#carrying equipment up and down stairs and stuff

[o-lanterns]

they should invent a job I am capable of doing

[idkdudethisisntpermanent]

Keep Your Eyes on Me

tara carpenter x female reader

summary: You’ve quickly become close with all of Tara’s friends, but her trust issues keep her at a distance from you. But maybe you're able to chip away at her defenses...

word count: 2.2k

————

"I don't get why no one else is suspicious of her!" Tara exclaims looking around at everyone with a frustrated expression. "Mindy? You're literally suspicious of every living thing. And Sam what the fuck, you don't let me leave the house unless I'm carrying a cross bow or something," she exaggerates rolling her eyes.

"Why are we speaking about me like I'm not here?" You whisper to Chad next to you while ripping your string cheese into strands. He laughs but so does everyone else, seems like your whisper wasn't as quiet as you thought.

Tara groans frustrated and heads up the stairs, leaving her friends and you in the living room in an awkward silence.

Sam was the first to break it, "She'll come around, it's just been hard on her you know? Trusting new people and all that fun stuff."

You give her a nod completely understanding the root of Tara's issues with you, it wasn't personal but that didn't mean her distrust in you didn't sting. Especially considering it's been four months since you met the group.

"I am curious though," you speak, "She's not wrong Mindy, you're sus of everyone. And Sam why do you trust me too?"

"Well you met my brother playing pickle ball," the twin speaks. "Pickle ball doesn't really strike me as a psychopathic killer activity," she laughs.

"Neither does string cheese. Can you imagine Ghostface stringing their cheese and eating it?" Sam adds with a laugh.

You don't know whether to be relieved or offended that your habits don't indicate you to be a killer. But you're grateful that the rest of the group clicked with you quickly after Chad introduced you to them.

The core four minus Tara sometimes wanted to smack the girl across the head for being so oblivious and blind to you. Before you met the group Chad being the yapper that he is, explained all that happened in the past year and a half, so you were fairly well equipped with knowledge on how to navigate a friendship with everyone.

Everyone also noticed how attentive you were to Tara especially.  You didn't know what it was but you immediately developed a soft spot for the girl when Chad told you all she went through. Meeting her for the first time you instinctively felt the need to protect her but that's been quite hard with her negative feelings towards you, but that doesn't mean you don't try.

————

Sam eventually goes up to Tara's room once everyone leaves and decides to put an end to this.  The younger Carpenter looks at her sister from her bed when the door is opened at a speed where its hinges could fly off.

"Jesus Sam, why are we trying to break my door."

"What the hell are you doing Tara?" Sam gets to the point ignoring the question.

"What are you talking about?"

"Y/n."

"Ughhhhhh!" She turns around face planting into her pillow with a groan, hating the topic of you.

"It's been four months and you haven't once given the poor girl the benefit of the doubt." The sister says softly. "I don't know why you're so keen on hating her, it's like you want her to be Ghostface just so you can prove a point."

Tara turns around to respond, clearly annoyed.  "Because it's so clear she doesn't have good intentions!  I don't get you either sis, you want me to be cautious of people, but it's a problem when its Y/n?"

Sam sighs moving to sit on the foot of the bed, "Tara, do you not see how much that girl cares about you?"

Tara is silent and looks down at her fiddling hands not knowing what to say.  She does know how much you care and she hates it.

All those times you would come over to her place with the excuse of "Mindy sent me to grab something" but you always stayed until Sam got home from work, just so she wouldn't have to be alone.

"Clearly you do realize how much she cares for you," Sam says taking notice of her sister's silence and demeanor.

Tara turns red recalling how you would always be attentive to the leg that Ghostface broke a year ago.  You would always position yourself so she'd have access to the railing of a staircase. Offer to drive her places that may have seemed like too lengthy of a walk. Straggle behind the group when you realized she couldn't walk as fast as the others. And even deprive yourself of any physical activities that the group was participating in, so Tara wouldn't feel alone when she sat out.

"The damn girl literally sits in the kitchen whenever your hungry ass wants to cook something so you'd feel safer!" Sam suddenly says. "Even I hadn't thought about how being in the kitchen may give you PTSD."

Tara hadn't either. But now that she knew the reason why you'd sit with her in the kitchen, she realized that she did feel much more comfortable with you in there then the times you weren't. After all she did have her attack take place in the kitchen. The brown eyed girl shrunk into her sweater in shame as she recalled how poorly she treated you that day.

You leave the group who were playing an intense round of charades in the living room and decide to join Tara who was alone in the kitchen.

"Hey what are you making?" You smile.

She ignores you and continues to get the seasoning out for the mac and cheese she was making herself.

"Why aren't you playing with everyone else?" Tara suddenly spoke.

"Just wanted to see what you were up to."

"Well you can leave now," she rolls her eyes.

"I'm good, I'll stay here."

"You do know that you aren't winning any points with me by trying to talk to me and forcing proximity right?" Tara says with attitude. "I still don't trust you and if your goal isn't to kill me, but just to get in my pants, then I'm so sorry if I ever made you believe that you had a chance with me." she finishes sarcastically feigning a genuine apology.

"Not my goal," you reply keeping it short. You knew the girl would not receive anything you say, so you got up from the seat you initially took at the island in the kitchen and went to the dining table which was a little further away. Tara thought that you left since she didn't hear any comments from you anymore and her pride was too high for her to turn around and check if you were still there. She couldn't control the frown that was making its way onto her face. That was until she heard you scrolling through TikToks at the table and suddenly felt a sense of relief that couldn't be explained.

She would continue to finish her mac and cheese and tried to hide her laugh from any funny TikTok sounds she heard from your phone. And tried her hardest to shutdown her curiosity whenever she heard your laugh. As soon as she finished making her bowl, she walked out of the kitchen not even glancing at you. She was too stubborn to realize that she hadn't once thought about her attack due to your presence in the kitchen.

Until now.

"That's why I trust her Tara," Sam reveals. "She notices things that I don't. I can't always be watching out for you. You need to have a bunch who have your back, and for that to happen you need to take a chance on people here and there."

"Just think about it. Just separate your idea of Y/n being Ghostface and the possibility that she can betray you. And ask yourself what kind of person is left standing in front you. And is that the type of person you want to take a chance on."

————

Two weeks have gone by since the group last saw each other, and since then you and Tara were able to do a lot of individual thinking. Today the group decided that they went too long without seeing each other and they all decided to go to bar in downtown Manhattan.

Everyone decided to meet at the Carpenter residence, and Tara hated to admit it, but she was excited to see you, but she also felt nervous at the thought of being around you.

You were the last to arrive, and you greeted all your friends with a smile. Tara was waiting with a smile for you to greet her like you always do, but it never happened.

You ignored her.

"Is everyone ready to go?" You say looking at everyone except Tara.

The shorter girl had to compose herself before anyone realized that she was bothered by your lack of acknowledgement. She didn't know how to feel, what in the world were you doing?

The group made their way to the subway in one piece, and the two Carpenter sisters were walking side by side while everyone else was a little ahead.

"What the fuck is Y/n doing?" Tara whisper yells to her sister.

"What do you mean?" Sam replies playing stupid.

"She's not even looking at me?" Tara admits, not caring at how childish she sounds. "Why isn't she paying attention to me?"

Sam laughs at what two weeks of not seeing you and some deep reflection has done to her sister. "I mean what do you expect, it's not fair for her to keep trying for someone who doesn't make the same effort. She's probably done trying." Despite her words, Sam didn't believe a thing she was saying, she wondered what the intentions behind your actions were, but the Carpenter knew it was nothing ill.

Tara makes a hmpf sound, and tries to act unbothered by her sister's words. But the idea of you not having your gaze on her worries her more than she would like to admit.

Meanwhile 20 paces in front the sisters you and the twins are having a interesting conversation of your own.

"I can't do this anymore!" You whine looking at Mindy.

"Girl, stand the fuck up, it's been 20 minutes since we left the house, can't you see that it's already working?"

Chad chimes in, "Honestly I agree with my sister for once, she'll be yours by the end of today."

"W-whoa I don't want her to be mine or anything," you blush. "She's gone through a lot, I just need her to tolerate me, you know?"

Mindy rolls her eyes but smiles, happy that Tara has someone patient like you in her life. "Yeah yeah Y/l/n, now walk faster, it's not like she can run and catch up."

Your jaw drops while Chad drops dead in laughter.

Everyone manages to get onto the same subway cart in one piece, and you realized how much harder it was going to be acting like you can't notice Tara in here. The subway was packed from one end to the other. And you just so happened to be standing next to the only available seat.

You glance at Tara only to see her already looking at you and you immediately look away. Trying to get Mindy's attention you some how try your best to mime to her that you want Tara to sit in the free seat. Though of course Mindy's horrible charade skills translate into real life and she ends up sitting in the seat herself.

You face palm at your friend, and gave up on trying to look out for Tara. But in that very moment you notice a man getting far too close to the girl than you would like. It was a crowded cart so proximity was a given, but this seemed deliberate on the stranger's part.

Acting without thinking, you shove the guy as casually as you can to the side, not realizing that it meant you are now face to face with Tara. Just as you were about to break and speak to her, the subway doors open at your stop.

Tara hated that the doors interrupted the words you were going to say to her, but was grateful that it got her attention off of you before you could notice the blush on her cheeks.

As everyone got off the subway, you find yourself straggling behind the group out of habit. Just as you attempt to quicken your pace, you feel a tug on your sleeve.

Tara looks up at you with her big eyes, and you don't know what to do. This is the first time the girl has looked at you without rolling her eyes or looking away immediately.

"I'm sorry," she mutters.

You didn't know what to say, and continue walking with her by your side, so you don't fall too far behind from your friends. "It's okay," you mutter back looking straight ahead. 

You don't blame the girl for her behaviours.  Her traumas manifested into something difficult and she was making an attempt to be better. That's all that mattered to you. And maybe you were just too weak for the girl that you would let anything slide, but you were fine with that too. 

Tara smiles at you, happy that you weren't giving her a hard time. Happy that you understood what those two words she just told you encapsulates.

Suddenly she grabs you by your arm and holds it as you walk side by side.

Startled by her touch you look at her.

She smiles up at you, "It's easier for you to keep your eyes on me this way. No need for secret glances."

[lint-beetle4]

Wukong x fem pregnant reader

Wukong doing everything he can to make sure (Y/n) is comfortable during pregnancy and is asking questions and making sure not to be pushy with them, learning on what a expecting mother may need and what to do for the baby when it's born. And when the time comes, they're happily met with twins.

Fatherly Woes (Wukong x Pregnant!Reader)

Monkey king is an experienced man, mind you

He's had to care for monkey cubs before, aiding in some births and helping out the pregnant missuses when they weren't able to move as gracefully

Monkeys and humans were practically the same thing to Wukong, so how hard could it be to help you out during your pregnancy?

Monkey King is an experienced man, but a fool all the same

In all honestly, he has no idea what he's doing. He may have raised some of his subjects, but he has no idea how humans operated

By the time the baby bump appeared, Wukong was panicking, he wasn't equipped for this

Challenging the gods? Conquering demons and foes alike? Being an escort? He could do it all. He was the Monkey King

But, what was a king to a father? Wukong couldn't tell you, and frankly, he had bigger fish to fry than a hypothetical

Wukong's asking all the questions: How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Do you need anything? How's the baby? Are you cold?

Anything you needed, Wukong was there with supplies and back before you could think

Which is kind of him, but you doubted you needed baby diapers and milk bottles during your first trimester

Wukong treats you like royalty the whole time, he keeps his eyes on you as much as possible and follows you around like a guard dog

You eventually had to tell him to stand down to his dismay--the distraught look on his face was priceless though

It took a few weeks of stumbling around blindly on Wukong's part to just let you be

You weren't a monkey, and you certainly didn't need Wukong hovering around you like a house fly

Eventually, Wukong got a hang of things, getting things when you asked, helping you stand up if you needed help, picking stuff up for you and making sure things were within reach so that you didnt have to bend down too much

He also reveled in the fact that he got to pick you up if you were going to climb stairs--sure, he could help you, but Wukong prefers to flex that his precious loved one is carrying his children

He was doing so good, and Wukong was so proud of himself

That is until you started to give birth, and Wukong was sent spiraling

He was useless the entire way, the female monkeys doing more work than he did (Wukong was just hyperventilating as he sped through the sky, taking you to the nearest hospital)

The doctors didn't ask about the monkeys surrounding the two of you

When the stressful ordeal was over, Wukong was met with the sight of twins--a nurse had to be near him lest he pass out, but Wukong was strong enough to force his shock back down

He cried though, he cried a lot seeing those little hands and precious eyes look at him

[en-rev]

Enhypen x fem 8th member reader

Summary: En o'Clock ep 68, except you’re the 8th member of ENHYPEN

Note: Episode had to be changed slightly for the story. You are younger than Jungwon but older than Niki. You were also a part of Sunoo, Jay, and Jungwon’s group for the previous episode. 

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After completing the tasks that the diary had set out for your group, you were carrying  a box of snacks as you walked in Sunoo’s tracks. All of you were checking out the building in awe as it seemed like a fun and luxurious place to stay for filming. 

Setting down the box you check out the tub by the window in what seems to be the entertainment area, “Wow, it's beautiful here” you talk to yourself as you gaze out the window. Hearing Jungwon run up the stairs, you turn and watch Sunoo as he mentions he also wants to see what's upstairs. Following Jay as he skips up the steps, your eyes widen as you see an air hockey table. “Oh my god… One of you needs to play against me in air hockey.” you let out quickly as you’re already searching for the puck. Looking up to see your members looking at the vending machine in the room you hover over them to see what they’re trying to win. “Do you think it’ll work right?”... “No, probably not”...  Sunoo and Jungwon converse before being immediately disappointed seeing that the snack they tried to win was nowhere close to being grabbed by the claw. You almost giggle at how quickly they walk away from the machine. 

As you all gather around the next machine, you begin to hype up Jay as you realize what it is. He jumps up and down as he prepares to throw a punch at the game. Seeing him finally throw the punch your mouth immediately drops… yeah he was strong but that seemed a little intense… you mentally make note to not really piss him off. “Woah, a 930! That's cool” Sunoo and Jungwon say as they begin to walk towards another section of the place. “I bet the other’s are gonna be all over that machine” you say as you follow behind Jay again. Seeing nothing but workout equipment you immediately head up to see what's on the third floor. Peering into the rooms and seeing the beds you smile as you skip down a little to find your own room. Being the only female member definitely had its perks. Looking in you also saw your own bathroom, you punched the air in excitement as you looked at the luxurious looking bathroom. Sunoo walks into your room, also wanting to check out what you were being given, “Wow, you’re too lucky” he practically pouts at how good your room is, knowing that you don’t have to share. “Should’ve known you would get the best.” Jay sighs in defeat as Jungwon laughs at him in amusement. 

______________________________________________________________

Settling down again as we wait for the others to arrive, you slowly travel around the room to check out what's there again while dancing to yourself. Jungwon attempts to call the other members to show them the house they are staying in but they dont answer. “Oh, well…” he stretches. Pouting at his disappointment I point out something outside, “Ohhh! Look there's a bunch of stuff outside” you say as you run out the door with Jungwon quickly following. He smiles brightly as he grabs a water gun, looking at all the other things there are outside. “Lets fill these '' he says as he's already crouching by the pool, filling up the toy. You grab another one and begin to fill it up, smiling at the thought of messing with your members later. Sunoo and Jay come to check out what we're doing before heading to the lawn area to take pictures. “Hey, do you think I could stay on top of them without falling?” you ask with a large smile, pointing at the pile of floaties he was stacking together. He laughs loudly and stands, “You would not be able to” he practically wheezes at the thought of you trying. As Jay photographs Sunoo in the background shaking your head with confidence, “Watch this” you say as you practically fall onto the floaties he piled up. Not expecting one of your legs to miss almost completely, your right leg is in the water up to your mid thigh, your jeans feeling scratchy against your skin. Letting out a scream as you grip into the floaties and raise your leg out of the water, trying to avoid getting even more wet. “My mic! Jungwon please…. Get me up!” you shout in panic as you struggle to stay afloat on the water floaties. You hear Jay's loud laugh as he hunches over and takes pictures of you, half soaked struggling to stay afloat on floaties that are practically submerged in the water. Sunoo’s hand flies to his mouth as he laughs at the scene before him and Jungwon is on the cement laughing at your struggle. 

They laugh more before they try to help you out of the water, Jay grabs onto the back of your jeans and Jungwon is holding onto your arm as they try to lift you. Sunoo laughs as he records the scene to show the others later. “Yah, hold still or else we’ll drop you” he explains as he attempts to pull you up with one arm, Jungwon is still laughing at you as he pulls the floaties closer to the edge. Just as Jay has you in the air by your jeans, he struggles as he attempts to pull you back to land…. But your jeans begin to slip a little. Editors edit an emoji over you as a sliver of your underwear shows, and it almost looks like Jay is giving you a wedgie. “JAY!!!” you scream as you go to pull at your jeans, causing you both to yell as he loses his grip and you're submerged in water, almost dragging him down with you. The three boys laugh as you submerge quickly with a gasp before making your way to climb out of the water. Standing up everyone can clearly see the mic under your shirt, and how it definitely is ruined at this point. Though, knowing you, those things would inevitably happen. Seeing them almost red from laughing, you run towards them while shaking your body as an attempt to get them wet. You all laugh before you grab under your shirt to remove the mic and show it to them while pouting, “I should’ve known it was a bad idea” you sign out as they enjoyed how the events played out. “I’ll go get changed” you state before grabbing something to dry yourself with and head up to change into some swimwear. 

______________________________________________________________

After you had changed you were chilling in your room while scrolling through your phone for a bit. You heard the others messing around outside before they also came in to change. You were braiding your hair as you heard the boys karaoking downstairs. Chuckling, you finish braiding your hair before you rush downstairs in your swimming clothes which are similar to Sunoo’s except your top is a dark blue color. Rushing downstairs you go to join singing but stop in your tracks as you see that the rest of your members have arrived. You immediately almost burst out laughing seeing how half asleep they are. Jungwon in excitement begins to give the others a tour of the place as you stay downstairs and converse with Sunoo, finding out that he was pushed into the pool earlier by Jay and laughing at how he tells the story to you. 

Once everyone gathers outside, you’re immediately in the pool attempting to do a handstand underwater as Jay is living his aerobic swimmer fantasies. Sunoo is in the water and immediately begins to mess with Jay as he swims underwater. They play as you swim back and forth in the pool, you’ve always found the water to be relaxing. Deciding to lay on a floatie you peacefully lay there as you drift around calmly in the water. You hear Heeseung playing basketball, Jungwon, Jay, and Sunoo playing and splashing each other, pushing each other into the water. After living with all of the guys for so long, it's become easy to block their loud yells out, and you begin to drift into a light sleep as you lay your head onto the floatie. 

Hearing a bunch of splashing brings you out of your sleep and you shoot up as you see them all jumping in, causing your floatie to almost tip over. Raising your head up you look and see everyone is in the pool and your eyes widen. When did everyone decide to get in? Shrugging slightly you continue to float on your floatie as you watch niki do flips into the pool, and enjoy seeing everyone having a good time. Flipping off of your floatie you swim underwater before approaching Jake from underneath. Jumping out of the water right in front of him you attempt to scare him, startling him as he tries to back away from your sudden appearance. Everyone laughs and he chuckles before splashing some water at you, before continuing to float around on the donut floatie. Swimming you approach Niki as you’ve barely interacted with him since he came and begin to splash him before running away, you both laugh as he tries to get revenge before getting on the shark floatie with you pushing him. 

Eventually, everyone begins to play together, everyone underwater as you all participate in a breath holding challenge. However as everyone goes face down into the water, you plug your nose and go under, but keep your eyes above to watch everyone. Seeing Sunoo begin to drift and grip the wall, you almost laugh before seeing Jay rise. Sunoo quickly rises after and laughs at how they’re the first ones to lose before they notice you. They immediately notice you with your eyes above the water and begin laughing. “Hey, isn’t that cheating?” Jay suspects as he looks to Sunoo for confirmation. He just laughs before Jake rises, from the water, disappointed that he wasn’t first place. Still holding your breath, with your mouth underwater as your eyes still watch everyone else, you manage to keep holding your breath. Honestly it wasn’t very hard… however an idea struck you. You and Sunoo were honestly like telepathically linked, and you gave him a mischievous look, one he recognized well. Sunoo smirks and begins to climb out of the pool,“Let’s go wash up.” He states quickly, and like the flash, all three of them were rushing inside with you deciding to give up the contest and run after them, forgetting that you didn’t actually have your own shower to use whenever you wanted. 

______________________________________________________________

As the other members in the pool celebrate holding their breath for a long time, their victory is short lived. “The other’s went inside to go wash up” Jungwons eyes widened, and Niki realized that his victory was in vain. He lets out a whine before plummeting into the water, pretending he was dead. Heeseung and Sunghoon laugh at his reaction, even though they were also disappointed that they would be showering last. Jungwon shakes his head at the camera, “It was Y/n’s idea huh?” he asks, raising his eyebrows. They quickly furrow when they tell him it was Sunoo, each of the other members in the pool’s eyes widened. “Oh no! She’s rubbing off on him” they exclaim, knowing that you were always playing some sort of shenanigans. Niki slaps the water and quickly jumps out of the pool, running into the house. The others in the water laugh, knowing he was probably going to go bother you for ruining his victory. 

______________________________________________________________

As you prepare your shower, the door to your personal room was locked. Gathering your pajamas and skincare before you get into the shower, you sing to yourself quietly before falling to the floor in fear as someone begins to pound on your door. All your items fly into the air as the door shakes, and you feel the vibrations on the floor. “Yah, you scared me!!!” You shout while trying to peek under the door to see who it is. “I was supposed to shower first, I won! But because of YOUR influence, I have to wait now!” Niki taps a foot angrily on the floor and you almost laugh out loud at how silly it looks from the sliver of space you can see under the door. You laughed, imagining what his face might look like right now and are practically wheezing. He always looked cute when he was angry. “I’ll let you use mine after I’m done!” you shout as you enter your bathroom. 

Unknown to you, Niki stands at your door defeated. He slumps over, and his head hits your door and he stands there for a while before he runs suddenly. Now it was time for Sunoo to be bothered as he showered. 

______________________________________________________________

This one is a lot shorter and probably less interesting than my last post but I tried to write something. I also didn’t proofread, so sorry if there are any mistakes. Also I’m trying to get better at making my posts better looking. If you have any suggestions on something I should write, let me know and I'll see what I can do! :)

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

Hold Me Steady

Pairing: Billy Taylor (The Halcyon) x f!reader Warnings: Dry humping. Word count: ~1.3k

Summary: Billy has a close encounter with one of the hotel's maids after agreeing to help her decorate the employee sitting space for Christmas.

Author's note: Day one of the Smuffmas prompts - "hand holding and dry humping". No tag list. Follow @fics-by-ewanmitchellcrumbs and turn on post notifications.

She struggles down the stairs into the employee sitting room, the beaten up, old cardboard box she carries hindering her view, meaning she has to pick her way carefully downwards, one step at a time.

Halfway down, a large set of hands grip the box from underneath, relieving her of her burden, and she’s met with the wide eyed curious stare of bellboy, Billy Taylor.

“I’ll take that for you,” he says, giving her one of his trademark tight lipped smiles, before walking it the rest of the way down for her.

“Thanks, Billy,” she tells him gratefully, sighing with relief. “You on break?”

“Yeah, got fifteen minutes left,” he responds, setting the box down next to a pile of stacked band equipment. “What’s in here then?”

“The foyer’s being decorated for Christmas,” she tells him, coming to stand beside him. “This stuff’s not good enough to go out, apparently. Can you believe Mr. Garland wants me to throw it away?!”

Billy crouches, tugging open the box, raising his eyebrows as he pulls out a length of threadbare silver tinsel. “I can, actually.”

She playfully swats him on the shoulder, taking the tinsel from him and weaving it through the iron bannister of the stairs. “Thought we could decorate the sitting room with it. Looks more festive already, don’t you think?”

Billy chuckles. “If it makes you ‘appy, then why not? Want some help?”

She smiles, feeling her skin heat up as he looks up at her from where he’s kneeling. “You’re on break, I can’t ask you to do that.”

“It’s not work if I actually want to do it,” he says with a shrug.

They grin at each other, and he continues to rummage through the box, pulling out cracked baubles and torn paper stars, as she surveys the small under the stairs space that the staff have to relax in.

“It’s weird to think I won’t be here next Christmas,” Billy muses, as he hands her decorations out of the box.

She looks away, focusing on running the colourful streamers through her fingers, doing her best to ignore the twinge of sadness that plucks painfully at her heartstrings. “Oh, yeah, you’ll be drafted, won’t you? I expect you’ll miss your mum’s figgy pudding.”

“I’d sooner have trench foot than eat mum’s figgy pudding, ‘orrible stuff.”

They laugh, and she allows herself a brief moment to admire the way Billy’s cheeks dimple and his eyes sparkle when he’s happy, before returning her focus to the decorations.

Within five minutes, the old piano in the corner is decked out in ragged paper streamers, the staircase’s iron bannister is woven with tinsel that’s seen better days, and a fruit bowl in the centre of the table contains the battered remains of tree ornaments of varying shapes and colours - a fitting centerpiece for the dowdy little space.

She steps back, admiring their work, eyeing the empty alcove above the brown leather sofa that’s tucked away against the back wall.

“Would be nice if we could hang this last piece of tinsel up there,” she muses, “not sure how we’d reach though.”

Billy steps behind her, looking with keen interest at the space she’s referring to. “I think there’s a step ladder in the storage room, wait here.”

He disappears out the back and a few moments later returns with a rickety wooden folding step ladder. It wobbles precariously as he unfolds it, setting it down near the sofa.

She draws in a nervous breath, brow furrowing as she looks at it. “Are you sure that’s safe?”

He presses his lips into a tight line, tugging at the hem of his uniform jacket. “Er…probably best if you go up, less chance of you breaking it. I can hold it steady.”

She hesitates for a few seconds, looking at it with uncertainty.

The final piece of tinsel above the alcove really would look nice.

“Okay, but promise you won’t let me fall?”

“Cross my heart,” he says, signing a cross over the left side of his chest.

She giggles, stepping forward and begins to climb up the ladder. It wobbles as she moves, making her breath hitch, until she feels Billy grab either side of it, holding it still. She climbs the rest of the way, pinning the last of the tinsel to the wall, allowing it to bow slightly in the middle.

It’s not until her hands are free that she realises the view that Billy must have, and brushes a palm over her skirt, making sure her backside is covered. She sees Billy turn scarlet in her peripheral vision, averting his gaze, and her heart flutters at the sight.

“Here, look, we missed something,” she hears Billy say, as she slowly starts to climb back down. She turns slightly, seeing him holding up mistletoe - a dried, long dead bunch of it, tied together with twine.

Butterflies flutter in her stomach at the sight. “That’s mistletoe, Billy…” She breathes quietly.

“Yeah…” he replies, chest heaving as he stares up at her.

A moment of silence passes between them as they gaze into each other’s eyes, until she leans down and presses a gentle kiss to his cheek.

Billy gasps, turning pink all the way to his ears, quickly stepping back, and she squeals, toppling forward as the ladder wobbles beneath her.

He is quick to drop the mistletoe, grasping her hands, allowing her weight to push him back into a seated position on the sofa, to prevent her from falling.

They both breathe heavily as she straddles his lap, their hands still clasped together, staring at each other with wide eyes.

“You saved me,” she whispers, “but you dropped the mistletoe.”

“You…you can still kiss me…if you’d like to?” He says hopefully.

She lets go of his hand, leaning in and pressing her lips to his. It’s soft at first, until his arm moves to wrap itself around her waist, pressing her close to him.

The kiss deepens, Billy groaning in approval as her tongue slips against his, their combined breaths hot and heavy against each other. She can feel his rapidly growing hardness through his trousers and grinds herself against it, as his hand slips beneath her skirt, the press of his fingertips feather light against the hem of her knickers through her tights.

There is nothing but the sound of the shared sticky click of their saliva as their mouths move together, and the creak of the leather sofa cushions as their hips push wantonly against each other. Desire sizzles in her blood, causing her core to throb with every press of his clothed length against her.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs leading down to the sitting room causes her to scramble from his lap, quickly smoothing down her maid’s uniform.

“Billy?” Calls out the voice of Feldman as he descends.

“Just on break, sir,” Billy calls back, standing and stealthily attempting to adjust himself.

“That ended ten minutes ago,” the older man says exasperatedly. “Come on, there are guests checking in upstairs with luggage that needs bringing to their rooms.”

Billy’s eyes dart around in panic, his cheeks flushing. “Sorry, sir, lost track of the time. Can I quickly go to the toilet first?”

Feldman sighs. “Make it quick.”

Billy nods, shooting her an apologetic look before walking quickly away.

She puts a hand over her mouth, stifling an embarrassed giggle, knowing exactly what he intends to do.

“What have you two been doing down here then?” Feldman asks her, eyeing her suspiciously.

She clears her throat, smoothing her hands over her uniform once more, hoping her flustered appearance doesn’t give too much away. “Putting up decorations, Mr. Feldman. Looks great, doesn’t it?” She asks with a smile.

His eyes narrow, distaste apparent on his face as his eyes sweep the room, before looking back at her. “Yes, if you say so.”

She stoops, picking the mistletoe up off the floor and tucking it away in her apron pocket. She has a spring in her step as goes back upstairs.

That will definitely come in handy later.

Part two || Series masterlist

[mythicalmyles]

ghost!proxy fucking you asleep one night and you waking up in your "dream" cockwarming somebody you can't see... fucking yourself back onto their cock and moaning half-asleep and needy into your sheets, saying how you need them to fuck you, how much you wanna see them, it only spurs them on to flip you onto your back fucking into you fast, now with multiple hands teasing your nipples etcetc while you still cannot see them but can see how much their cock gapes your hole <33333

UGHJFF another ghost proxy joining in and fucking your mouth ohnngghhhgof or even double pen,,, HOT

there is much to think about myth

– 💤 anon

18+, dubcon, based this off of some of our old asks i kept

(Name) smiled up at his new house, it was a little run down but nothing dedication couldnt fix, besides, his boyfriend was pretty handy. (Name) quickly made his way up the stairs and opened the door. The house was stuffy and almost felt suffocating, as if he was encroaching on somethings turf. He shook his head, hair flailing. It was an old house, no one had lived in it for quite some time.

(Name) gazed blankly at the boxes thrown around his new home, he felt exhausted after the long train and taxi ride. He shook his head and b-lined to the couch, flopping his body down and passing out almost instantly.

——————

“Aaah!” (Name) shot up only to be shoved back, pleasure wracking his body as he felt something fucking into him. His shocked eyes gazed at nothing, he could feel the hands pinning his stomach down but there was no one there. All he could do was lie back and moan as he was fucked raw by an invisible figure, he’d never felt this good before. His body felt like it was on fire, moaning with every thrust.

“Shhh, be a good boy and go back to sleep.” The voice was dark and shook him but he couldn’t help but close his eyes as the thrusts sped up, his body bouncing with every slam of its hips.

—————

(Name) shot up on the couch, darkness filling the outside. He checked over his body to see nothing, a sigh left him. It must’ve been a dream he convinced himself. He picked his phone off of the floor, checking the time. His boyfriend would be here soon.

He shoved himself off of the couch, he couldn’t be bothered looking for his cooking equipment. Instead he chose to ring up a take out, he almost hurled when they told his it could take up-to two hours due to his secluded location.

He let out a sigh before sitting back down, his dream running through his head.

He mustve zoned out because his boyfriend clapping his hands shook him, eyes immediately darting to the other. “Oh, (b/n).” (Names) voice was drowsy and his eyes were drooping, his boyfriend chuckling at the state of him.

“Come on.” He muttered softly as he scooped (Name) into his arms, chuckling as he carried them upto their room.

—————

(Name) tried his best not to sigh as his boyfriend rolled off of him, he came but he felt so unsatisfied. The images of his earlier dream swarmed his mind, helping him cum. Usually he took forever, his mind grasping at thoughts to help bring him to the edge.

As much as he loved his boyfriend he was just too sweet for his own good, (Name) craved desperately to be thrown down and taken like an animal. He worried he just wasn’t attractive enough to bring out that side of his boyfriend but he always shrugged the thoughts off.

He tried not to sigh too loud as he closed his eyes, hoping sleep would take him quick.

—————

(B/N) woke up to the sound of moaning, shocked eyes landing on another man sliding his cock into his boyfriend. All he could do was gape and stare as he watched his boyfriend moan the loudest he ever had, pleasure filling his voice. Large hands slid up (Names) chest, lifting his shirt. Hands played with his nipples as he was ground into the bed. “Pleeease, stuff me.” (Name) mumbled out, half awake and tongue hanging out mouth.

(B/N) couldnt believe his eyes, he’d never seen (Name) like this. “G-god harder! Please!” (Names) eyes finally opened, looking behind him and seeing no one. His shocked eyes landed on his boyfriend. “A-aah, (B/N)!” (Name) moaned as he was fucked deep, eyes staring at his boyfriend across the bed. “I-im sor-sorrry.” He slurred out through moans, eyes hazed.

“Have you ever had him like this? Moaning like a bitch in heat?” Masky’s words had high pitched moans pouring from (Name). It felt too good to be true, it had to be a dream (Name) thought. He couldn’t see anyone behind him but he definitely heard and felt them, their cock filled him up, easily slamming into his prostate.

He came after another few thrusts, eyes rolling back and his back almost snapping as he arched. “He’s a good little puppy isn’t he?” Masky smirked as (Name) whined, huffing as he came down from his high. Masky’s hand wrapped around (Names) neck, pulling him flush to his chest.

Masky’s other arm restrained his arms, keeping them pinned to his sides as Masky continued to fuck him, except now his boyfriend could see everything going on. (B/N) couldn’t help but stare as Masky’s cock continued fucking into his boyfriend, going as deep as he could. (Name) whined at the overstimulation, lungs gasping for air. “Come play with his nipples.” Masky sounded more like he was ordering, (B/N) couldn’t help but comply, his cock straining hard against his pants. He looked into his boyfriends desperate eyes, finally clicking in his brain. (B/N) really liked seeing his boyfriend like this, he wanted to see that look on (Names) face again.

More moans poured from (Name). “Ah, please. N-no more.” He begged weakly, voice cracking. “You’re going to be a good little doggy and take all the cock you’re given like the good little whore you are.” (Name) groaned, chest arching into the warm mouth that had attached to one of them. (B/ns) tongue rolled around (Names) nipple, flicking the bud as his other hand teased (Names) other nipple between two digits.

(Name) felt his mind liquidate under the pleasure, another orgasm quick to tear through his body. A loud scream left (Name) as he was forced through another orgasm, his mind blank as he flopped back against Masky. Cold filled him and he let out a shocked moan, whoever inside of him pulling out.

(Name) tried to apologise to (BF/N) and instead was silence with a kiss, his boyfriend pushing him into the mattress. His boyfriend moved him until he was on top, grinding their hips together as he looked up at (Name). He grinned up at (Name) before pulling him down onto his cock, throwing his usual care out the window. (Bf/n) slammed (Name) down onto his cock, intent on drilling every moan he could from his lover.

(Name) let out a moan of pain, the sudden feeling of a hand yanking his hair making him jump. Wide eyes staring at nothing. He felt something cold press to his lips and catiously opened his mouth, only to choke when what he could only assume was a cock, was shoved into his mouth.

The cold sensation was a huge contrast to how hot (names) body felt, sticky with sweat as his boyfriend had him ride him. Choked moans left as another orgasm washed over (name), body shaking as he ground down on his boyfriends cock. (Bf/n) came clenching (names) hips, leaving indents and bruises. He lay panting after, watching as someone transparent fucked (names) mouth. (Bf/n) bit his lip as he watched (name), eyes fixated on his throat.

(Name) let out a load whine as he was pulled off, cringing at the taste in his mouth. (Bf/n) was quick to pull him into his arms, cuddling him close.

[thespiritssaidso]

Secrets, Secrets

Summary: Lassiter needs Shawn’s help grabbing fall decorations from the attic. Whilst up there, Shawn makes a discovery, revealing new lore about his boyfriend.

Or the fic where Lassiter used to play drums.

Notes: based off a few conversations from the psychos discord (link in endnotes)

Flufftober day 13: Attic, Cellar, Hidden Room (I didn’t do the hidden room, but whatever) 

—————

“Shawn! Come help me grab some of these boxes!” Lassiter shouted down the ladder. 

“One sec!” 

Lassiter grunted under the weight of the cardboard box he was carrying. It was full of fall-type decorations, both heirloom and store bought from the previous years. If he had had any say in it, Lassiter would just keep his house the same every year for the spooky season. He never really got into the festive mood all that much. It was a hassle to get everything set up and looking nice only to tear it down again in a month to prepare for thanksgiving. And then after that Christmas. 

But his boyfriend had insisted on going all out every year for halloween, and consequently the neighboring holidays as well. And really, how could he say no to Shawn’s begging face? 

And so every year for the past three years of them living together, he’d put up with going to the store with Shawn and getting new decorations and filling up the attic with more and more stuff. Although Shawn himself never got around to going up there, claiming it had something to do with the dust and his allergies, forcing Lassiter to be the sole carrier of cardboard boxes that were very full of decorations. 

This year, however, Lassiter had managed to convince Shawn to help him this time. 

Footsteps sounded from the bottom of the folding ladder as the psychic himself clambered up. He faked a sneeze the moment he got to the top and into the attic. “I dunno, Lassie. I definitely shouldn’t be up here. I’ll go ahead and go down-”

“Shawn. I dusted the entire attic a few hours ago. There’s literally nothing for you to sneeze on.”

Immediately, he cut the act, and groaned. He finished climbing up the stairs and stepped into the attic, looking around the room. He stopped when something grabbed his attention. “Woah. Hold up. What is that?” Shawn pointed at the large cardboard box in the corner of the attic. 

It was unlabeled, and a little dented up. There were thin spots where small layers of cardboard had been ripped from continuous placing and removing of tape. But even after all this time, Lassiter knew immediately what was inside it. He saw it every time he went up here, whether it be to grab decorations or camping equipment. “It’s not important. Here, grab this box-”

He was swiftly interrupted by the sound of Shawn making an incorrect buzzer noise. “Wrong! All things are important, Carly. Especially that mystery box over there.” He started bouncing on the balls of his feet. “And I need to see what’s in it.”

“D-No!” Lassiter blurted just a little too quickly. “I mean, uhm. It’s really not that interesting. Just a bunch of… more… boxes…”

Shawn eyed him suspiciously. “You’re acting weird. You only do that when you’re hiding something.” 

Lassiter didn’t know what to do. Should he lie? Should he just admit what was in the box? On the one hand, Shawn was bound to find out at some point or another. But on the other… it had been a long time ago, at least twenty years since he’d used it, five years since he’d touched it, and that was to move it into his house because his mothers were sick of it taking up space in their attic. Lassiter doubted he even remembered how to use it. 

At his silence, Shawn’s eyes went wide. “Is it? I’m right, aren’t I? You’re definitely hiding something. Is it full of handcuffs? Sex tapes? Weed?”

“Wait, hold on, hold on! Weed? Why in the name of- why would you think I, of all people, have a stash of weed in my attic?”

“I dunno, I’m just throwing out some ideas.” Shawn was shaking now. “I gotta know what’s in there. It’s a box and it’s got stuff that I need to see!”

Lassiter knew there was no point in trying to keep it from Shawn anymore now. He’d just ask about it nonstop until the detective broke and let him go and see what it was. Best to just rip the bandaid off right now. He sighed. “Alright. I may or may not have… played the drums for a time, back in high school.” 

Shawn stood for a moment, processing what he was just told. “Wait, so you’re saying…” 

“Yes, Shawn. That’s a drum set.”

Without missing a beat, Shawn made his way over to the old box, gingerly lifting the lid up. If possible, his very apparent giddiness increased at the sight of what was inside. “Woahhhh…” He pulled out a folded up stand wrapped in cloth. Then he turned to face Lassiter. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Lassiter sighed. “I don’t know. It just didn’t really seem too important. And it’s not like this topic comes up in conversation organically. So I didn’t really feel the need to tell you.” He walked over beside Shawn, and looked inside the box. He could make out the shapes of his high hat laying on top of the pile of other drum pieces that had been laid inside with utmost care. “Besides, it’s not like I can actually play it anymore, it’s been too long.” 

“Uh, I call bull. I bet you can still play.” 

“What? No, Shawn-”

“It’s muscle memory! It’ll be like- like riding a bike!”

“Okay, that’s definitely not how that works.” 

“Oh come on, Carly. Please? For me?” Shawn looked at him with big puppy eyes. 

There it was. Lassiter’s weakness. He hated it when Shawn used it against him, it got him to do things he’d rather not have done. But damn it was always effective in the moment. 

He was only able to resist it for a minute before he caved. “Okay, fine. Just help me get it downstairs.” 

Shawn whooped, immediately grabbing the box and dragging it over to the small ladder. 

—————

Notes: very short, i know. But it’s cute, and personally I like it.

psychos discord

ao3 link

[becasbelt]

here's a little thing about moving that's definitely not inspired by recent real life events.

* * *

Beca sets the box down with a grunt, straightening and pushing it to fit against the rest of the boxes better with her foot. She has no idea what Amy put in her box literally labelled "bit and bobs" to make it so heavy, but honestly she's too tired of going through boxes at the moment to find out.

Brushing her hands together, Beca surveys what they've done in apartment so far - if the one room studio they were renting could be considered an apartment, that is. She, Amy, and Chloe had spent the better part of the day unloading the U-Haul they'd driven from Barden to New York, and now the sorting through everything part is making Beca long for more trips up the stairs.

She's successfully managed to separate their boxes into different piles throughout the room: three piles for each of their personal belongings and one for the kitchen. Amy's stuff takes up an entire side of the room, while Chloe's modest stash sits nicely in a corner.

Beca's things consist of three boxes, two duffel bags filled with clothes, and a carry-on with her music equipment.

Somehow, after getting rid of any furniture she'd acquired over the last couple of years, Beca had walked out of college with hardly more than she started with.

Beca stares at her small pile and considers how motivated she's feeling. Upon deciding that more unpacking can wait until after dinner, she slumps onto the couch to stare at the wall for a minute or two.

Amy and Chloe had volunteered to make a food run to reward all their hard work. Beca had opted to stay behind, citing the need for some alone time, leaving her all alone to wonder just what the hell they'd all gotten themselves into.

One of their windows doesn't latch properly, creating a draft over the place where Beca and Chloe will sleep. The walls are spotted with stains that Beca isn't sure will ever come out. Their bathroom is literally in the kitchen. There's a strange smell coming from the closet that makes Beca's nose wrinkle every time she opens it.

Beca leans her elbows on her knees, puts her head in her hands, and tries to take a deep breath.

It was fine. Everything was going to be fine. They could clean, they could light a candle, they could come up with a system for dealing with the kitchen-shower.

The traffic is loud outside the window. A far cry from the quiet street the Bellas' House at Barden resided on.

Beca tries for another deep breath, cheeks puffing out as she exhales. She rubs her eyes with the heels of her palms until she sees spots, then blinks to clear them again.

All the uncertainties keep staring back at her.

Beca's fingers curl around her phone. Without thinking too much about it, she scrolls through her contacts until her thumb presses the call button.

The other end rings five times before it's picked up. "Hey, Bec."

The air leaves Beca's lungs in a shaky exhale. "Hey, Dad."

"Is everything alright? How'd the move go?" There's a hint of surprise in his voice, as if he hadn't been expecting to call. Which is fair, honestly.

"No, yeah, everything's good," she says, tucking her arms in close to herself. "Made it in one piece. We just finished unpacking the truck."

"Good. Well that's- that's good, then," her dad says. There's a moment of awkward silence, and it hits Beca just how little she tries to make small talk with her dad like this, even when they lived in the same city.

"Yeah," Beca says dumbly. She tucks her feet onto the couch and hugs them tight to her chest.

"So how's New York?"

"It's... different," Beca replies hesitantly. "Um, good different, I think. But different."

Her dad chuckles. "Yeah, I get that. I felt that way when I moved to Barden. But you'll get used to, just give it a few days. Maybe invest in a white noise machine to cover up the traffic."

Beca huffs a laugh. "Yeah, maybe. If Amy's snoring doesn't cover it up first."

They share another laugh, and Beca feels the tightness in her chest ease ever so slightly.

"Bet you're glad to be out of Barden, though," her dad ventures. "Seems like you always wanted to move to the big city."

"I grew up in Seattle, Dad," Beca says with an eye roll. "It's not like I grew up in the middle of Wyoming."

"Okay, okay," he concedes. "I mean a city where things are happening, right? Like LA: you always wanted to live there. Isn't New York just a grittier, more compact version of LA?"

Beca snorts. "I think there's a few more differences than that, but sure. I guess I see your point."

"So there you go," he says, and Beca can practically see that annoying side smirk he gets on his face whenever he feels like he just won an argument. "You're on the right path, even if it's in a different place than you imagined. And I'm so proud of you for taking that jump, Bec. Even if I wasn't always supportive of it."

A lump forms in Beca's throat and she finds herself blinking against stinging eyes. "Thanks, Dad," she says, voice tight, then clears her throat and shakes her head. "That, uh, that means a lot."

"It's true," he says kindly. There's another lull in the conversation, this one less awkward than before. "You know, it'll be weird not having you ten minutes away anymore. I won't be able to force you into coming over for dinner once a month."

Beca grins a little. "And I don't know what I'll do without you knocking on the our door to ask if I've done my homework every other week," she teases. "But maybe I can be convinced to video call every once in a while."

"That would be nice," her dad replies, and Beca can tell that he really means it. "So, how's the apartment."

"It's small, and it's got some quirks, but it'll do for now," Beca says, looking around the studio again. "There's this weird smell coming from a closet that makes me kind of want to throw up, though."

"Try baking soda," her dad says. "Or coffee grounds. They should absorb the smell. Or you could put a bar of soap in a sock, I've done that before. Or you could try..."

He continues rambling about ways to get rid of bad smells, and Beca smiles while she listens, leaning her head against the back of the couch, and breathes deeper than she has all day.

[harryssattelitestomper]

Going on tour with bf!Harry (written one-shot)

Warnings: Use of "she/her" pronouns. Cursing.

Wordcount: 1K.

A/N: I'm not used to writing written one-shots but I tried my best, I hope you like it! Feedback is always welcomed 🥰

To be fair I hadn't meant to leave packing for the last minute, I just got distracted with other things. At least that's what I kept telling myself. But the truth was I just couldn't find it in myself to start, I mean no one likes packing for trips.

Perhaps my lack of enthusiasm was just because I knew I had to pack almost my whole entire wardrobe with me. I mean I was going on tour with Harry for a month. And a girl needed outfit options.

After finally pulling myself out of my spot on the bed where I had cocooned myself, I began to sort through my wardrobe and putting my stuff into my suitcase.

After what felt like hours I was finally done with packing. I put my suitcase at the end of Harry's and my bed for him to carry downstairs later and made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I grabbed an iced tea from the fridge and after receiving a text from Harry saying he's gonna be home in an hour, I started making dinner.

As I had just finished making the pasta sauce and began to pour it in with the pasta I heard the front door closing.

"Lovie I'm home" I heard Harry yelling from the entryway, sounding relieved to be home.

"In the kitchen!" I continued making dinner as I waited for him to reach me. And a few seconds later I felt strong arms around my waist and a face being showed into my neck, peppering kisses along the expanse of my neck.

'missed yous' and 'i love yous' being murmured into my neck, I finally let myself move from the embrace and turned around to face him, my arms looping around his neck.

"Hi" his voice soft as if he'd just woken up even though that was not the case and he had in fact been up since 6am.

"Dinner's ready" I stated as I loosened my arms from him and started getting plates up from the cabinet.

As we situated ourselves at the dining table, plates full of pasta and glasses filled with red wine we relaxed, talked about the upcoming departure for the last shows of Love On Tour and just enjoyed each other's company.

It was 6am when Harry's alarm rang and it was time for us to go to the airport. Since we had packed most of our things, we just did our morning business, got dressed in some comfortable clothes and took off in the car that had been ordered for us. We were going to Werchter, Belgium for some of the shows that were ending an era. We had traveled back to our London home inbetween the Cardiff show and the Werchter show for some much needed rest. Because nothing beat the feeling of sleeping in your own bed.

After about an hour flight we'd arrived to Brussels from where we'd take a car ride to Werchter since it too took only an hour.

When we finally arrived to our hotel we straight away flopped onto the hotel bed, even though the flight and car ride were fairly short, traveling and interacting with people was always a bit exhausting so we took a quick nap before meeting with the others (Ai Sarah, Mitch etc.) at the lobby and going sight-seeing.

We went to see Stadhus van Leuven, which I wasn't sure if it was anything special but at least the building was absolutely beautiful.

After visiting a few more landmarks and going to grab some lunch, we strolled back to the hotel to get ready to leave for sound-check.

I was sitting on a random equipment box watching Harry and the band practice (really I was just admiring him). He randomly waved at me or blew me a kiss which, even after three years of dating still got butterflies to appear in my stomach.

"What's up" he chimed as he made his way over to me on the equipment box.

"Nothing, just thinking bout' how Love On Tour is almost over" I replied, with a bit of a bittersweet tone.

Harry moved to sit with me on the box and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"It is kind of bittersweet isn't it? A part of me is scared about people being disappointed in me taking a break but a bigger part of me is so excited about what's to come." he mumbled while playing with my engagement ring.

I just nodded my head and leaned my against his shoulder, knowing he was more making an observation than waiting for an answer. As we sat and watched the crew putting things in order I kept thinking about how proud of him I was.

"Guys you need to go get dressed" Jeff told us so we made our way to Harry's dressingroom.

Harry was dressed and doing his pre-show stretches as I once again stood on the side as to not get in anyones way. I had also changed my outfit (per H's request since he liked when I matched him) .

As it was time for him to start going on stage he came to collect his good-luck kiss and he was on his way.

I also made my way towards Anne who had flown to tonight's show. We, together with my assigned bodyguard made our way into the VIP/family booth.

"Can't believe tour's almost over" Anne mumbled to me when we were finally seated and rested her hand on mine. "Me neither, I'm trying to make the most of it before it's over" I answered her as I took in the view around me. Nothing could beat the way people lit up when they saw Harry, how they exchanged bracelets, dressed in colorful clothes, felt at ease. Oh, how I was gonna miss this. Obviously I knew there where so many things and new projects waiting for me and Harry in the future, but I've never been good with change.

As Harry finally came on stage he immediately had everyone drawn to him. Everyone's attention was on him.

As the night went on me and Anne danced and sang, watched Harry reading and answering signs, laughing with him, just enjoying the night fully.

After all; New and great beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hobie Brown's Living Room on the S.S Anne Ark

Hobie's living room on the houseboat complete with graffiti, boatcats, and a juke box he's customed himself.

(In depth explainer below - click for higher rez)

Diane took this photo early in the morning while Hobie was still sleeping upstairs. It seems like Moto the cat is already up. [Light mentions of my Spidersona Disco-Spider Diane below] The S.S Anne Ark (get it- AnArch?) is Hobie's home, and arguably his favorite place in the world.

Gifted to him by an old geezer Hobie used to work for, he's been living on Anne for 4 years now - since he was 16.

And this is his living room.

Hobie is by no means a homebody, but when he is home, he spends most of his time here - reading, writing songs, and listening to music.

The Living Area -

Feel free to imagine a LOT more junk here. The living room floor is always covered with his projects - songbooks, or patches, zines - whatever art he's making then. Cause Hobie is always making art. His couch might as well be older than him - and he found it on a curb in Tower Hamlets, called a few favors, and somehow got it in here. But it's the most comfortable thing you'll ever sit on.

The Music/Recording Area -

Almost every song Hobie has recorded or written in the past 4 years has been here. Hobie keeps most of his music equipment in the wooden cabinet and the good stuff that can't fit gets put on display. There's a microphone rigged to the ceiling and mixing equipment for recording. Hobie's motto is the louder the better, and it's a good thing the windows are re-enforced, because his speakers are loud enough to make the glass rattle. There's also a vintage jukebox that Hobie had bartered for a couple years back. Now, he loves tickering with it. He's swapped out the old 50's songs for something more his taste tho.

The Kitchen Area -

Hobie can cook, and he loves it, but being a street kid for so long, he's hardly ever gotten in the habit of doing it. Hobie's kitchen is sparce, partly because the boat is off the grid. His cupboards are mainly full of books and shoes, and his oven is rarely used. However, he has a grill on the back deck - and that's where he does most of his cooking. Once Gwendy came around, Hobie got a lot more into cooking, the kid seemed like she needed a homecooked meal. Hobie mainly eats cheap street food - street kid habits -frequenting fish n' chip places and kebab shops, and yeah, he calls the dude behind the counter 'boss' or something. He also eats a lot of food from convivence stores, like packaged sandwiches and cold pastas. Because they're easy to carry, and when he was younger, they were (literal) life-savers. The taste gives him nostalgia. The thing he makes most in the kitchen is beans on toast. Diane finds it disgusting, which Hobie finds hilarious.

The BoatCats

Hobie is a man of many cats. He looks after the dock and alley cats, catching fish on early mornings (yes, he fishes) to give to them before he has breakfast. All of them have names, and none of them have collars. And Hobie loves them all. Those that are a bit older, weaker, or just want to - get to come live with him as BoatCats. Pictured here: Left - Moto (Personality: Feisty, Calm, Curious) Right - Pierogi, also known as Rogi (Personality: Cuddly, Talkative, Friendly) Hobie does not care much for their genders, and doesn't check.

More about The S.S Anne Ark (I'll be posting an explainer with the outside, layout, etc)

The S.S Anne Ark is a modified wide-beam canal boat. Completely off-the-grid, and DIY'd by him, it's Hobie's pride and joy. The Anne Ark is three levels tall - a 'ground' floor, and upstairs, and a locked basement below the deck. Pictured is the living room. To the left - beside the windows - there is a hallway that leads to Hobie's workshop and the basement Hobie choses to firmly keep private. Not even Gwen, Pavi or Diane have been down there. To the right behind the cat tree is the stairs up to Hobie's bedroom. (You walk up those stairs, hit the landing, turn and go up again.) The Anne Ark has two 'bedrooms' and one 'bathroom'. Hobie's bedroom is what was once the control room, gutted and converted. The second bedroom was once a small equipment space. The small bathroom is up there as well - but it's more of a wet room, with a shower and toilet. There's a sink to wash your hands on the second floor outdoor deck, but it's either that or the kitchen sink.

But that's Anne Ark! And after years of squatting and homelessness as a streetkid, Hobie considers Anne his forever home. And he takes pride in that.

He tries pride in opening Anne's doors for others too - kids in the same spot he was, who just need a little help.

Other little facts about Anne Ark:

Hobie's leather jacket is on the couch. He has multiple, he can't be walking around in the same jacket as Spiderpunk 24/7, right? He has a couple, and the ones he stops wearing, he donates. He usually starts a new one when the last is too cover in patches to continue.

The Anne Ark changes colors.

Diane throws rager after-parties on Anne Ark after the band's shows. She has her own apartment she loves to death, and doesn't sleep over often - maybe staying a weekend or two a month, or crashing after a party. In turn, Hobie hardly ever sleeps at hers. Mainly because her place is merticulously pink, and she says he messes up her throw pillows. He disagrees with the idea of unusable pillows. And with her own crib and bed a portal jump away, they don't feel the need to bunk together. Non-conventional relationship and all that. [Insert scene of Barbie being like 'why would you wanna stay over?? :) This is MY dreamhouse lol <3 ]

________________________________________

So uhhhhh, that's his living room.

I tried to get it as genuinely close how it looks in me paracosm (i JUST learned that word), based on how Diane sees it. All of this is based off of headcanon and I see it when I'm in the space.

Some things may be left out for sake of space and simplicity - but this is mainly it - as accurately as I could reasonably get it.

If you read this far, THANK YOU - I really appreciate it and it genuinely means a lot! As usual, you will take this photo of Hobie, and pretend this is normal behavior.

Bye.

[pavlovianfuckery]

paging dr debeers and his atrocious bedside manner, it's very urgent actually

MASTERLIST

i hope the whole 'taking one (1) comment about playing doctor and running with it like he stole it' thing isn't too out of character, but i mean this is the guy who dressed up as an old dude complete with fake beard for the sole reason of convincing his asshole dad-sicle that he'd been frozen for decades just to fuck with him, so...what can i say, i fought my inner demons and lost, badly

linky for those more ao3-ly inclined: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56619892

4.5k words of smut under the tag, dr malpractice md is in the house, minors dni and all that stuff

It had started with just one mostly innocent comment, a joke really. You couldn't recall exactly what had been said, just that you'd mentioned 'playing doctor', he'd made a sarcastic comment about it, and that had been that. It had been days ago, so you'd thought nothing of it when you received a text from him that simply said:

Shady Plots, 9 PM. Use the back door.

The first thing that hits you as the door swings open is the smell of rubbing alcohol. The second thing is that he really went all in on this. There is an entire area of the room set up like a doctor's office, or as close as you can get considering that the basement of a funeral home isn't exactly built for it. Sure, the 'examination table' is more like a mortuary table with a sheet on it, but he's clearly been busy.

For starters, there is a desk set up with things you'd expect to find, like a box of nitrile gloves, medical lubricant, gauze and other various things, but there's also a set of instruments neatly laid out. It consists mostly of traditional equipment like a blood pressure cuff, a reflex hammer and so on, but there are also some more unexpected things thrown in the mix. The most obvious ones are a couple of soft hanks of rope, a wand vibrator, and what looks to be a disposable speculum. There is also a set of padded restraints designed to go around your neck and wrists which you pick up, anticipation curling low in your belly.

"Well, he's clearly got the evening planned..." You look around, but you can't see him anywhere. Just as you're about to call out for him, you notice that the rolling office chair by the desk has what looks like a paper gown folded on it, and on top of that, a note with your name. The message on the back of it is short and to the point:

Put this on and wait. The doctor will see you shortly. B

The gown is open in the back which isn't in itself unusual, but it's so short that it only barely covers you, which turns out to be a bit uncomfortable as you sit down on the edge of the table to wait. It's cold, and he does keep you waiting, though it's probably only about ten minutes. It's still plenty of time to get you restless and by the time that the door at the top of the stairs opens, closes and then locks, you're nearly crawling out of your skin.

He's all business as he walks over to the back door and proceeds to lock that too, not even glancing your way. Rather than throwing on a white coat and calling it a day, he has apparently committed to the role. Between the dark slacks, dress shirt and stethoscope around his neck he's already selling it, but he's got an almost suspiciously official-looking ID card hanging on a lanyard too. He even changed his hair, his usual messy style exchanged for something combed down and sensible. All in all, this might be the most straight-laced you've ever seen him.

"So, " he flips through the papers on the clipboard he's carrying, still barely looking at you,"you're here for a physical, is that correct?"

"Um, yes?" You clear your throat and nod, feeling a bit awkward. "Yes, that's right."

"Any medical history I should be aware of?" He flips through the papers again, apparently only listening with half an ear.

"No, I don't think so." You watch him put the clipboard down on the desk and grab a pair of gloves before turning back to you.

"Are there any concerns that you wish to discuss before we begin?"

"No, none."

"Very good." He snaps the gloves on with a few practiced movements. "Let's start with taking a look at your lungs." Unhooking the stethoscope, he gives you a quick nod. "Turn around."

The metal is cold as it makes contact with your skin, almost making you pull away.

"Now, breathe." He's so close that the words ruffle the hairs at the back of your neck, his voice smooth and low. It tickles and you squeeze your legs together, trying to ignore the goosebumps that erupt all over your body. "And again. Deep breaths."

You're not sure if he's actually listening or pretending, but that's hardly the point. When he's satisfied, he turns away and scribbles something on the clipboard.

"Nothing out of the ordinary there." He clicks his pen a few times before putting it down. "Now face me." He almost looks bored as he slides the end of the stethoscope down under the flimsy paper gown, settling it approximately where your heart should be. "Try to relax," he tells you, "just keep breathing..."

It's not as easy as it sounds, because as he moves the end of the stethoscope around your chest he keeps grazing your nipples seemingly on accident, making them pucker in the cool air. You're almost certain that he's not actually listening, but he still jots something down on the clipboard.

"Seems to be in working order." When he fishes a penlight from his breast pocket and shines it in your eyes without warning you jerk back without really meaning to, blinking furiously. "No," he says evenly and grabs your chin, forcing you to look at him, "none of that." The way he keeps moving the light around and turning it off and on again is disorienting, quickly making your head start to spin.

"Pupillary reaction appears normal," he murmurs, his breath ghosting over your cheek. With the bright light blinding you, you hadn't realized just how close he was. It makes you itch to touch him, but you resist. He's gone to all this trouble so the least you can do is try to be a model patient, even if he makes it difficult. When he lets you go, you shake your head to try and clear the stars stubbornly dancing in front of your eyes.

"I'll need to check your mouth and throat next," he mutters, and you can hear him rifle around the desk before returning, "Open." Even though it's just a piece of wood you can feel your cheeks heating up as he slides the tongue depressor into your mouth. "Wider." He's close enough that you can count his eyelashes as he cradles your jaw in his hand and squeezes, forcing it open. Being close to him is nothing new, but it's different from being outright studied like this, like you're just a sample under a microscope. It's intimate in a way you're not used to.

"Hm..." He removes the tongue depressor and discards it in the nearby trash can. "Let me get a closer look."

When his finger slides into your mouth, you freeze, heartbeat thundering in your ears. It's completely dispassionate as he runs his finger over your teeth and gums. When he adds another and presses your tongue down you try to meet his eyes, but there is just nothing there, his expression a blank mask. He holds you there, casually invading your mouth as he glances at his watch. When the built-up drool starts to run down his hand he briefly adds a third finger, gagging you just a little before pulling away, discarding the gloves.

"That's interesting," he makes another note, though you can't see what he's writing from where you're sitting.

"What?" You wipe your chin and do your best to catch your breath.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." His tone is airy as he snaps a new pair of gloves on, then picks the reflex hammer up, scooting closer on the rolling chair.

"Now relax, this will only take a minute." As he glides his hand up your leg his fingertips linger at the back of your knee, making your skin tingle as he tests your reflexes on first one side, then the other. Something about the result seems to displease him because he tuts and repositions your legs, stroking the inside of your thighs as he does so. "You're so tense, why is that?"

'Truly a mystery for the ages,' you think, but you don't say it out loud. "I don't really know, sorry."

The second time around it seems to work better because he backs off, going back to his notes for a moment.

"Remove the gown, please." His telling you to undress isn't anything out of the ordinary, but the way he's watching you is completely cold and it's making your skin crawl."Next I will perform a breast exam, "he continues,"you will keep your hands in your lap and be still." Once the gown is off you obediently put your hands in your lap, waiting to see what he'll do. He doesn't give you time to respond before beginning, starting to clinically feel his way through each breast, more thoroughly than you thought he'd be.

"Good." He steps back, apparently satisfied and you let out a sigh of relief. "Now stand up, turn around and put your hands behind your head."

As soon as you do it, he steps in uncomfortably close, then starts repeating the process from the back.

"Have you noticed any pain or discomfort?" His breath is hot on your ear, making it hard to focus.

"Not that I..." You trail off, because he keeps stroking you in that way you know that he knows you like, which is very distracting. When he brushes against your ass you can feel that he's at least half hard, and it's nearly enough to make you break character but you soldier on, determined to see this through. "Not that I've noticed, no."

"I see." He pinches one of your nipples and rolls it between his fingers, making you gasp. "How does this feel? Pleasurable?"

You bite your lip, trying not to moan.

"Please, Bla-"

"Answer the question," he cuts you off, voice stern, "does this feel pleasurable?"

"Yes..." Your legs feel like jelly, and if you didn't have any pain or discomfort before, you certainly do now.

"I see." Then he lets you go, making you stumble to right yourself. You can hear the scratching of pen on paper as he adds to his notes, helpfully reading them out loud as he does so. "Patient exhibits signs of elevated arousal during palpation of breast..."

You can barely look at him. In character or not, does he really have to put it like that? When you think that it can't get any worse, he keeps proving you wrong.

"I'll be taking your temperature now." In his hand is indeed a thermometer, which would be less of a problem if he'd gotten a forehead or even an oral one, but it seems you've got no such luck. "Would you like to lie down, or do you prefer to remain standing for it?"

Neither sounds like an attractive option, honestly. For reasons you can't quite articulate, the thought of him doing that to you feels wrong somehow. Which on reflection is kind of funny since it's not like you've never had him inside of you in different ways before, so it really shouldn't be a problem.

"I, uh, whichever one is easier?"

"Standing, then." He either doesn't notice your distress or is simply choosing to ignore it, barely sparing you with a glance as he dispenses the lubricant. "Bent over the table is acceptable."

Leaning over the table on your elbows you try to not think about what he's about to do. How can he be so-

"I believe I said bent over." Placing the thermometer on the table in front of you, he puts his hand between your shoulder blades and pushes you down. "That's better." Then you feel him slip his knee between your legs, spreading your legs apart. "And that's perfect. Now, just try to relax..."

It's uncomfortable as he starts sliding it in, but all you can do is bury your face in your hands with a whine and wait for it to be over. The entire time he keeps touching you, sliding his hand over your buttocks and the backs of your thighs, and it feels like an eternity passes before he pulls it back out.

"Temperature is normal, so that's good."

You press your forehead to the cool surface of the table with a sigh, not sure what else he's got in store and getting worried about whether you really want to find out. Then he's caging you in with his arms, rubbing himself against you as he leans down.

"I will need you to answer some questions for me," he murmurs right by your ear, "before we can move on to the pelvic exam." Then he pushes off of you, discards the gloves he was wearing and grabs the clipboard. Leaning back against the desk, he clicks his pen impatiently. "You can get back up, by the way. Sit."

Your legs feel weak and shaky as you clamber back up on the table, but he at least waits for you to get as comfortable as you can on the hard surface before leafing through his papers until he finds what is apparently the correct form.

"So," he clicks the pen a few more times, probably just to annoy you, "let's get started. Are you currently sexually active?"

"Yes." This doesn't seem so bad, you can totally do this.

"Mm-hm. And when did you last have sex?" It's a miracle that he can keep a straight face because if anyone knows the answer to that question, it's him. Still, you'll play along.

"Last Tuesday."

"Did you reach orgasm and, if yes, how many times?" He's still not dropped out of character once, so you decide to mess with him.

"I think I did? Really not sure," you shrug, "the guy didn't seem to know what he was doing, so the jury's out on that one."

You think maybe you see the corner of one eye twitch, but that's all. It was worth a try, but you suspect you're going to pay for it fairly soon.

"I see. When did you last masturbate?"

"The day before yesterday."

"And you reached orgasm, I assume? How many times?"

That one makes you blush, just a little.

"Yes, I...twice."

"Have you ever or do you currently use a sexual device, alone or with a partner? If yes, how often and what type of device?"

He must be having an absolute ball with this, because the questions just keep coming, covering everything from what sex positions you prefer to what age you were when you first started masturbating to whether you have any fetishes or paraphilias. By the end of it you're ready to dig a hole, crawl into it and pull it in after you, never to be seen again.

"I think I've got most of what I need." He puts the clipboard down and gets his phone out. "A few photographs for your file, and we can get started on the pelvic exam."

He's as detached about taking photos as he's been about everything else tonight, positioning you this way and that as if you're no different from a mannequin, but it's definitely working for you in a way you had not been anticipating. It's about a dozen or so photos before he's satisfied, covering a variety of angles and body parts, though he's careful to avoid your face.

"There. You can lay back on the examination table now." It's even more uncomfortable laying down on it than just sitting. He must've seen you grimace, because he shrugs his coat off and folds it up, sliding it under your head as a makeshift pillow. "Better?"

"Yes, thanks." It shouldn't be anything but the small gesture still makes your chest feel tight. You do your best not to show it, watching as he pushes the sleeves of his shirt up and puts on a new pair of gloves.

"Open your legs for me." The lack of any stirrups makes it a bit awkward but putting your feet up on the table helps, so you make it work. This isn't the first time he's had his face between your thighs but it almost feels like it, and it makes you wish that you could cover up. It would probably be easier to bear if he wasn't just looking at you, but the reappearance of his little pen light doesn't exactly help to put you at ease, either.

When he touches you it's almost gentle, fingertips pushing and prodding as he examines you, taking the occasional break to jot something down. You can't really see much from this angle and he's talking so quietly that it's difficult to hear everything he's saying, but you pick up enough to get the general gist of it, that everything is basically fine and exactly as it should be.

"Well, on the surface everything appears completely healthy but I will need to do some further testing to make sure."

"What kind of..." you trail off as he runs a finger back and forth over your clit, making the breath catch in your throat.

"Just muscle tone and flexibility mostly," he says dismissively, clicking the penlight off. "Nothing you need to worry about."

This naturally makes you worry even more, which is no doubt deliberate on his part.

When he slides two fingers into you without any warning it's got you gripping the edges of the table, struggling to stay still.

"Squeeze around my fingers, please." Your body is already wanting to clamp down on its own, so it's not a big ask. "And again." He makes you repeat it another six or seven times before he tells you to stop. "Good." Face impassive, he drives his fingers right into your g-spot and presses his thumb to your clit, making you gasp. "How does this feel?"

"That's, hah, really good..."

"Mm-hm." He presses his other hand down on your stomach as he massages you from the inside. "And this?"

"As if you don't know," you moan, legs trembling. It's embarrassing how he can pick you apart like this, with just a few twists of his fingers. "Don't stop, please..."

So of course, he does. You close your eyes, cursing quietly to yourself as you hear him walking off, and then there is the scratch of that fucking pen again as he no doubt scribbles down his findings.

"Patient presents with," he mutters as he writes, "increased production of vaginal secretions during digital exam..."

You can't see what he's doing, but you can hear him rattling things around and then the squeak of the lubrication bottle.

"I'll be testing your flexibility next," he strokes your leg with the back of his hand, "so just try to relax." The lubricant is cold, but thankfully it warms up quickly as he slides his fingers back into you. He starts with two, but quickly adds a third, thrusting gently a few times. You're already twitching on the table, but when he begins adding a fourth finger you can't hold still anymore.

"Am I going to have to restrain you?" It's clearly supposed to be a threat but it has the opposite effect, making you clench around his fingers without meaning to.

"I'm sorry, I'll do better, I promise!" That promise turns out to last for all of three seconds though, so he gives a long-suffering sigh and pulls his fingers out, discarding the gloves.

For a moment you think that you might have ruined it, but then he fetches the restraints. He slides them onto your wrists and tightens them as if he's done it hundreds of times before, but rather than use the collar part like you were expecting he connects it to the bottom frame of the table, trapping your hands over your head as he tightens it. Not stopping there, he goes for the rope next.

"You know..." he says, securing your ankles to your thighs with a few knots, "you're a fairly troublesome patient. We will have to work on that in the future." Then he secures the ends of each rope underneath the table, leaving you unable to close or barely move your legs as he pulls it taut.

"Now, where were we?" Snapping a fresh pair of gloves on, he wastes no time squeezing out some more lube and going right back to tormenting you. This time around he goes right to three fingers, beginning to slip the fourth in almost straight away. It goes in easily and when it does, he hooks them up and presses the heel of his hand against your clit.

"Flexibility seems good," he wiggles his hand back and forth a few times, the squelching noises loud in the quiet room. "Does this hurt?"

"No, it's good, please, oh please..." It makes your toes curl, and you can't hold back a moan. If he keeps this up, you're going to come.

"I see." And then the pressure on your clit is gone as he changes the angle and probes around your entrance with his thumb. As he starts pushing that into you too, you struggle against the restraints, not that it does you any good.

"Oh, you are so mean," you groan, head dropping back which releases a faint trace of his scent from his bunched up coat.

When he slips into you up to his wrist it feels like he could reach up into you and squeeze the life from your lungs, or perhaps your heart if you're not careful. He doesn't dignify your outburst with a response as he continues with the 'examination'.

"Cervix and posterior fornix appear normal," he murmurs, wholly uncaring of the desperate noises falling from your mouth as he probes your insides. When he twists his hand and massages deep inside, your entire lower body starts tingling, and for a second you think you might come, or perhaps pass out. He's apparently focused on reducing you to a drooling mess tonight.

"Blaine...please!" You didn't mean to yell, but it slips out before you can stop it, making him frown as he pulls his hand out, leaving you empty and whimpering.

"Will I have to gag you as well?" You're not sure if that's supposed to be a genuine question or not, because he doesn't wait for a response before going back to his clipboard. "Patient exhibiting highly increased signs of arousal on stimulation of anterior fornix." He sounds entirely unaffected as he writes it down.

You don't see him grab the speculum but you can hear the crinkle as he rips the packaging open and the lube bottle being squeezed again, then he's hunched between your legs.

"This might be cold," he quickly warns, then slides the clear plastic instrument into you. As he starts turning the screw and opening you up he continues, "You might find this next part of the exam slightly uncomfortable, by the way."

Once the speculum is cranked open to his liking he grabs his phone again, making you blush as he snaps a few quick photos, including what is probably the closest close-up you've ever had. After flicking through the photographs he nods to himself, then steps off to the side and gets a tripod out, positioning it between your legs. You can only watch as he snaps his phone to it and turns it on, fiddling with the zoom and the angle until he's satisfied that he's capturing every intimate detail before hitting record.

"Now I will manually stimulate you until you reach orgasm," he states, partly for you, partly for the recording."and the camera will record your vaginal and cervical movements." When he sees the look on your face, he explains, "For your file, you see. Shall we get started?"

He goes to stand next to you, running a gloved hand down your body, carefully studying your reactions as he settles two of his fingers on your clit. For a moment you consider trying to fight it, but the promise of finally getting to come is too much. And besides, you're not even sure if you could fight it at this point.

As he rubs you his eyes never once stray from your face, making your cheeks burn. He's entirely methodical, expertly drawing you right up to the edge and keeping you there for what feels like forever. By the end of it your eyes are stinging with frustrated tears and the fact that you're being recorded is completely forgotten about. The only things that seem to matter are his cold eyes drawing you in and the slick feeling of his fingers on you.

"Please," it comes out garbled, words almost entirely out of reach as he reduces you to a keening mess, "please, oh fuck, please, Blaine..."

Despite how much you beg, he doesn't change anything about what he's doing except put his free hand over your mouth, drawing the moment out like a piece of rubber until the tension inside you is ready to snap and there's a high-pitched noise ringing in your ears. When you tip over the edge it's almost too good, too intense, but the only thing you can do is let it happen, convulsing helplessly as the scream bubbling up through your throat is muffled in the palm of his hand.

When your head slowly stops spinning you're only dimly aware of him stepping away and the tiny 'beep' as he stops the recording. You're still sucking down huge lung-fulls of air, and it barely registers when he loosens the restraints and undoes the knots, settling you down in a more comfortable position. For a minute you feel almost too weak to even move, and by the burning in your shoulders and hips you know you're going to be sore tomorrow, but that doesn't feel very important right now.

"Feel better?" He's leaning nonchalantly against the edge of the desk, clipboard in hand, watching you ungracefully try to sit up.

"Oh my god..." You hide your face in your hands, "you're a monster, you know that? Fuck." As you come down from your high the cold starts seeping into your bones, so you grab his bunched-up coat and drape it over your shoulders. It's not very warm but it'll have to do for now.

"Noted. So..." he flips through the papers and frowns."I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that you seem to be suffering from a severe case of hysteria, I'm afraid. But the good news is that it's very much a curable condition. The treatment is available in both oral form and as a vaginal suppository, to be taken nightly for at least one week." He scribbles something in his notes, then continues, "I can administer the first dose right now, so let me know which treatment form you'd prefer."

Then he smiles at you for the first time this evening, blank mask finally cracking."Do keep in mind that no matter which one you choose, you're going to feel a prick."

[tia-amorosa]

Sunset Died - Bachelor/Clavell/Wan

caught in the act

Xander arrived at the bottom of the stairs…. and looked into the shocked face of Nick, who was carrying a heavy box out of the otherwise locked room. “C-Clavell, what are you doing here?“/”I could ask you the same thing… Wait a minute…” Xander looked over his shoulder. And the suspicions he'd had over the last few weeks were now confirmed “I don't believe it!”. He walked towards him with quick steps. “Clavell, wait, I…”

Xander pushed him aside, causing Nick to stagger a little and the box to fall out of his hands. Then he took a step into the room… “I knew it! I knew it, you've been fucking with us the whole time"/ ‘please, Clavell, I can explain…’ but Xander didn't let him get a word in edgewise…he was furious.

Xander turned around in a flash, pulled Nick to him and pushed him into the room, which he had been looking at almost in horror a few seconds before. “What is this, huh?” he grabbed Nick by the neck, making him gasp a little, ‘Let go of me…’ But Xander was still in a rage and Nick tried to defend himself.

He gave Nick a rather strong punch to his head, causing him to fall to the ground. “Now tell me, Alto! Have you set up a private supermarket here for you or what I can't believe it, while we're all trying to figure out how we'should to survive for the next few months, you're filling your belly!”

Nick was a little dazed from the blow Xander had dealt him. “Damn it, Clavell…"/ ‘Talk, or I'll hit you again’/ ‘but then I probably won't be able to tell you anything… So… Please, aah…’. Xander narrowed his eyes and put on a contrived look of pity. “You're not going to die from a little punch like that!"/ ”h-hh, I want to sit down first… Then i can tell, what's going on, you probably won't believe me anyway.”

Nick managed to sit down on the chair next to him, despite his slight stupor. “So? I'm all ears"/ ‘h-hh, shit, I… I wanted to talk to them all…’/ ”aha, is that so? And about what? That they're better off than us?"/ ‘No, about the fact that I'm being blackmailed and we'll probably all be fucked soon’.

Nick knew that there was no way out for him now. And Xander was someone he seemed to trust more than the others. Even though they only knew each other well because of work. Nevertheless, he told him everything he had already revealed to Morgana. “Really? Is everyone here supposed to suffer because of your pride?"/ ‘No… I explained it to you…’.

“Yes, you said that as soon as they have everything, they'll stop all deliveries and contact, so why are you saying no?"/ ‘because I'm trying to find a solution to this problem if nothing else comes here’/ ” and all this stuff here? Man, that's easily enough for a few more weeks to get through here. I don't want to be treated like a rat to be starved to death, and I'm sure others don't either”.

“It was never my intention to make people suffer here"/ ”pff, sure, tell that to the others. What are those sick minds on the other end?"/ ”I don't know. The voices are distorted every time I talk to them, but I have the feeling that one of them knows me pretty well…"/ ‘And who would that be?’/ ‘If I knew, I knew a lot of people who didn't like me very much’.

“and you can't think of anyone special?”. Nick raised an eyebrow “I've had a lot of contacts, good and bad. So no, it's difficult to single anyone out. The fact is, if they've got everything from me, we've got nothing but what's left. It was a shitty deal, yes, but it can't be changed.” Xander rubbed his face for a moment and took a deep breath. “Didn't you even try to call for help with that thing?"/ ”I tried, but all the other frequencies are dead.”.

Xander stood up, because the hard concrete floor was getting uncomfortable at some point and it was slowly getting colder down here. “I've got a lot of technical skills, but I'm not good with this kind of equipment. …"/ ‘and I could only do the bare minimum with it…’. Xander shook his head, a little stunned. “You do realize that if people find out about this room here, they'll definitely give you hell"/ ‘that's why I want to talk to them soon’/ ”do it as soon as possible…”

"When did the last shipment come?"/ "This afternoon. And I was just about to take some of it to the hospital when they stopped me here." Xander rolled his eyes a little. "What's in there?"/ "Medicines and other things that are needed there"/ "Wow, Mr. Alto is becoming a Samaritan"/ "Shut up, OK? If everything is stopped, I don't know how things are going to continue here"/ "Then use your brain."

Xander turned and walked slowly to the door. Then Nick got up and went after him. “Please, Clavell, do me a favor and don't beat me to it, I'll make everything clear…"/ ”Your problem is ours too. As if we didn't all have enough of them already. I'll take care of the box. Go home to your child, at least he knows who his father is.“.

Nick heard a little desperation in his voice and also some anger. But he didn't want to force him into another conversation unnecessarily. “Do something, Alto, or there might be a bloodbath here…”. Xander picked up the crate Nick had been carrying earlier and noticed that it was quite heavy. Then he made his way to the hospital and Nick locked the door this time.

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

End of this Part

@greenplumbboblover

Poses by @tumblinrob , @yorithesims , @studiok2sims & others

[wolfish-nightmares]

Attack

Pairings: the group x feral!reader

Era: Season 4

Warnings: violence, gore, bad language, cannibalism, 18+

Category: Fluff. Angst. 

Word Count: 1.8k

Summary: The group learns the depths of depravity to which human beings can descend.

Wild Thing Masterlist

The building Glenn found was big and it had an old rundown look that very obviously predated the apocalypse. However, the wooden boards that covered the windows were a lot newer than the rest of the building. 

“There could be useful stuff in there.” 

Rick nodded at Glenn’s words. With the Woodbury people now living in the prison the group simply couldn’t risk passing up the possibility of supplies. He looked at the metal walls of the building before shifting his focus to the few walkers that stumbled around. 

“Glenn’s right. It looks like there’s only one entrance so we’ll kill the walkers out here and see if there’s any inside.” 

The others nodded and split off to take care of the walkers as Rick and Daryl headed for the door. The padlock on the door was open with dried blood smeared all over it. The two men exchanged a look before Rick slowly pushed the door open. 

Rick turned on the flashlight and quickly scanned the room, “No walkers.” 

“So far.” 

Daryl stepped in and followed. They began to slowly make their way through the building, packing anything that they deemed useful into their backpacks. It looked like the search was going to be a bust until Maggie found what seemed to be a medical room. 

All kinds of medical supplies lined the shelves in the room and there were a few beds, the only problem was the amount of red that covered the room. Blood was everywhere, soaked into the beds, splattered all over the wall, the floor was covered in dried puddles, and there were trays full of bloody equipment. 

“I don’t think they were saving people here.”

“There’s a door hidden behind the shelf,” Glenn pulls one of the shelves and it makes a loud scraping sound as he opens it. “Holy crap!” 

Glenn quickly rushes into the room without any explanation. Maggie and Rick both shouted after Glenn. Daryl moved towards the door but Glenn stepped back out with cans in his hand and a huge smile on his face. 

“That room is stocked full of food. Floor to ceiling full.” 

All three of them very quickly followed Glenn back into the room and discovered that it was indeed full of food. 

“There’s no way we can carry this all back,” Maggie’s voice was full of disbelief. The amount of food they had just found rivaled that of a small town grocery store, there was barely any room to walk with the amount of cans that littered the ground. 

“Pack what you can, we’ll bring the truck back for the rest.” 

“Got another door,” Daryl’s voice pulled everyone from their excitement and they looked over to find that there was indeed another door. He opened it only to reveal a set of stairs that led down. “No tellin’ what’s down there.” 

Rick pulled his gun and stepped past Daryl, “One at a time and move slowly.” 

The hall was pitch black and cold, Rick’s flashlight wasn’t very strong and they could only see the steps in front of them. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs they met yet another door. As slowly as he could, Rick opened it to yet another dark room. 

This one however had an incredibly rancid smell and it was eerily quiet. They all stepped inside and Maggie gagged as Rick’s dull flashlight illuminated the room which was full of corpses. The walls were lined with people chained and dead. There were various body parts tossed around the room and despite it being absolutely unbelievable, there was even more blood in there. 

The sound of rattling chains alerts Daryl and he turns in enough time to step back as your teeth snapped inches from his face. 

“Woah!” 

You strained against the chain attached to the thick metal collar around your neck. You sound like a walker as you growl and snap at him and it takes a minute for Daryl to finally realize you are in fact not a walker but actually a human. A thick metal band, similar to the collar around your neck, covers your eyes. You wildly swipe at him and he steps back more.

“That’s gotta be a walker.” 

Your skin is torn and cut, bruises and scars litter your body, the skin around your throat is raw and nearly shredded, and blood stains your mouth and hands. You huff and snap, trying your damnedest to get to Daryl. Eventually you give up and scramble back to the body you were once feasting on. Digging back into its bloody contents with a loud squelching sound. 

“Nah, that ain’t no walker.” 

“What do we do?” 

Everyone looked at Rick and he clenched his jaw as he watched you take a large bite of whatever organ you pulled from the body. He sighed, there was no way he would feel good about leaving you but would it even be safe to bring you back?

“We could…put them down,” Glenn quietly suggested and everyone shared uncomfortable looks at the idea. 

“No, we're taking them,” Rick stated as he made his way back to the stairs. “We have to head back and grab the truck.” 

Rick had asked Maggie and Glenn to take care of the food while he and Daryl worked on you. They went back downstairs and Rick let out a low whistle to get your attention. In an instant you were straining against the chain, violently weezing as you snapped at him. Daryl quickly moved forward as you snaped at Rick and slamed the butt of his crossbow against your head, knocking you out. 

“I wonder what happened,” Rick crouched down to examine the band around your face, blinding you. “Hand me the bolt cutters.” 

Daryl hands them over and Rick snaps off the chain connected to your collar before moving back to the band. It was as thick as the collar around your neck and there was almost no space between your skin and the metal. 

“Don’t cut it yet,” Daryl said quickly. “No tellin’ how long it's been since they seen somethin’. Could freak ‘em out.” 

Rick nodded and stood up, “I don’t think I could even cut it with this, metal’s too thick.” 

“We might have somethin’ to cut it.” 

“Let’s get out of here,” Rick grunted as he picked up your body and made his way upstairs with Daryl behind him. 

“There’s only a few more cans left to grab and oh-,” Maggie gasped as Rick carried you outside the building. “They look even worse in the light.” 

She wasn’t wrong, in the sunlight they could better see the full extent of your injuries. You were covered head to toe in scars, cuts, bites, and blood. It was much worse than they had thought. 

“Can you open the back door?” 

Maggie quickly opened it and then went back inside to grab the last of the food. Rick sat you in the back seat and did his best to restrain you against the seat in case you did wake up again and to keep you from leaning forward during the trip. 

“We’re good,” Glenn called to Rick as he and Maggie climbed in the truck. 

“Knock them out if they wake up.” 

Glenn was tense as Rick drove back to the prison, “So what exactly are you planning to do about them?” 

Rick sighed, even though he wasn't sure what they could do, “Lock them in a cell and see if we can help them.” 

“There’s no telling what happened down there, how are we supposed to help?” 

“I don’t know but for their sake, I hope we can figure it out.” 

The car stayed silent for the rest of the trip, everyone shooting you uneasy glances. You didn’t look so dangerous when you were asleep but they all knew there was no telling what you could do. 

“Daryl and I will take them in, go grab some others to help with the food,” Rick said as he pulled up to the gates. 

“Where we putin’ ‘em?”

“Block C.” 

“What? No, Rick you can’t. What if they attack someone?” 

“Maggie has a point, we can put them in a block we don’t use,” Glenn suggested. 

“No, I want them close. Besides, I’m gonna lock them in a cell,” he got out and began unstrapping you from the seat. “We can’t treat them like an animal if we want them to stop acting like one.” 

He lifted you out the truck and took you inside without another word. Thankfully almost everyone was off working on various tasks so he didn’t run into anyone on the way, except for Carol.

“How was the run, did you find- what in the world happened,” she rushed to meet Rick and gasped. “Who is this? Oh what happened to them?” 

She gently grabbed your arm and examined the various wounds that littered your skin. When her eyes caught the collar around your throat she shot Rick a questioning look. 

“We’re not sure but you think you could patch them up?” 

She nodded and ushered Rick into the block, rushing to set up a bed and collect the supplies she needed, “Here lay them down. This is probably going to take awhile.” 

“I’ll send in Daryl, ‘case they wake up.” 

“Get Hershel please, some of these are deep.” 

Rick nodded and left, hoping maybe he made the right decision to bring you here. 

“Just make sure to keep their head still,” Rick switched on the saw as Carol held your head steady. 

When Hershel was patching you up, you woke up and it ended up taking the entire group to hold you down long enough for Hershel to drug you back to sleep. Rick decided it was a good idea to go ahead and cut everything off while you were out. 

He cut through the band around your eyes and cursed when the saw nicked your skin. There was no telling how long that medicine would keep you down so instead of worrying about it he simply moved on to get that collar off. 

Carol pulled all the metal off and exchanged a sad glance with Rick. She gently stroked your face before leaving the cell. Rick locked the door and joined the group at the table. 

“What are we going to do? They could have killed Daddy,” Maggie didn't even wait for Rick to even get to the table. 

“Look, we might be able to do something.” 

“How?!”

He sighed, “I’m not sure, but for now we can start by not acting like they're an animal. Treat them like a baby, teach them how to be human?” 

He wasn't completely confident in his answers.

“I think it could work,” Hershel spoke up. 

Maggie looked at him in shock but he simply stood up and went to his room. Everyone else decided to disperse as well, obviously they did not want to be a part of the conversation. 

“I hope this works,” Maggie looked back at Rick.

“Me too.” 

[spenglerssweetheart]

How about the reader(perhaps female or gn) having strong arms, helping Ray picking up heavy equipment here and there, unaware of Egon's impressed gaze, silently going "AWOOGA!" on his head XD

It'd funny seeing Egon simp on the reader the way we simp for him.

Idk why this req made me really excited and AHHH !

—————————

Woah

Pairing- Egon Spengler x Fem! Reader.

Description- as above in request.

Warnings- None ? (If I miss anything pls let me know!!)

Busy days at headquarters we’re almost never great. With things always happening one way or another. Today was going good so far as they haven’t really had any major calls. Only Ray was busy moving things in and out of headquarters.

“Move it right there, that should be good” Ray said as he instructed Y/n, an old friend of his. He had gotten more things for everyone, some to make modifications to the ecto-1 and to add stuff into the lab. “Is right here good?” Y/n asked as she picked up another heavy box full of things. “Ah- Actually move that one right here, sorry Y/n” Ray replied as he helped Y/n.

Coming down the stairs were Peter and Janine, seeing the girl lifting the boxes and such. Glancing at each other, they continued down the steps before she turned to see them. A small huff leaving her lips as she recognized Peter. “Hi Pete” She smiled and he looked confused “I’m sorry, do I know you?” He responded as he pointed to himself. “Dorky freshman in your college class?” She replied as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Y/n? I didn’t recognize you, I thought you moved out of state” “I did but I decided to come back, and I’d hug you but I’m all sweaty” she grinned as he had started to move towards her. Ray only watched with a smile before clearing his throat. “I should get back to uh helping, but we should catch up later” Y/n trailed off before turning back to Ray, helping him pick up a large box.

Janine turned to Peter “Who’s she?” She asked with curiosity as she eyes the girl up and down. “An old college friend of mine and Ray’s. Why, you jealous?” He teased as Janine gave him a blank stare “I mean, She could be some great help around here, since you promised me you’d hire more help” “I’ll think about it” Peter responded to Janine before walking back into his office, only peeking out at times to catch a look at Y/n.

Hearing the commotion, Winston and Egon come down from their designated spaces as they looked around for the source, stopping place when a dark curly haired girl passed in front of them in a blur. Looking over to Ray, they saw he was talking to said girl. Winston simply shrugged and went back to where he was, Egon on the other hand couldn’t help but stare.

With the way Y/n looked as she talked to Ray about whatever it was they were talking about. The way her curls were coming loose from the ponytail she had, to the way the sweat glistened on her skin as small muscles tensed here and there. Egon couldn’t help but stare, he was attracted but he couldn’t talk to her. She probably already had a boyfriend, or was possibly dating Ray already.

Blinking rapidly, Egon snapped out of his daze once he really she was directed his way with a slight grin. “ ‘Scuse me, I’m so sorry” She said she passed Egon, going to pick up a really heavy part, acting as if it was the lightest thing in the world. Feeling his cheeks heat up, he moved back a bit as he watched her carry the part to Ray, staring once again.

This time he couldn’t help but notice that the sleeves to her t-shirt had been cut out and cropped while there were some slight rips in her jeans. As she walked past once more he noticed way her muscles flexed when she walked and continued holding the part with such ease. (sleeper build go crazy).

Watching as she set the part down, he saw how her t-shirt had lifted once she stood, showing off her abs, still not out of his daze. With a small cough, Peter was now beside Egon with a smug smirk on his face as he glanced between the Y/n and Egon.

“Whatcha starin’ at Egon?” Peter asked with that leading tone. Clearing his throat, Egon glanced at the ground before at Peter “Nothing Peter. Nothing at all” “you’re such a terrible liar, y’know that?” He laughed as he patted his shoulder. “You should go talk to her, she seems nice” Peter told Egon before he walked away.

Glancing back, he noticed Y/n and Ray were gone. He sighed with a little disappointment as he made his way back up the stairs and into the lab where he was working before. Meanwhile, Y/n and Ray had gone outside to smoke a cigarette. Standing against the wall, y/n looked around her. “It’s still so odd to be in New York” she huffed as she looked over at Ray who was also looking around.

“I forget you aren’t from here. We’ll do you like it so far?” Ray asked her as he passed her the cigarette, watching as she placed it between her lips. “It’s alright, but it’s not like where I grew up. Like the country was so much more simpler than the city” Y/n replied, blowing out the smoke she inhaled.

“I get it. After this, you wanna get inside and shower, you are a mess and I know how you get” Ray grinned as he got the cigarette back. “Oh I would kill for a shower right now. Do you remember where I left my backpack, I swear I bought an extra pair of clothes.” She asked as she began heading inside to look for her bag.

Following her in, she had found it before Ray began to lead her up to the showers, passing the lab that Egon had so happened to not be in. As Ray had gotten ahead of Y/n, he gently knocked on the closed bathroom door. They waited for a bit as Ray had heard a bit of movement in the bathroom before the door had opened slightly fast.

Clearing his throat, Egon glanced at Ray before seeing Y/n right beside him looking around. Catching side of her, his face quickly became flushed as he stepped aside so they could enter, only it was Y/n entering as he had become so flushed in the moment, Ray had began to walk away. “My apologies” Egon exclaimed before he rushed off to the lab once more.

Y/n could only laugh quietly. She had that kind of affect on people, but she never really noticed till now. Before she made her way into the bathroom, she thought for a moment before making her way in and setting her things down. Undressing rather quickly, she turned on the shower, before getting in. Spending her time thinking as she showered.

—

After her shower, she exited the bathroom fully dressed with the towel around her neck as she had been drying her hair that way. As she walked out of the bathroom, she looked around with curiosity before going in the direction she came from, passing the lab. Poking her head in she didn’t see anyone before she continued going down the stairs, stopping once she heard a few voices. Only two being familiar, the other three she didn’t know.

“All I’m saying is, she could be some great help around her. Plus it would be nice to have another girl around here” A feminine voice said. Sitting down to listen, she was quiet with her movement being extra careful. “With another thing I should add, Egon things our good friend Y/n here is attractive and he could have a potential crush. Maybe I could set them up, or should I keep her to myself” She heard, Peter.

Rolling her eyes she sat back and listened. “I don’t know guys, she just moved down here. I’d have to talk to her. She was literally here just to help me move these things for you guys, because I knew some of you would be busy or flat out wouldn’t. Just let me talk to her and we’ll see” She heard Ray explain before more footsteps going around.

Standing up, she had seen the same white coat from earlier coming up the stairs. continuing to go down and act like she didn’t see him, she accidentally bumped shoulders with him. “Oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there” She exclaimed as she felt his large hands on her arms, guessing to hold her so that she wouldn’t fall.

“Are you alright? I apologize” Egon said, looking anywhere at her before realizing the hold that he had on her. If it was possible, his face and ears had warmed up even more than usual before he had let go, making a small laugh leave Y/n’s Lips. “I Uh never got caught your name dear” Y/n said softly as she held her arm out to shake. “It’s okay I don’t bite” She grinned before Egon took her hand.

“I’m Egon…Egon Spengler” He replied slowly, still rather nervous about her. She could only smile at how he was reacting, she thought it was cute. “I’m Y/n L/n, I uh grew up with Ray and went to university with Peter.” She explained. Though it may not show she was actually really nervous, but she was able to make it seem like she was perfectly fine.

“Makes sense as to why the guys made such a fuss about you being here” Egon explained, finally looking down at Y/n. With a quirk of her brow, she grinned and tilted her head. “How big a fuss did they make?” She asked as he began leading her up to the lab. “Quite a huge one, I thought they were going to throw a big party”

“Glad they didn’t.” She responded, looking around once again. “Why? Do you hate them?” He asked out of sheer curiosity. “I loathe them. I don’t see the reason to y’know throw a big thing for something so little. I prefer being alone reading or painting or something “ she explained before realizing she was over sharing.

“Sorry, I tend to talk on and on and I don’t realize until I’m done” she apologized as he had led her into the lab. “Woah” She gleamed as she looked around the lab. Seeing all kinds of funguses and studies, she walked around, looking closely at the jars Egon had organized. He was genuinely impressed, with a slight raise of his brows and the little parting of his lips, he watched her movements carefully as she had stopped at an unmarked jar, watching as her eyebrows furrowed and her lips formed a thin line.

“What’s this one?” She asked as she looked over, her finger gently tapping the glass. “I hav- I haven’t named it or at least figured it out yet” He stuttered out after being caught staring. “It’s lovely, is it safe?” She asked, Egon now walking over to stand beside her “I only logged the growth and such, I’ve never really taking the risks to take them out unless really necessary” He concluded

“Makes sense” she agreed, her eyes never leaving the glass jar. She was fascinated by its beauty and Egon just so happened to be fascinated by her. Maybe they have a few things in common after all.

I seriously wasn’t sure if I should add more or not but it’s been like three weeks and I’ve been adding little by little. I’m scared I’m gonna get hit with writers block because of how busy I been. I swear my lovelies I am not ignoring requests, things take time.

I hope you lovies enjoyed reading and hope to read some more. I hope you have a great morning/afternoon/evening. I love you! Bye!

[gluechugger]

Deadheadverse: Arthur & Louise meet for the first time.

High honor!Arthur Morgan x original female character. Not rated. 3,303 words. I got carried away. Mostly from Louise’s perspective, but all in 3rd person. Tw for drug use, sex mention.

Just some stream of consciousness stuff I wrote and have no plans to go back and revise. A recount of every second from the moment Arthur and Louise lay eyes on eachother until they go to bed that night. I’ve had this in my notes for a while and it’s just too big to keep there 🫡

🐇🦌🐇🦌🐇🦌🐇🦌🐇🦌🐇🦌🐇🦌

Louise wasn’t sure what to expect when the bus pulled up to the house. She expected the overgrown yard. She expected a bit of silence. She expected there was a large possibility she was falling into another kind of trap. Anything was better than being stuck on a bus with Dutch Van Der Linde. His first name alone made her want to roll her eyes.

Despite her hatred for him, settling deeper in her gut moment by moment as she waited for Grimshaw to open the door, she was glad he’d offered her a ride out of LA. She’d been sleeping on sofas and dating her way out of homelessness for nigh on a decade. Maybe the Midwest could be her first chance at building a space for herself.

Walking up to the house, Louise was overwhelmed with an amazing sense of relief. Dutch wouldn’t be hollering at her for another two months if she was lucky. She brought her hand up to knock on the door but before she could, she heard the knob turn and the door opened. Behind the door was her first surprise of the evening. A shockingly handsome man with sad ocean eyes and dishwater blonde hair peered down at her. He was at least 6 feet tall, not quite as tall as Dutch, and had broad shoulders. Not from excessive body building but from manual labor.

This wasn’t what she’d expected of the aforementioned Arthur. By Dutch’s standards he was one of his most productive employees turned acid casualty. Louise could only imagine the pressure he’d been under. So far the only indication of ‘acid casualty’ was the sad look in his eyes. The way Dutch described him had made him seem old. Burned out.

He had a mildly judgmental expression on his face as he observed her as well. “Dutch dump you off here too?” He mused rather than asked outright, narrowing those ocean eyes on her. He shook off the expression and invited Louise inside. “Alright, come on in.”

The interior of the house was a little jarring; dusty, dank, uncomfortable. The main room was filled with recording equipment that hadn’t been used in maybe five years. She followed Arthur toward some stairs, staying a little too close.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Louise began digging in her bag. “I don’t know if ‘dumped’ is the most accurate word. I do have rent money for you.” She pulled the envelope full of cash from her bag and handed it to Arthur.

Arthur looked mildly displeased with her. He took the envelope to the kitchen and began digging around in the cabinets. Louise heard the buttons of a safe and a lock click open. Arthur placed the money in the safe without counting it. He also placed something heavy in there, presumably a hand gun she hadn’t seen on him when she came inside. Yikes. He shut the safe. She heard the lock click again.

Less than five minutes in the basement and Louise knew Arthur had been trapped here since late spring. It smelled of pot smoke and stale self hatred. Four empty beer cans rested on the table and by the lack of gnats, Louise surmised they were all from the night before. She wondered, without judgement, how many he’d drank before he got too lazy to start throwing cans away. “Dutch hasn’t stopped in to check on you once since the early summer?”

The basement was different than the main floors. It was clear the younger members of the gang had made it their own. Arthur and John were like brothers from what Louise could tell. They’d probably spent much of their adolescence down here. Arthur couldn’t be any more than 10 years John’s senior. There were posters on the walls and it appeared much more lived in. Most business was conducted in the kitchen. Louise saw the scale, dusty with keef, on the kitchen counter and the neat pile of baggies next to it.

“Not really my problem.” Arthur shrugged, stepping out from behind the kitchen counter. He must’ve seen Louise’s eyes resting on the beer cans because he went to tidy them up, never taking his eyes off hers as he crossed the room. Like he presumed himself to be some kind of prey animal. Louise always assumed that as her role. “Haven’t really taken any issue with his absence so far.” Louise could tell he was lying, but wasn’t sure why he’d feign distrust. “Not looking forward to when he comes back at the end of November.” That wasn’t a lie.

“I’m glad to not have him yelling in my ear at every hour of the night. He had me driving that damn bus for a week. I don’t even have a license!” Louise, against her better judgement, took the opportunity to complain.

“You let him do that to you? Never drive the bus. That’s been Grimshaw’s job for years. She’s the only one with a CDL. I bet she was ready to kill you when she found out.” Arthur lightened up a bit. He chuckled to himself as he threw the beer cans one by one in the small plastic trash bin in the kitchen.

“She doesn’t like me, no.” Louise smirked. It was true, Grimshaw did not like her. Louise assumed jealousy but the reality of the situation was that she’d been through the wringer with Dutch and she hated seeing it happen to anyone else.

“Yunno, you got me thinkin’” Arthur changed the subject, crossing back to sit on the sofa and click on the TV. He pulled his legs up onto the sofa and extended his hand with the remote to Louise, as if he was offering her a weapon of immense power. She smiled and sat down across from him, taking the remote. “Dutch hasn’t told me much since I had to duck out. For example, who you are. I haven’t heard a damn thing about you and now you’re in my house. He didn’t even have the nerve to call me.”

“What channels do you have?” Louise inquired, turning the remote over in her hand and getting comfortable on the sofa while she considered Arthur’s words.

“Darlin’, I sell pot out of the basement. We have all the channels.” He reached across the side table to where Louise was sitting on the loveseat and pressed the guide button on the remote she was holding. “The cable guy smokes just as much as you’d think.”

Louise was distracted momentarily by the options presented to her. “You taped Mr. Show?— I mean—“ she blinked a few times, trying to return to her previous thoughts. “Really? That’s pretty screwed up if you ask me. I don’t think he’s coming back to get me. At least I hope not. I’m sick of him.”

“You two dated?” Arthur seemed a little surprised. “I can see him losing his mind over someone like you. Can’t imagine you’d give him the time of day. You’re from the west coast, right?” His read wasn’t far off. “I’m sorry.” He shook his head, aware he’d said a bit too much.

“I’m afraid we’re still dating. I really couldn’t shake him but I managed to get him to drop me off here for the rest of the summer. I told him I was tired of going to shows. He told me if I could pay rent, he’d let me stay here until he came back in the winter. I think there’s more going on in his sick little peanut brain. But I just don’t want to consider what he has planned for when he comes back.” Louise took a big sigh and placed the remote on the coffee table without choosing something to watch. She didn’t want to talk about Dutch anymore. Still, she figured Arthur was owed an introduction as she was his new roommate. “I’m Louise, by the way. And for the record, I’m from the East coast. I’ve just lived out West for a while now. Certainly not by choice.”

Arthur smiled upon realization. “Oh, yeah. LA was never really my bag either, but Dutch loved shows there.” Arthur picked up the remote and pressed play on his DVR’d episode of Mr. Show. “You seem to know all there is to know about me, but I suppose I’m open for inquiries if you’ve got any.” Despite the offer, Arthur seemed shy.

“I’m really glad to be off the bus, honestly.” She smiled and looked to him, offering some comfort. “Maybe we could just smoke together? It seems pretty lonely down here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Arthur grunted as he pushed himself off the sofa to retrieve the bong from the kitchen. “It’s a nice day. He loves the grassy knoll. Lee Harvey is out back.”

“What are you talking about?” Louise snorted.

“I’ll let em back in once we’re done smoking.” Arthur suggested, crossing the room with two handfuls of smoking paraphernalia. “He’s better than he sounds. Dutch is just bad at naming critters. Wait til you meet the cats. Named after the damn witches of Eastwick.”

Louise sat up in her seat when Arthur came back over to the living area. He began grinding up some pot.

“How’d you get out west?” He questioned her once the bong was packed. He offered her greens in exchange for the invasive question.

‘’My parents are wealthy, were wealthy. I haven’t spoken to them for years so it’s hard to say now. But I was lying in my bed one night, being a normal teenager, when two large men came up and blackbagged me and drove me out to Utah. It was one of those teen wilderness camps. Worst time of my life. Managed to get out and ended up stuck in LA for a while.” Louise wasn’t sure if the story was too much, but it was her truth and Arthur had asked. She wasn’t about to lie to him. What reason did she have?

“And you think the way Dutch treats me is fucked up? I’ve read about those places. Are you okay?” Arthur’s concern wasn’t unfounded. Louise was just long past ‘healing’ from it. It was like a bone that had been set incorrectly for years and to break it and reset it would cause more damage than leaving it how it rested. Too much scar tissue.

She took a big rip from the bong and teasingly exhaled toward Arthur. “At this point I’m just glad to have a roof over my head. It wasn’t easy avoiding homelessness in LA for the past 9 and a half years.”

“Doesn’t sound easy. I’m lucky I found Dutch when I did or else I would have ended up the same. But it seems like he’s willin’ to watch over you for now. Who knows what the world has in store. It’s good when someone has your back. Let’s just hope he holds up his end of the bargain. For both of us.” Arthur was muttering the last half of his statement like he didn’t want Louise to hear us. But she did.

“Cheers to that.” She passed the bong back to him and he copied her motion, cashing the bowl and placing it back on the table. He seemed like he was done talking when he crossed his arms over his broad chest and glanced toward the phone on the wall. Louise laughed at a joke on the TV.

Arthur got up and ran upstairs. Louise stayed watching Mr. Show until he came back with a big slobbery dog. The dog was probably some kind of pitbull mix with a smushed head. It looked at Louise for a while before it hopped up onto the sofa and sat in the other corner. It kept its misshaped eyes on her like Arthur had. “I think he smells Dutch on you. He’s tryna be respectful. Give him a pet if you want to make friends.”

Louise reached out to pet the dog, giving him a little scratch on his butt. His expression softened and his tail began to wag. He licked his chops and rested his head on his paws.

Arthur presented two miller high life’s and placing them on the table. Louise happily reached for hers. “What do you wanna eat for dinner? I have tons of frozen pizzas because I work for a delivery company on the side. Helps pushing the product for Dutch too. I try to keep a cashe for the winter. Jack likes them a lot.” Arthur seemed sad talking about Jack. He clearly itched to ask how the boy was doing.

“You’re sick of the frozen pizzas, do you want to go out?” Louise hesitated with her finger over the can tab.

“I’m waiting on a call. I’ll have to check how much I can spare.” Arthur was surprised. He wondered if this was allowed.

“Something warm, like burgers.” Louise suggested, pulling her legs up onto the sofa.

Arthur hummed at the thought of hot food that he didn’t have to prepare. “I don’t know. You got burger money?We’ll see what Dutch says when he calls me back.”

Louise was displeased at the thought of waiting on Dutch but she figured she could wait an hour or so for dinner.

The two of them watched television for about three hours before Dutch finally rang. Louise was half asleep and Lee Harvey had since jumped onto Arthur’s lap and was snoring. He was far too large to be considered a lap dog but Arthur didn’t seem to mind.

When the phone rang, Arthur shot up from the sofa, starling Lee Harvey who woke up with a bark and then calmed himself but followed Arthur to the phone.

“Hey, Dutch.” Arthur was clearly trying not to sound concerned. “What’s this about?”

There was a short pause. “Business is steady.” Arthur responded. Dutch was being guarded. “You think? I’ll give him a call if you say so.”

Louise tried to hear what Dutch was saying but she couldn’t.

“Dutch, I know. I’ll give him a call. But what about Louise? What am I gonna to do with her? Where does she sleep?” Arthur turned his back to Louise so she might not hear him. She still listened.

“What am I supposed to do with that?” Arthur was getting frustrated. Dutch had said something he didn’t like. There was another pause. “The kibble bag is getting real low, I don’t know.” he argued, Louise furrowed her brow. There was another pause. “Alright, Dutch. Sure.” Arthur hung up the phone.

“Burgers?” He suggested, crossing the room to the back of the kitchen counter where he grabbed the keys to his truck Louise had seen parked out front.

Louise smiled and pushed herself off the loveseat and crossed over to Arthur. “Sure,” she gently rested her fingers on his forearm which was warm to the touch. The hair on his arms was delightfully scratchy and Louise had to withdraw her hand.

Arthur looked a little shocked, maybe even frightened. His eyes lingered on where she’d touched him. “This ain’t any kinda date. Don’t think I’m payin’ your bill.” His eyes shot back up to hers.

“We already discussed this, Arthur.” She held her bag close to her side and pulled it up onto her chest to show him that it was there.

“Right.” He pulled the back door open and led Louise to the back yard thru the solarium. “Dutch wouldn’t even tell me where he wants you to sleep. I think he’s all worked up in one of his plans.” Arthur shook his head and grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the work table in the solarium.

Louise pondered, pulling the door open for Arthur while he placed a cigarette between his lips. Louise produced her own pack once they stepped outside and did the same. “I think he wants me to cheat on him.”

Arthur choked on cigarette smoke. She could tell a few different things had crossed the tip of his tongue but he settled on; “It’s only two months.”

“Two months is too long without sex.” Louise argued, puffing on her cigarette. “I’m not trying to be celibate.” She was very nonchalant about sex. It had been part of her survival for too long for her to treat the act with very much respect.

Arthur was obviously discomforted by this. “Celibacy does sound bad, but I don’t think that’s a good classification for two months without getting your dick wet.” He seemed a little bit self conscious.

“No, no. You’re right.” Louise shook her head. But she disagreed with him. He was wrong. Not getting laid for two months after having the worst sex of her life all summer was veritable torture. “Dutch is just,” she let out a big sigh as she reached for the door handle to Arthur’s truck and pulled it open. Arthur hopped in the drivers seat. “He’s just really bad in bed.”

“I don’t wanna know that, Louise.” Arthur looked even more uncomfortable than before, shaking his head in disgust as he put the key in the ignition.

The two of them ended up at the drive-in, in its last open days for the warm season. They dropped the subject of Dutch and joked around. Louise picked a CD from Arthur’s truck’s selection and Arthur suggested jobs she might could get in town. None of them involved sex work, which offered some comfort. LA wasn’t an easy place to wait tables, especially when a girl didn’t have a solid place to live or reliable transport.

“Red Lobster doesn’t sound bad. You think they’d like me with my original New England accent.” She giggled, dropping her west coast vocal mask as a joke.

Arthur didn’t laugh but looked on her in wonder. “Is that how you really talk?”

“It didn’t make me popular on the west coast so I dropped it real fast.” She was suddenly self conscious, her cheeks felt hot. She couldn’t find her valley girl voice again. Arthur looked like he’d been enchanted by something.

“I think it’s nice. You’re a good actor. How come you never went that route?” He joked back. Louise could tell it was a joke. She hoped he hadn’t noticed her blush and this wasn’t his attempt to quell her embarrassment.

“There are a million other homeless liars in LA. I’m nothin’ special.” She waved her hand to dismiss the subject.

The two of them made it back to the house safely. Arthur suggested she might take his truck to look for jobs around town while he went to his own job tomorrow. Louise agreed.

—-

When they got back, Arthur was immediately nervous about sleeping accommodations. She couldn’t sleep in Jack or John’s rooms, not only would that be an invasion of their privacy, but also Abigail’s. Arthur hadn’t opened the door to Dutch’s bedroom since he was living there last winter. That door just stayed shut during the touring season. There was a bedroom on the main floor but it wasn’t functional. Arthur was sure it hadn’t been used since Dutch’s mother, Greta, was alive. Some kind of Freudian Ed Gein nonsense. The main floor just had a horrendous feeling to it. There was no way Arthur was making her sleep up there. If Louise was to sleep in Arthur’s bed there was no way he could argue if Dutch suggested Louise cheated with him. And with the way Louise wouldn’t take her hands off him, Arthur knew it wouldn’t be long until Dutch got his way. Arthur would have to stay on the sofa and abandon his room to her. “You can have my room, I suppose.” He admitted with a sigh.

[i-eat-worlds]

Alex and Friends Part Two

More of the story that nobody asked for! Alex punches firsts and asks questions later. cw: cursing, violence, blood, misunderstandings, minor medical stuff “She's gone again,” Eric announced. He was starting to get nervous. What was supposed to be a simple retrieval had gone south very quickly. The point of this had been to get her out before an attack, but they’d been a couple hours too late. Alexis had collapsed, and was currently bleeding out in a hallway.

Eric had become a sort of living heart monitor while Joseph dressed her wound. Eric’s best guess had been that a bullet had grazed her hip. It was bleeding quite a lot though, and it had been for far too long. To make matters worse, she appeared to be borderline hypothermic. Her clothing and her hair were soaked, and she smelled like dirty river. They needed to staunch her bleeding, and get her warmed up before she entered the blood loss-hypothermia death spiral. “Done,” Joseph said, finishing off his bandaging. Alex hadn’t stirred the whole time he’d be bandaging her wound, and he hadn’t been exactly gentle about it. He’d known Eric long enough that he was starting to get worried just about now. Eric started to stand. “Her pulse is getting thready. Let’s get her to the van.”

Joseph scooped her up into bridal carry as Eric talked to Avia, telling her that they were coming. Quickly, they rushed down the stairs. Time was of the essence if they were going to save her.

*** Alex knew that she’d been moved. Even with her brain a million miles away from her body, she could tell. It’d been happening recently, whenever somebody touched her too much. Or at all, really. The only time she could stand physical contact was during a fight. She kind of was glad she wasn’t conscious. Whoever she’d let capture her were people she wasn’t really dying to meet, and this time, her brain had run far enough to escape the pain. Normally it pierced into her brain like shards of broken glass, but today’s void was thankfully pain free.

It was also, surprisingly, warm. Alex had expected it to be cold. The Vltava wasn’t renowned for its warmth, nor for its cleanliness. It suddenly dawned on her that her graze was going to be infected. Almost surely. And it was going to be even harder to nd supplies to treat it with, considering her current captivity. Maybe her captors would give her supplies to treat it with. That required hope, though, which she found scarce at the moment. Alex wasn’t good at hope.

The void was pierced by a distant, faraway voice. “I think she’s waking up.”

The words sent Alex’s heart rate through the ceiling. Were they watching her? Creeps. She made an attempt to pull her eyes open. Nothing happened for what seemed like forever but was probably only a few seconds, but then her eyelids parted to reveal a red-light bathed ceiling. Red light, meant to preserve night vision. Alex had never struggled with that. It looked empty, but then the second man’s face from the hallway entered her vision. At least, Alex thought it was the man from the hallway. Her vision was very blurry from the brightness of the lights.

Ultimately, it wouldn’t have mattered if Santa Claus had appeared over her head, the end result would have been the same. She instinctively reached out to punch the blurry man in the face.

Pulling herself to sitting, Alex freed her hands and let them go straight for his throat. She felt a sting in her arms and side as she moved, but it didn’t stop her. They’d taken her combat knife, but that would only prolong their lives, not save them.

Alex felt whatever gurney they’d had her lying on wiggle as she pushed off it. She took a quick note of surroundings-what appeared to be the back of a van fitted with surveillance equipment, and a rather impressive medical suite. Three other people were already pushing themselves into action. It occurred to her that this was a fight she probably wouldn’t win. She didn’t need to win. She needed to escape.

Alex pivoted, having stunned the man enough that she could make for doors. She darted over the gurney. Before she could escape, a hand wrapped around her ankle and pulled her back. Her stomach caught on the edge of the gurney, and her mouth popped open as the wind was knocked out of her. The impact left her reeling, and that was just enough time for eight hands to seize her, dragging her back onto the gurney. She lay there, panting, willing her lungs to catch air, as the man from the hallway started to speak. “I need you to calm down, Shevchenko. You’re going to injure yourself.” He spoke in a voice that had far too much worry in it. More importantly, however, he’d called her by her name. That was a very, very bad sign.

Alex bucked and fought against her captors. So many hands clamped down hard on her ankles and wrists, holding her arms and thighs. Only one hip was pinned down, her injured one left untouched for some reason. Even then it was too much. “Get fucking off me!” She yelled, trying to wiggle herself free. “I can’t do that until I know you’ll let us help.” He said calmly, his hands still pressed against her shoulders. “We’re INSUPA, we’re your friends.” At first, Alex thought that the INSUPA mention was a lie to get her to calm down. But, when he readjusted his grip on her shoulders, his sleeve moved up just enough to reveal something that made her reconsider. It was a tattoo on the inside of his wrist. It was a stylized olive branch, with an anatomically correct drawing of a heart placed over it. A long time ago, Alex had nearly gotten one of those, before other life events superseded. The unocial INSUPA medical branch logo. “I’m not part of INSUPA. I didn’t call their help line. Why are you here?”

“Albatross, Shevchenko. We’ve been briefed.” The man said, “A supervillain got wind of you, we were sent in to evacuate. My boss was going to meet you in your apartment to chat, but you collapsed.” “Next time, lead with that.” Alex said as she relaxed, exhaustion flooding her veins. The hands released her, and she fell limp. She reminded herself to have a strong word with her handler about the next time they send someone for her.

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