs you this time, not me,” Atsumu said.

          “I’m sure you had nothing to do with that,” she drawled.

          “I was brought against my will,” Sakusa acknowledged. She picked up a pen and notepad from her desk, clicking it rapidly as she started to scribble.

          “We can file a report,” she joked, “I’m sure the papers would love to hear how Miya Atsumu was involved in a scandal with his teammate.”

          “Suddenly, I’m regretting all my life choices leading up to this moment,” Atsumu said.

          “You didn’t before?” Sakusa asked. Y/N laughed and Kiyoomi hated how the sound filled the air, bouncing with a levity that he’d never experienced on his own. People like Atsumu---and it seemed like Y/N---had a way of taking up space and never letting it go. They were loud because they thrived on the attention and Kiyoomi who had been surrounded by people but, alone all his life flinched away from it.

          He pushed the thoughts away, explaining quickly and concisely that Atsumu had brought him here to specify how he wanted the locker room set up before games. Kiyoomi anticipated resistance to his requests but was shown a brutal efficiency that he can’t help but admire. Y/N listened attentively, taking notes, and asking questions, before promising that they would implement a new cleaning schedule before their next practice. They leave as quickly as they arrived, but part of him expected more and is left empty with the thought that there was something incomplete about their meeting.

           That night’s drawing was a little cat curled up in a box. It looked like any other stray that he might see in Tokyo, but there was something endearing about the way its eyes were closed in two tiny smiles. Kiyoomi traced it idly. It must have taken a long time, he thought. The urge to draw something back filled him, but he has neither the talent nor willpower to sit and draw on himself for any length of time. Unlike when he was younger, the drawings came less frequently and always at night.

          He watched; brow furrowed in confusion as words appeared beneath the drawing. The rare sight had his heart hammering loudly in his chest.

          Azabu, Tokyo.

Masterlist || Next

Taglist: @haikyuuopalite​ @cuddlesslut​ @sckusa​ @imuziawi​

[fishmongeringstudies]

ten things my mother doesn't know

one: why i bought the fila's. she knows i bought them and she knows i bought another pair last week but i never told her why i was up at one in the morning to begin with, why my finger slipped on the button and i hit buy instead of 'do you want to block this number? yes'. i never told her about the boy who laughed and said 'i love your new shoes'. how his own shoes were old and stained with paint. how his eyes were the kind of blue you want to eat. how i lost my appetite days later.

two: i wore the same shirt for three days in a row. to be fair, we were in the negatives all week and it's not like you can really feel your skin when it's that cold out and your room has a mini-fridge for a heater, but she would've wrinkled her nose at me anyway. how can you live like this, she'd ask, holding the shirt out at arm's length like one would a child. are you okay?

three: my hair was gross on my first night at college. i had a bottle of body soap but i'd forgotten to buy shampoo and conditioner at my friend's place over the weekend and it had been too heavy to pack into my suitcase. it only dawned on me long after i'd left everything familiar behind, rummaging around in my belongings like a man possessed with a bitter dream. standing under the running water while a stranger hummed to themselves in the stall farthest from mine, three weeks' worth of anxiety itching to be dragged out of my ugly airplane-matted hair, i wanted to stick my face in the snow until all my skin froze off. i felt like a failure and wanted desperately to cry. but i didn't. i didn't do anything.

four: asparagus makes your pee smell weird. for three months i thought i was going to die constantly and then one day someone was like you know how asparagus fucks with your pee and i was like asparagus fucks with your pee? and they were like yeah. it's the acid in that shit. like real acid. like, you're normal, dude. you're not going to die.

five: why i bought the second pair of fila's.

six: why it took me thirty minutes to find the sim card she'd 'packed in the carry-on suitcase, probably in the blue bag, it's not that hard to find, you know'. it was, though. it was real fucking hard to make myself go back in there.

seven: because i wasn't okay. not even close. because i took a nap this afternoon and in my dream i left the door to my room open and he invited himself in, looming over me in that big empty space and asking in that horrible paper-plate voice: why didn't you tell me you left?

eight: because i never left. because not enough of me left. because it took me three months to realize that when you fly across the ocean for college it'll take you forever and five days to re-assemble the mirror-shards of your existence and that's okay, and you're going to do some really stupid shit before you remember who you are and that's okay, you're going to fuck up so bad. but that's okay. even if you aren't. even if you have all this hurt and no idea what to do with it, who to give it to, how to make the art on the wall look nice again so you can invite people to sit on the sofa.

nine: hey, mom, did you know? i kissed someone. i kissed someone and i hated it. hated them, too. hated everything that led up to that moment and everything i pretended to be for the weeks after that, hated the fact that i let myself get so lonely, hated how the hair on my arms stood on end whenever the battered old thought crossed my mind and i wanted to grab my toothbrush and rake it down my tongue until every cell had been scraped clean off. sometimes you think a city is the answer and then you get there and everything's on fire. sometimes you're the fire. sometimes you make shit burn. all i ever wanted was for someone to love me as much as i loved myself, but it turns out i'm full of love. it takes a lot to match up to that. so far no one's tried very hard.

ten: here's what i want out of summer. first of all i want to learn how to make egg rolls. to do this i'm going to buy a square frying pan and to buy a square frying pan i'm going to go to target tomorrow with a friend. if there aren't any square frying pans then i will order one from amazon. if jeff bezos sends me another pair of fucking bathroom slippers i will beat up one of the metal railings outside this building and make one myself. after that i want to read a lot of books and learn about a thousand ways to turn the universe into a string of text then i'll tell a lot of good stories. it doesn't matter what format they're in, if i'm writing a poem or caterwauling into someone's face from six feet away. maybe i'll even start a podcast that i'll forget about after three episodes and return to, years later, when i'm older and wiser and better at cupping light between my palms. maybe i won't. maybe i'll learn to skateboard. i tried to learn how to skateboard in december before the world fell apart, but then the world fell apart, so i never did get very far. even now, i'm still standing in my old bedroom, you know? you can't see me but i'm searching for old ticket stubs on the dresser table; i'm rearranging the books on my shelf. i'm writing you a letter.

ten: i wasn't okay for a long time, mom. but i'm trying to be, and this podcast i've started listening to is really funny and keeps making me cry at unexpected moments in the story, and this room is so bright it hurts my eyes to look up, and summer looks like the kind of girl you want to fall in love with and who'll grind one pretty kitten-heel into your heart, so you'll have to forgive me for the mess.

i'll clean it up later. i promise. just let me put these shoes away first.

05.30.21

[tartagilicious]

[CN] Lucien’s Birthday Event R&S

💌 see Lucien’s birthday date, which this rumour and secrets is connected to, here!

💌 also, a huge thanks to @elainabearie for providing me with screenshots of the event, because my gems really said no <3

[event story:] It’s a warm and sunny afternoon. I looked at the heavy package in my hands and carefully opened it. Inside the three-layer packaging, there is a book that looks as if it’s been in use for several years. 

MC: Great, it seems that there was nothing wrong with the transportation.

Xu Mo’s birthday is coming soon. I thought about it, and decided that I would give him a meaningful out-of-print book this year. After visiting the major bookstores in Loveland, it was quite easy for me to find even this out-of-print book. Unfortunately, however, due to the age, the condition and storage of the books was not very proper. When the book arrived in my hands, it was already a bit damaged.

So, in addition to the book itself, I also bought glue for repairing the pages of the book and thread for binding the cover. After patching it up, I plan to give it to Xu Mo. Because I worried I couldn’t patch up the book correctly, though, I also practiced on spare paper for a long time.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Today is the day of the real endeavour, but I just hope that my hands can keep up with my brain. I need to prepare the gift perfectly for him.

I slowly opened the spine of the book attentively. Just as I was about to begin cleaning up the pages, a loud beating sounded abruptly.

MC: Who would come at this time…

Hastily, I pack up the repair utensils on the table that I had just opened. A gentle and familiar voice then entered the room; the one that I was most familiar with.

Xu Mo: When you hadn’t opened the door for a while, I was worried that I’d knocked at a bad time.

Those deep black eyes looked at me with a smile. It’s softer than the setting sun in the late afternoon.

MC: It’s nothing, I’m here.

I spoke and turned my head halfway, ready to invite Xu Mo into the house. Halfway through the conversation, though, it suddenly occurred to me that the birthday surprise for him was still lying on the table.

MC: Well… you came to me so suddenly, is there something wrong?

I changed the subject, trying to block the doorway discreetly.

Xu Mo’s eyes turned a little playfully to my face and back to the living room. Obviously, it was the look of someone who knew I was hiding something, but he still followed me up with a reply.

Xu Mo: By chance, my company got two tickets for the exhibition. I thought it may help you accumulate program material, so I just wanted to invite this producer.

Xu Mo: But it seems you aren’t free today? The time of this exhibition is very long, but you can come to me whenever you’re free.

Not giving me time to answer, Xu Mo put one of the tickets in my hand. After I took it, he walked back towards his own home. Before entering, Xu Mo turned his head and looked at me again, smiled and added something.

Xu Mo: And also, although I don’t know what you’re doing, I wish you success.

Sitting back at the desk again, I looked at the book that needed to be repaired, and the sound of Xu Mo’s last words seemed to linger in my ears. If the book is fixed and given to him, he’ll still be happy with the result, right?

Bringing a gift of human affection will definitely reap a smile from his heart, right?

Thinking of ths, I continued the restoration work more carefully.

----

CHAPTER ONE:

“Hey, kid, tomorrow is a new day, let’s continue to compete!”

“I know, see you tomorrow brother Zihang.”

The boy waved his hand to the tall man politely, then turned around and sighed slightly. It’s not that he doesn’t want to compete with this foolish policeman who’s worried about chess, but this is after the 587th challenge statement he’s heard. Before he knew it, this time of waiting for his parents to return home after school gradually became his daily routine. Even if he had yet to find the vocabulary to define his mood, it makes school time unexpectedly brisk.

“Would you like to have potato roasted ribs tonight?”

“Sure.” The boy said as he put his changed shoes into the shoe cabinet properly. Carrying a small school bag, he turned around and walked towards the bookcase in the living room. Dad finally couldn’t help but stop him.

“Were you unhappy at school today?”

The boy turned around and shook his head suspiciously. He pursed his lips. For a while, he didn’t know why Dad wanted to do this, but soon, he found the answer. Maybe it was because he had heard the sigh just now.

“I’m happy. The teacher and classmates are very nice.” He paused. “Brother Zihang still can’t make any progress in chess. Obviously I’ve secretly given in.”

A warm touch covered the top of his head. Dad squatted down and gently rubbed the head of his little genius. The corners of his mouth had already lifted considerably, and he made no secret of it.

“Then it seems that you can only show him more openly next time!”

The boy blinked, and he couldn’t help but smile when he saw his father joking so seriously.

Half an hour later, a familiar concerto sounded from the kitchen.

“It seems a bit salty, can you try it?”

“It’s not salty, but it does need to be processed. You put it here, I’ll do it.”

“Obviously it’s salty… you lied to me. But, I really followed the steps written above. Could it be the quality unit of the excipients?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” The man’s tone seems undoubtedly like a rigorous experiment report can be produced in the next second to verify it.

“You go with your son.” He said, deliberately lowering his voice. “It’s rare that we are at home. Don’t crowd the kitchen.”

The boy who hid by the doorway with his ear keenly adjusted reacted immediately. He hastily slipped back to the seat beside the dining table before Mom came out, and rearranged to read his book seriously.

For the boy, ordinary daily life like this is extremely precious. So, at the happy dinner, he hesitated for a long while. He had a problem that had been bothering him lately.

“Dad, what is the law of conservation of energy?” He raised his head to look at his father and added crossly. “I have worked with a teacher, but she said this question will be answered when i grow up… I don’t quite understand. Is the answer related to my age?”

“The law of conservation of energy. The change in the total energy of a system can only be equal to the amount of energy transferred into our out of the system. Energy is rather a measure of the movement of matter.”

“This is one of the most basic rules of this world.”

Dad said this as he put a piece of ribs into the boy’s bowl. The tone naturally seemed to be answering an ordinary question, but the boy stared at the ribs, and his pretty little face twisted together unconsciously.

“I think the teacher said that because she hopes you can find the answer yourself when you grow up. But she may not know you well. My son might find the answer soon.”

“Really?”

“Of course. When has Dad ever fooled you? So, eat first.” Dad beckoned and scratched the boy’s nose. He then picked up another piece of meat and put it in his wife’s bowl and started eating.

CHAPTER TWO:

The boy is always curious about the puzzles of the world. For example, why is the sky blue? What are the floating clouds? Why are people on the ground and why are fish in the water? He is interested in answering too many questions. The fields involved are quite different but have subtle similarities. These “secret questions” seem to be hard to get answers for all at once.

But, the boy never had a boring process in finding answers. He likes the moment very much. For example, now-- In the study, the boy was sitting on a small ladder, looking through a thick professional book. He tried to find out more about these “rules of the world” his father had spoken of.

But this question really is too difficult.

Looking at the complicated patterns and uncommon characters that keep jumping in his eyes, the boy lowered his head, somewhat discouraged. The sound of the minute hand ticking can be heard in the silent room. Moonlight sheds down the skylight, stars of light and shadow gathered around the boy’s feet.

Still, he should try to look for it again. He pouted while thinking like this, and exhaled as if to cheer himself up. He jumped off the ladder and then raised his head to look up at the giant bookshelf in front of him again. Slightly squinted eyes quickly lit up, and he pushed the little ladder under the shelf next to him.

Securing it carefully, he shook it cautiously to determine its stability. Then, he nodded contentedly, leaning on both sides of it to climb up blatantly level by level.

The study had always been his favourite place at home. Whether it was sitting on the ground and looking up at the densely packed bookshelves that were too tall for him, or like it was now, standing high and looking over the same silent room.

Here is his secret place where no one will bother him, and his treasure-trove for finding answers. It’s like his channel for getting to know the world. There seems to be an infinite amount of knowledge waiting for him here; waiting for him to walk in; waiting for his recognition.

“Found it!”

With excitement, the boy drew out a book of some ancient purpose from the depth of the shelf. Gently brushing the dust from the cover, he then blew carefully. It wafted up into his nose and he coughed a few times before he raised his little hand up to wave the dust in front of him away.

He climbed down the ladder holding the “treasure” he had finally found. He placed it carefully on the ground and bought a thick English-English dictionary from where he was just sitting. The boy took a deep breath, and when he was about to begin the big job, there was a slight creaking noise coming from the door before a gentle knock.

“Mom, can I read a bit longer? I finally found this book.” The boy glanced at the clock on the wall and looked at his mother aggrievedly. “One more hour will be fine.”

Mom didn’t speak,and beckoned to turn on the light in the study. Then, she took a few steps closer and bent down to spread a blanket out in his arms. The familiar temperature gently wraps him, and mom smiles and curls her long finger to hook with the boy’s little one.

“That’s a deal.”

“Ok!”

CHAPTER THREE:

In the middle of the night, the boy stared at the faintly fluorescent “Milky Way” on his ceiling, and did not sleep. He felt that his brain was traveling to outer space. After tossing for a long time, he fetched the secretly hidden book from under the pillow, and took a small flashlight from the deeper part before settling back under the quilt.

The beam of light instantly lit up the small space in the dark, and circled a quiet little world that belonged to no one but the little boy.

“Can Mom come in?”

The question sounded as if spanning time and space.

The boy embarrassedly emerged from the quilt, and sullenly responded. He put the closed book and flashlight on the bedside table obediently.

Should he take the initiative and admit his mistakes? After all, his parents have never allowed him to bring books into the bedroom, let alone peek at them and get caught doing so.

“Mom, I…”

“If you can’t fall asleep, Mom will continue to tell you the bedtime story that I didn’t finish last time.”

The boy finally summoned the courage and pursed his lips. He raised his head to meet his mother’s eyes somewhat inconceivably, doubt flashing in his black eyes.

“I’m almost 6 years old.”

“Aren’t you not there yet? Listen and see, maybe the story of your mother can let your disobedient brain cells find their way home.” Mom said, knocking his little head mysteriously.

“Okay..”

Although psychologically repelling his parents to regard him himself as a child, he honestly approached his mother’s open arms. The faint woody scent wrapped him, and he took a heavy breath of his favourite smell.

“Then he said again: I thought I had a unique flower, but all I have is an ordinary flower. This flower, plus three volcanoes as high as my knees, and one of them has been extinguished forever. All of this won’t make me a great prince. So he laid in the grass and wept.” Mom’s voice lingered in his ears, sweet and soft, and seemed to be slightly different from her voice when she was preparing for a report, but still felt very good at any of those moments.

The boy did not speak, he was actually a little sleepy, and listening to the story, he had new questions that could not be answered. But he ended up not asking, because it seemed to have been a long time since he last heard his mother tell him a bedtime story like this.

He doesn’t care about the follow-up of the story, he just wants to make this moment last longer. Thinking about this, he moved closer into the embrace that held him.

Perhaps sensing the boy’s rare silence, his mother took the initiative to stop, smoothed the messy hair on top of his head, and suddenly asked, “Is there anything you want for your birthday the day after tomorrow?”

“Any gift is fine?” He blinked, looking at his mother expectantly as she nodded, and could barely wait to say, “Then I want an answer to the rules of this world.”

He regretted it as soon as he spoke. After all, he had promised his father only hours ago that he would find the answer to the question himself. So, he hurriedly changed the subject.

“Mom, in this story you’re telling me, will love help?”

“To be precise, love can be an answer.”

“Then ‘love’ will abide by the rules of this world?”

Mom smiled helplessly and stroked his head.

“You have to look for the answer to this problem yourself, okay? Your little head is being worked too hard, let it relax,” She paused, “Mom sometimes selfishly hopes that you can… be more naive.”

“It’s not like asking you to do age-appropriate things, I just hope that you don’t lock yourself up in a scientific manner and have the opportunity to see the world in different ways. You should know that the answers to many questions in this world are not through equations.”

As she raised her hand, she booped the boy’s mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, and then took his hand and put it over his left chest.

“Goodnight, my little prince.”

CHAPTER FOUR:

That night, the boy slept very deeply. The world in his dream was like a colourless planet, quietly waiting for him to fill it in. He walked in the endless universe until a dazzling spot of light appeared before his eyes.

The morning sunlight jumped over his eyelids, and the melodious trumpet slowly penetrated his ears. The boy rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up in the bed. He remembered this melody, which seemed to be a fragment from the second movement of the Symphony from the New World.

He folded his quilt, opened the curtains, and opened a small slit in the window. There was already a noticeable coldness in the November air.

Through the balcony, flying gold osmanthus dotted the entire hillside. The autumn sun seems to have a special temperature and magic power, giving everything a warm golden edge.

Dad’s figure appeared on some distant mountain top observation deck, and the silver trumpet gleamed in the dawn. This is one of his many hobbies. Especially when something is worth celebrating, he will play a few songs. Even the flowers and plants in the flower beds that have just been watered will seem to be listening to this melody.

The boy’s mood couldn’t help but jump up.  After a brief wash, he ran straight to the top of the mountain. The approaching trumpet sound was like the background of his running, becoming a special mini recital in his head.

After the end of the song, the boy just arrived near the viewing platform, and his father turned around to bow.

“You got up so early. I guess yesterday’s question now has an answer?”

The boy shook his head honestly. Dad smiled and beckoned him over without any surprise, then put the trumpet into his hand and raised his chin. “Want to try?”

The city he overlooked seems to have just woken up, and the scent of fresh grass fills the air. The boy looked at the trumpet in his hand and tilted his head in thought. He recalled the appearance of his father playing the trumpet, trying to put the trumpet to his lips, and took a hard breath.

The surroundings were quiet as if nothing had happened. The boy looked at the trumpet in shock and tried it again, but it was still as silent as ever. Seeing his son’s red face, his father laughed.

“It seems even young geniuses have things they aren’t good at. Come, prove your learning ability!”

Dad patiently guided the boy, from how to blow into the trumpet to the frequencies of breathing. He didn’t deliberately avoid obscure  professional vocabulary, but when the noticed the boy had some doubts, he would explain two more sentences for that part.

Time seemed to slow down then, quietly hovering between father and son. Finally, the boy successfully sounded the trumpet. The sound was bright and crisp, as if it could directly penetrate the night before dawn.

“The trumpet is a musical instrument that can emit a loud sound or use the strength of the airflow to make a gentle sound.” Dad took the silver trumpet from the boy’s hand back. “Many people have some inherent ideas about things. People who don’t understand certain things will make one-sided judgements casually.”

“There are many casual people in the world. They think that the many rules are what people say, so they gradually become a part of the rules.

Dad put his mouth to the trumpet again. “They never know that even an ordinary trumpet can contain the secrets of the entire universe. Find the answer in your own way, even if you question it, it doesn’t matter.”

The high-pitched trumpet accompanied the distant sun slowly rising, illuminating the quiet land.

CHAPTER FIVE:

The sunrise on Friday seemed to arrive with blessings. After school, the boy sped up his normal pace going home, not looking forward to his birthday, but knowing that his parents rarely took time off to prepare dinner at home.

After the family of three happily feasted, Mom sang a birthday song and brought out a cake. He had never liked sweets, so according to the usual practice, only the step of making a wish was left. The boy sat upright, and when he was about to close his eyes, his father opened his mouth suddenly.

“How about dad teaches you a special way to make a wish this year?”

He looked up at his dad’s face softened by the candlelight, and nodded in cooperation. Maybe this is the habit of scientists, creating new ways to do things all the time. He thought so.

“Let’s make wishes with our eyes open in the future. Tell your wishes to your heart, but use your eyes to record everything that’s happening on this day. Because today is a particularly beautiful day, those who accompany you on this day are also beautiful.”

“Yes, now it’s me and your mother, but there will be others who love you in the future. You must keep that in mind.”

Dad fixed his glasses, his tone very serious. As if affected by such emotions, the boy also nodded vigorously. He looked at the candlelight swaying in front of him and silently drew a small wish from his heart.

I hope I can grow up soon, learn more knowledge, and become as knowledgeable as my parents. I hope that the research that mom and dad are doing goes well. It would be better if their work made them a little less busy. I hope that today next year, we can be together as a family.

The candlelight was against the boy’s shining eyes, and there was a sudden sticky touch to his cheeks. The moment the boy raised his head in astonishment, another source of light flashed, and his mother poked out her head from a camera triumphantly.

“A successful capture!”

His father beside him gave a thumbs-up of affirmation, the cream of the cake still on his fingertips.

“.....”

Occasionally when these similar situations happen, the boy will wonder about the authenticity of his parents’ occupations.

The moon quietly climbed up in the night sky, and the boy observed that his father would look out of the window from time to time after night fell. Finally, he walked towards him with a smile, and with a mysterious expression, he pulled him out into the yard.

The wind blew the small blue and white flags with the leaves, bringing out a hint of autumn. Dad took off his white coat and put it on the little boy casually. A large astronomical telescope was placed in a part of the yard, and the boy suddenly had a guess in his heart.

“Even if the birthday gift a kid wants isn’t ‘cute’ at all, a good dad still has to work hard to satisfy his wish. So -- this is the birthday gift that mom and I will give you. Happy Birthday!”

The boy turned his head to look at his mother who was leaning against the door. She shoved her shawl together and blinked at him. He couldn’t help but sigh again, but his heart was warm.

Dad adjusted the telescope to a suitable height, and even praised the boy for growing taller again. Through the binoculars, he clearly saw the universe.

“There are so many huge and unknown secrets in the universe we live in. Your mother and I are honoured to be the ones who explore and study it.”

“Then, can I be the same as you?”

“Of course. So, what dad is trying to tell you is that the world is big, but also very, very small. Don’t stop and stay where you are because of something unknown, and move forward with questions. Go, and one day, you will find the answer.”

The boy looked away from the telescope, looked at his parents who were always watching over him, and then looked up at the vast expanse of the night sky.

The galaxy just within reach has now become a distant point.

He was lost in thought. After a moment, he raised his head, and there seemed to be a flash of light in his eyes.

“I think I know, what is the answer to the rules of this world? Mom and dad, you can listen to me, right?”

CHAPTER SIX:

In the study, the fireplace flickered and made crackling noises.

In Einstein’s special theory of relativity, as a component of the four dimensional momentum, energy is conserved in any closed system, and when observed in any interior system, time changes. The length of the vector is the static mass of a single mass point, and will also be conserved.

The boy knelt on the ground holding a piece of chalk, surrounded by books, dictionaries, calculation papers and tools that he had been reading these days. His parents surrounded him, and by his side, they patiently watched the formula and reasonings he wrote down stroke by stroke.

“But the book says, for physical theories in flat space-time, since quantum mechanics allows for short-term non-conservation, energy conservation is not observed in quantum mechanics.” The boy frowned, but the chalk in his hand did not stop. It seemed that the entire universe was paved in front of him, and he tried his best to use those jerky and unfamiliar words to know and break down the door separating him from the answer he needed.

In fact, there are still many things he doesn’t understand. In such a short period of time, he really couldn’t cross those unknown letters and equations to get those answers. However, he did not intend to admit defeat. He has his own views on this world.

“To sum it up, the rule of the world is that it may only have a rule within a certain period of time, but it may appear as more cognition, and new rules will appear.

The rules of this world will always be broken.

After he finished speaking, he pushed the slightly large glasses up the bridge of his nose like his father. Dad frowned, thinking about the rationality of this reason. After a moment, he nodded thoughtfully:

“It’s a really interesting theory.”

The boy did not show a hint of a smile, and dad’s conversation turned.

“It’s just your idea, I'm afraid it’s challenging Einstein.”

The small head that was originally straight couldn’t help but deflate, like a ball that had leaked a bit of air.

“But then again…” The boy’s eyes lit up.

“It is worthy of recognition and encouragement. Keep going.” Dad patted him on the shoulder approvingly. “Unexpectedly, my son now has the potential to discover new things and world truths. It seems that becoming a great scientist is just around the corner! But for now, let’s be a happy birthday kid.” He said this and rubbed the top of the boy’s head vigorously.

“Six years old is no longer a child.” The boy whispered. “

“Then this big kid can’t tell his dad what the wish he made was?” “No, the birthday wish won’t come true.”

“Haha, you seem like quite an ordinary kid in this moment.”

“....”

“My wish is to know the same knowledge as my parents, so that I can learn about the world with you.”

The boy’s sudden opening stunned his parents for a moment.

Mom didn’t speak, but took the boy in her arms with satisfaction. Dad raised his chin pretending, looked at the boy carefully, and put on an expression saying ‘this is a bit difficult’.

“This wish is quite big. Hey, why did you say it? It’ll be even harder to realise now.”

It seems that he felt his wife’s speechless gaze, and the man finally took off his permorative mask and laughed.

“But I’m not wrong. It’s really not easy to realise that wish. Because I will move forward too. By this time next year, not only will you have grown one year, but I will have as well. I understand that you’ll have more knowledge than now, but your father is already a more educated old man.”

“But I can catch up faster than you can learn.”

“Then what we’re facing now is the dilemma of catching up.”

The mother who has not spoken picked up a scattered piece of chalk and wrote on the ground, saying, “Assuming that the amount of knowledge is composed of a fixed increase in the learning rate of the previous year, and an additional increase in the learning rate this year, dad’s knowledge amount is 290 times the amount of yours.”

"His learning rate also increases at a constant rate of 6 units per year. But dad will start declining in 10 years, and his learning speed will decrease by 2 units year to year on the basis of constant growth. Your initial learning speed is 1/30 of dad, but it will increase at a constant rate. So, there’s one question, how long do you need to catch up with dad in the future?”

The boy opened his mouth, but had no answer.

Dad looked at the formula on the ground and frowned slightly. After a brief silence, he seemed to have calculated the answer, and took a breath before rubbing his hands. “It turned out to be faster than I thought. It seems that I can’t be too slack! But before time can give an answer, let's make an appointment at this time of your birthday next year, and we’ll come back!”

[collecting-stories]

Flower Song - c. 3 - JJ Maybank

Request: So Ik you said you’re not taking request but I had an idea for your creedance (?? I already forgot what it’s called sorry my memory is fucked) series where you’re babysitting your niece again and you ask JJ to help her change and everything after a bath and you walk into the room and hear him singing the flower song from Tangled :( I could just imagine him softly singing while she’s drowsy trying to fight sleep so that they can continue singing 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

A/N: I really just need to write fluff.

Creedence Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

⭐︎ ⭐︎ ⭐︎ ⭐︎

You were on the phone with your sister, cleaning up the bathroom after Bea’s bath, throwing towels in the hamper to take to the laundromat tomorrow morning, while JJ put your niece to bed. 

She was the only four year old that you knew who was capable of turning bath time into a mess, rubber duck toys and a Seasame Street submarine lay in the wreckage as you scrubbed some forgotten bubble bath out of the tub and promised your sister that everything was under control.  

“Yeah, she’s been great. I’m gonna go put her to bed now.” You said, putting her toys in a basket and rearranging the bottles of wash and shampoo.  

Your sister’s husband had a work trip to Hawaii for two weeks and your sister had jumped at the opportunity to go along, leaving you in charge of Bea and the house. It was less than ten minutes after your sister had pulled out of the driveway that JJ had ridden his dirt bike up, backpack on, with every intention of staying for the two weeks. Your sister and your brother-in-law liked to travel, usually without their daughter, and you were happy to have the house because it meant another place that JJ could crash. And because you couldn’t help the escape into your brain, playing some sort of convoluted pretend that you and JJ were together and this was your house and your kid. It was innocent, really.  

“Are you listening?” Your sister stressed, voice an octave higher than necessary.  

“Yes, what?”

“Miss Lana said she saw JJ around yesterday,” your sister said, ratting your neighbor out as a snitch, “no boys, remember?”

“He stopped by for like .2 seconds.” You lied.  

“I don’t want guys in the house. This isn’t some excuse for you to have your boyfriend over.” She replied, trying for the sternness that your mom had at some point, long before you could remember. Neither of you really knew how to be parents, siblings, children. It was all just a part you played.  

“No guys, I swear.”  

“We’ll be home next Tuesday,” she promised.  

Once she was off the phone you finished in the bathroom and headed down the hall to Bea’s room. You’d left JJ in charge of putting your niece to bed once the phone rang and you realized it was your sister. He’d taken the toddler down the hall, holding her in his arms when she complained that she was too cold to walk by herself.  

JJ had taken her into her bedroom and set her on the bed, going to her dresser to pull out pajamas. “Alright your highness, which pair? Butterflies or...penguins?” He asked, holding the two oversized t-shirts up for her. She stood on the bed, wrapped in her frog towel, the hood up over her wet hair, lips pursed as she thought over her options.

“Butterflies!” She pointed to the one on the left and he stuffed the penguin shirt back in, making her laugh when the drawer wouldn’t close all the way.  

“We don’t know who did that.” He teased, giving her clothes to dress in while he checked the shelf for a book. He knew the night routine better than her own dad. JJ had been helping you take care of Bea long enough that it was second nature.  

“No books!” She announced, tossing her towel across the room with a flourish and flopping onto the bed.  

“No books? What then?” He laughed, coming over to sit on the side of her bed. She sat against the pillows, her arms around the stuffed bear JJ had bought her for her birthday.  

“Sing!” Bea decided, “the flower song!”  

The three of you had watched Tangled three times in the last two days; it was her new favorite movie and she was slowly learning key words in the songs. JJ knew exactly what song she was talking about. “Alright but I’m warning you my voice is not up to Flynn Ryder level.”

“Flynn doesn’t sing that song.” She giggled.  

“Right, well I’m no Rapunzel either,” he pointed out though he knew it wouldn’t keep him from singing if Bea asked.  

He really did love being here, spending time with you and Bea gave him that sense of family that he’d never gotten to experience in his own home. He knew you were a lot like him, carving out places on the island where you could belong but none of them ever feeling quite like a home. This, the three of you together, was the most home he’d ever felt in one place. And he loved Bea but that wasn’t the reason he’d started volunteering to babysit with you. He was trying his hardest to show you that he was responsible, that he would be a good boyfriend, and hoping that maybe you would change your mind about being just friends. You didn’t know he felt that way about you, he’d never said anything, but after your slip two weeks ago he couldn’t help hoping that you saying you loved him meant you actually loved him.  

You carried the full laundry basket down to the front door before heading back upstairs to check on Bea and JJ. Since your sister was gone, he had been staying in your room while you slept in your sister’s room to be closer to Bea in case, she needed you. Once you reached the top of the steps you could hear the familiar sound of JJ’s off-key voice and Bea’s half-singing/half-shouting to a song from Tangled. You stopped just outside the door, listening as JJ repeated the song over, biting your lip to stop yourself from making any noise. You could hear Bea starting to waver in her wakefulness and you backed up further toward the stairs.

-

“You can pretend to wash dishes all you want, I know you were listening to my incredible singing skills.” JJ teased, coming into the kitchen and pulling himself up onto the counter beside the sink.  

“I wouldn’t call them incredible...I also wouldn’t call it singing.” You replied, jumping back when he flicked water at you. “JJ!”

“Don’t be mean to me. I single-handedly put Bea to bed...that’s some record shit right there.”

“Yes it was, I’m in awe of your child rearing abilities Jay. I can only hope to be as good with kids as you someday.” You said, rolling your eyes at him.  

“I’ll teach you my ways. For a price.” He added as an afterthought.  

“A price? What kind of price?” You asked, “ice cream allowance?”  

“A date.”  

You paused, water pouring over your hands and the plate you were halfway done scrubbing dinner off of, heart pounding in your chest at his suggestion. You tried to calm yourself down, remind yourself that it was all probably a joke on his part. Just JJ being funny. “A date?” You couldn’t help asking though.  

“Yeah. You, me, Bea can even come, a movie, maybe dinner. Possibly just some netflix and chill.” He replied, “A date.”  

“Are you shitting me right now Jay?”

“No, I’m dead serious. I wanna go on a date with you.” He said, “so lets go.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” JJ slipped off the counter and leaned over, kissing your cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning. We can talk day and time.”

“See you in the morning.”  

You watched him walk to your bedroom and close the door behind him, fighting the urge to let out some embarrassing version of a squeal once he had disappeared, knowing that he would definitely hear you. Part of you didn’t care though, he had asked you on a date, something you had been imagining for so long now that you still had trouble believing the conversation you’d just had actually happened.  

-

taglist:  @maplelattes22 @poguesrforlife  @freckled-and-daydreaming  @chasefreakinstokes@millie-753 @fangirlwithme @alex12948 @katherine097 @tangledinsparkles  @carbonated-beverage @mariofgreengables @damonsalvawhore27 @dopedoodes @dolanfivsosxox@belledutchess @poguelifeeee @faded-blue @parkerpetertingle @thebookwormlife @summer-clouds-and-long-days @jellyfishbeansontoast @minigranger @hoewkeye @love-someone-special @tiredfeels @strangerthanfanfiction713 @the-only-nana @tomzfrog @mozz-are-lla@vindictive-hearts @poguestyleskye @ssprayberrythings @jenahbell @beautyandthebleh@gothackedalready @teenwaywardasgardian @sarahcxmeron @haha-fuck-you-thot@stillbelieve398-5 @rewindlr @queenniccimicci @thedarkqueenofavalon @alytavzla@bqmblebee @linniep @nerdypartytrashpsychic @xxchxrryxx @spencer-reid-is-a-cutie@mirjanak @danielladreaming @obx-saltlife @youngestxhearts @spnobsessedmemes@wowitswondergurl @celestialmaybank @mybnkjj @pineappleandcherries @mysterious-adventurer @justawilddreamerchild @rhyetaylor62 @calm-rejects @balletandyuzu @oh-annaa @aiifandomsunite @x-lulu @ceruleanjj @wicked-laugh @obxwriterfan @allie-mcginn@pcterparxer @literarycharleton @crushe-s @teamnick @daydreamlilys @collectiveuniverses@activist-af @mdgrdians @buckys-sunflower @vindictive-hearts @copper-boom@talksoprettyjjx @5am-cigarette @jolomez @timotaychalabae

[stevenbasic]

“Oh good god…” I muttered to myself, scrolling to the new pic Melissa had posted, just an hour ago, “what the fuck is she doing..?” I’d finished my sad little meal, at my sad little table, and now sat on my sad little couch in my sad little apartment, and knew - despite the disquiet this post brought me - I’d need to unzip and-

<knock knock> came a rap on the door. 

Who the..?? It was 9pm, on a Tuesday night. Who would be...knocking...now?!? No one knows I’m even here unless it’s…

I dropped my phone, jumped up off the old green cushions, and tucked everything back. 

...Sheryl??

Could it be her? Here to talk? Maybe start to fix things? In a rush of anxiety, I looked about. The harsh fluorescents of the overhead room lights were off, the main illumination in the room cane from a cheap gooseneck floor lamp aside the couch, painting shadows onto the far wall. I’d cleaned up a bit...if by cleaned I meant pushed aside most of the cardboard boxes holding my roughly-packed stuff. I wanted the place to look nicer if this was indeed my newly-estranged wife but nonetheless I stepped towards the door, reaching out my hand for the knob, when I heard the voice:

“Dr JJJJJJJ….” it came, unmistakably both nasal and smoky - and then a series of new knocks, “...let us innnnnn….”

Oh no. Randi. 

My heart stopped, sank, then picked up. Randi?!? How did she know I was here?!? I hadn’t said a word to anyone in the office and now-

I looked through the peephole: 

There’s three of them!!?!

Randi, Josie and Lakshmi, all dressed up for a night out, two of them carrying what looked like trays of food, and all giggling wide-eyed in the hallway outside my “secret” apartment…not so secret anymore, I guess. I had wanted, for as long as I could, to keep this all hush-hush. I didn’t want anyone at work to know that Sheryl and I had separated, that she’d thrown me out of the house, that I’d be living for the time being in a pathetic little apartment above the office. But, it seemed, my secret was out. And if these three knew, I thought with a shiver, Melissa must-

“C’mon..!” Randi demanded, her face abruptly filling my entire view through the peephole, as she tried to gaze through it herself from the other side, “Let us in!!”

Oh Jesus. 

Knowing I shouldn’t, I found myself opening the door. “Hi, uh- how..?”

In a moment, the girls were inside: first Josie, then Lakshmi, then Randi. I was shocked as - parading past me with their party heels on - they were each at least as tall as me, Josie and Randi certainly taller. I tried to hide my dismay, and acutely felt my lost inches as they strutted into my space. Randi eyed me up and down, and aside from feeling short I suddenly also felt silly, dressed for bed already in my thin cotton shorts and grey tee shirt while they were all made up to the nines, hair and make-up. “We heard Sheryl kicked you out,” Randi said, bluntly, as she and the others glanced around the room, taking it in, in all its...meagerness, “so we brought some food.” The look on their faces, as they scanned the bare walls, the crummy furniture, was a mix of distaste (Josie), pity (Lakshmi), and amusement (Randi). “Well, I can't cook,” Randi added further, “so I just dressed up pretty.”

She certainly was, uh...dressed pretty, all three girls were. Party dresses on them all, each one smaller and tighter than the next. Randi’s, a sleekly strapless black number that ran high up her shapely thighs and showed off the top shelf of two surprisingly full breasts, was the raciest of the bunch. 

As if catching my eyes roving Randi, Josie tossed her long, silky, brown hair and spoke up. “Don’t you like Lakshmi’s dress too?” she said, “We’re taking her out dancing. I let her borrow it.” As I admired the fit of Lakshmi’s form-fitting, sleeveless minidress - orange and grey with criss-crossing stripes - Josie continued. “Mimi, show him how nice your ass looks... ” Lakshmi looked shy but obviously proud as she turned, swiveled her womanly hips in a liquid, casually sultry move, one I didn’t think she’d be capable of, and giggled. Her rear was much larger than I’d imagined, maybe just accentuated by her four-inch heels and the way her dress clung to her narrow waist. Anyway, it looked round and shapely and soft and the way it rolled...god, this is Lakshmi?? Where had she been hiding that thing??

“We’re due at the club soon…” Randi explained, obviously ignoring my near-outright leering of her friend, primping her own hair in the cheap, plastic-framed mirror on the back of the door, “...but we wanted to stop by here first...” 

“...in case you were lonely...” Josie continued, smiling at me with a mischievous glint in her eye. 

“...or hungry…” Lakshmi offered, having turned back to me with her plate of food, covered by tin foil. In the meantime Josie had placed her tray down on my little coffee table, and was competing with Randi for space in the mirror, adjusting the fit of her ensemble. From behind, both other girls were no slouches either. Josie in particular had a remarkably fine butt, high and round and obviously gym-toned. She looked coltish in her tight little dress of scalloped orange chiffon, like a girl that had just grown into her curves. 

“...but it looks like you’re just thirsty,” Randi concluded, catching me ogling Josie’s ass, our eyes now meeting in the mirror. 

I turned away as she - mocking me already with her smile - continued to primp aside Josie. 

Not knowing what to say, I looked to Lakshmi behind me, who was once again innocently gazing about the one-room apartment, such as it was. “D-don’t you girls normally do happy hour on Tuesday nights?” I awkwardly asked, steering conversation as far as I could away from myself and my...home situation.

“We do,” Randi answered, taking my attention again as we both now watched Josie struggling to straighten her too-short skirt, pulling down on its hem, “but Missy’s... going through some things. So we’re just going dancing, meeting the other girls out.”

“And, we wanted to cook for you,” Josie added, finally turning back towards me, smoothing her dress with both hands running down her youthful curves. 

“I made empanadas..!” Lakshmi chirped, causing me to turn again. The bright white teeth of her smile gleamed proudly from the rich brown of her complexion as she held her plate up, an offering. “Are you hungry now, Dr. J?” she asked, eyes wide, “We can make you a plate?”

Thinking back for the moment on the takeout styrofoam meatloaf I’d had, I answered. “n-no, I just ate,” I said, flinching as a hand was suddenly on my shoulder.

“Well, why don’t you sit down, then…” Randi purred, urging me backwards the couple steps it would take to get me back to the couch, “...the girls will put the food away.”

“My mom made this lasagna,” Josie said, “it’s really good.”

Before I knew it, I was slumped back on my couch, watching as Josie and Lakshmi had taken their trays and moved to the kitchenette in the corner, trying to find room in the half-size fridge for the meals. Randi was seated close, perched on the coffee table facing me, our knees nearly touching. 

“Your place is really nice,” Lakshmi called, rearranging the few things I had on the shelves of the fridge, making room, “I like it.”

“Th-thanks,” I offered, painfully aware of the pity in her voice, and the pitiful state I’d found myself in. It was humiliating! Here I was, their employer, a man nearly twice their age living like a shamefaced dog in his abject little den. I knew I needed to stand up for myself, exert some confidence and authority to these girls and put on a brave face, but I was still emotionally reeling from the events of these last 48 hours. How did they find out, and how much did they know, about what had happened at home?

“It’s kinda small, this place,” Josie said, finally closing the door of the refrigerator, both girls turning back towards us, “it’s your wife’s, right?”

There you go. 

“y-yeah…” I answered, hating how small my voice sounded, feeling Randi’s gaze boring into my skin as the other girls began to make their way back towards us, “sh-she bought it as an investment, y-years ago. Sh-”

“She owns the whole building, doesn’t she?” Randi asked, her tone making my skin crawl, “The offices, the parking lot, the property? And you just rent from her?”

“Well, y-yeah, sorta…” I answered, looking up now at Josie and Lakshmi, who were stepping in to stand on either side of where Randi sat, “she doesn’t really charge me...rent…”

No, I found myself thinking, she takes it from me in different ways.

“At least she made it nice for you,” Lakshmi offered warmly, gazing down at me in commiseration, “I like the furniture.”

“yeah…” I replied, looking around. The mismatched furniture, here in this apartment, was probably an afterthought of Sheryl’s, some of it likely leftover from a corporate redeco she’d overseen, some of it cheap stuff she’d had delivered wholesale. The bed was flimsy, the tiny dining table plain. The whole place was austere, to put it gently. It felt lonely, spartan...just enough to get by. This couch, though, was beginning to feel crowded. “Listen,” I began, appealing to the girls as all three now stared down at me where I sat, “how did you find ou-“

“Don’t you have any money of your own?” Josie asked, cutting me off. I noticed how, with the goose lamp aside the couch, curvy silhouettes of the standing girls were cast onto the wall, across the panel of the electric box unceremoniously situated aside the doorframe. 

“W-well, Josie, it's complicated…” 

“Complicated? How is it complicated?” Randi asked, obviously baiting me, trying to get me upset, off base, “She owns everything, you don’t. Without her you’d be homeless. It must be humiliating, being that dependent on your wife…”

“Yeah,” Josie said, biting her bottom lip in thought, all three girls regarding me with a maddening sense of pity, “Were you scared, when she kicked you out?”

“S-scared? No, I just, uh-“

“I dunno...it might be nice to be on your own for awhile,” Lakshmi added, brightly earnest, “have some space, have some freedom.”

“But you’re going to have to cook, clean...all the things she used to do for you…” Josie said, turning herself and tucking her skirt to sit, next to me on my right, on the couch. She crossed her gorgeous, bare legs, right over left, towards me. I couldn’t help but notice the muscularity of her calves, her pretty knees and thin ankles. ”We can all chip in, help out,” she offered, “Can’t we, Lakshmi?”

“Oh, for sure, yes,” Lakshmi replied, excitement in her voice as she now sat her voluptuous butt to my left, “We can help take care of you, we’re good at that.”

“Yes you poor thing…” Josie cooed, cocking her head on her long, thin neck, tucking a lock of smooth, medium-brown hair behind her left ear. She and Lakshmi both sat taller than me.

“...we’re good at a lot of things,” Randi purred as, smoothly, she lifted herself off the coffee table and turned her own shapely rear towards me, to...oh god...sit in my lap. 

Surprised at the audacity of their friend, the other two girls giggled, as my eyes goggled. What am I letting happen here?? I can’t be...sitting...like this...alone in my apartment...with three young girls…one of them on my lap...the other two nestling in closer...

Perched coquettishly on my thighs, Randi tossed her thick, darkly wavy hair over her shoulder and looked down at me with smoky eyes. ”Now that Sheryl’s kicked you out, we’re all you’ve got, aren’t we?” she pouted, taking the moment to tuck a stray lock of my own hair behind my ear, “Dr. J’s girls…”

“You poor, poor thing…” Josie cooed, left hand going to my shoulder. 

“Yes poor Dr. J…” Lakshmi followed, her soft hip pressing into mine. 

They nestled in closer, the air now filled with their perfume, the smell of their shampoo and hairspray. “Good thing you’ve got us,” Randi said, smiling wickedly at my predicament, “and we’ve got you.”

“We’ve got you…” Josie cooed softly, following her friend. 

“...we’ve got you,” Lakshmi repeated, now a mantra. 

What the fuck is happening?? I thought to myself as I felt myself sinking deeper into this cheap couch and further under the spell of these three comely girls. I can’t...I can’t do this, I knew, if indeed they had plans for me tonight, plans beyond just dropping off some empanadas and lasagna. I knew that if I was going to get back into Sheryl’s good graces, save my marriage, this was not a way to start. 

Somehow, from some deep wellspring of strength, I was able to muster my resistance, even as I felt Josie’s firm breast press against my right arm, even as I watched Lakshmi’s young, brown thighs as she crossed them towards me, even as Randi’s hand slid down the back of my neck. “uhhh...ladies,” I managed, “It’s getting late, w-we all have to be in the office tomorrow.” Was I really going to be able to do this? “Thanks for, uh, dropping by, bringing the food,” I said, “but I think you should be going...”

“Awww…so soon?” Lakshmi purred. . 

”...but we just got here…” Josie followed, plumping her lower lip in a girlish pout. 

“w-we all have to be in the office tomorrow,” I repeated, this time not sounding even half as determined. 

Randi paused, letting me squirm, hearing my indecision and knowing how hard a battle I was fighting. ”Is that really what you want?” she finally asked, her dark eyes looking confidently into mine, nicely big breasts bulging above her top right at my eye level. 

I could barely say anything, but managed to pull out a semi-convincing reply. “uhhh...y-y-yes.”

Randi chuckled, and the air in the room changed as - surprisingly - Randi was telling the girls it was time to go, as they clucked in disappointment but backed away; as they stood, straightened their dresses, and started to step towards the door. I don’t know what to call the feeling I was dealing with, roiling around my chest. Disappointment? Regret? But it seemed, at least, like they were listening to me. 

Randi, though, was still on my lap. 

The girls were taking one last look at themselves in the mirror, Lakshmi running her hands through her thick black hair, and I began to move t-

“No. You stay right there,” Randi said commandingly, left hand suddenly onto my chest, pushing me back. My eyes went wide, and before I could mount a protest, she was telling the girls, “Meet me down in the car. I’ll just be a few minutes.”

“n-no, Randi, really,” I began, again moving t-

Her right hand fell to my left thigh, grabbing my cock, pressing it into my leg through my cotton shorts. Semi-hard already, my entire body shivered and all the strength to fight fell from my body, drained suddenly away. I fell back to a slump against the couch. 

“I’ll see you in a sec,” Randi told the girls, “Dr J. here just needs a chat.”

Lakshmi and Josie both glanced our way, both chirping something casually in assent. If they noticed that their friend more or less had their boss’ penis right in her hand, they gave no sign and each fluttered a goodbye wave as they left. 

The door closed behind them. 

”Randi I think you should leave,” I said, meeting her gaze with what was the last of my resolve - only to feel that die, withering away as she squeezed me through my shorts and...god help me...I moaned. 

She smiled as she saw my eyes flutter. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere...” she replied, her hand already starting a slow rhythm, my disobedient shaft responding, already growing, “I’m staying right here.”

“Y-you can’t…” oh god...oh god….

My vision’s swimming. 

“Randi, stop…” I moaned, knowing right away I had too much arousal in my voice, “you’ve got to l-leave…”

“Oh, but Dr J…” she purred smokily, shifting herself on my lap, getting comfortable, all the while still working me, “I don’t want to leave. Remember our night in the car..?”

Oh my god if I could take that back, that drunken night in her Dodge Neon. One of the best blowjobs of my life, but the collateral damage it had done... “Y-Yeah?”

“Does your wife know about it?” she asked, simply, setting her shoulders to draw my eye.

Oh crap. “N-n-no, uh...she d-doesn’t...” My mind was struggling more and more as blood left it, abandoning me to swell into the monstrous thing that grew uncomfortably down my left thigh, under her hand. 

“Want to keep it that way?” she asked, as she saw my distress and moved me, took the effort to start to rearrange me in my shorts, pulling it up, pushing it up to my hip. 

Despite the stars that danced in front of my eyes, the pleasure that was clenching my gut into a fist, I managed to speak. “R-Randi, are you...blackmailing me?”

That made her laugh, a gravelly chortle. “Blackmail? Omigod is that what you think I’m doing?” She squeezed me again, just to see me shudder. She pushed my now rock hard dick hard into my hip, making me spasm. Then she started stroking it again, through my pajama shorts. “God, I have such power over you, don’t I…?”

At that I groaned, despite myself, certainly doing nothing to refute her.

“You love that idea, don’t you?” she mused, “You love women with power. You love that I fucking own you...just like Sheryl. I fucking own you…” With that, her hand left me, she sat up straighter - just to watch me slump, surrendering in acceptance that I was basically powerless here. My cock crawled against my flesh, sliding needy and abandoned, shifting towards me, across my hip and skin, centering itself.

“You’re owned by women and you love it,” she pushed, watching how her words just excited me more, watching now as the great mass of my unmanageable manhood tented my shorts, my taut waistband pulled away from my lower belly by its brute size, “you submissive little man…”

I was defeated, she knew it, and she could do anything she wanted with me. Defeated, and my cock was here to prove it. She watched, wide-eyed - we both did - as it slowly pushed itself up past my waistband, the head sliding just proud of the elastic, then emerging further. 

Her eyes flashed. “Oh, there we are…” she chuckled, looking down at it, “there’s my friend…” 

As if feeding on the attention, needful of more, my dick continued to grow, pushing further and further up past the waistband of my shorts, which began to slide down my shaft. The cooler air of the apartment swirled around me, onto my skin, exciting me even more.

“God fucking almighty it’s huge,” Randi marveled, as she sat back a bit to allow it space, sliding off my lap now and down onto her knees, onto the floor, still watching it. 

“R-Randi...no…”

”Speaking of us doing everything your wife used to do for you…” she hummed, ignoring me and gingerly grabbing the sides of my shorts. She pulled them down, freeing my huge stiffness completely. ”Oh god is this even bigger than before?” she marveled, smiling wickedly and readying herself, as she moved my shorts under me, pulled them down my thighs, to my knees, “Or are you just skinnier?” Her eyes were plastered, now, on the dancing, waving, wobbling thing that hovered there, as if self-willed, over my hips and belly.

My lord it did seem bigger than ever, thick veins throbbing under taut purple skin, head swollen and spongy. The thing was monstrous. 

“P-please, Randi...you don’t have t-to-”

“It’s okay...my jaw is nice and loose these days,” she said, as she settled herself more solidly on her knees, pulling my shorts all the way down so she could sneak between my thighs and - in a lurid display, opened her mouth and jaw wide...uncannily wide...for my benefit.

What the fuck?? I’ve never seen a human do that, I thought, as I saw her tongue, her teeth, the glistening pink halfway down her throat. 

Chuckling at my bewildered shock, Randi just closed her insanely big mouth and continued blithely on. “Is this going to be your first blowjob in your new apartment?” she asked, as she casually took hold of my bullish member with one soft, feminine hand, “or did anyone else sneak up here earlier?”

My vision swam again with pleasure. ”Wh-what..? What do y-y-you mean..?“

“Oh, sweetie, all the girls like you, y’know,” she began, as she idly began to stroke my shaft with her right hand, “Brittni and Bobbi, Josie...they think you’re adorable. Lakshmi was, like, all giddy on her way up the stairs here. Aubrey’s basically in love with you. Even poor chubby CiCi. They alllll want to get into your pants.”

Ugh, what? Nnh...Oh my god, no...this was too confusing, the thought of that swarm, buzzing about me, and I was oblivious. Was I surrounded, and didn’t even know it?

“And now that your wife’s kicked you out, now that you’re out on your own,” she continued, her left hand reaching under me to cup my hugely turgid sac, “now we have you all to ourselves.”

“nnnngh…” was all I could manage, as her fingers began to have their way, playing in gentle massage with my outsized testicles. 

“We can do everything she used to do for you,” she said, gravel in her voice keeping it from being a whisper, “we can tend to you, now that your wife’s not around. Would you like that?” Her soft left hand palmed me, squeezed me from below as her right urged me harder and harder and harder. She was stroking me, getting me ready. “Did she used to do this for you? Help you relax, after a long day..?”

“N-n-n-nnnngh….nnn-nnn...” I groaned, worried suddenly that soon I might come, just like this.

“No? Not really…?” she asked, wide eyed and falsely earnest, “Well then..life is better already, isn’t it?”

She leaned over, and spit onto its head, a big frothy glob that clung and began to dribble. 

We both watched as her hands played with me, spreading her saliva down, somehow controlling the beast that rose from me with her thin, delicate grip. It really was a sight, her manicured fingers in a tender fist, sliding up and down the column of my beefy hardness. As if on instinct, though, after a time, my gaze drifted behind it, to the swells of her breasts bulging from the neckline of her dress, watching them move, jiggle, fill with her breath. Images of them growing, of them becoming...oh god...hers...coalesced, and suddenly it was like the scent of Melissa’s perfume was wisping around me. I took a deep breath, any resistance I had buried and forgotten, stared at Randi’s tits, and thought back to the post Melissa had put up earlier, the invitation…

After several moments of allowing my reverie, Randi spoke again. “I know you’re thinking about her, Missy, wishing this was her,” she said. 

“n-no…” I lied.

“Haha liar,” she said, “I know you more than you think I do. You wouldn’t have lasted five seconds here with her…”

fuck…

“So I'd watch out,” Randi said, all the while still casually stroking me, “before, Melissa didn’t want to be a homewrecker...” 

I gasped as she slid two fingers further under me, exploring. 

“No, Missy didn’t like the idea of getting between two people in a marriage. Me? I never cared...I’m a fucking wrecking ball,” she continued, as I tried to keep from squirming as her fingers crept closer, “Missy, though, had her stupid standards. Now, though, now…”

She squeezed my sac, tickled my nethers. Bit her lower lip and leaned in closer. 

“Now everyone wants a piece of you.” She looked at my huge cock, brutally hard in her hand, and then up at me. I saw muscles in her throat working, her jaw flexing as she prepared herself for me and leaned in closer still. Still keeping eye contact, she rubbed her smooth cheek against my tightly stiff shaft, and told me right before she swallowed me: “But right now, tonight...this part is mine...”

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

[prrplwtch]

Mamihlapinatapei. Simeon/MC or Satan/MC

Why not both 💜

30. “Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid to make the first move.” Satan x f!MC

Satan knew it was time to rearrange his book collection when for the second time that week he was unable to find the tome that he needed. Usually, he had a pretty good knowledge of where he put each book, but, as the book piles on his floor grew, it became harder and harder to keep track of them.

He really was not looking forward to spending the weekend doing it. To his surprise, when he mentioned at breakfast that he needed to organize the books in his room, MC immediately volunteered to help him.

“Two people can get it done faster than one, right?” she told him with a smile.

Satan appreciated MC’s offer – it was true that together they’d get through the task faster than if he was alone. Besides, he liked spending time with her. Satan had never felt that way before, but whenever MC was around him, it was as though the burning rage in his chest disappeared replaced by a light, hopeful, almost pure feeling.

They began reorganizing the books in the morning – Satan has hoped that if they start early, they could be done before the nightfall. He was very pleased with the new organization system he decided to try, where each bookshelf was dedicated to a certain subject matter and all the books on the given shelf were arranged alphabetically.

“Do you want all these to go on the history bookshelf?” MC asked, holding a stack of tomes in her hands.

“Yes,” Satan said, turning to her, “Except for the one on top – put it on the bookshelf by the window.”

Working together was, in fact, much easier than working alone, and the progress they were making was more significant than Satan had anticipated.

“I’m curious – where did you get all these books from?” MC said, picking up a few tomes from the floor, “You told me you do not travel to human realm often, but some of these definitely came from there.”

“Some of them are gifts,” Satan said, as he continued rearranging books on the shelf alphabetically, “But the rest I bought from a store here, that carries books from all three realms. They have a marvelous collection.”

“Oh?” MC said, “I’d love to go there sometime – I’m really curious to see what books they have from the human world.”

“If you want, I can take you there,” Satan said, looking over to MC.

“I’d love that,” she smiled at him, and Satan felt warmth rise in his chest. There were few things he enjoyed more than seeing her happy.

He watched as she picked up a few tomes to carry them to the other side of the room. Suddenly, he noticed a small stack of books on the floor right in front of her.

“MC, careful!” Satan exclaimed, but it was too late.

Demons were blessed with fast reflexes, and he was by her side in a split second – but that was not quick enough to prevent her from falling. Next thing Satan knew, both of them were on the floor, with MC half-laying on top of him.

“Ugh, why do I never look where I walk,” MC complained, then looked at Satan, concerned, “Are you ok? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Of course not,” Satan replied, “Demons are not as fragile as humans are.”

“Thank you,” MC smiled softly, “For saving me.”

It was at that moment that Satan suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that she was lying on top of him. Bright blush rose in his cheeks, as he’d realized just how pleasant and soft her body felt pressed so closed against his. His heart raced in his chest when he noticed MC, too, was blushing ever so slightly.

Satan found his gaze drifting to MC’s lips – he would have been lying if he said he’d never thought about it. He noticed MC’s eyelids flutter as she bit her lower lip. Was she…thinking about it too?

They both remained absolutely still for a moment. He knew he wanted to give in to his desires, and yet he was scared. What would this mean for us?

Before he had a chance to act upon his impulse, there was loud banging at the door.

“Satan,” Mammon’s voice called out, “Lucifer asked to tell ya that he wants to see ya in his study.”

Upon hearing Mammon’s words MC sat up, and Satan immediately missed the warmth and softness of her body.

“Very well,” he replied with a sigh, “I’ll be right there.”

“I’ll be waiting for you,” MC told him, smiling gently as she put her hand over his, “Please return soon.”

Satan could hardly stop himself from smiling upon hearing those words, as he felt warmth spread through his body. Now even the impending meeting with Lucifer could not ruin his mood.

30. “Mamihlapinatapei - The look between two people in which each loves the other but is too afraid to make the first move.” Simeon x f!MC

Simeon and MC were in the kitchens of the House of Lamentation. It was the Cultural Exchange week at the Academy and the next day was dedicated to the human realm, so MC wanted to bake various desserts from the human world to share with her classmates.

When she first asked Simeon to help, he was surprised by the request. Though he liked sweets, he was not very good at baking. As it turned out, MC had already asked Luke to help, but he had to work on a group project and, hence, was not available.

Simeon did not need to ask why MC did not turn to Solomon for help.

“Please don’t tell him that you helped me,” she pleaded, and Simeon agreed. Neither of them wanted to have that conversation with Solomon.

In truth, Simeon was glad that MC asked him for help – they’d grown quite close in the past few months. He always felt so happy and at peace whenever she was around, and any time he saw her smile, a warm feeling would rise in his chest. All he wanted was to make her happy.

Simeon marveled at the confident way MC handled herself in the kitchen – though there were a few cookbooks on the table in front of her, she did not look into any of them. The focused expression on her face as she was measuring out different ingredients for a new batch of cookies made Simeon smile.

“You must have baked quite often back in the human realm,” he said, as he picked up the tray of cookies and carried it to the oven, “To get this good at it.”

“I have,” MC looked at him over her shoulder and smiled, “I really like it – it’s very calming. Though, it took a while before I learned to bake properly. I used to joke that I’d sell my soul to become a great baker. I must say, when I first found myself in the Devildom, I was worried for a moment that my sale was successful.”

Simeon laughed and shook his head – humans should really learn to be more careful with their words.

“It’s very impressive,” he told her.

MC paused for a moment, and Simeon noticed slight blush appear on her cheeks. Must be from all the heat from the ovens.

“I…thank you,” she said, before turning back to the measuring cups.  

As Simeon walked back towards MC to pick up another tray of cookies, suddenly, he noticed MC wince as she dropped one of the measuring cups.

“MC, what’s wrong?” he asked immediately, worried.

“I’ve had a headache since the morning,” MC told him, still wincing, “And it’s suddenly gotten worse – probably because of how hot it is in the kitchens.”

“I could help you,” Simeon offered, coming up to MC.

All angels had healing abilities, and though some were more gifted than others, there was not a single one who could not take care of a simple headache.

“I wouldn’t want to bother you,” MC said softly, as she looked into his face.

“I would be happy to help,” Simeon said earnestly, and MC nodded.

Simeon gently put his hands on both sides of MC’s face, softly pressing his fingers to her temples.

“Close your eyes,” he told her, and MC complied.

Simeon focused – he had not healed anyone in some time – and a moment later he could feel her pain melt under his touch.

“Oh,” MC said after a moment, as she opened her eyes and looked at him wide-eyed, “It’s completely gone.”

“I’m glad you are feeling better,” Simeon smiled softly.

“Thank you,” MC murmured, looking him in the face.

It sook Simeon a moment to realize that he was still cupping MC’s face in his hands. Her skin was soft and warm under his touch, and though he knew he should pull away, could not bring himself too. There was something so utterly intoxicating about holding her so close, about the way she looked at him through half-lidded eyes. Blush rose in his cheeks as a gentle smile appeared on MC’s lips.

It would be so easy to lean in and kiss her.

His heart raced in his chest at the thought, as his blush deepened. He had imagined doing it before, although he chased those thoughts away – any involvement between an angel and a human would bring nothing but heartache to both of them. He knew he needed to move away…

And yet, now that she was so close, he was too weak to do what needed to be done.

Suddenly, a loud ringing sound of the kitchen timer broke the spell that had fallen over them.

“Ah, time to take out the cookies,” MC said, taking a step back and heading towards the oven. Simeon’s heart pounded in his chest, as he leaned onto the counter and took a deep breath. He was about to give in, if not for the timer…

It’s for the best, he thought, then smiled sadly – even he did not believe that.  

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