#but god i had never tanked that raid at all before

[avaritia-ffxiv]

Aglaia adventures today. Gottem.

[circusgoth-dotcom]

Pumpkin's Patch

Ship: Thorn Loomis x Michael Myers (Parents AU)

Word Count: 1832

Summary: When Michael and Thorn's daughter, Lillith, is upset, Thorn will do whatever he can to make things better for her. CWs for references to murder/violence, bullying mentions, reference to a stressful situation involving an animal, food mentions.

Tag List: @canongf @futurewife

Thorn hummed as he folded laundry in the living room, perking up as he heard the backyard gate open.

“Lillith’s home,” he noted to his boyfriend, Michael, who was reading the newspaper. The older man gave the subtlest nod as a sign that he had heard Thorn before turning the page. They both listened to the sounds of the backdoor opening, someone raiding the kitchen, and Lillith streaking off to her room. Thorn frowned, setting aside one of Michael’s tank tops.

“She sounded upset.”

Michael slowly closed the paper and looked up at his partner, staring with one good, brown eye and one dead, milky white, silently wondering if it was something he could fix with his trusty knife.

“I suppose we should give her a minute…” Thorn continued. “If it was bullies, I’m just happy she refrained from doing something drastic this time.”

Michael arched an eyebrow as Thorn attempted to resume the gentle rhythm of folding and sorting.

“Michael, I know you’re proud of her whenever she displays a bloodlust, as am I, but she was only just allowed to go to middle school because we agreed to take her to a therapist. I’d like for our daughter to have an education and I’m not so keen on trying to homeschool considering our own childhoods.”

Michael sighed heavily, reluctantly agreeing with them. He had just started first grade when he committed his first murder, so he didn’t remember much of public school. He learned to read and write just fine in Smith’s Grove, but never had use for basic math nor any of the other subjects they tried to teach in admittedly mediocre ways. Thorn was practically the same way, but had more of an active interest in culture and history due to his slightly more upper-class upbringing before his time at Smith’s Grove.

“Michael, will you put everything away? I’m going to try and talk to Lillith,” Thorn instructed once he finished with the laundry. Michael stood and began picking up stacks of shirts and pants, pausing briefly to let Thorn kiss his cheek, before Thorn approached his daughter’s room.

Taking a breath, it knocked on her door. When there was no answer, they slowly opened it, giving Lillith time to close it on them if she wanted. She didn’t, allowing Thorn to view her, sitting in front of her TV, playing DOOM on the N64 she had been given two Christmases ago.

“Hey pumpkin, when you’re done with this level, do you want to talk? You didn’t check in with me and Michael when you came in so I just wanted to make sure everything was alright…”

There was a pause, filled with the sounds of howling demons and shotgun blasts, before Lillith glanced over her shoulder and nodded. Thorn nodded as well and closed the door behind him, patiently waiting for the game to end. When it did, Lillith hopped up from the floor and sat on her bed, prompting Thorn to sit beside her.

“Those stupid Olson boys were terrorizing Lucifer again,” Lillith began, trembling against Thorn.

“Tch! Are you kidding me?? Gods, I’m sorry, Lillith, I don’t know why--”

“And I fumbled all of my supplies in art and-and the friggin’ paint and glue got everywhere…” Lillith gasped, pointing to the heap of day clothes in the corner of the room; she had already changed into her pyjamas. “And everyone laughed at me and I wanted to threaten them but I was so friggin’ embarrassed I couldn’t-couldn’t-couldn’t get the friggin’ words out!! But papa that isn’t even the worst of it!! Mrs. Theriot said the whole grade’s science classes are going on a camping trip in two weeks!”

Pulling away from Thorn, Lillith dived into her backpack and retrieved two forms, stapled together.

“Hey, hey, shh-shh-shh, let’s not worry about the papers right now, alright? You can put them down, come here,” Thorn spoke softly, beckoning Lillith back to the space beside him. She dropped the papers on the floor and returned, letting him stroke her long, dark hair with one hand, the other resting on her flushed cheek. “Deep breaths, Lilli. There you go. Listen, your clothes’ll be alright, I’ll put ‘em through the wash after dinner, okay? You said everybody laughed at you when you dropped your art supplies? Kiddo, by tomorrow, everyone will have forgotten about it. People do embarrassing things all of the time, and if you’re anything like me, you’re the only person who will remember it ever happened… so don’t dwell on it, alright? And Lillith, I’m so, so sorry those stupid boys keep annoying that poor cat, the next PTA meeting I attend I promise I’m going to talk to their mother.”

Thorn paused, letting the words sink into Lillith as he pulled her closer, waiting for her breath to regulate as she hugged him back. He looked over her shoulder at the empty plastic tub left next to her controller.

“How were the cookies?”

“G-good…”

“Did they make you feel better?”

“A-a little.”

“That’s good. Did anything nice happen to you at school today?”

Lillith considered this, briefly distracted from her pain. “The rest of the day was just sort of… normal.”

“Hey, that’s alright, too.” Thorn squeezed her a bit tighter, then held her at arm’s length. “Do you want to talk about this camping trip or do you want another break?”

Lillith shook her head, swallowing hard. “I don’t want to go camping, especially not with my science class.”

“Tell me why.”

She screwed up her face a bit, trying to piece together the reasons in her head. “I don’t want to be so far from you and dad, and I don’t want to sleep in some musty cabin with a bunch of other girls, and I don’t want to hike or eat stupid granola or whatever other bull hockey they’re going to make us do.”

Thorn couldn’t help but smile a little at the substituting word his daughter had chosen. “All valid complaints, pumpkin. I was never an outdoorsy kid, either, but you’ve always liked to climb trees and never minded getting dirty…”

“I can do all of that in the comfort of our neighbourhood, papa, I don’t need to go to the woods about it.”

“You’re quite right about that, my dear. My final counter-argument is that Michael and I can’t teach you how to fire an arrow or kayak. I hear there’s plenty of good survival skills to learn from spending a weekend out in the woods.”

“If I want to learn that stuff I’ll teach myself.” Lillith suddenly hugged them again, “Please don’t make me go, papa.”

“Oh, Lillith. I’d never make you do anything you didn’t want to. In fact, we don’t need your school to take you camping. We can camp out right here, in our backyard.” Thorn lit up as he voiced his idea and Lillith pulled away, fixing him with a quizzical look. Before she could ask him what he meant, Michael had appeared in the doorway. “Oh look, your father’s come to join us.”

Hopping up, Lillith quickly ran into her taller dad’s arms. As Thorn watched Michael willingly return the embrace, he was tickled by the thought of his own father witnessing the display of affection… he’d simply keel over from shock, if he wasn’t already dead, of course. Thorn stood and ushered his family out of Lillith’s room to prepare for dinner. Shortly after, he left Michael and Lillith at home to bond while he went out to run some very specific errands.

About an hour or so later, Thorn returned home with a pop-up family tent, a fake campfire prop, mini sausages, marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate bars, and three sleeping bags. They asked Michael to keep Lillith occupied for a few more minutes while he set everything up in the yard, then called his boyfriend and child outside.

“Well, Lillith, since you so desperately don’t want to camp far from home, I thought, why not bring the camp to you?” They grinned as they stood proudly beside the tent, in front of which sat the fake fire and a few mismatched lawn chairs. Michael tilted his head at the display while Lillith’s hazel eyes sparkled.

“Dad, can I help you grill the weenies??” She asked excitedly as she picked the bag up from one of the chairs. Thorn looked to Michael, who went to set up the grill without hesitation.

“I’d say that’s a ‘yes.’ But a grillmaster is not complete without his apron.” Thorn ducked back inside the house, swiftly returning with an apron depicting a black cat, labelled with the words Made From Scratch, in hand. Lillith groaned as she caught sight of it.

“Papa, you’re embarrassing!!”

“That’s kind of my job, pumpkin,” they hummed as they draped the apron over Michael’s torso and tied it in the back before loudly and exaggeratedly kissing his neck. Lillith covered her eyes at the sight. Michael turned and kissed the top of Thorn’s head before signalling for Lillith to join him at the grill. Meanwhile, Thorn sat back and watched their efforts not to burn the weenies as he snacked on marshmallows and chocolate.

Once sufficiently grilled, Michael and Lillith placed the mini wieners on paper plates, passing the snacks between the three of them as they sat around the fake fire.

“I wish it was actually warm,” Lillith complained as she held her hands up to the feebly fluttering orange and yellow cloth.

“I could blow my hot breath on you,” Thorn teased, glimpsing the brief amusement in Michael’s lined features. Lillith stuck out her tongue in disgust. “In all seriousness, I’m sorry, Lilli, but I don’t quite trust you around open flame. If a lighter falls into your hands one day, that’s none of my business, but for now I don’t want you getting a taste for burning the house down, alright?”

“Fine…”

Once the food began to dwindle, Thorn led his family into the tent, zipping the flap closed behind them as they settled on their respective sleeping bags.

“Now what?” Lillith asked, hiding a smirk behind her hand as Michael had to lean forward slightly, being a bit too tall for the tent Thorn had purchased. Thorn cleared his throat as he pulled a book of Lewis Caroll’s poetry from his sleeping bag.

“Now I read you both to sleep and we enjoy the ambient sound of nature outside of the tent.” As he spoke, the sound of a passing car was terribly audible, breaking what was left of Lillith’s composure.

“Papa, papa, I think there’s an exotic animal outside…!” She laughed, making Thorn smile and roll his eyes. Michael watched her with a subtle adoration. “Do you know any animals that go vrrrroooom???”

“Oh, yes, very funny, Lillith…” Thorn sighed light-heartedly, opening his book. “Beats being out in the wilderness, don’t you think? You don’t have to go out in the bushes to do your business.”

“Heheh, yeah…”

[marshalmallow]

For the FF14 ask game: 1, 3, 8? :3

1 - Character Name? Mil'au Marshal

3 - Favourite Class? Historically it's been Bard but this expansion I really didn't vibe with it, so I'll say Warrior!

8 - Biggest Accomplishment? OKAY so back during Heavensward when the Dun Scaith Alliance raid released, I had only recently picked up warrior (a few patches before, because I got annoyed at how other tanks were playing).

I queued solo. I wasn't main tanking for most of the raid, but on the penultimate boss, Scathach, something went wrong that meant the power bar she was charging maxed out.

This is, on any other day, a full alliance wipe. I did something I'd never seen anyone do in an alliance raid before (or since) and hit the tank limit break 3 before the attack went off. Most of my party survived the attack, I took aggro, slammed on all my mitigation, and told my healers to raise the other party healers so that they could LB3.

We cleared the fight. The alliance chat was popping off over the save, and I received 7 commendations (from everyone in my party) as well as verbal commendations from the other parties. I think I also received a marriage proposal.

It felt so good and made me feel so gods damned cool that I have never forgotten it and brag about it to this day :)

[toadeyes-miqote]

The Light leads, the Light feeds

The Light leads, the Light feeds Let the Light in, burn the dark Immortalise his beauty, protect his child Bask in the Light, no more pain

Let the Light in, burn the dark No where to run, no where to hide

Take the fight, cross the dark. Lead, Feed, Bask, Gather, Fight

Let the Light in, burn the dark The Light leads, the Light feeds

Everlasting Light

------

“Oh poor poor Little Exarch, Whatever made you think that she would be docile like Vaultry’s pets. When she is very much Light incarnate? A mere Weapon of Light indeed. A pale imitation of a once bright torch will still burn bright when fed with fuel. Congratulations Exarch. Your hero will usher in the 8th Umbral Calamity that you sort to avoid. The light that guides is the light that burns!"

------

A snap of his fingers and the Ascian disappears, Ryne’s panicky voice return Thancred to his senses. The children had acted before he could

“Thancred.” Urianger called, but instead of answering he hurried to Hylnyan’s side.

“I… done what I can…. I don’t know how long she would hold!” Ryne looked to him as if he had all the answers. "We can't stay here regardless." “Thancred! I…”

Thancred had Ryne help arrange Hylnyan onto his back. He almost cursed aloud when he realized she was lighter than he had remembered.

“Alisaie! Cut us a path down! Alphinaud back her up!” “Right!” the twins answered in one voice. “Thancred!”

“Shtola, cover my back,” “Of course.” “Ryne, stay close to me just in case. Forget the bow, the exterior's an oft-used glamour.” “Right.” The girl answered back firmly, trying hard to fight back tears. The stakes were high, they had fought Lightwardens together but Hylnyan as one would be a horrific outcome.

“Thancred please! I didn’t-“ “Not now Urianger. If anything happens to Hylnyan, seeking forgiveness would be the least of your worries. If there’s even anyone left to seek it from.” He said grimly, giving a shrug to ensure his passenger is in place, there was a faint crackle of light from underneath the eye patch that she wearing. Whatever gods that were watching out for her till now, he hoped that they still do.

“Alisaie! Go! Now!” he snapped.

With a firm set of her jaw and tearing her eyes away from them she flew towards the exit with her brother at her heels. He followed, one step at a time into unknown territory.

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

Why its not a princess carry like Estinien does is something I'll never know. The 2nd time was Ragnarok's return.

That entire borg queen Halone incarnate conversation.

Oh yeah, of course Thancred knows her weight. Yugiri gave Hylnyan, Yda and Thancred and whoever interested in parkour training sessions before and after bloody banquet a specialized training session. Most of the physical DPS and tanks were game enough to join. One session probably include stacking like a deck of cards.

And Emet, each time he goes "Light that guides, light that burns" he's invoking my Azem's name - Helen as a blessing or a curse. Partly why I think his speech translate into Vanu Vanu

Spent way too much time in Yorha Raids dying to Red Girl’s meteor late . The intense pain of the Light was building up in one eye. If not for Ryne's efforts. Backdating it later

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Assorted Batkid Headcanons

During the middle days of Damian being Dick’s Robin, he was still figuring out how to show affection in a nonviolent way, so he just kept getting Dick fish. His logic was ‘Grayson has issues taking care of himself, so I will get him a pet that even he will find easy to care for’.

As a result Dick has an entire tank of various fish, all named Jim after Jim Gordon.

Dick finds this hilarious. Babs finds this hilarious. She’ll casually mention something ‘Jim’ did in conversation with her dad and watch as he bluescreens.

Tim has the pallet of a five year old. All he likes are exceedingly sugary sweet foods everyone else wants to puke while eating.

As a result, all he drinks are those stupidly sugary energy drinks that leave you seeing god after a few minutes. Is this unhealthy? No, it’s a liquid, therefor water, therefor good - Tim Drake.

Duke has purposefully broken his wrist to see if he would light up like a glowstick before. It didn’t work.

Cass shows her affection through objects, so a Batkid will often walk into their residence to find something like a metal bottle cap or a feather neatly placed on their table, without any security triggered or any other indication anyone was ever here. They all know to treasure these, no matter what they are.

Jason, given he’s built like a tank, will often hold things out of reach from people just to Be An Asshole. He loves it.

Damian used the same method of affection on Steph when she was his Batgirl, but had a bit more faith in her ability to not let something die, so he kept getting her small rodents, like hamsters and rats. She named them all after characters from Supernatural.

Stephanie had a huge Supernatural phase when she was 13 and never really grew out of it. She’s tried out summoning rituals from the show before.

Every single Batkid had a Warriors phase. Every. Single. One.

Dick was SO FUCKING HAPPY when Duke showed up because he finally had a brother who would happily give him a hug without having a panic attack due to TouchFuckery.

Steph has referred to the Batfam as “Furry Touchfucked McNuggets” before. No one questions it because she’s right.

Babs has designated snacks for every occasion. Program Taking Too Long To Load is Cheetos. Bruce Being a Bitchass On the Comms is popcorn. Done With This Bullshit For Good, I Swear is Twix.

Tim’s Notes app on this phone is entirely filled with sleep deprived 4am rants about why Star Trek is the superior franchise. He’s very passionate about it.

One time Bart was bored so decided to raid the pantry and he found Damian crouched on one of the top shelves, hissing like a cat and clutching a box of Weetabix. He took a picture and now it’s the YJ discord group icon.

Not exactly Batfam but the YJ Core Four + Cissie have a discord group chat and Tim’s the mod.

Damian loves Weetabix. Idk if anyone else knows what that is but that shit was my fucking childhood so he loves it.

Duke has tried and is currently trying to unionize all the kid sidekicks. They’re getting there.

Jason’s favorite authors are Mary Shelley and Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is his comfort book that he often reads after patrolling as way to wind down. He fucking hates Edgar Allan Poe with a passion for reasons he refuses to explain.

Cass will sometimes teach some dance moves to little kids while on patrol. Sure, she knows it’s not stopping violence, but when she sees another little girl with scars on her palms and wary eyes light up as she twirls in the air and laugh as she leaps, she thinks it’s worth it. More than worth it.

Jason’s found her doing this sometimes. Neither of them say anything.

The Batkids all love Jon. Yeah, move over Damian, don’t keep him all to yourself. They may have their own supers/alien besties, but Jon is just adorable, and they all want to smoosh the cheeks of a kid who won’t attempt to stab them for it. Look, he’s so cute. The day anyone bullies Jon beware, because the entirety of Gotham’s vigilante force will be there to wreak havoc upon you.

[trashpandakay]

Support Gaming - NakedToaster x Reader

Hi yes me again with more BP smut because I have no control fsjkdfhd

Next up will be nightowl and Quest because ofc I’m writing smut for all of em!

Story’s below the cut because it’s so long!

You and your boyfriend Toasty have been together for a little over a year since the two of you had met on the Blooming Panic Discord server. You loved the man dearly, from how flustered and shy he could get to the way he smirked when he got you to act the same. Every day with them had been bliss since you two had decided to move in together. The only problem was that a lot of the time when you wanted to get intimate he seemed to only have one thing on his mind: FFXIV. At first you thought it was cute that he got so focused, he couldn’t pay attention to anything else at all. However now you were feeling a wetness between your thighs and you needed him desperately. As he was going through a raid with xyx, you decided to tease him a little. Maybe that would get him to pay attention to you finally.

You went into your closet, changing into a short skirt and low cut tank top with thigh high stockings. If this didn’t scream “fuck me”, Toasty was hopeless. 

As you returned to the gaming room, you approached the blonde from behind his gaming chair, gently rubbing his shoulders.

They glanced behind, pulling his headphones away from his ear. “Do you need something babe?”

You smirked, shaking your head. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m just going to help a little, is all.”

He turned around fully in his chair while turning off their mic for a moment, his face heating up as soon as he saw your outfit. “D-dressed like that?!”

“Well of course silly. How else would I be able to be proper support?”

He hid his face, arousal already starting to show through his sweatpants. “I guess that’s fine…”

You grinned before gently brushing a bit of his blonde locks away from his neck, leaning forward to place a tender kiss right in the sensitive spot. He bit his lip, trying not to moan into his microphone. You smirked, taking the time to leave a few bites and kisses down to his collarbone. They sighed softly as you lifted their shirt, leaving more kisses down their chest and stomach, stopping just above the waistband of their sweatpants. 

As you glanced up at them, you could see them beginning to unravel a little, no longer fully paying attention to the game even though you could hear xyx on the other end of the headset telling Toasty off.

“Earth to Toasty? Pay attention or we’re going to lose! Why are you so off your game today?!”

You giggled as you slipped your hand under their waistband to their boxers, pulling the pants down while exposing their erect member. “Maybe you should focus a bit harder on the game babe. I don’t want to be the reason that xyx hates you forever for losing the fight.” You smirk, giving the tip a slow lick.

He shuddered in pleasure, biting their lip to suppress another moan. “God you’re really going to be the death of me, Y/N.” They whispered, a bit of desperation in their voice.

Toasty continued to play their game while you slowly licked your way up and down his shaft, trying desperately to keep quiet. He would never admit it but this was extremely hot. Maybe they’d return the favor one day while you’re playing one of your games. As you took him fully into your mouth, he nearly gasped directly into the microphone. Gotta be more careful there, Toast. Can’t be too obvious…

You hummed in satisfaction, proud of how quickly he was unraveling for you. Soon he would be an absolutely flushed mess, begging for more of you. They were never really the type to be too dominant, but you were hoping that with all the teasing something would snap within them. As you began to bob your head up and down his length, he bit his lip hard, trying to hold back a melody of moans and gasps. Over the headset you heard xyx complaining that Toasty had once again crashed into a wall instead of hitting an enemy followed by asking if they were alright.

They cleared their throat and mustered up a quiet response. “Y-yeah I’m fine. Sorry, Y/N just came into the room so I got a little distracted.”

“Jesus mate, why don’t you just say you saw her and got flustered? You’re literally such a simp!”

He huffed. “I am not, xyx! She just…wanted to know if I needed a snack.”

“You are truly a horrible liar, Toasty. Better not end up in court or you’re sure to be charged with perjury!”

“Whatever! Let’s just finish this up. I’m getting tired anyway-” He quickly coughed to cover up the low groan about to escape their lips when a particular flick of your tongue makes their cock twitch in your mouth.

You could feel your panties starting to dampen more. Perhaps it was from pleasuring your partner or maybe even the fact that they were trying so hard to be quiet while on call with their friend but it was lighting a fire in the pit of your stomach. You reached down to rub at your clothed sex while continuing to pleasure them.

He licked his lips a bit while trying to keep his breathing even, wanting desperately to just sit you on their lap and have their way with you. Why did you have to tease him so much? It definitely wasn’t fair. They would have to make a mental note of this later to enact revenge. 

His thoughts were once again interrupted as you slowly slid him out of your mouth, glancing up at him with a mischievous grin. Before he could react, you were seated in the tall gamer’s lap, your wet panties pressed against their dick.  They tensed up, a tiny gasp managing to escape their lips. You started grinding against them slowly, leaning forward to kiss their face and neck. They grunted in annoyance, really wishing that the game would be over sooner. You were doing a number to them and all they wanted was to fuck you senseless at this moment. He took a deep breath, gripping his controller a little harder when he felt just how wet you were against him. 

“There we go Toasty! We did it all thanks to my stellar fighting skills.”

He grinned, a dash of pink on their cheeks. “Sweet. I’m gonna be AFK for a few. Be right back.” He turned his mic off, taking the headset off of his ears and looking at you with hunger in their eyes. “You’ve been teasing me this whole time. Now it’s my turn to have my fun.”

Before you could even respond, they lifted you up to them, carrying you over to the couch and laying you down with them on top of you. You let a moan escape your lips as they peppered your neck and shoulders with kisses. You felt your face heat up as their fingers danced up your inner thigh, just before the panty line.

“Wow Toasty out here being dominant for once. I kinda like this side of you. Usually you’re a squirming mess instead of me.” You commented, a small smirk on your lips.

They scoffed, giving you a slight eye roll “Don’t tease me like that! It’s not my fault that you’re good at what you do. I just like to admire you sometimes.” With that, his fingers dipped under your panties, gently parting your folds to rub at your clit. You gasped as you pulled them into a heated kiss, your fingers getting lost in their golden locks. They moan into the kiss before inserting a digit into your tight hole, earning a loud groan and a sudden buck of your hips. You were their plaything now and they were going to be sure you knew that. 

They started thrusting into you, adding another finger to stretch you out more. You let out a melody of moans and gasps, lifting your hips up to feel their touch more. They grinned as their thumb grazed your sensitive bud. “What do you think, Y/N? Are you ready for me?”

You nodded, knowing full well that you would not last much longer if they just kept teasing you like this. You wanted to cum with them. No, you needed to cum with them. With one more thrust of their fingers, he pulls them out of you, licking them slowly. “God, you taste so good. I can’t wait to fuck you.” They made quick work of both of your clothes, leaving them in a haphazard pile on the floor. 

They lined their tip up with your tight wet hole. “I know, I’ll be gentle to start.” You squirm and groan as they slowly penetrate you. Toasty was a lot bigger than you had first thought. Must come with the height. Once he is completely inside you he holds it in that spot until you tap him to let him know he can start moving. They start at a slow pace, a low moan leaving his lips as he thrust into you. “God y-you’re so tight. It feels so good Y/N…” You clench a bit, already starting to feel that all too familiar pit in your gut. How were you supposed to last long when they always treated you so well? 

They groaned as they started to quicken their pace, gripping at your thighs for better leverage. Your legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him in a bit closer. He reached a hand up to lightly play with your breast, gently pinching and rolling your nipple as the thrusts became rougher. He was obviously starting to get close again. All that teasing certainly worked you both up seeing as that familiar pressure was starting to build more in your stomach as well. “T, I’m getting close. I want to cum together if that’s alright.” You moaned at him. 

They cursed under their breath, their face bright red. “Of course Y/N. Cum for me babe.” He continued to thrust into you, their other hand reaching down to play with your clit. You screamed out in pleasure as you felt your body tensing up. You saw stars while you rode out your orgasm, Toasty not far behind as they came deep inside you. You both started panting, both of your cheeks flushed. He slowly pulled out of you, gasping. “Fuck I needed that. You spoil me far too much, Y/N. I really do love you.”

He helped you both clean up before returning to his headset, realizing that he never actually turned the mic off when he heard xyx on the other end.

“You know how to mute yourself, don’t you? I had to send Cat to the other room because of both of your lewdness. Next time warn a man before you’re going to make him listen to audio pornography, yeah?” The Aussie teased.

[colormeyondublue]

Chapter 16: Movie Night

Chapter 15 Here

Your eyes open the next morning, and you find yourself in a daze. Once your vision clears, you sit up straight. You’re in your room. You look around, and you can see sunlight drifting through the blinds in the window. Everything looks normal, but where’s Yondu? Yondu. You begin to panic a little bit. You look down to see a tank top and a pair of your old athletic shorts. No. Is my mind trying to fuck with me? Those three years did happen. I lost everything, but I gained so much. Yondu, where the hell is Yondu. I did not make him up. I did not make up the Ravagers. I was taken. You begin to breathe a little bit heavier. Just then, your door creeps open. It’s your mom.

“Hey sweetie. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. Can I get you anything? Where’s your friend? Uh – boyfriend?”

“You mean Yondu?”

“Yes, right. Yondu.”

“Oh thank God! For a moment I thought I had fallen into a coma and the past three years was some insane fever dream. I’m not sure where he went, I just woke up. Bathroom maybe? I’ll go look.”

You make your way down the hall to the bathroom, but don’t see a light on. You push the door open, and see no one. Then you decide that maybe he went downstairs to raid the fridge. You hurry down the stairs and head toward the kitchen when you see a blue figure standing on the back porch. You let out a breath you’ve been holding and smile. I knew I couldn’t have dreamt up someone like him. He’s still wearing the pajamas you gave him last night. A simple white t-shirt and flannel pants. You decide to grab your robe and join him outside.

“’Mornin’ sweetheart.” He says with a big smile. You softly kiss him and look out across the hills behind your house.

“How long have you been out here?” you ask.

“Mmmm… couple hours maybe? Weather sure feels nice, and I wanted to see what your house looked like in the day time. Seen some more critters too.”

“I would be worried if we lived in a neighborhood. Thank the stars we don’t.” You huff out a laugh. I’m gonna head inside and help mom with breakfast, you hungry?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry. Never had terran food b’fore.”

“I promise you’ll like it. I’ve seen you eat some really questionable things on the Eclector – what we eat here shouldn’t be a problem for you.” You say with a hint of sarcasm.

“Sounds good ta me. Lead the way honey.”

You start a pot of coffee and your mom puts the kettle on in case anyone wants tea. You turn on the tv for Yondu, and show him which buttons are important on the remote before you leave him to his own devices. When breakfast is about ready, you return to the living room and are surprised to find Yondu in the armchair watching Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. His eyes are glued to the tv.

Chuckling to yourself, you tell Yondu that breakfast is ready.

“Hey, do you want to come pick some stuff out, or should I make you a plate?” You ask.

Without his eyes moving an inch, he asks you about the movie. Clearly dumbfounded.

“What is this? What am I looking at right now?”

“It’s a movie about Pirates…terran pirates. But it’s totally fictional. I mean, stuff like that did happen a couple hundred years ago, but there are no such things as curses or walking skeleton people.” You laugh.

“I like it. I like it a lot. It almost reminds me of some ‘a the boys back on the ship. This is what ya’ll watch for entertainment?”

“Some people do, yeah. There are all kinds of movies and TV shows. Some are made for entertainment and others are made for education. We can watch more later if you want? The possibilities are endless when it comes to this stuff. You keep watching your movie, Captain, and I’ll go get you a plate.” You nudge his shoulder with your hip when you turn away. Yondu breaks his gaze from the tv just long enough to give your ass a playful smack as you’re heading back to the kitchen, earning himself a squeal and plenty of giggling.

After breakfast, you give Yondu a proper tour of the house. You showed him all of the rooms and all of the places in the house that are special to you. Story upon story comes flowing out, and your brain jumps from memory to memory. He just watches you ramble and it dawn on him that terrans get so attached to things. Things that have both good and bad memories. He wonders if you have these kinds of attachments to the Eclector…or maybe to him? He does his best to ask a question or two, but he prefers to let you get lost in thought. He hasn’t quite seen you this open or vulnerable, but he really likes it. Your planet is beginning to open new windows into who you are.

The afternoon floats by peacefully. After a walk through the woods and a late lunch you decide to come back inside to relax the evening away. You hop in the shower and then show Yondu how it works when you're done. When you’re both comfortable you head back downstairs and let Yondu look at what movies your mom has. He can’t really read the titles, so he goes off what the cover looks like. You head to the kitchen to make some chocolate-peanut butter popcorn.

“What’s this?” Yondu asks as he picks up a couple pieces.

“It’s really good. We used to make it as kids. Give it a try.”

Your hand flies up to Yondu’s mouth just before he pops a few pieces into his mouth.

“What?” He eyes you suspiciously.

“This has peanuts in it. If you start to feel weird or puffy, TELL ME. Okay?”

“Are peanuts poison or somethin’?!” He exclaims.

“No, no, no…but some terrans are allergic to them. Just wanna play it safe is all.” You chuckle.

“Oh…well alright.” He takes a bite and chews thoughtfully for a moment. “I don’t know what a peanut is, but this stuff is damn good!”

“See?! Told ya.”

Yondu shows you what movie he chose for the night, and you couldn’t be happier with his decision.

You pop the movie into the DVD player and giggle excitedly as you snuggle up with him on the couch. Your mom has already gone to bed, and you have the living room to yourselves.

“Honestly, I cannot believe you picked Star Wars, but I could not be more thrilled with your choice. I hope you like it. You already know, humans don’t know much about life outside our solar system. As far as my people are concerned, no one else is out there. So, that being said, we sort of came up with some of our own ideas as to what could be out there. This is totally fictional, so don’t get upset if none of this is as accurate as you would like it to be. Because it won’t be.” You say with a smile.

As the movie begins, Yondu seems to be paying very close attention. He loves the music, and doesn’t mind the dialogue too much.

“The clothes ain’t bad…but I sure as hell wouldn’t wear that travelin’. Come ta think of it, I wouldn’t wear that at all!”

You giggle at each of his comments, and enjoy yourself through the movie more than you thought you would.

“So – lemme get this straight. Them ‘Jedi’ of sorts are supposed ta be able ta move things with their minds?” He asks.

“Yes, it’s called the force. There’s more to it than that, but yes. The Jedi live by a certain code, like Ravagers do. They are trained by other Jedi masters to use the force for good and their weapon of choice is the light saber. See? Luke has a blue one.”

“Hmm…I do like this Hans Solo guy. He’s got the right idea on how ta handle things.”

After a few more comments on Yoda looking weird, Chewy resembling somebody he beat up in a bar once, the Death Star being a stupid engineering idea, and how horrible those blasters are, the movie ends.

“Hey, it’s pretty late. I think I’m gonna head to bed. Want to come with?” You ask.

“Yeah, sure honey. I’m gonna step out and give Krags a call and I’ll meet ya upstairs.” He kisses your forehead and squeezes your butt as you head upstairs.

"Would you leave my ass alone?!" You laugh.

"Can't do it sugar, can't do it." Yondu flashes you a devilish smile as you disappear from sight.

He quietly steps out the back sliding door to make his call. Krags picks up almost instantly. “Yessir, howsit goin’ down on Terra?”

“Not too bad. Learnin’ a lot, her momma seems ta like me…I think. As far as I know we plan on staying a couple weeks as long as nothin’ changes on either end. How is everything goin’ with you?”

“Had a little disagreement among the men on some M-ship maintenance, but it wasn’t nothin’ I couldn’t get sorted. Keepin’ an eye on radar too. Wanna make sure them terrans don’t pick up nothin’ from us. The last thing we need is Nova Prime breathin’ down our necks.” Kraglin sighs.

“Yeah…yer right. Ain’t given them much thought lately. Thanks fer keepin’ everything together Krags.”

“No problem, sir. Let me know if there is anything else I can do fer ya.”

“Will do.”

With that, the comm cuts out.

[wicked-mind]

Remember Me: Chapter One

Summary: Y/N and Bucky were the unlikely match when it came to love, but they were inseparable since they met. After a fight, Y/N left to be a trauma surgeon in the military and returns without her memories. How will Bucky remind Y/N how she is the fire in his bones? Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Talk of military and getting shot, memory loss.

Series Masterlist

All Writings Masterlist

*gifs not mine

Chapter one - Alive

“This is everything I’ve dreamed about, James! You know that this was always the plan! You knew from the moment I went to med school, through internship and residency that this is what I was going to do!”

“This wasn’t my plan, Y/N! My plan was to grow up, have a family together, not you going halfway around the world to get blown up!”

“I’m not going to get blown up, god! I’m going to be a trauma surgeon. I’m going to be serving my country, just like you and Steve did! I’ll come back, Buck!”

“Yeah.. Well, if you walk out those doors don’t bother coming back because I won’t be here waiting for you.”

Those words had echoed in Bucky’s mind since he said them. He had watched Y/N, the love of his life, walk out the door and he had told her he wouldn’t be waiting for her when she got back. That was a lie. He waited for her every second of everyday to call, to write him letters from abroad, even show up at his doorstep but that day never came and he was still stuck waiting for her 18 months later. That day was the worst day of his life. He had broken not only the heart of his best friend’s sister, but also broke himself. Y/N was the love of his life and he knew it since he met her. She had came back to live with her brother after she graduated early from a private school when she was sixteen and from the moment he met her, Bucky knew she was the one. They were like fire and ice, total opposites. Bucky was the bad boy who was always riding his too loud of a Harley in the small town and Y/N was the smart girl that graduated at the age of sixteen who had her head screwed on right except when it came to him. Y/N had stuck by Bucky when he served in the army with her brother, writing him letters every chance she could while she fast-tracked through med school. When he returned from deployment, she was the one who helped him through his PTSD even through she was a surgical intern at the time and running on no sleep.

After Y/N left, Bucky immediately regretted the words. He always had a fear of being abandoned as well as her returning as broken from a war as he was and he took that out on Y/N. He tried to get the address he could write her letters to tell her how sorry he was, but Steve wouldn’t give it to him due to the fact Y/N didn’t want to hear from Bucky after what he said. She had heard enough and broke her heart the night he told her to never come back and that’s what she planned to do. She kept stacking on more months of her deployment just to avoid him. Bucky drowned his sorrows in bottle after bottle of whiskey since his light went away. She was the fire that kept him going but now the flame seemed to be extinguished. It took a while for Steve and Bucky to get close again after Steve heard what was said, but they were best friends and always there for each other. Bucky even moved in down the street from Steve, wanting to stay close to the only family he’s known and hoping one day he would see Y/N return.

The day Steve got the call from a military official stating Y/N had been injured it seemed like time had stopped for Bucky. Their friend group was gathered for a BBQ that night. Nobody  knew the severity of the injuries, but Steve had left immediately on a plane since his sister was too unstable to travel stateside at the time. Bucky had tried multiple times to get more information on Y/N from Steve, but he never said very much. Eventually the truth came out though when Y/N was stable enough to be transferred stateside to a hospital in her home town. Y/N’s medical base where she was stationed had been attacked and raided. She had been shot in the head behind her ear, causing severe memory loss but that was better than death. It took her a while to remember who Steve was, but eventually she did. She remembered she was a talented surgeon who enlisted in the army and could remember every surgical procedure she had been trained for but not much else than that. 

The day Y/N got the all clear to come home, Peggy had arranged for a welcome home party and BBQ. All of their friends were there, including Bucky. He was sitting on the porch with a beer in his hand waiting for Steve to bring Y/N home. He wanted to see if she remembered him at all, but he hoped she didn’t remember what he had told her the night she left. His head snapped up as he saw Steve’s car pull up next to his Harley in the driveway, standing quickly. He could see Y/N’s blonde hair through the tinted windows flipping around as she picked up something that had been placed by her feet. Then his heart seemed to stop when she got out of the car and he panicked, turning and walking into the house to head to the backyard before Y/N could see him. 

Y/N had caught a glimpse of Bucky’s back as he walked into the house, narrowing her eyes slowly, “Who was that, Steve?” She asks looking over to her brother who was carrying a duffel bag of her belongs.

Steve had seen Bucky waiting the moment he pulled into the driveway and also watched him flee. He sighed deeply before smiling over at his sister, “That’s Bucky. He’s my best friend, you’ve known him since you were sixteen.” He told her, watching as his sister’s nose scrunched as if trying to remember, “It’s alright, take it slow. You aren’t going to remember everything in one day.”

Y/N nodded to her brother then looked at the house. She didn’t recognize it, but it looked like home to her. She followed Steve inside and looked around at everything she could, trying to remember anything in the house with no avail. She was quickly greeted by a hug from Peggy, who she recognized because Steve had shown her photos and told her stories of his wife. She walked through greeting everybody who reintroduced themselves to her. She had re-met Clint and his wife Laura as well as their kids, Sam, Tony and Pepper, Natasha and her husband Bruce. The only person she hadn’t yet been able to talk to was the man named Bucky. After finishing a burger, she walked around Steve’s house, looking at all the pictures on the wall. There were some of her with Steve and even pictures of her when she graduated from med school but then there were some of her on the back of Bucky’s Harley. The two of them were grinning ear to ear from behind dark sunglasses. Y/N finally tracked Bucky down to find him sitting on the porch of the house again. She snuck up behind him and sat down next to him, “Is there a reason you keep running from me?” She asked him.

Bucky was caught off guard with Y/N sneaking up behind him and even more surprised when she sat down next to him. He never thought he would have her this close to him again, “No… I’m sorry.” He said, looking down at the beer bottle in his hand, “It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

Y/N nodded at his words, “Yeah, well, in my mind it’s been forever since I’ve seen you. So long, in fact that I don’t even remember your name.” She joked as she smiled at him, “So reintroduce yourself, it’s only the gentleman thing to do.”

Bucky couldn’t help that his lips twisted into a curve at her words. She sounded happy and honest like she wanted to know him. He wondered what Steve had told her about him. He reached out a hand for her to shake, “Nice to meet you again, Y/N. I’m James, but you’ve been calling me Bucky since you were sixteen.” He remembered the day they met. She was sixteen and already much too smart to fall for him, but she did. Y/N would even sneak out to meet him and ride his dirt bike he had at the time into the night before he would sneak her back home. 

Y/N smiled, shaking his hand, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you again, Bucky.” She released his hand and looked over to his Harley in the driveway, “Judging from the pictures on the wall inside, I’m going to assume that’s yours.”

Bucky followed her gaze to his motorcycle, nodding as he took a swig of his beer, “Yeah, that’s mine.” He knew exactly what pictures Y/N was talking about. Most of them were taken in Steve’s driveway, her sitting behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist with big smiles on both of their faces, “You helped me build her, or rebuild her I should say. You handed me the tools.” He couldn’t help but smile at the memory. It had been a quiet night of them working in his garage at his house. It ended with Bucky dirtying Y/N’s white tank top and skin with his greasy handprints.

Y/N scrunched her nose as if trying to focus on remembering the memory to no avail once again, but it sounded like it was fun so she just smiled at his words, “You’d think I’d remember that and I’m sorry I don’t. Sounds like it was fun. All I can remember now is bits and pieces of Steve and then a bunch of surgical procedures. So if you need to know how to do an appendectomy, I can help with that.” She chuckles before returning her gaze to his Harley, “Did I like it? Riding with you I mean.”

Bucky again smiled at Y/N’s comment. He remembered when he met her she told him she was going to be a surgeon and he couldn’t picture a pretty girl like her cutting people open, but she did everything she said she was going to do. When she asked the question, he froze. He didn’t know what to say but then found the perfect words without giving too much away about how he felt about her, “I’ve never seen you more alive than when you were riding with me, doll. You said it always matched the feeling of when you did surgery. I never knew what that meant.”

Y/N knew exactly what that meant. She loved being a surgeon, it exhilarated her and scared her all at the same time. That feeling when she was performing surgery was one she couldn’t forget and it made her wonder how she could forget the feeling riding on a motorcycle. She bit her lip and looked over at him, “I don’t remember…” She told him, “But maybe you can remind me.”

It took everything in Bucky not to swoop Y/N up and put her on his bike, but he couldn’t do that yet. They were practically strangers and he knew if he took her on a ride he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from saying he loved her and taking her to his home, “Some other time, I don’t think your brother would be good with taking his sister who has a brain injury on a ride right now.” He excused with a pained smile.

Y/N nodded, noticing people coming out from the backyard to leave. She gave each of them a wave before continuing, “You’re probably right.” She said looking down at her hands, “Steve treats me like I’m glass. Even meeting everybody today, they look at me like I’m going to break at any moment because I can’t remember anything. Even you ran.”

Bucky watched Y/N gaze at her hands, frowning a little at her words. She sounded defeated that everybody thought she was so helpless and breakable and he wasn’t helping, “I know you’re not glass, Y/N. You’re the smartest and strongest person I know. I’m sorry I didn’t say hello, that was a real asshat move of me.”

Y/N smiled a little at his words, looking back at him from under her dark eyelashes, “It’s okay.” She bit her lip softly before continuing, “You’re easy to talk to, Bucky. We must’ve been really close because it just comes easy to talk to you about stuff.”

Bucky swallowed hard, not knowing what to say to her. He took the last drink of his beer before setting it down beside him, finally looking over at the pretty face he had missed so much, “We were pretty close.” He admitted softly to her, “You knew everything about me and I knew everything about you. I hope one day we can get back to that point.” 

Y/N smiled at him, “I think we will. I have a feeling you’re the person I’m going to be coming to when Steve is driving me nuts as older brothers do.” She chuckles a little bit, before hearing the door behind her to see Steve looking at Bucky and Y/N, “Hiya, Stevie.” 

Steve’s eyes flickered between the two curiously, “Everybody’s pretty much cleared out, we were just finishing cleaning up and getting ready for bed.” He informed the two before being dragged away by Peggy back inside.

Y/N looked back over to Bucky with a smile, “Like I said, driving me nuts and treating me like glass. I have a bed time now.” She stood up, biting her lip as Bucky stood also beside her, watching her face with a smile, “I guess I’ll see you later. Don’t be a stranger, Bucky.” She said with a soft squeeze of his arm before disappearing into the house. Bucky watched her go back inside. When she was gone, he took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. He still felt everything for her and watching her walk away instead of coming home with him where she belonged made it feel like his heart was breaking all over again. Bucky decided in that instant that he would help Y/N remember everything she wanted and help her remember their relationship. The woman he loved was still in there and he just had to find her. He walked down to his motorcycle, straddling his legs over it and with a roar, making it come to life. He took one last look at the house where Y/N was in before zooming down the street back home.

[ckneal]

So, there’s this one angel story in the back of my head that I know I wont write. I wont write it, because it’s utter nonsense, with very little regard for the canonical timeline of Supernatural, and a willfully blurry view on what is and is not “in character.” It’s fluff. It’s all fluff, in the form of a bunch of smaller stories that gradually weave together, following the Love, Actually style of storytelling, but instead of problematic love stories, it’s all about angels playing hooky from Heaven after the Fall.

(Seriously, there is no substance here, I swear.)

Stories include Abner, living out the first half of the movie Family Man, struggling to figure out how to be a good father and house husband after he steps into the life of the raging alcoholic who agreed to be his vessel. There’s also a very minor story about Esther (not to be confused with Hester, who is not in this story because she never deserted her post in Heaven) learning to play the part of a little girl and navigating schoolyard politics, but kids can be mean and Esther learns the hard way that Michael’s approach to asserting dominance in Heaven does not translate well. There’s also Daniel and Adina, who both settle into vessels in the same movie theater where a romantic comedy is playing, and fall into a very innocent, play-acting sort of love after they leave the theatre—like little kids pretending to be in love, recreating the scenes from the movie, but at the same time not really understanding it. Balthazar, Gabriel, and Anael each trying to roll with the luxurious high roller life style, and awkwardly running into each other at VIP poker games, exclusive spas and clubs, and the occasional orgy that they promptly leave IMMEDATELY after running into a sibling (don’t give me weird looks, Balthazar and Gabriel canonically include that sort of thing in their definition of luxury, and the whole thing of their story is their siblings keep cramping their style). Tyrus is in there bowling, somewhere. Benjamin’s playing arcade games with his wife. And then there’s Thaddeus, my pet favorite minor angel character, realizing what’s happening as he’s falling with all the other faithful angels during the Fall and seizing the opportunity to abandon his life as a guard and torturer, settling into a pop star for his vessel—initially for the sake of the cushy lifestyle, but then gradually looking back, before the garden and Lucifer, before everyone was assigned a job in Heaven, like it or not, and the options were to adapt or to be smote, and remembering that back then, he could sing.

And of course, Michael and Adam get a story too—in which Michael lowkey gets into a pissing contest with death, as he and Adam travel the world, hitting up hospital after hospital to heal people. Because the first thing Adam wanted to do after getting out of the cage (okay, second thing—burgers came first) was go to the nearest medical center and start healing people left and right. And at first, they’re having a great time. Adam steals a white jacket he finds in the breakroom somewhere, and anytime someone says he looks a little young to be a doctor (Adam still looking nineteen years old, because I say so), Michael wipes the poor sap’s mind. But eventually—sometime after they’ve cleared out the children’s ward, the cancer ward, the cardiac ward—Billie shows up, sniping at them that they can’t just go around healing people who are destined to die, because there is an order to life and death that cannot be shoved aside. And Billie tries to make a show of it, as Terra did with Dean, by having several people who Adam had healed over the course of the day inadvertently cause several massive accidents. The news suddenly comes pouring out of the television, channels flipping as newscasters talk about tragedies occurring in several different parts of the city they’re currently in. The sound of approaching ambulance sirens fills the air, as in the hospital hallway, doctors and nurses begin hurrying to receive a rush of ER patients.

Adam’s horrified.

Michael does not take kindly to this. He snaps his fingers and makes it so that the carnage has never happened. Because he is the archangel Michael, only two steps away from being a god, and if he says that all of these people are going to live, then they are going to live, and he WILL NOT be intimidated, especially by an amateur reaper whose only qualification for her position was dying at the right time.

Billie in turn lands Michael with a cold stare, and points out that the order to life and death is beyond even God’s authority, let alone daddy’s blunt, sniveling instrument.

As Michael’s eyes start to glow, Adam steps in and says, “So, to be clear, you want us to stop healing people on the verge of death? We can do that.”

After Billie leaves, Michael is outraged, but Adam says, “No, Michael, THINK about it.”

We then cut to other stories, where newscasts in the background reveal that ailments that are not IMMIEDATELY fatal (AIDs, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc.) are mysteriously disappearing overnight, worldwide.

Billie is not amused, and tells her reapers to be on the lookout for an archangel at every major hospital in the world.

Cut to Michael throwing open the door of the bunker, muttering aloud to Adam that he’s going to do it, he’s going to bind Death, just like Lucifer did—how hard can it be? Sam and Dean see him as he goes stomping off toward the cabinet where they keep all of their magical dry goods, but Michael snaps his fingers and the two of them are abruptly half drunk in Dean’s man cave, sitting in front of Dean’s flat screen TV, watching some campy monster movie, because that’s lowkey what Michael and Adam assume they do all day.

As they’re raiding Sam and Dean’s supplies though, Adam says, “Wait, I have an idea.”

Cut to Abner looking up while pushing his vessel’s daughter in a park swing, and literally seeing Michael and Adam chasing an ambulance, so they can technically heal the person inside before reaching the hospital.

Yes, I’m aware that Abner was dead by the time Michael and Adam got out of the cage. But see, this story? This story is like when someone gifts you a goldfish unexpectedly, and you put it in a bowl, checking in to feed it a couple times a day, lowkey expecting it to die. But it doesn’t die, it gets bigger. And you’re not a cruel person, so you put it in a bigger tank, but it just gets bigger again, and you don’t really know what’s going on, but you know, you just kind of keep checking in, meeting the minimum requirements but not really getting in there as a guiding force because it’s a goldfish and it’s surely going to die any minute now—but then you look over and there’s giant tank taking up your living room, and you’re thawing out bloodworms twice a day, and looking into tankmates to keep Charles company, and realize that “Oh wow, I guess this is a thing now.”

In short, the story says we’re ignoring the timeline, and it’s calling the shots. I’m just keeping the tank clean.

The angels all eventually wind up running into each other. Abner and Esther happen upon one another in a park, where Esther is morosely realizing that she is terrible at being a human child but she does not want to go home to Heaven, and it just happens to be the same park where Abner goes with his “little nibblet” once a day to let her toddle around the playground while he chats with nannies and other house parents. Anael, Adina, and Daniel meet up when the latter two’s game has reached the point where they’ve decided to get married, and they apparently need to buy something new—preferably blue—as per this very important rhyme someone told them about. Esther and Gabriel run into each other in an ice cream parlor. Thaddeus gets recognized while doing an interview on TV that everyone sees. And, while out joyriding in a Lamborghini, on their way to meet up with the growing community of angels who decided to opt out of their responsibility to Heaven and their father’s legacy, Balthazar, Gabriel, and Anael are all startled to see Michael land on an ambulance stopped next to them at a red light.

Balthazar and Anael are both terrified, as if they’ve just been busted by a parent, because Michael, of course, is the guy who enforces the rules, and isn’t he supposed to be in Hell? They both shoot Gabriel looks as if to say ‘what the hell are you doing’ when Gabriel, watching as Michael climbs down and matter-of-factly wrenches the ambulance doors open, calls out, “Hey, Mike! Is that you?”

Michael looks over, freezes for a second—not prepared to be suddenly thrust into a social situation in the middle of his self-imposed mission to spite death—then his eyes flash and Adam takes over. “Oh hey, you’re Michael’s family? What a small world! I’m Adam, I’ve heard so much about you. Wait, hang on—”

The light starts to turn green, but Adam snaps his fingers and it promptly reverts to red.

Three jaws drop in the luxury car, and they don’t even hear Adam politely explain that he and Michael are in the middle of something, as he ducks into the ambulance, because Michael’s evidently letting a tiny human use his powers like it’s nothing, and what does that mean?

“Sweet dad in the unknown, Michael’s shagging a human. . .”

“Nooo!”

“HOW?”

“Hey, kid, you like weddings?”

At some point in the story, all the MIA angels are together, and Benjamin or someone comes running in saying, “Quick, they’re coming! Everyone hide!”

And everyone scatters, except for Michael, who stands in place, saying, “Gabriel, we’re archangels, two of the most powerful beings in existence. Why would we—”

And then Gabriel picks Adam up like a sack of potatoes and sprints off, calling back, “Trust me, you do NOT want to get involved with them!”

Being a projection, Michael is obligated to follow.

Team Free Will then walks by, looking constipated from whatever Big Awful Thing is currently threatening to destroy the world.

The story, of course, culminates in the wedding of Adina and Daniel, who still don’t quite understand what marriage is beyond promising to love each forever, which of course they will, after all, they are the very best of friends—which is about the same concept that most of the other angels present have. Adam is the first one to actually approach the big awkward question, upon finding out who the bride and groom are.

“Wait, aren’t they brother and sister?”

To which Serafina’s Adam, (who is of course there since Serafina was the original angel to play hooky) whose sons married his daughters, and all the angels, who do not understand what that has to do with anything, all cock their heads in unison and respond with, “So?”

Adam struggles to find words, looking into so many innocent faces. Then Benjamin’s wife puts a hand on his shoulder, whispering, “Shhh, let them have their fun.”

Benjamin’s wife and the two Adams wind up sitting at the venue’s bar, where they order nachos from a very confused bar tender, and watch as the angels go about setting up a wedding. But given that most angels haven’t been on earth regularly in roughly two thousand years, none of them have a clear grasp of what a human wedding entails.

“I heard it’s traditional for the father to give away the bride.”

“I think they’re supposed to kiss over bread.”

“Do humans still slaughter cows at these things?”

“I’m pretty sure someone is supposed to break a glass—”

Several angels promptly throw glassware on the floor.

At no point do the angels ask the humans for advice.

Occasionally, Gabriel knowingly throws out obscure details to keep the confusion going.

“You know, the groom needs to stand with the right arm to the aisle in case a sword fight breaks out.”

“Right! . . .How do we know which one’s the groom?”

At the bar, Adam open’s his mouth to say something, but the original Adam shushes him.

“No no, son, let them get there.”

The angels agree that being the better fighter, Adina should be the groom.

They’re nearly ready to start when Michael suddenly doubles over with his hand over his mouth. It coincides with the sound of Adam pounding the bar top, having just eaten a Carolina Reaper pepper on dare. Michael’s eyes quickly flash silver-blue as he straightens, and both he and Adam are abruptly fine—even if their eyes are still watering somewhat. But a different sort of damage has already been done, as Anael, Balthazar, and Gabriel all abruptly turn toward the triad of humans, having been reminded that the Michael walking around with them is actually a projection. In actuality, Michael is anchored to the human ex-college student sitting at the bar.

All three of them rush toward Adam, but Serafina gets there first, asking Adam if he’s ever tried mushroom tea.

Balthazar gets there next. 

“Adam, was it? We didn’t get to talk in the car, let’s fix that. Are you over twenty-one? You know what, this is a family affair, don’t worry—CAN I GET TWO SHOTS OF DON JULIO OVER HERE?”

From that point on, any time Adam turns around, there’s one of Michael’s siblings, wanting to get to know him—by consuming some sort of beverage. Because Adam and Michael are sharing body—and that means they share a liver too. A bet ensues as to how much it will take to get God’s alleged favorite wasted.

Gabriel’s actually one of the first out, having been convinced that Michael would be a lightweight. Little does he suspect that Benjamin and his wife caught onto what was happening soon after Adam was fed his third long island iced tea and second jager bomb, and began quietly cleansing the alcohol from his system through casual shoulder pats and high fives.

Adam does not know what to make of any of this, but it’s Michael’s family and he wants to make a good impression, so he just goes with it.

Thaddeus, of course, is in charge of music, Gabriel and Esther consume the majority of the cake, and Michael catches the bouquet (he may have cheated after finding out what the bouquet toss is for).

[voidendron]

tonight's prog went as follows:

we lost a tank because he quit the game, so the raid leads (married couple, one is tank, the other healer) asked me if I'd be willing to tank Master/Blaster, and possibly be a permanent tank for the team

sooooooo

I'm tanking again!!!! god I've missed progging stuff on a tank So Much 💞💞💞

now, I've cleared M/B, as a vanguard on Blaster before, in 6.x

they asked me if I wanted to try tanking Master this time......

on a vanguard, since it's all I had available. we had two sorcs, so it actually was going pretty well considering I've never tanked Master before and couldn't cheese him. we saw first Rain of Pain quite a few times, so! I'm gonna be working on getting my tank gear up (my shield was like. half of what a VG's should be bc they asked like ten minutes before raid and I haven't had much reason to work on tank gear; I'm just lucky I actually had my legendries already, albeit they haven't been leveled up at all), so I'm gonna work on a Sin, work on getting my tank gear up, watch/read some Master tanking stuff

I'm excited to do this! Syn is a good tank; I feel like I could learn a lot having him as my co-tank

[officialwittek]

pt. 3

*gif is not mine* 

word count: 2,454

8:00 am.

The ringing of my alarm clock wakes me from my sleep. I grab my phone and scroll through the notifications. I look at the time and decide to get my nails done today, I call all my girl friends and ask if they want me to set an appointment for them to. Carly, Corinna and Erin agree, Natalie and Mariah were busy at the moment. I text them to meet at the apartment and call the nail salon. Thankfully they were open for 2 manicures, 2 full sets, and 4 pedicures.

I hop in the shower and rinse off before starting to do some simple makeup. Instead of my usual falsies I just curl my lashes and put some mascara on. I get dressed in a light blue tank top, a white cropped cardigan, and black yoga flared yoga pants with my white Air Forces. I went to the front door and unlocked it so Corinna and Erin could walk right in. I made some coffee and some tea for myself. After about 15 minutes Corinna and Erin showed up. Carly finished getting ready and we hopped into my car. Carly and Erin started vlogging while I quietly sang along to the music.

We finally got there and checked in. I showed the nail technician the photo, I got a medium length coffin shape with a glitter ombre. After about 2 hours our nails were finally done and we headed to get lunch with Nat, Zane, Todd, and Jeff. We grabbed a table at Olive Garden. Jeff “coincidentally” chooses the seat next to me. Jeff and I had always been touchy with each other, so it was no surprise when he instinctively puts his arm around my shoulder. I still felt bad about the other night, but I was fed up and drunk.

“I’m sorry for being an asshole. I understand that it was sort of a dick move to kiss you while I was drunk” I whisper, he looks at me in surprise and smiles

“I got my girl back” He exclaims, hugging me tightly as I laugh

We eat our lunch in relative peace, a few loud moments here and there. After lunch with everyone we decide to head to David’s house. Jeff, Carly, Corinna and Erin came in my car. We drove to David’s house blasting music with the windows rolled down. Our 20 minute journey ended and I parked my car. Corinna, Carly, and Erin exited to give Jeff and I some time to talk.

“Listen I’m sorry about snapping at you last night. I was drunk and upset. I didn’t mean to be such an asshole. But please talk to me as soon as I put you in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. I just hate being ignored, especially by you. Do you forgive me?” I ask, holding my hands out and he quickly hugged me

“You’re right. I should’ve talked to you. It was unfair of me to leave you hanging” Jeff replies, pressing a kiss to the top of my head

“Now, I got my dick grabbers done. Let’s test it” I joke, his loud laughs ring through my car as I unbuckle my seatbelt

The two of us enter the house and Jeff quickly runs to David to tell him what I said. I knew from the wide smile slowly making it’s way across David’s face. He grabs his camera and quickly runs to me.

“Sage why are you so horny all the time? And please tell me you don’t actually call your nails dick grabbers.” He says, I shove my hand in the camera and laugh loudly

“I’m only horny for Jeff get it right bitch” I reply sassily, David laughs loudly and walks away to film some other bets

“Maybe I should make my own channel” I joke, Corinna quickly whips around and screams

“YES PLEASE!! YOU CAN UPLOAD COVERS AND EVERYTHING. I WANNA BE YOUR FIRST SUBSCRIBER” she yells, catching everyone’s attention

“I’ll literally buy you a camera right now” David says, my eyes go wide and I quickly nod

We all pile into our cars and run to Best Buy. David and all our friends walk me through everything. I grab a Canon EOS M50 camera and a tripod for now. I had music equipment at the apartment. David pays for my things as my friends endlessly talk about what kind of videos I should make. Ranging from get ready with me, vlogs when I go to the studio, covers, styling videos, and the occasional challenge. I choose to start with one cover, one get ready with me, and one vlog a week. All our friends offered to teach me everything having to do with running a successful YouTube challenge. We clear the podcast room and have a makeshift recording session. I quickly scroll through my phone and find a song. ‘Gut Feeling’ by Ella Mai ft. H.E.R

‘Something in the walls

Something in your walk looks different

Something deep inside

Got me wondering why I don't understand

Why I can't put my finger on what the fuck is up

What's missing?

You're distant, and I'm spinning...’

“I’m literally speechless because I forget you can sing” Todd comments, my friends clapping

“Private gig! Private gig!” Zane chants, I roll my eyes playfully and put my playlist of my favorite songs on shuffle

After singing for my friends for about 15 minutes we decide it’s time to get ready to go out. David thought it would be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone today, throw a party for me to celebrate me signing with a label and getting content out of our dumbasses. The girls and I squeeze into my car and head to my apartment to get ready.

“Oh my god Corinna I’m so fucking you tonight” I say, watching her try on one of my dresses

“Good, I’ve been alone for too long” she replies, I wink at her and pick out an outfit for Natalie while Carly and Erin raid Carly’s closet

“Nat this is so perfect for you” Corinna compliments, I agree with a nod and go to pick an outfit

I settle on something a little more comfortable since I’m pretty known to blackout easily. I decide on a red spaghetti strap crop top, a white pleated skirt, and my red and white old school Vans with a slightly oversized leather jacket. Natalie, Corinna, and I work on our hair and makeup. I decide on my usual look with my hair in a ponytail. After about an hour we head back to David’s to pregame.

We take shots and I’m pretty tipsy by the time we all get in David’s Tesla. I find my seat on Jeff’s lap. We loudly sing along to David’s music on the way to the club. We all get in and head to the section that David got us. Zane, Toddy, and I instantly gravitate towards the bottles already there. The loud music making me ready to act a fool for David’s vlog. After another three rounds of shots I become one with the music.

“Where the fuck am I?” I joke loudly, somehow I ended up on the floor while Zane danced on me and I smacked his ass

“Ow you bitch” He slurs, I laugh and Todd helps me off the ground

“OHH SAGE” Corinna yells, and there it is.. the familiar beat to ‘Back That Azz Up’

Corinna instantly gets behind me while I twerk on her. Everyone in our section forming a circle. I spot Natalie on the couch and I walk over to her before giving her a lap dance. David films her reaction while Jason hands her a bunch of singles. She throws it on me while I dance. The mixture of alcohol and music making me lose myself. The song ends and I’m a little sad. Although the universe instantly answers my prayers and I hear the beginning to ‘Panoramic’. This time I decide to dance with Jeff.

“You ready bub?” I ask, he looks at me nervously

“Huh? Oh my-” Jeff replies, I bend over and start dancing again

After a few seconds he quickly finds himself dancing with me as best as he can. Our friends scream as he gains confidence. He pulls me up by my neck, leaving a hand there as he pours the vodka in my mouth. I swallow and turn so Corinna can grind on me. I feel someone behind me and turn to see Natalie. The three of us forming a chain. Which we keep up depending on the song. After two hours David taps me on the shoulder

“Alright guys, let’s go back to my place. It’s getting a little stuffy in here” I nod and hand Jeff my things

I find myself in the passenger seat. Never a good thing in David’s vlogs. Somehow Zane had walked out with a full bottle of vodka and we were all passing it around. Before driving David turns his camera on and I’m too drunk to listen to reason

“David.. I’m so drunk” I yell above the music, he laughs and turns the camera so I’m more in view

“Is there anything we should ask Sage since I think she’s the most drunk here” David says, turning the music down as our friends fall quiet to think

“Sage what are your thoughts on Jeff getting a boner after you danced on him” Mariah asks, I laugh loudly and hiccup

“My thoughts? Head empty, no thoughts” I reply, they laugh and continue asking me questions

“Sage if you were a man for a day what would you do?” Jason asks, also recording me

“Dude I’d honestly try to have a threesome with Natalie and Corinna” I reply, he laughs before replying

“You try to do that now” He says, our friends laughing loudly

The car ride seems like it went on forever. Finally we ended up at David’s house, I quickly run to the fridge and grab water. Wanting to sober up a little bit because I felt too out of control of my body. I chug the water and throw the empty bottle into the recycling bin. Jeff walks over to me and hugs me from behind. I smile lazily and sway to the music David is playing.

“Can we get DoorDash please” I whine, the group instantly nods while Jeff and I walk over to the group

“Get a room you two” Carly jokes, watching me cling onto Jeff while he sat me down

“I fucking wish” I say, quietly sipping my water as Natalie takes everyone’s McDonald’s orders

I decided on a 20 piece chicken mcnuggets with sweet and sour sauce and a Sprite. I blush as Jeff’s hands find themselves on my thigh. It’s no secret that I’m high key attracted to Jeff, but it recently started becoming real that I actually have a crush on my best friend. I realize that all the girls were looking at me and my face turned bright red. They shared looks before pulling me off the couch and taking me outside.

“You have a real fucking crush on Jeff don’t you” Mariah says, the girls crowd around me as I laugh

“I need a fucking joint, yes I do ok” I confess, they scream and jump around and I can already see the guys heading out to see what all the commotion is about

“What’s going on out here ladies?” Todd asks, wrapping his arms around Natalie and Jeff came next to me and thankfully it was pitch black and he couldn’t see the blush spreading across my face

“God I need to smoke so bad what the fuck is wrong with me” I mumble, Jeff hears me and pulls a preroll out of his pocket

“Let’s go, princess” He says, asking our other friends if they want to join, Zane and Todd agree and we sit on the couch outside and smoke a little bit

After we finished the pre-roll I head back over to the girls. We continue talking and they encourage me to talk to him about it. Apparently he has an actual crush on me too. I brush them off the but the substances in my system were giving me too much courage.

“No no... I’ll think about it when I’m sober” I say, they all agree and we go back into the house

“Ok guys I think I’m gonna head out” I say, I had a few more drinks with Zane and Heath so I was back to being drunk and a little high

“You are not driving home like this” Dave says, I nod and look around. Carly left a while ago since her and Erin had a meeting in the morning and I didn’t want to disturb her because I knew I would be loud when I got home

“I’ll take her, I should head out anyways” Jeff replies, I grin and collect my things and grab a water from the fridge for the road

“Can I stay over? I miss Nerf and I can’t go to my apartment since Carly has something important in the morning and I don’t want to disturb her” I say, he nods with a big smile

“Sure thing princess. We’ll stop by the store and grab some makeup remover and face wash” He said, driving to the nearest CVS

After our quick run to the store we finally arrived at his apartment. We got in and I walk over to the fridge and get a water. I hear Nerf’s claws on the floor and crouch down. After petting him for about five minutes Jeff comes out with a shirt and some boxers. I smile gratefully and head to the bathroom.

I take my makeup off and wash my face. I change into the shirt and boxers and head out. I make myself comfortable on the couch while Jeff changes. He walks out and shakes his head

“No, your back and neck are going to be sore. Just share the bed with me” He said, I look at him skeptically but nod

“Finally, thank god I shaved recently” I joke, he laughs loudly as he shuts the door

“I’m not that tired, you wanna watch a movie?” He asks, turning the TV on I nod and let him pick while I make myself comfortable with Nerf

Halfway through the movie I start drifting off, resting my head on Jeff’s chest.

“Goodnight princess” He said, pressing a kiss to my head before turning the movie off

“Goodnight.. I love you” I mumble, not noticing the look on Jeff’s face

[batarella]

I Don’t Hate You - Part 10 MID-SERIES FINALE (Jason Todd x Reader)

I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER ABOUT THIS CHAPTER. I CAN’T TELL YOU GUYS ENOUGH HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO ME THAT YOU LOVE THIS SERIES. 

After this, a few smutty one shots are on the way ;) Then after a break, I will continue this series with PART 11!!! love you all from the bottom of my heart.

WORDS: 7431 WARNINGS: enjoy the fluff while it lasts 

Masterlist

I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

------

It just had to be tonight.

Two hours, he said. It will be fine, he said.

Son of a bitch, it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t even close to being fine.

Robin had been at this since three in the afternoon and only now did they manage to reach the last layer of Falcone’s latest shipment. He didn’t want to come. Not tonight. But no, Batman insisted that he come and that he’d make it to the dance by six.

But it just had to be that one night that they deal with the largest drug raid they’ve had to deal with in his whole fucking career. Mother fucker, he was so late. He wanted to scream.

It didn’t just have to be a warehouse by the port. No. Falcone had these all sent with a jet from Mexico to a warehouse big enough to be Ace fucking Chemicals. Room after room with three sets of reinforcements every minute.

Seven o’ clock. He only had so much time.

Robin busted the door open with nothing else but his foot and threw four batarangs locked onto the muzzles of the shotguns. Five of them in the room. He rolled on the floor, kicking a table below the surface and slammed it right on top of a thug’s body. Feeling something come from behind, Robin backflipped in the air, let the man run right past him, so his boot would land right on the back of his neck.

One of them grabbed him from behind. Robin thrashed about, then kicked any incoming attack while his arms desperately pried their hold on him open. Throwing his head behind him, he headbutted the man and elbowed his shoulder.

She was gonna kill him. She was so gonna kill him.

He used a batclaw to grab one of them, hold him right against his chest and slam his head right into his friend’s skull. Faster. Even faster. He kept moving without sparing a second. Robin launched himself up the ceiling, grabbed a beam and jumped right an armed thug’s shoulders. “Wanna dance, pretty boy?!” one of them screamed.

“Love to.”

A batarang landed on his shoulder. Robin launched at him, landed a punch right to his gut and backed away before he could swing back. His knee landed on his groin, sending him to the ground only to be taken down by his elbow to the chest.

His speed helped with dodging the gunshots. But really. That was the least in his mind right now. Grabbing a man by the collar, Robin landed punch after punch right at his face, not stopping until he was unconscious. “I REALLY. HAVE TO. GO NOW.”

Even more reinforcements came in. “OH, COME ON!!!” he screamed.

Throwing a smoke bomb to the ground, Robin grappled to the ceiling, taking them out one by one and leaving them to hang on the metal beams. He jumped and landed right into an armed man’s back. His batclaw grabbed onto a steel table, and with his immense strength, he dragged it across the room to concuss everyone in its way. He was moving so fast that if he worked like this all the time, he might actually have a good night’s rest on the daily.

“Batman!” he screamed into his comms. “How much longer!?”

“This should be the last one.”

“Can't I just go?”

“No,” Batman sternly said before turning off his communicator. Grunting as he ducked from an incoming hit, Robin kicked the man by his legs, grabbed his shoulder then hauled him over his back and onto the ground with a large slam.

He grappled back up to the ceiling and moved through the pipes to avoid the gun shots. With a large enough kick, Robin dismantled one of the pipes, gripped on it tightly with his gloves, then jumped back to the ground and started hitting his opponents with it right to the head. “ROBIN,” Batman screamed into his ear.

He was almost killing these guys with just that pipe. Throwing it against the wall with a loud, frustrated groan, Robin went back to just his fists, moving even faster than he already was. He kicked every crotch that wasn’t guarded, punched every face he could see, repeatedly.

He ended up missing a giant hit to the face with the butt of a machine gun. “FUCK,” he yelled.

He had to do this quick. There was no way he’ll make it if he wastes more time.

Rolling on the floor to narrowly miss the bullets, he jumped up the boxes, taunting and annoying the hell out of the armed men aiming for him. At the corner, there were gas tanks piled up on top of each other, barely enough to blow up the whole room.

So he grabbed each of them, and with his bare hands, threw them all the way across the room to the center. It missed the targets, but that wasn’t what he was going for.

Robin started jumping around again, leaping from the beams and jumping from one crate to another. He waited until they crowded, until they were close enough to each other to take up just enough space.

Then when they were just the right distances away from the tanks, he threw three very explosive batarangs.

They exploded upon contact, blowing up everyone around to different parts of the room.

It was followed by the silence that made him want to leap for joy. Robin pressed on his communicator. “Batman. This room’s clear.”

“A car is waiting for you at school. Have fun”

“FUCKING FINALLY!”

One last foot to a body he saw twitching, Robin practically skipped out of the warehouse, grappling up the skylight and jumping from the top of the roof onto the snowy fields. He was running to the batmobile, barely able to catch his breath when he pressed on his wrist to call on his bike.

Fifteen minutes. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Speeding into the wide open road at the highest speed possible, he ignored the cold that seeped through his suit, how his face had basically frozen like uncooked meat in a freezer. He pulled the throttle, driving as fast as he could and slowing down only when he saw a number of cars at the edges of the city.

He squeezed through every empty space he could find and almost broke every traffic law imaginable. He regained his speed when there weren’t any cars, slowed down when there were and almost drove through the sidewalk when the time desperately called for it.

The school was all the way on the other side of town. And just as he turned at an intersection, three lanes of cars were honking and had taken up every space he could find from that distance. Screaming into his helmet, he looked up at the rooftops.

Ten minutes. Fuck.

“Alfred. I know Batman would never approve of this, but-“

“On its way, sir. Let’s not tell Master Bruce about this.”

Though he definitely would find out eventually, he didn’t exactly have much of a choice. Robin drove to an alley, grappling up the rooftop with his legs gripping around the motorcycle so it would drive all the way up the wall, he skidded on the roof, panting as he anxiously waited. Nine minutes.

He couldn’t possibly miss this. Not even if his life depended on it. Everything was going so well with you, he couldn’t just mess this up with a simple turn of events against his favor. If he could, he never would’ve gone with Batman at all, never mind the scolding he’d get afterwards.

Feeling the air around him shift and move faster than any wind could push, he looked up. The Batwing, in all its glory, lowered itself down and opened up for him. “Thanks, Alfred.”

“She must be some girl, sir.”

“Oh, she is.”

The Batwing sped above the traffic he otherwise never would’ve went past through. In the air, he looked through the cockpit windows, since the jet flew on autopilot, and collected himself. He can make it. He was so going to make it.

He was nervous. It wasn’t even about the dance or the fact that it was the first one he’s ever had to go to in his life. He couldn’t care less about any of that. But he did care about you.

And you were about to go on stage and sing for the whole school.

The Batwing dropped Robin off at a nearby alleyway. And after two short minutes, a handsome Jason Todd fixing the buttons of his suit came out.

He puffed up his collar, left the first button of his dress shirt open with his tie loosely around his neck. He kept moving while he was at it, pushing the school’s entry doors open. Thank God for the cold, otherwise he’d be swimming in his sweat. Jason combed down his hair with his fingers, despite it staying unruly, fixed the cuffs of his sleeve and walked straight into the gym.

Two minutes to spare.

Did he look okay? He must have looked okay. His suit wasn’t that bad. It fit him pretty good, in fact. He’s worn it to a few of Bruce’s parties but only now did he actually care about what he looked like. Pulling on his jacket, he surveyed the heavily crowded gym, looking past the balloons and falling snowflakes. You had to be here somewhere. He could see the band on stage still fixing their instruments. Good.

“Alright, people! Let’s give it up for Y/FN! Come on!”

The audience roared in applause, hands in the air. He could hear Penny’s voice scream your name from the front. He had to be up there. He couldn’t possibly miss this being blocked by some heads.

Jason pushed through the crowd, murmuring ‘excuse me’ every second and pushing the shoulders of people giving him dirty looks. His heart was beating so fiercely, it wasn’t nearly like beating up almost a hundred thugs in a single night.

He had to make sure you could see him. He wanted to let you know he was there, supporting and cheering for you just in case you needed a bit of a boost. He knew you weren’t nervous. But the thought of making you happy just from seeing him in the crowd, it made him want to do it alone.

Jason reached the front, but he was at the far left. He could see the stage clearly, though. That was what mattered.

Then you came out on stage.

A black dress, with a leather jacket over your shoulders and dark, thin tights that went all the way down your combat boots. Your make up looked perfect, and your movements so graceful and confident it wasn’t as if you were facing such a crowd at all. Your head was held high, and your smile so subtle, yet so charming that the crowd couldn’t help but cheer for you. You held the mic at the stand, looking around the room.

Jason’s hands stopped fidgeting and his legs stopped shaking. He calmed. So easily, he did. And when you turned to meet his eyes, you gave him that soft smirk that practically made the whole crowd of people around him disappear.

You were so perfect.

The guitar started playing and you held the mic. You faced the crowd, heaved your chest to breathe in, then sang.

“It's been a long time since I came around

Been a long time but I'm back in town

And this time I'm not leaving without you

You taste like whiskey when you kiss me oh

I'd give anything again to be your baby doll

This time I'm not leaving without you”

Jason’s eyes were so wideset, still in an apparent shock like it was the first time he’s ever heard you. Often, when you sung, you’d hesitate and keep it on the low. You blended your voice in a perfect falsetto on the higher side and kept your voice low, too low for him to even hear properly. You weren’t hiding it, but it was so different now.

Now, it practically ripped his chest and stole every bit of his heart like the song was made precisely for him. The crowd went wild. You were singing your heart out, belting notes so high the hairs at the back of his neck and basically everywhere else in his body stood up and froze him in his place on the ground.

You threw your head back, eyes closed, then you caught his eye.

“Something, something about this place

Something, something about lonely nights

And my lipstick on your face

Something, something, something about my cool Nebraska guy

Yeah something about baby you and I!

It's been two years since I let you go

I couldn't listen to a joke or Rock and Roll

Muscle cars drove a truck right through my heart

On my birthday you sang me a heart of gold

With a guitar humming and no clothes

This time I'm not leaving without you!”

You felt the song like it came right from your soul. Your hair thrown back, your occasional glances right into his eyes. Jason’s breath had basically stopped by now. So did his heartbeat. He walked closer to you, despite the onlooking crowd. He just couldn’t look away.

You definitely looked mean. Terrifying. Dangerous. Basically everything anyone would describe you at first glance. You weren’t smiling when you sang. In fact, you sung with the anger you had stored inside, the anger he understood more than anyone else. And if this was your outlet, if this was how you show to the world and make it so mesmerizing to see, by god, it was beautiful.

You were beautiful, in almost every possibly way he could describe. He’s never looked at anyone the way he was looking at you right now. Mouth to the floor, his chest hurting like it was twisted, his stomach leaping across the room, and his hands sweating like he was facing the sun.

And if it wasn’t you, it was the song. It had to be meant for him. It just had to be.

“You and I

You you and I

Nebraska

I'd rather die

Without you and I!”

The guitar’s shrieks matched your belts, and you sang with so much emotion even he was moved just from the sight of you. The song ended, and you bowed with a light smile on your face before waving at the crowd cheering for you like you were a star.

Jesus.

Jesus.

He’s never felt so aware of the flush on his face, his eyes looking up at you like you were a deity, his throat clenching every second, and his sweat pouring out of his hairline despite the obvious cold.

This was the feeling? This was what Dick was talking about when he mentions all the women he’s ever been with and coo over them like he was insane? Fuck, was he insane? Does all this have to do with sanity? Because it totally fucking felt like it did.

It was nothing compared to the rush he felt on patrol when his actual life was on the line, when he’d face the Joker head on or Cobblepot or even fucking Nygma. Even in the middle of the fight, when his mind is at its pinnacle, thinking fast and acting just as fast, the rapid beating in his chest still was incomparable to how he felt just looking at you.

He never had so many things race to his mind all at the same time, but couldn’t even bring up any complete thought like the idiot he definitely was. The host was back on stage, and you walked down, heading to his direction. The moment you turned and found him, walking to him with a knowing smirk on your face, he couldn’t think of a single fucking word to say.

“I-I…” he stuttered.

But your eyes brought that comfort. The same from the day before, and the day before that. When he’d grow so nervous but the moment you looked at him like he was the absolute best thing in the world, the throbbing in his whole body would come to an eventual calm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Ace was right. The fucking dog was right.

Jason was in love with you.

Undeniably, immensely, exceedingly, excessively, wonderfully, remarkably, absolutely, without a doubt, in love with you.

-----

You stood in front of him, gawking at you so much it was adorable. You had to bite into your gums. You were gawking at him as well. Maybe even more. God, the sight of him in a suit. His tie barely fixed, his button open and his hands stuck to his pockets in the most laid back, effortless way but still extremely handsome to look at. You could stare and drool over him all day.

It took a bit of time before he could actually say anything. He was nervous, his head craning down and his hand scratching the back of his head more than he probably should. Jason was adorable like this. And if you could, you’d pull out your phone right now and take as many pictures of him as you could. But you wanted to enjoy the moment with your own eyes, a moment no picture could possibly recreate. Taking another step towards him, you started to fix his tie.

“You’re looking real good,” you teased. The moment you touched him with your fingers lightly grazing his chest, you felt him stiffen like a pole. But you kept your eyes on him, silently telling him to relax. He smiled with his teeth so bright and cleared his throat. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” you said, brushing the sleeves of your jacket. “How’d I do?”

He bit on both his lips, looking at the ground. You couldn’t help but laugh. “Earth to Todd.”

He shook his head and squinted at you, but after a moment of gathering his thoughts, admiring the details on your face like he wanted to memorize you, he finally spoke.

“You were… uhm. I just… I… wow…”

He was vigorously rubbing the back of his neck, and you just felt embarrassed at this point. But you wanted to take another step tonight. With him. You took his hand, holding it tight and encasing your fingers with his. His nerves mellowed down, and he stepped towards you. Your chest was touching his now, and with a smile on your faces, you whispered, “Wanna get out of here?”

“After you,” he winked. Then with his hand on your back, he led you out towards the exit of the gym, past the crowding people dancing to the blaring music. You hated every bit of it. The dance itself repulsed you. Thank God, Jason was here.

Turning to the side, you saw a girl looking at him, biting her lip and her eyes so wide you were sure she would’ve come up to him if he didn’t have you by his side. Pursing your lips, flaring your nostrils, and glaring at her with your eyes narrowed and focused, she caught your look and immediately stepped back, drinking from her punch and looking around the room pretending she wasn’t caught.

Then as if nothing happened, you looked back at Jason and smiled. “Saw that,” Jason said.

Grunting, you stepped closer to him. “Get used to it, Todd.”

And your heart jumped when he kissed your hair, his hand now around your shoulders. Your arm went around his waist and you both walked out of the campus.

Outside at the driveway, Jason led you to his car.

The man brought a fucking Ferrari to the dance.

“Jesus Christ, Jason. You really didn’t have to-“

“Bruce has a lot of them. Trust me.” He held your chin and craned your head up to look at him. “It would help to impress you, too.”

You stuck your tongue to the side of your mouth as Jason opened the car door for you. “You don’t seem so nervous anymore.”

“Trust me. I’m sweating like a madman.”

He walked over to the other side of the car and started the ignition. You felt excited. A whole night just with him. A whole night with no end in sight. Every night should be like this. And it should never, ever end.

He drove smoothly out into the road. “I’m in the mood for some tacos.”

“Taco Bell, it is.”

“You know exactly how to charm a girl, Todd.”

“Thanks,” he grinned at you and turned up the music.

“I didn’t see you before the performance. I thought you wouldn’t make it.”

“Sorry. Something came up. I went in just before you started, thank fuck. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Your smile was undeniable. “I haven’t exactly performed in front of a crowd for a while. I’m just glad it’s over.”

He looked at you. “Well, now that I’ve caught my breath, I can tell you exactly what I think.”

“Which is?”

“You were amazing. And perfect. And beautiful. The song was great, but you made it even better. I never thought you’d go so well with Lady Gaga, but shit, you sung it better than everyone else on this fucking planet,” he smiled. “I couldn’t tear my eyes away from you.”

Your mouth parted and you looked at him with the most glistening eyes. He kept his eyes on the road, so with nothing else to say back, you looked onwards and pretend that didn’t just make you want to scream.

“You know what,” you pulled out your phone, connecting it to the speakers in the car and scrolled through the songs. “I’ve done my part. You're next, Todd. Sing for me.”

“No way.”

“Yes. It’s only fair.”

“There’s no way I can sing right after you and keep a straight face.”

“Just sing, you dickhead.”

The song started to play.

“There are places I'll remember

All my life, though some have changed. Come on, Jay. Sing!”

Jason turned his head to you for a moment, and when he saw you swaying in your seat, singing along like it was the most fun thing to do, he started.

“All these places had their moments.

With lovers and friends, I still can recall.

Some are dead, and some are living

In my life, I've loved them all”

You cheered and laughed along with him, singing along with him. He definitely could carry a tune. He was good, even.

So at the next verse, you stopped singing and let him go on his own.

“Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life I'll love you more”

You wanted to scream from the giddiness that made you feel. He gave you a dirty look, but eventually laughed when he saw you clapping for him. You and Jason kept singing, finishing the song until the next one played. You had an entire playlist of The Beatles on your phone, and you listen to them constantly.

But you’ve never quite enjoyed them the way you are now.

You got to the drive thru, ordered enough tacos to feed five people, then Jason drove over to a Walmart parking lot, where not many cars were around at this time, the lamp posts were bright, and there was absolutely no one else around but you.

It was cold, but manageable. You and Jason walked out from the front seats of the car, opened the trunk at the back so you could sit there, legs hanging off the edge and have the view of the highway with speeding cars.

You set your food in between, then you swung your legs around as you took the first bite out of your taco. Jason’s bite practically finished half of the whole thing, so you watched his jaw, clenching the way you just loved watching.

You still hadn’t gotten over the view of him in a suit. With your eyes still stuck to him, you took a bite with your mouth wide open.

“Hold on,” he said, taking out his phone. “I gotta do this.”

With food still in your mouth, Jason snapped a picture of you. “DUDE.”

He laughed and you took his phone from his hands, shaking your head. You didn’t look so bad. But your mouth was all full and you looked at him all clueless and annoyed. You nudged his shoulder, then his phone accidently went into his home screen.

His wallpaper was of you. At the football field. You were looking away so you didn’t notice he’d taken a picture at all. Stopping, Jason snatched his phone back and stuffed it into his pocket awkwardly silent.

Damn the fluttering. It was back again. You looked away, watching a car speed by as you continued to eat your taco.

“I hope that doesn’t freak you out.”

You bit on your tongue, reluctant, but he was looking away from you all embarrassed and adorable, you didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable.

So with a sigh, you took out your own phone and showed him your own wallpaper.

It was of him, his shoulder leaned against the shelf of the library while he read his book. His shirt was thin, and with the angle, you could perfectly see his arms and the details of his face. Fighting back a grin, Jason blushed and looked back away so you wouldn’t be able to see how much he was smiling.

“Uhm,” he cleared his throat. “When did you take that?”

“A few weeks ago. Right after that trip to the house.”

He licked his lips. “This is awkward. But can I take another picture of you? Right now?”

You quirked up an eyebrow.

“You just look so… you know…”

“Dork,” you teased. Then he happily took out his phone, pointed it at you, then you faced him and smirked.

He took a second to look at you outside of his camera, then he took a whole lot of pictures even at the same angle. Rolling your eyes, you then took out your own phone. “Your turn.”

With a shy grin, you didn’t wait for him to look at the camera. You took pictures of him smiling at you, smiling at the ground, biting his lips, him just being him.

“You know what,” you said, breaking the silence. “Let’s have another round of truth or dare.”

“I don’t see much grass for me to make you eat, but let’s do it.”

“You make me eat grass one more time I’ll make you lick that lamppost.”

He stood back. “Fine.”

“You start,” you said, leaning back and swinging your legs in the air.

“Truth.”

“Did you listen to me sing that night at the library?”

Jason chuckled, rubbing his chin. “I thought you didn’t notice.”

“I saw your smile, Todd.”

“Alright. Fine. You got me. I did. It was the first time and I wasn’t exactly sure what to do.”

You playfully hit his shoulder with your fist.

“I can't believe you fucking knew.”

“Oh I did,” you winked. “I also know about those times when you turned off your music and pretended to listen with your earphones when I was humming and shit.”

“Fuck.”

He pushed you to the side with his shoulder. “Your turn. Say truth.”

“Why?”

“’Cuz I got a question for you.”

“Fine. Truth.”

Jason said, “I asked you about what you hated. Now tell me about the things you love.”

You¸ you wanted to say.

“Wow,” you sighed. “I love coffee. Obviously. I love it when it rains. I love the color black. I love singing. I love movies a lot. Aaand I guess I love Edgar Allan Poe’s stories now.”

You tilted your head to him. “That’s it?” he said.

“Eh,” you shrugged. “Maybe a bunch of other things as well.”

Keeping your eyes on the highway, you breathed hard. “Okay. Say dare.”

“Dare.”

You liked how he trusted you. “Tell me something you never wanted me to know.”

“Fucking hell.”

He laid back, his weight on his arms, then thought for a moment.

“Well. I guess I never would’ve wanted to let you know at that time. But when we started at the library, I was actually kind of excited it was with you.” He scratched the back of his head. “I thought you were… you know… hot. You were really mean-still are-and I wanted to kill you a lot of times. But gosh, you’re really pretty.”

“Jesus,” you blushingly looked away. “You’re a huge nerd, Todd.”

“Shut up.” He smiled. “Your turn.”

“Dare.”

“Show me all the pictures you have of me on your phone.”

“Oh my GOD,” you screamed.

He watched you close your eyes, flinching when he nudged your shoulder. “Come on.”

“Fine. Here.”

You gave him your phone unlocked, then he went to the photo albums. You leaned your chin against his shoulder, which made him stop, look at you for a while, before scrolling again.

“I look good in that,” he said, opening a picture of him reading at the table across from you. He went past even more. Some of him from the house, some saved from his social media account. You had quite a number in your albums. Embarrassed, you snatched the phone back and dug it into your pocket. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he held your hand. “My turn now. Truth.”

You didn’t know if you should be asking this, but you really wanted to. Sighing, you spoke, “When did you start to… you know…”

“What?”

You looked shyly at him, letting your hair fall down to your face as if you were purposely hiding it. You pushed it behind your ear, then looked at him.

“Oh,” Jason returned your expression and looked at the ground.

“I don’t think I can point out the exact moment. Since it came so gradually. It just grew on me. You grew on me… But I think I can tell you when I realized that all these feelings were there in the first place. I figured it all out one day at the library. After we went to the house. You were on the other side of the shelf and you didn’t know I was there. I was just minding my own business with the shelves.

But then I saw you through the books. Between the spaces. I could only see so much of your face, but when you moved, I got to see more of you. You were silent, reading that Poe collection book. Your hair was pulled back and I could just watch how your face moved and how your eyes trailed along the words. I saw you being so invested in something I showed you. Something that I loved, too. And I found myself staring at you for… I don’t even know how long… I think that’s when I knew.”

His eyes trailed back to you, and you were as frozen as he was when he watched you on stage. “That was the night I tore the library apart to find you the other Poe collection. I just thought you’d want to read it.”

Your breaths were slow, and you glanced at his lips when he tightened his hand around yours. “How bout you? When did you realize?”

“Uhm,” you cleared your throat. “This might sound stupid-“

“Try me.”

You shook your head. You knew the moment. You knew exactly when it was. It played on your mind so much you thought you went insane right after that.

“You were taking me home. I really didn’t want to go home yet. But I had to. I think you knew about that, so you decided to go around town for a few blocks and take as much time as you needed.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I remember that.”

“I was at the back of your motorcycle. A bunch of cars stuck in traffic. I had my arms around you the same way I usually do, but after the light went green, I didn’t notice I started to lose my grip. So at the next stop, you took both my hands.” You cleared your throat. “And pulled them tighter around your waist so I wouldn’t fall off...”

You were about to cry. You couldn’t believe you were about to cry. But you fought it and kept going.

“Your hands held me for a while, and you made sure I kept them there until you sped off again. You told me to be careful. And I did. I never lost my grip after that…”

You could recall that night for every second you were awake. And you did. Every day, you thought back on how warm his hands were, how delicately he touched you, how much it seemed that he thought about what you felt, made sure you were calm and safe and secure. There was not a single selfish bone in his body.

“You have no idea how much that hit me…”

Jason must have had the same face as you had on, because his hand went over to cup the side of your cheek, running his thumb across your skin.

A car furiously sped through the highway, skidding across the road. It was then followed by two other police cars driving just as fast. The noise made you both jump. Clearing your throats, you pulled away and looked straight forward to catch your breaths.

Jason coughed and placed all the wrappers in a bag. “Come on. I saw a skateboard out in the parking lot.”

“A skateboard?”

He smiled at you. “Don’t know how to ride one?”

“No, and I don’t plan to.”

“Just come on.” He grabbed your hand, pulling you away to the empty parking lot after he’d locked the door on the car.

It was standing against the lamp post. And it didn’t look broken. Jason took it, placed it on the ground, then balanced himself on top of it. Crossing your arms, you watched him as he slowly skateboarded around the driveway making circles around you. You took pictures of him, but after a while, you just wanted to enjoy the moment as it was.

Jason, in a suit, his loose tie in the air while he skated around an empty lot, it was quite the sight to see. He was so fucking handsome and cute and hot, you just wanted to scream at the sight of him like a little girl. You watched his hair bounce, his hands skillfully balancing himself in the air, his suit fitting his muscles so perfectly. His skin glistened under the single bulb of the lamppost and he occasionally glanced at you with that cheeky grin. There was that fluttering again. Jeez.

He jumped and the board flipped under him. “Damn,” you said. Then he skated his way closer to you.

“Hold on,” you said. You went to a lamppost, where you saw a bit of junk placed around it so carelessly, then you took a traffic cone and placed it on the center.

“Jump over that.”

“What do I get?”

You tilted your head. “If you ollie over that, you get to teach me how to skate.”

“I accept that challenge.”

Jason went over to the far side of the parking lot, looking at you and bending his knees. You saw him take a deep breath, looking right in front of him, then with his hooded eyes, he raced to the cone.

You could hear the wheels skid when he sped through the cement grounds, then with his feet skillfully pushing the back of the board, he leapt up in the air with a decent formation, a proud, yet focused look on his face.

Then he landed right on the cone’s head, smushing it flat just as he hit the ground.

“Jealous?”

“Not really. I told you to jump over that, not mutilate its guts out.”

He built up his pace, going around you and letting his jacket flow with the wind.

“Come on. Deal’s a deal,” he said, stopping in front of you and almost slamming against you in the front. You shook your head, but he took both your hands, walked over to the other side of the board, and you slowly placed one foot on top of it.

“Good. Now use your other foot to push yourself.”

You did just that, then you started to move. You struggled to balance yourself but his hold on you was strong and secure. You lost your focus on the ground once when you glanced at him laughing as he gripped on your arms tight, and you almost fell on your feet.

“Just put both your feet on the board. I’ll move you around.”

“Don’t you dare let me fall.”

He looked up at you then winked.

You kept laughing and tumbling over your balance, but Jason held onto your elbows, and you on his, and he moved you around. “JASON!” you screamed when you almost shook.

“I got you.” Under the lamppost, and then into the darker shades, you and Jason laughed your hearts out. He started building up the pace, and you screamed and held onto him with your life, but he was practically running across the parking lot until you jumped off the board on your feet.

“Again,” you coughed, still catching your breath.  You stepped back onto the board, held onto his large arms, then went back to running you around the lot with your shrieks filling the empty air.

Then Jason held your waist, and you on his shoulder. You smiled at him before he pushed you around on the board, now smoother than the first time. Your body felt more secure, more at home. His hands were so warm on you, holding you under your jacket. You just wanted to lean into him.

Something cold pierced your skin. So cold, in fact. Then it went to your hair, your jacket, Jason’s face.

It was fucking raining.

And it looked like it was only gonna get so much stronger. You shrieked playfully as you shielded your head, grabbing Jason’s arm so you could pull him back to the car. He ran with you, laughing and covering his own head.

But then he pulled away and, so suddenly, grabbed your body to haul you up over his shoulder. “JASON, DON’T YOU DARE-“

He laughed and stopped running, holding you up with your legs kicking in the air, your hands tapping on his back.

“DON’T BE AFRAID OF A LITTLE RAIN, Y/N.”

It wasn’t a little rain. It was starting to really pour down onto you. You kept laughing, Jason twirling you around up in the air. And you never felt so cold with the freezing temperature mixed with the droplets landing onto your exposed skin. But you weren’t shivering. You never felt so alive. Jason put you down, but kept on holding onto you when you tried to get away. He held you from behind, nuzzling his face into your neck. Your laughter was so beautiful when mixed with his own.

Your hair was absolutely drenched by now. So were the rest of your clothes. Your face was freezing. Jason’s suit was soaked and his hair had stuck to his forehead, flat on his head in a cute mess.

“HOLY SHIT, IT’S FREEZING.” You screamed.

“I KNOW.”

So you freed yourself from Jason’s grasp, holding both his hands and swaying them around. You didn’t run away. You just enjoyed the rain. The cold. The breeze. You looked up at the sky and felt the muscles on your face being pierced by the prickling needles of the cold. Jason looked up with you.

Then your eyes caught each other, and your bright smiles started to mellow down.

Jason held your waist, pulled you so close to him that his chest gave you the warmth you needed not to shiver so much. And you returned with your arms around his neck, your feet stepping so close to him. The rain kept pouring, onto your faces, onto your bodies. But you stopped moving.

His eyes. His eyes. The way they looked down at you. The way they made you want to leap to the sky. Your other hand went up to his hair, entangling the wet strands within your fingers. Your foreheads touched, then your eyes closed.

You both leaned in at the same time.

Your first kiss had a slow, steady beat of a song playing at the background, and you couldn’t possibly have asked for anything better to pull together a moment so beautiful, something that never truly left your mind. The song stuck to you like an ear worm, but in the best possible way. Because every time it was played, or when you thought of the song unconsciously muttering the lyrics, you could remember the feel of his lips, the feel of his body on top of you, the feel of the grass beneath you and basically everything about that night.

Now, there didn’t have to be music. You’d easily remember this moment each time it rained, or each time you felt cold, or each time you were in a parking lot or each time you saw a fucking skateboard. His lips, cold from the rain, warmed up at the first touch against yours and moved so lovingly gentle, so perfectly in sync, that it was just as magical as the first time.

You pulled on his head, biting on his lip, letting his tongue passionately play with yours the tighter he held onto your waist. You pulled back to catch your breath, but he leaned back in to pull you back before you had the chance.

His lips were still so gentle, growing more numb overtime the more you moved, the more you placed your hands around him. Jason held the sides of your face and you pulled on his waist, beneath his jacket where you could feel the ripples of his strong body with his dress shirt so wet.  

Slowly, reluctantly, he stopped, his forehead still pressing closely against yours as you saw him gulp. He opened his eyes and looked into yours like he was about to cry. Holding the side of his face, he whispered.

“I think I’m in love with you…”

Your chest rising, your ears ringing and the sound of the rain so painfully roaring into the night, your hold on him tightened.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “Th-that’s not too soon, is it? I understand if you-“

You smashed his lips back against yours and kissed him harder than you ever had. You held his neck, his shoulders, then down his arms until you held his waist. No, it wasn’t too soon. It was perfect. And it was the best thing anyone has ever said to you your whole life.

He kissed you back, but then you pulled away.

“I think…” you whispered back. “I think I’m in love with you, too.”

Soft. Like a slow, beautiful dance. Your heart raced before settling into a comfortable warmth. Jason’s grin was one you’d have to remember for the rest of your days. You pulled him back for another kiss, ignoring the rain, ignoring the speeding cars in the highway. You were practically arching your back from the way he held onto your waist, leaning in like he just wanted to be one with you.

You loved Jason. You wanted to protect him. You wanted him to be happy for all the days so long as you were alive. You wanted him at your side every second you were awake. you wanted his beautiful smile to be at your cause. You wanted the world to be in favor of him.

You never wanted him to get hurt. And with your distrust towards the world, how your cynicism might never go away, a torch in the darkest night has given you a purpose to go on with hope.

You loved him.

One of these days, maybe you’d have to thank that Maxwell guy for spilling his coffee onto your project. Maybe you’d have to thank the Vice Principal for being so hard on you with the punishments. Maybe even Ms. Peterson, for giving you and Jason more reasons to have fun in the library.

So yeah. Maybe it wasn’t so bad being sentence to being library assistance for the longest, most eventful, and eventually the best ten weeks of your life.

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I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

Taglist: everyartistwas-firstanamateur  @sarcasmismyfirstlove @damned-queen-of-gotham @idkmanicantenglish @wunderstell @birdy-bat-riya @get-loki@everyday-imfangirling @comic-nerd-dc @multifandoms916 @icequeen208@offendedfishnoises @egdolan @xemiefx @arkhamtoddler @elsenthal@mythicbitchx @supremehaunter @ burning-alive  @lucy-roo  roseangel013bf @ loxbbg  reclusive-chicken-nuggethttp-cherries shadowsndaisiesriver9noble zphilophobiaz annoylinglyaries

[vespertine-legacy]

Ops shenanigans from this weekend:

Prog team didn’t have a Nahut lockout, so we had to start fresh on Gods on Friday. Frenzy asked before pull if we all remembered what we were doing in there since it had been a minute since had been on Tyth together. I said “shit I’ve never known what to do in here, we’re supposed to know things?” Tom said something about “could have fooled me,” and pointed out that I’m usually top dps on that fight (I get to dps Tyth since it’s a solo-heal fight and Pol prefers to heal it). Anyway, first Inversion saw Princess go flying to her death, laughing the whole way, but other than that, we did perfect.

Then we wiped on Sisters about 7 times, oops.

Saturday, we one-shot Sisters with everyone still alive at the end, even though I was very nervous because we had to wait to pull because I kept having coughing fits.

However, we could not clear Nahut, kept having weird timing issues and losing our dps that were hunting the Rail Turrets, so the rest of us were getting sniped. On one pull we lost Princess right at the end of the transition between the first two phases, and we’d already used our battle res, and I was almost done with a stealth res on her when a Mass Distortion dropped on me, and it didn’t start doing damage to me to pull me out of stealth until the cast was close enough to complete that it did the sound (which frustratingly triggers about a quarter of a second before the res actually goes through), so it didn’t complete.

Panty Raid then did no-tank single-heal Hive and TC. Frenzy and I got to be Very Dumb dps Who Think They’re Tanky, which went pretty well. TC is pretty fun to skank on Eleison, even if it means she does have to get covered in poop.

Got to also do pubside DF/DP with Severed, got mercilessly dunked on for my “unhealthy relationship with the Dread Masters,” to which I just responded, look when I’m not top dps in this whole operation on a class that I am facerolling (TK Sage, beloved) you can dunk on me all you want, but until then you leave me and my voice kink out of this.

[asleepyraven]

Overthinking

Summary: V tries to figure out how to prepare for a date she’s not even technically going on.

Word Count: 1,742

Warnings: Language

Characters: Female V (Nomad), Johnny

A/n: If I missed any warnings please let me know! In the mean time hope you enjoy! I sat on this one for wayyyyy too long.  Previous Part: Reflections

V’s eyes slowly opened, but the light was too bright and her vision was blurry. She blinked a few times and slowly the tattoo on her arm came into focus. It annoyed her at first- a reminder of what an idiot she’d been, but now it reminded her that she wasn’t alone. Her condition was getting worse. She fell asleep to more nightmares and awoke with stronger headaches. Johnny did- god help her, get under her skin, sometimes, and he may technically be the reason she’s dying, but she was glad she wasn’t going through this by herself. Everything aside, when push came to shove, he had always been there when it mattered most. 

Speak of the devil, she thought as he appeared next to her. “Finally, you’re awake. I know people say they need their beauty sleep, but fuck, doesn’t seem to help in your case.”  “Good morning to you too,” V yawned as she sat up and stretched. 

He glitched and reappeared standing at the window. “Afternoon is more like. Was starting to think you’d sleep right through dinner.” 

“Nah, promised to call Rogue, didn’t I? Can’t exactly go out on a date for a midnight snack.”  Johnny took off his glasses and looked at her. “You’re sure about this?” “Can’t say the idea of handing you the wheel again thrills me, but yeah. Besides, I kind of owe you for the whole lake date with Judy; I know that wasn’t exactly a good time for you.” 

She swore she saw him shiver as he put his glasses back on. “Wasn’t exactly fun for you either, but she batted her eyelashes and you just couldn’t say no.”

V shrugged. “It was important to her, even if it did scare me half to death.” 

“And you’re worried about me having control. Imagine how I feel any time a pretty girl asks you for a favor. Sure, Panam, I’ll raid a Wraith hide out with you. I’ll risk my neck to get your leader back. I’ll help you steal a god-damn tank. Sure, Judy, I’ll fight through two dozen scavs to rescue your ex. I’ll start a war with the Tyger Claws to free some joy toys. I’ll dive to the bottom of a fuckin’ toxic lake, even though I’m terrified of being underwater. You are hopeless when it comes to damsels in distress.” 

“I...fine. Maybe I have an issue with saying no to my friends, but most of it was fun.”  “It’s just tits you can’t say no to. You say no to me just fine.” 

V laughed. “Well, technically you’ve got tits now, so there goes your theory. Besides, I said I’d do it, didn’t I? You know I’m a merc of my word. And I agreed to give you a second chance, so...so there’s no reason not to.”

He sighed. “You don’t owe me anything. If you really don’t trust me then-”

“I...I want to. It’s just...scary, is all. Weird, being trapped in my own body with no control. Felt like I was locked in my own trunk. I guess maybe that’s how you feel all the time, but, I don’t know. It’s my body. I’m supposed to be driving.”  “Yeah, I can kind of understand that. Right now I’m standing here talking to you, completely aware, but the drugs take you out of it. Guess I could see how it’d be scary to only get flashes, but I promise, I’m not gonna make that mistake twice.” 

“I guess we’ll find out,” V sighed and pulled up Rogue’s number. 

She couldn’t believe she was really going to call up the queen of Afterlife and ask her on a date.  

“V, need something?” Rogue’s tone wasn’t exactly encouraging, but the fact that she answered was proof that she was at least somewhat over the whole Grayson/Smasher business. 

“Johnny wants to ask you out on a date,” V replied in a light, almost teasing tone. 

“Johnny does, or you do?”

V was taken aback. “Johnny. You’re the one who said you got no issue tellin’ us apart.” 

“Just not like him. Well, alright. Where would we go?”

“Where would you like to go?”

She thought about it for a moment. “Silver Pixel Cloud.”

“Alright. Sounds good. We’ll pick you up tonight then.” “Sure, come around six-thirty.”

“See you then.” 

V grinned like an idiot at Johnny, who couldn’t help but smirk back a little. 

He shook his head. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“’Cause it’s cute. Johnny has a date! It’s...kinda weird to think about actually.” 

He pushed off the window and stood up straight, crossing his arms. “And why’s that?”

“Dunno, just hard to picture. Not like you ever had to work for your girls; they just lined up for you. Do you even know how to be romantic?” 

He rolled his eyes. “You think Rogue and I hooked up in the first place because I swept her off her feet with roses and open doors?”

“I have no idea why she gave you the time of day, or why she still does for that matter. I mean, what was it, three other women you were sleeping with last time you were dating?”

“Well, she doesn’t have to worry about that now.”

“You see my point though. You have no idea how to even go on a normal date, do you?”

“I’ll be fine.” 

“Just trying to help. Look, we don’t have a lot of time. Make this night count is all I’m saying. Make it special somehow. Maybe be a bit of a gentleman for once in your life.”

“I’m always a gentleman.”  “Riiiiighhhttt. In any case, I better get a move on if I want to get some biz done before I hand over the wheel. First thing’s first, breakfast.”                                      *                         *                          *

V shrugged off her jacket as she entered her apartment.“Can’t believe it’s already five. Time flies when you’re doing merc work.”

Johnny lit up a cigarette. “It also flies when you sleep half the day.”

“Getting up early is overrated.” 

He flopped down on the couch. “Gotta agree with you there.”

“So, excited for tonight?” V asked as she strolled over to her closet. 

“Yeah, jumping up and down like a little girl, just on the inside.”  “This is so weird. What do I even wear? Do I try to look hot, or should I dress more like you?” “Wow okay.” 

“What? Ha, no, I just really don’t know what I should go for here.” 

“Don’t think it matters, V. ‘Sides, you’re not the one actually going on the date, ‘member?”

“Yeah, but my body is.”

“Wear whatever, it doesn’t matter.” 

“Doesn’t matter? Must be nice being you. What’s it like to give actually give zero fucks about what anyone thinks?”

“Fuckin’ preem. You should try it.” 

“Seriously, there’s no part of you that’s self-conscious? I could dress myself in the worst sweats I have and you’d just strut out there and make it work?” 

“I could, yeah.” He sat up and looked at her. “V, what’s really going on? You barely put any thought into how you dress. Why’s this any different?”

“I don’t know. It’s weird. Like, if I were dressing for a date with Judy this would be so much easier, but I’m not. I’m dressing for a date with Rogue, for you. It’s-”

“You’re thinking about it way too much.” 

“You’re probably right. I’m gonna go take a shower. I’m starting to give myself a headache.”  “You always have headaches.” 

“Funny, I didn’t used to until you showed up.”  “What, no one ever pointed out the dumb shit you do before I showed up?” V smiled sadly. “No, I used to have someone that did the dumb shit with me.”  “Jackie.” 

“Mhm.” 

“You don’t talk about him much.” 

“What was it you said when I said that about you and Alt? There was never the right time?” “Not exactly easy to just spill about your dead chooms, is it?”

“No. Not really.”  They lapsed into silence until V stepped out of the shower. 

“So, decide what you’re going to wear?” Johnny asked appearing behind her in the mirror. 

“Fuck, can you not? You know I hate when you do that.”

“It’s not like I don’t know what you look like.” 

“I know, but it’s a little easier when you’re not... Can you just- You don’t have to be right here.”

He rolled his eyes, but glitched out of view. “Really V, it’s not like there’s any secrets between us. You’ve seen me naked. Is that your issue, that it’s just you? Cause I could-” She toweled off her hair. “Fuck, no. Just, look I know all that, but give a girl her fake privacy, alright? Let me pretend that I have some space in here.”  “Psht, nothin’ but empty space in here, can almost hear the echos.”  “Lucky that means there was enough room for your ego.”  She wrapped her towel around herself and strolled over to her closet. She decided maybe she was putting too much thought into it. She grabbed a pair of distressed jeans and tugged them on. She reached for her Samurai tank top, but stopped.  She turned to Johnny. “T-shirt or tank?”  “For fuck’s sake V, it doesn’t matter!” “But what would you feel more comfortable in? I mean you wear tanks, but it’s different when a girl does it.”  “Why?”

She flexed her arm. “’Cause for guys it’s sun’s out guns out, but for girls,” She drew a hand across her torso. “It’s more about the chest. So I don’t know. It’s that weird for you?” “In case you missed it, this whole thing is weird. Pick whatever.” V grabbed her Samurai T-shirt instead. She went back to the mirror and spiked up her hair and brushed her teeth.  “You done yet? We’re gonna be late. You know, now that I think about it, how are lesbians ever on time for dates?”

“We just add a half hour to whatever time we set,” V responded, tugging on her jacket. She slid Johnny’s shades out of the pocket and put them on. “How do I look?”

He shrugged. “Decent I guess, can we go now?”

“Yeah, let me just find the keys.” 

“We takin’ the Porsche?”

“Well yeah, since my motorcycle doesn’t exactly fit two, besides I’m sure Rogue will get a kick out of it.” 

He smirked. “Oh, she sure will.” 

[werezmastarbucks]

dayton

honeymoon masterlist

word count: 2631

music: air catcher by twenty one pilots

The tiniest part of you wanted to go to Columbus, because you loved that place. But the bigger part, the one that connected your brain to your hands clutching the wheel, told you if you fail, you’ll have all the time in the world to go back to Columbus. To wherever the fuck you want. Kai said he can operate practically any type of transport, but doesn’t like ships. Flying was fine with you as long as he really knew not to crash a plane. You had to constantly remind yourself that he had many years to learn everything.

As you drove, you were revising the CDs Kai found in the car. He was putting the disk in and pressing play, or sometimes he just read the names of the bands. He opened the window and threw away all the CDs that were named trash. Now that you two were misplacing them, they were supposed to stay there on the road after Kai sent them out of the window, you were asking. Right? But, crashing on the ground, they were damaged, so did it fall under the order part of the spell? Were they to return into the car after you deliberately got rid of them? 

“You’ll know tomorrow”, Kai replied playfully. Surely he knew how that works, but it seemed he was unwilling to just tell you everything about this prison, and wanted you to discover things for yourself. 

Dayton was empty, too. Just like Roanoke and Huntington on the way through. You found this stillness somewhat soothing. You didn’t like gatherings and crowds, didn’t like noise and people. You decided to dive back into the three foot world, and just enjoy the empty roads for once, and start worrying when the realization of utter loneliness settles in.

You looked on your right, where Parker was sitting, staring at the cover of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” by a-ha (do not throw them away under any circumstances!) in his hands, with one brow raised, belt across his chest. You still felt like you were alone here although he was next to you. He still didn’t feel like a human person - more like a part of this world. As inanimate. He was remarkably quiet, and you knew it wasn’t for good. 

On the Germantown Street, you stopped the car, feeling tired. The sun was about to set down completely, the May angle leading it onto your left. You got out and stretched, and Kai stepped out of the car a minute later.

“Where will we sleep? Any good hotels?”

He shrugged.

“I haven’t been in Dayton”.

“You haven’t been to Dayton?” you repeated.

“That’s what I said”.

“Ever?”

“Ever”. 

He looked around and stared at the sky again. Parker has been glitching like that since last night, when he stared up as if trying to cope. You looked at his upturned nose and his youthful face, thinking, he is in his forties. This dude is going to be fifty years old soon, and he is a nut case, and I have him on my hands.

He looked back at you.

“Adventure begins here”, his tone was half-questioning, and he smiled. The way it curled his capricious mouth, his eyes glowing, told you he didn’t really believe in getting out. You’ve only spent here a day, but he gave up already. He knew there was no getting out, and he just took it as a long journey, to keep his girlfriend sane. You had no idea where he thought he was going. 

You walked back to the car and took your bag and the phone. Kai’s eyes wouldn’t leave you.

“You’re changing the car again?”

“Uh-huh. Why not? It’s not like someone’s going to report them all?”

He smiled again. 

You walked down the street, ghostly and quiet. No stray dogs, no garbage being thrown around by the wind - but that’s likely due to Dayton being very clean. Kai wouldn’t bother taking the bag out of your hands, walking with his head turning right and left. You felt like in a museum, observing the 90s’ fashionable displays and stores. The eerie sight of clothes you had a habit of associating with your mother’s youth, and the lighthearted, distant, happy past years, the square thick screens and simpler times, were now a reality for you. You could reach and touch that sky-blue blouse on a slim mannequin, wearing posh plastic necklace, a picture from an aesthetic lookbook for inspiration. Aesthetic and nostalgia, that’s what the nineties were to you, but now they were here, brought right upon you, by magic, and they were very real. 

You slowed down in front of one of the windows of the Dayton Mall, a low, nice-looking white and green store, and looked at the leather jacket displayed.

The bag dropped on the ground as the understanding slowly creeped into your mind. Kai was standing few steps away from you, with his head cocked, watching you yet again. He seemed like a tour guide, a museum security guy who was more concerned about whether you enjoy this experience rather than keeping it all intact.

“I can do whatever I want”, you said slowly. 

“Absolutely everything. There’s nobody to stop me”.

“Don’t headbutt the glass”, Parker warned you, and there was this note in his voice that told you he’s talking from personal experience.

You took off your hoodie, the evening air a bit cool for only a tank top. You wrapped your hoodie around your hand and swung it, breaking the display.

The glass shattered loudly, pieces of it falling to your feet with ringing. Interesting, you thought, you get here, into this world of opportunity which poses as prison, and the first thing you do is vandalize.

The jacket wasn’t even that cool, so you didn’t aim for it. You looked down the street full of windows, and you could feel your blood boil. There was something inside of you, trying to get out, like the fuse that suddenly got lit. Everybody has it. Anybody would do it. You turned back to look at him - no need to mention his name, there is nobody else but this guy - and he grinned half-invisibly. It was a grin of indulgence, a hidden smile that lit his face when he did something bad: you recognized it from last week, when he said he’d kidnapped Elena on the first week after he got out of prison. It was the smirk that bloomed on his face as he spoke about how he gutted his own mother, and god save you, it was the same smile he had after you opened your eyes and still had a taste of his mouth in yours. 

You ran along the Germantown Street with the red pipe wrench you fished out of a car you found in the street. It was heavy in your hands as you swung it, crashing it into the glass, bothering the headless and armless mannequins, startled and falling down, creating the mess on their places. The glass was cutting your hands, flying in all directions, spitting sharp shrapnel like rain. With each broken window, your shoulder ached more and your head ached less, and you felt less like crying. Maybe there was a wake among that act of desctruction, but you missed it amongst the wild excitement of complete permissiveness. Parker walked after you, smiling quietly, as you raged around him, carrying the bag, and looked around. Finally, when you got tired, he sat on the asphalt next to you and looked at your hands.

“You’ve tapped one percent of what you can do here”. 

His sly hand took your palm, and your skin stung a little. It wasn’t as bad as that burn yesterday. You watched your own hands not believing pain could live longer than physical manifestation of it. Kai’s fingers wrapped around the cuts tightly, making you sigh sharply. He was so full of magic now, fresh prince of everything, that it radiated out of him. You could swear you felt it coming from his hand to yours. The cuts started sucking on themselves, and the ache stayed deep inside slender bones, phantom. 

“Another”.

“You shouldn’t waste your magic. Who knows how long we’re going to stay here”.

Kai gave you a meaningful look.

“Well, we decided we’d find a way, right? So, I’m doing it soon”.

“You know you’re lying. You’re only going to Oregon because I asked you”.

“See how nice I am?”

Your palm snaked out of his hand as soon as he healed you. 

“That’s what I don’t like about it”.

Parker eyed you down.

“You’re really hard to please, aren’t you?”

“I’m a bit grumpy cause I’m stuck here with you”.

“I have told you before, I never asked you to”.

You didn’t really have the energy to fight now. You wondered how you’re going to cope with his breakdowns in the future - and they’re bound to happen from time to time. Maybe become just like him, emotionally volatile. Seems easy enough. So far, everything here has been too easy, and you were waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Darkness fell on Dayton, and there was intense white glow somewhere beyond a row of buildings in Madden Hill.

“There it goes. I think it’s a cool hotel. You should go to sleep, you have a long drive tomorrow”.

He got up and offered you a hand.

“It’s weird you’re not driving”, you noticed.

“I don’t like driving”.

You stood up without his help and he frowned again, like he was noticing every little thing crossing your mind. 

“How is that? I thought you liked being in control”.

“I am. I’m making you drive me everywhere”.

You sniffed.

“I do it because I like driving”.

“Then it’s a win-win, right?”

He patted you on the back and removed his hand as if afraid you’d bite. 

You walked on towards the glow, crossing lit and dark streets. Here the lightning is automatic, and here is not, Kai was commenting. He was commenting on everything which indicated he was in a good mood. 

“That’s the best ‘94 can do?” you inquired, looking at the tall rectangle building. 

“It’s a Hilton”, he noticed.

“It’s an ugly ass hotel”, you grumbled. Kai snickered and followed you inside.

“Are you hungry? I’m hungry”.

Parker knew his way around everything. He knew where the kitchen was, and, while you were coming up choosing a room, he went on raiding the huge space filled with food.

He was devilishly good with it, too. 

That evening, after you’ve eaten, you went strolling around the place and found out one more thing: you didn’t like being without him while you knew he was around. 

Empty space that was supposed to be filled with people creeped out your unprepared mind. The stairs sounded hollow, and you expected somebody to jump out of the long, empty corridors. In the windows of the hotel, there shone an empty city, lit for nobody. Shadows and silhouettes were floating around in the dark sky. You decided not to butcher every thing that came into your way and fought the desire to break the window to look outside. What will become of you if you use the foot and fist method for everything just because there’s no one to stop you? Kai wouldn’t mentor you. He’s more of a devil on the left shoulder than the voice of reason. He will definitely be willing to spoil you until you’re flexible material he can use.

You now had a great opportunity to reflect on all that, Parker included, and decide on your course of action, separate yourself from your cell mate. But instead of staying away to think you found yourself drawn to the place where he was, because the empty ugly Hilton was scary. 

You returned into the room and found him, sitting on the floor of the big top floor suite, with the little bedside light next to him, crouched over something. Walking closer, you found it was the charger from your phone, and something remotely resembling a part of a boombox. One of the loud speakers from it was torn out, and laid at his hand, and you couldn’t understand a single thing he was doing.

“What is it?”

“I’m making you a portable speaker, like one of those bluetooth things kids have”, he said shortly. 

You looked down on him, a little surprised, because he’s never acknowledged his own age or the era he’s lived in before. Preoccupied, he looked very smart, and completely normal. He even rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie.

“How?”

“See this thing? It’s from that player”, he motioned his hand towards a player lying afar on the floor. Looked like he’d kicked it away with force.

“I’ll adjust the wire so that it can see your iPhone, and voila”.

“But I need the charger”.

“It’s gonna work”, he nodded.

“Are you sure? Kai, I can’t lose my phone!”

He sighed, and looked up at you.

“Did I mentioned I studied at MIT?”

“No. You know there’s been a shooting?”

You didn’t know why you mentioned it immediately.

“Wasn’t me”.

“Clever motherfucker”.

Kai shifted as if you touched him. He looked at you as you walked away. Coming close to the bed, you felt you were almost collapsing with exhaustion even though you didn’t do much.

Just before you fell asleep, you looked at the time on an electronic clock next to bed. It was almost midnight.

You woke up as if someone hit you. The silence was pressing on your ears, pressing your head, and moreover you didn’t know where you were. Without opening your eyes, you tried to remember the place and what happened. The darkness was blue and black, and it was so warm you tried to pull the covers off of yourself, and failed.

Kai moaned, displeased, right behind your ear, and you realized his arm was wrapped around you, and that’s why you felt like you were lying in a cacoon. 

You rolled halfway, not without a struggle, and saw his face very close.

“Kai, what about personal space?”

His body was so close you could feel the heat coming off of him. Of course, he’s one of those boys who turn into stoves when they sleep. Somehow his body just did that, so that you didn’t really know what he was unhappy about. You were scared of how well your shape adjusted to his, and you were lying comfortably in such a position that you usually get when you wake up in the morning. Even if bed seemed uncomfortable last night, in the morning you don’t want to move an inch, and the pillow seems perfectly soft. 

Still, you could feel his invasive mass, almost pushing you off that king sized bed, cornering you to the edge, like he was trying to scope you and win over the bed at the same time. You felt for his hand against your ribs and found he formed a fist, clutching the fabric of your shirt, like you were about to roll away.

“What personal space?” he murmured. 

Fair enough. In this world, that was all yours and nobody else’s, this crowdless, lifeless planet, thounsands and thousands of miles of nobody’s land, in this spacious cursed desert, there was not space enough for the two of you to move separately. You had felt it while wandering around the hotel, when you decided to run back to where he was just to see another human next to you, to make sure you’re not alone. This prison was as claustrophobia igniting as it was hollow. There was no personal space here.

[asthesamcroflies]

Hi can I get an imagine with Happy. The reader works with Gemma and Happy has a crush on her. One night they run into each other in a bar and they're a little drunk he takes her home where they get it on. She thinks its a one night so she gets up to go but he stops her and tells her he likes her and to stay. Definitely smutty with a cute ending please

So, I also had a separate request which just stated Happy Lowman/smutty/#26 and thought I’d incorporate the two... Enjoy!

Prompt 26: “You’re a little hostile right now...”

Night One

He didn’t usually get drunk, not in the traditional sense. He’d have to let his guard down for that and Happy Lowman did not let his guard down. Not usually anyway.

But he’d agreed to catch up with some fellow former nomads in a bar they used to frequent back in the day and had ended up drinking more than he’d intended. Not that he couldn’t hold his liquor. But yeah, all things considered, it had been a weird night. So much had changed. Just not for him.

Tank cutting out early had been the final straw. It turned out the burly biker who’d left the nomad life behind to land with the Samdino crew a couple of years ago, a man who had once swore he needed nothing more than his bike and his cut, now had an old lady and twin babies to consider. Tank, for Christ’s sake. Two babies.

Happy – fearless, intimidating Happy – found the mere thought mildly terrifying.

Actually, of the six of them – six guys known to put the fear of god in those who dared cross them or their club, six die-hard bachelors who lived their lives on the road – four were now firmly tied down in a way they’d always vowed they never would be.

That left Mouse and Happy himself still free to indulge in whatever the hell they pleased.

Where once that would have made Happy smug though, now it rankled at him. Not least because he knew nothing would please his ma more than to see him finally settle down. Landing in Charming with the mother charter had been the compromise that allowed him to check in on her, given her advancing years and sometimes poor health. But where his Samcro brothers had old ladies, kids and community ties, he still might as well have been a nomad in all but name – living out of the clubhouse, indulging in the easy pussy that flocked to the place, but never letting anyone get too close. There just wasn’t anyone who—

“Watch it,” he growled, as someone bumped into him, sending his drink sloshing over his hand. “Or I’ll… You.”

“Uh, Happy, hey. Sorry, shit, I’m such a klutz.”

The tall, gruff Son had no idea what to say to the woman stood in front of him. He never did. Not when she was holed up in the Teller-Morrow office with Gemma, not when she was casually strolling across the yard or through the garage, and especially not when she was stood before him in some dive bar in a tiny dress that barely covered her ass, those big eyes slightly hazy with alcohol as she gazed up at him.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, genuinely surprised to see her out of her usual habitat, but realising too late that the simple question unintentionally sounded less like small talk and more like some kind of interrogation.

“Uh, you’re a little hostile right now…” she said, somewhat defensively. “I am allowed a life outside TM, you know.”

Was she? Of course, she was. Well, it depended on what she meant by a life. The concept hadn’t really crossed Happy’s mind until now, and he found himself frowning at the thought of it. As far as he was concerned, her place was in the TM office. And unwittingly starring in the vast majority of the fantasies that drifted into his mind when he wasn’t entirely focused on work.

Obviously, he realised that the scenarios he pictured all too vividly were utterly incompatible with reality. She wasn’t some croweater, easy pussy. For a start, unlike most of the club girls, she had absolutely no idea the effect she had on him. For all he knew, this life she was apparently entitled to could include a boyfriend. Husband even. The thought rankled him more than he cared to admit, even to himself.

“Just… didn’t expect to see you here,” he muttered, realising he was just staring at her and shifting his dark gaze almost guiltily from those tantalising bare legs. Taking in her plump, glossy lips instead didn’t help in the slightest.

“I’ll get you another beer,” she offered, with a little eager-to-please smile, swaying on her heels just a little as she flagged down the barman. “Since I made you spill…”

And in the end, he’d let her. That was how they’d ended up talking most of the night, slow though the conversation was to ignite. Turned out she was there with a girlfriend who’d abandoned her in favour of some guy. Going back to the clubhouse had eventually been Happy’s idea. He was just surprised it was one he’d voiced out loud – and that she’d agreed. Maybe that life of hers didn’t actually include another man after all…

So that was where they’d ended up, back at TM. Both of them were now on more comfortable turf in familiar surroundings and, having raided the clubhouse bar, well on their way towards a new level of drunkenness.

“This might be the most we’ve ever talked,” she giggled, leaning against his shoulder as they sat on top of one of the picnic tables outside in the growing darkness. “You never talk to me, Happy. Don’t you like me?”

The Samcro enforcer didn’t know how to answer that. How could a man with his reputation admit that he didn’t have the courage to talk to a woman he actually liked the idea of for more than a quick fuck? As it turned out, her own Dutch courage negated the need for an answer from him.

Instead, her mouth simply crashed onto his.

She tasted of the vodka she’d been knocking back and something sweet that might have been whatever was slicked on her lips to make them look so damn irresistible and he kissed her back with a hunger that wasn’t exactly a familiar sensation for him. For once, he didn’t just want to get his dick wet courtesy of the first willing body – he wanted her. Specifically her.

“Not here,” he growled, drunk on booze and the intoxicating scent of her perfume, but not too drunk to register that they were too close to the main door to avoid an audience for long. And he wasn’t okay with that, not with her.

Making it to his dorm room was something of a blur though, as if the world flipped into fast forward, only to grind back down to slow motion when somehow she was under him on his bed in just tiny scraps of hot pink lace. He was pretty sure those delicate panties ripped in his big hands in his determination to get them off her, but he had to have her before she drove him out of his goddamn mind.

The groan he drew from her when his tongue plundered her wet heat went straight to his cock.

“Oh god, Happy…” she moaned, her short, neat nails raking over his shaved scalp and practically sending a shiver down his spine.

Part of him wanted to just eat her out until she screamed for mercy, but another part – the part of him that was achingly hard for her – needed something more. And it seemed that was what she wanted too, as instead of complaining when he pulled away, she simply lay there breathless and taking in the sight of his lean, inked torso while he retrieved a condom from the night-stand.

His hand curled lightly around her slim throat and, in one long, slow thrust, he buried himself to the hilt inside her, muttering dark curses at the feel of how tight she was around his throbbing cock.

“Happy…”

His name on her lips was practically a whine as her legs wrapped around his pistoning hips, her heels digging into the backs of his thighs and her hands reaching back to grip the headboard of the bed, stretching out her gloriously naked body for him.

“Fuck, yes,” she groaned, her laboured breath hot on his ear. “Harder…”

For once, Happy did as he was told.

The hand around her throat slipped downwards the fullness of her tits, cupping, squeezing the firm flesh, pinching her dusky nipples as he slowed the pace of his thrusts, wanting this to last if it was probably going to be the only chance he got.

She bit her lower lip, her head thrown back and her hips meeting his perfectly as she focused on chasing the orgasm that seemed to be brewing low in her belly.

“Happy, please…” she ground out, one hand leaving the headboard to trail down her own stomach and between her legs, her fingers grazing his slick cock as it slipped in and out of her, before finding the tiny bundle of nerves they had been seeking out.

He only let her rub frantically at her clit for a second, then firmly gripped her wrist and drew her hand away, guiding it back to the headboard with a glare and a shake of his head. If she wanted to cum, he didn’t need any fucking help getting her there.

The biker picked up the pace again, slamming into her hard and fast as she cried out in pleasure, her eyes squeezing closed. His hand cupped her cheek at that, getting her attention.

“Look at me,” Happy demanded roughly, his own breathing getting ragged with his exertions.

Her eyes opened, meeting his and he swallowed hard, letting his thumb trace over her full lower lip, prompting her to gently suck on the digit. When his hand finally slipped away, it trailed down her body, over skin flushed and covered in tiny beads of sweat, and sought out her clit just as she had.

It was somehow too much and not enough all at once and her hips arched helplessly towards his, her thighs clenching and her body trembling as she cried out.

“Oh, Happy, fuck, fuck, fuck…” she all but sobbed. “I’m… I’m gonna cum… I’m… Oh, fuuuuuck!”

With a flare of masculine pride at the response he could induce in her, Happy held out for as long as he could, jaw clenched as he fucked her through the intensity of her orgasm. But the vise-like grip of her soaked pussy around his cock quickly won out and he soon came hard and with a roar that he muffled against her throat, before collapsing down on top of her.

“Jesus…” she sighed breathlessly, as he shifted his weight off her to lie on his back by her side, trying to get his breath back and dashing sweat from his brow with his forearm.

Neither of them spoke. Nothing that came to Happy’s tongue seemed right and the silence soon stretched out between them uncomfortably, even as his brain berated him and told him he was in danger of completely fucking up whatever the hell had just happened.

Sure enough, she started to shift away from him, awkwardness creeping in and, despite what had just transpired between them, making her wrap herself in the tangled sheets and clutch them to her chest.

“Uh, I guess you probably want me to go…” she said softly.

His head snapped towards her at that, but she already had her back to him and didn’t see the look on his face.

“It’s okay,” she continued, obviously not wanting to make the whole situation any more awkward than it had to be. “I’ve been around enough to know how it works, Hap.”

“Stay.”

His low voice was rougher than ever, more hesitant than he’d ever been about anything. He cleared his throat and tried again.

“Stay. Uh, please?”

She turned, wide-eyed. The Tacoma Killer didn’t say please.

“You… You don’t have to do this,” she tried hesitantly, trying to second-guess what was going on here. “One night, that’s the deal, right?”

He shrugged, feigning a casualness he really didn’t feel. “Doesn’t have to be.”

“So… not just one night?” she said, quiet and unsure, clearly mulling over what that might mean.

“Maybe just… night one?” Happy suggested, a rare little grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he reached for her again. They could figure it out later.