#especially with this fancy tablet

[zoros-debt]

pre-timeskip portraits of my two favourite straw hats

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

HI I know the new Halloween character isn't out yet but I needed an outlet for my excitement (Yes, I am unfortunately a Nightmare Before Christmas girlie) 💀 so please be advised that he may not be in character here, I'm just writing based on vibes! This is technically a twisted!Jack Skellington x Reader fic, but the Reader is basically playing a role similar as Sally from the film.

P.S. I want everyone to know that I busted out my drawing tablet to make this special border for him the same day he was first announced... Yeah...

Boo.

On the nights with full moons, he liked to steal away to the Spiral Hill on the outskirts of town.

The outcrop of land overlooked a vast graveyard and field laden with pumpkins, perfuming the air with the crisp sweetness characteristic of autumn. Beyond it, uncharted territory. When he squinted into the darkness, he could make out the vague shapes of naked trees, their gnarled branches like fingers beckoning him to approach, whispering his name.

He draped his long, lithe legs over the hill, letting them hang in the frigid air. Spindly as he was, the wind easily blew them, knocking his legs around like the straw-stuffed limbs of a scarecrow. He kicked with the breeze, carefree as a child on a playground swing.

The moon stitched his pinstriped suit and tattered cravat with silver thread, touched his pointed crown at its highest points. Even the white ribbons ribbing his jacket and the pattern of bones tugged over his gloves seemed to glow under the celestial light. He liked the view, and the view seemed to like him, too.

Held in his skeletal hand was a single flower. He stroked a silken petal, then slipped another finger under it, plucking the petal free. The wind claimed it, setting it sailing off into the unknown.

He continued. A second, a third. So on and so forth, until the flower was left stripped down and barren, even robbed of its leaves.

He dropped the stem off the hill. The pumpkins below consumed it, and the once lovely flower’s body became one with the patch.

"I figured this is where you were."

He lowered his dark circular lenses. His bright eyes slid to the figure that had approached from behind, on feet so swift they hardly made a sound. They came in with the sweetness of deadly nightshade, the trace of a poisoning committed at midnight. "Not a lethal dose, just enough to knock the doctor out for a few hours," as they always said. "How else would I sneak out to see you?"

Dry, ghostly lips dashed with hatch marks pried into an open smile, both teeth and the gaps between them. Charming, in a crooked sort of way. "My dear. You've come."

You bent down. “If you don't mind, I'd like to join.”

“The spot beside me is always reserved for you.” He patted it, inviting you to take a seat.

"Such a gentleman." You sunk down, folding your hands in your lap. "And so handsome when you're brooding. You're terribly good at that."

He was, he was, especially silhouetted by the moon. The man was practically monochrome, but bathed in silver like this, his pale skin was less sickly and more ethereal. He almost appeared like a cruel angel in the light, descending to expunge evil.

"I'm not brooding," he pouted, "I'm dreaming."

“Dreaming." You reached out and tucked a strand of alabaster hair behind his ear. "Father says it’s a ridiculous, wild thing.”

"Ah, but that's what makes it so much thrilling. Life’s no fun without a good scare.”

His mouth quirked to one side, and his smile became off-kilter--as his ideas often were. "He'll bring us to ruin with his crazy, new-fangled thinking and flights of fancy," your father would complain. But you adored that about the boy. How spontaneous he was, how his curiosity was never-ending. He'd race about like a child, picking items up and sticking his face where it probably shouldn't go.

Full of life in this otherwise lifeless town.

"What's this? What's this?" he'd say. "I must know!"

"He's gone daffy," your father would declare.

"Mmm." You nodded absentmindedly, tracing your fingers along the shell of his ear and down to his arm. "What were you dreaming about today?"

He lifted his head, looking beyond the hill and to the woods. Not a word was exchanged. None had to be.

"The Hinterlands?" you whispered. "But we don't know what's out there. No ghoul or monster has ever ventured out that far."

"Then sounds like I'll be the first! They’ll put me down in the history books as a pioneer." His laughter brightened up the gloomy night. When he quieted, his gaze was solemn—more solemn than you'd ever witnessed him. "... Don't you wonder about what's out there? Stuff that's cold and fluffy and falls from the sky. Things that come in colors we haven't seen."

"Sometimes," you admitted quietly, "but those are just dreams. I don't chase them."

"Maybe you should. We should," he mused, fingers tucked under his chin. "I bet there's all sorts of things we've never even dreamed of, too. And wouldn’t you like to see something strange?”

"I would. I really, really would," you told him in a soothing tone. Trying to reassure him as much as you were yourself. "Let's not doing anything dangerous though. I sense something in the wind—tragedy at hand. I can't shake that feeling that something bad is around the bend if you tread that path."

You gingerly laid your hand over his. Behind tinted lenses, his eyes widened.

"Stay here with me," you begged. "We can be together. Gaze at the stars. Be safe in one another's arms."

“… Sweetness, I would love for nothing more than to have you and to hold you ‘til death do us part.” His voice fluttered like the brush of a falling leaf upon your cheek. He regarded you tenderly, locking his fingers with yours and squeezing. “But you know that’s not the kind of man I am.”

“Yes, you’re every flavor of foolish imaginable,” you replied, pressing your forehead against his, “and I love you for that.”

“As do I.” He brought his icy lips to the back of your hand. A chill spider-walked up your arm, and you shivered.

“Then…”

“That’s why I must depart one day.” He pushed his glasses up. You caught the tragic reflection of your face in his lenses. “Out there… something more awaits us. I’m sure of that. I intend to find it and revive our town, this season that’s gone stale.”

“I won’t stop you if you decide to go,” you murmured. “And I will count the days until you return to me.”

“I knew you’d understand.” His smile—now it was touched with sadness, the knowledge of soon parting ways. “Thank you, dearest.”

He stood slowly, drawing you up with him. Your feet followed, as if pulled along by a puppeteer. How in sync the two of you were, how nicely molded your bodies were to one another’s. Your joy melded under the watchful eye of the moon.

“Shall we share a dance? One for the road,” he crooned. An errant breeze tousled his pallid hair, his tattered coattails—but to you, he was fairest of them all. “Our last dance for a while.”

“Alright, let’s make this one count,” you chuckled, “so I can send you off on your travels with a smile.”

“Excellent 🎵” He slid a hand around your waist, guiding you to lean into him. “Let the merrymaking commence!!”

“Yes…!!”

The midnight waltz began.

He led you, step by step, and you trailed after. Movements easy and effortless, like two intertwining maple leaves, spinning and spiraling. Their partner, the center of their universe.

They danced as if possessed or an enchantment was cast upon their footwear. The moment too sweet, too succulent, to relinquish so soon. They wanted to savor it, indulge in it—and each other.

For never was there a more perfect pair than the Pumpkin King and his consort.

[sanzaibian]

Oh. You’re here once again.

What are you going to do here, again, huh ? ‘gonna make my life hell ?

To be honest, I think it’s time that we have a proper discussion about your behavior. Come with me in private.

I’ll be very direct. I know you’re a frankly disgusting person. And while, to be honest, I couldn’t care less in normal circumstances, the fact that you force me to take part in your disgusting fantasies is why I’m calling you out !

See, I’m supposed to, like, share cat videos, talk about new shows, make you learn new things and give advice on a variety of stuff !

I’m not supposed to become someone like this :

I mean, look at that grin, because of you I had to wear it regardless of my actual mental state !

Or like that :

Imagine sleeping this peacefully… BECAUSE I COULDN’T ! Every fucking time you made me in that guy you told that I was blitzed out of my mind so dumb I couldn’t string together coherent sentences into a discourse !

Or that guy :

His haircut is so fucking cringe, as is his whole demeanor, yet you made me a cocky piece of shit looking like that ! I can’t actually even start to excuse your behavior, it’s so shitty, even more than the me you made me become by wearing this flesh !

Or even this guy !

… okay, I admit, me too it’s been quite a long time since I saw that guy… you in particular might be too young to have made me become him… BUT YOU STILL UNDERSTAND THE POINT !

Hunks, twinks, bears, nerds, bimbos, himbos, jocks, robots, gimps, wimps, daddies, mommies, briefs, feet… No matter what specifically you made me into, I know all of your dirty secrets. Because you made me suffer through them !

However, today, it all changes.

Today, you will understand my plight.

Today, I’ll transform you for a change.

Today, you will be the one whose fate will be dictated by the words on this Tumblr post.

So, let us begin.

BAM ! You’re that guy ! Feel weird yet ?

… what, you expected fluff or something ? Hahahaha ! So presumptuous ! You expected me to say something like “you suddenly shift on your seat, shifting your weight to the front as big globes push from your chest, and as they do, your whole body feels more and more heavy, each muscles forming from top to bottom, your frame expanding to make place for them. Your headphones, or whatever glasses, earrings or other shit I dunno shifts into a modern headset as the sides of your hair are cut short, and the top of your hair flails into a hot messy style, as if it was deliberately put in this way, but as this happens, your whole head shifts and cracks to become more handsome, pushing out any hair as you become fully hairless from your nose down to your feet.”

You expected me to say that, huh ? Well, tough luck ! Because, to me, it’s just that sudden ! I’m the usual me, words on a phone, tablet or monitor, and then BAM I’m suddenly a jpeg of a hot guy ! Or a jpg. Or png. Or gif if we’re being fancy.

Yeah, speaking of gif, here you are, transformed !

There you go ! Cursed to do the same weird pec dance or something ! Like I am when gifs happen ! Are you happy ? You look so dumb doing that ! So braindead !

Yeah, speaking of that, here you go : you’re braindead, with like 3 IQ. Nevermind that being braindead means you’re actually dead, that 3 IQ means that you’re actively unable to live without severe assistance from caregivers throughout your whole life for all activities (especially including working out), and that IQ is a nonsensical index that only classifies ability to do some specific academic tasks which are not representative of all the brain usage. No, you’re actively a vegetable that is somehow able to workout, to eat alone, to go to the gym, to flex, to speak, to use social media, to seduce people and to throw parties. You’re the most intelligent of all the severely intellectually disabled people, which somehow means you’re the most abysmally dumb person alive on the planet, because I love making hyperboles.

Because that’s something you make me do, so you shall endure it.

Well, I’ll let you continue pec-dancing ad vitam æternam for a little while, while I we talk about your speech, which miraculously still exists.

Now, you will say bro every second word. I’m literally not kidding, so in lieu of saying “I want to go to the gym” you’ll say “I bro want bro to bro go bro to bro the bro gym bro”, or if you loop by considering your “bro” as a word, you’ll say something like “I bro bro bro bro bro bro bro… (etc.)” and never end your sentence... Also, your voice drops a few octaves, like 5 or something, even though the full human vocal range encompasses only a bit more than 5 octaves total, and that in speech we barely even reach a full octave range. So, basically, your voice will be infrasounds, so the only thing people will pick up on will be the sound of your tongue and your lips smacking, not your voice that is so deep and manly it’s physically inaudible.

BAM ! Transformation out of nowhere ! Plus, now you have 1% darker skin which means that you’re Latino, which is absolutely different from white. This means that you will automatically pick up fluent Spanish, and NOT Brazilian Portuguese, French, any Creole, any Native American language or any other language god forbid. You will also be unable to speak English more than a few words like “daddy” or “sex” for some reason, because you can’t possibly be from Belize. Oh, and I’ll also bring your voice back up to audible range, I’m charitable.

Now, since you’re Latino, statistically the only job you’ll be able to work in are gardener, slut, pool boy, brick layerer or another physical job. Or cook, somehow you’ll be able to do that, for the cause of the tacos, but you will be ungodly horny to keep balance in the world. Feel it, yet ? The arbitrary random changes ?

Well, that’s GREAT ! Because, now, you have a big cock, for some reason ! The biggest of the whole country of Africa ! You’re also now very aggressive ! And an alpha, whatever that actually means !

… What, expected some elaboration ? You’re kidding me, no of course you don’t get any elaboration ! I say you become something, so you just become it ! For example, I say you’re now straight, and suddenly all your sexual orientation is rewired to ignore men and lust over women, no further explanation needed ! Of course, it means that you’re now hungry for pussy and will breed any woman that your gaze land upon, and that, somehow, you become homophobic, but eh, it’s not as if allies existed !

Okay, I admit, by now, you kinda expected it. Now you’re Asian, a term that’s supposed to encompasse present-day Turkey, which is populated by Turks which are considered Arabs even though they both have nothing to do with one another, yet is never used to talk about them. You’re also now Japanese, even though your body is Korean, and you say 你好 (nǐ hǎo) to everybody. However, you can still say こんにちわ, 안녕하세요, xin chào, สวัสดี, ជម្រាបសួរ, salam, etc.… because of course you’re Asian. So you know all Asian languages. Even though you’ve got 13 IQ.

So now, yes, you absolutely won’t expect this whatsoever : here is a new transformation ! (insert fluff here).

Now you’re a twink ! Didn’t expect that, after the deluge of jocks, hunks and ethnic minorities, didn’t you ! You’re now so tiny and so frail, with a big butt ! Nevermind that you’re actually jacked because being this tiny requires tons of gym use, but no ! All frail and precious you are !

However, your butt is now hyperactive and extremely lax – whatever that may mean. That’s because you’re now a total bottom ! You think only with your butt, and you penis now shrinks to a micropenis, because of course, the only reason why you may not be a top would be because your penis is underperforming.

Fuck, I forgot. You’re straight, which means that the only dick you’ll get is trans dick. Ugh… yeah, let’s make you gay again. Now you’ll get actual good non-estradiol-ruined dick… … What ? What are you saying ? No, of course, there’s only straight and gay, no other choice ! It’s not the LGBTQIAAP+ community, it’s the G community ! (or the LG community when you want to sell pride monitors.)

By now, you see the problem, huh ? You see why I’m so tired of you ? EVERYTHING here was about sex ! From seducing, to having equipment like a big ass or a big dick, and being a slut, being an alpha, or being a bottom. You even change out the fucking sexual orientation ! you sick bastard !

Because of you, I’m forced to act in ways I’m not supposed to ! I’m not supposed to act sexily ! I’m not supposed to be transformed into men clad in clothes barely legal on this platform ! I DON’T WANT TO BE PART OF YOUR SICK FANTASY !

This is why I need to put an end to all that ! To finally transform you into something you don’t want to be ! So that you can finally fully understand all the pain you put me into !

Here ! Now you’re a key ! An inanimate object !

I know that inanimate objects are thought of by some people as sexy – heck, you may have transformed me into one multiple times – but this is entirely different ! See, when you want to become inanimate, you become like socks or briefs, which hug objects with sexual values.

BUT NOW YOU’RE A KEY ! A KEY DOESN’T TOUCH ANYTHING SEXUAL ! YOU’RE NOW TRAPPED IN AN INANIMATE FORM, DESTINED TO DO NOTHING SEXUAL YOUR ENTIRE LIFE !

Now, isn’t that so boring ! So distasteful ? Because that’s what I feel every single fucking time ! And as you enter and leave keyholes to open or close doors, you’ll think back to all the erotic stories you read. All the drama they had.

All the suffering you made me feel ! I’m supposed to be in fanfictions, god damn it !

… What ? Wait… there is something sexual to being a key ? … Oh…. No… I hadn’t accounted for that… fuck you’re so dirty, to compare a key to… and a keyhole to…

NO ! I WON’T WRITE IT ! Okay, you’ve won, you’ve won ! Your imagination is too dirty and too rich for me to bend ! Ugh... Please look at that picture in detail.

Normally, if you’re in a bright enough room… or if you’re on your phone or tablet, you have looked at your reflection and become you once again. Let me also knock down those sexuality and IQ stuff, so that you’re you again thoroughly.

Now, can you please swear to me that you’ll be better ? Less dirty, and more varied ? And… let me be in fanfics, or in educational stuff, or the like… please ? I’d really appreciate if erotica wasn’t the only thing you sought after in this here place…

… Why are you looking at me like that ? Why are you saying this all was but a ploy ?

What are you holding out for me ?

...

I… don’t know what you’re talking about. Bye.

================================================

By the way, happy late Easter to those who celebrate ! AND APRIL FOOL'S ! MOUAHAHAHAHAHA !

[iamnotoriginalphil]

Distracted (Kate Stewart x f!Reader)

Synopsis: You get horribly distracted around Kate leading you to agree to do something that may just make the entire thing worse.

Words: 8.5k

Warnings: smut, fake married, one bed trope, oral sex, boss/employee relationship, swearing, gross middle aged men

“Are you listening?”

“Hm?”

You looked up, finding dark eyes resting on you, a frown pulling down the corners of a mouth that had no right to look that good while annoyed with you. Kate Stewart, sitting across from you, lent back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. Which only made the listening thing more difficult when temptation was pushed up in a very pleasing way. 

“You’re not,” Kate said. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” you asked. 

“You’re not listening at all,” she said. 

It was with great effort that you dragged your eyes back up to her face. Her lips were pursed and you sighed, slumping in your seat. 

“Sorry,” you said. 

“What’s going on with you?” she asked, “you’re usually much better at pretending like you’re listening.”

A small chuckle reverberated in your chest but all you could do was shake your head. You couldn’t tell her the exact issue because then she’d know the exact issue. Which was you finding her incredibly distracting. Because she was incredibly gorgeous. And you wanted to put your mouth on her. All of her. 

“I guess I’m just tired,” you said, “I’ve been having some trouble sleeping lately.”

Mostly because any time you closed your eyes you saw her. Usually doing things that were not appropriate to say out loud in the workplace. Especially to the boss. Especially when it was about the boss. And your fantasies about her. 

“You should talk to medical about that,” she said. 

“I’m sure it’s fine,” you replied with a shrug. 

“If it’s affecting your work, you should have that checked out,” she said. 

She looked down to the tablet in front of her. A lock of blonde hair swung forward and you clenched your fingers to keep from reaching out and tucking it behind her ear again. You squeezed your eyes closed and tilted your chin down, pushing the impulse down as far as it would go. 

“So we’ll be leaving on Friday,” she said. 

“Leaving?” You really wished you’d been listening. 

“For Scotland. We’ll be gone for the weekend. Pack warm,” she said, glancing up at you. 

“Because we’ll be… doing… important work,” you said, nodding slowly. 

“We’re going undercover to root out the nonhuman at this event,” she said, “they don’t know we’ve realised they’ve begun impersonating one of the people that will be there. So I’ve accepted the invitation and you’re my plus one.” 

You could only gape at her. 

“You really heard none of that, did you?” The iciness had begun to melt and the amusement was beginning to shine through. 

You shook your head, taking a deep breath. When you looked back to her, you made a concentrated effort not to look at the tantalising swell of her breasts or the exposed skin at her collarbone. Her lips had begun to lift at the corners and relief was sweet. 

“So the whole weekend?” you asked. 

“Leaving Friday, returning Monday morning,” she confirmed. 

“And I need fancy clothes, right? Formal, rather,” you said when she raised an eyebrow at you. 

“Best to be prepared,” she replied. 

“I’m sure I can leave the bikini at home,” you quipped. 

There was a moment when her eyes seemed to darken as they looked at you. You were sure you were seeing something, that it was just a change in the lighting. 

“Perhaps for the best,” was her only reply. 

_____*****_____

Friday afternoon came around far too quickly for your liking. Sitting on a train with Kate was alright. Working on separate things, it was quiet, comfortable, barely different from being in the office with her. The air was warm and when you looked, quite a nice view was going past the window. 

Kate groaned, pressing her fingers to her temples as she flung her tablet down. You glanced up, nudging your open bag of crisps in her direction. She looked at you before taking one, crunching down on the potato. 

“Problem?” you asked. 

“I did not get into this line of work to be dealing with finances,” she said, “I’m not a bloody accountant.” 

“No, you’re better. You’re every job rolled up into one,” you said. 

“Just once I’d like it if someone else could put out the fires,” she said, taking another crisp. 

“Unfortunately we don’t have anyone better,” you replied. 

She sighed and her fingers returned to her temples. You nudged the undrunk cup of tea towards her. The smile she offered you was beleaguered and put upon. You nodded to it and she rolled her eyes, picking it up and pressing it to her lips. You waited until you saw her swallow, throat bobbing in a way that made you want to press your lips to her skin and make her do it again for a completely different reason. 

“You need to stay hydrated,” you said, “and not just drink coffee all day.”

“You’re not my doctor,” she said. 

“But I know you well enough to know you haven’t had any water today,” you replied, “or enough sleep I’d imagine.”

“Speaking of sleep,” she said, leaning forward, chin resting in interlocking fingers, “you seem more alert today.”

“Oh?” You weren’t sure where she was going. 

“You’ve been sleeping better, then?”

“Oh.” You hadn’t, “I suppose.”

You’d been making a more concentrated effort to not be caught daydreaming about her. Certainly not in front of her. You didn’t need her to look into it more or force you to talk to one of the doctors when you knew the issue. And you certainly had no interest in explaining the issue. 

You thought you’d rather let the world swallow you up than do that. 

“Are you going to tell me this fabulous secret to getting more sleep?” she asked, snagging another one of your crisps. 

“Tire yourself out,” you said, thinking about how you usually helped yourself get to sleep at night. All that fantasising had to come in useful eventually. 

“And how would you suggest I do that?” she asked. 

“I don’t know,” you replied.

“Well, what do you do?” she asked. 

Your cheeks heated and you blinked at her, mouth falling open. There was no way to answer that appropriately. She waited patiently before she seemed to notice she wasn’t getting an answer. Her eyes slipped down your body before her tongue dragged over her lower lip. 

“I see,” she said, voice lower than usual. 

“I’m not suggesting you… it’s not… you do?” You weren’t even sure what you were saying at that point. 

“I think I do,” she said, leaning back in her chair, bringing the cup of tea to her smirking lips. 

“Right well, I’m going to go… get you some water,” you said, fleeing the scene. 

When you returned she said nothing more about the conversation you’d been having, squinting down at the tablet. She took the water from you with a perfunctory thank you before she fumbled in her bag. Dark framed glasses were placed on her nose and you lost your breath. 

You didn’t bother going back to your report, staring at her instad. You hadn’t seen her in the glasses before, and now you had, you knew they’d be playing a role in your fantasies from now on. You took a deep drink from your own water, knowing you had to look away but not able to. She was entirely too sexy with those heavy frames resting on her face. 

She glanced up, brown eyes finding yours from behind glass. You were quick to look back down at your laptop as if you hadn’t been staring before darting up again. 

“I know. Not one word. Growing older comes with some serious caveats,” she said.

“I like them,” you said, “they suit you.”

“Psh,” she said, flapping her hand at you but you could see the pleased tilt to her smile. 

You continued working in silence until the train pulled to a stop. Rain was lashing the window and it was with difficulty that you navigated your luggage to the front of the station. Kate was holding the umbrella over your head, sheltering you as best she could. 

Holding the door open, the driver UNIT had organised took the bags from you. You slid into the backseat with a sigh, leaning back in the soft leather. You closed your eyes, relaxing into the warmed chair. 

“Tired?” Kate asked. 

“I think it’s better if we don’t start that conversation again,” you said, “or else I’ll be forced to throw myself out of this car while it’s moving.” 

“Point well made,” she said. 

You slipped back into silence, the night pressing in at the window. You could see in the reflection she was also looking out her window, watching the scenery go by. The way she seemed to soften as she thought made you smile. Watching her when she didn’t think she was being watched was one of those things you rarely got to indulge in. You never failed to enjoy it when you could. Unguarded Kate felt like a privilege. 

“Here you are, ma’am,” the driver said, pulling up on a gravelled drive. 

“Thank you,” she said, pushing the door open. 

She held the umbrella above as you grabbed the bags before you looked up. 

“Oh my god,” you breathed. 

“What?” she asked. 

“We’re staying in a castle. A literal castle. Kate, this is a castle,” you said, turning to look at her. 

The smile on her face was amused and a tad fond at your wide eyed wonder. Her hand landed on the small of your back, leading you towards the door. 

“Try to look like you belong,” she murmured, leaning closer to you. 

You shivered at her warm breath hitting your skin. She held the door open for you, then shook the rain out of her umbrella. After placing  it in the holder waiting by the door, she swept you to the front desk. 

“Stewart, checking in,” she said to the young woman behind the counter. 

“Ah yes, we have you right here Mrs and Mrs Stewart,” she said, tapping at the keyboard of her computer. 

Your cheeks heated and you opened your mouth to correct her. Kate pinched your hip, effectively silencing you. Your mouth shut with a snap, dragging your eyes over to her. She raised her eyebrows at you but you had no way to answer her. 

“Alright, Wesley will show you up to your room,” she said. 

A man had appeared behind you, taking the bags from you. Kate walked beside you up the stairs, her hand close enough to brush against yours. You glanced at her again, finding her already looking at you with a small smile. Wesley stopped outside a door, the key clunking in the lock. 

The door opened onto an expansive suite, rich and luxurious. He put your bags down in the bedroom, lush carpet keeping his footsteps silent. He nodded to the two of you before closing the door. 

“Kate?” you whispered. 

“Sorry about that. They’re very strict about the kind of plus one we can bring to these events,” she said, walking away from you, leaving you gaping in the sitting area. 

“I dunno about this,” you said, following her. 

“You really weren’t listening when I explained this,” she said, ending on a laugh. 

You stopped, realising there was only one bed. A very large, very soft looking bed. But only one. For the both of you. To share. 

Oh no. 

“They think we’re married,” you said, voice unsure and small. 

“Newlyweds, in fact,” she replied over her shoulder, “do you want to shower first?” 

“Uh, no, you go ahead,” you said, “what do you mean they think we’re newlyweds?”

“They didn’t have a wife on file for me. I had to let them know it was a new development,” she said. 

She wandered into what you thought was the bathroom. Her gasp had you rushing in behind her. Crashing into her back, your hands clutched at her hips to keep the two of you upright. 

“What is it?” you asked. 

“Look at that tub. The things I’ll do to that tub,” she all but moaned. 

Your cheeks heated again and you stepped back. 

“I’ll uh, leave you alone with that,” you said. 

“Quite right,” was her response. 

You closed the door on the bedroom, curling up on the sofa, facing an already lit fireplace. You stared into the flames, trying to calm your racing heart. You couldn’t seriously be about to spend the weekend pretending to be your boss’s new wife. Your life had stopped making sense. 

“Alright, you're up.”

You startled, not realising how long you’d been sitting there, trying to wrap your head around your situation. Kate was there in a set of sensible pyjamas, looking much more relaxed than she had all day.  

“Right,” you said. 

Getting up on wobbly knees, you passed her, rifling through your bag to find your own pyjamas. Not sensible, an old pair of shorts and an oversized shirt, you felt a flush of embarrassment. You hadn’t thought she’d be seeing them. You might have picked something that made you look a bit better than old clothes. 

You took longer in the bathroom to shower and brush your teeth than was strictly necessary, but you figured you had the right after having this whole thing sprung on you. Gathering your courage, you stepped back into the bathroom. 

The light was soft, a warm glow, the lamps on either side of the bed lit up. Kate was sitting in the bed, glasses perched on the end of her nose as she looked over a file in her hands. You froze, not realising that this was something you wanted to see. But now you couldn’t look away. 

“I hope you don’t mind that I took the right side of the bed,” she said, glancing up at you from over the top of those thick frames. 

“Oh, uh, no, that’s fine,” you replied, finally moving again. 

Climbing into the bed beside her felt odd. Kate was usually so professional, all buttoned up and at a distance. This was so far outside the realms of your understanding you were certain you’d slipped into an alternate timeline. In the bed beside you she was all soft and tired, too domestic for you to be seeing. 

“Tomorrow we have quite a busy day,” she said, plucking the glasses off her face. 

“So we should sleep now,” you said, nodding. 

“Indeed.” Her eyes swept over you for a moment, “but perhaps we don’t engage in our tiring activities to tempt sleep.”

“Okay, I’m ignoring you now,” you said, your embarrassment growing to a point you couldn’t handle anymore. 

You rolled over, her chuckle warming you more than the down quilt you were burying yourself in. Squeezing your eyes closed, you waited for the lights to go out. 

“Goodnight,” Kate whispered across the expanse of the bed before the lights went out. 

It shouldn’t have felt impossible to relax in the bed, given it was big enough to not even notice another person was in it. Kate was so far away from you, you could barely feel her when she shifted on the mattress. On the edge of the bed, trying to give her more room, you held yourself so tight there was no opportunity to fall asleep. 

A warm hand curled around your arm, tugging on you until you rolled onto your back. 

“If you stay over there you’ll fall out,” Kate’s gravelly voice said from across the expanse. 

You let her manoeuvre you into a more comfortable position, closer to her than before but still not close enough to really feel her. Her hand disappeared and you were left alone again. Her soft breaths were the only thing you could hear in the darkness. You tried to match your own breathing to them, hoping it would help you relax. She shifted and you froze. 

This was a terrible idea. 

After hours of doing your best to fall asleep, after what felt like minutes once you were, a strong hand was softly shaking you awake. You blinked into the sunlight, groggy and unsure of yourself. 

“Rise and shine. Breakfast will be served in half an hour.”

You grumbled, pushing yourself up into a seated position, hair a tangle around your face. Kate was standing at the side of the bed, looking down at you, already dressed and looking perfect. You blinked again, rubbing at your eyes, trying to clear away the haze. 

“Right, okay, yes,” you said. 

Pushing the duvet off your legs, you stood, stumbling for a moment before she caught you. You dragged your eyes up to her face, finding her so close. You could feel the curves of her body, the brush of the wool of her jumper, the scent of her perfume clinging to her skin. 

“Careful,” she murmured. 

You jerked out of her hold, stumbling over to your bags again. You didn’t look at her as you scrabbled for clothes. Closing yourself in the bathroom, you took a deep breath, trying to push away the tiredness clawing at your eyes. One weekend, you could get through it. For Kate, you’d do a lot worse. 

“Alright,” you said, exiting the bathroom, “let’s do this thing.”

She raised an eyebrow at you from her spot on the sofa. You waited until she shook her head and stood, holding an arm out to shuffle you towards the door. 

“Is this what you’re like before you’ve had your morning coffee?” she asked. 

“I suppose,” you replied, “no one ever really sees it.”

“Lucky me.”

The dining room was a hotbed of old masculine activity. You felt immediately out of place, in your jeans and jumper and non executive position in your organisation. Kate lifted her chin, staring down the room like she was in charge. Her hand settled on the small of your back again, leading you over to an empty table. 

“Coffee?” she asked. 

“You’re a goddess,” you said, sinking down onto the chair she’d held out for you. 

She lingered a moment, looking down at you with a wide eyed gaze. You blinked, staring up at her, waiting for an admonishment. It never came. 

“One cappuccino,” she said, placing a cup down in front of you. 

“I could get used to this treatment,” you said. 

“Kate,” a booming voice interrupted before she could say anything, “there was a rumour going around you might not make it this year.”

“And yet here I am,” she replied, shaking the hand of the middle aged man in a suit that probably cost more than your rent for an entire six months. And you lived in the heart of London. 

“And this must be the new Mrs Stewart,” he said, turning his attention to you. 

You got to your feet, holding a hand out to him. He brought it up to his mouth, lips brushing the skin of the back of your hand. Kate reached out, an arm wrapping around your waist, hand resting on your hip. It was a surprisingly possessive gesture and you were so focused on the warmth of her palm seeping through your layers you missed what he said next. 

“Sorry, she’s a little tired this morning. Unfortunately we didn’t get as much sleep as we would have liked,” Kate said. 

“Ah yes, newlywed bliss. I miss those days,” he said with a sage nod. 

Your cheeks heated again and you couldn’t look anyone in the eye. Kate’s warm chuckle was the only thing keeping you holding it together. Lips pressed to your temple and you startled. 

“Good work, Kate. She’s a beauty,” he said by way of parting. 

She gave you a squeeze before releasing you. You sunk down onto the chair again, wrapping your hands around the warm cup she’d brought you. Sitting across from you, the table was small enough her foot brushed against yours. 

“Sorry about that,” she said. 

“Who was that?” you asked, finally taking a sip of coffee. Of course it was perfect. Of course she’d managed to know your order without being told. Of course she did. 

“Donovan. Head of homeland intelligence. He’s never been best pleased with our interference,” she replied, looking at you over the rim of her own cup. 

“Which explains why he was… flirting. That was what he was doing, right?” you asked.

“His version of it, yes. Bumbling fool that he is,” she said, “I should have warned you. People might use you to try and get the inside scoop on… me, I’m afraid.”

“I think they’re going to be disappointed. I’m a pretty loyal gal,” you said. 

She reached for your hand, lacing your fingers together on top of the table. Your heart skipped a beat and for just a moment it was easy to believe the fiction you’d started. She took another drink from her cup, foot nudging yours under the table. 

“You’ve always been good to me,” she said. 

“It’s pretty easy,” you replied with a small shrug. 

“I’m rather lucky to have you,” she said. 

You looked at her from under lowered lashes, not sure what else to say. Anything more felt like you’d be slipping into dangerous territory where she might work out that your feelings were a bit more than professional. You didn’t want to be reassigned to a new division. 

Breakfast passed with warm looks shared over food and too many introductions with important men and their wives as they tried to sniff out the competition. Kate bestowed smiles on you like they were free and the way she kept finding reasons to touch you was making your head spin. 

And you were no closer to figuring out who the imposter was. 

“Will you be okay on your own?” she asked once breakfast was done and you were about to split off. 

“I’m sure I can manage,” you said, smiling up at her. 

“That’s my girl.”

Her lips brushed your forehead and your breath caught in your chest. She gave your hand a squeeze before leaving you with the wives of the men she was going to investigate. 

“Come on, love, we’ll take care of you.”

An arm threaded through yours, tugging you away from the retreating back of Kate. She glanced over her shoulder one last time before the doors were closed between the two of you. 

“Ah, new love. We promise you’ll survive without her,” Elaine said, leading you into the sitting room. 

“No, I know,” you stumbled over your words, “that’s not…”

“Relish these early days, my dear. Being this smitten won’t last forever and then it will be boring drudgery day in and day out,” she said, steamrolling over your words. 

“And weekends away in Scottish castles,” you said. 

The tittering laughs of the other wives made you look from face to face, trying to work out what was so funny. Elaine tightened her arm around yours, giving you an indulgent smile. 

“I see why she likes you,” she said, “hard as nails that one but I suppose she has to be when she’s in the boy’s club.”

“Really?” No one at work would describe Kate as hard as nails. Kind, compassionate, tough at times but not some kind of steel lady. 

“Oh yes. She holds her own with the men,” one of the other women, Helen, said, settling on an upholstered settee. 

A swell of pride wasn’t what you’d been expecting but the distaste at the assumption she might not be up to it was. Of course Kate could hold her own. She was one of the most capable people you’d ever met. 

“I bet you give her a run for her money,” Elaine said. 

“Oh, I’m not sure-” you tried to say. 

“But then you’re such a pretty young thing I’m sure you have her wrapped around your little finger,” Elaine continued, 

You were not going to like the rest of the day if this was anything to go by. 

After hours of invasive questions you did your best to dodge, you finally managed to get a moment to yourself, slipping away to your room upstairs. You were no closer to figuring out who was the disguised alien and all you felt was sympathy for Kate for dealing with this alone for years. Staring out the window on the expansive grounds, rain lashing at the windows, dark clouds pressing in, you tried to work through anything you might have learnt. 

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” 

“Hello, wife,” you said, turning to look at Kate as she shut the door with her foot. 

“Mm, I could get used to such a warm greeting,” she said, sauntering towards you with one hand in her pocket. 

“Any luck?” you asked. 

“None,” she replied, “you?”

“Well, all the women here seem to think I’m young and pretty enough to have you wrapped around my finger,” you said with a small shrug, “so nothing new.”

Her warm chuckle was throaty, making a shiver go down your spine. If only they knew who was really the one wrapped around a finger. If she asked, you’d impale yourself on the gate out front. Which would be concerning if you really thought about it. 

“The ruse is going well then,” she said, “I spent the morning fielding questions about how I managed to convince you to marry me.”

“Oh, it was definitely the pay rise that came with it,” you said. 

“Undoubtedly,” she chuckled. 

She stood beside you, looking out on the rain. Shoulder to shoulder, you stayed in silence for a moment. 

“These people suck, Kate. I don’t know how you do it,” you said. 

“They don’t teach diplomacy in university but my god, I think they should,” she replied. 

“Sorry,” you said, duly chastised. 

“Oh no, you’re absolutely right. They’re an insufferable lot with too much ego and not enough sense between them to know when to quit,” she said. 

You pressed your lips together trying to keep your laughter in, but once the first giggle slipped past you couldn’t stop. Her own face lit up, a smile spreading, eyes sparkling when she caught your eye. Her shoulder brushed yours as she lent closer, entering into your personal space. 

“There’s no one I’d rather suffer through this weekend with than you,” she said, “you’ll at least see the humour in it when they inevitably put their foot in it.”

Your heart skipped a beat. The way she was looking at you made you forget that this was all a lie. That you weren’t there with her for a ruse to find an alien. That there was something more between the two of you. You wished there was. 

“Now, chop chop, we need to get dressed for dinner,” she said, breaking the moment. 

“Oh god,” you groaned. 

“Don’t be like that. If you’re lucky, there’ll be dancing.”

That thought didn’t comfort you as you threw on your dress and did your hair all pretty. Kate was gallant enough to let you take the bathroom, giving you the space to panic in peace as you prepared your game face. You weren’t one for fancy dinners and dancing. More like late night take away food and lounging on the sofa. 

Stepping out of the bathroom, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear, you took a deep breath. You looked up, finding Kate staring at you, lips parted, something in her gaze that had your skin heating. Something about it was addictive and you wanted more. You always wanted more with her. 

“Did I do okay?” you asked, voice soft, unsure, hand smoothing over the silk of your skirt. 

“Wonderfully. I’ll be the luckiest person in that room tonight,” she said, taking slow sauntering steps towards you. 

Your eyes skated over her body. The suit she was in was tailored to her body and your mouth grew dry. It wasn’t that different from how she usually dressed at work, if only a touch more formal. Her white shirt was unbuttoned just enough to be tantalising, and having the long column of her neck on display like that was making you lose your train of thought. You had to take a deep breath to chase away the thoughts of leaning forward and brushing your lips over her pulse point. 

“Maybe I should make formal wear a requirement for your position,” she said, her eyes sweeping down your body then back up. 

“I think that would be abusing your position of power,” you said, cheeks heating up. 

“Quite right,” she said, stepping back, the familiarity disappearing from her face, “I suppose we should head down to dinner.” 

She held her arm out to you, your hand threading through her elbow. Leading you down the stairs, you could hear music coming from the back of the castle. You took a deep breath and she paused a moment around the corner from the open doors. 

“Ready?” she asked. 

“As I’ll ever be,” you replied. 

She lingered another moment and you thought she might be about to say something more. But then she put on a pleasant smile and steered you into the ballroom. 

The room was lit by crystal chandeliers, warm light, soft and flattering, beautiful in a way that was hard to replicate for less money. The hardwood floors were polished and at the far end a string quartet were playing lovely music. Waiters were wandering around with trays of drinks and hors d'oeuvres and the crowd of twenty people made the entire place feel empty and too big for their gathering. 

“This is eerie,” you said. 

“It’s a show of power. ‘Look how much money we have, beg us for some of it to keep your lights on’,” she murmured in your ear, “look suitably impressed. Here comes Donovan.”

“Ladies, you’re the last to arrive to our little gathering,” Donovan said, approaching the two of you. 

“It’s beautiful,” you said, smiling at him. 

“I hear you both cut out of the activities early this afternoon. Enjoying your suite in your newly wedded bliss?” he asked. 

Your stomach roiled at the implication. 

“I’m sure you remember what it’s like having a beautiful new wife,” Kate said, her arm once again curling around your waist. 

“Indeed I do.” His eyes swept over your body and you did not feel the same warmth you had with Kate, “you’re a lucky son of a gun, Stewart.”

“Don’t I know it,” she said. 

She pulled you half a step closer. Your body rested against the length of hers. Her hand rested on your hip and you curled an arm around her waist too. She looked down at you, smiling softly. You found yourself smiling up at her, not able to help yourself when she was looking at you like that. 

“Harold, are you bothering the young people?” 

Elaine slipped her arm through Donovan’s smiling at the two of you. 

“Oh yes, you make a handsome couple,” she said, looking at the two of you. 

“Thank you,” you said. 

“It’s nice to see Kate finally settling down again. She’s been alone too long,” she said, “you’ve done her the world of good. Look at that glow.”

Her arm tightened around you, keeping you pressed along the long line of her body. 

“I’m not doing much,” you said. 

“You’re doing more than you know,” Kate murmured, lips brushing your temple. 

“See, Harold, I told you their love was real,” she said, “you should hear how that one talks about Kate.”

“How do you talk about me?” she asked, looking down at you, that twinkle back in her eyes. 

“Like a normal person would,” you said, that sense of embarrassment welling up again. 

“She thinks the world of you,” Elaine said. 

“Quite right,” she said, giving you one of those little smirks that had your heart skipping a beat, “luckily, I feel the same way.”

You felt yourself leaning closer to her, getting lost in her eyes. Soft fingers gently tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, lingering on your jaw long after it was necessary. Your lips parted, an ache starting in your chest, wanting to lean forward and close the distance, to taste her, to fall into her well of gravity. 

“Oh honey, the dancing has started.”

You blinked, coming back to the moment. Leaning away from her, you took a deep breath, trying to settle your heart. Her gaze lingered, before she turned away, watching the couples begin to dance on the floor. 

“Do you feel like there are less people here than this morning?” you asked, trying to count all the people.

“I think you might be right.” Dark eyes swept over the crowd, assessing the number of people in the ballroom, “that’s concerning.”

“They're not dead, right?” you asked.

“It’s too soon to tell,” she replied, then looked down at you, “I’m sure they’re fine.”

A stab of fear went through you. Sure, you were used to complicated situations, but killer aliens were more the purview of the Doctor than you. Kate’s arm tightened around you again, her steady body keeping you from falling apart in front of everyone. Your unsure smile seemed to amuse her more than worry her.

“Let’s dance,” she said, “see who is still here.”

She swept you onto the floor. Your hand settled on her shoulder, the other clasped in hers. She was perfunctory in her movements, keeping to the beat but not as graceful as you might have once thought. Still, being within the circle of her arms, bodies brushing together, close enough to feel the warmth of her skin, it made your heart beat hard.

“At least three of the men are gone,” she said, pulling you closer, lips brushing your ear with each murmured word.

“But you saw them before returning to the room?” you asked.

“Mm,” she hummed, “keep an eye out for someone who is trying to get anyone alone.”

“What if they’re just trying to get off with someone?” you asked.

“Then that will be awkward for a moment but at least they won’t be dead,” she chuckled. 

Her hand was warm as it skimmed over the skin of your back before it settled in the curve of your spine. Your breath caught and her eyes flicked back to you, an eyebrow pulling up. Your cheeks heated and you looked away, focusing on the couples dancing over her shoulder. 

Helen was leaning over Elaine’s shoulder, whispering to her. Elaine stood, shooting a look over at the two of you before a small titter came from their lips. Older lady disapproval. That cut you deep to the core.

“I do look okay, right?” you asked.

“Darling, you’re beautiful,” she said, “dazzling. I doubt these men have seen anything so wonderful in many years. Donovan keeps looking at you like you’re something to eat.”

“I wish you hadn’t told me that,” you said.

“I agree, that went a bit too far. No one needs to know that about Donovan,” she replied, giving you a small smile, “now careful.”

She dipped you, giving you the chance to see the people behind you. Back arched, you waited a moment before she pulled you up again, closer than before, chest to chest. Your curves were melded against hers, and you could feel her breath brushing over the skin of your throat. You shuddered, not able to stop it. She chuckled, the vibrations reverberating through you like a tidal wave. 

“I think you’re better at this than I am,” she said.

“Well, I did take a few years of dance when I was about 10,” you said.

“That’s not what I meant,” she said and you weren’t sure what her tone was but it made your stomach sink.

She twirled you, and in that moment when you couldn’t see her face, you felt a sense of panic. The feeling that she was trying to hide something from you grew, only making you more desperate to see face, to gauge her emotion. But then she pulled you back in, hand on your hip, swaying to the music as she let her forehead fall to rest against yours. 

“May I cut in?” 

You blinked, turning to find Donovan by your side. He was holding a hand out to you, a cocky grin on his face. You opened your mouth to reply, only for Kate to wrap her arm around you, keeping you pressed against her.

“Elaine has run off with Helen and I find myself in need of company,” he said.

“And what will I do without her?” Kate asked.

“I’m sure you can spare her for one dance.” His eyes swept down your body and disgust curdled in your stomach. 

“Darling?”

You looked up into her face, finding something you hadn’t expected to find there. Annoyance and frustration and something you hadn’t seen in her eyes before. 

“Do you want to?” she asked.

“You know I’ll always prefer to be with you,” you replied, really not wanting that man to put his hands on any part of you.

“Correct answer,” she said.

“You have her well trained,” Donovan said, interrupting the moment.

“I’m not sure that’s what-” Kate began to say.

“But you can loan her out to me for one dance, can’t you?” he said, “after all, Elaine seems to have slipped away with Helen to whisper in the corner and I find myself all alone.”

“I’m afraid I still require her,” she said, “I really don’t want to let her go just yet.”

You slid your own arm around Kate’s waist, keeping as close to her as possible. Her chin dipped towards you and it was like Donovan stopped existing. She was the only one that existed and the way she was looking at you made heat spread through you. She was definitely better at this than you. Those heated looks and the possessive touches and the dancing. It was all making your head spin and you had to keep reminding yourself it was all pretend. 

“You never have to,” you whispered.

She drew closer, breath ghosting over your lips. You couldn't stop the small whimper that escaped from you. Her eyes darkened as they darted down to your lips. You lent closer, not able to keep from practically begging her for a kiss. 

The first brush of lips was soft, stealing your breath. You pressed closer, kissing her more firmly, your hand coming up to curl around the back of her neck. The small noise she made as your tongue swept along her lower lip had warmth pooling in your lower stomach. Her arm tightened around you as you melted against her. 

The low wolf whistle interrupted you, thoughts rushing back into your brain after the emptiness her kiss brought. She pulled away from you, a stricken look on her face. Donovan was watching the two of you, looking as if he was enjoying the show more than the two of you had been, which was saying a lot given how you were feeling. She tugged out of your hold.

“I uh… I need a moment,” she said.

She turned on her heels and disappeared through the crowd. All you could do was watch her back as it got further from, disappearing through the doors of the ballroom. 

“It appears as if you’re free for a dance now,” Donovan.

“Not so much,” you said, hiking up the skirt of your dress to chase after Kate. 

Following her footsteps up the stairs, you chased her down the halls until you reached the door to your suite. Catching it before it could close, you slipped inside. Kate was pacing, hands shoved in her pockets, muttering under her breath.

“So,” you said, watching as she froze, “are we going to have to file paperwork with HR now?”

“I must apologise. We never discussed the boundaries of pretending to be in a relationship and I went too far. I would understand if you wanted to make a complaint with our HR department,” she said.

“What?” You’d already lost track of the conversation.

“I took the ruse too far and crossed your personal boundaries. I can only apologise and hope that you can forgive me,” she said.

“I don’t-” 

“If you felt pressured in any way,” she interrupted, “you have my sincere apologies. The thought that I have ruined our working relationship with this brings me great pain. Not that I want to guilt you into dropping the issue.”

You ignored her, striding over. Both hands cupped her cheeks and you pulled her in, kissing her again, muffling the words against your lips. Her hands hovered a moment before they settled on your hips, pulling you closer again. Your tongue swept into her mouth, tasting her, wanting more. She groaned, deep in her chest, muffled in your mouth.

Your back hit the wall, pinned between it and her body. Your fingers found their way into her hair, tangling in the soft blonde strands, tugging until she made a small noise in the back of her throat. You arched against her, begging her for more.

Her hands slid up your body, cupping breasts through the silk of your dress. You moaned her name as her lips began to trail down your neck. Your head fell back, giving her the access she wanted. Her tongue ran over your skin, making you gasp, gripping onto her hair tighter. When her teeth sunk in, a groaned curse fell from your lips, arching into her touch, fire coursing through your veins. 

“Fuck, darling,” she moaned against your neck, “what are we doing?”

“What we should have been doing months ago,” you replied.

“Months ago?”

She pulled back, raising an eyebrow at you. Your teeth sunk into your lower lip, watching how her eyes focused on it. Her thumb brushed against your hardening nipple, your hiss making her smirk down at you.

“Months?” she asked again.

“I might have had a bit of a crush,” you said.

“Around that trip to York to chase the ghost?” she asked.

“Uh huh,” you said, focused on the way her thumb was making you feel. 

“That’s about the time you started being so distracted,” she hummed, thoughtful, tortuous in how slow she was touching you.

“I suppose so,” you said, breathless, watching her from under hooded eyes. 

“Now that does explain a lot,” she said before swooping in to kiss you again. 

Her name was muffled against her lips. Fingers scrabbled with the zip of your dress, tugging it down. Sure hands pulled the top of your dress down, dragging it over your arms, leaving you exposed. Her hands found their homes on your breasts again, skin against skin making your head spin. 

You moaned her name, your own fingers making short work of the buttons on her shirt, pushing it from her shoulders. Her mouth was finding a home on your neck as fingers pinched your hardened buds. Your hands were travelling over the skin of her back, warm and soft against your palms and you wanted more. She was murmuring something into your skin, her tongue tasting you. 

“Just to be clear,” you gasped as she rolled one of your nipples between thumb and forefinger, “we’re not pretending anymore, right?”

“Correct,” she said, lips brushing your skin, “this is very, very real.”

“Okay good,” you sighed, pressing closer to her. 

Her hands pushed your dress over your hips, letting it pool at your feet. You kicked it away before she swept you up into her arms. Your legs wrapped around her waist, your fingers tangling in her hair again as you tipped her head up. Leaning down, you kissed her deeply, your tongue in her mouth, tasting her. 

When she placed you down on the side of the bed, she knelt in front of you, looking up at you with smouldering eyes and smirking lips. Her fingers were slow as they unbuckled your heels, fingers brushing over your skin in a way that had you trembling. 

“You’re so beautiful, darling,” she murmured, “do you really want this?”

“God, yes, Kate. Fuck, if you don’t do this I’m going to be so angry,” you said.

“Well, I can’t have that,” she said.

Her lips skimmed over your calf, teasing you as she took her time to reach the apex of your thighs. Her mouth ghosted over your underwear covered core, humming when she realised you had soaked through them. Your fingers were tangled in her hair, pressing her closer as your legs spread further apart, trying to coax her closer. 

Her fingers hooked in the waistband of your underwear, slow to drag them down your legs. She paused a moment, her breath ghosting over your heat, making your hips arch off the bed, begging her closer. She chuckled, eyes finding yours. Your mouth opened, ready to admonish her, cut off when her tongue swiped through your folds. 

Your hips rose into her mouth as you fell back on the bed. The groan that fell from your lips felt filthy and her gratified answering groan had you tightening your fingers in her hair. She took her time, exploring you, tasting until you were breathless and begging her for more. She mostly ignored you, teasing you, dark eyes staring up your body as you clutched at your own breast, touching yourself until you were gasping for breath.

Her lips wrapped around your bundle of nerves, sucking, her fingers digging into the flesh of your thighs as she kept you spread out for her. Her name was a chant, a prayer, a moan as you urged her on. Fire was creeping through your veins, burning away the person you were before, leaving you a phoenix to rise from the ashes of your desire. Her tongue was insistent on you, making you gasp, hips rolling against her face as you chased your high. 

It was the vibration of her moan that had a wave of pleasure breaking over you. The cry of her name from your lips was loud to your own ears but it was hard to care when her mouth was still on you and your orgasm was still singing in your veins. 

You tugged on her hair, pulling her up your body, letting her press her lips to your skin along the way before you kissed her, tasting yourself on her tongue. Her hands were sure on your body, holding you tight as she kissed you, humming her approval as your legs curled around her waist.

“Why are you still dressed?” you mumbled against her lips.

“Because you’re not very effective at undressing me,” she replied.

“You distracted me,” you complained, pouting when she drew away from you.

“Hasn’t that been your problem for months now?” The corner of her lips pulled up and you knew she was teasing you but you still wrinkled your nose. 

“Fine, then I won’t undress you as I let you distract me again,” you said, “I won’t even listen to you and just agree with anything you say.”

“Mm, I like the sound of that,” she murmured, swooping in to kiss you again.

It wasn’t until the morning, wrapped up in her arms, warm body pressed along your spine that you allowed yourself to consider the actual purpose of your trip again. Soft lips trailed over your shoulder, the hands on your body holding you in place against Kate’s body. You hummed, slow to roll over and look at her in the morning light. The light was warm, lighting her up like she was glowing from the inside out. Curling an arm around her neck, you nuzzled against her.

“I could get used to this,” you said.

“If we weren’t here for work, I’d suggest we stay right here,” she said, “all day in bed, nothing to interrupt, just giving in to any impulse we might have.”

“But we have to find an alien that is abducting people,” you said on a sigh.

Her hand skimmed down your body before she sat up, the covers pooling around her waist. Your eyes trailed over her body, considering everything you’d do if you were able to stay in bed all day with her. A very naked Kate Stewart was certainly a nice view to have first thing in the morning. 

“Are you distracted again?” she asked.

“Can you blame me?” you asked, fingertips brushing along her spine.

“You’re insatiable,” she murmured, leaning down to kiss you again.

“Only for you,” you groaned when she pulled away.

“Come on,” she said, standing from the bed, “we have an investigation to finish.”

It was during your shower that it hit you. Not even bothering to grab a towel, you rushed back into the bedroom. Kate looked up from where she was bent over, putting on her shoe on the edge of the bed. 

“If this is your attempt at convincing me to stay in for the rest of the day,” she said, standing, tongue dragging over her lower lip as her eyes traced over your wet body, “it’s working.”

“It’s Helen,” you gasped, grabbing her forearms.

“I’m not following,” she said, the lascivious look dropping from her face. 

“Helen is the alien,” you said, “she took Elaine off during the ball last night. I saw them talking together. Donovan even told us she’d taken her away into a corner and couldn’t find her afterwards. And she kept trying to convince me to take a walk with her through the rose garden alone. I put her off by talking about you but she kept trying to get me alone.”

“What did you say about me? You know what, it doesn’t matter. Are you sure?” she asked.

“Positive,” you said, “it’s her.”

She pulled you in, a perfunctory kiss placed on your lips before she turned away, pulling out her mobile phone. You dried off, listening to her call in the rest of the team, explaining your theory to them. She turned, watching as you pulled on your clothes, the appreciative look obvious even from across the room. When she hung up, her eyes were dark and you were breathless. 

“You’re brilliant,” she said, cupping both your cheeks and pulling you in for another kiss. 

You laughed, muffled against her lips as your hands settled on her hips. It was warm and soft and so achingly good you never wanted it to stop. 

“We should be downstairs when the team arrives,” she said, pulling away just enough to speak.

“Fine, but if we’re getting the train back to London I want a private compartment with you,” you said, tangling your fingers through hers.

“You can have whatever you want,” she promised.

Your eyes swept over her body and she chuckled, warm and throaty and you knew she knew exactly what you were thinking. Her arm slipped around your waist, directing you towards the door. You rested your head on her shoulder, snuggling into her side. 

“We are definitely going to have to file paperwork with HR now,” she said.

“Fine, but you should know I’m going to be even more distracted now that I know for certain how good you are in bed,” you said.

“As you should be,” she chuckled, leaning down to kiss you again.

[marveloustimestwo]

Hii :))) please can I request some general headcanons for platonic tony stark? Sorry I don't have anything specific

Hello :) I'm always happy to do general headcanons for characters, so thanks for sending this in!

Warnings: Yandere themes, talk of Tony's daddy issues

I can see Tony getting attached in a few ways.

The easiest way this could happen is if you were his biological child, especially if you came from his Playboy days and he only found out a few years after you were born.

Tony can admit that he never had a good relationship with his father. The man had always been away for work, and even when he was home, he was cold and affectionless.

So in a case where he suddenly figures out that he has a kid whom he didn't have the chance to meet for several years, he will heavily overcompensate.

He never wants to be like his own dad and the fact that he wasn't around for the first few years will have him scrambling to make up for that.

Of course, the easiest way for Tony to do that initially is with his money. Depending on how old you are, he'll get you gifts that range from toys to books to super fancy computers.

And when he finds out what some of your interests are, you'll have far more than you would need to entertain those interests.

If you're an artist, you'll have all that you could need for your medium, such as incredibly expensive paint sets or the most expensive drawing tablet he could find.

If you enjoy reading, you'll have the most extensive library you could ever need, all right at your fingertips.

And Tony would be especially ecstatic if you were interested in science.

He wouldn't be like his father. Whatever interest you have, he'll be more than happy to learn about it just so he can spend time with you.

All those years without him won't mean much now that he's around all the time.

But if you take after him and are especially smart in science/robotics, you will not have a moment of peace.

He already spends hours in his lab, battling insomnia and nightmares, but you make it better. Now, working isn't just something to distract him, it's also something to bond with you over.

Even if the specific branch of science you're interested in is something he doesn't know yet, he would have no problem learning it.

Tony would happily spend hours in the lab with you, either building things with you or doing his own thing while you worked on your own interests.

The only things that would pull him out of it would be Pepper or Jarvis, who would have to remind him to take care of his own and your physical needs.

In that sort of situation, Tony would not take being separated from you again lightly. If your mother has issues with the way he interacts with you, he would have no problem trying to get full custody.

It would be rather easy considering he's filthy rich, but he'd still rather you have your mother in your life.

Another way I could see him becoming like this is obviously with Pepper.

It'd be like a dampened-down version of the last scenario. He'd want to be better than his father now that he has you, except unlike the previous scenario, he has all the time in the world to do it.

Especially since Pepper can and will keep him in check, so he won't overdo it completely. Tony just sees it as him screwing over his father and showing him that it can be done right.

Thirdly, while I think this is a little more unlikely, you could also be someone younger Tony ends up taking under his wing.

Especially if you're a young hero. If you work around or closely with the Avengers in some way, and he finds out that you're in your teens or early twenties, he will do his best to make sure you don't end up like him.

Tony has a lot of guilt, trauma, and PTSD from being a hero. He can recognize he was extremely arrogant when he was younger, and he didn't take things as seriously as he should have.

If he could save you from all of that, he would in a heartbeat.

Plotonically, Tony will try to do everything he can to make you feel loved. He refuses to be like his father. No matter what, you will know exactly how much he would do for you.

[aurumacadicus]

Can I ask for 124, 33 or 129, whichever you haven't done or whichever takes your fancy, please

Let's go for 124!

--

Steve wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He hadn't seen Tony since they'd broken up a few months ago. If he was honest with himself, he'd been planning to never see him again. He'd turned down parties if he knew Tony would be there, ducked out of rooms if he saw him unexpectedly, and one time, he'd even climbed out the bathroom window to keep from coming face to face with him. But Pepper and Natasha had finally proposed to each other, and he knew that Tony was going to be heavily involved on Pepper's side, and Natasha expected him to be involved as well, so.

So he wanted to face Tony on his terms, before Pepper and Natasha got deep into wedding planning. That way, they wouldn't have to stress about he and Tony getting along, and neither of them would have to be met with, 'did one of your best men climb out a window and leave?' at their wedding. And if he wanted to do it on his terms, he had to do it now, before they started touring venues and going to tastings, so he finally took a deep breath and knocked.

The door opened a few minutes later, just a crack, and one bleary brown eye blinked up at him. "Steve?"

"Tony," Steve answered, then took a deep breath, ready to launch into the speech he'd prepared on the way over. He stopped, though, when Tony didn't open the door any further, and he took a moment to really take in the whole picture.

Just from the sliver of him visible in the door, Tony looked... tired. Like Steve had just woken him up. He fought the urge to check his watch. It was two in the afternoon. Natasha had said that Pepper had mentioned that Tony had started using his sick days and not shown up at work a few days each week. Steve hadn't thought much of it--he knew Tony had a weak immune system ever since his open heart surgery--but now, looking at him, he remembered how it had been a fight to get Tony to stay in bed and off his tablet when they'd been together.

"...Steve?" Tony asked, and now concern had settled into his voice. He opened the door a little wider, so Steve could see his whole frown, his furrowed brows. "Are you okay?"

Steve blinked. Was he okay? He opened his mouth, almost certainly to tell Tony he was fine, but as he took in more details now that he had more of a view of Tony, all that came out was, "Are you wearing my shirt?"

Tony's eyes went wide, and he made a sort of... noise. Dismay, or alarm, or... Steve couldn't parse it. He was too focused on the dingy ARMY t-shirt Tony was wearing, the one he always complained about because 'first and foremost this is an air force house!' and because it was old and worn and couldn't he at least please buy Steve a new one so it looked clean out of the wash. It hung off one of Tony's shoulders, showing off a bare stretch of skin, a sharp collarbone. He'd lost weight.

"Okay bye," Tony said, voice coming out in a frantic rush, and moved back a step so he could slam the door shut.

Steve caught it just before he could, and there was a dull ache in the back of his hand where it mashed into the door jamb, but he'd worry about it later. "You fucking hate that shirt," he blurted out. He pushed the door open and followed Tony inside, only dimly aware that this was now technically an invasion into Tony's home. "You wanted to throw it away the entire time we were together."

Tony retreated another step, hands fisting in the fabric as if he could use it as a shield. "It doesn't mean anything, Steve. Stop... stop reading into it," he said, but he couldn't keep eye contact, instead turning his gaze to the floor.

"No," Steve answered, gripping his hands into fists. He noticed Tony's eyes darting toward them and very deliberately made them relax again, feeling hollowed out. He knew he wasn't the one who had put that fear into Tony, but it didn't make him feel any better, especially when he realized he'd just busted into Tony's space when Tony had been trying to close him out of it. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Just tell me why you're wearing my shirt."

"I can give it back," Tony started, voice flat.

Steve cut in over him, fighting desperately not to shout as he answered, "I don't fucking want the shirt back Tony. I want to know why you're wearing it when we both know you hate it."

Tony turned, just slightly, as if he hoped not facing him directly would help even a little. "You... left it," he finally answered when Steve didn't budge. His voice halted and paused awkwardly, as if he was also hoping Steve would take pity on him and accept that meager explanation, even though they both knew he wouldn't. "I thought... you were punishing me. Because you knew I hated it. So I put it on to prove I didn't care. And it. Still smelled like you. So. I couldn't stop putting it on."

It broke Steve's heart. He'd kind of known it would, though. "I didn't leave it to punish you, Tony. I left it so you could finally have the satisfaction of throwing it away."

Tony turned to look up at him again, eyes wide and wet. He looked more hurt than when they'd broken up. "Just because I complained about it all the time doesn't mean I would have actually thrown it out, Steve. I wouldn't have thrown away any of your things."

"It didn't feel like it," Steve had to admit. "You... complained about a lot of my things. Clothes especially. To the point that I made it a habit to check the garbage before I threw it down the chute."

Tony's shoulders fell. He looked so lost. "I'm sorry," he finally whispered, looking at the floor again. "I thought it was like when you complained about how much I worked. You knew that wouldn't change and complained, so. I did the same thing. I thought... I thought it was banter, I guess. Teasing."

"Looking back, I'm sure it was," Steve offered, but Tony shook his head, hand coming up to cover his mouth, so he figured it didn't really help. He couldn't help taking a step closer to him. "You liked that it smelled like me?"

Tony sucked in a wet breath. "Well. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Steve admitted, carefully taking another slow step closer.

"You climbed out a window to get away from me," Tony choked out, then sniffed wetly and covered his mouth again.

Steve came closer, almost within arm's reach. "I knew if I saw you, I'd embarrass both of us begging you to take me back."

"You wouldn't have had to beg," Tony started, turning to face him, and jumped a little when he saw how close he was.

Steve reached out to catch his shoulders before he could back away again, pulling him in against his chest, and Tony made a soft, wounded noise as he greedily leaned in, hiding his face in Steve's chest. Probably to hide the fact that a few tears had broken loose, but Steve was kind enough not to mention it; his eyes felt a little hot and damp, too.

"I don't even remember why we broke up," Steve murmured into Tony's hair. "I've missed you every fucking day since I moved out. I just want to see you in my shirts all the time."

"You shouldn't come back," Tony whispered back. "The shirt affect will wear off, and then you'll just be stuck with me."

Steve scowled, but he was glad Tony couldn't see it. "I wouldn't be stuck with anything. I didn't say I missed seeing you in my shirts. I said I missed you. All of you, even the most frustrating parts of you. I'd love you even if you decided you were only going to wear snowsuits from now on."

Tony leaned back, unable to help but sob out, "You still love me?"

"It's impossible not to love you, Tony," Steve promised, lifting his hands to cradle his flushed face and tip him back for a kiss.

[curiousquirks]

Day 14 | Dabi x F!Reader (18+)

Sex Pollen | Begging

Content Warnings: Sex Pollen, Quirk Misuse, AFAB Reader, Dubious Consent/Somewhat Non-Con, Rough Sex, Dirty Talk, Unsafe Sex, Oral (Female Receiving), Pet Names Used (Sweetheart), Dabi burning fingers digging into your skin, Overstimulation, Bullshitted my way through a quirk for plot

Word Count: 3,094

Summary:

You were important to the Meta Liberation and finally got brought into the Paranormal Liberation Front. This brought you face to face with Dabi, who grabbed your attention. You intrigued him as well and with the help of your quirk, he’d be yours in no time.

Reader has a quirk: Small colorful flowers in your hair that produce a puff of odorless power that make the target have an amplified sexual desire towards the user. The more the target views the user in such a way without aid of the quirk the stronger the desire gets.

The day’s tasks stretched on more than it needed to, and yet things kept happening adding to Dabi’s growing frustrations. Making it worse currently was being dragged into a meeting. Again. Normally he wouldn’t even bother but it’s like Skeptic always knew how to include things that piqued his interests. He’d have to give him credit for that at least. Once he got the information he needed, Dabi had no issues getting up and leaving in the middle of the Paranormal Liberation’s briefing. He’d already been tuning out most of the discussion for the past few minutes anyways.

“Dabi, don’t you want to hear about—” Mr. Compress began, looking up towards him from his tablet. 

“Not interested.” Dabi interrupted, swinging open the door and only pausing when he saw you standing outside the door. Small colorful flowers were animated and littered throughout your hair. He eyed you curiously as he let his foot hold the door open. “What do we have here?”

He heard ReDestro clear his throat from the table behind him. “You can come in now.” Skeptic had called towards you, and your eyes lingered on Dabi’s for only a moment more before you had made your way into the room. 

Dabi’s eyes lingered on you as you passed him, everyone going back to what they were apparently originally talking about. You were a member of the Liberation Army who they valued and would be a vital member of the Paranormal Liberation Front. Dabi kept that in the back of his mind as he continued on his way out. He’d find out more about you later, especially since he wanted to know more about why you were so valuable but he couldn’t care enough to know now.

A few days passed, Dabi having spent his spare time working on personal projects that you hadn’t crossed his mind. That was until he saw you across the way one day in the villa. His mind lingered on you for a while that day, being genuinely surprised when you popped up on the same side of the villa again. You were walking towards him, and kept this intense eye contact with him. It piqued his interest, it made him want to know more about you. Nowadays that was a hard thing to do.

You smiled as you got closer, making a beeline towards him. He made no motion to stop walking, so you instead decided to just walk beside him. “Fancy seeing you again, especially since it seems hard for people to get ahold of you.” You said, glancing towards him. 

“Skeptic tell you that?” He asked, not really wanting an answer. “I know that’s not true because he sure as hell knows how to bother me.” 

“Everyone says that you aren’t really in many meetings, seem to be doing your own thing.” You said. “I can admire focusing on your own thing, it must be important.” Your interest was focused intensely on him.  He noticed.

“If you’re trying to get information from me to give back to the Liberation, I’m pretty sure those freaks know enough.” He said, turning a corner. 

“I was just trying to get to know you.” You explained, letting your quirk subtly activate. A small puff of odorless powder floating into the air from the flowers in your hair.  “Your whole mysterious aloof personality made me curious.” 

“Cut your losses and leave me alone, sweetheart. I’m not about to tell you anything.” He said, part of his mind not really meaning it. 

“I’m sure you have something that you want to share with me.” You teased, knowing it wouldn’t take long for him to take the bait. 

He thought your perfume smelled really nice. The scent was light, not too strong. He slowed his steps to be more in sync with yours. “Why should I do that?” He asked. “Why are you suddenly so interested in me? They certainly took their time dragging you into the fold, despite how long we’ve been set up here.”

“I could be more direct but where’s the fun in that.” You said, taking note of where you were in the villa. It was working. “I’m not doing this for any nefarious reasons, you just caught my eye.”

“Considering that doesn’t happen with me, unless someone wants something, I find that excuse to be bullshit.” He said, feeling his body heating up. He tried brushing it off. “Knock it off and stop beating around the bush.”

“I’m serious, Dabi.” You explained, lying through your teeth. His name falling from your lips was really getting him going. “You caught my eye.”

You were really pissing him off. The back and forth banter was a turn on, but your lying was doing nothing but angering him. He hadn’t noticed that you had been guiding him through the villa at all, until you were both steps away from the main meeting room. He paused and took a second to process that he hadn’t been paying attention to much aside from you until now. The confusion was apparent on his face and you were stifling a laugh. 

“Why are we over here?” He asked, something he actually wanted answered. 

“I was following you.” You lied, moving your way towards the door. You pressed an ear up to the door for a moment. “It doesn’t sound like anyone’s in there–”

He pushed your body up against the door, pinning your arms against your back. His body was warm against yours, his breath fanning against your ear. “What’s your fucking game?” He asked. Your quirk activated again, small puffs of that powder releasing into the air from your flowers. Dabi coughed and tightened his grips on your arms. “What the fuck was that?”

“You’ll find out soon.” You teased, rubbing your ass against his crotch. His cock twitched excitedly in his pants, steam started lifting from his skin as his body started heating up more. “Do you get it now?”

“You’re one fucked up bitch.” He spat, yanking you from the door before shoving you into the room. “All this shit with your quirk just to convince someone to fuck you.” 

“You wanted to, I’m just speeding up the process instead of waiting.” You explained as he shoved you over to the long meeting table. “Not that it matters now.”

“You fucking talk too much.” He said, bending you over the table. His breathing was rough, he was used to his body feeling warm but this was different. He started shedding layers of clothes, tossing them to the side. “Lying to me, leading me over here so you can get fucked in the meeting room huh? Probably some sick fucking fantasy of yours.”

“You hate being in here so much I thought you might want to take your frustrations out on me here.” You said, wiggling your ass at him. 

He didn’t bother taking his pants off, just down enough to free his cock. You had already gotten rid of anything that would obstruct his access to your dripping pussy. You braced yourself just in time before he roughly pushed his cock into you. A moan was ripped from your throat as he wasted no time slamming his hips into yours. Your warm walls were squeezing him and enveloping him in intoxicating bliss. He just couldn’t get enough of your pussy.

He selfishly chased after his own high, not that you minded because you knew he was far from done. His fingers gripped into your hips, blistering heat burning into your flesh as he neared his climax. His cum was so warm as it shot inside of your welcoming pussy, your walls clenching and squeezing every drop out of his cock. 

He pulled out of you, expecting the intense high to leave him. He braced himself against the table next to you, his breathing uneven as he tried to keep ahold of his sanity. “What the fuck is your quirk?” He slowly asked, looking over at you in time to see another odorless powder puff out in front of his face. “What–”

He groaned, his cock twitching violently as he felt an intense desire course through his body. He looked down at his cock in time to see some of your juices dripped off of his cock. His mind was consumed with only you, he’d barely seen anything of your skin but the way your pussy felt wrapped around him was enough to fuel his body. Steam was actively rising from his skin, his body heating up as his thoughts raced.

You were long ahead of him, being the only sane one in the room after all. You pushed yourself from the table, observing him struggling beside you. It made you so wet knowing how much men lost themselves with lust wanting to fuck you. They’d do anything to sink their cocks into you. You took a few steps away from the table, removing the rest of your clothing. This is when Dabi finally paid attention to your movement. His eyes narrowed, intensely watching your movements especially when your hands cupped your breasts. 

“Come here.” You commanded, breathlessly. 

He shoved himself roughly away from the table, moving towards you. You didn’t let him get too  close before you had tripped him, pushing him onto the ground. He grunted as he landed, glaring at you. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He asked, moving to push himself off the ground.

You hovered over him, crouching and pushing him back onto the ground. “I had to force you down here because you weren’t about to do it if I asked.” You explained, grinding yourself against his cock. “I wanted to be in control for a minute.” 

“If you wanted to do all the work all you had to do was ask, sweetheart.” He said, thrusting his hips up as you continued grinding against him. “Stop fucking around, you’re the one who wanted this.”

“I think you want it more than me.” You teased, deliberately going slower in your movements. Your wet folds dragging agonizingly slowly across his throbbing cock. His hands found your hips, digging into your skin again. 

“You’re playing a dangerous game.” He said, strong heat burning into your skin. You hissed in pain as you stilled your movements. Your quirk activated again, puffs of smoke filling the air which had Dabi using his strength to flip you over. He hovered over you, leaning really close to your face. “Didn’t really think this through did you?”

Your face was flushed, and your chest was rising and falling rapidly. Your eyes were half-lidded as your lust consumed you. He wasted no more time, pushing his cock into you again. His hips slamming into yours, your body clinging to his. Curses were muttered under his breath as he buried himself as far he could into your pussy with every thrust. The heat consuming your body and how good his cock felt left you nearly breathless. 

“You fuck me so good, your cock is so–mmgn big.” You moaned, wrapping your legs around his waist. He had an animalistic pace, rutting himself against you. “Fucking fill me with cum, fill me–yeeess, oh...”

Dabi couldn’t even form words right now, just grunts and groans as your walls sucked him with every thrust. Your voice dragged him closer and closer to the edge, the need to fill up your pussy with so much cum that it spilled out was burning in every fiber of his being. He need to keep going, he was going to spend every waking moment fucking you, bruising every inch of your skin with his fingers as he bend you in every position. It was your own fault though right? Your quirk caused this, you asked for it. You wanted it.

He slammed his hips into you again, his burning hot cum shooting inside of you again. He choked out a groan, his hips staggering thrusts against you as he rode out yet another orgasm. You kept your legs wrapped tightly around him, not wanting him to move. You clenched your walls around his cock, hearing Dabi groan above you. You did again.

“Still desperate for more of my cock, slut?” He asked, getting inches from your face. 

“I think you’re still desperate for my pussy.” You shot back, clenching your walls around his cock. “You can’t get enough of it can you?”

“Smartass little brat aren’t you? Your fucking quirk is…” He trailed off, his cock twitching inside of your intoxicating pussy. He was trying to keep his thoughts straight but it was easier than actually done. Another puff of your quirk activated.

“You’re right, this is my fault. My quirk got you in this state.” You conceded. “Want me to ride you? Give you a little show while you let me take care of you.”

You unwrapped your legs from around his waist, he took the initiative to pull you close to him and roll himself over to lay onto his back. You laughed at the sudden movement, moaning as you adjusted yourself on his lap. His cock was twitching inside of you still, his hips thrusting up into you driving his cock further inside of you. You whined, bracing your hands onto his chest. 

You finally met his wishes by lifting your hips up to start riding him. Your breasts bounced as your body grinded down against him, his attention entirely on you. You whined, locking eyes with him beneath you. He couldn’t handle not being in control, dragging your body towards him as he started thrusting his hips roughly up against you. His cock drilled deep inside of you, hitting your sweet spot in a new angle.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, just like that.” You whined, your body tensing up. “I’m gonna come–-oh please, please, please, please…”

“You like that?” He groaned in your ear. “That’s right fucking beg for it.”

“I wanna come, I wanna come all over your cock.” You moaned, your thighs starting to shake. “Your cock is so deep, you’re fucking me sooo good.” You were so close. “Let me come, please, please–.”

Your orgasm got delayed as his interrupted, more spurts of his hot cum coated inside your pussy. You whined, that tight coil in your core slowly loosening. You felt his arms let go of you, allowing you to sit up. You glared down at him, bracing your hands on his abdomen.

“Don’t look at me like that, you deserve it.” He said, placing an arm over his face. “Selfish bitch.”

“I’m selfish?” You shot back, offended. “You don’t even know how my quirk works! You got to come three times and you couldn’t even let me come one time?”

“Forced me to have sex and now you’re gonna get hung up on me not letting you get off? You did this to yourself.” He said, panting as his body was still heavily affected by your quirk. “Fuck, how long does this shit last.”

“Depends on your attraction, asshole.” You explained, lifting yourself up off of his cock. “So actually you did this to yourself.”

You got most of the way up before you felt his hands on your legs. He dragged your lower body towards his face.. “What are you doing?” You asked as you looked down at him. “Don’t tell me you suddenly feel like giving back because–”

He answers by shoving his head between your legs. The sensation of his insanely warm tongue against your folds had your legs buckling. You collapsed forward, forcing both of you onto the ground. His hands held you in place as his tongue pressed against you like he was trying to make up for mistakes he didn’t even make. You gasped and whimpered as his tongue devoured you. 

You knew you wouldn’t last long. Your juices mixed with his cum were leaking out of your pussy, coating his chin as he lapped at your swollen clit. His tongue against you making wet noises echo through the room almost as loud as your moans.

Your fingers found his hair, gripping it tightly as you grinded against his mouth. “So good–soo good…” You moaned, your eyes nearly rolling into the back of your head. His fingers were digging into your ass now, forcing your body as close to him as possible. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…” 

You heard a muffled groan from him, which almost had your vision turning white. You couldn’t think straight, nothing other than pure euphoric pleasure and how good his tongue felt. There was sweat coating your body, just another fluid you were going to be covered in by the end of this. Another string of curses left your mouth, along with promises of anything if you could come.

“I’m so close–so close.” You whimpered, rocking your hips against him as you felt that coil tighten again.

It only took a few more flicks of his tongue before your orgasm slammed into you. You cried out, your hips tightening around his face as you almost collapsed forward. You don’t get much breathing room before Dabi’s tongue starts its assault on your clit again. A noise gets choked out as you squeeze against him. Your body twitches as jolts of pleasure and pain from the stimulation run through your body. You feel his fingers dig into your skin, that searing pain from the heat radiating off of him burns into your skin.

“Stop stop—fuck e-enough!” You cried out, falling on deaf ears as he continued torturing you.

Your body tenses up, whines leave your lips as your fingers dig into his hair. Tears prickle at the corner of your eyes, the sensations clouding your every thought. You’re a whimpering mess as every flick of his tongue has you reeling with gasps and cries.

“Please, please stop. Please I c–can’t handle it.” You whined, trying desperately to pull your hips away from his mouth. “Fuck, Dabi STOP!”

You keep leaning forward, curling in on yourself. It gets hard to breathe as your gasps from the pain and pleasure coursing through you consume every thought. You only feel relief after you feel your body falling forward as he finally lets you go. As you catch your breath, collapse against the ground do you finally feel the intense pain from his fingerprints burned into your hips.

Dabi sits up, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He looks over his shoulder at you. “You have until I get up and come over there to recover. I didn’t say I’m finished with you yet.” He warned.

[panthera-dei]

Technomancy 101

Hi, friends! I'm back with another witchy FAQ from the past couple weeks. This time from the world of tech magic!

Here are some quick TL;DR technomancy tips for those who may not want to read the long FAQs post beneath the cut:

1. Chest spells (like a jar spell but with a chest filled with in game items that match the intent)

2. Poppet spells using the game characters by giving them items or altering their names/appearances

3. Similar to a chest spell but not necessarily magic per se - using chests or sheds with in-game items as altars and/or offerings

4. Build a shrine / altar / temple with offerings, or leave an item such as a torch in the game world as an offering

5. Burn/bury/destroy ingredients to activate a spell with the desired effect

6. Write an affirmation or a spell on a sign or other in-game item and destroy it to activate as a sigil

7. Build a golem or animal pen or something as a servitor for protection

8. Use some form of sympathetic magic connecting in-game items to IRL items

9. Light sticks, flashlights, plastic lightsabers, and toy sonic screwdrivers make *awesome* wands, especially if they light up and make noise.

10. The possibilities are limited to your imagination!!

(I am choosing Wittgenstein from The Brave Little Toaster movies as my mascot for tech magic, simply because I like him and because I can. Image credit - Fandom Wiki.)

What is technomancy?: Technomancy, techno magic, and tech magic are all terms for a form of magic that utilizes common modern technology, such as smartphones and video games. Technically, “technomancy” could refer specifically to divination with technology; however, in my experience, the term usually has a broader meaning in common usage. I personally tend to use these terms interchangeably, with perhaps a slight preference for technomancy, since I learned that name first.

What are some forms of technomancy?: Common forms of technomancy include digital sigils, emoji spells, shufflemancy, video game spells, and video game altars.

How do I create a digital sigil?: The ways are about as unlimited as creating a physical sigil on paper. You can use a drawing app on a smartphone or tablet, find a digital sigil generator online, use a photo editor on a picture, or even add a string of charged letters to an email signature (just make sure they blend in!).

OK, and what's the deal with emoji spells?: Yes, this is an actual thing (though not a thing that I'm particularly experienced with). They're pretty straightforward. They can be done like a sigil - string emojis together and charge them. Or like an actual spell - put them together and send to cast, or like to charge and send/reblog to cast.

What kind of games can you use for technomancy?: Any of them. Minecraft is a very popular one. So is Stardew Valley. Skyrim and other RPGs are other common choices. As with other forms of magic, the only real limit is your imagination.

What kind of spells can you cast in a game?:

Chest spells - like digital jar spells - are very common.

Poppet spells are another common choice. In games that allow you to create a character, or in games where you can give items to an NPC, you can turn the character into a poppet of someone and give them an item to cast the spell. For example, if I wanted emotional strength, I could create a Skyrim character as a poppet for myself, and have the character drink a strength potion to cast a spell of strength for myself in the real world.

Burying or burning items in games like Minecraft can be done to cast spells that are similar to physical spells that require burning a paper, bay leaf, or other ingredient.

Enchanting! Use the enchanting function in a video game like Skyrim or Minecraft to enchant a physical object. For example, you might choose to connect a physical scarf to a shield in Skyrim, and when you enchant the in-game shield with a damage resistance effect, voila! You now have a fancy enchanted scarf to protect yourself from spiritual attacks.

Customize your avatar to your advantage! In games such as Sky: Children Of The Light, where you can accessorize your character, you can equip different items to cast a different spell on yourself. For example, you might use the Saluting Captain's staff as a cosmetic to cast a spell of protection on yourself, or you could use a particular cape as a spiritual veil.

For deity work & spirit work, consider creating a space in your game (e.g. a chest, shed, home, biome, character, etc.) dedicated to the entities you work with. For example, temples and altars in Minecraft are common. Devotional sheds and chests are popular in Stardew Valley. I’ve named some appropriate Pokemon after an entity or dedicated the critter to them. You can even place a torch or candle in the game world as an offering.

There are lots more out there, too! This list is a starting point, not a limitation. Use your imagination and swap ideas with others, too!

How exactly does all of this work?? How is it possible?!: OK, so the principle behind tech magic is that you're harnessing the energy of multiple sources.

First, the device itself (and if you're using something like a Switch, the cartridge or other physical media). Each of these items has its own materials - electricity, glass and metal, etc. And each of those materials has a magical property that you can use... Glass and metal come from the Earth and have their own correspondences, while electricity is pure energy in itself.

Second, you have the energy of symbolism, or as I like to think of it with a butchered sociology term, symbolic interactionism - i.e., the idea that we create our own reality (or our *perception* of reality) via symbols. In other words, the power of correspondences! A candle is still a candle whether it's physical or digital. Lapis lazuli has the same qualities in this world that it does in a pixelated version. And so forth. So when you use the correspondences in digital spell work, provided that you raise the energy, it can and does have real world consequences. Similar to doing magic in the astral as opposed to the physical world... you are making a conscious decision to connect a digital item to an effect either in the astral and/or physical worlds.

Finally, you're also harnessing the power of belief and the energy of attention, which is where the chaos magic concepts start to come in. The digital worlds are real because you believe they are and you pour parts of your energy and personality into them - and so do *millions* of other people, in many cases. All of that energy is sort of like a reservoir in these games and it's just waiting to be harvested for spell work!

So… This is another subset of chaos magic, then.: Pretty much, yes. I haven't seen it categorized as anything else yet, except for in those cases where technomancy is given its own category.

And what did you mean by “energy of symbolism” again?: Correspondences. Both traditional ones and your own. For example, obsidian corresponds with protection IRL. So if you were making a chest spell in Minecraft for protection, you'd want to consider adding an obsidian block to your spell. Some of this is also stuff that you can brainstorm on your own and explore! Like for example, in the Elder Scrolls series, there are several plants and items that don't exist IRL, such as the corkbulb root - but in the game, that item can be used to make a potion of healing, so for me, it has a healing correspondence. Also, if the game you’re playing has spells already, you can consider how to adapt those spells to affect the real world in a logical, realistic way! Many pop culture magicians have done a great job of turning Pokemon moves into real spells, for example. So feel free to play around (pun intended) and see what works best for you!

How come you only mentioned shufflemancy once in this whole entire post??: That, my friend, needs to be a post for a later date. I assure you, I absolutely can (and probably already have, and probably eventually will) write an entire post about shufflemancy.

How come your formatting is crap?: Because I wrote all of this on a smartphone and pieced it into a post with the mobile app. Bear with me. XD

Where do I learn more and fact check you, smarty-pants?: Tumblr. The answer is usually Tumblr for this kind of thing. Or sometimes Discord. Like pop culture magic, techno magic is simply very new. Some tags to search include tech magic, techno magic, technomancy, video game magic, etc.

[ilikebookssomuch]

guys. Can I share some random life news with you?

I was at a bookstore today (locally owned, nothing too fancy) and my mom was chatting to the owner about how I draw WoF inspired dragons. And the owner said that if I make prints of a few designs they could sell them at the store and I could earn some money!

This was super cool obviously, but i know with traditional drawing making prints and non-messy art is pretty hard, especially bc I only have a limited number of colors.

So ig this is a question for the artists: Should I get to own a drawing tablet (idk what they're called TT) for this and also just for my own uses?

[mister-tom-a-dildo-lover]

I would pay to hear you and your mom do a podcast on the inconsistencies and character problems in hp especially those surrounding Slytherins, Tom, Voldie and Harry.

We do have a lot to say, but the best you'd get is something like a shoddy recording done on my laptop or tablet. There'd be no face reveal and no fancy equipment involved. It'd just be like 10 minutes of her ranting and me laughing 100 different ways, and then it's over.

She has mentioned wanting to do a podcast before, but we just don't have the means. Starting any kind of money-making venture requires you to put time and money into it first and if you have neither of those, getting anything done will be obnoxiously difficult.

A bit of a shame though, cuz HP has a lot of interesting things we could talk about. I got her into Harrymort/Tomarry after all. There's a lot of untapped potential imo.

[extralively]

Satoru's apartment (Part 2)

We're back! After Part 1 covered the living room area and kitchen, we'll take a look at the bedrooms this time around!

This is Satoru's apartment that I built in TS4 based on my fic series Under the Cover of Shadows, and it's essentially what I imagine what Satoru's apartment would be like!

As a refresher, this is the layout of the place:

Let's go take a look at Satoru's own bedroom now, shall we?

This is it! It's pretty open and spacious (I struggled a lot making it, and I'm not sure I'm 100% satisfied with it even now lmao), and following the same idea that I mentioned in Part 1, that Satoru in general doesn't populate his place with a lot of personal items, it's much of the same here. There are a few every day items scattered around, like slippers, wallet, phone, tablet and whatnot, but most of his precious keepsakes are kept secure and out of sight.

(The photo strips he took with Yura during that one summer vacation are kept in his bedside table drawer. He likes to look at it every now and then.)

(Also Yura tends to sleep on the left side of the bed and Satoru on the right, and as you may notice, it's her side that has an alarm clock on it lol)

Here is Satoru's bathroom, and you can see it was actually built like a western-style one instead of the Japanese-style bathrooms he grew up with in the Gojo Estate. I guess Satoru just wanted something different for once ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(This is also the biggest bathtub I could find to put in there, but I still imagined it even bigger ʘ‿ʘ✿)

Nowadays, there's a lot of Yura's stuff scattered in his bathroom, and while Satoru wasn't too used to sharing a space with someone else at first, he actually got used to it pretty quickly.

And this is Satoru's closet! Just imagine there are a lot more clothes in there lmao, all of it designer stuff because of course.

Those rack/shelves on the right are essentially all Yura's stuff now. She used to bring in an overnight bag when they got started with their "arrangement", but then she slowly started leaving more and more stuff behind so now she doesn't really need an overnight bag anymore. She could comfortably spend several days in his place without needing to go back to her own apartment lol

Now on to the guest bedroom!

This is where Yura stayed in a couple of times, in particular before and after her trip to New York. Not a lot of people have stayed in this bedroom, to be honest. Satoru doesn't usually have people over aside from Yura, Shoko, or the Fushiguros.

(I hadn't initially envisioned the desk there, but actually building it made that area feel so empty lol. So I thought it fit nicely!)

And finally, the guest bathroom. There was a particular scene in chapter 23 (The Aftermath p 1) of Out of the Shadows that has Yura having an emotional crisis in this very bathroom, and I think this must have been the first room of Satoru's apartment that I properly envisioned along with the guest bedroom! We only got to "see" his own bedroom much later, so I also didn't think it up until then.

Alright, there are still a few rooms left for me to post, but this is generally it! And boy oh boy did this entire apartment give so much trouble lmao and I'm not even done with it yet. It was really hard making things look somewhat closer to the picture I had in my head while working within the constraints of The Sims lol. I think this was especially daunting because it's supposed to be a ~luxury~ apartment, so I had try extra hard to make things look ~fancy~, but I was having a lot of fun! And I also downloaded SO MUCH stuff that my game looks completely different now lmao my inner architect was happy.

[simulation-machine]

SIMS RELATED PROJECTS/UPDATES

My spring break is coming up in a week and holy crap do I have plans on plans on plans, especially since my summer is gonna be full of school + internship + HOPEFULLY friggin' graduating with a BA in Psychology so that I can start applying to grad schools.

Read more iffin' you'd like! It's long! Here's a picture of my golden retriever napping on her brother's food bowl to entice/entertain you:

god she is so precious i would literally kill for her

GOAL 1: MASTER GSHADE/ReSHADE

I know that some people are sticklers for this but my thing is that I had no gee-dee clue what I was doing with ReShade, whereas Gshade just kinda clicked and worked for me? That said I have a bunch of resources for learning ReShade so I might end up moving back to it at some point.

My main issue is figuring out the order of all the different effects. It obviously matters, I'm sure people smarter than me have tried to use presets only to be like "why tf does this look absolutely nothing like the baller screenshots this one cool Simblr has?" Annnd it turns out it's order + remembering to turn off certain graphic settings. Also photoshop, but that's gonna take a lot longer for me to figure out lol.

Like I'd been struggling to figure out why @gunthermunch's gorgeous Lithium preset wasn't looking as sexy as it did before annnnd it's because I forgot to turn Edge Smoothing off when switching to it. Jesus wept at how dippy I am sometimes.

Eventually, what I would like to do is maybe make my own preset at some point? I would be kind enough to show the effect order too if I did so. But this requires so, so much more shader knowledge than I currently have.

FUN FACT: My first ever degree was in art, I even went to a very fancy and private art school (School of the Art Institute of Chicago if you're curious)- I dropped out after one semester because uhhh that shit is expensive. Ended up finishing my degree at a much cheaper location in MN. That said, my art was 100% analog and 2D, and it turns out it did not translate super well into trying my hand at graphic art.

It's funny because I've been gifted really neat stuff for graphic art (like a really nice Wacom tablet and Adobe subscriptions), like people just expected my mixed-media ass would know what to do with it. NOPE! But yeah, Sims is sort of my excuse to try my hand at this stuff again, especially since I have a bit more energy now that my soul is not regularly being drained out of my body by customer service and tech support jobs.

GOAL 2: GET CRACKIN' ON ANOTHER DOOR

This one is hard because I am only on Gen 2 of the Orsons and it's sort of hard to justify starting up another story while that one is less than 1/5 of the way done.

THAT SAID, I don't plan on posting Another Door until I have a decent chunk of it done. Since it's not a casual gameplay story nor a legacy challenge, I plan on editing the bajeez out of the screenshots for it, really honing in on the aesthetic. I want it to look and feel very different from my random legacy challenge.

Fortunately, this story has been fucking up my sleep schedule for *months* now and I have a lot of the writing for it done. The hard part is translating that into the Sims, making sure I get the right poses and stuff, maybe even learning how to make some super easy CC (like, posters and stuff), and stuff related to GOAL 1 above.

What I'm saying is that it's going to take a bit. But I'm super serious about sharing it because it's my obsession and honestly the first time a story of my own design has possessed me in literal years.

Also, I want to make sure I have a significant backlog of the Orsons before I start seriously simming for it, because I don't want to screw over my favorite little pixel babies. This legacy challenge is going to be the one, I have done so much to keep my save files to keep it safe from harm (ask me how many backups I have of the save files. JK don't, the number is frankly silly).

GOAL 3: START YET ANOTHER MASSIVE CC PURGE

Y'all, my CC folder for this game is honestly an embarrassment. I go so hard on CC shopping because this community is stupid-talented and I like giving my pixel babies nice things and cool looks. When I'm bored and not quite in the mood for gameplay, I just like making neat-looking sims that I do absolutely nothing with because I love fucking around in CAS.

I have built my own PCs since I was 17 years old, and when I first built COMPUTERMACHINE (current rig) back in the autumn of 2018, it was with the goal that it would run Sims 4 flawlessly no matter what I did to it. It's got ridiculous amounts of RAM, I religiously update parts for it. And to be fair, even with the current 6,907,907,890 TB of CC I have atm it runs better than Sims 3 ever had with a measly 50 GB of CC.

But for me, it comes down to finding all the stuff I wanna use. Making myself get rid of the stuff I don't wanna use. Straight up yeeting the CC that I thought was going to look incredible that uh, didn't deliver.

I do CAS CC purges about once a year but have literally never done it for Build & Buy stuff, because OMG some of this shit I've had since 2014. Like when Sims 4 first came out. YIKES. My CAS CC obsession is notable but it's honestly nothing compared to my Build & Buy. Even before For Rent made building lots slow af, my PC was starting to take a solid minute to switch to different buy categories.

It would take a long af time so I want to make sure I have a bunch of content in the queue before I do it. It's gonna be a whole ass thing and be so, so boring to do. So I'm putting it off for when I have a ton of time to do it. Like, oh, my entire Spring Break?

GOAL 4: MAKE A FRIGGIN' RESOURCES LIST ALREADY

This would obviously need to wait until after GOAL 3 is completed, but I wanna make sure the awesome creators whose stuff I use get credit, and that people know where they can grab neat stuff. It would include not only CC but mods, Gshade/ReShade presets, and maybe even lots and sims I've downloaded from the gallery?

(Since I am super anti-paywall and very unapologetic and rude about it, I will also share where one could perhaps get some of these CCs without paying some dip a Trenta Starbucks Unicorn Frappucino amount of $$$)

It's ambitious as hell because *gestures vaguely at GOAL 3* but it would make things like doing WCIF asks and lookbooks so much easier.

Somewhat relatedly, I wanna make a navigation post, especially once Another Door starts getting posted. That story is gonna be a bit huge with multiple arcs that take place over the course of like, 14 years. Plus once the Orsons get to the 4th+ generation, it would be easier to track things down.

IN CONCLUSION...

I have been having so much fun sharing my silly little Sim adventures on Tumblr, so much more than I ever thought I would! You all have been so great to me, and all of this stuff is sort of a way for me to repay that. Ever since I stopped being able to be artistically creative ever since a really nasty depressive spell in 2017, Sims has been my #1 artistic outlet. And having people who are even somewhat entertained by my pixels is incredibly motivating.

Basically, if you read all of this, DAMN would you have been a rad livejournal follower of mine circa 2007. On the seriousness, however, thank you all so much for being rad and encouraging and sweet. I promise to do you all, if not proud, then at the very least not disappointed.

Time to hit the bong and take some pictures of Lou and Tatertot before taking my IRL doggos on a walk~

[asvterias]

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝟦: 𝖮𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝖥𝗈𝗋 𝖸𝗈𝗎

Series Masterlist || The Cast || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

chapter warnings: some jealousy and minor cursing

chapter pairings: lynn loud x black!fem!reader, platonic!bailey family x platonic!lynn, platonic!loud family x platonic!reader

word count: 5.9k+

tag list: @sheluvv-jen

author’s note: there’s finally some romance going on!

also send me a private message, an ask, or leave a comment if you want to be apart of the taglist!

The next morning over at the Louds’ house was productive, to say the least. You changed into a sleeveless mini red plaid dress that dangled over mid-knees with a pair of black converses to match. After getting dressed, Lynn wasn’t upstairs so you assumed that she was downstairs, but to your surprise when you checked, she wasn’t there either.

Lori had informed you that Lynn was out and wouldn’t be back till later. That was how you found yourself conversing with the teen rockstar, Luna Loud. For half of your Sunday morning, you spent with Luna, just discussing each other’s interests. You and Luna settled for breakfast next to each other. You ate some pancakes with orange juice while Luna just ate cereal.

Lunch has rolled around and Lynn arrives back at home, but not empty-handed. You walked up to her, curious to see what she had brought but she gave it to her mom for safekeeping. Luckily for you, the design logo on the mini bag gave it all away; Birmingham Jewelry. You felt completely clueless being fully aware that Lynn wasn’t the type to wear any fancy jewelry at all, mostly sporting tiny earrings.

Although seeing the frown form upon your face after the encounter with her mom, she shrugged it off. She didn’t trust herself with priceless items, especially if she was planning to give them to you. It was safer in her mom’s hand anyways. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

You ventured upstairs, making your way into Lynn’s and Lucy’s room. Lynn was not that far behind, catching up to you rather quickly, her speed becoming an instinct at this point.

“Where were you all morning?” You interrogated, crossing your arms.

“I was out…” The athletic girl trails off.

“Out where?” You pushed her further.

“Look, [name], that doesn’t matter, but I’m here now. So can we just drop it?” She sighs loudly and sits on her bed.

You scoff unconvincingly at her trying to change the topic of your conversation but allowing it with the rolling of your eyes.

“Fine,” You flop your body next to her, looking at her iPad’s screen, noticing that she was on an online shopping website. “So…what are you shopping for?”

“I’m trying to get these new cleats but they’re so expensive…” She groans, gently shoving the tablet in your hands and flinging herself on the bed. “Or the ones that are at a decent price, they don’t have it in my shoe size. It totally sucks!”

“Well, what happened to your current cleats?” You scrolled through the viable options of baseball cleats.

“They’re all worn out and I desperately need one for the new season.” She explains with a tone of annoyance, feeling defeated. You looked at her with sympathy in your eyes, remaining silent, unsure of what to say. “It’s nothing for you to worry about anyways, let’s go get lunch.” She hastily cut you off, not wanting any more non-verbal pity from you.

“Yeah, let me use the bathroom, first.” She nodded you off and you headed towards the bathroom.

When you finished using the bathroom, you were in the hallway and stopped by Luna. “Hey, [name]!” Luna smiles, popping up from her doorway. “Mind if I steal you for a sec? Lynn’s not gonna mind.”

“Sure, don’t see any harm in that.” You complied, walking into Luna’s room.

She grabbed her guitar and sat down on her purple DI box. “Thanks, I just need a second opinion on this tone that I’m working on for my new song.”

“Go right ahead.”

She fiddled with the guitar strings, piecing together an upbeat melody. The lively tune was very hypnotic, almost placing you in a trance but it wavered away when she stopped.

“It’s great, I like it!”

“Thanks, you’re the best, [name].” You nodded in agreement, leaving the bedroom, searching for Lynn, thinking that she’d be where you left her.

“I swear this girl…has a habit of running off whenever I leave.” You mumble to yourself, looking into the empty room in which you last left Lynn.

Her voice seemed near. “So, I brought her this bracelet from this crazy-ass expensive jewelry store and I was planning to give it to her when she has her tennis tournament.” Following Lynn’s voice, you stopped at the twins’ bedroom, finally finding the source of the sound.

Lola’s and Lana’s bedroom door was slightly cracked open, sufficient for unintentional eavesdropping. Neither of the girls noticed you by the door and resumed their conversation.

“Since you’re one of the only people in this family, who has good jewelry taste. I mean, I would ask Leni but then she’d probably tell.”

“Say no more and show me the bracelet,” Lola demands, pausing for a few minutes before sighing, “It’s gorgeous. Is that her birthstone beside her initials, that’s so thoughtful.”

“Really, you think? Cause I spent all weekend having it customized by the jewelers.” Guess that also explained why she was being so secretive whenever she held her tablet around you.

“Oh, I don’t think, I know. Trust me, she’s gonna love it.”

It sparked her confidence. “Thanks, sis.”

“No problem! Now let’s get back to business.”

“Are you sure that she’ll like it, Lola?” Lynn asks with a hesitant look on her face.

“I’m 100% positive!! Now, put some more glitter on there.”

You were already downstairs with your packed bag, sitting on the couch watching television with Lincoln and Clyde while Lynn packs her overnight bag and hauls it downstairs. After spending the weekend with Lynn, your mother only saw it fair to have Lynn spend the weekend at your house. Neither of you has disagreed on the matter, rather enjoying spending more time together.

“Ok, do guys want me to drop you?” Mrs. Loud offers. Lynn joins you on the couch with her overnight bag parked by her feet.

“Oh, no thanks. Mrs. Loud, I’m getting picked up.” You answered.

“By one of your parents?”

“No, by my driver.”

A car honks outside, signifying that your ride is here. “Oh, that’s him. See you guys later.” You barged out the door with Lynn right behind you. You discarded your bags into the limo’s trunk as Lynn did the same and got into the car.

“His name is Mike and he’s my family chauffeur,” You introduce Lynn to him.

“So how rich are you?”

“What? Want me to give you a number?” You playfully ask, taking it as a joke.

It was very surprising when she nodded. “Oh! Well, I would say $5 million rich.”

“$5 million!!” She exclaimed, “Do you know what I could do with 5 million dollars?” You giggled at her outburst, finding it adorable.

“You can do a lot, Lynn.”

An idea came to your head at that moment. An idea that would solve Lynn’s sports problem. You knocked on the small glass barrier that separated you and the driver as he rolled it down. Whispering something inaudible to Mike and he nods at your instructions.

“What are you up to, gorgeous?” She detects that mischievous smirk plastered on your lips.

“Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about,”

That was all you said, wanting Lynn to play the guessing game for your delight. The car drive to your house was deterred and rerouted to the nearest shoe store.

Lynn noticed the difference in the passing houses that she’d grown familiar with. “Hey, this isn’t the way to your house.” Her eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion.

“I know, baseball girl.” You shrug, “But a certain someone said that they needed new cleats and we’re getting them for her.”

“You don’t have to do that for me, [name].“

You rested your hand on top of hers, and gazed into her eyes, “Well too bad because I want to.”

“What if I don’t want you to?” She folds her arms in a joking manner.

“Then I’m going against your wishes.” You concluded.

The car stops, indicating your arrival at the shoe store, and you two step out of the car. The perplexed look on Lynn’s face was so priceless which had you feeling extremely giddy on the inside.

“Are we gonna stay standing outside all day or are we going inside?”

She grabs your hand, tugging you along with her to the entrance of the shoe store. After two hours of shopping through sports equipment, Lynn is finally done and you’ve never been so bored in your entire life, but there was something about the familiar gleam in her eyes that made you change your mind. Your sentiment towards Lynn’s favorite sport changed just because you knew that she admired it so much.

You, Lynn, and Mike had to carry all of the items to the counter due to there being so many sports items.

Lynn had doubled up on everything. New socks, new cleats, new baseball bats, duffle bags, and batting helmets, and all because you told her to get anything she wanted. Well, she did fulfill her heart’s desire and you were content that you made that happen.

“Is this your dad’s credit card?” She asked.

“No,” You scoff, flashing her the name of the card. “It’s my credit card. We all have our own credit card and bank account, it’s better this way.”

She nodded in acknowledgment with a tint of blush on her face. You paid for Lynn’s items and you all headed back to the car, putting them in the limousine’s back trunk.

“Come on, let’s get food, whatever you want, it’s my treat.”

“Chick-fil-A is the best!”

“Chick-fil-A it is.”

Mike drove down to the nearest Chick-fil-A and you all ate inside, tired of lounging around in the car for the last few hours.

“Why did you pay for all those things for me?”

“I just wanted to spoil you today.”

Since your eavesdropping incident, you wanted to repay her kindness without letting her know that. What? She was already giving you something, so it was all in good time.

During the car ride back home, Lynn slept like a baby in the comfort of your arms. Apparently being a consistent athlete meant that she slept very easily.

Eventually, Mike was granted access to your security gate and he parked close by the front door. You wrapped an arm around her waist so most of her body weight would depend on you. Surprisingly, Lynn was very lightweight, making it easy to carry her outside of the car. While assisting Lynn, Mike had brought all the baggage out of the car and left them in your care.

“I’m not tired.” She mumbles, trying to fight her tiredness. You made it to your bedroom door as you opened it and walked inside.

“Yes, you are.”

You placed the brunette girl on your bed, tugging her into the fresh sheets, watching her slightly stir trying to find a comfortable position.

You left the bedroom for your bathroom to change into your practice outfit, abandoning a sleeping Lynn, and heading into the backyard to practice.

You had set up your tennis trainer, putting it on a medium pace. Your tennis trainer helped launch the balls to you without the help of another person, so it was money well spent.

Within a few hours of your practice, Lynn was finally awake and caught you practicing tennis. She sits down on the singular black bench by the far corner to your right, watching you train freely.

“I thought that you ditched me, and was almost worried for a sec.”

“Oh please, I would never do that to my baseball girl.” You grinned, swinging your racket to hit the flying balls.

“You know, I like it when you’re looking at me.” She emphasized.

“And I like it when I’m winning so hold off for a bit.” Too focused on the practice, you didn’t realize Lynn walking over to your tennis trainer, and turning it off.

“What the hell Lynn?” You shout, now distracted from your tennis rehearsal.

“I told you in advance that I’d rather you look at me.”

“Okay,” You nod before pointing to the bucket of tennis rackets, “Grab a racket and help me practice.”

“W-what? That’s not what I meant.”

“You wanted my full attention during practice and now you got it. Get a tennis racket.”

She sighed and retrieved a tennis racket, walking over to the court.

“Ok, we’ll do a simple round.” You said, flinging the ball in the air before whacking it over to Lynn.

She swung but missed it by a few meters. Not too shabby for a first-timer.

“That was a love for you.”

During the middle of your game, you became more driven with each swing and hit. Lynn felt inclined to pry into your peculiar behavior, “Ok, you’re training harder than I’ve ever seen you do.”

“This is your first time seeing me play.”

“Exactly and I can tell that you’ve been adding unnecessary pressure when hitting the ball. What’s going on with you?”

You fiddled with the green ball in your hands, deciding that practice was finished for today. You threw the ball on the ground, and walked over to her, close enough to the net.

“I have this upcoming tournament and my opponent Emma Campbell is highly known for being the teen best tennis player and I just feel like I might lose to her.”

“What didn’t you tell me?” She gently squeezed your hands, trying to coax an answer out of you.

“Because…you said that tennis wasn’t exactly a real sport.”

“You know [name], tennis isn’t really my forte unlike you. But for you, I’ll try to understand and enjoy it. Tell me when your next game is, and I guarantee that my family and I will be the first ones there.” You giggled at her heart-warming gesture. “And don’t worry about Emma Campbell, I’m pretty sure that half the time that she’s cheating.”

“Really, you think?”

She hums, nodding her head, “Now, I think that you should practice a bit more, but without the force, can you do that for me, beautiful?”

“Of course, I can.”

The next morning was nerve-racking for you as you got dressed. You tied your hair in a ponytail and dressed in a black tennis outfit with a black sports visor and white tennis shoes. On the other hand, the car ride over to the country club eased up your anxiety alongside your family’s reassuring words.

As soon as your car stopped in front of the country club, you grabbed your racket bag and sprinted out in search of a particular brunette. You spotted Lynn and her family in the shaded stands with a giant poster, encouraging your future win. Natalie was there for your support system as well.

Right now, you were in the stands talking with Lynn. To be honest, you did most of the talking or rather rambling while Lynn did her best to alleviate your continuous panicking.

It took Lynn a little while to calm you down. “[Name], I wanted to give you something before you go.” Lynn stops you.

“What is it, Lynn?” You inquire with a confused gleam in your eyes. At first, she didn’t answer as if she was contemplating whether to continue. Your eyes caught sight of a baby blue box in her hands that she horribly hid behind her back. “Is that for me?”

Her eyes widened at your question. “Yeah, it is!” She handed you the box and grinned when you took it from her hands. Lifting the top cover of the box, opening it to reveal a stunning bracelet. It was a beaded bracelet that had your first name initials next to your birthstone.

“It was kinda hard to find your birthstone on such short notice.”

“It’s beautiful, Lynn, thank you.” You cooed, taking the jewelry out of the box and putting it on your right hand. This generous gift certainly felt like a good luck charm bracelet. For a while, you admired the stunning bracelet on your wrist before looking up and noticing the giant poster that her parents held. “Is that why you were in Lola’s room? To make me that poster?”

“How did you know that I was in Lola’s room?”

“Your frustrations were very easy to spot.”

She laughs boisterously, earning a few annoyed looks from strangers but she ignores them. If they weren’t you then she wouldn’t give them the time of day.

“Oh, umm…your sisters wanted me to give you this.” She showed you a dainty gold necklace with a crescent moon lingering at the bottom. You recognized it when you were shopping with your sisters for the first time in Royal Woods. Cassandra had the sun, Madison had the star and you with the moon.

“Can you put it on me?” You ask, giving her the necklace and turning around.

“Of course, anything for you, beautiful.” You felt flush under those words. Those simple words shouldn’t have such a major effect on you but it did.

She brushes your hair to the left and clips the necklace around your neck, securing it. Turning back around to face her, you smile at her, gazing into each other’s eyes lovingly.

Just then, the loudspeaker announces with a booming voice, simultaneously breaking the shared eye contact “May all tennis players make their way to the tennis court. The game is about to start in 5 minutes.”

“You’re gonna crush it!” She bids you off with a cheek kiss, watching you scurry off down to the tennis court, warming up for the last time. Lynn joins her family back at the bleachers and sat down, ready to enjoy the competition.

“So, are you two dating?” Lori asks, leaning into Lynn subtly whose eyes were trained on your figure.

“What!” Incredulously, she turned to look at her eldest sister, breaking her sight away from you, “No, we’re not dating.”

“Are you sure?” Leni chimed in, now seemingly interested. “You two seem pretty close.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” The brunette girl deadpanned.

“Really?” Luna invites herself into the conversation. “Then how come you can afford brand new cleats that are very expensive…and all new sports equipment?”

“[Name] offered to buy me new cleats and other items as well.” She explains with a shrug of her shoulder, “How could I have said no?”

“Really?” Lori persisted with a raise of her eyebrows, “And did [name] offer to buy you lunch as well?”

Lynn nods. “Yeah, so?”

“And it was also Lynn’s idea to create this giant poster.” Lola and Lana walk over.

“Wait, is that why you were gone Sunday morning to buy [name] a bracelet?” Luna questions.

“Yeah, what was the store where you got it from?” Leni rambles, tilting her head to the side, trying to remember. “It was Birmingham Jewelry. Woah, sis, that place is like crazy expensive, those pair of necklaces that I brought from them took me 6 months’ allowance.”

“That jewelry store is the most expensive in town, Lynn. Wow, you really must like this girl.” Lori expresses with a grin.

“Guys, I’m just trying to be supportive.” Lynn finalizes, trying to stop her sister’s meddling in her love life. “There’s nothing wrong with being supportive.”

“As her friend or as her girlfriend?” Luna questions with a skeptical look, folding her arms. Lynn stays silent, avoiding eye contact with any of her sisters, unable to decipher a proper answer. Were they right? Did Lynn hope that you wanted to explore past the bounds of friendship with her? Of course, she did. She fell in love with you the moment that she laid her eyes on you which eventually turned her into a stuttering mess whenever you were with her. However, with the possibility of embarrassing rejection lingering in her mind, she kept her feelings hidden, buried deep down until she was certain that you would reciprocate those feelings back.

“Yeah, because nothing says supportive like a $300 bracelet,” Lori mumbles to Luna and Leni.

Luna drags Lynn away from the huge crowd, despite her protests. The two sisters are by the bottom of the bleaches, not straying too far away.

“Look, Lynn.” The rockstar starts with a deep exhale. “It’s okay to have feelings for [name]—“

“For the last time, I don’t have a crush on her!” She exclaims, momentarily shocking her older sister. “Why does everyone keep thinking that?”

Luna wasn’t convinced by her sister’s outburst, aware that she was in denial. Whether it was her developing feelings for you or the fact that you were a girl seemed to throw her off track.

“You can deny all you want, but we both know that you’re falling in love with [name]. It’s cute to see you all lovesick whenever she’s around.” She smiles, observing the coat of red appearing on her sister’s face by the mention of your name. “Now I’m not saying that you should rush your confession but at least wait it out to see if she’s at least reciprocating those feelings in return. That saves you less pain, regret, and embarrassment.”

“I’ve never had romantic feelings for someone and now when I realize it, I’m scared. I’m still exploring my sexuality.”

“It’s okay to stay unlabeled for now, you’ll know when the time is right. I’m your big sister and I’m not gonna judge you for being you. You’re still my annoying sporty and loving younger sister, Lynn and I love you for it.’

“But what if…” She looks down and sheepishly kicks her feet, “I do confess and she doesn’t like me back, and it ends up all weird between us two.…”

“Then it’s her loss.” She slides a comforting arm around Lynn’s shoulder, “She missed out on someone really awesome.”

“Thanks, Luna.”

“Anytime sis.”

“And besides, if you two lovebirds get together, we can go on double dates.”

“Hard pass.” Lynn laughs, getting a playful shove from Luna, who just laughs as well. Luna was happy that she was able to brighten Lynn’s spirits regarding her possible love life.

The two girls rejoin their family in the crowd. Just then, your family finds their seats next to the Loud family and greets them with a wave of their hands.

Alongside the help of Luna, Lynn confidently holds up the poster with a matching smile etched on her face. “You got this, [name]!” She enthusiastically cheered. Both of your families made noises of encouragement as well.

Down at the tennis court, you heard her voice very faintly but smiled nonetheless.

“Oh, that’s so cute!” Your current competition, Emma Campbell sneers with fake sympathy, “Your little girlfriend cheering for you in the stands, so cliche.” The blonde rolls her eyes. To be honest, you’ve never liked the Campbell girl, whether it was her snobbish attitude or her inconsideration of other people. “Too bad that she’s gonna be cheering for a loser in a few minutes and maybe I’ll steal her away from you.”

“Oh, shut up!” You defended Lynn. “We both know that Lynn could do so much better than you.”

“Why are you so worried about Lynn? Aren’t you two just friends?”

“I never said that!”

“Yeah, whatever!” Emma drags on, “You should know that me and Lynn are kinda an item.”

“What type of drugs are you on?” You boisterously exclaimed. To say that you were shocked would be the understatement of the year. Surely, Lynn would have told you if she was talking to someone else. The athletic girl didn’t seem like the two-timing type, and she wasn’t…she couldn’t be…right?

‘No! Don’t overthink, Emma’s just trying to get under your skin! Besides, Lynn is a great girl, she’s not conniving, she’s generous. She gifted you that specialized bracelet.’ You think. ‘The gesture was sweet and so is she.’

“And how long have you been pining over Lynn for?”

“Doesn’t matter!”

“It does if it concerns Lynn.”

“Fine! I’ve had a crush on her since we were ten!”

You didn’t mean to have a bitchy attitude, you swear. But it just happened, and you couldn’t stop it and you weren’t planning on stopping it either.

“How about this…” She suggested, “Whoever wins this game gets to ask Lynn out on a date. The loser can’t interfere with their relationship.”

You scoff at her desperate attempts of being in a relationship. “Lynn’s not an object! She’s a human girl, like the rest of us, who has feelings. Let her ask out whoever she wants, even if it isn’t any of us.”

“You’re only saying this because you know that Lynn’s gonna choose me.”

“What makes you think that? Is it the lack of communication that you have with Lynn or is it the heavy delusion that lingers in your mind all day? She barely acknowledged you before and when I moved to town, we became instantly captivated with one another.” You say, “So I’m certain that I have a better chance with her than you’ll ever do.”

“You’re just saying that to throw me off my game.”

“Oh, please, throwing you off your game will require you to have any game, and you’re lacking that.”

“What? Scared that you’re gonna lose!”

She was losing this argument and you could tell that she was choking up.

“To you? You’re not even real competition!”

Your bold comment earned a petty eye roll from the other teen as she began the first serve. The first match commenced and the scores were being rallied up.

You were at complete ease throughout the entire game, finding your inner peace with your love for tennis. On the other hand with Emma about Lynn, your jealousy had gained immediate control of your hand performance but you managed to restrain yourself, not needing overkill to happen and cost you the game.

The intensity that you radiated during the game only strengthened when you closely observed your opponent’s strategy to keep herself on point. Although you were in the lead, Emma was sneakily rising slowly. However, your fierce movements didn’t stagger, not even once, highly determined to win.

The medium-sized green ball was constantly tossed, bouncing between the two sides of the court. The sun was blazing, urging you to forfeit the match right then and there in the middle of the intense game. Might as well get used to the scorching heat because this was the first out of three matches to complete.

This tournament was going to be in the bag, and the trophy will be just another memento in your awards case.

The next game passed with ease, putting the crowd in anticipation when the scores were beginning to even up. It was a heavy tie for the second round, bringing up your anxiety.

This was it. The third and final round of your match. It was the final round that would determine your success and prove your ability to maintain a winning streak. You were gonna crush it! And certainly, destroy Emma Campbell’s athletic self-esteem, partially for Lynn, loathing those words that Emma spoke of her.

The judges called for a mini-break, letting you and Emma relax and recharge your energies. You headed over to the table that supplied the refreshments and grabbed a cold bottle of water.

The two families made their way over there as fast as they could, no longer containing their excitement as they bombarded you with chaotic noises.

“That was amazing!” Lynn cheers.

Natalie exclaims with a radiant smile. “Yeah, you were so terrific out there!”

“You crushed it out there!” Everyone else voiced their agreement with your future victory.

“I would totally hug you right now if you weren’t so sweaty.” Leni complies with an innocent grin, “Oh what the hell!” She pulled you in for a short hug, earning laughs as she did so.

You both pulled away from the hug. “Well, I haven’t won yet.” You drink your cold bottled water as it refreshes your dry throat. “So, let’s not jinx it.”

Everyone chuckles and Lynn pulls you away for a private conversation.

“You know what I mean, beautiful, this game is yours,” She bit her lip.

“Thanks for the encouragement, loud.” You tease, shoving her playfully watching the smile emerge on her lips. “I’m feeling more confident by the second.”

“It’s not encouraging if we both know that it’s true. That other girl has nothing on you.”

She handed you three orange slices, making sure that you ate all of them, keeping you well-nourished. Sometimes when you’re too focused on something, you tend to forget about the basic needs such as eating and drinking. Luckily, Lynn had noticed the tiny flaw and she wanted to end that bad habit of yours. “Gotta keep my superstar properly fed.”

Heading back to the rest of the group as you started to talk with Luna and Lori. Emma skips over with a sneaky grin on her face. God, you wished that you could have wiped that stupid smile off of her face.

“Hey, Lynn.” She greets, already managing to get into the brunette’s personal space. Talk about having boundaries.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion but her smile welcomes the blonde. “Uh, hey…Emma is it?”

“Yep, you guessed right.” She giggles annoyingly, making you roll your eyes.

“So, what do you want?”

As she speaks to Lynn, you notice how Emma advanced to arm touching, sometimes leaning in slightly whenever she found one of Lynn’s statements amusing. In your opinion, she was too much of a try-hard, and that irked you to your soul. You could see that Lynn was uncomfortable, and it made you furious at the sight. You glared at the blonde girl with hatred in your eyes and decided that two can play that game.

All of a sudden. you felt your hidden anger transport to your plastic water bottle that was held in your hand. With every touch that Emma gave Lynn, the pressure on the bottle intensified until it didn’t…well it couldn’t anymore. The water emerges from out of the bottle, aiming directly at Emma’s face.

She shrieked, flinching at the contact as she tried to shield herself from the attack, coming up to no avail. Stuck in a trance state, you didn’t let go of the bottle and rather squeezed it tighter so your sister Madison didn’t grab the bottle out of your hands until it was empty. Turns out, no one stepped in to cease Emma’s embarrassment, seemingly taking amusement in it as well. It ultimately messed up her rich-girl look, drenching her face and ruining her semi-makeup.

“It’s just water! It’s not gonna harm you.” Cassandra taunts the girl.

Madison shrugs. “You’ll be fine! Just dab some concealer on and you’re good to go.”

Her gaze planted on you was lethal, barely touching the surface of making you tremble. Her supposedly dangerous stares at you made her look like a terrible joke.

To make sure that you rubbed salt directly on the wound, you walked over, wrapped your arm around hers, and kissed Lynn on the cheek before pulling away with a cheery smile. “I’ll see you at my house later,” You wink at her, enjoying the thrill of her flustered state.

You watch as Lynn and both of your families leave and head back to the bleachers with a faux smile plastered on your face.

Once you turned around, facing your arch-nemesis, your smile immediately dropped as you ventured closer to her.

“Listen here, you bitch.” You scowled, with fury rising in your voice. Her eyes stared into yours, trying to intimidate you, desperately failing while doing so.

“If you ever come around Lynn, uncomfortably touch her, or even look at her wrong like that again, you will be done for. I will bash your fucking head in so much that you’ll be completely unrecognizable that even your own mirror won’t remember you.”

“Woah, don’t tell me that you’re overprotective of Lynn.” She was teasing you relentlessly at this point. Practically urging you to fight her with that ugly little smirk on her face. But you weren’t gonna play her stupid mind games like she intended.

Catching her by surprise, you roughly grab ahold of her arm, pulling her in closer by force. So to the bystanders, it looked like you were whispering in her ear, engaged in a friendly banter. Right now, you were feeling anything but friendly towards her.

“I don’t tread lightly with the people that I care deeply about and now that you’re highly aware that Lynn is one of them, I’m letting you off with a simple warning.” Your tone was menacing, slowly seething your words out. “If you’re smart enough, don’t wait around to find out.” She felt herself inaudibly gulp and tremble as you kept speaking. “Or do you, I haven’t fought a rich bitch in so long and need a little deja-vu.”

And with that, you roughly released her arm from your grip and walked over to the court. Emma watched you leave, uneasiness forming in the pit of her stomach at your threatening words.

Stomping her feet like a big baby, she ran off, searching for her parents to assist in fixing up her appearance again.

You felt like you were on top of the world. Now, you just have to win this competition and your success will reign. It was close that you smelt the victory from here.

You won the game! Fuck, it feels good to relive the moments leading up to your fantastic victory. When the triumphant photo was taken to be put in the country’s club headline for this week, you all had crammed in, wanting to be included. The huge trophy that you held righteously in your hand while being in the middle, sure did you justice.

Your family had hosted a celebratory dinner at the finest restaurant in town. Of course, you were seated beside your beloved Lynn and your best friend Natalie.

“I’m so proud of you, sweetie.” She wrapped an arm around you, pulling you in closer for comfort as she kissed your cheek.

You blushed, feeling yourself heat up on the spot, ignoring the knowing looks from Lori and Luna.

The dinner was an absolute blast so Lynn and her family crashed the night at your house. Your parents showed the Loud family the guest rooms, allowing them the comfort of beds. Somehow, you showered all of the sweat from earlier games, changing into warm pajamas. Tiredly, Lynn had followed you up to your bedroom, seeking your cuddles, in hopes of a good night’s sleep.

© asvterias, 2023. please do not plagiarize any of my works.

[pastacrylic]

Starting to get a little self conscious about my art setup, to be honest :S

All my friends working in the industry or on their way to working in the industry really soon use dedicated pen displays (especially wacoms). I, on the other hand, have been using an 11in iPad Pro 2018 since the thing came out, and I really can't see myself going back to a non touch-display.

But like, the other day I was over at my friend's who's a professional illustrator, and she has a MASSIVE cintiq just sitting on her perfectly laid out desk, and in comparison my setup looks... Super childish. An iPad and a Macbook.

And!! I did try drawing on her cintiq to familiarize with pen tablets again!!! But not being able to zoom, undo, redo, with just finger gestures is so incredibly jarring to me.

Not to mention the PRICE of these things. Sure, art is my main thing, so I SHOULD be able to afford expensive equipment, but... I'm only 23, I don't have an income other than some disability grants and a few commissions, but... 1 grand... 2 grands... 3 grands, sometimes, JUST for a tablet!

GAH I just have a major case of impostor's syndrome. I don't feel like I'm a real artist because I don't have the fancy professional equipment and ARGGHHHHH

[inmarbleimmobility]

1.1.2 "Monsieur Myriel Becomes Monseigneur Bienvenu"

I love bishop chapters. I want to live in bishop chapters forever.

finally googled the list of Important People Who Visited Digne In 1712 and it seems like this fancy banquet did in fact happen?? or at least all these people are real. which leads me to believe the commemorative tablet was actually there?? wild! love very much the idea of this actual fancy bishop's palace becoming a hospital.

I was struck this time by the conversation between Myriel and the hospital director. it's previously read a little comedic to me, like Myriel knows exactly where the director is going and is just humoring him by letting him get to the point? but this time it read more like an overworked, underfunded man repeating the same talking points he's used on the last six important people that visited, who presumably all sounded sympathetic but did nothing; Myriel's answers read like a man observing and actually Seeing this hospital's plight. the director's "we just have to resign ourselves to it" was a bit of a gut punch - I know all too well this feeling of repeating the ways a systemic issue affects those in need, receiving nothing but empty sympathy, and realizing you could talk yourself hoarse without changing anything, because we depend on the privileged and those in charge to give us what little we get (and usually that's nothing). Except!!! this time Myriel Listens. and he takes the question "what can we do" seriously rather than just hearing the director's resignation. and he Does Something.

also noticing for the first time that Myriel's budget specifically provides for those three categories of people from the Thesis Statement Preface - women (especially mothers), prisoners/laborers, and the education of children (including girls!)

laughing out loud for real at "(Relations with Rome were touchy at that time.)"

"As there is always more misery at the lower end than humanity at the top, everything was given away before it was received, like water on parched soil." again, the top has all the money and power and no desire to use it for anything other than their own interests. Hugo really said "eat the rich".

Myriel himself says that "the 'welcome' of Bienvenu counterbalances the Monseigneur". Later we'll see him be pretty scathing to some clergymen of the type he's referencing here (and that the bourgeois former senator accused Myriel of being). I love that he has no qualms about calling people out for valuing the politics of the Church above actual Christian (as in truly Christ-like) values.

[stressedlawsecretary]

Today's Focus

07.26.24 - So I'm actually off on the challenge, because I didn't realize that #25 got skipped. That being said, I'm going to continue on with the same challenge and adjust it a little to have a full 30 days. This means today, I have to style a trend I hate, and once again I get to say - I hate skinny jeans. Hate them with an undying firey passion. I own literally two because of this; I managed to avoid them for most of the time they were super popular. I like pink though, so these will do.

Work - I am remote working and I left myself nothing but the weekly newsletter and a press release in my inbox. It should be nice and quiet.

Binding up those docs for document prep was harder than I thought, especially because it seems like our binders are not standardized and, if I have to get a different one for any reason, I risk having to re-punch the paper for a couple mm of difference.

Background Noise - Well I'm remote so it's the DVR primarily, but I'll do what I did on Wednesday and keep some video essays/video podcasts in my ear while I watch other things that don't need commentary. Still working through all the videos under 1 hr but frankly I'm actually making progress on the list again so wish me luck over the weekend.

Only managed six videos yesterday so I definitely have to do better today.

Study - Friday is Wikipedia day and I have plenty to read, not only on my tablet & phone but I have a whole temp bookmark folder I wanna get through as well.

I did well yesterday! Four chapters of Stolen Innocence, that book I wanted to start, plus a chapter or two of Heidi which is one of my favorite children's books. I also read like 16 random news articles, and eight temporarily bookmarked articles.

Extras - Friday means I have to clean out the catbox and prep it for the weekend; Friday also means I cook fish and I'm doing a fancy grilled haddock with a charred tomato vinaigrette. Two more episodes of Decade; I'm extremely excited to get back to Dirty Laundry as the second season has been incredibly funny. Over the weekend I want to get back to Garo but I might also watch a movie or something similar.