#especially when it's so easy to fact check it

[strawberrysasuke]

Sasuke yelling at Naruto for supposedly upsetting the kids earlier when he got stabbed is really funny because that's just an excuse he's using to mask how badly Naruto getting hurt affected him.

In this scene, upon hearing that Sasuke's eye powers had been down for a while, Naruto immediately expressed concern, even stuttering slightly from how worried that info makes him, urging Sasuke take it easy.

In the next panel, the flames on Sasuke's shoulders are small, crackling quietly as he pinpoints the exact location and gauges the amount of chakra he'll need to get them all there. He's also in the midst of processing the feelings of concern Naruto conveys to him, and once it gets through, it instantly triggers him. The tiny flames grow to a roaring inferno behind him, coupled with that monstrous expression on Susano'o acts as a mirror showcasing the sheer gravity of Sasuke's anger. It's anger rooted in lingering worry, hurt, and guilt.

Naruto getting stabbed earlier clearly affected him so badly that he's still not over it. The lingering hurt is rendering him highly sensitive. In his perspective, Naruto's not playing fair here. The audacity to start grumbling at the sight of Sasuke merely over-exerting himself a little when earlier, Sasuke had to endure watching Naruto get hurt in a much worse way? He will not tolerate this LMAO

It's so funny that he uses the excuse 'don't upset the kids like that' to justify his outburst, and in the same panel we have a clear view of said kids, no hint of harboring any upset, instead busy being in awe of Susano'o.

In fact, even during that incident, said kids were either a) safe and completely unaware indoors, in Cho-Cho's case. Or b) initially distressed but soon got caught up in other upsetting occurences such as her dad also getting injured and her mom being kidnapped by the enemy, in Sarada's case.

The kidnapping that Sasuke could barely conjure up a meaningful reaction to, btw. He spends more time focusing on being shocked at the enemy's ability to use that jutsu than the fact that Sakura just fell victim to it. His tone is more aggravated when he's demanding why she showed up here than when she's in actual danger.

Yet when the strongest shinobi in the world suffers from a stab wound that he'll likely take seconds to heal from, Sasuke is in turmoil.

So Sasuke's claim of this stabbing incident allegedly weighing so heavily on the kids is quite faulty. Since you know who it did upset, severely? As evidenced by this look of pure, unadultered despair...

Upon finding out it was his katana that got marked too and he failed to realise, this tight-lipped look of guilt crosses Sasuke's face. Of course it wasn't really possible for him to notice such a thing and prevent it, but he still feels responsible. He holds himself to impossible standards when it comes to ensuring Naruto's safety.

I've seen another post point this out, too (thanks to op, i managed to find it! c: you can check it out here & here) - how the panel where the enemy's shurikens are shown to be targeting Sarada and we're lead to think Sasuke jumps in front of them for her sake, yet Naruto is also occupying a chunk of the frame right next to her.

Sasuke then blocks the incoming shurikens using his body as a shield. The only other incident of Sasuke's body 'moving on its own' like this is primarily associated with Naruto. During the Haku & Zabuza arc where we saw that his love for Naruto ran so deep that his body practically moved on its own to save him, even at the cost being his own life. To repeat this action at the heels of Sasuke agonising over failing to protect Naruto moments prior, it's clear what his primary motivaton here was.

Of course, Sasuke is someone who would protect his daughter and anyone about to become shuriken target practice, for that matter. But, it's the way he goes about it that gives it away. Using your body as a meat-shield is unbelievably reckless. Especially, considering the only other shinobi capable of dealing with this powerful, unpredictable enemy is momentarily incapacitated - Sasuke should be taking care not to injure himself. He could've, idk, done literally anything else to knock those shurikens away. He's a ninja with techniques like space-time ninjutsu at his disposal for goodness sake, yet he opts for the most reckless option. Witnessing Naruto get hurt completely eroded his rationality. Only Naruto is able to drive him to such means.

Hence why he's still so badly shaken up by it hours later to the point of blowing up at Naruto when reminded of it.

[purpleshadow-star]

Here's a reminder that ANDREW DOES HEAL AND LEARN TO FEEL. Nora never said that Andrew never heals or that he doesn't get less apathetic. She said the opposite, actually. If you don't like the extra content, that's fine, but please actually read it before deciding to spread the incorrect assumptions people have made up about it. Just because Andrew never gets to the point where he smiles and laughs all the time doesn't mean he doesn't heal.

(Also, Nora never said Andrew never smiles, just that it's hard to imagine, and if he did, it'd be with only Neil around)

[valodia]

. (long tags)

[cesium-sheep]

if I get my disability compensation I can afford to cover the rent on this place and still put money aside in quantities large enough to earn actual interest, and still keep nearly 4x my current allowance for myself. poking around I can probably get him half of what he would need to retire comfortably on his own in 20 years (if I get the compensation ofc). arin can more than cover herself with her fancy doctor money and she owes me money anyway, and it's cheaper if we're together than if we're each running entire households alone. (and on top of whatever we save she and I should hypothetically still be getting our disability compensations right up until we die afaik, unless we're documentably no longer disabled, regardless of whether either of them get social security income. (I know I won't because I only have like 6 months' lifetime work credits.))

[stellamarielu]

on the job

joel miller x female reader

summary: you and joel are forced to work together, but neither of you can get past the others stubborn attitude or contractor!joel and interior designer!reader fuck in a walk-in closet

content: nsfw, 18+ mdni, pre outbreak!joel, he’s kind of a huge asshole sorry, teasing, degradation, dirty talk, slightly dubcon, fingering, use of nicknames such as princess sweetheart and good girl, finger sucking, unprotected p in v sex, rough sex, sex against a wall, kinda public sex bc it’s on a job site?? pull out game strong with this one

author’s note: based on this lovely request. i made joel a little mean bc it felt right but at the end of the day he will forever be babygirl. also, i know very little about both of these professions so i apologize for any inaccuracies in that department

You liked to think that you were easy to work with, always polite and mindful— pleasant even.

You mostly kept to yourself, especially when you were working on a project alongside others, however, not everyone shared your cooperative mindset.

In fact, you had worked with a multitude of assholes. Men who thought they held some kind of power over you, who flourished under the opportunity to demean and mock your job like theirs was more important, but none of them even held a candle to Joel Miller.

Your paths crossed when you were hired by a pretentious, middle-aged woman in Austin to help design the interior of her new home— a home that was still under construction.

To make yourself familiar with the layout, you visited the site multiple times in the weeks before construction was scheduled to finish.

It was always an easy and uneventful trip. You greeted the workers, took a few pictures, wrote down some dimensions and then you were gone in twenty minutes tops; but that all changed the day you met Joel. 

You waltzed into the house, waving to one of the men you had come to know from your previous visits and then you heard it, a deep berating voice targeted directly at you.

“Who the hell are you and why are you on my site without a fuckin’ hard hat?”

You stopped in your tracks as you were met with an unknown face. 

“Uh sorry. I’m working on an interior design project for the Johnson’s. They told me I was welcome to come check out the space if I needed anything.” You didn’t know why, but your voice was coming out in compliance, the tone hushed. 

The way this man approached you was incredibly entitled and unabashedly rude.

Normally you wouldn’t let some asshole like this get within two feet of you, let alone talk to you like that; but this guy had you questioning your morals for a split second. He was tall, and broad, and handsome. The southern drawl slipping from the smug curl of his lips and the flex of his biceps as his arms crossed over his chest, had your words stuttering.

“Well, until my job is finished, and the Johnson’s have the keys to their front door, I call the shots. And I don’t do well with unexpected visitors walkin’ around while my guys are trying to get work done.”

Your mouth nearly hung open at his words.

You’d barely said a word to him and he was coming at you with a disgustingly brash and assertive attitude. What the hell was his deal?

“Okay...” The word was drawn-out as it fell from your lips in annoyance.

“Well, it’s kind of funny, because this is probably the fifth time I’ve been here, and none of your guys seem to give a rats ass, so how about you let me do my job and I’ll let you do yours.” 

Finally, you had gotten past the stranger’s criminally good looks and stuck to your guns.

There was no way in hell you were going to let him reprimand you for doing your job. Afterall, you had every right to be here. 

“Yeah well, my guys will let you do whatever you want when you’re prancin’ around here in tight little dresses and high heels. You think they’re just bein’ nice for the hell of it?” 

His irritation was masked by amusement as he looked you up and down, dramatically raking his eyes over your body. 

“I don’t know who you think you are, but I’d really appreciate it if you could just drop the attitude and keep things professional.” The quality of your voice was stern, juxtaposing the way his eyes on your body had you suddenly feeling a rush of heat throughout your chest.

Anger.

The warmth was an angry fervor, definitely not one of lust or temptation. It was a burning irritation for the man standing in front of you, not a curious warmth for how his eyes clung to every curve of your body, taking his time drinking in any exposed skin.

His smile widened as he watched you falter under his stare. “I’ll drop my attitude when you drop yours sweetheart.”

“Listen, Mr-“

“Miller. Joel Miller.”

“Okay, Mr. Joel Miller. I have work to do, so I’m just going to walk past you, take a few notes and I’ll be out of your hair. Deal?” 

“Fine. But if I see you back here again you better be wearin’ a hard hat. Don’t need any trouble because you trip and hit your pretty little head.” He let his eyes wander down your body once more, his voice full of sarcasm.

“Yeah yeah, got it boss.” You scoffed as you pushed past his broad frame. You didn’t turn to look back, but you could practically feel his eyes burning into you as you swayed into the entry way, hoping it was the last time you’d ever have to speak to him.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

You ran into Joel a few more times, each meeting more infuriating and demeaning than the last. He always had a smart comment on his tongue or a mocking intention in his voice. 

Joel Miller had quickly become the bane of your existence; yet, for some reason there was a part of you, deep down, that always hoped to run into him when you went to scout out a new project for the house.   

Maybe because he was undeniably handsome, always walking around with a charming smirk on his lips and a devious glint in his big brown eyes. It was almost as if he were challenging you— seeing how far he could push you before you snapped. 

He continued to test your patience as you now stood in the giant walk-in closet off the primary bedroom.

You were trying to establish a color scheme sophisticated enough to fit Miss Johnson’s impossible to please pallet while Joel was making unnecessarily loud noises across the room.

He was far from graceful, the slamming and pounding of tools was all you could hear as he worked on one of the many intricate shoe shelves on the wall.

“I thought this side of the house was done.” You were speaking without looking in his direction, your eyes following the paint swatches on the wall. 

“Was.” Joel’s voice was gruff as he continued working.

“Until the queen decided she needed more storage for all her designer shit.” He was chuckling at his own words, side eyeing you from his spot kneeling on the floor. 

“You are genuinely the most unprofessional person I’ve ever met.” You dismissed his rude comment about the woman you were both employed by.

“That right?”

You refused to look at him, but you could hear the delight in his voice. 

“Absolutely.” Your response was curt, a quick and straight-forward delivery.

“Good.”

As if you couldn’t hate him more, the word leaving his lips had you turning your head sharply in his direction, an appalled expression plastered across your face. 

“God you get on my last nerve.”

“That right?” Again, his lips tugged into a smirk as he looked at you. 

You raised your brows in annoyance with a single nod of your head at his question.

“Good.” His voice was taunting as he watched you shake your head in frustration. 

You brought your eyes back to the wall in front of you, not giving Joel another second of your attention.

After a few seconds of silence his deep voice broke into the room. “You know, if you weren’t so uptight, maybe I’d ask you out for a drink sometime.” 

It took you a minute to register his words. Was he implying that he wanted to ask you on a date while insulting you at the same time? What a fucked-up, backhanded compliment; one that had your chest stirring with warmth.

“Well, I guess it’s too bad I’m such an high-strung bitch then.” Sarcasm dripped from your words as you kept your eyes trained ahead, your head spinning from Joel’s implicit interest. 

“I doubt you’d last one minute in the bar I’d take you to anyway.”

His comment had your head snapping back again. This time his eyes were already on you, waiting to see a reaction. 

“And why’s that?” Your voice cut through the room at his assumption. 

“Because it’s not exactly a five star establishment, and I think you’re just like all these pretentious fucks you work for.” He raised an eyebrow at you before turning back to the shelf in front of him, tending to a few finishing touches. 

“Always so put together, walking around here with your shoulders high.” He was nonchalant as he criticized you, hands busy taking measurements, not even paying an ounce of attention to the dirty look you were currently shooting at him from the other side of the room. 

“You think you’re better than everyone, but you’re just another pretty face with an overblown ego.”

There it was. The final blow that had your body tensing with anger.

You couldn’t believe that just a few seconds ago you were letting him flatter you, swooning under the smallest inkling of positivity he threw your way.

He was the worst kind of guy, the kind that built you up just to tear you down. The kind that wanted to make you feel worse about yourself so you would go running to him for a semblance of positive reinforcement.

Joel Miller liked the chase— thrived off being such a douchebag that women somehow ended up falling on their knees for him. But you, you weren’t going to be that woman. 

“Me? Talk about a massive-fucking-ego, take a look in the mirror Miller. You’re the one always making sure I know my place around here, acting like a fucking sociopath. It’s like you get off on being an asshole.”

He stopped what he was doing and looked directly at you, his expression unreadable, like your cruel words caused a switch in him to flip. 

“Maybe I do.”

“What?”

“Maybe I like gettin’ under your skin, watchin’ you get all flustered.” He spoke slowly, setting down his materials and standing to his feet.

“Think it’s kinda cute. You’re always tryin’ to act all big and bad, but I know I make you nervous. I can see it in the way you look at me.” He didn’t move, the smirk on his face causing your eyebrows to furrow in irritation. 

You crossed your arms over your chest, standing strong on your opinion that Joel was the world’s biggest asshole. You wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting his words get to you.

“You can stop wherever you’re going with this. I’m not here to play your little bullshit games, I’m here to do a job and get paid.”

“Who says you can’t have a little fun on the job?” His voice was laced with a deep seriousness as he set his tools down on one of the many shelves adorning the walls. You watched him over your shoulder but kept your back turned, your body still facing the wall.

“Turn around.” The command left his lips and you wanted to laugh at his attempt of authority but the sincerity in his voice stopped you in your tracks. 

“What? No-“

“C’mon sweetheart, I think we both know you like bein’ told what to do.” His voice cut you off, the signature smirk on his lips sending a buzz straight to your head.

You didn’t mean to, or maybe you did, but your body turned to face him, watching intently as he continued speaking. His broad frame emphatic as he stood across from you.

“I bet you like it, having someone boss you around. Makes you feel a little inferior.”

As the words left his lips he began walking toward you.

It was a casual stroll, not intense or threatening, yet you felt your pulse racing and your posture slumping at his advances.

“Oh please. You need a reality check Joel.” 

“Wanna give it to me princess?”

You kept the appearance of control as he continued moving forward, but internally you were fighting feelings of complete disarray.

You wanted to be offended— maybe even slap him across the face for his wildly inappropriate nickname and the implication of his words. But instead, you froze, his body now less than a foot away from yours and his words ringing in your ears. 

There was absolutely no denying the way his statement had your thighs clenching and your head spinning. Something in his delivery, smug and dirty with his eyes holding a perverted hunger and a promise of follow through, made you weak.

You kept your body from jolting when you felt the touch of his hand wrapping around your waist, finding purchase dangerously low on your back. 

“Bet you’ve never done anythin’ like this.” His voice was sturdy— rigid with power.

The weight of his hand was rough, his palm resting just above the curve of your ass. His touch was heavy yet temperate as he held you, softly pulling you’re your body further into his. 

“Lettin’ some guy you barely know put his hands all over you.”

You watched his eyes carefully, your lips parted but you couldn’t find any words to fill them. You weren’t sure if you wanted to tell him to stop or keep going. 

“Bet all the guys you hook up with are just as prim and proper as you. Can’t imagine that those dipshits graduating from UT with a business degree are fuckin’ you the right way.”

His other hand came to the small of your waist, the movement sending a faint gasp straight to your lips. Your reaction had Joel smirking, reinforcing his grip on your body.

“Probably don’t even know how to get you off.” 

“You’re disgusting.” Your voice was a whisper. The insult that you meant to hurl his way dissolved in a pitiful sigh at the way his fingertips were latching onto you.

“Am I? Bet you like that too.” This time he leaned in, causing his words to land directly in your ear, his breath warm on your neck.  

“Bet you want someone a little rough around the edges. Someone to fuck you real nice.” 

As he spoke, his fingers curled into your body. His grip on you constricting.

His frame pushed into yours, sending you shuffling backward until your back was met with the solid friction of the wall.

“Joel..” 

You were searching in your mind, trying to form an articulate sentence to explain why this was wrong; why you couldn’t be in this position with him.

But he had you trapped against the weight of his body— big and wide and rough.

Every single rational thought in your head dissipated, replaced by an instinctual need to have him fuck you against the wall of this ridiculously expensive closet.

He was right, you’d never done anything like this and the excitement of it— the risk, had your entire body burning with white-hot desire. 

“Tell me to stop and I will.” His hands were holding your hips, pressing you into the wall with his chest dangerously close to yours. 

“But I don’t think you want me to.” For a single second you could see an indication of honesty in his eyes as he looked you over, searching for any sign of distress on your face. And when he couldn’t find it, his stare narrowed and his hands held tighter, rotating your body in his grasp until your chest was pressed against the wall. 

“I think,” He leaned into you, your ass pushing against the bulge in his jeans as his hum landed on the skin right beneath your ear. 

“You want me to lift up this pretty little dress and fuck you nice and hard right here, against this wall.”

His hands found the hem of your dress, bringing it up just enough to bunch at your waist.

Your lower half was almost bare, the only clothing keeping your cunt from being fully exposed to him was the little black thong encasing the dripping mess that had now built up between your legs. It didn’t stop him from reaching between your bodies, pressing his thumb against your clothed entrance. 

“Fuck- you’re soaked princess.” The first word was a prolonged throaty groan, the rest of the sentence fumbling behind it. 

“How long you been thinkin’ bout this huh? Me touchin’ you, makin’ you beg for it.” He was having too much fun playing with you through your panties, his thumb threatening to dip into you even with the lace still covering your entrance.

He pushed against it, moving between your clothed folds and marveling at the wetness seeping through the material. 

“I’m not begging.” You managed to hiss out a response, turning your head to peer at him, your cheek nearly pressing against the wall. 

“Oh, so she’s always mouthy huh?” 

You watched the diabolical grin eat away at his face from the power trip of having you trapped under his weight.

You could talk-back all you wanted— be as bratty and uncooperative as possible, but it didn’t change the fact that he had you right where he wanted you. 

“Keep talkin’ baby, go on.” He innocently raised his brows at you, his voice taunting as the weight of his thumb danced between your legs.

“I Know you want this too. You act like you can’t stand me, but I see the way you look at me…” Your voice was quiet but strong as you held onto the last bit of composure you had left, using it to defy the man at your back.

You were trying your best not to lose your train of thought as you spoke. You wouldn’t give up the fight that easily, succumbing to his tempting words and lewd touches. You could tell Joel was used to getting his way and every muscle in your body ached to challenge him. 

“The way your eyes are glued to my ass every time I walk past you.” You glared over your shoulder as the words drifted off your lips in a gentle accusation. 

His dark chuckle filled the room as his eyes darted away from yours for a short second. Then his stare was back on you— more intense than before. The two of you watching each other, sitting in a pool of mutual revelation. 

You both knew it.

You knew since day one that there was a shared attraction, an unspoken sexual tension hidden behind rude words and unsavory exchanges.

What was happening now was just a detonation of built-up pressure that had been stewing for weeks; evident in the wetness at your core and the bulge in Joel’s jeans. 

“Anythin’ else you wanna say? Should probably get it all out before I have you all fucked-out on my cock.” His voice dropped to a low whisper as he hooked his thumb into your underwear, pulling the material to the side, not even bothering to take them off completely. 

A soft gasp slid from your lips at the cool air meeting your newly exposed center, the slick pooling at your entrance only adding to the airy sensation. 

“You’re so fucking arrogant.” 

The words barely left your lips when you felt his touch meet your core, his fingers spreading your arousal.

You had more to say to him, you wanted to tell him how annoying he was and how you had lost every ounce of decency by letting him talk to you this way, but the words were caught in your throat as he pushed two fingers into you. 

“Maybe I have good reason to be.” 

Your eyes were squeezed shut at the unexpected feeling of him filling you with his fingers, yet you could hear the smirk dripping in his voice.

“You ever think about that sweetheart?”

His words were impatient, the initial drive of his fingers into your entrance was rough, but now they slowly worked into you. His movements were careful— cautious even.

It was as if he wanted to take his time, watching your body and listening to the shaky breaths leave your lips.

His hand worked between your legs, searching for the exact technique that would send you spewing profanities and crumbling against the wall.  

He curled his fingertips at just the right spot, not too deep and not too forceful, just a gentle pulse that had an impulsive whimper pouring from your chest.

“Maybe I’m so arrogant because I know I’m good at what I do.” His words held a double meaning as he added a third finger to stroke your newfound sweet spot.

You almost yelped from the stretch, but you held it back as best you could, refusing to give him the gratification of your submission. 

The position he had you in; back arched and ass pushed out, made it almost embarrassingly easy for the addition of a third digit as he watched them to sink into you.

You couldn’t help but hum in approval as he stroked you repeatedly, rubbing against the inviting drawl of your walls. You tried not to lose yourself at his fingertips, knowing from the familiar coil of pleasure in your core that he could have you coming on his fingers at any given moment. 

“Thought you were gonna fuck me, huh?” Your voice was a string of moans as you tried your best to form a coherent sentence with his hand pushed between your bodies. 

As much as you didn’t want his movements to stop, you also didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of making you finish when he’d barely even gotten his hands on you.

Knowing Joel, he would never let you live it down. He’d ride around on his metaphorical high horse and crown himself the king of female orgasms. So instead of letting him bring you to the precipice of release, you met him with a phrase of defiance. But your challenging words were really just a gateway to get what you wanted. You could put on a tough act, but at the end of the day Joel was right, you did want him to fuck you in way no one ever had— hungry and hard against the wall, right here in your client’s house.

In fact, the thought of it had taken over every fiber of your being. The anticipation of feeling him rail into you was clouding your judgement and coursing through your veins at an alarming speed. 

“Think you can take it?” His growl stuck in your ears as he pulled out of you. The lewd noises of his fingers plunging into the slick mess at your folds was quickly replaced by the sound of him fumbling with his belt buckle. 

“How d’you want it, huh baby? You the sentimental type? Want it nice and slow and deep? Or d’you just wanna be ruined? Want someone to be a little rough with ya?” He was asking, but you couldn’t help but note the rhetorical quality of his words as you heard the rustle of his jeans pushing down his thighs. 

“That’s sweet of you to give me choice, maybe you don’t like control as much as I thought- “

Your sarcastic remark was cut short at the abrupt stretch of Joel’s length slamming into you.

“Rough it is then.” His voice was a deep grunt echoing from behind you as he paused, giving you a split second to adjust before pulling back out and thrusting into you again. 

“Shit princess, didn’t think you’d be this fuckin’ tight.”

His voice swam with amusement and pleasure as he watched the way his dick fully disappeared into you with each thrust of his hips.

Hands pulled at your waist as you felt Joel drive deeper with every breathless groan floating off his lips. 

“Look at you, takin’ me like such a good girl.” The words weren’t sweet, instead they teased you, shooting out of his mouth with a mocking tenor. 

You couldn’t keep your body from reacting to his praise, albeit contemptuous, the words still held a deep truth about the situation unfolding against the wall of your shared employer’s closet. 

“Oh, you like that don’t ya? When I tell you what a good girl you are?” His voice was a broken growl of grunts and sighs as he fucked into you— vigorous and desperate.

His pace was unrelenting as he held onto your waist, pulling you back to meet him with every drive of his hips into yours. 

He let one of his hands travel up your body until he was reaching for your jaw, tilting your head up and back until your body was arched at a sinful angle.

“See, I knew you just needed a good fuck.” His groan was right in your ear now that he held your head close to his, the grip he had on your jaw was firm.

It was becoming impossible for you to keep quiet, the strength and depth of his thrusts were causing explicit moans to skate past yours lips.

The hand that Joel was using to hold your face was now maneuvering to your mouth in an effort to muffle the obscene sounds rolling off your tongue. Two of his fingers pushed at your lips, hooking into your mouth. 

“Knew that little attitude a’yours was all for show.”

You closed your lips around his digits as he railed into you, a guttural moan sliding up your throat and humming onto his fingers. 

“Fuck.” His fowl groan was a direct result of your soft mouth sucking around his fingers, mimicking the way you had his cock encased between your legs.

You invited his touch onto your tongue, swirling around his thick digits and sucking him in deeper, earning a prolonged sigh from Joel as he fucked into you even harder.

Each stroke of his cock had your body pressing further into the wall— his pace was mean and unyielding, like he had something to prove. 

With the hand not in your mouth, Joel reached around your body, his fingertips finding your clit and rubbing quick careless circles over the bundle of nerves.

Your body faltered under his touch, your knees slightly buckling, and if it weren’t for the weight of his body trapping you against the wall, you’d be a puddle on the floor. 

He slowed his pace slightly, taking his time to find that spot along your walls again. The one that he discovered just minutes ago when he was three fingers deep in your dripping cunt. 

Whines of approval vibrated against the pads of his fingertips still pressing down on your tongue. His hips began rocking into you at just the right angle— slow and deliberate, with the goal of feeling you coming undone on his cock. 

“That it baby? Right there?” Again, his words were a sadistic tease, but his voice gave way to pitiful throaty whines.

You couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think with the way he was working you toward your release.

Everything felt so overwhelming, his unrelenting thrusts hitting you in the perfect place, his touch on your clit, rough and impatient and his fingers filling your mouth— all of it creating the perfect storm of inconceivable pleasure. 

A jolt of relief surged through your body as the pressure inside you snapped. You let yourself fall further into the wall as Joel’s name slipped from your mouth in a chant.

Hearing his name on your lips in such a distant and dazed voice, had Joel’s cock pulsing. Your walls were clenching from your climax, sucking him in deeper and he couldn’t handle the abundance of warmth enveloping him. 

Both of his hands came down to your hips, fingers digging into your skin as held tight.

His thrusts were merciless as he used you to reach his peak, chasing the familiar buildup of tension in his core as he drove into you at a startling pace. 

Then he pulled out abruptly. 

One hand on his cock, stroking just twice before spilling onto the skin of your lower back, the other pushing your dress further up your body to keep it from becoming a jizz painted mess. 

Silence filled the room.

Neither of you spoke as your hands pushed against the wall underneath your palms. You stayed pressed there, Joel’s body still behind you evident in the ragged breaths leaving his chest. 

Still no words were exchanged as you felt Joel take a step back, the warmth of his presence fading just slightly.

You dared to break your pleasure induced trance to look over your shoulder, only find him pulling his jeans back up his body and tightening his belt without even sparing you a glance.

You began to move until you were reminded of the thick warm mess resting on your back, keeping you from pulling your dress down.

Before you could do anything, Joel was back behind you, hooking his fingers into the waist band of your panties and tugging them down your legs. He stopped at your ankles to tap against your skin, prompting you to step out of them.

Once the lacy material was fully in his grasp, he brought them up to your lower back, using them to gather his spend. He cleaned his mess with the lacy material then pulled your dress back down to cover your lower half. A sticky residue was left on your backside as a plaguing reminder of what had just transpired between you. 

You turned to face him, watching as he crumpled up your ruined underwear and shoved it into his back pocket with a smirk on his face. 

“How about that drink? Could meet you tomorrow night, should be done here around five.” He was back across the room in an instant, gathering tools and not bothering to look in your direction.

His invitation was genuine, but his words lacked interest. 

“I’ll get these back to you then.” His hand came to rest on his back pocket, fingers tapping against the denim holding your used panties.

A self-righteous smile sat on his face as he shot you a look of pure deviance before his eyes were back on his hands as they worked to gather his materials. 

“Yeah, okay.” Your voice came out more flustered than you intended as you smoothed out your dress over your thighs.

Joel was heading for the closet door, tool bag clutched in his hand as he gave you one last gaze of victory.

“It’s a date.” The words were a grumble from his lips, the same ones that were busy parading a smug smile. 

Then he left you standing alone in the small room, your mind racing around itself and your legs still trembling.

A subtle grin rested on your face as you stared down at the floor, trying to find some sort of equilibrium before even attempting to move.

The giant walk-in closet still encasing a lingering heat of reckless choices as you prepared to go on with your day— business as usual.

my masterlist

[honeywyrdie]

There's Always a Cat at a House Party

Lee Minho x Reader

summary: You've got a goal tonight - find a stranger to make out with to get over this stupid little crush you have on your roommate. You'll fail. Hard. /// word count: 6k /// genre: smut, fluff, roommates to lovers /// warnings: sloppy makeouts, cunnilingus, spanking /// a/n: grad school has been kicking my ass so I've been a lot more MIA than I've wanted to be. enjoy this little (6k) smut I wrote to experience a single drop of dopamine in all the chaos. I don't normally write Minho, so I hope I did him justice! Maybe I'll even make a part 2 to this.

(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

I have only posted this here and on AO3 - user: spookwyrdie

18+ content beyond the cut MDNI!

You

“Minho, have you seen my black platform heels? The velvet ones with the little ankle strap?” you shout from the bathroom.

“No,” your roommate replies. “Aren’t they in your closet?”

“Could you check for me?”

The hairdryer you’re using is on full blast as you set your curls, so you don’t hear his lazy groan as he gets up from where he’s sitting. You’re getting ready to go out to a house party with Minho, and you’re on a mission this evening.

Step One: Look as alluring as possible, so you want your hair to be perfect.

Minho’s head peeks around the door frame, holding your favorite pair of fuck-me-heels in his hand.

“Are these the ones you’re looking for?” he asks.

He looks like he’s already ready to go - he’s wearing a casual but clean-cut outfit, all black with some silver jewelry. His skin always looks dewy and perfect, and tonight is no exception. Your eyes linger just a second longer than you’d like to admit to yourself.

Quickly turning back to your task at hand, you shake yourself out the small moment of awe he seems to slap you in the face with all the time. You can’t look at your friend like that, it wouldn’t be fair to him. In fact, that’s the exact reason you’re going out tonight.

Step Two: Don’t get distracted by your hot roommate you've had an unrequited crush on for a few months.

Minho and you have been living together for over a year now. It’s been wonderful, you both seem to work so well together. Ever since you’ve met, it’s been so easy to exist around each other. You both have the same social battery, he loves to annoy you and you love to annoy him right back. It’s pretty equal between the two of you since you both enjoy taking care of one another.

That’s why you feel so guilty about this little attraction that gnaws on your heart. You’re supposed to be friends - platonic, cohabitating friends. Nothing more. If you said anything or made the wrong move, it could fuck up your entire living situation, and one of the best friendships you’ve developed in your adult life.

Step Three: Get over this stupid little crush and move on.

You shut off the hairdryer, taking one last look in the mirror to make sure your curls are set before you get the rest of your outfit together.

“Yep, those are the ones!” you say, taking them from his hand. His hand connects with yours for a brief moment, sending a little flash of heat through your body. You’ve really got to get over this crush, especially if a silly little brush of his hand is driving you mad. You mentally smack yourself, and pull yourself together.

“Come hang out with me while I finish up.”

“We’ll never make it in time,” Minho says, rolling his eyes. But there’s a smirk on his face. “What will the boys say?”

“It’s a Han House Party, who cares when we show up!” you say, grabbing his wrist and dragging him towards your bedroom.

Rummaging through your closet, you pick out a few pieces that you think will work. Everything you choose is revealing but not outside of your comfort zone. You hold up a leather mini skirt and a pair of shorts that leave little to the imagination. Turning to Minho, you hold them up.

“Which one?”

His eyebrows shoot up, a look of surprise quickly morphing into one of concentration. He stares at you from where he’s laying on your bed.

“So we’re just really putting it out there this evening, huh?”

“Oh, don’t be so judgy,” you say. “I have a goal tonight and dressing like a nun won’t help.”

“I don’t know, I bet dressing like a nun will definitely get you some attention,” he chuckles.

“Be serious! Which one?”

He looks back and forth between the skirt and the shorts.

“The leather one. I like it better.”

You look down at it and nod, envisioning the outfit you’re putting together. It’ll be the perfect amount of slutty for the evening. Minho interrupts your train of thought as you start grabbing fishnets, a lace top, and a strappy chest harness.

“Why are you pulling out the big guns for tonight?”

“Minho… it’s been AGES since I’ve gotten any action,” you whine, pouting in his direction. “My dating life has been drier than the Sahara for almost a year now.”

“So, what? Your plan is to go to some party with other random strangers and use the ‘do you want to come see my cat’ pick up line?”

“The what?” you giggle.

”It’s a pick up line they’re using these days. Like ‘come back to my place, I’ve got a cat’ to get someone into bed. You know, how a year ago they were saying eating ramen was a way to ask someone to fuck.” He says with a yawn as he stretches out on your bed.

“As if,” you scoff. “I would never use Soonie, Doongie, and Dori like that! Besides, it’s not necessarily a hookup I’m looking for tonight.”

“What are you looking for?” his tone shifts, as if he’s putting an intense spotlight on you. You sigh, turning away from him towards the mirror to hold up the clothes you picked out.

“It’s been so long since I’ve kissed anyone. Like really kissed someone. Slow, passionate, a little messy. The kind where you can lose hours in that moment with another person. I miss it. The last few flings I had seemed like they weren’t as interested in that, always trying to rush into sex before I’m warmed up,” you murmur, your gaze dropping to your feet, feeling your face heat up. “It makes me feel like no one wants to spend time making out anymore.”

The room is silent for a moment and it makes you feel so exposed. You’re about to try to laugh it off when your eyes meet Minho’s in the mirror. The look he gives you is heavy, as if his eyes are holding you in place. You watch as his jaw clenches, the muscle twitching slightly with the strain. And just as quickly as you notice it, his features relax, going back to that lazy expression.

“I’m sure there are many people who would jump at the opportunity to kiss you like that,” he says slowly, eyes glued to his phone now.

You scoff, rolling your eyes. “Name a single person who wants that.”

The room is filled with that same heavy silence again.

“Exactly. So, that’s what I’m on the hunt for tonight,” you say, pulling out your makeup bag. “Just a random makeout with some stranger who I never have to see again.”

~~~

Minho

He had almost fucked up, blown his cover, let the cat out of the bag - whatever you want to call it, he had almost ruined everything in that moment. You are driving him insane. This was the closest he’s gotten to telling you how he feels. The way you’re talking about kissing someone else, finding some stranger to share a moment like that with, filled him with the sick, possessive feeling he’s had about you since you met.

Minho knows you don’t feel that way about him. The two of you have lived together for over a year, sharing a living space, bedroom walls separated by only the bathroom. He hates the part of himself that feels entitled to you, it’s not right. But he can’t stop. Minho would do anything to make sure he could hear you humming in the mornings while you shower, even if that means keeping his attraction to you a secret that burns him up inside.

He’s got a good poker face, he knows it. You haven’t noticed that for the past year he seems to stare daggers at any person that comes within 20 feet of you with that look on their face, silently making them run off. But he felt it slip for a moment tonight while he thought of you in that leather skirt with someone else's hands on your thigh.

By the time you’re ready to go, he has his mask of indifference fully in place again. He says goodbye to the cats and you both head over to Jisung’s place.

Minho has to keep his eyes on the road. He has to avoid looking at you since you walked out of your room in the outfit you meticulously put together. He’s never seen you dress like this before. In fact, he’d probably drive the car off the road if he gets distracted by your fishnets again. You’re wearing some kind of bralette that puts your breasts on display under a sheer black lace top, your legs in fishnets and the tight skirt that he picked out barely covering your ass, and those heels. Those fucking heels. All he could think about is grabbing onto them as he fucked you into his mattress.

After hearing you talk about the way you wanted to be kissed, the images barraged him like cannonfire. He wants to make you whimper into his mouth. He wants to grab onto your ass while you rut against him until you are panting his name.He wants to taste you. He wants to be the one to make a mess of you. He wants to claim you and never hear you talk about another person ever again.

But he can’t. He knows he’s too intense.

It would be unfair to you. You’ve never given him any indication that you return his feelings, so he keeps them simmering away but hidden from you.

So he couldn’t look at you on the drive. He could barely look at you when he opened the door for you when you arrived. He could tell his nonchalant act was coming off a little strong by the way you detached from his side the minute you entered the house. Winding his way through the crowd of bodies, he made his way to the cooler to grab himself a drink.

He watched as you found Felix, one of your mutual friends. He was safe from Minho’s glare since he knew Felix was not available. But Minho kept his eyes on you from afar, watching the people you would chat with, seeing the ones you’d get a little too flirty with. It made his blood boil.

“Careful now,” a voice came from his left suddenly. “She’ll think you’re mad at her.”

Jisung appeared next to him, distracting him from the raw hunger that was bubbling away in his chest.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Minho sniffed, trying to avoid the topic.

“Please,” Jisung gave him an exasperated look. “Don’t act like I wouldn’t know that face.”

“What face?”

“That face you make when you’re about to rip the throat out of whoever gets within 10 ft of Y/n.”

“I don’t make a face.”

“Liar!” Jisung laughed. “Have you told her?”

“Told her what?” He narrows his eyes at his friend. Jisung knows him better than anyone in the world, so it’s especially annoying to be dissected like this while sitting on a couch nursing a shitty beer.

“Have you told her that you’re desperately in love with her?”

Minho chokes on his drink, coughing hard.

“See?” Jisung says, sticking his chin out as he chides Minho. “If you weren’t into Y/n, why’d you spit out half your drink onto my carpet?”

Minho stands up suddenly.

“Where’s the cat?”

“What?” Jisung asks, a confused frown on his face.

“The cat, there’s always a cat at parties like this,” Minho says. “In some room, hiding under some bed, there’s always a cat.”

“Weird that you know that, but yeah, my roommate has a cat,” Jisung says cautiously. “She’s in the guest bedroom.”

“Great. See you,” Minho says as he turns and walks down the hallway to find the guest bedroom.

“Minho, where are you going?” Jisung calls after him.

“To hang out with the cat in the quiet!”

~~~

You

Has everyone always been this boring?

Your mission this evening was starting to fall apart before your eyes. Every single time you tried to find someone you thought you could spend a few hours with, there was always something that turned you off.

One guy in the kitchen was fun to flirt with at first, telling you about his job at some school, working in one of the biology labs. But he started drinking way too heavily, like he was racing head first into a blackout.

Yuck.

One girl you were chatting with on the couch was going back and forth with you about a tv show you had recently finished. There was genuine banter for a while, until you noticed that every time you made a clever joke, she’d say “wow, that’s actually funny!” in a very condescending tone.

Next!

There was one person you thought you were really starting to connect with, swapping stories about your views on the local music scene. But then they started talking about aliens, as if the aliens were hiding amongst the crowd around you.

Nope.

You sigh, tossing the rest of the drink you had barely touched into the sink. It’s been a couple of hours since you got here and you’re nowhere closer to your goal than you were when you arrived. If you couldn’t have a fun time chatting with someone, you know you’d have an even worse time kissing them. Deep down, you know you were just trying to find a band aid solution while you waited for this stupid crush on Minho to go away. He’s the only one you actually wanted to tangle yourself up with until the sun rose.

While your mind drifts to thoughts of your roommate, you realize you haven’t seen him all night. Where is he? You scan the living room, catching Jisung’s eye.

“He’s with the cat!” he shouts across the room.

“What?”

“He’s hanging with the cat. Guest bedroom! Down the hall all the way and to the left!”

You give him a thumbs up and decide to go find your favorite little introvert. When you get to the door, it’s closed with a sticky note that says “Keep the door closed! Cat inside!” Not wanting to spook either the cat or Minho, you knock softly.

You hear someone quietly curse, followed by, “Come in.”

You gently open the door. Minho is sitting on the floor in front of a couch. The cat is nowhere to be seen.

“Close the door behind you!” He whisper-shouts at you. “I don’t know if she’ll bolt or not.”

You shut the door behind you gently, locking it for good measure. “Where is the little fur baby?”

“When you knocked on the door, she ran behind the TV again. You can see her if you lean down.”

You bend over, seeing a pair of glowing eyes in the back right corner of the shelf that the TV sits on. The breeze you feel on the backs of your thighs makes you aware of how short your leather skirt is and you hastily stand back up. You smooth your skirt down before you sit on the couch next to Minho.

“Why are you hiding in here with the cat?”

Minho looks down at his hands. “I don’t know, it was just a little too much out there for me.”

“Poor baby kitty, so overstimulated you have to find the only other cat at the party,” you say, patting him on the head. He huffs out a laugh, swatting your hand away. He stands and slumps into the couch next to you, his knee lightly brushing your thigh.

“So,” he starts, leaning back against the cushions. “How’s it going out there? Anyone want to go home to see your cat?”

You playfully shove his shoulder with a laugh. But you sit there, letting silence fall again.

“No,” you murmur, looking down at your hands. “I’ve discovered that everyone kinda sucks.”

“I could’ve told you that,” he says, looking over at you, a small smile playing at the side of his mouth. “No one has caught your eye?”

“Well… no. I guess not.”

Minho frowns. The tone of your voice is tinged with sadness and he shifts closer to you.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just…” you start, wringing your hands together slightly. “I never expected to be this picky. Like if I can’t have a conversation with someone, I definitely can’t get physical with them. I need to know I vibe with a person so I can trust them with something more.”

You can’t look directly at him, he’s too observant. Minho can read you in an instant. He seems to know what you need before you do. When you come home from a rough day at work, he can tell by the sound of your footsteps, and often greets you with a snack. You’re afraid that if you looked at him now with his dark eyes, he’d know about the feelings for him you’re trying to bury deep down inside yourself.

“I understand that,” he says. “You want someone who knows how to make you feel safe.”

“Right, and it seems that everyone I talked to tonight had something wrong with them,” you say. You feel Minho shift even closer to you, you can feel the warmth of his body next to you. “It shouldn’t be this hard to find someone to kiss.”

There’s that strange heavy silence again sitting between the two of you. Minho opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, but then snaps it shut. He takes a deep breath. He gently grabs your fingers, fiddling with them in his hands.

“I’ll kiss you,” he nearly whispers. “I mean, if you want…”

You look over at him with a frown.

“Don’t make fun of me right now.”

“I’m not! I’ll kiss you.”

“I don’t want a pity kiss!”

“It’s not that! I... I think it would be nice. To… y’know… kiss you.”

You search his eyes for any hint of a joke. All you find is a dark pair of eyes looking back at you deeply, glittering in the low light. There’s a little edge of anxiety on his face. When did this couch get so small? You can feel your heart hammering in your throat.

“Won’t it make things weird?”

“It’ll only be weird if we make it weird,” he says, moving closer to you, eyes flicking down to your lips mere inches away. “So let’s promise it won’t get weird.”

“Okay,” you breathe. “I promise.”

“Me too,” he says, his eyes staring at your mouth as he delicately wets his bottom lip with his tongue.

He leans into you slowly, like he’s giving you every chance to change your mind.

Then his lips meet yours.

It’s so soft you could cry. The kiss is gentle and sweet with a small hint of apprehension, like you’re waiting for him to reveal the grand prank he’s pulling on you. But instead, his lips glide against yours tenderly. He presses small, slow kisses on your mouth, like he’s testing the waters by taking small sips, even if he’s dying of thirst. Your hand reaches up to cup his cheek, running your hand across his sharp cheekbone. His head tilts, leaning into your touch, as he pulls back slightly with a sigh.

“Is this okay?” he whispers against your lips.

Biting your lip, you nod with your eyes still closed. You’re worried that if you say something, the little bubble of magic in this moment will pop, and he’ll come to his senses and reject you, realizing his mistake. The worry starts to churn in your belly. His hand finds your chin, coaxing you slowly to lift your eyes and meet his gaze.

“Do you want to keep going?” he asks, searching your eyes. There is only warmth in the way he looks at you. It almost makes you feel silly being so anxious. Even if he doesn’t return your feelings, you know for certain that you’re safe with him. All of your anxiety melts away, leaving only the ache of desire in your chest.

“Yes,” you breathe against him, and pull him towards you again. “Please.”

This time, when your lips meet, you feel that spark of heat between the two of you. Your fingers find the collar of his shirt, pulling him in closer. This time, there’s more push and pull, flowing back and forth gently between you. One of his hands rests on the side of your neck, his thumb brushing over the spot just below your ear.

Your lips part as you whimper. Minho’s tongue softly runs along your bottom lip, silently asking permission to deepen the kiss. He wants to move at your pace, letting you control the speed. You surge forward, leaning over as his fingers curl in your hair. He tastes sweet on your tongue as you tangle up in one another.

Heat envelops you, the sound of your breath filling the air. You feel electrified, like there’s a live wire in your chest strong enough to power an entire city. The way your tongues move against one another, exploring each other's mouths, discovering the way the other person likes being touched.

“I need-” you start, pulling away to catch your breath. Minho’s dark eyes find yours.

“What do you need?” he murmurs as his thumb caresses your jawline.

“I need to be closer,” you say, kneeling on the couch, kicking a leg over his lap to straddle him.

“Fuck,” he whispers, gritting his teeth. “I want to touch you. Can I touch you?”

His words wash over you, a warm affection swirling together with the heady lust that’s consuming you.

“Yes,” you breathe. “Touch me. Everywhere.”

The last word tumbles from your lips with a moan as his hands splay on your lower back, dragging your body close to his as you descend onto him again.

~~~

Minho

Minho can’t believe how soft and pliant you are. In all his fantasies, he had never imagined the breathy little noises you’d make as he held your face, or how easily you’d respond to the silent suggestion from his hands on your hips. He would push and you’d move, he’d pull and you’d follow, like he was leading you in a ballroom dance.

He certainly didn’t expect how his heart would clench as you moan into his mouth when his fingers dig into the flesh of your hips. The tremor that shakes through you makes all the blood rush from his head straight to his cock. Sure, he has touched you platonically before, you’d fallen asleep on his shoulder once or twice during a movie night. He denied himself anything further, holding all of his feelings for you behind a brick wall in his chest. But tonight, you broke through all of those barriers. Minho is learning a new side of you as he runs his hands over the outline of your body, trying to memorize it.

Time seems to stop as he gets lost in you, pouring all his unspoken feelings and arousal into you slowly. If this is his only chance to have his hands on you, then he will savor every second of it. The room around the two of you fades into nothingness as he pulls you closer, wanting no space between your bodies.

Minho would never rush you, regardless of how turned on he is. You said you just wanted a night of kissing and he could give that to you. He just has to ignore the pulsing of his cock in his jeans.

He does indulge a little though. When you straddled his lap, your leather skirt bunched up around your hips. He runs his hands over your fishnet covered thighs, sliding his fingers under the hem of your skirt to push it a little higher.

His hands snake around to grab onto your ass, trying hard not to dig into the soft skin. Your head drops forward onto his shoulder with a moan as you arch your back, pressing yourself further into his grasp. He’s always loved your ass, admiring it from afar for so long. Sure, he’s never had his hands on you like this, but his eyes? His eyes have been devouring you since he first saw you.

Your hips begin to rock against Minho and he feels his mind go blank. A breath is caught in his throat as he feels the heat of you through a few layers of fabric. Fingers gripping his jaw, you wrench his head to the side, attacking his neck with your tongue. Through the haze of your lips and tongue against the column of his neck, he can feel the way your mouth curves into a sly smile.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he whispers when you come up for air briefly.

“Do you want to stop?” you say, pulling back slightly.

“Never,” he replies, tugging you back into him.

He can’t help it any more, his fingers grip into your ass, kneading into your plush flesh. He starts to push you down with every rock of your hips, dragging your clothed cunt across the bulge in his pants until you’re whining against his throat. The way your nails scrape against the skin of the back of his neck has his mind spinning. You wrench your head away from his neck, crashing down on him again, your plump lips landing on his.

When you bite down on his lip, he groans into your mouth. Your hands roam his body, pulling up the hem of his shirt, smoothing your palm across his stomach. Minho’s holding onto his sanity by a thread.

He’s delirious over the heat between your thighs as you grind down on him, your hips wiggling from the friction. Fingers roaming over your lace top, his fingers find the edge of the chest harness you’re wearing. It’s made from some kind of elastic material, so it stretches easily as he pulls it away from your body. He snaps it back against your chest and you squeak into his mouth. You pull away again, looking down at him with swollen lips.

“Minho!”

“What? Why else would you wear this?” he smirks at you.

You splutter for a moment, so he does it again. Pulling the elastic back further this time, holding it taut for a moment. He searches your eyes as you look back and forth between his eyes and his hand. After a heartbeat of thinking, you nod your head.

The snap on your skin makes you whine, trying to hold it back by biting your lip. Minho grabs the strap once more, but this time he uses it to maneuver your body, pulling you suddenly back down onto him. You lean down to kiss him again, but his hand firmly holds you an inch away.

“Don’t you dare hold back any noises,” he says, leaning in like he’s going to capture your lips. Just as you start to surge forward, he pulls away once more. “They’re mine.”

You whine in frustration, one hand grasping the hair at the nape of his neck and drag his head back. He moans, loving this side of you, something he had only ever dreamed of before. Your lips messily clash once again, the air in the room feels like it heats up between the two of you. He frantically finds the little clasp of your harness and quickly unhooks it, bunching up the fabric of your shirt in the process.

You lean back, wrenching the lace over your head, pulling away your bralette at the same time. Your breasts spill out and Minho looks at you in awe. Before he realizes it, his mouth wraps around one of your nipples while his hands go to knead into the soft skin of your breasts. His eyes never leave your face as he watches you press your chest further into him, throwing your head back with a gasp. His tongue traces a path back up to your neck, grazing his teeth over the sensitive spot below your ear. He can feel your pulse as he lays his tongue flat on your throat.

“Can I taste you?” he asks, voice muffled by his lips never leaving your neck.

“What?”

“I need to taste you. Here.” he says, slipping it between your thighs. He gently places a hand on your pussy. His heart starts racing with anticipation as he feels how wet you already are between your legs. “Will you let me?”

You pull your bottom lip between your teeth and nod.

Minho pinches your nipple lightly, just enough to make you hiss.

“Words. I need the words.”

“Fuck, yes, I want your mouth on me,” you whine, rocking your hips slightly on his hand. He grins, tugging you down to kiss him again. This one is less crazed, he feels like he’s trying to communicate all his unsaid feelings with just his actions.

You start to move off of him and motion to lay down on the couch on your back.

“Wait,” his voice has a tinge of command in it.

You pause, body obeying immediately. With a smile, Minho clenches his jaw again and takes a deep breath. “On your knees.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he says, grabbing your waist, “I want you on your knees. Face down, ass up.”

He flips you so you’re facing away, pushing your head down on one of the couch cushions. Your hips wiggle again, rocking back and forth in the air, seeking out any sort of touch. Minho has to collect himself before he does anything. Having you presented to him like this, with your deep red panties and fishnets, he’s about to shred your clothes with his teeth.

Minho grabs onto your ass, kneading the flesh harshly in his hands. Taking his fingers, he hooks them on your fishnets right near your panties. Jerking his hands quickly, he tears them open. The ripping sound makes you quiver.

He gets gentler now, caressing your thighs and cunt, dragging his lips and tongue along your ass cheeks. He can see the wet spot you’ve formed on your panties. Leaning forward he presses his tongue flat against it, chuckling as your whole body jolts.

“That good, huh?”

“Shut uppp,” you whine, burying your face into the cushion.

Minho pulls your panties to the side and spreads your cheeks, admiring the view. He feels his cock twitch in his pants. With you moaning into the pillow, pussy wet and on display, he fights the urge to fuck you right then and there. This is about you and he knows it’ll be a thousand times more gratifying to push himself to the limits of his own desire to get a small taste of yours.

The first touch of his tongue has your thighs shaking already. He takes you by your hips and holds you firm, pressing his face further into your cunt. You cry out when he slowly laps at your clit. Minho grunts, his lips and tongue making the lewd, wet sounds between your legs.

One of his palms finds your ass again, coming down on the flesh a little too firm. You yelp, clenching around his tongue. He’s too drunk off the taste of you, he doesn’t realize he practically spanked you. He pulls back to apologize but you cut him off.

“Harder…” you cry out.

“Harder?”

“Minho, don’t fuck with me!” You’d almost sound angry if you didn’t moan half of your sentence. He loves hearing his name spill out of your mouth like that. He’d do anything to hear it again.

“Like this?” He asks, before pulling back and landing his hand on the exact spot that was already starting to bloom with heat. You moan again, pulling your lip between your teeth to try and stifle the volume.

“Now, what did I say earlier about holding back on those noises?” Minho jeers at you. He leans back, smacking the other cheek, watching the way it rebounds against his hand. Each new hit has you whining and jerking your hips away then immediately pressing back into his hand. He lands a few more swats, feeling the heat from your skin, massaging gently as you catch your breath.

When he dives back into you tongue first, his eyes roll back from how you’re dripping with arousal. The slick sound of his mouth on you that fills the room is only interrupted by the occasional slap of his hand and your whining. As his tongue bombards your clit, he feels the tremors that roll through you as you rut back against his face.

You’re babbling, the words barely being strung together are a litany of please, fuck, and Minho. Your nails claw at the fabric of the couch as he holds you firm, rolling your hips fervently into him.

”Minho! I’m -!” You say, gasping.

Your body tenses, no sound coming from your open mouth. Your eyes squeeze shut and he feels the fluttering muscles of your orgasm as it rocks through you. He doesn’t stop, even once you start shaking, your voice rasps out of you through your moans. He only lets up once you’re writhing in his arms, laughing to get away from the stimulation.

Minho sits back, your body gently collapsing against the couch. He watches as you twitch every few seconds from the aftershocks of your climax, trying to regulate your breathing. He coos at you, massaging your limbs, caressing your skin.

“Come here,” he says, half picking you up, hauling your body towards him. He wraps his arms around you, pressing your face into his chest as he leans back on the couch. “You’re okay, I’m here.”

You start to come down off the frenzy and your breathing regulates. Minho idly presses a few kisses into your hair, pressing his cheek against your head. His cock is straining against the material of his pants, especially now with your body weight on top of him. But that doesn’t matter. Being turned on is nothing compared to the way his heart is soaring just sitting here and holding you like this in his arms.

The possessive feeling he’s had over you feels contented. You’re his. The two of you can talk about it later, but he knows you’re his.

He’s been yours since he first laid eyes on you, so it’s only fair.

“Minho that was…” your voice rasps out of you from where you’re buried in his chest. “That was exactly what I needed.”

He smiles against your hair, pressing another little kiss on your head.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while,” he murmurs against your scalp.

You shift to look up at him. “For how long?”

”Longer than I want to admit right now,” he says. Minho takes in your appearance- lips swollen from kissing, hair mussed up, makeup smeared from pressing into a pillow. His chest fills with pride. He did that to you. You’ve never looked more beautiful than you do right now, all fucked out and looking up at him with sparkling eyes. “We can chat about that later though.”

You nod and lay your head back against his heart. It’s nice just sitting here in the quiet. Who knows how much time passes, Minho just likes feeling you in his arms, drawing lazy little circles on your bare back. The two of you must have been quiet for long enough that the house cat pokes her head out briefly from her hiding spot.

You giggle, startling the little thing back into the safety of being behind the TV.

“Minho.”

“Hmm?”

“So there are these cats I live with…” you say, a sly little lilt to your words. Minho can hear the smile in your voice. “Do you want to come back to my place and see them?”

[meowdei]

“What’s got you so grumpy?”

Sukuna dodges your finger. It fails to meet its destination of his cheek as he tilts his head to the side, earning a frown from you before you huff and try again.

He looks up from his phone with an irritated glance when your fingertip digs into his face.

“What are you talking about?” He grunts.

He knows exactly what you’re talking about. Normal Sukuna is irritable enough—grumpy Sukuna is about as bad tempered as a hornet who’s had its nest kicked. (Which is to say: he’s pretty fucking unfriendly at the moment.)

“You’re sulking,” you point out���and that statement earns a sharp glare from him as you seat yourself on his lap. (Still, he makes room easily for you, leaning back on the couch and putting his phone down to the side so his hands can rest on your hips. Grumpy Sukuna is never grumpy enough to push your body away—if anything, it’s the one way to get him less agitated).

“I’m not fucking sulking,” he says. It’s almost petulant, but you have enough grace to spare his dignity and not point it out. “I don’t sulk.”

“Are you sure?” You raise a disbelieving brow—he clicks his teeth at the way you choose to question him, but it softens considerably when your lips peck his jaw delicately. “You look pretty sulky to me.”

“Get your eyes checked.”

“Can’t. Then I might see you for all your ugliness. We wouldn’t want to throw years down the drain once I come to my senses do we?”

It’s his turn to raise a brow, sarcastically snorting as you give him a cheeky wink. “If you wanna try ‘n be a smart ass, at least be realistic about it. Saw you checking me out just this morning through the mirror.”

“Maybe you need your eyes checked,” you huff, “I was not checking you out.”

“Pretty sure you were,” he smirks, lips pulling into a haughty grin. Getting under your skin with his smugness is about the only way to cheer him up, it seems, because he looks rather pleased when he adds, “it’s okay. Don’t blame ya for bein’ possessed by my impressive physique.”

“Too bad your personality isn’t as dazzling,” you quip back easily.

It’s meant to be lighthearted, of course—but it seems to be the wrong thing to say. Quite wrong, in fact, because as soon as the words escape you, he tenses before locking his jaw.

There’s a flash of something in his eyes. Something you don’t think you’ve ever seen in Sukuna’s face—doubt. It’s a little odd, in all realness. Sukuna is not a doubtful person. He’s confident, and he’s confident enough that it’s almost to a fault. He’s cocky and smug and sometimes a little too self-assured for it to be considered good for his health.

It’s a bit unsettling to see his face almost fall at something you say, especially when you just say it for the sake of light banter.

“Yeah?” He chuckles dryly. It sounds dangerously self-deprecating—enough that it makes you frown. “Good thing I have my abs to keep you glued to my side then, huh?”

“Well, it’s not just your abs,” you hum, one hand smoothing over his shirt to feel the ridges of his muscles through the shirt. “Your boobs are pretty great, too.”

To prove your point, you give his left pectoral a gentle squeeze. He scowls before shoving your hand away as blush creeps along the back of his neck.

“You fucking freak,” he mutters.

Something is bothering him. You know you can’t directly ask it out of him, otherwise he’ll deny it left and right, but something is bothering him. Sukuna is not good with words or emotions. In fact, he’s pretty awful at anything that has to do with anyone’s feelings. (He’s better about yours more than other’s, but he’s pretty far from good.)

You don’t mind. There’s something oddly charming about witnessing the way he navigates softening up for you—it’s like watching a baby take their first steps. Wobbly. Slow. Unsure. Pretty badly executed, but endearingly rewarding all at the same.

Except, this time, it’s not your emotions he’s navigating. For some reason, yours are easy than his own. Navigating yours means he doesn’t have to try. He knows you better than he knows himself. Knows when your feelings are hurt by the twitch of your brows alone. Knows you’re sad by the dimness in your eyes. Knows you’re pretending joy when your laugh is quieter than usual. Knows you’re faking it when your smile is a much more tight lipped and a less bright version.

But his own feelings are complicated. A lot more than he cares to try and understand them for. In true Sukuna fashion, he always aims to ignore his problems until they seemingly disappear.

But you’re too difficult to let that slide. He brushes things under the rug, and you pull the rug from under his feet and make him fall face first into his problems.

“Hey,” you nudge him, cupping his face with your hand gently, “what’s gotten into you? It’s weird when you’re not pissing me off a couple of times every hour.”

“And that’s supposed to be a good thing?” He challenges, like your words seem to tick him off more, “what are you sittin’ here for if I’m always pissing you off?”

Oh, you think. So that’s what it is.

You smile, humming before you gently tilt his face up. Something vulnerable is attached to that frown of his. Like he’s waiting for your answer because he needs something to hold onto. Some metaphorical lifeline where your feelings are attached to his own, just to keep you chained together. Where you’re always somewhere that he also is. Where he doesn’t have to care about his emotions because what you feel is what he feels, too, and as long as you’re okay, so is he.

But you care. You seem to care a pretty great deal because you lean in and brush your nose against his as you kiss his lips softly.

“Who cares if you piss me off?” You snort, “I piss you off better. I’m pretty good at it.”

“You are,” he agrees instantly.

You give him a fleeting huff against his mouth as you mumble, “you don’t have to agree so fast.”

It pulls a small laugh from him, making his arms snake around your waist and tug your body closer. Chest to chest, heartbeat thumping in two, synchronized rhythms.

“What happens when I’m all old and expiring and my abs are gone?” He raises a brow. You hum, stroking a thumb along his cheek as you smile and admire him.

“We’ll still be pissing each other off, I bet.”

“That’s supposed to be good?” He repeats, this time much more unsure. Anyone else could hardly catch the air of hesitance in his words, but you catch it instantly.

“Why not?” You shrug, “it always worked for us, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he scoffs, “that’s until it doesn’t.” He spits the words out, not meeting your eyes. It’s like they taste acrid is mouth and he can’t bring himself swallow them down.

You don’t say anything. Instead, you lean in and just press a line of kisses from his chin to the corner of his lips, purposely dodging his mouth and littering small, delicate pecks along his cheek. And then his forehead. And then the bridge of his nose.

Never his lips, though. And he gets increasingly frustrated by it.

“What are you waiting for?” He grumbles, eyeing you with a look that screams: quit fucking around.

You fight back an amused smile. “Does it piss you off?”

“Course it does. Kiss me properly or back off my face—”

“Cause you love me right?” You ask cheekily. He pauses, thinking on it for a moment before slumping wearily.

“And if I do?”

“You piss me off too. Because I love you too,” you whisper, forehead against his as your hands cradle his cheeks. Because you do.

When he texts late, and makes your blood boil, it’s only because you love him. When he’s brutally honest and doesn’t say what you want to hear, you’re only mad because you care what he thinks so much. When he’s stubborn and refuses to meet you halfway, you’re only angry because there’s no one else you’d rather cross the bridge with than him.

He pisses you off. You care enough to be pissed because it’s him. And when you piss him off too, he cares enough to deal with it because it’s you.

It’s a funny, twisted little way to love and be loved, but it works. For some odd reason, it does. It’s a seamless, smooth, crackless road.

You don’t ever fix something that’s not broken.

“That doesn’t make sense,” he sighs, resigning himself to your weird, roundabout explanation. You laugh, pinching his cheek as you grin brightly.

“That’s because you’re a bit dim.”

“Yeah,” he rolls his eyes, “okay. Anything else?”

“Yeah, actually. I love you.”

He pauses. Swallows for a moment before his arms tighten their grip on your hips just a smidge before burying his face into your neck and mumbling, “me too. Love you so much, it pisses me off.”

“I like to get under your skin like that,” you stroke his hair, beaming as you add, “guess you’ll just have to deal with it.”

His lips stretch into a small grin before a low, rumbling chuckle breathes itself against your skin. “Guess so.”

————————

a/n: insecure modern! au sukuna who doesn’t admit it and refuses to acknowledge that he’s aware he’s difficult to love and can’t understand why you love him but he also doesn’t want to question it for fear of scaring you away is very near and dear to me and i’ll be talking about it from my grave still. you’ll just hear my ghostly voice spooking you through the night talking about how he’s a softie deep down under all the layers. like an ogre okay? ogres have LAYERS.

[7s3ven]

SINGLE DAD! X BABYSITTER! READER HAS ME FROTHING OMGG. Even better when the rest of TF 141 is involved

part 1 | part 2 (coming soon - rest of tf 141 introduced)

master list

MDNI 18+

Warnings: big age gap, babysitter! reader, reader is in medical school (but still legal guys)

You told yourself it was just a temporary summer job, something to fill your pockets over the Summer break as you moved into another year of university. Medical bills were not easy to pay off and your old job that paid the bare minimum did not help you in the least. All it taught you was that you had a nasty uppercut (from the time you actually hit someone and got fired).

So, you found yourself standing in front of John Price’s house. You stared up at the tall building, brows raised in surprise. He had understated how big his house was… it even had a garden and a pool. You may as well consider it a mansion.

You quickly rang the doorbell, smoothening out your tight blouse. Your much more appropriate one was in the wash so you prayed whoever answered the door did not notice.

It was a tall middle-aged who greeted you, beard cleanly trimmed and… a hat on his head. “Y/N L/N?” He asked you. You swiftly nodded, softly smiling when he stepped aside.

“So, medical school, huh? Training to become a doctor?” He asks as he brews you a cup of tea while you read over his terms and conditions.

“A surgeon, sir. Not much better, though.” You offer him another smile, hoping to ease the awkward tension.

“Right. Next time I need surgery, I’ll call you up.” He takes a sip from your tea, which you notice but you say nothing. “Just checkin’ the temperature. Wouldn’t want ya to burn yourself.” He hands you the mug, his fingers lingering on your skin for a moment too long.

“I assume this is only a quick job for you? Just away to gain a bit of money to pay those student fees off?”

Your cheeks heat up in embarrassment as you nod. “Yes, sir. I know I should have clarified it but I’m a little desperate at this point. Besides, no retail places want to hire me… after I hit someone.”

Your words intrigued him. He let out a low chuckle as he sat across from you. “Now I’m interested.”

“Well… there’s not much to it… a guy kept staring at my chest. He said some vulgar stuff and next thing I knew, I was punching him.”

Price shrugs, leaning back in his seat. “The lad was askin’ for it. So, what do you think about the job? You’ll honestly be a glorified babysitter. Just do some cleaning and cookin’ here and there and make my baby happy and you’ll get a nice pay check every week.”

It all happened in a blur. You agreed to the job and weeks later, you found yourself at Price’s house more than your apartment. You hadn’t stepped foot into your apartment since two days ago, Price generously allowing you to use one of the guest rooms.

“Lila has a sleepover tomorrow.” Price mentions as you’re reading the instructions on how to make cookies for Lila’s bake sale.

Based on the cooking skills you had seen from Price, you doubted he could bake very well. In fact, all he could cook was steak, which was general knowledge for dads.

“I can drop her off if needed.” You offer while opening the packet of flour only for it to explode in your face. You smacked your lips together, grimacing. “Not a word.” You mutter to Price who’s chuckling under his breath.

“Wasn’t gon’ a say anything, love.” He helps wipe the flour dust off your face, still grinning in amusement.

In all honesty, your relationship with Price felt a little too domesticated, especially right now as you wore a frilly apron he had bought just for you.

“Your skirt’s too short, by the way.” Price grumbles, attempting to tug it down. “You sure no creeps stared at you on your way ‘ere? Wouldn’t want ya in danger.”

You push his hands away from your hips. “Even if people were staring, I’ll just punch them.”

You had tried to maintain a professional relationship with your boss but it was hard when he carelessly manhandled you and treated you like his wife rather than his daughter’s babysitter.

And all professional behaviour came crashing down when he unexpectedly stood behind you as you whisked the cookie batter.

“You look like a coke addict.” Price jokes, referring to the flour that still stained your face. “Like you got it everywhere but up your nose.”

“I can assure you, sir, I have never tried coke unless my friend daring me to snort sherbet counts.”

Price grins at your biting remark, his heavy hands falling to your waist. “Yeah? Heard it doesn’t feel too good with sherbet.”

“Not in the slightest.”

His hands trail dangerously low but you don’t have the courage to ask him to stop… nor do you really want him too. He seems to sense your willingness as he rests his face in the crook of your neck, body pressed up tightly against yours.

You feel more like his spoiled wife than a medical student just trying to pay her bills.

“You’re pretty, ya know that? Surprised you don’ have a boyfriend… or girlfriend. Or partner. Dunno what your label is.”

With shaking hands, you place the bowl filled with cookie batter to the side, afraid you’ll only spill it.

“Never met a woman as soft as you… most think I chased Lila’s mother away. But nah. Her mother ran off, leavin’ me with a baby. Not that I’m complaining, I love Lila… and without her, I wouldn’ have met you.”

You’re reduced to listening to Price’s words, stuck between his larger frame and the marbled kitchen counter.

“Sir.” You whisper but it reaches his keen ears. Everything after that is a distorted blur and you find yourself bent over the counter, clad in nothing but the apron, with Price right behind you.

Price was a mystery to you. How could a man be turned on by something as simple as an apron? Though, he was a single dad so it made sense.

Price is muttering praises in your ears as your knees tremble, threatening to buckle. You never imagined you’d be in your employer’s kitchen, having your back blown out by the man himself.

His hands were hungrily climbing your body, gripping every bit of exposed skin he could find. If it wasn’t for him holding you upright, you would have toppled to the ground in a heartbeat.

You feel Price lift a hand to grip your hair, tugging at your locks. He’s in a desperate stupor but you’re not any better, pushing back your hips to meet his harsh thrusts.

“Gon’ a fill ya up. Give you a baby of yer own. Fuck… be so pretty just like you. My perfect little wife.” He grunts in your ear. You have no energy to correct him; that you’re not actually his wife but you’d have no complaints if he bought you a ring.

If anything, his words spur you on more.

Your chest is heaving by the time you near your release. You’re whining like a damn dog, high pitched noises slipping past your saliva-slicked lips. And you only grow in volume as Price speeds up, pressing his body against your back.

He’s older than you, that’s a fact you knew from the start, but he’s definitely more experienced as well. His well thought out words have the desired effect on you as the coil in your stomach snaps.

Your fluids drip down your exposed legs, hitting the tiles kitchen ground in thick droplets. You hear Price swear under his breath, quickly pulling out and staining your back white.

He doesn’t say anything for a moment as he rests his forehead on your shoulder. Then he leads you towards his bathroom, ushering you inside and handing you a spare set of clothes.

“Imma place your old ones in the washing, yeah?” He mutters, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek before leaving you to wash off.

You sit on the shower floor for a good five minutes, replaying the moment in your head. When you finally cleanse yourself of sweat, you slip Price’s shirt over your head, inhaling the intoxicating smell of his cologne. It was the one you liked too.

His clothes engulfed you as you stumbled back into the kitchen, hobbling a little.

“I guess I’ll… get going then.” You murmur, fidgeting with your hands.

Price reaches out a hand to brush a strand of hair away from your face. Then he nods. “See you tomorrow night, lovie.”

Right, you still had to finish those cookies and pick up your clothes.

[erwinsvow]

𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞

summary: jack abbot thinks he's too broken to fix. you just want to take care of him the way he takes care of you.

author's note: here it is! the first longer night shift reader and jack fic ♡ i hope everyone enjoys!

word count: 3.7k

tags: night shift reader x attending jack, comfort and angst, people are making bets (guess who wins!), patient death/loss, age gap relationship (implied but no ages specified!), idk i went a little crazy for two hours

it’s not an easy thing to take care of him. 

he knows that. there haven’t been that many people in his life who have been able to manage it. his wife was one, robby’s sort of another. jack has this thing—he has to at least try to take care of those around him before he can accept any of their help for himself. it’s almost a test of worth, to determine that it’s not a burden he’s placing unduly on anyone. it’s an exchange, he decides, a fair exchange. that way he’s not forcing anyone, because he knows how hard it is, how hard it can be. robby sees a side of it. his wife saw another.

and out of the black, heading into the blue, you are beginning to see it. he doesn’t know how it happened this way, just knows that the sweet resident who had come onto his night-shift because the day shift was beginning to be too much, was now the very reason he doesn’t head straight up to the roof after a very, very long night. 

he knows it’s not easy, that every time he loses a patient, he glances at the clock. the moment someone’s life was over, and the very moment that is going to ruin the lives of all the people who loved them. before he’d start the countdown—how many hours left on this shift? how many until he can go to the roof and breathe, scream and yell and sit in silence and watch the city wake up beneath him. 

it’s selfish. he momentarily checks out after time of death is called. robby does moments of reflections. maybe that’s how he’s able to manage it sometimes, break up the grief into little pieces throughout the day. 

jack isn’t like that. he’s always been the kind to bury, nestle it somewhere deep inside and keep adding, adding, adding. add until it’s about to burst, and then go to the roof and let some of it out. maybe if he tried robby’s way, he wouldn’t have felt like this for so long.

where can so much grief go? there’s no outlet for it, not the way jack does it. some of the things he buries are lost inside him forever, no escape, no exit.

and then you come along. 

jack’s prided himself in the fact that he’s good to the residents. they get more confident under his tutelage, make decisions more firmly, make them quickly and execute them correctly. that’s why robby had sent you over to him, hadn’t it? because you doubted yourself too much. because you felt like you weren’t making the right call.

from seven in the morning to seven at night, the place is crowded. it’s all hands on deck but there’s just a smidge too many hands, especially when there’s students. you were able to blend into the background for a couple months, but it’s just plainly wrong to let it hinder your education.

that’s why robby had sent you to him, right? for your education. to make you a better doctor, better than you already were, which was saying something. 

because jack abbot thinks that you’re incredibly gifted. gifted in the things that he can’t teach someone, in ways that he can’t explain. you have a special touch. patient-care is your forte. if he had to pick the nicest resident, it would be you. but you don’t believe in yourself. 

and he had sent himself to the task of fixing that. it’s what jack does, what he’s always done. patch it up and send it out.

(you’re a little different—he wants to make you believe in yourself more. he wants you to prove it to yourself. make yourself say it and mean it, not just because he’s telling you. that you are capable, that you were meant for this. that this is where you belong. that you have a safety net in the form of your attending—that he’ll be there with an outstretched arm, waiting incase you need him. you won’t, he knows. but you still need to feel him there. it’s working, he knows it is.)

it had been working perfectly fine so far. you build your routine, get yourself settled, start answering trauma calls with a run. 

one time he has you and ellis start the incoming together. tells parker to ask you questions, justify all of your decisions to her, but let you call the shots. when the charge nurse tells you the details, you head straight outside. you pull a yellow gown for yourself and the gloves in your size—those ones are baby blue. and then you pull another gown and the black gloves—the ones in his size. he watches from the nurse’s station, watches ellis take them and watches you look around, like you’re waiting for him to show up. he doesn’t, not this time.

you handle the case perfectly. oddly enough, he can’t seem to remember any of the specifics about it, even though he’s the one who signed off on your detailed note. 

jack watches from the door. you’ve got your back to him, and ellis looks up and sees him, but he shakes his head. he wants to see how you do without him, after so many with him. and you’re perfect—just like he knew you would be. the nurses move in tandem around you, listening closely to your orders. ellis asks questions and you answer, and you don’t sound like your answers are questions themselves—though you had at one point, not too long ago. 

that’s something he’d worked you out of, he thinks, a certain smugness seeping into his veins, satisfaction rolling through every muscle. 

you look out the other door, the opposite of where he’s standing. you stretch your neck like you’re trying to see what’s out there, and then you turn your attention back to your patient right away.

and once the patient is stable, that’s when he comes in. you’re doing it again, looking out the wrong door and as much as he wants to deny it, as wrong as it is, he knows you’re looking for him.

“good work, doctor,” he says, and you jump a little. you turn to look at him, but he’s looking at your senior resident for the assessment.

“dr. abbot, i-” 

“she did great,” parker comments, and you stop to beam at her.

“thank you.” ellis peels off her gloves and gown, black gloves that had been meant for him going into the bin. she gives you further instructions and you nod, and when it’s just the two of you, he finally turns to meet your eyes.

and the way you smile at him blows him away. it’s all over your face—from your gleaming eyes to the cheeks that must hurt, the lips that he can’t stop thinking about. there’s something else there too. neither of you want to say it, though you try.

“thank you, dr. abbot. i-” the words falter and die on your tongue. but in your joy, how pleased you are with yourself for once, you find the confidence he’s been wanting you to have all along. “i was looking for you.”

and jack swallows hard. it’s one thing to have a flirtation, to teach you, to mentor you. to make you cups of coffee and tea and buy a box of those protein bars that you like the best, because the other ones taste weird. to defend your yellow cup with his best glare, to stop in the aisle at costco and buy a duplicate pair just incase he ever needs to replace it. you love that yellow mug, and well, he loves—

“dr. abbot? you okay?” 

and it’s normally him asking you that.

“i’m fine, kid. you did great.” 

“so did you.” 

-

when jack walks by dana at around seven-ten, her and the other nurses go remarkably silent. 

“yes?” he asks, grabbing the black thermos from the counter where he’d been finishing his notes. it’s also from costco—chipped and bent all over the place, little flecks of silver making an appearance around the bottom. you’d made a joke about it once—even your cup is salt and pepper. and now he thinks about it every time he picks it up.

“what? i didn’t say anything,” dana replies, settling an ipad back in the charging port, moving around papers at the station. “but just so you know, the pool’s up to three hundred.”

jack sets his cup down a little harder than he means to, forearms resting on the sterile counter.

“what pool?” he demands, and dana shrugs. if he didn’t love her so much he would kill her.

“i’m just saying. if you’d like to help your favorite nurse contribute to her retirement fund, then you can—”

“oh? i can what?” 

it’s just not this easy for him anymore. you are full of all the good things that he so clearly lacks, made of so much sunshine it’s pouring out of you. you have love in stores, ready to be doled out at any time, to anyone. patients, coworkers, even the medical students you just met a couple minutes ago. he hears you—offering the flashcards you made for boards and the interview tips that got you to match at your top choice. 

he is entirely unworthy of your love. he knows it, deep down. loving him would break you. trying to piece him back together would drain you dry. and he doesn’t want to do that to you, you deserve better. maybe he can take care of you at work, but outside of these four walls, if you saw what he was like with idle hands and an empty apartment, or if you saw him up on that roof-

“dr. abbot?” 

your voice seems to always be enough to snap him out of it. 

“goodbye, dana,” he says, walking up next to you, thermos in hand. your eyes briefly glance down at it, smiling. “what’s going on, kid?” 

“remember what you had said? about breakfast?” and you smile at him like getting breakfast with jack abbot sounds like the great thing in the world right now. it’s almost seven-thirty and you probably haven’t slept in fifteen hours, and yet you keep smiling, big eyes blinking at him while you wait patiently for an answer.

“yeah.” he clears his throat, looking back at dana momentarily. she’s smiling at him, and then she turns to smack the side of robby’s arm, pointing him the direction of you two. “that sounds great. after you.” 

he shouldn’t have said yes. he knows what’ll happen if you start thinking that you can fix whatever is wrong with jack abbot, and he would like to avoid that entirely. but you beam at him again like you had earlier with ellis, and jack is a lot of things, but one thing is he is not, is a jerk. he won’t disappoint you about this, not when he’s secretly relieved you’re eating after shift. he’s seen you with sugary granola bars and pastries when you should be filling up on protein after a shift like this.

so he follows you out, ignoring the exchange of money behind him. 

breakfast is nice. you get chocolate-chip pancakes and he makes you get eggs too, and then hands you strips of bacon from his plate too. he hasn’t seen you like this before, and he tries to soak it into his memory. 

(something deep inside says that he should cut the tether before you get too attached. it’ll only hurt more to prolong it, to let it linger. the possibility of something between the two of you. and then you offer him a bite of a pancake drenched in syrup and everything in his head goes silent.)

breakfast becomes a weekly recurrence. there’s a twenty-four seven diner he loves just up the road from the hospital, and he’s been before with shen once, robby a couple times if their schedules lined up. it’s not particularly unusual to see him there with you, though he feels like he’s committing some sort of a crime.

you wear pullovers from your alma mater. the backpack you bring to work is the same one you used all four years of college and medical school, a fact you are very proud of. when he looks at it—his chest hurts. it’s hardly worn, looks like it’s in great condition—a couple of pins tacked on the side where your water bottle sits and a pocket for your badge and wallet in the front. he has to force himself to remember that you’re younger than any woman he’s seriously talked to before. his wife had been two months older than him, something he used to tease her about all the time. 

would you do that? would you tease him about the age difference? or would you prefer to ignore it, set it aside and try to forget about it? it’s a heavy question for breakfast after twelve hours on. 

you take him to another place that you like, too, closer to your apartment. you both eat bagels and sip on juice—orange for him, apple for you—and that’s where you learn more about his time as a medic. the breakfast burrito place near the park is where you tell him about how you’ve wanted to be a doctor since you were twelve, that you thought you’d had a calling for pediatrics and you’d even been the president of the peds club in medical school. and then you’d rotated through the emergency department third year and completely changed your plan.

you share a stack of waffles—chocolate chip with strawberries and whipped cream, at your insistence. he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to say no to you, not when you ask him so sweetly. he learns about your kitten and how you’ve always been scared that you’re going to do the wrong thing and until very recently, that you’ve just been playing pretend and you’ll get caught one day. 

and back at the diner is where he tells you about his wife. and you listen intently and nod and hold his hands when his voice breaks and run your fingers over his knuckles. you don’t let go of his hand the entire walk back to your apartment, and outside the door, you give him a hug. and the two of you stay like that for a while. that’s when you and jack kiss for the first time. slow, steady, a kiss that you’ve been dreaming of for months. it takes all the air out of your lungs and when you finally go inside, you realize your shoulder is a little wet and your lips are swollen. 

even hours later, jack can still taste apple juice on his tongue.

another week after that, you both answer the incoming trauma together. it’s six-thirty, so someone might come and take over, but it doesn’t work out that way. it’s a man who got t-boned at an intersection on the way to school drop-off. his wife and daughter are getting their cuts stitched, you think, and the patient had been slurring at you when he came in. thank god i put her behind her mom today. thank god, thank god- and jack does something he doesn’t always do. 

“get the mom, get the kid. let-let them talk.” 

and while you do the ultrasound and the e-fast and order for type and cross-match, you hear his daughter crying and a wife telling her husband how much she loves him. 

and you and jack try everything, everything you can think of, but sometimes, there’s just no coming back. he doesn’t even make it to surgery. jack walks out first, and then you, and you see his daughter turn away from the medical student that’s tending to her wound, standing up with hopeful eyes like you and jack have good news for her.

and you feel incredibly broken. your day hasn’t even started yet. and you lock eyes with jack for a second—just a second, and he stares back at you, hardened, in a way you haven’t seen before. you’ve both lost patients, lost patients together. sometimes it’s just different, in a way that you can’t explain. 

it must have been an hour, an hour and a half you spent in the trauma room. the entire day shift is there now. 

“head home, kid,” jack says. “i’ll talk to the family.” 

you bring your hand to his shoulder, pulling back until he turns to face you. 

“i’ll talk to the family.” 

it’s not an easy thing to take care of. he tries to tell you something but you shake your head at him, the hand on his shoulder lingering. people are looking, he thinks. but then again, he’s never cared that much. and in this moment, neither do you. 

you head over to the family, excuse the nurses and the student doing the stitches. you pull the curtains, and all he hears is sobbing. 

and when you come back out, he know you held it together in front of them, but your shoulders are shaking, your chin is wobbling. and in front of all those people, he brings you in for a hug. 

a real hug—like the one you had in front of your apartment. jack’s grip is tight on you, his arms caging you in, covering everything so you can’t see anything, can’t think about anything else but him. he rests his chin on your head, and closes his eyes, and then the two of you walk back to the lockers together. 

it’s not an easy thing to take care of him. and somehow, without ever telling you, you know all about how to do it. you know a lot of things about him. you know what this job does to him and that if he had gone to tell that family they lost their father and husband, that he would’ve ended up on the roof this morning. you know that jack abbot doesn’t halve any of his burdens, that he’s been afraid to rely on you like how you rely on him. to need you in the way that you need him. and you know that he won’t tell you what he needs, but you’ve gotten somewhat adept at figuring him out, just like how he has with you.

that day you leave holding hands. neither of you are in the right mood to go out for breakfast, so he elects to take you back to his apartment, an arm swung around your shoulder the entire walk there. you’re still a little teary-eyed, wiping them away at his front door while you head inside with him. 

you’ve never seen the inside of jack’s apartment, but he’s mentioned it in one of your many conversations. the record collection, his wife’s plants that he takes care of, the kitchen that’s too big for one person. 

the morning light hits the place beautifully. you stare out of his window while he heads to the kitchen, and you look around. first the records, then the plants, just like he’d described. there’s pothos and peace lily and little succulents along the windowsill. you look at the rest of it—incredibly fitting. a brown leather couch and a bookshelf with medical textbooks and a couple of mystery thrillers. you laugh to yourself, imagining jack curling up with one of those books at night.

when you turn back, he’s cracking eggs and laying out strips of bacon on the pan. you head over to the other side of the island, taking a seat on one of the stools. 

“no pancakes?”

“you’re gonna get cavities, y’know,” jack says, and you smile at him. 

“it’s worth it.”

“i love your smile the way it is right now. don’t go changing it on me.” and that does make you smile, staring at jack making breakfast for the two of you. it all feels so domestic. like you’re just walking into the life that was meant for you all along.

you’ve only been on the night shift for a couple of months. 

how could he have been so stupid? trying to fight what you did to him when it was like gravity, like the tide, like every other force in this world that he knows about and cannot control. you’re exactly where you’re meant to be, and so is he.

“mel texted me. she won the bet,” you say, setting your phone down. you lean against your hand, inhaling the smell of the first of many home-cooked meals you’ll eat, made by jack abbot.

“that so? i thought dana was a shoo-in.” 

“dana got the timing wrong. thought it’d happen during the night shift. but technically, you hugged me at eight-thirty, so..” 

“and what was the winning combo?” he stares at you, probably for the millionth time since you met him. and still, somehow, it’s enough that you feel it in your bones. you want to look away but you don’t. “you want toast, kid?” 

“yes please. she didn’t say, but i’ll ask. later.” 

you and jack settle at his wooden dining table ten minutes later, a plate full of protein and a promise that he’ll get you something sweet when you wake up later. jack lifts up his pant leg and takes off his prosthetic, setting it against the chair and relaxing a little bit more. you can see his shoulders loosen up. when he catches you staring, he smiles back.

“what?”

“nothing. do you have juice?”

“i think there’s some apple in there. i can-”

“no, i got it.” you get up, walking towards to the fridge. “i thought you didn’t like apple.” you know he doesn’t—he prefers orange. 

“i changed my mind.” you smile back at him, finding the apple juice and setting it on the counter. 

“cups?” 

“the cabinet on your right. no, your other right.”

you laugh and open it up, your laugh dying in your throat as you stare at two yellow mugs sitting front and center in the cupboard. you pick them up, bringing them over to the table with jack, and stare at him.

“oh,” he says. “i can explain. it’s incase-” but you don’t want to listen for another second, so you sit on his lap, pressing your lips together and forgetting all about breakfast and apple juice.

♡ thanks for reading!

[changeling-droneco]

Hi I'm that person who made the original post about "no doesn mean no" when a small bit of the mr beast company document was leaked, well, now we have the full document (thanks rosanna) so I'm going to go over it. Please note I am not a lawyer or a business man, I'm in college for psychology, so I might misunderstand some things or make the wrong conclusion. However, if this is a document made for the average mr. beast employee, if I cannot understand it properly, then im sure some employees also struggled

First of all, the opening paragraph. Like I get it's supposed to be like, to put people at ease, but

This is so strange? Like, first of all, this is your EMPLOYEE MANUAL, you should have run it through like, a spell check? Or had someone edit it? This is already incredibly unprofessional. Also the promising of a thousand dollars if you pass a quiz on it? It's bizarre and I'd love to see if it's an actual quiz.

Jimmy, hun, please god get an editor for this you're already trying my patience.

YOU SHOULD, you genuinely should, while interconnected these are all COMPLETELY different jobs, if you think you could write a separate manual for each branch you SHOULD

I'm sure I'm about to get an answer but what the fuck is the best YOUTUBE video then? If it's not comedy, its not production, its not quality, its not look, then what the hell is left? (monetization, it's monetization)

First of all, Jimmy, why are you using internet lingo in this, it's not a text message, this is not a place for, idc, and lol, and not capitalizing your headers correctly??? Also like I said, he's chasing trends for monetization, and also he's just wrong, there are plenty of hollywood level shows and the like on youtube. You fully admit you do not care about trends and actively rush things?

This is just fucked??? Like of COURSE IT MATTERS??? Results based company is bullshit, your employees that worked for five weeks and failed aren't "lesser" then James, it's a structural failure! They still worked for HOURS to try and succeed?? That shows merit and loyalty??? What the fuck???

Rosanna covers this one in her video but it's worth restating that this is FUCKED??? It's clear overwork "your job is your family" culture. Especially the use of the word obsessive? If you do not OBSESS over your work, you are considered poisonous. NO WONDER we have so many reports of employees doing things they feel is dangerous or unsafe, if they don't they're considered POISON to the company.

The formatting in this doc continues to fucking kill me, what are you DOING man GET AN EDITOR

This feels like such an easy fix of just...make the thumbnail after the fact? Or only make a rough draft of one first? Like if production makes a red bouncy castle instead of a yellow one, that feels like an easy fix to the thumbnail OR a communication error, and again, that's on management

A lot of the next stuff is like analytics stuff that for the most part I can't really speak on as someone who does not do any of this stuff. There are a few things though

Which like???? what??? a lull??? what do you mean "watching a video without even realizing they are watching a video??" That doesn't scream good or even mediocre content to me. If I'm actively tuning out as I watch a video, that's bad. Especially because there have been plenty of times I've been like half way through a video i go "hey this sucks actually" and click off. They actively want their audience to not be paying attention to the video so it runs all the way through, that's kinda pathetic.

I don't actually know if this is common or not in this industry, but as an outsider this seems INCREDIBLY micromanaging to me, to an immense degree.

Jimmy why are you putting swears in your employee manual?? sir??? and also something about this whole thing icks me out, I don't quite have the words but the whole emphasis on "im different im special no one else can be me" just reeks of something kind of manipulative

Why is production changing so much Jimmy??? Infinite growth is the mindset of a cancer cell Jimmy! This is incredibly unstable working conditions! Also again with the word obsession, if you take time out of your own day on your own time to watch hulu, that's seen as not being obsessed enough for the company. This is nonsensical!

Again, this is INSANELY micromanaging, and also so fucking unhinged??? "God himself couldn't stop you from making this video on time" is NOT a healthy work mindset, things HAPPEN!!!

In this segment he's actually talking normal things but I did just want to highlight his use of "freaken" who the hell puts that in an EMPLOYEE MANUEL

Again with the micromanaging, and the immense pressure on employees for problems OTHER people do. While he's not fully wrong that you should be in more contact with the contractor then the example, this is too much in the other direction. How much time in the day does he think people have?!

My kingdom for a fucking paragraph break dude, my fucking eyes. Also this is a lot of "im so great and do everything and you should do more for me and if i dont know something that's your fault" for something titled "I am not always right"

I'm getting lazy with my highlighting, but again, the micromanaging? If you're SOOO busy, the first question should be the ideal? it's quick and makes a quick decision, while the second one meanders and meanders

Again, Jimmy is pushing blame for HIS mistakes on OTHER PEOPLE. For again, a section called "i am not always right" hes taking NO accountability for that and just making the SAME excuses he's berating in other places.

I can't even tell what he means here AN EDITOR JIMMY

Autism Hell tm, PLEASE email me so I can DOUBLE CHECK IT, things in writing are SO useful

Again the language towards "C-Players" which as mr beast has said, are the people who y'know, are NORMAL employees who DON'T live and breathe this company

Okay first of all, a Lamborghini is like 300k so that's already A REALLY hard task, and i sure hope don't usually put typos in the tasks. SECOND of all the fact he thinks its okay to go "hey if the studio is literally on fire around you and you stop working to get the Lamborghini, you're not doing good enough" even if he claims it as a joke is NOT OKAY what the FUCK

We've covered this before, but to reiterate this segment is named after a sexual assault reference when it could have been named ANYTHING ELSE and harasses employees and pressures them to break rules, don't do that.

I'm not an editor, so maybe this is normal, but as someone from the outside it seems strange to put this much emphasis on dividing focus between so many videos at once.

Jimmy, hun, are you paying extra for this? Because if I'm an editor and you want me FILMING stuff then i want to be paid more for doing TWO jobs and I probably still wont be as skilled a TRAINED CAMERA MAN

First of all now THAT'S a type, consteatants. Also the fact they are aware that leaving contestants out in the sun is bad, why are you not doing MORE TO STOP IT BEYOND "hey maybe giving them three hours of heatstroke is bad, try only two next time"

Don't we love favoritism, more shitty unprofessional writings, and a completely unstable work environment?

If your people have to pull all nighters period something is wrong, and if something happens to an employees car that could have seriously hurt someone, i sure hope you care more then just "LOL FUNNY" Who's picking up the broken glass? Who's reimbursing the car owner? That one meme of "your first care should be commitment to the bit" is a MEME jimmy, it's not ACTUAL ADVICE

Ah shit I hit image limit, well, you've seen enough screenshots to know these are screenshots, we're almost done I'll put them in as quotes

"Let’s say you are tasked with finding us a castle to live in for 50 hours and while doing research you find a castle and a number to call for the owner. So you do call, and he answers. Only problem is he says he quit the castle renting business to pursue his dream of building a 100 foot tall lego catapult. You can obviously tell where i’m going with this. Ideally you’d recognize that’s badass as fuck and try to convince him to let us use it when we do find a castle. This is a bad example because it’s so obvious but if you’re doing your job right you will be doing an absurd amounts of calls and data collecting. While trying to complete your prios and prepare for the video you should always be on the lookout for new things you can bring to your creative team to inspire them. Because just like me, they don’t know what they don’t know and you can’t just say “i’m in production and i’m not very creative” because that’s literally the equivalent of saying I suck at what I do. You also need to apply this same mindset when problem solving because many people lose sight of this stuff when in the weeds. If a problem appears, always always always ask yourself if your new plan is whats best for creative, not just the easiest bandaid."

First of all it's really funny seeing all the red lines pop up, second of all this insistent blurring of everyone's job seems so strange? Again maybe this is normal, but it really feels like Jimmy wants everyone working every job, instead on focusing on what they are actually hired to do.

"What is the goal of our content?

To excite me. The goal of our content is to excite me. That may sound weird to some of you, especially if you’re new but to me it’s what’s most important. If I'm not excited to get in front of that camera and film the video, it’s just simply not going to happen."

That's fucking weirddddd, like I get that he's trying to be like "im authentic" but it always feels like a bad sign when the goal of a company is literally just "What amuses the boss" like...bad sign

"this is youtube and there are constraints. You know the video can’t be a minute so you’re obviously going to need a story to hold the viewers and there are rules to storytelling. Our audience is massive and because of that you have to be simple, for 50 million people to understand something it must be simple. Content can be anything but there is structure and rules that we must mold it into that I want to teach you about, because virality doesn’t just happen. Every frame of our videos will be seen by 10s of millions of people"

Gross

"I'd say the average MrBeast viewer is a teenage memer that likes video games."

Mr Beast is completely aware of his demographic and puts screen shots of it, he is very aware his stuff is aimed at kids, even when its about gambling or hiring people not around near minors

"I feel silly for having to write this but all the time I talk to 32 new people that have at most seen like 5 or 6 of our videos and it’s mind blowing that they don’t see a problem with that lol."

It's almost like your audience is teenage memer and that people who working here are not in fact, teenage memers.

"What you consume on social media, when you watch youtube, tv, the games you play, etc. are what I like to call your information diet.

How do you stay up to date on the latest memes? How do you know what’s going on with celebrities? What’s trending on youtube? What other creators are doing? What’s popping on tik tok? Your information diet. Consume things on a daily basis that help you write better content."

If my job as a creative writer had my boss tell me to have to see whats "popping on tik tok" as part of my job i'd quit also again, the micromanaging of someone's life as well pops up again, it's weirddd

"It’s okay for the boys to be childish

If talent wants to draw a dick on the white board in the video or do something stupid, let them. (assuming they know all the risks and arn’t missing context on why it’s not safe) People like when we are in our natural element of stupidity. Really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming and help them make content. Help them be idiots"

More favoritism

"If you’ve made it this far you are probably at least semi interested in this being your career. So I wanted to chat about it. Because if you're ambitious and want to dedicate your life to work, you picked the best company in America to do it at. I really don’t care to hoard a bunch of money and I deeply believe in rewarding the people that help this business get where it needs to be. But before I get into that, let’s talk about the future. As I write this we have 2 teams, that will grow to 4 in the next year. (and possibly 8 in the next 2 years but I can’t talk about that cause james will kill me haha). We need more leaders in the company. Weneed hard working, obsessive, coachable, intelligent, grinders that can step up and take some of these leadership spots over the next 2 years. Every single department has an opportunity for you to grow in and you’re in luck because we don’t do yearly reviews. We do whenever the fuck you want reviewes"

Lack of communication from management, and more emphasis on grinding and crunch culture, goodie, all while riddled with typos! God.

"I see a world where this company is worth billions and one day 10s of billions. And those of you that help build this will be rewarded. I want nothing more then for you to go all in, obsessive all day everyday, and become so god dam valuable this company can’t operate without you. And in return for becoming so valuable I hope to give you incredible experiences, a fun place to work, and of course, more money then you could ever dream of making at any other company."

I feel like I'm reading a fucking pyramid scheme document here, "youre so so valuable spend literally every minute of every day on this company haha" good GOD man

[asterafroditis]

𐔌 . ⋮ studying for finals .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱

☓┆ Third Years x gn! reader

𓏵 930 words

ᝰ.ᐟ headcanons, no pronouns used, fluff, once again, pardon the French in Rook's part; I just used a translator TT

In honor of finishing my finals hehe >< First Years are done! Second Years are done, too! feel free to like, reblog, or comment!

ᝰ.ᐟ masterlist

Cater’s cheerful on the outside, but you can tell he’s not super thrilled about studying, he’s more into vibes than vocab drills. Still, he sticks around because he wants to help.

He’ll suggest making colorful flashcards or recording voice memos to make memorizing more fun. He’s surprisingly organized when he has structure.

“Ughhh, do we really gotta go over this section again? Wait, no no—I'm not ditching! Just…brain break time?”

He encourages you with lighthearted jabs that never feel mean.

“Hey, look at you go! If you keep this up, I might have to start copying your notes!”

You’ll catch him checking your focus sometimes, because if you’re serious about passing, then he will be too.

Later he might post a vague Magicam story like “Studying with real ones hits different.” (It’s about you. You just don’t know it.)

─────────────────────────

Trey’s the ideal balance of calm and productive. Studying with him feels like sipping warm tea; you feel focused, safe, and cared for.

He’s great at helping you memorize, especially if it’s related to logic or patterns.

If your stomach growls, he’s already reaching for a snack box.

“Take a break. A fed brain is a smart brain.”

When you thank him, he smiles softly.

“Of course. I don’t mind helping you. You work hard, and that matters.”

You leave the session with a full mind and a fuller heart.

─────────────────────────

Leona acts like he’s so bored to be studying, but he’s sharper than he lets on.

The two of you probably end up studying while lying in the sun somewhere, textbooks propped open lazily.

He explains things with blunt efficiency and grumbles if you miss easy questions, but never actually leaves.

“Tch. I already told you how to do that. C’mon, you’re smarter than this.”

But the moment you get something right?

“... Heh, See? Knew you’d catch on.”

He never says it, but studying with you keeps him grounded. He’d rather be here than anywhere else.

─────────────────────────

Studying with Vil feels like an academic runway—organized, composed, and elegantly intense.

He has high expectations, but he’s not cold—he wants you to shine.

When you struggle, he gently adjusts your notes or posture, never harsh, just… precise.

“Hold yourself with pride. Intelligence and beauty go hand in hand.”

If you impress him, he offers genuine praise, touching his chest like a pleased director.

“Very good. See? I knew you were capable of excellence.”

You leave feeling like you just passed a personal trial. You want to be better around him.

─────────────────────────

Studying with Rook is an experience. He romanticizes everything; he calls your learning process “sublime,” your confusion “a poetic struggle,” and your notes “a canvas.”

He watches your face intensely as you read, commenting on how you furrow your brows in thought.

“Magnifique! Such raw focus—c’est inspirant!”

Somehow he knows random facts that are on the exam, and he quizzes you with flair.

He’ll dramatically recite questions like they’re lines in a play, then wink when you answer correctly.

It’s weirdly motivating… and kind of fun.

─────────────────────────

When you first ask to study with Idia, he panics. “W-Wait, like, in-person? Together? In the same room??” You can practically hear the error sounds in his head.

But he doesn’t say no. After a few awkward silences and you settling in quietly, he lets you stay.

Idia doesn’t really “study” in the traditional sense—he breezes through calculations and logic-based subjects like he’s speedrunning a strategy game.

He’ll mutter explanations more to himself than to you, but when you ask questions, he’ll blink and repeat it more clearly (and slowly).

“Oh. Uh… right, okay. So if you think of the equation like cooldown rotation, then this variable's basically your setup move…”

He never expects praise, so when you do praise him, he just about bluescreens. His hair flickers pink for 0.3 seconds before he turns away with a rushed “N-Not really… It’s not like I did anything cool…”

The study session ends in silence, but it’s not uncomfortable. Before you leave, he says, without looking up, “If you… ever need help again… I guess I’m around.”

It’s not an invitation, not exactly. But you both know you’ll be back.

─────────────────────────

Studying with Malleus is quiet, focused, and oddly soothing. He asks questions that feel more like philosophical riddles, and you both end up tangenting into historical lore.

He’s incredibly patient. If you stumble, he waits for you to find your footing.

“Take your time. Knowledge is not a race.”

He listens to your thoughts with full attention, occasionally giving this small, amused smile when you think aloud.

If you fall asleep mid-study, he quietly watches over you like a protective shadow.

You always leave feeling like you learned something deeper than academics.

─────────────────────────

Studying with Lilia is unpredictable. Sometimes he’s wise and composed, helping you connect concepts like a veteran mage. Other times, he’s humming pop songs and offering “ancient” study tips that are 500 years out of date.

“In my day, we wrote essays with quills made from wyvern feathers! So much character…”

He makes learning fun, even if he occasionally leads you wildly off-topic.

He praises your efforts with a proud chuckle.

“You’ve improved so much! I’d say I’m proud, but I’ve always been proud of you.”

You never know what to expect—but it’s always a lovely time.

[unicornpopcorn14]

Chuuya's reaction to Dazai getting hurt during the Lovecraft fight has always been so interesting to me...

Because it's the kind of worry you'd never expect from a character as gruff as Chuuya, who had displayed nothing but hostility towards Dazai so far. Usually, characters that are labelled as "angry" or "anger issues" (which Chuuya is much more complex than that but you get my point) act more as a tsundere type of way when the one they "don't care about" gets hurt. And show their care in very, very subtle ways (ex. their eyes widen, their mouth parts and closes again, etc) before putting up their front once more.

Chuuya, however, is open, and vocal about it. His worry is clear not only to us, but to Dazai himself, the one he shouldn't be displaying the concern to (as per the cliche). Shouldn't it be some sort of secret that Chuuya does care? Isn't that what skk's dynamic has been shaping up to be until now?

I'm telling you- the way my mind blanked when Chuuya just casually.... showed concern not once, but twice, was a sight to see.

Besides, the context makes it much more confusing, because Dazai isn't some rookie, and Chuuya knows that more than anybody. He was the youngest executive in Port Mafia's history, of course he can handle a hit or two. Of course he'd seen him handle a hit or two, sometimes without batting an eye.

Heck, Chuuya himself was hurling Dazai like a ragdoll in their reunion, which was their last meeting. And you could argue that he was going easy on him, but Dazai has mostly withstood the same damage (as far as I could see), and Chuuya was as bitter as ever.

So that kind of contradicts both what we knew of Chuuya so far, and how their dynamic was shaped to be. I mean, that just makes Chuuya a hypocrite, yeah? What makes him care now, all of a sudden? What makes him care at all?

Well, to me, this backasswards reaction implies one (or more) of the following:

- Dazai rarely got physically hurt during their partnership and thus this is an unexpected thing for him to see (during a mission).

- The four years of separation made Chuuya unsure of how much Dazai can withstand physically now. Also the fact that he isn't in the mafia anymore, aka fighting enemy organizations on the weekly, would naturally make Dazai lose his touch in a way, what prompts Chuuya's reaction.

- Dazai getting taken off guard took him off guard which led to panic. Especially since the situation was (momentarily) out of their depth. Seriously wtf even was Lovecraft?

- During the dungeon scene Dazai was an enemy, while in the Lovecraft fight he was as an ally. The difference might be significant to Chuuya.

- This has always been Chuuya's reaction to Dazai getting hurt regardless of the situation.

- "Only I can hurt him like that" ahh logic

- Asagiri was still experimenting with their dynamic and thus there are some inconsistencies.

This scenario didn't play out again (after their reunion) for me to exactly determine which one is more plausible, but it is 100% canon for Chuuya to shamelessly show his concern and run to Dazai to check on him before properly dealing with their opponent, which I find to be such an appealing layer to their dynamic, and a good spin on the type of character he gets stereotyped as.

Bonus: Dazai also becomes a softy when Chuuya's hurt, especially post corruption. Dead Apple alone displays that multiple times.

All in all, Skk are doing a terrible job at maintaining their 'hostile' and 'antagonistic' relationship post their reunion. Freaks.

[zyafics]

PLAY FAKE | 15

MASTERLIST (Series)

Pairing — Rafe Cameron x Female Reader .ᐟ

Summary — When Rafe needs to secure a girlfriend for his father to see him as a viable candidate for Cameron Development, he enlists the help of a bartender who wants nothing to do with him.

Content — 18+, smut, angst, depictions of jealousy + aggression, emotional turmoil, mild descriptions of violence, and usage of drugs.

Rafe always struggled with noise.

It was always too much or too little. But silence at Tannyhill was something he had grown accustomed to: the steady hum of the air conditioner wavering between seasons, the chirps of cicadas outside his balcony, and the soft waves crashing on his beachfront estate. These noises are familiar to him, setting his routine for the day.

Not Sarah.

It's unfair to say Sarah is an anomaly. He grown up with her his entire life, and her being in the house wasn't an uncommon sound. However, after she ditched the family to go slumming it with the Pogues, there was a lightness in the air from her absence. With Wheezie being off at academy, Rose and Ward often traveling for work, Rafe gotten used to being alone.

Now, the droning silence is met with a muffled pop music blasting from Sarah's bedroom. Given that her room sits adjacent to his, it forces Rafe to hear every screeching lyric, every grating beat, and every obnoxious sound, reminding him of his sister's existence.

Solitude is something he wishes he could return to.

"Can you turn it down over there?" Rafe pounds on the shared wall, but the volume doesn't lower. In fact, if he's imagining it or the anger bubbling beneath the surface is giving him more clarifying senses, it gets louder. With gritted teeth, Rafe shakes off the nuisance and returns to his task.

Her presence agitated him. It's one thing for her to come home and disrupt his routine, it's another when her return jeopardize his future. As much as he likes to pretend it doesn't—and not think about it—he knows it does.

For the longest time, they fought for their father's affection, especially after their mother left. Sarah had always received it, and Rafe had to always fight to stay in the limelight. But it isn't true to say he hates her. There were times where Rafe considered himself closest to Sarah. She was the one who shared his childhood, separated by a measly three-year age gap, and she was the one who remembered their mother. They have sibling spats, but it never pushed to the level it is now.

Now, it's as if they can't seem to stand each other's existence. To Rafe, she's a reminder of all the bitter favoritism their father offered her. To Sarah, Rafe is the [reminder] of someone who can't seem to move on.

Once Rafe packed, he steps out of his bedroom—only to collide with Sarah.

"Watch it, Rafe," she snaps, holding a ceramic bowl in one hand, while collecting her wet hair in the other. Her eyes narrowed with disdain, before she turns her heel and head to the stairwell.

His jaw ticks.

Rafe hates how easy it was for her to come home. To be accepted. When Rafe was kicked out of the house, he had to beg his father to grant his return. And that was just for an addiction. Imagine how much worse it could've been had Rafe skipped off and abandoned his family for a fleeting puppy romance.

It just wasn't fair.

Finally, he snaps. "What are you doing here, Sarah?"

She halts at the top of the stairs, twisting her head at the accusation. Rafe uses this opportunity to approach her. "Why are you back home?"

Ever since she returned, he hadn't had a proper conversation with Sarah. Not that he wanted to. He's been so preoccupied with you and everything going on with Aaron, he hadn't bothered interrogating the origin of his sister's sudden homecoming. Now, it's as if he can't stop.

Sarah twists her delicate features. "Last I'd checked, this was my house too."

"It was your house," Rafe corrects. "Before you abandoned it for that little Pogue boyfriend of yours. What happened? Couldn't cut roughing it?"

She huffs, tightening her jaw and glances away. "Dad said I can move back in,"

"Dad says anything to give his little princess what she wants,"

"What's your deal, Rafe?" She demands, nostrils flaring at his abrupt attack. "Are you that mad I'm coming home?"

She made him sound unreasonable. He wasn't. "Was it home when you ran away to fuck your little boyfriend? Was it home when Dad and Rose tried to contact you, only to receive radio silence? Was it home when you left our little sister?"

"It's as if you give two shits about Wheezie,"

"Of course I give a shit about her," he growls, unable to keep the emotions from his voice, "She's my family. And frankly, she was the only family I had when you left."

At the end of the day, it wasn't just the rivalry that got to him. It was the fact that he was abandoned. It was the fact that he found satisfaction in his placement of their Kildare society, and he had his sisters with him—only for one to skip off and choose to live on the rough side of town. That being with them was easier than being with him.

All he asks is loyalty.

His chest heaves by the end of his sentence, but there's a lightness to his heart. He hadn't realize how much he needed to get that off. He needed to say his piece. Hands bundled into fists by his side, a sudden draw of blood tastes on his tongue.

Silence eclipses their argument, saved for the choking sputters of the air conditioner, before Sarah answers calmly. "John B and I broke up."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Sarah says solemnly, all lost of her previous energy, and she looks down. "Guess that makes you feel better, huh?"

"I didn't say that."

"You might as well have," Sarah declares, as if she could read his heart. "Me failing. Me losing my relationship. Everything in my life going to shit—I bet you're satisfied."

That isn't true. There's not even any resemblance of satisfaction curling in his chest, but a bleeding ache of hurt. Did Sarah really, truly, thinks so lowly of him?

It makes him defensive. "If this was the attitude you had with John B, it's no wonder he dumped you."

Sarah scoffs, "here it is."

"Am I wrong?" Rafe snaps, charged with misplaced hurt. "And now you get to come back like nothing has changed, and sneak your way into the family business as if you had any fucking right to it."

Sarah stares at him, jaw slackens, before realization dawns on her. "Is that what this is about?" She begins. "You're pissed because Dad asked me for help?"

"You never wanted it," he says lowly, but he can't seem to say the other part. That if his dad could pick between them to run his legacy, it would be her. But he is the one who wants it.

"Dad asked me," Sarah emphasizes, trying to get Rafe to understand.

"You could've said no."

"How could I?" She demands. "I have no place—I left for God's sake, and now I'm crawling back with my tail between my legs and Dad asked me to help with one case. How could I say no to that?"

It's so easy for her. Rafe took time, energy and effort to get enough approval from their father to give consultations. Sarah got it as a placement test to prove herself. She's going to ruin it, he thought bitterly, and he knows he should feel sympathy for all the shit she's been through, but all of it dissipates in the waste of his anger.

It's his birthright; he deserves it.

Rafe suddenly says. "You should go."

"Go where, Rafe?" She orders, "and for what? So you can live here with that little girlfriend of yours? It's not like you're going to last anyways."

Rafe is struck by Sarah bringing you into the conversation.

"You don't know what you're talking about,"

"She's a Pogue," Sarah emphasizes mockingly, in the same tone that Rafe used. He hates that too. "Why do you think John B and I broke up?"

"Because he couldn't stand your attitude of yours?"

Sarah scoffs, shoulders unwinding. "No, because he had other things he cared about more than me."

"She's not like that."

"You can't honestly believe that," Sarah says with a demeaning scoff, "They're all like that. It's in their blood. John B wanted something more and he put me behind. She's going to do the same to you."

He doesn't believe that. He refuses to. "Maybe you got the wrong end of the stick."

"Maybe you're blinded by love," she retorts easily, without missing a beat. "Do you honestly believe she had no ulterior motives with you? What did she even see in you in the first place?"

Rafe wanted to argue in your defense that you didn't see him as some cash cow. But he realizes he can't. Because there was an another motive for the beginning of your relationship—your bar. Albeit fake, it's all the same.

He doesn't know if it still stands.

"She's not like that," he repeats, but his voice is weaker in conviction. Sarah merely shrugs.

"Whatever you say," she says, taking a step down the stairwell. "You'll see."

—

After his fight with Sarah—which Rafe isn't even sure he won—he heads over to your bar. He knows he should be able to process his feelings without seeking an emotional clutch, but there's an unbeatable calamity that comes from being in your presence.

Upon entry, the little bell chimes, and you lift your head to greet the customer, only for a wide smile to spread across your face. He steps in to meet you halfway at the counter.

"Hi," you greet softly, reaching out to stroke his shoulder, and all tension in his muscles unwinds.

"Hey," he leans down to kiss your lips, his hand finding the small of your back. "Ready to go?"

You shake your head. "Can't. I have to stay until the last customer leaves."

Rafe glances around the bar. While mostly vacant, it hosts a couple of lingering patrons who are drinking and watching the channel on the television—no sense of urgency behind their necessary leave.

He turns back to you, "You're the boss."

"Yes, and the boss says no," you say with a playful grin.

Rafe's mind is whirling with thoughts. He just wants to have you alone, and contemplating a solution, his mouth lowers to the shell of your ear to ask, "How would you react if I kicked everyone out?"

"Mad?" You offer.

He groans. "Thought so."

You laugh, and the sweet sound grounds him. It's the same laugh as before; the melodic, light, and airy sound, filled with spirit and soul. It's the same sound he heard in your bar that day; now, in the same place, at a different time. He hadn't realized then how much he was going to love it.

"What's wrong?" You question. "Do you want to go home that bad?"

He shakes his head. "It's not that," he murmurs, his hand sliding up your low-cut work shirt, grabbing the hems to pull it down. "I just want to be alone with you."

"You always want to be alone with me,"

"I want you." He declares definitively, so full of totality that it sends a buzz of warmth straight to your heart. You grin, steeping on your tiptoes to give him another kiss.

This time, he savors it—grabbing the back of your neck to hold you in place as he laps over your bottom lip, tasting you on his tongue until it's swollen. When you reluctantly pull away, needing to get back to work, your hand trails down to grab his. "Wanna help me serve?"

"I only know how to be served," he answers.

"Kinky?"

Rafe smirks. "Let's go to the backroom and find out."

You laugh again, pulling him behind the counter. You hand him the first glass and instruct him to behave because he had a tendency to grab your ass, pull you in posessively between serving customers, and surprise you with kisses.

Despite this, Rafe follows your orders. While he pretends not to care, he secretly loves the enthusiasm behind each demand. The sharp wit you show while bossing him around reminds him why he's attracted to you in the first place.

After recruiting Rafe as your second-in-command, the job becomes much easier. You don't know if it's the second set of hands, or because every customer who asks for a refill is met with a piercing glare that silently warns them to leave, but you end up going home earlier than expected.

By the time you arrive at the house, your sisters lift their sleepy gazes off the television, jump off their seats, and come running—tackling you and Rafe into a hug.

He didn't even have the time to set his duffel bag down before Amara nearly knocked him off his feet, clutching his legs like lifelines while she recounted her day at hourly intervals. However, he merely chuckles at the sight, running his hand through the mess of her hair, while giving his utmost attention. He even asked for follow-up questions about her day, which led to a minute-by-minute breakdown.

You watch with tenderness, recognizing Rafe's presence in your home. He has changed the very fabric of your family. Usually, getting your sisters ready for bed takes ages, filled with bemoaned complaints about wanting to stay up past bedtime, but now, they're nearly obedient.

Sitting on the couch, while your sisters are crisscrossed on the floor, you brush your sister's hair and braid them; Rafe does the same. He's steadily detangling Amara's hair, afraid to hurt her sensitive head, while she rattles on about nonsensical things. Despite struggling for the first couple of times with braiding, and reducing them to a magic happenstance that appears out of thin air, Rafe slowly learns the tool of the trade, perfecting it to Amara's liking.

When you finally send them off to bed, you and Rafe return to the couch. Your head leaned against the backseat, releasing a slow sigh, before turning to face Rafe. Both of you made the same move, at the same time, and it caused a smile to light your expression.

"Tired?" He proposes gently.

You shake your head. Truthfully, you are. It's been a long shift, on top of a long week, but being in the presence of your boyfriend melts away all the exhaustion. You just want a few more moments, alone, with him.

Making the bold choice, you climb onto his lap. With your knees on either side of his hips, your arms looped around his neck, and your chin tilted slightly downward to meet his gaze.

Rafe tilts his head slightly to the side, amusement fliting his features. "Hi, pretty girl."

"Hi," you say timidly, heart lunging out of your chest, and desire pools in your stomach. Rafe watches you for a few seconds as your mind fills with choices, but all of them are silenced when you lower yourself to kiss him.

At first, it surprises Rafe. He assumed you didn't have the energy to start anything, after the long hours, but with you deliciously placed on his lap like his own personal meal, he couldn't help the pang of need stirring within. His hands find your waist, drawing you close, while his fingers splayed across your rode-up top, grazing your bra.

Pulling away, just slightly for air, his mouth hovers over yours to ask, "What's this for?"

"I miss you," you mumble a breathy answer, before recapturing his lips. This time, he has no objective. His hands slide under your bra, gliding across your heated skin and raising goosebumps in its wake.

For the next few minutes, it was just a lazy makeout with quiet groans and moans. Your core rocks gently over his lap, coming into contact with his growing erection, until it becomes impossible to ignore. Your lips pull to a teasing smile, and Rafe catches it, "Know how I feel about you now?" He asks hotly against your swollen lips.

"You're so obsessed with me," you declare.

"I am."

You grind against him, finding the right spot that allows your panties to graze his hardened cock underneath his jeans. Rafe groans into your mouth, the low sound sending a shiver down your spine, while timid flutters of pleasure curl in your stomach.

"I need you," you murmur against his lips, kissing down his jaw to the column of his neck. When your hands find the button of his jeans, you lift your innocent gaze to ask, "Can I blow you?"

This fucking girl.

Wordlessly lifting his hips, you remove his pants and briefs until his cock springs free. Half of you want to push your panties to the side and sink on his length, but the other half wants to edge yourself. Sliding to the floor, with your knees scraping the carpet, your hands timidly wrap around his girth.

"Fuck," he groans lowly, tipping his head back when you dribble spit on his tip and rub his cock, the grip of your soft hands feels good, but not enough. "Baby, put your mouth on it."

"Say please," you tease.

"Please," he begs, and satisfaction reverberates through you as a hand drops, and his cock enters your mouth, your tongue lapping over the crown. With the other hand wrapped around the base, pumping him, you slide down his length until he touches the back of your throat.

Rafe lets out a guttural groan.

His hands slide through your hair as he pushes you deeper, and you gag, the vibration sending jolts of pleasure up his spine.

His words come out choked and unsteady as you quicken up the pace; pumping and sucking him off. You hollow your cheeks to produce suction and rub him with your spit until his cock twitches in your mouth.

"Fuck," he moans again, hips lifting off the seat as your free hand presses down his thigh. You go faster, and faster until spurts of hot cum hits the base of your throat and Rafe finishes inside your mouth.

He grabs your arm and hauls you to his lap, greeting you with a well-deserved kiss. When he pulls away, forehead resting against yours, breathing heavily, he whispers, "I wanna be inside of you."

You trailing your thumb down his jaw. "Will you beg for it?"

"Sweetheart," he warns.

"That's not a very nice tone," you tease, pulling away as punishment, but Rafe grips your arm tighter. Quickly standing, Rafe lifts you up and off his lap, your legs wrap around his torso as he carries you off.

Rafe enters your bedroom and locks the newly-fixed door. Everything else moves within a blur—Rafe pulling off the remainder of his clothes before removing yours. Your giggles echo the chambers as you run away from him, only for Rafe to easily snatch you by the waist and throw you onto the bed.

Your back hits the sheets as you land with a thump, and laughter escapes. Rafe's warm body covers yours as his hot mouth attacks you with kisses, nibbling on your bottom lip, pulling the plush between his teeth as a sensual penalty.

His hands slowly descend between your parted thighs, finding your slick core waiting for him.

"You're so wet for me," he murmurs against your swollen lips. "Does sucking me off turn you on?"

You nod eagerly, putting his mouth back on yours before his fingers spread your wet folds. You whimper, clenching around nothing, as he skillfully strokes your pussy, teasing your swollen nub, but not quite satisfying you. "Rafe."

"Yes, baby?"

"Inside," you command, but your voice wavers from the sparks of pleasure he's eliciting.

"Inside," he mocks, "inside where?"

Your core clenches around nothingness. His cockiness mixed with his strokes causes your mind to short-circuit. "Rafe, please," you beg because that's all you seem to be able to say.

"Say it again," he orders, rolling your clit between his thumb and pointer finger. Your hips lift to chase the feeling, only for him to push it down firmly. "Ask me politely."

"Baby," you whimper, capturing the nape of his neck and dragging his mouth back to yours, "please fuck me."

Rafe grins, before removing his hand. The emptiness of his touch leaves much to be desired before you feel the tip of his cock grazing your slick, and he sinks into you, inch by inch.

You gasp at the intrusion before the familiar buzz of pleasure warms your stomach and Rafe begins to rock his hips.

"You feel so fucking perfect," Rafe says through gritted teeth. Stealing your breath away with each thrust, the way his cock presses right against your cervix, the way your walls flutter around him as he quickens his pace. Rafe pushes your legs onto his shoulders and kisses one of your ankles as he fucks you.

"Go faster," you order, nails digging into your sheets. Rafe grins, fastening his thrusts as he watches the way his cock enters and leaves your pussy—over and over again, the way you swallow him whole. Slowly, the build of your release coils inside.

Moans and whimpers leave your lips, each sound becoming more desperate, and incessant, and needy until you're tipped over the edge and come crashing down.

Rafe hasn't come, and plowing into your overstimulation, he fucks you until he releases himself, finishing inside of you.

When Rafe pulls out, he collapses into the space beside you, breathing heavily. In the clarity of post-sex, his mind returns to the one place he wishes it doesn't.

Despite everything, despite being with you, Rafe still has Sarah's words in the back of his mind. He doesn't want to, and he has faith in you, but something about his sister's words is everlasting and terrifying. It has him locked in thought, and it appears on his face, because when you turn your head to look at him, you ask, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answers quickly.

"Rafe..."

"It's fine," he declares. "Nothing important, I swear."

By the look on his face, you know that's not true, but Rafe has always been the type of person who doesn't talk unless they're ready, and you don't want to push further onto the subject.

"Okay," you agree, switching gears. "Then, I have some news."

Rafe tilts his head, especially after hearing the bubbling of excitement contained in your voice. "Yeah?" He asks, turning his body towards you, and pulling you into his arms. "What is it?"

Grinning, you announce, "I got a catering gig."

Your joy is contagious, and he mirrors it with a soft smile. "Really? For who?"

"Sarah."

All of the air in Rafe's lungs goes stale. His shoulders become rigid, and the daze from the sex disappears. Sobriety covers his features, but you're too excited about the announcement to catch the subtle shift.

"What?" Rafe's astonishment is light, almost undetectable, and it works. You don't catch it—neither his tone nor the fall of his expression. Your happiness bleeds into ignorance, and you gloss over the details.

"Yeah. Your dad asked me to cater for her birthday coming up," you explain. "I was contemplating saying no, but the gig pays really well, and since a lot of Kooks attend these parties, I had to agree."

The thing about Camerons' birthday extravaganzas is that they're not an exclusive event; it's a parade. Especially with the return of Ward Cameron's golden child, Rafe isn't surprised that his father pushed for a big celebration. However, dread suddenly fills his veins at the thought that this could mean something more.

Not just the fact that it was Ward soliciting your service, but the fact that Sarah had agreed to it. This has to be some kind of power move; a play for her to demonstrate that she holds more control over Rafe than he wants her to.

You continue to talk about your plans, specifically what drinks you'll be serving and what menu you'll have. But Rafe stopped listening. His mind is elsewhere, his thoughts eluding him, and amid a rambling that he isn't registering, he suddenly interrupts you to say, "Don't take it."

You blink in surprise. Your brows pull together in confusion, and when you finally turn to Rafe, all sense of amusement is gone. "Why?"

He couldn't tell you. He couldn't explain that the reason was because of him. It's selfish, but he needs it. If you take it, it means you're proving her right, and him wrong. It means that if she's right about this thing, she must be right about the others too.

He doesn't want to put you in this position, but he needs to know your loyalty.

"Just don't take it."

Now, you're more confused. You pull away slightly from his grip to evaluate his face, trying to figure out if this is some sort of joke. But Rafe doesn't deliver a gotcha! His expression is stern, and his request is absolute. Is he really asking you to forgo one of the biggest gigs of your life?

"Why?"

He shakes his head. "I'll pay you."

Flabbergasted, you say. "What?"

"I'll pay you double what they're paying you—just don't take it."

Your mouth drops to an unsteady frown. "That's not the point."

He doesn't know how to argue. He wants to be happy for you, but he can't. It's Sarah. It's his sister. He believes this is some ulterior motive to break you two apart. "Just... Just don't take it. Please."

"Why?" You ask again, pressingly, and agitation ticks at his jaw.

"Can't you just listen to me?" He snaps. "Don't take it."

This time, you withdraw. It isn't the aggression that frightens you, you've seen those sides of Rafe before. But this time, it's different. This time, it feels more tormented and frantic. Off.

You don't answer, recognizing this atmosphere as too tense. You don't want to get into a fight, and you don't know what to say that'll satisfy him. "I'm..." You begin, unsure of where the sentence is heading. You glance at the door. "I'm going to take a shower."

You get up from bed and grab some clothes before heading into your ensuite bathroom, locking the door with a soft click. Rafe remains in your room, unmoved. When the sound of water runs, he sighs heavily, glancing around the space, at the door, but nothing helps.

Fear creeps over him like a second skin. Daunting, present, and perpetual. You didn't give him an answer, and honestly, he doesn't know if you will.

But he knows one thing.

Sarah's right.

And if Sarah's right, then that can only lead to one conclusion.

He's going to lose you.

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Navigation — Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16

[sxcretricciardo]

impossible (l.n) - pt.2

part one here

-

A few days after your karting session with Lando, Max, and Magui, you were scrolling through your phone when an article popped up with a headline that immediately caught your eye: “Lando Norris and Magui Corceiro: A New Romance?”

You swallowed hard as you skimmed through the article, looking at the images. Lando and Magui, in their matching karting suits, looking like they belonged together. It wasn’t jealousy—it wasn’t even disappointment. It was just a quiet, unexpected sadness that you couldn’t quite shake. You had always been there for Lando, and while you were glad to see him happy, seeing it this way, with everyone knowing, made it feel… different.

You sat there for a moment, your phone in your hands, staring at the screen. You weren’t upset with him—not at all. He deserved to be happy. And you weren’t going to let it show.

But still, the shift in everything—the fact that it was now out there for the world to see—stung in ways you weren’t prepared for.

A notification from Max suddenly popped up on your screen.

Max: “I saw the article. You okay?”

You hesitated for a moment, fingers hovering over the keys. Max knew. He knew about your feelings for Lando, and he had always been there for you. He was perceptive—too perceptive sometimes.

You typed back quickly, trying to keep it light and casual.

You: “Yeah, I’m fine. Just didn’t expect it to go public like that. It’s all a little overwhelming, I guess.”

Max responded almost immediately.

Max: “I know it’s a lot. But you’re happy for him, right? I know you care about him a lot, but I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

You bit your lip, trying to keep your emotions in check. You were happy for Lando. You really were. But it didn’t change the fact that you had feelings for him too, and it hurt a little to see him with someone else—especially with the whole world watching.

You: “Yeah, of course I’m happy for him. He deserves to be happy. I’m just… adjusting, I guess. It’s different now, that’s all.”

Max seemed to sense that there was more to it, and his reply was soft, understanding.

Max: “I know. It’s tough. You don’t have to pretend like it’s easy. I get it. But you’ve always been there for him, and you always will be. That won’t change.”

You smiled faintly at his message. Max always knew how to make you feel better, even when you didn’t want to admit that something was bothering you.

You: “I know. Thanks, Max. Really. It’s just a little weird now, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”

Max: “You’re strong. And you’re a great friend to him. You’ll find your way through it. I’m here if you need to talk or do something to take your mind off it.”

You: “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

You put your phone down, taking a deep breath. You had told yourself you were okay with this. You really were happy for Lando. But seeing it all out there like that, with the world knowing the relationship wasn’t something you were prepared for.

You weren’t going to let it affect your friendship with him. That was the most important thing. But deep down, you couldn’t help but feel the shift, the sting of realizing that Lando was happy with someone else—and that the world now knew it.

Still, you would find a way to be happy for him. It would just take some time.

-

It had been a month since the article about Lando and Magui went public. For the first week, you kept yourself together. You were happy for Lando, really happy for him. But there was a quiet ache you couldn’t shake. You didn’t want to admit it, not even to yourself, but seeing them together, knowing they were so happy, brought up feelings you hadn’t fully acknowledged.

Instead of talking about it, you retreated. Writing had always been your escape, and so you threw yourself into it. You locked yourself away in your apartment, your studio, pouring your emotions into music. Every lyric, every beat seemed to reflect the swirling sadness in your chest. You didn’t even realize how much time had passed as you worked endlessly on a new album. Each song seemed to tell a different version of your feelings—fragments of joy, sorrow, frustration, and longing.

You threw yourself into the music so completely that the world outside of your apartment felt distant. Lando’s voice, the sound of Max’s laughter, the noise of the busy streets outside—none of it seemed to matter. Music became your world, and you could lose hours or even entire days in your creative space. But what you didn’t realize was that, in the process of losing yourself to your art, you had also lost touch with everything else.

You had forgotten to check the time. Forgotten to answer messages from friends. Forgotten to even step outside. The only thing that mattered was the album, the only thing that kept you from spiraling deeper into the sadness that lingered beneath the surface.

But then one evening, as you were adjusting a chord in your latest track, you heard a knock at your door.

You frowned, pausing the music, and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was past 8 p.m. Who would be at your door now?

You walked over, opening it to find Max standing there, an eyebrow raised, concern evident on his face.

“Max?” you said, half surprised, half embarrassed. “What are you doing here?”

Max’s expression softened when he saw you. He’d always been able to read you better than anyone.

“Just checking in,” he said gently. “Haven’t heard from you in a while. Everything okay?”

You forced a smile, though it felt weak. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just been busy working on my album.”

Max glanced inside, his eyes scanning the dimly lit apartment. The place was quiet—too quiet—and there was something about the mess of papers, scattered notebooks, and tangled cords that made him pause.

“You’ve been locked in here, haven’t you?” he said, his tone knowing but not accusatory. “You haven’t even been outside?”

You hesitated, running a hand through your hair. “I… I didn’t realize how much time had passed. I’ve been working on the album. Just trying to… I don’t know. Forget for a while.”

Max stepped into your apartment, looking around at the sea of unfinished tracks and scribbled lyrics on the walls. He was speechless for a moment. “Wait… a whole album? In just a month?” His tone was a mix of disbelief and admiration. “I know you’re good, but damn. That’s impressive.”

You gave him a faint smile, feeling a little embarrassed. “I guess I just… I needed to get it out, you know? I had all these feelings, and writing was the only way to deal with them.”

Max took a closer look at your space—songs and lyrics scattered everywhere. “This is… a lot, (Y/N). Have you even stopped to take a break? You’ve been isolating yourself from everyone.”

You shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of just how much time you’d spent holed up inside. “I guess I got a little lost in it. I didn’t realize how much time had gone by until now.”

Max’s expression softened as he walked over to you, placing a hand on your shoulder. “You can’t keep running from it. I get that you’ve been hurting, but you’ve got to face it eventually. You’re not going to find peace hiding in music forever.”

You nodded slowly, but before you could respond, Max’s eyes flicked to the side. He noticed your phone sitting on the desk, and gently nudged you in that direction. “Hey, you should check your messages. You’ve been MIA for weeks. Everyone is worried about you.”

You hesitated, your stomach doing a little flip as you reached for your phone. The screen lit up with dozens of notifications. You had missed so many messages.

You scanned through them—texts from Max, from your other friends, even some calls from your family. Everyone had been checking in, making sure you were okay.

But as you scrolled through, you couldn’t help but notice the one person who wasn’t there.

Lando.

There were no texts from him. No missed calls. No check-ins. Not even an emoji or a random “hey.” It struck you like a gut punch, and you couldn’t help the wave of disappointment that washed over you. You had been avoiding so many things, but now, seeing that Lando hadn’t reached out, it felt like one more thing you weren’t prepared to face.

You quickly pushed the phone away, trying to hide the hurt that had crept up inside you. Max noticed immediately.

“Lando didn’t text you?” Max asked, the concern in his voice evident.

You shrugged, trying to keep things casual. “I guess he’s been busy with everything going public. It’s fine. He’s probably just caught up in… you know… all of that.”

Max’s brow furrowed. “He’s your best friend, (Y/N). He should’ve reached out. Maybe he’s just waiting for you to talk to him, but I can’t believe he’d just leave you hanging like that.”

You shook your head, trying to brush it off. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Maybe he’s just got a lot going on. I’m not mad, really.”

But deep down, you were. The silence from Lando made the whole situation feel heavier. The weight of everything, all of your feelings, felt like it was suffocating you, and you didn’t know how to escape it.

Max could see it in your eyes. “Hey… don’t shut everyone out, alright? You’ve got people who care about you—me, your friends, your family. And you know Lando cares, even if he’s busy. He’s still your best friend.”

You nodded again, trying to convince yourself that it would be okay. That it was just a phase, a moment in time that would pass. But the emptiness in your chest remained.

Max gave you a small, comforting smile. “Take a break, (Y/N). You’ve got a lot of people who care about you. And… maybe it’s time to face things head-on.”

You sighed, finally feeling the full weight of your own emotions. Maybe Max was right. Maybe it was time to stop hiding.

-

The past month had been a blur. After all the emotions you’d been burying, you finally found the courage to share your music with the world. Your album was finished, and with it, came the announcement: You were going on a worldwide tour. It felt like the next big step, the culmination of everything you had poured your heart into. It was exciting, overwhelming, and, for a moment, it gave you the distraction you needed from everything else.

You worked tirelessly, finalizing dates, rehearsing, and preparing for the biggest performance of your career. The adrenaline, the rush of knowing you would be performing in front of thousands of people—that was the kind of escape you needed. You weren’t going to think about Lando. You weren’t going to dwell on the way he’d pulled away. You were going to focus on your music, your career, and moving forward.

But there was a part of you that still couldn’t fully let go.

A week before the first show, you stared at your phone. You’d been meaning to text Lando for days. You hadn’t spoken to him since that night Max came over, and the absence of his texts still stung. You didn’t want to admit it, but it hurt that he hadn’t reached out, especially when you had tried to be supportive of him and Magui from the start.

You stared at the screen for a moment before finally typing a message.

You: “Hey Lando, I’m going on tour soon, and I wanted to invite you and Magui to one of my concerts! Would love to see you both there, if you can make it.”

You hesitated before hitting send. Maybe it was too much. Maybe it was awkward now. But you pressed the button anyway, trying to convince yourself that it was a friendly gesture. Nothing more.

You waited. Minutes passed. Then hours. And still, nothing.

You tried to shake it off. He was probably busy. Maybe Magui was keeping him occupied. It didn’t mean anything, right?

But deep down, you couldn’t help the sting that followed when there was no reply. You reminded yourself that the tour was your focus. You would pour everything into your performances, and hopefully, that would help you move on. After all, this was your moment. You didn’t need to rely on anyone else’s approval or presence to validate your success.

A few days later, with the first concert on the horizon, you had everything in place. You were ready. The stage, the lights, the music—it was all waiting for you. But before the first show, you took a deep breath and sent tickets to Max and Lando, hoping at least one of them would be there to support you. Max had always been your rock, and you were hoping Lando might surprise you, too.

You: “Hey! I’ve got tickets for you both to the first show of my tour. Hope to see you there! 😊”

You pressed send, trying to keep your expectations in check.

The night of the concert arrived. You were backstage, the excitement and nerves rushing through you. The crowd outside was buzzing with energy, waiting to hear your new music live. You’d never been more prepared, but the one thing you couldn’t shake was the thought of whether Lando would show up.

The concert started, the music flowing seamlessly as you performed with everything you had. Every note, every dance move was infused with emotion. But as you scanned the front row during your set, you found yourself searching for a familiar face—a pair of bright eyes, a smile that had been there through the highs and lows of your life.

But no Lando. No Magui.

You pushed it out of your mind and focused on the crowd. Max had promised to be there, and the familiar face you were hoping for did show up, standing proudly near the side of the stage with his girlfriend. You smiled when you spotted him, relieved that he hadn’t forgotten his promise.

Max and his girlfriend stood near the side of the stage, cheering you on as you performed. His girlfriend waved, and Max gave you a thumbs-up, mouthing “You’re killing it!” You couldn’t help but grin back, feeling a little bit lighter knowing he was there.

But even though Max was there, your heart couldn’t help but sink just a little as you noticed the empty seats around the front row. You didn’t want to admit it, but you’d been hoping—just a little bit—that Lando would show up. But as the show went on, it was clear he wasn’t there. You forced yourself to focus, to give the crowd everything you had, but your mind kept wandering back to the thought of him.

After the performance, you made your way backstage, still buzzing from the energy of the concert. But even as you greeted your team and answered some press questions, your mind kept going back to the empty seats you had looked toward, hoping to see Lando and Magui. You knew it wasn’t the end of the world, but it still stung more than you wanted to admit.

Max came backstage, clapping you on the back with a big grin. “You were incredible! Seriously, (Y/N), the crowd was living for you.”

“Thanks, Max,” you said, trying to muster a genuine smile. But Max could see through it.

“I saw you looking out at the crowd,” he said gently. “I’m sorry, Y\N.”

You shook your head, trying to play it off. “Nah, it’s fine. They probably had other plans. I knew they were busy. I’m not upset.”

Max raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. “You’re a terrible liar. But hey, I’m here, and I’m proud of you. You killed it out there. And I think a lot of people are going to be very, very happy with what they heard tonight.”

You smiled, but it didn’t quite reach your eyes. “Yeah. Thanks. Really.”

Max watched you for a moment, his face softening with concern. “Look, you’re going to have a killer tour. And if Lando’s going to be a jerk and miss it, that’s his problem. You’re doing amazing things, (Y/N). Don’t let him—or anyone—make you feel less than what you are.”

You nodded again, grateful for Max’s support, even though you couldn’t completely ignore the feeling that lingered in the back of your mind. The one that still wondered if Lando was out there, watching from somewhere far away, or if he’d just forgotten about you altogether.

Max gave you a knowing look. “I know you care about him, but sometimes, you’ve got to take care of yourself first. You’re the star of this show tonight. Don’t forget that.”

You nodded, but deep inside, there was a lingering ache. You didn’t want to keep letting Lando’s absence hurt you. But no matter how hard you tried, the thought of him not showing up felt like a wound you weren’t ready to heal.

The tour had been intense. Night after night, you gave it your all on stage, the cheers of the crowd a fleeting escape from the lingering emptiness that had followed you for months. Despite the success of your shows, there was one thing you couldn’t shake: Lando’s absence.

No texts. No calls. No visits. It was as if he had vanished from your life, replaced by the bright lights of Formula 1 and his new relationship with Magui. Every time you tried to convince yourself that you were fine—that you had moved on—something inside you felt the loss of your best friend.

It wasn’t until after a show in Chicago that you checked your phone to see a message from Lando. Your heart skipped when you saw his name.

“Hey, (Y/N). I know it’s been a while, and I’m sorry. I’d love for you to come to the Miami GP. I have tickets for you. I want to talk.”

You stared at the message for a long moment, emotions rushing over you. He wanted to talk. After all this time. The words “I’m sorry” echoed in your mind, and you felt the sudden pull to see him again, to understand why he had been so distant.

You didn’t hesitate for long. You quickly packed your things and booked a flight to Miami. You had no idea what you were walking into, but you knew you needed closure. You had to know what had happened between you and Lando.

Miami greeted you with its usual heat and humidity, but you barely noticed. Your mind was focused on what you were about to face. Lando. Magui. The past few months of silence.

When you arrived at the paddock, you spotted Lando almost immediately. His familiar smile softened when he saw you, though there was an underlying tension in his posture. As you approached, you gave him a tentative smile.

“Hey, Lando,” you said, your voice careful, as if testing the waters.

“(Y/N),” he said, his expression warm but tinged with regret. “I’m so glad you came. I’ve been wanting to talk. I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you. I know I’ve messed up.”

You nodded slowly, trying to keep your emotions in check. “I’ve been wondering why, Lando. You just disappeared. No texts, no calls. It was like you didn’t care anymore.”

Lando shifted uncomfortably, looking down for a moment. “I… I never meant to hurt you. I’ve just been so focused on everything—my racing, my relationship with Magui—it’s been a lot, and I didn’t know how to balance it all.”

Before you could respond, the sound of footsteps interrupted you. You turned to see Magui walking toward you, a smile on her face as she linked her arm with Lando’s. You couldn’t ignore the sudden shift in the air. It was like everything between you and Lando had just… changed.

Magui’s eyes flicked to you briefly. She stood too close to Lando, and you could feel the tension building. It was clear that things were different now.

Lando, sensing your discomfort, hesitated. But before he could say anything, Magui spoke up. “(Y/N), I’m so glad you could make it! We missed you.”

You nodded politely, but a small, quiet part of you couldn’t help but feel an ache deep inside. Magui’s presence had taken up the space that had once been yours.

“Yeah, the tour has been keeping me busy.” you said, your voice steady, though the words didn’t feel as natural as they should. “It’s good to see you two doing well.”

Magui smiled, her gaze not unkind, but possessive.

The conversation quickly fizzled out, and soon, Lando was busy with his team, preparing for the race. You couldn’t shake the feeling that you were being left in the shadows. As much as you wanted to confront him, to ask him why he hadn’t made an effort, the situation just felt more complicated than you had expected.

The race went by, and despite the distance between you and Lando, you still watched him, waiting to see if he would finally take a moment to talk. The tension was palpable, and you knew that things were still unresolved. But the moment finally came—Lando crossed the finish line in first place. His first-ever career victory. You couldn’t help but feel a small sense of pride for him, but it was bittersweet. The man who had once been your best friend had changed so much, and you were left to figure out where you fit in his new life.

After the race, Max came up to Lando, his face serious. He looked like he’d been waiting for the right moment to confront him, and now, it was time.

Max marched over to Lando, his voice sharp. “You’ve been avoiding her for months, Lando. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Lando blinked, clearly caught off guard by Max’s anger. “What are you talking about? I’ve been busy with the races and—”

Max cut him off, his frustration clear. “I’m talking about (Y/N). You’ve completely shut her out. She’s your best friend, and you’ve acted like she doesn’t matter. What is going on with you?”

Lando’s face fell, guilt flooding his expression. “I know, Max. I’ve been an idiot. But it’s… complicated. Magui, she doesn’t like how close I am to (Y/N). She doesn’t want me spending time with her, and I didn’t know how to handle it.”

Max’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re seriously going to let her dictate this? You’re letting your relationship mess up your friendship with (Y/N)? That’s not okay, Lando.”

Lando’s shoulders slumped, and he looked defeated. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, Max. I didn’t want to choose between the two of them. But I guess I ended up losing both. I haven’t been there for (Y/N) because… because Magui doesn’t want me to be. And I let it happen.”

Max let out a frustrated sigh, shaking his head. “You need to fix this, Lando. (Y/N) deserves better than this, and so do you. You can’t just throw everything away because you’re scared of Magui.”

Lando was quiet for a long moment, the weight of Max’s words sinking in. He finally nodded, his voice barely above a whisper. “I know. I don’t know how to make it right, but I want to.”

As Max walked away, you stood in the distance, processing everything you had just heard. The truth was painful—Lando had let his relationship with Magui dictate his actions, pushing you away when you needed him the most.

But even then, you knew that things couldn’t just go back to the way they were. You didn’t want to be the one to fix everything for him. It wasn’t just about you being his friend anymore. You had to look out for yourself too.

And as much as you tried to convince yourself otherwise, you realized you still cared for Lando. But that didn’t mean you had to let him back in if it hurt too much.

-

part three here

[biteyoubiteme]

I'll be quick

huening kai x fem!reader

synopsis: dress shopping with your boyfriend.

warnings: 🔞!!! slight exhibitionism, chubby reader implied, no protection, creampie mention, prob forgot some sorry

wc: 1.9k

an: thank you so much for requesting hp! im so nervous for you to read this lol I hope you like it if you don’t just put me down nicely :)) <3333

[m.list] [1kevent m.list]

“How about this one?” you ask, smoothing your hands down the front of the silk dress you wore. It was the kind of material that should not be worn with this type of underwear; your pantie line clearly visible. Your hands went sliding down over your ass as if that would make the buckled fabric disappear. “Ignore the fact I'm wearing the wrong panties,” 

You give a slow spin in the fluorescent lights, the semicircle of mirrors reflecting every angle of your dress-clad figure at you. But all you can see is the damned line from your underwear. “Actually don't answer that, I hate it,” 

“I love it,” Kai speaks up from his spot opposite the mirrors. He's leaning back with your purse in his lap, eyes tracing up and down your body as he watches the way the material clings to you. He can imagine the way it would feel under his fingers, sliding over the expanse of your thighs. 

“You always say that,” you mutter, turning your cheek to look at the dress from the back. You can see Huening watching, eyes tacked right to the outline of your underwear. “Kai,” 

“What?” he blinks up at you like he was caught. Cheeks flushed as he pulled your bag closer to his lap.

“Is it that bad?” It was late in the day, and your usual trip to the mall was fun. Both of you could spend hours going from shop to shop, no need to buy anything but to spend time together looking at all the new things in store. It was one of your favorite things to do. 

Kai would follow you around like a little puppy, letting you pick out things for him to try on. Pulling him into dressing rooms so that he could get something new to wear. Spending too much time at the sunglasses wrack, spinning the display around and around, trying on each pair, first on you then on him, giggling over the silly reflective wraparound pairs. He loved when you picked out the different things for him to put on, especially jeans, your hands sliding into the back pockets to check their depth was always his favorite part. 

You had your favorite spots at the food court, always picking the same little table every time you sat down, knees bumping as you picked over each other's meals. Kai would carry your drink while you tried on shoes, hold your bag when you tried on clothes. And most of the time having him along with you made shopping less overstimulating, you could have fun without rushing to just get the shopping over with. 

Only now that you needed a dress for an event it felt like everything was crashing down at that very moment. Nothing felt right, every dress you tried on made it feel like you wouldn't find the one. The lights now make everything look too oversaturated, the dressing room is now cold enough to make goosebumps rise along your arms, and now the stupid panty line. 

You didn't even know why you were so focused on finding the right outfit, it was a last minute decision to even go to the little dinner your friends were hosting. you didn't need something new but you wanted something new. 

“Just take them off,” Kai suggests, sweet face glowing in the lights, every little mole dotting his skin easily seen. 

The fitting rooms were in the back of the store, the long hallway sectioned off with several doors before ending right at the little platform with the mirrors you stood now. Although a few people milled around in the shop just past the corner no one was in the other changing rooms. He was suggesting an easy fix to the only problem you were having with the dress and so you took it. Even though the door to the room where you kept all your other clothes was open and waiting for you to go back inside, you just bent right there hands going up under your dress and hooking in the waistband of your underwear, pulling them down and off without lifting the dress to expose yourself. 

Kai feels all the blood rush to his face, the prickling heat slinking through his bones. It was enough to already be thinking about undressing you, but now seeing you do most of the work for him, at his suggestion, was taking him out. You tossed the fabric into the dressing room, aiming for your pile of clothes but missing, the corner of the fabric still seen from where Kai's sitting. 

“That's so much better,” you're back to sliding your hands down the silky fabric, flattening out any bumps to make sure it's lying right. You love the way it hugs your thighs, outlines the shape of your hips, the curves of your stomach, and lays against the swell of your chest. “Okay now just imagine it without a bra, I'll have to find something without straps,” 

“It's uh- it's really nice,” you look over at him in his hesitation to find that he wasn't saying it just to appease you but was finding it hard to swallow back what he really wanted to say. He was doing exactly what you asked, picturing you naked under all that silk, he could see it falling to the floor, how easy it would be to slip right off of you.  He pushed your purse closer to his growing bulge, cheeks flushing deeper when you asked, “Huening, are you blushing?” 

He loved it when you used that slightly teasing tone on him, it was as if your fingers were brushing up his neck with each word. “I think that's the one,” he was avoiding directly drawing attention to your question, not needing to think about exactly why he’s red so that he can try and wish away his erection before you guys walk out of here. 

“Okay, perfect.  I don't think I want to even try on anymore ,anyways,” you step down from the little platform, “oh, do you think we could stop at the little candy store on the corner and get the gummies we shared last time?” 

“Umhum,” he gives his usual hum in response as you close the door behind you. 

It's only then that you realize that you can't undo the zipper by yourself, he had helped you do up the back with no problem and there was no way for you to reach up to grab the zipper on your own. “Kai? Could you help me take this off?” 

It's the last thing he should be doing, he knows it as soon as he's in the dressing room with you, hand placed on your hip as he steadies you. You're just as soft as he expected, his free hand not even making it to the zipper. You watch him in the mirror in front of you, his eyes following his fingers as they make their way down gripping the outside of your thighs.“God, I love your body,” he groans, his head falling to your shoulder, lips dusting over your shoulder when you finally feel how hard he is. “You really like the dress huh?” 

“No I just love you and need you, please I'll be quick,” he whines right at the back of your ear. 

“Anyone could hear-” 

“I'll be quiet, I promise, please,” and your slight nod is all he needs to push up the back of your dress, his hand pushing between your thighs, dragging his fingers through your fold, swirling over your clit to build up your arousal. You fall forward, hands bracing yourself on the mirror, kai readjusts so that one hand is splayed across your tummy, silk spilling through his fingers. 

He’s quick to free himself from his jeans, pushing them down just enough so that he can line himself up with you, dragging his tip through your folds, catching at your entrance. You know yourself well enough to cover your mouth when he pushes in, the overwhelming stretch of him always making you whine. He's no better, his pretty face reflecting at you as his mouth opens in a silent moan when he fully seats himself inside you. His head falls into your shoulder so that he can muffle any sound that wants to escape, your back arching as his hold on your plushie hip tightens, fingers digging into the soft skin of your tummy. 

Kais intoxicatingly deep inside you, his first thrust pulls a throaty whimper for you that you can't hold back. “This was a bad idea-” you try to whisper, cutting yourself off by clamping your hand back on your mouth when he slams his hips against your ass. His breath fanning over your ear when he whispers, “You feel fucking amazing,” his trapped whimpers rumbling his chest, all the vibrations pressed to your back. He peeks in the mirror, biting his lip when he watches the way your tits bounce, hanging perfectly in view for him, “fuck- look at you,” 

His cock slides so effortlessly in and out of your needy cunt, warm fluttering walls drawing him in until he's forgetting he needs to be silent, that he shouldn't be pounding this hard, changing his orgasm so intensely that someone might hear him. 

It's the soft clapping of skin that reminds you where you are, “slow down kai- we could- we could-,” but it's then that he uses the hand on your hip to slide under the bunched fabric of your dress, to draw circles on your clit. It was an instant shock that had your knees shaking. 

“Who cares,” he's muttering, head shaking as he picks up his pace, “If anyone saw you dressed like this they would want to be right where I am, fuck, but they could never fuck you like I can, never,” his last word caught on the end of a whimper drawn out and pulled from him as he came. 

It's the look on his face, brows tightening, eyes squeezing shut as he falls apart, mixed with his steady pressure on your clit that has you tumbling over the edge after him. Your whole body flexes as he pulls you in tight to him, hand leaving your stomach to clamp over your mouth. 

Both of you are struggling to catch your breath in the now stuffy room, mirror fogged up from your hands, skin once chilled now inflamed with your post-sex afterglow. His cock still jerked even when he pulled out of you, his hand moving to try and stop the spill of your combined release. Your thighs try to close around the feeling of him brushing your sensitive clit while he leans down to pick up your discarded underwear, using them to clean you up. 

He peppers kisses all along your cheeks bunching up the soiled fabric in his hand before unzipping your dress. “I really do love this dress on you,” 

“Oh really? I couldn't tell,” you giggle, and he helps you get dressed, carrying your bags out after you, panties shoved into his back pocket. 

When you leave the store you wrap an arm around his center, going underneath his jacket to feel all his warmth. He slinks his arms around your shoulder, tugging you into his side, pressing his lips to the top of your head. “Didn't I hear you say something about getting gummies?” 

taglist 🏷: @kissmekissykissme @bts-txt-ateez @apeachty @seungfl0wer @lunesdesire want to be added to the taglist? check out my rules to see how to join! want to be taken off the taglist? send an ask! thank you to @thetxtdevil @hmusunoo @hyukascampfire and @prince-jjae for proofreading/beta reading this for me ily all sm okay my little sweet baby angels I hope you get everything youve ever wanted in life and more

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Hey! Can I make a request for a s/o that tries to get Arlecchino/Yelan/Eula/Shenhe to laugh?

(Genshin Impact/H:SR) Arlecchino, Yelan, Eula, Shenhe, Herta, Hanya, and Fugue's S/O trying to get them to laugh

HERTA JUMPSCARE!

Arlecchino is more amused by the fact S/O is trying to get her to laugh rather than anything they directly do.

Which is to be commended, whether out of bravery or some form of perceived death wish by others.

(Arlecchino) "...S/O, what are you doing?"

S/O was currently dressed in a ridiculous duck outfit, with many of the children at the House looking at them in disbelief, laughing and also wanting to play with them.

(S/O) "Um...being funny?"

She glances the outfit up and down, the only expression being made was the raise of a single eyebrow.

(S/O) "Is it working?"

(Arlecchino) "In some capacity, yes."

Arlecchino replied in the most deadpan voice imaginable.

She isn't entirely made of stone, but because it amuses her, she doesn't really change her usual stoic expression at S/O's shenanigans.

She does however find it somewhat sweet.

Result: Task failed successfully!

Yelan is pretty easy to amuse, though not in the way most people imagine.

She can "laugh" along to what people say, but that's usually to blend in to her job.

When it comes to actually genuinely laughing, she has a different means to do that.

Letting S/O roll her dice.

(S/O) "HOW IN THE HELL DID I GET SIX ONES IN A ROW?!"

Yelan immediately bursts into laughter from their anger, seeing this was the sixth time they had rolled, and decided that she was going to stay home instead of going out for dinner.

(S/O) "Did you weigh these damn things?!"

(Yelan) "Of course not, that's just how they roll."

(S/O) "MY FOOT!"

They usually tried to get her to laugh at some dumb jokes, which sometimes works, but this is a surefire way to get her almost wheezing. Not that S/O was actively trying here, but it counts!

Result: Girlfriend laughing, Success!

Eula's heart was not made of stone, despite what she told others (Even as a joke).

Especially when it came to S/O, her cold, standoffish personality crumbled the moment they gave her any type of affection.

Moreso when they actively tried being stupid to get her to giggle.

(S/O) "Eula!"

She looked up from the book she was reading, only the two of them inside her living room.

(Eula) "S/O? What is it?"

(S/O) "Check it out!-"

S/O was wearing an outfit Amber had personally made them, beaming at them with a smile.

Bearing a rather striking resemblance to-

(S/O) "Mark my words, vengeance will be mine!"

Herself.

(Eula) "...Pfft!-"

Eula immediately folded, laughing with one hand going to her mouth.

(Eula) "How long have you been holding onto that to make a joke?"

(S/O) "About a month."

Result: Girlfriend laughing, Success!

Shenhe is stonefaced like, 99% of the time. She understands some humor, but trying to get her to emote any other time is a fool's errand.

One that S/O still attempts!

Jokes were out of the question, so were a bunch of other the usual methods.

Instead, they try a tried and true method!

S/O tickled Shenhe, and her hand instantly caught S/O's wrist within half a second.

(Shenhe) "What are you doing?"

(S/O) "Trying to make you to laugh!"

Shenhe gently released their hand, and tilted her head curiously.

(Shenhe) "...Very well. You may try again."

Shenhe, mentally, is happy with S/O just doing couple shenanigans with them, though she never showed it.

Result: Failed, kinda...?

Herta can laugh, though it's not exactly anything that S/O, much less other people, can comprehend.

And trying to get Herta to laugh can both be the easiest and hardest thing to do.

Trying to tell a joke or show her some dumb picture?

Vetoed, blocked, denied, not funny, didn't laugh, also you're stupid-

In other words, normal humor doesn't really work on humor.

But in an experiment?

(S/O) "H-Herta?! Am I supposed to be feeling so...floaty?"

(Herta) "Yes yes, normal side effects besides...Oh yes, spontaneously imploding."

(S/O) "SPONTAENOUS-WHAT?!"

Herta's laugh immediately fills the room, with her waving a hand dismissively.

(Herta) "Relax, I'm joking...Mostly."

(S/O) "So...any idea when I'll come back to the floor?"

(Herta) "Hm, most likely in a few hours. Worry not, I'll get my puppets to tie you down to a railing."

Her smile persisted, so that was at least some comfort.

Result: Girlfriend laughing, Success! Now, get back to drinking those elixirs, Herta needs results!

Given Hanya's life experiences and role as a Judge of the Ten-Lords, humor is pretty hard to come by.

Though that does not stop her S/O from trying!

...And failing pretty miserably at that.

(Hanya) "S/O? What is that?"

(S/O) "I...think it's for a bath, but it's consisting of peppers?"

(Hanya) "You do not intend for us to use that, do you?"

(S/O) "Mostly for me. I was betting someone that I could get you to laugh if I used it."

(Hanya) "I do not think that harming yourself in such capacity would get me to laugh."

(S/O) "Only one way to find out, eh?"

Though S/O was smiling, Hanya was not so easily amused.

...

(Hanya) "Well, your scream was certainly unexpected."

(S/O) "Agh, and so was this burning sensation...! Did it work?"

Hanya had the faintest smirk on her lips.

(Hanya) "I didn't know your pitch could get that high."

Result: Girlfriend laughing, Success!

Fugue was still able to find pleasures from her past life just as enjoyable, chief among them being S/O.

And though they had only the faintest idea of what she was fully going through, getting her to smile was their top priority.

Even if the result made them look like an utter idiot.

That was worth it just to get her to laugh and have that light in her eyes again.

Fugue eyed the bowl S/O had gotten with a suspicious look, noting the red broth.

She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but something in her conscious was screaming something was wrong.

(Fugue) "S/O...Is that spicy?"

(S/O) "Sure is!"

(Fugue) "Can you eat spicy food?"

(S/O) "Kinda? I'm not allergic but it'll make me sweat a lot!"

Before she could question it further, S/O took one bite of the noodles with a pair of chopsticks, before their eyes shot open.

(S/O) "H-HOT! HOT!"

Fugue was stunned for a moment, only to begin laughing afterwards, watching their exaggerated reactions as they rushed to grab water.

(Fugue) "If you just wanted to entertain me, S/O, you could have just brought me to a show."

After rushing back to their seat and drinking the entire can, they gave her a tired smile.

(S/O) "Hah, where's the fun in that...?!"

Result: Girlfriend laughing, Success!