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houstonindia · 9 months ago
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Top Casting Manufacturers in Howrah, West Bengal | Call 9163221666
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obsesssedblerd · 4 months ago
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PLS PLS PLS DO A FIC WHERE GOJO AND Y/N ADOPT THE FIRST YEARS BASED ON THAT SMAU PLSSSSSSS
I GOT YOU ANON!!!! oh, i've been dying to write this one!
Filling the Empty Spaces 
Synopsis: You always thought that the house that you and your new husband, Satoru, lived in was way too big. One night after a rough mission, the both of you decide to keep an eye on Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara as they recover. You grow to love their company, and realize that they fit so perfectly not just in your house, but also your life.
Wc: 5.1k
Contains: teeth-rotting fluff, soft husband! gojo, yuuji no longer being sukuna’s vessel, gojo and reader are married, reader has a technique but it’s not explained, reader used to be a teacher but quit, gojo and reader adopting the first years, only a dash of angst, pregnancy (but only at the end), some suggestiveness but no smut, everyone is happy bc i said so. (gege don’t ever let me catch you)
a/n: this has to be the sweetest thing i’ve ever written in my life lol. also this is barely proof-read, so sorry for any mistakes!
-------------------------------------------------
Even with all of yours and Satoru’s belongings, the house that was left for him was still insanely huge. Your footsteps echo in the hallway as you mentally count the empty spaces. Three empty bedrooms, three empty bathrooms, another large room that could be considered a second living room. You knew it was big; Satoru said it was prior to you two getting married and moving in, but you wondered if you’d ever get used to having that much extra space. 
“Oh, wifeyyyy,” Satoru calls out to you in his usual, sing-songy tone, his voice echoing throughout the hallway. “Where are you?” 
“Near the kitchen!” You call back to him. 
Your tall and handsome husband appears not even a minute later. The corner of his mouth pulls upwards into a smirk as he sees you sitting on the counter of the kitchen island. “Well, hello there, Mrs. Gojo.” 
Your heart stutters in your chest, and you cast your eyes downward. “It’s gonna take a while before I get used to that.” You smile and lift up your left hand, allowing the gorgeous diamond on your fourth finger to glimmer in the sunlight that filled the space. “I still can’t believe it.” 
Satoru steps in front of you and grabs your hand, bringing it to his mouth and placing a small kiss on your palm. “Believe it, pretty girl,” he says, his cerulean eyes meeting yours. He takes your other hand, then tugs upward so your arms are around his neck, his own hands settling on your hips. Your fingers brush against his undercut, then play with his soft white hair. “After all.” His voice dips to a sensual purr as his face inches closer. “I did tell you that I was going to make you my wife, didn’t I?” 
He kisses you, and you sigh blissfully into his mouth as your eyes shut. Despite being practically glued to him during your two-week honeymoon on a beautiful island, you still craved him. His hand barely slides underneath your shirt before his phone starts ringing. He groans, and you giggle as he pulls away and grabs his phone out of his pocket. “Work?” You ask. 
“Work. However, it’s Yuuji, not Yaga.” Satoru answers and begins talking while you hop off of the counter and decide to make both of you some tea. It wouldn’t be long before the sun begins to set, so you start thinking about what to make for dinner. 
You look over to see Satoru’s brows furrowed. “Ah, I see,” he said to Yuuji on the other line. “Well, good to hear that you made it back to the school safely. Are you three alright? Megumi went to see Shoko for that injury?” 
That worries you. From the sound of it, the first years went on another dangerous mission this afternoon. You knew that Kento Nanami was watching them, but with three students and dangerous curses, anything could happen. “I think I’ve come across a curse like that before,” Satoru says. “You get sick only after it hits you with that goo. Since you and Nobara only got a bit of it on you, you won’t die. However, it still concerns me. One second, okay?” 
He tilts the phone away from him and turns to look at you. “Megumi got injured. Shoko healed him but needs to rest for at least a few days. Yuuji and Nobara might also become sick.”
Your heart sinks. Yuuji, Megumi and Nobara were just kids. You remember battling curses as a teen alongside Satoru and Suguru Geto before he became a curse-user, but becoming an adult and watching the next generation of students throw themselves into battle gave you an entirely different feeling. Around two months ago, Yuuji officially separated from Ryomen Sukuna and was freed from the burden of being his vessel; but you were getting a feeling that he still wanted to prove himself as a sorcerer by going on tough missions, all so he could stay around. 
“They’re gonna need someone to keep an eye on them for a while. Everyone else at the school is busy,” you say, and Satoru nods. You pause on making the tea, then make a decision. “Alright, have Ichiji bring them here. We have plenty of space, as you can see, and I can help them out while you’re at work over the next few days.” 
After all, the first years didn’t have anyone else. 
Satoru kisses your forehead, then tells Yuuji the plan. Meanwhile, you double-check the three empty rooms and bathrooms. Each of them had freshly made beds, clean bathrooms and some decorative furniture—thanks to the housekeeping that maintained this house before you and Satoru moved in. 
While you were thinking hard about some extra items that you didn’t have, Satoru comes up behind you and places his hands on your shoulders, which immediately slump under his touch. You sigh as he rubs the tension from them. “Baby, whatever we don’t have, and they need it, we can just buy it. Yuuji’s telling them to pack enough clothes for a while. Just relax. It’ll be okay.” 
Right. It’ll be fine. 
— — — — —
When Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara arrive, your face splits into a wide smile. You haven’t seen them since you and Satoru got married. A rush of movement, and the pink-haired teenager is hugging you tight, excitedly rambling about how much he missed you. The brown-haired girl is next, and Nobara literally squeals as she hugs you. Finally, the dark-haired teen, who is much calmer than his fellow first years. However, he doesn’t shy away when you hug him gently—being careful not to touch his side that was injured in battle—and he mumbles that it’s good to see you. 
“Wow, this house is huge!” Nobara exclaims as she wanders around the kitchen, then the living room. 
As always, Yuuji matches her high energy. “No kidding. There’s like a million rooms in this place!” 
Satoru chuckles. He was dressed in his usual uniform and blindfold, leaning against the wall of the living room with his hands shoved into his pockets. “I’m glad you like it. This place was left for me. I knew that I wanted to move in here only if I got married. For a while, I thought I’d never touch it. Then I met that lovely sorcerer over there.” 
Your cheeks heat, and the students ‘aw’ over his words. The oven dings, and you spring up. “Great, dinner’s done. Give me some time to set up.” 
Satoru and Nobara sit with Megumi on the couch in the living room to watch TV, and Yuuji follows you to help set the table in the dining room. “You don’t want to go sit down?” You ask, reaching over to ruffle the boy’s hair. “You’ve had a long day.” 
“It’s okay, I wanna help. Besides, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. I missed talking with you.” 
Your heart swells. You pass him some plates and some silverware, and he stacks it so he can take it to the table. “How are you holding up?” You ask as you pull the food you prepared out of the oven. 
“Doing good. It definitely feels nice not having his voice in my head anymore,” he says from the dining room, neatly arranging the dishes. Five plates, five glasses, five sets of silverware. “Or worrying about him taking my body at any second. Just knowing that no one has to deal with him ever again brings me so much peace.” 
“I’m so proud of you.” You take off of your oven mitts and walk towards him. “So is Satoru and the rest of your teachers, and so is your grandfather. He’d be happy knowing that you’re still helping people by fighting curses.” 
That makes Yuuji pause. His smile is still there, but it wobbles at the corners. He turns away from you to hide his face, but the tremble in his shoulders is impossible for him to conceal. “Yuuji,” you call softly, and he sniffles, still turned around. Your heart aches, and you pull him to you. He immediately wraps his arms around you as his head settles onto your chest, his body shaking as he sobs quietly. You were thankful that the TV was on in the living room so he could have this moment privately. 
“It’s okay to cry,” you whisper as you stroke his hair. “Everything’s alright. You’re brave, but it’s okay to break down, too.” 
“Only reason I‘m alive is because you and Gojo-sensei fought against my execution.” He uses a sleeve of his jacket to wipe his tears. “I’ll be honest. There were so many times where I thought I wasn’t going to make it, or if it would be impossible to be separated from Sukuna without hurting anyone else. But you two had so much hope for me, and it pushed me to keep fighting.” 
Tears fill your eyes, and you blink them back. “I’ll always fight for you, you hear me?” Yuuji nods, and you let him hug you for as long as you like. 
Unbeknownst to you, Satoru watches you both from the living room with a gentle smile. 
— — — — — 
Dinner is filled with fun stories, jokes, and plenty of laughter. Once everyone has finished eating, Satoru and Yuuji do the dishes while you and Nobara help Megumi into one of the spare rooms after his shower. 
“The bed’s super comfortable,” Megumi says, not fighting a single bit when you cover him with the blanket. “Thank you.” 
“You better get some rest, Fushiguro,” Nobara says seriously as she crosses her arms. “Shoko said four days.” 
“She’s right,” Yuuji comments as he walks into the room, sitting next to her on the edge of Megumi’s bed. “Not a single hour before.” 
Megumi frowns. “You both are being dramatic.”
“Look, if Kugisaki and I have to lock you in here so you can rest, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.” 
“Yup!” Nobara agrees with her usual grin, popping the p for extra dramatics. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll just call the Gojos. Do you really want to get lectured by them?” 
That makes you laugh. “Alright, you two, I think he gets it.” You gently fix Megumi’s hair—noting that his eyes were beginning to droop with exhaustion—then stand up. “Besides, you both might also be on bedrest. You did get hit by that curse earlier, and Satoru said that the effects won’t kick in until tomorrow. So it’s important that you two get plenty of sleep as well.” 
Yuuji and Nobara say goodnight to Megumi, then the three of you leave his room. You decide to take your shower, making a mental list of groceries to buy for tomorrow now that the first years were staying with you for a few days. When you exit the bathroom in some sleepwear, you hear quiet giggling and snickering coming from the kitchen. You scoff, put on your house slippers and go investigate. 
First, you see your husband’s white hair in the dimly-lit kitchen. You flip on the light switch, and burst out laughing at the sight. Satoru, Yuuji, and Nobara were stuffing their faces with cupcakes, all dressed in their pajamas. They were Satoru’s favorite, and he requested them from you every chance he got. “Now, what is going on here?” You ask. 
“His idea,” Nobara attempts to mumble with her mouth full as she points at Satoru. Yuuji immediately nods in agreement and also points at his teacher. Satoru only shrugs with his usual smile, using a thumb to wipe away the blue icing on his lips before licking it clean. Then he offers you one. “Here, have one. They’re delicious.” 
“No, silly, it’s late.” You put the cupcake back in its container, then hand the two teens a napkin. “And you two should be getting some rest. Megumi’s already fast asleep.” 
Surprisingly, they don’t put up a fight. You happily do skincare with Nobara in the bathroom of the bedroom that she was using, and you both make plans to go shopping for some face masks once they’re all feeling better. When she finishes moisturizing her face, she gives you another hug. “Missed you,” she mumbles into your shoulder. 
“Aw, sweetheart,” you sigh as you return the hug. “I’ve missed you as well. Was it a long few weeks for you?” 
“Well, kinda,” she says as she pulls away, then goes to sit on her bed. “I know you and Gojo-sensei were on your honeymoon, and we expected that, but we’re all just getting used to the fact that you’ve officially quit working at the school. We support it, but it sucks knowing that we’re not going to see you as much.” 
The thinly-veiled sadness in her eyes makes your gut twist. Of course they were going to miss you. You saw them and worked with them every single day. “Nobara, I’m always going to be here for you. Just because I no longer work there, that doesn’t mean I still can’t visit or even help out with you three.” 
Nobara rests her head on your shoulder, and you rub a comforting hand up and down her back. “Promise?” she asks quietly. 
“I promise.” 
When she goes to bed, you leave her room and shut the door behind you. Finally, you walk to Yuuji’s room, which is still lit up. You get to the doorway, and you hide a laugh when you see that he fell asleep almost immediately after laying down. More than likely got more comfortable than he thought when he tested the bed. You adjust the pillow so it’s under his head, pull the blanket over his body, mess with his hair once more, then switch the lamp off so he can rest. You leave, then shut the door. 
“They all fell asleep so quickly,” you say to Satoru once you walk into your spacious, shared bedroom. You climb into bed next to him, sighing when you feel the soft, silk sheets against your skin. Like every night, he tugs you into his large, muscular arms, and you rest your head against his chest. 
This was your favorite spot to be; in the arms of the strongest, most powerful man in the whole world. Satoru was protective in every sense of the word. Nothing would ever happen to you as long as you were with him. 
“I’m certain that those rooms are much more comfortable than the dorms at the school,” he says. You feel his hand rubbing soothing patterns against your arm. “So, what’s your plan for tomorrow?” 
“Keeping an eye on them. I’m almost one hundred percent positive that they’re all going to be sleeping most of the day.” You then press a kiss against Satoru’s jaw. “And when you get home from work tomorrow, I expect you to rest, too. I know you’re dealing with the higher-ups.” 
“Eh, who cares about them?” Satoru scoffs. “I tune them out.” 
“Yeah, you really gotta stop doing that.” 
— — — — — — — — 
Your morning starts early. You’re barely awake when you feel Satoru kiss your cheek, whispering in your ear that he loves you and that he’ll see you after work. You sleep for about another half-hour, then decide to get up. After brushing your teeth, you walk down the hallway leading to the kitchen. The sun is already shining through the large windows of the sunroom, and you pause in your tracks when you see Megumi, silently reading one of the many books you kept in there. 
He’s sitting on a bean bag chair towards the corner of the room, and you notice two more books on the ground next to him. When he sees you staring, he sits up and shuts the book. “Sorry.” The apology comes out in a faint, yet frantic rush. “I-I was just curious, and I’ve never seen a huge collection like this, and—” 
“Megumi.” Your soft voice stops him, and his shoulders slump in relief when he sees you smile and sit in the bean bag chair adjacent to his. “It’s alright. Books are meant to be read. I’m just happy you found this room. I thought you might like it.” 
“It’s so peaceful here,” he comments as he looks around slowly, taking in the beauty of your favorite room in the house. One wall is lined with books, neatly organized on floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall shelves. There is also a tall ladder that slides smoothly across the shelves, which aids you whenever a book is placed far too high. The rest of the room is filled with bean bag chairs, plants, and a few small, decorative statues. 
You tilt your head to get a closer look at the book in his hand. “What are you reading?” 
“A sci-fi,” he says, “I’ve kind of been interested in them since watching Human Earthworm with Itadori.” 
“Ah.” You stand up, drag the ladder towards the middle of the shelves, then climb up to retrieve a duology. “I think you’ll like this series, then. In addition to the books you also have with you.” 
Megumi rubs the back of his head bashfully. “I hope I’ll have enough time to get through these,” he says, then yawns. “And energy. Still tired even though I slept for a while.” 
“Your body needs rest, and it’s okay. You can keep the books until you’re finished. Take your time.” 
Megumi smiles at that. It’s small, but it’s there, and you love it. “Thank you.” 
“Of course.” 
— — — — — — 
Like you expected, Yuuji and Nobara weren’t feeling good that morning. They had some body aches, chills and a light cough. Luckily, they had you to look after them. You prepared soup for the three of them, and you made sure they were comfortable and hydrated. When Satoru returned from work, he gave all three of them medicine to help with any pain. The both of you kept an eye on them as they slept. 
Over the next few days, they were all feeling better, however, both you and Satoru kept making excuses to keep them for another day. What if their cold comes back? Or, Maybe Shoko miscalculated and Megumi needed a few more days to fully recover?
Even when the first years were well enough to start going on missions again, Satoru had made it a habit to bring them back with him at the end of the day. You’ve also made new habits since the first years entered your home. Every morning, you would make breakfast for everyone to enjoy at the table. You loved seeing Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara’s smiles, or hearing them groan whenever Satoru made a joke that was just a little too cheesy. And their hugs. Oh, you loved their hugs. You hugged them before they went off to jujutsu high with Satoru each morning, and you hugged them each night before bed. 
After about six weeks, you were so used to them being over every night; so much to the point that you and Satoru stared at Yuuji in confusion when he asked if you were tired of them. Both of you had never said, “No,” so fast in your lives.
Not only were you used to it, you loved it. You loved sitting quietly in the sunroom with Megumi, enjoying each other’s company while reading your respective books. You loved listening to Yuuji’s wild stories about his epic adventures as a sorcerer, even better when Satoru joined in and helped him with the dramatics. You loved doing face masks and painting your nails with Nobara. You were pretty sure you spent up to a few hours each week in the bathroom with her, laughing joyfully and listening to music as you played around with cosmetics. 
You loved movie nights with the five of you sitting together on the couch, passing popcorn and other treats amongst each other. You loved it when each of the teens came to you about what was bothering them. By the second month, all of them had trusted you enough to cry around you. You loved comforting them—being a sorcerer is hard and gruesome, and anyone would need support. You loved holding them, wiping their tears, and feeling them settle when you reassure them that you and Satoru would keep them safe. You loved seeing them play silly games in the spacious backyard. Sometimes, you and Satoru joined them so you could have fun with them. 
Before any one of you knew it, five months of this had passed. 
At that point, Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara’s dorms back at the school were practically deserted, and the once-empty guest bedrooms of yours and Satoru’s home were filled with their belongings. Clothes, shoes, books, posters, souvenirs, trinkets, and photographs. You and your husband never did hold back when it came to spoiling them, whether with materials or experiences. You had noticed that the three of them were glowing. Louder laughs, smiles that reach their eyes, sleeping better, feeling more comfortable, and overall, looking much happier. 
“They feel loved,” Nanami had told you once you explained it to him on a day you went to visit the school. “Everyone glows when they feel loved.” 
— — — — — 
“We should adopt them.” 
At Satoru’s words, you look up from your book to face him. He’s laying down in your shared bed, facing the ceiling with an arm tucked behind his head. It is nearly midnight, and you are the only ones awake in the house. “Really?” You ask, unable to hide your smile. You shut your book and put it on the bedside table. This was a conversation that you’ve been hoping to have for a while. Finally, you’re talking about adopting those three and officially having them as your kids.
“Yeah.” He sighs as he sits up. “I like having them here, and I can tell that you do, too. I can also tell that they like being here. They’re much more relaxed. Yuuji and Nobara are sleeping so much better, and plus, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Megumi smile so much.” 
“I love having them here,” you say. You reach for his hand, and he clasps it with yours, intertwining your fingers together. “I don’t want them to ever go back to that school. They’re so happy here. I want to keep them happy. Besides, if we adopt them, I’m pretty sure that would keep the higher-ups from deciding to toss them into reckless missions simply because they have no legal guardian. They’d have to go through us first, right?” 
“They’d have to go through us first regardless.” Satoru then chuckles. “Have you been wanting to talk about adopting them, pretty girl? You seem like you’ve put so much thought into this.”
“You have no idea.” 
“I wish you said something sooner. Honestly, we could’ve done this a few months ago.” 
You kiss his cheek, then rest your chin on his shoulder. “Well,” you start, “I remember you saying that you were hesitant about starting a family towards the beginning of our relationship a few years back. I didn’t know if your mind had changed or not. Adopting three teenagers falls into that category.” 
“Ah, so that’s why you never talked about it recently,” he says with a thoughtful hum. “Before we got together, I didn’t know how I felt about having a family, simply because I got to a point where I could never see myself having such a thing. But, then I fell in love with you, and in love with life with you. I’d love to start a family with you.” He kisses your hand, then continues, “And I’m not just talking about adopting Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara.”
You gasp lightly, and your heart begins to race in excitement. You lift your head, then turn your body so you’re directly in front of him. “Satoru.” Your voice comes out in a barely-audible whisper. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” 
Gentleness glimmers in his blue eyes, and he uses a hand to stroke your cheek. You instinctively lean into the touch, and his thumb wipes away the tear that barely slides from the corner of your eye. “If you want to,” he starts, “and if you’re ready, I’d love to have a baby with you.” 
You think you’re dreaming. You feel like your body’s about to explode. It takes everything not to squeal loudly and wake up the teens. You smile and nod, wiping away the tears of joy before they blur your vision any further. “I’d love that, too.” 
Satoru leans in and kisses you. It’s slow, loving and so very gentle. He slightly trembles, and you open your eyes to see that he was also tearing up from the happiness. “I love you.” His voice is low, yet shaky. “I love you so fucking much.” He kisses you again, then moves from your mouth, slowly down your neck. “I’ll take care of you. All of you.” He gently pushes you back against the sheets, and you sigh as his hands trail down your body. You wrap your arms around his neck to pull him closer. 
“All five of you.” 
— — — — — 
“So, you wanted to talk with us?” Yuuji asks. 
You, Satoru, and the teens all sit on the luxurious couch in the living room the next morning. Since there’s no missions for them, they get to relax at home. All three of them were still cozy in their pajamas, and they finished eating their breakfast not too long ago. 
“Yes,” you say as you sit up. “So, it’s been five months of you all staying here.” 
At once, Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara stiffen, then share grim looks with each other. It confuses you, and before you can ask about it, Nobara sits up. She gulps hard, and you know from her staying with you for so long that it’s because she’s trying to choke back tears so they wouldn’t form in her eyes. “It’s okay,” she says, “we understand. We knew that this would be a temporary thing.” 
“Huh?” Satoru asks, also confused. You can tell that his brows are furrowed underneath his blindfold. “What’re you—” 
“I mean, five months is a lot. We get it. You didn’t have to keep us for this long, but you did. Thank you,” Megumi says. 
Yuuji nods with a smile, but you know it’s a fake one. It makes your heart ache. “Just know that we’re extremely grateful for everything.” 
“Every last bit of it. Thank you so much,” Nobara chimes in. 
“Okay, all of you, stop.” Your voice is firm, and it silences them all at once. Megumi is facing the ground to hide his face, Yuuji’s fake smile fades as he casts his eyes downward, and Nobara looks over at the wall, nervously chewing at her lip. “This isn’t what you think it is. Satoru and I don’t want you three to leave.” 
Now it’s their turn to look confused. However, they’re all finally looking directly at you, and that makes you feel a little bit better. “We were going to ask if you’d like to make it permanent, because we’d love to adopt you three.” 
They gasp, and their eyes widen in shock. It’s silent for a few beats, then Nobara faintly asks, “...What?” 
Satoru chuckles, then claps his hands together once. “Aw, c’mon, Nobara! Surely, you know what ‘permanent’ means!” You roll your eyes. Adding humor to make a situation less tense was such a Satoru Gojo thing to do.
The teens still look in shock. “So…” Megumi starts, his voice barely above a whisper. “You’d be our parents?” 
“Yes,” you reply with a smile. 
Nobara sniffles, and you look over at her to see that she’s no longer holding back her tears. “And- And we’d be your kids?” Her voice is also quiet. Yuuji, on the other hand, is much louder with his question. “And these two would be my siblings?!” 
You giggle, then nod again. “Yes, one hundred percent yes. I know it’s sudden, and if you all need time to think about it—” 
“Yes!!” Nobara practically screams, then runs over to hug you and Satoru as she begins sobbing. A split second later, Yuuji is there too, also hugging you tight. Megumi joins last, and the five of you remain there, embracing each other. Embracing your husband, your two new sons and your new daughter. Your eyes shut as you laugh with joy, unaware of your own tears. 
— — — — — — 
Six months later 
“So yeah, that’s the story of how Mom and Dad adopted us,” Yuuji concludes, then places his hand against your swollen tummy. “Pretty cool, right?” 
As if responding, ‘Yes,’ the baby within you gently kicks. “Ha!” Yuuji exclaims excitedly, then grins over at Megumi and Nobara. “I told you that they like my voice!” 
Nobara rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, Yuuji, they like all of our voices, but they like mine the most.” Now she puts her hand against your stomach, leaning close so the baby could hear her better. “Right, sweets? Isn’t your big sister your favorite sibling?” 
Two light kicks. Yuuji gasps in surprise while Nobara cackles victoriously. Megumi scoffs at their foolishness, and you laugh. 
“I won’t lie though,” Megumi says. “I’m curious about what technique they’re going to have.” 
“Yeah, will it be Mom’s or Dad’s?” Yuuji asks. 
You shrug. “We don’t know yet.” 
The front door opens, and you hear Satoru call out, “I’m home!” as he walks towards the living room where all of you were sitting. Like every day, he gives Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara hugs as he asks about their days, then comes to you. He kisses your forehead, then your tummy. “Hey, little one,” he quietly coos. “Hope you didn’t give mama too much trouble today.” 
“No vomiting today, so, yeah, they did pretty good.” You gently stroke his cheek. “Missed you today. How was work?” 
“Yeah, how was work?” Nobara asks excitedly. “Any special grade curses?” 
“Eh, nothing like that today,” Satoru says as he sits in between you and Megumi, ruffling the boy’s hair. “However, the second years are starting to plan a surprise party for Okkotsu’s birthday. I passed the word to the rest of the staff, and now I’m letting you all know about it.” 
Megumi nods as he settles back into the comfortable couch cushion. “Inumaki did text me about that earlier.”
“This is going to be so fun!” Yuuji exclaims. 
“Yeah, as long as we don’t leave you in charge of handling the cake like we did for Nanamin’s birthday last year, since you like to drop them,” Nobara scoffs. 
“Oh, come on! That was one time!” 
Megumi tsks, and shakes his head. “One time is too many.” 
As they playfully squabble, you and Satoru watch them with soft smiles. His blindfold was lowered, so you got to see the pure love and happiness in his eyes. He finally has the family that he once dreamed of as a child. You lean on his shoulder, and he kisses your cheek. 
Finally, your house was full, and so was your heart.
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starry-fame · 2 months ago
Text
18+ Overboard [Caleb x Gender Neutral!reader/MC]
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Summary:
“You planning on going back to bed soon? Or what?”
You chew on your lip, trying to gauge the meaning in his words. You pull up nothing, so you decide to just answer honestly. “…Not really.”
“Alright then, keep me company.” Caleb swings around to face the foyer, casting a long glance over his shoulder. “I’ve always been more of a night owl anyway.”
The liar. Caleb’s always been able to get up at the crack of dawn since he was a teen. It’s such an obvious fib, but he says it anyway, shamelessly directing you to his room.
Like a moth to a flame, you follow.
Tags: Smut, Pining, Confessions, Porn with feelings, Dom/Sub Undertones, Overstimulation, Body Worship, Penetration, Rough Sex, Begging Ambiguous Genitalia!reader/MC, Gender neutral!reader/MC
Word Count: 11,734
Author's Notes: I posted this a while ago on ao3 and wanted to try tumblr as well! I can also post silly MC stuff and character edits haha. Anyway, I hope Caleb lovers enjoy! Also, certain parts technically aren't canon as of A World Underneath release, but that's okay :')
Ao3 Check out Linkon Lounge, an 18+ Lads Themed Otome Discord Server! We stream otome/anime/movies, have lads boys rp/text bots (+Caleb ofc), and chill!
Masterlist
Sequel - Caleb Loves to Bully You in Bed
It burns.
The air’s filled with plumes of smoke, darkened to an ugly red clouded in ash. It waters your eyes and fills your lungs with soot, wracking you with dry coughs that destroy your throat. It’s hot — so hot — your body feels heavy. You’re crawling — you think? But the ground seems to slide beneath you, and your palms scrape against the concrete, bloodied.
Though your ears ring a terrible, destitute tune and your chest cries in agony — the only thing your mind screams is to get away. Run. Crawl. Slide. Drag your useless limbs and get away. You have to run; stand up and run but your body just lays there.
It’s coming. You can’t get away — you’ll die. You don’t want to die. Shelter’s right there. So close — so close. You drag past a mangled, severed arm, and instantly retch. But you keep moving. So near. Right there. But the sound of inhuman dragging grates your ears behind you and—
Your eyes shoot open, body doused in a sheen of sweat and heart ready to burst. The sheets feel far too sticky and clammy under your fingers and you’re quick to peel them off — rid yourself of anything that makes you feel hot. Confined.
One breath, two, three… it takes a moment to gather your bearings. You’re not freshly seven drowning in a sea of pain and desperate tears. You’re in your childhood home, resting on your sheets and surrounded by memories of the past.
Seems that no matter how much time passes, your dreams will always find a way to torment you as though you lived them yesterday.
What a mood-killer. You’re finally in your old home after an extended absence, and all your mind can do is taunt you by conjuring up your darkest memories.
The room’s bathed in darkness — a glance at your watch shows it’s late in the middle of the night. Not exactly time to rise, but you’re not so trusting of your dreams either. The sweat that dampens your brows and the front of your shirt feels disgusting, so you fan yourself mindlessly. You have to do something, be anywhere but here.
You’re quick to stand, stumbling a little from the sudden shift in gravity. Your eyes are still bleary, crusted, and you rub at them as you trudge out your room.
The house is dead silent, which only makes the sound of your footsteps more apparent, has you silently wincing at every step. Still, you do your best to move quiet as you can to the fridge. Grab yourself a water and chug about half of it in one gulp, cooling your clammy skin and ridding that feeling of scalding — of hot ash coating your throat. You enjoy the crinkle of the cool bottle in your grasp, how the mundane, predictable noise reminds you of reality and the now.
The incessant buzz of crickets in the distance is almost calming. The house is otherwise tranquil and calm. Peace and — you hear a quiet thump. Okay, not as quiet as you thought. Setting the bottle down, you slowly turn toward the noise, reminding your quickening pulse that unless your hunter’s watch is buzzing with a warning, there’s no imminent danger.
A few footsteps and… a tall figure emerges from the doorway, bending so he can properly fit through. Though he’s doused in shadow and you can only make out the slight glimmer of his two-toned irises, his name naturally falls from your lips.
“Caleb…”
“Thought I heard someone sneaking around in here. Why am I not surprised?” He languidly strides across the moonlit room, pausing to gently ruffle your hair like its tradition; he’s been doing it for so long, it might as well be. Even when you two were little and you had a bit of height on him (he’d prop up on his tip toes to pat your head — it was pretty adorable, in hindsight.) So you can’t bring yourself to swat his hand away as he goes for the fridge to grab a drink of his own.
Instead of drinking, though, Caleb pauses and scrutinizes the water, like it did a personal wrong to him. Before you get the chance to probe his mind, he presses the chilled bottle against your forehead. The cold makes you flinch on instinct and shoot a quick glare at him.
“What was that for?”
“Wake up call. Did you get thirsty in the middle of the night? Or you just can’t sleep?” He raises a brow, wearing a grin coated with worry as he takes a drink. Caleb’s always been terribly perceptive, he seemed to just know when you were having a terrible day or if something was amiss. Whether it was the years you’ve spent in each other’s company or Caleb’s innate sensitivity to human emotion, you have no clue. A mix of both, maybe.
Like always, he watches. You look away.
“Thirsty.”
“Uh huh. And I guess all that thirst’s what made your eyes red. You’re looking a little hot there too. Should I crank up the A/C?” Caleb raises a brow, and you wonder why he even bothers asking when he comes to his own conclusions. He should hardly be able to tell these things in the dark — does he just know? Or are the faint streaks of moonlight through the window just enough to tell him everything he needs?
“It’s not a bad thing to admit when you’re having nightmares, y’know. I mean, when you were a kid, you’d come knocking on my door in near tears and—“
“I get it, Caleb. I don’t need the whole rundown.” You snap, fighting the immediate embarrassment that wells up at your vulnerability and dependence as a child. For how strong you like to deem yourself now, it’s not like that was always the case. You were an easily frightened kid, especially jumpy after the attack. You clung to everyone and everything around you because you lost everything you held dear once before.
“And for the record,” you add, “it was a two way street. I can name a few times you came to my room saying you just wanted to talk. You look like you’d been crying for the past hour.” Right. Seeking solace in one another because you were confused kids who had their lives flipped upside down in a single afternoon.
You and Caleb were friends before the tragedy, neighbors who played together a few times at most. Not best friends, but he was the nice kid down the block you enjoyed spending time with.
When you found Caleb during the Catastrophe, you remember like it was only days ago. Crawling frantically, trying not to collapse from the pain that engulfed your being enough to make your vision swirl. In the makeshift shelter, you saw a few injured adults — some minimal, some fatal, and even fewer children crying tended to by lesser wounded adults. You could barely sit up. Someone tried to offer assistance, you think, but then a kid your size rushed beside you and knelt down, asking if you were okay.
Your ears were ringing and you could barely get a noise out, but you could tilt your head up and see those raven eyes with a hint of amber, full of absolute terror. You whispered his name so hoarse — “Caleb…” and like the turning of a faucet, an ugly mesh of tears and mucus immediately began streaming down your face. The smell of red — death, the sights, your bloodied hands, aching body, screaming heart, all honed in at once. All you could do was sob while Caleb knelt down beside you and cradled your head, tears prickling his eyes. It didn’t take long for you two to break down in one another’s arms.
From then on, you couldn’t help but stick to Caleb like glue. Caleb was the only person you had connected to your old life — the only remaining stability when everything else crumbled to dust. When you were bundled in your room and didn’t even want to talk to Grandma because she was some strange adult whom you now lived with — Caleb would sit in with you. He’d remain as long as he had to, validate every last awful thought you had in your frustrations and soothe you with sweet caresses and gentle words. As embarrassing as it is to recall, as a child, he was your lifeline. Caleb’s the reason you didn’t run away in a frenzy when everything was too much and you felt like you just needed to be away and gone. He’s the reason you were able to eventually adapt to your new lifestyle and warm up to Grandma over time. It’s ridiculous, really, how much Caleb meant and was able to do for you by just existing as himself. Caleb could sit in your room minding his business, and his presence alone was enough to soothe your tired limbs and mind from punching your pillows and recalling every terrible thing that happened that fated day.
He was always there for you, one way or another. It’s just the way it’s always been.
It’d be nice if you had something of an effect like that on him, too.
“Right. Because sometimes a little chat is all you need when you’re not doing so hot,” Caleb says, leaning on the counter and gesturing his bottle to you. Yeah, just like him alright, to flip it around on you even when you try to call him out. Makes it feel like every conversation with him is a losing battle, like he always has the upper hand because he knows just the right thing to say and how to say it.
“Alright, alright. Yeah, I had a nightmare. Happy?” You sigh, resigned at this point. You can’t even really be angry when Caleb’s been nothing but reasonable from the start, speaks out of pure care and concern. Rather, perhaps it’s the fact that he’s always reasonable you tend to get irate.
“‘Course not. It’s not like I like hearing you still get them. But it’s nice to have someone to talk to instead of keeping it all to yourself, right?” His eyes crinkle so sweetly, non-judgmental. It’s that look that always breaks you, forces you to spill anything and everything he can pull from you. He never takes advantage, just offers support, so you fall into his trap every time.
“It’s not like I’m a kid anymore. I can’t just run to you every time I have a bad dream,” you still utter. It’s weak at best, but you can’t toss all your issues onto Caleb like you did as a child. He lost everything that day too, and he still took the time to comfort and spoil you every single time you sought him out (or he came to you), no matter the day or hour. How many of those times did he cry himself, but choke back the tears just so he could attend to you?
“I didn’t say all that. But it’s not gonna kill you to quit bottling up your emotions, y’know.” The amber in Caleb’s eyes seem to flash, and yours flicker down in turn. Sometimes it feels like he still sees the same seven-year-old you once were, pitiful and dependent.
“I… know that. It’s just….”
A heavy breath leaves Caleb’s nose. He closes his eyes, sits on his words, and opens them with a twinkle of clarity.
“You gonna fall back asleep soon?”
You blink. “Huh?” Caleb doubles down.
“You planning on going back to bed soon? Or what?”
You chew on your lip, trying to gauge the meaning in his words. You pull up nothing, so you decide to just answer honestly. “…Not really.”
“Alright then, keep me company.” Caleb swings around to face the foyer, casting a long glance over his shoulder. “I’ve always been more of a night owl anyway.”
The liar. Caleb’s always been able to get up at the crack of dawn since he was a teen. It’s such an obvious fib, but he says it anyway, shamelessly directing you to his room.
You’ll let him have this one though; swallow your complaints and choose his method. You dip your head and follow him to his room, still decorated with posters of My Life as a Hunter and old-school shooter games he raved over as a kid. Though he grew a passion for piloting after a period, he still had an interest in Hunter shows as an early teen, posters and figures scattered about his room proof as such. You think they existed in attempt to ease the public into the idea of Hunters, hell, even to coerce a few impressionable people in the process. A small part of you always wanted a way to reign in control of your life, to be someone who can do the saving, not sit in tears and wait to be saved. The show just increased your resolve, if anything. Though, you remember a short period where Caleb tried to convince you otherwise.
Eventually, you think he understood well enough to quietly show his support, if only because you weren’t backing down. And it tickles the nose a little, knowing you’re now something he admired with sparkling eyes as a kid.
Like always, he sits on his bed, and you take a spot in the swivel chair at his desk, idly spinning back and fourth. There’s a dim, pale night light to give the room a low glow. It’s easy on the eyes and you can still comfortably make out the ridges of Caleb’s face, his indiscernible expression when he settles and just seems to think.
“…Feels like we haven’t done this in forever,” You murmur, eyes trailing around each and every corner. You well with nostalgia, so much it makes your heart ache, bittersweet.
“Yeah, guess we didn’t get much time once I left. Not soon after you were off getting your Hunter’s license, so we were both pretty busy,” Caleb responds, and you wonder if he feels the same way you do. A tinge of sadness, but serenity at the familiar scene. Getting to sit in one another’s company like you always would in the past.
“Getting used to you not always being around was…” It feels embarrassing to just admit how much you missed him, how empty the house felt without his lively presence. “Hard. Harder than I expected, anyway.”
“It was weird not waking up to Gran’s cooking or your demands, that’s for sure.”
“Demands?”
“Don’t take it the wrong way. You always act so proper around other people, but not with me and Gran. Everyone needs a place to loosen up, someone you can just be yourself around. And a little selfish.” Caleb’s laugh makes your cheeks warm, though your ears seem to love it. It fills you with various memories and you realize man, you really missed Caleb. When you talk, it’s like you two were never separated. But it’s times like these the feeling of truly getting to see him every day, just be with him, swells in your heart. You sigh, grasp your nightshirt, and peer at Caleb through your lashes because you fear how telling your expression is.
“Then… is it the same for you? Or was it easier to loosen up around your friends?” You ask nonchalantly, as though the question wasn’t gnawing at you from the inside out. Did Caleb feel at home, or like he had to put on a show and be the ‘strong one’, only able to let loose when he’s around peers and not biting off more than he can chew?
“Mmm…” You hear a low hum, and fingers ghost over your forehead, gone before you can even get a noise out. Caleb watches you intently, enough to make you break his gaze first. He looks pleased.
“It’s different with other friends, sure. Because you’re not them, and they’re not you. There’s ways I can relax with them, and reasons I can relax here,” he answers. His gaze feels loaded, and you vaguely wonder if there’s more to that answer with how his eyes bore into you. But you bite your tongue and decide to let the question go unsaid.
“I see.”
Caleb’s gaze persists. It’s gentle, not demanding of anything, or even expectant. But for some reason, it makes you want to turn away so you don’t have to be subject to it.
“I did miss home y’know, pipsqueak.” You wonder if that’s what Caleb was watching for, trying to see if you were silently doubtful. You bite your lip and decide to just let the words spill out before your pride makes you swallow them whole.
“I missed you.”
Caleb’s eyelids widen almost imperceptibly, but you still catch it. He blinks, and they relax with this look that feels fond, but also seems to carry another aspect you can’t decipher with so little light.
The sound of crickets buzz in the distance. The extended silence makes your grip tighten on the arm rest.
“This necklace is nice, y’know. Whenever anyone asks, I get to bring you up. They probably get sick of it after a while,” Caleb murmurs, and he lifts the silver chain you placed around his neck, ruby glimmering in the light. Knowing he kept it, the way he so proudly handles the chain, makes you feel fuzzy.
“You tell other people about me?”
“So much they could probably write an essay. How you’d cling to me as a kid, when we’d hang out together, how, for a short while, we were all the other had.” Caleb squeezes the chain and lets it dangle against his tee, expression gentle, and part of you wishes you had a chain too. Something to remind you of Caleb, an excuse to think or talk about him. To rub between your fingers and recall a time you were both in a fit of laughter, young, happy and free.
“I relied on you a lot. More than you deserved, especially as a kid. …Sorry.”
“Seriously?” Caleb gapes, and a snort leaves his mouth. “Never thought I’d hear that. But you don’t have to—no. I don’t want you to apologize. It was nice. Part of me kinda misses it. I mean I get it, you can handle your own. It’s not like you need me looking after you anymore, but… I liked it. And nowadays, I can’t help wanting to at least support you,” Caleb shrugs, like those words don’t penetrate your core and settle deep in your chest, breath hitching. A million responses swim through your mind, none of them breaking the surface.
“Oh, uh…” It’s… embarrassing, hearing that blatantly said aloud.
“And, to be perfectly clear, I missed you too,” he adds. Your throat bobs. You enjoy hearing those words from his mouth, the way he says them so easily with a hint of affection. While it’s enough to make your body feel flush with embarrassment, it’s nice he’s never too stubborn to show his care. If anything, you’re far more stubborn in admitting your feelings. Perhaps that’s why you told yourself to just say it, not let the pride win and be honest every once in a while.
“It… sucks. I only get to see you for a few days at most and poof, you’re gone,” you gesture along with your words, hastily getting them out while you still have the weak confidence to. “Your cooking, waking up to you everyday, when you get me little snacks just because…” Your legs swing back and fourth, antsy, but your heart feels lighter when you can freely speak your mind, say all the things you were too prideful to say as a kid.
Caleb listens silently with solicitous eyes. His mouth parts, closes again, and he seems to swallow. You time the kick of your legs, so you don’t start kicking them faster while you’re left on the waiting end, mute until Caleb responds.
“It’s pretty dull not having your own personal 5-star chef, huh?” He finally says, with a grin, and you softly deflate. Your legs slow to a stop, and your heart feels heavy again.
“Yeah… I… I guess—“
“No,” Caleb hisses under his breath. You think it’s to himself. But he leans forward on his duvet and reaches up, brushing his fingers over the jut of your eyebrows so light you can barely feel the touch. Your eyes shut reflectively, and his hand eases to your cheek, knuckles gently sliding down. You peek an eye at the sudden touch, trying to not make your mild startle too known. He’s the type to stroke your head or push you away in jest. This brand of touch is new. Foreign.
Your lips tremble and Caleb’s eyes flicker down to them.
“I’d do all those things every day, if I could. Listen to you get ridiculously excited about those rare kitty cards, see you when I get home from work; when you get home from work…” His knuckles trail down to your chin, dangerously close to your lips.
You inhale slowly, and try not to show your panic when your heart begins to beat an erratic rhythm. This is the first time Caleb’s ever made your heart race — like this anyway, and a flurry of thoughts and emotions you never dared consider all invade you at once. If you were standing, you’d stumble on the spot.
“I miss seeing your mug, what can I say?” Caleb laughs, gives your face two playful pats, and retracts his fingers. You withhold the urge to chase them, press his palm against your cheek. Instead, you bite the inside of your cheek to curb the desire.
They’re nothing but strange thoughts in the heat of the moment, a little too drawn in by the touch of his fingers after not seeing him for so long. Equating nostalgia with attraction is not a good look, and you know to smother it in its wisps before it engulfs into a bed of flames.
“When — when we were kids it was kind of like this,” you begin, trying to even out the tremor in your voice. “We weren’t telling each other we missed one another, of course. But I’d sit in this chair. And you’d wipe my tears when I was sad. No matter how long it took.” You say, and you know you’re just making conversation to push your mind away from uncouth thoughts. With luck, Caleb won’t pick up on a thing.
“Yeah, you were a bit of a crybaby. Always barging in, no matter the time, just to have someone to cry to. It was pretty cute, though.” Caleb stands slowly, already no more than a foot in front of you, and he bends down to rest one hand on the armrest while the other palm holds your cheek, thumb swiping under your eye. “Just like this.”
This… feels dangerous. The part of you that automatically reacts to his teasing wants to glare and push his hand away, scoffing and spouting some retort. That’s how you should respond, how he expects you to.
This new, faint part of you wants to close your eyes and lean your cheek into his palm, turn your head so your lips rest on his fingertips. You do neither, and just peer up at him through your lashes, too scared to tilt your head up and have your face reveal every dirty thought racing through your brain.
“It was cute when you’d come to me, too. You’d sit next to me, trying to act all strong. Then I’d pat your shoulder and you’d go ‘I’m not crying’ while you kept wiping your eyes. Couldn’t fool a baby. But it made me happy. That you came to me,” You speak, and reach up to Caleb’s shoulder, giving it a few soft pats. “Just like this.”
Caleb’s fingers dig into the armrest though his face remains moderately amused. He tilts his head, murmurs a “Guess we were both the type to tear up,” with a cryptic smile, and moves to pull his hand away.
Subconsciously, against any rational thought, you chase after him and hold tight to his shoulder, other hand keeping Caleb’s palm firmly in place.
He blinks once, twice. The moment is palpable. You know you can’t explain yourself out of this, but your gut instinct just doesn’t care. It craves to stay in Caleb’s proximity, to keep him by you. Like he’d melt away if you let go, and the moment would be lost to eternity.
“Pipsqueak?” He murmurs, rubbing a curious thumb across your cheek and it’s all you can really take. You feel the way Caleb tenses up when you bury your nose in his palm, when you shakily inhale and just settle into its warmth. You think you’re trembling a little, and fear eats at your racing heart. Fear of shattering the relationship you have — pushing beyond the bounds of your preconceived ‘normal’. This isn’t what you and Caleb are. Caleb calls you an infuriatingly affectionate nickname when he checks up on you. You and Caleb bicker about mindless things and easily make up in a few hours because Caleb always gives in. You and Caleb were friends since you were children, kids who played together, teens who begrudgingly got along, and adults who were still close and made efforts to visit home on your shared time off.
It wasn’t whatever the hell this was. And the guilt that rises in your throat is immense, taking Caleb’s actions to make them something they’re not — twisting his kind gestures into something awful. You force yourself to recede from his palm, mouth open to utter a soft apology.
Just as that soft ‘sorry’ passes your lips, Caleb coaxes your head up, peers long and hard into your eyes, like he’s searching the depths to find whatever it is he seeks, needs.
You think he finds it, because his breath hitches, the hand on your face seems to quiver, and his face leans so close to yours. Not touching, no, his hot breaths ghost over your lips, his nose tickling your cheek. You swallow thickly, and the warmth from his proximity spreads like wildfire.
“Tell me you don’t want this,” he whispers, urgent. Almost desperate, like it takes every ounce of self-restraint to remain as he is. So near but never bridging the small gap.
“I…” You start, knowing this is the tipping point. He’s still kind enough to give you an out, to let you reject any notion of whatever this is and pretend none of it ever happened. Makes it seem like he doesn’t want it to happen. Caleb’s always been kind like that. And maybe, in the long run, it would be the better option. To not risk destroying the relationship you’ve built and nurtured for well over a decade.
But, meeting his pleading eyes with your own, you know the only words that can leave your mouth. It’s the sole thought that repeated over and over in tandem with each shaky sigh that parted from his pink lips.
Slowly opening your mouth, you take the plunge. “I do.”
You don’t know whether Caleb’s face flashes with relief or pain — maybe both — and his lips press so deep into yours, slow and heated. It elicits a quiet, gasping noise from your throat that Caleb swallows. You have to wrap your arms around his neck to steady yourself because his kisses are starved, like he’s been craving this moment forever and you wonder if that’s really the case. His hand on the armrest moves down to grasp your thigh and a pleased noise rumbles in the back of your throat, his thumb stroking the inside of it so tenderly you could tremble. The sense of relief, of immediate euphoria of having this man on your lips almost makes you wanna cry as he kisses you senseless, licks his tongue into your mouth and coaxes every soft noise he can with each repeated press of his lips. When your fingers sneak up to his neck, quiet sounds hum in his throat and they envelop your mind, drugging you with the sound and feel of him. You could do this for hours, kiss Caleb until the only thing your mouth knows is the taste of him.
“I can’t believe —“ Caleb gasps between breathless kisses, speaking against your lips and sliding his hand down to rest on the junction of your head and neck. You tremble and he pecks the corner of your mouth in response, as though to soothe you. “You’re actually—“ He kisses at your cheek, then your nose affectionately. You feel the heat rise in your neck and avert your gaze out of pure embarrassment. “Letting me…” He laughs against your cheek, face alight and you hope the pain you perceived earlier is a little lessened now.
“I didn’t know you wanted to…” You murmur, and stretch your neck up again to capture his lips. Somehow, each kiss only seems to improve upon the last, and when his fingers slide against your neck, a quiet moan vibrates in your throat. Caleb pulls back with low lids and ragged breaths, lips pinker than you’ve ever seen and covered with a sheen of saliva. Kiss swollen’s never a look you imagined on him, but you quite like it.
“Guess I’m good at keeping secrets then,” Caleb says in a huff of soft laughter, and he’s gently tugging, guiding your body up and off the chair to sit beside him on the duvet. “Or,” he leans down and pets the front of your throat, lips steady against your fluttering pulse. “You’re just stupidly oblivious.”
“There’s no way I would’ve…” you begin to murmur as your fingers clench on his nightclothes. Your body reacts to the sensation of his lips kissing every bit of skin he can reach on your neck, licking but mindful enough to not leave marks and the consideration alone is hot enough to make you shudder.
Could you have? Your mind is hazy and each time Caleb mouths at your throat you lose it a little more, but you vaguely replay memories in your mind. Caleb’s mindfulness, his perception, his endless kindness — but he’s like that with everyone, so how could you have known you were special beyond your friendship and shared past? Granted you probably got a little extra pampering from him — but you shared a home. Of course you’d get more if you saw him more.
“Good. I was never gonna tell you, y’know,” he breathes. His large hands gently ease you backwards and you comply, letting him press you against the mattress. It smells like a mix of him — that same oak body wash he’s used since he was a teen (thankfully you bullied him out of that terrible smelling cologne phase), and fresh detergent from the laundry he took care of earlier. You resist the urge to turn your head and bury it into the covers, inhale deep, for you’re sure it’d come off as a little strange.
“Never?”
“Never.” He rests his forearms next to your head, face mere inches away. He seems to like watching you, those dimly lit eyes of his boring into you. “I mean, I thought about it sometimes. But we’ve known each other what, sixteen years now? We played together since we were preschoolers,” he sighs, thumb brushing over your cheek. His face is so raw and open, flushed and longing. Like he can finally spill every dirty little secret he’s kept hidden forever. His thumb moves to swipe across your lip and you kiss it — innocently enough. His breath stutters.
Then you open your mouth, gently suck on the digit, and he stops breathing altogether.
“Mm…” You hum in agreement, though with the way Caleb’s eyes darken, you figure it more resembles a moan.
“Damn,” he curses, and experimentally swipes across your tongue. You shamelessly take his thumb in deeper, revel in the way his lips tremble and he bites them, as though to curb some thought or action that sprung in his mind in response.
“You’re friends with someone that long, you figure there’s no chance. Figured you saw me as a brother or something. I mean, I kinda did it to myself,” he speaks, but looks absolutely enthralled by your mouth around his thumb. The way you swirl your tongue around him, encouraging him to just let go. You think his words are half spoken on instinct with how dazed and red-faced he looks.
“Fuck , if I just knew…” Caleb hisses, and he leans forward for balance, forehead pressed against yours (he’s so warm) while his hand slips under the hem of your shirt, resting just below your navel. The proximity to your waistband makes you subconsciously squirm a little, and his hand presses firmer, stilling your hips. “I could’ve done this so much sooner.”
You try to murmur a response past his thumb but the welcome intrusion makes your words incoherent. He gently retracts it from your lips to press against them, saliva coating his thumb, your lips, and wetting your chin.
“What’s that, pipsqueak?” He murmurs. You feel his hand creep up to trace your abdomen, catch at your side and massage there mindlessly.
“For someone who wants to do this so bad…” you sigh, and look up at him, unamused, trying not to let your mild fluster show. It seems even pinned under him, you can’t help but want to be a bit of a brat in his presence. “You’re sure taking your sweet time.”
Caleb’s brow twitches and he completely stills, staring at you with those gorgeous sunset eyes of his up close. You watch his throat bob as he swallows, and his fingers on your torso squeeze, not painful, just a firm hold.
“What the hell am I gonna do with you?” he finally exhales, exasperation plain on his face. He affectionately rubs his forehead against yours, the gesture so sweet it makes your heart swell. “Don’t forget, you’re the one that spurred me on.”
And like a man on a mission, the sweet moment is gone, replaced by greedy lips and needy hands. His mouth is back on yours and you gift him an appeased hum, instantly lost in the warmth of lips and the way he kisses you like he’ll never kiss again. So heated, so, so perfect, and you reach your fingers to tighten in his hair, lift your hips to wrap your legs around his torso. You both sink into the duvet with the strength of his kiss, his hands shamelessly trailing up and down your torso, mapping it out, squeezing when he hears quiet noises and whines emerge from your throat.
You think Caleb enjoys the sounds you make most, because he’ll do anything and everything to draw them out of you, hands frisky and shameless. They’re calloused and rough in the best way and you squeeze his hair in approval, press fleeting kisses to the corner of his lips when you part to breathe. He laughs, happy, and you laugh in turn.
“It’s a little hot, don’t you think?” He murmurs, and uses that as his excuse to push the hem of your shirt past your chest, encourages you to slip your shirt off and sit with your bare torso.
The way he stares at your body, your chest, like there’s nothing else in the word makes your body singe. You reach a hand up to cover his wandering eyes, scoffing. “Don’t just stare, it’s embarrassing.”
“All that talk and you’re embarrassed when I look at you?” He gives your hand a few taps before prying it away, taking in the view just as shamelessly as he did before, if not more so. You’d smack his face with a pillow if he didn’t have your hand held so tightly. “Telling me not to look’s like telling a dehydrated man not to drink. It’s plain cruel,” he laughs, and pulls your hand to his lips to give your fingers a fleeting kiss. Your eyelids flutter alongside your heart, and he grins.
Satisfied with the view, he slides down on the covers (you have to loosen your legs to accommodate), and stares up at you with a playful, shit-eating grin, his chin rested perfectly above your chest. “You don’t mind, right?”
“Don’t ask, do,” you huff, turning your head away in mock annoyance. Caleb’s more than happy to oblige and hums his approval while his hands move to trace the contours of your chest, moves down to press a light kiss to one side, and is quick to focus his mouth where it’s sensitive, have the bud harden under his tongue and send shocks of pleasure coursing through your body.
It even surprises you, how much you feel your face flame not just from pleasure, but pure embarrassment. This is Caleb , of all people. Not just some guy you started crushing on. Being this vulnerable and having his lips on your chest isn’t something you imagined even yesterday. If he saw you like this yesterday, you’d definitely die from shame. There’s not a glimmer of regret, but there’s heaps of embarrassment to spare and you bury your face into the pillow under you, tensing the more he plays. You knew nipples could feel good, but wow, they can feel good and his mouth on them sends shocks straight down your abdomen, makes heat settle low between your legs.
Finally, he pulls away, though his thumbs still graze over them, and he moves up to press a kiss to your jaw. “Don’t get all shy now. C’mon, show me that cute face of yours,” he hums, and you want to bury it even further being called cute (seriously, what the hell? You don’t know if it’s more embarrassing or insulting). But if only to show some semblance of control and confidence, you pull your head away and force yourself to meet Caleb’s adoring eyes, giving him a halfhearted glare with lips curled into a small pout.
“Looking at me like that only makes me wanna tease you more,” he murmurs, and moves to kiss your cheek (he’s so affectionate. It’s so much you almost don’t know how to handle it). And his hands slide down from your chest, settle at your waist and massage right above the band of your sweatpants. So close but not enough, the more his thumbs tease the more the heat becomes unbearable.
“Maybe you should use that mouth of yours for something other than talking,” you grumble, palms pushing Caleb’s head away. You huff with a side-turned head and peer at him from the corner of your eye, wiggling your hips. You couldn’t be more obvious.
“Demanding today, aren’t we?” He rubs his hands forward and back on your hips, trailing a slew of kisses down from the center of your chest to your abdomen, leaving flames in its wake. “Like what? I could make out with you until the sun rises, easy.”
The way Caleb looks at you, eyes flashing, you know what he wants. Those words to fall so reluctant from your tongue, to watch you drop your pride and ask. But Caleb’s had his way well enough, so instead of giving him the satisfaction of your words, you slide down your sweats and underwear, exhaling at the lack of restriction, the free air against your throbbing arousal. Caleb’s eyes go wide and you’re dragging his face between your thighs before he can retort, trying not to tremble from the absolute need that courses through your body. The thought of Caleb’s mouth on you, his tongue against you until your mind is numb.
“This.” You breathe, and Caleb can only let out a breathy chuckle.
“Whatever you say, your majesty,” he teases, smug but lets you guide his head, him dragging his hands down with it and across the planes of your thighs. They slide and down, palming close to your hips and earning him a small jolt, a bitten down noise.
Your fingers dig into his short hairs, dragging him down and rolling your hips to meet him halfway, urgent, needing. Caleb complies, gently mouthing at your inner thighs, biting at them (that gets a startled sound out of you that you instantly smother in fear of making too much noise.) And kisses and licks his way further up until he’s exactly where he needs to be, breaths hot and lips so close they could brush over you.
“To think you’re like this already…” he murmurs, cheeks flushed, and he dives his head down to slowly lick you into his mouth, your legs tensing and fingers shivering. His hands pet your thighs soothingly (it only makes you tremble more) and he sucks, holds your thighs so nice while they shake in his touch. He’s horribly slow, taking his sweet time to mouth against you, kiss against your aching heat and so gently take it into his mouth, painstakingly swirls his tongue. It’s not enough and you roll your hips into his mouth, mumbling curses.
“Dammit Caleb…” you groan, urging for more, grabbing and releasing at his hair, and his eyes flicker up to you, pupils blown and face a pretty red.
“Mm…” He hums, you shudder, and try not to burn at the sight of Caleb so pleased between your legs. Hands anchored to your thighs, mouth busy with a hardworking tongue as he eagerly lavishes you with attention. It’s good this time, not slow torture, and Caleb easily lets you rock your hips into his mouth, whine under the flat of his tongue and the sight of him between your legs. He pushes, holds you when you gasp and jerk into his touch and murmurs soothing hums while his mouth is busy on the taste of you. Your hips develop a rhythm of their own, chasing Caleb’s mouth over and over and when he briefly pulls back, he’s quick to stroke his fingers where his lips were, watch you sigh and and clutch at the parts of him you can reach.
“I wanna—“ he breathes, leans down to kiss the swell of your heat, laughs when you jump because of how swollen, how sensitive you are to his every move. You drag his face back down, his lips around you, not letting him finish the words he was trying to say. You just — his mouth — his warmth, you need, and you buck your hips into his touch, bursts of pleasure coming through you in waves the more his mouth moves in rhythm, the perfect pace he sets and the unfair way his tongue seems to do just the right thing to make you whine against bitten lips.
“Caleb,” you whisper, somewhere between a gasp and a whimper. Caleb’s tactic changes, he’s using one hand to keep a steady grip on your thigh while the other reaches up stroke at your sensitive hip, then sneaks up to your nipple to tease it under his thumb and forefinger. His mouth remains occupied, tongue and lips unrelenting, and the dual pleasure is so much it almost feels like too much. But he moves, hot, mouth in tandem with your restless hips, confident and warm and the almost unbearable heat between your legs grows and grows, until you’re biting back a strangled noise and digging your fingers into Caleb’s scalp. You hold his head in place while you ride out the throes of pleasure, Caleb’s mouth easing you through it, still pressing and stroking with the heat of his tongue when the orgasm ebbs away. You have to squirm and push Caleb’s head away, panting and soaked in a sheen of sweat.
Caleb’s lips, nose, chin, are coated in you and he shamelessly licks what he can away, watches as you breathe, catch your breath amidst the aftershocks of your pleasure. Your entire body feels flushed with heat, and the only sound you’re capable of making are quiet gasps for a moment or two.
“Fuck,” Caleb breathes, presses a hand over his mouth and he’s scrambling off the bed, rushing to rifle through his drawers. He pulls out a bottle of lube and jerks his head to where you’re still settled on the bed, steadying your pulse. You’ve eased yourself to sit up on your elbows, so you can watch in your curiosity, see what’s got him so worked up. Seeing him still fully clothed while your pants lay sweat-ridden and bunched at your ankles, shirt tossed in some corner makes your face fill with heat.
“Can I—would you—“ he returns to the bed, crawls between your open thighs and presses his forehead to yours. The heat of his breaths make you dizzy, and you can feel the flicker of a flame despite just bursting with heat. “Fuck, I just…” he murmurs, moving his head down to rest against your shoulder, lips pressing against the jut of the bone. And the way his nose presses against you, he nuzzles against you and so dearingly asks makes the answer come far too easy. You inhale, stroke his cheek, and nod.
“Mhm,” you agree, moving your head to press a sweet kiss to Caleb’s temple. He groans, wastes no time coating his fingers and slipping them against you, stroking in a tease, then pressing in one.
It’s cold, you tense and Caleb mouths at your collarbone, murmuring “I got you,” while his fingers sits, letting you adjust and you relax to the chill, shudder to the way the digit settles in you, doesn’t feel like enough, and he moves.
Maybe — you think — you didn’t properly think this through. Because while you’ve a short respite from coming, now you have a finger inside you, a hand exploring every inch of your body it can reach, and lips playing with the soft patch between your neck and shoulder that has you sighing and subconsciously quivering. Somehow it’s all too much and not enough all too soon after — and you actively dig your teeth into your lip to keep quiet, not risk sounds traveling through the walls.
“So…” Caleb inhales, his lips travel down to kiss at your chest, lick at your nipples once more and they stand to attention at his efforts. “So damn warm…” You wonder if he means the heat from your body or the way you feel around his finger. His lips tease while his finger thrusts at a steady rhythm and when it becomes comfortable (and lacking). You start to grind into his touch, craving more, shuddering when a soft noise leaves his throat.
You exhale, peer at the pink cheeks of your childhood friend — hell, your best friend. You feel your heart melt, then your body melt in tandem when his finger slips out so he can ease two of them in, slowly stretching you. They move deep, curling inside you and with the just perfect brush of his fingertips, you let out a pitched gasp and pull a hand up to cover your mouth. Caleb doesn’t say a thing, instead makes sure to move against that bundle of sensitive nerves over and over, watches you tense and squirm the more he focuses his attention.
“You’re pretty good at keeping quiet,” Caleb praises, and moves his face up to draw you into a long kiss, mouth in sync with the way he fucks you with his fingers, steady and perfectly bent to leave you panting. You whine against him, chasing his fingers with your hips. He sucks on your bottom lip, pulling away with a dirty pop, lips glistening. “Can’t wait for the day you don’t have to hold back.”
“Hah—shit…” You curse, wanting to come up with a coherent response but your words catch in your throat, interrupted by gasps, and your mind can’t even conjure what to say to something like that, but you feel your body throb, your hips jump at his praise. Caleb hums, presses a kiss to your cheek, and slides down.
He does that thing where he looks up at you from between your legs, cheek rested on your thighs damp with sweat. His lips curl into that gorgeous, sinful grin that’s stupidly hot and infuriating all at once and you squeeze his hair in half-assed annoyance. He kisses one thigh, turns and sucks a gentle bruise into the other - fuck, why does that feel so damn good. And he busies his mouth with the taste of you, fingers working a slowly building rhythm that has your palm firm over your mouth and the other hand steady in his hair while you try — and fail, to not fall into a haze of pleasure. You almost want to curse, being so weak under his fingers and mouth. Flip the scene and give him a taste of his own medicine. But his tongue knows just what to do and he knows just the way to move his head to have you unable to do anything but let out choked gasps and rut into his eager mouth.
Though you take his fingers easily now, feel prepared enough to handle all he has to offer, he doesn’t stop. The sound of his fingers sliding in and out of you and his pretty, obscene mouth on you fill the otherwise silent room, save for your gasps and sighs. You curl against him and huff, biting your lip and using both palms to still his head.
“If you keep going, I’ll—“ you warn, because his fingers aren’t enough but his mouth is too much, and if you’re left a quivering mess you won’t be able to handle Caleb fucking you on top of it. Caleb hums, his glimmering eyes flicker up to you, and you think they crinkle in amusement. You’ve learned not to trust that face of his.
And of course, the dick , he keeps going. Holds you down with one hand so he can push and spread his fingers deep, taste you on his tongue as he sucks. It’s enough to have you arching your back, whimpering quiet noises into the pillow you bury your face into. Your hips squirm of your own according, the heat pooling in your gut and threatening to burst and you try to push his head away, gasp weak complaints. Too much if he doesn’t stop you’ll — But he’s relentless and overwhelming. Fingers curling, mouth moving, his hand gripping your waist. And your body accepts it all until that feeling crescendos again, you turning into a shaking mess as you whisper quiet curses into the pillow, try to escape his mouth but he licks and pumps his fingers into you all throughout it to prologue how your back arches, the high washes over you over and over. When you slowly relax, he pulls away with a messy mouth, leaving you with breaths labored and somehow still sane enough to sport a glare.
“I told you—“
“Sorry,” he says, and kisses at your navel while he watches you with enthralled eyes, like you’re a piece of stunning art. But his eyes aren’t apologetic in the least, and you’d think it right to demand a proper one if your heart wasn’t thundering so quick you think it’ll leap out your chest. He sighs, scoots up to press a kiss against your chin, and whispers, so quiet. “Can I…?”
You huff, try to steady your breathing, and zone into the dull ache between your legs and the empty feeling from losing his fingers. Of course you want it, want him, it’s a matter of already having been pleasured to hell and back by this man twice. You’re spent, even if the idea of Caleb nude and flushed against you is hot as hell.
“There’s a reason I tried to tell you…” you sigh, brush some slick hairs from his eyes and observe the dazed, greedy look in his eyes. He really just wants it all, doesn’t he? You always thought you were spoiled by Caleb, but maybe, there are times when you spoil him.
“Mmm… it’s just nice, seeing you lose your composure,” he nuzzles into your neck, breath warm and your entire body reacts to something so small, so soft. “But we’ve got all the time in the world. Next time.”
And he exhales so warm, pulls his head away and you immediately grab both cheeks, drag Caleb’s lips to yours and kiss him so sweetly it feels something akin to love. Your hips tingle, and the idea makes you absolutely dizzy, but you mouth it against his lips anyway.
“Finish what you started.”
Caleb doesn’t immediately answer or react, he simply observes you, watches the way your arms cling to him. For good measure, you wrap your legs around him and roll, right into the hard erection confined in his pants. He gasps, gripping the duvet beside your head.
“If… If it’s too much. Just pinch me. Or tap me a few times. Do whatever, really, shit,” Caleb hisses, and he’s finally stripping off that stupid bed shirt of his and tossing it unceremoniously across his room, breaths slow and deep as though to calm himself.
It’s not your first time seeing Caleb shirtless, but it is the first time you’re able to admire the full view in dim glory. Amidst the streaks of moonlight through the window, the red of his necklace sparkles. He wears it, even in his sleep, and you try not to think too much on how he must’ve cherished it. Treated it like a prized possession, because it makes a surge of happiness flood through you with a mix of guilt for never treating Caleb’s gifts or gestures just as precious.
“Oh, so when I stare, it’s a problem. But when you stare, it’s fine, huh?” Caleb chuckles, and his pants are kicked off with no shame. He’s so eager he doesn’t even try to make it sexy, he just looks like he’s dying to feel every inch of you, finally be able to feel the whole of you tight around him. It’s so silly and so Caleb you just have to laugh, and it’s nice when he laughs in turn, makes you feel serene.
“Think of it like payback,” You decide to say. Payback for making you come from his mouth and fingers when he knew you wanted to feel him inside of you. Caleb makes an approving noise, leans back over you, and the sight of his flushed, toned body with his necklace dangling down is way sexier than it has any right to be. He slides a hand up your thigh, gives it an encouraging squeeze when you tremble, and his lips find yours in a fleeting kiss.
“Guess I gotta do all I can to make up for it,” he whispers in a ghost of a kiss, and settles between your legs, erection strained in his underwear and words way too calm for someone who looks like he can’t stand waiting a minute longer. He shoves them down well enough with one hand and he springs free, eager and leaking at the pink tip. You think it’s almost pretty, the way it stands, twitches when you thumb his cheeks.
He captures your lips the same moment he lifts your thighs, lines himself where he had his fingers buried deep only a minute or two ago, and slowly, slowly pushes. Sighs into your mouth as he sinks into you, and you grab at his back, wrap your arms so tight around him as he just fills you, moves as you cling to him. You think the wait alone is torture when he finally settles deep, hips flush to yours and mouth swallowing any weak noises you utter. You’re still so sensitive and even just the feeling of his cock inside, barely moving, is enough to make you clutch at him.
“You feel so perfect,” he utters, shaking hands settled on the sides of your face, lips plush on your jaw. He buries his face in your neck, slowly, slowly moves out, and you can feel his entire body shaking on top of you as he pushes again, deep into you and fills you perfect. So hot inside of you, you can’t help but squeeze around him. He chokes against your skin, kisses at it while his hips steadily draw out—then you think he loses his composure a little. His hips sputter, and his pushes into you quicker, steady, and holy fuck is your body just quivering and you already feel a mess, heat between your legs near unbearable and Caleb’s cock stretching you open for him.
“Caleb…” You gasp, bite back the moans that want to continually spill from your throat while Caleb steadily pumps, in and out. It’s so tender, and even though your body is an absolute mess, you just need more and drag in Caleb with the strength of your legs wrapped around him, helplessly grind into his cock, and Caleb understands the message loud and clear. He shakes, kisses your shoulder, and pulls out to snap his hips against yours, murmurs small affirmations against your skin as he fucks you, heavy and deep and your body is a squirming mess, like it isn’t even your own. You’re whining and biting back every loud, broken noise that threatens to leave your mouth with the rock of his hips.
“Shit—Caleb, it’s—“ you gasp, be hums into your shoulder and looks at you with wild eyes while he pushes into you over and over. Your legs are a mess and you’re gasping, trying to focus on swallowing down the noises in your throat but Caleb’s driving you absolutely insane and when he positions himself just right, you’re letting out a sharp cry and your body arches into his touch.
“Don’t wake the whole neighborhood now.” He coos against your collarbone, and gently covers your mouth, palm flat so all you can do is groan against his hand, weak noises and sharp gasps muffled. Every inch of you feels sensitive, alight, and the hand not silencing you gently massages your chest while he fucks you deep into the mattress, the sounds of skin against skin filling the room. It’s filthy and you absolutely love it, even if your body is screaming it’s on fire, and all your nerves are alight from being so thoroughly handled.
“Mmn—!” You gasp, unable to even articulate how it feels to have Caleb rolling his hips into yours so damn hot while you can barely control the way your body reacts. You think he swells even more when inside you, thick and hot and nearly every thrust hitting you so you see stars. You gape, claw at his neck and anything you can cling to on him, while his movements gradually speed up and he pounds into you relentlessly, cries muffled by his palm.
“You have no idea how much I wanted this…” Caleb gasps, breaths heavy, lifting his palm and resting it sweetly on your face instead. He looks at you so damn adoring while he’s fucking you senseless, watching you gasp and start to squirm under him when the sensation builds upon too much. “Wanted you. Like this.”
“Gh… Y-Yeah…?” You somehow manage to choke out while your body has a mind of its own, squirming and shaking and Caleb’s hands hold you right where he needs you as he slides in and out of you again, pulls out so only the tip is in and snaps his hips against yours in a fluid motion. You wonder if it’s because your most recent orgasm was so close, left you so sensitive you feel like you’re already on the brink. You hang onto Caleb for purchase and try not to cry out as he pushes into you over and over and over.
“You’re way too hot. You feel way too—haah —good.” Caleb curses as he moves, hold your hips and reaches a hand down between the two of you to tease you with sweet fingers while he pumps into you. “You. Undone. Under me,” he murmurs, and your hips helplessly buck into his touch, fingers clutch him tight as he fucks you.
“Y-You…ah—Caleb,” you try to respond, but the way Caleb rocks his hips, and his hand wastes no time driving you mad, you feel that feeling build, build and build so quick, so perfect. You want to retort, say anything to flip his words on him, but you know you’re a gasping mess and can’t focus your mind enough to put up a decent argument. So you clutch at his slick skin, bury your fingers so deep it pales, and whine “I’m… I’ll… ‘M about to…”
Caleb hears you loud and clear, keeps the pace of him pumping into you and is always sure to angle the way your hips slot together perfectly, so each thrust hits you with a deep wave of pleasure and his fingers leave you weak.
“You always act so strong, so tough. It’s nice I can get you like this,” he speaks, and if your mind wasn’t in such fog you’d probably be a little annoyed, but all you can do is whimper at how his voice whispers low in your ear, and the way he circles his hips perfectly to make you gasp, clench, and make him groan in return.
That feeling approaches, the familiar feeling of being undone by Caleb and at the mercy of his mouth, fingers and thrusts. He murmurs sweet words against your lips, and it’s all you can handle when you’re biting your lip and your body is pulled taught like a string, shuddering and powerful as you feel a burst of pleasure like no other, so strong and prolonged you wonder if it’ll ever end, so much you actually see white. Caleb doesn’t relent on his thrusts, fucks you through it, and he doesn’t stop when you’re quivering either and suddenly it’s too much all at once. Your body is still in tremors and shakes as he grasps your hips firm, presses a soothing kiss to your temple as you start to squirm and let out weak noises.
It’s too much and too fast and you’re so sensitive and you can’t— “Caleb,” you choke out, body naturally moving to escape the sensation, but Caleb’s hands hold you steady.
“Want—“ he rasps, “want me to stop? All you gotta do is tap me,” he murmurs so sweet in your ear, and tears prick in your eyes as the pleasure, the sensitivity is so blinding you can’t keep them from your face. And you quietly cry and squirm but hold on tight, not tapping, not pinching. It’s torture but it feels terribly amazing in the best way, even if Caleb has to keep a firm hold so you don’t scramble from his grasp.
“Too much, I can’t, Caleb,” you sob, Caleb kisses the tears that fall down your cheeks so sweetly and proceeds to fuck you silly. Your heart is pounding, your whole body is a shaking over sensitive mess and the feeling is so intense your mind can barely formulate words. “I—please, fuck…” you babble, can’t string together full sentences and just whimper under him. Fuck if you’re never at someone’s mercy like this, you wonder if it’s better or worse that it’s Caleb.
“So damn cute,” he breathes out in broken fragments, breaths quickening as he thrusts deep, hard, accepts every whimper and plea that leaves your wet lips. “You can relax around me, trust me. Let me take care of you.”
“Ah…!” You wish you could respond, you really do, but the only thoughts you can formulate are pleads and Caleb, the endless pleasure bordering pain he pushes you through. He’s so sweet in your hair as his pace quickens and his breaths are shallow, ragged. His face is a damp mess and strings of hair cling to his forehead as he utters your name — your name, not ‘pipsqueak’, over and over. Whispers your name in your ears, mouths it on your temple, presses his lips against your neck as he sighs it. You melt and squeeze your teary eyes shut, clawing at Caleb and letting him pound you into oblivion. You feel fucking ruined and Caleb kisses your tears and pets your head all throughout it.
“Dammit, seriously, what am I gonna do with you…” He rasps, and you think your hazy mind can classify it as positive. His thrusts are quick and it’s not soon after that he’s suddenly groaning, hips going still as he holds deep inside you, trembling as he spills. Deep, warm. You quiver and finally find relief in his slowed thrusts, the way he holds himself with shaky breaths and bright red cheeks, sweat sliding down his temple. Slowly, he stills, panting, and when he’s nearly done shaking, he slowly pulls himself out. The feeling of both being empty and filled is filthy, but you haven’t the energy to burn on feeling embarrassed when you can barely form a sentence. You gasp, wipe at the tears that rolled down your face, and can’t keep the tiny quivers from racking through your body even after the high has passed.
“You okay, pipsqueak?” He whispers after, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to your lips. You nod, mute, and have to give yourself a bit to be able to respond in full. He seems to understand that much, and rolls to the side so he can gently hold you in his affection.
“That was…wow,” you murmur, and bury your head into his damp chest, the sent of oak and sweat. “Can’t move…” The thought of so much as standing seems impossible, your brain is in this weird, pleasant fog and you can barely focus.
“Did I go overboard?” His laugh is light and raw, lips settled on your forehead.
“It was a lot,” you answer, and your fingers trace over his bicep. Who knew fighter pilots had to be so toned? “It’s hard to think but…” you hum, and adjust your buzzing limbs so you’re a little more comfortable. “It was… good.”
“Good. Guess I’ll put that on the list of things you like,” you feel his lips curl against your forehead, probably grinning. You don’t even have the energy to glare.
“You have a list?”
“In my mind,” he says, and you decide to pull back from his chest a little, if only to see his expression.
Sweat-ridden but sparkling with an air of pleasant satisfaction. Eyes alight, cheeks warm. Since when was Caleb so damn beautiful?
“Next time…” You look up at him with heavy eyes. Feel almost drunk as your body sags and your speech comes out in quiet rasps, throat spent from all the cries you swallowed down. “It’s your turn,” you run your fingers across his lean chest, feel the way his muscles jump with laugher and his heart is starting to slow into a steady rhythm. He’s so irritatingly attractive.
You’re not used to feeling so utterly spent, helpless after. Your legs would collapse under you like a fawn learning to walk if you tried anything right now. You’d like to see Caleb come undone under your fingers, unable to keep himself from writhing while you tease him endlessly. In that way, you’re both similar, you suppose, and you can hardly blame Caleb for the way he gets off on you clawing at him.
“Can’t wait,” he says easily, almost makes you more mad at how easily he accepts your words. He strokes your cheek, wipes the remnants of tears, and holds you comfortably in his palm. “You look so good when you’re a mess.”
“Hush now,” you sigh, and turn your head to kiss his palm. He pads your lip so gently, traces shapes across them (you think one is a heart). It’s so silly but so him and he continually manages to make your heart fill.
“I’m scared I’ll wake up and this’ll all be a dream.” He pulls you to him, buries his nose in your hair and strokes your back like he hasn’t seen you in years and needs to confirm your existence. “It feels like a dream. You in my arms. Kissing me. Wanting me.” He draws back so he can tilt your head up and peer into your eyes. You think the sun is starting to rise, his eyes are as clear as ever yet clouded with contentment and apprehension. “You like me, don’t you?” His hands hold you so sweetly, his eyes are so raw. “Pretty sure I’ve loved you as long as I can remember.”
You blink, try to process his words in the fog of your mind and feel yourself run warm when you’re able to take his words piece by piece and understand them, digest them in full. The word ‘love’ tickles your ears, and you try not to let the tears flow again (who knew being so wrecked made you stupidly emotional) and nod quickly, covering the hand that holds your cheek.
“Of course I like you. I’ve trusted and cared about you as long as I can remember.” Your hand on his chest stills, presses so you can hear the drum of his heartbeat that’s now relatively fast. You can’t judge, when your heartbeats are so heavy you feel them in the back of your throat. “I’ll love you back, someday. The way you love me. I’ve loved you like my best friend, as a person, for the longest, though.”
“I’ve waited so long to hear that…” Caleb sighs, your eyes flicker to the chain around his neck, and you silently vow to yourself to sometimes let go of your stubborn streak, take care of Caleb the way he loves to take care of you. You hum and nuzzle into his chest, basking in how warm he feels, skin against skin, heating you, like a pleasant wood fire on a cozy winter night.
You sigh, can’t bite back a small smile, and let your eyelids flutter, your weak body sink into the mattress as Caleb’s slow breaths and caresses lull you, goad you to rest.
Caleb’s skin, heat, the love and affection you feel encased in each featherlight touch draws you in, comforts you enough to let your consciousness fade. Like a soothing lullaby.
It’s perfect, knowing you’ll wake up in his arms the next morning.
Sequel — Caleb Loves to Bully You in Bed
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roastedoatmilk · 3 months ago
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Gale Dekarios x Tav (Alys)
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Summary: Fly to Miami in the morning we better make this one count
Basically my take on Gale’s act two romance scene (Alys gives gale the best fucking of his life after he bares his heart to her)
Word Count: 4.5k
Tags: slight angst, fluff, breast play, oral (f receiving), body worship, unprotected piv (dont do this be safe yall), alys has a bit of a praise kink. gale and alys being disgustingly in love, alys giving gale the love he deserves
this was also posted on ao3 !!!
A/N dividers by @/cafekitsune gif belongs to @galedekarios also thank you so much to the amazing lexi @ayyy-pee for proofreading this please go check out her works they’re so incredibly good !!!
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The last thing Alys expected to see when she entered camp was a mirror image of Gale standing in front of his tent. She walked up to the image curious as to where the real Gale was. 
As soon as she stood in front of the image it began to speak,  “Good evening! I am here on behalf of Gale of Waterdeep. He wishes to extend you an invitation for a private conversation in a more suitable locale.” 
The invitation intrigued the drow, “Very well, show me the way.” 
“Gladly.” The image spoke. “Simply follow yonder path and soon you will find him.”
Alys took that as the go ahead and followed the path down to an opening in the forest. There she saw Gale sitting on the grass in the middle of casting some sort of spell that was making the sky various shades of blue and purple. Alys had never seen anything quite like it before, the fact that Gale himself was able to create this filled her with amazement. The sky seemed to change shades often going from darker blues and purples to lighter ones. After making her way over to the brown haired wizard she sits down next to him, her hand almost on top of his own.
“I love this time of night. There’s an almost reverent silence that accompanies the peak of darkness, when you’d almost believe the dawn will never break.” The wizard speaks, “ The cradle of eternity, the timelessness of lovers. That most beautiful of fantasies.” 
Alys turns to him and smiles, absolutely enamored with him. “It’s breathtaking, Gale. Is this starry sky your doing?” 
Gale smiles back at her, proud of his work. “The curse is still present of course- Just veiled and at arm’s length for now. Not a trick I can repeat often, but tonight? Tonight is worth it.” 
At his admittance to this Alys feels her cheeks warm, the thought that he did this for her made her heart flutter. As she sits next to him she can feel his warmth practically radiate off of him even under the layer of clothes that he had on. 
Gale clears his throat before he begins to speak again, “This may be my last night alive. I wanted it to be under a canopy of beauty and wonder, and with company to match. 
After he says the word beauty his head turns to face Alys causing the warmth in her face to burn hot, a dark purple flush making its way onto her cheeks. Gale sure knew all the right words to say to make her fall even deeper for him. 
“I thought this place might bring me peace. I thought it might make the weight of what I must do feel a little lighter…but I am not so sure.” Gale’s face falls as he speaks of the heavy burden he carries, finally taking its toll on him. 
“Is this truly what you want?” Alys questions her voice soft, “To die for the promise of Mystra’s forgiveness?” She desperately wants to reach out to comfort him,but fears it would spook him. 
The frown on Gale’s face deepens at the drow’s questioning, “Babe or crone, coward or hero, death is assured. Mystra’s forgiveness is not. If you knew the end was near, would you not want to ensure it had meaning?” 
Alys frowns at this, her heart aching for the weight of what Gale believes he has to do. 
The brown haired man then continues, “I am terrified- I will not claim otherwise. My face could scarcely conceal it even if my words sought to deny it.” His voice shakes as he speaks. Alys watches the man bearing his heart to her wishing there was more she could do to lessen this burden. The fact that he believes there is no other way to stop the Absolute than to sacrifice himself makes her heart ache. She mentally curses Mystra for putting Gale in this position, angry with the goddess for placing such a heavy burden onto Gale knowing that he wouldn’t defy her. Alys is determined to convince Gale that there is another way to defeat the Absolute that wouldn’t cost him his life.  
“There is no point in running from the inevitable. Better to meet it, on my own terms” Gale briefly looks at her, his brown eyes watery. 
Alys’ throat constricts, already feeling tears well up in her eyes. “Nothing is inevitable. Not when we face it together. You don’t have to die.” She manages to force out, her voice scratchy. 
Gale turns to her with a sad smile on his face, “One moment with you could sate me for a lifetime, and prise the fear from my heart. I’m so very glad you came, to share this with me.” The wizard’s voice is raspy, it’s obvious he is also trying his hardest not to cry. 
“I know this is all unreal, but I created it for you. You must know that you’re… That you’re very special to me.” Gale revealing that he did in fact create this for her causes a tear to finally roll down Alys’ light purple cheek, she rushes to wipe away the tear before he could see it. 
Gale takes a deep breath before he continues speaking, “If things were different, if we were home, I’d have taken time to do things properly. To say it all better, but time is short.” 
Gale turns to Alys and cups her cheek with his hand, “I’m in love with you.” He caresses her cheekbone with his thumb. 
“I’m in love with you too.” Alys utters softly, leaning into his warmth. 
Gale lets out a chuckle, pressing his forehead against Alys’. “That’s a relief. It would be a shame to spend my final hours making an ass of myself.” 
Alys giggles at the man, even after opening up and baring his heart to her he still manages to be the same silly wizard she fell in love with. Alys leans forward softly pressing her lips against his to gauge his reaction. He responds by firmly pressing his against her own. Alys lets out a hum at the feeling of his lips finally touching hers. They’re chapped due to being in the elements for so long, but Alys finds that she doesn’t care much. She reaches her hand up to cup the back of Gale’s head pulling him closer to her, she lightly drags her tongue across his bottom lip asking for entrance. Gale immediately opens his mouth to her in response, Alys takes her time exploring his mouth knowing that this could very well be the last time she is able to have him like this. Gale groans when her fingers dig into his hair, her nails lightly scratching against his scalp. He moves his free hand down to grip her hip pulling her closer until she’s practically on top of him. They kept kissing until they inevitably had to part for air, Alys pulled herself away from her lover and grins while gulping down air. 
“You’re a good kisser.” The drow giggles, taking in just how beautiful Gale looks right now. His face flushes a bright red, hair ruffled and messy from when she was gripping it, spit slicking his lips making them shine in the moonlight. 
Gale lets out a laugh at this, his eyes crinkling up. “And you’re a bad liar. I have lived the life of a hermit for some time before I met you- safer for all, but not conducive to pleasures of the flesh.” 
Gale then moves out from under Alys and stands up reaching out a hand out for her to grab, she takes it and lets him help her up. The two can now fully see each other for the first time since she found him in this opening. Taking him in, Alys can’t help but notice a sizable bulge beginning to form beneath the fabric of his pants. 
“I want it to be perfect- to bond with you in the way that gods do… Intertwining our spirits in visions of the Weave.” Gale utters his voice still raspy but for an entirely different reason now.
“I don’t need illusions.” Alys says her voice sultry as she eyes him hungrily, “I want the Gale standing right in front of me.” 
Gale gulps when he sees the look in the drow’s eyes, he feels the tightness in his pants grow painful. He steps towards her and gingerly grabs her hips pulling her to him until she can feel the shape of him press into her lower stomach. Alys once again cups the back of the wizard’s head and crashes her lips onto his, their teeth knocking together from the sheer force of her kiss. His lips fit so perfectly against her own as if he was truly made for her, Alys sighs against his lips pressing even harder against him. Gale groans and grips Alys’ hips tightly, moving his lips against hers. Alys feels a fire light in her core, a wet patch beginning to form in her underclothes. She lets out a moan as Gale trails his hands under her shirt meeting her warm, light purple skin when he grabs her bare hips. She pulls her lips away from his, causing him to let out a whine. Alys laughs at him before she grips the hem of her shirt and pulls it over her head baring her breasts to the man in front of her, having forgone her chest wrap that evening. Alys shivers as the cool night air brushes against her bare chest, gooseflesh prickling up her arms. She never quite got used to just how cold being above ground can be.  
Gale steps back his eyes wide as he takes the sight of her bare chest in, Alys focuses her eyes on one of the trees in the distance suddenly self conscious. It had been quite some time since she was last with someone in this way, as she begins to move her hands to cover her chest Gale grabs ahold of them preventing her from covering herself up.
“You are…. Magnificent, please don't shy away from me.” Gale rasps and then pulls her back towards him leaning his head down to begin placing kisses on the side of her neck. 
Alys lets out a small moan reaching to dig her fingers into Gale’s hair, the feeling of his facial hair scratching against the sensitive skin of her neck has her pussy drooling. Nobody had ever touched her this gently, most of her past experiences were rough and quick but Gale is taking his time with her…Worshiping her. Gale’s kisses move down from her neck to her collarbones, he scrapes his teeth against the skin leaving behind dark purple blotches in his wake. Alys knew her companions would have something to say about the marks come morning but she couldn’t find it within herself to care at the moment. Alys let out small moans each time Gale drags his teeth against her skin, her fingers gripping his hair tighter the farther down her chest he moves. Gale makes his way down to the valley of her breasts kissing down the middle before moving to press kisses against the fat of her right breast. Gale moves one of his hands that were gripping the drow’s hips up to grasp the unoccupied breast kneading the tissue with his fingers. Gale closes his lips around Alys’ right nipple causing a wail to tear through her throat echoing throughout the empty woods. Alys can already feel sweat starting to slicken her skin making it practically glow in the moonlight.
Gale removes himself briefly from her nipple to groan out, “Yes my love, let me hear you.” before returning to working on the bud. 
His fingers start tweaking the nipple that isn't occupied with his mouth, groaning around her as he feels his bulge strain against his pants begging for friction. Gale releases Alys’ nipple with a pop before standing up and leading her to the blanket they had sat on earlier. He lightly nudges her to lay down whispering in her ear, “Lay down my gorgeous girl, let me worship you the way you deserve.” 
Alys feels a pang in her core at the praise causing her to let out a whimper, she lays down on the blanket her dark blue fanning out behind her after having freed it from its usual ponytail for the night. Gale moves to hover over her pressing a few firm kisses to the drow’s lips before making his way down Alys’ body until he was face to face with her pants covered core. She can feel the heat coming off of him in waves. The brown haired man hooks a finger under the garment before looking up at her silently asking if it was okay for him to remove them. Alys props herself up on her forearms looking down at him and nods her head. 
“I need you to use your words my love.” Gale breathes, eager to finally please her. 
“Please Gale I need your mouth on me.” Alys begs, her mind already cloudy with want. A deep purple flush having completely taken over her cheeks and ears. 
Gale chuckles before sliding the drow’s pants and underclothes down her hips in one go, he gets them about half way down before Alys gets impatient and kicks them the rest of the way off herself. The wizard grins at her eagerness. He watches as she spreads her legs open revealing her dripping core to him. Gale’s breath hitches at the sight before him, he leans in and presses his cheek to her inner thigh as he takes a deep inhale his eyes roll to the back of his head as he gets high on her scent . Alys lets out a gasp at the feeling of his warm breath so close to her intimate parts, her hand reaching to pet the brown locks of her love. Gale groans and buries his face into her core using his tongue to trace a line from her hole to her clit, the taste of her quickly becoming his favorite thing in the world. Alys all but yells out a moan at the feeling of his tongue on her and grips his hair with such force that if she were in a better state of mind she would fear she was hurting him. She had never felt pleasure like this before outside of the alone time she had with herself, her previous lovers tending to get straight to the main event not taking the time to warm her up most of the time.
If it was hurting him, Gale took no notice if anything the pain all but spurred him on, he hooks his arms under her thighs as he continues to feast on her. Gale moves his lips to wrap around the bud near the top of her mound making Alys keen, her back arching. The wizard lets out a grunt into her cunt as he feels more of her essence flood into his mouth, he traces a finger around the drow’s hole before dipping the very tip of it in and pulling it back out. 
Alys groans tears welling in her eyes, “Gale, please don’t tease me. I need to feel you.” she cries. 
Gale hums against her in response and slips a single finger inside her, letting her get used to the feeling. Alys gasps at the intrusion. The wizard’s finger is much thicker than her own reaching parts of her that she can’t manage to on her own. After a moment, Gale slips another finger into her causing a whimper to come from the woman above him. Two of his fingers equaled three of her own, the stretch causing a delicious burn. He continues sucking on her clit while she gets used to the stretch. Before long Alys starts to buck her hips into his face indicating that she wants more, the wizard smirks and begins to pump the two fingers in and out of her curling them in a come hither motion on their way out. The tips of his fingers pressed against that spongy spot inside her that causes Alys to cry out, bursts of pleasure shooting throughout her body. She can feel the tension in her core starting to tighten, her body heating up. Her chest heaves as Gale slips a third finger in alongside the other two making Alys arch even farther into his face, he can tell she’s close by how her pussy clenches. It only takes a few more pumps of his fingers and a hard suck on her clit for the tension in Alys’ core to snap her pussy spasming around Gale’s fingers. Alys practically sees stars as her release washes over her, her thighs squeezing Gale’s head. He moans into her cunt as the taste of her orgasm fills his mouth.Gale continues to fuck her with his fingers as she rides out her high. After a few moments Alys twitches her hips back to try and get him away from her sensitive core, Gale gets the hint and removes his fingers as softly as he can causing her to let out a whimper at the emptiness of her core. 
Gale moves back to sit on his haunches and licks his fingers clean of her slick, savoring the taste and Alys thinks that shes never seen a man look so fucking attractive before. Alys’ chest heaves and she tries to calm her fluttering heart, her blue hair plastered to her forehead. When she takes in the sight of her lover who is still fully clothed, his hair looks like he just went through a windstorm with how crazed it was. The entirety of the lower half of his face was covered in her juices, the sheen of it glistening in the moonlight. Alys’ face burns in embarrassment as she realizes that she was the one who made him look this way. 
“Gods Gale, where did you learn how to do that?” Alys croaks, her cunt still twitching with aftershocks. 
Gale cackles his head, tipping back, “I had plenty of time to read while in my tower; perhaps I picked up a thing or two.” The wizard says with a smug smile on his face.
Alys looks at the man before her and smiles. “C’mere you.” She giggles, reaching for him. 
Gale pulls off his clothes until he is as bare as her before he moves to hover over the drow. The hairs on his chest lightly brush against Alys’ sensitive nipples making her whimper. Propping himself up on his arms he looks down at Alys admiring just how stunning she looks like this, he knows that if this is indeed his last night he wouldn’t want it any other way being here with her makes him feel complete. Alys notices the wizard being lost in thought, cupping his face in her hands. 
“I love you Gale of Waterdeep so, so much.” She sighs, caressing his face. Alys was determined to let Gale know just how loved he was so that if he does indeed decide to go through with what Mystra has asked of him, he would know that he was adored up until the very end by the blue haired drow and the rest of their companions. 
Gale feels tears once again well up in his eyes, never having felt so wholly and completely loved before. He sniffles before replying “I love you more than all of the stars in the galaxy my beautiful, beautiful Alys.” 
Alys smiles before gently pulling him down to kiss her, their lips perfectly melding together. “Now make love to me underneath the stars that you most graciously created for us.” She breathes against his lips. 
Gale smiles and reaches down between them to grasp himself, groaning at the feeling of his hand on his neglected cock. He strokes himself a few times before lining himself up at her entrance and slowly pushing himself into her. Alys gasps at the intrusion, the feeling of his cock stretching her was intoxicating. Gale keeps pushing in until his hips press into the patch of blue hair that sits just above Alys’ core. He stills for a moment letting the drow adjust to the feeling of him inside her. Alys keens at the feeling of being filled to the brim, the weight of him inside her drove her insane. The feeling of her walls clenching around him has Gale gritting his teeth trying to will himself to not cum right in that moment. After a bit Alys starts to grind her hips into his, indicating that she wants him to move. The wizard drags his cock out until just the tip remains before thrusting back in. Gale does this a few more times before he finds a rhythm, his engorged cock perfectly hitting that spot inside Alys each time he pushes back inside. Alys lets out high pitched moans each time his tip brushes against it, pleasure shooting throughout her body.
A chorus of moans come from the two of them as they make love, echoing through the woods. Alys’ hands grip onto the pale skin of Gale’s back, her nails digging into the flesh. Gale buries his head into Alys’ neck groaning at the sound of skin slapping against skin. He fucks into her with abandon reveling in her moans and the feel of her against him. Alys moves to push her hand against his chest and before Gale could question her, she wrapped her legs around him and flipped the two of them over. The sight of his love on top of him, her purple sweat slicked skin shining in the moonlight stole the breath from Gale’s lungs. 
Alys herself wasn't faring much better, the tip of Gale’s cock hit so much deeper from this angle making the lower half of her body tingle. Placing her hands firmly on his chest, her fingers brushing against the bottom of where the mark of the cursed orb is. Alys begins to grind her hips against his, her legs still slightly shaking from her last orgasm. Taking a moment to get the hang of being the one on top. Before long she lifted her hips before sinking back down onto him, gasping as he bottoms out. Alys soon finds a rhythm that hits all of the right spots, the drag of Gale’s cock against her walls making her toes curl. She begins to ride him with abandon, her head tipped back, moans steadily falling from her mouth. 
Gale’s grip on her hips was bordering on painful which only fueled Alys more, bouncing on him even harder. The wet smack of skin on skin echos through the forest, anyone within ten feet of the two would be able to tell what they were up to. The familiar tightness in her core makes a reappearance, Alys reaches her hand down to rub circles on her clit only to have Gale bat her hand away and replace it with his own. The wizard rubs fast, tight circles on the nub causing Alys to whine at how good it felt. Gale whimpered at how Alys clenched down on him as he did so.  He can feel that his own end is near but is determined to make Alys cum once more before he does. The drow lets out a shriek as he plants his feet firmly on the ground and begins to fuck up into her causing Alys to dig her nails even deeping into his chest leaving red lines in her wake. Alys feels the pressure in her core tighten even further before it snaps, she wails as sparks shoot over her entire body. Gale grunts as Alys tightens around him, it only takes a few more thrusts before he too reaches his peak filling her with ropes and ropes of his warm cum. 
The two lovers gasp for air as they both come down from their highs, Alys slumps down on top of Gale resting her head on his chest. Gale wraps his hands around her pulling Alys closer to him, rubbing his hands against her back to soothe the both of them. It takes a few moments for either of them to form any sort of thought, Alys smiles against the chest of her love soaking in the moment. She wishes that they could stay in this moment forever and not have to worry about the tadpole swimming around in their brains, defeating Ketheric Thorm, or what Mystra had requested of Gale. She feels a sadness gripping her chest as she thinks of what is to come in the next few days, tears stinging her eyes. Alys clears her throat telling herself to focus on the now, to focus on being with Gale.
“Gods Gale I think you may have to carry me back to camp.” Alys giggles, her throat burning as she holds back tears. The drow not able to feel the lower half of her body, her legs feeling like jelly as she tries to move them. 
“My love I’m not sure either of us are able to walk at the moment.” Gale laughs, pressing his cheek into Alys’ deep blue hair.
Alys perks her head up so that she can look at him and the second the two make eye contact they burst into laughter. The thought of both of them stumbling back to camp was a hilarious one indeed. Alys props her head up on her hand tracing the other one across Gale’s chest playing with the hair there. In all the time that she has known him she’s never seen him as relaxed and at peace as he is in this moment. His hair a mess, strands glued to his forehead by sweat, the flush on his face, the starry look in his eyes. Alys falls even deeper in love with Gale of Waterdeep in that moment. Her mind raced, thinking of how different her life would be if she had never pulled him out of that rock portal.
“Well I suppose you couldn’t conjure up a blanket and some pillows for us could you?” Alys sighs, “I think we may be here for a moment.” 
She can feel the rumbling of Gale’s chest against her cheek as he chuckles, he kisses the top of her head before grabbing onto her hips before lifting her up off of him. Alys lets out a hiss at the feeling of his cock exiting her, her walls now convulsing around nothing cum starting to spill out of her. Gale tenderly lays her down before sitting on his haunches to conjure up some blankets and pillows for the two of them. They were in fact going to be there for a while.
The next morning when the two arrived back at camp completely disheveled, a handful of their companions groaned before reaching into their things to grab some gold and gave it to a very smug looking Astarion and a mildly disgusted Lae’zel. 
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A/N i hope y’all enjoyed this please lmk what y’all think of alys and gale 😼
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syngigeim · 2 months ago
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Day 6 - Halcyon
In his ‘old age’, Emet-Selch made sure that no one would ever see Solus zos Galvus smile. He had to admit that playing the role of bitter old fool was not such a hard act anymore. Certainly felt more natural than the youth with ambition and grand ideas, though, of course, he still had memories to guide his acting. And besides, he was still the Architect.
He settled into his chair, in his private box within the Majestic Imperial Theater Company’s airship theater. There were benefits to given such an esteemed troupe the glorious patronage as an airship. One being that he could request they dock at his palace whenever he wished to see a performance. Though, this being after the masses were let in via their usual dock. Let them get as close to their magnificent Emperor as they can.
Indeed, merely making his appearance brought the masses to rapturous applause. The Emperor must be given his due. He closed his eyes. He could tell that this body didn’t have much time left. He didn’t need to pretend to care.
The applause died down, and so did the lights. The curtains would rise soon. “Leave me,” he said to his attendants. “I would enjoy this in my solitude.”
“Your Radiance,” they simply said as they saluted and left. They would stand by the door, where they would only hear muffled noises from the stage and the applause. No connection to the art, only their duty remained.
The play begun. It was a tragic tale of how three friends from Corvos were soon to have their lives upended by the upcoming invasion of Garlemald. Their days of peace and plenty would soon end. One would die, one would be blinded and abandoned and the last, to become the first non-Garlean to obtain the title of sas, the highest honor a ‘savage’ could have.
Emet-Selch leaned forward, drinking in every detail. The grand opening of peaceful days, the whispers of something dangerous to the North, all ignored and cast aside. He might have smiled at the excellent practical effects of the first bits of Magitek, now gracing the stage. They were so deserving of his patronage.
One character declared his intent to resist the Empire, to the bitter end. He would be the one to die, heroically. But oh, his monologues to his friends, how to never give up in the face of grand odds. It was all worthless in the end.
Something pricked at Emet-Selch’s mind. What would they have thought of this? His closest and most cherished friends? His heart twisted at the thought of them. He tried to shove the memories aside He would bear no more of them. And yet, they kept coming to his mind as the play went on and on…
This was to be the last performance the Emperor ever attended in his life. The masses noted a rare sight. The Emperor was moved to tears at this performance. Did he know his end was near, and felt moved as he witnessed the sorrow upon the stage? All would speculate, but none would know the Emperor’s true feelings deep within.
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selfindulgentpixies · 10 months ago
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Answered prayers
Zhongli x GN!reader So i've been playing a lot of genshin impact recently and this idea kinda smacked me over the head. Not sure if I'll write more for Zhongli and Genshin impact but here's a thing at least. CW: GN!reader only they/them pronouns used for them, reader has a dendro vision, near death experience WC: 965
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Warm blood seeps against your palm, passes between your fingers as your feet struggle to find purchase in the loose rain soaked soil. Each of your steps leave behind a small bloom, the power of your vision seeming to spill from you just like the blood you’re so desperately trying to keep within yourself.  You supposed this was your luck to die alone after letting your guard down and getting ambushed by treasure hunters. The mountainous region of liyue was too unforgiving. You’d never make it to a village in time. Not in the rain slicked rocky terrain, especially not in the dark.
The earth gives way beneath your next step send you tumbling down a slope, smacking against a rock with a choked gasp and cry of pain, the first to rip itself from you, the blade that pierced you earlier having failed to do the same with the adrenaline pumping through your veins at the time. It’s only once the ringing in your ears fades and that you pry your eyes open that you realize you’re no longer in complete darkness, no now you’re cast in a soft blue light. Looking up it’s then you realize what had stopped your fall was the base of one of the geo archons statues. Timeless and unmoveable much like the mountains around you. You let out a humorless laugh, you force yourself to sit up, smearing a bloody palm across the stone base, your blood seeping into the earth below you. “Maybe I won’t die alone then huh? Will you keep me company as I slip away, Rex Lapis?” You lay your cheek against the cool stone, not caring that you’re likely speaking to no one but yourself. No one was around to hear. Your heavy eyes fall closed. Consciousness almost entirely out of your grasp you can hardly register someone stepping through the flowers blooming around you wherever your blood touches cracks in the stone, a morbid thing of beauty. You think it must be a hallucination of some kind or perhaps a dream as you pass into death when warm fingers brush over your cheek. Your lashes flutter open slightly, golden eyes the last thing you see before you lose the fight to keep your own open. What a pretty sight to see before you go.
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You wake with a choked gasp, going to sit upright only to curl in on yourself. You’re warm, wrapped in blankets while hands gently press at your shoulders to get you to slowly lay back. So many sensations when all you expected waited for you was nothingness in the void of death. It takes you a moment to take in where you are. A room lit with soft orange light, all dark woods and teal and green accents. And then your eyes trail up and meet those same eyes from before. 
“Careful now, the healer may have closed your wounds but they’re still fresh enough that you could reopen them.” The voice is a smooth rumble across your senses, the sort of voice that makes you want to rest your head on his chest and listen to him speak.  The thought is inappropriate given the circumstances but it comes to you regardless.
You go to speak but your voice cracks out of your dry throat. 
“Ah wait a moment.” He turns from you and seconds later he’s back with a glass of cool water to press against your lips while tipping your head up with his free hand. “Drink.” 
The cool water is the best thing you’ve ever tasted and you’d guzzle it if the man holding the glass would let you. Once the glass is mostly empty he pulls it away and lays your head back down on the pillow. “Don’t want you to make yourself sick.” 
You stare at him for a moment before clearing your throat and speaking. “Thank you.. If I may ask.. Who are you and where am I?” 
His lips twitch into a soft smile. “You may call me Zhongli. As to where you are, you’re in a room at Bubu pharmacy where your care is being seen to.” 
It’s a lot to wrap your mind around, you’d been so sure you were going to die alone in the cold downpour. Your lower lip quivers and the man’s expression shifts, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. “Did you save me?” You don’t actually need to ask, you feel it in your bones, see it in those eyes that he’s the one
“I did,” and his voice is almost achingly gentle, like he’s just realized he’s holding something fragile. As if you’re glass or a baby bird with a broken wing. 
“How’d you find me..?” You can’t help the wetness gathering in your eyes, emotions crash into you and do your best to keep a hold on them but barely escaping a lonely death? It does something to you. 
“Call it intuition, I was out and felt as if I should make a detour.” 
You nod, not having the energy to question why he was out in a storm like that. “Well… thank you. Truly thank you, Zhongli.” You push yourself up somewhat and his hands hover, ready to assist as you bow your head slightly to him only for him to gently tip your head back up with his fingers on your chin. 
“You are most welcome but truly there is no need for that.” He releases you. “Rest now. I’ll go get the doctor to see to you now that you’re awake.” 
You nod and lay back, watching him as he goes out the door. You’d been so far in the mountains how’d he find you and get you to bubu pharmacy in Liyue harbor before you could bleed out?
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Like i said above I'm not sure if i'll write more for Genshin impact or not but I wanted to get this idea down. Kinda surprised my first dip into the fandom was with Zhongli and not Kaeya or Diluc.
Ahhh not sure who to tag for this: @fushigurro @zorosdimples @strawberrystepmom I think all three of you are moots who play genshin impact
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6okuto · 9 months ago
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actually losing my mind over vere + ais + mc like…. imagine how fun that would be. they would all get up to so much m
VERE/MC/AIS HCS
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gn!reader | :3 hiii. these can be read platonically! it's mostly little moments i can imagine. for fun!
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it's a fun dynamic where there can always be a duo making fun of one person and it switches every day, every hour. one person goes wow vere you're so horny what's your deal and the other joins in. later vere and mc find themselves making fun of ais for acting so tough and mysterious. mc getting bullied about Not having Gloves,
sorry i've been watching lethal company a lot but they'd be sooo annoying /affectionate. making fun of each other on the radio, pretending like they can't hear them. vere getting pissed off when you don't get his body. ais taunting all the monsters while mc is telling him to shut the fuck up. mc saying "bet you can't make that jump" and then getting them to fall.
the three of them show up at the wet wick and it's already bad enough with vere and ais but now the trio… will a fight start? will a fire be lit by accident? how many people from and outside the main cast have headaches
ais says he's bored and mc goes Start a fight or something and vere's like yeah ais just start a fight. and ais is like ? you guys suck ass. but also he Will start one. so
vere and mc watching ais in a brawl and they comment to the bystander next to them like. How much you wanna bet he wins? and it's a joke but i do think they could/would bet on ais at some point LOL
mhin thinks they might die btw. would rather die than be put in a room with them, even. their worst nightmare.
leander. ....vaguely jealous of mc/all of them even as they all taunt and tease him. somebody get this guy some friends please
i never thought about it but i do wonder what vere's relationship is with princess/ais's pets. i don't knowww imagine how cute it could be watching them jump on him or fighting over who they like most...
vere and ais (un)intentionally use inside jokes/references with each other so mc has a few choices of 1) staring at them 2) asking what they're talking about 3) making fun of them etc. if mc is genuinely bothered by it i'm sure they'd explain and stay aware of it. if mc is just like Ok Be a little less Obvious they roll their eyes and tease them too
moments where two are hanging out, the third appears and goes Wow, Hanging out without me? and the two are like What, Are you obsessed with us or something? Need to always be near us?
specifically thinking of ais coming up on vere and mc are sitting together. they start teasing and jokingly flirting with him as if he's a stranger and it starts unraveling when they ask who's his favourite like Oh??? Them??? after everything we've been through???
ais disliking isolation, vere and mc check on him every so often and behind his teasing remarks, there's a softness and gratitude in his gaze
one of them starts to absentmindedly brush vere's tail and then the other notices and joins in. vere trusting them but still threatening to like, kill them if they mess up his fur. mc and ais going oohh i'm gonna mess it up so bad and then his tail has never looked nicer
a lot of things are meant for 2 people sitting... on the bus or carnival rides etc etc so the odd one out gets chosen by like. rock paper scissors. or just some silly game. not always of course but it happens. "best out of 3" "ok wait fuck you best out of 5" etc
cute little moment where person in the middle leans against one's shoulder, and the one on the other side notices and leans on theirs. a train!!
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bookishtalkswithlii · 1 year ago
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Mini-Summary
This story is centered around two adolescent males, Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio, who have just been alerted that they have only one day left to live. Despite having never met before the start of this 24hrs they quickly grew close, some may even say their meeting was fated. This story is set in a technologically advanced New York City, where there is the existence of Death-Cast. Which is a company that calls to let people know their death date as it comes near. Is the information this company gives real? Do they actually die at the end? Find out by giving the book a read :)
Likes and Dislikes 
-There are many aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. I found it to be such a wholesome yet heartbreaking story. It did such a great job of making me feel conflicted within my own emotions while also having me grasping at straws and denying the inevitable truth that was soon to come at its end. While this story does hint at a budding romance, it focuses on the connection between two people who lived with regrets and aspirations which captivated me and left a lasting impact due to the relatability of the characters themselves.
-The only downside to this book, in my opinion, was some of the writing. Because it centers around adolescents, I believe this author like many others, tried to encapsulate how they think teenagers sound which came off as awkward while reading certain lines. 
But all in all, if you love heartwrenching, yet wholesome stories and can appreciate various types of romances in books, then you should definitely give this one a read.
Age rating- 14+
Genres- Young Adult, Romance, Drama
Do I recommend?-Yes
-Here's a playlist you can listen to, to set the ambiance while reading-
youtube
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thelastofharrington · 2 years ago
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the hard with the soft
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✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*
A/N: hello! this is my first joel fic that i've ever written! i'm really excited about it and made this whole blog just to post it lol. there is plenty of smut in this so mdni! let me know what you think :)
summary: Falling in love with Joel Miller was something that happened to you little by little, and then all at once. To say the chemistry was immediate would be a complete lie. At first, you couldn’t even tell if he wanted you around, let alone wanted you in his bed. No, when he rescued you that day from one of Bill’s well-laid traps, you were certain he would never see you as anything other than a nuisance. A pest he had to take care of. 
Oh how wrong you were.
tags: praise, porn with context, slow burn, mutual pining, joel is soft on the inside, reader is down bad fr, non-canonical, rip bill and frank, takes place a year/two years after the show starts, love in the midst of an apocalypse is beautiful y'all
word count: 7k
i hope you enjoy!!!
Part 1: The Stumble, 1 Year Ago
You were hungry. Starving, even. You had been left behind from your group of outcasts three days ago (or had it been four? You were too exhausted to keep track of the time) when you twisted your ankle and couldn’t keep up the pace. You weren’t overly friendly with your most recent pack of ragtag survivors, mostly seeing them and each other as a mere means of survival rather than company. You hadn’t known friendliness or love from your packs since your parents got bit five years ago. Your parents couldn’t have known that three years after they brought you into the world it would fall apart, nor did they know they would both die protecting you from that same world they blindly brought you into. It’s been hard, but you’ve made it through and it actually was your birthday this week, the big 24. What a way to celebrate – being abandoned by the only thing keeping you safe and becoming walking bait for any clickers nearby. But still, you had fairly good spirits all things considered. Until you fell into an eight foot hole. 
It was in this hole that you realized a couple of things:
You’ve stumbled upon a domesticated piece of land. Someone somewhere near had the time, safety, and resources to dig an eight foot hole. 
If your ankle wasn’t sprained before, it was definitely sprained now considering how you landed on it.
You might have just fallen into your grave.
It was a series of progressively worse realizations, to say the least. 
Time had already felt like a concept out of your grasp for the last 20 years, but now there was truly no way of knowing if you had been down there 20 minutes or two hours when a shadow was cast on you. A man-shaped shadow. A man-shaped shadow with a gun. 
The gun was pointed right at you, the sun casting a halo around this giant man’s head. He towered over you as he held his stance firm and still. No one said anything as you both stood, unwavering. 
“I come in peace?” You finally choke out, unsure of what you could possibly say to save your own life right now. 
He doesn’t move, just croaks “How’d you find this place?” You notice the fragments of a Southern accent, nearly lost to the wear and tear of an apocalypse. 
You clear your throat and try to muster up the courage to speak with conviction. “My group abandoned me when I twisted my ankle early this week. I’ve just been aimlessly wandering.” You pause, unsure of if the next sentence will be your last, “This ankle of mine really hurts by the way. Your hole here isn’t really helping, considering I landed on it.”
You see him move his head out from behind the gun and look down at you slightly, then he moves back to position. “Are you armed?”
“No, I’m barely legged.”
He does not laugh.
“That’s something we call a joke, you know, since I can barely walk and all.”
His weight shifts again and he finally puts down the gun. “I’m going to help you out, but after that you better see yourself out of here. I don’t want any more of this and I don’t want any of your friends wandering this way either.”
“I don’t have any friends. I don’t have any family. I’m just me.”
He scoffs, “Sure, kid.”
“I’m also not a kid. I’m 24 years old and I’m hungry and my ankle hurts and why do you even have this hole anyway?!” You notice yourself turning hysterical but you don’t even care. You’re unarmed and you’re hungry and you’re all alone for the first time in a very, very long time. This man holds all of the power to help you and you’re not going to give up until he does. 
He doesn’t respond immediately, but when he does it’s in the form of him reaching down into his utility belt and pulling out a rope, and throwing you the other end. “You get one meal.”
You didn’t even know a meal was on the table, so you hobbled your way behind him as fast as you could. You ended up at a white, well-kept house behind an industrial strength gate. “How the hell did you find this place?”
He doesn’t answer right away, making you worried that you said the wrong thing somehow. Finally, when you’ve reached the front door, he huffs “It belonged to a friend.”
================================================
Part 2: The Fall, 6 Months Ago
That one meal turned into two days which turned into a week which turned a month which turned into six. You owe most of your thanks to Joel’s 14-year-old companion (contraband?), Ellie. She was instrumental in convincing Joel to allow for you to stay. If it weren’t for her, the first dinner would have easily been your last. But she was so taken with you and excited to have another girl let alone someone under 30 hanging out with them. Not that she didn’t adore Joel, or him her in his own little ways. But you were just such a breath of fresh air to her that Joel couldn’t help but allow for you to stay. 
Your role in their little group wasn’t quite clear. Joel did all of the hunting and patrolling necessary to keep this little slice of paradise exactly that, paradise. Ellie’s only job was to stay safe, and you decided to pick up the slack wherever you could. Dishes, clothing repairs, cooking dinner. Ellie didn’t need a nanny by any means, but you basically became a live-in housewife. With none of the perks, despite your daydreaming.
The last six months had been tumultuous for you to say the least. The presence of Joel constantly by your side made a lot of things very difficult. Like focusing, or keeping the weakness out of your knees, or the heat out of your dreams. He was hot, there was no denying it. If he hadn’t been waving a gun in your face the moment you met, it probably wouldn’t have taken you until the end of your first dinner to realize this. But not only was he hot, he was stoic. He was still and firm, a guiding light in this uncertain world you and Ellie both came of age in. He had a cold exterior, but judging by the way he treated Ellie, and eventually you, you knew there was some warmth bubbling beneath the surface. You knew he carried immeasurable hurt on his back, Ellie had told you about his daughter, Tess, Bill and Frank, and that was only the things Ellie knew. Who knew what was in the even further past of this sturdy man. The big, beautiful, brooding man who took care of you and Ellie despite his best instincts. 
You had only very recently gotten over your sprained ankle, taking a full 12 weeks to heal from the severe sprain. This was another saving grace for you in the beginning. Joel liked to pretend that he was heartless, but he still didn’t have the heart to send you on your merry way with only ¼ of your appendages working to their full capacity. He tried to kick you out after your first dinner despite Ellie’s whining, only to be able to only stomach three of your hobbling paces out the door. 
“Oh for God’s sake get back in here why don’t ‘ya,” You remember him sighing.
He took such good care of your ankle, at night when you’re all alone you can still feel the way his calloused fingertips massing you so gently. The hard with the soft; the essence of Joel Miller. 
“Does this hurt?” He asked four weeks in, as you sat for your nightly ankle exam. Starting your very first night, after dinner he would take your foot into his lap and exam it and massage it carefully for upwards of 15 minutes. You weren’t a doctor, but you knew enough to know that a nightly exam was excessive and unnecessary. But even at the very beginning you knew this was his way of showing you that he cared, that he wanted you safe. It was around this time that you realized that Joel had a soft spot for stragglers, for the outcasts who just needed somebody. Between you and Ellie, that much was clear, and it just made you fall faster for him than you thought possible. 
This realization and the true weight of it didn’t come to a head until one day where you decided to go out and try and collect some berries from the woods on the other side of the gate for a pie you wanted to make Joel for his birthday. You had seen him do it a million times, you thought you could get away with it. Until you heard that sound. 
Everything was fine, you had collected your blueberries and you were on your way, and then you heard it. You hear it before you see it, but soon enough you see it all the same. You had your gun with you, but your reaction time was nowhere near as fast as Joel’s was. The clicker starts stalking your way when you lose yourself to your impulses and just start running. You know better than to scream, but you get close. You run and you run and you’re looking back to make sure you’re not going to get caught when you smack into something six foot and massive. Joel’s chest. After you make eye contact you look up and make eye contact with him. He’s silently fuming, fists white knuckling around his gun. 
You go to speak when he stops you, “Don’t.” He whispers right before he shoots the clicker dead with no hesitation or struggle. The walk back to the house is silent, and not because he’s afraid of being found by the clickers. 
The slam of the front door is the first sound you’ve heard in minutes. He whips around and you swear you can see smoke coming out of his ears. “What the hell was that?!”
“I-” You start.
“You know what? I don’t want to know. I can’t hear from you right now.”
You say nothing.
“That was so completely careless! Do you not understand how we do things around here? You stay, I go. It’s as simple as that.” He’s pacing at this point, waving his hands wildly as he works through his anger with you. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
You pause, “I thought you didn’t want to hear from me.”
He stops pacing and looks at you, “Ha ha ha very funny. You’re a real smartass, you know that? If I hadn’t been there God knows what would have happened. You could have gotten killed!”
You look down at your feet, trying to hold back tears before you look back up. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for you.”
He sighs, physically decompressing. “Well you went about it all the wrong way. I don’t need anything nice from you, you do enough around the house and with Ellie anyway,” He pauses, “I don’t know what I would have done with myself if you had gotten hurt.” He says this last part in a whisper under his breath, barely able to look at you.
“But it’s your birthday!” You choke out a sob. You’re so mad at yourself for putting yourself in danger and upsetting the man who saved your life six months ago. 
“What? No it’s not.” He says, confused.
Then, a lightbulb goes off for both of you as your jaws drop and you yell in unison, “ELLIE!”
Turns out, Ellie just wanted some pie.
================================================
Part 3: The Catch, Present Day
A lot can change in six months. But also, a lot can stay the same. You’ve grown very accustomed to the life you live here, in this big beautiful house, with your small makeshift family. Ellie is 17 now and makes Joel take her on test drives in Bill’s old truck around town. Joel has definitely gotten used to having you around, and even converted Frank’s old studio into a bedroom for you a couple of months ago. A real upgrade from living on the couch for the first eight months. 
Life is pretty standard, all things considered. You’ve heard more stories about the men who ran the house before you and you think they’d be happy to have people like you living a life like this in the home they built together. It’s a beautiful thing, to have some normalcy in a world fallen apart. 
You spend a lot of time with Ellie, who has developed a crush on one of the QZ traders. She’s tall and lean and tougher than all hell, you can see what Ellie sees in her even if you’re personally afraid of her. This realization on Ellie’s part has prompted a lot of impromptu sleepovers in your art studio turned bedroom, almost all of which are ended by Joel standing in the doorway going on about keeping quiet out of respect for your elders. You have to remind him every time that you too are an elder.
It’s also the summer time which means there’s lots to do outside. You never really learned how to tend to a garden so Joel’s been teaching you how to take care of the one Frank started all those years ago. You two keep it up with the seeds you get from trading with those select few still at the QZ, and it’s been a really special time between the two of you. It also doesn’t hurt that he prefers to work in the garden shirtless. 
“Hello? Hello? Are you even listening to a word I’m saying?” 
You snap out of the trance you were in from watching him hoe or row or whatever it is he’s doing with that gardening tool that makes his arms and back look like that. “What? Sorry, I zoned out.”
“You’re never going to learn if you keep daydreamin’ like that.” He gruffs before starting his spiel on strawberries all over again. 
You really can’t get a read on him. Sometimes he treats you as an equal, someone who has a shared interest in their work and in the safety of Ellie, but other times he treats you like you’re a toddler that can’t help but knock their head on the corner of a coffee table. He claims it’s because he doesn’t want you hurt, which you admit gives you butterflies, but if anything between you is ever going to transpire (like you desperately need it to), he can’t see you as just some kid. You’re turning 25 next week, dammit. You deserve some respect. But you’re just not sure how to get it, how to make him see you as a true equal. Someone he can rely on, put his faith into, and even care about on a deeper level. 
The opportunity of a lifetime presents itself one day in the form of something actually rather unfortunate. Joel finally gets hurt.
It’s a pretty normal day until then. You and Ellie practice driving, you journal, listen to some old records. It’s too hot to spend too much time outside, but you definitely make sure to check on the strawberries considering the lecture you got from Joel last week. It’s midafternoon when he comes straggling in, clutching his left arm in his hand and seething through the pain.
You immediately jump up from the couch, “Oh my God, what happened?”
He sinks down on the chair next to the piano, not looking at you. “Nothing, just go get the first aid kit.”
That answer is nowhere near good enough, but you go and get it anyway. Ellie is out in the backyard and doesn’t hear the commotion. When you return with the first aid kit you press on, “You have to tell me what happened so I can know how to treat you.”
He shifts uncomfortably in his seat as you kneel in front of him, opening the kit. “It’s nothing, just gonna need a couple stitches.”
You pry his right hand off his arm and see a deep gash on the bottom of his forearm. It’s not too long, but it sure is deep. “Jesus Joel, what the hell happened?”
He shifts and sighs once more, whispering something under his breath that you can barely hear.
“What was that?” You ask earnestly.
He whispers again, slightly louder this time, but he’s talking too fast to make out what he said. 
“Joel, come on. What happened?” You’re tending to his wound now anyway, but you really do need to know. 
He sighs, bringing his free hand up to pinch between his eyes. Avoiding eye contact with you he finally says, “I was walking back from trading when I saw a flower. I wanted to get that flower for you for your birthday. With my shears in one hand, I leaned down to get it, and I lost my balance and I tripped and I fell on top of the shears and they stabbed me.” He pauses, “There,  you happy? Now that I’ve humiliated myself…” He trails off. 
You’re too stunned to speak. You just keep staring at him, unmoving.
“If you’re not going to fix this up, give me the kit so I can do it myself,” He huffs at you.
You swallow and smile at him, trying to find the words. “Joel Miller, you secret softie. You maimed yourself in the pursuit of trying to do something nice for me, the girl you claim not to want around.”
He locks eyes with you for the first time during this conversation, “I never claimed that.”
Silence hangs in the air for a moment until you clear your throat and turn your attention to the wound at hand (or should you say, at arm?). “Let’s get this stitched up, ok?”
“If Ellie asks, tell her I did something super manly and tough to get these stitches, ok?”
You let out a laugh and nod, “Sir, yes sir.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It’s been three days since Joel hurt himself trying to do something nice for you and it has not left your mind even for a moment. You’re laying in bed wide awake, tossing and turning wondering what this could mean. I never claimed that he said so earnestly to you. I never claimed that. The four words echo in your brain like a megaphone. It’s been torture being around him as if nothing has changed. As if you haven’t changed on a molecular level after those four words rearranged every fiber of your being. It may be nothing, but it also could be something. It could be the that takes what you’ve been craving for almost a year to leave your daydreams and become a reality. Maybe he meant it in a friendly way, maybe even in reference to your working relationship of raising Ellie and keeping her safe. But if that were the case, why did it feel like all of the air in the room stood still? Why did he look to you like he was a puzzle that only you could solve? 
Cordiality be damned, you had to know the answer. 
You sneak out of bed and up the stairs, careful not to wake Ellie in her room on the first floor. Joel may be modest, but he still took the primary bedroom upstairs when they moved in. You avoid the creaking steps up the stairs artfully and end up at his door. It is only at this point you realize how crazy this is. You’re standing outside his door in the middle of the night with no plan and, frankly, no pants on. This is a recipe for disaster that you’ve quickly talked yourself out of. You go to turn around when the door swings open, Joel looking alert. His body visibly relaxes when he sees that it’s just you, and then tenses once more as his eyes trail down our body to the long length of your bare legs. 
“What are you-” “Sorry I was just-” You say at the same time.
You laugh, trying to break the tension. “Sorry, I was just leaving.”
“What are you doing up here, Y/N?” His body was pressed up against the side of the doorway, blocking it almost entirely with his broad stature. Shoulders resting on the side of the doorway, arms and feet crossed, he looked in no hurry to get you out of there. 
“It doesn’t really matter, I answered my own question. I’ll just head back downstairs,” You go to walk away when he grabs your arm lightly, turning you back to face him.
“Must’ve been some curiosity if it’s keeping you up at night.” You’ve never heard him talk like this. Not just the words he was saying but how he was saying them, they were smooth and slow and rich like molasses. It instantly made your mouth dry up and your knees weaker.
“I um, I was just wondering-”
“Yes?” He prompted, his hand still on your arm. Had he ever touched you before this? Surely you would have remembered the heat. 
You look him in the eyes and see a glint, even in the darkness. This spark of something gives you the courage to move along. “I was just wondering what you meant by saying you never claimed you didn’t want me around.”
His hand drops from your arm and the heat is replaced by an instant rush of cold in his absence. He looks away from you and doesn’t speak. 
Fearing you said the wrong thing you cower and turn to walk away once more. How could you have been so stupid? This isn’t just a matter of personal politics, this is a matter of survival. You have no one besides Joel and Ellie and if you get kicked out for bringing feelings into what is a basic need for shelter, food, and water, you will never forgive yourself.
You’re almost to the stairs when you hear him rumble, “I just meant that I have always wanted you around.” You whip around and see him looking at you, his gaze trailing down your body and then all the way back up again. “I want you here. Always have.”
Not moving towards him you speak, “Then why do you act like I’m some sort of helpless child? Why do I not have any real responsibilities? I could be out there, with you, trading and gathering intel. But instead I get, what, strawberries?”
“You don’t get it.” He looks down and shakes his head.
You walk back over to him, softly, so as not to spook him again. “Then help me understand.”
He looks at you with a softer gaze this time, “I keep you here, away from all of that, because I can’t risk you getting hurt,” He pauses for a moment before continuing, “It would kill me.”
You’re stunned. “Joel,” You start before he lifts a hand and cuts you off. 
“And I give you things like strawberries because I want you to have a chance at a good life, a simple life. One I can’t promise you forever but can promise you for right now. One I know you don’t even remember having.”
Your heart is beating immeasurably fast inside your chest. You never considered that these menial tasks were actually normal, and good. Cleaning up after dinner, growing strawberries, talking about crushes with Ellie. In the midst of wanting to prove yourself, you completely forgot to take stock of all that Joel had given you already. All the things people dream about in this day and age. 
You reach a hand up to touch his face, “Thank you. Thank you for giving me something good,” You pause, “I wish I could give you something good in return.”
He leans his head into your hand and closes his eyes, letting out a contented sigh. He turns his head to kiss the palm of your hand, “You are my something good,” he says so low you almost miss it. 
But you don’t miss it. You hear it loud and clear. You hear him loud and clear for probably the first time since you’ve met him. He is stoic and strong and brooding and brave, but he is also caring and thoughtful and safe. He is the hard with the soft, and he’s been giving you both all this time right under your nose. 
You decide to do something risky. You lean in for a kiss. You put your hopes for survival at the back of your mind and for the first time in forever you prioritize living.
It doesn’t take more than two seconds for Joel to pick up on what you’re doing and reciprocate. His arms immediately move from crossed over his chest to around your waist, pulling you deeper into the kiss. He pulls you so deep you cross the threshold of his bedroom, kicking the door shut on your way in. 
“Be quiet or you’ll wake Ellie!” You half scold, half giggle as you make your way towards the bed. 
“Sorry!” He giggles back. Joel Miller. The Joel Miller giggled into your lips. You could hardly believe your ears. 
If his words were like molasses, his kiss was just as sweet. Not too pushy, but with enough force to let you know that he was in charge. He guides you to the mattress with his body and his mouth, making you feel like you’re flying. You’re sprawled out with your legs over the edge of the bed when he finally pulls away and stands before you. 
You look up at him with hooded eyes and heavy breaths, “Why’d you stop?”
He runs his hands through his hair, “I just never want to forget this.” And he dives back down to you, not giving you a moment to respond. 
When he comes back his kiss is still sweet, but with a heat you’ve never experienced before. Granted, all of your past experiences were minimal, probably in the back of an abandoned, decaying car, and in the midst of an apocalypse, but you knew enough to know that it didn’t normally feel like this. 
You part your legs so he can insert his body between them, propping his arms on either side of your head as he kisses you deeply. You wrap your legs around his waist and pull him closer to you, needing as much of him on you as possible. 
“Somebody’s eager, huh?” He asks you between kisses.
Your resolve is officially broken, you’re laying it all out on the table. “You just have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.”
He pulls back to look at you, “Oh, I think I have an idea. You tend to have a staring problem, darlin’”
Your face flushes instantly. He lowers his lips to your ears and whispers, “I do too, I’m just a little more subtle with it.” He places kisses on your neck and then trails back up to your ear, “Your body drives me crazy, baby.”
Suddenly his hands are everywhere. One is up by your head so he keeps his balance while the other is trailing up and down your chest, your stomach, your neck. He’s everywhere all at once and it still isn’t enough. Your legs are still wrapped around his waist so you buck up to create even more friction than there already was. 
“Easy there, baby, I’ve been waiting an awful long time for this, I want to take it slow with you. Gotta treat you right.” He pins your waist down to the mattress with one hand. “Let me take care of you, baby.” His look is so sincere all you can do is nod. “Good girl.” 
With that, he takes his hand pinning you down and runs the tips of his fingertips along the waistline of your underwear, teasing you. You whine.
“Patience baby,” A kiss on the cheek, “It will be worth it, I promise,” A kiss on the other cheek. Then his fingers are tugging them down inch by inch until you’re completely bare to him from the waist down. “So pretty,” He says, almost to himself. 
Before you have time to acknowledge what he’s said, the same gentle fingertips that were teasing you a moment ago land on your most sensitive spot, creating a feeling of pleasure unlike anything you’ve ever known. Your body somehow tenses and melts into the mattress at once as he works you slowly but surely. 
“How does that feel, baby?” His voice is rough around the edges but soft at its center, he genuinely wants to gauge your reaction, as if your whines and body language weren’t enough. 
“Itfeelssogood” You slur out, hands gripping the sheets on either side of you. 
He kisses your neck, “Good. Now,” He moves his finger to your center and thrusts it in, moving his thumb back to your clit. “How does that feel?”
He’s working you up so good, you feel like you’re floating. His pace is the perfect mix between rough and conscious, never taking his eyes off you for even a second. You can tell he’s loving this as much as you are, and not just because you can feel his erection through his boxers. 
You moan as he works you before answering, “Joel it feels so good.”
“Such a good girl for me, so wet and ready. Is this what you were thinking about when you couldn’t sleep?” He whispers in your ear as he picks up the pace. 
You can feel something building deep inside of you, something you haven’t felt in a long time, and never at this magnitude. It’s coming on strong and fast, you can almost reach it. “Yes, this is what I was thinking about. I was thinking about your hands on me.”
“Mmmm that’s what I like to hear baby, what else were you thinking about?” He grabs one of your hands and brings it to his boxers, “Were you thinking about this?”
You moan and nod your head, he’s continuing to pick up his pace and you’re getting closer and closer. 
“I want you to cum for me, gorgeous. Please cum for me.”
You throw your head back and moan again, “I want to cum for you.”
“Just focus on how good it feels baby, you’re so close I can feel it. Be a good girl for me.”
And just like magic, you’re there. It hits you like a freight train and your whole body is consumed. You’re tensing and writhing and it definitely isn’t normally like this, but you’re just so overcome with emotions for this man and pleasure and all of the things that drive a girl crazy. 
He coaxes you through it with lots of reassurances and hair pets, and then finally you’ve come down. “Thank you,” You say as he brushes some hair out of your face.
“Don’t thank me yet darlin’, I’m not done with you yet.” And with that, he hauls your body up to the head of the bed, making sure your head is all settled on the pillows. He sits back on his knees and takes off his shirt, nodding at you to do  the same. You’re left completely bare and he in his boxers alone. You’re mesmerized by his body. Age normally should have broken him down, but for him he seems to have only been built up. You had seen him in the garden but this, this was something entirely different. He was raw here, with you. 
“This is what I meant by you needing to be more subtle. You don’t need to undress me with your eyes, baby, you just gotta ask.” He stands up and drops his boxers, revealing himself to you fully for the first time. He’s big. Like, real big. And thick. You don’t let yourself dwell on the mechanics for more than a moment, but you do wonder how it’s going to fit.
He gets back in bed and hovers over you once more, “Are you sure about this? We can stop at any time.”
You nod your head, “I’m sure. Never been more sure about anything, actually.”
He gives you one more kiss, a firm one with the promise of a good time. You run your fingers through his hair and tug slightly. He moans into your mouth. “You sure are an eager one, aren’tcha?”
He grabs his member and lines it up with your center, teasing you slightly. You wince at the sensitivity from your previous orgasm. “You ok?” He asks gently.
“Yeah, just a little sensitive. But I’m ready. Please fuck me, Joel.” The words even surprise yourself as you say them. You’re not the best at being direct about what you want, but right now all you can do is rely on pure instinct. 
He chuckles darkly before lining himself up once again, “Your wish is my command, sweetheart.”
And just like that, he’s fucking you. Long, hard strokes that never feel like too much too fast. Just right. You feel the fullness of him immediately and it’s so divine you can’t help but arch into him and moan. Your fingers fly back into his hair as he thrusts into you with such precision, he hits your G-spot every time.
“Is that good for you, baby? Tell me how it feels.” He grunts as he pounds into you expertly.
“I love it, baby. I love it,” You’re breathless as you try to find the words to describe the way he’s making you feel.
He takes one of your legs and rests your ankle on his shoulder, opening you up even more than you thought possible and deepening the angle of his already deep thrusts. You try not to scream, so you grab a pillow and put it over your face.
He rips it off almost immediately, “Oh no, sweetheart. No hiding from me. I want to see your pretty face when I make you cum on my cock.” 
You’re so incoherent you can’t even respond to his filthy words. You just moan in response and grab the sheets on either side of you.
He changes his pace a couple of times, switching from slow and long to fast and shallow, but it never feels out of place or off rhythm. He is just somehow so in tune with your body that he knows exactly what you need when you need it. 
You’re whining and moaning when he lowers your leg and gets his face up next to yours. His hand moves down to  your clit and he starts massaging it while he continues to thrust into you. “You’ve been such a good girl tonight baby,” He says through his own labored breathing. “Coming up here in your little panties practically begging to get fucked. Such a good girl.” You moan so loud he covers your mouth with his other hand, “I love hearing those moans baby but you gotta keep it quiet if you want me to keep going. And I know you want me to keep going.” 
You nod and he removes his hand from your mouth and sits back again, watching you from above. “Play with your tits while I make you cum.” You do as you're told, loving the feeling of his eyes fixed on you while you do exactly what he says. 
Once again, you feel something building inside of you. The combination of him inside you, his fingers working their magic, and his eyes on you makes it nearly impossible to resist the feelings as they come on strong. 
“I’m gonna cum,” You whine. 
“Do it baby, cum for me” He picks up his pace and you can tell he’s getting close himself, can tell he’s chasing something. 
It only takes a couple more seconds before you finish in an explosion of pleasure. You’re so out of it as you come down you barely register him pulling out and grabbing a tissue from the side table. What a gentleman. 
You’re both laying there in silence when the gravity of what just happened finally hits you. You just had sex with the one person that stands between you and certain death. This could ruin everything. You move to get up and go back to your room when you feel an arm on you, pulling you back down. 
“Stay,” He pauses, “Please stay with me.”
You smile softly at him and lay back down, but this time he wraps you up in his arms and spoons you. You can feel his breathing on the back of your neck and his calluses on your arms as he holds you. He starts tracing little circles on your skin with his thumb while he hums. 
“That was amazing,” You say, finally breaking the silence.
“Yeah, um, sorry if I came on too strong,” He pauses, “Haven’t done that in awhile.”
You turn around to face him and you rest a palm on his cheek, “It was perfect. You were perfect. I um, I just hope this doesn’t change anything?” You nervously finish.
He looks startled. He quits rubbing circles on your skin and moves back. “Yeah, no. No, it doesn't have to change anything.”
Clearly, you’ve struck a chord and you don’t know why or how. But you do know that you need to fix it. 
“I just, I know we’re in a precarious situation and I don’t want you to feel like our relationship has changed at all.” You begin.
He sits up fully with his back against the headboard, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Joel?” You join him up against the headboard, covering yourself with the blanket.
He sighs but doesn’t look at you, “If I had thought everything would stay the same I wouldn’t have done what I just did. I wouldn’t have opened the door and I certainly wouldn’t have let you in.”
You’re stunned and you’re scared, having no idea what he’s talking about. “What are you saying?”
Finally, he looks at you. “Dammit Y/N what if I want things to change?” He doesn’t raise his voice at all, but his tone is stern enough to send you aback. 
“What?”
Another sigh, “What if I want things to change? What if I want somebody who is going to be there for me at the end of the day in my bed? This world isn’t permanent and I can’t promise you forever but I can promise you for now. For now, I want this. For now, I want you. And I’m gonna keep wanting you until the thing that stands in the way of me and death itself disappears.” He pauses, “So yeah, maybe you don’t want things to change but I do. Sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear.” He looks away from you again. 
“Joel, I-”
“I don’t want your pity. I get it, I’m just some old man with a 17 year old basket case trailing behind me and you’re young and beautiful and just had an itch to scratch. We’ll continue with business as usual in the morning. Good night.” He flips over onto his side away from you. 
You huff. This is ridiculous, you think to yourself. You tap him on the shoulder.
“You should probably go back to your room, Y/N.”
You tap him on the shoulder again. 
He flips around to look at you, “What more could you possibly want from me?”
You cross your arms over your blanket covered chest, “What makes you think I wanted things to stay the same?”
“Gee, I don’t know, probably the part where you said ‘things don’t have to change’?” He says sarcastically as he sits back up to face you. “Wonder where I got that crazy idea.”
“I was just saying that in case you didn’t want anything to change! I’m totally at your mercy with everything, including my survival here, so sorry for being cautious.”
He doesn’t say anything, but his mouth does fall open in shock a little bit. 
“Joel, trust me when I say I’m not taking pity on you when I say I want this too. I can’t promise you forever but I can promise you for now, and for tomorrow, and for the next day and the day after that. I choose you and I choose Ellie and I want this. I want you. I want to be the one that is there for you at the end of the day.” You smile at him and grab his hand, “You’re my good thing too.”
His face softens and he grabs your joined hands with his other one and leans over to kiss you on the cheek. You lean into it and giggle as he begins peppering a bunch of kisses all over your face. The hard with the soft, that’s Joel Miller.
“Let’s go to bed, shall we?” You ask him as he leans over you, caressing your face.
“Yeah, let’s go to bed.” He gives you one last kiss on the cheek and spoons you once more.
That night you dream of strawberries. Just fields and fields of strawberries. 
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houstonindia · 11 months ago
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The process of investment casting, also called wax casting, has been used in the metal casting process for several years, and this method has been improved as technology advances the casting process that makes use of one single shot moulds for creating the castings. This casting method is best for giving high-precision and complex shapes in structures. 
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edgyedgelord · 10 months ago
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I'm supposed to be writing right now but I want to say something that I tell myself. I hope it helps you too.
Art isn't just a hobby. It can be a job. It's not a perfect job, but it's still a job that makes you happy. Not many other career paths can say that. Warning: This is a tangent post made by an anarchist. If you don't want to read a long novel length ramble about why money is a corrupting construct and capitalism is made to break poor people move along.
I've noticed in my 21 years on this planet, nearing the 22 mark as spring approaches, that jobs are often given a value. If you're a doctor you've got a high quality job because you went to school, got a degree, and get paid a lot. But what about nurses? They work in the same place and went to school for a certification, some a degree as well, but they aren't paid as much and are treated poorly. Why? Well because they're not doctors. They can have the same amount of knowledge, sometimes more depending on who the doctor is, but their job is seen as lower just because of the pay and general view of it in the eyes of society.
Most of the people who will tell you all this and which job is the most valuable and what to go for actually don't know much about the inner workings. Go ahead, ask someone who's told you something like this if they've done much research outside of watching a video on social media and reading random posts without checking the validity behind them.
Another things with doctors, nurses, construction workers, all these jobs everyone tells you to get instead of something you'd actually enjoy is they don't face the fact, or rather they choose to just accept the fact and do nothing about it, that those in charge are gonna kick. you. around. until you give up or give in. Those who give up usually didn't even want the job in the first place. Those who give in always dreamed of this job but once they're in it that blind optimistic veil is torn away.
Zom100 is an anime that opens with a guy going into an office job where he works for a company that produces commercials. He's a writer for the scripts and helps with casting and went in expecting to make tons of friends, meet stars, and even falls for the secretary and wishes to confess to her one day. It starts off all bright and colorful since that's how he views the world in his eyes. After going out drinking with his coworkers after their first day of work is done, everything stops. The happy smiles and attitudes of his employees vanish as they return to work and our protagonist is met with the horrible work grind culture he's walked into. Yet, he stays optimistic in the hopes he can stay strong only to finally break after a year of working at the business. He stumbles home from exhaustion to his now trashed apartment full of garbage bags, trash covering the floors, just looking like a dump because he's to exhausted from working and staying at the office days at a time to be able to clean up.
I love the first episode of Zom100, although only the first episode, because it does a FANTASTIC job at giving a message I live by. "Do not settle for treatment that is less than what you deserve." It shows what happens when you go for the give in option of what I mentioned earlier. If your boss is dumping work on you but not anyone else, call them out. If you're being harassed in the workplace and there is a clear bias because of your gender, race, or anything else, call them out. If your pay is far less than the amount you work, call them out. If they refuse to make any changes despite you having concrete evidence because they will lose the money they have to spare, quit and call them out.
The older folk in my life have told me time and time again that "You work for bad people to pay worse people and then die." (Not a direct quote but it summarizes what they say.) These people come from a time where there was an even worse imbalance in power and they had to give in to live due to the many things going on in the world at that time that made living conditions horrible if you weren't already super rich. It isn't like that anymore though.
The economy and people in power is still messed up yes we need to work on that but that isn't what this post is about.
Glitch Studios is an animation studio aiming to give independent animation a place to shine and has been doing so with MASSIVE success. It's thanks to them that indie work is finally getting looked at by bigger studios. Personally, I see this as a sign that art is finally getting a more proper place in the general view of society as a proper career path. Only issue is it's focused on animation.
I'm not an animator, I'm a writer and lover of comics. Would I want some of my stuff adapted into animation? By fans out of love for the works, yes, as an official adaptation for profit? No.
It's not a smart move marketing wise or profit wise but that's the thing. I'm not some old white guy sitting on a throne of gold bars in a big evil company business building, I'm a 20 something at a desk in a dusty apartment room surrounded by goofy posters and plushies. I don't care about money, I care about making things I and others love. I think that's what people have forgotten recently when it comes to working in this world. You can work and work and work and pay rent and be able to buy that new outfit to wear at your family gathering to show off but how long will you be happy from that? Small moments of joy is fine and treating yourself is fine too, but what do you do to make yourself happy while still fulfilling a purpose? Do you feel like you fulfill a purpose? What did you want to do, not need to do.
Working retail is seen as your go to starter job or just what you go to when you need to pay the bills. It's not a shameful thing to do, nor is any job when you just need an income for necessities. But, what if that's what you want to do? You don't want a giant house, you don't want a fancy car, you don't want Gucci clothes, you enjoy the simple job and lifestyle. That's fine. No matter if your parents say you're throwing away your potential, no matter if the world says you need to run a company, no matter what people say it is okay to have simple goals and a simple life.
Minimalism is the practice of only having what you need for what you want to do. This is the video that first got me thinking about it.
youtube
It's something I think people need to be taught about more. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't go and sell off everything you own, but maybe at least think "Do I really need a $200 phone from a popular brand that doesn't even come with a charger? Do I need it? What parts of it validate the cost?"
Now here is how this all ties back to my overall message with this tangent.
I want to make indie comics because it makes me happy. It makes my friends who have helped me shaped the stories, characters, and everything else happy. And, overall, I hope it makes others happy too. Not to mention, I can't exactly think about signing up with some popular publishing company because of how loudly of an anarchist I am and how diverse I make my work.
Why I'm making this post is because I want to get you thinking about this too. Are you happy with whatever job you have right now? Are you fairly treated? Is this what you want? Are you brainwashed by societal norms made by the big companies that you need whatever big and fancy phone or computer set up you're reading this on? If you said no to any of this I suggest looking into your own personal rights as a human being and standing up for yourself, think about forming a union if need be. If your issue is with buying expensive things you don't even need feel free to trade them in or sell them and get what you need and can be happy with while having extra money left over.
Remember, you don't need to be make a billion dollars each week to be successful. Happiness is from what you do and what makes you happy, not your bank account amount or how many bedrooms you have in a mansion. Most of all, happiness is what you choose to make it not what some old jerks who think Trump is a sane man say it is.
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princess-of-morkva · 6 months ago
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part two of that post-camlann piece of gwen&merlin i wrote earlier
Gwen enters the room silently, closing the door behind herself. The lively sounds of the castle die away as soon as it clicks shut, leaving her in a heavy silence. The curtains in this chambers are always shut nowadays, preserving it from being worn down by the sun. In near darkness, she's only able to find her way around due to it being oh so painfully familiar.
There she finds him, of course. A silhouette, hunched on the floor, having been sitting there for god knows how long.
"Gwen? Is it you?" He asks, noticing her presence at last.
"Yeah."
She steps closer, and, gathering her many skirts, lowers herself beside him. From this close, she notices him holding something - clutching it so hard his fingers must hurt.
Merlin has been coming here way to often, in the Queen's opinion.
It isn't doing him any good.
Gwen tries to keep him company, whenever she can. Truly, the man shouldn't be left alone for long - not in this state of mind, she doesn't trust him not to do something foolish.
She lays a gentle hand on his shoulder, offering meager comfort.
"We all miss him, Merlin." She talks to him softly, almost as if she were speaking to an animal and trying not to spook. "It's been months already." A deep inhale. "You can't spend the rest of your life grieving, Merlin, you're wasting away."
Merlin jerkily looks up from where he was staring at his own clutched hands, looking perhaps the most present she has seen him in this last few months.
"And what does it matter?" He still won't look her in the eyes, instead he's staring up ahead, where a thin gap in the curtains casts a single ray of daylight. "I deserve it." He whispers, barely audible.
"What do you-" Gwen is quick to protest, but gets cut off.
"He's dead!" Merlin's voice cracks, and they both realise it's the first time he's admitted so aloud. "He's dead. He's gone. I couldn't save him, I failed, because i was an idiot and got it all wrong!"
He looks her in the eyes this time, and the look makes her heart ache helplessly.
"I have nothing left, Gwen, he- He was everything to me, and now he's- he's gone, and- " He stumbles over his words, and there is such desperation in Merlin's eyes when he looks at her, begging for some answer. "What do I do, Gwen?"
And while she can't grant him an answer, she pulls him closer into her embrace, wiping away his tears.
Because oh, of course she knows, she understands it all. And Arthur was her husband, and she loved him with all her heart, but she also was his Queen - and Arthur entrusted his kingdom to her, and she has her duty to her people. She is the Queen, and she must be strong and lead the kingdom, she has her purpose.
But Merlin, their sweet, ever-loyal Merlin, was absolutely and utterly lost.
Because Gwen - she lost her husband, and grieved deeply. But Merlin, he lost just that - his everything, his life's purpose, and all that and even more, and- Gwen was beginning to fear he might lose his will to live as well. She couldn't let that happen.
She pulled the man closer and held him tightly as they both were crying silent tears, on the cold stone floor of these chambers - the fireplace here hasn't been lit in months, since there was no need - no one lived here anymore, not since the previous owner hadn't returned home from that fateful battle. A worn, red knight's cloak laying between them, memento of a man who wasn't there.
(there will be part 3)
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gammaliminal · 1 year ago
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Neon Troupe; an introduction to a tf2/overwatch fan game
welcome to the fairly near future… of the 80s! IBM, dotmatrix, disco, and cassette tapes are all the rage. despite lasers, miracle healing, uplifting animals, and more invented; we're still using CRT monitors and everything still groooovyyyyyyy. enter the companies Outlook Resurrection Grant (ORG) and Past Nations re-Kindled (PNK), which are locked into a corporate turf war due to a petty rivalry between workers spiraling way out of control. now enter the Contractors, people of varying stripes all equally (or more so compared to the others) willing to kill and die for a paycheck; and with corporate backing of military hardware, unexplained respawning, and unexplained clones (for the sake of the tone, neither of these will be explained).
if you couldn't tell already, this is basically TF2's excuse plot but set in the 80s, which hopefully we can do something new and original with! this project is inspired by OW2 self-destructing, making me finally deciding to start conceptualizing my idea for a class-based shooter in a similar vein as rivals of aether for platform fighters (more so inspired by tf2 then overwatch) pleaaaaaaase be nice to us; not only are we but two people who haven't designed any games before, but we're also purely doing this out of fun and aren't going to super strictly balance this. even if we're able to actually develop it. also, while we won't confirm any orientations, it'll be a looooooooooot more outwardly queer then either TF2 or OW <3 if that makes you angry, well we aren't creating this for you - Ξλ
links to stuff related to this project!! cast list companies and a bit of LOREEEE
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summersnow82 · 1 month ago
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Somethin’ Bad - Part 20
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Fanfiction_The Quarry
Fictober 2024_Prompt 19: “This is getting ridiculous.”
Summary: Annabelle and Travis come to an agreement of sorts.
Author’s note: Guys. I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get this piece out. I have not abandoned this fic, but life can be ruthlessly demanding sometimes. I love y’all. I appreciate y’all. Thanks for sticking with me. We’re nearing the end.
Part 20
Travis blinked. He’d pictured this evening going many ways, but this… this was not it.
Annabelle tightened her grip on his suit lapels. “Where is Sean?” She repeated.
Under normal circumstances Travis would’ve told her to shut up or untangled himself from her hold with little effort, but tonight… tonight his mind was drawing a blank on what to do or how to reply. Tonight she looked stunning with red lips, long black lashes, and curls that framed her face in a flattering retro style. Her figure was emphasized in a classic skirt and blouse, and the heels made her legs look even more delectable. She was polished, perfumed, and before he realized it his arms were snaking around her back like an old lover. The surprise was evident as her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to protest; enough time for him to lean in and close the distance.
… and be greeted with a palm to his face.
“Oh, you must be kidding me,” she grumbled, shrugging out of his hold, whirling on her heel, and marching back to the grand house. Before she entered she turned to face him adding, “Don’t worry. I’ll find him. It’s what we do.”
Travis felt his face burn with embarrassment as he watched her go, and he adjusted his suit for a moment, hoping the blush would die down. He did notice, however, with a small quirk of his lips that she had left the door open this time.
………..
“Well, isn’t this nice?” Darlene asked, finally sitting down at the dining room table. She’d been running back and forth to the kitchen, insisting Annabelle sit still across from the smirking sheriff. Frank wasn’t helping, either. He seemed perfectly content to let the two of them sit in an awkward silence without any assistance on his part. Instead, he sat at the head of the table watching the two of them with an ever growing grin on his face. “Frank, would you like to bless the food,” Darlene asked, casting a knowing smile at her husband.
“Of course, darling.” Frank bowed his head, and said, “Heavenly Father, we thank you for the food we are about to eat, the hands that prepared it, and the company we are about to enjoy. We ask You to nourish our bodies to Your Holy Service, to bless this time together, and to help us put aside our stubborn pride and see the gifts before us. In Your Name, Father, amen.” He looked up to see Darlene ducking her head to hide a smile while both Travis and Annabelle both seemed just a touch more humble.
“Thank you for inviting me over, Frank,” Travis said, breaking the silence. “Darlene, everything looks wonderful.” His dark eyes flicked up to look at Annabelle. “Absolutely everything.” Annabelle’s mouth opened just a touch, her surprise evident at the compliment.
“Isn’t she just the picture?” Darlene asked, smiling over at the younger woman. “You’ve indulged me so much, Alice. I never had a daughter, and I always wondered what it would’ve been like.” She reached over, taking Annabelle’s hand in her own, and offering an affectionate squeeze. “Thank you for that.”
“I should be the one thanking you,” Annabelle said, staring down at her empty plate. “I’m not used to such kindness.” She glanced up for a moment, and caught Travis’ eye. “But gracious hosts seem abundant in North Kill.” It wasn’t an apology or forgiveness, but it was a step in the right direction, and it made Frank smile.
After dinner Annabelle offered to clear the table, and with some silent encouragement from Frank Travis was soon on his feet, helping her carry Darlene’s fine china to the kitchen. The two washed and dried the dishes in silence, and they were finishing up when Darlene popped her head in, stating she and Frank were going to go for a bit of a walk and give the “lovebirds” time to talk more openly.
Annabelle’s protests fell on deaf ears as the door swung shut behind the older woman, and Travis shrugged. “At least I don’t have to call you Alice for a bit.”
Annabelle shot him a glare before returning to her work. “You almost slipped up at dinner. At least twice,” she stated.
“Frank knows,” Travis replied.
She almost dropped the dish she was holding. “He… what? He knows what?”
Travis kept drying the plate in his hands. His mother had been strict about dish duty; he’d put a damp dish away once, and she’d made sure he would never make the same mistake again. “He knows your real name is Annabelle. Knows who Sean is. Knows something’s been going on since the fire, but not all the details.” He polished the dish again, more out of habit than necessity. “Don’t worry. He won’t tell.” He was so focused on the dish he almost dropped it when Annabelle’s hands closed around his own.
“It’s dry, Travis.” She spoke softly, and her concern was evident, but Travis didn’t want her concern right now. He wanted to know if she was still going to help him come the next full moon, and he asked her as much. “I said I would, and I meant it,” she told him, her hands still holding onto his. “How did Frank find all this out?” She took the dish from him as she spoke, deftly taking the dish towel, too, and began to dry the remaining dishes. He recounted the events of the previous night, and though he was tempted to exclude it, he shared the reason why Sean had to be moved so abruptly. She leaned back against the counter, shaking her head in disbelief. “Wow. Travis, your family. I mean - .”
“Don’t.” The word was hard and cold, and his eyes told Annabelle he didn’t want to hear what she had to say. “My family is my family. It is what it is.”
Annabelle shook her head, and turned back to the dishes. “This is getting ridiculous,” she murmured. “I mean, how are we supposed to help your family when they keep trying to kill us? We went from sleeping in a jail cell to being put into hiding, and for what?” Her voice rose as she allowed all her pent-up frustration to tumble off her tongue. She squared her jaw, shook her head, and turned, saying, “Maybe we should just leave…,” and the words died in her throat. Travis was slumped in a kitchen chair, elbows on his knees, his long, thin fingers raked through his dark hair.
“Travis,” she said softly, crouching down in front of him with a gentle hand on his knee. “Travis, I’m sorry. Really. I didn’t…,” she struggled to find the words. “I want to help you, I do. I’m just…,” she trailed off, shaking her head.
“My family… we didn’t mean to hurt anybody,” he said quietly.
Annabelle nodded. She knew underneath the gruff exterior, cold glares, and grunts Travis was a good man. She wanted to believe the rest of his family was, too, but her experience with his parents made it difficult, and knowing what she did about Evelyn, and his past didn’t help. “But people have been hurt, Travis,” she said quietly.
“Don’t you think I know that!” He shouted, throwing his hands in the air as he jerked away from her. His chair scraped the floor at the motion, and she recoiled at the burst of movement, falling back against the cold tile floor. Travis froze, his eyes wide with a mix of panic and horror. “Oh. Oh, no. Belle, I - ,” he stammered, and he looked so lost Annabelle couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He raked trembling hands through his hair and over his face. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen,” he cried before quietly adding, “We’re just… trying to survive.”
“I know a little bit about that,” Annabelle said softly.
He couldn’t help but chuckle – a dark, rueful chuckle, but still. “Yeah. I guess you do.” He met her eyes, and then looked away quickly. “I’m no good at this, Belle.”
“People or werewolves?” She asked.
He shrugged. “Both.” He took a cautious step in her direction, hesitated, then extended a hand to help her up.
“I will help you,” she said once he’d pulled her to her feet, “but I can’t do that constantly looking over my shoulder, and Sean has to be somewhere safe once the full moon comes.” Travis nodded. “So,” she began carefully, “we need a plan.”
“You got one?”
She grinned. “I was hoping you had one, Sheriff.”
Travis arched a brow, and had the gall to look down his nose at her before saying, “Ma’am, I need more than a glass of red wine with dinner for that.”
Her smile broadened; there was her grumpy Sheriff. And then an idea struck her, and she could tell by the tilt in his head he saw the gears in her head begin to turn. “Do you have a bar in North Kill?” She asked.
If it was possible, Travis looked at her even further down his nose. “Yes,” he answered slowly. “Right along with electricity and running water.”
“Do they, by any chance, have a karaoke night?”
Travis’ lip curled. “Unfortunately. Why?”
Annabelle’s smile was so wide she could barely contain herself. “Why Sheriff, I do believe I have a plan.” She closed her eyes, hummed a tune, and then sang, “Stand on the bar, stomp your feet, start clappin’. Got a real good feelin’ somethin’ bad’s about to happen.”
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femmmie · 2 months ago
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THE ISLAND
Chapter 5: The agent
Tommy knows something's not right when he arrives at the office.
(Author's note: at this point I had no clue how I was ever going to write 25k words! But being true to my obnoxiously optimistic self, I just figured it would be fun to wrote from the perspective of one of the sidecharacters in the story, being Tommy. So just like AR Smosh he got promoted from crew to cast xD also, when you're writing Tommy, you can't not write Spencer. And Spencer couldn't not be Chosen coded. And the Chosen was exactly what the story needed! So if you ever are stuck in a story, you could try a perspective change! It worked for me x3)
Chapter word count: 907
Rating: general
Tommy was always the first in at the office. He’d unlock the main entrance, put on all the lights, turn on the less than stellar coffee machine…
But today was different.
He sensed it as soon as he saw the door. It didn’t look right. Upon further inspection, he saw some scratches near the lock that weren’t there before.
“What the...”
Should he call the boss? Should he call the cops?
But something defiant took over in him. He took pride in being first every morning, for doing his job well and being considered for a raise.
Tommy always had to work a little harder than everyone else just to get by. Because if he was being honest with himself, his heart was somewhere else. He actually didn’t even want this job, however, he needed the money. He definitely worked to live, instead of living to work. He much rather spend all his time composing and playing music, watching Dance Moms or liking cute mens’ pics on Instagram. And he had a talent for finding viral social posts.
But what’s a guy to do? He for sure wasn’t going back to his bartender era. He needed to use his brains, or he’d die of boredom.
Tommy had basically begged Pressalike to start a social media account, but they always said no. It frustrated him a little bit, but he understood. They weren’t a media company, but a bio-engineering lab. Still, there was so much fun stuff he could share about it! The beautiful colors of the vials, the succulents being strengthened to weather literally any storm and most fires…
He'd also really like to take pictures of Anthony, his fucking model-looking colleague…
He tentatively stepped into the building.
“Oh boy, this is bad…”
Everything in the entrance hall was smashed. Someone had absolutely ransacked the place. Tommy started to run towards the labs. Would his projects still be intact? He opened every door in the long, solemn hallway.
“Thank God…” He panted.
The water containers were untouched. He walked inside, checking the algae. Anthony had taken over this project, but Tommy was still going to keep an eye on it. It all looked fine.
He was about grab his phone, when he finally noticed the person who had been following him from the entrance hall.
“Are these the cyanobacteria?” A soft, almost funny sounding voice asked him. Tommy turned around.
“Who are you?!”
“I’m FBI,” the guy showed a badge. Tommy was too scared to see straight and check it.
“FBI? What are you doing here?”
The agent was dressed in all black, with shades and everything. He looked really… hot. He had curly hair, a cute body, not really what Tommy would imagine an FBI agent would look like. Wait, why was he getting distracted! This could still be some kind of criminal!
“There might be a dangerous hydrosol pathogen in this lab. I’m here to destroy it before it gets into our water systems. You know, like in Deus Ex.”
“I can assure you, there are no dangerous pathogens anywhere in this lab! We’re working on carbon hypercapture, not viruses!”
“Still, just to be sure…” the agent aimed at one of the containers.
“No!” A voice came from behind Tommy. It was Anthony. He lunged at the agent and the two guys started to fight.
“Anthony! What are you doing!”
“He can’t get his hands on this!”
“On what?!”
“Our project!”
“He’s FBI! Why are you fighting him?!”
“Because, Tommy- argh! I’ve not been honest with you!”
The agent now sat on top of Anthony, arm around his neck.
Tommy felt helpless. “Please, just give up! He’s going to kill you!”
But Anthony regained the upper hand. But just as he climbed on top again, the agent shot the tank.
“No!”
Anthony stopped fighting.
“Everything is ruined now!”
“Please, mister FBI, I mean, what- what’s your name?” Tommy wanted to plead for Anthony’s life. They might not be best friends and Anthony might have done something illegal, but he was still his colleague.
Strangely, the FBI agent softened up a bit. Maybe he didn’t find it necessary to detain Anthony, now that his mission was complete. He looked at Tommy and took off his glasses. He had dark gray eyes. Tommy had never seen eyes that beautiful.
“I’m Spencer Agnew. What’s your name?”
“T- Tommy Bowe. Not the rugby player.”
“I can see that, haha. I mean, you do look nice.”
Tommy couldn’t handle this guy’s timbre, everything he said sounded like he was telling you a joke. But at the same time, Tommy was mesmerized by Spencer’s dark, wayward curls.
“You look very nice as well… I’m so sorry, I had no idea that we did anything illegal…
“It’s okay, you obviously didn’t have anything to do with it. I’ll take your colleague into questioning late- Um, where is he?”
Anthony was gone.
Tommy thought hard and deep about it. Would he do it? Betray Anthony like this? But then again, Anthony also betrayed him, doing his own little experiments without anyone knowing the extent of it.
“I know exactly where he’s headed.”
Tommy must have looked contrite because Spencer put a hand on his shoulder. With the other, he lifted Tommy’s chin.
“Hey, you did good. In fact, can you join me in finding him? He might be more willing to cooperate if he sees you’re with me.
Tommy swallowed. “Y- yeah. Okay.”
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honestlyvan · 2 years ago
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(Reposted from DW)
So I try not to make these rambles too powered by salt but considering Impactor is very near my favourite character in the franchise and as a result I read a lot of badfic featuring him out of sheer desperation for something, I'm seriously devastated by the way I've never seen it explored just what a harrowing and accurate description of moral injury and reflexive self-loathing he is.
Like, it's wild to me that we have it in the text, actually on page, that Impactor outright thinks he's a monster. We see it on page! It is written with plain words! He's stuck thinking like "can't survive if the other guy doesn't die", "your life is bought with the blood you spill, and you want to keep living so you best learn to like killing" to the point where he doesn't even want to live anymore and yet he can't stop, he's stuck, there's no safety for him to retreat back to because nobody taught him to value himself in any other way except in balance against someone else.
Like we know. Exactly what Impactor considers horrible, what he considers ugly and unseemly and corrupt. And it's all stuff that makes sense. It's all stuff the most of us probably find a little bit horrifying. We know that his perception of the world is so utterly bleak that there is no way but down, the only trajectory he sees for himself is to slip further and further from that surface because this is just his life now, this is what he is now, this may be what he always was, so isolated in his self-loathing that he can barely see the surface of where the horrible things end, and sure as hell doesn't think he can reach it. He's been cut off from his access to the sublime, to the fortifying, to the beautiful and wonderful and safe, this is all he has left, this is just what he is now.
I think the massive overriding misreading is assuming Impactor has any regard for himself. He may have the ability to act confident and move through the world with intellectual assurance over his own skill, and it's easy to take that as a sign that he has some kind of a core, undivided wholeness of personhood that lets him keep acting like he knows what he's doing. But I don't think that's it at all. His sense of self has been so completely fractured and damaged by the horrors he's committed and been isolated with that they've attached themselves to the space where his sense of self would otherwise be. Again, I'm not even extrapolating -- this just is the text of "Escape".
And then there's the negative influence of Guzzle, another person who thinks the way to deal with your trauma is by committing massive violence on it who has no idea this should maybe be something to discuss with people -- like, we see the way his abandon and reveling in having power and returning the violence drags Impactor down, too, because it's familiar, it makes sense, and then Impactor locks him in a box and goes "I can't fucking do this anymore". It's literally the most unsubtle death wish, it's a textbook flight arrest response, he doesn't want to keep doing the thing he's doing but he doesn't know what else there is, he sees no way out other than down.
And IDK I don't want to cast blame, honestly as a recovering abusive asshole myself, the terrible things he does to other people out of a sense of "this is how it has to be, don't be naive, don't be stupid", the loop of self-justification and grasping for value in his identity as an anonymous source of violence and ruiner of lives is a big part of why I love him so much, and his victims are really visible in the text, their mess deserves exploration and their pain deserves narrative validation, if only for completeness' sake
but like goddamn I just feel for this trash mech so much. He was left locked up with only his own bad thoughts for company, forced in a situation where becoming a worse person was the only way to escape further pain to the point where he's just completely cut off from his access to the sublime, to the fortifying, to the beautiful and wonderful and safe. Like where is there to go when the only things you know what to do are all fucked up? What do you do when all you've been "taught" is that living means killing, but you're getting extremely sick of the killing, when you're tired of your whole life being stained in blood and gore and the traces of the grotesquerie that is living with the knowledge that having power over other people is the ultimate act of survival when you never wanted that?
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