#but i just realized i forgot all the supplies i set out on the table 😭😭

[wylansworkshop]

I've decided I'm gonna do an embroidery of the crow club logo!

[minminbunny]

ABO AU - Alpha! Hwang Hyunjin/Omega! Gender Neutral Reader

💕Drabble Masterlist

❤️Ultimate Masterlist

"I'm going to be late," you whined, grabbing your art supplies as you sprinted to the studio. Hyunjin hummed, setting up the object models while he waited. You barged into the studio, "Sorry!" you exclaimed, catching your breath. Hyunjin chuckled, handing you a towel, "Relax. We have all day, pup," he said, ruffling your hair. You exhaled deeply, wiping the sweat off your skin. Hyunjin took your supplies and set them up, "There's water by the table, take a sip and we can start," he said, priming his canvas. You did as told and drank the water, "What's our model this time?" you asked, taking a seat next to him. Hyunjin hummed, "The Clematis flower, it's the symbol for beauty of the heart," he said, painting the background of his canvas. You nodded, "That's quite the meaning," you said, slowly feeling yourself get attached to the project. "Right? It would be interesting to see how we interpret it in our styles," he said, making gentles strokes with his brush. You did the same, letting the flow of the moment guide you when your neck get warm, "Shit," you murmured, trying to rub off your scent.

Hyunjin perked up, his nose flooded with the scent of thick jasmine and mint. You pulled up your hood, "Sorry, Hyun. I forgot my suppressor," you said, tightening the string into a bow. Hyunjin shook his head, "It's alright, pup. I can handle it," he said, crossing his legs to hide his obvious bulge. You beamed, "Thank you, Jinnie," you said, continuing your painting. Hyunjin gulped, his adam's apple bobbing hard against his throat, 'Think gross things, a stinky sock, Gymracha after a workout, fuck, fuck, I can't do this,' he thought, clenching his jaw. He gripped his paintbrush tight and gently placed it down so it doesn't spook you, "I think I need some fresh air, puppy," Hyunjin said, standing up. You nodded, "Oh, okay. I'll just be here," you said, cleaning your brush.

NSFW BELOW CUT

Hyunjin fauxed a smile and waddled his way to the upstairs. He pushed the door open and slumped himself against the wall, "Holy shit, their scent is everywhere," he whined, tugging down his sweatpants. Hyunjin hissed, instantly wrapping his slender fingers around his lengthy cock. His cockhead leaked down his shaft, slicking up his palm with precum. "Hah, puppy. So sweet and warm," he gasped, stroking his cock in a relentless pace. His knot throbbed at the neglect, aching to fill up an Omega's tight ribbed hole but his fist would have to do. You raised an eyebrows, wondering what's taking Hyunjin so long, "Hyun?" you called out, making your way up the stairs but no reply. Hyunjin pumped his cock, his head tossed back against the wall without a care of being caught. You pushed out the door, shivers went down your spine at the strong scent of musk and skin slapping rang through your ears. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, puppy. Please suck my cock," he babbled to himself not realizing you were right there.

You gulped, kneeling between his legs, the tip of his cock begging to releasing. 'Should I do this?' You thought, hesitant of succumbing to the lust. Hyunjin groaned out your name, his eyes shut tight as his back arched. 'Fuck it,' you thought, wrapping your lips around his messy cockhead. "Hah, ah, ah?" he gasped, staring down at you with hooded eyes. You grabbed the base of his cock and bobbed your head up and down his shaft. Hyunjin gritted his teeth, "Fuck!" he cried out, wrapping his fingers through your hair as he began thrusting up your throat. You exhaled through your nose, taking as much as his cock down your throat. "Good puppy, so fucking tight," he growled, using your throat like a flesh light. You felt your head spin, your lips barely grazing the growing knot. "Deep breaths, love," he grit, pushing your head down his cock. Your whined around his shaft, your cheeks stretched to accommodate his pulsing knot. Hyunjin growled, his flared cockhead breaching your throat with a squelchy pop, "That's it, good puppy. So good," he whispered, stroking your hair when he came. You swallowed as much as you could, his knot had your jaw locked in position and it was slowly getting sore. Hyunjin hummed, stroking your jaw, "I know, little omega. I know. It'll swell down soon, Alpha promise," he reassured, pampering kisses all over your messy face.

[steddieas-shegoes]

how are you even alive?

for @steddielovemonth prompt ‘love is watching them do stupid things’

rated t | 1,351 words | cw: minor injury, suggestive language | tags: established relationship, hurt/comfort, the hurt is Steve being stubborn, the comfort is Eddie loving him even though he should accept help

♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️

Twice a year, Steve deep cleaned the house.

Eddie had never witnessed anything like it before.

It’s not that he and Wayne were slobs, but they just did what was necessary, never spending an entire week going over a checklist a mile long to cover every inch of their house.

Steve did.

He said that when he was young, his parents hired people to do it and he was always fascinated with the way the house smelled so fresh for weeks after. He loved watching something go from dusty to shiny, loved seeing the way the windows glistened without any fingerprints from him.

And as he got older, his parents stopped hiring people and just expected it to get done, so he did. And he loved it.

Eddie couldn’t understand it, but he did love the way Steve’s eyes lit up when they got to his cleaning weeks in March and September. He’d plan it all out on a notepad by room, made a list of cleaning supplies he needed, and put stars next to things Eddie would have to help him with.

There were few stars, thankfully.

Eddie didn’t really mind helping. It was his home, too, and any time spent with Steve was time well spent. But the bleach sometimes bothered his sinuses and he’d end up coughing and sneezing for two days after.

He checked the lists now and noticed his name was only on three things:

Flip mattresses

Gutter cleaning (hold ladder and refill pressure washer)

Bookshelves (remove all books, dust, put books back)

He fist pumped once at the realization that he got off easy this time, much easier than he’d been expecting.

Actually, he almost always was enlisted to help with holding the ladder when Steve dusted the-

A bang interrupted his thoughts and he ran without even thinking what it could be.

He walked into the kitchen to see Steve on their ladder, some kind of homemade cleaning solution in a spray bottle in one hand and a washcloth in the other.

“What was that noise?” Eddie asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Steve reach as far as he could without falling off the ladder. He’d probably land on his feet from that height and be fine, but it wouldn’t exactly feel great.

“Dropped the other bottle I had hanging on my belt. It’s fine, just furniture polish. I can get it when I’m done dusting,” Steve was busy, barely even glanced back at Eddie as he answered.

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed a supervisor?” Eddie found the furniture polish and set it on the counter, watching as Steve furiously rubbed at the top of the cabinets.

“I don’t. But gutter cleaning is tomorrow and I’ll need one then.”

“Steve…”

“Don’t Steve me. I’m fine! I’m already halfway done.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and stepped away, not wanting to argue with Steve when he was at his happiest.

“Can you put the radio on please, baby? I forgot to before I climbed up here.”

Eddie went over to the radio on the kitchen table and turned it on, surprised to find it tuned to the rock station instead of the hits station.

“Well color me shocked! Were you listening to,” he gasped and held his chest. “Rock?”

“Yes, I was. But if you’re gonna make a big deal about it then change it to the hits,” Steves eye roll was almost audible.

“No, no. Let’s listen to Def Leppard, sweetheart. It’s been my dream for one whole minute to check out your ass while listening to Pour Some Sugar On Me.”

Steve snorted, but continued his work.

Eddie continued watching.

And then Steve wobbled a little. He caught himself, but Eddie stood up straighter.

He wobbles more and Eddie started to move towards the ladder to hold it steady.

But it was too late.

Steve was already falling.

He landed on his ass with a yelp and a groan, the washcloth and bottle flying across the floor.

“Shit, Stevie, you okay?” Eddie crouched down next to him, hands cupping his cheeks as he looked him over.

“Yeah. Just twisted my ankle a little when I tried to catch myself,” Steve gestured down at his ankle. “Might need to ice it before I clean more.”

“Maybe you should rest so it doesn’t swell.” Eddie rolled the sweatpants he was wearing up and saw the way it was already swelling. “Okay, you have no choice but to rest since it’s swelling.”

“Fuck me.”

“I can do that after we ice it,” Eddie said as he gently moved his ankle left and right to see if it was broken.

Steve snorted. “Of course this would happen the first day of my spring cleaning.”

“Maybe if you’d let me supervise earlier…”

“I never lose my balance on the ladder! I thought I’d be fine.”

“Steve, you remember how last year when you were cleaning the pool you insisted the water wouldn’t overfill because of the filters?” Eddie smirked. “And then 6 hours later we were trying to rescue your pool chairs from floating away?”

“That isn’t the same!”

“And then when we first moved in and you insisted you could paint the ceiling yourself and you insisted on handpainting instead of a roller because it wouldn't be even to you and then you dripped paint everywhere and we had to get new carpet? Remember how you ended up breaking your finger because you insisted on rolling the carpet yourself?"

"Okay, that was just bad luck."

"And when you put out the Christmas decorations last year while I was helping Wayne with his truck and I came home to you stuck on the roof?"

"Listen, I am almost 100% sure one of the neighbor kids knocked the ladder over. There was no other way!"

Eddie kissed Steve's forehead. "I'm not sure how you're even alive. You're asking for an accident to happen."

"Weren't you supposed to be getting me ice?" Steve pouted.

Eddie leaned in and nipped at his bottom lip. "You want help getting to the couch first?"

"Nope. It's cleaning week. 20 minutes with an ice pack and then I'm back to dusting."

Eddie shook his head. "You're ridiculous. We'll ice it for 20 and then you're gonna rest for at least an hour so we know if we need to wrap it and keep weight off of it."

"I'm fine, Eds."

"Humor me, sweetheart."

It's a damn good thing Steve did because an hour and a half later, they were on their way to the emergency room for x-rays.

As the doctor told them both that Steve seemed to have fractured a small bone in his ankle, Eddie did his best not to look too smug.

"It won't require a cast or boot, but I do recommend ice every couple of hours and staying off of it as much as possible for the next week or so. If anything starts to hurt worse, come back for a boot."

"Thanks, doc." Eddie waited until the doctor left the room to turn to Steve. "How about next time you want to dust above the fridge and the top of the cabinets, you let me be there to catch you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine."

Eddie kissed his lips softly, barely brushed them just in case someone decided to walk in again. "You want me to stop on the way home to get some more pain meds?"

"Please."

"You hurtin'?"

"A little."

"You want me to take your mind off it?" Eddie wiggled his brows suggestively. "I can keep your ankle elevated, even."

"We'll see when we get home. But you know what?"

"What?"

"Someone has to do the cleaning, baby. Since I can't, looks like you've got a checklist to get to."

"Or we could just put off the cleaning until your ankle heals."

Steve shook his head. "No, I think you can handle it. I'll supervise."

"You're lucky you're so pretty," Eddie groaned.

"Don't forget I'm also very good at sucking your-"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. Let's go before you get us discriminated against."

[braidlottie]

christmas in july.

pairing: pool boy!transmasc!reader x milf!shauna shipman

summary: you’ve been cleaning ms. shipman’s pool for quite sometime now, even having a friendship with her. you never would’ve thought what happeneds when you stepped foot into her pool one night.

tags: smut, 18+, nsfw (minors dni), reader has his own pool business, reader has top surgery, shauna is divorced :3, pool sex, clit play, oral sex (shauna receiving), shauna has a christmas tree in the middle of july (you’ll see why), brief smoking (from callie and shauna)

wc: 1.8k

sorry i didn’t know how to end this fic pls Forgive me!!!!

life couldn't be better for you right now. you were out of college for the summer, and your pool business was booming. you always loved this time of year, you got a shit ton of money, and you just loved seeing little kids' faces when their parents tell them the pool’s clean. but there was one house that you absolutely love going to, you never pass up a chance to go there.

mrs. sadecki’s house.

well, ms. shipman’s house. you forgot she recently got a divorce over the spring, just leaving her and her daughter alone in that big, suburban house. you never really knew why they separated, but it was none of your business anyway, though you missed seeing the two together. mr. sadecki was always very kind to you.

parking your van on the curb, you grabbed all your supplies, like your chlorine tablets and your leaf skimmer. you walked up the porch step and rang the doorbell. “coming!” you heard ms. shipman’s voice echoed from outside the house, and it took for her to answer. “oh, honey, i’m so sorry, i just got out of the shower.” she opened the door, in a robe and wet, dripping hair. you told her it was fine, and she let you in. she kept apologizing for leaving you out in the hot sun, and offered you some lemonade outside.

you went out the back door to the pool and got to work, checking the pH levels, changing the pool filter, and even going back to your van for your vacuum to get some debris off the pool floor. your tank top came off while doing so, so you wouldn’t get it wet while vacuuming. you were at it for about thirty minutes before ms. shipman came back to check on you, a pitcher of lemonade in one hand, and two, tall glass cups in the other. she set them down on the patio table and pulled out two chairs. she couldn’t take your eyes of your chest, the water droplets trickling all the wall down to your-

“mrs. sadecki?” your voice brought her out of her trance.

“i’m just about finished, mrs. sadecki. oh- i mean, ms. shipman.” you cursed at yourself for the mistake. “that’s alright, honey, and i told you to start calling me shauna. all that ‘mrs’ stuff makes me feel old.” she poured you a cup of lemonade, passing it to you as you sat down.

“it looks beautiful, callie’s gonna love it,” she smiled, taking a sip of the cold beverage. “i made you a little kit, until next time. put some of this shock in there once every week so you can get rid of the bacteria. and your own little leaf skimmer so you can get all the bugs and leaves out and what not.” you pointed at the supplies next to you.

“thank you, that’s so sweet. oh, how do i keep the possums from getting in?”

“oh yeah, i got you a tarp, just lay it flat right over it at night, and you’re good to go.”

shauna smiled and nodded, ever so grateful for somebody like you, taking care of her pool. the two of you sat and talked for another twenty minutes when you realized it was around that time that you went to get something for lunch. it was almost like shauna didn’t want you to go, so she proposed something you never would’ve thought of. “are you free tonight?”

your eyebrows raised in surprise. “sure, what time?”

“around 7. i wanted you to join me and callie for dinner today. just as a thank you.” shauna got up from her chair, her hands behind her back timidly. “but, i’ve been cleaning your pool for a while now, shauna. i’m just doing my job.” her shyness began to shed off onto you now.

“i know, but i never really formally thanked you. c’mon, please?” shauna couldn’t believe she was begging to her pool boy right now. “well, i’ll be there. thank you, shauna.” she smiled back at your response, watching you grab your things and leave.

***

you came back, just “around 7” like shauna told you too, the sun was setting and shauna’s daughter, callie, was sitting on the porch swing, taking a hit from her vape. she saw you get out and walk up to her.

“sup?”

“sup.” you replied, putting your hand on your hip, your keys jingling in your hand. you’ve had a few interactions with callie before, except they were just awkward smiles and waves.

“your mom know you have that?” you gestured at the pen.

“no. are you gonna tell her?”

“nah, not today.” you smirked. the girl sniggered at that.

there were a few more seconds of silence before she got up to go back in the house. “i can’t believe my mom let the pool boy come to dinner. she must really like you.” she left the door open for you to walk in behind her.

“you’re back! and you changed.” shauna came to greet you, noticing that your swim trunks were different, and you had on a t-shirt with your company name on it. “of course, i did. didn’t want to come to dinner smelling like chlorine.” she chuckled at your joke. “woah. why is your christmas tree still up?” you admired the beautiful red, silver, and green ornaments strung along the branches.

“ever heard of christmas in july?”

“i didn’t even know people celebrated that.” you shrugged and callie scoffed. “that’s my mom, celebrating every holiday known to man. like, how are you from new jersey and you celebrate boxing day?” the younger girl scoffed.

“enough from you, help me set the table.” shauna scolded. you got a kick out of the duo, seeing them bicker back and forth about the most random holidays.

***

the three of you had just finished dinner, callie going up to her own room after saying goodnight. shauna let you stay for a while, sitting by the pool with you. the night air was cold against your legs.

you saw shauna pull out a box of cigarettes from her pocket, with a lighter as well. the lighter clicked a few times before she successfully lit the cigarette. she held out the box to you with a raised brow.

“oh, no, i don’t smoke.” you shook your head and smiled nervously. “ever since i left jeff, i started smoking these. i need to quit it though. i can already feel myself staring to shrivel up.” she scoffed, and you laughed again. looking up at the stars.

the two of you sat in the patio chairs the conversation g when shauna put out her cigarette and stood up. “wanna go for a swim?” she slipped off her cardigan, placing it on the chair. “i really shouldn’t.”

“aww, come on. just this once?” she kicked off her sandals. you twisted your lips in second guessing, shauna giving you a pleading look. “just for a little.” you smirked, and she smiled.

since you were already in your swim trunks, you just took of your shirt, leaving you in a tank top. you thought shauna would do the same, but when you turned around, she was already in the pool.

naked.

you gulped, not even realize how hard you were staring until shauna said something. “don’t be shy, honey.” you stepped down the pool stairs, teeth chattering at the coldness of the water mixed with the night air. you dunked your whole body in, even your head. you stayed under for a while before coming to the surface, wiping the water from your face.

“it feels amazing.” she ran her hands through her wet hair. you stood on the pool floor, trying to adjust your swim trunks, that have been feeling a little too tight ever since you got in. your rock hard nipples poking through your white tanktop. it was shauna’s turn to stare now.

“you okay?”

“yeah, sorry.” you looked up at her again, but your eyes went straight to her breasts. “my eyes are up here, sweetheart.” she spoke seductively. your eyes met hers, and she giggled at your expression. she swam closer, making you back up against the pool wall.

her finger went to your left nipple, twisting and pinching it over your tank. your breathing got heavier and heavier, her brown eyes looking up at yours.

“ms. shipman, we shouldn’t-”

“i know you want this. you’ve always had your eyes on me for too long, even before i divorced jeff.”

“wha- no, what are you talking about?” you sputtered. “i wouldn’t do that to mr. sadecki.”

shauna had a “you sure about that?” look on your face, and you knew she was onto you.

she was onto you the whole time.

she giggled at your reaction, so embarrassed but surprised. “naughty boy.”

her hands were snaking further down to your trunks, fingers still grazing over your nipple. “oh, shit.”

“want me to touch you?”

you nodded and shauna’s hand slipped down your shorts, fingers rubbing your engorged clit in small circles. you moaned, tipping your head back in pure bliss.

“you better be quiet. you don’t want my daughter up there to here, do you?” shauna pointed up at callie’s window, seeing that her bedroom light was still on.

“n-no- fuck- i’m sorry.” you bit your lip, trying to supress another small whine of desperation. “shauna, fuck.”

“such a dirty mouth for a sweet boy like you.” she smirked, applying more pressure to that little bundles of nerves. she knew you were close. and she wanted to make you come hard.

“fuckfuckfuck- i’m gonna cum,” you hips thrusted into shauna’s hand, shying away from her eyes. you groaned, muffling it with the back of your hand.

“that’s it, honey.” she whispered, wiping the trickles of water look from your face. after you catch your breath, your hands go to shauna’s waist, backing her against the pool wall now. she finally kissed you, moaning breathlessly into your mouth. “i wanna taste you.” you said hungrily, making shauna sit on the the edge on the pool for you.

you spit on your hand before rubbing over shauna’s clit, getting a low yet desperate moan from her, inhaling sharply when your tongue swirled against it. “fuck, baby!” she holds your head closer, squeezing it between her thighs. “oh, baby, i’m gonna cum so fucking hard. keep going for me.” her teeth gritted as she cursed.

she gasped, hurling forward and muscles spasming as she came on your tongue. she wiped a tear from her eye, the overwhelming feeling hitting her so hard. she’s never had sex this good. even when she was married to jeff.

“well, that was something else.” she struggled to stand, her legs a little shaky. she walked back to the patio chair, putting her clothes back on her wet body. you also got out as well, just lifting yourself up to sit on the edge.

“i’ll see you next week? y’know, for the pool?”

“uh.. yeah, yes you will.” you sniffed, shauna just smiling at you adoringly. hopefully it’s just for the pool, right?

part of you hoped it wasn’t.

[theblueprinxe]

I will find you in every lifetime

Decided to do also post another Tav (Prinxe) & Astarion story but this one is set in the far distant future. Everything that happened in the game has taken place in the story and has been changed just a bit! Enjoy :)

~

"You know, when I first met you I didn't care for you much. But now, I couldn't think of my life without you." A smile formed on the unknown males face as he intertwined his fingers with hers, giving the lightest but most comforting squeeze as he moved closer to her. "I want this.....I want you." His voice was full of nothing but love and devotion. Whoever he was, he loved her and she could feel a part of her feeling exactly the same.

But this was a dream. Even though, it always felt real to her and as if she had lived this exact moment before. She knew it wasn't real.

Every time she did have this dream, she would try her best to focus on his face, taking in his curly white locks that framed his pale face which made his crimson eyes show off perfectly. All she wanted and needed was to know who he was and why he always appeared to her like this.

“I love you.” With those last words, he leaned forward, taking her face in his hands and placing the softest and sweetest kiss against her lips. She returned the kiss with just as much love, knowing she’d soon wake up and this familiar but strange man would be gone. But right now she wanted to enjoy this small moment with him.

Her lips moved against his perfectly, feeling as if they were designed for hers to be against. And god she loved it.

As if like clockwork, the others figure slowly disappeared before her. Making it known she was about to wakeup from her dream and the familiar empty feeling was going to fill her chest.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, adjusting to her still dark room with ease, something her elf abilities were very helpful for. The soft sound of rain tapping on the patio window and lack of sunlight made her realize it was still late in the night or early morning.

A small yawn escaped from her lips as she tried her best to lay up without waking the soundly sleeping person next to her. She knew she should try to sleep again but the face of the pale elf still lingered in her mind. She needed to draw him while it was still fresh in her head.

Once she was soundly out of her bed and a good distant away from the other, she began to collect her art supplies trying to take only the bare minimum to avoid any excessive noise. Satisfied with her haul, she moved out into her living room, setting her art supplies on her dining room table with a slight shiver. She forgot to turn the heat on again. It was close to fall and her oversized pajama shirt was doing nothing to keep her warm.

Her apartment was fairly tiny but everything in Bladers Gate was more than she could afford so it was common for it to be pretty cold in the middle of the night especially, when she constantly forgot to turn to the heat on. Moving away from the table and over to the kitchen, she grabbed her favorite dark blue mug and began to assemble her usual late night tea. Earl grey with the smallest dash of honey to keep her warm and to give her a little bit of sweetness.

Now happily warm, she plopped herself down into her usual chair, throwing her dark blue hair in a messy bun and began to sketch away the pale elf. It wasn't unusual for her to be drawing him, especially late at night but her sketch book was close to busting from the numerous different sketches of him. Some were close ups of his face in different facial expressions, others were full body and had him usually holding a book, a cup of wine or her favorite one was a hand mirror.

Today's drawing was from tonights dream and she was a bit flustered about the kiss they shared. The pale elf stood in front of her, holding her hand in his and giving her his very familiar handsome smile as he stared at her. She made sure to capture every detail of his face from his white curly locks to his pointy ears. She could feel the smile forming on her face as she continued to sketch away, reliving her dream and using it to give her newest piece the perfect touch.

She was deep into shading the areas of the background that she hadn't noticed her once sleeping guest was wide awake and standing besides her. "Late night or early morning sketching?" He asked, now leaning down to take in her newest art piece, his black hair still messy from his sleeping.

"A little of both I guess you could say"' She replied, closing her sketch book and getting up to place a kiss on the others cheek.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you'll ever draw me like you draw him" He teased, pulling the other in a tight embrace which received him a very light kiss on his lips.

"Damon, you know I love drawing you." She wiggled out of his arms, picking up her art supplies as she continued to speak. "This is just a person in my imagination, you know that"

He nodded, placing his hands in his grey sweats. "I know, I know...It's just..." Prinxe stopped in her tracks knowing exactly where the conversation was going. It was a constant topic among her friends and her partner Damon. They felt like she was crazy for her countless drawings of the pale elf and she didn't dare tell them she dreamed about him.

He continued to speak, moving a bit in front of her to block her way or more importantly to avoid her from escaping the conversation. "You've been drawing him a lot more recently and I think maybe you should move onto another muse or even just back to drawing parts of Faerun." His once soft tired expression was now fully of seriousness. As a drow, his serious expression often made her slightly panic but after years of knowing him, she knew it wasn't the worst expression she could see.

There was a moment of tense silence as he waited for her to reply. She wasn't going to promise to stop drawing the pale elf. Even if she did it would be a lie and he would still appear in her dreams like he had countless nights before.

As if her save and grace, the others phone went off signaling it was time to leave and prepare for work. He groaned picking his phone out of his pocket and silencing it before turning his attention back to her. "I need to head home and change, but we are going to actually talk about this later. No more avoiding the conversation." Without another word, he made his way to the entry way sliding on his shoes and leaving.

Prinxe let out a very loud and annoyed groan before tossing the sketch pad back onto the dinning table.

Even though Damon and her had known another since they were teenagers and have been dating close to two years, it still was a very hard topic to discuss or well one she wasn't willing to have.

She knew how crazy she seemed. All she did was draw this unknown man and when she slept he was always there. No matter what she did, he was always on her mind. Her eyes trailed over to the now messy sketch pad that laid across her dinning table, a few pages falling out and showing previous sketches she did of him.

For moment, she began to wonder if she was crazy and if everyone around her was right. That she needed to stop drawing him. The thought sat on her mind for a moment but was quickly thrown away when she noticed the time. "Hells, it's almost 10am." She was going to be late for work.

She quickly ran into her room, throwing off her night clothes and putting on something more appropriate for the day. There was no time to put a lot of care into her look, so she kept it simple. A plain black pair of pants, and a crop top that had some random bard band she recently found the last time she was at the last light in. For her hair, she did her usual dutch braids in low pigtails and threw in her dangling selune moon earrings to show off her elf ears better.

She gave herself one last look over in the mirror, her brown eyes scanning her face and outfit to see if she wanted to change anything or more importantly add something. Deciding against better judgement , she took an extra few minutes to do her eyeliner.

Pleased with her look, she threw on a pair of her boots and made her way towards her front door, stopping for a moment to look back at her sketch pad. Everything in her was screaming to grab it even if she knew she shouldn't. She stood there for a moment having a mental argument with herself, before finally caving in and picking it up, adjusting the pages that had accidentally fallen out before making her way out the door.

She raced down the stairs of her apartment complex and made her way to the streets of Balders Gate which was lively and full of people all cross the roads and sidewalks.

It seemed like most of the city was out preparing for the anniversary of the battle of the Elder Brain. Prinxe along with the many other elfs, humans, tieflings, gnomes and anyone in-between knew the story of it. And the celebration of it was such a big thing that everyone joined in.

A small chuckle escaped from her lips as she watched a few tiefling children run by wearing mind flayer masks and others wearing makeshift helmets similar to the guardians who saved the city.

It was a simple story of a group that consisted of elfs, half-elfs, humans, a githyanki, and if she remembered correctly also a tiefling, that traveled all throughout Faerun with the goddess of Selune to stop the Elder Brain from destroying everyone and turning them Into mind flayers.

It of course had been centuries since then but it was still a story that every child born in Faerun knew of. The thought of the story and anniversary made her think about what she should do this year to celebrate. She was so deep in thought she hadn't realized the kids from earlier where making there way right back towards her and they were coming in fast.

One of the kids with the mind flayer mask ran right into her, almost knocking her on her butt but she somehow managed to catch herself, gripping her notepad tight as could. The other kids followed quickly after leaving her to try and dodge them as well.

She quickly jumped to the side, nearly missing the two kids who bolted down the road and were being chased by who she would assume was one of their fathers. Seeing that the coast was clear, she went to move back onto the sidewalk only to make full force with someone's chest causing her to fall back onto the ground with a loud thud.

A groan escaped her lips as she watched her notepad go flying and the pages that she had once shoved back into it, make there way into the wind. There was no way for her grab all of them and instead she just sat there watching them disappear. "Maybe it's best if I lose them." She thought, only really bringing her attention away from them when she saw a pale hand extended to her.

She moved her hand into the others, ready to pull herself up only to stop once she heard their voice.

"Sorry darling, I didn't see you there."

She froze.

She had to be dreaming.

There was no way, she was hearing his voice right now.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to fetch a healer?"

She heard it again.

It was his voice.

Without saying a word, she gripped his hand which he immediately did back, pulling her up to bring her to her feet. Even though she was to her feet, her hand never left his, instead continued to grip it not wanting to let go of him.

It was as if everything around her disappeared as she stared into those familiar crimson orbs. His devilish smile was just as she remembered from her dreams. She continued to take in his details, beginning to realize, her drawings didn't do him justice. The way his curly locks framed his face making his jaw more chiseled and perfectly showed off his pointy ears made her heart skip a beat.

Suddenly realizing where she was, she went to pull her hand away and apologize but instead was pulled back.

"I thought I'd never find you." His voice had a hint of sadness in it as he spoke but also happiness. Placing his other hand on top of the one he already held, he continued staring at her with nothing but pure love.

The pale elf in her dreams was real. And he was standing right in front of her.

~

Here's the first chapter of this story! Definitely will be continuing my other one but felt like going back and forth to different ones would keep me motivated . Hopefully you enjoyed it so far! :)

[toxicanonymity]

Empire Builders. Ben's Hardware Ch. 3

5.4k / Ben Solo x Rey / ch 1, ch 2

WARNINGS: I8+ mdni. Sexual tension, gaslighting, another woman tries/fails to seduce him, angst, dubcon via uninformed force connection, ben jacks off, unsafe P in V (in force connection). Hardware Store AU explained. Strategic planning humor. Excessive plot. Beta/Star wars consultant: @dark-scape A/N: Written in February 2023. This chapter has far more world building & background than necessary. Like I set up way too much stuff for a miniseries, but I wanted to answer some reader questions. And at least the world is constructed in my head for future use.

Ben opens his eyes and looks around his office.  There's a leather couch, a chaise, an end table, a credenza stocked with high-end liquor.  It's certainly too high-end for the general manager of a local hardware store, but Ben likes things a certain way, and so do the clientele. He zips up his pants.  With Rey, he feels like he's doing nothing wrong.  He has his own rules for himself about the force connection, although they continue to evolve. 

The first time it happened, it took him by surprise. He felt a familiar tingle in his nose, the same faint tingle he gets when he uses the force.  And there she was in her bed.  He watched her for a few minutes, growing more and more aroused.  Then he gave it a shot - he invited her.  And there she was in his house.  After that, all she had to do was want him and he could tune in at will. 

He may tune into Rey's cute little thoughts about him sometimes, and especially her sexy little thoughts, but he only interacts when he's clearly invited.  When she desperately wants him.

In a way, Rey is in control – or, that's what Ben tells himself.  If Rey wants something from him sexually, he makes sure she either asks for it or takes it herself. He merely makes suggestions.  He opens her eyes to the possibilities. Rey may not understand it, but Ben barely understands it himself.  Certainly not well enough to explain it to her.  It would be like trying to explain to someone why water is wet or how to breathe.  It's not Ben's fault Rey doesn't know she's force sensitive. Most people don't know about the force at all, and they're better off that way.  

Ben never had a chance at a normal life.  His parents dedicated their lives and his to using their powers for good.  He didn't understand why teachers asked what kids wanted to be when they grew up.  Did anyone have a choice?  Ben even went to the FBI academy at Quantico and started in the Behavioral Analysis Unit.  It just . . . Didn't work out.  Or, it didn't work out *the way his parents wanted*, to say the least.  

His parents' names followed him everywhere.  Everyone had this very specific idea of who he was and what he was about before they even met him.  Everyone had expectations. His entire career was laid out for him. He'd probably be the director one day.  Without the freedom to be his own person, he grew bitter and angsty.  It was only once he interacted with the most dangerous criminals that Ben realized the choices he could make. 

Ben feels like he's protecting Rey by not cluing her in.  The only thing he feels a little guilty for is using a Jedi mind trick on her.  It's a little gross in principle, but he was  protecting her by making her forget what she saw between him and Hux.  Ben works for dangerous people, and Rey is far too curious for her own good. If Rey were to find out the store is funneling supplies to a dangerous criminal organization, it would not only ruin the whole set-up, but her life would be at risk.  

-----

Ben goes back downstairs to the store and passes Hux on the stairs, who's on his way up to the office.  Hux asks, "Want me to run those numbers for tomorrow?"

Ben has no idea what Hux is talking about.  He sighs, "What's tomorrow?"

Hux looks worried that Ben forgot.  "Uh, the retreat, right? Corporate?" He uses finger quotes when he says corporate. 

"Fuck me," Ben mutters under his breath.  "Yeah.  Thanks." 

How could he have forgotten? He knows how - Rey is a total distraction.  Empire Building's strategic planning retreat - what a joke, but Ben doesn't have a choice.  Who plans a retreat a week before Christmas? An organization that considers itself your only family.

Ben wants to get out of it.  "Hey, Hux - shouldn't one of us stay here to watch the store?" 

"Yup, that's why I'm attending remotely. I'll be here in the office and go down to the store during the breakout sessions." 

"Actually, I wouldn't mind staying. You deserve the break," Ben offers.

"Ben, no offense, but you know nothing about running a hardware store.  That's why I'm here in the first place."

"It's only two days," Ben says.  He's annoyed, but can't really dispute the assertion that he doesn't know what he's doing.  He's a hobby carpenter, which used to give him a false sense of handiness, but he's eaten his fair share of humble pie since opening the store.  If he had to run any other department besides Wood, he'd be in trouble.  

Hux sighs. "Alright, I wasn't supposed to say anything, but you're being honored.  You can't skip out." 

Honored? That intrigues Ben.  He tries not to seem too excited, though.  "Whatever," he says.  "Yeah, run the numbers, but run them by me before you share anything."

A buzz saw whirrs in the distance as Ben steps back onto the floor of the hardware store. He wants to learn to manage the store himself, he just doesn't want to learn from Hux. He walks by the key-making station and the staff member greets him.  He thinks about shadowing the keymaker to learn something new, but he goes to Lumber instead. They're filling an order of custom-length 2"x4"s.  

"Want a break? I've got it," Ben says.  The woman stops the saw and offers Ben her protective glasses.  He takes off his jacket, puts on his apron, and rolls up his sleeves.  He pulls on a pair of canvas gloves.  He can feel the woman checking out his ass as he bends over to get the first piece of lumbar lined up just right. "15 minute break," he tells her. "You don't have to clock out."  She walks off then Ben fires up the saw and cuts the wood.  

He's finishing up by the time she comes back.  He gives her the goggles back.  

Ben puts his jacket back on, collar popped, and goes out to the nursery and picks up the water dispenser.  He waters the tropical plant section and inhales the fresh smell of lush foliage mingling in the air with the sawdust from carpentry.  He thinks about how much he enjoys the hardware store.  He would love to just manage the hardware store one day and have that be his whole job.  If only things were that simple. 

----

The next morning, Ben drives his bulletproof Range Rover with dark tinted windows to the retreat, which is two hours away.  He dresses in all black and lays a charcoal blazer in the passenger seat.  He pulls up to the hotel at the last possible minute.  He opens the glove box and puts his old beat up Glock in the back of his pants.  He doesn't carry it all the time. It's truly gnarly, but it works, and it's a family heirloom.  It was returned to him from the District Attorney's office after his grandfather died.  He puts on his blazer and makes sure the notched Mandarin collar is standing -  he doesn’t like his neck exposed.  Then, he tosses his keys to the valet

There are two huge guards at the door dressed darkly in plain clothes.  Ben knows one of them and gives him knuckles. 

There are only a couple dozen people attending but they've branded it like it's some huge event.  Ben would prefer to sit with his back to the wall in any given room, but there's a seat reserved for him in the second row. The retreat kicks off with a speech from the Emperor, which is a big deal. No one knows his real name and Ben has never heard of him appearing in public before.  He hangs on every word at first, but it's a pretty general speech about the importance of loyalty and how prosperous they are together.  Yawn.  Then he talks about adversity.  

He continues, "As we all know, we had some challenges last year. Now, I don't have anything against journalists - heck, my granddaughter is one - but they tend to stick their noses in places they shouldn't." The crowd murmurs. Ben starts listening closer again   

"And it's not like the old days where we can take care of one problem and it just goes away.  They've gotten smart.  They've gotten digital.  Setting up dead man switches and whatnot.  Anyway, after the Post article last year, and the boycotts, each of our biggest suppliers suddenly grew a conscience at the same time. Construction came to a total standstill.  For two months we built nothing." He lets that linger in silence for a moment, then continues, "Until one of you had an idea." His eyes twinkle as he looks at Ben.  A few people quietly cheer.  Someone behind Ben pats him on the back and Ben turns his head a little and smiles on acknowledgement but keeps his focus straight ahead.  

In truth, Ben saw the Post article coming.  The way they were handling their business it felt inevitable.  But it would have been a big risk for Ben to try to change how they were doing things.  Instead, he started anticipating the fallout and plotting to save the day.  

"Ben's Hardware, ladies and gentlemen." He gestures to Ben.  "We're back in business."  He makes Ben come up to the front and presents him with a ruby signet pinky ring.  When he sits back down, Ben sees Hux sends an applause on the Zoom screen behind the speaker podium.  Ben's tries not to roll his eyes. 

"That was real strategic thinking, and it got us out of a real jam. I want all of you to start thinking strategically.  That's why I've brought in a consultant this weekend." He  gestures to his right and an attractive young woman stands up. "This is Paige.  She's going to get all of you thinking like Ben."  She smiles at Ben and he swallows.  

Ben wonders how much Paige knows and what's in store for her.  This is sloppy.  He manages a small smile.

----

The first session is a SWOT analysis of Empire Builders.  Paige talks through their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  It turns into somewhat of a post mortem of what led to the Post article and boycotts. 

Strengths: Reputation, resources. 

Weaknesses: Disloyalty, competing priorities

Opportunities: Services. Diversify disposal. 

Threats: Attention. Regulation.

This is a load of crap, and Ben is 100% sure Hux is just eating it up, scribbling notes and making stupid plans.  He rolls his eyes at the thought.  This is worse than a load of crap, he realizes.  Nothing good could possibly come from openly strategizing about how to expand this criminal enterprise.  

Ben could have walked right into a different crime family and taken his grandfather's seat, but that would have been the easy road, and he wouldn't have been met with true respect.  He knew he was capable of sitting at any table he wanted, and chose a different family.  A rival family.  He's climbing from the ground up by merit.  He whacks off a bad egg here and there, but he builds his reputation with brains more than brawn.  He's bringing the family into the 21st century.  

As part of his plan to make himself indispensable, Ben shared one of his many good ideas - the hardware store.  He shared just enough to climb one more rung on the ladder, and now they want all these goons bumbling around trying to bring something fresh to the table? He would hate for this family to implode before he has a chance to destroy it himself and build his own dynasty. 

In the SWOT session, they discuss some of the points together, but it's awkward because no one knows how much Paige knows about the organization or when she's supposed to get whacked.  They keep trying to be vague, but they're really conspicuous about it.  Ben tries to peer into Paige's inner world to find out how much she knows, but he realizes he can't see anything at all, much less read her thoughts.  He wants to test a hypothesis that the sexual attraction and tension with Rey is what's creating their connection.  

-----

They take a break and Ben takes off his blazer.  He leaves it on his seat and goes to the bathroom.  He looks in the mirror as he washes his huge hands, then he unbuttons two buttons and rolls up his sleeves.  He feels kind of slutty doing this, but in a hot way, if he's honest.  He runs his long fingers through his dark hair and swallows. When he sees his Adam's apple in the reflection he remembers his most powerful weapon.  He should've made an acceptance speech.  

Before they get back from break, Ben approaches Paige with a twinkle in his eye.  He talks about nothing.  He uses the lingo.  He gesticulates with his massive hands and shifts his weight flirtatiously as they talk.  He flashes his charming smile and compliments her on the dumb SWOT analysis.  He tries to keep talking.  He crosses his arms and watches her eyes drift to his forearms.  When it's time to re-start the session, he heads back to his seat and glances back. She's definitely checking out his ass.

"What do we mean by 'diversify disposal'," someone asks, and  Paige doesn't know how to answer it. So she doesn't know everything after all. 

One of the big wigs chimes in.  "You'll recall the Post article was primarily the result of a specific disposal that was discovered at a construction site. Which led them to look at other construction sites, pulling permits, and employment records, and so on and so forth.  All that fuss started with one sloppy disposal."   

The man still looks confused. The big wig makes a subtle gun gesture out of view of Paige.

"OH, disposal," the audience member realizes.  "Okay and diversify that how?" 

"Well primarily by considering properties that don't trace directly back to Empire Builders. And techniques that lessen the residue over time." 

"Like lye?" The man asks.  Paige swallows and doesn't know what to say.

Ben interrupts and saves her. "Have we thought about *reducing* disposal?" He asks the big wig.

The big wig laughs. "It's a core part of our business model." 

"Reducing unnecessary disposal? That's when things get sloppy, right?"

"Go on."

"Like say you hire a person for one job, like a conference, but they have a diverse business skill set.  That person could potentially be reassigned to, say, logistics and supply chain management?"

"Instead of. . ." The big wig is thinking.  "Right.  Good question Ben. Let's take that offline." 

-----

After the session ends for the day, Ben goes to the hotel bar.  He wants to check in on the store but needs a drink before he can even think about talking to Hux. Mainly he's curious if Rey came by.  He knows she wants to. Ben orders a whiskey on the rocks and thinks about Rey.  He feels like she has all the control.  He only gets to see her when she shows up to the store.  He thinks about the way she blushes under her freckles and her dimples and her perky tits and how bad she wants him.  He's horny. 

As Ben examines his drink in his large hand, a sultry voice startles him.  

"Ben's hardware, huh?" It's Paige.  She slides her small hand onto his shoulder and puts her other hand on the back of the stool next to him.  "Anyone sitting here?" He must have really worked his magic earlier.  

"No, please." He welcomes her to sit. His sleeves are still rolled up.  

She orders him another drink. "Another one for him. And one for me." 

Paige reaches for Ben's large hand and inspects the ruby signet ring on his pinky. She wants to try it on.  It's too big for even her thumb. One of the big wigs watches casually from the end of the bar. 

Paige asks too many questions, and Ben doesn't give her any answers.  He doesn't want to put her in more danger than she's already in. Also, part of him wonders if she's a trap. Maybe they've realized what he's known all along - that he's the future of this empire - they need to know he can be trusted and won't get distracted by competing loyalties.  Even if it's not a trap, Paige isn't Rey, so that works against her.  

At the bar, Paige is all over him. It turns him on.  He's not that interested in her, but he's only human.  She finishes her drink and slips Ben a key to her room.  She scribbles her room number on a napkin with lipstick.  He wants to leave the key and the napkin on the bar, but he wouldn't want a worse guy to bust into her room in the middle of the night, so he takes them with him.  

Ben looks at his phone and has a missed call from Hux. He decides not to call him back, lest Hux think Ben answers to him.  Plus, Ben is exhausted from being "on" all day.  He's a solo creature and having to pretend to enjoy "the family" really takes it out of him.  Especially with all eyes on him as an honoree. He felt like he couldn't let his guard down for even a moment.  

-----

Ben retires to his hotel room alone he washes his face and hands and grabs the hotel lotion.  He props up two pillows and lies down on top of the bed without unmaking it.  He crosses his large feet and studies the pattern of his argyle socks.  He really prefers stripes these days.  He should overhaul his sock drawer.  He reads the label on the lotion, then moisturizes his enormous hands. He holds the napkin in his hand and runs his thumb over the room number, which is just a few rooms away.  

He recalls the way Paige looked at him and gets hard. He starts to think about whether he should just do it.  It's not like he and Rey are dating - they haven't even gone out once.  On the other hand, hooking up with Paige wouldn't do anything but physically get him off, and he still wouldn't be satisfied.  He runs his long fingers over the mark on his neck.  There is only one person who can satisfy him now.  His eyelids are heavy.  

Ben palms himself through his pants and  debates whether he should try to force connect with Rey.  If he does try to connect with her and she isn't already thinking about him, it could startle her or make her question everything.  He decides to take care of himself  instead.  

-----***------

Ben takes takes off his slacks and hangs them on the back of a chair and lies back down.  He leaves his shirt on and pulls his boxer briefs down. He closes his eyes.  He wraps his hand around his hard shaft and despite how big his cock is, it almost looks normal sized in his massive hand.  He's proportional.

He's almost too tired to do it, but his arousal wins over.  He spits in his hand. He thinks about Rey sitting in his lap and begins to slowly move the skin on his shaft, lazily and in short, firm strokes, just getting warmed up. He thinks about her furrowed brow and her soft little sighs and how her warmth felt against his cock.  

Before he can get far, his nose begins to tingle. Ben yanks up his boxer briefs and palms himself through them as he closes his eyes to let it happen.  

But before he can see anything, Ben hears a moan echo from the bathroom of his hotel room.  He lies there frozen, wondering if his ears deceive him.  Then, he hears splashing and squeaking from the bathtub.  He jolts up and grabs his Glock from the nightstand. He holds it in both hands, his arms straight, and slowly approaches the bathroom.  He turns the door knob with one hand  and pushes it open before resuming his stance. Steam billows out of the door and the mirror is fogged up.  

The door creeps open the rest of the way on its own, and Rey is in a robe.  Thank God she's facing away from him.  He lowers his gun and quietly rushes back to the bed, taking huge strides. He puts the Glock in the nightstand but doesn't close it all the way.

The sink faucet turns on, then off.  Rey emerges from the bathroom and looks around curiously.  She doesn't  look surprised to see him. He hasn't done it on purpose, but the collateral gaslighting might be driving her mad. Surely she hasn't figured out how this works.  

Ben is lying on the bed in his boxer briefs and button up shirt.  He's still hard.  Her eyes meet his. "Ben," she says.  It's the first time she's said his name to him and it's the sweetest sound.  Her eyes scan his body, resting on his underwear longer than anywhere else.  She looks away shyly then he sees her remind herself it's not real. She gains confidence and smiles demurely at him.  "Where have you been?" she asks. "Where are we now?" She crosses the room slowly.  

Ben ignores the questions.  "Well, you found me,"  he says. Her eyes rest between his legs again.  He's emboldened by her continued belief that this isn't real.  He adds, "And you found me in quite a state." He strokes his hard length from outside his boxer briefs.  "Is this what you were looking for?" He looks down to his lap then meets her eyes again as he strokes himself slowly.  He knows it's what she wants. He still wants her to say it. 

Her hair is damp.  Her skin is rosy.  He's disappointed to have missed her bath, but glad she's here now.  Rey approaches the nightstand, then stands facing the bed, not far from him.  Ben wonders how much she can see in this room.  Can she see the napkin? The Glock in the nightstand? If she can, she ignores them.  She lets her robe fall open "Maybe so," she says.  That's close enough to a yes for him. 

Ben sits up in the bed and pivots to face her. He sits on the edge of the bed and takes both her hands in his.  He spreads his knees.  She stands in between his legs, close to the bed.  They search each other's eyes. He can feel all her thoughts even stronger now.  She wants him bad.  He scoots closer to the edge of the bed, barely on it.  His large feet are firmly planted on the floor. 

She wants his body against hers.  He brings his hands around her waist to the small of her back.  Her figure is striking and her skin is so soft and smooth.  He gently nudges her closer. His knees are spread wide with plenty of room in between.  She comes as close as she can and his clothed hardness meets her bare skin. 

She starts unbuttoning his shirt.  She looks even prettier with no makeup.   He strokes her damp hair, then cradles her pretty little head in both of his massive hands and brings her face to his. Their eyes close.  Her lips part.  Their mouths meet softly, then the kiss grows hungrier.  She wants Ben inside her.  He slips his tongue into her mouth and she meets it eagerly.  She finishes unbuttoning him as they make out.  

Ben moves his hands down each side of her neck, then to her collar bone.  He slips the tips of his fingers under each side of the robe and slides his hands gently to her shoulders.  She shrugs off the robe. His hands slide from her shoulders down to her breasts and cup them gently.  He takes one nipple into his mouth and moves his other hand around her back, down her spine as he tongues then sucks her breast. 

Her skin is supple and her ass is round.  He grabs a cheek in his large hand and pulls her into him, then his hand slides down her ass crack between her legs.  His middle finger reaches her pussy and she’s so fucking wet.  He releases her breast from his mouth and grabs her ass with both hands.  He stands up and lifts her off the ground in one swift motion.  Her legs wrap around him.  He turns around and lays her down on the bed and their faces meet again. His nose brushes hers as their lips come together.  As he reads her mind, he’s struck by the intensity of her passion for his nose.  He’s so fucking hard.

Her fingers curl under his undershirt.  He takes it off and she marvels at his physique - his sharp shoulders, his broad chest.  Her hands trace his hard pecs,   then his abs, and his happy trail.  Then she slides her hand inside his boxer briefs and seizes his huge, swollen cock.  Her hand feels so good.  He thrusts into her and her other hand grabs at the hem of his briefs.  He takes them off.  She wants him inside her so bad, but he wants her to say it.

He reaches a large hand between them to finger her while she strokes him.  As his long digits slide against her slick folds, he says, “You can have whatever you want.”  He knows there’s only one thing on her mind and it’s his cock.

“I want all of you,” she says.  She releases his cock and it smacks against her hip bone, then he removes his hand from between them and grinds his hips into her.  His hard cock slides along her folds and her head falls back.  Her neck is so delicate.  It’s hard to resist putting his hands around it but he doesn’t want to scare her.  

“Take it,” Ben snaps hastily.  “Take what you want.”  She opens her eyes wide and grabs his cock again.  She swipes a bead of pre-cum around the head, strokes him for a second,  then rubs his cock against her folds again.  She wraps her legs loosely around his back.  

Ben kisses her deeply on the lips and grinds into her hard.  He can feel her wanting something beyond his body, beyond this room.  “I want it to be real,” Rey says.  

“This isn’t real?” He asks with a twinge of guilt. It’s an inopportune moment for this conversation, in his opinion. He just wants to be inside her.  

“I want you in real life,” Rey says.  

He slides off her and rolls onto his back, breathing heavily.  He cradles his massive, aching erection in one hand, loosely stroking it.  “I do too,” he says.  

“How do I know?” she asks.  She rolls over on her side to face him and hooks a leg over his closest leg.  Her face is quizzical, but he can still see the want in her eyes. She traces his pecs and her nipple grazes his bicep. 

“You just know.” He laughs. “I know you know.” Rey climbs up and straddles his big thighs, hovering her lower abdomen near his cock as she searches his face. He'd say almost anything to fuck her right now, but he settles on something reasonable.  “Give me your number or something,” he says. "then I'll make sure you know it. I promise."  

She relaxes.  "Okay."  She seems to view this experience as some way of accessing her intuition or some kind of mystical guidance on how to get with him in real life. She feels like she has her next step now.  She'll give him her number.  

“Can we still have fun meanwhile?” He asks and his hips lift up under her. 

She smiles.  The only thing on her mind is his cock now.  She grabs it again and scoots forward more, her warmth hovering over his aching balls.  He sits up and kisses her passionately as she grinds into him.  

He nuzzles his nose against hers.  “Whatever you want,” he says.  Her hips roll into him more intensely until she rolls off of him and back onto the bed, lying face up, pulling him onto her.  He brings his whole body down into hers and she grabs his cock and nestles the tip at her entrance.  Ben kisses her deeply as he plunges into her.  She moans as the thick head parts her seam.  

He gives her a few seconds, then thrusts again, further into her.  She digs her fingers into his back.  Her cunt is so hot and tight.  He feels like he could come at any second already.  “More,” she says. 

He pulls out an inch or two then plunges all the way in and she moans.  They sloppily kiss as he thrusts into her again and again.  They sweat and their hot bodies slide against each other.  He knows he’s hitting that special spot deep inside her.  He knows she’s close. And so is he, his pleasure is building rapidly.  

As Ben pounds into her, Rey begins to whine and her face contorts.  “Yes, yes, Ben."  He feels a pang of pleasure in his balls at the sound of his name in her mouth. She says it again and he kisses her desperately before his name is gone from her lips, like he's catching it in his own mouth.  She comes and her walls clench around him, and he starts to come, too.  He slowly thrusts into her as his cock erupts.  When his balls are empty, he pries his lips away from hers to look at her.  His hair falls into her face and she tucks it behind his ear.  

There’s a knock at the door. For a moment Ben hopes Rey can't hear it, but her face screws up.  Ben ignores it and kisses Rey's neck sweetly, trying to make her forget about it.

Another knock.  "Ben, I know you're in there," Paige says from the door.  Rey's eyes water.

Ben wants to explain.  ,"No, it's not - hold on.  One second," Ben whispers to Rey. He gets up and starts toward the door.  When he glances back, Rey is looking at the napkin and key on the nightstand.  Before Ben can answer the door, Paige says "Whatever, you've got my key."

Ben turns around to come back to bed, but Rey is gone.  He stews over it for a while, but there's nothing he can do.

-

The second day of the conference, Paige starts off cold toward Ben, but she tries to cozy up to him more during the breaks.  He tries to play nice but he's upset about the night before.  There's no way she could have known, but it still bothers him. He replays Rey's thoughts in his head and he's fairly sure her infatuation and attachment will win out over apprehension.

Paige's presentation talks about waste and efficiency.  One of the types of waste is underutilized resources.  Ben doesn't want to say it in front of Paige, but he feels like his capabilities are underutilized.  There are so many times they forgo mind tricks in favor of straight-up offing someone.  It would be cleaner to just to make them forget.  

Of course, a mind trick doesn't always work.  He can't imagine it would work for someone like Mitaka who worked full time for them.  What memories would the person be left with?  Plus, there are different rules for snitches. But as far as Ben knows, a mind trick would've worked for the disposal that ultimately led to the Post article. Ben keeps his mouth shut, though. He doesn't want to draw more attention to himself by bringing up his capabilities.  Plus, he knows better than anyone that sometimes your temper just gets the best of you.

After the session, during the social hour, Ben gets invited on a hunting trip.  He says he should really get back to the store.  A big wig slaps him on the back and asks if he can tour the store the day after tomorrow.  Ben agrees. 

Ben really can't wait to get back to the store.  

-

Thank you for reading!

[bubblegump-1-nk]

As She Walks By pt. 2

summary: Theodore and you are just best friends (or not), but when he finally hooks up with the Hufflepuff girl who’s had a crush on him for years, things may start to change

- based off of the song Heather by Conan Gray (a little bit), set in three perspectives: yours, Theos, and the Hufflepuff girl (an OC I called Althenea Circ). I made you a Gryffindor but if you want to change your house just imagine whatever house I want. You’re also kind of a home-wrecker (respect people’s relationships please lol) in this so..

- warnings: insecurity, angst, not really cheating but idk, typos probably, cussing, toxic relationships, time skips (?) - (these warnings apply to the upcoming parts as well, so you might not see some of them in some of the parts, if that makes sense) I think that’s all but tell me if you find anything else pls!

-your POV-

My mouth dried up, and suddenly I felt like I was trapped in a little box.

“Y/n?” Cho asked. She had just told you about the interaction she had overheard. Althenea Circ had asked Theo to Hogsmeade and he said yes. What was wrong with me? Why do I care? Why should I care? I snogged Dean Thomas yesterday, god why am I such a hypocrite.

“Y/n? Are you ok?” Cho asked again, interrupting my thoughts.

“Er, uh, yeah, sorry Cho.”

“It’s ok. I just thought I should tell you because, you know, Theo’s your friend.” She said, emphasizing the word ‘friend’ in a weird way. Somehow insinuating we weren’t just friends.

“Yeah, thank you. I’m going to go finish my potions essay now, but, er, I’ll see you later.” I said, quickly getting up from the library table.

“Oh, um, ok? Why not just stay in the library.” She said, giggling at my silly antics.

“Oh, I just have to grab some supplies is all.” I said, stacking my papers crudely just so I could get out quickly.

We said our goodbyes and I was quickly walking down the corridor, hoping to find an empty bathroom. I turned the corridor quickly and entered the girls lavatory and quickly locked myself in the stall.

What was wrong with me? Why did I care? Shouldn’t I be happy for Theo, and Althenea who’s practically been in love with him since forever. Why was I suddenly so possessive. None of his other flings have made me feel this way. I was being unfair. I snog whoever I want, he can do the same, right?

-Althenea’s POV-

I was getting ready in my dorm, my best friend Wesley was helping me get ready for my date with Theodore Nott. THE Theodore Nott. I seriously could not believe it.

“And his arms were around my waist, and god- he is such a good kisser.” I gushed to my friend, who was curling my hair.

“I know. I seriously could not believe it when he came up to you. I mean I’d always thought him and y/n were going to end up together.”

A sour taste entered my mouth and I fell silent - y/n. Oh Merlin how I hated her.

“Yeah,” I said with a fake laugh. “She’s nice.” I said, because she really was. One time in fourth year she helped me with my Charms Essay. But oh god how I hated her.

“Her and Theo are always together. Honestly you’d think they were soulmates!” Said Wesley.

“Ok, I get it. You think they belong together. Whatever.” I said, frustrated with my friend.

“Oh Merlin- I’m sorry A, I didn’t even realize what I was saying.” She said, suddenly realizing what she was really saying and who she was really saying it to.

“Don’t worry, I get it. I mean she is perfect” I said quietly, looking down.

“Oh come on Althenea. You know I didn’t mean it like that. Plus, you’re the one going out with him.” She said, squeezing my shoulder lightly.

“Exactly!” I said, happily.

-Theo’s POV-

I was sitting in my comfy bed, reading my good book, in my comfy sweater when Blaise interrupted me.

“Oi mate you’re still here? I thought you were supposed to go out with that, uh, Athena girl?” He said, forgetting her name.

“Holy shit!” I yelled, practically jumping out from under the covers.

“I totally forgot about that.” I said, rushing to the mirror to check how I looked.

I was wearing my quidditch sweater and some black sweatpants - that should be good for the date right? Well whatever, it’s not like I cared anyway.

“Thanks for reminding me, I guess.” I said, adding the last part as I ran out the door.

I rushed to the Hufflepuff common room, that’s what house she was in right? As I was running I bumped harshly into someone, causing them to fall backwards. I looked down and saw her, Althenea. Looking rather… mediocre.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.” I said, helping her up.

“Oh don’t worry about it really. It’s sort of funny!” She said.

“Er, yeah, I guess so.” I said, scratching the back of my neck.

“Well, are you ready? I was thinking the Three Broomsticks, of course, but if you don’t like that than we could of course-“

I cut off her rambling, her stupid rambling, by saying “Three Broomsticks is fine.”

-At the pub-

“…and then I said that we should have trolls in the bathroom!” Althenea said, telling me a story I was trying so hard to be focused on.

I let out a dry chuckle before saying, “Do you want anything else?” Nodding my head down to her empty plate of food.

“Oh, no thank you! It was really nice of you to pay, you know.” She said, beaming.

“Er, yeah, it was no problem.”

We were silent for a minute or two before I said, “well, it’s getting sort of late and I have to finish up some homework.”

“Oh, yeah of course! Me too. I cant keep putting off those essays!” She said, giggling. She didn’t even think it was weird that I had said it ‘was late’ at 3 in the afternoon.

We finished up at the table and started to walk back, Althenea walking a little too close to me.

“So… what homework do you have to work on?” She asked, trying to fill the void of silence.

“Er, potions and transfigurations.” I said, saying the first two subjects I could think of.

“Me too! Maybe we could work on them together?” She asked, overly exited.

“Oh, well, um, I usually do my homework alone, sorry.” I responded, looking down at her.

“Oh, yeah, how stupid of me!” She said, lightly slapping her forehead.

Before I knew it we were back at the castle and we parted ways, not before she kissed me on the cheek. She skipped away after her lips left my side, and I just stood there dumbstruck. You know, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I could finally get my mind off of you, someone I could never have, and Althenea wasn’t all that bad really.

-your POV-

“I’m done with him. Really.” I told Hermione, adding the last part after she gave me a strange look.

“We’re just friends. This jealousy is just forming out of something possessive, nothing else. It’s not fair of me to do that to him. Plus, she seems like a nice girl.” I continued, ranting to Hermione.

“I’m glad. The quicker you get over this the easier your life will get.” She responded.

“Exactly! I don’t want anything weird going on in our friendship and this new relationship will not be the end of Theo and I’s lifelong friendship.” I said.

-At Dinner-

“I still can’t believe it. Theodore Nott with that Hufflepuff, it just doesn’t fit.” Said Ron, loading his already overflowing plate with more food.

Theodore Nott and Althenea Circ’s date had been the talk of the night, already having been spread around all of Hogwarts.

“Did he say anything to you y/n?” Harry asked, pouring me more pumpkin juice after he noticed that I had finished my cup.

“Thank you, and, er, no. We didn’t really talk about it. You know, now that I think of it, we haven’t talked since the party.” I said, remembering my last conversation with Teddy.

“Interesting.” Said Ron, taking a bite out of his Shepard’s pie.

“It really isn’t. Nothings going on, we’ve just been busy.” I responded, aggravated by his comment.

“I’m sure you’re right, y/n. There’s nothing wrong.” Hermione said, reassuring me.

“Thanks ‘minoe.” I said, sending her a smile.

“Why don’t you go talk to him bow. Go over there and tell them all about what we heard Snape talking about.” Said Harry, trying to help me out.

“Good idea! I’ll go do it now, just to make sure there’s no tension or anything.” I said, getting up from the Gryffindor table to go tell the Slytherins about Snape saying he had always thought Sirius Black was cute.

As I began walking over to the Slytherin table, I noticed a pair of eyes on me. I turned and saw Althenea glaring at me from her table. Suddenly, she got up, and walked very quickly over to the Slytherin’s table, and sat down right next to Theo.

I stood their shocked, surely she didn’t think of me as competition right? The Slytherin friend group looked uncomfortable, but no one looked more uncomfortable than Theo. He looked around, wondering what made Circ think she could come sit with them. I saw his eyes go to the Gryffindor table, to look for me. When he didn’t find them, he looked away, but he quickly locked eyes with mine after another quick scan of the room. He sent me a smile, and a small ‘help’.

I smiled back, and began walking towards their table after my delay. I wasn’t going to let some insecure bitch ruin my friendships.

“Y/n! Thank god.” Said Mattheo, eyes darting to the Hufflepuff quickly.

“Hey guys. You won’t believe what I heard.” I said.

Theo subtly pushed Althenea away, making room for me next to him. But I wasn’t going to be that girl. So, instead I sat next to Draco. Theo looked at me confused, and I whispered just loud enough for him to hear “the Hufflepuff.” He nodded his understanding but looked sad anyway.

“Ok well tell us!” Said Pansy, reaching over the table to play with my rings.

“Well, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I were walking down the corridor when we heard Snape talking to Mcgonagall. So, obviously we eavesdropped on their conversation and Snape said ‘you know, Sirius Black was always cute. I think that’s why I hated him.’”

The group burst out laughing, all except for Althenea.

“Sirius Black? Like the murderer?” She asked, confused as to why we were all amused.

The group all knew Sirius was innocent, but I couldn’t spill information like that to Althenea, not without Harry’s permission.

“Er, yeah. But they went to school together before he was a murderer.” I explained, causing her to lightly smile to try to fit into the group.

“Ok well, I’ll be going now.” I said getting up, sending Pansy a face that she laughed at before I got up.

“Wait,” Theo said, grabbing my forearm. “Meet me in the astronomy tower later?” He asked, eyes filled with want.

“9:00, don’t be late, Nott.” I said, which he smiled at, before I walked away.

-Theo’s POV-

I stood on the tower at 8:57 PM. I leaned down on the railing, staring out onto the beautiful night sky. The wind ruffled my hair, and I noticed a strong scent of firewood. Suddenly I heard your footsteps, and your sweet perfume filled my nose.

“Hello stranger.” You said, walking up behind me.

I turned around and took a good look at your face. The moon light made you look even more ethereal than I had ever seen you, and I had no idea that was even possible.

“Stop looking at me like that.” You said, turning away from me as you leaned your arms against the railing and looked out at the view.

“Like what?” I asked.

“You know how, Teddy.”

The nickname made my heart swell up, and I didn’t have it in me to fake hating it. I was locked in your trance before you spoke again.

“Plus, I don’t think your girlfriend would be too happy about it.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” I said, it came out angrier than I expected.

You let out a small laugh before saying, “I like her. She’s good to you.”

She’s not as good as you, is what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t.

“Yeah, I guess she is.” Is what I ended up saying instead.

We were both now leaning on the railing, looking out at Hogwarts’ vast territory, our shoulders leaning against each other.

“She’s really pretty too, and she’s sweet.” You said, your sweet voice ringing in my ears.

“Sounds like someone’s jealous.” I said, chuckling.

“What?” You said, turning to be swiftly, your eyes wide.

“Oh, uh, I only meant that you seem jealous that I’m with her. Because you talk so nicely of her. Like you want her to yourself.” I said, struggling to find an explanation.

“Oh,” you said, you’re demeanor becoming calm again. “You got me there Nott. I’m head over heels for your girl.” You said, giggling, which only made me laugh.

We stood there, laughing like some idiots as we stared out at the beautiful world.

The laughing stopped and you spoke again, “look what I brought.” You said, pulling something out of your pocket.

“Cauldron Cakes! You’re the best, you know that?” I said, grabbing the one you handed me.

We sat down with our backs leaning against the wall, eating our cauldron cakes and talking about everything and nothing. That’s the thing about you, no matter if we were talking about the recent quidditch match or ancient runes for fucks sake, it was never boring, not with you.

The wind was blowing, and I felt you shiver from under my arm.

“Here, have my sweater.” I said, lifting my arm up off your shoulder to take my quidditch sweater off.

“Oh thank you, Theo.” You said, grabbing my sweater and putting it on.

You looked so cute engulfed in my large sweater, with my last name sprawled on the back of it.

“I’ll give it back to you someday.” You said, and I hoped you never gave it back so that everyone would know you were mine. Except your not.

-Altheneas POV (a week later)-

Theo and I have been… dating(?) for a week now. I didn’t know what to call it. He hadn’t asked me out yet, but we’ve been going out on dates, and I’ve spent two nights under him already. He was starting to let me hold his hand more, but he kept saying public affection wasn’t really his thing. Except that, it always had been. Theodore Nott was known for being a softie when it came to his girlfriends, especially when it came to his girl-friend y/n. But people change, right?

Wesley has been reassuring me, but my other friend Quincy keeps telling me to get away from him. I don’t care though, Theo is mine now. For the most part.

“Hey, can you pass me your notes?” Whispered Quincy, taking me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, yeah, sure.” I said, sliding them over, trying to focus on the lesson.

“You’re the best.” She whispered back, sending me a smile.

…

Class ended after what felt like hours and it was finally time for lunch. Quincy and I met up with Wesley before we began walking to the Dining Hall.

“Yeah, and I heard that Avanore and Seamus hooked up.” Said Wesley.

“Avanore Dorian? Isn’t she dating Hermes?” I asked, shocked at the news.

“You bet she is. And if it’s true Seamus is in for one hell of a beating.” She responded.

Suddenly, Quincy stopped, holding both of their arms out to stop Wes and I.

“What?” I said, exasperated.

“Um..” She said.

Wesley and I looked around, trying to find the reason for Quincy’s abruptness. Wesley found it first.

“Oh my.. Are you still with Theo, A?” She asked, mouth agape.

I suddenly became very nervous, “yeah.” I said, worried.

“Look. At. That.” Wesley said, pointing to someone.

I followed her finger and when I found the object of her pointing my mouth fell open.

It was you, y/n l/n, wearing my boy’s quidditch sweater. His name sprawled out boldly on the back. How could you be walking to lunch, chatting and laughing with your friend so calmly knowing that you’re wearing another girl’s boyfriend’s sweater.

“Move please.” Said a voice, belonging to Pansy Parkinson, as she pushed past my stopped figure.

“Y/n, Hermione, wait up!” She said, causing you two to stop and wait for her.

“I like the sweater.” She said, sending you a wink.

“I know right!” Responded Hermione, giving you a playful nudge on the shoulder.

“Guys, it’s just friendly! Plus he’s with that other girl.” You said.

I couldn’t believe it. ‘That other girl’?? Seriously?? You couldn’t even say my name. I seriously couldn’t believe it. My eyes began to well up with tears.

“I’m not so hungry anymore.” Said Quincy.

“Me neither.” Said Wesley.

-your POV (later that night)-

I walked into the library, looking for Althenea.

I felt bad for what happened today, I didn’t realize it would be such a big deal. I mean, everyone knew Theo and I were best friends, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to wear his clothes. But after Hannah Abbot told me that I had made you sob, I felt terrible. And I was on a mission to find you.

I spotted you sitting in the back, with your friends Quincy and Wesley.

I walked over to your table, and cleared my throat. The girls looked up at me: Quincy was sending me a death stare, Wesley had a pathetic attempt at a glare, and you couldn’t even look me in the eye.

“Is this seat open?” I asked, pointing to the empty seat at the table.

Quincy began to say no, covering the seat with her hand but you spoke up, “yeah. It is.”

The two other girls were shocked, sending her looks of ‘are you sure??’ Which she nodded to.

“Thanks.” I said, sitting down.

We sat in silence for a few beats before I finally said, “look I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to feel insecure or anything. I’m not trying to take Teddy from you, definitely not. He’s all yours. We’re just best friends, and we have been since forever, but it’s not like that. I was only wearing his sweater because he gave it to me at the astronomy tower a week ago and it was the first thing I grabbed since I was late for class today. And trust me, you have nothing to worry about. You’re beautiful, and smart, everything Theo likes. So, really, I am sorry. But believe me when I say it was a misunderstanding. So… here.” I said, taking the sweater off and handing it to you. The three girls looked at me surprised, but I quickly got up before they could say anything.

“Thank you!” You called out as I was leaving the library, and I sent you a thumbs up as I walked out the door.

I hate being this part but it’s getting soo long so part 3 (hopefully I can write it quickly :))

[griseldabanks]

Comfyvember 23

Story: clone sister (original) Prompts: Remembering medication — Art on fridge — Warm toast

Lily eased herself into the chair at the kitchen table with a sigh of effort and propped her crutch against the wall. Technically, she was supposed to be using two crutches to get around, but she kept on knocking things over, so in the house she preferred to just use one and grab onto counters and doorways for support.

“What can I get you, sweetie?” her mom asked. “Tea? Toast? Eggs?”

She'd finally stopped hovering anxiously every time Lily tried to move around, but she compensated by bustling around even more than usual, doting on Lily like she was staying home from first grade with an ear infection again.

“Toast is fine, Mom,” Lily said, watching helplessly as her mother had already begun to butter two more slices of toast and poured out a steaming cup of tea. “Don't you have to get to work soon?”

She checked her watch, then bustled around faster than ever, setting down Lily's breakfast in front of her, grabbing her purse and keys, and chattering away a mile a minute about when she'd be getting off work, exactly what leftovers were in the fridge for her to heat up for lunch, and then she hurried over to kiss Lily on the forehead. On her way out to the garage, she paused and said, “You help your sister while I'm gone today, okay?”

“Okay.”

Then, with the grumble of the garage door opening and closing, she was finally gone. Lily picked up a piece of toast and munched on it thoughtfully, wondering what she was going to do today. She still had another week of leave from work after her injury, but the time was beginning to feel a bit long.

The smallest sound brought Lily's attention over to Ivy, who stood peeking at her through the slats in the chair at the other end of the table. Lily smiled. “Looks like it's just you and me, kid. Again.”

Ivy smiled back. It was hard to believe she used to find Ivy kind of creepy, rather than utterly adorable.

Only when Lily lifted her cup of tea to her lips did she realize what was missing. “Shoot, I forgot my meds.” She sighed, drumming her fingers on the table. It was so arduous to go up the stairs like this; she'd been planning to hang out in the living room for a while before making the trek back upstairs in the afternoon.

“I will get them.” Ivy scurried off, almost before Lily could even register what she'd said.

While she waited, Lily's eyes strayed to the fridge, covered in artwork just like always. After years of nothing more interesting adorning the fridge than shopping lists and the occasional note when someone was going to be home late or something, the surface was once again covered with childish crayon drawings and watercolor paintings. Most of them were almost exact copies of simple drawings like a flower or a house with a smiling sun overhead—things their mother had demonstrated for Ivy to show her what to do with her art supplies.

But there was a new one on the side she hadn't seen before, almost hidden under a flyer for the church rummage sale. With just a little maneuvering, Lily managed to reach out and snag it off the fridge, though the magnet went skittering away across the floor.

Lily was still holding the picture when Ivy returned, rattling loudly with an armful of orange pill canisters. “Oh, I didn't need all—um, thank you.”

Ivy carefully placed each canister in a row in front of Lily's plate, turning the labels so Lily could read what each of them were. Lily picked up the two she was supposed to take with breakfast, then set down the drawing where Ivy could see it. “Did you make this?”

Ivy glanced up at her, then down at the drawing, and nodded slightly. The stick figures were in the same style as the ones Ivy always drew, but instead of standing stiffly with huge smiles like the ones their mother had shown her, she'd drawn the one with yellow hair with a big round O for a mouth as it gaped at a boxy grey shape that could have been a car.

Flying in from nowhere, wearing a bright blue cape like a superhero, was a bigger stick figure with brown hair. A superhero swooping in to save a little girl from an impending car crash.

“That's you, isn't it?” Lily asked, tapping the little girl with yellow hair. “And is that...?”

“I asked Father what a hero looked like,” Ivy said solemnly. “He said they usually fly and wear capes. I do not remember you wearing a cape, but I wanted to draw it correctly.”

Lily's throat hurt like one of her pills had gone down the wrong way, even though she hadn't taken either of them yet. She pulled Ivy close to her side and whispered, “I like your picture. I like it a lot.”

[titanicfreija]

Bath Time

Inspired by this post

"Freija!"

Sunny's cry woke the Guardian, and she staggered blearily to the den where the Ghost was nowhere to be seen. The glass panel on the sand table was closed and opaque, though, a sign she was in there. A soft tapping against it confirmed suspicion.

Freija had to crawl under the table to reach the outside switch. She heard the glass slide back, but Sunny didn't emerge immediately. Crawling out, she saw the Ghost a foot off the sand, shaking herself and spinning, flaps hovering in fast, even circles around her.

"What's...?" Freija asked, ushering the flailing Sunny toward her with a hand, cupping the Light bubble to her chest.

"There's sand! In my eye!"

"I didn't even think that was a thing," Freija mumbled. "Keep face down, hover over my head," she said, guiding with her hand. "It was about bath time anyway."

"Around that time," the Ghost agreed, struggling not to squirm.

Freija had to blink her own "sand" away and shake herself awake before she could get a good look. "It's not under the glass, but it's definitely wedged into the crease-seam-thing. I might be able to brush it out but that might make it worse."

Sunny moaned, but Freija stroked the top of her core and she drifted into her Guardian's palm.

She felt the way Sunny was looking at her, and she smiled. "It's fine, there's no surgery needed, I'm just gonna use something tiny to nudge it out before I scrub," she promised. "Thomas left some toothpicks around here," she said, finally "letting go". Sunny drifted to the work table and landed, putting her shell petals aside.

"I don't need help, you're injured," Freija told her from the kitchen, but Sunny already decided that. She hovered face-down over the table and tried vibrating at varying frequencies to shake it loose. While the sink warmed up, Freija collected Sunny's bath tub. The cylindrical bowl roughly the size of Freija's boot took some adjustments, the most recent of which was a fountain sprayer that would pull water from the tub. Freija meant to make a shower curtain or something to help keep the water in the bowl but time catches up to you.

While the tub filled, Freija collected all of Sunny's shells and the soap and the polish and the glass cleaner and the lint-free cloth.....

"I'm gonna have forgotten something," she warned Sunny, putting the supplies on the table and then fetching the tub.

Sunny resisted the urge to jump into the water, not sure it would help or hurt, but certain that being slippery would make it harder on Freija.

Freija drew up her stool and picked her Ghost up gently, cradling her in her palm and brandishing a toothpick.

"I promise I will do my best not to hurt you, but I'm pretty sure the toothpick would die, first," Freija joked. With no trouble at all, Freija gently and easily dug the sand granules out of the tiny crevice. No sooner than it was clear, Freija lunged to her feet. "Scrub brush, that's what I forgot," she said, dropping Sunny into the bath without warning. Sunny didn't mind, but she didn't even get a chance to say thank you.

"Sorry," Freija said, realizing what she'd done when she found the Ghost sitting at the bottom. The water glowed and flashed as Sunny "blinked", and Freija grinned at her through the wall. The Ghost wiggled, stirring the surface of the water and Freija rubbed the exposed circle atop the water lovingly.

Polish and cloth set aside for last. Freija dropped a splash of the soap in the water, which Sunny stirred in. The Guardian started on the shells with the scrub brush.

You could tell which shells were Sunny's favorites-- one of the Winter Lotus and both Hareball shells had suffered a few dings and dents and Freija wasn't entirely sure that burn would ever come off. She couldn't even remember when Sunny would have gotten it. Freija dumped half of the Lotus into the water, and every whisker and ear-projector. The other shells only needed to be wiped off.

Eventually, Sunny emerged, and Freja snickered. "You can see the line where you were in the water." She had to get up and fetch Sunny's decorated hand mirror from her shelf. "You really needed this. Where have we been?"

"Everywhere," Sunny said, turning to see that Freija was right-- she had indeed lost a layer of grime that didn't come off the top. She eased back into the water and let Freija hold with one hand and scrub with the other. The brush took some work to find, with much reshaping in an effort to get the right rigidity, but it was worth it. Sunny felt like it got into the divots without being squished too flat.

The gray, brown, and black bubbles dropped off the Ghost and into the bath tub, popping and sending little clouds of muck, mud, or dust to the bottom.

"I think I'm gonna change out the sand, too. See if there's a way to clean it, burn out non-sand or something. It's almost a year old, now, isn't it?"

"Something like that," Sunny agreed absently, distracted by the brush.

"Yeah." Freija stopped talking, enjoying how much Sunny enjoyed her bath. The scrub took a while-- top, spiral down, rinse, and then a second time. Since the sprayer fed from the bottom of the tub, they agreed their old way was better.

Freija cupped water into a hand and dribbled it on Sunny's body. "Gonna use a fresh cloth to finish up," she said, looking again at the gray water. "Need to keep a schedule or something."

"We can do that. Monthly will work," Sunny said.

"You thought it, too?"

"I was going to ask later."

Second scrub went smoother, but the only way to know if she'd rinse clean was clean water. A clean white wash cloth rubdown only indicated one real missed spot.

"Promise, I'm gonna do my best," the Titan vowed as she dabbed a little glass cleaner to the corner of the lint-free cloth.

"You don't have to say that every time," Sunny told her.

She apparently didn't know she did that because she paused and tilted her head before she pressed the cloth to Sunny's eye and scrubbed in small circles.

The polish came after a sufficient drying off. They determined most metal polishes worked, but Sunny liked the gleam of stainless steel. Freija cupped her in the glass cleaning cloth while starting at the divots and fine details around her speakers before the main chunks got addressed.

"Little Ghost back massage," Freija said to herself.

"I am absolutely certain that this would induce enough relaxation to sleep if I were capable of it," Sunny whirred.

"Aww! That gave me all kinds of warm and fuzzies! I'm glad you like it." She put the Ghost on her fingertips and let Sunny spin on xyz axes for examination.

"Your eye is doing that thing," Freija told her. "What's up?"

"Can we do the polish rub thing more often?" The Ghost tilted down and swayed in the air as if on a slow pendulum.

"You want more regular polishing?" Freija asked. "Or more massage rubs cos they feel good?"

"The second one." Sunny remained bashful but picked her eye up after Freija didn't laugh.

"That's fine! I would love to have a good way to give you something after a shitty day of healing me!" She held the mirror for Sunny to see. "Shiny clean!"

Sunny wished she had a 'before', but she didn't need it to see the difference. The shine alone was a huge change. "Thank you, Freija."

"You're very welcome, Sunny Bunny," Freija sang. She left the mirror propped up best she could for her Ghost while she cleaned up.

"Thank you for getting the sand out of my eye," Sunny remembered.

"My pleasure, Sunny Bunny!"

@annieruok94

[monsterfloofs]

Hello again! Just wanted to say I love your work and your art. It’s all so fun and diverse! 🤭🥳 Love the way u wrote Deimos as well! Anyway, I just wanted ask if we could get some more of Zelle and of his assistant if that ok. If I can’t that’s ok too.☺️ Have a nice day!

SKDDIDJDJDJDJCJEJDJD Thank you!! I really appreciate that >o< ) Since this ask is so close to Valentine’s Day >:3333c I give you— A choatic holiday story— I am so glad I made it in time to post it on Valentine’s Day too ahaha!

(Not sure how to code this one, becausse I gots a little bit of Sun, Zelle and Merlot in here! >u< )

Sunder makes their intertwined fingers clench, their digits pop and crackle, causing people in the crowd to nervously step away and cast glances over their shoulders.

You gasp, and swat at the faceless doctor. Immediately pulling back your hand and shaking it back and forth as zings of pain shoot up your wrist. You weren’t sure what the doctors were made of, but it felt close to hitting stone.

“Sun—“ You fluster indignantly,

“They were too close.” They spoke in a calm tone, “You get uncomfortable in crowds.”

You grunt, and grab their hand, tugging them along with you down the corridor. When you had jumped at the opportunity to leave the chaotic medical building, you hadn’t realized that Sunder's presence in public came with an intimidating protective streak in tow. It had been so long since you had gone out, and you felt it might be nice to try and do something normal. Your mind had drifted to baking for leisure, realizing that today was a kind of a holiday. Figuring it would be nice to share whatever you made with the few you had gotten close to.

You sigh, normally a crowd of people would have made you turn tail and hurry back to safer places. But the faceless presence had driven a wide rift between you and the other folks roaming about. Now there was so much space around you and it was uncomfortable.

Your reach for baking ingredients, checking the handwritten list in your palm. Urged on to grab supplies as fast as you could and head back. Sunder stands at your back like a bodyguard, hands politely clasped in front of them.

“Do you like chocolate Sun?” You had to do something to break the uneasy silence.

Sunder tilts their head, “. . . I am unsure.”

You glance at them in surprise, “You don’t know?”

“I don’t think I have ever tried it.”

Sun perks up, as you grab a large bag and throw it into your basket with a loud thump. “That decides that then!”

Sunder studies the basket, tipping their head further to the side in curiosity. “What is it?”

“You’ll see!” You beam, “If you don’t get addicted to it like me— well, I’ll eat my hat!”

“That. . . doesn’t sound very appetizing,” They murmur slowly, a mix of curiousity and surprise in their voice as they fall in step behind you.

—

You breathe a sigh of relief as you settle into the clinical kitchen with Sun at your heels. The demon setting down the paper bags they were carrying onto a wide rectangular table that floats in the middle of the space.

You begin to rifle through the bags, pulling out ingredients.

“Do you. . . require further assistance?”

“N-no I’m okay,” You glance up and smile nervously, “Th-thanks. . . for coming with me, doctor.”

“Sun.” They correct you softly, “I would rather be called that name. I like that name.”

You nod, and watch them hesitate on the spot before they turn around stiffly. You raise your hand, waving at them as they disappear around the corner.

Phew—

You bend forward, flopping across the metal table to give yourself a few moments to regain your composure. Sunder. . . you forgot how intense and scary they could be. You were sweating bullets as they loomed over you at the grocery store. No wonder Zelle giggled and called them a watch dog. You had more fear for the people that were out and about, goodness knows what would have happened if someone would have gotten tangled with that demon. Luckily people gave both of you a wide berth, while walking through town.

You turn your head, resting your cheek on the cool surface. You still can’t quite get the looks out of your mind. The ones glanced your way as people hurried on.

Next time you talk with Sunder, maybe you can convince them to walk beside you. . . and see if you can’t talk about ways to help them in public. Without any expression you had to rely on body language which also. . . usually didn’t have much to go off of. However, you could sense the tenseness radiating off of Sunder today.

You slowly get up, rolling up your sleeves. At least, you had plenty of time to decompress and work on something for leisure while you thought about today. You take the recipe card out of your pocket, and busy yourself learning the kitchen. Pulling out utensils and poking around the stove.

You walk out to a hallway, a covered tray in your hands. The usually cold hallway was filled with pink streamers and balloons. Oddly bright pastel decorations, strung along the walls, chains of hearts hanging from the ceiling and strung along the doorways.

The only reason you realized that it was a holiday was due to how much Zelle had decorated for the occasion. Even the food for breakfast was in the shape of a heart. You walk past the decorations, squinting at the little cutesy anatomical heart imagery amongst the symbolic hearts. You can’t image the doctors decorating with this level of devotion, the only image you can conjure is Zelle frolicking through the halls at 2am flinging hearts around and singing loudly.

You hear a thin snag of familiar voices, and turn your head.

“B-b-b-b-b-b-b-but I couldn’t po-pah-pah-poss—“ “Nonsense!”

You huff and move towards the direction of the voices, coming across Merlot and Zelle outside one of the larger medical rooms. Zelle’s expression brightens up as he sees you approaching.

“Speaking of!~ There they are!”

Merlot eyes flicker over to you and widen, ducking his head down between his two splayed hands in embarrassment.

“What are you trying to con Merlot into? . .” You ask suspiciously as the high demon skips over to you.

Zelle gasps and puts a hand to his chest. “Ah!! Why— I am shocked! How could you think such a thing?! I would never do anything like that!” Then he starts to giggle. You make a face managing to catch the puppy dog eyes Merlot is giving you.

You heft the tray in your arms, “Well. . . I guess if you won’t tell me. . . I won’t share what I baked with you then. . .”

Zelle blinks, a brief flash of surprise flickers over his face. Before he poses, tapping his chin with a finger. Pretending to weight his options carefully. “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell~ It depends on what it is, what is it?”

You shuffle backwards and you stick out your tongue, “It’s good! That’s all I am going to tell you!”

“Bawwwwwwww” Zelle feins a whine, playing along with you before straightening up and grinning cheerfully.

“Well! I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you! I thought my poor assistant has been so busy with work! And you had recently wanted to go out and about! It would be so lovely if the two of you could go out together~ Maybe go out to eat somewhere~”

Zelle wiggles, rubbing his cheek against his clasped hands, with a love struck goofy expression on their face.

“D-does anyone else even celebrate this other than you and me around here. . . ?”

Zelle looks thoughtful for a moment before giving a cheeky grin. “Dunna!”

Uh-huh— So the chaotic idiot is trying to play matchmaker. You chuff softly, well two can play that game. “Merlot doesn’t like going out; it makes him really anxious. . . why don’t you take me yourself?”

Zelle stops nuzzling their cheek against their hands, eyes widening and blinking a couple of times. “Eh?”

From behind the high demon, Merlot looks like they have just choked on a lemon. Your shoulders shrug up feeling your face grow hot.

“N-never—“

You hear a twitter of laughter from Zelle, a huge goofy grin scrawling across his face as they rock back and forth on their heels.

Oh no

Oh heck

They’re considering it—

A very faint hint of a blush creeps across Zelles face.

“W-well, well! I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone ask me that before!”

You shuffle your feet, now feeling as embarrassed as Merlot looks.

“Gee! I don’t think I’ve been out of the facility in—“ Zelle does a quick mental calculation and wheezes, “May-. . .Maybe ten years or so?”

You choke “T-ten—?!”

Zelle shrugs with a goofy smile, “I was told by multiple people not to leave! Said I would set fire to my own city! I don’t think it would be that easy to do, although—“

“O-o-o-on s-s-second the-thought—“ Merlot's voice comes out as a raspy stutter, trying to speak up in your defense. “I c-could— I’m s-s-s-sure I— f-f-f-f-figure out s-s-s-something—“ Merlot squeaks and Zelle clasps their hands together again with a squeal of joy.

“Why— Merlot!! Are you joining in? What a great idea! Let’s all go together<3<3<3<3<3”

Merlot’s expression dawns a look of horror, you can tell he is regretting every syllable they managed to sputter.

With Zelle positively glowing between the two of you, both you and Merlot wonder. . . what you have you gotten yourselves into now. . .

[kootiepatra]

#FFxivWrite2024 - Day 14: Telling

The eighth bell was already ringing from the Vault’s spires when the Lord Commander breezed through the doors of the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly. 

Handeloup de Daimbaux raised a surprised eyebrow at him. Ser Aymeric was usually prompt—and he still was, technically speaking. The next watch was only now commencing. It was just rare for Handeloup to arrive before him, and even rarer for Aymeric not to be already halfway through a missive by the time anyone else was reporting for duty.

“Good morning, Second Commander,” Aymeric said to him with a nod.

“Good morning to you as well, Lord Commander,” Handeloup replied politely.

“Fine weather this morn, is it not?”

Handeloup blinked. He had not really noticed it on his walk here. It was cold—of course it was cold, it was never not cold—but he guessed he could remember that there had been some breaks in the clouds. “...I suppose it is, Ser. Will you be wanting your customary morning tea?”

“Ah, thank you. That would be much appreciated. Pray bring it to my office whenever it is convenient.”

“Er. But of course.” 

The request was not a taxing one; simply an odd one. Odd, because ever since First Commander Lucia had departed for Ilsabard, the usual order of business was for Handeloup and Aymeric to start the day by briefing in his office, with Handeloup bringing along the tea tray. The only exceptions were for the occasional conflicting appointments, or the very few days when Aymeric preferred to put off tea for later. So the lord commander’s current instructions were strangely redundant—albeit given in a downright chipper manner.

Aymeric departed down the hallway towards his office, and Handeloup detoured to the fireplace for the kettle, which was already boiling and waiting for him. After fetching the usual supplies, he went to meet with his superior. The office door was propped open so he could easily let himself in.

As he pulled the door shut behind him, his attention was once more drawn to Aymeric’s behavior. The man was moving around the office, skimming titles of reference tomes on the wall in search of a specific volume, setting aside some papers he was currently finished working on, and gathering up some more that he would need to get to soon. All of this was business as usual, but something seemed—strange.

Aymeric was focused and methodical when it came to his work. Although far from humorless, he never had the luxury of much spare time to burn, so he prioritized efficiency as much as it depended on him. And this morning Handeloup watched him gather some papers, turn to put them away, visibly realize he forgot something with a chuckle and a shake of his head, and rifle back through the contents of his desk for it. He stowed them, picked up the book he had been referencing last night, tossed it into his other hand with a little bit of flourish, and brought it back to the shelf where it belonged. And that faint sound—was he humming?

“Your tea, Ser…” Handeloup said bemusedly, setting the tray down on the desk.

“Aha, thank you very much,” Aymeric answered. He strode over to the table and poured himself a cup. He picked up the bottle of birch syrup and put in his usual drizzle—then looked as if he were contemplating something, smiled to himself, and put in a couple drops more.

A suspicion was forming in Handeloup’s mind about what was going on. But it wasn’t until his eyes caught one more detail that he became convinced.

“And how is the Warrior of Light, Lord Commander?” he asked with a barely-hidden smirk.

Aymeric glanced up at him in surprise. “...I beg your pardon?”

“She is back in town, I take it?”

“She is indeed. She arrived but late yesterday eve.” Aymeric shrugged ruefully. “It shall never cease to amaze me just how fast Ishgard’s rumor mill turns.”

Handeloup simply grinned. Without a word, he leaned forward across Aymeric’s desk, reached out his hand… and gingerly plucked a long lavender strand of hair from where it had caught on the Lord Commander’s regalia.

For a moment, Aymeric the Blue attained a remarkable shade of crimson.

[fandomscraziness22]

Ooooo, blue salvia for literally whoever you want! I promise I'm going to watch Lockwood and Co next week while I'm on break, so it really is dealer's choice! I'll love it regardless!

hi my wonderful friend!! so i chose lockwood and co, slight book spoilers, in the hopes of hyping you up to watch the show! also i changed up the wording because i forgot what the actual prompt was lololol

SPOILERS FOR THE CREEPING SHADOW!!

blue salvia (i think of you) — “here. this made me think of you.”

Lucy’s been back at Lockwood and Co, back with George and Lockwood and Holly, for a few days now. After the dust settles on the creeping shadow case, the team has no choice but to relearn how to live together.

And Lucy isn’t quite sure if George is still mad at her or not.

Obviously, he isn’t mad enough to leave her and Lockwood hanging in the middle of a job, but in the quiet and calm of the aftermath, he’s been avoiding her. 

And it hurts, because she misses her best friend.

Lockwood is also her friend, but he’s different from George, and Lucy doesn’t really want to try and sort out her complicated emotions about their leader, so thinking about George is easier. But he skips out of the room when she enters, and he avoids eye contact at the dinner table, and he doesn’t crack quite as many jokes to her as he used to.

Just another thing Lucy broke after she left, she supposes. Her own damn fault. And now she’s got to pick up the pieces.

So she tries. She directs her questions to him, makes sure to include him in their planning, asks him about the food he’s making. 

Slowly, the frost melts between them, but George still hasn’t given her a full smile—the one she could count on to make her grin in return—and it’s driving her insane. Lucy has half a mind to corner him and demand he take her out for pizza so they can just talk and she can clear the air between them. She even asks Lockwood for help, but he simply shrugs and says, “He’ll come around, Luce. You’re family, and George doesn’t hold grudges against family.”

So she waits and she tries and if she maybe screams into her pillow one night because her friend can be simply infuriating? That’s her own business.

The last of her things arrive at Portland Row, and Lucy is officially, finally, completely moved back in. She’s setting up the few fancy dresses and skirts she owns in her closet when someone knocks on her door.

“Yes?” She calls, but there’s no reply, so Lucy shrugs and finishes shoving the last of her clothes into her dresser and throwing the bags into the pile she’s dubbed the ‘take downstairs when she finally gets tired of having them in her room’ corner.

It’s close to tea time, so with one final look around the room, Lucy nods to herself and heads to the kitchen. When she gets there, she stops dead in shock.

On the table is a brand new sketchbook and a stack of colored pencils. 

Lucy lets out a soft “oh,” as she steps forward and reverently opens the sketchbook, runs her fingers over the pencils. Her stash of art supplies is very low, having had no time to devote to it as a freelancer (and nothing to write on; she hadn’t realized just how important the thinking cloth had become to her until she lost that along with her family). 

“I figured it was time to add some color to our thinking cloth.”

The voice startles her, and Lucy whips around to see George carrying the kettle in from the library. Lockwood must have left it there by accident this morning.

Lucy looks between the art supplies and her friend, eyebrows raising. “You…”

“Your doodles have always been the best, no question,” he says in that rushed way George sometimes gets around all that ‘touchy-feely’ stuff. “I saw that in a shop today, and it made me think of you. Plus, I was thinking of making my own little cookbook someday. You know, write down all my favorite recipes and how I’ve modified them.”

George bustles about, getting their tea and biscuits ready, and Lucy simply watches in awe at this undeserved display of affection.

“And I was hoping that maybe you would want to illustrate it, since you’re an artist and I don’t draw anything that can’t be construed as an insult.”

Lucy giggles, recognizing the truth, and the heart, behind his words. George wants her to draw for him.

It’s an apology and a gift and a re-affirmation of his love for her, all rolled into one.

“I would love that,” Lucy says, and he finally turns to look at her, expression hesitant, though he’s got no reason to be.

Seeing that his hands are empty so there’s nothing she could knock over, Lucy rushes to him and throws her arms around her friend. “Thank you, George,” she whispers.

George hugs her back, squeezing tightly for a moment as if to remind himself that she really is here.

“Welcome home, Lucy,” he says, pulling away to give her a full-on grin.

send me a flower prompt!

[theslay3d]

Hi! Was wondering if I could request a Percy Jackson x best friend (mb male if possible?) Reader? They're roommates (possibly college AU, but not not specifically) and it's reader's birthday, so Percy decides to surprise reader (mb invite Leo Annabeth and Piper to celebrate too). Basically how would it be to celebrate your birthday with best friend Percy! I hope it's not too complicated! Thank you so much!

Percy Jackson x Reader

Gender:Gender Neutral

Warnings: none

Word count: 755

A/N IM BACKKK sorry its taken me long to get to requests and stuff but im back now!! Also sorry i made it gender neutral but you can always imagine it as what you want.

You sighed as you walked down the multiple hallways to your dorm room. You were in New Rome university to hopefully live out a normal life. 

You continued to make your way down the hallways until you made it to your room you shared with Percy. “Finally” You mutter under your breath as you reached for the handle. It was unlocked which was good as you forgot your key that morning. 

Percy was sitting on the couch with textbooks open but was unsurprisingly not looking at any of them. Instead he was zoning out and looking at the wall. 

When you set down all of your things is when he turned to look at you. “Hey!” He said and jumped up making all the textbooks fall. You laughed and said “Hey” 

“Sooo” Percy rubbed his hands together and walked toward you. “Tomorrows your birthday!! What's the plan?” He asked. 

You raised an eyebrow “Plan? Well i was just gonna go to class then come back here and sleep” 

His eyes widened and he grabbed your shoulders(which gave you major flashbacks to Rachel and her creepy prophecies) “It's your birthday!! You only turn this age once in this life”

“You're right but I am majorly sleep deprived and I want sleep” You turned around and started walking to your room. 

You heard Percy dramatically sigh and turned around again. “We can get food?” You said and he nodded but looked like he was thinking. 

The next morning you were late so you didn't have any time to make yourself a birthday breakfast or anything. You quickly said bye to Percy and made it to your class only ten minutes late. 

You didn't have many classes that day which was good.  What you didn't know was the whole day Percy was planning.

When you said you didn't have a plan for your birthday Percy started to make plans. He knew you were really close with Annabeth, Piper, and Leo so he planned to invite them for a little party. Annabeth was easy to get here as she went to the same college.

Luckily Leo and Piper were visiting so it was also easy to get them here at a certain time. Then he started with getting food from your favorite place. He probably got too much but…at least you'll both have leftovers for days. 

Percy looked around at all the decorations he put up around your shared dorm and made sure everything was good. He also baked a cake. It was a recipe from his mom and he knew that you loved his mom's baking so he hoped you liked the cake. 

Finally everything was done. Annabeth, Piper and Leo all got there and he told them to hide around so that they all could surprise you. 

You reached the door and unlocked it as you remembered your key that morning. All the lights were off so after you shut the door you turned to the lightswitch. As soon as you turned the lights on you heard people yell “SURPRISE!”

You shrieked and threw your bag full of school supplies at them. “OW!” You heard a familiar voice say. 

You finally recognized it was your friends and realized that who you threw your bag at was Percy. “Oops?” You said in a question tone.

“Why did you phrase that like a question” Percy asked and narrowed his eyes playfully.

You rolled your eyes at him and walked forward. “What is this?” 

You looked around and saw all the decorations all over the place and food on all the tables. 

“It's your birthday! We weren't not gonna throw you a party” Percy said as he ruffled your hair. 

Leo laughed and moved forward to hug you. You smiled and hugged back. “It's been awhile” Leo broke from the hug and leaned on you. “It has” you agreed. 

“Alright Leo my turn” Piper said and pushed Leo off of you. “Hey!” He said as he stumbled.

You all laughed and moved toward the food. “Ah ah ah cake first” Percy smiled and went to go get the cake. He brought it out and lit all the candles. You read what it said “Happy Birhtday Y/n!” You were surprised he only misspelled one thing. 

They all sang you happy birthday and you blew out the candles. You all moved to the tiny table. 

Before you and Percy got there you pulled him a little away. “Thank you Percy for all of this” 

He smiled. “That's what friends do” 

[snezinnnngggg]

This is my secret Santa for @disasterman-snz I hope you like it! I’ve never seen the show, so this is set in a university AU. Happy holidays! @softsnzstuff (sorry, forgot to tag you too!)

Steve was sick with a terrible cold. The kind of cold that makes your nose tickle constantly, and plugs up your nose even while it runs. He’s just so tired and all he wants is to slide into bed and sleep. And sneeze. His nose has been irritated all day.

But he can’t. Because he promised Eddie that he’d come over, and he’s not going to cancel. It’s much too late to cancel anyways, and they haven’t seen each other for days. Their work and class schedules have been brutal this past week.

So Steve tiredly showers and changes his clothes and heads to his boyfriend’s apartment. Tissues are stuffed in his backpack, both the travel packs and a full box, but he’s hoping to hide his cold from Eddie as long as he can.

The walk over to Eddie’s place takes ten minutes which is normally not a problem. But today, the ten minutes are pure hell. It’s freezing cold, and even though Steve doubled up on jackets, he’s still cold. The biting wind makes his nose red and runny, which is not helping making him look healthy.

Eddie notices him shivering right away, greeting him at the door, and ushering him inside.

“Oh you poor thing, you’re freezing, come in!” Eddie exclaims, leading him to the couch where there’s already a pile of blankets.

There’s something underneath the blankets, but Steve doesn’t notice Eddie quickly grab it and shove it in his pocket. He’s too busy trying to hold back a sneeze. God, his nose is just so itchy!

Apparently his sniffling draws Eddie’s attention.

“Aw Stevie, is your nose running from the cold? Let me give you a tissue,” he says, grabbing on from the coffee table in front of them.

It’s a little weird that the box there and not in the bathroom, but Steve isn’t going to complain. He’s going to blame his sniffles on the cold as long as he can.

“Heh'nxgt!”

A stifled sneeze breaks through Steve’s defense. He sniffles and wipes his nose, hoping Eddie hasn’t noticed.

He has.

“It must be really cold out there,” Eddie remarks, watching him carefully. He looks like he’s going to say something else, but his eyes go hazy for a few moments and his body twitches awkwardly.

Steve is just about to ask what’s wrong when Eddie blurts out, “I need to use the bathroom real quick!” and rushes out of the room.

Weird. His boyfriend isn’t usually like this. But Steve can’t complain, because with Eddie out of the room, he’s free to let out his sneezes and blow his nose properly.

“hiih’CHIIEW! hh’yiCHHiew! Heh..heehh…HESCHEW!”

The triple comes out strong and messy. Steve groans and plucks several tissues from the box. He gives his nose a hearty blow, trying to get all the congestion out. Only after the first few tissues are spent does his realize that the blowing with make his nose even more red. Oh well. Maybe he’ll turn off the lights when they watch a movie.

He’s got it all planned out. Steve will suggest having a movie night, they’ll pick something, and Eddie will fall asleep halfway through. Then Steve can rest, and tomorrow, when he’s feeling better, they’ll really hang out.

It’s a perfect plan.

“Hey, wanna watch a movie?” Eddie asks as he walks back into the room. Great minds think alike and all that.

His nose is a little pink, Steve notes. Maybe he left the bathroom window open again and it’s cold in there. Eddie’s horribly allergic to the scent of cleaning supplies, so every time he cleans, he has to open as many windows as he can. And sometimes he forgets to close them in the evening.

“Cleaned the bathroom today?” he teases Eddie.

Eddie’s eyes widen slightly, and a panicked look crosses his face. It’s just a few moments, but it’s enough to be suspicious.

“Uh yeah,” Eddie says quickly, moving over to the TV so his back is to Steve, “so what movie do you want to watch?”

Steve shrugs. It doesn’t really matter what movie they watch as long as they can fall asleep. They scroll through Eddie’s Netflix, and Steve suggests the first movie that he thought would be quiet.

Honestly, Steve falls asleep barely ten minutes in. When he wakes up, he won’t be able to remember the title, or even what the movie was about. His cold has sapped all of his energy.

…

“HAHTshoo!”

“EEHSHHhhhhew!”

Steve sneezes himself awake. Then he squints in confusion. There were two sneezes, but he only sneezed once.

He shifts slightly on the couch, eyes widening when he sees Eddie hunched over with his hands steepled over his nose.

“You caught my cold!”

“I got you sick!”

They both speak at the same time with equally guilty looks on their faces.

Steve suddenly understands what’s happened. They’d been too busy hiding their colds from one another that they didn’t realize the other was sick.

“How long have you been sick?” Steve asks his boyfriend.

Eddie smiles sheepishly. “Only a few days.”

Steve hits him gently on the shoulder, scolding him, “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Eddie retorts. They both sniffle at the same time.

“Since we’re both sick, wanna stay here all day?” Steve suggests.

Eddie nods quickly, ducking his head down as he sneezes.

HISHIEW!

“Yep, we’re definitely staying here. You rest,” Steve says, reaching out to feel Eddie’s forehead. It’s not warm, which is promising.

Rubbing his nose, Eddie admits, “Tissues would be ndice.”

Steve nods. He wants to take care of his boyfriend. And he’s not feeling too awful yet, still at the early stages of his own cold.

NGXTT’chh!

A mostly stifled sneeze reminds Eddie that he’s sick too.

“How about I get the tissues and you get comfy here. You’re sick too,” Eddie says, feeling Steve’s forehead. He frowns, so it must be a little warm.

“Hurry back,” Steve says. It’s nearly a whine, and he would be embarrassed, but he really does feel horrible. Now that he no longer has to pretend, he’s really starting to feel sick.

Eddie smiles softly at him before leaving for the tissues. He smirks a little when comes back with two boxes, one for each of them.

They settle back in the couch, cuddled up under the blankets. Steve rests his head on Eddie’s chest, and they take a moment to just rest. The moment turns into several, and soon they’re both letting out loud, congested snores. They’ll inevitably get worse before getting better, but at least they can take care of each other.

[theinternetisaweboflies]

Irony Poisoning Chapter 3 (Chapter 1)

Wednesday fell asleep halfway through the first post, which was longer than Enid expected her to last. Xavier and Bianca's on-again-off-again romance had gone off, especially after all the excitement of the school year. Enid could barely even maintain an interest for Yoko's sake, let alone a readership. She was thinking about adding a Dear Abby segment just to pad out the blog, but she wasn't exactly in a position to give advice on… anything.

Wednesday didn't wake up until Enid's luggage was delivered to her room. Enid felt guilty for not carrying it herself, especially considering how heavy it was. Even through Wednesday's heavy iron door, the crash was not insignificant.

"Did you pack the Poe Cup trophy, Enid?" asked Wednesday. "Be honest."

"No!" Enid said, a little too quickly. Wednesday arched an eyebrow, which meant she knew Enid had at least considered it. "I just packed a lot of supplies."

"Supplies?"

"You know. Tea, fuzzy socks… Your mom didn't say if you had a cold, or an infected arrow wound, or what."

"Nothing so exciting," said Wednesday. "Mother overreacted. As usual. My apologies, for your blog's sake."

"Can you read minds too?" asked Enid, before realizing that was stupid. She would know if Wednesday could read her mind. They wouldn't be friends anymore.

"What?" said Wednesday. "Don't be ridiculous, Enid. I've been keeping up with your blog."

"Oh." Enid cursed her fair complexion once again. She may have been downright ruddy compared to Wednesday, but Wednesday never blushed. "You should have told me. I wouldn't have read it to you again."

"That's okay," said Wednesday. "I wasn't listening."

Enid rolled her eyes. When they rolled in the direction of a taxidermied cuckoo clock on Wednesday's desk, she gasped. "It's almost seven already. Are you up for dinner with your family or do you want me to bring me something?

"Are you up for dinner with my family?" Wednesday countered.

"Wednesday, you need your-"

"Stop fussing," she interrupted. "I'm perfectly fine… You'll be fine too, I suppose. You've already met Mother, and she's the worst of them. Pugsley doesn't bite. Well maybe a little nip every now and then, but it's all in fun."

"I'm used to brothers," said Enid.

"You have my sympathy." Wednesday removed the hospital blanket, revealing the dress she had worn on her first day at Nevermore. It was just as hideous as Enid remembered. "Shall we?"

"Lead the way."

Wednesday led the way back downstairs and through the living room Enid had seen on her arrival. The bearskin rug growled as they passed over it.

"Oh, hush, Bruno," said Wednesday. "You've been so grumpy lately."

Bruno growled back, and Enid felt a little bit better about all the taxidermy.

The rest of the family was still seating themselves around a massive dining room table, having apparently just resolved some sort of issue involving Pugsley's choice of table settings.

"I was just trying to help, Mother."

"That is not appropriate for company." Morticia removed a carving knife from his hands and replaced it with a cleaver. "Hello, girls."

Lurch had already laid out the dishes, silver tureens and crock pots that crowded their dining room table. Enid eyed their bubbling lids a little nervously, but when he removed them with a flourish, her werewolf nose perked up.

"Tamales?"

"Squash and black bean," said Morticia. "I hope it's to your liking. I'm afraid I forgot to inquire about any dietary requirements when I called you on the cellular telephone."

"Oh, no worries. Werewolves will eat pretty much anything. Literally in my brothers' case."

Pugsley and Uncle Fester tucked in immediately. Enid waited a few minutes to make sure the Addams family wasn't going to say some Satanic version of Grace before serving herself.

"These are delicious, Mrs. Addams," she said, barely remembering to swallow first. Werewolf table manners could be a little lax. "Even better than the ones from the Mission District."

"Morticia, dear. Thank you kindly. It's an old Addams family recipe, but without the traditional water monsters. They're endangered now."

Gomez passed what was left of the chili sauce to Wednesday after drowning his tamales in it. "How are you feeling this evening, my little storm cloud?"

"Dismal," she replied.

Morticia clapped her hands together. "Almost back to your old self already. I knew a friendly face would raise your spirits."

"Pretty sure it was the pharmaceuticals," said Enid, "but thanks for the credit, M- Morticia."

"Drugs?" asked Uncle Fester.

"Just the over-the-counter-kind," said Enid, a little nervous once again. Maybe the Addams didn't use Nyquil for a reason. Other than the fact that it was invented in the last century.

Uncle Fester sighed. "Kids these days. Let me know if you ever want something stronger."

"Now, now, Uncle Fester," Morticia chided softly. "You haven't even asked about her allergies yet. Enid, dear, I do hope it wasn't too great an inconvenience to your family to part with you during the break."

"Oh, uh, it… wasn't?" That sounded wrong, so Enid kept going. "Actually, I was thinking about going to stay with Grandma for a while. After Grandpa passed away last year, Mom tried to send her to a farm upstate but Grandma still has a pretty good income from her haircare line, so she got a nice little apartment in the Castro."

Gomez clapped his hands. "How's he doing? He sent me a box of the finest cigars last month. Unmarked, of course, since the whole-" He made a throat-chopping gesture, "in '16, but I'd know those thighs anywhere."

"Different Castro, mon cher," said Morticia. At the term of endearment, Gomez abandoned his meal to kiss his way up her arm. She resumed eating left-handed.

It was strange to see a couple so clearly in love. Enid's mom always acted like she couldn't stand to be around her dad. Like they had some sort of shotgun werewolf wedding, when it was obvious who called the shots in their relationship.

"What's Alcatraz like?" asked Pugsley, apparently having restrained himself as long as possible.

"Pretty boring these days," said Enid, "but one of my uncles is a ranger who works there during the tourist season. He told me all the stuff they don't talk about on the tour. Did you know that in the 1930s, prisoners weren't even allowed to speak outside of mealtimes?"

"Barbaric," Pugsley's voice was awe-struck.

"It was one of the few prisons to offer hot showers, but only so the prisoner's would be less likely to swim for freedom," she added. Enid's tour of Alcatraz had been interesting, but it had also reminded her a little too much of the Lupin Cages. There were a couple of years back in middle school when her mom was convinced that sleeping in their family Lupin Cage every night would stimulate Enid's transformation. It took a case of pneumonia to convince her otherwise.

"Did anyone ever escape?"

"None confirmed," she said, in her best Wednesday impersonation, "but five escapees were presumed drowned, never to be seen again."

Enid's muse rolled her eyes, but Pugsley ate it up alongside his second helping. Brothers were easy.

"Will you girls be joining us for the evening séance?" asked Morticia.

"No," said Wednesday. "A sudden relapse has come on."

She did look a little paler, but that could have easily been her reaction to the thought of more family time.

"Enid?" said Gomez. "How about you? I have baby pictures of Wednesday."

"I require her company," answered Wednesday, before Enid could.

"To sleep?" asked Pugsley.

"Just admit you want to stay up late and braid each other's hair," said Enid.

Wednesday looked like she was going to be sick.

Sicker.

"Admit it." Enid would sacrifice her chance at baby pictures for the sake of her friend's pride, but she would not do it without demanding a tithe in return.

"My hair is perfectly fine," said Wednesday, "but I believe yours could use some improvement. Very well. I wish to braid your hair, Enid."

Enid had to take a third helping of tamales just to hide her blush. As always, Wednesday ended up extracting her own tithe, and it was in blood.

[buggy-samaaa]

S/I Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Several glasses of wine later…

Me: And then *I* said, “they call me ‘mommy!’”

Buggy: WHAT— HAHAHAA WHAT?!?!

Me: HAHAHAAAA

Buggy: Oh, my GOD… *slurps wine sloppily* That’s freaking hilarious

Me: Eheheheh yeah it was pretty funny *gulps wine* AHHH THIS IS GOOD SHIT

Waiter: *walks up* Ahem… Would the couple kindly… simmer down…

Buggy: HEY! This “couple” is perfectly simmered!

Me: *snorts into wine glass*

Buggy: And I won’t have you tellin’ me and my “sweetheart” here what to do!

Me: Y*hic*EAH! *giggles drunkenly*

Waiter: *sighs* I must ask you to leave, now… Kindly pay for your meal and go.

Me: We weren’t *hic* doin’ anything! We’re just havin’ a g*hic*ood time!

Waiter: You’re disrupting the evenings our other patrons. *gestures to the people around us who are staring, looking disturbed* Now, kindly pay and leave.

Buggy: Fine, whatever! We don’t need this bullshit! *he slaps down some Berry* Come on, “honey,” let’s go *he gets out of the booth and grabs my hand, taking me along with him*

Me: *stumbles out of the booth* Oh wait *gets out of Buggy’s grasp and takes the wine bottle from the table* *holds Buggy’s hand again* GO GO GO! *we rush out, laughing like maniacs*

—

We are still holding hands, passing the wine bottle back and forth, taking gulps of it as we stumble back to the ship.

Me: What a great night! I’m’onna have to make the best dr*hic*awing EVER for you

Buggy: Oh, yeah, the drawing… *gulps wine, passes it back to me* *chuckles* I forgot that’s why we did all that!

Me: Pfft why else would you take me out to dinner and a show?! *gulps wine*

Buggy: Gimme *takes wine back, gulps a bit more* I dunno I guess as like a date or something stupid like that. Dumbass

Me: I’m not a dumbass!! *trips and falls*

Buggy: HAHAHA!!! *helps me up, still laughing*

Me: Ow… ehehehe. But yeah it *was* like a date huh hahaha… haha. *realizes we’ve been holding hands ever since leaving the restaurant* Ha. H. *has stopped walking, just staring at our hands*

Buggy: The hell is wrong why’d you stop walking— *looks at where I’m looking* *goes red* *we both yank out of each other’s grasps and look away blushing*

—

An awkward rest of the walk later, Buggy and I get to the ship and are about to go to our respective sleeping areas. Before Buggy leaves…

Me: Hey, Captain

Buggy: What?

Me: Thank you for tonight. Um. I had a great time. And I’ll be sure to finish your drawing soon. *smiles at him*

Buggy: *mouth twitches into a smile* Y-Yeah. That was… fun. … Good night.

Me: *yawns* ‘Night…

—

The next morning, the Buggy Pirates set up a circus tent in the village on the island we docked at yesterday afternoon.

Cabaji: Mo,

Me and Mohji: *turn toward him* Yeah?

Cabaji: No, I said Mo, not Moh.

Me and Mohji: Oh *turn away*

Cabaji: I said MO, Mo

Mohji: *turns toward him* Huh?

Cabaji: MO. NOT MOH

Me: *turns toward him* Eh?

Cabaji: YES. MO.

Me and Mohji: *point to each other?*

Cabaji: *gives up and pulls me by the ear outside the tent*

Me: Owowowowow!

Cabaji: Mo, are you ready to lure people into the show with your caricatures?

Me: *rubbing my ear with a pouty face* Yes…

Cabaji: Good. I set you up right there *points to where he put my easel and art supplies* Now get to work, the show starts in three hours. *leaves*

Me: :| Uh… *people walk past without even glancing at the giant circus tent* <:| *clears throat and tries to project my voice, but fails* C-Come one… Come all… To… Get your face drawn in a funny way… and then see the circus after…

Passersby: *continue passing by*

Me: <:’|

30 minutes later, nobody’s gotten a ticket to the show.

Cabaji: *unicycles outside to me, looking annoyed* Look, Mo, I’m gonna talk to you man to person right now. You *have* to get tickets sold or else Captain Buggy is going to kick you off the crew. It’d be way easier for him to manhandle everyone and force them to see the show, rather than wait for you to drum up ticket sales with your caricature ploy. Believe it or not, he’d rather have a full audience than a full wallet.

Me: What?! H-He wouldn’t kick me off! He said y’all were my friends now!

Cabaji: Psh. Yeah, right. I’ve never heard him say the word ‘friend’ in my whole time serving this crew.

Me: Well he did say that! And… I’m trying, here! I even made a sign with examples, it’s just. No one’s listening to me, nobody’s even looking my way!

Cabaji: Probably because you fade into the background.

Me: The fuck? No I don’t! …Do I?

Cabaji: The captain is gonna get rid of you in a heartbeat. You don’t stand out, you can’t perform, you can’t even sell tickets. All you can do is draw cartoons with big heads and little bodies.

Me: >:’( *packs up my stuff and goes back to the ship*

Cabaji: Hmph… good riddance. *unicycles back inside*

On the ship

Me: Stupid… stupid!! Stupid!!! *punching a pillow* Fuck you, Cabaji! RAAA! *punches repeatedly* *strangles pillow, snarls and bites its jugular* RRR!! *shakes pillow in my teeth like a dog shaking a dead squirrel* … *sighs, spits out pillow, curls up on it and hugs myself*

—

30 minutes before the show, Buggy is finally done with his makeup. He comes out of the room and sees that Cabaji has instructed the crew to capture the villagers. They are all chaining screaming people up to the seats to force them to watch the show. Cabaji unicycles by, and Buggy sticks out an arm to stop him mid-pedal.

Buggy: Hey, asshat!

Cabaji: Yes, sir.

Buggy: Why are you guys chaining people up? We’re selling tickets this time!

Cabaji: Tickets weren’t selling, sir.

Buggy: *glances outside, doesn’t see me* Where the hell is peanut gallery?! They’re supposed to be out there drawing and hyping people up!

Cabaji: They went back to the ship, sir.

Buggy: Wh… *almost rubs face with annoyance, but realizes he’d smudge his makeup* Damnit. We don’t have time for this, the pre-show is starting in 15… Gahhh fuck it, I’ll talk to them later, just. Shit. PLACES, PEOPLE, PLACES!

After the show, the crew heads back to the ship. I’m huddled in my hammock with my ripped-up pillow, moping about the inevitable kicking-out. Crewmates start filing into the room filled with hammocks, getting out of their costumes and changing into different clothes, chatting to each other about the show. I hope nobody notices me pouting in my hammock.

Bets, the contortionist: Hey, why are you pouting in your hammock?

Me: :| uh… I’m not, I just felt sick and I came back to the ship. Cough, cough. Bleck.

Bets: Ew… *goes away*

Thatchko, the sword-swallower, talking to no one in particular: I know we were supposed to sell tickets today, but does anyone know why?

Ji, the juggler: “Captain said so” is reason enough. But *some*body didn’t direct people to the ticket booth properly… *he nods his head over to my hammock, which I try to shrink in*

Hewitt, the mime: *mimes drawing a picture, looking questioning*

Ji: I mean, yeah, they *were* drawing, but they were supposed to talk to people, too, and get them interested in buying tickets!

Me: I can hear you guys…

Ji: No shit.

Me: *scoffs, turns around in hammock to face them* What’s going on, anyway? Does *everybody* want me out of here?

Hewitt: *shakes her head “no,” looking sorry*

Bets: Hell yes we want you out!

Hewitt: *shakes her head “yes,” looking angry*

Me: Wh— Why?? What did I even do??

Ji: You joined the crew with no talent in performance whatsoever. Captain Buggy just let you join up because you can draw? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!

Me: Take it up with HIM, then! He’s the one in charge!

Bets: You can’t even stand up for yourself, you’re just going to snivel to the captain! “Ohh, C-Captain, I’m so sad! N-Nobody on the crew likes me! ;-;”

Me: I-I don’t s-sound like that! ;-;

Cabaji enters, and the room gets more quiet upon his entrance.

Cabaji: Mo. Captain wants to see you. Now.

The crew: Oooooh…!

Me: *sighs and gets out of hammock to go to Buggy*

The crew: *snickers at me and pushes me as I leave the door, saying things like “don’t come back!” and “piss off already”*

—

In Buggy’s quarters…

Me: *knocks on the door* It’s Mo

Buggy: *uses detached hand to open the door for me, then shuts it when I walk in and sit down across from him at his desk*

Me: *looking meek, knowing I’m about to be kicked off the crew*

Buggy: Explain *this* to me. WHY… did you go back to the ship… when you were supposed to be. *Drawing?*

Me: I… well… I didn’t know what I was doing. With the ticket stuff. N-No one was listening to my spiel. *I’m trying to be truthful without throwing Cabaji under the bus, because Cabaji and the rest of the crew is right, I really don’t belong here*

Buggy: So you quit.

Me: … *nods, really wanting to tell him Cabaji made me, but Cabaji was just mean, he didn’t force me to do anything*

Buggy: *sighs* Mo… *leans his forehead against his fist* I shouldn’t have…

Me: I know, you shouldn’t have trusted me to do such a simple task. And you shouldn’t have recruited me. And you shouldn’t keep me around. I get it. *shrinking in my seat*

Buggy: …What?

Me: That’s what you were gonna say, wasn’t it? *crosses arms, looks away*

Buggy: No! Why the hell—? No, I was *going* to say, I shouldn’t have let all of that responsibility fall on you on your first day. I was so excited about getting money for the tickets and having a new act that I didn’t think through any of the details. *he crosses his arms, too, leaning back in his chair*

Me: “New act?” You have a new act?

Buggy: Yeah, duh. You. Your drawings. Maybe you’re not in the center of the ring, but you’re still a talent on the crew.

Me: *thinking: he should tell them that.* About the money… Cabaji said you’d rather have a full audience than a full wallet.

Buggy: Tch, Cabaji doesn’t know me as well as he thought, then. I’d obviously rather have both. *gives me a half-smile* *his smile falters* What else did Cabaji tell you?

Me: *bites lip* Erm. Nothing…!

Buggy: *smells a secret, leans forward on his hands and shouts* TELL ME I’M THE CAPTAIN YOU HAVE TO

Me: *I really didn’t want to do this because it will totally sound like I’m a crybaby snitch tattle-tale loser* Well…

Buggy: GAAAH COME ON!!! TELL!!

Me: Damn, okay, okay! Jeez! *sighs* Cabaji said you would get rid of me in a heartbeat.

Buggy: ExCUSE me?! He — you’re joking, he said that to you?! Seriously??

Me: *nods, looking a bit ashamed to have told him*

Buggy: I’m not going to get rid of you, you dipshit!

Me: You won’t get rid of me?! Oh, my gosh… I thought I was going to get booted for sure… Everyone keeps talking about how they think I shouldn’t be here…

Buggy: They said WHAT?! *suddenly super serious* Okay, crew beating t— I mean, crew MEETing time. …Slip of the tongue. Let’s go, move move move.

Me: *thinking: shit, if they hated me before, they’ll want to kill me, now.* What are you gonna say to them?

Buggy: Just gonna give ‘em a piece of my mind. *cracks knuckles*

Me: Great…