#definitely a variety of things going on over here but I still want to see about getting the middle idea fleshed out more

[stevieschrodinger]

Part one

Steve’s alone with fish guy, and it’s the perfect time to make his second attempt. For the first time Steve figures the guy must finally be relaxing, if only a tiny bit. The frozen peas were a massive hit, and maybe that’s helping. Being hungry like that must be really shitty, especially if it’s for a long time, like Steve suspects from the look of fish guy.

Maybe fish guy is starting to realize that this isn’t the labs under Starcourt any more. That Steve and his friends aren’t here to hurt fish guy.

Steve flicks another pea off into the water as he drinks his coffee; fish guy retrieves it in a flash, his eel like black tail easy to spot in the water, quickly coming back for more.

The kids keep calling him a merman - but he doesn't look like any cartoon or kids picture Steve's ever seen. His tail is too flat, for one, definitely more like an eel, plus there's no fins that Steve can see.

Steve offers him a handful of peas, carefully cupping them until fish guy has his hands cupped underneath, ready for them to be tipped in. They don’t touch, and Steve vaguely wonders if the guy will feel cold from the water. The skin of his fingers isn’t pruned like a regular persons would be, which makes sense since he’s a fish guy. Maybe he’ll feel clammy, or rubbery. Or scaly. Steve van very vaguely remember petting a stingray in a low tank at the aquarium once, surrounded by other kids. Might have been a field trip or something, but he can remember how surprised he was by the feeling of the mottled brown skin. Super rough, like sandpaper. Fish guy doesn’t look like he’ll feel like that either, though.

Fish guy eats his handful of peas and then looks back to Steve expectantly; or at least, that’s what he’d call it on a human person. It must be the same sort of thing though, right? The top half, at least, is built the same, right?

Steve’s down to his last handful of frozen peas; he’s already called Robin, she’s going to pick up a bunch of groceries of the green variety on her way over after her shift later. Also a few other bits, like carrots and bell peppers, to see if fish guy will try them.

Steve holds up a single pea between his thumb and pointer finger. Fish guy’s eyes track it from where he floats, a foot away from the ledge. Steve taps his chest, “Steve,” and then he points to fish guy.

Like last night, he comes a little closer, lifting out of the waster a little and then, cautiously points at Steve, he makes a noise that...kind of...sounds like ‘Steve’. His voice is raspy, and the word is kind of mangled, more of a sad ‘Steee,’ but near enough. It looks like he’s really trying, brow furrowed with concentration.

It’s not what Steve wanted, but Steve gives him the pea.

It’s overcast today, same as yesterday, and the day before. Blowy and cold. Steve doesn’t want to stay out here much longer, so he dumps the remaining peas into the water and then gets up and heads inside to wait for Robin.

Steve’s nearly at the door when he hears a splash and then a mournful, “Steeeeeeeeee.” and immediately regrets all of his life choices.

He sighs, and goes back to the pool, “yeah?”

Fish guy tilts his head, frowning, and then lifts his had out of the water, pointer finger and thumb a smidge apart...just like he’s holding an imaginary pea.

Well. Communication is definitely something they will be able to work on then. But Steve flaps the bag, showing the picture of the peas on the front, and the face that it’s very clearly empty, “all gone. Finished,” Steve makes a cutting motion in the air with the side of his hand, to indicate they’re done.

“Inied,” the fish guy manages cautiously.

“Yeah, finished.”

The fish guy watches him for a second, and then dips back down under the water, off too huddle in the bottom corner of the pool.

Steve wonders vaguely if he’s still hungry, but hopefully it won’t be that much longer before Robin gets here.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who really, genuinely likes celery.”

“Me neither, it’s like peppery water.”

“With hair in.”

Fish guy though, very clearly, likes the celery. He didn’t quibble over the cucumber either, that disappeared very quickly. He was cautious about the carrots, but with a little encouragement, and a lot of sniffing, he ate the bottom half of one, not seeming to like it so much at the thicker end.

Steve hands him an entire bell pepper, watches as fish guy takes a bite. He seems to like it, but then pulls a face, scraping desperately at the seeds on his tongue and spitting the whole mess out into the water. Steve can’t help laughing. Fish guy looks affronted. The look of genuine distaste and irritation on his face is very human and also hilariously funny.

“Oh Steve, I think you offended him,” Steve wipes the tears away to see that Robin is right, and fish guy has gone to huddle in the far corner of the pool, only his eyes peeking out. That’s got to suck, having no where to go. No where to hide; no privacy at all.

“This has got to suck for him; he’s stuck in an empty box,” Steve tries to imagine living his entire existence in a completely empty room; he can’t, not really.

“Well what can we even do with him? He seems to be freshwater, so the oceans are out. Even if we let him go in a lake, we don’t know what he understands about people, if he got caught…” she trails off. Steve doesn’t need any help imagining what could happen.

“I don’t know but...we need a plan...and he needs something to do.”

“What like, enrichment for his enclosure?”

It’s the first sunny day for a while. Steve had been getting resentful about it but a bit of warm sunshine is starting to make up for it already.

Steve looks uncertainly down at the bucket of dollar store toys he’s paid for. Doesn’t matter that the kids picked them all out, apparently Steve is still the money in this operation.

Plus gas; they had to travel further since the mall is now a fenced off ruin.

All the kids are on their knees at one end of the pool; all of them holding something. There’s a slinky (he can play with it along the edge), a Rubik’s cube (water proof, and we might be able to figure out if he can see color), a bucket, a plastic dog bowl (it’ll float, you can fill it with peas), a rubber duck, and a ball.

Fish guy, on the other hand, had retreated to the furthest corner he could, curled up into a ball, and stayed there.

Steve’s starting to suspect that the noise of the kids constant chatter and bickering is actually a bit too much for fish guy to handle, from the way he either hides or watches them wearily from the other end of the pool. If they move, he moves.

“Maybe if we spread out, then one of use will be close enough because he won’t have anywhere to go-”

“Absolutely not,” Steve tells Dustin, “that’s cruel, if he’s hiding it’s for a reason. Just let the stuff be and he will deal with it when he’s ready.”

He gets a little bit of whining from them, mostly Will and Dustin, if he’s honest, all the other kids seem to be really understanding.

The ball and the bucket they let go to float around in the water, and the kids soon loose interest and head off to cause trouble elsewhere.

Steve desperately wants to dip his feet in the pool, same as he would on any other day, but since there’s someone living in it, it feels kind of rude. Like he’d be knowingly walking mud into someone's house, or something.

Steve kneels at the same end of the pool the kids were at, he doesn’t want to startle fish guy by appearing right above him. If he comes to Steve or not should be his choice, but Steve has two bunches of celery and a dog food bowl filled to the brim with frozen peas, so he thinks his chances are pretty good right now.

He’s right, fish guy does come over, but his whole face is scrunched up and he misses the celery on the first try; it takes Steve an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure it out, even with the guy eating with his eyes pretty much closed.

It’s the first fully sunny day they’ve had, and the guy had been in a shitty artificially lit lab, and before that, presumably the Upside Down for his whole life.

It’s fucking bright out here.

And even as he takes his sunglasses off, Steve has no idea how to communicate this with fish guy.

Steve has the bowl of peas for leverage, but still. He shows them to fish guy, who, squinting, does come closer. And then Steve hands over the glasses. Fish guy, face all scrunched up, tilts his head, looking at them.

Steve takes them back, put them on, takes the off, and offers them again. Ever so carefully and slowly, fish guy takes the glasses. Steve knows fish guy is at least kind of smart; he’s confident he will figure this out. He’s proved correct pretty fast when fish guy holds them up so he can blink up through the lenses.

And then he...very carefully, almost comically carefully, slides them on.

He grins up at Steve, and Steve floats the dog bowl in the water, giving it a nudge.

Fish guy looks delighted.

Part Three

[harryshouseenthusiast]

I want to make a list of my favorite writers on here! This will be the author’s whose writing speaks to me the most! To add, just because I didn’t add someone doesn’t mean I don't like them, I will try my best to update this because i haven't used Tumblr as much recently so I'm still finding all the pages. And i want to write something about each author so I'll take time <3

@jawllines - I’ve read her writing for YEARS and subbed to her Patreon, I love all her tropes so much, especially Grumpy Harry! She is definitely and Og for me, I haven't read fanfics as long as I've been a fan, and I've read like the 1D preferences, but my first full out one-shot was the one where Harry and Y/N pick berries as a summer job.

@moonchildstyles - I love all the AU she chooses to write Harry in, I found her a bit more recently 2022, which now writing that looks so long ago but feels recently 😭 I love how she has so many blurbs/checkups too! i am subbed to her patron as well! I love the gentleness of how she writes harry, especially in citrine, he is so soft and i love it

@jarofstyles - Not only do they have mouthwatering smut, but I love how they have a bunch a shorter AU blurbs, sometimes I don't want to read a full one shot, and they have so many blurbs. One writing love in particular is Braking plates, I love some good angst to fluff. I am also subbed to their Patreon

@erodasfishtacos -I absolutely love her work and it's so upsetting how she was treated on this app. I'm glad she was able to move over to patron to continue her passion, I have subbed, and her work is phenomenal. She introduced me to one of my favorite underrated tropes, Deaf!H. I love how she writes her ABO tropes, that's another one of my favorites.

@harrysbabycherry - The first fic I read from her was the one when Y/N was a vampire and the was a kinda unique topic for me because I've always read Fics of Vampire!H, one of my fav tropes, But I loved the switch up. And I've just really e njoyed her following works. I also love the few Halloween writings she did, i love spooky H.

@gurugirl - The first thing I read of hers was the Stepdad!H, and I was hooked her smut is divine, absolutely amazing. I love how she portrays dark harry and forbidden/taboo relationships. I would love to sub to her patron, but unfortunately, I can't fit it into my budget as of now, but I will be subscribing one day. I love how she specifically says no sad endings because i also get too attached and cannot handle it.

@harryforvogue - It's been a bit since I've read her work, so I'm excited to catch up. She is actually the account that got me into reading books with OC. I previously only read reader insert Fics, but her writing was so good, and I noticed that OC writings give me different emotions than Y/N Fics. if that makes sense.

@watermelonlovershigh - I absolutely love how she writes soft Harry. She writes him so gentle and caring. It’s a nice contrast for the mafia stuff I read😭. She was also the first person ive read a sickfic from and I don’t see many of those, so it was different than what I’ve normally read and I loved it! She’s an amazing writer.

@atlafan - I love love their work!! Office neighbors is *chef’s kiss* I love the variety of the one shots, and all the aus!! But back to office neighbors, it’s been a while since I’ve read it but i got sooo hooked on it, I love single parent tropes and anything where Harry is a teacher/professor. Andy has my ❤️. I’m going to be rereading some of their series soon because it’s been so long !!(sorry if you got like 20 notifications when I was making this I’m ass at using this app😭)

As i said i will be adding to this as time goes on! If anyone has someone the want me to check out lmk!

(Sorry for typos)

[honoura]

Shaaloani: The Land of Enchantment Part One

Hello again! It's another lore-adjacent post from me about a niche special interest of mine. This time it's Shaaloani, the American Southwest/Northern Mexico inspired zone in FFXIV's Dawntrail.

I want to disclose a few things right at the start just to temper people's expectations: I will not be definitively ID'ing any of the indigenous-inspired structures or visuals as inspired by any specific tribe. That's not my lane! I'm going to link to things that they remind me of, for sure. But otherwise my hyperfocus is going to be on the physical environment, some animals, and the ceruleum as petroleum industry. It's what I recognize best! And what I know best, truthfully.

"Hon why are you doing this?" A variety of reasons honestly. After DT dropped I saw a lot of folks who did at least one of the following:

Commented on the Old West theme park aspect

Called it "miqo'te Texas"

Generally just called the whole map "Texas"

And if I'm honest... it bugged me! Not because I thought anyone was being malicious about it (it's mostly pop culture saturation I'd suspect), but to me it stung a bit that this zone, which I grew up on the fringe of, was... kind of flattened by a lot of people?

I don't know, the response to me just felt like people assumed they knew everything about it because they'd seen it already in movies or TV or Red Dead Redemption rather than the same open-mindedness about what was presented in places like Urqopacha.

This zone isn't just Texas -- yes there are some bits and pieces here (because it's pulling from the Chihuahuan Desert and the Sonoran Desert), but so much of it reminds me of New Mexico, Mexico, and Arizona. There's some Colorado, Utah, and Nevada there too! And the background story going on there is something that still happens in a lot of those states, by both the government and corporations alike.

That variety deserves to be celebrated! So come learn with me about the inspiration for Shaaloani!

Shaaloani Geography

Shaaloani has three major regions in the zone -- Eshceyaani Wilds, Pyariyoanaan Plain, and Yawtanane Grasslands. To get this out of the way, I'm going to tell you the one that reminds me most of Texas.

Ready?

Lake Taori of the Pyariyoanaan Plain.

It's river-fed, with canyons on both ends of the Niikwerepi. The trees crowding around it are cypress trees, as you can tell by the little nubby off-shoots called knees. To compare, here is a photo of cypress trees along the Frio River:

This is also reminiscent of places along the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers, two significant water sources in West Texas. I also would not call them bayous! Bayous typically have brackish water, are slow-moving, and are way too far east.

However, it could be partly considered a ciénega -- which according to its wikipedia article:

"Ciénagas are usually associated with seeps or springs, found in canyon headwaters or along margins of streams. Ciénagas often occur because the geomorphology forces water to the surface, over large areas, not merely through a single pool or channel."

As a caveat, ciénegas generally don't have trees around them, but I also know that you can't really drown a cypress and they love sunshine. Regardless -- if you see trees in the desert they are typically growing along a water source. Balmorhea State Park has some cottonwood trees native to the area that are going strong.

Yawtanane Grasslands reads as a mix of the Chihuahuan Desert and the Eastern Plains of Colorado. Both are rather arid and home to a variety of grasses that can thrive in such a climate -- which has historically made both areas home to large cattle industries (whether or not this was ever a good idea is debatable, since cattle are very thirsty animals).

Meanwhile the Eshceyaani Wilds looks similar to the Sonoran Desert -- the red-hued soil and rocks, the abundance of cacti with the scrub brush and some drought-tolerant grasses. Here's a shot of the Sonoran within Saguaro National Park in Arizona:

Saguaros also only grow in Arizona in the States! As well as the organ-pipe cactus, which you see in Tender Valley. And prickly pears grow just about anywhere they can get a chance -- as well as barrel cacti, both of which we see in Tender Valley (along with what could be agave!).

You could probably make a case for it being a piñon-juniper scrubland -- everything's very short compared to those cypress trees, including the juniper trees! Piñon-juniper scrubland's found throughout the Southwest. There are also piñon-juniper savannahs and persistent woodlands intermixed in the same places. The difference lay in what plants you find with the piñon pines and junipers.

Visually, aside from the Sonoran Desert, I can also see a lot of New Mexico, like the Ghost Ranch in Rio Arriba:

It matches up with the mountains you can see, and both Yowekwa Canyon and Tender Valley. And of course, Tender Valley is likely a Grand Canyon reference, going by the sheer height of the cliffs. But you could also make a case for Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

There's a shot from Grand View Point Overlook within the park -- the closeness of the canyon walls and the warm earth tones also evoke Tender Valley!

There's also a lot of these sandstone formations in Utah that better fit Shaaloani -- like here in the Valley of the Gods:

Shaaloani Structures

I also at this point want to call attention to one of the two sites with cliff dwellings & adobe structures. We just saw Tender Valley above, which is confirmed to be old Yok Huy structures. But check out these Tonawawta buildings below.

As I stated before, I don't want to state which tribe these two styles remind me of. But I do want to say this again strikes me as another New Mexico and Arizona callback; both the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the Puye Cliff Dwellings are found in two different areas of New Mexico. And the Gíusewa Pueblo, also in New Mexico! Montezuma Castle is found in Arizona, and is pictured below! Look at that rich reddish earth color.

I also want to call attention to the place of worship for the Tonawawta in Yowekwa Canyon:

When I saw it my kneejerk response was to call it an ofrenda. But that's ultimately an incomplete response -- that was just the vibe I felt after seeing them during my life! What it also reminds me of are pictographs and petroglyphs. You find these all over the Southwest (the climate helps preserve them!), but I'm going to link some really great examples. I won't provide images to all though!

Crow Canyon Petroglyphs:

Piedras Madras Canyon at Petroglyph National Monument (New Mexico) Petroglyph Point Trail at Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado) Petroglyph Panel at Canyon Reef National Park (Utah) Nampaweap at Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Arizona) Horseshoe Canyon at Canyonlands National Park (Utah) and the Hueco Tanks State Park (Texas)

In contrast, I don't want to spend a ton of time on the boom town structures in this zone; they are pretty straightforward references to mining towns during the different resource booms (gold, silver, copper, oil).

Similar blocky shapes, built out of wood. One thing I noticed as a neat addition are the decorative patterns painted on it -- again, I don't want to presume if there's a specific tribe tied to this. But I do think it's a neat touch and I want to think that's a design choice to convey the underlying theme that this is a zone at odds with advancing technology and wanting to keep hold of important traditions.

I WILL talk about the ceruleum wells and pumping though. Mostly because I'm impressed that they went with structures that so closely resemble early 20th century oil derricks. Those were also predominately made of wood (including the barrels, yikes!). The pump part of what's called a pumpjack were covered in the old days -- the ones we're most used to seeing now are made of metal and are thus left uncovered.

However, as you can see from this century old rig, even the wheel's made of wood:

I don't think ceruleum gushes the same way oil did -- it seems to behave more like natural gas. However, most natural gas pipelines do burn off excess, which can be seen as a little spout of flame atop.

Oil's occupied an awkward spot in the Southwest, and still does. Aside from the heinous crimes committed in Killers of the Flower Moon (where members of the Osage tribe were murdered for their oil shares in Oklahoma) and the Teapot Dome Scandal, oil is just... well.

Bear with me, I'm about to rag on Koana a moment.

The people who make the most money and have the most power over the average roughneck's life never live in the Southwest. They work in the c-suite and have more money than sense.

I find it very fascinating that DT chose to recreate this dynamic, this uncomfortable push-pull of a region rich in a resource, and it's being harvested at the suggestion and behest of a power that is physically removed from the area. And to some NPCs it's with a certain level of disregard to traditions and practices in place before, with the focus on the nebulous quantifier of 'progress'. Progress how? It depends!

But the folks at the highest seat of power never have to grapple with those questions, because to them it's a fairly cut and dry answer. This is the way to proceed, and if they want to take this nation into the "future", then this is the clear way to do it. It speaks to Koana's fixation on foreign technology to the point he de-values his own (partly due to his childhood trauma, which kind of prepped him to be susceptible to it).

Meanwhile the locals are the ones grappling the most with this change -- how it affects their plants and animals. Sometimes pits open up in the earth and ceruleum burns (which, Santa Rita New Mexico sank multiple times into the earth thanks to copper mining). On the map there's even discolored plants -- and they only occur in the vicinity OF the bulk of the ceruleum pumps.

This is at odds with core beliefs, keeping up with traditional practices. It puts people in the place of 'do I participate in this system, which promises work and the means to take care of my family, even as it pits me against my cultural heritage?'.

Growing up in West Texas, one of the weirdest things to me (to this day) is how many people will claim they love the land. They do! They love the outdoors, they worry over how certain species of animals have become scarcer. But they also work in the single most damaging industry because it pays the most money. It lets them cover bills and give their kids what they never had.

That same push-pull is in Shaaloani narratively; when progress has been thrust upon you, how do you survive it? How do you make sure what's dearest to you comes along with you?

In Conclusion

I want to call it here for Part One -- Part Two after this will cover more observations I had regarding flora and fauna in the Shaaloani zone, and how that also shows the attention to detail given this zone! It's a good time! There will be dinosaurs!

[spiceofvy]

yo here's a soft one: skz as shopping partners. Domestic fluff. Maybe more paragraphs per member for this one? If you like, that is.

🐙

Shopping with SKZ

a/n: i do not know why this took me so long, i finished the first draft for this almost 6 months ago and just never edited it because i was super unsatisfied. but now after stepping away from it i actually really like it and editing it was so much fun...

cws: gender neutral reader, sfw, fluff, one hint to something sexual (jisung), honestly this is just fluff

Chan: Honestly, is always just super excited to go out with you, loves to spoil you when you go shopping together. Isn't the best at giving advice, while he does have an okay idea of fashion himself, he just loves everything you wear and wants to get all of it for you. Also likes to take candid pictures of you, while you look around, smiling fondly the whole time.

"I missed going out with you." "Hey babe, look over here really quick." "You look so amazing. How do I deserve you?"

Minho: Number one when it comes to acts of service. Holds all the bags for you, carries the clothes hangers as you look around, gets you clothes in a different size so you don't have to leave the changing room. Also gives really good advice about the clothes that you are trying on. Overall just a really good shopping companion. Wants to go lingerie shopping afterwards with you.

"This shirt in a different size? Sure, let me get it for you." "Hm, that's cute, but I think I liked the first one more." "Wait, give me that bag."

Changbin: The worst partner ever. Because he just thinks that everything looks perfect and amazing on you. Great for your confidence but terrible for your wallet. But definitely offers to pay. Even if you decline him paying for everything he will still buy you extras, or the same thing in different colors so you can have some variety.

"Wait, you look so great. Try another one." "Uh, I love how you look in both of them." "Okay, how about you pay for the red one. And I get you the blue and the purple one?"

Hyunjin: Absolute opposite of Changbin. He is soo critical. Not of you but of the clothes and how they don't do enough for you. It's nothing personal, just his amazing fashion sense. You look great in the end, but he still takes you out for dinner afterwards as an apology for making you go through the hassle.

"No." "You look great, but the shirt doesn't show it." "Okay, let me treat you. You were such a great model for me."

Jisung: Gets bored super easily. But you can easily get his attention back by letting him pick out something for you to wear. Low key picks really good clothes for you, somehow matches you aesthetic perfectly without thinking too much about it. Jokes about joining you in the cabin while you change. But gets flustered when you actually call him in.

"Another store? Are you suuuuure?" "Okay, I picked this and this and this and this." "Wait? Really? Right now? What if someone sees?"

Felix: Shopping with Felix often turns into shopping for Felix. No matter if you are in the mens or womens section, he always finds something that suits his taste. Loves getting couples outfits together. Compliments you the whole time, and needs to take photos of you in his favorite outfits. Also takes a ton of selfies with you while walking from one store to another.

"Oh that would look so cute on us." "I love how you look in that." "You think that would suit me too?"

Seungmin: Looks uninterested but is really invested. Always sneaks clothing he would like for you to wear into the cabin, acting innocent when you question it. Very honest with his opinion, positive as well as negative, but it's actually super helpful. Gets you both coffee afterwards. Will put the clothes away into your closet when you get home, he has a very strict system for that.

"What? No you picked that shirt. You don't remember?" "Ah, I don't love the shirt. But the jacket is amazing." "Okay, lets get some coffee into you."

Jeongin: Gives amazing advice, maybe he spent too much time around Hyunjin or the Stylists rubbed off on him but he somehow became a fashion guru. Carries your bags and offers to pay for everything. You get a lot of jealous stares, which makes him a little bit cocky and makes him spend even more money on you. Gets suuuper shy when you get kinda naked-y.

"Okay, but I think the purple one suited your undertones more." "That would go really well with that new pair of jeans we just got." "Put your wallet away, it's on me today."

[thoughtfulfiction]

Hike of a Lifetime

Author’s Note: Set in the 2022 offseason after Justin’s labrum surgery in January 2023. Rewriting my first Justin fic is a full circle moment for me so I hope you like this one!

The last two hours of your life had been spent going over orders of Gatorade protein shakes, protein pack quick bites that usually contained some sort of cheese and sausage, various brands of Greek yogurt, apples, bananas, blueberries, granola bars and anything else you could think of to stock the weight room with while you were on vacation. You had been the head nutritionist for the UCLA men's basketball team for the last year, making customized, ever changing meal plans and consulting with the health care staff to enhance your athlete's performance to the best of your ability.

After the team's loss to Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament known as March Madness, you ran to Eugene, Oregon at the first opportunity you had to go see your sister Chloe. March up until this point was one busy day after another, truly living up to the name. Most days you didn't even feel like you got to sit down for more than 10 minutes at a time due to the constant travel and meetings you had to attend. So you took a week off and as soon as you closed your laptop today, you were going to enjoy being one with nature.

Chloe had moved to Eugene two years before you got your LA job, working as a team photographer for the University of Oregon's football team, allowing the two of you to see each other during conference play more often, which had done wonders for your relationship. It's one thing to be siblings but you could genuinely call her a friend now, which was both weird to say aloud, and nice.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Chloe steps into the living room, breaking you out of your vigorous typing. You look up and groan at the guilty look on her face. That was definitely an I have a work emergency and I’m going to be leaving you, look.

"No. You're not canceling on me. I got here two days ago and I have yet to really be outside. How am I supposed to enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery of my life if I'm stuck at the house the whole time? Does spring ball even matter anyway?"

Chloe laughs, heading into the kitchen to grab a snack. You'd recently lectured her about how although cereal is a grain, she can't consider it a food group and she needs to introduce more of a balanced variety in her diet. Unless she enjoys her daily 4pm sugar crash. She surprises you by pulling out a bowl of overnight oats from the fridge, with strawberries on top. After giving her your nod of approval, she gets back to the issue at hand. "Yes, spring ball matters. But I promise you it will not take me that long, I'll be back before you know it."

You huff out a breath, trying to come up with a solution. "What if you have one of your interns do it? Mine are really holding down the fort this week, I'm obviously working from home to help them out a little and I think you should do the same."

"Well our jobs are a little different. I can give them things to edit and post but I don't want to have to approve every single one of their photos and make sure they're featuring the right position groups and players based on a schedule that I created in my head. It'll just be easier if I'm there to walk them through it and then I can come home and we'll have a relaxing week until you have to be back in messy Hollywood."

"It's just Los Angeles, not Hollywood, genius. I still work at a university just like you do," you laugh at her exaggerated version of the place you now call home.

She rolls her eyes, stepping away from her food to grab her keys. "Same difference. It's all polluted air and earthquakes anyway."

Finally finished with your task, you stand up to snatch the keys out of her hand and lead the way to the garage. "Whatever, I'm in clean air now and would really like to be able to experience it. So I'll be dropping you off and getting to my hike."

You get out of the car and the sun immediately hits your skin, not in a way that’s intense but rejuvenating, bringing you back to life. The scent of early spring, mixed in with the sweet smell of freshly bloomed rhododendron sparks a further revival. The air really is different here. Life is more…undisturbed.

Families are getting out of their vehicles without a crushing sense of urgency that you’re used to, people are laughing and enjoying each other’s company and you’ve been to this park before so you feel somewhat comfortable navigating the terrain on your own, opting to quiet the sounds of the world by listening to a podcast during your leisurely stroll. Without even making it a mile on the trail, you spot a friendly black dog making his way over to you, nudging your leg with his wet nose, essentially demanding that you pet him. You usually probably wouldn’t have but the serene energy of the space you’re in brings it out of you.

“Well hello there, buddy. Who do you belong to?” You bent down to search for a name on his collar. “Dylan, that’s a cute name. Should we go find who you came here with before someone has a heart attack?” You laughed softly as the dog happily panted away and let you grab onto the leash. Before you could even take a step, you heard a booming voice calling out the dog’s name.

The distressed figure comes into view and lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh my gosh, thank you so much for grabbing him. I’m so sorry if he’s bothering you, I bent down to tie my shoe and this guy decided to make a break for it.”

“He’s taking advantage of the fact that you only have one good arm.” You point out, remembering the shoulder surgery announcement you saw in the LA Times. The man was probably getting used to having both arms again. “No worries, he’s sweet. And super friendly.” You handed him the leash and he thanked you again.

“I seriously owe you, my mom would’ve killed me if I lost our dog when I just got home.” He chuckles nervously. God his laugh was cute. “I’m sorry, I never got your name. I’m Justin.”

“I know.” You smile. “It’s nice to meet you though, I’m y/n. Hope you enjoy the rest of your hike.” You grabbed your AirPods and went to place them back in your ears to finish getting lost in your own little world once again before he stops you.

“Wait—maybe we could finish out the hike…together? You know, just so Dylan doesn’t take advantage of me again.” Maybe he was just being cautious because there was no way he was flirting with you…right?

Those green eyes were going to get you in trouble and you knew it. But you were on a beautiful scenic getaway and hiking with Justin Herbert wasn’t going to come around every single day.

“Let’s do it. Wouldn’t want you to hurt your shoulder even more chasing after Dylan. Bolt nation might collectively collapse if anything happens to you so I’m calling this a public service.”

He unsuccessfully tries to stifle a laugh. “What a Good Samaritan you are.”

Justin was funny. And sweet. And the most fun company you’ve had in a while. You talked about your job, the entire NCAA tournament and what you both thought about being in LA. Even though you both lived very different lives, it was filled with sports and schedules and meetings and practices and there were a lot of things to bond over. Before you knew it you’d been out there for three hours and Rachel texted you to let you know she was done and ready to resume your sisterly activities. He took a look at your deflated expression.

“Do you need to head out?”

“Yeah, unfortunately.” You whispered. “This was fun though.”

He readjusts the hat on his head. “Yeah this was great. Um, I meant what I said earlier though. I owe you.” He gestures towards the phone in your hands and you hand it to him watching him type in his number, texting himself immediately so he has yours.

“Maybe we could grab dinner or something before you head back to LA?” He states pensively, holding his breath a bit until you answer.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

The two of you head back to the parking lot and you give Dylan one more pat on the head. You look up to meet Justin’s gaze, shy smiles painting both of your faces. He walked you all the way to your car and waved goodbye as you drove away to meet Rachel.

While you waited all you could do was stare at your phone, Justin had given you his number and you had his. He’d put his actual contact information in your phone AND had asked you to go to dinner. None of this felt like real life, what kind of person stumbles upon an NFL quarterback on a normal hike?

“Why are you smiling like that? It scares me.” Chloe interrupts your thoughts. You hadn’t even realized she opened the door and got in the car. “Did that hike change your life or something?” She finished with a dry laugh.

“I’m not sure, but I think it may have…”

Rachel nods her head slowly, desperately hoping to understand what’s going on. “Yeah okay whatever. Let’s get some lunch because I am absolutely starving.”

You put the car in drive, your phone notifying you of a text from its spot on the dashboard car mount. Rachel grabs it and asks, “who the hell is Justin and why is he asking if you’re free tomorrow night?”

“Just some guy I met while hiking, no big deal,” you tried and failed to be nonchalant. She knew you way better than that.

“If it’s really no big deal then tell that to the gigantic smile on your face. You’re going on that date. I’m texting him back to let him know you’ll be free.”

All that Chloe knows is his name. The rest of it you decide to keep to yourself not only to respect his privacy but you want to keep this special thing for you and only you. In case this doesn’t go anywhere, you’ll always have the memory of today and whatever happens on Friday to look back on fondly. And by telling your sister you’re putting a little bit more pressure on it, like this has to become something. You don’t really know this guy yet, only the small tidbits that he shared on the walk and that his family dog’s name is Dylan, who would run away with any stranger if enough treats were offered.

There are so many things going through your mind as you change your outfit for the fourth time tonight. What if he thinks you’re boring? Or he’s boring? What happens if the two of you run out of things to say and you’re just sitting in the restaurant in awkward silence until someone decides to call it a night? Even worse, what if this is the best date you ever go on, you fall for him and then never hear from him again because he’s an NFL quarterback and you sometimes spend three hours a day planning out breakfast options for 18-22 year old basketball players.

You glanced in the mirror, slinging a tiny black purse over your shoulder with a subtle smirk on the way out the door at your final clothing choice. Chloe mentioned that the car outside being a super nice Porsche and you made something up about thinking that he worked in finance or a job closely related to that so she wouldn't keep digging for more information. All she followed up with was "have fun and be safe."

Ambrosia's staff walked you and Justin into the restaurant by the back entrance into a private room, which was the most abnormal part of the night. The rest of the evening was spent consuming seafood stuffed mushrooms, pasta and sharing a classic tiramisu, the best one you'd ever had in your life.

The nerves that once seeped through every pore were quickly replaced with what a vacation was supposed to feel like. Conversation flowed easily, there was no pressure to be perfect or funny or overly sexy. Justin was so…normal. He was pretty, not in a way that was intimidating because you really weren’t sure he realized how attractive he actually is. But pretty in a sense that everything about him made him more attractive. His ability to actively listen to the words you say and bring them back up when it’s relevant. The way his dimples are more pronounced when he laughs. The way he stops mid conversation to say thank you to the service staff every time they refill his water. There wasn’t a bone in his body that wasn’t filled with humility and kindness. Everything he did was gentle. And on top of all of that he paid without hesitation.This date truly had been a breath of fresh air.

“Thank you for tonight, I had a lot of fun.”

His lips curl into a smile, “this was probably the best first date I’ve had.” He doesn’t know why he’s just admitted that to you, but he’s glad it’s out there now.

“Me too,” you stand up out of your chair after he does, a collection of butterflies appearing in your stomach when he places a hand on the small of your back, before encasing his hand with yours to lead you out of the restaurant.

“When are you heading back to LA?” He asks. You only know that because you’re reading his lips and not listening to a word he’s saying. You really want to kiss him.

You hesitate to lean in, bringing your focus back to his eyes, meeting his soft gaze. “I’ll be here for a couple more days, then it’s back to work. What about you?”

“Tomorrow…” he begins, slowly losing his train of thought when a little bit of the light goes out in your eyes. Should he kiss you before he leaves in the morning or wait until you’re both back in California with busy schedules and no clue if and when you’ll see each other again? “…I don’t want to leave now due to some unforeseen circumstances,” he laughs, “unfortunately I’ve got some stuff to take care of. But I’ll call you and we can maybe do this again?”

“Yeah. Definitely. I’ll see you around.” He gave you a warm hug on the way out and you watched him walk away to his car, smiling to yourself at the thought of a second date. You couldn’t wait for that phone call.

Two weeks later...he still hasn’t called. You would’ve been surprised had you not prepared yourself for this very scenario. Even with all of this so-called “preparation,” the radio silence from him still stung. Who would’ve thought this would happen? The NFL quarterback is busy with his offseason recovery while the girl he went on one singular date with continues to replay minute by minute interactions they had. No one could’ve seen this coming. The thought of that date feels like so long ago and the fact that you can remember it in vivid detail is a feels a little humiliating. You can’t even look at an Apple Watch without your stomach ending up in knots.

You've closed your office door today, taking a few hours to yourself in between meetings. Earlier in the day you and the rest of the staff had to sit through a Tyr presentation, listening to the representatives of the brand try to sell you their endurance sports drink and leaving you with some samples. Then you had CLIF come in with some new energy chew flavor samples for the guys to try. All of the boxes of products now sat in your office and you really hoped to spend the rest of the day going through the food budget, managing receipts and preparing for your first year presentations for when the new freshman arrived sometime in June. You were glancing back and forth between Whole Foods receipts and Amazon orders when your phone rang. Too busy and in the middle of crunching numbers, you ignored the call. Then it started ringing again. You stop what you're doing, assuming that if someone is calling you twice in a row, it must be urgent. The contact name flashing on the screen has you frozen in time.

It was Justin.

Even though you've been alone in your office for a while, you look around to make sure you're not making this up and this is actually happening. He's calling you. Finally.

"Hello? Who is this?" You can hear him shuffling around, probably walking around in a circle aimlessly just like you are. Despite your best efforts to seem unfazed.

"I deserve that," he cringes. "I'm so sorry for not calling you sooner."

"What—what made you call me now?"

He can tell your voice is softer than when you first answered, and he missed hearing it. "Um...life got a little ahead of me and that's not an excuse. I just—didn't want you to think that I wasn't ever going to call," he pauses, "can I make you dinner? Tonight? If you're free. And we can talk in person."

You look at the door with a sigh, contemplating your entire existence. And then you think...fuck it. "Yeah sure, I'm free tonight. Text me your address and I'll be there around 7?"

"Seven works, I'll see you tonight."

His house is perfectly spotless. There is just no way that a single adult man in his 20s is naturally this organized and clean. Even the cat, who he introduces to you as Nova, a gorgeous Bengal walks around like she owns the place, greeting you briefly (sizing you up) before trotting away without a second glance. Justin walks you into the kitchen where he's in the middle of plating the meal. He just looked good doing normal things, filling glasses of water, opening and closing the fridge, taking off his apron. You really needed to get a grip. "It smells great in here chef, what's on the menu?"

He laughs a little, presenting his dish like he's the star of a Food Network show. "Tonight I've made for you a Traeger filet mignon seasoned with the Traeger seasoning and chimichurri sauce with a side of roasted garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus."

You happily clap for his A+ presentation and he gives you a bow. "Justin, this looks amazing! I can't wait to dig in."

The man leads you to the table, setting the plate down in front of you before grabbing a seat right next to you. "So...let me explain."

Taking a bite of your food, you shake your head. "You really don't have to explain yourself, we went on one date. There's nothing to explain I mean—”

"Yeah there is. I want you to know that I wanted to call sooner, I really did. But I came back and had to meet with doctors to make sure my recovery was on track and then the draft happened and then I had to talk about the future of my contract and I didn't want the craziness of my life to overshadow what we have going on. The last thing I wanted was for you to feel like you're being put on the backburner."

Unbeknownst to you, he had also been replaying that date...more often that he'd like to admit. Anytime he had a minute to himself he thought about calling, seeing what you're doing. And then there was a meeting, or a draft party or someone needing him to be somewhere. But you were always on his mind and he was glad to now have life slow down a little bit to show you he really did care.

"I get it. Definitely thought you forgot about me there for a second. A few seconds," you correct yourself. "But I knew you were busy and we're here now so you're forgiven. Especially because this steak is incredible."

"Well thank you," he smiles sheepishly.

He begged you not to help him clean up but you insisted. After everything was put away he gave you a tour of the place and then you sat on the couch looking for a movie to watch until the stack of puzzles on the shelf caught your eye.

"You haven't unwrapped this one. Is it new?" You note the plastic wrap lining the box on the shelf meeting you at eye level. The flowers look familiar but you can't exactly remember where you've seen them before.

“There's a lot of flowers at the park we met. Any rhododendron I see now," he nods at the box in your hand, "makes me think of you. So I bought this. Figured we could do it together.” The way he's looking at you when you turn around makes you feel warm and tingly inside.

Something about being with him is addicting. You feel physically drawn to him, this pull, an invisible hold that he has on your heart that soon makes you want to run for the hills. But you know that the second you’re away from him it’ll feel like an important new part of your life has been ripped away. It almost felt like the universe had sent Justin to you as an apology for all men. Even doing something as simple as a puzzle feels like the most romantic thing in the world. All of the pieces are laid out on the table and you tackle the corners first, working from the outside in. You're sitting so close to each other that your arms are touching, reaching and grabbing at the puzzle pieces in sync like a well oiled machine. He pulls you into his lap toward the end when there's a few pieces left, giving you a high five when all 300 pieces are in their rightful place. Your hand is in his once again, like it belongs there, holding you close and steady.

He lets you go momentarily to cup your face, a look of adoration adorning his that makes your chest clench. “I’ve been thinking about kissing you for the last 22 days," Justin whispers, his face so close to yours you can feel his breath on your lips.

"Then why are you still waiting?" You whisper back, barely able to finish your sentence because he's nipping at your bottom lip, teasing you slightly as he runs his thumb across your jaw. You're a puddle in his hands, his lips on yours kissing you with his heart pounding against his chest like he's never kissed anyone before. The kiss is so simple yet the most intense experience either of you have been a part of and you want more. Both of you are fighting for dominance, a somewhat rough dance of tongues and a little bit of teeth increasing in intensity the longer the kiss lasts. You moan into his mouth, feeling him begin to stand at attention underneath you, deepening the kiss by pulling him in even closer by his hair. The other hand is wrapped around his thigh, squeezing his leg and producing goosebumps across his entire body. He had to take a few moments to recover, slightly out of breath at the kiss that he was convinced had just changed his life. "Was that worth the 22 day wait?" You ask with a laugh, holding his head in your hands.

He nods, still incapable of speech, blowing out a breath of relief when the tightness in his pants continues to go down. You lazily make out throughout the entirety of whatever movie he puts on, more than making up for lost time.

You have to be at the facility early for morning workouts so Justin walks you out to your car, pulling you in for one more kiss. "Text me when you get home so I know you made it safe?"

"I will."

Justin lays in bed that night looking at your goodnight text, already planning the third date in his head because he needs to somehow make it better than tonight was. He doesn't have any ideas yet, he just knows he can't get enough of you.

One year later...

You were back in Eugene at your favorite park, ready to get back to your favorite scenery.

"Are you excited?" You ask Dylan, who barks excitedly as you hold onto his leash. That must mean yes.

Justin laughs beside you, grabbing onto your hand. "You ready?" He gives you a kiss on the forehead before the three of you begin your hike.

[feralforfrank]

simon riley x fem!reader

i see so many innocent/soft/polite!reader paired with simon, but i've barely come across mean!reader (to everyone except, eventually, simon).

i want reader that isn't intimidated by his size or his glare or his mask at all. she just finds it annoying as fuck. (you'll see)

two

simon's attention is completely on you from the moment he laid eyes on you. you're in a bar, and he's coming out of the loo, not looking in front of him. he bumps into you — a pretty thing, shorter than him, the top of your head reaching his shoulder — and the collision causes your beer to spill all over your shirt.

"bloody fucking hell, man! watch where you're fucking going!"

you're soaked and your shirt clings on your body, and simon's wide eyes shamelessly wander over it. you're hot.

you look down at the mess he's made, fingers dripping beer as you wave the empty bottle away from you. your eyes snap up to meet his in an icy glare, and he must admit that his rookies back in base would definitely cower under your stare.

"a sorry would be nice. i have nothing to cover myself with and it's cold outside." you scoff.

you raise your eyebrows, waiting for a response. you're surprised he hasn't walked away yet. his eyes express the boredom and unamusement of the situation. you sigh a few seconds later, realising he's opted at staring at your bra rather than being a gentleman and apologising.

you nod at brenda, the bartender, calling her name and sliding the empty bottle her way. to the bathroom it is, then. you just hope you can dry it enough for your bra not to show.

"move, you brute." you push past the silent giant, cursing like a sailor under your breath.

you don't realise he's followed you, in the women's restroom, until several minutes later, when you're struggling to soak up the alcohol with paper towels. simon's leaning on the doorway, arms crossed as he watches you unbutton your shirt.

"y'gonna giv'me a show, lov'?"

he startles you, and you grab the soap by the sink, arm raised to throw it at him, but you stop yourself.

"you've come to spill another drink on me, or just to stare at my boobs?"

you turn your back on him, unbuttoning the rest. sneaking a glance in the mirror, you're surprised to find his eyes cast elsewhere. good.

"you need something, dickhead?" you look at him as you place your shirt directly under the hand dryer, hoping it'll do the job faster.

his eyes don't meet yours, stuck on a big ben painting on the wall.

"didn't get to apologise." his voice is smooth, accent thick.

"well, you're not forgiven. shirt's still soaked and i smell like beer. so..."

if simon was being one hundred percent honest, he was shocked by your boldness. you'd met him several moments ago, yet you'd called him several names, while also glaring daggers. he wasn't used to anyone behaving like that around him or talking to him in that way. he was definitely intrigued.

"a drink on me, then?" additionally to finding you extremely attractive, you seemed interesting and he — although, he wouldn't admit it — wanted to hear more of the variety of names you had for him.

you shake your head. "there's no way i'm staying another minute in here." you pull on your semi-dry shirt. "i stink, curtesy of some random, abnormally tall idiot, who forgets there's shorter pople in the world."

the laugh comes unexpectedly. your eyes train on him as you button up, glaring.

"you're laughing at me, now?"

simon barely shakes his head (while also trying to conceal his laughing), and you, once again, push past him. he follows you albeit a lot slower, watches you as you grab your things and call brenda over to pay her.

he slams the cash on the bar before you can take your wallet out, nodding at the woman and telling her to keep the change.

"i told you, stranger, apology not accepted."

he shrugs, draping his jacket over your shoulders. he'd picked up his things on the way over, dead set on apologising - in his own way. he was never good with words, and you seemed not to like that method either.

"simon."

"what?" you look up to him.

"name's simon. not stranger, or idiot, or dickhead. although, i quite like that one."

your eyes soften the tiniest bit as he looks down to meet your gaze. you notice the crinkle by his eyes when he gives you a stiff smile.

"well, si—dickhead, i'd appreciate it if you didn't use me as a human hanger, and let me go home." you move to shrug off his jacket, but he stops you.

his big hand brushes to the small of your back and he pushes you forwars softly. "go on, then. i don't know the way to your house."

you look confused. eyes narrowed and lips turned downwards in a pout. cute.

"a-are you...? you're walking me home?"

"i gotta show how sorry i am for drenching you in beer, one way or another, right?"

you sigh, shoulders slumping in surrender. you pull your arms through the sleeves, and to no one's surprise, the jacket is massive on you.

you motion for him to follow you. "i got peper spray in my bag though." your icy tone from before is back.

simon suppresses his smirk. "mhm."

"i won't hesitate to use it, dickhead."

man....this is kind of shit....

[traincat]

Do you have any favorite Peter Parker character designs? Older and newer? And any one that you'd just personally prefer for him?

Yeah, I feel like I've definitely developed like, a preferred Face for Peter built over various designs throughout the years. (The caterpillar eyebrows are very important to me.) The thing is, I also think, allowing for the wide variety of artistic styles he's been drawn in over the years, up until recently Peter had a pretty consistent design overall.

I really like how both Romitas draw him, for example, but for different reasons. John Romita Sr has a very romantic take on characters in general, which you know, makes sense, he drew for romance comics. It's his art style that really moved Peter away from Ditko's spikier characterization into a more romantic, mature leading man.

(ASM #66) Don't love how often he has blue eyes in this period (I am solidly Team Brown Eyes when it comes to Peter) but I do appreciate the evolution of his design, and I think Romita Sr is so foundational in that. (I like Ditko's design for him, too, the OG and all, but I think considering the evolution of Peter's character, this kind of forward movement with his design makes a lot of sense.) You can kind of see what I consider the hallmarks of Peter's face emerging here -- the thicker eyebrows, the more pronounced jaw, the one roguish curl of hair over his forehead. There's a personality that's developing here, and I like seeing how it evolves, especially because I think John Romita Jr is an artist who really especially brings it home.

(ASM #121-122) And I love how Gil Kane then kind of sharpens that design, especially when Peter is emotionally distressed. The way the prominent brows draw in, the tenseness of his expression, even the way that one forehead curl gets increasingly disheveled -- it's so good.

(ASM #141, #143, #146) Love Ross Andru's face for him, too, and the range of emotion he brings. I think Peter's not really a complete character until he's suffered three losses -- Uncle Ben, George Stacy, and Gwen Stacy. (And I don't think George and Gwen specifically have to be George and Gwen in non-616 continuities, necessarily, but rather people who occupy the roles that George and Gwen represent.) So I like that his features become more defined at this point, and I do always think of Peter as someone who has prominent features. I don't like when he's bland-looking, because I think that plays into the notion of him as a "relatable" hero not because he has relatable problems (the reader relates to his circumstances) but because he's Just Like You (he relates to the reader's circumstances). Having stronger, more defined facial features, rather than just being any guy with brown hair, helps drive home that he is an individual character with his own personality and traits.

I especially love both Sal Buscema and John Romita Jr's takes on him.

(Spectacular Spider-Man #180) I especially like how Buscema draws Peter's build, especially in regards to both Harry and Norman here. Harry is spindly, delicate, and Norman is broader, but Peter has a very athletic build that fits him as Spider-Man. I like him on the lankier side, but still obviously a guy who spends a ton of time doing acrobatics.

(Spectacular Spider-Man #199) I also really like how he draws Peter's resting bitchface. I tend to lean towards Peter kind of having a permanent scowl unless he's with someone he loves or around kids. The lines that man is going to have by 40. It's very lucky everyone he's attracted to is the kind of person to have a twelve step skincare routine and enough mental fortitude to put him through at least three of those.

But when he does smile, I think JRjr in particular nails it.

(Peter Parker #78)

(ASM v2 #55)

(ASM v2 #50) And I know this is about Peter, but the dimples he draws on MJ are so cute. But yeah, for me, when I think about what Peter's face looks like, I mean, first off, I think -- "Ordinary. Saddest face I ever saw. (...) He wants me to be okay, and he's giving me this." Because I'm obsessed with that summary of him from Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #14.

Because I think he should, on first glance, be a little ordinary -- and ordinary doesn't mean plain here, necessarily. He looks at home walking down a busy city block.But he should be a person you could pass on the street without everyone's heads turning. You might remember him in an hour. You might not. I do think he should be handsome, but not in a movie star way. So I like him with those distinctive features that are maybe not thought of as the most conventionally handsome -- big bushy brows, hair that's got a wavier texture, line between his brows before he's even twenty-three. I always write him with a big nose, because I like the schnoz on him, and I have a tendency to describe it as crooked because let's face it, he's gotten hit in the face a lot. A face with character.

But honestly there's a lot of Spider-Man art I like, and I think up until the last kind of decade and a half, a solid majority of artists on his titles have drawn him in a way I like, even if I don't click with their style. (I don't personally vibe with Ramos' art, for example, but you can't deny in the early 2000s he was drawing some brows on him.) So I think for me the big things are strong features, athletic and lanky build, and that his personality comes out in his face and his body language.

(ASM #509 & #510)

[watchmegetobsessed]

DESSERT

A/N: idk why im so obsessed with pregnancy fics lately, maybe i should check in on my cycle lmao

WORD COUNT: 1k

PAIRING: CEO!Harry x pregnant!reader

SUMMARY: Harry gets hit on at an event, but the woman fails terribly, because he only has eyes for his pregnant girlfriend who is busy by the buffet table.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

Another waiter offers Harry some champagne, but he respectfully rejects and keeps sipping on his water. His gaze trails over the crowd of guests, the room is full of influential people from all kinds of businesses, people Harry should definitely be mingling with, making connections, but he is trying to find one particular person.

From across the room, a tall, blonde woman spots the lonely millionaire and a devious smile curls up her red lips. A predator-like look takes over her eyes, but she moves like a gazelle as she crosses the room, heading straight over to Harry, determined to seduce him at all cost.

“You don’t fancy the cocktails?” she asks him. He looks at her with a respectful smile and nod.

“Not… Not tonight.”

“You looked awfully lonely over here. Thought I would introduce myself, I’m Savannah, it’s nice to meet you.”

She holds out a perfectly manicured hand that he shakes lightly.

“I’m Harry.”

“Harry Styles, owner of Styles Industries, right?” The smirk on her face tells him she knows exactly who he is, the introductions wasn’t needed.

“Yeah,” he nods anyway.

“I feel lucky I found you alone, I think it might be a sign that we should get to know each other more.”

She pushes closer to him, brushing a hand down his arm and she blatantly ignores the way he takes a step back. She is too driven to get what she wants to notice the signs.

“This night has been nice, but I can’t wait to get back to my hotel room, get rid of this tight dress and relax.” The dramatic sigh she lets out gets lost somewhere between her and Harry, because he is not even looking at her, eyes scanning the guests. She notices his disinterest at last, but doesn’t give up just yet.

“You know, it can get a bit lonely at events like this for a single woman. I wish I had—“

“Excuse me,” Harry cuts her off when he finally sees the person he’s been trying to find.

As he walks away, Savannah’s jaw drops to the floor, no one has ever rejected her the way he just did, but he doesn’t even notice how hurt she is. He has his eyes on the only woman he cares about in the room.

You’re standing by the buffet table, your silver gown matches his tie and it gorgeously emphasizes your round stomach that’s been Harry’s favorite thing in the past couple of months. You have a plate in your hand, all kinds of food stacked on it starting from mini burgers to steak and it seems like you’re still looking for something to add. Harry can’t hold his smile back as he watches you run your free hand down your stomach, eyes scanning over the variety of food in front of you.

God, he is so obsessed with you, has always been, but now that you’re carrying his baby it has gotten to a whole new level he never thought could be possible. But it is, you’re everything he ever wished for and cannot wait to officially become a family in just two short months.

“There you are, thought I would have to go into the ladies restroom to find you,” Harry smiles down at you as he steps closer to you, placing a hand to your lower back.

“Oh! Sorry, I got a little distracted,” you chuckle and crane your neck so he can kiss your lips shortly, as if it hasn’t been just ten minutes since he last saw you.

“S’okay. What do you have here?”

You look down at the plate and sink your teeth into your lower lip when you realize how much food you’ve piled up.

“Um, I—This is for both of us. I thought we could… share?”

He knows this was just for you and you only said it because you feel ashamed of how much you’ve been eating lately. You’ve put on quite some weight, it’s hard to say no to your cravings, especially when your boyfriend loves to spoil you with your favorites every other day.

Harry doesn’t mind the extra weight. He loves it. He loves every change in your body, let it be your cellulite on your thighs or the stretch marks on your belly. You were afraid he wouldn’t look at you the same way at you anymore once you’ve started growing and changing, that he wouldn’t want you the way he used to.

Well, he does look at you differently, but in the best way possible, he loves on you just as often as he used to, if not even more often, he tells you how beautiful you are ever chance he gets and most of the times he is having a hard time keeping his hands to himself.

Like right now. If only you were alone, he would move his hands to places that are only for his touch.

“Mm, you just eat all that and I’ll bring you dessert. You better feed yourself and our baby or I will do it myself.”

“I already had a big plate, shouldn’t I hold myself back?” you whisper, heat crawling up your neck to your cheeks.

“No. If you crave it, eat it, Love.” He kisses the top of your head and runs a hand down your stomach. He smiles when he feels a tiny kick under his touch. He takes it as a sign that he did the right thing. “See? He agrees as well,” he chuckles.

“Already teaming up to plot against me?” you sigh, but can’t hold your smile back.

“Only if it’s for your well-being.” You pout your lips at him, still not sure how you got so lucky to have him as your partner. Harry leans down and kisses the pout off your lips before reaching out to grab another plate. “So, what do you want for dessert? Macarons? Brownies? Cheesecake?”

“Exactly in that order,” you nod, making him laugh as he stacks the goods on the plate without a word.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[in1-nutshell]

Fearless is still crying about Alabaster and Megs finds out. cut to the scavengers freaking the fuck out because holy shit Megatron is about to bust down their door and all because their newest member catfished his kid.

Finally!

Definitely going to be doing a long version of this in the future

Hope you enjoy!

Fearless and Alabaster

SFW, Platonic, Angst, Hinted romance, Human reader

MTMTE

There had been a noticeable change on the Lost Light.

It was the behavior of the ship’s resident human, Fearless.

Ever since their no show to trivia night, and the sudden sick day they took after, they had been… quiet.

Their demeanor reminded the original crew members how they acted the first few days on the ship.

More composed, stiffer, more neutrality in their tone, more… robotic.

Magnus: “I do believe that concludes today’s meeting.” Fearless wordlessly starts packing up their things. Rodimus: “Hey Fearless, there’s karaoke night over at Swerve’s. You wanna team up for tonight’s duo performance?” Fearless: “I’m afraid I cannot tonight, Captain. There are too many reports to fill in after Whirl’s last escape from the brig. Have a good night.” Fearless tries to leave the room before Megatron stands in their way. Fearless: “Megatron, is there something you need?” Megatron: “I need assistance in getting the classes grades in the system.” Fearless: “Just send the work to my mail and I will get to it. Good night.” Fearless wordlessly goes around the mech and makes their way to their habsuite. Rodimus: “Nothing?” Magnus: “Anything? Megatron sighs: “Nothing.”

The human barely interacted with the bots and always headed back to their room as soon as they finished their tasks for the day.

The only other bot on board who had the slightest idea what was going on was Whirl.

But even he refused to say much.

Mainly because all he knew was that he needed to pummel someone who made Fearless sob up a storm and he didn’t even have a name!

Whenever he wasn’t in the brig, Whirl became a bodyguard of sorts.

Always watching Fearless surroundings for any sign that the bot who did this was on board.

Megatron had tried to talk to them, but even that left fruitless.

Megatron is sitting next to Fearless in the empty classroom. Megatron: “There is something you are not telling me.” Fearless stays silent. Megatron: “… I will not force you to talk, you can come to me when you are ready… but remember the crew, that I am here to listen when you wish to speak.” Fearless’s eyes gloss a bit, but they bite their tongue and leave the grey mech alone. Megatron looks at his child sadly but decides to trust what Rung had advised him to do. Don’t force it, let them come to you.

Megatron didn’t like seeing his kid like this.

Even Rung tried coaxing Fearless into having a private session to figure out what was going on.

And to many surprises, Fearless denied it.

The human was always advocating for the bots to go see Rung and went to him too.

But to suddenly not want to go?

This was bad.

It would be a month into this state when the Lost Light would get an unexpected visit from the WAP.

Maybe the visit of the Scavenger’s would cheer them up.

There were two things that the crew noticed immediately.

1. The scavengers had a new crewmate

2. They looked tense, especially the new crewmate.

Fearless arrives with Megatron and Magnus. Rodimus was already talking with the Scavengers. Rodimus looks over at the three. Rodimus: “Magnus, Megatron, Fearless, you remember the Scavengers, right? Well, they have a new member!” The bot steps forward stiffly and greets the bots. Alabaster: “My designation is Alabaster Lapis.” Fearless just looked at him with a surprised look. Fearless: “…Nice to meet you.” The bots detected a bit of hostility in the human. Rodimus: “How about we head to Swerve’s for some drinks? I think he has a new variety of mixes.” Megatron glances questionably at Fearless who looks ahead, not making contact with anyone.

Everyone dispersed once they got to the bar.

Many of the crew were surprised to see Fearless out and about for the first time in a month.

That comment caught Alabaster’s attention feeling the guilt rack up.

Alabaster saw a shooing motion from Misfire and Spinister before he reached the bar where Fearless was sitting.

He ordered a drink and sat beside them in silence.

They both knew they were delaying the inevitable… but maybe this could work in their favor

It was very awkward between the pair.

Fearless asked if his crew new about it.

Alabaster blinked before stating that they heard the conversation… and thoroughly beat him over the helm with his stupid mistakes.

Fearless chuckled a bit after hearing that Grimlock had swung his tail and had him dented on the side of the ship.

His spark fluttered a bit.

It had been a while since he heard their laughter.

This was a win.

Fearless looked around and asked him to grab them, they knew a place on the ship that would give them privacy.

They made their way to the oil reservoir.

That’s where Fearless mask dropped.

They looked at him with a mixture or sadness, frustration, anger, and something else. Fearless: “I thought we agreed in 3 more days. Or is there something else your not telling me about?” Alabaster: “We recently had repairs on an organic planet. They boosted our thruster systems.” Fearless: “And you didn’t think on telling me because…” Alabaster sighed and sat on the edge of the platform, his pedes dangling above the oil below. Alabaster: “I… I didn’t think it was important. We were already meeting each other; it was only 3 days. Those pass by in a blink of an optic.” Fearless huffs standing beside him but with an ample amount of space in between them. Fearless: “In case you forgot, time means something different to ‘organics’. If you need a reality check, we die much earlier than Cybertronians.” Alabaster: “…I know…” Fearless winces a bit at his defeated tone. Maybe they crossed a line. Fearless sits down on the edge, mimicking his stance. Fearless: “…Well… here we are…” Alabaster: “Here we are…” Silence… Fearless: “Why did you keep it on for so long?” Alabaster: “… I didn’t want to lose you.” Fearless: "would it matter if you did?” Alabaster looks at them with a serious expression. Alabaster: “Most defiantly.” He sighs softening his gaze. Alabaster: “I care about you, a lot. More than I want to admit it really. If there was a chance that you hated Cybertronian’s…” Fearless places a hand on one of his digits. Alabaster looks at them a bit surprised. Fearless smiles a bit. Fearless: “I’d be a pretty crummy friend if I did.” Alabaster: “So…” Fearless: “Well, the whole lying and the technical ‘catfishing’ is going to leave a mark.” Alabaster winces a bit at the sharpness in their voice. Fearless: “…But I don’t mind trying this friendship thing all over again.” Alabaster smiles a bit. Fearless stands up and offers him their hand. Fearless: “I’m Fearless.” Alabaster gently shakes their hand. Alabaster: “My name is Alabaster Lapis. You can call me Alabaster or Aster for short.” Fearless and Alabaster smile at each other.

The pair eventually made it back to Swerve’s where everyone else was.

The Scavengers were relieved to see the two in much better spirits and it was safe to assume that the two had talked it out.

The lost light crew looked over that the new mech who had Fearless perched on his shoulder.

It had been a month since Fearless had smiled that widely.

They looked almost like their usual self, a bit tired and drained but much better looking than last time.

Fearless made sure to give the Scavenger’s all goodbyes when they had to leave.

Fearless waves at the WAP as it leaves. Fearless sighs and looks behind them. Everyone is looking at them. Fearless: “Uhhh…” Whirl: “What did that bot do to you?” Fearless: “What?” Whirl: “I just got out of the brig to see you and that other guy smiling. You haven’t done that in weeks.” Megatron: “What whirl means to say is that we are all happy to see that you have moved from your depressive state… but we are curious to what happened.” Fearless looked at the direction of the WAP. They were safe enough. Fearless: “Okay… but you all have to SWEAR not to do ANYTHING drastic or harmful.” The bots look around confused. Fearless: “All right, here goes…” Hopefully things did not go off the rails… Oh, who were they kidding, this was the Lost Light, going off the rails happened every other day. On the WAP... Alabaster suddenly shudders. Alabaster: “I feel like I’m in danger…”

alabaster feeling the rage of the Lost Light thousand miles away

[yothangie]

Missing Their Kids event

HJ ver, SH ver, YH ver, YS ver, SN ver, MG ver, WY ver, JH ver

Pairing: Dad! Wooyoung, Ballet student daughter (6 years old) Fem Mom reader

WRD count: 911

Genre: Idol Wooyoung, angst, a hit of fluff, Wooyoung cries, i can't write anything but angst Im so sorry

Ateez Dad Masterlist Join the Taglist

It was comeback season, during the time the group had different schedules such as music shows and interviews

For months your daughter has been telling wooyoung about her ballet recital and how she has a small solo in the dance

Of course wooyoung was excited for her and promised her he would be there

But the schedule has him at a variety show the whole day.. The same day his daughter has her recital he was devastated.

How is he gonna tell you he can’t make it, matter of fact how is he gonna tell his little girl he can’t make it??

He had all that in his mind during the day, once he got home he was a little sad on how he was gonna break the news

“How was work my love” you said

“It was good,” he sighed.

Wooyoung plopped down on the couch and let down a deep sigh

“Is everything okay” you sat down next to him

“We have a schedule the day of her recital” he confessed

“You can’t reschedule” you asked

“No I tried talking to hongjoong about it but it was already set and i can’t change it”

“Well you should try talking to her, she’s still awake” you suggested

He was debating if he should break the news to her now or not.

It took a lot of courage for him to be standing in front of her room, he quietly knocked on her door

He hears the little footsteps coming towards the door opening it a little.

“Hi appa” her eyes lit up seeing the sight of her dad

“Hi pumpkin” wooyoung steps into the room, he sits himself next to her bed on the floor.

He grabs the little girl bringing her to his lap, he hates having to break such news to her.

“You know how you have your recital on saturday” he starts

“Yes, appa promised he would go and watch me dance” she smiles

“Well pumpkin appa might have to break that promise” he says

A little pout begins to form on the girl she looked down not wanting to make eye contact

“But appa you promised”

“I know but i have work” he tried pulling the girl in a hug only for her to push him away.

“Appa likes work more than me” she cried

It broke wooyoung having to hear those words coming from her own daughter.

“Dont say that pumpkin”

She got up and ran out of her bedroom sniffing and crying

Wooyoung sighed and got up heading to your guy's shared room, seeing the little girl curled up next to you asleep

“She came in crying saying you don't love her anymore” you said

“I tried to have the schedule changed i really did” he sighed

“You shouldn’t feel bad, you have no control over that”

“But ever since she was born i told her i would never break her promise and i did that” he said

“She needs to understand you won’t always be here because of your job” you said

Wooyoung sighs and sits on the bed seeing the girls back facing him.

“I’ll talk to her again tomorrow she probably doesn’t want to see me” Wooyoung pouts

“Don’t say that”

“She pushed me away when i tried to hug her”

You got up carrying your daughter and took her to her room for her to sleep, you went back to your shared room seeing wooyoung in the bathroom.

You felt bad that wooyoung had to witness his daughter saying harsh things to him, wooyoung has a day off tomorrow so you’ll definitely have a talk with her about it.

The next day rolls around, you wake up to see your husband out of bed, you got up doing your morning routine, hoping he is in the kitchen which thank god he is.

“You’re up early” you mumbled

“I want to prepare something so that hopefully she isn’t sad anymore,” he said.

A few moments passed by you both hear little footsteps coming to the kitchen

“good morning mama” the little girl raises her arms to be carried

you went ahead and carried for daughter making your way next to wooyoung who’s preparing the plates

“say ‘good morning appa’ “ you said

your daughter quickly whipped her head into your neck not wanting to look at her dad.

Wooyoung gave you a look, a look of ‘see she hates me’

“what’s wrong” you say nudging her a bit

“he’s not going” she pouts

“that’s because appa needs to work”

“he always works” she grumps

“if he doesn’t work then you can’t do ballet” you said

The little girl slowly looks over at her dad and pouts

A tear sheds from wooyoung, he feels like he disappointed the girl he treasures the most

“I’m sorry I can’t go my love but please don’t be mad” Wooyoung chokes

Your daughter started to crying in your shirt, you look over at wooyoung signaling him to grab his child, which he did

He held his child tight, afraid to let her go, both crying.

Wooyoung pulled his daughter back wiping away her tears

"appa please come" she cries

"you know i want to go but i can't"

Wooyoung continues to wipe the tears away from his daughtr as they continue to spill

"promise me you will do good at your recital" he holds out his pinky

the little girl nodded intertwining her little pinky to his.

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

Taglist: @reooreo @starhwahwa @nnnarchives @enbymingi @nvdhrzn @strawberry-cube @tinyelfperson @soso59love-blog @pai-fe @Kkumiikumii @blackb3ll @marvelfanatic4life @n3neni @everythingboutkpop @taz-97 @jjoongstar

[mrkified]

ONE NIGHT ONLY — 9. life360 doesn’t gatekeep

synopsis — three years since your falling out with lee donghyuck he has suddenly transfered to your college in hopes to make it big with his friends in his band. unfortunately for you, your unresolved friendship started causing problems between you and the people around you, especially since your best friend is his ex. so — why have you found yourself in his room with a raging hangover?

a/n; IM SO SORRY FOR ANOTHER WRITTEN PART

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TAGS; @j2upiters @aerivrs @haesluvr @hyuck-me @tywritesstuff @aek1ra @ourbeautifulaffair @222brainrot @bugcattie @nosungluv @manooffline @amrqxz @haechansbbg @odxrilove

YOU SLOWED DOWN YOUR CAR AS YOU TURNED INTO THE PARKING LOT.

the arcade your friends decided to go to was called ‘pete’s paradise’. it was slightly small but jam packed with different rows filled with a variety of games. your friends always loved to go there after yangyang got off work to play air hockey. anton always complained that karina was too good for the group and never wanted to go against her because he knew he would lose. when you walked up to the entrance to pete’s haechan and jisung were standing by the doors waiting for you to arrive. you said your hello’s to the two of them entered the building.

you immediately spotted your friends by the dance dance revolution machine, jaemin and giselle were both playing while anton was bickering with yangyang and karina.

“well it’s not my fault you were acting like we haven’t seen each other for ten years” anton shrugged.

“it’s called an expression you idiot” karina rolled her eyes. “your brain just too small to figure out context clues” she turned away from anton and noticed you three at the door.

“yn! you’re here!” she ran over and gave you a hug. the rest of the group followed after when they noticed she said your name.

“i see you followed our advice and brought jisung! just a little surprise to see haechan too” giselle spoke up, as it was your turn to give her a hug next.

“um yeah.. we didn’t want to exclude him i hope that’s okay” you were quite nervous about giselle and haechan in the same room but hopefully she would stay true to her word and not be too bothered with you two.

after awhile things tended to get less awkward and everyone was having fun — anton was playing whack-a-mole with jisung, yangyang was with jaemin and giselle and they were playing some racing game, and that left karina with you as haechan went to the bathroom. you took the time spent with her to tell her about how you’ve been feeling so you could finally get advice from a third party.

“haechan has a crush on me. he told me a few days ago and i don’t know how to feel about it. i mean i had a crush on him in high school but it was too late, he was already with giselle. now i feel like i shouldn’t do anything about it because you know how heartbroken he left her and i don’t want to make her upset or uncomfortable” you were fidgeting with your fingers when you looked at her as she was trying to piece together a response.

“well you can’t control someone you like. i know you don’t want to hurt giselle but i think you should go for it. they broke up almost four years ago, plus she has a really nice thing going on with jaemin right now. she did say not to date him and as much as i don’t want secrets in the group, you should date him” she was confirming the only real way you had to go about this — a secret relationship.

“he’s taking me on a date later after we leave”

“what about jake? you didn’t break up that long ago, i know your feelings for haechan are genuine but you still got hurt recently” her voice was filled with concern.

“i am definitely hurt but i think him leaving me for yuna made me feel like there wasn’t even a point for me to even be upset, he was distant even before we broke up there really isn’t any surprises” karina looked at you like she was giving you her approval and that’s all you needed. you would talk to giselle on your own soon but first you had to put your relationship with donghyuck first.

while you were having your talk with karina, giselle was also having a conversation with yangyang.

“i feel a little upset with them being together if i’m being honest, but i know i should probably get over it” she gave a slight smile as she knew that she couldn’t block out what was happening between you two. “i know they’ve been best friends for years and now that they’ve rekindled it i shouldn’t feel this way, but i just feel a lot of the repressed emotions from before i guess”

“and your feelings are valid you know,” yangyang took a slight pause. “he was your first real relationship, your first true love. it would only make sense it hurts to see him”

“i just don’t want to ruin this for yn. she’s my best friend and i don’t want to hurt her because i ‘forbid’ her from associating someone she spent so many years with”

“just give it time — for now just focus on the fashion show and then give it some more thought after” yangyang squeezed her hand as he got up and walked with her back over to where jaemin was playing skee-ball.

for the next 2 hours everyone spent time rotating the games until it was the time to go their separate ways. you said goodbye to everyone until it was time to finally leave with haechan.

“you ready?” haechan took your hand and guided you to your car.

“are you ready to be a passenger princess?”

“i’m always ready to be your passenger princess you don’t even need to ask” he got into the car and showed you where he wanted to take you — a small shopping district not too far away from where you were.

[gosmigenergy]

KINKTOBER 2024 / Day Twenty Six

PEGGING / EDGE PLAY / SEDUCTION (@absurdthirst)

Starring: Benny Miller x F!Reader

Summary: Benny comes to you with a special request, one he’s been wanting to ask you for months yet it still surprises you when the words come out his mouth.

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No use of Y/N, language, pet name, pegging, anal sex (male receiving), hand job.

Word Count: 2.6k

“You want me to peg you?”

Benny surprised you when he asked.

You looked at him quizzically, your eyebrows knotting. Your heart had picked up its tempo, hands getting clammy.

“Please.”

“Are you sure?”

He knew he’d ask one of his girlfriends eventually but had never trusted any of his exes quite like how he did you and this definitely required someone he trusted.

“Positive,” his smile broadened. “And don’t worry, I’ve taken it up the ass before.”

That was a story for another time.

But of course, you worried. Your mind had gone back to all the times you’d accidentally seen stuff online, you don’t know how you did yet the ginormous, fake phallic shaped instruments haunted you.

He decided it was best to take you on a romantic trip to a sex shop and all you could picture were the seedy men in a dark, enclosed space that made your stomach churn until you stepped in.

The place was alarmingly bright and minimal, sex toys of every colour in acrylic boxes that lined the walls. Nothing was covered, everything on display for the eye to see, not an ounce of shame or seediness anywhere. You picked your jaw up from the floor as one of the assistance approached.

Benny had done his research, finding a shop run by women who wanted it to feel less taboo to purchase things for your sexual pleasure. The lady introduced herself before asking what she could help with today and, ever confident, he took the lead.

“Me and my girlfriend are looking for pegging gear.”

You didn’t expect him to put it as plainly as he did yet the assistant didn’t bat an eyelid, actually she seemed proud of the both of you.

“We’ve got plenty on offer, follow me.”

You latched onto his arm, staying as close as possible though there was no threat here. She took you to another section of the store, showing you the variety they had on offer, Benny feeling your grip tighten every time your eyes caught something new.

“What d’you think, darling?”

He glanced down, a twinkle of excitement in his eye. You looked to the woman and back to him before he squeezed your hand reassuringly.

“Sorry, I’m sort of new to all this.”

The temperature rose in your cheeks as you flustered.

“That’s ok,” she smiled sweetly, “I can give you our best recommendations for beginners, if you don’t want to try them out in the open, we can go into the fitting rooms.”

You found yourself playing with your hands as the assistant guided you on how to put on the gear, securing the buckle on your one thigh.

“I would love my boyfriend to ask me to peg him.”

“Really?”

Your expression scrunched as she focused on the other strap.

She hums, “The power would probably go to my head though.”

There was definitely a shift in dynamic with this, you were shy and obedient, you didn’t know if you could dish it out quite like Benny wanted you to.

“How big do you want to be?”

Blinking, you look at her confused.

“Your dick.”

“Oh, um,” you giggle, “average.”

He didn’t see what you tried on, he wanted it to be a mystery though he got turned on just thinking about you dressed in a harness. He wriggled in his seat, parting his legs to alleviate himself as the two of you snuggled on the couch.

“Is someone getting excited?”

You smile smugly and that just makes things worse.

“Of course I am.”

You giggle, leaning further into him, teasing a single finger down his chest.

He glances down at you, grabbing the back of your head to draw you near. He kisses you softly on the lips, hooking your leg over his and starts to caress your thigh. His fingertips graze your hips, your waist before sinking into the flesh of your ass, pushing you into him.

When you gasp, he takes advantage of your open mouth, roaming around with his tongue until he finds yours. You melt into his touch, enjoying the warmth that begins to build in your belly. There’s a break in your lustful fog and you press your palm firmly on his chest to break away.

He pouts like a child being refused candy.

“Maybe we should move to the bedroom.”

Benny didn’t need to be told twice, he almost threw you off and abandoned you on the couch before sprinting back to whisk you off your feet.

“Can I open my eyes yet?”

He was sat at the top of the bed, pillows propped up behind his relaxed frame. Leisurely, he pumped his cock, ears perked to what was happening the other side of the room.

“Not yet,” you huff.

He groans, “Hurry up, baby, please.”

You roll your eyes. It’s much harder to put the harness on yourself than having some assistance, you want this to be special.

The sound of metal hardware clicking together as they were fixed in place brought the goosebumps to his skin, the puffs as you bent and stretched making his length twitch.

You take the silicone dildo, the softness of the matt finish smooth in your hand as you attach it to the strap. The extra weight was unusual and all you could question was whether this was how it felt to almost have something between your legs.

Swaying your hips from side to side, you watch how the dildo barely moves and a giggle escapes you.

He can’t help but peek, seeing your amusement causing his lips to curl.

“Having fun?”

You flinch, stopping your movements before trying to compose yourself. Suddenly, you had no idea what to do with your hands, do you hold them by your side or what?

He beckons you to come over and hesitantly, you climb onto the bed. You shuffle on your knees and present your cock to him.

“Nice choice,” he says, flicking the pale blue tip.

“You think? I didn’t want to scare you.”

He chuckles, “Nothing scares me.”

That was true, you only knew a fraction of what he’d done, he hadn’t told you about the fact he had to drop from a helicopter that was about to crash.

What you had chosen was a perfect start point, a decent six inches in length with a slight increase of girth in the head and with a slathering of lube, it should go in quite nicely.

“I’m still a little nervous,” your voice shakes. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He takes your hand and gives it a squeeze, your pulse beginning to quicken.

“Trust me, baby, you’re not gonna hurt me.”

His smile makes your heart melt, how he had so much confidence in you, you’d never know.

“How shall we do this?”

You tip your head to one side innocently.

“Think you can hold my hips and thrust into me at the same time?”

The noise you make is similar to a character in that burger cartoon you watch, so unsure that you’re failing to give an answer, he can’t help but laugh.

“You can take me from behind, it’s alright.”

At least from that position, both of you could remain relatively happy - you wouldn’t have to worry about the angle, he wouldn’t be conscious about putting his whole weight on you, especially when he cums.

Secretly you wanted to see his face, how he’d fall apart with rosy cheeks, teeth buried into his bottom lip and a vein bulging in his elongated neck. Maybe that was another night.

He kissed you swiftly on the lips, wrapping his arms around you to bring your chest to his. His next one comes with more force, the flames of desire stoking. You brush a hand down his chest, feeling every sharp ridge of his abs, the perfect v pointing directly towards his stiff length.

Your fingertips delicately climb to the tip of his cock, a shiver crawling up his spine as he lets out a soft moan. Resting the middle of your palm against his tip, you circle your hand as his precum spreads. You swallow the noises he makes before he sunk his teeth into your bottom lip, tugging gently.

His eyelids were already drooping, breathing hot and heavy as you continue. When you suddenly stop, he whines, head falling back.

“Turn over.”

He was a military boy at heart, it was unlike you to tell him what to do but he follows your orders. Rolling onto his hands and knees, his smile cracks wide as you reach for the bottle of lube.

His excitement vibrates the bed and you stroke his cheek.

“You’re so cute,” you quickly peck him on the lips.

You crawl behind him, your hands exploring his behind. You grazed his thighs, planting your palms flush to his ass before spreading his cheeks.

His puckered hole pulsed in anticipation.

Folding your body, you kiss one cheek and then the other. On the next one, you pressed your salivating tongue to the skin before skimming your teeth over his flesh.

A groan rumbles through his chest.

The pop of the cap reaches his ears and he leans closer. You tap his ass playfully, your warning but it only encouraging him to shake it more.

Laughing, you steady his hips.

“It’s gonna be cold.”

With one hand, you squeeze the bottle whilst the other catches the liquid as it flows down his curve. He relaxes as you massage it into his muscle, paying close attention to his ass hole.

Taking one finger, you push through the opening to spread the lube as far as you could. Then you bring your attention to the dildo, squirting on the liquid and spreading it over every inch. You rise up on your knees yet realise you’re still not tall enough.

“You gonna have to scoot down.”

No questions asked, he widened his stance and lowered his hips so the tip of your fake cock nudges at his entrance.

You take the weight of it in your hand, teasing the form up and down just like he does with you before he shoves the head into your folds. He sighs as you push through his tight hole which stretches around the silicone with ease.

He feels a tingle start in his lower back as you stroke him.

“Want me to keep going?”

He glanced over his shoulder with a lopsided grin, “Yeah.”

You take a shaky breath, holding his hips on both sides as you pushed the dildo further into him, extending his groan. Skin touches skin and your eyes hone in on how his ass is now fully stuffed, your pussy clenches.

Closing your eyes, you focus on rocking your hips in a gentle rhythm, getting them moving in a way you hadn’t quite done before.

“That’s it.”

It was nice to hear his voice even though the words should be coming from yours.

As you continued to thrust, he sang his praises, keeping an eye on you even when you weren’t looking back. He lifted a hand, coiling it around his side to envelope yours, his physique keeping him upright and immoveable.

“Harder, baby.”

You opened your eyes, catching his nod as the pupils in his eyes grew, he really fucking wanted this.

Pausing, you reposition yourself so you can drive the dildo further into him, the angle touching a sweet spot it hadn’t reached. You release the cutest grunt as you put more force into your movement.

Benny’s shoulders drop to the mattress as he howls.

“Fuck,” he says through gritted teeth.

You automatically freeze, your grip on him loosening, wondering if it was best to pull out now and relieve him of his pain.

“No, no, don’t stop.”

“Are you sure?”

Maybe he wasn’t in pain?

His chest heaved as the pleasure began to consume him and he was fighting every urge in his body to not let it swallow him whole, he would edge as if his life depended on it. He turned his head.

“Yes,” he sighs.

He admired you behind heavy lids as you held him with more determination, brows furrowing before you brought your hips back and slammed into him over and over. After a few more strokes, you managed to find your pace, the gentleness in your motions being thrown out the window.

You don’t know how he has so much energy when he fucked you like this. You were only a couple of minutes in and your body was willing you to stop, your legs starting to ache. Yet when you hear his moans, feel the heat rise through his body, you push through.

His mind became foggy, the last working brain cell concentrating on the ‘cock’ plunging in and out of his asshole. He was entering a blissful state, his body sweltering as you press yourself onto his back, your faint pants dancing across his skin.

He purrs as your one hand drifts to his defined muscles.

“You like it when I touch you?”

The question rolls effortlessly off your tongue, sultry in tone.

The assistant was right when she said it would go to her head, it was getting to yours. Your hand continued to travel down and down until you were wrapping your fingers at the base of his cock.

Benny turned to putty in your hands.

His legs fell open further, knees slipping on the covers, only giving you more access. You pump his length in tandem to your thrusts, unaware that his puckered hole was tightening around the silicone mould.

You kiss his back, sending a shockwave straight up his spine. His groan was guttural, escaping from the depths as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

For the first time ever, he was speechless.

He wanted to beg you to keep going but nothing came out, lucky for him, you kept going. The sensation started in the tips of his toes, the tingle making them curl as each part of him began to lock, the recognisable coil in his stomach as he was approaching his release.

“I know you want to, Benny.”

He hid his face so you could only see his gorgeous golden locks, his shoulder blades coming together as his body seized up.

You carried on working him until his muffled cry filled the room, his burning seed spilling over your hand and onto the bed. There was the faintest squelch as you milked him of all he had before his fatigued body slumped underneath yours.

Taking your hand away, you straighten up and catch your breath.

Slowly, you pull yourself out, resting on the back of your heels. You inspect the mess, questioning whether to lick his thick load from your hand.

His weight shifts as he rolls onto his back, legs gently colliding with you as he tries to get comfy. He struggles to open his eyes but when he does, they glisten, filled with love broad grin coming across his sweaty face. His still hardened cock lay against his navel, spreading semen over his trailing hair and skin.

“Where d’you learn to fuck like that?”

“I dunno,” you giggle, “maybe you’re a very good teacher.”

“Even I can’t teach that.”

He delivers a wink and your heart skips a beat, the heat spreading to your chest. Even as you break eye contact, you can feel his stare boring into you in the nicest way possible.

“Want me to return the favour?”

You nod shyly, “I did miss your face when you came.”

Immediately, his hands grabbed onto your arms and he flipped you onto the bed, pinning you down with his legs either side of you. He brushed the tip of your nose before kissing you squarely on the lips, stray ends of his hair tickling your cheek.

You gasp when he finally allows you to come up for air.

“Now, let’s get this off you.”

[cheshireliam]

"My Ideal Life of A Doting Love" Story Event: Chapter 2

Azel Radwan

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belongs to Cybird. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Read this before interacting

With his hand against the wall, trapping me in place, Azel's brows were in a deep frown.

Azel: It's just—…

Azel: This kind of thing— right?

Emma: … I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that.

Azel: That's why…

Azel: —… it was in the book.

(Even though we're this close, I still can't hear him.)

He was definitely mumbling about something, but his voice was so soft it was nearly impossible to hear what he was saying.

Azel: Basically, there's nothing you need to worry about.

Emma: Saying that while your face is so red only makes me mor— mmph!

Before I could finish, he resorted to the drastic method of physically silencing me with his lips.

It was apparent that Azel had no intention of backing down until I gave up on pursuing the subject. Each time I tried to speak, his kiss would grow more aggressive.

(This is so unfair…)

His tongue intertwined with mine, gradually increasing the pleasure in my body. My heart was racing, and I was losing strength to keep upright.

I was about to go limp, but Azel caught me just in time, wrapping an arm around my waist to support me.

Emma: … You went too far.

Azel: It's your fault.

(Not an ounce of guilt in him.)

I shot him a piercing glare to express my embarrassment, but he simply turned away.

Azel: Fine, fine. It's my fault.

Azel: Umm… well…

Azel: … Want to go for a stroll?

Emma: A… a stroll?

…

In what seemed to be an attempt at making up for his actions, Azel led me out of the temple to an oasis deep in the desert.

(I never knew such a place existed nearby.)

Since few people would go near the sacred grounds of the primordial temple, there were no signs of human activity.

If Azel was the only one who knew of this place, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it "God's Garden".

Emma: This lake is beautiful… it feels good to be here.

As I crouched down and scooped the clear water with my hands, Azel placed a hand on my head with his usual grumpy face.

Azel: Not there.

Gripping my head lightly, he turned it to face a different direction.

Further back, beyond the oasis, near the water's edge— the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.

Emma: No way… is that a flower field!?

Flowers of vibrant colours were in bloom around the lakeside, bringing life to the dry desert sand.

I hurried over and looked at the flowers from up close.

(These are… "Al Flowers".)

The flowers, named after Azel, the Living God, were a special variety genetically modified to bloom even in the desert.

Emma: I never thought they'd grow naturally.

Azel: … They rarely do, so don't tell anyone.

Azel caught up to me and awkwardly averted his gaze.

Azel: This place might be ruined if people found out about its existence.

Emma: I'll keep it a secret.

(… What's this uneasy feeling I'm getting?)

I was curious to know, but I couldn't resist the temptation from the flower field and crouched down to gently touch a flower petal.

Azel: Do you like flowers that much?

Emma: I do. They're soothing to look at.

Azel: … I see.

Azel: I don't care much for flowers, but if you like them, you can come see them again.

Emma: Please come with me when I do.

Azel: …

Emma: Thank you.

Azel: I didn't say anything.

Emma: Your answer is written on your face.

Emma: Eeek…! What the—!?

Although he was firmly pinching my cheek, Azel didn't look entirely displeased.

Azel: I'm charging you an escort fee.

Emma: Shouldn't it be called a date fee?

Azel: … This isn't a date.

Emma: It is to me.

Azel: No, it's not. There's no way I'd do something so frivolous.

Emma: Azel… did you know that flower field dates are a thing?

Azel: …

Emma: That means it's too late now!

I stood up and clung to Azel's arm, with him looking like he was about to flee at any moment.

Emma: Next time, let's bring a tent and lunchboxes so we can have a picnic.

Azel: … Do as you please.

Despite the long and deep sigh he let out, Azel's had a tender look in his eyes.

…

That night,—

(I knew it. He's reading a book again.)

I secretly watched Azel from the bed as he sat by the window, unaware of my staring.

Tonight, I wasn't awake by chance. I was only pretending to be asleep, waiting for the right moment.

(He managed to dodge my questions during the day, but this time…)

Emma: AZEL!

Azel: WHAT!?

I raised my voice on purpose, causing Azel to turn toward in me in shock, nearly jumping out of his skin.

Emma: I heard a noise coming from outside…

Azel: … Huh?

The kind-hearted god didn't doubt my words. He immediately walked to the door to check on the "noise".

(I feel guilt… I'm sorry for deceiving you.)

Making a promise in my mind to prepare a luxurious meal for him tomorrow as an apology, I slipped out of bed and reached for the book "containing national secrets" Azel had left on the floor.

Azel: It was just your imagination. There's nothing outsid—

Azel: …

Emma: …

Azel: … You tricked me.

Emma: I'm so sorry. But…

Emma: … I love you.

[and-claudia]

Against All Odds pt. 13 (Joel Miller x fem! reader)

General Warnings for later on: The main story will have an age gap between Joel and the reader (Reader will be 25 once we get to the main storyline), this will also be your warning that it will eventually be an x pregnant reader (if that’s not your jam, I’m sorry) there is also going to be more graphic/trigger parts later on so please always to be sure to read the warnings BEFORE reading. This story will also be 18+ and TO BE ON THE TAGLIST YOU CAN NOT BE AN AGELESS BLOG (i do actually check that) also there first hand full of parts are all prologue so Joel won’t actually be in it for a bit

Warnings for this part: storms, smut, fingering, possible accent kink if you squint (idk if that's even a thing tbh)

So like I said this is a small tribute to my online bestie turned IRL bestie @fan-g0rl we became friends over a part of my Mandalorian fanfic that was titled "The Storm" and so I wanted to do this part as a little easter egg for her... I didn't mean for there to be smut at the end of this either it just kinda happened...

word count: 4200+

Taglist Sign-Up (read my rules carefully before filling it out)

gif not mine

A couple of weeks and many miles later: 

"Hey Joel, I know it's risky, but we need to find proper shelter for tonight... those updrafts are gonna be a storm here soon." I said, nodding over to some clouds in the distance. 

"I was afraid of that... keep an eye on them, okay?" He said. 

"I will." 

And true to my word, I did. And just as I predicted, they formed into storms. And big ones at that. We were in the country side where clearly some farmers had lived. Joel pointed out one of the houses situated up on a hill that would give us a good vantage point on the storms and would keep us up away from any flooding. The back half of the ranch house was still mostly intact, and we were using that as our shelter for the time being.

"I don't like the look of that..." I said from where we had found shelter for the night. "What are you looking at?" Ellie asked. 

"You see how the whole storm is spinnin'?" 

She nodded.

"It's a supercell. Which means hail, heavy rain... maybe a tornado." 

"Tornado?" Ellie asked nervously. 

"Yeah... not super likely, but possible. That's why Joel's out looking for a storm cellar. This big of house is bound to have one somewhere. The worst-case scenario is we hold up there for the night. It'll be safer than here." I explained, trying not to scare her. 

“How will we know if there’s a tornado coming?” She asked. 

I sighed, “Honestly, we probably won’t. Before the outbreak, and even from what I remember in some of the QZs, they had sirens that would go off if there was really any hazardous weather heading for an area, not just for tornadoes but now, especially for us being out here, we’re kinda just relying on our eyes and ears to know. We don’t even have radar anymore.” I explained. 

“Fun.” She said, clearly nervous. 

“Don’t worry, I doubt anything is going to happen. It’s been getting too cold already. I think we’re just going to get a lot of rain, probably some hail. Hopefully, the hail core won’t pass directly over us.” 

She nodded just as Joel was coming back. 

“Find anything?” I asked. 

“Yeah, it’s around the side of the house. I checked it out. It’s empty, save for a few mice.” He said. 

I nodded, “If you want any shot at catching dinner, you should go now before that storm hits.” I said, not taking my eyes off of it. 

“Actually, I found some cans down there brought a variety back that weren’t bloated.” He said, squatting down and setting them down on the ground. 

I glanced over and saw the variety he was setting out. Some of them actually didn’t look half bad. 

“What’s the storm lookin like?” He asked, coming to stand beside me as Ellie went over to raid the selection of cans. 

“We’re definitely getting rain, maybe hail. That thing is spinning like a top. I think we’ll be okay here, though. It’s been too cold for anything, I think…” I said with a sigh, finally turning to look at him. 

He nodded, “Okay, worst-case scenario, like I said, the cellar is just around the corner.” 

“So, what’d you bring up?” I asked, walking over to join Ellie in looking at our options for dinner. 

We all picked out our dinner and then sat together, watching the storm roll in. There was a lot of cloud-to-ground lightning in it, and it was stunning. By the time we were done eating, the storm was fast approaching. I went ahead and told Ellie to get some rest while Joel and I watched the storm come in. Joel was being our usual lookout, despite the fact that we hadn’t seen any signs of any people in weeks. I was still keeping an eye on the storm. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen a storm like this.” I whispered to him as we sat on the old back porch. 

“It’s really something.” He said, nodding before looking over at me. I was sitting in the doorway, resting my head against the frame. 

“Hey, come here.” He said, nodding me over as he adjusted the way he was sitting so I could come over and sit between his legs. 

I smiled and got up to walk over. I sat down and settled down between his legs, leaning back to rest against his chest. The lightning continued to put on a show in front of us and the rain had finally started falling. The pitter-patter of it on the roof was slowly lulling me to sleep. 

His arms snaked around my waist, allowing him to rest his hands against my small bump. I smiled as his large hands cradled it so gently, and I relaxed even more into him. 

“They’re getting bigger.” He commented. 

“Gee, thanks.” I said with a small laugh. 

“Hey, it’s a good thing.” He said, pressing a small kiss to the side of my head. 

“I know, means everything is assumingly okay in there.” I said, bring my hands to join his. 

About a week ago, I had expressed to him how scared I was that something would go wrong with the baby. The QZs didn’t have the best prenatal care, but it was at least something. Out here, I had nothing. There was no one who could check on the baby and make sure everything was going the way it should. And with this being my first baby, I literally had no clue what was normal and what wasn’t besides the obvious, common sense stuff. 

“Have you felt them yet?” He asked. 

“I don’t think so… at least not that I was able to be like that was definitely the baby.” I explained. 

“I’m sure you will soon.” He said, rubbing my bump slightly. 

I shifted some and moved to undo the button and zipper of my jeans, and once I did, I relaxed back into Joel. 

“Feel better?” He teased. 

“Mhm, much better. I am betting I’ve got two more weeks before these jeans cut in too much for me to wear them.” I said, sighing. 

I felt him nod, “Okay, we’ll figure it out.” 

Despite the loud claps of thunder, I was getting quite tired, but I wanted to stay awake until the storm passed, just in case something happened. A small yawn slipped past my lips, and I heard Joel chuckle behind me. 

“Getting tired?” He asked, his voice low. 

“Nope.” I said, shaking my head, but another yawn slipped out. 

“You should go get some sleep.” He said.

“No, I’d rather stay here with you.” I said, leaning my head to the side to rest on his shoulder so I could turn my head and look at him. 

“We haven’t seen anyone in weeks, not even evidence of others… just tonight, leave it be and come lay with me. Please?” I said, giving him my best puppy eyes. 

“You make it hard to say no to you when you do that…” He said, leaning over to kiss me. 

He had become much more affectionate the past few weeks, and I wasn’t complaining in the least. I was loving it. 

“Come on, before I change my mind.” He said, dropping his hands from my bump to my hips and giving one of them a small tap. 

I scooted forward and stood up, then turned to offer him a hand up. 

“I’m the one that’s supposed to be helping you up.” He said, but took my hand anyway. 

Once he was up, I quietly led us back inside, never dropping his hand. I looked over to where Ellie was and found her fast asleep, using her backpack as a pillow. Joel and I settled down together and eventually fell asleep as well. 

When I woke up, I sat up and noticed Ellie was gone. 

“Joel!” I said, shaking his leg harshly to get him to wake up. 

He woke with a start and looked around panicked for a moment before focusing on me. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He asked, his voice raspy from sleep. 

“Dude, what’s wrong with his voice?” Ellie asked as she walked in through where the back door should be. 

I let out a huge sigh when I saw her and rested my head in my hand. 

“Oh my god, Ellie, where were you? I woke up and didn’t see you anywhere. It scared the shit out of me.” I said. 

I wasn’t trying to make her feel bad for it. It had just truly scared me. 

“I’m sorry, I woke up and really had to pee… I just went out back. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She said. 

“It’s okay. Really, just wasn’t prepared for you to be gone… and actually, now that you mention it, I’m going to go do the same.” I said before standing up and stretching. I cringed slightly at the sound of my joints popping. 

When I got back, Joel was more awake, now sitting up, leaning against the wall. 

“Mornin’” He said when I walked in. 

“Good morning. Sorry for startling you awake.” I said. 

“S’okay. Rather you do I, and there be nothing wrong, then not do it and something be wrong.” He said with a nod. 

We ended up packing up and raiding what cans we could before setting off again. We actually found some more shot gun ammo in their cellar as well that we were all shocked hadn’t been raided. Our best guess was the house was falling into disrepair before the outbreak so no one really ever considered raiding it.

There was a new chill in the air now. That storm was probably the last big one of the season. The leaves around us had already changed and slowly were falling from the trees. I knew that as it got even colder, our pace would slow even more, which made me even more nervous about the baby than I already was. I was really starting to have doubts that we would make it there in time. 

A cold front came through within the following days, forcing us to double up some of our clothes as temperatures dropped. Luckily, we had managed to find some warmer gear at Bill and Frank’s that survived the crash back in Kanssas City. I was also greatful that I had remembered to find a jacket that was too big so it would fit me as the baby grew. 

Conversation, as we walked, varied from stories from before the outbreak to what we would be doing if the outbreak had never happened to the baby and everything in between. 

“So, what were you doing before everything happened, Joel?” Ellie asked as we walked along. 

“Nothing, I just did my job.” He said bluntly. 

“Which was… building?” She asked, causing me to smile. 

“That’s right. Houses, stores, that kinda thing. We were called contractors.” He explained. 

“That contractor,” Ellie said in a dramatic voice, “That’s pretty cool.” 

“Yeah, we were pretty cool. Everybody loved contractors.” He said, and I actually let out a small laugh. 

“What’s funny?” He asked, looking over at me.

“Nothing.” I said, shaking my head with a smile. 

“It’s obviously something, please share.” He pressed teasingly. 

“Well, I don’t have much experience with them… but everybody definitely did not love contractors. I can vaguely remember us having one come to look at our foundation or something, and I swear my pa complained about him for weeks.” I said with a laugh, causing Joel and Ellie to do the same. 

“Okay, so maybe not everyone loved us.” Joel conceded. 

Once the laughter ended, Ellie looked over to me, “I’m just curious because you’ve talked about him after the outbreak, but what was your dad like before it? Was he the same?” 

I shook my head, “No, he was so different before everything.” I said, picturing what fuzzy memories I could. 

“He was a fairly stereotypical dad, honestly, but when I was little, I swear he hung the moon. He would go to work every weekday, come home, eat dinner with us, have a beer, then go sit in his recliner and watch whatever game was on, but definitely preferred watching NASCAR.” I said, remembering sitting with all my brothers around the TV, watching the different colored cars go around the track. 

“What’s NASCAR?” Ellie asked. 

“Racing, like in cars. It was honestly pretty boring most of the time. They just went around an oval track… but honestly… I would give just about anything to watch one more race with all of them…” I said suddenly, feeling tears well up in my eyes at the sudden feeling of missing them. 

Joel must have seen me wiping my eyes because his steps fell into rhythm with mine as he put his arm around my shoulders as we walked. 

“What about you, Joel? Were you a NASCAR fan?” I asked, trying to distract myself. 

He shook his head. 

“Not really. I was more of a football guy.” He said. 

“My brother played. I got dragged to so many high school games. But I was way too young to actually understand what was happening.” I said. 

“Wait, is it that hard to understand?” Ellie asked. 

That led us into a long conversation that was mostly just Joel trying to explain the rules of the game while Ellie and I listened, nodded along, and asked questions. To tell the truth, I was getting more confused the more he explained but I just continued along with it. 

The next day, we decided to just walk for half the day and stopped after a few hours to rest. Since finding the additional ammo, Ellie had been itching to learn how to use the shotgun, and Joel was finally giving in. He had set up a makeshift shooting range in an open clearing and was finally trying to teach her how to use it. I sat back, watching the two of them. Ellie let off a few shots, each one of them missing the target Joel had set up. 

“Wide right. You’re flinchin’.” He said to her. 

“The target’s too small.” She said with a little frustration. 

“I made it bigger than I should’ve. Eject the cartridge.” 

She did as he said, “And I am not flinching.” She defended herself. 

“Mm-hmm.” He hummed in response. 

“This rifle just sucks.” She said, looking over at him. 

“Okay, give it.” He said, moving away so she could pass it to him. 

She handed it to him and then stood up to walk closer to me. 

“It doesn’t aim right. You’ll see.” She insisted. 

“Mm-hmm.” Joel hummed again as he adjusted his position. 

“Deep breath in, slow breath out. You squeeze the trigger, like you love it.” Joel explained, making me stifle a laugh behind my hand as Ellie shot me a funny look. 

“Steady… nice and slow.” He continued to narrate. 

“You gonna shoot this this or get it pregnant?” Ellie said with a sigh. 

Before I could stop myself, I chimed in, “Oh, trust me, that’s not how he did it.” 

Joel took his shot but then immediately looked over to Ellie and me. Ellie was giving me a disgusted look, and I was covering my mouth, trying not to laugh as Joel gave me a look that just said, “Did you really just say that?”. 

“I am so sorry! It slipped out before I could even think!” I said, finally letting my laughter out. 

“That was single-handedly the most disgusting thing I think you have ever said to me.” Ellie said. 

I couldn’t even apologize because I was laughing so hard. By this time, Joel had stood up and was walking over to us. He just shook his head at me, clearly trying not to smile. He handed the gun back over to Ellie. 

“Oh, and it aims just fine, by the way.” He said, nodding behind him to the target he had hit perfectly. 

“You dick!” Ellie said upon seeing that. She went back over to where they had been shooting from to try a few more times. 

“I cannot believe you said that.” He said, finally letting his smile show. 

“I swear it crossed my mind, and before I could stop myself, I was saying it.” I said, finally regaining my composure. 

“I mean, it is the truth…” He teased, nudging my shoulder. 

I closed my eyes, resting my head against his shoulder with a dreamy sigh. It had been a while since he and had sex like that. Honestly, it would still probably be a while before we were able to do it like that. Between traveling, the unknown of what was actually in Jackson, and being pregnant, our sex life was on hold for an undisclosed amount of time currently. 

“Have you thought about what might be in Jackson in terms of like a settlement, like what it’s like there?” I asked as we watched Ellie. 

“A little, trying not to get my hopes up, though.” He said, and I nodded in understanding. 

“Same… but there are two-no wait, three, yeah, three things I am hoping to get once we are there.” I said. 

“Oh yeah?” Joel turned to me and picked my head up from his shoulder, “And what are they?” 

“One, a hot meal. Now, don’t get me wrong, you’re a great chef out here,” I said, teasing and putting my hand on his knee, “But let's be honest, we’re eating what would have been roadkill pre-breakout. I want a real, true hot meal.” 

Joel let out a small laugh and nodded, “Okay, fair enough, that does sound really good. What else?” 

“A bed.” I said bluntly, and he smiled at that with a nod, clearly agreeing, “I don’t even care if it is just a few blankets on the ground and a pillow. I just want a bed that isn’t just the hard ground.” I said. 

“I agree.” He said. 

“Lastly, this one is a more recent desire, I must admit. But if I am able to still,” I leaned in closer to whisper in his ear, “I want to be properly fucked on that bed.” 

I pulled back just enough to see his reaction, and he was smiling at me. 

“I think I can make that happen, darlin’.” He said, leaning in. 

I leaned up to kiss him, smiling into it. I hadn’t even heard the gunshots stopping until I heard Ellie’s voice, causing us to separate. “You two are disgusting.” She said, shaking her head and causing us to laugh. 

We all packed up and gathered our stuff before making our way out of the clearing for the night as the sun began to set. Finding shelter was getting harder because of the cold and the morning frosts that were now happening consistently. We were pretty far from any old towns, so actual buildings were few and far between. Luckily, there was the occasional cave and that is where we were holding up for the night. 

Joel rummaged through the can and found us each one for dinner. He even spoiled us tonight and heated them up carefully over the fire. He handed Ellie’s to her, then brought his and mine over to me to sit next to me while we ate. 

“I hope this can hold you over in terms of a warm meal.” He joked, handing me the warm can. 

“It’ll do for now.” I said with a smile. 

When he sat down, he was oddly close, not that I really minded just caught me off guard a little. As did him, leaning over to whisper in my ear. 

“If you promise to keep quiet, I have something that can try to help hold you over until I can properly fuck you again.” He whispered before causally leaning back away from me as if nothing had happened. 

I looked over at him but he was as casual as can be. 

“Do you want first watch?” Joel asked once we all finished up eating. 

“Sure.” She nodded. 

“I’m going to go refill the waters before Yn and settle in for the night.” Joel told her, collecting all of our canteens before disappearing. 

When he got back, I had already cleared an area for us too far away from the entrance to the cave but not too far away from the fire. I told Ellie goodnight before settling down with Joel. His back was to the entrance of the cave, and I was in front of him with my back to him as he held me from behind. 

Suddenly, his face came a little closer, and soon, his lips were on my neck. I small gasp escaped my lips. 

“Gotta stay quite, darlin’.” He said, his southern accent slipping out way thicker than it usually does. 

I bit my lip to keep myself quiet and melted into Joel. His hand then slipped under my shirt and began trailing up towards my breast before I stopped him by gently grabbing his wrist. 

“Joel…” I whispered cautiously. My breast had become very sensitive the past couple of days, and he knew that. 

“Sshh, I know, I’ll be gentle. Promise.” He whispered. 

And true to his words, he was extremely gentle as he groped at my breast. By this point, I had rolled onto my back so he could kiss my lips instead of just my neck. We lied like that for a bit before I began to get impatient. As much as I was enjoying this, I needed something more, or this would be a huge tease. 

Then, as if he had read my mind, his hand slowly retreated away from my breasts and went down to my already undone jeans. 

“Turn back to your side.” He said gently and I did as he requested and went back to how we were originally laying.

“Gonna stay quiet for me?” He whispered lowly in my ear. 

I nodded. 

“Good, girl.” 

His hand then dipped under the fabric of my panties and went straight to where I wanted them the most. He hadn’t even properly touched me, and my back was already arching slightly with anticipation. 

His fingers gently ran through my folds, feeling how wet I already was. 

“Damn, darlin’ all of this for me?” He asked. 

I bit my lip harder, trying not to moan in response to what he was saying to me. He’s usually not one to talk much during sex, but when he’s in the right mood to, his voice is sweet like honey, saying filthy things in the sweetest, smoothest southern accent. All I could do was nod in response. 

My breathing hitched as he slipped his finger into me. I pumped it only a few times before slipping in a second one. My whole body stiffened at the feeling. 

“Relax, darlin’, I got you.” 

That was all it took for me to become absolutely putty in his hands. He continued to fuck me slowly with his fingers. When his thumb found my clit and began circling it slowly, I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. 

I sigh left my lips before I whispered, “Joel… m’close.” 

“Go ahead, come for me, sugar, just keep it quiet.” He said. 

That pet name, mixed with the accent and the magic he was working between my legs, sent me over the edge as my walls gripped his fingers. He continued to pump them in and out of me, helping me ride my orgasm as long as possible. When my body finally stilled and relaxed back against him, his fingers stilled before gently pulling out. Without any hesitation, he brought his fingers to his and sucked them clean. I lay there for a few minutes, coming down from my high and catching my breath. 

Eventually, though, I sighed, knowing I would need to change out of these panties and go to the bathroom. Luckily, I still had a clean pair from when we rinsed clothes last. I patted Joel’s arm that was around me. 

“I’m going to go to the bathroom real quick.” I said, sitting up once his arm loosened. 

He knew what I was about to go do and sat up, grabbing my pack for me and handing it over. I found what I needed and put them in my back pocket to not alert Ellie of anything that had just happened. 

“I’ll be right back.” I said, leaning over to kiss Joel one last time. 

“We can rinse all the clothes tomorrow night and dry them by the fire.” He said before I stood up, to which I nodded to. 

I made sure that my footsteps were loud enough to alert Ellie of my approach so as not to startle her. 

“What are you doing? I thought y'all went to bed?” She asked, looking over at me. 

“Yeah, I just had to pee.” I said, and she nodded as I walked past to find an area to do my business and change. 

Once I got back, I put the old pair in my bag to get rinsed tomorrow before settling back down with Joel. His arm snaked around my waist, and I scooted back until I was flush against him. A content sigh left my lips as my eyes slipped shut, and I drifted off to sleep. 

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[taesnix]

BACK from the void to present to you: Nico, who wears the most absolutely ridiculous socks ever because no one can see them.

Gods, he has so many.

Most of them are thick and warm for maximum comfort, and they go up to just under his knees with the stupidest little things and patterns on them. For summer, he has an equally impressive collection of crew socks that are still thick enough to not get easily worn out, but don't make him sweat buckets trudging under the sun.

Nico knows that he'll forever be a collector at heart but it's not like he wanted to choose socks of all things as his next prized possessions. He didn't wake up one day and decide "man, these things are pretty great, let's go amass an army's worth of SOCKS!" It just happened. He had no control over that. They just feel nice, okay. And perhaps the colour combos and sheer variety of everything makes him happy.

Is it kind of embarrassing? Yeah. Would he cease to exist if anyone found out? Holy shit, maybe. But it's not like anyone has been able to tell underneath his daily go-to of heavy jeans and combat boots, so he's been in the clear so far.

Until he gets distracted for a split second while sparring with Percy and riptide cuts a huge slash across his leg.

Nico's fast, so he's able to jump back just enough so that the sword barely catches any flesh, but his jeans unfortunately don't come out unscathed.

"Keep your head in the game, Neeks!" Percy teases with a grin. He's got an annoying glint in his eye to match and Nico just knows he's about to say something worse. "No matter who walks in."

And—shit. Nico feels his face flush scarlet despite him screaming internally at his body to not react. He pointedly does not look at the new blob of neon scrubs sitting next to Kayla in the stands. "Shut up, Jackson. Like you're any better when Annabeth so much as blinks at you."

Percy shrugs. "Hey man, at least I acknowledge it."

And—fine, he does. Nico will give him that. Jackson was peak levels of embarrassing about his girlfriend on a good day.

"I think you should go get that patched up," Percy smirks. He then makes a big show of squinting at the stands, pulling a similar face that Jason makes trying to read highway signs without his glasses. Basically, he looks really fucking stupid. "Impeccable timing, too! Whaddya know? There seems to be a free medic right there."

One day, Nico will kill him. It'll fix almost all of his problems, and gods know he'll always have too many at any given point in time. But he'll do it. Maybe Annabeth will even take pity and give him a pass.

Before Nico can even open his mouth and retort with something snarky, Percy raises his hands and hollers. "Hey, Will! The King here is in need of some dire medical attention!"

"No, I'm not!" Nico shouts when Will's eyes grow wider. "Nothing happened, I'm fine."

Percy snorts and claps him on the shoulder. "As if that's worked before. Good luck, little man. Same time tomorrow?"

And he doesn't wait for a response, just gives a one-handed salute and begins to make his way to the stands. Percy says something to Will as they pass by each other and Will's brows furrow.

One day.

"What happened?" Will asks as he jogs over. His blond curls rise and fall with every step and if you zeroed in on only them, the loose coils look like they're in zero gravity. Bouncing with an impossible grace as they get closer and closer.

Not that Nico was looking. Or that he'd even noticed at all. Man, is it getting hotter here? He should definitely drink some water soon.

"Nico?" Will waves a slow hand in front of his face. "You alright? Percy said his sword mostly caught your jeans, but you never know."

"Huh?" Nico chokes. Right, this is the dire medical attention part.

Will gives him a wobbly smile, like he's trying not to laugh but failing miserably. "Okaaay then. Can I check your leg?"

"Um, sure."

He's still so out of it that he doesn't hear his subconscious screaming at him why Will kneeling down to lift the denim is a terrible, horrible idea.

Nico feels the lithe fingers carefully cut down the fabric with scissors that have seemingly appeared from nowhere. He feels them gently peel back his jeans with a confident precision, minimizing the disturbance to the wound. He hears the faintest of gasps and he feels the other boy go completely still.

He tilts his head down to see what the issue is—surely Percy hadn't slashed him that bad—and then, like a statue, he freezes in place too.

In the most obnoxious shade of yellow possible, rows of mischievous rubber ducks beam back at both of them. He says mischievous because they've got annoying smirks and eyebrows strong enough to rival the Stoll brothers on the first of April. Which is quite a concerning amount. The smallest flecks of red from his cut take the whole "sinister menaces" thing to an unholy level.

Neither of them breathe for the next 30 seconds. Or maybe it's 30 years. Hell, if Nico knows now, his damn heart stopped working properly ages ago.

Then, either his saving grace or the final nail in his coffin, Will sucks in another shaky mouthful of air and clears his throat.

"You know," he starts, scarily neutral. Not a single waver in his voice. "I'm beginning to think Kayla's got a point."

Kayla talks a lot, running through an average 5 conversation topics in a record of 7 minutes with Nico himself, so that narrows it down by exactly nothing. "Uh, about what?"

Will doesn't reply, simply carrying on with cleaning and dressing his injury like he hadn't said anything. It drives Nico crazy, but he knows Will's priorities, so he holds his tongue. Will had drilled them into Nico's brain during his first infirmary stay; treat first, talk second.

So he waits. He lets Will dab the tiniest bit of nectar across the cut and wipe away blood. After a minute or two, his leg is wrapped neatly with a bandage, and suddenly, there's no more treating to be done.

"We're matching," Will finally says.

Nico blinks. Because—what.

"I mean, it's a slightly different shade, but eh, close enough to count."

Nico breaks out of his stupor when Will traces one of the ducks with his nail. Soft but accurate, light but impossible to ignore, like everything else he does.

"Yellow?" Nico whispers. He can't seem to muster up his voice to be louder than that.

Will looks up at him with a particular glint in his eye, and Nico's heart stops a second time.

"Mhm," he grins, dusting his knees as he stands up. He winks and it has no right to kickstart the thumping in Nico's chest. "Same wavelength."

"You're ridiculous," Nico lightly shoves at Will's shoulder and prays that his face isn't burning red.

Will just laughs and catches his hand, holding it in place. "Sure, but I'm also right."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are n—"

"Okay," Will interrupts, "I hate to break it to you, Neeks, but we're both wearing obnoxious shades of yellow. You've got the added bonus of sly rubber duckies, and my scrubs glow in the dark. Ergo, we're both ridiculous and both on the same wavelength."

Gods, who the hell says, "ergo". Why is Nico so enamoured with such an idiot.

"And how, exactly, does Kayla have a point here?" Nico sighs, ignoring that his hand is still on Will's shoulder and that Will is still holding it there. He'll take his silent wins as they come.

Now, Will's cheeks become a rosy red. It makes Nico want to trace a finger around his freckles to check if his skin has become warmer, too.

"Well..." He trails off. He glances down to Nico's leg again, where some of the damn ducks are peeking out behind his jeans.

With a grounding deep breath, Will shuts his eyes for a moment. When they open, he meets Nico's gaze head on, calm yet confident once more.

He's beautiful like this, like he always is.

Against his own will, Nico smiles. Will shines underneath the sun and his stupid blond curls are golden.

"She said we're soulmates. And I think she's right about that."

And Nico thinks she's right about that, too.

[tgmsunmontue]

You look like a bad idea... 4/? WIP

Explicit Hangster - based on this idea here. Bradley is not a naval aviator. Canon deaths (it starts at Ice's funeral). Addiction and alcoholism (and recovery) mentions.

PART ONE TWO THREE

PART FOUR

                Jake definitely feels the same sentiment as Bradley. Fuck. He really needed that too, more than he thought he did. He’s used to going prolonged periods without sex. He isn’t a huge fan, but he’s able to deal with it, especially as he’s gotten older. Sometimes he might find something mutually beneficial for the duration of a deployment, but that hadn’t happened on the one he was just pulled from to join the Dagger Squadron for this particular attachment. Hell. If that’s the last time he has sex then at least it was good. He’d leave a five-star review if that was a thing, and the thought has him laughing a little.

                He hadn’t stopped and gotten Bradley’s number. But he knows he can get it a variety of ways, not least simply asking Trace for it. Hmm. If she’d actually give it to him, considering her warning. Ah well, he’s also happy to simply ring and ask Sarah Kazansky, even Maverick might have it for all he knows. Which also means Bradley can find him just as easily if he so desires.

                Hmm. On that notes he spies Maverick and sidles up to him, notes the small plate of food and wonders whether he should have some.

                “So pops, any advice on asking the son of an Admiral out?”

                Maverick looks at him, eyes a bit glassy and Jake wonders if it’s tears or whether Maverick has been drinking. Maverick is frowning, looking a little confused which definitely lends itself as evidence toward the drinking theory.

                “Hmm. Who?” Maverick asks then, popping a piece of food into his mouth and Jake scans his eyes over the remaining guests. Not that Bradley needs to be here for Jake to say his name, but just thinking about him seems to conjure him up because he’s there, standing on the top step of the porch wearing completely different clothes from the black suit and charcoal shirt he’d had on earlier. Now he’s wearing light-faded denim jeans, tears in the knees, a long-sleeved white shirt with a deep scooped neckline and holy fucking shit Jake can see red marks that he knows he left not that long ago. Over the top is a garishly patterned button-down with coloring that makes him wonder if Bradley is maybe color-blind.

                It’s an odd combination but he still looks confident and at home, is moving toward Sarah with intense focus and Jake notes that Maverick’s eyes follow him, before looking to see Jake also watching Bradley. Then Maverick is coughing, and Jake’s focus switches to him, the coughing loud but also Maverick has gone red faced. He’s coughing though, breathing, so he holds back the immediate reaction to pound him on the back.

                “You okay Mav? Can’t have you dying because a piece of food…” He doesn’t add that Maverick is the best chance they have at succeeding at this fucking suicide mission. It gets him a weak laugh, a hand wave and Maverick is breathing again, but Jake notes his eyes haven’t left Bradley.

                “You talking about Bradley?” Maverick asks, his face returning to a little more normal color while he sucks in breaths and Bob has come over with a glass of water, because of course he has. The look he gives Jake clearly implies he thinks Jake is to blame for Maverick’s coughing fit and he may have a point.

                “I just… think he looks interesting,” Jake says, deciding in the minute to err on the side of discretion. He is at a funeral.

                “Bradley and I… have a complicated history.”

                Oh fuck.

                “Okay…” Jake says, quiet and consideringly, because oh fuck…

                “I need to talk to him. Explain.”

                Explain what? Jake wants to ask, but doesn’t get to say anything before Maverick is rambling about bad feelings, apologies and time passing and that he made a lot of mistakes. Jake suspects that Maverick might be a little drunk. Or… upset. Or both.

                “I should go and talk to him…” Maverick states, and Jake and Bob exchange a look, Jake blowing out a breath and just shrugging his shoulders as Maverick strides away towards the house where Bradley has disappeared into. Definitely at home here then.

                “That sounds like a really messy break up…” Bob says and Jake pulls a face. So it’s not just him imagining that it sounded exactly like Maverick was having regrets about his failed relationship with Bradley.

                Well.

                Fuck.

                How in the hell can he ever compete with someone like Maverick?

                In the air? Sure. Jake knows he’ll get there one day, he doesn’t have the decades of experience that Maverick does. Looks wise? Maverick is a damned good-looking man, and clearly Bradley doesn’t mind the age thing if they were together previously.

                Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t get his number after all.

FIVE