#but like??? should that have meant that the entire defense falls apart???

[cementcornfield]

well. we put up a good fight.

[sirxlla]

You Randomly Get Kidnapped but You Can Handle Yourself (Batboys)

(Requested by @nesting-dreams ily sm thank you for all the ideas/prompts xxx)

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Dick: He was never one to have or tell you what you could and couldn't do. For you, you wanted to work a job like a regular person even though he said he would financially support you. You didn't want to feel like you were mooching off of him.

So as unfortunate as it was you were trying to get in your vehicle after working a really long shift at the hospital while on the phone with Dick, a man came up behind you and they were very swiftly beaten with a metal waterbottle.

Dick was obviously very worried cause of what he heard and he was already patroling the area which meant he very swiftly came to you. You were sat ontop of the man, his arms pinned under your knees as you brutally smacked him over and over with a waterbottle.

"You wanna kidnap people in the middle of the night, You Little Shit?!" You were yelling.

Nightwing had to pull you off of the man noticing the damage you did, it took everything for Dick not to laugh at this man. He got beat up by a tired nurse with a fuckin waterbottle, needless to say he was proud and the man was swiftly arrested. The pair of you went home to have a well deserved nap.

Jason: Being the man he is he decided that it was a fantastic idea to give you a very strong tazer for your birthday because he thought you might need it and you really wanted one.

"I hope someone would, I'll taze their dick off!" You waved the uncharged tazer around very happy about the gift.

"You'll taze their dick off?" He laughed as he appreciated your enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, when you hope for something bad to happen it usually brings bad things around, you we're trying to get into the apartment with Jason was on the other side which of course the dumb ass trying to kidnap you didn't realize that.

By the time Jason get out there you were very clearly tasing this mother fucker in the balls. The man was groaning in very obvious pain, a shot of electricity to the family jewels didn't feel very good.

"You wanna go again, Asshole? You want me to taze you in the mouth, I'm sure that shit hurts just as much."

"I think you got him, Babygirl." He was smiling with full pride. He knew you would never use the taser without knowing 100% that you could do it without getting hurt and you very successfully did.

The man was left there and Jason brought you back inside, put your tazer back on the charger and then showed you all the ways he was very proud of you.

Bruce: He really didn't want you to have any sort of self-defense tool because he knew that if you fought back the likelihood that they would hurt you is extremely higher.

Naturally, you being you you bought a little bracelet that if you press it then it makes a very loud noise which can hurt whoever's ears you're pointing it at.

Another feature on there is that it sent him your location which was probably something that he would have been okay with if that's all it did but alas it was not.

From sparring with Bruce you knew a lot and this asshole pissed you off, trying to kidnap a woman while she was pumping gas? "I think the fuck not."

You had very promptly pushed the button and cupped it against the man's ear which caused him to get disoriented and fall flat on his stupid face.

"That's why you don't mess with girls at the gaspump! Suck my metaphorical dick, Motherfucker!" You would think that this was a Fortnite game with the way that you were acting, to anyone else it would have been the funniest thing ever but of course Bruce doesn't have the biggest sense of humor.

He thought what you were doing was reckless and stupid, you should have gotten your car and left. Bruce proceeded to lecture you the entire night about exactly what you should have done and why it was dangerous and how you're lucky that it didn't turn out worse than it was.

"We don't take pride when we hurt someone and we sure as hell don't gloat. What we're you thinking? He couldve got up. That was reckless."

Tim: Tim craved coffee like it was some sort of drug needing to be injected into jis veins and you really really loved the little muffins the coffee shop had. You got up early in the morning and we're making your way to the coffee shop.

You figured out you were being followed quite quickly so of course the only thing you had in your bag was your wallet and maybe a few pens. Nothing the regular person would think would be overly useful in a situation like this.

The pen was useful though if you used it right, it was swiftly brought between your fingers, you texted Tim you were being followed. He very promptly shot out of bed to protect you, throwing on whatever close were scattered around the messy bedroom.

Once he found you, you were leturing the man on all the places you could stick the pen. The man was on the ground pinned to the floor. None of the Batboys were ever gonna let their woman go out of sight without some sorta training.

"I could stick this in your jugular, if you'd like. I could gove you the choice you were never gonna give me."

"You could stick it in his eye, its less lethal and could be considered an accident." Tim chimed in with a smile, the smile on Tim's face was quickly matched by yours.

The man underneath you was panicking because for all he knew you two were complete psychopaths considering jow many Gotham has. He started begging for you to let him go, You got off him while clicking the pen which made him run off like a little crybaby.

Tim and you walked hand and hand to the coffee shop like nothing ever happened. You both knew the pen wasn't what scared him if was your confidence and the way you spouted things off like a crazy person.

Damian: Damian was very much his father's son and he would do the same psychotics weird ass shit that Bruce did. The only difference was he asked you and you very clearly said no to a tracking device being put in you but that did not stop him from doing it and he did it very easily without you noticing.

Of course he didn't know anything was wrong until he noticed that you're tracking device really didn't move too much. He was kinda worried but it was instantly interrupted.

The phone rang and it was a guy calling for ransom while a guy in the background argued with you and said something about you stabbing him in the ass.

"We want a million." The man said off the bat.

"That's all your gonna ask for?!" Then there was the sound of the phone hitting the floor while you beat the shit out of them with a chair leg.

"You should really have better quality shit if you're gonna kidnap someone!" You yelled while the two men grunted on the floor, the first one had had the chair smashed into his back and this one was being wacked with a chair leg.

Damian showed up in regular clothes, he could tell by the phone call you didn't need any help.

"How the fuck did you know where I am?" You asked with clear suspicion and irritation.

"I traced the cell phone call." He lied very easily but there was something off and you could tell. He always kind of scratched his chin when he told you a lie and he had a shitty poker face.

"You put a tracker in me?! When we get home, you are cutting it out. I dont care that you track me but I'd rather not have a weird piece of metal in my body, Damian! I already have this stupid birth control for you, but at least that shit's been tested."

He knew that there was no point in fighting with you so therefore when the both of you got home, he cut it out and he stitched it back up and did everything he could to apologize without actually saying the words. You wore tracking bracelet from then on, a lot less invasive of the body.

Damian definitely was left apologizing over that for months cause he knew he betrayed your wishes and your trust. It was flowers, jewlery, gifts galore. Damian was never good with his words, you knew he was sorry but you wanted him to say it. Once he did the tension between the two of you quickly evaporated into thin air.

-> Masterlist <-

-> Send me prompts if you'd like <-

[demon-country]

"Stolas is a worse dad than Blitz, because when Stolas was about to die he chose Loona over him."

The situations were completely different, you can't actually compare them in that way.

1) In Western Energy, Blitz was going to go save Stolas, but was able to send Moxxie and Millie instead, freeing him up to stay with Loona.

In Mastermind, Blitz was in imminent danger. As in, by the time Stolas saw what was happening there was only about a minute until Blitz was going to be decapitated. There was no one to send in his place and no one else could've gotten there in time even if there was.

2) Loona had a hospital appointment she couldn't go to on her own due to her extreme phobia of needles, and it would have been years before she could get it again if she missed it (unless Stolas pulled some strings).

Octavia was not in danger and had no pressing need for Stolas to be by her side. He was also implied to have set things up so that, should he die before she's legally an adult, she'd still be well off and protected to the best of his abilities. She'd be heartbroken, yes, but her assets and future would be secure. (It's no substitute for a loving parent, of course, but it'd allow her some freedom to do as she pleased, like not being forced to marry someone against her will.)

3) Fighting Striker wouldn't be, and wasn't, a sure death sentence. He's good at what he does, but he's just one guy who can be fought.

Stolas didn't have the time or knowledge to come up with a good defense, and even if he did the court wouldn't have cared, because they were bored, hungry, and don't care enough about imps, due process, or doling out real justice to be bothered listening to a nerdy bird attempt to be a lawyer for some uppity imp trying to rise above his station. Putting all of the blame on himself and making a big, flashy production about how he's some cunning manipulator who thinks he's above the law and Blitz is just a worthless pawn to force them to pay attention to him was his only real option if he wanted Blitz to make it out alive.

And even if Stolas did let Blitz die, then he undoubtedly would have spiraled into an even deeper depression, riddled with guilt, grief, and self-loathing. Because that's what happens when you have precarious mental health and watch the love of your life be executed, knowing you could maybe have done something to stop it, but didn't even try. Which, you know, also would have hurt Octavia, because it's not easy seeing your parent in that state. Neither choice would have spared Octavia the pain of losing her father, at least temporarily, and people would still be calling him a bad dad for letting his mental illness affect his relationship with her.

Also, did people not see the way Blitz was begging Stolas not to take the fall for him? He absolutely would have re-taken his place on the chopping block if it meant Stolas didn't have to die. Then Loona would be down her only parent, with Blitz actively choosing Stolas first, because Stolas was seemingly about to die and M&M had already promised to take care of her. You know, exactly like Stolas in this episode.

Blitz would have been in the same sinking mental health boat if Stolas died, as well, except he did try to save him (or more accurately, get him to save himself) it was just entirely fruitless. The man nearly ran his company into the ground because they broke up, he'd fall completely apart if another person he loves died "because of" him (in his eyes), this time without even knowing that Blitz loves him.

When push came to shove, when someone they love was about to die right in front of them and they felt secure with the knowledge that their child would be okay without them (eventually), they both attempted to sacrifice themselves instead. And they both would have been inconsolable wrecks if the other had actually died. There were no good options, they were just trying to make it so that everyone they loved made it out alive, even though putting themselves in the line of fire was the only realistic way of doing that.

[ripdragonbeans]

Look At Me /modern!Aegon x Reader

My fic for the HOTD Big Bang! You can follow all the fics @hotd-bigbang

Lovely mood board, banner, and dividers by the beautiful @ewanmitchellcrumbs and my beautiful betaa were @asa-do-your-thing and @khaleesihel

WARNINGS: angst, smut, p in v, she/her pronouns, voyeurism???, oral (f and m receiving), physical violence (reader has some anger [not towards Aegon])

"God fucking dammit," you muttered as you reached out to open the unlocked door to your shared apartment with Aegon.

An unlocked door meant one thing: Aegon brought another girl back for a quick, thoughtless fuck. After countless years of suffering this, starting in your freshman year, one would think it would be easy to ignore without a thought. This night, however, was not the ideal night to handle Aegon’s shenanigans. Work had you tiresomely stretched out, often staying up all night to meet deadlines: an old habit you optimistically thought would cease after college. On top of that, lately it felt unbearing, that the universe seemed to have dismissed you, seizing every opportunity to strip you from an ounce of joy or serenity.

The small yet infuriating incidents from spilling coffee all over yourself or dropping a burger over your work attire, pens running out of ink at times you desperately needed them, your computer randomly restarting for an update, it was everything bundling and boiling up to breaking point… And it felt like tonight was that night.

Taking a deep breath, mentally trying to prepare yourself for the incessant and unfortunate familiar banging of the walls, alongside the mindless moans and grunts, you turned the handle and stepped into the room.

Nothing. There was nothing.

Worry pierced through your head. The door was unlocked so Aegon had to be here, right? You paced across the hall, keeping your steps as silent as possible when you arrived at Aegon's door. Pressing your ear against the door, hoping to idly eavesdrop into a conversation, yet all you could gather was silence from the other side.

"Aegon?" You enquired through the wooden shield of the door. "Aegon, are you in there?" Now ardently knocking on the door a little harder than you should. "Aegon, please! Please tell me -"

The door swung open to reveal a pissed off woman clad only in a matching set of lace underwear.

"Who the fuck is this, Aegon?" She looked you up and down with distaste

Aegon gave a little chuckle. "Don't worry, Sara, that's just my roommate."

You peered past her to see Aegon laying on his bed with only grey sweatpants on. He had a lazy smile on his face and gave you a knowing wink. Blush crept up your neck to your cheeks and you had hoped Aegon hadn’t caught a glimpse at your bashful state. Yet despite the mild distance between you two, you could see him scan your face. His smile grew when he noticed the pink shade across your cheeks. He rather enjoyed making you envious, basking in your natural reactions. All you needed was a little more pressure from him to admit the truth.

Or at least that's what he believed.

"You didn't tell me you had one," she glanced over you once again, "but I guess it's nothing to worry about."

"My roomie is no one, babe, I promise," he said as he gave her a flirtatious wink, a habit he seemed to share with the entire female campus.

"Hmmm…good." She slammed the door leaving you stunned and to some honest degree, honesty, irritated.

No one. He said you were no one, his harsh words echoing in your restless mind.

A tight sensation began to burden your chest, and hot tears threatened to fall, yet you shoved it all down, swallowing the large gulp painfully caught your throat, just like you always did. Consuming the raw heartbreak, you gather yourself and the mental walls, you hid yourself behind in defense, slowly making your return to the living room.

If you went to your room it was a given that you would hear everything that was a realistic and harsh possibility, yet you found your feet moving towards the familiar space. A few minutes passed until you heard a faint moan echoing from the direction of Aegon’s room and the light banging of the bed against the wall. Sighing in defeat, you place your noise canceling headphones on and searching up YouTube to mindlessly watch some video essay explaining this new ARG, Welcome Home. You found that submerging your senses to the very unnerving voice of Wally Darling was a great way to tune out the other background noises..

As much as you loved Aegon, you could never not be annoyed by this grotesque habit of his. Every other week was a new girl to fuck and mess about with, with no care nor implications in the world. None of them ever meant anything to him, you knew that much. No, you could tell. His lilac eyes never lit up when he saw them, his warm smile never reached his eyes, and he never talked about them willingly. The only times he would mention them was whenever he remembered to give you a heads up that he'd have one of them over for the night. You figured if he was inviting them over they'd be decent people, respectable enough to acknowledge your presence. You had hoped they'd be decent because Aegon deserved at least that. Whenever they'd show up you would do your best to be polite and welcoming in a weirdly humourous way, one time you’d even blurted to some poor victim of his hookup "hey you're here to suck my roommate", only to be disregarded and treated like utter shit. It was as though you didn't exist.

More so, you despised the way he acted when one of them came over, putting on some macho facade. Aegon would become old Aegon. The Aegon you initially met, the one who wore the mask of a guy who didn't give a fuck about anyone or anything. He was snarky and cocky, with the only priority of having the highest known body count. Yet you knew better, you saw through that careless exterior. After being paired together on assignment you two started hanging out. About a month or two after the project was assigned, he opened up. He played the part of the college frat fuckboy flawlessly, yet you could see right through that. You did your best to be someone he could trust; you knew there was more to him. Soon enough, your assignment partner became your best friend, your go to person, a person you'd do anything for. And that's how you ended up sharing an apartment with Aegon.

But there was something else.

There was a tug drawing you to him. Whenever you were away from Aegon there was a palpable ache in your heart. Whenever a sorority girl stayed the night your heart shattered, only to be slowly put together the next day by your very own hands. At the time you didn't want to admit it to yourself but eventually you had to.

It wasn't terrible at first. You lived a domestic life with your best friend with no worry in the world. Until he started bringing friends home. Just the occasional random girl moaning in his room once a month or so but now it was every other week. You hate to admit it but it hurt. It hurt so fucking much. You wished it was you in that room but you wouldn't tell him. It would ruin your friendship.

You loved Aegon, not just as a friend but as something more. The only problem was that you loved Aegon so much that you'd want him to be happy, even if it meant seeing him being with other girls. Yet you could never see yourself with someone else, only with him.

After watching every single reaction video to Welcome Home, Sara finally left Aegon's room wearing one of his shirts.

"See you next time, roomie," she said as she gave you a mocking smile before exiting the apartment.

You rolled your eyes as you started to pick up your laptop to move to your room when you heard him enter.

"Done with your fucking for the night?" You refused to look at him.

"Yeah," he leaned against the wall. "Unless you wanna be my round two."

"I'm not interested in sloppy seconds, Aeg. Next time just give me a heads-up, yeah? I don't like coming home to your moans."

"Oh, you know you love coming home to my moans," he teased. He loved riling you up like this.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. Unlike me, who has to endure your headboard slamming against the wall," you bit out.

Aegon was taken aback by your sudden hostility and couldn’t fathom a response. Taking his silence as confirmation that he didn't care, you finished gathering your stuff and headed to your room. But as you passed Aegon, he abruptly stepped in front of you, halting you in your tracks.

"Hey, you're not seriously mad at me, are you?" His brows furrowed worriedly. "It's been a few months of this and now you're getting upset about it?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I've been annoyed with this the whole time." You sighed and rubbed your tiresome eyes. "It wasn't too bad at first, I could ignore it fine but then it kept happening more and more often than favored. Each girl was more terrible to me than the last. And you never do shit about it, you never defend me. You seemed perfectly happy to let these one night stands walk all over your best friend, it seems." You glared at him, "You said I was nothing, Aegon.. I understand you put on this whole facade to get laid but that… that was cold, Aeg… Even for you. You're back to your old habits and it makes me want to run. Anyway," you took a deep breath, wanting this conversation to end, "I'm going to bed, I’m too tired for this right now… Night, Aegon."

He called your name and adamantly tried to follow you. You knew Aegon didn't like it when you were upset with him. You hoped he would try harder to get to you and say you were right and that he needs to look at himself again.

When you turned around to hear his side he shut down. Instead of saying anything he just blankingly stared at you. You could see his poor attempt to gather the courage to talk, yet no words fell from his soft lips. For the first time in weeks you two looked at each other, really looked at each other. The friendship between you has always been strong but you've been feeling it deteriorate, eating away slowly and slowly. You were hoping to see the bit of your best friend in those eyes, yet all you saw was regret.

When you turned to your door you found yourself saying more. "I'm tired, Aegon. I'm tired of this." You put your hand on the doorknob. "I miss you." You entered your room and locked yourself in before he could say anything.

You crawled into your bed and curled up, hugging your knees. Once again your chest tightened and tears gathered in the corner of your eyes. Only this time, you let them fall.

It's been weeks since Aegon invited someone to spend the night and it kind of pissed you off. You lost your cool one night and suddenly he just stops. It felt as though he was babying you, which was the part that was pissing you off. The other part of you felt relieved, hoping everything could go back the way it was before. You wanted goofy, vulnerable Aegon, not the one who was around a few weeks ago.

However, it didn't last. Just when you thought it was over, you came home to find Aegon's face buried between some random girl's legs. She still had her clothes on, as though Aegon couldn't wait to taste her. It was only her blouse unbuttoned and skirt that was bunched up and her legs spread that immediately clued you in to what was happening. Her head was thrown back, eyes were shut, and a silent scream left her body as Aegon brought her to the edge.

Anger bubbled inside you, threatening to pour over. The girl turned her head and smirked at you as though she knew you were there the entire time. She took her time slipping off the counter, fixing her hair into something slightly more put together. Once she painstakingly straightened herself up she fully turned to you and flashed the biggest smile.

"Oh, hey, roomie." It was Sara. "I didn't think I'd see you again. Aegon hasn't hit me up in a month so I thought he was fucking you." She laughed. "Sorry, I'm a little tle out of breath. He really knows what to do, not that you'd know anything about that, right?" She gave you a teasing wink.

All you could do was stare at her.

"I'm just joking, roomie. I know he'd never fuck you. Anyway, I figured I'd pay him a visit just be sure. Glad to see I was wrong."

She finished buttoning her top and smoothed down her skirt as Aegon got up. Sara quickly turned and pulled him into a mockingly deep kiss. You rolled your eyes when you spotted Aegon flexing his hands trying not to touch her. You walked in on him eating her out. His attempt to not touch her in front of you was an insult. You looked back at his face and saw his eyes glued on you while Sara tried to stick her tongue in his mouth. You've never seen him so uncomfortable with someone else like this. He looked almost apologetic yet he did nothing to move away from her. Sara finally pulled away, but not before grabbing one of Aegon's hands to run over her chest.

Sara turned back to you. "Same time next week? Maybe we'll try it in your bed, roomie. Gotta keep it exciting."

She gave you a demeaning wink before bending down to pick up her purse, obviously giving you a view of her ass. You looked over at Aegon, fuming, but only saw him trying, and failing, not to gawk at her backside. As though he felt your stare, his eyes shot to you and immediately looked ashamed. Sara was taking her sweet time getting up and gathering her things, steadily coaxing your anger with little comments here and there about how much she looks forward to next time, what they should try out, and what she wanted to do again. But it was her last comment that made you explode.

"You should move in with me, Aeg. You'll get sick of her sooner or later. You know I'm better for you anyway. She's no one worth remembering and obviously does nothing for -"

"Get. The. Fuck. Out," you growled.

Sara slowly turned to you and pursed her lips in mock sympathy. "Aw, is the little roomie jealous? Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find someone desperate enough to fuck you."

Red flooded your vision as everything became blurry. You didn't have control over your actions anymore. You launched yourself at Sara with your hands curved into claws. She had no time to move before you tackled her down and dragged your nails across her face. As she screamed you pulled her hair to force her to look you in the eye.

There weren't any deep scratches on her but you drew blood. Sick pride washed over you when you looked at her. A mix of eyeliner, tears, and the slightest tint of blood splotted across her face.

"You can dismiss my existence and waltz around like you own the place but let me make something clear," you whispered. "You will never call me desperate, you will never call me being worthless, and you will never force me out of my home. This is my place, not yours. It never was and it never will be."

You took a deep breath before pulling her back up. Sara was standing with your hand still gripping her hair.

You made sure your next words burned.

"You will never have a place in Aegon's heart. I know you think I believed your smug confidence and the terribly misplaced belief that you were his but you were wrong. Not for one second have I ever believed that Aegon would actually love you. You want me to be nothing to him but that will never happen. You can't sleep your way to Aegon, you only think you can. The truth is that you know nothing about him. But I do. I'm the one who has Aegon's heart, not you."

Sara whimpered when you tugged on her hair.

"Now," you breathed, "you're gonna get the fuck out of here and never come back. Do you understand?"

Sara broke her terrified stare from you to a pleading one to Aegon. "Aegon, you know I'm better for you. She's nothing compared to me. You said it yourself, she's nothing."

Aegon didn't try to comfort her. He looked straight at her without any trace of emotion.

"I think it's time for you to leave, Sara."

"Seriously?!"

"You were a mistake. Every girl was."

You lips pressed into a tight smile as you dragged Sara, still by her hair, to the door. "If I see you here again," you growled, "I will do more than simply scratch your face." You threw her out with your final words and slammed the door shut.

Tension engulfed the room. It was as though The red in your eyes slowly faded away until your head cleared up. All you could do was stand there. You didn't realize how fast your heart has been beating, how hard you've been breathing, until you came back to reality. What you just did felt like a dream. There was no thinking involved, only instinct and anger.

Aegon coughed, breaking the silence. "Hey, so, um," he scratched the back of his neck. "I guess -"

"Don't." You turned to face him. "I'm going to take a shower, grab some whiskey, and crash in my bed. Maybe we'll talk later. Or maybe we can just forget this happened," you let out a mirthless laugh, "and you can go back to fucking someone new every week."

"Wait, hold up, we need to -"

You held a hand up. "Stop, Aegon, please. I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment. Don't worry about me."

It's been two weeks since you kicked Sara out, which meant that it's been two weeks since you blew up in front of him. Everything you said was true, whether or not Aegon wanted to believe it. If he was too much of a coward to admit anything then so be it. But since then he's been almost non-existent. He was never in the apartment when you were and if he was he kept his door closed. As much as you wanted to check in on him you also wanted to hold your ground. What he did was stupid and hurt like hell.

After working an exhausting ten hour shift, you dragged yourself into the apartment. The lights were off but you could see a figure sitting on the couch and hear a dull thump from something hitting the table. You creeped closer to get a close look at them.

It was Aegon.

He was wallowing in his own self pity, drinking as much as he could. There were two empty bottles of beer on the table. A third half-empty bottle was in his hand. Wearing worn out black sweatpants and a ratty hoodie, Aegon took a swig before muttering some curses to himself. As you got closer to him you could smell the alcohol.

"What a fucking idiot," he laughed. Aegon took another swig of whatever bottle he had in his hand and promptly slammed it down.

You wanted to keep your mouth shut. You knew it would be better to walk away but it's been so long since you've talked that your resolve broke.

"You better not be talking about me," you said when you slipped into a spot next to him.

"Fucking hell," he flinched, spilling the contents of his drink. "Great, now it's on the fucking floor. Thanks." He threw a pillow on top of the mess figuring it would be better than nothing.

The two of you sat there in taut silence. Aegon didn't even reach for another drink. You were simply sitting in the quiet darkness together. You were about to break it when he spoke up first.

"I fucked up."

You let out a cold laugh. "Yeah, you really did."

He turned to look at you. Even in the dark you could see his eyes were a bit bloodshot. "I'm fucking trying, okay?" He rubbed his face. "No, you know what, forget it." Forgetting the bottle was empty, he picked it up to drink. He muttered a curse before setting it back down.

He got up to leave but you grabbed his hand before he could go any further. It was as though time was frozen. The second you took it everything became still. Aegon's hand was limp but you gave it a small squeeze encouraging him to stay.

"We need to talk about this. I know I've been avoiding it but you've been avoiding it, too. Hell, you've been avoiding me, Aeg."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before sitting back down.

"What do you want to talk about? How you went fucking ballistic? How you basically confessed your love for me?"

"Yes. All of that."

He nodded his head, asking you to go on.

"You changed so much, Aeg, and I didn't know what to do. When we first moved in you were my goofy best friend. You know, the one I tell everything to. Then one day it's like back at university before we met. You starting bringing in girl after girl to fuck and it just drove me up a wall. What the fuck happened?"

"What happened was my dad dying." He picked up an unopened bottle of beer and took a swig.

Your eyes widened at the confession. "Your dad died so you thought fucking someone new would help?"

"No - I mean yes, but it was more than that."

"It was more than that? I know you didn't give a shit about any of them."

He yanked his hand away. "Maybe not, but they have a shit about me!" He exploded.

"Excuse me?" You dangerously whispered. That has got to be utter bullshit, you thought.

"Sure, it may have only been to fuck me but it was something!"

"Just because they fuck you doesn't mean they care!" You jumped up. "They didn't fucking care but I did!" You pressed a finger to his chest. "I always have and I always will. Don't you fucking get it? I've been here since the beginning and you try to blame me for your dumb ass actions?"

Aegon grabbed your hand and pulled you close. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have to distract myself."

"Distract yourself? Did the death of your dad really fuck you up that bad? I know he didn't give a shit and you didn't either. Don't pretend to be so beat up over it." You tried to pull away but he held you tight.

"It fucked me up because it made me realize that I can somehow be better than my dad by caring about people."

You laughed. "And you care about every single girl you've fucked. Absolutely believable, Aeg."

He let go of you, almost pushing you away.

He dropped his head before speaking. "You said you cared. If you cared you would've been able to see the change."

You were gentle with your next words, "I can't read your mind. Just because I know you so well doesn't mean I can figure out every emotion you have."

Silence.

"Aeg, just tell me what's going on, please."

Still refusing to look at you, he dropped back to the couch. "I fell in love with you, that's what happened. I don't know when but I did. For some godforsaken reason my dad dying set off everything. All I could do was ignore it and I did that by taking someone to bed almost every night." He brought the bottle up to his lips but didn't drink anything.

You sat down next to him.

You didn't want to believe him.

"I know you've been drinking all night. You're just saying things."

He scoffed and chugged the rest of the beer. "Just because I've been drinking all night doesn't mean I don't know what I'm saying."

"Okay, fine. Let's assume everything you've told me is true. You may love me but nothing more than a friend, right?"

"No, that's not true."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

He locked eyes with you. "I wanted to push you."

"Push me? What did you need to push me for?" You questioned. "Besides, I think you pushed me pretty good when I attacked Sara."

"I pushed you too hard, I know that now. I did it because I wanted to get you closer to me. I wanted you jealous."

"First off, that's a fucking stupid plan. Second, I'm already close to you. Or at least was," you murmured the last part.

Aegon rubbed his eyes in frustration. "You don't get it. You're so fucking smart but you don't get it!"

"What don't I get?" You challenged.

"You don't get that I wanted you to make the first move!" He settled down before continuing. "I see the way you look at me. I see your reactions. I know you want more. But for once I needed you to make the first move. If you wanted me it had to be on your terms." He took a deep breath. "And you're right. I didn't give a shit about the girls I fucked. The only one I give a shit about is you. But when you didn't do anything I did what I know best. I didn't want to distract myself from my dad's death. Again, something you were right about. I was distracting myself from you."

You searched his eyes for any trace of dishonesty but didn't find any. "If you had said something I would've said yes." You reached out for his hand. "What you did was stupid but…I get it. Kinda. You were scared."

"Yeah, I was scared."

You scooted close to him. "Then take the leap." You were gentle with your words.

Aegon pulled you in and lowered his head to yours. "I don't want to fuck it up." His lips brushed against yours.

"So don't." You pressed your forehead against his.

For a few moments that's how you stayed. It was just you and Aegon. When you separated you gave him a soft smile. His eyes darted to your lips and you took your chance. You softly brushed your lips against his before giving him a true kiss.

Your eyes fluttered close. His lips were soft and joined you in tandem. It wasn't rough. The kiss was pure love. Emotions poured into the kiss. He pulled you on top of his lap before deepening the kiss. You smiled against him as you moved your hands up his arms and to his hair.

More. You wanted more.

You nipped at his bottom lip and he gladly opened up. When you slid your tongue in he snaked one arm around you right while the other ran up your sides. His arousal was beginning to prod against you and it spurred you on even more. You slowly rocked your hips against him.

"Fuck," he pulled away and buried his face in your neck. He kissed his way up and nipped at your ear. "You are so much better than the others."

"Don't talk about them. Look at me," you commanded.

Aegon looked up at you with big eyes.

"Take me to your room and I'll show you exactly what you missed out on."

He pushed you off his lap only to grab your wrist and practically run to his room. But before he could open the door you pulled him back and trapped him with one arm against the wall. You gave him a mischievous smile before dragging your hand down his body and to his hard cock. He tried to suppress a groan when you began palming him over his pants.

"Let it out, babe. I want to hear every sound you make."

You took pity on him when you could feel his cock getting harder. When you pulled your hand away he couldn't help but groan at the loss of contact.

"This is what happens when you play with me," you smirked.

Releasing him from the wall you let him take you into his room. Immediately you grabbed him by his hoodie to pull him down to you to crash your lips against his. Gone were the soft kisses. Now it was pure passion and lust.

You moved one hand to grab his and the other to place on his chest. As soon as you pushed him to the edge of the bed you took a step back.

"Strip for me," you commanded.

Aegon was quick to rid himself of his hoodie and sweatpants. When he went to pull down his underwear you stopped him.

"Let me do this." You came up to him and lowered yourself to your knees as you slid his briefs down.

His cock was at full attention, red and angry. You licked your lips and cupped his balls, slowly massaging them. He threw his head back.

"No, no. Look at me. I want you to watch me take you in."

All he could do was bring his head back and nod.

You moved your hand from his balls to his cock and slowly worked him. Leaning in to the tip you gave him small kitten licks. Once you got him breathing heavier you took all of him in your mouth. Never did you look away from him. You slowly began bobbing your head back and forth, loving the feel of him in you. When you decided to push him a little more with a hum around the cock he twitched. You hummed once again and brought your hand to his balls.

"Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck, I'm gonna cum," he breathed.

As soon as he said that you released him with an obscene pop. Aegon whined when he left your warm mouth.

"Don't worry, there's more. Now, lay back. No touching."

He nodded his head.

"I need to hear you say it."

He gulped. "I promise I won't touch myself."

"Good boy," you smiled.

You ran your hands over your tits before reaching down to brush yourself over your clothes. You brought your hands up to slowly take off your top. Once again you ran your hands over your tits, this time playing with your nipples through your bra.You looked over at Aegon to see him grasping the sheets and slowly rolling his hips into nothing.

"Are you so desperate that you have to hump the air? Aw, poor baby," you taunted. You reached down to the top of your pants and pulled it down. "This is a better view, isn't it?"

You walked to the bed and sat on your haunches between his legs.

"Be a dear and take off my bra for me."

Aegon sat up and ran his hands over your breasts and stopped to play with your hardened peaks before unclasping the bra and throwing it across the room.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," you chided. "That wasn't nice. I guess I have to punish you now. Lay flat on your back." You could feel yourself get wetter telling him what to do.

He did as he was told, shaking with anticipation.

You climbed up his body to his face and slowly lowered yourself down.

"I want you to make me cum. You deserve to have a mess on your face."

He didn't need to be told twice. He pushed your panties to the side and licked a strip up your folds. He moaned and grabbed your thighs to keep you steady. He left open kisses all over your pussy. A coil began to tighten in your stomach.

"Fuck, babe. You're so good at eating my pussy. Do I taste good?"

You heard a muffled yes and smiled to yourself.

He moved from your folds to your clit. You rolled your hips against his face as he sucked and licked your bud. Every swipe of his tongue had you throwing your head back in bliss. It was almost too much but he didn't stop. He was bringing you closer and closer to the edge. Aegon moved away from your clit only to replace it with his thumb. He rubbed lazy circles as he dipped his tongue into your dripping cunt. He sped up his fucking and pressed on your clit sending you over the edge. The coil in your stomach released as you made a mess on his face.

You moved off his face. "What a good boy," you praised. "I think it's time for a reward."

You lowered yourself down his body. Wrapping a hand around his cock you worked him up to full hardness again. You gave him a few licks before taking the head in you mouth and sucking just a tiny bit. It was enough to make him moan and buck his hips up ever so slightly.

Letting go of him you chuckled when you moved to straddle him and lined up his cock with your pussy.

"Are you ready for me to ride you?"

"Yes, yes please."

"Good."

You slipped off your panties and let the drop next to the bed before sinking down on his cock. The stretch had you moaning, feeling every inch of him inside you completely. The way he filled you couldn't be described coherently. You began to move your hips slowly, taunting him. Aegon whimpered as he fought the urge to grab your waist

You leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You can touch me," you tell him. "I want you to touch me."

That was all he needed to let go of the sheets and attack your body with his hands. He ran over every single curve trying to commit them to memory. You swore you saw his mouth water when he reached up to play with your tits. You leaned down to give him better access. Immediately he took a nipple in his mouth and swirled his tongue around it.

You could feel that coil tighten again. Your hips rocked against him when he brought one hand to your clit. You had no choice but to sit up again and bounce on his cock.

"Holy fuck yes! Please, please, please, Aegon! Gods, you're so good at fucking me!"

He let out a deep groan as he pushed his hips up even higher. "You're tightening around me - oh, gods - you're gonna make me cum inside you," he moaned. His hands moved to your hips helping you ride him but he was getting sloppy.

"Do it." You were clenching around him tighter than you ever thought was possible.

"Do it, Aegon. Cum for me."

The thrusts became desperate and wild. You and Aegon let out a scream as you came together. You felt him empty himself inside you. His cock twitched weakly as you tried to control your collapse on him. He wrapped his arms around you.

"Can we stay like this?" He asked, his cock still inside you.

"Yes, of course." You turned your head and kissed his cheek. "I want this. I want you, Aegon."

"I know."

A few minutes passed before you moved off of him. You felt empty without him inside you but you got up anyway and kneeled on the floor so you head was by his. You ran a hand through his hair and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Let me clean you up, babe," you whispered.

"Okay." He reached over to cup your face and traced a small circle on your cheek.

You got up to go to the bathroom to clean yourself up then returned with a wet towel. Giving him a small smile, you ran the towel over his body. You were extra careful around his lower regions knowing he was still sensitive. When you finished cleaning him you slipped yourself into his arms.

"Look at me, Aegon." You said. "You're not gonna fuck this up."

"I don't want to hurt you." His eyes filled with worry.

"We are not going to fuck it up," you paused. "I love you, too. Always have and always will."

[biblio-smia]

at the top of my list [ethan landry x reader]

pre-ghostface / no ghostface alternate - no spoilers for scream vi

masterlist | requests are open!

warnings: underage drinking (brief), brief angst but mostly fluff

pairing: fem!carpenter!reader x ethan landry

Rooming with Mindy Meeks-Martin came with its pros: for one, she got you out of having to room with your two sisters — as much as you loved them, you couldn't bear the thought of having to live a tiny, cramped apartment with them, — plus, she was your gateway to the "full college experience" (her words). Then, there were things that came with Mindy that you hadn't decided were pros or cons; after all, she was the reason you met Ethan Landry.

It wasn't entirely her fault — but Mindy was Chad's sister and Ethan was Chad's roommate and in no time, he was part of the group.

It was strange, allowing new people into your lives, but first came Ethan, then Quinn, then Anika and eventually you got used to the feeling.

You warmed up to Ethan first and the fastest, despite making the worst first impression. You'd misheard his name as Ethan Laundry and laughed little too loud for a little too long at a joke only you were in on.

Ethan looked past this; he was far too focused on not stumbling over his own words even to recall the event that mortified you for weeks.

Your relationship with Ethan grew steadily as he came around more and more. It was always in a group setting and usually alongside Chad, but as the months grew on you engaged in more conversations by yourselves. Always somehow left alone with him, you felt yourself becoming increasingly comfortable around Ethan.

Anytime Mindy attempted to make a comment on you and Ethan, she was shutdown immediately, sometimes even before she could get a single word out.

You enjoyed Ethan’s company and he enjoyed yours — the dynamic you had now didn’t need to be changed.

Moreover, you certainly didn’t need Mindy messing things up.

You were adamant enough in your position that Ethan and you were just friends and you didn’t want anything more to Mindy that she cooled down on the would-be comments at least to your face.

“I just know they like each other. I can feel it.” Mindy argued.

“Jeez, I thought Chad was the matchmaker here.” Sam joked.

“Hey, it runs in our blood.” Mindy grinned. “But seriously, all I hear is ‘Ethan this, Ethan that.’ It’d be cute if the two of them weren’t so painfully clueless.”

“Well, why don’t we let them figure it out on their own?” Tara suggested, taking a sip of her drink. She knew how you felt about others meddling into your life, even if it was people you loved — she and Sam learned that the hard way.

Mindy groaned. “That’ll take months. Maybe even years. Do you really want to watch these idiots pine for each other for that long?”

Sam let out a “Hey!” in your defense, while Mindy and Tara looked around for support, both sets of eyes falling on the only person who could clue them into Ethan’s perspective: Chad.

“Well,” Chad glanced nervously from his sister to both of yours, eyes settling on to Tara’s warm brown ones. “He does talk about your sister a lot. Like… a lot.”

“That doesn’t mean we should do anything.” Sam said before Mindy could say anything. “She really wouldn’t appreciate it.”

“Even if it would get them together?” Mindy pleaded desperately.

“Let’s leave them be for now,” Sam stated decisively, offering Mindy a small smile. “Let them figure it out on their own.”

「 ... 」

Knowing Ethan Landry was the best thing that’d ever happened to you in moments like these; it was another group movie night in the apartment your sisters shared with the usual seating arrangements — Mindy, Anika, Chad, and Tara were comfortably squished on the couch meant for three while Sam stretched out her legs on the second couch; effectively shunning you and Ethan to the love seat.

At first, it was awkward — you and Ethan crashed into your respective, opposite, sides of the couch, trying to create as much space between the two of you as possible. Then, as time went on, the distance between you grew smaller; as Ethan grew more comfortable in your presence, he began a habit of whispering random movie trivia into your ear, always carefully watching for your reaction, whether it was a gasp of shock or a cute string of giggles. You weren't sure when it started; despite your tendency to hate people talking during movies, you began to look forward to Ethan's voice in your ear more than the actual movie. By the midway point of each movie, you would always end up leaning against Ethan's warm chest with his arm wrapped around you, insisting it was so Ethan didn't have to work hard to whisper in your ear.

Tonight, Ethan was huddled next to you, the fluffiest blanket you owned draped over the two of you. His hands found yours, playing with your fingers. The movie started around fifteen minutes ago; a fact from Ethan was overdue now. However, as you looked over you realized that Ethan's fidgeting with your hands was nervous and accompanied by frequent glances toward his phone.

"What's up?" You were the one whispering now, a look of concern on your face.

"Hm? Nothing..." Ethan trailed off, distracted, his eyes never leaving his phone.

Ethan wasn't much of a phone guy — especially not during movie nights.

However, you didn't press further, leaning back to try to watch the movie for once.

It wasn't until Ethan's phone dinged, and he reached for it faster than you'd ever seen — breaking the only contact you had with him —, that your suspicion began to grow. Ethan's phone was always on do not disturb, a habit you'd chided him for when he was unresponsive in the group chat — though you were the only exception, the only one he always responded immediately to.

It was surprising to see — you wondered if he was waiting for a grade to be submitted; but as far as you knew, Ethan had no big assignments due recently.

The notification was just an email and the disappointment was clear on Ethan's face. As soon as his phone screen turned black — his home screen photo of you and him disappearing — the screen lit up again, as did Ethan's expression. You averted your eyes. Whatever Ethan was excited about, he'd tell you. On his own time.

You were painfully aware of the minutes that ticked on and on as Ethan typed, waited, stopped to think, then typed again. The sounds of a text conversation suddenly seemed like the biggest interruption to the movie you could have experienced.

Just as your curiosity reached its peak, Ethan turned to you with one of the biggest smiles on his face.

"So, there's this girl..." He went on, eyes bright as you felt your heart drop. You weren't paying attention to his words, only mustering up smiles and nods at the appropriate times to make it seem like you were.

Just like that, the sacredness of movie nights, the hour and a half you intimately shared with Ethan, was gone. It was tainted by the prospect of another girl on Ethan's mind and you suddenly couldn't stand being within five feet of him, an unfamiliar ache sprouting in your chest. The pain only worsened the longer you sat there, processing as the sound of your heart pound drowned out everything else.

You got up suddenly, clutching the spot that screamed in agony. "I don't... feel good." You looked around, cheeks heating up as you realized you caused a scene, glancing at the one now paused on the television.

"Are you okay? Do you need medicine?" Sam asked, suddenly sitting up. She made a motion to get up and you waved her off; if she came up to you know you knew you'd cry.

"No, no, I'm just gonna... go lie down. I'll be fine." You stood true to your word, making your way through the small apartment to the closest room — Tara's — before anyone could say anything more. With your back turned to the living room and your quick exit, you missed the way Ethan sprang up, only discouraged from following you with a shake of Tara's head.

「 ... 」

Being alone with your thoughts in the dark might have been your worst idea yet — but at least you had no audience.

Ethan was talking to a girl. They weren't dating — he would've told you that immediately — but they were talking. Worst of all, there was no reason for Ethan not to talk to other girls. It wasn't like you were dating.

You began to analyze the entirety of your relationship with Ethan, trying to pinpoint where everything went wrong. Somewhere along the way, Ethan had climbed his way up and became the person you cared about the most — sometimes even more than yourself. You'd tried so hard to convince yourself that the love you felt for him was platonic, but you weren't sure platonic friends felt so strongly when there was a romantic involvement with someone else. This was jealously in its purest form.

You groaned, hands on your head as it began to pound. The sudden thought that Mindy was right popped into your head, making you groan even harder.

Knowing Ethan Landry had suddenly become the worst thing that ever happened to you as you realized, too late, that you were hopelessly in love with him.

「 ... 」

Tara and Sam came in after the movie ended, much sooner than expected. Tara instinctively flipped the light switch on, flooding the room with bright yellow light. The sudden irritation led you to cover your eyes with a pillow and groan once more.

"Do you still feel bad? What hurts?" You felt Sam take a seat on the bed, pulling your hands away from your face. You squinted, your eyes still not adjusting to the sudden light when Tara spoke up.

"You're crying."

Your eyes opened and saw the looks of concern on Sam's and Tara's faces, hands reaching for your cheeks where, as correctly observed, tears had streamed down.

"I didn't realize." You said softly, wiping your face quickly. An uncomfortable silence laid upon the three of you, unsure of what to say. Tara and Sam exchanged glances before Tara took a seat on the other side of you, placing her hand on your leg comfortingly.

"Did... Ethan do something?" She asked cautiously.

"What? No!" You shook your head to emphasize. "Well... not purposely."

Sam took your hand in hers, a knowing look on her face.

"He's... talking to someone. It's stupid, I know. It's my fault I didn't give him a reason to... I just didn't realize I..." Tears welled up in your eyes again as you trailed off. You didn't need to finish. Your sisters knew exactly what you were feeling.

「 ... 」

Mindy was next to find out about your feelings toward Ethan and the situation you found yourself in. To your surprise, you weren't met with the "I told you so" or other celebration you expected. Mindy accepted your statement quietly as the two of you lay on your separate beds, dark encompassing your shared dorm.

"What are you going to do about it?" Mindy asked.

"Nothing." Your voice came out shakier than you'd expected. "What can I do now?"

「 ... 」

Chad was the last to find out, after your permission to let him in was granted. You would've told himself if you didn't think it was useless to. There was no point in admitting something that was too late to act on. To say you were hopeless was an understatement; you no longer left your dorm for anything other than class. You hadn't hung out with your friends in days, including Ethan. You were running out of excuses to throw at him and you knew you were running out of time to be upset. You'd have to pick yourself back up eventually — but for now you let yourself be sad.

This decision, however, was not supported by your friends. Tara and Sam's position on their involvement in your life changed drastically. It started as a plan to get you out of bed, they swore, but ended up changing as they realized who the girl Ethan was talking to was.

Chad had reported back to the group everything Ethan had told him about her; Tara recognized her as the girl you sat next to in your English class. You'd mentioned her a few times in passing; she was a friend of a friend of Tara's.

"She's weird," Tara said, eyebrows furrowing as Chad pulled up her instagram profile. "Not in a mean way. As in, she's kind of obsessed with my sister way." Tara crossed her arms, suddenly defensive.

"So what do we do? I mean, I don't think she actually likes Ethan?" Chad asked, looking back and forth.

Sam shrugged. "She might. If we gave her the benefit of the doubt. But it's starting to sound more like something else..."

The four exchanged solemn glances, all understanding what had to happen.

"We have to break them up."

「 ... 」

It was a party that got you out of your room (after days of pleading from Mindy). You were warned beforehand that Ethan and that girl would be showing up. You were only attending, despite this fact, due to the promise of alcohol that you knew would help you get through the inevitable. It was going to happen eventually. Why postpone it?

You separated from Mindy immediately, downing a cup of whatever drink was available — that and a refill was the only prerequisite you had before you forced yourself to find Ethan. Though, it seemed to be the other way around as you turned and were met with an overly-enthusiastic girl on an uncomfortable looking Ethan's arm. It took you a moment to recognize the girl in the dim party lights, but when you did, you didn't bother hiding the shock on your face.

"Madeline?" You almost dropped your cup in surprise, recalling an interaction that had occurred a few weeks ago.

Your teacher was running late, and you were unsure if he was going to show up. You pulled out your laptop to try and take advantage of the hour and a half you had of your lost lecture to get some work done.

Madeline, who was always late, took a seat next to you, as she usually did. She was sweet enough from your limited interactions with her, though the class you were taking didn't leave much room for you to talk.

Though, as there was no excuse not to now, Madeline had the opportunity to engage in small talk with you.

You responded politely but shortly, a little irritated that she continued trying to talk to you despite your obvious desire to get work done. You quickly concluded that Madeline was one of those people who enjoyed the sound of their own voice; a normal person would've stopped talking by now at your short replies.

Your phone lit up out of the corner of your eye and you knew it was Ethan; his class had just ended and the two of you had plans after you got out of this one. You'd always told him to head back to his dorm and wait out the rest of the 45 minutes you had of class there; but he always insisted on waiting for you and walking back together.

"Ooh, who's this?" Madeline giggled, snatching up your phone, much to your surprise. You thought you'd left people like her back in high school.

"Your boyfriend?" She inquired suggestively, pointing at your lock screen — a picture of you and Ethan celebrating his birthday exactly at midnight.

You shook your head, grabbing your phone back a little aggressively.

"No." You responded. It was none of her business; but you weren't assertive enough to say that to her face.

Madeline gasped exaggeratedly. "But he's your lock screen? You sure you're not dating?" She asked as innocently as she could muster.

"No." You repeated, harder this time. "We're just friends."

It was weird enough of an interaction to make sure you were never in a situation where you had to sit near her in that class again, but you chose not to say anything. It was a standalone, isolated event. But now, she was here with Ethan and you weren't sure what to think anymore. However, you were certain you did not like her.

"Oh my God! Isn't this the biggest coincidence?" Madeline exclaimed, though the tone of her voice suggested it wasn't.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Ethan asked, his own surprise evident.

"Of course we do!" Madeline said, letting go of Ethan and bumping her shoulder with yours, your drink dangerously close to sloshing onto your shirt. "We're like, best friends!"

You couldn't help but scoff.

"Really? You've never mentioned her..." You weren't sure if Ethan was talking to you or Madeline, but it pissed you off regardless. Maybe the alcohol had been a mistake.

"Well, have fun." You said curtly, taking one last look at Ethan before walking off. You quickly found Mindy, Chad, and Tara hovering close enough to watch the interaction but far enough that you hopefully wouldn't notice; too late.

You made your way over to them, sighing as you took another sip of your drink.

"What are you guys up to?" You asked suspiciously.

Mindy and Tara looked around at anywhere but you; Chad, however, was not so fast. Your eyes landed on his and you could see the fear in them.

"Nothing!" He insisted too quickly. "Just waiting for her to make a fool of herself so Ethan hates her?" It came out more of a question, but a smile grew on your face. You'd caught them.

Mindy groaned, smacking Chad's arm. "Seriously, you are the weakest link."

"Guys, seriously, it's fine. I'm fine. Can we stop worrying about it and just have fun?" You insisted.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Chad asked, eyes looking at something behind you.

You turned just in time to see Ethan storming away from his date and to the kitchen where he poured himself a drink. Ethan never drank.

"I'll go... check on him." Your words were quiet but the rest of the group nodded anyway, pushing you towards Ethan.

"Slow down, there," you said, a little hypocritically as Ethan chugged the mystery contents of his cup. He reached for a refill but you placed your hands on his, stopping him. That was more than enough alcohol for someone who barely tolerated it.

He was agitated, you could tell, but not at you.

"Have you been avoiding me?" Ethan asked boldly despite the hurt in his voice. Maybe a little at you.

You sighed, stepping closer to him. "Let's go home?"

He hesitated, but nodded, letting his hand fall in yours as you motioned to Mindy across the room.

「 ... 」

You didn't let go of his hand even after you left the crowded sea of warm bodies and were met with the cool air outside. You glanced at him from time to time, though for the first time since you'd known him, his expression was unreadable.

"I wasn't avoiding you. I mean, I didn't mean to. I mean, I just... wasn't in the right mindset to see anyone." You attempted to explain, feeling ashamed all over again.

"You should've told me. I wouldn't have been mad."

"I know. I just didn't want you to think it was your fault."

You continued in silence, though you took your still interlocked hands as a good sign.

"Are you mad now?" You asked carefully.

Ethan shook his head. "I could never be mad at you."

Though instead of relief, you felt guilty.

"She said you were weird." Ethan started after a while. You raised your eyebrows, but kept quiet. "She said it was weird I'm your lock screen. And that you were obsessed with me." Ethan paused and laughed a little, as if acknowledging how ridiculous the accusation was. "She didn't realize you're mine." Ethan flashed his phone up to prove it as if you weren't well aware of the picture. But isn't it weird how she knew we knew each other? And she didn't say anything to me? I thought so." Ethan didn't give you a chance to reply, but he didn't need to; he made his decision, on his own. Though, you couldn't help the relief you felt at it.

It wasn't a long walk back to your building, and the two of you made your way up to your room quietly. Ethan habitually kicked off his shoes as he entered, making his way to your bed and taking a seat. You joined him and sat there, staring at your hands. The two of you looked at each other and opened your mouths to speak at the same time, suddenly stumbling over your words to try and let the other go first.

"You. Go." You said a little awkwardly.

"I love you. I'm in love with you." Ethan started.

"Ethan—"

"Let me finish, please. If I don't say this now I don't think I ever will." He looked to you and you nodded your encouragement.

"I love you so much it's terrifying. I don't know how to date or what any of that is like... but I know how I feel. I love you and I know you're my best friend and I don't know what to do anymore..." Tears were beginning to pool in his eyes as Ethan sighed. "Your turn?"

You couldn't help but laugh.

"I love you, Ethan. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize and even more to accept it... I think I picked the worst possible moment to realize..." You took a shaky breath. "But I think it worked out?"

"Yeah. It most definitely worked out." And with that, Ethan's lips clumsily crashed onto yours, your hands immediately moving to his face to guide him. You could taste the last hints of liquid courage on his lips and you were suddenly grateful he'd had that spiked punch; there was no way you'd gotten a confession out of him otherwise.

You separated to catch your breath, taking a chance to admire Ethan as you ran your thumb over his cheek. He grinned toothily, placing his hands on yours. You kissed him, softer this time, savoring the feeling of his soft lips on yours.

"I knew it!" A voice exclaimed from the doorway, causing you and Ethan to jump approximately five feet from each other, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

There they were: Mindy, Chad, Sam, and Tara with smiles on their faces as they high-fived each other proudly.

"This was all my idea," Mindy said excitedly. "I said we should make a plan—"

"That's enough out of you." Tara said, placing her arms around Mindy and beginning to drag Mindy out.

"You two should be thanking me!"

"We'll leave you two alone now." Chad said with a smile and a wink, causing you to roll your eyes playfully.

"Remember, it's my room too!" Mindy's voice carried from the hall as Chad shut the door behind him, leaving you and Ethan alone in the quiet once again. You groaned at Mindy's comment while Ethan laughed.

Ethan flopped down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. You joined him and he wrapped his arm around like he loved to do.

The comfortable silence was broken by Ethan — it was a whisper so quiet you almost missed it.

"You're my number one," Ethan confessed. "You always have been."

"Good," you replied with a smile as you leaned in to place a kiss on his lips. "Because you're mine, too."

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day 21 - Prompt: Cowardly @wolfstarmicrofic

January Daily Series - 797 words

<<<Previous Post OR Start Here

Sirius knew that it was cowardly of him to hold back while Remus attempted to cross the chasm between them on his own. It wasn’t fair for Remus to risk the fall alone. That was an inescapable fact, but Sirius simply could not balance that risk with enough sound, logical reasons to meet him halfway.

Remus stepped in the kitchen and propped his hip against the counter next to the sink. “I’m not great at reading subtle hints, Sirius. So, if you’re not interested in me, that’s completely understandable. I’m not offended.”

Completely understandable. Now who’s spouting bullshite?

“If there is a part of you that could have feelings for me, even a small one-“

None of my emotions are small.

“If there’s a chance, I mean, for this to be something…eventually, maybe…I’d like to know,” Remus said. His rambling was painfully sweet.

Say something, you twit!

Remus brushed his fingertips over Sirius’s knuckles and traced the pattern of the tiny bird whose swooping path lined the tops of all of the fingers on his right hand. When he reached the shadowed figure of a bird beneath the nail bed of his middle finger, he tapped it twice. Sirius wasn’t sure if it was in approval of the bird’s placement or an attempt to pull his attention away from the empty sink.

“Or, am I making an arse of myself for hoping that a brilliant bloke who quotes Chaucer, The Guinness Book of World Records, and Roman history in casual conversation would give me the time of day?”

Sirius scoffed, “You make that sound impressive, instead of incredibly lame.”

“It’s impressive to me.”

“Then you’re easily impressed,” Sirius replied, shaking his head. “I’m well-read, that hardly means I’m brilliant.”

“Agree to disagree?”

“No.”

Remus huffed an amused breath through his nose. “Right, I should have seen that coming. You still didn’t answer my question.”

Sirius eyed the tattoo that still tingled with a phantom of Remus’s touch. “I can’t see how it would work, even if I wanted to. Our lives are too far apart.”

Remus covered Sirius’s hand with his own and fitted his long, knobby fingers in between. He pulled a pen from the pocket of his flannel pyjama pants and connected the lines of the bird’s path that his own fingers disrupted. With his additions, the trail became smoother overall. The wild loops were now tempered by gently sloping intersections.

“Paths can change,” Remus said, tucking the pen away. “If we want them to.”

“I like my path the way it is.”

Sirius hated how defensive he sounded, but he meant what he said. He loved living with his best mate in Edinburgh. It was an enchanting city filled with history, the Potters lived nearby, and it was the one place where he felt truly happy. While he didn’t think Remus wanted to ruin that for him, he honestly couldn’t see how a clever Welsh bloke fit. Not without entirely uprooting his own life anyway, and Sirius wouldn’t ask anyone to do that.

“Oh, I see.”

Remus pulled his hand back and shoved it in his pocket. A flush spread over his cheeks, highlighting the yellowing bruise under his eye. A bruise that Sirius gave to him two days ago. The one he’d kissed with a tender affection that even surprised him.

“I seriously doubt that you do,” Sirius countered. He offered Remus a smug grin as he turned to face him. “Nothing about my life is incidental, Remus. It is intentionally crafted. Where I live and with who, my family and friends, my career path, all of it. I don’t leave anything to chance. The only missing piece was my brother, which is now sliding into place as well.”

Remus nodded slowly, then hummed a note of rebuttal. “There’s already a conflict in your life plan though. Is that intentional too?” A flicker of hope in his eyes left Sirius uneasy.

“Which is?”

“With Regulus and James together, won’t that change it?”

Sirius frowned. “No, why would it?”

“Your brother lives in London,” Remus said. “If they stay together, one of them will have to move.”

“James and I will make room in our flat.”

Remus arched a sceptical eyebrow as his gaze swept over Sirius with detached assessment. “You want to share a flat with your brother and his boyfriend? Do you really think he’d want to do that?”

Sirius’s brain screeched to a halt, then the wheels spun wildly. After being separated for years, they had plenty of catching up to do. What better way to accomplish that than by living together? Surely his brother would agree. Except, Regulus rarely agreed with him on anything.

Shite. Is he right? If the plan is already changing, then perhaps there is room for…him?

Next Part>>>

[killjillart]

[Replika Overview: JFKR]

'Jungfernkranich' - (Jill's Five-star Killer Replika 'Demoiselle crane') Type: "Generation J Galactic Takeover Specialist" Frame: Biomechanical with carbon fiber-reinforced Polythylene Shell Height: 245 cm

[MORE INFO BELOW]

CLASSIFIED INFORMATION - Commander Eyes Only [The following report is of an unauthorized Replika whose production is not affiliated with The Eusan Nation. They are made using stolen technology, and due to this sensitive information, this fact is not to be relayed to low-ranking officials. The information herein is incomplete, and relays everything that is currently known about this Replika model. To pre-emptively respond to inquiries on the nature of its titles, these are the official titles given by the creator of this model.]

JFKR units originate from an unknown faction who appear to be from another solar system entirely, with technology that is neither Nation or Empire make. In all of their self-absorbed bravado, JFKR units are incredibly dangerous and not to be taken lightly.

Jungfernkranichs are armed to the teeth; they are equipped with swords that appear to be made of concentrated energy, and also are armed with sidearms that fire beams which use a discharged version of this energy. They are able to make quick work of other Replika units that do not have adequate defenses, and so it is imperative to deal with them using coordinated decisive attacks.

JFKR units are incredibly full of themselves. Their egos haven't been observed to clash with one another as they seem to share a certain togetherness, but they can be provoked by outside forces into irrational actions. Their anger is dangerous however, and should only be considered as a plan of action if it is sure that their lapse in critical judgment can be capitalized on.

[INTERNAL DOCUMENT]

JFKR units are based off of me, the baddest bitch that's ever graced this solar system! With technology stolen from one of the warring factions in this system, we were able to create a way for me to proliferate endlessly (given we have the materials, which we do)! Just like me, they're beautiful and skilled in the art of killing. They're armed with dual beam swords and a laser gun sidearm, just in case things get a little impersonal. They tear ass through basically anything except those real big armored units, they just require a little more love and care. With these skills, they will help accelerate our mission of leaving only those who love us! <3

Reports have told us that it's possible for Replika personalities to destabilize and to deteriorate, and thankfully it seems we're all in the same boat that it's great to be 'Jill'. We're all a different Jill, but a Jill nonetheless! They seem to like their bigger bodies too, I almost get a little jealous! That said, there are a few issues we've run into, and there are a few things to avoid.

Now, you know me, I'm a very proud woman. I'm proud to be me, and I'm proud to have other 'me's! However, when our pride is challenged or someone feels like they have any sort of ground to belittle us on, it's over for them! Usually it's fine, we're damn good in a fight, but it seems like they've begun intentionally provoking us into bad positions.

We also tend to not do so hot if someone isn't telling us we're beautiful. This is usually not a problem since we send out small squads of JFKR units together and we can be pretty self-sufficient, but if one of us is alone for too long in too hostile of an environment without the means to properly take care of ourselves, we'll start to fall apart. We're meant to be loved, after all.

To properly maintain JFKR units, it is imperative that they be given the love and attention that they deserve! JFKR units can sustain each other, but please give them the same respect that you'd give patient zero (me). Also, as a bonus, it has been observed that other Replika units are lacking in certain bits of functionality, so we have given them extra capabilities that other Replika do not have. Ask a JFKR unit to see what I mean! ;^)

~Jill <3

[tgrailwar-zero]

Hey team, do you think there's any way we could possibly use the weakness of the tunnels to our advantage? Could we cause a controlled, partial collapse, or would there be too much risk in making the entire thing fall apart?

Looking at the quality of the tunnels, it wouldn't be difficult to break a section of them- the main danger would be ensuring that it didn't begin a chain reaction that ended up doing more harm than good. It seemed like both CONSTANTINE and KUKULKAN had a fair amount of skill in this area- CONSTANTINE's beams were weaker, while KUKULKAN's beams held a lot more firepower.

KUKULKAN: "I think I see what you mean. Block off our enemy, and then use the time as a chance to retreat and regroup, yes?"

With that in mind, making MUSASHI do the breaking would spare you the stress of going overboard with your own power, but she also wasn't exactly relenting with her own strikes. But she was supposed to serve as a defensive unit for this place- so there was a chance she would probably hold herself off from doing permanent, horrible damage to the environment.

You pondered on the idea of hacking MUSASHI. There have been moments where you've hacked into Servants both with and without consent, with varying degrees of success. Which meant that it was, technically, a skill you possessed. Hacking into this particular Servant may produce interesting results, if you also considered your vague memories of OKADA IZOU's final moments.

As sort of… traumatic as that memory was, it was a shared link. That if you encountered the shadow of OKADA IZOU once more, the strands of fate- as tenuous as they were- were not fully severed. With that logic in mind, the same would most likely correspond to MIYAMOTO MUSASHI.

Long story short: Hacking wouldn't be easy, but it would certainly be plausible.

A stun hack would be the easiest option, but may not be as effective. Meanwhile, a more in-depth hack would put any Servants staying to fight in danger as they tried to stall for time.

And, as pointed out by CONSTANTINE, you could probably do a much more effective hacking attempt with the Crimson Blade you acquired- though as PRETENDER noted, that would be at the expense of an important bargaining chip.

There was also just straight brawling- which seemed to be what MUSASHI herself preferred.

The swordsman stepped forward, before blitzing forth in a sudden burst of speed, her blades only barely knocked away by the empowered Sun Goddess. KUKULKAN took a step back, before beginning to trade blows with MUSASHI, back and forth as the time before a crucial decision was needed became more and more imminent.

PRETENDER: "You know they're joking, right? RIGHT?"

And now we've reached the first (real) update of THGW-Zero! Initial responses have been gathered, and now it's up to you to discuss and figure out which course of action to take! Each action has various pros and cons, as the story unfolds in response to your choices!

This operates off of MAJORITY RULE- meaning that whatever choice has the most votes will be picked.

[dzthenerd490]

Alaitoc Eldar: Guardian

Description: Elite fighting force of the Alaitoc Eldar, young but brave females and males who fight for their Craftworld to take on the overwhelming threats of the Galaxy. As Guardians they only attack when the fight comes to them, defending their Craft World and ancient Shrine Worlds of the Eldar, especially those that belonged to their ancestors.

Arsenal:

Alaitoc Guardian Bio Suit - similar to the Biosuit for Space Marines and Legionnaires but is much more powerful as it is powered by the Psyker energy form the Eldar themselves. Allows the Guardian to fly and even gives them a thin but powerful Void shield all over their body vaporizing physical projectiles and repelling energy projectiles. Though this shield can be overloaded or overwhelmed into deactivation, so the Eldar are trained to never be reliant on it. Given arm and leg braces both for protection but also to be able to harness excess Psyker energy allowing the Eldar to summon continuous or powerful Psyker spells without the ever-increasing risk of Chaos. The most common spells that can be used is to create Psychic blades that easily slice through steel or shields to block out physical attacks and projectiles.

Spirit Orb - Also called a Lacrima, contains a bit of the Guardians essence but powered by a contained form of Warp Energy through a process only known by the Eldar. Is used to both be their primary weapon and defensive companion against overwhelming threats. It is able to float around on its own and shoots Psyker lighting at enemies of the Guardians. Thought can only unleash its true power when in the possession of its Eldar master.

Screaming Grenades - Grenades that not only explode but release a shockwave of destruction that lasts for 1 minute. Blowing any target apart and those that do manage to survive still have the chance of being shot with chaos lighting that will vaporize half their flesh and may leave them as a disfigured monster that will now try to kill other survivors as what’s left of their minds have been corrupted by Chaos.

Whispering Sword - A powerful sword already strong enough to cut through metal like a hot knife through butter. However, it is able to extend into a large plasma blade that is so powerful and hot, it can slice through an Imperial Tank, cutting the entire vehicle in two. Is able to reshape itself into a bow that shoots plasma crystal arrows. Able to piece through anything and once impacted sprouts out into crystal spikes that further rip apart their targets and burn hot enough to melt anything that is left or tries to crush them.

Fighting Paths:

Diver Avenger - a fighting style that is rather basic but relies on learning physically from the enemy. The standard approach is to fight wildly and weakly to make them believe you are basic and therefore easy to crush. They should proceed to fight without great effort and thus are open to weaknesses that can be exploited. This fighting style relies on being adaptive and evasive so even if the enemy does not fall for it there is no way the Eldar can be overwhelmed, so long as they have space to retreat to.

Howling Banshee - A strange form of attack where the Eldar will “scream” with Psyker energy while running around their enemies only striking at random times and at random enemies. This is meant to cause as much confusion as possible to leave the enemy no chance to strike back or retaliate. The screams also greatly affect enemy Psykers, leaving them in so much pain they cannot retaliate even if they see the Eldar coming.

Dancing Star - A fighting style of the Eldar where they use a little of their Psyker energy to create luminous illusions to trick and disorient enemies while striking for the kill. Like the Howling Banshee style but works better against Orks and Necrons who cannot sense Psykers or have any Psyker abilities and therefore are normally harder to trick.

Dark Reaper - a fighting style of using ranged weapons with heavy fire power for fire support purposes. Eldar of this path learn to increase their sense to the maximum for more efficient aiming. No enemy can escape their sight or their fire, but they lack the defensive capabilities needed to defend themselves in close range attacks. As such, it's never good to be fully reliant on this path.

Swooping Hawk - a fighting style that relies on the anti-gravity flying abilities of the biosuit for the Eldar. Allows them to focus and strengthen their bodies for attacks from the air, either down on land enemies or up towards enemies in the air. Nothing can escape an Eldar who relies on this style.

[northern-passage]

Hey, about the whole representation matter, I think one of the issues some authors - especially newcommers - have is fear.

It may seem strange, but what I mean is that I think they are scared (perhaps even subconsciously) of writing some types of characters - trans among these - because they are afraid of the backlash if some people are hurt or offended by their depiction, and they sort of try and avoid it altogether. I don't think it's necessarily something to hold against people, but I guess it's a form of lack of confidence so to speak?

I'm not talking from experience though, just an observation. I know I am subject to that kind of fear in some cases, though not in these specific circumstances, so I can sort of understand where such a mindset can come from.

i do understand but i also think it's a cop out?

in the original post i think i put this in the tags but specifically with IF, a huge part of this community is sharing your first draft and updating it as you write. it's Extremely easy to get feedback during this process, For Free, from readers.

if you're unsure about something, you can ask. just be transparent. that's not to say that i think the onus should fall on readers to correct authors (authors should be doing their own research to begin with), but a huge part of writing is being open to criticism and being prepared to make mistakes. i feel like in recent years in this community there has been a huge shift in regards to criticism where now most people just blow it off with a cheeky comment or respond viciously because they interpret every single negative comment as a troll or a personal attack (which is not true) and imo this is what leads to that big backlash that you're talking about, not the mistake itself.

and i think you're right, it is also a confidence thing. if you're sharing your work online, if you're writing to publish to an audience, then you're going to have to be prepared for people to not like what you write, you have to be prepared for people to point out your mistakes, and you should be willing to do research and correct yourself when that happens. it's part of the process. this is not meant to be mean but genuinely if you're not prepared for that, if you don't have the confidence to handle that, then i don't think you should be sharing your work publicly yet.

authors should be allowed to set boundaries around the feedback/interactions they receive & i always think an author is within their right to disregard certain criticisms (especially when it's something subjective like writing style or someone demanding something silly like more ROs/changes to the narrative just because they want it, etc) but i also think it's important to be able to tell genuine criticism apart from trolls/entitled anons and to be receptive to that criticism.

on the other side, i do agree that some people definitely tend to zero in and dogpile (Especially on tumblr but this happens on other social media platforms as well) though i hesitate to generalize here because i think it honestly depends on the situation, but i do also think there needs to be more nuance and more space for people to breathe and ask questions without being met with hostility. but i also need to reiterate my previous point which is that this responsibility should not fall on readers (or other authors) to "educate" someone, and that the people that are hurt, even if it's a mistake, are within their right to feel that way. the best you can do is apologize and listen to the feedback people give you, rather than being defensive and dismissive.

and at the end of the day, you should be doing research. there are so many resources available online now, there are people within the community that offer advice, there are entire tags compiled on interact-if solely for writing advice on these specific topics, there's the writingwithcolor blog, and also just googling can answer so many questions before you even get to the point where someone else has to correct you.

writing is hard. you will have to do research and you will make mistakes and be corrected and i think, generally, if you handle it with grace and understanding, people will be forgiving. i definitely think in the end it's way worse to treat an entire group of people as "unwritable" because you're afraid of making a mistake and being criticized. to me it comes off... as someone victimizing themselves while also dehumanizing an entire group of people because you think they're "too hard" to write and "too mean" in their criticisms, if that makes sense, and i just don't see it as a valid excuse.

[casspurrjoybell-33]

Taming Arrogance - Chapter 2

*Warning Adult Content*

Ribbons of moonlight slip past the curtains.

Being as quiet as possible, I slip out of bed and manage to find my shoes and shirt near the end of the bed.

My latest sexual conquest snores softly in her sleep, oblivious to my exit.

It provides enough noise for me to successfully leave the apartment complex.

The warmth of summer feels amazing against my bare chest,and I stop to put on my shoes at the bottom of the stairs.

A few girls are drunkenly making their way to their apartment, no doubt college students coming home from a late night party.

All three of them notice me when I start making my way to the car.

I don't bother putting on my shirt.

Instead I slide it around the back of my neck to give them a full view of my nicely sculpted torso.

What's that I hear? Jealousy?

Don't be, not everyone can look this good.

Some people are meant to, others just aren't, it is what it is.

I lean against the side of my car, purposely taking my time to dig through my pocket for the keys.

The girls continue to stare at me, giggling flirtatiously behind their hands.

Even though I'm used to this type of reaction when the female sex notices me, it never gets old.

I mentally count down in my head.

4... 3.... 2...

"Hey," one of the girls shouts to me, right on cue.

I look up at her, acting surprised that they're calling me over.

I point to my chest and look around, feigning the act of making sure I'm the one they're addressing.

"Yes you," the second one chimes in.

"Come over here."

I strut towards them with a growing confidence, giving them all a chance to lap up the view.

When I get closer, I take a better look at my options.

All three of them have fairly decent bods but the brunette on the end is exceptionally a sight for sore eyes.

Her long hair falls in waves around her shoulders and I don't shy away from raking my eyes down her luscious body.

She giggles when she notices me staring.

"Well hello ladies," I say with a smirk.

"What are three, fine things like you doing out with no men to accompany you?"

All three of them giggle.

The brunette on the end speaks up first.

"Slim pickins' at the bar," she admits and her speech is slightly slurred.

"Why weren't you there?"

I hold my hands up in surrender.

"I didn't get the memo. My fault entirely and I hate to disappoint, ladies but I'm actually just on my way out."

All three of them pout but the one I've been eyeing purses her lips with indecision.

I've made it clear she's the one I want and now the she needs to decide if I'm worth it or not... which, of course, I am.

After a minute of deliberation, the brunette whispers something to her friends and then turns to me with determination.

She saunters towards me as sexily as she can manage while walking drunkenly in heels.

Just the sight of her has my mouth watering.

I've got this in the bag... I know, I know... getting laid by two broads in one night? Pffft.

Let it sink in, this is just another day in the life of Callum Greene.

********

"You've gotta' be kidding me," I hiss under my breath when I see the time.

I was supposed to be at work over half an hour ago to attend some 'Welcome aboard Mr. Big Shot CEO' party.

Not that I give two shits what that dick-weed thinks about me but until I start college, I really can't afford to lose my job.

Plus, I didn't exactly start out on the best foot with him.

In my defense though, what idiot can't find their way to the coal section that's literally at the front of the store?

Whether he was doing it to test my skills or not, he should have at least had the decency to ask me a question that was backed up with a little more common sense.

I check the mirror and thank the good Lord above for bestowing upon me natural good looks.

In situations like this, it becomes a real time-saver.

Not bothering to do anything to my hair, I grab my work shirt from the floor and head out the door.

While I drive to work, I search my car at every stop sign for gum or some sort of breath mint.

My fingers eventually slide over a half-eaten 'Butter-finger Bar'.

I study its condition.

Bits of dust and dirt glom on to its surface.

I blow it off with a shrug before popping it into my mouth.

The parking lot of work is fuller than normal and my stomach bottoms out when I remember that this isn't just a party for our store.

This is a party for all of 'The Great Outdoors' stores throughout the state.

"Shit," I mutter under my breath, whipping my car into the last parking spot available.

I smooth out my shirt as I get out of the car, tucking it in as best as I can into my jeans.

The familiar 'whoosh' of cool air hits my face when I walk into work, and immediately I notice that the entire floor is empty.

A voice echoes over a PA system, the sound deep and rich.

I meander down the aisles until I find where it's coming from.

It doesn't take long.

Just as I round the corner of aisle three, I nearly collide with the last row of people listening to none other than Mr. Blake Benson speaking on a tall podium at the very back of the store.

There has to be over a hundred employees here.

All of their focus is intently and obediently directed towards their new boss.

I nonchalantly slip through the rows of people and hope my slow movements keep me from landing on the man of the hour's radar.

When I finally spot Kansas near the back, I take a seat beside her.

"What'd I miss?" I whisper.

Kansas scoots over to make a bit more room for me.

"You're late."

'Yeah. No shit.'

"So I didn't miss anything?" I mutter sarcastically, drawing attention to the fact that she didn't answer my question.

Kansas sighs and lowers herself in her seat.

"He's just talking about changes to the store and stuff like that. He has all these ideas to make 'The Great Outdoors' more than what it is today."

I snort.

"Yeah and in three months he'll be exactly where our last CEO left off, sipping martinis and playing mini golf in his office all day."

"Can't blame the guy for trying. At least he wants to make a difference."

"Oh get off it," I say and roll my eyes.

"If you didn't want to slob on his knob, you'd be agreeing with me completely."

Kansas shoots me a glare but doesn't deny my words.

She crosses her arms over her chest, turning away to hide the heated blush rising to her cheeks.

"...and that concludes our meeting this morning," Mr. Blake Benson says, drawing my attention to him.

"I want to thank all of you for joining me today, for taking the time from busy schedules to make 'The Great Outdoors' the priority it deserves to be."

Give me a fuckin' break.

A resounding applause echoes throughout the back of the store.

People stand, giving this joker a standing ovation as if he's just accepted a Nobel Peace prize for wanting to sell more lumber.

Blake nods and smiles effortlessly across the throes of employees before him.

When the applause dies down, he raises his hand for their attention a final time.

"Please," he says.

"Help yourself to the complimentary beverages and snacks I've provided. Feel free to mingle amongst yourselves before taking the rest of the day off. We'll be starting full force on Monday. Thanks again, everyone."

His microphone fizzles out.

The murmur of people talking rises tenfold over the next minute.

Chairs scrape across the tiled floor as my follow co-workers search for the snacks like the vultures they are.

By the hungry looks in their eyes, you'd swear they haven't eaten in ten years.

Their pant sizes, on the other hand, tell a different story.

"You sticking around?" Kansas asks. I shrug and look in the direction that people seem to be flocking.

"Pass. I'll see you Monday."

Kansas gives a half-hearted wave.

She quickly finds a group of employees from our store before making her way to the food.

Time for me to dip out while the dipping is good.

I untuck my shirt and weave my way through the human obstacles before hitting the aisles.

Looks like being late paid off after all.

Not only did I get to avoid talking to Blake but also I avoided his drawn out speech.

"Ah, Mr. Greene. I'm glad you were able to make it," Blake Benson's voice catches me off guard.

My feet come to a screeching halt.

I whip my head around to find him walking towards me in this deserted aisle of picture frames.

His glossy green tie seems to shine under the florescent lights of the store.

Like the first time I saw him, he's once again wearing black pants and a black dress shirt.

He casually stuffs his hands in his pockets when he reaches me.

A knowing smile slips across his lips and he gives me a look like he knows exactly what I'm thinking.

"I... ah, yeah. No problem."

Blake turns to look at the aisle, his eyes peruse the myriad of picture frames.

"Do you enjoy working here, Mr. Greene?"

No, he probably knows it too. So why is he seeking me out to ask such a pointless question?

Unless... I gnash my teeth together.

He must have seen me coming in late, is that what this is about?

Or maybe this is still blow-back from our first introduction.

He's trying to fire me... I just know it... what an asshole-ski.

"Yeah, I enjoy working here," I finally answer, lying through my teeth.

"Sir."

"What?"

"Sir," Blake repeats.

"You always need to address the customer using this name."

The arrogance of this guy is unbelievable.

My eyes narrow to slits.

"I do address the customers like that. I didn't realize you were a customer, though."

The playfulness in Blake's face vanishes.

His eyebrows pinch together, clearly displeased with my response.

"A valid point," Blake responds coolly.

"But I am your boss."

If I wasn't at work, I'd knock this dude straight on his ass.

Unfortunately for me, he provides my paycheck, no matter how measly that is.

"Whatever," I mumble.

"Sir," the words taste bitter as they leave my lips.

Seeing Blake's superior grin makes it even worse.

I can't wait until I can blow this popsicle stand for good, not having to deal with him or any other boss for that matter.

"Callum," Blake says, nodding towards the far side of the store.

"All joking aside, I need to have a talk with you. Do you have a moment to join me in my office?"

Internally I groan.

What's this dude have to talk with me about that he can't say right here?

I want to tell him I have plans.

I want to tell him to shove it up his blow-hole.

Instead I grit my teeth, spinning on my heels and giving him a consenting nod.

"Fine."

"Wonderful."

Blake smiles, completely unaffected by my attitude.

"Follow me then, please."

[aynsleywalker]

So, usually, my writing is pretty selfish. The plots, the dialogue, everything is kind of written just for me, but I'm feeling a little pumped about this scene so I thought I'd go ahead and share it.

Also, did I reference Pedro characters in a Daredevil fic? I sure did.

I am currently super obsessed with Matt Murdock and Frank Castle, and this is just a little scene with Matt that I'm liking. 😊

Loving the Devil is a Sin

(A scene snippet)

Matt Murdock x Female OOC (Finley Grey)

** Trigger Warnings ⚠️ : Panic Attack, references to past character deaths, self blame, blood, wounds, references to weapons, sorry if I missed something! **

“What happened here, Angel?  This is deep,” he murmured, his hands encircling her waist to help her up onto the table as he tried to keep himself from listening too closely to the way her tac pants slid down to her ankles, baring the length of her muscular, he was certain soft, legs.

“Bullet ricochet,” she muttered, hissing loudly when he pressed a clean cloth over the wound.

His head shot up as his eyes widened at her, his palm unintentionally pressing the white towel a little more firmly against the deep, still bleeding wound.  “You didn’t say something earlier?”

“Of course not,” she scoffed, grasping his wrist lightly to keep him from moving his hand any more.  “Matt you just pointed out earlier that I don’t speak up.  I was going to patch you up first and then hole up in the bathroom to lick my wounds like usual.  This isn’t the first time I’ve been shot, Matthew.”

“Sweetheart…” His eyebrows knitted together as his entire expression crumbled in something akin to agony.

“No!  Matt, not since… I meant before.  I’ve been shot before I came to you for help.  I would have asked you for help for a gunshot wound.”

“This is a gunshot wound!” he pointed out, his pitch rising.

“This is a ricochet wound!” she countered, her own pitch rising defensively in response.

“Finley,” he growled in warning, a sigh following.  “If you want to fight about semantics – “

“I don’t want to fight at all!  I’m sitting on your table with my pants around my ankles when I would much rather have your suit off stitching that gash in your arm, Murdock.  What do you want from me!?  This isn’t what I do, ok?  Every partner I’ve ever had has gotten killed!  I fucking refuse to let you get killed on my watch!”

She shoved his hand away, swallowing the cry of pain as the towel fibers scraped fiercely against the re-opened wound and slipped off the table.  Wrenching her pants up, she fastened the button on her way up the stairs toward the rooftop exit of his apartment, ignoring him calling out for her.

She knew this had been a bad idea from the start.  She should have stuck to her original plan.  Using him for his contacts and his knowledge of Hell’s Kitchen and nothing more, just like she had told him at the start.  Dragging him into the fights, letting him convince her to use his apartment, allowing herself to get to know him… She had given herself the opportunity and she had unintentionally taken it.

She had caught feelings for the Devil and she was going to pay for those sins now.

There was a reason she worked alone.  There was a reason she had never taken another partner.  Every one of them… Marcus, Dave, Jack, Javi…  Every one of them had been killed on missions with her.

Had she gotten them killed?

No.

Maybe.

Could she have saved them?

The Agency handlers said no, but her mind said yes.

She could have found her way back into that Minotaur’s labyrinth of jungle foliage back in Columbia to find Javi.  She could have fought her way back through those soldiers, those gunslingers, those drug runners.  She’d been young, but skilled enough to have found him in time.

She could have found more ammunition somewhere in the hallways, in the darkened rooms of those drug dens in Argentina to re-load to cover Jack instead of the other way around.  Surely somewhere there had been a loose weapon.  Loose ammo.  Jack hadn’t needed to fall back.

She could have lined up and taken those shots faster over Dave’s shoulder.  She had the sniper training.  She was fast.  Faster than she had been that day.

She could have… Marcus. 

Fuck!

Sweet, kind, generous Marcus.

Marcus had given his life to save hers.  There was nothing she could have done to save Marcus.

And now here she was, years after having had a partner for the last time and even though Matt wasn’t technically a partner and he out skilled her on so many levels, her mind had hit that loop, seen those men, remembered those recovery missions and realized this had to end.

She couldn’t work with Matt anymore.

She had fallen so hard so fast for both Matt Murdock and the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, for Daredevil, whatever he was called, and she had to back out of it now.  End their agreement.  Stop asking for his help and keep rolling on her missions alone.  She couldn’t handle losing someone else she cared about – especially not someone this deeply.

The icy air of New York City at 3am in mid-February hit her like a ton of bricks and she let out the sob that was clenched in her chest, rushing out to the edge where she and Matt had watched and listened to the city living beyond them so many times.  She could feel the heat of the fresh blood from her leg gel immediately, gumming her pants right to her skin, just like the other still fresh wounds she hadn’t told him about though he obviously already knew about them.

Fuck what she wouldn’t do to have his sense of hearing right then to find a fucking fist fight out on the streets just to expend the sudden race of adrenaline pumping through her system.  The prickle of it beneath her skin like grasping an electric fence, the sensation muted by the stretch of it through every inch of her. Like the sensation of coming in from being out in the cold too long when sensation began to come back to hands and feet, tiny pins and needles skating through muscle and skin, tightening and stabbing, almost vibrating with life coming back from complete numbness.

Her gaze moved to the brilliance of the electronic billboard across from Matt’s building, forcing herself to focus on it, forcing herself to pick out and count the individual pixels in too bright colors as she desperately tried to rein in the panic rising up in her.  Her throat tightened, and that panic began physically lapping up her throat like individual waves at the edge of a lake, too quick and too shallow but stirring over rocks with enough force to erode them into sand and silt given enough time and strangling the breath right out of her.

The fight for oxygen became more real as those waves became stronger, white caps forming on the lake pushing the waves higher until blackness invaded the edges of her vision and she found herself counting and re-counting the same pixels of light over and over again.

Hands were suddenly grasping her jaw from either side, gently but firmly caging her face and firmly turning her head.  The very last of her breath left in a tiny yelp of surprise before Matt’s eyes registered, mahogany and cinnamon swirling and swimming in her vision as a single word, “Breathe,” filtered into her brain in just the right tone, just the right amount of authority, that her base instincts listened.

Her mouth opened wide, lungs filling on a deep gasp, followed by another, and another as her gaze locked on his steady, unfeeling gaze, his mouth moving, although she couldn’t hear.  Couldn’t register.

A moment, or a dozen, passed as her body re-oxygenated, the panic easing just enough for her to recognize Matt’s voice, recognize his words, the world finally surrounding her again and settling back into place around her with a dull thump.

He was still in the suit, though he'd removed the gloves, his hands somehow still warm where they held her face steady, the pads of his thumbs stroking slow and steady against the fine hairs just above her temples.

“That’s it.  There you go.  Just keep breathing for me, sweetheart.”

[i314flix]

the one where peter realizes that all peter parkers has an mj in their lives that they hold dearly in their hearts, and you, his good friend who happened to have the same initials, might be the person he’s meant to break down his walls for for the first time again after vowing to lock it up forever.

pairing: tasm!peter parker x mj!reader

word count: 2.8k

rating: NC-17

content: fluff, friends to lovers au; ft. professor!reader, professor!tasm!peter

warning/s: suggestive sexual themes; this fic isn’t that marinated yet for editing so there might be some mistakes here and there.

opening note. i rewatched spider-man: no way home and came up with this idea while doing so lol. technically, i know tasm!peter is not supposed to remember mcu!peter but for the sake of this fic, let’s just pretend that he does okay hehehe. also, i know this is supposed to be a reader-insert fic, but again, for plot purposes, you will have a name with the mj initial !

Peter felt like the densest person alive when it clicked to him that Peter 1’s Michelle Jones-Watson and Peter 2’s Mary Jane Watson had a version of her own in his universe.

He knew that he should have realized it as soon as the two Peters mentioned them, but he was so caught up with being in an entirely new dimension and coming up with a plan that would save its people that he didn’t have the luxury to process it quicker than usual; he just allowed it to be heard by his ears and shooed away by his preoccupied mind, deeming the information as merely trivial.

However, the second he was left alone with his thoughts, just as he began formulating and working on the cure for Dr. Curt Conners, it hit him like a ton of bricks that if these Peters had a partner that had the same initials, then it wouldn’t be quite impossible for him to supposedly have an MJ of his own—and that you, whose full name was Mia Joesette Watson, seemed to have perfectly fit that specific criteria.

In Peter’s defense, since you preferred to be called ‘Jo’ and the entirety of your name was very different from the other MJs, he should be given some slack for not realizing it sooner. It’s not like there was some memo that said all Peters indeed had an MJ in their life and that this said MJ would have a significant impact in it.

Still though, a part of him reckoned that he should have known better due to how much of an important and dear person you were to him. After all, since vowing to himself that he would never allow anyone to know about his identity as Spider-Man after what happened to Gwen, you became the exception to that rule because of what Peter now assumed was the universe’s way of telling him that you were meant to know him other than just Peter Parker, your colleague and fellow adjunct professor at the university you both worked in.

So when he got transported back to his universe thanks to Peter 1’s wizard friend, the first thing he did was rush to the university grounds where he knew you would be, ignoring the pain he felt in his body from all the fight and getting the first clothes he could find in his apartment to wear over his Spider-Man suit so that he could disguise himself as an average guy.

He just knew he couldn’t wait to see you again. It was going to be literally torturous if he prolonged this any longer, his head only filled with thoughts of how much he wanted to see you and prove if the theory he had been thinking of was right.

Peter wished it was; he never said it out loud before, but it has been months since he has been in denial with himself that he was already gaining romantic feelings for you due to his fear of ever loving someone so much again.

And if this was the go signal he had been waiting for that told him it was safe to fall in love with you, then he was going to take it.

━━

Arriving at the faculty building, he marched to where your office was and heedlessly opened the door without warning, spotting you by your desk with a student sitting across you.

From the looks of it alone, this student—Rachel, as Peter remembered her—was having a consultation with you, her laptop opened for you and folders scattered on the table, a very clear indication that he shouldn’t have barged in like he just had right now unannounced.

Your eyes flashed to him in an instant, confusion and surprise etching on your features. “Mr. Parker,” you acknowledged, keeping the interaction as professional as it could since there were existing rumors of the both of you having a love affair (from what you gathered, the students were ‘shipping’ you together), “is there anything I can help you with?”

He swallowed hard, embarrassed as he was not expecting another person to be with you at this time. “Well, uh, yes. But it can wait. I can wait out here.” He pertained to the bench outside your office.

“Oh, it’s fine, Mr. Parker,” Rachel was the one who spoke; she appeared pleased and there was a certain glint in her eyes that Peter couldn’t quite decipher. “My consultation period with Ms. Watson is done. So, you can have her.” She closed her laptop that was on your desk and kept the rest of her things before standing up.

“No, no, if you still have something to discuss—”

Any protest done by Peter got ignored by Rachel as she thanked you for your time, this big teasing grin on her face, and bid her farewell to you and Peter, scurrying to the door then to give you two the privacy you needed.

“Rachel, remember to email me the revisions by tonight, alright?” You reminded her gently before she could completely leave.

“Will do!” she giddily replied, closing the door behind her.

Once she was far enough and out of hearing shot, Peter turned back to you and saw you gazing at him with your arms crossed against your chest, your stance clearly disapproving. He was well familiar what must be running in your mind right now; there has been a lot of times in the past wherein he has gotten hurt from crime fighting that he enlisted your help in taking care of his unreachable wounds, and during one of those instances that you saw how much he winced and was in pain, you were never shy in making your concern show.

“I’m sorry,” he quickly said, striding towards your desk while you remained there, “I forgot that it’s your consultation hours during this time.”

“Where the hell were you, Peter?” was what you asked him, no longer hiding your infuriation about the fact that he has been missing since yesterday. “You didn’t attend any of your lectures from what I’ve heard, and you haven’t been answering any of my calls.”

It took a few seconds before he spoke, and when he did, he knew that the excuse he blurted out wouldn’t be good enough for your ears. “I’ve been busy.”

“Busy? With what?” You walked around the desk to walk closer to where he was standing. “You were gone for almost two days, Pete. At first I thought you were doing your—” you paused, glancing at the door for a millisecond and keeping your voice hushed for your next sentence— “Spider-Man stuff, but I looked over the news and there weren’t reports of you from anywhere.”

“Well… that’s probably because I most likely didn’t do my Spider-Man stuff here,” he sheepishly said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I literally wasn’t here, Jo.”

“You were out of town?”

“No, I mean literally in this world.”

“In this world?” you repeated in an impatient and puzzled manner. “So, what are you saying? Did you gain the ability to fly yourself to space?”

“No, no, I mean here, Jo.” Peter gestured to your surroundings in complete astonishment; regardless of how many hours it has been since he knew of the fact, he was still amazed to know that it was true. “In this world is what I’m saying. God, I don’t even know where to begin—but string theory, multidimensional reality, matter displacement? It’s all real. There are universes out there that are like our own, universes that we have counterparts of and who live in the same places we live in right here. The one I somehow ended up in? It had its own Peter Parker.”

You blinked at him, shocked at what he disclosed but was still in the process of taking it all in. “What?”

“The multiverse—it exists. It fucking exists.”

“LIke… like in that movie called Everything Everywhere All at Once? There’s just multiple realities happening all at the same time?”

“Exactly!”

“And the universe you traveled to, there was a Peter Parker there that wasn’t you?”

He nodded in enthusiasm. “Yes. Though, it’s interesting, because we look nothing alike. It doesn’t matter, of course. It’s just that I was under the impression that all Peter Parkers are supposed to look the same, but I suppose that there can be exemptions considering that there must be zillions of worlds in the—”

“Wait, wait, wait…” You cut him off and he immediately shut up. “So, let me get this clear, you were gone for almost two days because you were in another universe?”

“It sounds crazy, I know,” he said, “I mean, now that I’m back, I’m having a hard time grasping it again. But yes, basically, that is the reason for my absence.”

“How did you even travel there?”

“No idea. Just poofed there without warning.”

You continued staring at him, thankfully not because you seemed like you had your suspicions that he was only bluffing or was completely losing it. Peter was positive that you were going to believe him; it was dubious of you not to, given the fact that you were already aware of his powers as Spider-Man and the superhumans that posed a threat to your city from time to time. Surely, the concept of the multiverse couldn’t be the one thing you couldn’t comprehend.

“Fascinating,” you finally uttered out loud, looking genuinely impressed. “If they have their own Peter Parker there, does he happen to be Spider-Man as well?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “There’s two of them actually—Peter 2 is from another world too, I’ll explain later—and he’s the oldest among us three. Peter 1, the youngest, is the true Peter in that dimension, while me… I’m kinda like the middle child in the whole dynamic.”

“There were three Peter Parkers in the world you transported in?”

“Yep.”

“Sounds like a handful.” You had the nerve to tease despite being stunned by the information. “I’m assuming there’s a Jo Watson in that universe then, huh?”

Peter smiled. He just remembered what he came rushing here for. There was a part of him that was still nervous about what he wanted to do now because of his newfound knowledge, afraid that maybe his case was different when it came to having an MJ in his life—yet most of him felt optimistic that this was the right path to go, and he hasn’t felt this much optimism in a while for him to ignore it.

“It does, actually.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Really?”

“Uh-huh. She looks nothing like you and she goes by MJ but I’m pretty sure that you and her are supposed to be the same.” He chuckled and so did you.

“What makes you so certain?”

“For one, she’s an important person in Peter Parker’s life, and you’re important to me too, Jo,” Peter said sincerely, his eyes practically the ones that were speaking to you that he caught the movement in which you held your breath in surprise a bit because of it. “I… to be frank, I should have realized it sooner. You’ve always been so much more than just a person I wanted to protect and care for. I’ve always been drawn to you… it’s perhaps the reason why I climbed in the wrong window that night despite memorizing this whole building.”

A snort escaped you at the memory he had you abruptly revisiting. What he was referring to was the night when you discovered he was indeed the man behind Spider-Man, all because of Peter’s mistake of climbing into your office for a supposed temporary refuge which was coincidentally placed a floor above his. He wasn’t sure what made him commit such a rookie mistake, although like he just said, he now thought it was the universe’s way of bringing him closer to you.

“Peter…” You began but he held your arms gently to stop you from carrying on with that sentence.

“You don’t have to give me an answer yet,” he said. “I just want you to know that I like you, Jo. A lot. And I’ve been trying hard not to for the past few months because of fear that I’ll just get fucked by life all over again if I allow myself to let another person in my life like I did before. Being in that other world though… seeing how those two Peters had MJs of their own—it made me hope that maybe it could work for the both of us too. Not just as friends… maybe as something more.”

You blinked at him, the implication of his words dawning onto you. To claim that you anticipate this confession would be a lie; regardless, it didn’t erase the fact that it made the butterflies in your stomach turn into a damn zoo. “Pete, I… wow, um, I’m speechless.”

“I’m sorry if I’m pouring this all out on you in one go.”

“No, don’t apologize.” You found yourself smiling, and that gesture alone made his heart want to burst in happiness. “I just mean that… well, I don’t want to be stereotypical—uh, do the other MJs happen to have romantic interest in the other Peter Parkers too?”

The both of you were beaming now. He was positive then that you were his already.

“Yeah. They’re head over heels over their Peters as a matter of fact,” Peter said.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Totally. I heard one of them even made the first move of kissing Peter.”

“Very admirable, I must say.” You were laughing again, and he couldn’t help following suit.

“Right?” He stepped closer and brought both of his hands on your cheeks. “However, as much as I would be honored for you to do that as well, I think I’ll save you the effort and do it myself.”

Before you could react, Peter had his lips already on yours, kissing you with a passion that he didn’t know he had until he was here and making it apparent to you. He loved how you melted into him the moment his mouth touched yours, how your hands traveled from staying still on both of your sides to clinging onto his coat to pull him closer to you, deepening the kiss and showing how much you needed this to happen as well, even though like him, you were only aware of that fact once this was really happening.

“Goddamn,” you cursed as you felt your bottom hit the desk; Peter had successfully led you to perch on it while he stood between your thighs, his body dangerously pressing against yours, “I never knew you had game, Pete.” You breathed out, half-teasing and half-impressed.

Peter smirked. “I’m hurt.”

“What can I do to make it up to you?” Your tone was flirtatious and he was feeling rather hot because of it.

“Lots of things, Jo. Though there are a few things at the top of my list.”

“Yeah?” You moaned as he nipped on your throat and squeezed your hips. “Like what?”

He was about to reply with the naughtiest thing he will ever utter in your presence but then loud consecutive knocks were heard from the office door, causing you two to halt at once.

Another knock came and Peter recoiled from you instantly, dashing to the nearby bookshelf to start pretending like he was interested in the books displayed there to erase the possible suspicion of what just commenced. You, on the other hand, briskly smoothened your hair, blouse, and asked the person knocking to come in, revealing it to be Rachel who appeared bashful to be back here again.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Watson, but I seem to have forgotten my laptop charger.” She gestured to the pouch right beside you on the table, something that you recognized to be the one that contained what she returned for.

You grabbed it and outstretched the small bag towards her direction, an invitation for her to come get it herself, and she didn’t waste time darting forward, catching hold of it and mumbling her sorrys again and again, apologizing for interrupting your ‘meeting’ with Professor Parker.

“It’s fine,” you repeatedly told her too, waving your hands in assurance that it was all good and offering her a final smile before she exited the office for the second time this day, yelling a one last sorry until you heard her footsteps fade out.

As soon as that was dealt with, you and Peter simultaneously let out a huge exhale, causing your gazes to meet. By far, making out in the office was the most risqué and compromising position you permitted yourself to be in, considering that you and him were still in the university premises. Nonetheless, you ended up bursting out laughing with Peter at the thought of being discovered on the very first day you just admitted your feelings to each other, happy hormones spreading everywhere in your systems.

With a bite of his lip to prevent a bigger grin to be seen on his mouth, he lifted a hand and shot a synthetic web to your torso and abruptly hauled you towards him so that you’d fall in his arms. You gasped in absolute surprise, a complaint bubbling in your throat, yet he couldn’t care less as he carried on with kissing you again, picking up from where the both of you were left interrupted earlier. 

gentle reminder: this author is a sucker for validation so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts about this! ♡

[amuseoffyre]

I'm having so many emotions right now about Ed and the language of face-touching for him.

Body touching is a different thing. There’s so much of that, I can’t even track it. From the word go, Ed is happy to get in peoples’ personal space, slap them on the back, clasp their hand, squeeze their arm, hug them when a plan goes the right way. But the face? That’s a whole other thing for him.

I've been tracking it through the show (as well as in other people) and most touches to face are done in an act of violence or implicit control/threat in the pirates’ experience - Ed's dad striking his mother, Jackie to Olu and Jim (and Stede, if you include the knife), Geraldo to Jim, Ed to the French captain, Izzy to Ed and Fang. I’m sure there are more I’m forgetting.

And because it got long again, I’ll pop it behind a read-more.

I'm on episode 5 now at the banquet and Antoinette reaches out to tweak Ed's beard ribbon when he’s already in a state of high stress because of the entire party situation.

For him, someone’s hand coming close to his face has a legacy of violence and he explodes out of his chair in an instinctive and defensive panic, raising cutlery as a weapon. Of course, the hosts think it’s all a big joke, which makes things worse for Ed because he’s just been kicked into a familiar fight-mode but in completely unfamiliar setting.

Which leads me into episode 6 and the bathtub scene. Ed’s emotions have been creeping closer and closer to the surface from the minute he landed on Stede’s ship and when he has his breakdown over the kraken, he goes somewhere he can hide himself like a child crawling under a bed, wrapping himself in a comforter, to keep the scary things at bay.

In comes Stede, who talks to him gently and listens to him without calling him a terror or a monster. Even when Ed admits he’s meant to murder Stede, Stede doesn’t get upset, he just listens, offers an alternative and then - when Ed is on the verge of tears - reaches down to gently squeeze his shoulder.

And then my little heart went to bits as Ed, who doesn’t let people touch his face, curls like a kicked animal to timidly press his cheek to Stede’s hand. He initiates the contact. He places his face in Stede’s hands, trusting him not to hurt him.

This is the point where Ed starts to try and draw himself back, saying he should leave. Ed has been steadily falling for Stede from the word go and he’s starting to see how it’s affecting him and honestly, it’s scaring him. He doesn’t think he deserves it and is waiting for the moment when he breaks it all becuse he’s so sure he’s a monster.

And yet he gets drawn into Stede’s treasure hunt project because - despite how mortifying it is - he likes the man too much. So much so that when they’re eating together, he doesn’t even hesitate to let this soft, silly little man gently clean his beard for him. While gazing at him so softly. I mean look at him. You can practically see the hearteyes.

Ed, at this point, is past the point of no return. He is head over heels and to him, Stede is good and safe and not any kind of threat. Which honestly, ironic given the disaster that follows.

Which leads me on to the cliffside at sundown.

This is when he lays himself bare, when he makes himself entirely vulnerable, showing Stede the very heart of him, and that’s the first time he touches him on the face. It’s tender and intimate. It’s as much a giving of trust as receiving it for him. It’s taking this soft, precious thing in his hand and letting himself hold it for the first time.

And then everything falls apart.

The next time someone touches him on the face, is it any wonder he reacts with such violence? He’s back where he belongs, in the world of monsters where you can’t trust anyone. And what’s worse is that he believes he belongs there. After all, Stede left him behind despite everything. People like Ed don’t get fine things or soft things or kind touches to the cheek. That’s not how his world works.

[fayeforrosie]

hi!! may i request a jealous jennie x reader fic pls! angst w fluff❤️❤️

Words Not Meant To Be Said

Jennie x Fem! Reader

After selfishly lashing her anger out on you, saying words that could not be taken back, Jennie realizes that it's up to her to make things right Warnings- Swearing, mention of alcohol Thank you for the request anon! :)

The aftermath of this night had been Jennie's fault. She knew that. She knew she shouldn't have said such things to you, and as soon as her words unconsciously slipped off her tongue, she immediately took a step back, rethinking what she had said as she placed the two of her hands on her head, gripping her hair in regret.

The two of you weren't officially dating, however it was quite obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that something was going on between you and her. She knew it was acceptable for you to contemplate her whereabouts as she arrived at your apartment later than usual, and yet she still felt the need to selfishly take her anger out on you.

"It's not even that late Y/n! I don't know why you're making such a big deal about me coming home at like", she glances at the clock "ten at night!"

"It's not about you being late Jennie! It's about how you said you would be here at eight, and so I waited for you for two hours without a single fucking text! I don't care if you stayed longer at your friends, I care that you tell me the actual time you'll be here, and then fucking follow through!" You angrily step closer to her, shouting even louder than you had been when she first walked through the door.

Jennie furrows her eyebrows and slams the drinks she had brought onto the table, raising her hands in defense.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know I was your fucking girlfriend or something? Am I supposed to change my entire fucking schedule just for you?"

Your tightened shoulders began to relax, furious emotions simmering down to the last drop. Shaking your head disappointingly, you grab your keys off of the counter adjacent to you, strutting out the door without a single mutter being said on your behalf.

Anger wasn't what you had felt at the moment. You didn't want to argue back with her, she said what she said, and there was no changing it on her part. You knew she regretted saying it as soon as your gaze falls upon her softening eyes, her arms reaching out as you walk out the door, repeating the same words over and over.

"Y/n I'm sorry you know I didn't mean it. Y/n come on please. Y/n I'm sorry, really", she had begged, pleading for you to come back.

Ultimately, that is what led you to where you are now, sitting at a local club, three or four shots surrounding your presence that random men or woman had bought you.

You never do this. You were never the person to go clubbing, however with all of the contradicting feelings floating around in your hazardous mind, you assumed this would be the best decision to finally let loose and forget about her.

On the other hand, Jennie didn't know what to do. She tried calling one of her closest friends and ask for their advice on what she should do, yet to her dismay her friend failed to pick up on the other line, leaving Jennie in a puddle of thoughts she was forced to deal with herself.

She brushed her hair back with her fingers, sighing as she looked up at the ceiling, contemplating on what she should do to make it up to you. She had already tried calling and texting you multiple times, nevertheless she received no response, as she expected.

Thinking back, Jennie knew there was so many better ways to handle the situation, but in the heat of the moment, like she would always do, her emotions got the best of her, and to gain privates end, she shouted such hateful words towards you, knowing it was wrong.

Jennie decided it had been enough standing around before she grabs her keys and starts out the door, immediately racing to her car and hoping into the drivers seat.

First, she stopped at one of your closest friends house, Sana, and asked if you had possibly came by, however Sana shook her head and gave her other places to check around the town.

Next, following Sana's orders, Jennie drove to one of your favorite libraries, a place you would always resort to when your day wasn't as pleasant as others. Nonetheless, after searching through the libraries interior, you had yet to be there as well.

Jennie drove to numerous other places, continuing to call your cell in the mean time, and failing to find you in all areas she checked. As she drove by yet another place you enjoyed going to, Jennie heard a ding coming from her phone, immediately picking it up in hopes it was you.

She looked down at the screen, frowning as she realized it was only Sana, however her eyes lighting up as she begins to read the text that had been sent to her.

I just checked Y/n's location on Snapchat and it said that she was at that club by her house. I would go check on her.

After reading what was sent, Jennie places her phone next to her and almost instantly races to the designated direction, not a care in the world that she might have cut in front of a couple cars and sneakily ran a red light.

Finally Jennie arrived at the club, slamming the car door shut and running towards the entrance, ignoring the irritated hollers she would recieve as she pushed herself through the crowd of people. She quickly holds her ID up for the bouncer before she moves inside, uncomfortably loud music and horrific smelling men invading her senses.

She turns her head left and right, desperately searching in every direction for where you could be. As she walks through the mobs of drunken people, a certain laugh she could easily recognize passes by her ears. Her head perks, following the direction of your laugh, shoving her way towards your sound as hurriedly as she could.

Finally her eyes fall upon the back of your head, your gorgeous hair she's admired for so long flowing down your shoulders. She smiles out of relief and makes her way over to you, breathing heavily, her nerves beginning to suddenly rise.

"Y/n I need to talk with y-"

You turn around at the recognition of her voice, only for Jennie to realize a dark haired woman sitting next to you, way too close for her liking. You roll your eyes once your gaze falls on hers, turning back to the woman you had been talking to, moving just a smidge closer, knowing that Jennie doesn't like what she sees.

"Who's this?" Jennie asks defensively, walking towards your figure and standing by your side, a face written of straight jealousy.

"Why do you care? It's not like we're girlfriends, isn't that right?" You tilt your head, reciprocating what the woman had said to you not even a couple hours before.

Jennie knows the reason behind your words, and it felt only worse now that you were confronting her about it. She knew you were upset, and she knew that the two of you had a lot of talking to do, nonetheless, a random attractive lady attached to your side was not what Jennie was expecting you to respond with.

"Y/n, I know your mad, but please can we just talk this out?" Jennie begs, her heart aching with not only regret, but her jealousy burning within. She wanted you away from that woman. She wanted you away from this nasty club, where anyone and everyone wouldn't hesitate to take a chance on you, as proved by the woman not too far from her. It was unfair for Jennie to feel like this, after she had just got done yelling at you for being so invasive, and yet she stood there next to you, wishing she could rip you away from all of the vile men and woman eye-fucking you in every possible direction.

"I'm not talking anything out with you Jennie. You were right, we aren't dating, so we should stop acting like we are." You turn to your side, attention once more engrossed on the woman by your side, Lisa, she said her name was.

"Listen Y/n... I know what I said was wrong, and it's completely my fault, but I mean it when I say that I could not be more sorry for what I said to you. It was wrong and hurtful, and I just beg you to let me take you back home so we can talk it out." Jennie inches towards you, wanting nothing more than that pestering black haired woman to see that you were hers and nobody else's. She wants these people, staring ever-so indiscreetly, to realize that you are taken by someone else... her.

"Jennie", you say to her, your tone sounding as if there was nothing left inside of it, and truth be told, there wasn't. "Why don't you just leave me alone. Go sit somewhere else and find a nice girl to talk with."

"I'm not doing that Y/n! I want you to come with me, plea-". Just before Jennie could finish her sentence, a hand makes it's way to her chest, pushing her back slowly as a figure begins to arise in front of her.

"Why don't you just back off. She said to leave her alone." The woman, Lisa, who had been sitting by your side as she witnessed the entire argument unfold, finally says as she stands in between you and Jennie.

At that, enrage instantly shoots through Jennie's body, her face turning a deep red and her head looking as though smoke could blow out of it at any second, similar to those silly cartoons animated for little kids.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jennie stands tall, stepping closer to the woman with no shame in the slightest. "I don't know who you fucking think you are but-".

"Jennie!" You shout, snagging her attention away from the woman. If you hadn't stopped her at that, who knows what kind of terrible words would pridefully spill off her tongue. "Go sit somewhere else and relax yourself. I don't want you near me right now."

And Jennie did just that, no other choice at hand, and the sting of vexation even now coursing through her veins. She watched as you threw your head back in laughter, hand resting upon the other woman's shoulder as you responded in just the way that woman hoped you would. Her arm was wrapped loosely around your waist, a drink occupying her other as she arrogantly flirted her way through the conversation.

Jennie couldn't stand to watch it, but she knew if she was to go up to you and say something then it would only make the matter worse. Instead, she sat there and watched you, her eyes never leaving your figure. She couldn't leave, not until she knew you were safely back in the comfort of your own home, no stupid little annoying chick chaperoning you.

Jennie sat there for almost an hour until she finally sees you stand up, however the same woman by your side begins to follow you out of the club. Jennie instantaneously rises from her seat, rushing to follow you out of the door and to wherever you planned on going.

Letting her thoughts get the best of her once again, Jennie runs ahead of you and stops in her tracks, turning to face you and the woman.

"What are you doing?" Jennie asks, worry and jealousy evident in her tone.

"What does it look like? I'm going back to my house with her", you say confidently, almost as if this entire situation was merely aimed to get on every last nerve of Jennie's.

"No you aren't Y/n. Please just let me take you home." Jennie's eyes drop to your hand, noticing how its intertwined with the other woman's, holding it unyieldingly.

"Jennie I know you're upset but just-". Your immediately cut by a strong pair of lips being pushed against yours, retracing them back to Jennie's, and you feel her hand slide to your waist, pulling you tighter to her and away from the woman behind you. She continues to kiss you, her hand sneaking down to yours and ripping Lisa's hand right out of your grasp, replacing it with her own.

"Y/n, please, give me a chance to talk to you", Jennie speaks softly, her lips retracting from yours. Lisa begins to back away, feeling out of place, and deciding it would be best for her to go back to where she had been before.

Jennie leans her forehead against yours, eyes brimming with tears as her hold on your waist stays as tight as it has been.

"Let me take you home ok? We can sit down on your couch, I'll make you something yummy to eat and we can go from there."

Your eyes begin to water as well, various different thoughts coursing through your brain on what to think and what you should say. You want to push away from her, but truthfully, you couldn't find yourself to do it.

"I thought I meant nothing to you Jennie. You made it sound like what we had was just a stupid little fling to you", you ease into Jennie's arms and allow your voice to become soft, tired of all the yelling and hatred that has been passed around throughout the night.

"Y/n. You mean everything to mean. Please don't let those stupid stuff that I said to you earlier make you think otherwise-"

"How do I know you mean it Jennie?" Your tears begin to spill against the concrete, voice shattering, lips trembling. Jennie's heart aches for you. She hates seeing you like this. It breaks her more than it breaks you, and even though you don't realize the effect it has on her, she knows deep down that your feelings mean more to her than her own.

"Because I love you Y/n. I've loved you every since this thing that we had started. I never wanted to admit it, not so soon, but if that's what it takes to convince you that I mean it, then that's what I'm going to do." Jennie admits lowly, her voice shaking and her self confidence rapidly dropping.

Words can't describe the amount of emotions soaring through you at the moment. You want to be mad at Jennie, but hearing her admit such a thing, hearing her say what you have wanted to say all along, only causes you to forget everything else that had gone wrong before. You rid the words she had previously said to the back of your mind, something that could be discussed later on, and your hands make there way to the back of Jennie's neck, pulling her towards you in one swift motion as you press your lips to hers.

Almost as if its a custom routine, Jennie holds your body close to hers, instantly kissing you back, feeling as the grip you have on her neck fails to get any looser. Her lips slide in between yours, savoring every last moment before you pull away, lips still inches from hers, whispering the words she been hoping to hear for months passed.

"I love you too."

~

This was honestly so bad but I wanted to get this request done cuz I have a lot haha, I don't mind though, please keep them coming!! I love you all!!

[ladyintree]

she doesn’t know what to make of any of this,  but seeing how stressed mikayla seems makes her even more nervous.  she didn’t need the reminder of what she once said—   but there’s a part of her that’s grateful mikayla brought it up, anyway, like tai might have a chance to defend herself for it now  (   because she meant it,  and in some ways,  she still wanted to fulfill that promise,  no matter what setbacks she faced.  )   she frowns,  looking back to mikayla and letting her speak,  all the while trying to collect herself,  too.   ❝  i remember,   ❞    he says quietly,   glancing out towards the water for a long moment,  then back to her.   ❝  i’ve thought of you every time i’ve ever stepped foot on a beach,  ❞   she says honestly,  speaking quietly,  her voice shaking slightly because she’s finally starting to feel like she’s doing something wrong.   ❝  i know i did.  and i did mean them when i said them,  ❞    she insists,  eyes meeting hers again.   ❝  that doesn’t mean i .  .  .   stopped,  ❞    she trails off in a whisper,  because she knows she can’t admit that outright,  but she also knows she doesn’t have much defense,  either.

she nearly freezes when mikayla suddenly looks at her,  her mouth parting slightly because she hadn’t anticipated mikayla asking her anything directly—  even if part of her knew that she should,  for both of them.  her mouth closes again when she quickly asks another question,  her hands moving together across her waist for her fingers to nervously fidget with her wedding ring—  because again, it feels like a heavy weight that’s dragging her down.   she’s always had a defense to this question,  even when she asks it to herself:   of course she means what she says,  because it’s what she’s supposed to say,  right?  sometimes,  it’s easy to convince herself that what she tells simone is exactly how she feels,  because she’s practiced,  trained herself to believing in it, but that’s not real.  none of it is.  her jaw clenches,  because while it’s instinctual to keep up the ruse,  mikayla said she needed her.  which means mikayla also needs her to be honest,  and tai’s never been good at lying to her, anyway.  that’s why their previous meetings have gone so poorly—  her lies are constantly crumbling around her.   ❝  i don’t,  ❞   she admits,  and her gut tells her to take off the ring now,  but she’s scared,  keeping it there as a shield to protect her from what other confrontations mikayla has in store for her.   she always did know just how to read her. 

❝  mikayla,  why are you asking me—  ❞   she starts,  exasperated,  trying to deflect,  but when she catches her gaze again,  it hits her like a punch to the gut.   she does want to marry simone,  for all the reasons she’s convinced herself are right for her life—   but mikayla knows just how to phrase it to snap her out of it,  to remind her that it’s not enough for her.  it was never going to be enough for her,  she just kept convincing herself it’s what she had to do to keep moving forward,  to maintain some kind of normalcy in this life.  it doesn’t make her happy,  and happiness was something she was willing to sacrifice—  but that was only manageable when mikayla wasn’t in her life.  now she is,  and she’s reminding her that it’s where she should be.   tai just doesn’t know what to do with that yet.  

she drops her hands,  clenching them at her sides,  and she takes a deep breath as she looks back at her.  she’s nervous,  like her entire life is being held on by a thread and she’s about to let it fall apart,  after years of wrecking herself to maintain it all.   does she wants to marry simone?  yes.  it’s what she convinced herself was right.   but is she the person she wants to wake up to for the rest of her life?   that person is standing in front of her,  but tai can’t tell if she’s even farther away now or if she’s closer than she has been in years.  ❝  she’s—  ❞   she starts,  letting out a breath.   ❝  she’s not.  ❞   she winces,  like she’s been slapped in the face, forced to face the lies she tells herself and deal with the fallout.   but the fallout that’s likely waiting for her back at home isn’t what she’s concerned about yet—  she’s still desperate to ask mikayla if she’s okay,  still antsy to figure out why mikayla’s actually asking these questions,  afraid that she just wants to call tai out and leave.  maybe she should,   because tai already knows she doesn’t deserve a second chance with mikayla.  she hasn’t even allowed herself to really consider what it would be like to have one.  she feels powerless now,  but she loves mikayla,  and mikayla deserves to get to say whatever she needs to say now,  so she waits,  frozen in place,  staring back at her with wide eyes that plead for her to go on.  ❝  but you — you know that, ❞ she says, somewhere between a question and a statement, because she's starting to understand that mikayla's the only one willing to stop her from making a mistake that will inevitably hurt all three of them.

mikayla feels just as awkward, finding it hard to even make eye contact, because it's so much easier to just look at the ground between them instead. she wishes she had even just a fraction of the confidence she had as a teenager, because maybe then she'd feel less sick— because while being around tai always made her feel nervous, she doesn't remember it feeling so debilitating. she wants to find hope in hearing that tai wanted to see her, trying to take it as a good sign, because she needs to believe this isn't going to end horribly for her. “ that's— good. ” mikayla can't help but grimace at how tense she sounds, rolling her eyes at herself.

she notices tai's hands out of the corner of her eye, but mikayla's too busy worrying about what she's supposed to say to actually consider what she's doing. maybe she should have discussed this part with nat and travis, actually prepared herself, but she's never been any good at that— she's better at acting on impulse, but just kissing her isn't going to be enough this time. “ you said you'd take me here, ” she reminds her hesitantly, because tai had told her that after mikayla's first kill, a memory she's not fond of looking back on. “ you... you said a lot of things back then. ” for once, she doesn't sound accusatory, because she's trying to lead up to what she actually wants to talk to— she's just nervous, trying to consider her words before she speaks. “ so did i, i guess. but i meant everything i told you. not just when i said them. ” she rushes out the last part, knowing that's tai's defense: she meant them when she said them, as if it hurts any less to know she doesn't mean them now. everything mikayla said to her back then still feels true now— how she'd always love her, how she was the only person for her, how she doesn't want to imagine her life without her.

but she's not sure how to directly say any of that, so she changes her mind about the direction she's going, forcing herself to look away from the shoreline to actually look at her. “ do you mean the shit you say to her? ” she doesn't actually care about the answer, because she's already asking another question before tai could respond, the question mikayla's actually concerned about. “ do you actually want to marry her? and i don't— i don't want to hear whatever answer you think you're supposed to give me. i just want you to tell me the truth. yes or no. ” they used to be honest with each other, so mikayla's hoping for the same thing now, because it's important to know for everything else she's planning to say to her. “ i don't give a shit about what makes you look better. i'm asking what you want. when you think about who you want to wake up next to for the rest of your life— is it her? ” or is it me? she almost asks, but she's too scared to go there just yet, needing to know if she's wrong for even trying to do this at all.