#but the day is not over yet my uncle asked me for a big art quest and I do not want to disappoint | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ohsohoney · 5 months ago

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When it comes to love you're just as blinded.

Part Three

Eminem x Musician

Summary: It starts with a drunk embarrassing video, it spirals into something a whole lot more.

Note: Ah this took ages to write but I actually really loved it- finally they meet!! Hopefully I got a few things about Detroit right too but I don't live there so lemme know if not! Also I appreciate all the love the last two parts have gotten, means a lot!

Warnings: Some heavier topics surrounding a rough childhood and abuse of substances.

Set in 2014, just after the release of LP 2 || Em’s daughters are renamed here because it felt weird not to and also have different ages– doesn’t affect the story much but just a warning! Rosie's nickname is also Z:)

Masterlist

It was far too early to be up. Especially after the night I’d just had, tossing and turning until I’d eventually passed out from sheer exhaustion. Something I hadn’t quite anticipated after my call with Em, but sleep had seemed near enough impossible once I’d hung up. No real reason as to why, simply that my mind had gone from a dull sluggish buzz to over-fucking-load in a mere matter of seconds.

Thankfully I had a flight to catch which meant that, even though I looked like my mum after another week long bender, I would be able to catch a little sleep before landing in Detroit.

Detroit. That was the singular thought my tired mind kept pausing on. Stupidly, it felt just like yesterday that Marshall had first bridged that gap between us and phoned me, only it had been weeks since then, during which the most unexpected friendship had blossomed. He’d called again that next day and the timezones separating us had been made all that more obvious, him having not long dropped his daughter off at school whilst I’d been returning from lunch. He never really had given me the real reason as to why he’d gone and gotten in touch again so quickly, only that he’d wanted to double check that I was still down to fly out and work on a song or two.

It hadn’t phased me. Neither had the next few calls that had followed, nor the texts that I’d found myself composing to him at odd hours of the day.

We’d spoken about music at first: “Who inspires you?” He’d asked me which had led into a ramble. Something I only ever tended to do with those who knew me best, never having really mastered the whole art of social interaction yet, even after the fame. But he’d let me go on, before I’d eventually spun the question back around on him and listened quietly to a passionate speech about the handful of artists that had transported him out of the tiny room he’d grown up in and into something other.

I mentioned my sister after that. Em had heard her shouting at the tele one evening whilst she’d played some game that always seemed to bring out her most profane language and laughed, asking after the roaring gremlin in the background. I’d told him bits and pieces, added to the story in odd quips and mentions over the passing weeks, enough that most wouldn’t quite catch on to what I’d been avoiding, but Lottie had been around more often than not and the man had quickly worked out that she lived with me. He’d never outright asked me the reason as to why, though I liked to think that he was simply waiting for me to tell him, because this thing that we had, it was all about building trust. And Marshall? He was almost as unforgiving with who he gave that out to as I was.

Soon enough our calls and Facetimes had become a featured part of my day, one I actually looked forward to. But even saying that, I was still shit scared of meeting him properly.

As much as it might humour him for me to admit it, I was a big fan of his. Had been since I’d first heard Guilty Conscience when it had hit the UK charts. I’d been swallowed whole by the rest of his LP, had even nicked a cd copy of it off a stall down at the market, alongside Aquemini, because I’d liked it so much. In truth, one of my earliest memories even featured the man. It was of my uncle bagging tickets to Em’s first real show down in Notting Hill, his girlfriend at the time’s brother having managed to somehow score a couple on a whim. It had been all they’d talked about for weeks on end.

I’d been around long enough now though– having dived headfirst into the industry before dipping a toe in first– that I knew just how meeting your icons wasn’t all it was chalked up to be. Still, this felt different to us just bumping into one another at some show or a party. And, who was I kidding– it was entirely different. Impossibly so. I’d said it to him then and I’d reiterate it again, he had been the last person I had ever expected to call.

“Passengers boarding the 09:53 flight to Detroit, Michigan please head to Gate B7.”

I sucked in a deep breath at the overhead announcement, figuring that it really was now or never. Two weeks in a big old house working on music with Eminem, I supposed stranger things had to have happened. So instead of lingering on the inane concept, I popped an anti-sickness tablet and dragged my carry-on over towards the gate.

…

Truth be told, I much would have preferred not having slept on that flight. God, I was still embarrassed, but even so I couldn’t help the muted giggle that bypassed my lips whilst I waited for my luggage to drift on by.

I was just thankful that I’d had the foresight to wear a hat and sunnies the entire time. Mostly out of habit, yes, but also so that I could keep this whole Detroit trip hush hush, because Marshall really had gone above and beyond to bring me out here and so I didn’t want to reward him with a swarm of unwanted questions. Not that anyone would even add up the notion of me being here and allude that it was down to him. That was probably the most unlikely headline somebody could conjure up.

But back to the whole Flight from Hell. Well, I had the tendency to sometimes be dramatic so not Hell per se, it had just been humiliating. Being shaken awake only to realise you'd been drooling the entire time and the rest of the passengers had already disembarked was more than a tad bit mortifying, especially when the air steward’s eyes had widened a fraction when I’d tried to sort myself out and wake up.

I wasn’t entirely sure if he’d recognised me, or if it had just been down to the fact that Marshall had put me in First Class— a matter which I had complained about, justifiably— and that I had one of those faces he couldn’t put a name to. But either way, I hoped he wouldn’t expand too much on it.

I caught sight of my suitcase just as it pushed its way through the heavy black flaps on the end of the conveyor belt and so I slid past a man in a bright green Packers jersey to grab at it. And even I had to wince at the sight of the offending article. In all places, really? I wanted to ask. Wrong fucking move there, mate.

By the time I finally did make it out of the crowd that had amassed, it had been near enough an hour since I’d landed and so I had a few messages waiting patiently for me.

Messages The Martian Blacked out GMC parked out front Tap twice on the back window

Then…

Flight ok?

My mouth quirked upwards on its own accord at the quick relay but I was quick to shoot something back.

Messages Might have passed tf out Woke up and it was just me and the steward there:))) Also tap twice?? Do I look like James Bond to you?

Although I had to Google what the fuck a GMC looked like, I did eventually work my way out of the terminal to spot the sleek SUV sat a way down in the drop off zone. ‘Course he’d have his driver park there, I thought pointlessly to myself as I manoeuvred past a handful of tired faces with a polite smile. Though to him it was probably easier to deal with whatever fine he got plastered with than it would be for me to attempt to find the thing in pickup parking. Not that it would be all that hard, it was huge.

Anyway, by the time I managed to hone in closer on the vehicle I felt my nose scrunch up in slight embarrassment at the thought of having to knock twice, as though I really was some sort of spy or, more than likely, a dodgy dealer. But just as I approached, prepped to knock and give the driver my name, I heard the far side door open and a pair of shoes hit the rough tarmac.

Jumping back a tad, my head swivelled left to better view the figure who was then rounding the car. My eyes widened at the sight I was met with.

His smirk at my evident shock was ascued by a heavy hood and the brim of a dark cap, but it was there. Stayed there actually, all whilst he easily manoeuvred my luggage from out of my hands and into the boot of his car, whilst I simply stood there stock-still. Eventually, he came to stand before me about an arms length away. I blinked and my gaze skittered over the rest of our surroundings before they finally returned to his tilted head and piercing eyes. His back was turned towards the airport, away from the trio which had since grouped around their suitcases to wait and a handful of people that exited the terminal one or two at a time.

“What, I don’t get no hug?”

The mirthful lilt of his deep voice surprised me and my mouth worked over a plethora of words that couldn’t quite take stage before I was laughing softly into the shoulder of his jacket, his arms coming up to wrap around me.

It felt oddly surreal to finally meet him, even if I had been so caught off guard by his sudden presence.

In fact, I jolted back at the very thought and thumped his arm, my eyes narrowed even whilst my smile never appeared to falter. “Why are you here?”

His tongue darted out to wet his lower lip, arm moving to cradle the offended limb in sly mocking, before he huffed out a low laugh. “No, hello? No, wow, Marshall, I can’t believe you’re really here!”

My mouth gaped at the teasing tone he took on, much like something I’d heard on one of his songs, and then I was laughing too, shaking my head at his antics. “That’s how we’re playing this?” I quirked a brow, but eventually mimicked, “Wow, Marshall. Gee golly, I just can’t believe that you’re really here!”

Marshall dipped his chin in supposed approval, gentle eyes roaming over my face in a way similar to what I must have done when he’d first arrived. I wondered briefly what he saw but hastily brushed the thought aside. “The American accent still sucks, by the way.” He acknowledged just as he stepped forward to open the passenger side door, surprising me yet again as he slipped by me, “So if you’re goin’ into acting, take note.”

My glare was mocking at best, lacking any real heat as he waited for me to climb inside, it was only once I’d glanced back at him with a thankful smile that he moved to shut the door. I took in a sharp lungful of air at the quiet that then engulfed the car and watched him move around the front of the hood. He was achingly familiar and yet not at the same time. And it was such a strange thought to latch onto that I took the initiative to just take things as they came over the next few weeks, which turned out to work in my favour when he joined me in the car and the engine revved.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here.” I found myself saying as he slowly peeled his way out of the drop off bay. “Thought you said you’d have someone come get me.”

Em simply shook his head whilst I observed how his hands slid around the wheel with an effortless ease. “I said there’d be a car.”

My eyes widened to accentuate my point. “Exactly! There’d be a car! So I just figured a cab or something.”

His eyes flickered over towards me just as we came to a stop at the busy intersection outside the airport, then pulled away to look left and right again. “Well, you should stop figuring then.”

I couldn’t stop the eye roll I gifted him, even as I laughed heartily to myself and took in the comfort of privacy the car offered, as opposed to the flight I’d just been stuck on. It was then, whilst we merged onto the highway and followed into the flow of traffic, that I got the chance to really look at him.

I was still attempting to get over my evident shock, having expected to meet him much later on, once I’d been dropped off at the house or maybe even a while after that. But it was nice to know that he’d driven all the way here to merely pick me up when he could have just as easily sent someone to do it for him.

Marshall looked about the same as he had when we’d first phoned in truth, only it was easier now to see all of the minute details he offered the world, those tiny imperfections.

The slight dip in his chin was much more prominent now what with the way his lips had since pursed in concentration. The skin there was smooth, as though not much time had passed since it had last been seen to by a razor, and it wrinkled only around his eyes when they narrowed into focus. His nose was pointed, whilst simultaneously being both strong and soft. He had eyelashes that I could only envy, dark and long, and freckles light enough to dot both sides of his face.

He must have felt my gaze on him though because he soon chanced a glance back at me with a single raised brow. My eyes slid away from his profile and instead I opted to gesture my chin out towards the tinted windows that encased us. “These legal?” I had wondered, but mostly asked just to steer his mind away from me having been caught staring.

With a short snort, his brow dropped and the beginnings of a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “What d’you think?”

I chuckled in retort, having expected that, and then looked away again, out towards the grassy verge that separated the long stretch of road from small grey buildings that littered both sides in the distance. It was my first time in Detroit and I wanted to make the most of it, remember every part.

It was quiet for a while after that, Em having switched on the radio at some point after asking after my flight, the two of us more than content to just let the silence linger around the hum of something so familiar, music.

He pointed things out to me here and there on the journey, nothing of real importance but dropping comments that would either make me hum or laugh loudly. He was a funny fucker even when he didn’t seem to be trying, I figured that was what I liked best about him.

We drove through Downtown Detroit at one point and I listened intently when he spoke about Ford Field, the home of his favoured Lions, and again when we stopped at a traffic light and he gestured over towards where the Fox Theatre sat. Even during the daylight it drew the eye.

Once we’d rolled away from the inner city and its skyscrapers though I felt myself relax further, pleased by the vast amount of green that I started to see. Most of the time I’d spent in The States often left me confined to the major cities, to their bustling crowds and hectic commutes, mostly because I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, what with venues and tours, interviews and recording sessions. So this would probably be the first time I’d get to see a slice of the country’s suburbs and it wasn’t all too different from what you’d typically see back home. Not exact sure, but similar in a lot of circumstances.

It took me a while to realise that Em had been nodding his head along to the radio, following the beat in an exact tempo. The sight had me hiding my grin behind my sleeve but the move captured his attention and he must have seen the growing joy my glazed eyes gave away to when he peered over at me because his forehead furrowed. “What?”

Instantly I shook my head, “Nothing.”

His eyes darted out towards the road, shifting gears before the back of his hand shot out to tap the side of my knee. “What?” He prodded again and I was startled by the easy nature of his touch, remembering then that it was possible now that we weren’t stuck between screens.

I snorted softly, dropping my arm seeing as he’d already caught on to the grin. “Just strange, is all. Being here.”

I watched closely as he gave a slow blink and waited, propping my arm up against the window whilst slumping a little in my seat.

“Good weird, or bad?”

The answer had to have been obvious and yet, I still answered him, “The good kind.”

“Good.” He hummed and my grin softened at his own small smile. It remained there for most of the drive.

I didn’t know what I had expected to see once we finally did pull up to the house, but it didn’t fail to live up to its owner's accomplishments. It was beautiful, big yes, but beautiful too. Terracotta in colour and with a long gravel driveway. He had trees and flowers around the fenced gate to further keep out any prying eyes, but they were vivid and lush. Pretty to admire.

Marshall turned towards me once we’d slowed to a stop and I smiled, unbuckling my seatbelt before he huffed a chuckle, turning off the engine and moving to do the same. The door shut behind me once I’d jumped out and I let myself breathe in the change of air. Having been cooped up in the Big Apple for the last few days it was refreshing to be able to actually enjoy it and not just think about all of the heavy city fumes.

I was quick to snap out of it though when I heard the slight beep that sounded from the back of the car when the boot reopened. “Hey, I can get that.”

Marshall's eyes cut over towards my approaching figure. “So can I.” He tugged the heavy suitcase out with one hand, “See?”

“Mature, Mathers.” I retorted, leaning past him to at least grab my carry on, but he was there too, our hands clutched the handle at the same time, his encasing mine. “I can get it.” I repeated, turning slightly in my stance to lift my brows up at him.

He was close, thigh pressing into the ledge of the boot whilst his other hand still held onto the door stationed above our heads. “You’re my guest.”

His tone was gruff, low enough for only me to have heard, even though there wasn’t anyone else mulling about. My eyes shifted, flickering back and forth between his own. “Then let your guest get their way.”

He blew out an amused breath, the weight of it fanned my face and had a few loose strands of hair fluttering. “You’re so fuckin’ stubborn.”

I shifted and his knee knocked against mine. “Here’s the pot calling the kettle black.” I quipped with a growing smile.

There was the slightest shake of his head, his mouth twitched, and then he was leaning in closer. I held my breath. Waiting. For God knows what, when—

He snatched the bag out from under my hand.

“Marshall!” It was almost indignant the yell I made, shocked by the sly move he’d played and the fact that he’d already jumped back to make his way towards the front door before I could even properly react. I heard his bright laughter echo back to mock me.

“Too slow.” Marshall called in turn, shrugging as he shot a smug look over his shoulder. “Lock her up for me?”

The tap he then gave his right trouser pocket evidently had me frowning and so I looked down on impulse, only to spot a set of keys dangling from the belt loop on my jeans. Baffled, my head snapped upwards, just in time to see him laugh and wheel my suitcase inside.

I took a deep breath, then let it go.

“Such a prick.” I muttered to myself, though not unkindly, as I jumped up to grab the boot door and slam it shut, using the fob to then lock the monster truck up.

By the time I made it up the rest of the drive and through the front door I was a little less peeved about the whole thing, which was mostly down to me having been a little humoured by his methods of undermining.

“You treat all your supposed guests like this?” I blew out.

Marshall only greeted my entry with a snort. “Uhuh, that initiation we talked about? Starts here.”

Rolling my eyes, I stepped further into the entryway to observe, making the effort not to gape at the sheer size of it. Because in truth, he could’ve easily fit a half a dozen Harleys in the space between the door and the stairs.

“Where do we start the sacrifice then? Can’t imagine anyone would be all too happy about staining these pretty floors.” My toe skimmed a stark white tile as I said it, peering over at him through my lashes whilst I thought back to an earlier conversation we’d had and the fact that he’d actually remembered.

“Basement, baby!”

He used the term in ridicule, to accentuate the gaiety in the back and forth we’d just begun. His hands shot out wide in a gesticulative fashion and so I used the moment to grab at the handle of my suitcase he’d left by the door, thankful that the thing had wheels. I grinned at the small victory.

“You were saying?” I dragged out around a pleased smile.

Marshall shook his head at me, like he actually couldn’t believe I’d attempted to one up him— and managed it. Though he thankfully left it alone. Still, that was probably only due to the fact that he then said, “Want a tour?”

And who was I to deny?

“If you don’t want me getting lost, then yes please.”

He scoffed, but wore the ghost of a smile as he pushed further into the house, leading me this way and that until we finally wandered up another set of stairs onto the second floor.

“Bedrooms are there.” Marshall pointed out to me, hands stretched towards both the halls that lined either side of the staircase. “Mine’s just down here, Z’s too.” He explained further, gesturing towards the two doors on the far right side, Rosie’s bore a bright sign with her name and I was humoured to see that the usual silver handle had been switched out in favour of a neon pink.

He caught my slight smile at the sight of the door and nudged me with his shoulder.

“Quit it.”

I snorted softly, pursing my lips to dampen the grin I wore. “I didn’t say anything! But I do love it.” Honestly it was too cute seeing him all mushy like that, and the fact that he’d gone out of his way to make something like a door handle special for his daughter was endearing.

Marshall grunted out a hum, then took a deliberate step over toward a room a little closer, the door had been left slightly ajar. He pushed it open to reveal a room that could have resembled a hotel room had it not been for the much warmer sense of comfort it offered. I reckoned it was down to the little souvenirs and decorative pieces that had been jotted around the place, like the snowglobe of Big Ben and a little British flag, as well as the articles of clothing which had been laid out on the bed.

My attention caught on those first and I glanced back at Em, who was now leaning against the doorframe, to ask a silent question. The man shrugged the shoulder that wasn’t pressed to the wood and suddenly looked a tad bit sheepish, “Rosie’s idea. Wanted to give you something, like, so you’d feel welcome or some shit.”

I let my fingers brush over the pyjama’s the little girl must have picked out. They were soft and dotted with tiny woodland creatures, bunnies and berries. My heart ached at the lovely gesture, never really having had anyone do something like this for me, let alone someone so small and sweet who had gone out of their way to make me feel welcomed of all things.

“You lucked out with her.” I murmured and was granted a doting smile when I peered back up at the girl’s father.

“She’s aight.” Marshall reasoned, pushing out a small breath as he took a step further into the bedroom. “Room okay then?”

Smiling, almost a little stupidly, I chuckled in disbelief and took another peer around the room. “It’s perfect, thank you again for this.”

He rolled his eyes at me and made a gah sound, “Say thanks again and I’ll take you to the nearest motel.”

My eyes widened just as my jaw dropped, “A motel, really? Wow, and here I thought we were truly bonding.”

“You know what they say, don’t assume.”

Narrowing my stare into something a bit more intense I waited for him to crack, but he must have been half-alien or something because the man held his own much longer than I did. “You’re such a dick.” I eventually chuckled, shaking my head.

“Get used to it,” He retorted and stepped away to wheel my suitcase further into the room, placing my bag down on the end of the plush bedspread. “You tired? Figured we could grab something to eat once Z’s home if you’re down.”

It was something I was used to, the whole jumping back and forth between serious and teasing, but I still found it sweet how he would tend to ask after me, simply to make sure that everything was still good.

I hummed in reply and took one last look at the pyjamas I'd been gifted. “I’m good, slept on the flight–”

“And drooled all over them First Class seats.” He butted in, earning himself a short glare which only proved to make him grin.

I should have known to have kept that shit to myself, fucker would probably lord it over my head forever.

“Uhuh, hilarious.” I deadpanned before continuing on like he hadn’t interrupted, “What’re you thinking of getting?”

The question went unanswered because it was then that the front door sounded, creaking open on its heavy hinges before it rattled closed. I jumped at the unexpected noise whilst Em simply glanced back over his shoulder, “That’ll be her.” He commented, confusing me for a second when he raised his hand and started a countdown on his fingers, “3, 2, 1–”

“Dad!”

I snorted at the precise timing, Marshall already moving towards the door at the call of his name and so I went to follow. It was just as we made it back out onto the hallway’s landing that he paused, “I can keep her occupied for a while if you wanna settle in, take a nap or something.”

It was an offer and a half from any parent to attempt to keep their kid at bay, I mean I’d done it a fair few times with an excitable Lottie over the years, but I waved it off, smiling when the girl’s voice called out again. “Dad?”

Marshall leaned in closer, hand clutching the bannister, and lowered his voice whilst his face got all serious, “Get out whilst you still can.”

Huffing out a mirthful breath, I couldn’t quite hide my smile. “I’m good, I'm actually excited to meet her.”

He paused and observed me for a moment, as though he was trying to see the truth behind that sentiment, which made me unsure. But I hoped he did find the sincerity in my words because it hadn’t been a lie, I was nervous to meet his daughter sure, wanted her to like me and not feel as though I was suddenly imposing on her life, but I had genuinely enjoyed her witty remarks and scathing comments when we had spoken the night before. She reminded me of a little of a younger Lotts.

Em eventually nodded at me, cheek dimpling ever so in a possible attempt to dampen his reaction, but before I could question it, the man was jogging down the stairs. “Up here, you monster. And what I tell you ‘bout yellin’?”

A familiar face poked its way out of the hall at the bottom of the staircase and the smile that dawned on it was beaming when she spotted her dad. “How are you gonna hear me if I don’t yell?” She replied, squealing when the man swept her up off feet and into a hug, peppering a line of kisses into her hair, “Dad!”

Marshall snorted at the reaction he’d garnered but eventually lowered the girl back down onto her feet, whilst I just stood at the bottom of the stairs watching them with a fond smile. “What?” He said in a put upon voice and ran a hand over the girl’s head, bulging his eyes out wide when Rosie pulled a face. “How was school, kiddo?”

Rosie pushed up onto the balls of her feet before she rocked back, “Good, I ran out to the car quick to get home ‘fore she gets here.”

The smirk the man took on was almost evil and he laughed when he cocked his head out to gesture behind the girl. “Just about managed it.”

A curtain of honey coloured hair swept over her shoulders when the girl twirled around on her heel, eyes widening in sudden surprise to find me standing there. “El!” She called out, a grin breaking across her features before she hurried over to engulf me in a hug too.

Even as surprised as I was by the gesture, I chuckled and lowered myself down to squeeze her back, smiling at Em from over the top of her head. “Hey,” I murmured gently, staying crouched even as we pulled apart, “Thanks for the pjs, they’re probably the best gift I’ve gotten in ages.”

That statement appeared to thrill the girl, who’s eyes twinkled under the soft lights, “I got a matching pair, guessed we could wear them tonight and watch a movie so you’d feel more at home.”

My heart burst at the thought, I was sure of it.

But then Marshall went to speak and I already knew what he’d been prepared to say, so instead of letting him ruin Rosie’s sweet plans, I was quick to jump in, “I’d love that.”

The smile she gave me was award worthy and she turned back to face her dad with that settled. “See, if you had gotten the same ones like I said, you could’ve joined!”

I snorted at the expression that then crossed Em’s face, his head jolting back a tad.

“You really didn’t get some to match?” I egged the girl on, mouth dropping open in a feigned amount of shock.

We were both met with a disbelieving shake of his head as the man blew out a heavy breath and turned away. “I’ll watch what I want and wear what I want, it’s my house.” He threw back at us as he headed further into the house, murmuring under his breath, “Women.”

Rosie and I shared a conspiratorial grin before we made to follow after him.

“It’s rude to just dump your friend, Dad.” Rosie commented once we’d wandered into the kitchen to find Em grabbing a couple of bottles out of the fridge, the girl slid onto a stool at the end of the island whilst I bit my cheek to keep from outright laughing.

Her words were met by an unimpressed stare that didn’t appear to phase her as she continued to swing her legs back and forth. The man let the fridge door slip close as he made his way over to join his daughter, handing her a bottle before sliding the other across the counter to me. “You got homework?”

Rosie’s eyes flickered from her dad to me, then back again, “Maybe, but it’s Math.”

“Well, we ain’t goin’ nowhere til it’s done.” Marshall told her with a small shrug, even though I’d seen his eyes widen at the thought of having to deal with numbers and sums. “Get changed and we can start on it, okay?”

The girl emitted a soft sigh but ultimately moved to jump down from off the stool, “You any good at Math, El?”

Biting down on my smirk, I ignored Em’s murmured warning of the girl’s name and answered, “Not bad, I might be a little help.”

“Anything’s better than my Dad’s attempts.”

“Yo, I try.” Marshall was all too quick to quip back in retort, his arms now crossed over his chest as he stared his daughter down with a slight frown.

Rosie’s smile was precious, but her eyes told another story. I knew then that she understood exactly how to keep her dad wrapped around her finger. She was a little menace and I already loved it. “I know, Daddy, my teacher said that my English homework was the best she’d read in a while.”

Em actually seemed to take pride in that and so I guessed he’d had a hand in that homework too. His daughter also appeared to take note of the fact that he was pleased because she hurried off then, calling out over her shoulder once more, “Be back in a sec!”

“Yellin’!” Marshall yelled, defeating the whole purpose of his previous argument, before he sighed and gestured me over towards the seat Rosie had just vacated. “See what I have to put up with?”

Scoffing, I moved to take up the stool whilst he picked up a few stray notes lying on the counter and placed a glass that had been left behind at some point into the sink. “You ain’t seen nothing yet. Wait til she’s thirteen and debating the point of riding a dirtbike to and from school with you.”

Em barked out a real laugh at that as he turned his back on the sink to shoot me a look that said ‘Really?’

I heaved a put upon sigh, fingers toying with the water bottle I’d been gifted.

“That’s not even the worst of it.” I told him as my mouth worked over a smile, “Before I left she asked if she and a few friends could stay at the house alone whilst I was away, because, and I repeat, ‘If there’s six of us then that basically equates to one whole adult’. I’m still genuinely scared that she went through with it even after I said no, keep checking the security cameras to make sure there isn't a herd of teenagers working their way inside.”

He wore an amused smirk but I noticed there were more than a few questions hiding behind his stare. They’d been there for a while now.

“You can ask.” I eventually said, appreciating the atmosphere his home offered, from the warm walls and the pictures that decorated the place, to the odd bits of mess that made the too large house look lived in.

Em worked his tongue into the curve of his cheek and watched me for a moment, before he eventually settled his forearms against the counter and leaned into it. “Kinda figured you took care of her, even before you mentioned that she was your sister.”

My gaze flickered down to the water droplets that clung to my fingertips, the bottle sweating from the change in temperature. “Yeah. I mean, I’m a lot older than her, so we sort of lived through different shit but I went through a lot as a kid, with like my mum and all the issues she had. When I found out that she was pregnant again it was through this woman who used to work with her at the local greengrocers when I was little. I just remembered thinking that I didn’t want that baby going through the same thing I did.”

My mind flashed back to the memory. Thinking of Annie’s wrinkled face and the relentless rain that had only just begun to let up. She had congratulated me.

“I was sixteen, had long since packed my shit up and left, but I’d never had the money to get too far. So I’d still spot her out and about.” I licked at the corner of my mouth, unwilling to meet his eye. “I went to see her after I’d heard, mostly out of anger. Her new boyfriend had moved in and I remember just being thankful for the fact that my brother had a friend that didn’t mind putting him up. She said she wasn’t using, just fags and the like, a cider here and there. Was surprised to see me, though she expected a big song and dance about the new baby.”

I picked at the water bottle’s label.

“When Lotts was actually born, her dad was locked up proper– facing sixteen years for armed robbery. Mum had her in a ward two months early and ended up leaving her there to go visit him. She was a preemie, tiny, too tiny, you know?” I murmured and could still picture her that small. “Mum she came back that same night mostly for a bed to sleep in, but had already found herself a fix. The nurses must have noticed that something was up, they’d asked to run blood tests and shit, but mum wouldn't have it. Would come and go during visiting hours whilst Lotts was in the NICU. I stayed, only leaving when I had a shift to work, and even then I’d come running straight back.”

Marshall just stood there listening and in truth I was thankful that he hadn’t thought to interrupt me to offer words of comfort or probe deeper. Although his eyes were serious when I finally managed to look over at him, listening intently.

I rubbed my lips together before getting on with it, “I moved back in with her when Lottie was finally able to come home. Ended up taking care of the kid when I was still just a kid myself, only so that she didn’t get tossed into care or fucking overdose on whatever shit mum and whoever else left lying around. It was just the two of us for a while, before my brother, Danny, came back. He’d gotten caught up in something with these older lads on the estate and was still at school, so I worked nights down at this pub under the table to keep up with rent and he’d watch over her for a few hours. It was there that I started performing just for extra cash, like on mic nights and stuff.”

Em squinted and for the first time he opened his mouth to contribute something, “That’s where you got found, right?”

I was sure I hadn’t mentioned that in any of our conversations and so I could only guess that he’d done a little bit of digging on me, the thought made me want to laugh but instead I simply smiled. “Yeah, some scout just happened to be passing through.”

He hummed, taking that in.

“But by the time anything really came about, my brother had long since gone off to join the army and Lottie was seven.” I mentioned, eyes jumping back and forth between him and the bottle I still clung to, “I’d always taken care of her, but then I was suddenly needed elsewhere to make these dreams come true, to make money, to give her a better future.”

I knew that he could relate to that, to the utter struggle and fear I’d faced, terrified it would all fall through and I’d be left with nothing again.

“I didn’t really have a choice about leaving her though so she stayed with a neighbour at first, then her dad’s aunt who was nice enough to pop round sometimes, she was an older frail woman. I managed to actually land something eventually and started work on an album, but even after that the weight of anxiety had settled and I was working so hard just to keep all of these producers' attention.”

I swallowed thickly at the next flashback that had hastily followed.

“Shit went down while I was over here in The States.”

I felt sick each time I thought about it, hardly even dared even attempt to bring it up even to those few that knew. Lotts didn’t really remember any of it though, didn’t recall the hospital scare or my frantic need to make sure that she was okay for weeks after it had happened.

“I flew back that night and managed to sort of work things out. Threw a fucking toaster at my mum’s head I was so angry–” I snorted stupidly, “It missed. But after that I couldn’t trust her. She’d lost any sort of love I’d held for her. That was about five years ago now though, so she’s a bit different. Trying, she says. But Lotts stays with me until the very second I can’t help it.”

Blowing out a shaky breath, I willed my gaze to meet his and was taken back by the intensity of his stare.

“Sounds like a piece of work.” Marshall eventually commented and it honest to God made me laugh, allowing me to fill that hollow in my heart for a second and be grateful for the ease of it, because I really wasn’t too sure if I’d been about ready to cry at his kitchen table. “But I get it.” He added, “I think it’s great what you did for her, too. She probably won’t realise that til later but you should hear it.”

I glanced away, eyes suddenly stinging and tried to smile. “Yeah, well.” I tittered, wiping the corner of my eye discreetly, “She’s staying with her now and it’s got me on edge.”

Marshall moved around the kitchen island to place a careful hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly before he ended up dragging me into a one armed hug. “You’re tough. Which means she’s gotta be too. I’m sure she’s just doing what kids do and messin’ around with her friends. Remember that’s all I did growing up, anything was better than bein’ in that house.”

A small snort escaped me as we parted, though he stayed near. “Because that’s so reassuring.”

He clucked his tongue and grinned, knocking shoulders with me, “I was a good kid, didn’t do nothin’ bad.”

“Uhuh,” I felt the need to drag out, “The image of an angel, Marshall Mathers.”

“Too fuckin’ right.”

“Dollar!”

It seemed we both jumped at the sudden reappearance of Rosie, who came sweeping into the room with a finger pointed at her father and an armful of school supplies. The skin between my brows pinched in confusion before the man beside me answered her, giving me the explanation I needed.

“For what?”

“You swore.” The girl shot back at him and climbed onto the stool beside me to settle her notebook down as well as a few pages of paper and pens.

Marshall ended huffing, unable to deny that he had and moved towards the cupboard by the large, sliding glass door.

“Maybe don’t eavesdrop on conversations. Reckon you owe a dollar for that, girlie.” He’d since grabbed a plastic tub and I was honestly surprised by the sparse amount of notes that were hidden inside it. Em must have spotted my surprise though and equated it to what it meant because he spoke again, “It gets emptied every couple a’ weeks and that monster over there gets to choose what we spend it on.”

Rosie perked up at the mention. “Last time I got him to take me fishing.”

“Fishing?” I wondered, blinking at the revelation. I looked back at Marshall and laughed, “I’m sorry but I can’t imagine you in that scenario.”

“Ha ha.” The man said impassively, widening my grin whilst he tugged two dollars out from his back pocket and shovelled them into the jar before he returned it to its rightful place.

“He only caught one.” Rosie piped up, already having written the date in that backwards way the American’s preferred, “It was real cute.”

I raised a brow and shot it Em’s way. “Cute?”

Rosie’s smile was big and bright, “Yeah! He said we had to let it go though ‘cause it was so small.”

Marshall rolled his eyes and then pointed between the pair of us. “You two keep this whole thing up imma go out to eat by myself. Bunch’a bullies, I swear.”

Rosie and I broke into a fit of giggles at that which only made the man’s expression flatten that much more, he waited for us to get over it before he looked between us and the notebook which had been laid out. “Enjoy Math, I’m gonna go grab a burger.”

“No!” I laughed brightly, spinning on my stool when he started to walk back around the island, “We want food too.”

“Yeah, we’ll start a riot, we're that hungry.” Rosie told him and I couldn’t muffle the rest of my giggles. Marshall merely rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time.

“Math, then we can talk food.” He declared, tickling his daughter’s side as he slid in beside her to get a better look at the worksheet she had. His eyes widened. “They got you using letters now too?”

Rosie’s laughter filled the kitchen and I got a first row ticket to watch her and her dad’s light ribbing as we started in on the first question. The sight of it made my heart swell in truth, it was just so easy to see how much love they held for one another.

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lbulldesigns · 8 months ago

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r/offmychest:

My little sister assaulted me but I'm somehow the bad guy because she ran away from home rather than face the consequences of her actions.

Posted 24th of May, 2021

I (20M) was recently assaulted by my (18F) sister, and rather than face the consequences of her actions decided to run away from home. And now I'm being treated as the bad because I said that it would be better if she never returned.

For context, me and my twin brother Big C were raised by our father (40?M) after our mother gave up her parental rights after giving birth to us. I have never met my mother, and this is fine because who needs someone that flakey in their lives.

Up until we were about eight it was just my dad, brother, and me. Until one month or so after our eighth birthday, our dad decided to adopt two girls. V (23F) and Jinx (a fitting name, trust me).

At first I was confused but after learning that V was biologically my sister, I got excited. At the time I mistakingly thought that Jinx must have been my biological sister also, but it turned out she had a different father. I remember asking why we were taking her in if she wasn't actually related to us and my dad growled at me to never say anything like that again, it was the first time he ever growled at me and over an innocent question no doubt.

I knew better than to ever say something like that again, I tried to be welcoming to her and although V was engaging and friendly, Jinx would not speak to anyone. She always stayed quiet and whenever our dad would go near her she would cower away and get teary eyed.

I hated how she acted like my dad would hurt her, and fully believe that this is why her therapist thought that my dad was abusive. The poor woman ended up losing her job because of Jinx's dramatics.

The sad thing is that I seem to be the only person who truly sees Jinx for what she is. Trouble.

For a while, I thought everyone else was starting to see also but nothing was ever really done about her behavior. Except to send her off to her rich uncle (maternal) who would shower her with praises for her art and grades, and give her gifts. This only made her spoilt.

I tried to counter this by reminding her that she wasn't special so that she wouldn't get a big head and all she would do was start crying and then lock herself in her room and I would be the one getting chewed out.

well, you basically get the idea.

Coming to the true crux of this post.

A few days ago, I was at home minding my own business, and trying to enjoy my gap year. When Jinx comes in and is crying, yet again.

Maybe I let my annoyance get the better of me and called her a crybaby. She stops and just stares at me, and then her face contorts into this really ugly way and she screams loudly, before launching herself on me and starts beating me up.

I was taken completely off guard and tried to defend myself as much as possible, but she is surprisingly strong despite being a skinny ass.

And she just keeps saying "I hate you, I hate you" as she beats me.

My dad came in and pulled her off of me, whilst I cradle my bloody nose (literally bloody) and I catch dad telling her to get out and I felt elated for a minuet because I thought that he FINALLY saw sense.

But after she bolts from the house my dad drives me to the hospital to make sure nothing is broken (nothing was broken thank Janna), and as we are driving home I ask if we are going to the Enforcer station. Dad looks confused and asks why, and I say to press charges. My dad states that I will not be pressing charges because an ass whooping was long overdue.

I felt shocked and betrayed and got angry, I kept asking why he's always going so easy on her.

She wasn't his daughter, not really

She was constantly causing problems with her outbursts and "trauma"

She emasculated him by getting her uncle to pay for her studies

And, she just assualted your flesh and blood.

My dad stayed silent, and I thought this meant that I won the argument. But as soon as we got home, he kills the engine and turns to me. Looks me in the eyes and tells me in no uncertain terms.

"I have tried being patient with you OP. I have explained to you again and again that your little sister is not this monster you make her out to be. Her trauma is real, she watched her parents die in front of her, and that's enough to affect a grown man let alone a small five-year-old girl who didn't know the concept of death. She experienced some shit in the foster system before finding her way to us. And I have done everything I can to help her the way she needs, whilst raising the rest of you kids. I tried to be understanding of you when you were a kid because you didn't know better, I tried to be patient with you when you were a teenager because Gods know I was a real shithead when I was younger. But you are an adult now, my patience is extremely thin. You need to start figuring your shit out because your sister doesn't, and never did, deserve the hate you throw at her"

I won't lie, this hurts. Despite how Jinx is, I do love her I just feel like I'm the only person trying to set her straight.

I pointed at my face and stated that I wasn't the one who hated her, on the other hand she saw no problem with hating me.

Dad asks why she attacked me, I said I didn't know (I didn't want him to twist my words around on me) he just looks at me and says "You're sister wouldn't just attack you without reason".

At this point, I tried to get out of the car, but my dad grabbed my arm, held me in place, and demanded again what I did.

I finally relented and said I called her a crybaby and he groans at me, I said "see she completely blew everything out of proportion". He says that Jinx shouldn't have attacked me, but then asks why I felt the need to insult her.

I lost it and said that she's always crying.

I can't walk past her room without hearing her cry, SHE IS A CRYBABY.

Dad just looked at me, and disappointment was written all over his face. Not at Jinx, but at me.

He takes a deep breath and says to me that I had two options.

I agree to go to family and individual therapy because I am an adult now, and this "petulant child" and "victim complex" is not healthy for anyone.

I continue to act the way I am, but I need to move out and start standing on my own two feet and learn what actual struggle feels like because I've had it pretty easy with life, and hopefully gain some empathy in the process.

Either way, I was never, ever going to bully Jinx again.

I spent the rest of the night in my room stewing over everything, I ignored V when she started banging on my door demanding what I did to "her little sister" before C-Man convinced her to leave me alone. But afterward, he asked me, through the door, when I was going to grow up before leaving himself.

At some point the three of them, Dad, V, and C-Man. left the house to work at the family bar. I refused to leave my room and Dad told me to take the night off to 'lick my wounds'. I fell asleep at some point and woke up briefly because I thought I heard someone walking past my door but just chalked it up to one of the others and went back to sleep.

I didn't leave my room the next morning, out of protest, but saw Dad leaving to go over to Jinx's BBF's house no doubt to continue coddling her.

However she wasn't there, and after searching the whole day, didn't seem to be anywhere.

It's been several days now, Enforcer's can't go looking for Jinx because it was proven that she left voluntarily. Apparently, that person I heard that night was Jinx scurrying off with her belongings and paperwork.

Honestly, I'm glad she's gone. But my dad is still holding up the ultimatum, he says that when she returns I will have my shit together and that he's disappointed in how unaffected I'm acting.

So long story short. My little sister beats me up, and somehow, I get in trouble instead, she runs away from the consequences BUT DAD'S ULTIMATIUM IS STILL IN EFFECT.

It's completely unfair. I'm the victim here.

Honestly, I'm considering going no contact with everyone because I'm done with JINX getting all the support.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

This is a fan fic, please read tags

#jinx #arcane #lol #vi #silco #vander #ekko #mylo #claggor #timebomb #Long post #AITAH Arcane AU #Mylo made a post #Please respond to OP via reblogging #Please respond as if he were a real person #Unreliable Narrator #I don't hate Mylo but he does strike me as a bit of a drama queen and as having a victim complex #He might be redeemed later

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cjstheshethey · 1 year ago

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I really wanna talk about Blue Beetle and why it's so important to me. SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

Ever since this movie was announced, I was excited because I have familiarized myself with the character of Jaime Reyes for over a decade now. My sister introduced to me to the character when we had our late night Young Justice marathons during a vacation in Mexico back in 2013. Eventually, we got to season 2, where Jaime was introduced. I remember when he would speak Spanish, I would say "Hey he speaks Spanish like us!" And sometimes my non-English speaking cousins would join us watching the show, and when he spoke Spanish, they were able to understand him. As time went on I kinda forgot about DC for a while since I was gaining other interests until Young Justice came back for its 3rd and 4th seasons(This is also your subtle sign that if you haven't watched Young Justice you should do that). Naturally, Jaime is still one of my favorite characters in the show. While I was still in my Young Justice hyperfixation, It was announced that a Blue Beetle movie was happening and even had some concept art shown. Me being the superhero loving Mexican nerd that I am, I was already hyped, and we hadn't even gotten a trailer yet. Then, on April 3rd of this year, the first trailer came out, and I was so excited. DC has been one of my special interests since literally as long as I can remember no joke one of the first shows I ever remember seeing was the original Teen Titans and so combine one of my special interests with one of the most important parts of my identity(my ethnicity) and an excuse to go to the movies? I was stoked. And so I finally saw it a couple of days ago, and I LOVED it. From the family dynamic to the music choices(La Chona in the beginning where Rudy was introduced was the most Mexican introduction ever and I love it.) and even a few references to Mexican culture I didn't expect, Blue Beetle was everything to me. Finally a movie centered around a Mexican family that wasn't afraid to go into topics like immigration and straight up racism towards Mexicans and those topics not taking up the whole story while also not stereotyping any of these characters and treating them like real people. These guys did their research, and it showed. During the part where Jaime comes back to Earth and starts saying something in Spanish, he's saying a prayer. I used to say that particular prayer a lot back when I was a kid, which is a good thing they added that in there because it makes relatable to someone like me. I really wanna make note of one of my favorite scenes from the movie. So after Jaime gets the Scarab and it attaches itself to him, he tries to find a way to get it off him. Once they go to Ted Kords' hidden lab and find out he can't get rid of it safely, he angerly walks out. His uncle Rudy follows him up to the roof. Rudy asks if Jaimes ok and Jaime apologizes for yelling at Rudy. Rudy then starts giving a really good talk about the family and how resilient they are. Then he says this. "I mean, look at your old man. He brought me here from Sonora....when I was 10." No joke, just ask @alextric-overload(Hey dude 😁) and my other friends who came with me, I legitimately gasped in that theater. Why? Because that's where my family is from. Never before did I ever imagine Sonora would even be mentioned in any media let alone a big screen superhero movie but I am so glad it was and I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never in my life have I felt so seen and so represented. The moment those credits rolled, I legit said word for word, "This! This is how you do representation. MORE. OF. THIS. PLEASE." This is why representation is so important because if we continue to make movies like this, more people like me can see themselves in media and feel the way I did. REPRESENTATION MATTERS! So please go support this movie if you haven't already, it's so worth it!

#blue beetle #blue beetle spoilers #dc #teen titans #young justice #jaime reyes

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peachymilkandcream · 2 months ago

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Payment|Part 5|Mafia Levi x Evelyn

WARNINGS: noncon/dubcon, big age difference, kidnapping, slavery, violence, power imbalance, implied somnophilia, forced pregnancies, mind breaking, yandere behaviour, yandere themes, forced exhibitionism, sexual coercion, blackmail, etc.

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

Over the course of a few days Evelyn saw little of her captor. Apparently his recent run in with Kenny had annoyed him to a point where he needed space. She had fucked up in getting the attention of another man. One who, according to Levi, didn't understand what was Levi's and what was free game.

"He's your uncle and you don't trust him?" She had foolishly asked.

"Of course not. He's still pissy that I was the one who brought our family notoriety and not him. He's the oldest member and yet I brought us out of the slums. He'd do anything to put me in my place so to speak."

The idea of what that would entail sent shivers down her spine.

"Good. You should be scared. It seems you have the habit of attracting the attention of some of the most dangerous men in the country."

Evelyn huddled under the covers, still watching Levi pack his briefcase. "Then are you sure it's a good idea to be gone today-?"

"No but I have no choice. One of my new clients won't buy unless they meet me in person. Some people have trust issues."

She bit back a remark about how she wouldn't trust Levi either, but that would lead to consequences.

"Just stay put in here and you should be fine. Don't cause me any problems."

Without so much as a backwards glance he leaves, resigning her to a day of staying by herself in this penthouse. With nothing to do but wait around until he came back. Rich people could be such assholes.

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

As the long and boring day wore on, Evelyn just needed to get out. Lying in bed all day was doing nothing for her brain activity. She at least needed to walk around the apartment and hopefully do something to entertain her until Levi came back. Surely there was no harm in that.

Right?

While exploring, she took note of what kind of a person Levi was. The type to only have one room entirely decorated, one where he clearly met with his "influential people", as he called them. Probably to look like he was a man of the arts who had taste, and not some back alley thug who delighted in tormenting others.

It took a while. but she thought she had explored it all. Noting how the front door was of course locked and couldn't even be budged with all of her might and the help of a chair battering ram.

On her final try to get it open it was caught in mid air.

Evelyn spun and looked into the wrinkled face of the man from the party.

"Now what are you doing trying to escape the runt?"

Fear gripped her instantly, the way in which Levi spoke of Kenny sending shivers down her spine. Was any of it true? If it was, Levi wasn't here to protect her.

"Nothing to say huh. Shame. You're a pretty thing, it's too bad you're roped in with that shorty. Probably doesn't even give you a good time."

As he stepped forward, Evelyn inched back. Until her back hit the door.

"I feel sorry for you, I really do. Which is why I'm going to help you."

A chunk of fear fell away, replacing it with hope. "Really?"

"Of course I am. I can't very well allow a young lady like yourself to go her whole life pleasing such an irritable boy."

Tears of gratitude started to well up in her eyes. "Thank you so much- You don't understand how much this means to me."

He smirked. "Oh I think I do little lady."

With a sudden motion he grabs her arm, throwing her to the carpeted floor.

Evelyn tries to overcome the shock and begins to stand, stopping as the chair she had been previously using to make her escape is brought down her back. The broken wooden pole then used to pierce her leg's flesh, making her scream in agony as she felt the body on top of her.

Hurt and in a vulnerable position Evelyn still tries to fight back the roaming and bold hands grasping at whatever was in reach. The long shirt of Levi's pushed away as he teased her most sensitive spots.

"I wonder just how many vile things Levi's done to you. Just stop fighting and I'll let this one be enjoyable for you."

That doesn't stop her, she continues to fight as his long fingers pierce her core, trying to coat a reaction out of her. Words she had learned were useless in these situations, men like Kenny, like Levi, couldn't be reasoned or bargained with. Better to use your strength to fight back.

The firmness pressing into her rear sends her into more of a desperate fit. Sure, like Levi he was probably getting off to the struggle, but the alternative was to lie down and take it. And that, she would never do. No matter what happens, at least she can live with herself later and know she tried. She tried her best.

Just as she thinks is all over for her the door bursts open, and a gunshot rings out in the air.

At first she thought it was her, finally meeting a cruel end. That Kenny was going to get his final revenge by killing her the moment Levi stepped back in the door. But no, it was Kenny who screamed and rolled off of her, clutching his shoulder as blood oozed out of it.

Evelyn looked back up to Levi, a pissed and raging mess shooting daggers at his uncle as the two guards who Levi had brought with him held Kenny in place.

"You disgusting sack of shit. You'll pay for this. Pay for touching her. What kind of coward goes after another man's woman when he isn't around?"

Kenny smirks, still holding his wound. "I told you to keep an eye on your songbird Levi. Seems you still can't listen to me."

"Yeah." He nods to the men holding his uncle. "Take this filth out of here. He's making everything dirty."

"You're really going to kick out your own flesh and blood runt?"

"My conscience is clear. From now on, you'll no longer be associated with the Ackerman family. But because you're flesh and blood, I won't kill you this time. Simply because my mother would be pissed."

Kenny scoffs. "Kuchel really coming in to save me huh. I promise you runt, this won't be the last you see of me."

"I don't doubt it. But until then, take him out of my sight men. I can't bare to look at him any longer."

As he's dragged away part of Evelyn's unease settles. At the very least one of her problems was taken care of.

So why then did it feel like something terrible was on the horizon?

#break me slowly #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #levi x oc #levi ackerman #levi aot #levi x reader #yandere levi #yandere levi ackerman #yandere levi x reader #payment

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fruit-of-infidelity · 1 year ago

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⚰︎ DIABOLIK LOVERS Pre-Order Tokuten Drama CD: “Vampire★Juice ~A Suspicious Syrup from the Underworld~” ⚰︎

Japanese Title: ヴァンパイア★ジュース〜魔界から変なシロップ〜

CV: Takehiro Kou, Konno Jun

Audio Available: N/A

Author Note: Hehe, finally the goofy vampire juice CD is here for Ryuuto and Richter~! I had sooo much fun writing this because I speed-typed it in three(ish) days. Ryuuto (hopefully) comes across as very silly with how he just speaks before thinking and follows in Kanato's footsteps by starting to strip-off xD (and i think this is the first time he actually cusses on record?? So, big boy steps for him lol). Richter also gets to have some silly moments in this, being babied by his son and proving himself to be a lightweight lolol.

― Ryuuto is painting in his studio. ―

Ryuuto: Hmm…

No, this won’t do at all.

There needs to be movement. Soft, flowy movement… Of those satin curtains over there, and perhaps even your hair in the wind.

Pet, do me a favour and open that window, there.

― You do as he asks. ―

Now, take a seat back down… Yes, that is much better.

I’ll be able to capture so much more upon the canvas. Don’t shoot me such a hurt expression, Pet. You breathe plenty of life into my art…

This time, however, you alone are simply not enough, fufu.

― Squeak, squeak. ―

…Hm? What on earth?

― Flap, flap, flap. ―

That sound… My, it seems we have a visitor.

― A bat crashes through the curtains, landing on Ryuuto’s paint palette, and then the floor. ―

Oh, good lord…! Tut, what a mess!!

― It leaves little wet and paint covered bat tracks as it stumbles over to him. ―

Bat tracks… and paint. Sigh.

― You stress your concern. ―

It is totally fine, they are tougher than they look... Although, this one clearly this isn’t a Familiar of mine with this level of clumsiness…

― Squeak, squeak! ―

…Aah, and now I see why.

You’re a Familiar from the Demon World, you say? Bearing a package from… Say that name again? Surely not…

From Karlheinz? My Uncle?

Really? Whatever for?

― Squeak! ―

“In gratitude”? Hmph.

…Well, even I am a little curious about this.

Yes, I suppose you can be on your way, and the sender can rest assured that it has been received. Even if reluctantly…

― It flies off now. ―

…This is certainly something. For Karlheinz to be in any sort of communication with us is unheard of, especially for him to send a package.

This has “suspicious” painted all over it; Who is to say it is even from Karlheinz?

I wouldn’t be surprised if a clumsy Familiar like that doesn’t belong to someone mindless like Ayato, hoping to prank us with an “ominous package”.

After all, what could someone like Karlheinz possibly be sending all the way over here? Furthermore…

Aah, it seems it’s addressed to Richter?

― You wonder what’s inside. ―

Whether from Karlheinz or not, it’s not our place to wonder. We’ll find out once we hand it over to Father, I suppose. Come along…

― You make your way to the living room. ―

One thing is for certain… It is surprisingly heavy.

Richter: What is?

Ryuuto: Ah, Father. Just the person I was looking for.

Richter: Well, now you have found me, do fill me in… Oh, could it be something troubling? Just what is with those grim expressions?

Ryuuto: This package… It is addressed to you.

Richter: Is that all? Give it here, then.

Ryuuto: The thing is, the familiar that dropped it off informed me that it was sent as a “thank you”…. from Karlheinz himself.

Richter: …How interesting. Whatever could he be thinking?

Ryuuto: That’s what I was wondering. Have you been in contact with him lately?

Richter: Not enough to warrant a… gift.

I suppose the only thing to do from here is to open it? There is that saying of “curiosity killed the cat”, and yet I cannot help get ahead of myself…

You, hold the box for me, won’t you?

― You hold the package. ―

Ryuuto: …!! Wait a moment, is this really a good idea?

Richter: Why wouldn’t it be? It’s a package addressed to me, from my brother, in thanks for… Well, who can say?

Nevertheless, I have every intention on opening it.

Ryuuto: Father! Aren’t you worried about it being not all it seems…?

After all, this sort of stuff… It’s been sent directly from the Makai…!

Richter: Come now. Paranoia doesn’t suit you, Ryuuto.

What about you? What do you make of all this?

― You are curious... ―

Ryuuto: What do you mean “take a peek”? Did you not listen to a word I was saying before, about it being a potential for disaster?

Richter: Usually you are the one telling me to lighten up, fufufu.

― “What’s the worst that could happen?” ―

Ryuuto: The worst that could happen? Well…

― You point out something on the package. ―

Richter: Aah, good eye.

If you’re worried that it’s anything less than what it seems, Ryuuto, I think this person has just the thing to alleviate those concerns. Look…

Ryuuto: …Karlheinz’ seal? The ribbon of the box has been held shut with a wax imprint of it?

Richter: Now that matter has been settled… You, hold it still.

― Richter pries open the box. ―

Ryuuto: ...I really think you ought to be more careful.

Richter: Whatever you say, “Father”. Fufu…

Ryuuto: Hmph.

― Richter takes out the contents of the box. ―

…Oh? Of all things that could have been, it is a bottle?

Richter: With some sort of liquid inside it, yes.

― Richter uncaps the bottle. Pop! ―

Hmm, no smell… and totally clear.

Did you say if there was any letter that came with the package? Any sort of hint of what liquid this might be?

― You explain that there wasn’t. ―

…I wonder if it is meant to be drunk?

Ryuuto: That’s… You can’t be serious!?

Sending some strange, unidentifiable liquid is a little suspicious, don’t you think?

Richter: This is my final warning, Ryuuto… Lest you want to volunteer to be the guinea pig, after all, cut it out.

Ryuuto: Fine… Go ahead and poison yourself, for all I care.

Richter: … …Hmph.

…Perhaps there is something to be had with taking a little bit of caution.

Poison isn’t something I considered… I wonder if even Karlheinz would stoop to such levels, despite the show-off that he is?

― Richter decides to pour a glass. ―

In that case, there is one way we can rule out any ill-intentions. You there, won’t you come a little closer for just a moment?

― You question him. ―

Don’t act so surprised. There is one else here to test it for us, is there?

Ryuuto: You mean to say… Our Pet is taking the first sip?

You truly have lost your mind. If something were to happen to her whilst tasting it…

Richter: Then she has the two of us here to rely on. After all, her life always has been completely and utterly in our hands… Isn’t that right?

Ryuuto: When you put it that way…

Richter: Go ahead, give it a try.

― You refuse! ―

Ryuuto: …I agree with him. Drink it, Pet.

Even if we can’t be sure of what it is…

You’re a human, so – come to think of it – I highly doubt you’ll be in any immediate danger. Especially if this was sent by another Vampire.

And, at the very least… Fufu, I’ve actually become a little curious…

Richter: We give you our word that you’re in capable hands.

― You give in... Gulp!! ―

Ryuuto: Well?

Richter: You aren’t green in the face, nor have you collapsed to the ground thus far…

It appears safe, after all.

Ryuuto: Does it even have a taste, Pet? I don’t quite know if my Uncle has a sense of humour, but if it turns out to be nothing more than water…

― You reassure him. ―

Tut, pour me a glass. Let me taste it for myself.

― Ryuuto takes a sip. ―

…Mm, this is quite good. Not what I expected, after all.

Richter: You mean to say, I was right all along? It is harmless, isn’t it? I told you as much. Even you haven’t reacted to it, Ryuuto.

Now, it seems I’ve been left in the dust, fufu.

― Richter pours a glass, and drinks. ―

…This taste…

As sweet as it is… It is awfully familiar.

There’s no obvious labelling, but I could swear I’ve sampled something similar before. I just can’t quite put my finger on it.

Ryuuto: Whatever it is, if you happen to remember the name of it, it might be worth a daytrip to the Makai to purchase some more.

I have a feeling this bottle will be gone soon enough.

― You finish your cup. ―

It seems someone else here is also a big fan of it? Fufu.

Richter: This taste is definitely bringing back some memories…

To send it all the way from the Makai… Could it have been something Karlheinz and I used to drink as children, I wonder?

― Ryuuto uncaps it again. ―

Ryuuto: Shall I top us all up?

― You warn him. ―

…Fufu, look at you, telling me not to drink so much. There isn’t any harm in one more glass, is there? Are you worried I might upset my stomach?

So, who is for one more?

― You deny. ―

Richter: More for us, then. Please, if you would be so kind.

Ryuuto: And another for myself, I think~.

Richter: Mm… You know, it really is bugging me, that I can’t figure out where I have tasted this before. It’s so distinctly delicious, it should be obvious.

― You try to help him out. ―

“Is it juice”? No, that would have a distinctly fruity taste. Instead, if I were to try and place it somehow, it has a pungent tang to it.

It tastes more like… …!! Wait…

Father’s cabinet… Yes, that’s just it!

Ryuuto: What, have you figured out just what it is, finally?

Richter: Fufu… Ahahaha. Karlheinz, you shifty little thief…

You there. Are you sure you aren’t to have any more?

― You insist. ―

“No?” In that case… Cheers, Ryuuto. Fufufu!

― They clink their glasses together. ―

― TIMESKIP. ―

Ryuuto: One―hic―more glass couldn’t hurt~

― You interject. ―

We drank the whole bottle, already?

Fufu, talk about getting ahead of ourselves. Although―hic―I suppose it isn’t a celebration without going overboard just a smidge.

Although, if I were to properly overindulge―hic―this evening… I think I would need to fix my sights on you, Pet… Imagine it, won’t you?

Stripped down naked, and sat nicely in my lap~

― You get flustered. ―

Richter: Good grief, Ryuu…to… Have you no… shame?

I’d ask what has gotten into you, but I… think that much is obvious. In the end, you went through… even more of that drink than me.

― You ask if Richter’s okay. ―

Me? I’m perfectly… fine, just a little tired after all that drinking. I suppose I’ve always… been a lightweight drunk, fu…fufu.

Ryuuto: Just a moment! You mean to say, what was in that bottle was…

Richter: Liqueur from… the Makai. Surprisingly thoughtful of Karlheinz, wouldn’t you say?

After wracking my brain, it conjured up memories of… of when he and I happened to break into our Father’s cabinet…

Full to the… yawn… brim with refined Makai liqueur. Fufu.

Ryuuto: Well, well… Who knew the two of you were such miscreants when you were younger~? Colour me surprised.

Not to mention… you didn’t even react to―hic―it, Pet. You hold your drink well… Maybe we should have laced yours with a little something extra~?

Richter: What was in the bottle was not quite like... yawn… like that which humans drink, nor does it seem to affect… …affect them… as much.

Yaa~wn…

Ryuuto: I suppose that might be a blessing in dis―hic―guise. Who is to say you wouldn’t be all over me, if you had gotten a little tipsy~?

One thing is for certain, though… That stuff really warms you up; I think I’m beginning to get hot flushes! Goodness me…~

― He begins to strip. ―

Haa… There~

…Fufu, what is with those wide eyes? It’s just my shirt coming off, don’t get too excited~ You can’t blame me for wanting to cool off?

― You look to Richter for help. ―

Richter: Zz… zz…

Ryuuto: Oh dear, don’t look over there… It seems, after―hic―all that Father has fallen asleep. So, bring your focus back to me, won’t you?

Fawn over your Master some more…

― Ryuuto creeps closer to you. ―

Unless… you want to take the reins this time? What a delectable little thing you are~

Maybe that’s it… Shall I be the “Pet” in this―hic―new arrangement? Go ahead, then… Praise me. Please? Pretty please~?

― You try to wake Richter. ―

Richter: P…Pardon? Did I… drift off, for a moment?

…R-Ryuuto. What happened to your… shirt?

― You offer to get water for them both. ―

Ryuuto: Never-mind that… Water, to sober us up? That’s just an old wives’ tale.

Richter: I suggest we should… Mmh… Just sleep these effects off…

― Richter rests his head in your lap. ―

I’ll just… rest my head here, alright? Your lap makes for… a decent pillow, after all. Don’t… Don’t wake me.

Zzz… Zz…

Ryuuto: Father, what are you doing…!? If anything,we should―hic―or, I should, be the “pillow” in this situation…!!

After all, I’m beginning to take my role as “Pet” very―hic―seriously.

― THUD. ―

― Richter rolls right off your lap onto the floor. ―

Fufufu… Don’t look so worried, he’s completely fine… He is tougher than he looks, even whilst asleep―hic!

Say… A-Are you sure there isn’t any more left in the bottle….?

― You express your concerns. ―

Pfft…~ Ahaha, you’re really cute when you become all concerned like―hic―that. It’s really a shame that you haven’t even been the slightest bit affected by the stuff, though… You haven’t been, right?

― You try to think. ―

Richter: Y…You’re feeling hot?

Ryuuto: Wh-What a pervert you are, old man…

Trust that you would have picked up on that, even whilst nearly out cold~

Richter: That’s not the case, this time... My head is spinning, and beginning to throb…! Even with the liquor working against me, it’s painful...

…A-Am I on the floor?

Ryuuto: You’re awfully heavy, it’s no wonder you―hic―totally rolled off on your own. Next time, snooze on someone your own size.

Richter: …Right, then. Shift over, Ryuuto.

Ryuuto: H-Huh…!? I didn’t mean…――

― Richter collapses onto Ryuuto. ―

Richter: Rub my head whilst you’re… ouch, at it.

Ryuuto: You want me to take care of you? A-Are you serious, right now? A-Aren’t you the one that’s―hic―the dad here?

Richter: Less complaining, more massaging.

Ryuuto: You’re one to talk about complaining…

Richter: You there… What were you saying about… Zz…

― You nudge him awake again. ―

A-Ah? Oh, yes… Water, fetch me some water. It couldn’t hurt…

― You go to do just that. ―

― TIMESKIP. ―

Ryuuto: Fu…Fufufu… Come, have a look…!

― You place down the water. ―

Richter: Zz….

Ryuuto: I used the―hic―wrapping tissue from the package the bottle came in, to fashion him something a little more fitting for his sleepy state.

How do you think he looks, in his new baby-bonnet~?

― You laugh. ―

And, with him out of the picture like this… I suppose that makes me the one in charge; I’m the new father around here.

So, how about―hic―it? If me being the “Pet” doesn’t quite suit… What do you say to being taken care of, and calling me your “daddy”, instead?

― You fluster! ―

Your face is completely red… From your nose to your ears, fufu. Have I struck gold? Have I discovered you have “father issues”, I wonder~?

Have you been holding out on me this whole time~?

Go on and say it… Call me “daddy”~

― There is a rustling… ―

Huh? Did I speak too loud and wake him up, after all?

― Richter tears off the make-shift bonnet! ―

W-Waah!?

― And then grabs Ryuuto by his collar. ―

Richter: What do you think you’re doing!?

Ryuuto: Just a moment, now…!

I-It was a joke! A―hic―joke…!

Richter: Attempting to humiliate your own Father with some B-grade arts-and-craft is your idea of a joke, is it!?

Ryuuto: Hey… S-Since when did you get so strong, anyway?

― You plead them to stop. ―

Richter: Whether it’s that liquor getting to his head, or whether he has finally shown his true colours, I will not back down from punishment…!

Ryuuto: “Sleepy drunk”, my ass!

You, h-help me out here!

Richter: And look at you, losing all composure the moment I lay a hand on you.

Tonight is full of surprises for us both, it seems…!!

― You pick up the cups... ―

And, another thing―

― SPLASH! You throw water at them both. ―

Gah…!!

Ryuuto: Woah… I’m soaked…!!

Richter: Y-You…

What on earth was that for!?

At the very least… that took the edge of my tiredness off…

― You call them childish. ―

…Me? Childish!? You saw for yourself, he started it.

Ryuuto: Pointing fingers. Real mature, Father.

Richter: Do not push your luck with me.

Ryuuto: Hmph.

― You ask them to calm down. ―

We are perfectly calm… At the very least, we were until someone insisted on opening that bottle, that is.

Richter: …Perhaps all this emotion is from that gift, after all. I do suppose we overindulged a little back there, come to think of it.

Ryuuto: And by we, you mean “you”?

Richter: Tut. It is like arguing with a child… Oh. Wait~

― You urge them to reach an agreement. ―

…You are quite right. Surprisingly.

― Richter now pinches Ryuuto by his ear. ―

Ryuuto: O-Ow…! What do you think you’re…!?

Richter: You will come to sorely regret making the pair of us look like idiots if you continue to sit on your drunken high horse.

I’ll unhand your ear once we come to an agreement; Might we never overdrink on suspicious liquids sent to us by Karlheinz again.

I would much prefer to no longer stand here and try and compromise with you, weighed down by this water-soaked coat…

What do you say to shaking on it, Ryuuto?

Ryuuto: …Hmph…

― You plead with him. ―

…Don’t look at me with those eyes, you’re practically backing me into a corner, looking so cute… Sigh. For her sake, I’ll agree.

― Richter lets him go now. ―

Richter: Now, before the second-wave, or the headache, hits me… I need to get myself dried out. If you’ll excuse me…

You, you will be fine to clean this mess up, won’t you?

― You nod. ―

Very good. Afterwards, do come and join me in my study, won’t you? Nothing warms these old bones quite like a hot-blooded woman... Fufu.

Ryuuto: …Ow. You know? I think you made my ear bleed…!

Richter: Good grief…

ーー THE END ーー

#ryuuto sakamaki #sakamaki ryuuto #sakamaki richter #richter sakamaki #diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers oc #tokuten #drama cd #ryuuto drama cd

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maddenslandfill · 27 days ago

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I almost lost myself to the weight again,

let myself stay in a dark room in a dark house under a dark blanket. Shut my eyes to the world and made my spirit rest.

My spirit is not interested in rest right now. My spirit has had a lot of rest, and it is burning with residual energy.

I showered, scrubbed myself from head to toe, got rid of any overlapping energies. I got dressed, in my bright orange sweater and big pants. I packed up my things, mostly skincare, and I drove the two hour drive to Massachusetts to teach my art class for non art students.

The class was fantastic. I felt connected to the students in a way that I haven’t yet this semester. I felt light and giddy and humorous.

We painted and laughed and chatted and connected. Paint got everywhere, the table, the carpet. I left feeling full of love and contentment.

Once class was finished, I found myself at my favorite coffee shop/bar in the area, ordering a pot of turmeric ginger tea, and whipping out the drawing I have been working on.

A portrait of my grandfather.

I hadn’t felt inspired to draw for a long time, it had been over a year, until one day.

my Uncle sent a photo he took of my grandfather, who we all call GrandDaddy, over FaceTime to our family group chat. In the photo his hands are curled under his neck and he is giggling at a joke he himself made.

It unleashed a spark in me that I have not felt for a while. An ‘I must draw this’ spark.

The coffee shop is lovely, it’s dimly lit, full of medium dark wood, and house plants. It’s my favorite, I absolutely love it.

And I am drawing, adding a mark, blending, erasing, and so on.

I sip my tea, then I work some more.

Sip and work, sip and work.

The coffee shop was closing, and one of the managers stops by my seat at the bar and asked if I was looking for a second job. Yes! Yes! Yes!

I’ve been wanting to work at this place forever, since I first stepped in and smelled the ground coffee and old wood.

Better yet, a job as a bar back. Learning to bar tend is something I have been trying to do for a while, and here it was offered to me via Carly.

Today has been a divine lesson in getting up and showing up. If I had stayed in bed asleep and sad I never would have formed a deeper connection with my students, and I never would have been offered a job!

Today I decided to move with the rhythms of the universe. To allow my emotion, my feeling, to decide what I would do.

The moment I decided to get up and out and go was the moment I felt exhausted at the idea of staying in.

Get up, out, go.

#writers on tumblr #writing #journal #artists on tumblr #blog

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farmerbebop · 1 month ago

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It seems like an entire lifetime has passed since I last posted. I was back in my hometown. And here are some updates.

1. The only one who was still there, had time and was interested in hanging out with me is mostly just my dad. (You shouldn’t be so surprised to find out you are not so popular in real life if you have been blorbo posting to an audience of ten people on tumblr dot com). I spent most of the time at home listening to him talking about everything and eating with him. That’s something he can’t expect from my little sister and brother. They would rather go out to eat foreign food and don’t like to listen to him “moralising”.

I was born in a different time. When I was a baby, dad made chicken broth for me out of chicken feet because he couldn’t afford any meat. When he needed pork for my porridge he would buy bones but sweet talk the butcher lady so she left some more meat on the bones. Then he would take me out drinking with him after kindergarten (don’t worry it’s not what you think). I was the only kid among a bunch of drunken men so I was treated like a princess by the waitresses. They would bring me the best food they could find every time my dad brought me in. That’s how I got to eat chicken drumsticks for free.

Even if I had all the money in the world, no waitress would treat me better than when I was just a poor man’s daughter.

2. They have put an automatic door at the gate of the Temple of Literature. You have to scan the ticket to get through it. Buy some dried plums at the shop and you scan their QR code to pay with your phone. Ask a 15-year-old where they hang out with their friends in their free time and the first answer is “shopping mall”.

I asked my stepmom about a new piece of wall decor at home and she said it’s some Japanese secondhand stuff. “Importing thrown-away stuffs from Japan is a business now. We are like their dumpster”, she said. My cousin’s daughter speaks better English than me, she is four year old.

They recently built a big museum for military history. It’s not completed yet and the entry is still free. When I was there with my friend on a Thursday morning, it was packed with people. Everyone was taking selfie or having photo taken as if they didn’t just see thousands years of wars, after which their country is becoming more and more like its enemies.

3. My little sister used to say she would go to the fine arts museum with me when I’m home. But ever since she got into the most famous “elite” high school in Vietnam, she has been “working” day and night for the six clubs that she is in. Every time I asked what she was doing she was “working on her deadlines”. She has meetings, interviews, reviews, feedbacks. She knows 600 fellow club members. She has to write posts, design posters, organise events. Her ambition is to get promoted to a “higher position”. I only got to see her at dinner. And she just got into high school a few months ago.

She showed me the instagram page of the robotics club at her school. They have photoshoots for their members as if they were actors. And my blorbo looked in most studio photos like he just came back from a parent-teacher meeting.

4. My little brother is still not showing much interest in studying. But he still wants “an easy job with a high salary” and doesn’t show any interest in “hard work” either. My dad has tried a lot of things and still can’t get his son to turn over a new leaf. “The family method” wouldn’t work on my brother, he said. He means the way his uncle “fixed” him back in his youth.

Back then, dad didn’t learn anything at school. One day after he failed the university entrance exam, his uncle came to his house. He was drunk and he told my dad: “Look at your parents! They gave you everything and you are a good-for-nothing! How can people as talented as your parents have such a useless son as you?! You don’t deserve to bear our last name!” Then he vomited everything he has just eaten and made my dad eat that.

My dad, as proud as he was, had to eat the vomit and started studying after that.

The education system has ruined this new generation, he said. They learn to get good grades and they give out good grades when it fits them. All the politicians telling them to learn hard today will be arrested for corruption the next day. There are as many university graduates as puppies, just as clueless and just as helpless. If your parents are not rich, are not high-ranking officials or don’t have any “connections” then you are on your own.

“Whoever has land to sell nowadays is rich”, he said. And the famine drove my great grandparents out of their hometown in 1945 so we don’t have any land, he also said.

5. My aunt called me a rice ball because I have gained weight. Too much blorbo posting, I guess. Everyone tells me I need to exercise more. My exercise is now my new hiatus and I hope they don’t mean the same thing.

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widowshill · 1 year ago

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um idk this is just like a little. what if vic was there in 1969 and she'd been to london with roger and we weren't worried about the cult stuff yet. and such things.

Roger Collins twirled the stem of the lily between long, soft fingers, admiring the way the winter light gleamed almost white and pure as snow on the open petals. It seemed a shame to cut such a lovely thing away from life, to put it away in the elegant curves of its coffin for a few brief days of beauty before its sudden, untimely decay. But what days of beauty! He lifted the bloom to his face to take in the scent — so like the untouched sweetness of early spring and yet, unmistakably, the funeral bier. One corner of his mouth pulled into a smile, and he reached down to slip the flower among the rest of them in the vase.

“Roger?”

He flinched, and the lily slipped from his hand to lie lonely on the workbench. Roger cast an almost guilty glance over his shoulder. His constant shadow in chartreuse — the all-knowing jacquarded Hera.

“Liz! I didn’t hear you come in.”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. Her brother was rarely to be found out in the greenhouse — not even when she had specifically asked him there for his help. And here he was now, the very image of his son caught in some place he should not be, shears tucked behind his back for good measure, as though she would not notice the damning angle of his elbow.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, just filling a vase … I am permitted to do that, aren’t I?”

“I wish you’d have asked me first.”

Her eye landed next on the arrangement, relieved, at least, he hadn’t taken anything too prized, or that would not regrow. Only a few Madonnas. But whatever for?

“Roger, I just put fresh flowers in your room this morning.”

“I know that."

“Where did that vase come from? It’s not one of ours.”

“Oh for God’s sake, Liz, Carolyn picked it up for me at the antique shop. I suppose I must approve every new possession of mine with you.”

The eldest Collins would never argue that her brother didn’t have impeccable taste when it came to the arts. It was beautiful –– pristine sky blue Wedgwood, no doubt an authentic Georgian piece, arrayed with some classical scene in polished white. Not something she’d have expected him to like, but then he’d surprised her before. Elizabeth's posture loosened, just slightly, her eye fixed on that vase. She'd have liked to relish his sudden interest in the plants. She would have, ordinarily. But those shears had yet to reappear from behind his back.

His sister raised her brows at him. She might as well have been saying: stay out of my room.

“If you want more flowers made up you need only ask me.”

He managed not to roll his eyes at her final disapproving glance, wondering for half a moment if she’d take the flowers from him — as she would have as a child if she’d found him stealing a toy. But she didn’t, she only reached for a half-full cup of coffee she’d evidently forgotten here that morning, and went back out into the snow, as composed as if nothing whatsoever had happened, as if ice itself had no capacity to disturb the steady heeled gait of the mistress of the house. Of course it had none: the very grounds themselves worshipped her.

Roger leaned against the bench as soon as she was out of view of the big glass panes, flooded with relief as he cradled the vase, errant stem tucked at last into safekeeping. One good thing had come out of his niece working at that infernal shop, anyway. Phillip Todd had gone all the way to Boston for it when his little niece had mentioned her uncle's interest in jasperware.

He ran a thumb over raised porcelain, and smiled. The Winged Victoria.

"Vicki Winters, what on earth has gotten into you?"

The little governess blinked at her with wide, innocent eyes that could have shirked all accusation from almost anyone else.

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't heard a word I've said for the last fifteen minutes. You're miles away."

Victoria smiled, sheepishly, and laid aside the pair of cufflinks she'd been fiddling with (to the great dismay of the counterwoman, who felt her commission draining like water through her fingers).

"No, I haven't, Carolyn, I'm sorry. You'll have to tell me again."

Her apologies did not satisfy her –– not that she'd guessed they would –– and within a moment the tempest of golden hair was at her side, fully of sound and fury at the greatest possible sin against the maiden Stoddard: inattention.

"I think you're going to tell me something. You weren't thinking of those for yourself. Who are you buying for?"

"No one. I was just admiring them."

"Uh huh." Attempts to give her interrogator the slip into the women's jewelry section proved fruitless. She'd hoped, however faintly, she'd be dazzled by some locket and forget about Miss Winters' minor infraction for a while, but no such luck. Carolyn seemed to sense the tactic, and stepped in her path before she could retreat even further to cosmetics. "Now you're a liar and a poor listener. I'm keeping score, Vicki."

"Your mother doesn't pay me that much. even if I wanted them, I could never – "

"I knew it." Smug pleasure replaced the sting of abandonment, and she grinned, convinced now that she was right. "Tell me who they're for and I'll get them for you."

"That's bribery, Carolyn Stoddard. I'm keeping score, too."

"So what if it is? Mother owes you a million dollars at least for putting up with David all this time, it'll make a small dent in our debt to you. Go on, tell me."

Miss Winters only shook her head. Her captor, resumed now in her pout, let her escape her glass-framed cage and trailed after her as she headed to the assured safety of the checkout counter.

"I'm buying the shirts she sent me to pick up for David, and that's all. That'll have to satisfy you."

"Vicki, if there is someone –"

"Carolyn."

"If there is then I'd be happy for you. I know how hard it's been after everything's that happened with you and ... well, I think it's wonderful you're thinking about it again. That's all."

Victoria was silent. She hadn't said the name, but it was there in the air anyways, in her knuckles –– tense as they withdrew her purse and the envelope within, bare now of the wedding band that had left a white mark of summer-long widowhood. A reminder burned into the skin. Carolyn softened.

"Whoever he is, he's a lucky guy."

Miss Winters turned to look at her, over the bulk of the new-wrapped box in her arms, and for only a moment it seemed as though she might say something –– but she chewed at the inside of her cheek, and thought better of it.

"You'll be the first to know if there's something to tell, alright?"

"I'll hold you to that, Miss Winters."

"I know you will."

"It's good to see you feeling so much better, David." Victoria placed a fond kiss to the top of his head, which one might say he endured rather than enjoyed, but nonetheless he no longer squirmed away. Recent months had made the both of them far too aware just how precious annoying governess kisses were in the world. "How do you like the watercolors?"

"I like 'em okay. Still getting the hang of it, I guess."

David's version of "getting the hang of it" never ceased to surprise her. He'd had the box of corner store paints for two weeks, and he was already a portraitist fit to rival Charles Delaware Tate (at least, in her professional opinion). Her student had a fine, if exploratory, way of capturing the the gleam of satin and the white powdering of lace and the soft curve of a nose that ... oh. Her brows lifted, just faintly.

"Is that me?"

"Yes. I saw it in my crystal ball."

"I didn't know you still played with that."

"It's not a toy. I looked in it."

"Alright, you looked in it." She smiled down at him, immensely grateful he couldn't hear her heart beating in her ears. He hadn't seen her in her finery on her last wedding day (either of them), though she supposed his aunt must have told him she'd worn Naomi's veil. He could have found it, playing dress up in old storage rooms, or in a portrait somewhere, any place. Not so unusual. "Did your crystal ball show you the groom, too?"

"No, just you."

"Well, it's a beautiful likeness. I might want to keep it when you're finished."

He hesitated, and frowned down at the picture before laying aside his brush in a muddied water cup.

"Are you getting married again soon, Miss Winters?"

"If I am, no one's told me about it."

"Well, the crystal ball never lies. You know that."

"I know."

He was silent for another moment, then: "Do you want to get married again?"

"Sure, sometime. But I don't know that I can anytime soon. We haven't got your geometry up where I want it just yet."

David only grinned in answer, and picked up his brush again –– focused intently now not on the face of his subject, but on some mystery deep within flawless crystal. Vicki could see nothing there, of course, she'd never been able to since Burke first gave it to him. But he'd evidently found something he'd forgotten, because he was quickly back to work adding a long strand of pearls around her neck, as clear and as detailed as if he could see them right before his face. She didn't have anything like that. She felt dizzy.

"There, now it's finished. You can have it."

"Thank you, David." She studied the necklace. It was old, very old, she was sure of that. Maybe she'd ask Mrs. Stoddard about it. "Wait –– you should sign it, all artists sign their portraits."

"Oh! You're right."

Once he'd scrawled his name, he blew on the wet corner to dry it : David, sans Collins, she noticed with a smile. Not a family that liked lending their name to the men of Bohemia. She ruffled his hair and took the finished portrait in hand.

"Who knows, in a hundred years someone might pay thousands of dollars for this picture. An authentic David Collins."

"Maybe."

Victoria made to leave the room, but took one look behind her as he was packing up the newspapers littered across his desk, shaking his ever-longer hair back into place.

"David? If your crystal ball says who I'm going to marry, you'll tell me, won't you?"

"Sure."

“Carolyn! I thought you came home hours ago, with Vicki.”

“I did. I snuck out again, you don’t think she saw me, do you?”

"Well, no, but –"

"Good." Roger's niece collapsed next to him on the sofa, close enough that he could still make out a few stubborn snowflakes in her hair. There must have been another bout of flurries after the sun went down, he hadn't noticed. "I want you to tell me what you think of these."

From fine white crocodile leather, she withdrew a small jewelry box, containing an intricate pair of cufflinks on its green velvet bed: silver, each adorned with a single pearl. Expensive, undoubtedly.

"They're very charming, kitten. Who are they for?"

"Well that's just it, I don't know."

"Oh?" He handed them back with a smile, quizzical but by now quite used to the heiress' little intrigues.

"Vicki was looking at them earlier."

"Vicki?" The smile dropped from his face as rapidly as it appeared. Thankfully, the young Miss Stoddard was much too engrossed in her own plot to notice.

"Yes. She had to have someone in mind, didn't she? I mean, she wouldn't have been admiring them on her own, would she?"

"No, I shouldn't think so.” Not unless their governess had taken a new interest in men’s jewelry he’d never known her to possess. “Admiring them, you said? Miss Winters can hardly afford something like this on her salary."

"That was her objection, too. I told her I'd buy them for her if she told me who it was."

That earned her a laugh. "Well, I hope you learned that trick from your mother and not from me."

"She said no, anyways. You know how Vicki is."

Yes, he knew. Honorable to a fault, their Miss Winters, never more so than when it came to her latest pup trailing after her. He pulled at his lower lip idly, thinking about the drape of porcelain chiton under his fingertip, the damning yellow pollen that had crept like a lipstick stain onto his shirt cuff. Roger rose from his place, and filled his half-empty glass to the brim.

Carolyn noticed that, if nothing else. But she was persistent. "Anyway, I thought I'd surprise her with them, and she'd be grateful enough to let it slip. Or at least you and I can keep our eyes peeled for any men about town with a new pair of cuff links."

"An impeccable plan. You have my full collaboration, if need be."

He downed the brandy in a swallow. His niece waited patiently, almost expectantly, at his elbow.

"Uncle Roger, it doesn't bother you that Vicki might be seeing someone, does it?"

"It certainly does. Her last romantic fiasco was hard enough on all of us, especially David. I should hate to think of him being put through that again." He filled the glass a second time, then turned to face her, his free hand resting on his hip. "You know, I'm not sure I quite trust her judgment in her choice of young men, and her secrecy does nothing to endear this one to me."

Carolyn toyed with the velvet lining of the box. Her delightful mystery she'd happened upon was quickly losing its charm. He was right, she guessed, it affected all of them –– and no one more than David –– where and when their governess placed her romantic attentions. But still ...

"You want her to be happy, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, don't be horrible to her."

"Now, kitten, does that sound like me?"

"Miss Winters, are you awake?"

"Roger! Come in." The little governess brightened despite the blizzard at her window, a vision of springtime in yellow chiffon as she rose from her desk to meet him, note still in hand that she'd plucked from the bouquet. "Roger, I never got the chance to thank you for the flowers, and the vase, they’re beautiful, it was so thoughtful of you to — ”

“You’re welcome, Miss Winters.” He did not return the smile, and hers gradually fell from her face. He could have sworn that the room itself got darker, as though she’d pulled the curtains.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Wrong? No, I suppose not.”

“I don’t understand.”

In answer, he pulled a small jewelry box from the pocket of his smoking jacket, held tidily between thumb and forefinger. She didn't need to see it opened to know precisely what was inside.

"Carolyn!" Victoria grabbed for it, but Roger held it not quite teasingly out of reach.

"Yes, my dear niece told me all about your little excursion this afternoon."

"I'm sure she knows all about it."

"Oh, don't blame Carolyn." He paced towards her –– slow, methodical, but his strides were lengthy, his legs rather longer than hers. "She meant nothing by it but curiosity, she asked my help identifying your young man."

"My young man?" Victoria smothered a smirk, but the corners of her mouth twitched relentlessly –– Roger did not find it quite so amusing.

"I think you owe me an apology, Miss Winters."

"I don't see that I do."

"You don't –– !" he scowled. "What a stupid gift for this suitor of yours, it would have cost you six months' wages at least – "

The back of her thighs hit the desk. She looked up at him, startled, but he shirked her gaze, landing instead at the contents of her desktop. Some picture of David's she'd left laying out. Oh. It was her. Looking almost just as she had on her wedding day, her face framed by Parisian lace, so radiant and –– his face drained of its color. "It seems you have something else to explain."

"David painted that this afternoon, he's been playing with the crystal ball again."

He lifted up the portrait by the corner, as if to touch it would singe him. "My son painted this? So you'll involve even David in your little schemes."

"I already told you, he saw that in his crystal ball."

"Victoria Winters, really, you surprise me."

"I wanted to keep it because I thought it was a good likeness."

"It's a wonderful likeness. Remarkable. You look just like you did when ..." his throat tightened. "If you're already thinking of marrying whoever it is, then you certainly owe me the decency of telling me. You've let me make a fool out of myself."

"I'm not thinking of marrying anyone."

"But this ––!"

"You haven't asked me!"

He went silent, lips parted as he searched her eyes –– grey like sharpened steel, now, fraught with impatience. She was so lovely, even when she was angry with him, perhaps especially then. " ... what ?"

"Well, you haven't. So I don't see how I can be planning to get married to anyone."

"Vicki." A small, cautiously hopeful smile warmed his face.

"But now I don't know that I'd want to even if you did, if you're going to accuse me of infidelity every time I browse the men's department."

"The cuff links were for...?"

"Roger Collins, I wanted to buy those for you."

"You did?"

"Yes, and now Carolyn's ruined the surprise on top of everything else."

"Then you mean, there's no –– "

"No, there's no young man."

He was pleased enough not to resent her little barb in the least, and laid aside David's artwork to take the real thing into his arms instead. The drape of her nightgown was dreamlike in his fingers, clinging to skin soft as porcelain.

"Forty-four's not too old, is it?"

She only sighed. "What am I going to get you? Secrets don't last a day in this house."

Roger chuckled at that. "Not usually." He kissed her cheek, her neck –– there, beneath her ear, where he could feel her pulse jump. Alive, always so alive in this house of ghosts, their governess. Warm as if he stood before the hearth, as though she were the greenhouse sun, or brandy in the throat. "You liked the vase?"

"I did." She relaxed, at last, in his attention. "I remembered. Nike."

"Victoria." He held her chin, and studied her. "the goddess Victoria..."

He wished they were hundreds of miles from here, arm in arm in the Duveen Gallery again, far from ghosts, from the Todd's, from Elizabeth, from Jeremiah and Isaac and Theodore. Bathed instead in the beauty of millennia-old marble. He leaned to kiss her, but in the very moment before it could connect, a boy's voice, frantic with excitement, echoed outside the door.

"Miss Winters! Miss Winters, it told me!"

Roger winced, but did not withdraw. Perhaps he'd go away. Perhaps he didn't know she was in here. Perhaps –– then the door banged open.

"The crystal ball said it's my father." David stopped in his tracks, his little jaw dropped and eyes wide –– knowing perfectly well he'd stumbled on something he wasn't meant to see. But the shock did not last long. He smirked, and darted just as quickly from the room as he'd entered it. "Aunt Elizabeth!"

That moved him from his spot. "David Collins!"

#drabble tag tba #➤ roger collins & victoria winters. ┊ pain sometimes precedes pleasure，miss winters.#i am cringe but i am free.

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hellcatinnc · 9 months ago

Text

Sympathy Kiss Review

Spoilers Included...

So all in all this is one of my favorite otome games now right up there with Code Realize, Amnesia, and Piofiore. I love the age ranges are all the way from 19 to 45 thats a big difference but each character brings a different feel to it. Also the music and art work is great too. There is a guy for everyone in this game and its funny but I never played them in order yet nothing was spoiled so honestly I will say its a soft follow route nothing more. I played Nori, Saotome, Kobase, Usui, Yoffy, Rokuro, Higa, Minato. All the guys are so mixed like there is no straight tsundere or kuudere or just dominant men each of these guys have a little bit of it all in them. Also the fact its the first otome game that has had kids in it and single fathers I was floored. We need more of those men too. Know there isn't anything explicit but you will see them in the bed with the idea you know sex was involved some talk but nothing over the top definitely more mature than alot out there. Below is my guys I love in order from the one I love to the worst.

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Rokuro Yoshioka

This man from the beginning did peak my interest because he looked like the prince charming type and I'm not normally into blonde haired guys but figured what the hell. He was one of my last 3 to play but oh my god the best one of them all for me. So anyone who knows me knows I don't always like the good guy but the guy who will find a person worth fighting for and he will love her so much he would burn the world for her at any cost whether good or bad. Well this guy is that guy, you would never guess it when you first meet him and honestly as the first part of the story you would still question what I'm saying is true. He is a gentleman from the start opens doors for a woman, kisses hands, and honors a woman's space to not push himself on them. Like one point in the very beginning he offers you a ride home and he has to help you with the seat belt he doesn't jsut do what most men would do and reach across you but he asks you if its ok if he touches you to fix it then when he does he is very delicate and not trying to reach or touch places to make you uncomfortable.

He shows interest in you and even tells you some reason he is pulled to you and wants to get to know you better. He is very upfront and asks you out and its sweet at first until half the time you hear him talk about the love of his life being his childhood sweetheart. He tells you the story how he met her when he was staying with his uncle, he was alone and this little girl comes up and comforts him. They play together every day after she calls him her prince and her his princess. She teaches him at the age of 9 that even princes cry too. When the summer ended he had to go back home but made a sweet promise to the little girl that he would find her again one day, however he had searched and searched and never could find her. Granted the only thing I felt was weird here was either he never heard the MC's first name or he never knew her last one or it should have been easy with someone with money to find anyone.

However skipping past that he is so sweet and endearing about it all and says she changed his whole life and he wanted to be a prince because of her. It was funny because in the prologue as the mc you mention how he looks like a prince. Anyways he tells you as he goes along going on dates with you tells you he likes you alot, even on his side he talks about how much he really likes you and is starting to fall. One night your out walking and he is talking bout his first love and a park near by so you walk there together. Soon as you walk in the park you remember a little boy you used to play with and tell him about the memories you have and when you face him his eyes look like they are going to cry. He tells you he is that little boy and you both realize you were both each others first love. It is such a sweet lost love story and you think now they will be happy but oh no it is not that simple at all.

He battles his birth right of being rich and the son of a big business owner who had already arranged a marriage for him. You deal with the drama of that girl trying to destroy you the more he fights against them the worse it comes on you. He asks you to wait and trust him behind the scenes he is trying to get his father and the girls family to understand at any cost. They even go as far as locking him in his house and taking his phone so he can't reach you. Your whole team at your office is supporting your relationship they do everything they can to get ya'll together with all thats going on around you. Saotome us hilarious when he knocks little miss bitch fiancé down and tells her he don't give a shit who she is fiancé too he wasn't talking to anyone but Roku. No matter what he goes out of his way to reach out to you and constantly let you know your the only one for him and he refuses to ever be with anyone else.

Its funny the more you get to know him you realize there is a good chance this man fell for you as a kid and never moved past that. I say that because he says to stop girls from hitting on him and him having to date people when they heard he was in an arranged marriage he let it go so he didn't have to worry even though he didn't want that girl either. He has been waiting his whole life to give you his everything and obviously even his v-card. That being said the constant feel of butterflies even as a person playing this game I could feel them the way he was so dedicated to his lover. Even with time apart he always wanted you he always comes back to you. He was willing to be disowned if need be if it meant he could be with you. He is a gentleman up to a end. He is the guy though that will grab you and confess his love and kiss you with the most passion you will ever know. He is the guy that when he makes love to you that you will feel every emotion at the extreme level he does, and when he kisses you he will take your breath away.

He is a mixture of a modern day romance with a fairy tale one that meets lost love. Honestly I loved every minute of it well when bitch face fiancé wont in it that is. She is that girl you want to beat the shit out of. That being said he constantly tells her he don't want her she is just deaf. The way the endings are seem close because one he goes to America but brings you with him, or he stays and works at a job hours away but still wants to talk and see you as much as possible then after 2 years he comes home to you for good then the last best ending he takes you to that original playground he met you on gets down on one day and asks you to be his princess forever then tells you he loves you and asks you to marry him. The one adult scene with him you get is so passionate and sweet that its not all about the act but the intimacy and the love that goes into it. I don't know to not feel so engulfed in this story I hated to see it end.

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Yoji Kobase

Ok this man is everything I could have asked for in this game. He is daddy like can be strict and stern yet also sweet and gentle. Then that passionate side is there and he would just as soon tear you clothes off than to do without your touch. His story is sad but also sweet. Watching him fall in love was a treat and falling for him was even better. I had seen him on the other routes I had done and saw right off the bat he wasn't some hard ass tsundere that you had to pick apart to get him to show his emotions he actually was a caring man inside work he was strict so people were more scared of him. I never saw one thing scary though like he was not one of my guys I cared about going into it but after seeing him on other routes I looked forward to doing his route. Then getting the chance to and I swear even down to this mans moans, sighs, and breathes he takes in his kisses will drive you crazy if you have a headset on.

Not only that but this mans steaminess starts early and really never stops he is insatiable he just can't get enough. I swear the way he says I love you akari makes me want to change my name to akari cause fuck the way he says will make you melt. Parts of his story had me in tears closer to the end and other times smiling from ear to ear. His blushes drive me nuts like I swear I thought the other guys blushing was hot but I think its because he is this strong man, dominant then when you compliment him or put him in predicaments he isn't in control and he becomes a blushing mess. I say he is a daddy type but the more caring and gentle daddy dom if anything however I never knew one that got embarrassed before. To me he is like dominant, geeky guy, daddy, sexy all wrapped into one man. His was the fastest route which is weird because I swear it felt like the longest because the story was so engaging I could not stop playing it.

This story felt like the most real yet also more romantic comedy as well. I say this cause I know I have watched movies with office romances, they get stuck in the elevator together, they almost drop a box and need help from behind, they need to move in together because apartment is being fixed, Walking in with her in a towel, I mean the list goes on these are just some of the things that happens in his one route but yet it blends so well together it doesn't feel forced and I love that. I really felt like I was part of his story and that my own choices made a difference. I did it blind at first and answered how I would and it went towards the love route. Now going back through to cover all routes for the CG the love ending is sweet and sexy I mean like really fucking hot. The best ending he plans to propose but because it never got to that and you never saw it I swear there needs to be a fan disc I need to see this man down on one knee.

I love his loyalty to the people he loves as well like he would take a bullet for someone or in this case go under for a hit and run he didn't do. If I had to compare him to another game character that I have played honestly he does have alot of Dante Falzone's qualities as far as dominant, loyal, family is everything, blushes when things are out of his control or is complimented alot, he thinks lower of himself but wants to help others he loves, he is ahead of a company where Dante is head of the mafia both having a big title, they both propose in the main route and both not taking their job lightly. I think he is alot more sexual than Dante however based on times as well Dante is more of a gentleman so guess if I had to say Dante and Gilbert together would make more sense to be his personality in some ways that is.

Oh my god his pin stripe suit let me touch upon that please. So I have a thing about men in trench coats, fedora's and pinstripe outfits and this man wears a suit so well and sexy in it. They show him a few times in other clothing which I mean he looks good in anything but the suit..... damn damn damn this man is smoking hot to me. I didn't even care if he was my 3rd route I needed me some Yoji and now I can go to bed satisfied for the night I finished his route. His CG pictures annoy me a bit because I feel like the person who drew the game wasn't the ones that did his CG pictures. I say that because if you take Nori he is hot in his CG pics but also out where I feel like some of Yoji's pictures didn't give you have the sex appeal you could have gotten. Either way this is my boy sweet, sexy, and down right passionate as hell.

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Nori Tainaka

So first off besides him looking hot I wasn't sure how I would like him cause his voice wasn't as deep as I like in most of the voice actors I follow as well as the moment I realized he was like a lost puppy needing a home I almost quit. The only reason is cause Variable Barricade put a nasty flavor in my mouth about the puppy type guy with Nayato who never really grew on me and annoyed me all the time. However here is the different Nayato was like a puppy hyperactive that needed overly amount of attention and would scratch your leg when you walked through the door every day. He was your good/bad dog however Nori is that sweet lab like puppy you bring in that just wants to be snuggled and loved. He wants to protect you and be needed and wanted by you. I felt like if you have played Variable Barricade take Shion and Nayato and put them together because the easiness of this guy and how he treats you after a long day of work reminded me more of Shion. He will make you breakfast, pour your bath, take care of you when your sick, dries you off and snuggles you when you get rained on, even gives you a bubble bath him washing your hair and so on.

To me he is such a cinnamon roll I can't imagine anyone hating this man. Like in the beginning he tries to come off manipulative just to get you to let him stay with you by telling you has amnesia and such, but trust me you and the mc see through that a mile away and still trust to just have him there because he needs it. As time goes on its not just him that needed that comfort but you find you need it too. I love he gets blushy when you give him compliments and I mean you only can make him blush and he is adorable when he does. I will say that you do find out he was not only a lost puppy when you found him but an abused one at that. In time he eventually apologizes for lying to you and lets you into his past. I love that at one point you have a fight with him and he leaves and Kobase takes him in like a big brother until he can get you two to talk. I never saw that coming from Kobase when you first meet him but it was sweet.

So I guess it fits still for me he is another sad boy and thats where I seem to flock first never fails. You can have alot of fun with him though he likes to have game night and he is pretty competitive. Also don't think he is always your good boy puppy because he has a mischievous side to him only you bring out. Oh and damn when he is turned on or wants to turn you on his voice gets deeper which sounds hot as hell then. This character to me wasn't just a puppy not that one thing I loved that he had a dream as a chef and only you make him feel valued enough to do it again. That being said if you go to the love route he wants you to go with him, move with him so he can open a restaurant with you by his side. The work route he still goes to a restaurant to work but you are in a long distance relationship however he refuses to give you up. Then I need to make it clear there is a third way which is supposed to be the best ending which I disliked because he goes out on his own leaving your place to get his own life even though he wants to be with you in the future just not right now how in the world is this the best ending I will gladly take the love ending.

He is the first love interest I have ever came across though that randomly starts talking about wanting kids one day and not just kids in general but he includes you in that dream. You two haven't even talked about what you are to each other or said I love you and he already had his sights on making you his wife one day. Granted this was technically months together by then but he knew what he wanted. He doesn't yell and he is definitely more submissive than confrontational however I think in the bedroom he would be anything a woman wants anything to make his woman happy. He is the first to tell you he loves you however I think you can see where he went from just an obedient dog to where he started actually caring for you and it was beautiful to see. I think that he doesn't get the recognition he deserves because he really is a good love interest in my book. He was my first play through that I did blindly and ended up with him but I'm glad I did also I never saw any reason not to play him first some say spoilers but most his story 99% is just about him.

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Mitsuki Saotome

So this guy first look I found him very attractive and looked forward to starting his route. However after doing the prologue I felt he came off more annoying than I hoped. As I dug in deep to his route I still found a lot I was hoping to have in him as a partner that I felt lacked. I found myself drawn to his friend Esaka more than him. His route was predictable like I knew the person talking shit was Esaka before he even knew yet it was almost like common sense then I felt they both lacked the common sense between him and the MC. I kept pushing through though to see if it got better. I will say even though I liked Esaka to the very end and still want to see him as a love interest, eventually Saotome got better for me. After he realized he had feelings for the mc was alot better. Before not only was he annoying but also kind of a jerk.

After he lets her in you get to see the adorable blushy boy that I love in him. He is too cute when he pouts and blushes, I really wish there had been more of them but it was decent. I just didn't like it took getting to the 3rd almost 4th episode before it really started to grab my attention with him. The love route was sweet and he wants to take you with him across the ocean for a job offer. Unlike Nori who was only going towns over Saotome wants you to uproot your life and country to leave with him. I'm not sure I liked the love ending much for that reason and the work ending was just you get a promotion to a different department yet yall still date and such. The best ending of this one was best for sure like it was super sweet. He takes you to meet his parents and talks about how he doesn't want to love anyone but you. He even turns down that job over seas because he feels whats right for him is to be loyal to his company and to you as his partner.

This showed the most mature side to him I think and that is what I was looking for. I played blind but had to use walk through to get this route cause I ended up with love route first. I will say though his passionate time with you his sighs, moans, and breaths are steamy he caught my attention fast. I mean it never fully goes into it but damn the noises is enough to make any woman to stop and listen. Definitely use a headset with his route so you can enjoy that part of his time. I really do like him I just felt like he was not the best in my book but I do still think people will enjoy him in the end. Just expect not being able to connect with him right away. If I had to compare him to someone it would probably be lover pretend Yukito Sena and Kazuma Kamikubo I say both because some of his cuteness and best friend feel is more like Kazuma but Yukito is a free spirit that doesn't care what people think as much so to me I feel like he is a mixture of the two and more towards Kazuma because of the blushy side to him but when he is naughty thats the Yukito type personality coming out.

How he was as a friend in other routes won me over alot more with him. Like in his route he was kind of a jerk in the beginning however in other routes as your friend he will do anything for you he thinks of you like family him and Kobase both are protective of you. This is what knocked him up higher on my list of love interests I like.

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Kohei Minato

This one was hard because to me Minato and Higa are tied for me because I love how both interact with children Minato with his siblings and Higa with his son. I will say Minato is sexy as hell and you see it in his route too however there is good and bad things for me with him. First sexy voice, check, naughty boy, check... His story is sad but also more bittersweet. You find he has been ripping off the company he works for as a spy for someone from his past because he has black mailed him into getting money to take care of his mother and brother and sister since his father walked out. Its respectable that he would do anything for the people he loves, it was what I love most about this character.

I feel like his route is just slow to get into it like there is 6 episode chapters yet doesn't really get in depth to the relationship til end of the 3rd one into the 4th. I feel like I just had a hard time really knowing him until farther in and when you do you find he is a flirt not just a kuudere here. Funny thing is I thought he was going to be a tsundere but I feel like definitely more of a kuudere attitude. He shows no emotion but once he does he shows it alot.

He is sweet how in best ending he tells you your his sunshine the light of his life and he loves your always and forever. This is one of the sweetest things and the grab kiss that he and you are in tears in. His route is up and down hot and cold and it gives me whiplash its worth playing just know his sex side and that one happy ending is his best quality.

His sex appeal is over the top he is the only one that tells you he will make you scream until you go hoarse then when he has done that to you he feeds you water by mouth. Like this is a hsdgkjvg moment for sure. Anyways he is seductive he will lick your finger when you prick it with blood, he is dominant and a dirty boy in it all. This is what got him so far up on my list it was a saving thing however I didn't care for some of his words. Like he doesn't talk about spoiling his woman but wants his woman to spoil him. When you try to pat his head or just be cute he takes it from 0-100 in seconds and ready to take it to having sex. Its the pushiness I don't care for at times. I mean if your going to be dominant be that all the time not sweet some moments, wishy washy in others then dominant and possessive in anther way. He also has huge jealousy issues possessive is hot but he doesn't even want you to go anywhere even around guys that he isn't involved in.

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Secret Route #2 Tsukihiko Higa

Ok I wasn't sure what to think of this dude because you barely see him in other routes but not even 10 minutes in you find out he is a single father and widower and my heart strings were instantly pulled. Anyways you see how it unfolds of growing close to his son who is 5 years old that you stand up for on the playground. That starts the constant meetups with his son and play dates then Higa starts falling for you cause yall are doing things that families do. Its so sweet that he keeps his wife's picture on a dresser so his son Hinato can talk to his mom any time he wants to. I really was hoping so much for this story because how often do you get a older man and a man who is a single father in otome games I loved the idea and hope to see this again.

However even with this I felt like if it had just been about him and his son and you work together would have been great but then they make him a past idol. He supposedly was this big singer who just stopped and quit one day got married and had a kid and now one of his fans is stalking him and cussing him out for ruining everything with him leaving and she even blurts out in front of his son he should have never been born. It was harsh but Higa is a good daddy he was right there for his son and not one time did I feel like he wasn't a good father. I feel like he got the shit end of the deal as a character though I mean shit ever other man gets lucky in the bedroom most you get with Higa is on the love route. He tells you when he gets home one night with his arms around you while you cook and says you should get married soon before you bring a fourth member into the house and has a mischievous look so you know he wants to make babies then they ruin it Hinato runs in yells the food is burning.

Thats it total cock block and you never get to see more than him kiss her a few times. I feel like only reason he couldn't be higher on my list is because they made his story short, they didn't put alot of effort into the work route, the best end was ok but I felt the love route was best. Dude should have gotten laid though come on he loses his wife, works his ass off for his son, has to deal with a stalker fan from the past, has to look for his son trying to run away due to that bitch and yet he can't get laid shame on them. I might just have to put something together so this man has some happy ending in intimacy I mean he strikes me as a snuggler. Anyways he grows on you fast if you have a sweet spot for single fathers. Just hope if there is a fan video they give him more and better continuance like I want to see making babies with him in the fan disc if there ever is one.

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Secret Route #1 - Yofy

So I thought he was cute the first time I saw a picture of him however I had just played Mineo's route in Collar x Malice and the voice actor is the same and normally he is yelling in CxM so wasn't sure if I could deal with it but as Yofy he is not like that at all. He is a shy gaming guy who is a programmer. However once he likes you this boy is yandere through and through. I normally hate yandere and I'm still not gonna say its my cup a tea but to see the shy gamer boy turn into a very dominant man in some sexy art FFS it made it hard to think straight. Romance wise I love the possessiveness but this man drugs you, stalks you and scares you, bites you, forces you to kiss him, and accuses you of lying. Like that would be so hard to forgive I see so many think he is most peoples favorite I just can't.

He is adorable and sweet and he made me smile so much until he started doing the shit he did. Like to me it was plain creepy in some points but you can tell he has some mental issue setbacks from his childhood. Its almost like you date him he feels like there is no room for anyone else in your life. He is that toxic boyfriend you would have. The scene where he grabs you and kisses you and he bites you after you bite him bloody kiss some reason is fucking hot. Then his dominance comes in when you tell him you love him and want to be with him. He is 19 and you can tell it his mindset is not that of an adult or a person in their mid 20s on out. He has alot of growing up to do.

He does try to do better in the best ending he really does try actually all the routes if you love him he will try to be better for you. However I don't know sometimes he reminds me of Toma in amnesia talking about locking you away however Toma was to protect you Yofy id to keep others from wanting you. Possessiveness in a man is hot but I feel like only in his sexual side of him is it hot because when he is just running around being a blushy guy he just comes off as a creepy stalker. Only reason it is over Shuya Usui for me is because least he wants to be with you and there is a instant chemistry and he didn't care about age unlike Usui did even though you still have age on Yofy too. Overall on like a scale of 1-10 I would say Yofy is a 6 for me. Definitely better guys and I'm still irritated he was a route but Esaka isn't.

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Shuya Usui

I played several routes before not being able to wait anymore and jumped into playing his route. He seemed so gentle and caring even in one route he brings you in after someone tries to attack you and a few other routes he cares for you so its not hard to see how he would be an amazing partner and lover. That is until you actually play his route. He was much older than the rest at age 45 now me being a older woman never saw a issue and even though they were 20 years apart they were both adults and you can't help who you love however thats not how he saw it. As soon as he realized you were even the bit interested in him he starts comparing you to reminding him of his sister and then later says that he is more like your dad. He continues to treat you like your a child and family pushing your heart and needs away. In his side of things you see he wants you and loves you but refuses to let down the fact he is much older than you and you deserve better.

His story is so angsty no matter how many times you try to get through to him he finds ways to not be interested or act like it or even cold at times. He saves your life in the alley because a drunk guy tries to touch you he becomes your prince charming and its not hard to start falling for him then and you see why your character did and the rest of his route is about him healing from where he got injured in his wrist when it happened. You help him at the bar as well as come to help him even clean his own house. Finally you have a point when you make a move on him in his own apartment and even though deep down he wants you he acts like he doesn't yet lets you kiss on him and all anyways. Then tells you for this one night he will do anything you want and thats it. It was sad because earlier in the night you had ate dinner together and even helped him wash his hair in a steamy bathroom scene. Here he was telling you in a cold detached voice he will do anything you want but never again.

This burned my ass it was even worse the next day after all it happened and you were naked in his bed he tells you to forget it every happened. He spent his time making you feel like you took advantage of him, like you forced yourself on him, and that he only gave in because you wouldn't stop he even admits he did that to you on his thoughts, thats pretty fucked if you ask me. It was bad enough that it took almost the last chapter for you to get love in this I mean you get one date and he never sleeps with her again or they sure don't mention it if so. The episodes were the shortest most took me about 8 hours to finish this one in all endings only 4. The best ending sucks because you break apart he goes one way business in his life and you go another then 4 years later you decide to be with each other and you go to him. Then the work ending is worth cause you break up never to see each other again. The love ending at least he chooses to stay there with you instead of taking over his family's inn and you leave your job to be with him working the bar. It was by far the sweetest.

You get moments where he will blush from time to time yet weirdly enough he doesn't fit the part like I don't know he seems overly mature to be a blusher. His love for cats is cute and he even jokes about petting her as his kitten which could have at least been a interesting way to go. You hear his sad story of losing his sister and his dad on deaths door. I don't know there is just too much angst that when you finally get a happy ending it doesn't feel like one. You feel empty and loss of connection because you have seen all your character has gone through, how many times he pushed her away, was cold to her, and acted like she was a child. I mean even when he sleeps with her he was detached and cold she even says it in the dialogue, for someone who loved her and wanted to be with her like that like he says later its funny after the way he was not even really there in the midst of one of the most intimate things. I just can't with this guy. As far as comparison I don't even know if I have met any character that irritated me this much so I can't say.

#sympathy kiss #otome #gaming #Shuya Usui #Tsukihiko Higa #Yofy #Kohei Minato #Mitsuki Saotome #Nori Tainaka #Yoji Kobase #Rokuro Yoshioka #reviews #review

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parfumieren · 2 years ago

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Drakkar Noir (Guy Laroche)

Drakkar Noir came out in 1982, the year before I became a freshman. This means it had three hundred and sixty-five days to infiltrate the halls of my high school before I even set foot in the building. Once there, I was obligated by various authorities to stay until I graduated. That gave Drakkar Noir approximately 1,460 days to scorch my nasal passages and permanently scar my psyche.

To be a girl in 1983 was to be perpetually under siege by an army whose stench heralded its approach hours before it actually hoved into view. For in those days, boys didn't just wear Drakkar Noir. They marinated in it-- slapping gallons of the stuff on their necks, chests, underarms, and god only knows where else. It blended with the acrid output of their overactive adolescent glands until their very sweat smelled like napalm.

The boys who liked Drakkar Noir best wore tight-fitting sharkskin slacks, torso-hugging cashmere sweaters, shiny leather loafers, copious amounts of hair gel and gold jewelry, and facial expressions of the most consummate blankness. They all lifted weights -- not in the gym after school, but at night in the local sports club -- and they all seemed to be named Todd. Each placed a proprietary monogram-ring-adorned hand on the small of his girlfriend's back when ushering her through the halls. Said girlfriend -- big-haired, short-skirted, with three coats of Bonne Bell Lip Smacker and a 14K gold nameplate necklace -- never spoke except to get into screechy catfights with her rivals. If she wore perfume, no one ever knew. Todd's killer cologne drowned out every other odor within five hundred feet.

But the Todds weren't the only centurions in the Drakkar Noir army. ALL of the boys signed up for it-- even the mohawked and combat-booted ones who would have otherwise pinged big-time on my punk-rock radar. Adopting a hardcore "straight-edge" ethos -- no drinking, no drugs, no meat, no smoking, and above all, no sex -- was shockingly easy with Drakkar Noir around. (This phase lasted all the way into my twenties, when CK One finally slew the dragon with its sword of lemony-freshness.)

If you are so lucky as to never have smelled Drakkar Noir, drop to your knees and offer thanks right now-- for even the angriest and least forgiving god showeth more mercy than this fragrance. Drakkar Noir doesn't give you time to figure out whether it's a fougère, an Oriental, an aftershave, a cologne. Just like the steroidal bullies who wear it, it skips straight to the finger-breaking part, smirking silently while you scream uncle. Seldom have so many innocuous fragrance ingredients been recruited for the purpose of violence; if I were to choose a signature scent for a sociopathic date rapist, Drakkar Noir would dominate the list.

And yet, to this day, Drakkar Noir unaccountably retains its reputation as a chick magnet. From the bottom of my heart, I cannot understand this. I would like to think that anyone with the smallest sense of self-preservation would avoid it (and its wearers) like the Black Death-- but who am I to argue with success?

Even so, I must lay credit where credit is due. I believe that Guy Laroche is the major reason I became an artist-- for while his unholy creation spread its miasma over every other classroom in my high school, the art studio alone seemed immune to the stench. There, I met boys who preferred "sensitive" smells like Clinique Aromatics Elixir-- hell, they could have worn Brut and I would have loved it.* I subsequently put my name down for every art class I could find, even earning independent study credits during lunch hours and after school... all to obtain sanctuary.

Years later, when I first bonded with my future husband over a pile of Pete Bagge comics, I leaned in and smelled… him. Just him. "I know this may seem like an odd thing to ask," I said. "But did you ever in your life, even for one day, wear Drakkar Noir?"

He looked at me as though I had lost my mind. And that was how I knew it was forever.

*Despite its sad status as a drugstore cliche, Brut is actually a solid vanillic fougere. It's good unisex stuff, as is Old Spice, Ralph Lauren Polo, and my husband's favorite, Geoffrey Beene's venerable Grey Flannel. All that is gold does not glitter, etc. etc.

Scent Elements: Lemon, tangerine, lavender, rosemary, artemesia, basil, lemon verbena, bergamot, coriander, juniper, cinnamon, jasmine, leather, fir, amber, sandalwood, vetiver, cedar, patchouli, oakmoss, and SATAN

#drakkar noir #guy laroche #perfume review #parfümieren

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witchbinchstories · 2 years ago

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Should’ve Shown You Sooner

Pairing: Eddie Munson x gn!Reader (Stranger Things)

Summary: You and Eddie Munson have been friends for four years, yet you've never seen all of his tattoos. On a night you impulsively pierce Eddie's ear, you decide to ask about his tattoos.

Words: ~2.7k

Contains: underage drinking, cursing, the act of piercing an ear at home, fluff, no spoilers

A/N: I hope you enjoy this and I hope I did Eddie justice! Please enjoy :)

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As soon as you return home from school and your extracurriculars for the day, you toss your bag just inside the door of your trailer and ignore your homework in favor of going directly to your best friend, Eddie Munson’s, trailer just across the road. You hang out with him almost every day, so when you arrive at the door, you don’t even bother knocking. At this point, both Eddie and his uncle expect it.

“Y/n, you’re late today,” a voice startles you briefly when you open the door and Wayne is standing directly on the other side of it.

“Oh! Yeah, I joined the art club recently just to try it out and today was the first day I stayed after school for it,” you answer with a smile. “Are you headed out for work?”

Wayne nods in response. “Always working. You kids stay out of trouble,” he says before sliding past you and heading to his car.

“We’ll try!” You call out before going inside.

After making sure the door closes behind you, you skip your way to your friend’s room, swinging the door open quite vigorously. “I’m here!”

“Took you long enough, I thought I was gonna have to eat all of your favorite snacks all by myself,” Eddie says, sitting up from his slouched position on his bed and hanging the guitar he had been plucking at back on the wall in its usual spot.

“Oh shut up, you know I would’ve killed you,” you say with a laugh and an eye roll and then belly flop onto Eddie’s bed.

“Hey, get your shoes off of my bed!” Eddie shoves your feet off the edge.

“Like your bed hasn’t experienced worse than my shoes? I’m pretty sure they’re the cleanest things on here right now.”

He stares at you pointedly. “Fair.”

Eddie’s response makes you laugh. A nice, genuine laugh that makes you feel bubbly. Something only Eddie is capable of causing in you. With a grin still on your face, you take your shoes off and toss them onto the floor and turn back around to face Eddie, your head resting on your hand as you look up at him.

“So. Are you still letting me pierce your ear?” you ask.

“Hell yeah, I’m gonna look great.”

“And all thanks to me,” you say with a proud smile.

“Well don’t say that yet, you might fuck it up.”

“I’m not going to fuck it up!”

The two of you gather all of the things you need to pierce Eddie’s ear: some rubbing alcohol, some drinking alcohol, ice, a needle, an earring Eddie picked out, and a cloth (plus your snacks to the side for when you’re done). The two of you situate back on his bed, with you sitting between Eddie’s legs to easily be able to do the piercing.

“Are you ready?” you ask as you dunk some rubbing alcohol onto the cloth and use it to clean the needle. You eye Eddie as he takes a swig from some bottle of whiskey his uncle had over the fridge.

“Yes,” he answers, taking a deep breath. You set the clean needle to the side and clean Eddie’s earlobe off as well, hopefully making sure he doesn’t get an infection from this. You also hand him the ice to numb his ear while you take your own swig from the bottle.

“Just don’t… hurt me,” he adds.

“It does not hurt that bad, you big baby.”

“See the thing is, I don’t really believe you.”

You give him a look. “Would I ever lie to you, Eds?”

“Yes, I think you would.”

“You better shut up or I’m going to make it hurt.” You gently move his hand away from his ear and pick up the needle to begin.

“Wait!” Eddie leans back away from you, grabbing the whiskey bottle and once again taking a drink. “Okay I’m ready now.”

“Oh my god,” you laugh. “I’m piercing your ear, not cutting your leg off, it’s not going to hurt that bad.”

“I still don’t believe you, you’re just a freak who likes the pain of ear piercings.”

You roll your eyes. “Look, I’d let you squeeze my hand, since it seems like you need that, but I need both of them to do this.”

“Shut up and do it,” he says.

“Alright.” You bring the needle close to his ear and count down from three, stabbing the needle through his ear once you get to one. Eddie lets out a string of curses, causing you to crack a small smile. You set the needle down on the cloth and put the clean earring in his ear.

“There, it’s all done and you look great, as promised. Go look in the mirror.”

Eddie nods silently and gets up to go to the bathroom and look at his brand new piercing. By the time he comes back, you’ve cleaned the materials off of his bed and are eating some cheetos.

“Do you like it?” you ask, voice muffled from the multiple cheetos in your mouth.

“Yeah, you actually did pretty good. Thank you,” he says.

“Told you.”

The two of you spend an hour or two chatting about random stuff, eating snacks, and Eddie even shows you a bit of a song he’s writing. He doesn’t sing any lyrics, he never does before they’re finished, but he shows you the chord progression on his guitar and a very cool riff. Eventually you begin discussing Eddie’s new piercing and then a new tattoo he’s thinking about.

“I think I want to get another tattoo, I was thinking of getting it on my side,” Eddie tells you, moving his hand that isn’t still holding his ear to feel along where his shirt covers his side. His hair messily falls in his face, somehow making him look cuter than usual. You have to pause to take it in.

“Yeah?” You ask, breaking the silence with a crunch of stuffing another cheeto in your mouth. “What do you think you’ll get?”

A grin appears on Eddie’s face and you can’t help but think it fits nicely there. “Well, I was thinking about getting a snake or something, but I’m not sure.”

“Hm…”

“What?”

“I think you should get a little flower,” you smirk.

“A flower?”

“Yeah, or my face,” you tease, getting close to his face before laying back down flat, still grinning up at him.

“You want me,” he pauses, “to get a flower tattooed on my body?”

You nod and he laughs a short laugh, amused by your antics.

“Permanently? You know that wouldn’t match with the rest of my tattoos, right? You’re smart enough to realize that?” Eddie looks at you teasingly.

“Yes!” You laugh through your words. “You know technically… we have been friends for four years and I have never actually seen all of your tattoos. So really, how would I know if a flower didn’t match?”

He furrows his brows. “No. Thaaat’s not right. You’ve definitely seen them, I would know.”

“I have not, you shithead!”

“Shithead? You’re the shithead!” Eddie grabs both of your hands and starts trying to wrestle you off the bed. However, you’re laughing so hard that you can’t really fight back at this point.

“Eddie! Eddie, stop!” You attempt to push at his chest and when that doesn’t work, you switch tactics, trying to just keep your knees in front of you. When you practically can’t breathe anymore and the top half of your body is almost hanging off the side, Eddie finally stops and pulls you back up to a sitting position.

Eddie sits back against the wall, pushing up his sleeves above his elbows, and looks away to the side as if trying to rack his mind, and he looks back over at you asking: “Have you really not seen them?”

“No! I’m not a liar, idiot.” Your eyes find their way to the tattoos along Eddie’s forearms. You’ve always liked his grunge-y tattoos and the gothic rings he wears. He may not be the most fashionable person, but he definitely has a consistent style that just… matches him. It’s something that’s always drawn you to him. Both the mysterious quality of it and the way he doesn’t care what others think about him, he’s going to express himself how he wants.

You must’ve been staring at his arms for a while, because Eddie clears his throat and looks at you with raised eyebrows.

“Do you… want to see them?” he asks tentatively.

“I— well, I mean I’ve always been curious as to what they are but you don’t… have to show me,” you swallow hard, suddenly nervous.

Eddie shrugs, briefly glancing away from you, one of his hands playing with the hem of his shirt. “It doesn’t really matter to me, I don’t mind.”

“Okay… sure.”

“Yeah?”

You nod as a final response and Eddie mutters a quiet “okay” and begins tugging his shirt off, lightly tossing it to the end of his bed once he’s managed to get it off. You try not to stare at his body too much, but you’re also way too flustered to make prolonged eye contact with him. You’ve thought about Eddie Munson shirtless way too often to feel fully comfortable looking him in the eye right now.

You hesitantly reach out to touch his left arm, but you stop just before you make contact, your fingers barely ghosting his now bare skin.

“Can I…?” you ask, trailing off before completing your sentence.

Eddie clears his throat once again. “Yeah, go ahead.”

You let your hand touch his arm, lightly guiding him to turn it outwards so you can see the knife tattooed on his inner bicep.

“A knife? Very cool, Eddie,” you quietly tease, trying to lighten the tension, and glance up at his face, briefly making eye contact before you turn your attention back to his arm.

He laughs. “Yeah, I, uh… that was the first tattoo I got back when I thought I was tough shit for getting some guy to tattoo me even though I was fourteen, but looking back I’m pretty sure he did not care that I was underage.”

You smile at the story. That definitely sounds like Eddie. With some of the awkwardness subsiding, you scooch a little closer to him and your eye catches sight of an electric guitar on his right shoulder.

“Of course you have a guitar tattoo,” you say, touching the tattoo when you point it out. Eddie turns a little so you have a better view.

“Oh yeah, that one I kinda regret.”

“Why?” you ask, raising a brow. He loves guitar and the tattoo itself looks good, so you don’t understand why he would regret it.

“Well I got it when I just started playing, so I didn’t have my Sweetheart yet,” Eddie looks over his shoulder at the guitar on his wall. “I would’ve gotten her rather than some random guitar. But oh well, I still like it. Annnd I can always get another one.”

“I think it would be very fitting to have a tattoo of your guitar.”

“Oh, I also have this one on my back,” he twists to face behind him as best as he can to show you the d20 he has tattooed on his right shoulder blade.

“That is… so very you. And incredibly nerdy,” you admit.

Eddie turns back around to look you in the eye. “Hey, I am not a nerd.”

“You totally are, you can’t deny it.”

He playfully rolls his eyes and the two of you return to silence as you continue scanning over the tattoos. Your attention becomes focused on the tattoos that Eddie has on his chest and stomach. You trail your hand across his arm and to his upper chest, tracing the designs of the ink there. Eddie’s skin is surprisingly soft under your fingertips. You pause with your hand on his chest, feeling the rise and fall of it as he breathes. You wonder if you would feel a sped up heart rate if your hand was on the other side of his chest, if it would match the speed of yours.

Your gaze travels up from the tattoo on his chest to the guitar-pick-necklace he always wears resting in the hollow space between his collar bones. Your eyes follow the curve of his neck up to his lips. They’re slightly chapped, but they still look like they would be soft and sweet against yours. Your own lips part slightly as you take a deep breath before finally looking up into those soft brown eyes of Eddie’s, which you find to be seemingly focused on your mouth.

“Eddie?” you whisper, breaking him out of his trance and he returns your gaze.

“Yeah?” he whispers back.

“Can I… can I kiss you?” you ask, feeling your hand shaking slightly against his chest.

Eddie slowly nods, glancing down at your lips then back up at your eyes. “Yeah… yeah, you can.”

You lean in and close your eyes, Eddie meeting you halfway and pressing his lips to yours. His lips are soft and they seem to fit perfectly against yours. He seems to hesitate for a moment, but soon deepens the kiss by carefully wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you closer. You press your hand more firmly to his bare chest, stabilizing yourself, and trail your other hand up his left arm to rest on his bicep as you kiss him more passionately.

From Eddie’s edgy and harsh appearance, you’d expect him to be rough and heated, but he’s not. He’s gentle and slow, cherishing the contact with you, cherishing the moment he’s been waiting for the past four years. He should’ve shown you his tattoos sooner if this is what it was always bound to lead to.

You can’t help but get lost in the kiss and the way it feels to finally be having this moment with Eddie. You befriended Eddie your freshman year, and fell for him shortly after. And it was just years of stolen glances and vague flirting after. He’s never been popular by any means, but you’ve always thought that he’s a genuinely interesting person and someone who’s fun to be around. Someone who makes you happy and makes you feel more comfortable in your own skin. You owe a lot of who you are today to Eddie and you think that might go both ways. So now that you’re finally here, kissing someone you’ve always had a thing for and always admired, you think your chest could practically rip open at any second, or your brain could just stop functioning and you could faint in his arms. And when it ends, the kiss simultaneously feels like it lasts a lifetime, but also like it’s way too short.

A harsh knock sounds on the outside of the trailer, startling the two of you apart. A voice calls your name and you soon realize that it’s your mom.

“You need to come make dinner! I’ve got my hands full with the neighbor’s kid!” she yells. Right. You forgot that one of your neighbors has been taking extra shifts at work this week and your mom has been watching her toddler in the evenings.

“Coming!” you yell back. You let out a sigh, not particularly wanting to leave Eddie’s after what just happened between you two, but knowing you’ll get yelled at if you don’t leave at this point. You turn back to him as you get up from his bed. You awkwardly scratch at the back of your neck, not really knowing what to say now.

“I guess I’ll… see you tomorrow?” you say, and it comes out as more of a question.

Eddie nods, fiddling with his rings. “Yeah… see you tomorrow.”

You turn to leave, taking a few steps towards his bedroom door, but pause for a moment. You turn and walk back to Eddie, pressing a short, sweet kiss to his lips and pulling away with a big grin, which he mirrors on his own face.

“Bye,” you whisper.

“Bye,” Eddie whispers back.

You finally actually make your way to leave and as soon as you exit the front door, you jump up in the air and try not to scream your excitement. Then you promptly walk to your own home with a big, dumb grin on your face.

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Here is a little bonus chapter I decided to write if you’d like to read that as well :) Hope you enjoyed!

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #stranger things x reader #eddie munson is a dork #no spoilers #eddie munson fluff #tattoo discussion #shirtless eddie munson #flirting #teasing #reader is gender neutral #i am in love with eddie

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falcqns · 3 years ago

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𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞

✰ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Sirius Black x daughter!Reader, Remus Lupin x goddaughter!Reader

✰ 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: being the daughter of Sirius Black hasn't made your life easy, and you were foolish to think that turning 13 would change that.

✰ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: mentions of absent mother, mentions of Azkaban, mentions of absent father, Death Eaters, HPATPOA fix it fic, mentions of custody. if i miss anything, please let me know.

✰ 𝐚/𝐧: thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy! this is my first time writing for a harry potter character, so i hope it's good! tagging @natashasera ofc! this is based of my harry potter dr, and the reader is a Ravenclaw, but feel free to ignore that!

to who ever reads this: don't bother asking for a part two, you won't get it. i am the owner of this fic, and this blog, and I, and only I, will decided what fic gets a part two and when. respect me and my wishes or get off my blog. thanks!

don't forget to read and reblog, and i do not give permission for my works to be posted anywhere other than tumblr. thank you.

"why can't i go sit with my friends, Uncle Remus?" you asked sadly, putting your trunk next to your Uncle's. you'd found out a week ago that your Uncle, who's raised you since you were 3, was going to be teaching Defence Against The Dark Arts at Hogwarts this year, and he'd promised you that you'd still be able to be yourself despite his presence. however, that promise already seemed to be changing because he had made you sit in the compartment with him instead of sitting with your friends from your house.

"y/n," he sighed, sitting down across from you, giving you a pointed look.

"yes, yes i know." you said. "my father is on the loose so you need to protect me." you groaned. "i can protect myself, and i highly doubt he'll attack me at school with Dumbledore around."

Remus shrugged. "you father..." he shook his head. "he's smart. extremely smart. don't put a thing past him. he's capable of causing great pain, but he was also one of the best friends i've ever had, and ever will have. he may be crazy, but he is not stupid."

you nodded. "i know." you said, and your Uncle smiled, relaxing back in his seat as the train began to move. you curled up in your seat, pulling out your copy of Little Women that your Uncle had gifted you for your birthday last year. as you did so, the compartment door opened, and in came Harry, Ron and Hermione.

being a Ravenclaw, you had the majority of your classes with Hufflepuff, the only class with Gryffindor that you have is Herbology, but you were on good terms with the trio.

"who's that?" Ron asked, and they all took their seats with a smile towards you.

"Professor R. J. Lupin." you said, turning the page of your book.

"how is it you know everything?" Ron said, and you gave Ron a look.

"he's my Uncle, you doofus." you said turning back to your book. you tuned the rest of their conversation out, and only put down your book when the lights flickered and the train stopped, but one glance at your Uncle had you picking it back up again.

if your Uncle wasn't awake, you weren't too worried. he had a weird knack for sensing danger, and he was still fast asleep. however, a pit formed in your stomach when the windows began to frost.

there was only one creature that could turn a warm fall's day icy cold that quickly; a Dementor. easily defeated with a Patronus charm, but there was a tiny little problem.

you hadn't mastered the spell yet.

Remus had insisted that you learn the spell a few years ago, but you hadn't been able to quite grasp it yet. the most you had produced was a flash of white light that didn't do anything.

you put your book down as a sense of dread fell over the compartment, and a black mass approached.

a single, bony finger extended from underneath the pitch black cloak, and curled back towards its owner, the door sliding open in the same direction. more bony fingers came out from the cloak as well, and curled around the door frame, pressing its big body inside, the ripped cloak fluttering just inches off the ground.

you pressed your back up against the cold and frosty window in an attempt to put more room between you and the creature, but it didn't matter. the Dementor zero'd in on Harry, and you felt yourself growing faint as the Dementor began to attack Harry.

the room began to spin, and just before your entire world went black, you heard muffled cry's of pain and agony, and your Uncle standing up and brandishing his wand.

you whimpered, feeling someone rubbing your cheek with their thumb. you opened your eyes, and were face to face with your Uncle.

"there you are." he whispered. "you had me worried for a moment, sweetie. here," he said, pulling out some chocolate. you took it with shaking hands, and Remus sat down next to you. you nibbled on it slowly, and Remus rubbed your back.

"i...i heard someone." you said quietly, hands still shaking, but not as bad. "w-when the Dementor came in-n."

Remus moved closer, inspecting your face. "who did you hear?" he asked in a low voice. "was it male or female?" he asked, and you looked up at him.

"male."

Remus collapsed back against the seat, running a hand over his face. it was moments like this where you could see just how much of a toll the death of his two friends at the hands of his other took on him, as well as the stress of parenting a child that wasn't his.

"Uncle Remus, who was it?" you asked. you were scared of the answer, but you were even more scared of not knowing.

your Uncle sighed, but answered, knowing he couldn't avoid the question forever.

"your father." he said, and your breath caught in your throat. "the moment after he found out he was being sent to Azkaban without a trial." he explained, and you sniffled, your eyes filling with tears.

your Uncle didn't talk about your father a lot, but when he did, it was always from a place of love, and a place of missing him. he'd told you stories of how he was during school, and how despite the horrible Wizarding War that was waging during the time of your birth, you were the only important thing to your father. he couldn't have cared less about fighting Voldemort and gaining the glory of being in the Order of the Phoenix, he cared about protecting the one thing that mattered more than being a wizard, his daughter. even when it was revealed he was working with Voldemort, you were still his number one priority.

"what happened that day?"

"he was being held in a holding cell at the ministry, and you, your mother and i were allowed to come and see him. we were under the impression that he was going to get a trial, but as he was holding you, Barty Crouch Sr came and told him the he was being sent to Azkaban for life, without a trial.

"you were ripped from his arms, and he was dragged away by some guards. he started screaming, asking for just another minute with his daughter. that's what you heard."

you sniffled, wiping your tears. "i don't even remember him." you admitted. "and the only memory i have of him is him screaming because he didn't have more time with me." Remus moved closer to you, and wrapped his arms around you, letting you cry out your sadness.

"your father was living a double life, but you were always the most important thing in both. he didn't deserve you, nor did your mother. i don't even deserve to be raising you, but here i am. that's why i need to keep you safe. i don't know what Azkaban has done to him, and i don't plan on finding out. he won't take you away from me."

Uncle Remus was right; he wasn't going to take you away from him, and Remus was going to make sure of that.

Halloween had finally come, a welcome break between the stress of your father being on the loose and seemingly double the schoolwork of last year.

you and your two friends, Lisa Turpin and Mandy Brocklehurst, walked into your dorm shortly after the Halloween feast was finished, and were now talking about finding your Uncle a date.

"should we be talking about this?" Lisa asked, undoing her made up bed, the two of you following suit. "isn't it...i don't know, weird for you to talk about your Uncle's love life?"

you shook your head, laughing. "absolutely not. that man has been on his own since he was born, i think he needs someone to keep him functioning normally. he acts like a robot the majority of the time." you commented, settling down in your bed, getting comfy.

"a robot?" Mandy asked, her eyebrows shooting up towards her hairline.

"yes, Mandy, a robot." you responded. "even before i started at Hogwarts, when he was studying to become a professor, he would wake up, make me breakfast and pack my lunch for school, and then head to work after dropping me off. then it was school for him, then picking me up, making me dinner, helping with homework, and then bed. every single day, for pretty much 9 years."

"what was it like, when you first started living with him?" Lisa asked. you shrugged.

"i remember...i was confused. i didn't understand why my mom wasn't coming to get me, and all Uncle Remus told me was that she was going on a business trip."

"was that the truth?" Mandy asked, and then got a worried look on her face. "sorry, you don't have to answer that. i know it's hard for you to talk about."

you shook your head. "no, i need to. i need to explain. but, no, it wasn't the truth. she told my Uncle she was going on a business trip, and wanted him to watch me, since the Ministry was still rounding up Death Eaters and apparently she was worried about a Death Eater coming after me to make me pay for the downfall of Voldemort, since my dad told him where the Potter's were.

"so, she left him with me, and just...disappeared." you explained. "she never came back, and after about 2 weeks, Uncle Remus got suspicious about how long it was taking, and tracked her down. turns out, she had met a muggle, and fallen in love with him, and decided to leave me behind. apparently she thought i was better off without her."

"do you think you are?" Lisa asked, and you nodded, smiling at her.

"oh definitely. i wouldn't have the highest grade in our year for our house if i had stayed with her."

Mandy opened her mouth to speak, when Penelope Clearwater, Head Girl, burst through the door in a panic.

"get up!" she exclaimed. "we need to go to the great hall! Sirius Black is in the school!"

the three of you jumped out of your beds, and ran out of the dorm, following the group of other Ravenclaw girls in your year out of the common room door, and into the great hall.

you barely listened as Dumbledore explained that all of you would be spending the night in here, instead searching the hall for your uncle. your eyes found him a moment later, and as soon as all the sleeping bags appeared with a 'pop!', you were rushing over to him.

he brought you into a hug, and walked away from the group of professors.

"are you alright?" he asked, and you shook your head, the fear causing tears to fill your eyes.

"no." you whispered. "i wanna go home." you expressed, and Remus pulled back, searching your face. you'd never said that before.

when you were 11, you'd written to him and told him how homesick you were, but all you had done was ask if you could see your friends from your Muggle school on Christmas break. you'd never expressed, even when you were sick, a wish to go home.

"hold on," he said, leaving you where you were to go and speak to Dumbledore. you saw Dumbledore nod, and then Remus came back a moment later.

"he's letting us go home for the weekend, but we've gotta go now." he said, and you stopped briefly to tell Mandy and Lisa that you were leaving, before heading out.

a brief floo trip later, and you were home, and unable to return until Monday, due to the full moon. you showered briefly, and entered your bedroom, which was exactly the way you left it.

you glanced at your bed, but decided against it, instead sitting down at your desk, and powering on your Window's computer. you logged in, loaded up Yahoo, and typed in your fathers name.

0 results.

"ugh!" you groaned, resting your heads in your hands.

"you won't find anything." Remus said from the doorway, making you jump out of fright.

"Jesus!" you said, holding your chest, and looking back at Remus.

"no, i'm Uncle Remus." he said, jokingly, but sat down on your bed. "you won't be able to find any information on those Muggle sites. he's smart-,"

"i know."

"-which means, he's not stupid enough to go after a Muggle." Remus finished. "he's going to stay in our world. unfortunately, wizarding technology isn't as advanced as Muggle technology, but even then, there's not a lot of information about him out there, other than he was friends with James Potter, and is Harry's godfather." he said, standing up. he kissed the top of your head, and shut the computer off as he passed.

"get some sleep. you'll need it."

once again, Uncle Remus was right. you were going to need some rest.

it was now almost the end of the year, and you were sitting on your bed, writing an essay for Potions, when you got a bad feeling in your stomach. you glanced at your watch, and saw it read 8:05. something told you to look out the window, and when you did, you saw your Uncle exiting the Whomping Willow with a few other people in tow, one of then being Professor Snape.

it then occurred to you that if Snape was down there with Lupin at 8:00, Uncle Remus would not have taken his Wolfsbane Potion on time. you pushed your school work away from you, and all but ran out of Ravenclaw Tower.

you ran across the school to Remus's office, and threw open the door, ignoring the protests from all the paintings. you saw the bottle that was full of Wolfsbane Potion, freshly brewed by Professor Snape. you grabbed it, and ran back out, booking it towards the Whomping Willow.

Snape was the first person to see you, and once he recognized the bottle in your hand, he stepped back from Remus. you saw Harry standing with Sirius. the two of them were looking up at Hogwarts, and seemed to be discussing something, and Harry didn't bat an eye when you rushed past him. Sirius, however, did.

Sirius turned around, and his eyes followed you as you ran to your Uncle.

"Uncle Remus!" you shouted, and Sirius began to follow you, leaving Harry where he was.

"y/n, what are you doing? you should be in your dorm-" Remus began to say but you shook your head, thrusting the bottle at him.

"you forgot your potion! that's how Snape knew where you were, you left the map on your desk again." Remus all but snatched the bottle from your hands, uncorking it, and downing the potion just as the moon began to appear from behind the clouds.

"go." Remus said, attempting to push you towards Sirius, but you shook your head.

"no." you defied. "i'm old enough."

"no you're not!" Remus said. "Sirius, take her."

you felt your fathers hands wrap around your arms, and he pulled you away, as you defied, trying to get back to your Uncle. he'd always refused to let you see what he looked like on a full moon, and no matter how many times you'd insisted you were old enough, he wouldn't let you.

you tried to pull away from Sirius, but he had an iron grip on you.

"come on," Sirius begged. "come on, honey, please."

at the pet name, you managed to get your body free, and you stepped away from him, just as you heard Remus retreat into the forest.

"no!" you shouted. "you don't get to call me that!" Sirius looked at you sadly. "you weren't there! you were never fucking there! you decided your allegiance to a man with no fucking nose was more important than your family! you decided to go out and kill Peter Pettigrew instead of staying home with your girlfriend and daughter! you don't get to call me that when you did nothing!"

"y/n he didn't do it-" Harry tried to defend but you weren't hearing any of it.

"oh, what didn't he do? kill Peter Pettigrew, sell YOUR parents out to Voldemort, abandon me as a baby? what didn't he do, Harry? you'll need to be specific because i've lost count!" you said, before running back to the castle in tears.

Sirius turned to Harry with tears in his own eyes. "i'm a horrible father. i've ruined her life." he said sadly, and Harry shook his head.

"no you're not, and no you haven't." Harry said. "you just weren't given the chance to be the father the needed. once we bring Pettigrew in, you'll be able to fix it."

Pettigrew had been captured, and Sirius's innocence was proven.

as soon as Fudge walked into the room, Peter confessed to everything, and after a half-hearted apology from him, Sirius was set free.

he was given some guest quarters to freshen up in, and once he was clean, he made his way to Remus's quarters at his request, where Harry had told him you were camping out in the spare room, not wanting to explain to the entire Ravenclaw house that you were the daughter of Sirius Black, and that he was now free and innocent.

there was a knock on the door, and thinking it was Remus, you got up and answered. you gulped when you saw him, looking down at your feet.

"i am so sorry i missed so much of your life." Sirius said. "i shouldn't have done it;" he said. "going after Peter, that is." seeing the confusion on your face.

you nod. "H-Harry tells me that you were a decoy secret keeper. that you weren't working for Voldemort, and that Peter wasn't dead."

"yeah." Sirius said. "that's the truth." you nodded, eyes still downcast.

"Remus wants to talk to you." Sirius said. "he's in his-"

"office, yeah i know." you said, and brushed by Sirius.

he may be innocent, but he could have at least sent you a letter.

you walked into Uncle Remus's office, and smiled sweetly at him.

"you wanted to see me?" you asked, and Remus nodded, taking a deep breath before telling you the news.

"after exams are done, you'll be going home with Sirius."

rage filled your body, as you processed the news. "no!" you protested, shaking your head. "no! i wanna live with you! i like living with you-" you began, but Remus shook his head.

"y/n, i lost my job, i can't support you. Sirius has been cleared, and he's been granted full custody of you. i have to hand you over."

"no!" you sobbed, tears falling down your cheeks. "please don't make me go!"

"y/n, it's out of my hands. it was the ministry, not me."

you ran back out of the office, and bumped into Sirius, who was still standing outside your door.

"i really am sorry, y/-" Sirius began to say, but stopped when you shouted at him.

"WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST STAY IN AZKABAN!"

Sirius knew you weren't serious.

you were being taken away from the man who's raised you your whole life. you were being sent to live with a man you barely knew, and were taught to hate growing up.

you had every right to be mad. you had every right to yell at him, and be as abusive as you could. but, you weren't, and you didn't.

you were just extremely quiet. you didn't talk, and when you did speak, it was "yes, no, please, thank you, no thank you." that was it.

Sirius felt like he had only one option left, and he was trying it now.

he knocked on your door, and it unlocked a moment later, likely you using magic. you were sat on your bed, annotating your new Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook for the coming school year.

"hi." he said, leaning against the doorway. "can i come in for a moment?"

you nodded, and Sirius came in. he swiveled your desk chair around, and took a seat, gazing at you.

"you look so much like your mother." he stated. "so beautiful."

you nodded. "i know." you said, not looking up. "Uncle Remus told me all the time."

Sirius nodded. "speaking of your mother," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "would living with her, make you happier?" he asked, and your head shot up, looking him dead in the eyes, something you rarely did.

"what?" you asked, and he shrugged.

"i know you're not happy here." he said. "i'm not happy here either, but home is home. i just thought that you might be a little happier if you were living with your mom."

"Uncle Remus didn't tell you?" you asked, dropping your tabs.

"tell me what?"

"she left me when i was 3." you said, and Sirius sighed in disappointment, running a hand through his hair. "she went on business trip, and never came back." you said, chewing on your lip as you tried not to cry.

Sirius moved from the chair to the bed, and wrapped his arms around you. your head fell to his chest, and you felt the dam within yourself break as the thought of "my dad's holding me" was in your head, and cried out everything.

he hugged you tight, rubbing your back with his hand.

"she met another guy on the trip and decided i was better off in the magical world, her in the muggle world. she left me with Uncle Remus, and that was it. i never saw her again. she's never even sent me a letter." you expressed, and Sirius was shaking with anger.

not with you. never with you. with himself, for abandoning you. for your mother, for doing the same thing.

"i don't know what i was thinking that night." he said. "that night Lily and James were murdered and i went after Peter. i should have stayed home, with you." he said, kissing your head. "i should have cuddled up in bed with my little daughter, and mourned my friends that way. i should have been there."

"please don't leave me," you begged, holding onto him for dear life.

"i won't." he said, hugging you tight.

and he didn't.

#sirius black x daughter!reader #sirius x remus #sirius black #sirius black imagine #sirius black fic #sirius black fluff #sirius black x female reader

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basiccortez · 3 years ago

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Baby Series: talking to the bump

note: I am still taking names for the babies:) You guys have been warming my cold dead heart the the baby asks, so I hope this installment warms yours:)

I did some math (I know scary right) and hope to have this series wrapped up around Mother's Day (I know, cute right) Anyway. . . I will be hopefully dropping the teaser for a new series on Wednesday or Friday (or earlier if I can get my shit together)

warnings: none, just fluff

bump date: 22 weeks

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

Josh:

Since you and Josh had moved in together, he was spending more and more time touching you and keeping a hand on your bump. Josh had always been one who loved human touch. But there was something about you carrying his own offspring that made him want to be attached to you all the time. You were currently reading a book on your bed when Josh came running into the room. He had been reading up on the development of your baby, not wanting to miss a single thing.

“Whoa, where’s the fire?” You giggled and Josh climbed on the bed and laid down next to you.

“Since Baby Josh Junior can hear-“

“That’s not his name-“

“Not officially, but for now, Since Baby JJ can hear, I read that it’s important that we talk to him. It’ll help him develop,” Josh said, his eyes wide. You’ve noticed his eyes grew big whenever he talked about something he loved: music, his brothers, his parents, you and now ‘Josh Jr.’ (the name was still up for debate). You smiled and ran a hand through his curls, before lifting up your shirt to show your round, smooth belly.

“Talk away,” You said and Josh smiled. He leaned his head down, so he was eye level with your bump. He gently rubbed his hand over your belly, and pressed a soft kiss to your skin.

“Hi baby, it’s your daddy, Josh,” He said softly. You couldn’t help the smile that broke out on your face at his soft words, “You don’t know us yet, but we know you. Isn’t that crazy, we haven’t even held you yet but we already know so much but also so little about you. But, for now, I’ll tell you about myself and your mommy.”

Josh moved a little bit more, so he could snuggle into your side, which was his favorite way to cuddle currently. His head in your lap or at level with your belly, and arms wrapped around your midsection. He involuntarily would press kisses to your belly anytime the baby would kick, his silent way to trying to tell the baby that you were sleeping.

“I met your mommy at an art party, she was displaying some paintings and photos she did. She didn’t know at the time, but I fell in love with her the second I looked at her. And that’s how you got in there. . . but we’re not gonna have that whole birds and bees talk just quite yet. But, anyway, your mom fell for my gorgeous good lucks and charm, and then we created you. But enough about her, you’ll be a mama’s boy, I just know it. Now about me, I’m a singer in a band with your uncles. You’re going to have so much fun with your uncles. Jake is going to tell you the guitar is cool, but we all know. . . the lead singer gets the girls-“

“Josh!”

“What?” Josh looked up at you with a smile, “Isn’t it true? I mean, look where it got you.”

“Hush,” You said kicking him softly. You listened to Josh tell your baby stories of him on the road with the boys, and about Christmas’ back home with Karen and Kelly, and about theater productions he did in high school.

“I hope you get your mother’s art talent,” Josh said honestly, “Yeah, singing is cool, but art. . . that’s a talent you’ll have forever.”

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

Jake:

Jake didn’t know the first thing about raising a girl. Hell he didn’t really know the first thing about raising a baby in general. But from the moment you said you were pregnant, his search history had been filled with how to be the best dad. Jake was scared, he didn’t want to fuck this up. He could hardly remember what it was like having a baby at home, he was only three when Ronnie was born and five when Sam was born. He did all the research he could and bought all the stupid books that were recommended on amazon. The one thing that really caught his eye was that baby could hear music in the womb. Jake had been itching to test the theory, but didn’t want to hurt the baby by playing some guitar riff he had written. He was always a little worried about having you near the studio or backstage when he or the boys were playing.

“Hey,” Jake said softly as he walked into the living room.

“Hello to you,” You smiled at him, “Why do you look like you’ve broken something?”

“I haven’t,” Jake said, and walked over to you on the couch, “I want to try something,”

“Okay. . .” You said, and Jake walked over to where you laid outstretched on the couch. He kneeled down, so he was at level with your belly.

“Hi, babygirl,” Jake whispered as he softly ran a hand over your bump, “Don’t make fun of me,” He pointed at you.

“Why would I make fun of you?” You asked him, running a hand over his cheek.

“I’m going to sing for the baby,” Jake mumbled, “I heard they can hear voices and stuff at this age.”

“Okay,” You smiled softly, “Give us your best performance.”

Jake blushed and cleared his throat, “I’m not your Uncle Josh, so I’m gonna give this my best try. You can’t make fun of me for this in 10 years okay,”

“Let me tell you 'bout a girl I know, She is my baby and she lives next door. Every mornin' 'fore the sun comes up, She brings me coffee in my favorite cup. That's why I know, yes, I know. Hallelujah, I just love her so.

'When I'm in trouble and I have no friend, I know she'll go with me until the end. Everybody asks me how I know. I smile at them and say, "She told me so”. That's why I know, oh, I know, Hallelujah, I just love her so.”

The smile that was plastered on your face could lighten up a whole room. Jake had played that song for you the very first Sunday morning you two had shared together when you first moved in. You could remember him singing while flipping pancakes, using the spatula as a microphone. He had ultimately burnt the pancakes from getting distracted and dancing around the kitchen with you. Jake had promised you that that song was going to be the your first dance at your wedding, and you had jokingly said you have to get engaged first.

“I have to admit, Ray Charles does it better,” You said and Jake looked up at you.

“Come on,” Jake said, pushing himself up off the ground, “Come dance with me.”

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

Sam:

Sleeping had been a battle for you the further along you get in your pregnancy. The combination of back pain, moving pains and a grown man who was like a heater didn’t help you at all. But tonight you had managed to fall asleep before Sam could come home from the studio. Sam kicked off his shoes and moved silently through the house, knowing you were probably already in bed. His heart filled with love, seeing your passed out frame, hair sprawled around the pillow, mouth slightly ajar, and your belly on display as you were just wearing a sports bra. You had been wearing less and less clothing, finding yourself getting hot at random times. Sam always laughed when you started shedding your jacket or sweater, cracking a joke saying that you taking your clothes off is what got you in this situation in the first place.

Sam changed as quickly and quietly as he could, knowing you would probably wake up soon and decide to go sleep in the lazy boy recliner in the living room. He had found you one too many times sleeping in the brown chair, trying to get comfortable and not wanting to wake up Sam. Sam pulled the blankets back and nestled into your frame. He had barley laid down when he heard you involuntary groan and a soft nudge coming from your belly. Sam’s eyes grew wide and he shimmied down until he was face to face with your bump.

“Okay, which one of you rascals is keeping your mommy awake?” Sam whispered softly and earned another kick, “I bet its you lil Boy, already giving your mommy a hard time and you’re not even here. Or maybe, it’s the lil princess trying to frame her brother. Usually sibling rivalry starts after you are born, but I guess since you two are sharing a womb, it might start sooner.”

Sam’s breath caught in his throat as a round of harsh kicks were delivered from inside your belly. Sam placed both of his hands on your belly, “Stop that! We literally just talked about this shit. Your mommy has had a long day at work, and you guys don’t make it easy. She needs her beauty sleep, or she’ll kick my ass.”

“She’ll kick your ass now,” You said and Sam looked up at you. He smiled sheepishly at you, reaching up to kiss you.

“I’m sorry I woke you,” Sam said.

“It wasn’t you, babe. It was the little Kiszka offspring kicking by liver.”

“I thought we talked about this,” Sam spoke back to your belly, placing a kiss right above your belly button, “I was thinking today. . . Victor and Vienna?”

“Those aren’t as bad as Blossom and Cotton.”

“I like those names,” Sam said, “What do you think lil babies?” A kick from within you made Sam look up at you with a smirk, “It’s nice to know that I have some allies on the inside.”

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

Danny:

Normally the kicking and moving around in your belly brought a smile to your face. You had grown to love the feeling in your belly. It was something you had longed for for years. It brought you a silent comfort knowing that the little boy in your belly was alive and growing. Those first couple months of just waiting to feel anything had been torture. You and Danny had lived through those silent months once before, but they ended in heartbreak and two tough losses.

But right now, you were hoping that the little baby would find a comforting spot in your womb and just ‘lay down’. You groaned and shuffled around at your desk as you were trying to type an email for work. Danny was down in the basement with Sam, working on some rhythm line for some song he won’t tell you about. You had promised Danny you wouldn’t go to the basement while he worked on this song, but you needed him to talk to the baby.

For some reason, the little boy only seemed to calm down when his father would talk to him. So you bit the bullet, and pushed yourself away from your desk and waddled your way down to the basement.

“So I really like the line: ‘we fought through the dark, to make it all right. We listen and wait for your sweet cries at night’” You could hear Jake’s voice coming from the basement. You furrowed your eyebrows, not sure when Jake decided to show up.

“Could we fit the line about crying on the floor after- Baby Mama alert,” Sam said pointing up at you as your tried to creep down the stairs.

“Samuel,” You scolded.

“I thought I told you to stay upstairs?” Danny asked you.

“I need you to talk to him,” You pleaded, “He won’t listen to me, and I’m trying to get this project done.”

“Already defying mom’s rules. . . I like it,” Sam said and Danny chuckled.

“Don’t give him any ideas,” Danny said, standing up from his spot behind his drum kit, “I’ll be right back.”

“She can sit in, we can work on a different song,” Jake said. Danny nodded and he sat down with you on the couch. He laid his head in your lap and your hand went right to his long curly hair.

“Causing issues, lil boy? Going to be like your uncle Sammy?”

“I heard that-“

“You were meant too,” Danny said. You giggled, sometimes they were like the married couple, “You can’t be beating up on your mommy, she’s still gotta carry you for a couple more months. We’re excited for you to be here too, but you gotta stay in there just a little bit longer, okay.” Danny kissed your belly softly and received a small kick in response.

“I think he agrees,” You smiled.

“I think he does too,” Danny said, sitting up to kiss you.

“I think you two make me vomit,” Sam added.

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

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link to the song Jake sings: xxx (my favorite Ray Charles song:)

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