#cherry's mumbling about hai

[italoniponic]

today in "My Simp Senses Got Me Self-Aware": well, my Oikawa to Azul to Clavis going full cycle is killing me

[italoniponic]

@vnsgbs nessa... nessa... NESSAAAAAAAA

I just think that Hinata Natsu and Oikawa Takeru... Store

[jobean12-blog]

Feelin' Gourd

Pairing: Mob!Bucky Barnes x reader

Word Count: 1,454

Summary: You really want to go on a trip to the farm but not with the girls this year. This year you want your husband to take you and even though he's the boss and busy a lot he always makes time for you, even if it means stepping out of his usual role and being soft and sweet...because for you, he'll do anything.

Author's Note: So I've decided that mob!Bucky is one of my kinks, especially when he's a big softie for his woman. And honestly, he's perfect! So here's my first kinktober '23 story featuring mob!Bucky and his softie side. Thank you all so much for reading! Much love always❤️❤️❤️ and Happy October! Divider by the lovely @firefly-graphics thank you Daisy! 🥰

Warnings: It's fun and fluffy and sweet and soft!

Steve escorts the men out of Bucky’s office and down the hall. He smiles warmly at you before his face hardens into it’s usual work mask again as he practically pushes the men out the door.

With a soft goodnight to you he shuts and locks the door of your house.

Without waiting another second you skip to Bucky’s office, stopping in the doorway when you see him focused on his phone.

“There you are doll face,” he croons.

He looks up as he sets his phone down on his desk.

“Work done?” you ask sweetly.

“All done,” he says as he holds out his arms for you.

You rush into the room and around his desk, falling against his chest and nuzzling his neck as he drags you onto his lap.

“Mm,” he hums appreciatively as you wrap yourself around him.

He kisses your temple, taking your face in his hands before pulling your mouth to his. The kiss starts out sweet and soft but swiftly grows deeper as his fingers search for the bottom of your shirt, sneaking beneath to feel more of your skin.

“Bucky,” you breathe out, pulling away enough to look into his eyes.

“What?” he asks, slightly breathless himself. “Missed you today.”

He gives you his best boyish smirk, the one reserved only for you, and it makes your heart flutter.

“Missed you too,” you whisper, peppering his check with butterfly kisses, “but…”

His lips find yours again and your words are lost against his mouth, his hands dancing higher until he’s toying with the clasp of your bra.

He unhooks it with ease and starts to peel it off under your shirt.

“Buckyyyy,” you pout.

“Doll,” he groans as his hands roam over your newly exposed skin.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

He stops his caresses, giving you a disgruntled look.

Your expression falls and he immediately brushes his thumb across your lips, cradling your cheek and drawing you closer.

“No, none of that now baby doll. I’m sorry. Talk to me.”

You instantly brighten and he growls out a mumbled curse, knowing you totally got one over on him. With a bright and triumphant smile you toy with his tie, mindlessly adjusting it as you begin to talk.

“I want you to take me pumpkin picking.”

His eyes widen and he blinks several times. “Pumpkins? Like on a farm?”

You nod excitedly, bouncing in his lap. “YES! We can pick our own to carve and get some for the front of the house and even get apple cider donuts and hot apple cider and take home a pie or pick apples to make a pie and maybe even go for a hay ride!”

Your enthusiastic wave of words rushes out and he can hardly keep up and all the while you’re still fiddling with his tie and the collar of his shirt, smoothing out each until they’re perfect.

“Didn’t you go do this with the girls last year?” he asks softly but with a smile.

“I did,” you start, pouting a bit. “But I want to go with you!”

He opens his mouth to speak but you press a finger to his lips.

“PLEASE! PRETTY PLEASE! PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP!”

When you’re done with your pleading he grabs your wrist and holds you finger to his mouth, kissing the tip softly before pushing your other fingers up so he can kiss them all too.

“Of course I’ll take you,” he whispers.

You squeal in delight and kiss him, trying to pull away to tell him more about what you can do at the farm but he keeps you pressed firmly against him as he spins his desk chair and lifts you out of his lap, placing you on the edge of his desk.

When he finally releases your lips you nibble your bottom one, watching as he kneels down, spreading your legs and tugging on your panties.

“Thank you Bucky,” you whisper.

“I didn’t even do anything yet doll,” he teases.

“I meant for agreeing to go pumpkin picking with me.”

“You know I’d do anything to make you happy,” he murmurs, kissing along your calf, his fingers massaging your soft skin as he moves higher.

Bucky struts out of your walk-in closet, adjusting the collar on his shirt before smiling at you.

“Ready doll face?” he asks.

You look him over from head to toe then sashay your way into his arms. “I am…but I think you might need to change.”

He frowns. “Why? I thought my red shirt was good…fall color and all.”

“Oh the red is perfect,” you assure him. “But I’m not sure you need to wear one of your three-hundred-dollar Prada shirts to the farm.”

“Huh,” he muses. “Am I going to get dirty?”

“The pumpkins are sometimes muddy or dirty with soil and there’s lots of dust and vines…if there are horses and other animals there might be…”

“So I should lose my Prada loafers too then?”

He grins, looking slightly sheepish.

“Definitely,” you giggle, giving him a soft kiss. “But the jeans are perfect.”

You step back to let your eyes roam over his thick thighs that are on full display in the tight denim.

He starts to unbutton his dress shirt but you stop him, slowly undoing each button yourself until it hangs open and reveals his tanned and toned chest and stomach. You ghost your fingernails down his skin, watching his muscles flex from your touch.

When you push the shirt from his shoulders you sigh, “why can’t you just go like this?”

He huffs out a laugh and adjusts his belt, drawing your attention to the trail of dark hair that lines his lower stomach and the disappears into his jeans.

“Still wanna go pumpkin picking doll?” he asks wearing an amused and smug smirk.

You slowly drag your eyes up to his and cock your hip out, placing your hand there and stealing your features.

“YES! Now find a tee shirt and hoodie and change your shoes.”

“Where are my hoodies. I thought you stole them all,” he says as he’s walking back into the closet.

“I left you one…maybe two!”

“What about a flannel?” he calls out.

“Perfet,” you reply.

Once he’s dressed in his soft tee and even softer flannel, his feet clad in leather lace up boots you head for the door.

It’s still early when you get to the farm so there aren’t many people around yet. You and Bucky walk hand in hand under the warm sunshine toward the pumpkin patch.

“What are we looking for exactly?” he asks, eyeing the rows of orange squash.

“I want some really big ones for the front of the house! And then we need two for carving and some smaller ones for more decoration. And I want gourds too…they have a lot of different colors and shapes!”

“Am I supposed to carry them all?”

He looks suspicious and when you start to smile he takes you in his arms brushes his lips against yours.

“I will if that’s what you need me to do.”

You melt into him, sliding your arms around his waist. “As much as I’d love to see you trying to carry all these pumpkins, we can just get a wagon.”

You peek around him and point to the red wagons lined up along the fence.

“Phew,” he says with a laugh.

You walk through the patch, Bucky dragging the wagon behind him as you gush over every pumpkin you see, picking them up, inspecting them and asking for his insight. He takes his job seriously, examining each one with thorough precision before giving you his honest review.

“This one is perfect for carving,” he says, holding up the tall but still wide pumpkin with a good flat face.

“It is!” you cheer. “What are you going to carve?”

He stands there, looking from you to the pumpkin. “I have no idea!”

You bend over with laughter, loving to see your husband in such a relaxed state but also taking the pumpkin picking so seriously. He never does anything half-assed.

After he sets the pumpkin in the cart he looks over what you’ve picked so far. “One more?”

You throw your arms around his neck. “I love you so much. I’m having the best time.”

He wraps you in his embrace, nestling his face into your neck. “Love you more doll and me too.”

“Before we pick more can we get some cider and donuts? I’m hungry.”

“Of course,” he says, tucking you under his arm. “I hope they sell these donuts by the dozen. I have a feeling I’m going to want more than one.”

@randomfandompenguin @book-dragon-13 @goldylions @blackwidownat2814 @buckysdollforlife @hiddles-rose @kmc1989 @lizette50

[cheesemittens]

Hai! I saw that you were taking fic requests and if it's ok with you I was hoping you could write one for Tangerine? Where reader is working w/ the twins for years now and is oblivious to all of Tangerines advances to her bcuz she doesn't really think he likes her. Come to the event where they're on the bullet train and they're trying to do their mission but everything went to shit. So Tan leaves Lem and Reader to wait while he tries to find Ladybug and there comes a chance where Lemon tells her himself about Tans feelings and advances and how oblivious she was and she becomes in denial

And that hopefully in the end, after she got shot in like the shoulder by saving Tan from almost being shot by Ladybug she sees how Tan reacts and she goes "oh shit Lemon was fr not bullshiting" and at the end they get out the train safely and no one dies and have a very real, and cannon happy ending 💕💕

OMG, YESS!!! Thank you so much for the request! I'm so sorry it took so long- BUT- I had a lot of fun writing this and I really hope I did your suggestion justice😭 Word Count: 1656 Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI, Violence (nothing that doesn't happen in the movie), Fluff, a bit of angst(?), Reader & Tan being obvious, pet names (love), Totally cannon ending where Tan is alive, happy, and healthy, Reader gets hurt :(, allusions to smut? Over all Lemon being fed up with Tan and you exchanging goo-goo eyes and not acting on it <3. I don't think I followed the events in order so- bear with me heh <3 NO USE OF Y/N!! NOT PROOF READ! MAY CONTAIN TYPOS! Send me a request!

You have been working with the two brothers, Lemon and Tangerine, for a while now. Picking up odd jobs. Whatever pays the most. And even though these two could get on your nerves, you enjoyed your time with them. They never once made you feel different. Never told you, you couldn't do something because it was 'too dangerous for a woman'.

Well, that was true until recently. You see, Tangerine has slowly become more aware of every mission's danger. Sure he knew you could handle yourself. He knew that you wouldn't get hurt. But he didn't want to risk it. So naturally when he took this job for the White Death, he was against you coming.

Yet here you are. Sitting by the window, next to a semi-pissed Tan.

It all started when you insisted to join. Saying how you've sat out the last 2 missions, and you weren't going to miss another. Then, Lemon lost the briefcase. After that, you three find the White Death's son dead. The Cherry on top was they (White Death) knew you lot didn't have the case.

"Alright, I'm gonna go find this prick and teach him a lesson. You two stay here, yeah?" You heard Tan speak up, making you look over at him. "But I wa-" "Ah ah- No buts. You're staying here." He said firmly before getting up and walking off

You sighed as you watched Tangerine walk off. Lemon watched him as well before fixating his gaze on you.

"You know he likes you, right?"

"What..?" Surely you didn't hear that right. Or you must be dreaming. Because you thought there was no way in hell that someone as hot as Tan could ever like you back.

"Did you go deaf or somethin'? I said my brother likes you. It's painfully obvious." Even when he repeated it, you looked at Lemon like he had two heads. "I-I think you're mistaken.. There's no way he likes me.." Lemon just rolled his eyes. "Look, I wouldn't lie to ya' about this. I see the way you look at my brother. You clearly fancy him a lot. And he feels the same. I mean, it's painfully obvious to everyone else. He's told you how many pickup lines since we got on this train? And how many through our whole time together? And don't even get me started on the looks you two give each other when the other is turned!"

"I-.. I thought he was just being friendly.." You mumbled, still in denial. You refused to think someone who seemed so out of your league liked you. "Yeah? Well, he wasn't. He's been trying to rack up the nerve to ask you out like a proper gentleman, but every time he asks, you're off in your own world."

You shook your head firmly, looking out of the window. "Would you stop being such a stubborn priss and just open your eyes? You two fancy each other! Just confess and move on. If I have to sit through another mission filled with romantic and sexual tension I might just quit."

You continued to talk to Lemon, arguing over if Tan likes you back or not before transitioning to a more tame conversation. Though your mind kept wandering back to what he said. You couldn't help but wonder if you were in the wrong about it.

It had been a while since you got separated from Lemon. You were worried, alone, and in all honesty? Scared. You didn't feel safe without being with one of the twins. Preferably Tan over Lem. But you wouldn't mind Lem.

You walked around the eerily empty train before finding an open bathroom, your eyes widening as you saw a bloodied Lemon. Quickly you knelt to his level and checked for a pulse, luckily finding one. You examined him more and saw Tan's necklace around him. Of course he'd jump the gun and think the worst.

You quickly got up, running through the train to find him. You bumped into another girl on your way down. You gave her a skeptical look. "Watch where you're going!" She yelled at you as she continued on.

You couldn't help but scrunch up your nose in disgust. You could barely notice a Thomas the Tank Engine sticker on her back. Diesel. So that's who drugged Lem.

You made a mental note to find her later, no doubt she thought Lem was dead so you didn't have to worry for now. Continuing down the train. Eventually, you saw him, saw your Tan fighting another guy. They didn't see you yet. So you tried to quietly sneak up on the other one. But when you saw him reach for the gun, it was game over.

You ran as fast as you could and pushed Tan out of the way right when the gun fired, not even feeling the pain in your shoulder when it was done with.

It was like time was going in slow motion for Tan. One minute he was fighting this Ladybug guy, then the next everything was going significantly slower, watching you run towards him and push him away. He had to blink a few times before landing on his ass with a groan, looking up at you and watching a bright red liquid start to stain your white shirt.

If his eyes could change colors, they would be bright red, staring at the man with the gun who was behind you, not even giving him a second to get out the words "I'm sorry" before he had him up against the wall.

"First, you come in here while I was about to kill the bloody Diesel, then you try to kill me, not believing me when I said that she's trying to make us all kill each other. And then! The fuckin' cherry on top, you try to kill me. But you shoot my partner instead. You hurt an innocent lady. A fuckin' goddess.."

He was growling at the other man, finally the pain of the bullet settling in. You winced in pain and fell to the floor, grabbing your shoulder to try and stop some of the bleeding.

Tan paused hearing you, looking over and quickly dropping the man to run to your side. "Are you okay love..?" He asked, his expression softened when he looked at you, taking off his shirt to wrap around your shoulder to help stop the bleeding.

You couldn't help but stare as he took it off, your eyes moving from his abs to his eyes as he wrapped up your shoulder. So Lem was telling the truth. Tan really did love you. It was as clear as day to you now. The way he looked at you, how you were the most beautiful person alive. The way he spoke, how he immediately softened when he saw you. Everything he did showed his love for you.

"Hello? I asked if you were okay?" He repeated, waving a hand in front of your face. That seemed to snap you out of your trance, blinking a few times before you looked at him, smiling softly.

You threw your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug, not caring how much the wound hurt from this. "Th-Thank you, Tan.. I mean it.." You spoke softly, feeling tears well up in your eyes. Partly from the pain, partly because you were just so happy.

Tan was beyond confused, but hugged you back, smiling softly as he took in your sweet scent. "You don't need to thank me, love.. It's the least I can do.." He hummed, wanting this moment to last forever but, you eventually pulled away, looking into his eyes.

"Did.. Did you really mean what you said about me..? A-About me being a... a goddess..?" You asked, your voice shaking a bit. You hoped he'd say yes, hoping that he truly meant it so you could confess.

"Of course I did.. You're beautiful.. Stunning.. Fuck- Words can't des-"

You didn't let him finish, quickly pulling him into a kiss. He was surprised but quickly melted into it, kissing you back as his hands found their way into your hair, entangling with your soft locks.

By this point Ladybug had read the room and left while he still had his life, knowing that as soon as Tan could, he'd kill him.

The two of you never wanted to pull away, kissing for as long as your breaths would allow before having to pull away. "I-.. I really like you Tan.. Liked you for a while now.." You shyly admitted, panting softly as you tried to regain your breath. "I like you too.. So so much.." He hummed, smiling at you lovingly as he cupped your face.

"Fuckin' finally! I was worried I'd actually have to quit." Lemon's voice could be heard from the doorway making the both of you chuckle. "Jesus Lem.. You're alive?" Tan looked over at him, for the first time breaking eye contact with you. "Yeah. Someone drugged the water I drank. Did you not check my pulse?"

Tan looked away shyly, slightly embarrassed he jumped the gun. "To play devil's advocate, you do have a shit ton of blood on you Lem." You hummed, trying to defend Tan. Lemon just rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's just get off the train at the next stop, yeah?

All of you agreed and the train came to a stop not long after. All of you exited and no one was seriously harmed! Well, besides you. After a quick trip to the ER to get the bullet removed, and the wound sewn up, you all retreated back to your separate hotel rooms. Little would Lemon know (that's a like he totally knew), Tan would sneak out of their room to go into yours just to make sure you're okay. But what ended up happening instead was more than fine as well.

[goodstories08]

Double Date

Sodapop Curtis X Male Reader

Request: Yes @mack-thedork

Description: Sodapop decides to take Y/n on a double date with Ponyboy and Cherry. He takes Y/n to the movies and they have the best time laughing and stealing kisses with each other until they have a run in with a few soces that Cherry knew. They started to make fun of Y/n causing Sodas blood to boil to the point we’re he punched the soc. The cops showed up and obviously blamed the greaser for the fight.

“You ready for the movie darlin’,” Sodapop called as he came into the living room, you hummed a yes as he came closer to where you sat on the couch. “Alright, come on we gotta go meet Ponyboy and his new girlfriend Cherry,” he said before leaning in and pressing his slightly chapped lips against yours.

You smiled into the kiss and wrapped your arms around his neck, continuing to make out on the couch for a bit till Darry walked in. “Sodapop! Y/n! Y’all got a date to go on, go do that there,” He demanded, Soda and you looked into each other’s eyes before bursting out into laughter. “Yea, yea we’re leaving,” You mumble before getting up and dragging Soda out to his car. The key turned causing the engine of the old car to roar. “Wow, we’re did you get this one?” You asked, Sodapop’s grin growing more. “Someone brought it in at work, they were just happy to get rid of it so I fixed it up for you,” He whispered in his deep voice.

You smiled but thought about what he just said, “Wait!? What do you mean for me?” You looked up to his beautiful eyes, Soda leaned forward and kissed your lips. “Happy early anniversary baby,” He whispered into your ear before nibbling on it. Your eyes went wide and before you could say anything the car started moving forward. “W-wait Soda what are you talking about, is this car…”

“Yours, of course it is darlin’. I love you,” You felt your lips curve into a smile, blush rushing to your cheeks. “Oh my god, Soda baby I want to kiss you right now! Thank you so so much,” You said still in disbelief that Soda got you a car. How the hell would you ever find a gift that could top that. Sodapop may not have much, but the little he did have he gave all to you. He was the sweetest and kindest boyfriend you could have ever hoped for. It was nice to have someone who understood what not having much was like but together you needed nothing more than each other.

The car slowly came to a stop, the gravel crumbling beneath the weight of it. “All right here we are,” Soda said while steeping out and running over toward your door to open it for you. “Thank you baby,” You say while laying a kiss on his cheek, smirking as you noticed his cheeks grow red. Sodapop dragged you away toward the trunk, when it opened your eyes widened. “How’d I do. Happy early anniversary, again baby,” Soda whispered, his arm wrapping around your waist, pulling you closer so he can kiss your lips. There in the trunk laid a pic nick blanket and basket filled with your favorite foods.

“Hay Soda!” Ponyboy yelled as he made his way over, Cherry giggled as the two stumbled over each other.

“Hi baby brother.” Soda piped up, his arms wrapping around his younger brother and his fist ruffling up Ponyboy’s hair. Cherry looked to you with a huge smile and leaned in for a light hug. “So nice to see you. Y/n right?” You nodded with a smile, “took forever to walk here,” Cherry went on as you showed her to the car, where the two of you took a seat on. “Ponyboy had to practically drag me from the house. I was so busy getting my hair ready and everyhin.”

“Soda had to remind me, I’m just always so tired and forgetful with my folks always yelling at each other, barely getten sleep. That’s why I’ve been staying with Soda for a while.” Cherry gave a look of sympathy and pat your back, “Well we’re lucky to have em aren’t we.” Both you and Cherry looked over to the snack line, where your boyfriends stood joking around and bumping into each other. “Yea, we sure are.”

You looked up the the stars for a quick second admiring their beauty before looking back down to Cherry who watched as a few socs walked over. “Hey Cherr, Just wanted to check in. Why you hanging with a fucking grease?” I uncomfortably shifted and stood up to try and leave but one of them grabbed my wrist, pulling me back onto the front of Cherry’s car.

You winced from how hard he was squeezing your arm, you didn’t even have to look to know Soda was already running over to him with clutched fists. “Hey get of him!” Soda yelled with anger, Ponyboy following behind him closely. “Why what’s your fairy ass gonna do?” Soda’s face was bright red from anger he leaned forward but was met with another Soc’s fist in his face.

“Hey!” Cherry and I yelled as Soda and Pony began to fight back. You screamed as loud as you could but you couldn’t break free from the socs grasp. You watched in horror as Soda and Pony where hit over and over. Cherry tried to intervene but one of the socs pushed her to the floor. Tears seepe into the collar of my shirt as my shoes slid against the dirt.

Before anyone could pull a knife the cops where already there, I felt a rush of relief as they came out of their cars. But that relief was soon replaced with confusion as they started to arrest Soda and Pony. “Hey, stop they attacked us first,” You scream, Cherry nodding in agreement. The cop just stared before pulling Soda into the car, My blood really began to boil once the socs started laughing. Of course they would, it was never their fault. Rich kids were perfect and never caused trouble according to the police.

Later that night Darry drove you and Cherry to the station after getting a call to pay bail. After telling him what happened he was pissed as well but there was really nothing we could do but listen.

As the car came to a roaring stop you ran out of the door and into the large building. You didn’t even talk to the cop at the front who asked who you where, you just ran toward the back, ran as fast as you could till you found him. Found Soda, leaning against the wall of a Cell, a black bruise forming around his face. You screamed his name and his bright smile immediately took the feeling of nervousness away. You ran up to him and kissed him gently through the bars, trying to reach him so that you could hug him. “I’m soo sorry Y/n.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault,” You reassure while taking in his scent. Darry rounded the corner along with Cherry, who immediately ran toward Ponyboy. “I know, but I promise you that you won’t have to see that again. I promise I will protect you so that none of them can lay their gross hands on you again. I promise you Y/n,” He said with seriousness in his voice. I smiled as he pulled me in for a kiss once more. “I know you will, I love you Soda.”

[italoniponic]

okay, I know it's been a while since I last saw/read bnha but what is Kageyama doing there and why he stole one of Inarizaki's jerseys? /j

HE’S RED??? I ALWAYS IMAGINED HIM BLUE!!

[italoniponic]

Sugawara's arc in Haikyuu is basically "everybody is eccentric and crazy here but at least this guy is calm and norm- w-wait... oh no... oh, no! he's unhinged as well"

[italoniponic]

I discovered some time ago that Oikawa's favorite food is milk bread and it just got to me today that it's the same milk bread that I use to eat dinner almost everyday... maybe bc it's not so crazy when you're in Brazil, idk lol

[italoniponic]

@vnsgbs

Fav boy💕

[cherriedzoro]

Hai cherri I saw that your doing a follower event congrats on 70 !! So I thought I would participate

May I request sabo for prompt #5: best friends to lovers if your not confident with sabo ace works too

Thank you for taking the time to read this I hope you have a nice evening and congrats again

hey hi, thanks so much! you can, thank you participating, i choose to write for sabo since he was your first pick please enjoy sorry if it's not the best!

p.s request will becoming out sort of slow but i promise i'll get through them all soon please be patient with me, i'm doing them in order of when i received them! :)

tw's n/a

462 words 2,491 characters

if you want to see my other works you can do so here, if your interested in 70 followers event you can here!

change sabo x reader

through out the constant changing of the seasons and seconds passing by, things always seemed to be in motion bringing changes in some way or another.

consistency was hard to find in any aspect, the world around you constantly staying in an ever changing state.

though no matter how much changed, no matter what course things went there was always one consistency in your life.

that was sabo's presence.

rather no matter how big or small it may be sabo has always been there for you, a best friend.

being away from sabo for so long was hard at times, he was almost always out on missions for the revolutionary army and their was a constant worry eating at your heart that something would go wrong or that he'd be put into harms way.

it was times like these you felt most at home, when sabo would return from a mission and let himself in with the set of spare keys you had given him.

your heart leaped after hearing a soft knock on your bedroom door, already knowing who it was you quickly respond with a 'come in'.

"sabo! i missed you!" you exclaim watching as the blonde opens the door with a small smile.

"i'm sorry if i worried you." sabo said clear fatigue bitting through his words, he had been out on a mission for quite sometime and his exhaustion was finally catching up too him.

sabo sighed tiredly before collapsing down on your bed not having the energy to kick off his shoes. sadly this tended to be a common reoccurrence for him, after returning from a mission he'd usually come over too check in and end up passing out from exhaustion.

"i can't not worry i care to much about you." you mumble before making your way over to sit down next to the revolutionary.

"but i always come back in one piece don't i?" he pauses for a moment before continuing "plus, if i didn't who else would you give your spare key too?" the blonde jokes shutting his eyes.

"whatever." you say with a smile before playfully nudging sabo, "just stay safe." to which he simply responds with a nod to tired to say much else.

"listen," sabo eventually says after a long coating of silence, you raise an eyebrow at him surprised to see that he hadn't fallen asleep yet.

"there's something i've been keeping from you." he says quietly, "i'm in love with you." the words you never expected to hear from the blonde, the words that made your heart feel like it was going to beat out of your chest.

"you idiot, i've loved you for a long time." you say bashfully before going to place a quick peck onto his cheek.

[wienerbarnes]

Hayloft

Pairing: 40s!Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 2,460

Warnings: SMUT 18+ !!!!! if u are a minor dni w this or my blog plssss, also getting caught... if that bothers anyone

SONG (Spotify link): Hayloft - Mother Mother

A/N: based off of the song hayloft by mother mother! some nice smut in a barn for yall😌 enjoy!

MAIN MASTERLIST

Bucky kisses you sweetly behind the club, the jazz seeping through the cracks of the backdoors the two of you snuck out of and the cold air having no effect on  you as you embrace each other.

Bucky thinks you look like a dream in red, his arms tightening around your waist, bringing you impossibly close as he continues to kiss you deeply, tongue slipping out to tease your lips and ask for a taste. Your soft hands feel gentle and loving, one on his shoulder and the other holding his cheek, and he doesn’t want to move from this spot.

The hand moves from his cheek to his hair, a bit damp from sweat as they’ve been dancing all night, and shivers run down his spine as your nails scratch against his scalp. He pulls away from your mouth, knowing his lips are tinted red as your lipstick is a little out of place, and moves to plant wet kisses down your neck. He buries his face into your neck, sucking on the sweetest spots of your skin and you breathe out next to his ear, the sound causing his hands to grip at your waist.

He moves up and takes your ear lobe into his mouth, a hand moving lower to rest on your behind and you mumble out, “Come to my house.”

“Whenever you want, darlin’.”

“Now.”

He pauses. He pulls away slightly to meet your eyes. He imagines the implication you're making but can’t possibly believe you want him to go over to your parents house at ten at night.

“I’d be happy to walk you home, baby,” He begins, wrapping the arm that was touching your bum around your shoulders lovingly.

“We have this little barn next to the house. I want you to meet me there tonight.” You tell him.

Barn. So you must not live in the city. He’s lucky he asked to use the car tonight.

“I need to grab my friends so we can leave in her car, she’ll drop me off first. And I’ll wait for you in the barn.” You explain further.

“Okay.” He finds himself agreeing.

He knows the area where you live. Far from the city, but a nice, quiet, private area for a family to live. Something he’d like when he’s older.

He didn’t think he’d be driving miles away for a girl he’d only met tonight at the club, but he also didn’t think a war would be on the way, and who knows what’ll happen after that. He thinks he needs to start living a bit more adventurously and doing things his mother would frown upon. Like driving to dame’s house late at night and sneaking into her parents' barn to cop a feel.

He sighs to himself as the roads get lonelier and lonelier, signifying he’d be arriving soon. He feels like he’s about to lose his virginity all over again, he’s so damn nervous. He turns the headlights off and slows down as he sees the barn in the distance. The last thing he needs is to wake up your family with the purr of his engine and by shining lights through their windows.

He parks a small walk away, hiding the car underneath a tree. He shivers a bit as the wind night wind blows; you held onto his jacket at his request.

Very quietly he approaches the barn and he slowly drags the door open, slipping inside to see a few lanterns lit, illuminating you, perched up all pretty on a bale of hay. You’re in your undergarments, a silky dress that exposes your shoulders and gives him a view of your cleavage, the hem ending at the middle of your shin.

Your hair is a bit more put together than it was at the club and your lipstick is cleaned up and bright as cherries once more.

“Wow.” Is what slips out of his mouth, only realizing he said something when you giggle.

You stand from your seat and walk over to him, grabbing his large hands in your own and leading him back to where you were.

“We need to be real quiet; we can’t wake my daddy up.” You whisper.

“I’ll keep you quiet, babydoll, don’t you worry.” He whispers back, leaning down to kiss her.

Her hands raise to his shoulders as she gently pushes him down, encouraging him to sit where she was previously, and he does. She kisses him again when she takes a seat in his lap, straddling him. The dress shifts and rides up over her knees as Bucky’s hands immediately move to her hips.

He kisses you the same way he did outside the club, soft, wet lips pressing against each other over and over again, his tongue slipping between your teeth and playing with your own tongue.

His fingers inch from gripping the skin on your hips, down to your soft thighs, to the hem of the dress, moving it up slowly, almost to keep you from noticing. You pull away and your lips latch onto his neck, trailing all around the area, leaving red prints in your wake. He takes the opportunity to peek down and shakily move the dress up past your hips, exposing the thin, red underwear covering your modesty.

“Christ.” He mumbles, a reaction to the combination of the little number you have on and the feeling of you sucking a love bite onto his neck.

A giggle into the warmth of his neck, “You like?”

“I like,” He groans back, lifting the fabric higher and higher until you pull back to remove it, exposing a red bra, the lacey details on the trim and the bow in between your breasts giving him goosebumps.

“Your turn, Bucky.” You pinch at his sides, and he can’t help but plant another kiss on you.

He starts undoing the buttons on his shirt but he’s so damn nervous his fingers twitch just a little too much. You help him, soft hands glide over his rough ones, and he can’t help but take advantage and reach to grab at your hips again. He squeezes at the soft flesh under his fingers while you undo the buttons for him, only pulling away when he has to slip the shirt from his shoulders and remove the white cotton top he had on underneath.

“You’re a dream, doll, you’re so beautiful.” He compliments, feeling himself melt under your touch as your hand drag and scratch lightly across his chest, shoulders, and back.

He scoops you up and shushes you when you squeal a little too loudly - after all, he doesn’t want your daddy to wake up - and lays you down on the hay, ignoring the little twigs that poke at the both of you.

Your legs are tangled together with his as he slips his tongue in your mouth and yours in his, hands roaming each other's bodies as though it’s the first time either of you have done this before. He reaches a hand under your back and you arch it a bit, allowing him to unhook your bra and press your chest to his. He feels your hardened nipples through the fabric against his chest and he swallows as he finally tosses your bra to the side.

He doesn’t waste any time in diving down and capturing a nipple in his mouth, licking and sucking and kissing while his other hand gropes and squeezes at the opposite breast. You gasp and shiver under him, the combination of the cold, night air and the warmth of his hands and mouth making you shake and sweat all at the same time.

Switching between your breasts to ensure they receive equal love, Bucky thinks he’s obsessed. Your skin is delicious; so soft and smooth and heavenly, he could kiss it and bite it and lick all day long if you’d let him. He’s so consumed by you that he doesn’t even realize you’ve unbuckled his belt and undone his pants until he feels a small hand grasp at his shaft and begin to rub.

A small moan escapes him and you press your lips to his to quiet his noises. You keep rubbing and rubbing and rubbing, feeling him get wetter and slicker with every touch. His hands stay at your chest, but his focus turns to kissing you deeply and passionately.

Your other hand joins in his pants, reaching a bit further to caress at his balls. He can’t take it and doesn’t want to embarrass himself so early in the night, so he sits up and plucks your hand out of his pants and steps off the hay. He kneels on the ground in front of you and you sit up on the haystack, hands reaching to cup his face so as to not be away from his skin for too long.

Desperate kisses laid on his cheeks and mouth as he tugs at your hips so you’re sitting at the very edge, knees spread open for him to fit between. His rough hands hook around the hem of your underwear and tug, the sound of the stitches stretching hitting his ears and he tries to tug them down your smooth legs, your soft lips making it hard for him to concentrate.

He grabs the hands that are on either side of his face and kisses them sloppily, bending down a tad further on his knees in order to hook beneath your legs and bring them up and on his shoulders. A gasp sounds from you as he dives in, licking between your legs like it’s his last meal.

So many men at the mine and his father’s friends talk about it; about putting your mouth on a woman like this. He remembers hearing it for the first time as a teenager, blushing at the conversation but feeling proud that his father didn’t kick him out of the room, deeming him old enough to hear such topics.

They’d talk about how they loved it, how they hated it, and Bucky thinks back on his father’s friends, the ones who couldn’t stand going down on their wives, and how stupid Bucky thinks they are.

He could eat you like this forever. You taste, your smell, the way he feels your thick thighs clench around his head, the muscles flexing beneath his fingers as he keeps one hand on your thigh and the other wrapped around your stomach to keep you in place. You’re perfect.

He glances up to see you have a fist in your mouth, eyes shut tightly, using all your might to keep quiet, and it makes Bucky shiver, tingles flowing through his spine to his groin, and he moans into your heat.

As much as he’d like to feel you come in his mouth, he doesn’t think he’ll last long enough to even get inside you. He reluctantly pulls away and sloppily kisses you, half-hazardly pulling down his slacks and underwear the rest of the way down, tugging off his socks in the process.

You lay back on the hay stacks once more and he props one knee up, the other leg keeping most of his balance on the ground. He hooks your legs around his body, the limbs tangling together, tied up in knots, as he rubs his dick through your folds, slicking himself up even more.

It’s not long before he pushes in, slowly, because he hears your pained whine at his size. He hears himself moan, louder than he had intended to let out, and bites his lip to hold it in, remembering what you said about your daddy.

He leans forward, caging you in, and one of your soft hands grip at his forearm, the other scratching at his back, silently begging for him to start moving.

He pulls out almost completely before thrusting back in, moving in and out and gaining speed as he hears your gasps and moans in his ear.

Veins are bulging out of both his arms, your nails creating crescent shapes in his skin. Continuing his pace, he brings his head out of your neck where he was planting sloppy kisses and looks at your face. Eyes closed and eyebrows brought together, your mouth is open and the red lipstick you had on earlier is now almost completely gone, the tint still present on your lips. He knows where the lipstick went, he has it on his own face, on his neck, down his body, around his fingers, prints around his cock - he lets out another small moan at the thought of it.

He feels your legs tight around his own, restricting his movement, so he hooks one of your legs in his elbow, bringing it up higher and moves his own leg onto the bale of hay, immediately moving to quicken his pace, fucking you harder and faster than before.

A loud moan escapes you at the feeling of him so deep inside you, no time given to adjust, and in the moment, Bucky’s free hand slaps over your mouth, moans now muffled by his rough palm.

Little do the two of you know, it was already too late. Your daddy creeps outside the house, shotgun in hand, after being woken up by noises coming from the barn. It’s those damn cats again, he thinks. He knows it’s those damn cats, but he still needs to check.

He creeps outside to the barn, clad only in his long johns and a t-shirt, and hears the noises clearer as he gets closer.

Everything happens so fast.

Your daddy swinging open the door to the barn, the sound of a shotgun cocking, your loud gasp at being caught, Bucky’s curses as he quickly pulls out of you.

“What the hell?!” Your father screams.

Bucky doesn’t dare answer, only snatches his pants and shoes off the ground and fumbles to collect himself, simultaneously trying to make his way to the exit as quickly as possible. He didn’t even grab his underwear, his bare ass and semi-hard cock uncomfortable in his slacks from tonight.

He doesn’t focus on that feeling for too long though, not when a bullet flies past his head and into the wood behind him. He runs, one hand carrying his shoes and the other holding his pants up, not even buttoned or buckled.

“You better run, Buck!” He hears your voice call out, sounding more amused than scared, and he assumes this kind of thing has happened to you before.

Another shot rings out into the air and Bucky considers himself lucky to have missed it. Unlike you, it seems, this is his first time getting caught having sex and then being shot at.

You gave him one hell of a night to remember, though.

[loserboyfriendrjl]

am i allowed to look at her like that?

a glance from their spot in the classroom, and that was all. she was sitting with sirius in herbology this time, and dorcas had paired themselves up with peter.

they couldn't let her know that they had fallen in love.

could it be wrong when she's just so nice to look at?

with her deep, brown eyes, cherry red lips, and hay blonde hair and it was too much for dorcas.

but too little at the same time.

and she smells like lemongrass and sleep

it's stupid, terribly stupid, to fall in love with your best friend.

she tastes like apple juice and peach

it's terribly stupid because once you realize it, you want more than friendship, and they never do.

or, that was how dorcas saw it.

oh, you would find her in a polaroid picture

pictures are your only friend, hung up on the wall of their bedroom, and when marlene smiles at them, they sigh contently.

they have to look from afar and catch themselves stuttering and mumbling and making a fool of themselves. she laughs, and it brings a smile to their face.

she thinks you're funny!

or she's just making fun of you

and she means everything to me

and she's everything to them, and that's why they could never bring themselves to say those four words, 'i love you, marlene',

i'd never tell

but it's going to stay a secret. because she's, well... marlene and they're dorcas and they are polar opposites and it just won't work, lily, now leave me alone.

no, i'd never say a word

she'll never know.

and oh it aches

and it hurts.

but it feels oddly good to hurt

but it's better than facing it. fear of rejection, lily said, and dorcas flipped her off.

she smells like lemongrass and sleep

they slammed the door shut behind them when they entered and threw themselves on the bed.

she tastes like apple juice and peach

"you're driving me crazy, marlene mckinnon."

oh, you would find her in a polaroid picture

they looked to the wall again. "i can't tell you that i am absolutely head over heels for you, can i?"

and she means everything to me

"because... you're you and i'm me..."

and i'll be okay admiring from afar

"but it's okay."

'cause even when she's next to me we could not be more far apart

"i'll love you either way."

cause she tastes like birthday cake, and storytime, and fall

"who said i don't feel the same way?" marlene asked from the doorway.

dorcas whipped their head around. "what- for how long have you been here?"

"long enough."

but to her, i taste like nothing at all

marlene stepped up to them and lied on the bed calmly.

"may i kiss you?"

dorcas nodded.

and she smells like lemongrass and sleep

and it suddenly hit them. she smelled like leather and motorbike oil from sirius' damned flying one but dorcas didn't quite mind. at all, actually.

and marlene's hand on their waist and dorcas felt like they were floating and swimming in love and they never felt like that before.

she tastes like apple juice and peach

marlene tasted like mint chip cookies and cigarette smoke and it was fucking overwhelming but god, dorcas liked that.

oh, you would find her in a polaroid picture

they broke apart and smiled.

"so," dorcas started with a smile, "am i a kisser as bad as remus says i am?"

"well, dunno about him, but this was the best kiss i've ever had." marlene laughed and a blush grew won dorcas' face, heating it in the best way possible.

and she means everything to me

"you're my everything, marlene."

yes, she means everything to me

"and you're mine, cas."

she means everything to me

[italoniponic]

@vnsgbs

the city lights on your features takes my breath away 🌃

[leafs-lover]

Too Far Gone - Part 3

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Drinking, swearing mentions of strippers and strip clubs

Word Count: 1950

Motley Crue plays loudly in the club, the bass echoing under their feet. Mitch, Fred, Morgan and Auston are directed to a table tucked in the back corner. It’s sunken in, isolated, designed for a more personal, intimate experience. Nobody saw them come in, using a separate entrance, and apart from the staff nobody knows they are there. And nobody will. Phones aren’t allowed.

The music is loud, the lights are dim, varying colours of neon lights being shown around from the spotlights. The four of them sit in their booth, quickly being offered drinks by their server. Auston doesn’t even know why they are here, if a rumour gets out about 4 Toronto Maple Leafs at a strip club there will be a media shit storm. The Sun would have a hay day with the news.

Babs and Dubas would read them the riot act. And for what? To watch some girls he has no interest in pulling her top off, maybe grinding against him for a couple minutes. Doesn’t seem worth it and when he leaves he will have to deal with the growing tent between his legs alone.

Sliding into the leather booth, he just wants the night to be over with. If the guys really wanted a stripper they could have hired one for a private event. They didn’t have to go to a dingy club with seats in the back, and at least if it was a private party he could have found an excuse to not come. But Mitch said it jokingly at dinner and Auston was outvoted so here he is. Now he will do anything to get through his time and leave.

**

“Mmm” Tia moans into the kiss. It’s barely audible over the chatter in the desert shop; but Auston hears it, a smile tugging on his lips. Tia messaged him and they met at 2 for coffee after her class. Coffee rolled into dinner which lead to a walk through the city until she pulled him into her favourite desert shop.

The place is packed. They only managed to find a standing table in the middle which worked to his advantage because her body is pinned against his. As soon as he set the plate down on the table Tia pulled his face down crashing her lips to his mumbling something about not wanting to wait any longer.

Tongues dancing into the others mouth, her cherry chap stick spread onto his lips. Her mouth was made for him and they haven’t stopped kissing since they walked in, ignoring everyone else in the shop.

“Ahem” a throat clears causing them to separate. “You can’t do that here, you need to eat or leave” the manager digresses. Tia buries her face into Auston’s chest trying to hide her embarrassment, but Auston just grabs her hand and pulls her outside towards the Limmat River.

“That was so embarrassing” she groans cheeks still hot with embarrassment.

“If it makes you feel any better it was 100% your fault” he smirks.

“How?” she laughs.

“Because you kissed me” he teases.

“You liked it” she laughs playfully pressing his chest.

“Mhm I did” he smiles pulling her back towards him. His hands on her hips he leans back down her hands tangling into his hair. The moon reflecting off the water, the soft hum of cars on the street, stars lighting up the sky. That would be perfect on its own, but Tia’s lips on his, that makes it unlike anything he’s ever felt and it’s only been a few hours.

**

“You need to loosen up” Morgan hands him a drink squeezing his shoulder bringing him out of his thoughts. Out of Zurich and the mountains to a dark strip club with shitty music bouncing off the walls.

“Just not really my scene” he mumbles accepting the drink adjusting in the booth. “I mean we can’t even see anything.”

Not that that’s a problem, he doesn’t care about the stage. But the moment those words fell from his lips he regretted it. Mitch stands up waving a girl over “we can fix that” he yells pointing to Auston. The music changes to Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry, the voice of the DJ barely audible over the booming bass announcing the newest dancer to the stage.

“Fuck Mitch come on man” he barely manages to finish the sentence before a brunette with a short pixie cut in a bright shiny red two piece is standing in front him.

“I’m Skye” she winks putting her hands on his shoulder.

“Hi” he smiles politely up at her. Mitch and Fred both look at him from across the table with dark grins and he shakes his head. Working her hips to the tune of the song teasing Auston, slowly moving closer, her chest getting closer to his face until she is straddling him. Knees on either side of his thighs her blue eyes boring down at him.

Bringing her lips close, ghosting over the shell of his ear, goosebumps form on his neck. He can feel his dick twitch in his pants, smelling her sultry perfume. Abruptly she pulls away and turns around, her ass barely covered by fabric is in his face, leaning her body back she grinds up against him. He can smell perfume mixed lightly with sweat wafting off her. He doesn’t need to look to his friends to see their smirks.

Bringing his drink to his lips he looks towards the stage. Watching a brunette with long curls hanging halfway down her back, a matching black lace set as she spins around the pole. A few whistles and claps can be heard from the men sitting around the stage.

She swings her hips from side to side stepping closer to the edge of the stage. Flipping her hair she reaches around her back to pop her bra open. Completely distracted by the brunette on the stage, her perky breasts, long brown hair framing her face. Auston barely acknowledges the woman in front of him, completely lost staring at the woman on stage. It’s not until she steps towards the front of the stage, closer into the light, Auston’s entire body stiffens. His heart beat increases, and his chest tightens.

Tia?

It can’t be?

A million thoughts run through his head, if she is in Toronto why is she stripping? “Thanks Auston I had a good time” the woman in front of him says stepping back on her four inch stilettos’.

“Yeah, who’s that?” he points to the stage.

“Carmen” she replies taking the money from Mitch and walking away. Of course she wouldn’t use her real name if it was her. He almost wishes she told him her name was Tia, because then he’d know it wasn’t her. He can hear the guys chattering faintly over the music but he can’t focus on anything except the woman on the stage, shaking her tits for the sea of men throwing money at her.

Standing up he brushes by Morgan, ignoring the calls from his friends he steps out of the booth. “Where are you going” Fred calls, “Auston man” Mitch echoes but the second his feet are on the sticky tile floor he is gone. Heading out and toward the stage.

He hears the DJ echo over the speaker “give it up for Carmen.”

Fuck she is done, he thinks feet picking up speed. He wants to get to her before she goes backstage, he has to see if it really is her. He knows the risk of leaving their booth, walking out into the wandering eyes. Even without a picture a story of him in a strip club would spread like wildfire through the Toronto media.

Trying to get to the stage a waitress crosses his path and a guest slides his chair out smashing into his knees. Stumbling, trying not to fall he watches Carmen slide backstage, behind the flickering stage lights. Approaching the stage he is quickly met by a bouncer, who puts his hands on his biceps to stop him. “You can’t go back there man” he announces.

“I think I know her” Auston explains.

“Well send her a text to say hi but you’re not getting back there” he says firmly.

Auston shakes him off “I’d text her if I could” he mumbles under his breath.

The bouncer releases his elbow, arms crossed over his chest. He is a big guy, but so is Auston, and he isn’t intimidated by him puffing out his chest.

“If I could just –“

“Seriously? No. Go back to your table.”

Staring at the bouncer he realizes there is no way he is getting past. Wouldn’t matter who he is, they wouldn’t let him go. Knowing he can’t cause a scene, he turns around. Keeping his head low he pulls his hat lower, avoiding the eyes from the other patrons he gingerly makes his way back to the booth.

“The fuck did you go?” Fred asks when he slides back in.

“I think I know her” Auston reaches for a shot on the table in front of him, wincing as the tequila burns his throat.

“Who Skye?” Morgan laughs.

“No, the one on the stage. I think it was Tia” he explains.

“Back on this bullshit man?” Morgan groans. “You spent the better part of last year wallowing in your own self-pity.”

“I did not wallow”

“Oh like fuck you didn’t. First 6 months it was all Tia this or Tia that. Syd even set you up with one of her friends, you fucked her twice and lost her number” Fred laughs.

“And don’t get me started on how many times you mumbled her name in your sleep” Mitch adds.

“I don’t -”

“We share a room on the road bro, you talk in your sleep. All like ohh Tia ohhh.” He wraps his arms around his chest pretending to hug himself while making a kissing face.

“Fuck you” Auston shakes his head getting sick of his friends accusations.

“Mitch cut him some slack, it’s not his fault he’s in love with a stripper” Morgan teases.

“I hate all of you” he grumbles ignoring Morgan’s insinuation. It wasn’t Tia it couldn’t be.

“Why do you think the girl you dated in Switzerland is here anyways?”

“I don’t know she just looked like her” Auston sighs. “I mean you met Tia” he eyes to Mitch “that look like her on stage?”

“Man I met her for like 10 seconds in an elevator, she said hi, nice game to me. And I barely saw the girl on the stage. I mean during that elevator ride I thought Tia was a sweet innocent girl, not a soon to be stripper.”

“Yeah” Auston mumbles grabbing a drink.

Mitch is right, there is no way Tia is a stripper, last he talked to her she was a barista in Zurich and enrolled in University. She was living with her dad in a townhouse in the middle of the city, you don’t go from a student full of potential, acing all your classes to a stripper on a different continent. There is no way she is here working as a stripper, Paul would lose his shit if she was.

Maybe it’s that he is finally in a place where he is ready to move on. He had a few hookups last year, but now he has Claire. She is sweet and funny, maybe his mind is just playing tricks on him because he isn’t really ready to move on?

[slutsofren]

Danger Days Chapter 2: Kill All Your Friends

missed chapter 1? read here!

summary: things get thrown for a bit a loop at the dam when two strangers appear, revealing to be Joel, Tommy's younger brother and a young girl. their presence makes things a little tense but soon gets heated as danger follows them to thr power plant.

word count: 3,352

read on ao3 here

warnings: slight cursing, guns and well, canon-typical murder, hunter attack

notes: does anybody else look at joel and just wanna,,,, punch him in the face with kisses? just because he deserves it? no? only me? 

Humid. It was always fucking humid. The lot of you have been out at the dam for nearly a week with little to be shown as progress. Things in Jackson were doing fine, wonderful even, and then the power went out. Turns out one of the turbines busted, it’s taken you and the whole group working day and night to repair it.

You leaned against the wall, taking in the greenery that was slowly encompassing the whole hydroelectric dam. It was rather beautiful. You glanced over to David, one of the few engineers from the old world, was hunched over the table mumbling softly to himself looking over a rather poorly drawn map of the turbines, trying to figure out what was going wrong. Then glanced to the far side of the courtyard where Tommy and Maria were, both engrossed in some tense conversation. 

Whatever they were whisper-arguing about wasn’t going to be any of your business… until Maria finds you later on to vent at least. A little push off the wall and you grabbed your rifle before swinging it onto your back, groaning that your little break was probably over by now. Today you had guard duty. How fun.

You approached the duo, hoping to simmer down whatever was going on between them, likely both were stressed beyond hell for the turbine to come back on. Maria saw you first and put her hand on her face, rubbing away some tension. She said your name and pulled you into a half hug and you didn’t miss the small thanks she whispered in your ear for interrupting.

“Goin’ back on duty, want me to keep near the front gate?”

Maria nodded, “Sounds good. I’ll follow you in a minute.”

Tommy looked at you and gave you a friendly smile. Although you were casual friends with the man long before you met Maria, he knows where your loyalties lie but also knows you have his back on the field. When you first arrived at Jackson, bloodied and bruised, Maria didn’t trust you as far as she could have tossed you, but as things go, you both wormed into the others hearts through sheer sarcasm and your ‘take no shit’ attitude.

That’s when Tommy knew he was fucked being the only person between the two of you.  

You left and went to go to your post, fanning out the jean jacket you were wearing to help relieve the humidity on your skin. The entrance to the hydroelectric dam was hellbent on attracting unwanted attention. For the near week you’ve been out here you had two bandit attacks, not to mention the ones back at Jackson, causing you to feel even stickier.

You found a spot up top the entrance to keep an eye out through the scope of your rifle, not noticing anything for another couple of hours, Maria not even coming by to her post. Just as you were going to call your shift, you noticed some slight movement across the concrete jungle of the remains of the power plant.

And some more movement.

Then more.

You grabbed your radio and phoned in, “Activity to the east. Two spotted.” The radio clicked and produced static until another click sounded.

Maria called back, “Eyes.”

“Noted. Out.”

With that, you knew exactly what to do. Everybody did. When it came down to it, nobody really did want a gunfight. When the code ‘eyes’ is spoken, it means shut up and watch. If the people pass, they go on their merry way. If they don’t, well, they typically don’t leave alive if they so much as hint at being a threat.

It’s unfortunate this is the way life is now but who are you to fight the changing tides.

You peek through your scope again, watching a dark haired man and a smaller woman work their way through the maze, figuring out how to cross the water. You took your eyes off the scope and began to watch them without the tool until they both began pushing at the gate. You grumble, “Contact made.”

Maria pops in behind you on your left and together you two and two more of the on duty guards on the other end of the gate point your rifles at the duo, revealing yourselves. The man doesn’t take notice until the girl points a gun at your companions then you and he backs off the entrance.

“Don’t even think about drawing your weapon! Tell the girl to drop hers. Now,” Maria shouts besides you.

The man backs up a couple steps, sticking his hand out to the girl, “Ellie, so as the lady says.”

She looks at him and puts her arms up in surrender, “Okay.”

Maria, still holding her rifle at the two strangers, says to the man, “Please tell me you're lost.”

“We didn’t know the place was occupied, we’re just trying to make our way through,” he points through the gate.

“Through to where?”

Then a deep voice picks up, “They're alright.”

You and Maria look away from the two down to the voice, seeing Tommy approaching the gate. “What, you know these people,” Maria asks him.

“I know him,” Tommy grumbles as he opens the gate, “He’s my goddamn brother.”

Oh.

You’d heard stories of the man before, of Joel Miller. From what Tommy has said before you recalled that the man was a bit of a brute, shut off from everybody after losing his daughter. He was a hunter and did some goddamned awful things in this world but quite frankly, who hasn’t? You know you have in the past to ensure your survival. It was something Tommy hated that his brother participated in but you couldn’t blame him, not after the shit you’ve seen and done.

Joel looked at his brother and his shoulders slumped, “Tommy.”

“Holy shit,” he said and moved past the safety of the gates and went straight to Joel, wrapping his arms around him.

“How you doin’, baby brother?”

Maria shot you a look that clearly stated she didn’t trust the man, despite being her brother-in-law, she heard the same stories you did. The man was a hunter, a murderer, even a smuggler. The very kind of people that don’t bode well with Jackson. With a sigh, you both put down your rifles and headed down to the gate to meet Joel and the girl, Ellie. She walked right up to the two men and you could faintly hear Tommy say, “You got fuckin’ old.”

“Easy - it’s gonna happen to you too,” Joel quipped.

Tommy took a step back, you watched how he shuffled on his feet and introduced Maria. “Be nice to her, she sorta runs things around here.”

“Ma’am.” Joel nods his head towards her. “Thanks for not blowing my head off.”

You roll your eyes at this from where you’re watching this all unfold, internally gagging at Joel’s whole ‘southern charm’ bit. Although he should be more grateful to you for not shooting him. Maria looks at Tommy beside her, “Would’ve been embarrassing, considering you’re my brother-in-law.”

An amused smile immediately hits your lips as you watch Joel try to absorb that information. He looks between the couple a few times before Tommy says, “We all gotta get wrangled up at some point.”

Maria turns to you and you lose the smile as she extends a hand for you to approach. “And this here is my second in command,” introducing you to Joel by giving him your first name and he nods his head, both of you deciding to not say a word to each other, silently sizing the other up. His eyes don’t leave yours but for a brief moment you swear his eyes flash down your body and back up as he lets out a low huff.

Oh, it’s on old man, you think.

Maria chuckles, noticing whatever the hell is happening between you two, and she turns towards the girl. “Ellie, right? What brings you through here?”

Ellie looks towards Joel for guidance, “Uh… it’s kind of a long story.”

Tommy immediately notices all the other eyes and ears watching this interaction unfold and puts his hand on Maria’s back, picking up the clear signal for some privacy. “Why don’t we bring ‘em inside?”

“Yeah, you hungry,” she asks Ellie.

“Starving,” the girl groans. You smile a bit, feeling pretty amused at this whole thing. From the stories you’ve been told about Joel it seemed very unlikely he’d be traveling with a companion, much less a child.

Tommy steps aside as you walk back through the gate first, Maria and Ellie behind you. “False alarm. They're friendlies,” you shout, walking further in the power plant leading the group. You take a quick glance around at the other scouts on shift, watching them watch the newcomers. Everybody was on edge, everybody was wary. The fact Tommy and Maria were letting some strangers in, in the midst of repairing an essential component to Jackson functioning properly, was not going past anybody.

You can hear Maria as she explains the stares and the heavily armed posts to Joel somewhere behind you, “We’ve been dealing with raids. Lots of bandits in this area.”

“It’s been quiet for a few days,” Tommy adds on, explaining why they answered at the gate so aggressively, as if it was any consolation of almost killing his brother and the girl.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I’d find you in Jackson.”

“Been trying to bring the plant back to life,” Tommy explains.

This time you chime in, “We had it working before, but one of the turbines went south about a week ago. Been tryin’ to fix it up.”

Tommy adjusts his rifle on his shoulder. “We have electricity Joel… had. We’ll get it running again.”

Ellie runs past you, approaching a few of the horses. “No way! You guys have horses.”

“We got a whole lot of ‘em,” Tommy tells her. You watch as she puts her hand on the brown and white one, petting it softly.

Beside the horse is Cherry, one of the few horse wranglers in Jackson, she was kind and sweet, pretty young too all things considered. She was tall and bulky from years of shoving heavy loads of hay, sometimes you’d wonder what it’d be like to get tossed around by her. She’s kind of notorious for winning hand-to-hand combat scenarios in the training hall. Not that you ever went.

Cherry tells Ellie about the horse and they get to talking about the animal. You also hear Charlie over your shoulder asking Tommy for help with one of the iron shoes on another horse. You take a few steps back then marching towards the warehouse, settling against the wall next to Earl and he gives you a brief nod acknowledging you. He’s sweet, you think, you’ve never spoken to him much but you recall he’s one of the maintenance men around Jackson. Thankfully he’s the silent type and you don’t have to try and make polite small talk with him.

As you both lean against the wall quietly, you begin watching both Ellie and Joel and how they’re assessing the environment. Ellie seems very excited petting the horse and talking to Cherry but Joel looks on edge, mirroring everyone else. He catches you staring and looks away slowly, now watching Ellie talk to Cherry about going riding later on.

Maria and Tommy make their way towards you and you push off, walking up the stairs and opening the door, you faintly hear Maria talk to Earl about heading back to Jackson. The door creaks open and you let Tommy, Joel, Ellie, then Maria into the warehouse until both your and Maria’s radios crackle. “Maria, we’re in the control room. Steve’s about to start it back up. Do you wanna come check it out?”

Maria sighs and mumbles back to you, “I’d rather eat with Ellie.”

You stifle a bit of a laugh at her candor in front of the others and Tommy interjects, “It’s my turn anyway. I’ll go.”

Joel then volunteers to go with his brother, telling Ellie to go with you and Maria but not before flashing you a look that says something akin to ‘try something and I’ll hunt you’.

Before Ellie could protest, Maria pulls her along. “C’mon, Ellie. Let’s give the boys some space.”

The three of you are relatively quiet leading back to the office room where the food was. Ellie kept looking over her shoulder, likely for Joel. You started wondering how he came across her, doubting any possibility she was his daughter. Tommy would have known if that were the case.

You gave a look over at Ellie, now seeing her a little closer. She looks slightly gaunt, likely hasn’t eaten in a few days you suspect which worries you a bit. No kid should have to go without.

“When was the last time you ate,” you ask her.

She ponders for a moment, “Before we got here I was pretty sure that the next squirrel I saw I was gonna eat.”

You and Maria raised your eyebrows at her admission before gently laughing as you reached the room. Maria pulls out some jars of fruit and a container of jerky from underneath and hands it to her, “Here, eat some of this. We have better options back in Jackson but while we don’t have a full service kitchen out here, this is the best we got.”

“That’s okay! I’ll eat almost anything at this point,” she openly admits. You take notice in how expressive she is, likely warming up to you and Maria now.

The three of you get to talking, making idle chatter over a few opened mason jars and a hefty supply of jerky. The more you talk with Ellie, the more you grow to like her. She’s got a mouth of a sailor and sarcasm that’d turn any old man running. 

Wonder if she’s annoyed the hell out of Joel, you muse. Now you sit, chewing on fruit and imagining how easy it’d be to get under his skin. You’re torn out of your thoughts when the lights suddenly turn on, “Thank the damned stars! I’m ready to get out of here. Everybody is driving me up the wall.”

Maria throws a loose grape at you, “Thanks a lot, asshole.”

“Anytime,” you wink.

“How long have you two known each other,” Ellie asks you both. 

You pop a piece of fruit in your mouth, “Just two years. She was already married to Tommy when I arrived.”

“Can’t believe you’re married to his brother,” Ellie groans. “Joel is such a grump, can’t imagine how the other one is.”

Maria nods and smiles, still eating some of the peaches. “Oh, trust me. Some days I want to strangle him. Didn’t expect to ever meet Joel, if I’m bein’ honest.”

“I couldn’t recognize him, not even by that photo,” you say mindlessly, reaching for your canteen and drinking water.

Ellie picks her head up a little more, “Photo? What photo?”

Maria gets up from her seat and walks to one of the duffle bags in the other room, she searches around before she pulls out a photo and when she returns, hands it to Ellie. She gestures to you, “Her and Tommy went down to Texas about a year ago, he wanted to see what was left of his and Joel’s old life and scavenge what they could.”

“We didn’t find much,” you continue, “Tommy didn’t think he’d ever see his brother again, it was like his way of saying goodbye so he took this photo of him and a couple others.”

“Who’s the girl,” Ellie asks looking at the picture.

“Sarah.” You shift in your seat, not feeling entirely comfortable with this conversation anymore. 

Maria finishes your sentence, “She was his daughter. She didn’t survive very long after the outbreak.”

Before you could try to steer the conversation in another direction, a loud siren echoed through the hall as shouts filled the warehouse.

“Bandits,” someone shouted as gunshots rang out.

You stand up and push Ellie behind you, looking for your rifle. It was too far away, tucked under one of the abandoned desks. “Fuck,” you shout as you see a handful of hunters enter the room.

Drawing the two handguns strapped to your thighs, you begin to take shots at them, not exactly hitting them where it was vital but enough to make them stumble and drop. Maria grabs you by the shoulder, “Let’s go!”

You retreat backwards into the closed off manager-type office and from the corner of your eye you see a man rise from the other side of a broken window and take aim at Ellie behind you. You whipped around and shoved against her with an ‘oof’ just as you hear something whizz past you and hit the wall above the two of you.

Hovering above Ellie, you keep her head down with your right hand, abandoning the gun beside her as you and Maria take alternating shots at the invaders. “Move, Ellie,” you tell her, lifting yourself up to give her room to maneuver into the office while shielding her.

Maria shuffles into the room after you and the girl, “There’s more coming in. We can’t take all of them.”

“Shit, okay,” you look around frantically. You were running low on bullets now, the rest of your spare ammunition was left in your backpack. In an entirely different area. Your eyes searched around the small room and you got Maria’s attention, together you pulled a nearby table into the office, barricading yourselves. 

“Under the table, now,” she yells at Ellie then looks at you.“Guess we’ll have to wait for the men to save us,” she says a little bitterly.

Together, the three of you hid. Waiting for the echo of bullets to cease after what feels like a lifetime.

Faintly, you could hear the familiar voice of Tommy yelling and a gruff one responding, likely his brother. You released the breath you had been holding onto as the last gunshot rang out. Between you and Maria, Ellie had her hands over her ears and she slowly lowered them until jumping up and shouting “They’re all dead!”

Maria rose to her feet as Tommy and her called out for each other, “The kid’s with us!” She jumps out the shattered window and runs to her husband as they check over each other.

You help Ellie out the office room the same way and Joel looks over her the same way as she recalls the attack.  “Joel, oh, man…,” Ellie begins talking so fast that she’s out of breath. “They were coming in from every direction and they were both like ‘we gotta run’ and so we dove over these tables and this huge guy blasts in with a shotgun-”

“Slow down, slow down. Listen-,” Joel cuts her off. He puts his hands on her shoulders and looks her in the eye, “Hey, hey, are you hurt?”

“No!” She looks at you, “She protected me!”

Joel follows her gaze and you look him in the eye, cocking an eyebrow at him. 

You’re not really competitive, you don’t really like attention either, but there was something about Joel fuckin’ Miller that really got to you. Maybe it was the way he seemed to be mindful of everything, maybe it was the way his eyes roamed over your body, maybe it was the fact he was unfortunately making you squirm where you stood as his hardened glare seemed to see right through you, asking you to try him.

Whatever it was, his hardened stare made you quiver ever so slightly. You took a few very mindful steps away from the man, walking towards Maria and Tommy when you caught the tail end of whatever he was saying to your best friend, “- to talk.”

It seemed like that was not what Maria wanted to hear as her already pale face grew paler and her signature scowl etched back across her face.

[italoniponic]

so this golden sunshine boy with flaws loved by all and this king of volley strategies with a silly side also loved by all

have the same voice and I needed to look at myanimelist to realize THAT?!