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sheaabuttaababyy · 21 hours ago

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Always loved you - Jey uso

Warning: smut 18+, some real nasty shit🌚

Hope you enjoy❤️

Aria sang along to rise by Solange that was playing through out her car, trying to push the nervous feeling that was bubbling in her stomach. She sighed as she got another text from Trinity.

Trin: I swear Aria your ass better come it’s not gonna be the same if you ain’t here boo:(

Swiping the text away she pulled up to the familiar large house seeing multiple cars in the drive way and on the street.

Finding a spot she parked her car taking a deep breath. She wasn’t ready to see him. After ignoring him for over 2 weeks she didn’t know how his reaction was gonna be. She ignored his calls, messages, emails, and the multiple flowers and cards he wrote her.

Aria was thinking if she should start the car back up and drive away. But she couldn’t miss the get together she was basically family to the Fatu��s, her family and their family basically grew up with each other.

"Fuck it" grabbing her purse she got out the car smoothing down her yellow set that she was wearing and fluffed up her curls. Walking towards the house she went towards the back hearing laughter and music.

"AYYYYEE SIS" looking over she saw Jon coming towards her giving her a big hug. Laughing lightly she hugged him back. "Hey brothaa"

"Jon move stop hogging her" Trin pushed her husband giving her bestie a hug. "Heyy boo I’m glad you came" pulling away Aria sighed. "Yeah couldn’t miss it or the whole family would be on my ass" Trin and Jon nodding their head in agreement.

"Sooooooo, you gonna tell us why you’ve been ignoring my brother?" Trin quickly slapped her husbands arm. "Babe!"

"It’s fine girl, ima go say hi to everyone else" Aria spoke leaving Trinity to scold Jon.

After greeting everyone Aria was now sitting at the table wondering where Josh was. Feeling something scratch her leg she saw Josh’s dog pongo trying to jump on her lap. "Aww yes yes hi baby. I missed you too" picking him up she got up walking him around as if he was a child.

Feeling eyes on her she looked towards the grill seeing Josh staring at her. He was wearing a tight black fitted tee shirt with matching black shorts, his two gold chains on. The same ones that would dangle in her face every time he fucked her in missionary. Seeing how good he looked turned her on.

Josh taking in Arias appearance got his dick hard. The yellow set she wore went perfectly with her brown glowy skin along with her gold bracelets and necklaces she was wearing. She also had her natural curly hair out which he loved. She looked perfect, But he was still pissed off at her. Giving her one last glance he went back to flipping the meat that was on the BBQ grill.

Needing a moment Aria put Pongo down making him whine before grabbing her purse going into the house. Going into the washroom she took a few deep breaths, As a loud knocking interrupted her. "It’s occupied" the person knocked again louder making her frown. "Excuse me I said it’s occupied" they knocked again pissing her off. Going to the door she unlocked it yanking it open.

" I said it’s occupi-" she was cut of by Josh who gently but firmly grabbed her throat pushing her against the door as it harshly shut.

Letting go of her neck he stepped back crossing his arms leaning against the wall across from her. "Why you been ignoring me?"

"J-Josh I’ve just been super bus-" Josh put his hand up shutting Aria up. "You really gonna stand here and say that shitty ass lie?"

"I’m not lying, I told u I’ve been bu-" Josh threw his arms up getting frustrated. "Stop fucking lying to me! You ignored me for weeks, after everything? Seriously Ria? Did me confessing my feelings for you really push you away that much. Do you really not wanna be with me that bad that it made you run away and ignore me?

Hearing the emotion in Josh’s voice and how his voice cracked at the end of his sentence made Arias eyes burn with tears. She felt guilty at the fact she made him feel this way knowing she felt the same. She was just scared.

"I-I’m sorry" letting her tears fall she quickly wiped them. "Your sorry. That’s it? We’ve been fucking for months you were fine with that. Aria I told you I’m in love with you and you said you were in the love with me too. Then you just. Left... Do you know how much that hurt?" Walking forward her took her hands in his feeling her relax in his touch.

"I-I know I’m just scared Josh" whispering she met his eyes as he looked down at her slightly confused. "Scared of what baby? You know I got you." Kissing her knuckles he lightly rubbed his thumb against them. "What if we don’t work out? I don’t want to lose even as a friend and I don’t wanna get hurt again"

Josh sighed at her words he knew Aria had bad commitment issues especially after her last relationship, her dumbass ex fiancé Darren cheated on her with her co-worker.

Josh took a deep breath, his heart racing as he looked into Aria's eyes. "Ria, I need you to hear me. I’m in love with you. I’ve watched you go through so much pain, and it breaks my heart. That dumbass didn’t deserve you, and I can’t stand the thought of you being hurt like that again. I promise, I will never treat you bad. I’ll cherish you and love you the way you deserve. You mean everything to me, and I want to be the one who makes you smile. Just let me in so I can fully love you baby."

Aria’s eyes burned with her tears as she let out a soft sob. She felt upset for pushing him away without saying anything and the fact that he was the one here trying to fix it made her feel guilty but also happy. Wrapping her arms around his neck she buried her face into his chest "I’m sorry Josh you mean everything to me too and I wanna try with you. You make me feel safe and secure. I love you too"

hearing those words come from her mouth made Josh crack a huge smile. Leaning down he kissed her lips softly gripping her hips pulling her closer into him.

Pulling away both of them were breathless. Their eyes locked again as Aria leaned in capturing her lips with Josh’s as he gladly accepted it. His right hand made it down to her round soft ass squeezing it making Aria let out a low moan. The kiss getting more hungry by the second Josh walked forward until Ria‘s back hit the bathroom door.

Pulling back Josh pecked her lips trailing slow kisses down towards her neck. Finding her sweet spot he placed a open mouth kiss on her neck gently biting it. Using his right foot he nudged Arias legs open a bit placing his knee in between her legs. Pushing his knee up he applied pressure on her pussy.

Moaning, Aria slowly started grinding herself on his leg as he continued to kiss all over her neck.

Grabbing the front of her yellow tank top he yanked it down causing her boobs to spill out since she wasn’t wearing a bra. "Fuck baby I missed your titties so much" placing a few pecks on them Josh put his face between them while jiggling them with his hands motor boating her.

Aria let out a loud laugh at the action trying to push his head away, feeling his ticklish beard. Josh took Ria’s left nipple in his mouth slowly sucking on it. "Mhmm fuck Josh" his warm wet mouth on her tit mixed with the pleasure she felt from grinding on his thigh felt so good.

He switched nipples giving love to the right before kissing all the way down her stomach kneeling on the ground. Grabbing the waist band of her pants he looked up at Aria who was looking down at him. Silently asking for permission she nodded her head making him pull down her pants along with her black seamless panties all the way down to her ankles making her step out of them.

He put her left leg over his shoulder along with her right and quickly stood up. Aria let out a squeal/scream hugging Josh’s head.

"Put me down I’m gonna fall!" Josh laughed at her being scared, it being muffled from how hard Ria’s thighs were hugging his head.

Placing her on the bathroom counter he grabbed her thick thighs pushing her legs back so her knees were close to her head. Leaning down Josh slowly licked her pussyhole that was already leaking with her creamy juices all the way up to her clit before sucking it into his mouth nice and slow. "Yessuuuhh fuck daddy suck that pussy"

Grabbing the back of Josh’s mullet Aria tightly gripped his hair grinding against his face taking slight control. "Stick your tongue in it daddy" Josh smiled widely showing off his gold grillz before putting his tongue back in her. Sitting up a bit Ria thrusted her hips forward grinding and humping against his face, making her moan out.

Taking control again Josh took his tongue out placing his mouth back on her clit sucking on it before putting two fingers in her thrusting them in and out of her slowly. Looking up He saw Arias face twisted up in pleasure as she cried out. "Look at me Ria" when she didn’t he sped up the fingering making her scoot up and moan. "I said look at me. Look at how daddy’s making you feel"

Looking down at the beautiful sight, she saw her man sucking and licking on her clit like he was starving as her pussy juices were all over his mouth and beard, some of it running down his neck onto his chains and staining his back shirt. His whole hand that he was fingering her with was glistening in her juices. "Who got your pussy wet like dis? Mhmm?" Working his fingers faster in her he smiled when he realized he started to hit perfectly against her spot.

Opening her mouth Aria tried to respond but nothing came out as she felt her orgasm about to come hard and fast making her legs shake. "Yo ass better respond before I stop Ria"

"You! You! Only you do Josh only u can get me like this, fuck I’m cumming I’m cumming" Arias words were slurred as she choked on a sob. "That’s right mama cum in my mouth. You gonna feed yo man baby?"

"Fuck yes!" Ria yelled out as her toes curled.

"Yeah? Go on then. Cum"

On command she came, her juices coming out of her landing square in Josh face and chest soaking his shirt. Standing up he licked his fingers clean smirking at his girl "Mhmm, come give me a kiss so u can taste how good u are mama"

lazily she smiled leaning up to kiss him. Their tongues clashed as they kissed each other sloppy. Giving her one last nasty kiss Josh pulled away grabbing Aria making her stand up on her shaky legs.

"Bend that ass over for me" obeying she leaned on her elbows making sure to put an arch in her back.

"Like this?" Her playful whisper seductive whisper went straight to Josh’s dick. "Just like that baby, just like that". Aria bit her lip looking through the mirror seeing him take off his shirt along with his shorts. She felt herself getting wetter at how his chains were looking against his tatted chest. His hard thick dick was standing tall, as some of his Pre cum was smeared at the head of his dick making her salivate. It was so pretty.

Reaching her right hand between her thighs she started rubbing slowly on her pussy watching Josh who purposely took his sweet time watching her. "Please Josh hurry up I need you in me"

"Be patient. Mhmm baby this ass so fat" slapping her right cheek he gripped it smacking it again. Aria hissed and moaned at the harsh spanks he was giving her.

Grabbing the base of his dick he tapped her clit with his tip. Guiding it to her hole he pushed in just a little bit making them both moan out. He thrusted into her quickly making Aria let out a loud gasp from the sudden feeling of his girthy dick inside her making her feel full. Josh groaned feeling her warm wet walls wrap around him tightly making him jolt forward pressing his chest against her back putting his face in her neck kissing it lightly.

Slowly pulling back leaving his tip in her thrusted into her again before giving her slow deep strokes Josh’s hand wrapped around Arias throat making her whimper. "Fuck daddy u feel so good in me"

arias left hand gripped the Counter so hard her knuckles began to turn white. Josh put his left hand on top of hers intertwining them before putting it behind her back. Doing the same with the right he gripped both her wrist in his left hand.

Once they were secured in his hand he began to speed up his strokes fucking Aria harder. "Yessss yess yess fuck me, fuck me"

"Yeah you like the way Im fuckin you. Huh? You like the way I slut you out mama" seeing that Arias head was down he used his free hand to grip her curls yanking her head back so she could see how he was fucking her through the mirror.

Josh leaned down a bit to whisper in her ear making eye contact with her in the mirror "Look at you getting fucked out. You nasty bitch you like getting dug out knowing we could get caught, does that make your pussy wet?" Aria whined out her eyes rolling back at his nasty words as his thrusts got harsher.

"You ain’t gotta tell me mama I can tell by the way you drippin on my shit" giving her ass three hard spanks he let go of her wrists. "Throw dat ass back baby show me how much you missed your dick"

Putting her hands on the counter Aria started to throw it back on his dick matching his thrusts making clapping and wet sounds fill the air.

Aria felt her lower stomach tighten, the feeling of her orgasm approaching. She let out a whimper when Josh pulled out of her, before she could even question he turned her around lifting her on the counter. "I need to see your face when i nut deep inside you" he captured her lips in a slow passionate kiss as he slowly entered back in her.

Pulling away from her lips he leaned down spitting on dick as he continued to thrust inside Arias pussy. "Spit on it" making eye contact with him she sat up a bit spitting at where they were connected.

Josh started thrusting in Aria at a super fast pace pushing them both closer to their orgasm. Using his right hand he played with her clit making her scream out as her orgasm washed over her, squirting all over his dick.

"Fuck Ria" Josh thrusting slowed down as he nutted, his face in her neck one arm tightly around her waist as the other was gripping her ass cheek.

They both were breathing heavily as they were wrapped up in each other’s arms. "Shit that was intense" Josh lightly laughed in her neck before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"I know. Nigga you almost yanked my hair out my head" Aria said playing with Josh’s chains.

"Yeah you probably gonna be balding soon"

Aria smacked his chest letting out a giggle. "You play too damn much"

Laughing Josh gave her another kiss "let’s go get cleaned up real quick" he picked her up placing her over his shoulder making her squeal as her took them to the shower.

After showering Aria was dressed in one of Josh’s grey sweatpants and a white long sleeve v neck that she left here. Josh was also wearing grey sweats and a short sleeve white T-shirt that clung tightly against his body.

"You don’t think their gonna question why we’ve been gone for 2 hours right?" Aria bit her lip a little nervous.

"Nah nah we will just say we made up and you my girl now" opening the sliding door they both stepped outside.

"Um sir you haven’t even asked me to officially be your girlfriend"

"Ima do it special when I officially ask you, but as of right now you still my girl. But you already knew that" he said pecking her lips making her smile

They both walked up to the bonfire that was lit up as some of Josh’s family was roasting marshmallows. Sitting down on a chair Josh pulled Aria onto his lap placing a blanket over them.

"Oh my goodddd my favs is back together" Trinity spoke out loud smiling big. Aria nodded her head blushing as Josh kissed her cheek.

"Oh y’all finally done fuckin?" Zilla asked his mouth full as he ate a burger.

It went silent for a few seconds before everyone bursted out laughing. "Man…shut yo ass up" Josh said trying to hide his smile.

Finally wrote something when I couldn’t sleep and was ovulating…lol

Also I’m gonna make a 🏷 taglist so if you want to be added in it Just comment "add me"

Requests are open🫶🏽

#jey uso x black reader #jey uso x black oc #wwe x black reader #jey uso x reader #jey uso fanfic #jey uso x black fem oc #wwe x reader #Jey uso #black reader #jey uso imagine

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theocddiaries · 3 days ago

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[At the psychiatrist's waiting room.] Robotnik: All right, hedgehog, you got your way. Shadow's going to therapy. She's gonna tell Shadow I'm the problem. It'll break up the family. And Stone will get the kid and they'll go back living with his grandmother and pick beans. Stone: Ivo, I like picking beans with my grandma. Shadow: It sounds fun. Robotnik: See? They're already against me, and this hell hasn't started yet! Dr Zweig: Shadow? Come in, darling. [Inside her office] Robotnik: All right, how much do you charge? Dr Zweig: If money is a problem, I charge on a sliding scale. I can go as low as $30 an hour. Robotnik: Keep sliding. Stone [places a hand on his shoulder]: Thirty dollars will be fine. Robotnik: Whoa, whoa, whoa. First, what are your qualifications? Dr Zweig: Well… [turns around to point at the wall full of diplomas] Robotnik: Oh, no. I'm not here to take a reading test. I wanna see some credentials! Stone: I'm sorry, doctor. He's just afraid you'll blame all our kid's problems on him. Dr Zweig: I'm not here to blame anyone. [writes 'mustached guy' on her notepad and underlines it three times] [In the next scene, Shadow is sitting in an armchair while the psychiatrist is sitting across from him.] Dr Zweig: Shadow, therapy can be an intense process. Shadow: Hm… Dr Zweig: We'll go deep into your subconscious and we're not going to stop until we've exposed the root of what's causing you heartache. Shadow: Hm. Dr Zweig: Don't worry. This is a private sanctuary where whatever transpires will be just between us. [At the window, Robotnik climbs up on a platform elevator and pretends to clean while pressing his ear to the glass.] Shadow [startles] Dr Zweig: Oh, that's just Murray the window washer. He comes every day at 12:00. Shadow [checking his watch]: But it's a few seconds before 12:00-- [The real window cleaner comes down, bumping into him without reacting, and Robotnik falls while screaming] [Stone thanks Dr Zweig before closing the door. The family walks out the place, with Sonic grabbing Shadow's hand] Sonic: Did you like it? Shadow: I-- Robotnik: Ever since you started therapy, all you can do is talk about yourself. Well, what about me, Shadow? Shadow: I just left my first session. I haven't even opened my mouth yet! Robotnik: You see? You see? "I just left my first session and I haven't opened my mouth yet." [Days later, Shadow and Sonic are having some snack at Stone's café. Robotnik walks over to their table, pretending indifference] Robotnik: Having fun, huh? Shadow: Yes. Robotnik: Still not tired of him? Shadow: …No. Sonic: Eggman, what do you want? Robotnik: Can't a man just check in on his hedgehog now??? [He stands there while Shadow and Sonic give him a look] Robotnik: Soooo… Shadow. Shadow: Yes? Robotnik: How's therapy going? Shadow: Fine, thank you for aski-- Robotnik: Yeah, yeah, have you talked about me? Shadow: Um, no, I don't think so. Robotnik: Tell me the truth! [The entire café quiets down and everyone looks at them] Robotnik [giggles nervously]: Hihihi, don't tell her I raised my voice, hihi. [pats him on the head and then hugs him by the shoulders while rubbing his arm and looking at the clients]: Happy family, see? Happy family! [Stone comes and takes Robotnik away by the arm] Sonic: Don't tell me if you don't want to, but you did talk about him, right? You're just messing with him? Shadow: No, I swear I haven't mentioned him once. Sonic: …Really??? Shadow: If it makes you feel any better, I'm as surprised as you are.

#incorrect quotes #sth #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow #sonic movie shadow #stobonik #agent stone #dr robotnik #ivo robotnik #dr eggman #eggman #source: the simpsons

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call-me-lemon · 21 hours ago

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Fuck it ill answer all of them in order

01: hah, no.

02: my cat

03: yup

04: Oh, very

05: Single

06: Im not picky

07: One single buttery round cracker

08: hah, no.

09: not anymore

10: hmm.. has to be several years ago now

11: yup.

12: Longer, even, just to prove that I could.

13: I hate several people.

14: I miss everyone.

15: Several!

16: My stomach hurts but my spirits are high. Im being very brave.

17: nope

18: Not as much as I used to be, but yes.

19: Nah, im good how I am. Things happened how they happened and theyre going to keep happening, so theres no point in meddling.

20: never snogged a day in my life

21: Exist and find joy in the moment. I never plan anything.

22: Nope

23: Nope, I only wear clipons.

24: uhhhh being gay.

25: A few, yes. My friends from elementary school (Primary for the brits)

26: Im not craving anything at the moment

27: I cant imagine so, im not desirable.

28: I can imagine so. My first bf was always flirtimg with anoother guy in front of me and when I told him it made me uncomfortable he just said "Dont worry about it" and we never spoke of it again. I think that counts.

29: Cannot confirm or deny, but its likely.

30: My feet kind of hurt.

31: I hope so.

32: Yellow. Pastel yellow, specifically.

33: Who can say for sure. I cant self-diagnose that kind of thing.

34: Trying to kill my mom in a fit of rage, but nothing I did had any effect on her and she talked down to me the entire time which only made the fit worse.

35: I dont remember.

36: Maybe. I dont like holding grudges, too much effort on my end.

37: for me, forget.

38: Who knows, its barely started.

39: probably either teen or preteen.

40: No.

51: (Fuck it ig we doing 50s now) Fetucinni alfredo

52: Probably not any reason higher than just the way the world is. There is no divine purpose and life is what you make of it.

53: I took my cat to the bathroom and gave her a piggy-back ride back into my room as was her will.

54: Nothing is black and white, but you'd better have a damn good reason or you get put into the pit.

55: Oh, very.

56: Like one or two at most and I did not do well.

57: Nope. In fact, I dislike the idea of having this one true love tied to you by fate. It takes all the choice out of the relationship. Either be with someone the strings of time have chosen for you, or be alone forever. Thats horrifying.

58: Snow and rain. Makes me sleepy

59: Love it.

60: I dont really care either way

61: Nope. I dislike that pet name even tho I use it personally for my cats, but it feels a little bit to demeaning to be used for a lover since in my experience its always been used from a position of power.

62: Living and being free to live.

63: I dont really like my name but I dont have anything I actually do like to change it to. I guess I just dont like being percieved.

64: I would rather kill myself actually.

65: God, I wish.

66: yes. Mostly. For the most part.

67: hermm... The owner of a warrior cats long term rp server.

68: I dont remember, I tend to say extremely deep sounding things at random. Im the stupidest bitch alive but it lets me spout sage wisdom once in a while.

69: No. Love is what you make of it.

70: I would die or kill for anyone I actually care about no questions asked.

70 horrible questions ... Fuck it

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents? 02: Who did you last say “I love you” to? 03: Do you regret anything? 04: Are you insecure? 05: What is your relationship status? 06: How do you want to die? 07: What did you last eat? 08: Played any sports? 09: Do you bite your nails? 10: When was your last physical fight? 11: Do you like someone? 12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? 13: Do you hate anyone at the moment? 14: Do you miss someone? 15: Have any pets? 16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment? 17: Ever made out in the bathroom? 18: Are you scared of spiders? 19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? 20: Where was the last place you snogged someone? 21: What are your plans for this weekend? 22: Do you want to have kids? How many? 23: Do you have piercings? How many? 24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)? 25: Do you miss anyone from your past? 26: What are you craving right now? 27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart? 28: Have you ever been cheated on? 29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry? 30: What’s irritating you right now? 31: Does somebody love you? 32: What is your favourite color? 33: Do you have trust issues? 34: Who/what was your last dream about? 35: Who was the last person you cried in front of? 36: Do you give out second chances too easily? 37: Is it easier to forgive or forget? 38: Is this year the best year of your life? 39: How old were you when you had your first kiss? 40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked? 51: Favourite food? 52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason? 53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? 54: Is cheating ever okay? 55: Are you mean? 56: How many people have you fist fought? 57: Do you believe in true love? 58: Favourite weather? 59: Do you like the snow? 60: Do you wanna get married? 61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? 62: What makes you happy? 63: Would you change your name? 64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed? 65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? 66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around? 67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to? 68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? 69: Do you believe in soulmates? 70: Is there anyone you would die for?

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grandpeachpersona · 21 hours ago

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It's A Man's World

Chapter 10 ☆Moment 4 Life☆

Sorry this took so long I just kept hitting a roadblock while writing it but I finally finished it. I hope you all enjoy as always feedback is appreciated ;) Word count: 2.17k Warnings: Lots of sports talk, Mentions of alcohol consumption, and tension😏

24 Hours before The World Series

The stage was set: Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros. And believe me, I was ready.

I let out a deep breath as I racked the bar on the squat rack. Working out always seemed to calm my nerves before a big game, especially this one.

I sat down on the beach and took a sip from my water bottle. Part of my brain hadn’t fully processed the fact that tomorrow was the biggest game of my career, while the other part was trying to focus and get into the zone.

“Hercules! Hercules! Hercules!” my mom called out, quoting The Nutty Professor while clapping her hands.

Looking over my shoulder, I shook my head and laughed. “Morning, Ma.”

“Good morning, sweetheart! Breakfast is ready,” she said, leaning against the doorway.

“You didn't have to; I was going to grab something before—” I started to say, but she cut me off.

“You know how I am,” she waved her hand. “Come on upstairs and eat before the pancakes get cold.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After a fantastic breakfast made by Mom—something I'm sure my trainer will have a few words about later—I walked onto the field for practice. The familiar scents of fresh paint and damp dirt filled the air.

Practice felt different today and in a good way. Everyone was pushing themselves just a little harder, and smiles were on everyone's faces; rightfully so, considering tomorrow is the World Series—who wouldn't be excited?

Walking into the media room for what could possibly be my final time, I took a seat and quickly greeted everyone in the room.

“Sierra, how are the nerves less than 24 hours away from the World Series?” the first reporter asked.

I took a breath before answering. “Pretty good! I won’t lie and say I’m not nervous, because that would be a lie. But the right kind of nerves are good.”

“The last time you all played against the Astros, you lost a three-game series. Are you confident that you can beat them?” another reporter inquired.

Confident? Man, please.

“We don’t have any other choice but to beat them. I am confident that we’ve learned from our mistakes, and we will win,” I replied with conviction.

Once again, Mom commandeered my kitchen for dinner, but honestly, I can't complain. There's something comforting about her culinary prowess that makes the house feel warm and inviting.

Later that evening, as I settled down to unwind, I scrolled through Instagram when a notification caught my eye. I had been tagged in a video posted by the Bengals, and my curiosity piqued. Tapping on the notification, Joe's familiar face filled my screen, a snippet from his press conference earlier that day.

“The World Series starts tomorrow. Do you plan on watching?” a reporter asked, his voice steady with anticipation.

“Yeah, I do. Got to watch my girl get the win,” Joe replied, a wide grin lighting up his face.

Wait a minute—did he just say “my girl”?

It struck me like a bolt of lightning. We hadn't even been on a date yet, let alone discussed any labels or commitments, yet here he was, claiming me in front of the world.

Possessive? Yes. But I have to admit, I liked it.

World Series Game 1

Today is the day: Game 1 of the World Series.

Waking up felt different today. Getting dressed felt different. Even having my hair and makeup done felt different. Everything feels different, but not in a bad way—more like, this is my moment.

As I walk into the ballpark, I find myself not really paying attention to the cameras. My focus is on the game ahead of me, and I’m also trying not to trip in these heels. I see why I don’t wear them often—they hurt!

But that pain quickly faded away when the first pitch of the game was thrown.

Two teams will play between 4 to 7 games, all for one prize: the Commissioner’s Trophy. This is the World Series.

Game 1 is in the books. Unfortunately, we didn't secure a win, but that's okay; you win some, you lose some. The score was 4-8.

In Game 2, we bounced back with a blowout victory of 7-0.

Game 3 saw us lose home-field advantage, but we still managed to win in Houston, finishing with a score of 4-1.

In Game 4, Houston gained some momentum and narrowly won by one run, with a final score of 6-5.

Game 5 went into extra innings, but we pulled through and got the job done, ending with a score of 10-9.

In Game 6, the Astros clinched a victory with a grand slam, keeping their World Series hopes alive. The final score was 8-7.

Now, we find ourselves back in Atlanta for the last game of the series. As of right now, my nerves are on edge because, in this game, every hit counts, every out matters, and most importantly, every score matters.

It all comes down to this pivotal moment. The stadium is electric as I stand at the bottom of the 9th inning, two outs secured, with a runner perched on second base. With the score hanging in the balance at 8-7 against us, the weight of the situation bears down heavily on my shoulders.

I know exactly what I need to do: connect solidly with the ball and drive it deep into the outfield, giving the runner a chance to dash home. Easy, right? Just a casual swing in front of 31,000 fervent fans who are all hoping for a miracle.

Stepping into the batter's box, I adjust my helmet and take a deep breath, trying to drown out the cacophony of cheering and chanting that envelops Truist Park. The familiar strains of "It's A Man's World" echo in my ears, heightening my focus as I mentally prepare for what lies ahead.

I set my stance, feeling the cool air against my skin, and lock eyes with the pitcher on the mound. He’s a seasoned player, his demeanor calm, yet I can sense the tension rippling through him as he glances briefly at the runner on second before facing me again. With a swift motion, he winds up and launches his pitch toward me.

I tighten my grip on the bat and, as the ball approaches, I make the decision to check my swing. I hold back just in time, watching the ball sail past me — it’s a ball, one count, no strikes. I exhale slowly, mentally recalibrating for the next pitch.

Gathering my concentration again, I position myself for what could be my final chance. The pitcher goes through his routine again, taking a moment to check the runner’s position before propelling the ball towards me once more.

This time, I hold my breath as I watch the projectile race toward the plate. I swing my bat with everything I’ve got, the wood making solid contact with the ball. The sound is explosive, resonating like a whip crack through the air, sending a thrill through my veins.

As I adjust my stance, I see the ball soaring into the sky, arcing beautifully as it heads toward the outfield. It continues its ascent, disappearing over the stadium's walls and splashing into the waterfall display that adds to the ambiance of this incredible venue.

In that exhilarating moment, it hits me: we just won the World Series.

Holy shit… WE JUST WON THE WORLD SERIES!

In an adrenaline-fueled rush, I slam my bat to the ground, the echo of victory reverberating in my ears as I begin my journey around the bases. The stadium erupts in a deafening roar — fireworks burst overhead, illuminating the night sky, while the crowd erupts with cheers and shouts, a collective celebration of triumph.

Tossing my helmet aside, I approach home plate, my heart racing as my teammates swarm me the instant I touch it. They envelop me in a chaotic celebration, screaming and jumping in unison, pure joy radiating from every face.

This is the pinnacle of my dreams, a moment I’ve envisioned since I was just a nine-year-old girl playing wiffle ball in my backyard with my uncle. From being the only girl on the high school baseball team to earning a full-ride scholarship at LSU, and culminating in winning the state championship, this moment eclipses them all: winning the World Series.

God.

is.

good.

Every ounce of hard work, every sacrifice, every moment of doubt pales in comparison to the realization of this dream. I stand amidst the celebration, grateful, overwhelmed, and utterly elated. This is why I play.

After a whirlwind of interviews followed by a bear bath celebration, a refreshing shower, and an energetic afterparty, I finally stepped back into the comforting embrace of my home.

“Thanks again, Kyle,” I called out, watching as he made his way back toward the elevator, his figure illuminated by the soft hallway lights.

“No problem, sleep well,” he replied, flashing a warm smile before disappearing behind the elevator doors. The best driver in the world, hands down.

With a sigh of relief, I unlocked my front door and crossed the threshold, the familiar scent of home washing over me. I locked the door behind me and, with a gentle thud, dropped my duffle bag right at the entrance, mentally promising myself I’d unpack it tomorrow—or, more likely, later today. All I craved was the soft cocoon of my bed, a well-deserved sanctuary after such a long day.

As I rounded the corner toward my room, I noticed a sliver of light cutting through the darkness—the kitchen light glowed unexpectedly. I furrowed my brow, certain I hadn’t left it on. Perhaps my mom had flicked it on before heading out to the airport.

Curiosity piqued, I padded softly toward the kitchen, only to be met with an utterly unexpected sight: a strikingly handsome quarterback, standing 6’3” with tousled hair and piercing blue eyes, casually leaning against my counter like he owned the place.

“Surprise,” he said, an amused smirk playing on his lips.

A smile broke across my face as I shook my head in disbelief. “Surprise indeed,” I replied, the warmth of his presence igniting a flutter of happiness in my chest.

“C'mere,” Joe beckoned, his arms outstretched, inviting me into a hug that felt both familiar and incredibly grounding.

I stepped into his embrace, surrendering to the moment as he nestled a tender kiss on the top of my head. “Proud of you,” he murmured, his breath warm against my hair.

Emotions swelled within me, and I simply nodded, overwhelmed by his kindness.

Joe pulled back slightly, his gaze searching mine, an edge of concern etching his features. “You okay?”

Looking up at him, I nodded, a smile slipping out as I exhaled. “Yeah,” I breathed, “Just really, really happy—and maybe a little drunk,” I chuckled, the effects of the evening buzzing in my system. “When did you get here?”

“About an hour ago,” Joe replied, his tone laced with both excitement and regret. “Today starts my bye week, and I figured, why not surprise you? Just wish I could have been here to see you win,” he added a bittersweet note in his voice.

“It’s okay, you’re here now, and that’s all that matters to me,” I reassured him, my eyes drifting from the depth of his gaze to the inviting curve of his lips, only to return to his eyes—intensely captivating.

Ugh, why did he have to look so kissable? Damn you, vodka!

A comfortable silence enveloped us, a fragile moment stretched between us, thick with unspoken words and electric tension.

Clearing his throat, Joe broke the stillness, “Come on, you look like you might pass out,” he teased gently, nodding toward my bedroom. It was true; the exhaustion was pulling at me, whispering sweet nothings of sleep. So, without resisting, I unwound myself from his embrace and began the trek to my room, Joe following closely behind.

I couldn’t tell if it was the lingering alcohol buzzing through my veins or the undeniable desires I felt, but the need to be close to him was intoxicating. In his arms, everything felt perfectly right.

Groaning as I woke up to the bright Atlanta sun shining in my eyes, I pulled the blanket over my head to block out some of the light. I really need to invest in blackout curtains.

Eventually, I decided it was time to get up and start my day.

But as I opened the door, I heard a noise coming from the living room. Is that the TV?

Curiosity got the better of me, and I walked into the living room.

“Morning, sweetheart,”

@enretrogue @hoodharlow

#joe burrow #cincinnati bengals #nfl #joe burrow x reader #black oc #black!reader #joe burrow x black reader #joe burrow fan fic #Spotify

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renn-aissance · 2 days ago

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Mom Plays BG3: Ep.3 - “We Interrupted them!”

After ending the last session she said "That guy. The way he talks."

Me: "... Gale?"

Mom: "No, that Raphael guy!"

Me: "You've been using 'that guy' and 'this guy' exclusively for Gale so far, so I thought you were talking about him!"

Mom: "Well I thought him and that Raphael were going to get into a word fight. Gale could take him."

(Raphael v. Gale rap battle when)

I also may have accidentally made my mom paranoid. Before we started playing she asked me “So all of these people I’ve been asking to join my group… can you have someone bad join, too? Like bad guys?”

Me: “… um… yes?”

Mom: “So is Gale a bad guy? I only know Astarion is kind of okay, or has had a rough go of it, because of what you’ve said when you played.”

Me: “Well, I wouldn’t want you to choose characters based off of what I know, I want you to learn about them yourself.”

Mom: “Because I’ve been asking them to join me because I know you had them in your group. But if some of them are bad… (deep breath) Okay. I don’t trust Gale. But I also think Wyll seems like a really good guy. But what if… (gasps) what if he’s a deceiver! Making me think he’s a good guy!”

So now she thinks she can’t trust anybody or that everyone has it out for her.

Today was a big day! She met Scratch and Karlach!

She’s slowly getting a better hang of the map. I know I said that last time, but she still refuses to even LOOK at it. She has started relying on the little compass in the top corner and trying to follow the little quest signals on there.

Rundown on what she did today:

When crossing the bridge by the Blighted Village she said “oh! Bodies!” and started looting.

Talked to Aradin and after looted some more bodies.

Got into a fight with the goblins, so she got a little more familiar with battle mechanics. Doesn’t understand why she can’t hit the goblin in one of the buildings.

Mom: “Why can’t I just go there.”

Me: “You can only move so much.”

Mom: “Well why can’t I just go inside.”

Me: “You’d have to jump but I think it’s too high for your character. You can check if you can.”

Mom: *After some explaining she clicks the jump button and checks.* “So I can’t.”

Me: “No. But! If you move to get a good angle, you might be able to still use a ranged attack to get her- no, don’t move that way!”

Mom: *Starts clicking and gets more obstructed.*

Me: “Well… you still have Gale in a good spot.”

Mom: *Gets Gale in the perfect spot. Casts fire bolt. Misses.*

Mom: “What happened to 75%?!”

Me: “Yeah.”

She had told Wyll she’d help him hunt down Karlach, so that’s where she’s been trying to go on the map. She looks at it once and then goes where she thinks she needs to go (which always is way off).

She also doesn’t know why she can’t jump on top of rocks or why she can only walk in some water.

Mom: “But I need to go over these rocks! It’s on the map!”

Me: “I know, but… you can’t.”

Mom: “But we climbed the other ones.”

Me: “Yeah, I know, but these ones are just different. If you look at the map-“

Mom: (groans) “I KNOW ABOUT THE MAP-“

Me: “Nonononono I’m not nagging about the map, it’s just that you can also see where you can walk or not. Open it. See? There’s like a shaded spot with a black outline. You can’t pass. And you can recognize the surroundings and see that there are little paths you could take. So look. At. Where. You. Want. To. Go… and maybe there’s an alternative route for you to take. Even if you haven’t traveled there yet, it still shows you places to walk.”

Learned how to pickpocket.

Read Scratch’s collar and laughed when he said ‘you knew my name, so you can’t be bad.’

Looted Gomwick’s body and read the note.

Note: [Get home safe. I don’t want to find you lying in a ditch somewhere.]

Mom: “Too late. Oh, apples… for camp!”

Went to the gnoll attack site. She mercy killed that first hyena and killed the rest.

Looted those corpses and found a bunch of sausage links and potatoes. Started clicking like crazy yelling “Everybodyyy! Dinnerrrr! Wait… the sausage says ‘Damage.’ (Lets out a loud HA)”

She found the Paladins of Tyr first and talked to them. She told them “I’ll think about it.”

Made her way to Karlach. She wound up defending Karlach and said she would help her take down the paladins. Talked to the others.

Karlach: "We'll take the fight to them."

Mom: "... Girl, I don't even know how I got down here."

Lae’zel: “Karlach is a force to be reckoned with and speaks her mind plainly. You will give her due respect.”

Mom: *Turns to me.*

Mom: “I knew she’d like her.”

She found the two creatures having fun in the barn. Got into a fight with them and looted the bodies.

Mom: "They don't have anything!"

Me: "I mean... they were having fun?"

Mom: *Cracking up* "We interrupted them!"

Gale was hunched over and my mom completely ignored him. I literally had to point out "Amá, the wizard. He's doubled over."

Very reluctantly gave Gale a necklace. Was distraught that it took the magic out of it lol. She was so happy to get that necklace from Arabella's parents and that it made little lights. It was between that, some other necklace that gives guidance, or a hat. My mother is not a fan of Gale's dietary restrictions.

I asked her "How did it feel having to give Gale the necklace."

Her words exactly: (eyeroll. sigh.) "It felt like... giving a kid a toy just to get him to stop crying. You don't believe him; you just want him to shut up."

Her expression:

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peonyneko · 3 days ago

Text

To Know You Pt.2 | OldestSon!Nanami x YoungestDaughter!Reader

Notes: Once again, this fanfic is very self-indulgent, so many of you may not be able to relate to it... I don't know how often I will post, I just like writing about it. Requests are open?? But to be veryy honest, I'm not sure if I have for request, but I'm open to discussions through the inbox/request box. Send me any anon messages~

I'll clean up any mistakes soon!

Word count: 6k+

Genre: Angst(?), Fluff, A touch/sprinkle of suggestive content (not really), NO SMUT YET

Warnings: Grammar mistakes (I'll fix it), vomit, not good eating habits, cursing, and arranged marriage things(?)

Extra info:

Nanami's Friends: Gojo, Geto, Shoko, Utahime, etc

Nanami's Juniors: Mainly Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara, does include Maki, Yuta, and Toge.

Nanami is hinted to be in his mid/late 30s and reader is hinted to be in her twenties.

---

OldestSon!Nanami who woke up from the smell of something good. Looking at the clock, to realize it’s past 11 AM, but quick to also realize his father gave him a week off. One, to get to know you better. Two, to plan your honeymoon for later on.

He notices you weren’t in bed, so after freshening up he follows the delicious scent. He watches as you look through the cabinets, very quietly, familiarizing yourself with what's there. You sigh in relief when you see maple syrup in the cabinet.

He found it… odd, to be honest. He usually was the one cooking for others, especially his younger siblings. He banned his brother, at that time in his early twenties, from entering the kitchen after he had burnt milk… Milk! (Though he is now much better at cooking.)

So to have you cook something was… fresh, but normal for an adult nonetheless. He wondered if you cooked for yourself often.

“Good morning. It smells nice,” he says, his voice rough and deep. You turn around with a spatula in your hand and next to you what seemed to be strawberry pancakes on a plate.

You nod, “Good morning… Yeah, thought I’d make something before you go to work.”

It clicks that he never told you. Shit.

“My dad actually gave me the week off. I apologize for the confusion. I should’ve told you during our date,” he says, nearing you and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

“That’s okay. We barely had the time,” you say, turning back to your pancakes and putting the last one on the plate. Another plate with scrambled eggs.

“Do you have work?” he asks and you shake your head.

“I’m off for a week too. My boss found out I was getting married out-of-nowhere,” you shrugged, the words leaving your mouth so casually.

“You didn’t tell them?” he continues, bringing out plates and utensils to place on the table.

You shake your head, “Not that I didn’t. I told them, but they didn’t expect it so soon.”

OldestSon!Nanami hums, being in a similar position himself. Everyone’s jaw dropped when they found out, from Gojo’s loud mouth, not himself. He didn’t even tell Gojo! His mom did. She adored that blue-eyed lunatic.

You fetch the water jug filling up the water cups. You both sit on opposite ends, a little far from each other. It gnawed at his chest, so he asked.

“Why did you want to get married?” The silence lingers for a while, and he could tell you, too, are looking for words to not hurt him.

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t judge your reasons. I’m sure I’m no better,” he reassures.

You licks your lips. “For my family, I guess. My mom really wants to see me get married. She’s quite old and has health problems, so I agreed.”

Nanami noticed you held your guard up, keeping a distance between the two of you. Something you’re not telling him, but he doesn’t press.

“Do you regret it?” he asks and you shake your head.

“Not if you don’t,” you whispered before taking a bite of your pancakes. His gaze lingered on you. Not if he doesn’t?

“You’re my wife. I won’t regret the wife I chose. Yes, we don’t know each other, but I don’t want you to feel suffocated, so please do tell me anything and everything.”

You look back at him with sparkling eyes and then you change the topic.

He took a bite of the pancakes and eggs and was surprised. He could hug you for how fluffy and delicious they are. It didn’t even take a second to know it was better than any he made.

“What do you want to do today?” you ask.

He hums, “I have a few places in mind, where we can go, but where do you want to go?”

“Oh, what did you have in mind?” you ask and he tells you the locations after another big bite of the pancakes. His mind can’t get over how you made the pancakes this fluffy and good.

“We can go there,” you say and his ears perk up.

“Where exactly?” he asks for specifics.

“The, um, restaurant, the Salt one,” you tried to repeat what he’d said early, only to fail.

“Ah, Saltspringlis?” he clarifies, telling you that he’ll take you tonight for dinner.

OldestSon!Nanami who notices you skipping lunch and asks you about what you wanted, only for you to say you’ll eat later, stalling on it. Hours go by and he noticed you were busy unpacking your things. He helped you, in hopes that you’d take a break and go eat, but you just continue unpacking, so he asked.

“Well, I had breakfast with you and I don’t want to be full for dinner,” you say, not paying mind to the utterly confused look on his face. Huh?

“I also forgot,” you mumble, folding another shirt into the drawer. He felt compelled to scold you, the way he used to scold his siblings for taking way too long to go eat. But he doesn’t.

“You should eat a snack,” he suggests, folding your pants and putting it in the drawer of pants. He leaves the room, bringing back an apple, then somewhat “orders” you to sit down and eat while he unpacks for you.

OldestSon!Nanami who neatly organized your clothes the way he noticed you organizing them. Who casually reaches inside the duffle bag beside the nightstand, only for you to tighten the opening, stops his hand from moving. Your eyes were panicked and with the apple in between your lips. He stops and there are a few seconds of silence between you two.

“Um, I have underwear in this,” you explain.

OldestSon!Nanami removes his hand from the bag, the feeling on lace and silk catching his attention as he does. Your face was red and he isn’t dumb. He knows that these were perhaps lingerie packed for activities, maybe by someone else. But he’s also not crass or rude. He acts like he doesn’t know what's inside, nor does he sexualize it.

OldestSon!Nanami who takes you to Saltspringlis, a seafood restaurant, but also invites some of his friends and company juniors. Gojo and Geto come with Yuji and Megumi, while Shoko arrives with Nobara and Maki. He was glad to know you got along with them, even if they did most of the talking, you still looked pleased but…

OldestSon!Nanami who wonders why you don’t touch your food, you just pick at it. You pick at the scallops and shrimp risotto. In the hour that passed, everyone had finished their plate except you. And soon it was time to leave.

He wasn’t angry, no, no, no! He was curious and maybe a little disappointed.

Your marriage was arranged. He didn’t dislike you, no it was the opposite. He liked you, platonically. But he noticed you barely ate your dinner.

He grew up being told to appreciate food and finish his plate. “Others aren’t as fortunate as we are, Kento,” his mother would say. His parents didn’t force him to finish his food if he really couldn’t. But he grew up learning it’s proper and respectful to finish what you got for yourself or what was served.

His younger siblings were told the same about finishing meals, but less tied to the rule. They weren’t kept on the table until they finished like he and another one of his siblings were. And as Nanami sees from your habits, you were probably given that leniency too.

You bit into the shrimp, eating maybe a quarter of the meal before never touching it again. And soon it was time to leave. He noticed others' questions if you were hungry. “You didn’t even eat much,” Yuji, who was around your age, exclaimed. You simply told everyone you’re full. Nanami told you to get it packed to-go and you nodded, doing just that.

OldestSon!Nanami who fought with OnlyChild!Gojo to pay the bill for everyone. In the end, Gojo beat him by a millisecond to tap it on the card reader.

OldestSon!Nanami who was a little surprised when your stomach growled in the silent car ride. He looked over to you for a second, suggesting, “Finish the food at the house.” You only nod, not saying much.

OldestSon!Nanami who was just a tiny bit irked when he saw the to-go box still in the fridge the next morning. So, once you told him with an avoidant gaze that you didn’t want it, he ate it himself.

OldestSon!Nanami and you went through the motions of your break, one week passing by fairly quickly. You both ate together for almost every meal. ‘Almost’ because you had a tendency to avoid meals and lean towards snacking. Though, at least you’d have breakfast and dinner. Two days into the break, he helped you settle in, encouraging you to decor the place however you’d want. He didn’t mind. He wanted you to feel like you belonged.

So there you were, day three of seven days of break, at a home goods store, gawking the prices as you tried to find the cheapest ones. Why are they so expensive?! Nanami, too, was looking but he looked rather unfazed.

You found one of the shelves to be beautiful, so beautiful you wanted it. But that feeling quickly sizzled out once the price of $1,500 revealed itself on the tag. You carried on with a tight smile, not looking back. You looked everywhere, and no matter what, nothing was under $500. Even a nightstand. A nightstand!

OldestSon!Nanami who sees you silent sigh to yourself as you walk back to the same place you started off. He asks you if this store was not to your taste, but you simply shake your head, quietly telling him it’s over your budget.

Perplexed, he leans down, “I’m well-over capable to pay it.”

OldestSon!Nanami watches you explain that you aren’t going to let him pay for it! If you like it and want it, you’ll buy it. He is just there looking back, absolutely astonished. Though, he hid it well behind his stoic face and clenched jaw. Who told you you’d be paying for these things?

“I respect that you want to pay for it, but you’re not going to. Moreso, I won’t let you. If you like something, I’ll get it. It’s for the house,” he replies, beginning to walk towards someone.

Before you can even attempt to convince him not to, he tells an employee to buy two items, giving the item number, as well. You watch him not hesitate the slightest. Even on the drive home, he doesn’t say much about what he bought, so you assumed he got what he liked.

OldestSon!Nanami who tells you to come down the next day, because a delivery came in. You look at him in utter disbelief as the same beautiful shelf stood in front of you. He watches as your expression goes from confusion to shock to admiration and then to…

“Wait, I- Did you buy it because of me?” your brows furrowed as your voice got small. You had a sort of guilt in your voice, almost as if you didn’t want him to get it.

So he panics. “No! No… I got it because I really liked it,” he lied, “Why? Did you?”

Your face calms and you sigh in relief, “Yeah… Can I help you build it?”

OldestSon!Nanami and you who spend day 4 of your break building and moving things around the house. He notices you bump into things here and there, so he just… moves them out of the way when you shuffle around. He quietly reorganizes the pantry, so you don’t risk breaking your hip when you climb the countertop.

What? He caught you easily climbing it on your knees, as if you do that often when he’s not looking. It made you avoid his gaze for hours, with an embarrassed laugh, mumbling, “Sorry. I’ll clean it.”

YoungestDaughter!Reader who still notices him reorganizing the pantry because she’s always aware of Nanami. Who enjoys building the shelf with Nanami, her brows furrows in focus and eyes fixed on the screws. She organizes her book, usually by title and genre, but quietly places Nanami’s favorites to his eye level (knowing from his family and friends).

YoungestDaughter!Reader who places a cup of water on the kitchen counter, knowing Nanami will just drink it. He’s done that before. What? She’s just making sure he’s hydrated. Who softly asks Nanami if he has any photos he wants to put up there.

He does.

OldestSon!Nanami who opens up his album of high school memories and recent pictures with his juniors. All of them. Who stupidly skips past the wedding pictures, not noticing YoungestDaughter!Reader’s eyes wait in foolish anticipation.

YoungestDaughter!Reader who is quick to move on from the slight disappointment. After all, this relationship had no feelings, it’s arranged. She smiles at the memories, but it dawns on her that she doesn’t know him… At All. Certainly not anything close to what his juniors even know. So she asks about his high school and college, hoping for any response even if it’s not a deep one.

“It was fun,” Nanami whispered, brushing his thumb over two faces. A girl and a guy.

Silence. Horrible, awkward silence.

“Uh, what year was that?” you ask from behind him. He doesn’t talk and so you let it go. You hated this feeling, the sticky, horrible feeling of begging for him to respond or talk.

After all, you grew up knowing to swallow your feelings and just let people be, especially if they didn’t want you. You grew up being the listener. When no one asked or responded, you wouldn’t speak either. You hated this sticky, unbearable feeling or being the only one wanting to talk.

You look through your own set of pictures, ones of your friends and family, some that you already printed to frame. You and Nanami decorated the shelf, but sadly it looked as if two roommates had done it, not a married couple.

You keep your thoughts to yourself. You knew what to expect coming in. No matter how much his mother told this would be love, the moment you knew Nanami seemed to have… settled, you knew this is just that, a settlement.

But you stupidly already started to enjoy his presence.

YoungestDaughter!Reader who has countless sketches of Nanami in her sketchbook, all of them in her forbidden, never-open-in-front-of-others sketchbook. All of them are drawn in the month you’ve known him. Some doodles, others a bit more detailed.

OldestSon!Nanami, who saw the sketch book lying around, picks it up out of curiosity, but never opens it. He respects your privacy.

OldestSon!Nanami and you spend day 5 in the park with a beautiful garden. He noticed your eyes sparkle at the flowers, taking yet another picture as you walked around. He sends it to his mom, who replies with a dozen pink, yellow, and orange hearts for you, calling you, “So cute.” You come back to him, with a couple small flowers in your hand, dropping it into his palm without touching him, “I didn’t want to rip them off, but I found some instead.”

OldestSon!Nanami who blushes as you turn your back and continue walking as if you didn’t just give him the cutest small flowers of yellow and blue daisies.

OldestSon!Nanami who brings home salmon the next day and you cook it. He notices you eat only part of it and wait for him to finish before claiming that you're full. He lets it go, not saying anything about it.

The rest of the day you two are within each other's vicinity, but doing different things. You sketching something in your sketchbook and he's reading.

OldestSon!Nanami begins to dose off as he's reading, his book slipping from him a sliver. Despite being high alert with others, he can't help but feel a little at peace with... you.

You place your sketchbook aside, taking the blanket off yourself and putting it on Nanami instead. You take the book from his sleeping state and hesitantly tuck him into the blanket.

Nanami wakes up right when you put the blanket on him and he can't help but feel weird fluttering in his stomach. A few seconds of silent stares that happen between you two. You to him. Him to you.

"Um," you break the silence, "You should sleep... in the bedroom. You'll hurt your neck."

Nanami who hums, knowing that if he spoke, it'll be a stutter of words. He notices how you look so "caught in the act" when you did nothing wrong. He gives you a smile, clearing his throat as he stands up.

"Are you tired?" he asks.

You look back at your materials splayed out on the living room table and couch. Looking back at him, you shrug your shoulders.

"I'm not tired, but I can... keep you company after I clean up."

OldestSon!Nanami who waits 20 minutes, too giddy to sleep because you said you'd keep him company. Usually, you two went to sleep at different times. You were always staying up later than him.

OldestSon!Nanami who whispers goodnight as you settle into the bed, reading a book in your hand and small light on the book. He told you that you can keep the lights or lamp on, but you refused. You use a tiny book light

OldestSon!Nanami and you spend the night of your last day of break together at yet another expensive seafood restaurant. Nanami had asked you where you wanted to go, but you let him decide, telling him you didn’t know the place well.

You’d ordered a salmon dish with a side of asparagus. The price wasn’t the issue. He didn’t mean to get a little… irked. You took twenty minutes to order, but he didn’t mind. And by the time he’d eaten his food, you barely made a dent in yours.

He waited and waited, the conversation between you two was longer than the length you took to eat. The conversation was nothing out of the ordinary, just about both of your jobs and going back to the usual work routine. All that stuff.

Your food long went cold and you were lingering, not touching it.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, curiously.

“Oh, no nothing. Why?” You ask, tilting your head.

“You’re not eating and your food is cold,” he points out. You look down at your plate and curl up. He should’ve stopped.

“It’s not good to waste food,” he adds, wiping his hands on the cloth.

“Yeah, um, I’m just full,” you quietly say, your neck heating up from his gaze. The same one that you got when you were younger. From many, many people.

You’d grown up similar to Nanami, but instead of being let off the hook your family yelled at you to eat and finish food. Admittedly, you avoided food because you were easily full, you’d prefer to have small portions. It didn’t help that your parents were on the poorer side. They’d guilt you about the money they spent on food.

And as Nanami said those words, you relive those memories.

“You’re all skin and bones! Why are you not eating?!”

“Fish is good for you, why are you being so picky?”

“She never eats. It’s such a hassle. What did I do wrong?.”

“I tried so many times to make her eat fish, she never does.”

“You should be happy. Lots of people can’t even eat fish.”

So, to avoid giving Nanami the wrong impression, despite heavily disliking seafood, you forced yourself to at least finish half, until you just couldn’t anymore. This month alone, you've eat more fish than you have in a lifetime.

The salmon left a bad taste in your mouth and you felt like throwing up. You would’ve had it not been for the asparagus you finished.

“Are you done?” Nanami asks, again. You nod your head with flushed cheeks, squeezing your hands in your lap. Sorry.

He sighs and finishes paying. He barely says a word to you as you both go to the car. The food swirls in your stomach, the taste of the seafood still in your mouth palette. You didn’t get the chance to wash the gag-worthy taste away with water.

“Thank y-“

“If you didn’t want to eat out, you could’ve told me,” he bluntly said, gripping the steering wheel. He drove without looking at you, just a little bit irked. Okay, not just a little. Irked. He’s annoyed.

Gojo buys you food that you didn’t eat, then you don’t eat this time either. You never seemed to finish it, but then you eat something else much later on, ignoring the food container from the restaurant. Did you want fresh food? He’d get it. He just wanted you to be honest if you didn’t want to eat it anymore now that it’s old. Or that you didn’t want to eat with him and his friends in the first place.

“I’m not trying to force you to do anything. We’re married even though it was arranged, but I’m not here to force you,” he adds, and your stomach sinks further.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble as he drives in silence, paying you no mind. A few minutes go by. Your guilt grew more and you could physically feel his irritation.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to go eat,” you add, playing with your hands. I’m sorry.

“Then?” He raises a brow, eyes in the road.

Your throat felt hot and your stomach swirls as the car hit a pothole. You didn’t want to admit it. You didn't want to admit that you didn’t like fish. You didn’t like seafood. Few exceptions, but fish was definitely not one. You tried to like it, but nothing ever got you to.

“I felt full,” you mumble and he is quick to click his tongue.

“Then you could’ve ordered something you wouldn’t waste. That simple,” he adds.

He didn’t know why he got worked up. You weren’t a kid. He normally doesn’t care about habits. But you didn’t even have a full meal since breakfast. Yes, he noticed. How are you NOT hungry?

Growl! You bit your lip as your stomach made noises. Nanami sighed as he, too, heard it. You clearly were if your stomach was still growling.

“You don’t have to lie. I won’t blame you if you feel weird about going out with me. As I said, this marriage was done quickly and we’re not in love. ”

“No, I just… couldn’t finish it. I knew I probably would like it. I wanted to try, but… It didn’t taste good,” you mumble at the end. As Nanami drives, the sight of swift cars and alternating lights makes your stomach flip like hurricane swirls.

“But you got it anyway. You should’ve ordered something you could finish.”

“I’m sorry,” you mumble out, your hand reaching up to cover your nose and mouth.

“No need to apologize to me. Just… it’s not good to waste food,” he said, voice flat and stern.

You felt shame rise up to your cheek as the food began to rise up your throat. You’d tried to swallow the sickly throat-wrenching feeling, but it was getting more and more unbearable. More and more the food climbed up your stomach and throat.

“Stop- Stop the car,” you quickly express, opening your seatbelt. And he does, pulling over immediately..

You stumble out of the car, and spill your guts out. Every bit of fish and asparagus you ate now spilled out on the ground. Nanami curses, his stomach sinking to the floor as you heave and bend over. He leaves the car to rub your back, his eyes brimmed with worry.

Fish usually made you queasy, especially if it smelled fishy. So you avoided it, but seeing Nanami always eat it so deliciously made you want to match his preference too. He got you water and you profusely apologized. He shakes his head, worried to no end. He checks your temperature and finds nothing. He’s there with you crouched down until your stomach calms, your arms settling beside you.

“What's wrong?”

“I’m sorry… I don’t like seafood.” And it clicks for him. Your face dropped when you looked through the menu, which had nothing but fish and scallops.

Fuck, he thought. He loves seafood, so did his entire family. It seemed like your family also enjoyed it, so he assumed you liked it too. But not once did he ever see you reach for any seafood dishes. Ever.

He’d grown up eating anything, he wasn’t picky, moreso he wasn’t allowed to be. He didn’t care as long as it wasn’t sardines. You must’ve forced yourself to eat even half of the salmon. He carries you to the car, clicking in your seatbelt for you.

“I’m sorry,” he admits, “I should’ve told you it was seafood. It’s my fault, not yours.”

“Still it was expensive and you paid, so I can pay you back for wasting it,” your voice was so small and quiet. As if you expected him to be mad about it. As if you expect him to yell at you.

His heart aches, and he shakes his head, “No, no. What? That doesn’t matter. The price doesn’t matter. I’m your husband, it’s only a given.”

He help you get back into the car, making sure you were no long queasy. OldestSon!Nanami who has a small stash of medicine in a box of his car. He gives you a bottle of water and some nausea relief. Driving a little slower to avoid making your vision hazy and stomach churn again. Right when heard your stomach rumble, he was quick to stop at a random late night bakery.

“Do you like sweets?” He asks and you nod, only to panic when he starts to leave the car.

“No, you don’t have to! You’re wasting money,”

His brows furrow, “What? Nonsense, you threw up. And you’re hungry”

“I’ll buy it myself. Seriously.”

“No, sit here. What do you like?”

“I’m not telling you,” you insist.

“Then I’ll just get one of every flavor.”

You scoff at his ‘promise,’ “No you won’t.”

“You think?” he smirks, cocking his head to the side.

“You won’t,” you dryly chuckle, crossing your arms. You were too weak from the nausea to get up as he shut the car door, assuming he was joking. Surely, he’d just get a croissant.

He didn’t, in fact, just get a croissant. Keeping his word, Nanami comes back with a box full of pastries. Your eyes widen at the sheer amount in your lap.

“I- I can’t finish this!”

“I’ll help. Anything left over I’ll give it to friends. Please, I don’t want you fainting.”

He noticed you hesitate to grab the fancy one, the tiramisu croissant, so before you go for the plain butter croissant instead, he speaks.

“Go for it. I bought it for you,” he softly encourages. With a sheepish smile you take it, biting into the croissant.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Nanami says, regretting his lecturing.

“You’re not a kid and you’re free to eat however much and whatever you want. I don’t mean to control you. I have no idea what got over me to act like that. I’m sorry.”

You nod your head, “That’s alright. I know you said it from a good place. I, uh, need to get better at letting you know about these things too.”

That night, nothing big changed, but Nanami was sure of one thing: He never wants to see you sad and uneasy.

He couldn’t help that your tears made his heart ache. Maybe it was similar to the way he can’t see his juniors hurt? He just knew he didn’t want to see you unhappy. Maybe you were becoming a friend? He doesn’t know.

OldestSon!Nanami and you who still sleep with your backs faced away from each other, but closer. The distance would completely disappear if one of you flipped over.

OldestSon!Nanami checks on you when waking up at the crack of dawn, he touches your forehead. And then realizes….

Realizes he hasn’t even hugged you, let alone held your hand. The farthest you’ve both gone was this… Him touching your forehead. And right then, he wanted to bang his head on the wall.

But maybe it was for the best? What if you don’t like him? What if you want a divorce soon? What if you liked someone else? Why would she like you? Someone so fucking old-

You groan in your sleep, moving around and facing him. His breath gets caught in his throat as the palm of his hand is now pressed between the bed and your cheek. Your hair strand cover part of your face, and fuck you looked so cute.

An ache sew itself into Nanami's heart. He felt as though he'd ruined your life. Your love life. He wonders if you given no choice. Because why would you agree to marry him? You could've chosen anyone... But you chose him...

OldestSon!Nanami who went to sleep like that, not daring to move his hand from your cheek. So when you wake up, you wake up confused as to why you accidentally practically pinned Nanami to the edge of the bed (it was only his arm under you).

YoungestDaughter!Reader who wakes up a little excited because she gets to make him a lunchbox for the first time. She really wanted him to try one of her recipes that she made herself. She hesitates, thinking of cooking something common, but listening to her heart, she makes him something she came up with.

OldestSon!Nanami who smiles at the lunch you made him for before he headed to work. He gives you a small smile, thanking you. You smile back, shrugging and playing with the hem of your shirt, as if it was too embarrassing for him to notice it.

OldestSon!Nanami who also drives you to your office place, making sure you went inside the office before driving to his own.

OldestSon!Nanami who got many compliments and congratulations for his marriage. He even got a couple of sad eyes from some singles. He didn’t know why. Were they sad he got married before them? (No, they were sad it wasn’t them who he got married to. Both those employees flirted with him before, but he never took the hint. Gojo and Geto knew, but they never told him.)

OldestSon!Nanami who didn’t touch the lunch you made for him, forgetting about it when Gojo practically dragged him to eat out because, “Suguru is too busy to eat with me.”

Not only that, he didn’t even get the time to catch his breath because of how busy it got with him back in the office. When he took a shower after work, you noticed the lunchbox was heavy, opening it to only find it full and untouched.

YoungestDaughter!Reader’s heart fell to the floor seeing the food not even halfway done. She contemplated asking him, but when he came to the kitchen with a laptop in his hand and a stoic face, her questions answered themselves. Maybe he didn’t get the time.

That day you both did not speak much with each other. Both of you had different jobs and after the week long break, there was much to catch up on for both of you

So the very next day, you make him lunch again. A different recipe with salmon and rice. You even tasted it to make sure it was good, even if you’d prefer it with chicken instead.

Your routine of waking up together and leaving together continued for a second time. You were dropped off first and then he went about his way.

OldestSon!Nanami whose second day back was hectic, more so than the first. He didn't even get a break, let alone the chance to touch his lunchbox.

YoungestDaughter!Reader’s heart, once again, shattered seeing the lunch full. The note she left inside of “Hope today is good! Take deep breaths^^” discarded all the way at the bottom. Crunched up and discarded.

OldestSon!Nanami and you spent the day in different work rooms. You in yours. Him in his. You slept in the same bed. Close, but once again faced away. Backs towards one another.

OldestSon!Nanami didn’t say anything when he noticed you didn’t make lunch the next day, thinking you were tired, so he made it himself. You saw him do so, as you grabbed a yogurt and canned coffee. In silence, he dropped you off and went about his way to work. This continued for the week, before he asked. He asked right when you returned from work, surprisingly returning later than usual. Much later. Perhaps two hours late.

“Why did you stop making lunch?” He notices you freeze, trying to gather your thoughts. You had just gotten out of the shower, freshly wet hair and in your baggy mix-matched pajamas.

“Not that you must. You don’t. I’m a grown man. I can make it myself. I was just… I was merely curious,” he adds, hoping to put off the pressure of answering.

“Oh,” you begin, playing with the hem of your sleeve, “I thought you didn’t like it. I didn’t want to force you to eat something you didn’t like.”

“Why’d you think that?” he tilts his head, completely lost.

“You told me one time that you went out to eat and brought back a full container, so I assumed you didn’t want to eat it. But, I shouldn’t have assumed, I’m sorry.”

“No!” he says, stepping closer to you,“I should’ve clarified. Gojo forcefully took me out to eat. I also… completely forgot you packed me something. So it’s my fault, not yours.”

You look up at him, nodding, a hint of sadness in your eyes “So, you don’t mind eating what I make?”

He frowns, shaking his head and leaning down to you, “Why would I? Is anything wrong?”

You shake your head, as if you wanted to avoid talking about it. Before you can leave, he gently pulls your arm, leaning in close. He tilts his head to connect your face with his, a slight worry in his eyes.

“Hey, talk to me,” he whispers, “I don’t want you silently trapping your thoughts.”

You stall a bit more, before sheepishly chuckling. Shrugging as you answer, “No big deal, really. It’s a small thing that I guess I took too far. You don’t need to worry.”

You attempt to leave, again, but he doesn’t let you. Stopping you in your tracks with his arm out with stern look, the same one he’d give his younger siblings with his brow raised so they spill whatever secret they had. You, being the youngest in your family, also know that look very well.

“Just… I- Whenever I made food for my family when I was younger, it was alway untouched,” you whisper, your eyes looking down at the floor instead of up at him. His heart aches as the words reach his ears.

You dryly laugh, “It is not even that serious, but I guess it still hurt. I remember making them breakfast one time and no one ate it. Yeah, I was a teenager and maybe it didn’t look good, but… I hoped at least one person would have some.”

You looked so small, curling into yourself as you seem to be overthinking the memory.

Your words getting quieter and quieter as you spoke, “It also seemed like they didn’t think I could make good food? I don’t know. It’s not even that serious, really. My older sisters were better at making traditional food anyway. Even when I got better, I always worried no one would like it, so I just wouldn’t make it.”

He swallows the ball in his throat, feeling his heart crumble. That explains the hesitant stare you’d give him as he ate your food. Whenever you make something, you’d add a small ‘It’s probably not good.’

He noticed, but just assumed you were learning to cook, not that you were embarrassed of your skill. Hell, you were better at many dishes than him. He’d have your food over anything his family made.

He lets out a guilty sigh and hesitantly reaches for your hand, “You’re a good cook, so please try not to demean yourself. I understand this hesitance of yours, but I would never, ever leave your food to rot. I’ll eat everything and anything you make.”

OldestSon!Nanami who silent vows to always eat the lunch you pack him. And as always your cooking was nice. YoungestDaughter!Reader who encourages him to at least decide the menu, so she does not make him something he dislikes. Who tell Nanami that he’s never obligated to eat everything, just as much as he wants.

OldestSon!Nanami and you who have yet to go on a honeymoon or big trip because your works have you two so, so busy.

A month and a half has passed and the only time you really spend is either sleeping in the same bed or drinking a late warm beverage together. Only on weekends do you ever really spend time, time that you two spent on talking and slowly getting to know each other. Though, Nanami noticed you still tend to avoid getting too deep about things. He wasn't much better with talking about his past either, so he understands.

OldestSon!Nanami, who during one of the weekends, takes you to yet another hang out with his friends and juniors. It was a small get-together a Gojo’s. Everyone, except for those driving, was a tad bit (or really) drunk. Nanami avoided drinking and you did not drink either. You were allergic.

OldestSon!Nanami who kept you in eye distance even when he knew everyone. Who felt so fucking jealous when Gojo and Geto leaned into your space to hear you over the music and loud juniors. Who pretended to “fix” your sleeve, his hand grazing the wedding ring to clean it. Nanami, who makes quick glaring eye contact with Gojo and Geto, before stepping away from you.

YoungestDaughter!Reader who isn’t dumb about what just happened. She can assume what just occurred, but she still has her big doubts. The little touch of her ring, in front of two other good-looking men (who are Nanami’s friends), left her a little speechless, but she brushes it off. Because what if it was just that simple a brush of her rings and no thought to it?

OldestSon!Nanami who would get you everything and anything you need, even when you always refused to want anything. Never asking. Never relying. Always being okay with anything. Who notices that you always getting something on the cheaper side.

YoungestDaughter!Reader who grew to be on her own and not rely on others. Who has a hard time letting others do anything for her. Who feels overwhelmed every time Nanami takes her out because she really cannot get used to him paying for things. Her solution? Anything cheap.

OldestSon!Nanami and YoungestDaughter!Reader who try to unknowingly dance around the other, trying to adjust to what the other feels comfortable with. OldestSon!Nanami and YoungestDaughter!Reader who have been sleeping facing each other for a month and a half. You take a glimpse of him before closing your eyes.. And Nanami taking one last look at your peaceful, sleeping face before succumbing to sleep.

----

Credits for the characters to Gege Akutami, but this plot and these versions of the character are of my own (maybe OOC sometimes), so please refrain from plagiarizing.

I am currently NOT posting this elsewhere, so if there are works of thse anywhere else, let me know!

Thank you for reading!

#jujutsu nanami #jjk nanami #jujutsu kaisen #nanami kento #nanami #oldestson!nanami #youngestdaughter!reader #to know you #kento nanami #kento x reader #nanami x reader #arranged marriage #angst #fluff

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lenniexprime · 3 days ago

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Rejection.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”- C. S. Lewis

┍━━━━━»•» «•«━┑

tfa! optimus x teen! senior! reader.

rejection fucking sucks dude. I hate getting those rejection letters. I really do. But honestly, I can't help but appreciate and be thankful for the schools I've gotten into. However, something about this is grief is only letting me cope through writing it. Share it with me, yeah?

┕━»•» «•«━━━━━┙︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶ - Not Edited

Look at you... A college-bound senior, getting ready to take on whatever comes your way.

You've made it thus far...what can stop you now? The challenges are getting good grades, staying on top of things, and doing well on every test. You stayed up most nights, studying or doing homework. You've skipped out on days at the base or to hang with the rest of your friends on days or weeks before tests.

You may have messed around years before, but this year, this is your senior year. No room for mistakes, no room for too much error.

You've impressed yourself and others with such determination to get good grades on everything.

If you were being honest with yourself, that really wasn't the hard part. The hard part was the fact that you had to apply to colleges, get the right documents in, and ask for recommendation letters.

The stress took and is still taking over the majority of your whole life.

If you didn't think the weekends were getting more like weekdays before, then you definitely are now. You could barely catch a break and if you ever did it was so hard to get back into the grind of things. As time went on, you found you had little interest in doing things you enjoyed before. You looked at your video games differently, you could barely stay entertained for a whole movie, and your homework wasn't getting any more interesting.

One day, you were sitting in base, telling Sari about the dangers that are ahead of her in the years coming, but when two bots came in just as you were talking about how you found no interest in things anymore, she couldn't stop but just stare back at you while staring at the bots behind her, working on something.

You honestly didn't care about talking in front of the bots about your problems though. You didn't think they'd care that much about the situation.

Sari couldn't get the look of worry off of her little face as she stared between you and the bots. You didn't care much about it until she got up and left as soon as Bumblebee came.

You sigh and lay back on the couch, looking to the side, hearing thumps behind you.

"We are no strangers to losing interest in what we may use to enjoy due to excessive stress, but that does not mean you can't try," Ratchet says crossing his arms. "It is always nice to have a hobby or something to distract you," Optimus chimes in, his deep voice making you finally look back. You sigh.

"Also we're here, it doesn't hurt to talk to others during times of struggle," He adds.

Ratchet then walks off, leaving Optimus and you behind.

"My communication issues suck, but not only that but it's hard for me to try to communicate my teenage feelings to a 8-year-old and alien robots who have little to no knowledge of what I could be going through in here," You point at your head.

"Yes, we may not know, but at least you know you have a support system," he says quietly. "You were talking to Sari earlier, yes?" he asks rhetorically.

You close your eyes, shaking your head, putting it down. "Yeah Optimus, thank you," you mumble. "It's just hard, plus not only do I have to stay on top of grades, but I'm really nervous about being accepted to these schools," you say, hands motioning how you feel.

You look up at him again. "I'm scared of getting rejected..denied..worse," I say mumbling again.

Optimus looked at you, living in his own stress and despair, it's not easy seeing such a young human like you stress like he does. Everyone has their own responsibilities, but it gets to a point. He doesn't want you to be scared of rejection, he wants you to accept it, to learn from it, to push you through it. He remembers how he was, getting kicked out of the academy, he felt rejected and denied. He was still trying to recover. He wants you to understand that it's okay to make mistakes, to make tough decisions, or to be okay with a school denying you. It didn't define who he was (partially) so it shouldn't defy you.

"I understand your fear, I was there once, I had the pain of being denied, of being rejected almost," He went on, sitting next to you. "You have to understand that rejection and failure make us stronger people," He finishes, looking at you. "Don't be afraid to be sad, but don't let it take over your whole life. It's one moment out of many successes you're yet to have." He smiles at you. You smile back, finding some peace in what he had spoken to you. Maybe he found peace in his own words too.

#transformers #transformers x reader #teen reader #platonic #sfw interaction only #optimus prime #ratchet #orion pax #tfp #ratchet x reader #optimus prime x reader

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mischievouslittlecreature · 22 hours ago

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Part 26: Do You Love Me

Summary: They have a lot of time to make up for.

Word Count: 5,769

Warnings: Smut, marathon sex, oral sex, size kink, bit of a praise kink, unintentional voyeurism, and references to polyamory and past suicide attempts.

Notes: I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read this fic. This one in particular has been a passion project of mine since nearly the initial creation of Lucy, and I am so, so glad that you enjoyed it enough to read all the way to the end! Thank you so much for all the support that you have given me!

Previous Chapter • Series • Fic • Next Part

Chapter 22: Hopelessly Tangled

Lucy took in a deep, shuddering breath and pushed open the door leading into the room where she had been staying at Charlie’s yard. A shiver had gone through her when she passed by the red door leading into the washroom, a sick feeling twisting in her stomach.

She slipped away while Tommy was speaking to Charlie regarding what to do with the opium shipment they still had at the yard. Originally the plan was for Charlie to take the shipment out while the coppers were all distracted by the assassination. But obviously that had all gone to hell, and it hadn’t been safe to move the shipment yet.

Tommy had cast her an alarmed look when she murmured into his ear that she needed to go take care of something in her old room. But he seemed to calm at least somewhat after she squeezed his hand and reassured him that she was okay. It would take only a minute.

The room looked different without her suitcases in the corner, her makeup and jewelry on the desk, or the fifty million bouquets of flowers that Tommy had sent her during her stay there. It seemed bigger, yes. But also more empty. Barren.

Her eyes fixed on the bed, mind turning back to all those nights spent laying on it, cold and lonely and crying.

Pushing up the mattress, she grabbed the slip of paper tucked underneath it, then set the mattress down, turned, and sat on the bed.

Her fingers traced delicately over the train ticket, thumbing over the printed date and time. Rooting around in her pocket, she pulled out her lighter, clicking it on and just about to coax the corner of the ticket into the flame when she heard the sound of the floorboards by the door creaking.

Looking up, she was met with Tommy standing in the doorway, hands shoved deep into his pockets and watching her calculatingly, a frown set into his face. Lucy clicked off the lighter, imagining that she likely looked an awful lot like a child who had just been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Closing the door behind him and approaching her with heavy footfalls, Tommy sat down beside her on the bed, cringing at the way that the springs creaked with complaint under their combined weight. Neither of them said anything, both just staring down at the train ticket still clutched between her fingers.

“I bought it after you said that you were going to kill Mosley for her. I thought that I’d lost you forever, so…” she trailed off, fingers rubbing at the edges of the paper. “I thought it would be better for everyone.”

Tommy was quiet for a considerable stretch of time. His shoulder brushed against hers, his fingers fidgeting with each other. She wondered if that was a habit he’d picked up from her, or her from him.

“Were you going to tell me?” he asked finally, voice soft despite it only being them in the room.

“I don’t know,” she sighed. She could sense the hurt coming off of him in waves at that. She shook her head at her past actions. “I look back on the way that I was thinking and behaving then, and it all seems so silly now.”

Tommy shifted, reaching out silently in request for the ticket. She passed it to him without complaint. His shoulders sagged as he stared down at it clutched gingerly between his hands. Lucy cocked her head.

“What?”

He looked up at her, eyes sad. “If you really want to leave–”

“I don’t. I never wanted to. I thought that you–” she pulled in a trembling breath. “I thought it would be what was best for you.”

He searched her eyes carefully, and she met his gaze steadfastly, daring him to find any lie or wavering in it. Knowing that he would find none. Satisfied, he held out the ticket to her, and she clicked the lighter back on, holding the flame up to the delicate paper. She and Tommy watched as the flames caught, the parchment beginning to curl and smoke before fully catching ablaze. Tommy turned the paper carefully to avoid letting the yellow flames touch his fingers. And once the fire had mostly engulfed the ticket, Lucy snagged the ashtray on the nightstand for him to drop it into. Setting it and her lighter both back down on the table, she leaned into him. His arm wrapped around her, tucking her closer to his chest while they watched the last remnants of the train ticket turn to ash.

His other hand stroked along her forearm, delicately trailing his fingers down until they brushed against the raised, barely healed scar on her wrist.

The stitches had come out that morning. Finally. And while it would still be awhile until she could be considered truly one hundred percent healed, it was close enough for her to not need anymore bandaging or sutures.

“You’re the love of my life, you know,” Tommy said, lips touching to the crown of her head.

Lucy felt like she might’ve been about to burst with love and affection for him. Raising her face, she cradled both his cheeks in her palms, resting her forehead against his. “And you’re mine.”

His hands smoothed up her back, holding her to him. “I got something for you.”

Lucy leaning back to look at him, a smile pulling at the edges of her lips. “Yeah?”

He nodded. “Close your eyes.”

She raised an eyebrow, but complied. She could hear him shifting about beside her.

“Alright. Open ‘em.”

She blinked open her eyes, and was greeted with a delicate gold chain dangling from Tommy’s fingers where they were poised in front of her. Glinting in the light on the end of the chain, was a little golden heart pendant.

“Tommy…” she reached out, fingers brushing over the pendant. It was just small and simple enough to be to her tastes. And she could wear it with her daily attire easily. But she knew just from looking at it that it was made of real gold.

“You like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” she turned so that he could fasten it around her neck. It fell to rest just below her collarbone. “Thank you.”

“I had it charmed,” he said, finishing doing the clasp and dropping his face to nuzzle in her neck. “For good luck. Protection. And love” He punctuated each with a kiss to her throat. Turning around, Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“Thank you, darling.” She touched his face. “I love it.”

“Every time you look at it, I want you to remember. Remember how much I love you.”

“I will.” Their noses bumped a little on their next kiss, but that didn’t dissuade them.

“And,” he said–a little breathlessly, she noted smugly. “If that’s not enough. If you’re still doubting it, just ask me. Alright? Just ask me the question. Doesn’t matter the time, or the place, or what else might be on my mind. You ask, and I’ll answer, eh?”

“Okay,” she agreed. “Okay, I promise.”

His hands landed on her hips, tightening as he pulled her closer, an approving growl rumbling in his chest. “Good. Now c’mere.”

He pulled her impossibly closer to him, kissing her ferociously, his hands running over her sides before settling on her hips.

Lucy gasped delightedly into the kiss, hands going to fist at the front of his coat. Tommy’s tongue slid eagerly into her mouth, their kisses growing impossibly deeper with each passing moment. Her head spun a little, and had they not already been sitting down, she may have been at risk of her legs giving out.

Just as she felt like she may very well run out of oxygen, Tommy broke the kiss to begin peppering his mouth along her throat. Nose brushing along where her neck met shoulder, she felt him inhaling deeply, and when he pushed her coat and suit jacket both from her shoulders, she didn’t stop him. Simply instead taking his own two outermost layers in her hands and nudging them off him, giving her much better access to grope at his biceps and run her hands along his chest.

With a groan, Tommy began to fumble with the buttons on her waistcoat, pushing it off of her to land with an unceremonious thump on the floor. Warm hands slipped under her white shirt, stroking along her ribs.

“Yes?” he asked, eyes soft when they regarded her, asking for permission for more. She nodded eagerly, pressing wantonly against him. It had been far, far too long since he had touched her. Hands moving more frantically now, they both worked swiftly to rid the other of their clothes. Tommy’s waistcoat joined hers on the floor, while he became distracted after unbuttoning her shirt by caressing her breasts through her bra. Lucy giggled at the somewhat awkward maneuvering they had to do to get out of their holsters, before pressing her lips to the newly uncovered skin of his chest from her unbuttoning his shirt. Her bra was flicked open by clever fingers and flung to some faraway place in the depths of the room. Both naked from the waist up, Tommy scooped her up to press flush against him, lowering her backward to lay on the tiny bed.

Immediately crawling on top of her, he set to work hastily ridding her of the remainder of her clothes, trousers and underwear pulled away and tossed carelessly to the floor in one quick movement. Legs fell open for him to settle between them, Tommy purring in approval at her nakedness, open mouthed kisses being planted along her neck down to her chest.

“I missed you so fucking much,” he whispered between kisses, tongue circling one of her nipples before making his way down her body.

“Missed you too,” she managed to get out, hand tugging on his dark hair and eliciting a groan from him. A finger circled over her clit, another groan clawing its way from Tommy’s throat at how wet she was. His burning lips pressed kisses to her thighs, his fingers beginning to work her over, thumb rubbing her clit while he slowly slipped two thick digits inside her.

She was teetering over the edge of an orgasm almost embarrassingly quickly, hands gripping the bed sheets so hard she was afraid that she might tear them. Tommy smirked, head tilted to the side.

“You wanna come? You wanna fucking come, sweet girl?”

Lucy nodded desperately.

“Yeah. You come as many fucking times as you want tonight.” With that he leaned forward, tongue flicking out to lick over her. A strangled cry ripped from her lips, back arching as after only a few expert swipes of his tongue, Tommy had her hurtling headfirst into an intense orgasm.

Grasping tightly at her thighs, Tommy pulled her closer to his mouth, hungrily lapping at her until she was nudging his head away from overstimulation. He sat up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and smirking. Lucy blinked up at him, hand pawing out to rub in interest along his chest, feeling the muscle ripple beneath her as she traced over the shape of his tattoos. Allowing her fingers to dip lower, it was her turn to smirk at the rather desperate noise that Tommy made when she cupped the large bulge in his trousers. She tugged at his belt, eyes narrowed demandingly.

“Off.”

He shifted off the bed for only a moment to strip off his trousers and underwear before crawling back over her, nose bumping against hers, bracing his arms on either side of her head. His eyes were incredibly soft, the icy blue thawed to a warm ocean.

“My beautiful girl,” he stroked her cheek, kisses pressed to her lips. Lucy wound her arms around his neck, thighs going around his waist. His erection burned where the thick length pressed against her inner thigh. Her core fluttered and clenched, wanting nothing more than to finally have him inside of her again.

In one swift move, she flipped them, careful so as to not accidentally send them both careening to the floor off of the narrow bed.

“Yes,” Tommy breathed out at her straddling him, hands landing on her hips to help stabilize her. “Yes, fuck me.” His head fell back, eyes fluttering closed. “Please fuck me, Lucy.”

A shiver wracked through him as she gripped his shaft, stroking him in her fist before lining him up, her entire body shuddering as she slowly sunk down onto him. A moan fell from her lips, grasping at Tommy’s shoulders for stability, head tilted back as he filled her. Beneath her, Tommy growled, an arm going around her while the other clasped tight enough to her hip to leave bruises.

“Lucy,” he whispered, sitting up to press kisses along her collarbone. A swell of possessiveness washed over her, gripping his face in one hand and forcing him to look at her. The other hand rested over his chest, right above his heart.

“You’re mine,” she said, not room for argument in her voice. Tommy’s cock twitched inside of her at the words, eyelashes fluttering, pupils dilating until she could barely see any of the blue of his irises. One large hand covered hers, stroking the skin.

“I’m yours,” he agreed.

She leaned forward, lips pressing fully to his, and began to ride him. With his hips rolling up to meet hers with each bounce, they set a slow, deep pace, continuing to kiss languidly, hands caressing every inch of skin they could reach as they made love.

“Tommy,” she moaned, head falling backward and grasping at his hair tightly. “Tommy.” Her pace quickened, Tommy’s thumb pressing against her clit again, rubbing careful circles. With each stroke he was hitting her in exactly the perfect spot, stars dancing across her vision with each thrust.

“You gonna come for me again, love?” Tommy asked sweetly, devilish grin pulling at his cheeks when he felt her clench down on his cock at the sound of his rumbling voice. “Yeah, that’s it.”

A strangled sob left her lips, sinking her nails into Tommy’s back and earning a growl in response. Her next orgasm shuddered through her powerfully, leaving her legs shaking and head spinning.

“Good girl,” Tommy praised, sitting up and wrapping her up in his arms, rolling them so that he was once again on top of her. His tempo grew faster with each thrust, fucking her through her second orgasm and almost directly into a third. Lucy moaned impossibly loudly, eyes rolling, the poor little bed rattling and squeaking with their combined movements.

“I love you,” Tommy growled between thrusts. “I will always love you.” He hooked a leg over his hip, pumping into her furiously. Lucy pulled him down to kiss him hard, clinging to his back, legs wrapping more securely around his hips to keep him close. She could tell, by the way his breathing quickened and his cock twitched and throbbed, that he was close. He pushed her legs open and further back, like he was trying to get as deep inside of her as possible.

“I love you, too,” she said softly against his lips. Tommy moaned. “No matter what.”

He let out a bellowing roar, back arched as his cock twitched and throbbed powerfully inside her. Lucy cried out, the feeling of him pouring his cum inside of her triggering another orgasm, arms wrapping around Tommy’s shoulders while he thrusted as deep inside of her as he could get and stayed there, body trembling in her arms as he came hard.

Slumping against her, Tommy’s head burrowed into the crook of her neck, breath hot where it tickled her skin. His body was warm and heavy on top of hers, a welcome and comforting weight after so long without him. Lucy brought a hand up to stroke through his soft hair, peacefulness washing over them both. After a moment Tommy raised up on his arms, pressing a kiss to her lips before pulling out gingerly and shifting to lay on his side beside her. Or, he tried to. Considering the tiny space of the bed, he ended up situating them more so that she was settled on top of his chest with his arms around her. It reminded her of years ago, back when she would sneak into Tommy’s tiny flat in Small Health and they’d curl up together on his tiny bed, bodies pressed together. A hand petted through her thoroughly mussed red hair.

“Holy fuck.”

She laughed breathlessly, turning her face to press a kiss to the sunbeams tattooed around his pectoral. He ran his thumb along her bottom lip, grinning down at her while he caught his breath.

“We’ve still got it, eh?”

She stretched up to kiss him tenderly. “Damn right.” Cuddling back into his chest, she let her eyes drop closed contentedly at the familiar warmth of him around her.

Tommy shifted, grabbing the lighter she’d dropped on the nightstand and a pack of cigarettes that she must have left there, lighting one for himself. For a while they laid in peaceful silence, Lucy beginning to doze on his chest while he traced nonsensical patterns into her skin. There was no doubt in her mind that they weren’t even close to done for the night. If true to habit, Tommy would be ready to go again within a couple more minutes. They had a lot of catching up to do.

“Tommy?”

“Hm?”

She frowned, trying to figure out how to word the question. Or if she should even ask it at all. It wasn’t really any of her business. Not really. But she couldn’t help but wonder, with the amount in which he’d just came in her…

“How much sex did you have after I moved out?”

He froze. Then reached over slowly to set his cigarette down into the ashtray, and tilted her face up by the chin to look at him. His throat worked, and she saw shame and guilt enter his eyes.

“Only twice.”

She frowned. She had expected it to be a lot more than that. “That’s it?”

He nodded, wincing. “Once a few days after you moved out. I was drunk and…depressed and Lizzie was there. I think I might’ve called her by your name at one point, but she didn’t say anything about it. And then the second time was in the cupboard at her birthday party.”

Turning onto her side on his chest, she trailed her fingers up and down through the hair that sprouted between his pecs. “Oh. I figured it would be more.”

“I haven’t exactly been in the mood much, recently.” His fingers slid through her hair languidly. “I meant it, you know.”

“Meant what?”

“When I said that it wasn’t the same. It’s not. It’s better with you.”

She felt herself flush all the way from head to toe. “Really?”

“Mhm.” He pecked at her shoulder. “I dreamed about you.”

“You did?”

“Came in my sleep like a fucking teenager.”

She grinned at the mental image. He’d probably been so exasperated once he’d realized what had happened.

She felt his hips shift a little against her.

“And there was no one else? Other than Lizzie?”

“No. No one else.” He rubbed his nose along the length of her shoulder. “What about you, hm?”

“Nothing and no one.” She had never felt comfortable enough to be that vulnerable with someone else without Tommy there. With the exception of Grace. “Except my hand, once.” A wicked thought occurred to her. Tilting her head up, she let her lips graze across the base of his neck when she spoke. “In this bed. Thinking of you…”

“Fuck,” his hips bucked, pushing his swelling cock against her hip desperately. Lucy angled her head up to meet him when his mouth came crashing down onto hers.

As soon they parted, he leaned in to press kisses to her neck. In a smooth movement he rolled them so that he was on top, growing erection grinding against her. Catching at his shoulders, Lucy pulled back just enough to look at him.

“The others…” she started, biting her lip. “They’re just bodies, right?”

She saw understanding enter Tommy’s eyes at her repeating the term he had used earlier. Getting at what she was really asking.

“Just bodies,” he agreed, leaning in to kiss her again, then chuckled and shook his head fondly. “As if I could make love to anyone else but you,” he tutted, hands running all over her body.

“Silver tongued bastard,” she crooned affectionately, hands tangling in his hair. Tommy chuckled, the vibrations against her chest making her shiver.

“You’re not going to be able to walk straight after I’m done with you…” his voice was beginning to get growly again, her core clenching around nothing as she whined and arched into the teasing touches that he was laying on her.

“Promises, promises,” she teased, grinning at the way his eyes lit up at the challenge.

And then her head was lolling back onto the pillow, moaning while her hands scrambled at his powerful shoulders, as with one expert forward thrust of his hips, he pushed inside of her once more.

“Oh my God…” Tommy moaned wantonly, as if he'd just been reunited with the missing half of his soul. His eyes closed, head tipping back, face contorting with bliss. “Fucking hell, sweetheart.”

She gasped at the praise, grabbing onto him fiercely. Her legs squeezed around his hips while she clawed at his back as he set an absolutely brutal pace, thrusting into her so hard that the headboard struck the wall with each one.

Lucy moaned with abandon, not caring if the whole yard could hear her. Good God, how had she ever managed to live without this?

He felt fucking huge. Splitting her open with each thrust, filling her completely. She caught herself staring at the place where they were joined in awe, amazed that something so massive could actually fit in her. His cock glimmered with their combined juices every time he pulled out, a wet squelch sounding when he thrust back in balls deep, skin slapping together when their hips met.

She felt like she might combust from how good it all felt. And then he started talking.

“This what you thought about, love? In this bed, all on your own? You imagine me splitting you open like this? Fucking you ‘til neither of us can move…Mm…” He thrusted all the way in and stayed there, grinding against her. His pubic bone slid against her clit wonderfully. “Squeezing me so tight, honey,” he purred when he picked the pace back up again. “Shit, you feel so good. Best fucking cunt I’ve ever been in…”

She sobbed at the praise, clinging to him for dear life. With a hand in his hair she dragged his mouth down to hers, kissing him greedily. His pace increased, pounding into her like a fucking animal. The bed creaked and groaned angrily under them.

“Right there,” she squeaked, head falling back against the pillows. The tip of his cock rubbed right up against that spot inside her again, stars bursting behind her eyes. “Right there, don’t stop, Tommy. Tommy, Tommy, Tommy…”

“Fuck,” he grunted, hands fisting in the sheets at either side of her head. “I’m not gonna last.”

She tightened her legs around him, urging him in deeper. His mouth found hers, tongues tangling, devouring each other’s moans. Their hands, the ones with the still healing cuts from their pact in the woods across their palms, entwined. Lucy could feel the band tightening within her. Just a little more…

There was a loud crack, and then a sudden snap from under them. Lucy yelped, finding herself suddenly and momentarily in free-fall. Above her, Tommy’s eyes widened, seizing her in his arms and curling his body protectively around her.

It took her a moment to realize what happened. The support beams of the bed frame had completely snapped, leaving the mattress to fall unceremoniously onto the floor amongst the wooden wreckage of the broken frame.

“Shit,” Tommy gasped out, cupping the side of her face. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, looking up at him with wide eyes. “You?” she choked out. He nodded to confirm that he was okay. They looked at each other, and then immediately descended into giggles.

“Fucking hell,” Tommy chuckled, dropping his head into her neck. “What’s this thing made out of? Rotted wood?”

“It’s old,” she managed between wheezes. “It was already here when I arrived in 1918.”

“Mm,” he hummed, glancing around at the damage and shaking his head. When he returned his gaze to her, she felt the air around them shift again. His eyes darted over her face, lingering on her lips, and she was suddenly deeply aware of the fact that he was still very much buried inside her and throbbing.

Hand sliding up to brace near her head, Tommy pushed himself up to kiss her again. This time slow and deep. Their mouths moved sensually together, tongues stroking as he started to slowly rock his hips.

She clung to him like he was a lifeline, cradling his face and running her fingers through his hair. Tommy sighed deeply into her mouth, a hand running along her side to cup and squeeze one of her breasts, then creeping downwards to stroke her clit in time with his thrusts.

“Ohhh, c’mere,” he shuddered, arm hooking around her, crushing her to his chest. And all the while he kept on kissing her. Over and over again. So tenderly and passionately it made her heart feel as though it were about to explode out of her chest.

How could she have ever been so stupid as to have doubted his love for her? When he was making love to her like this, it was impossible to think that he didn’t adore her down to his very soul.

She came softly, with her back arching and a soft gasp of his name shuddering from her mouth. He was not far behind, whispering her name and sweet nothings into her ear as he pressed in and emptied another generous load inside her.

“This bed is fucking terrible,” he complained, after pulling out and shifting them so that she was laying on his chest once more. Lucy hummed in agreement.

“Yeah. Probably did everyone a favor by breaking it.”

He snorted, pressing his smile into her hair. Sitting up, she straddled him, Tommy raising an intrigued eyebrow at the position, his hands resting on her hips.

“You’re my favorite person,” she told him seriously. His eyes softened.

“You’re my favorite too, sweetheart.”

Rubbing her thumb along his cheek, she smiled at him tenderly, reaching with her other hand for his cock. It twitched in interest against her palm, and Tommy smirked cockily.

“I’m warning you now,” she leaned forward to murmur in his ear. “I’m gonna put that famous Shelby stamina to the test, my love.”

He looked absolutely delighted at the prospect. His cock throbbed. It didn’t take long for her to have to ready and raring to go once more, guiding him to her entrance and sheathing down onto him with a moan.

Later, when they’d both kept their promises–him to fuck her until neither of them could move, and her to put his renowned endurance to the test–she looked up at him shyly from her spot curled up on his chest. “Thank you for not letting me go,” she said.

He caressed her cheek with his fingers, touch warm and gentle. “I promised you,” he whispered, as if there had never been any question in his mind that he would keep it.

∗ ∗ ∗

Charlie was happy for them. Really. They’d both been so miserable during the separation. Everything was back to the way it should be.

But holy fuck, did they have to be so fucking loud about it?

He shot a glower towards the wall at the sound of another loud moan reverberating from the other side.

Fuck’s sake. He’d have thought that they’d have tired themselves out by now. They'd been at it for hours.

His cheeks and ears burned. He had managed to sleep for a little while, but then there’d been the sound of what he could only describe as a small earthquake next door, sending him shooting straight up in bed.

Ever since then, he’d been in and out. Just as he managed to doze off, they’d make some particularly loud racket that sent him jerking awake again. If he didn’t know better he would have suspected that they were doing it on purpose. Not even putting his pillow over his ears was enough to drown them out.

Silence fell on the other side of the wall, and he let out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes.

Then there was a loud…wet noise, and Tommy started promptly screaming Lucy’s name loud enough to bring the roof down.

Nope. Nope. Uncomfortable as it may be to sleep in the stables, it was better than having to listen to this.

He snatched up his pillow and stomped irritably for the door, mumbling under his breath.

Fucking Shelbys.

∗ ∗ ∗

Tommy moaned, body shuddering with his orgasm as he pumped his hips at a languish pace a few times before stilling. Pressed deep inside of Lucy, his balls fluttering and tightening with each generous spurt of seed that he was filling her with. Below him, Lucy moaned, hands grasping at his back and shoulders as her walls clenched tight around him with her own release, milking him for absolutely everything he had.

He had awoken to her cradled warm and safe in his arms, red hair spread out on his chest where her head was nestled, their bodies practically intertwined with how closely they were pressed together in the tiny bed, arms and legs tangled together.

He had fucked her deep into the night. Probably had kept poor Charlie awake with all the noise they’d been making. And when they were finally well and truly exhausted, they’d collapsed into a pile of sweaty, satisfied limbs and fallen asleep. That morning he allowed himself the chance to just admire her for a while as she slept. The soft strands of her hair, the freckles covering her face. The way her limbs twitched in her sleep and she snuggled closer to him. She was heartbreakingly beautiful. His favorite person in the entire world.

It was with soft kisses to her neck that he woke her, hands running adoringly over her soft skin. It had been around when she pressed a sleepy kiss to the tattoo encircling his left pec that his cock had inevitably stirred awake, and they ended up right where they left off the night before.

Now basking in their afterglows, Lucy laughed sweetly, hand petting through his dark hair.

“Good morning to you, too.”

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to a scar on her chest and sitting up. “We have meetings with constituents at the Garrison this morning.”

“How long do we have?”

His eyes glanced at the clock on the wall. “About an hour.”

“Oh, good,” she said, rolling them over so he was on his back with her hovering over him. Tommy laughed, grinning up at her almost boyishly. “We have enough time for this, then,” she murmured huskily, leaning down to kiss him heatedly.

∗ ∗ ∗

They just barely managed to be ready in time, pulling on clothes hastily and stuffing down some toast and eggs that Charlie prepared for them in the kitchen before heading outside. Tommy went to do a final quick check on the opium shipment, while Lucy greeted Charlie where he was sitting with his injured leg stretched out in front of him, watching Curly tend to the horses.

“Good morning,” he said to her.

“Morning.”

The man was eyeing her in quiet amusement, eyes darting between her and Tommy, who was walking towards them. “Sleep well?”

She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Between her legs, she ached wonderfully, and true to Tommy’s word, she was having a significant amount of trouble walking in a straight line. Her legs felt a little like jelly. “Oh, yes. Very much so.”

“Mhm.” Charlie smirked. ”Good.”

“You?”

“Bah. It was fine. These two assholes next door keep waking me up with the absurdly loud sex they were having, though.”

She cringed. “Shit. Sorry.”

Charlie shrugged with a smile, patting her on the arm. “I’m just glad that everything’s back to the way it should be, kiddo.”

“Hello, Charlie,” Tommy finally made his way over to them.

“Shouldn’t you two be getting going if you don’t want to be late? I hear that they line up down the street sometimes to get a chance to talk to you.”

“Yeah, we do. But here, before we go,” he reached into his coat and pulled out a wad of cash, counting it out and passing it to Charlie. “For the bed.”

Charlie frowned. “What the fuck happened to the bed?”

“Tommy happened.” Lucy quickly pointed the blame. Tommy’s brows rose.

“From what I remember it was very much a group effort.”

She bit her lip to try to keep from laughing. Charlie groaned, making a face.

“Ugh, God, I don’t want to know anymore. Just get out of my yard, you insatiable animals.”

Taking his advice, Tommy took hold of her hand, beginning to pull her towards the exit.

“After we’re done meeting with constituents, we can go home,” he mumbled cheekily into her ear. “We have a whole new bed there to christen.” His eyes danced mischievously. “Maybe we’ll break that one too.”

Stopping them before they could leave the safety of the yard, she cupped both his cheeks with one hand. “Charlie’s right. You are insatiable.”

“Look who’s talking.”

She grinned, and leaned in when he kissed her.

∗ ∗ ∗

She did ask the question, later. As she would, every once in a while. For forever. But not always because she was beginning to have doubts, or because her insecurities were getting the better of her. Sometimes, she just wanted to hear his answer.

“Do you love me?”

And Tommy answered in the same way that he would answer for the rest of their days.

“Yes; I love you. I love you more than anything.”

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#peaky blinders #tommy shelby #tommy shelby x oc #lucy winters #lucy winters x tommy shelby #lily writes #love me where i'm most ruined #tommy shelby fanfic #tommy shelby smut #thomas shelby fanfic #peaky blinders oc

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rainingincale · 10 months ago

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#one of my favourite pass times you ask?#listening to covers of songs i like from artists i dont want on my wrapped of course djshbdhdgdv #i am being strict this year i cannot have the same thing happen to me again xD #le text post #everyone: “is it really that deep...?” me:“yes”

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cuddlytogas · 11 months ago

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So I accidentally almost got into an argument on Twitter, and now I'm thinking about bad historical costuming tropes. Specifically, Action Hero Leather Pants.

See, I was light-heartedly pointing out the inaccuracies of the costumes in Black Sails, and someone came out of the woodwork to defend the show. The misunderstanding was that they thought I was dismissing the show just for its costumes, which I wasn't - I was simply pointing out that it can't entirely care about material history (meaning specifically physical objects/culture) if it treats its clothes like that.

But this person was slightly offended on behalf of their show - especially, quote, "And from a fan of OFMD, no less!" Which got me thinking - it's true! I can abide a lot more historical costuming inaccuracy from Our Flag than I can Black Sails or Vikings. And I don't think it's just because one has my blorbos in it. But really, when it comes down to it...

What is the difference between this and this?

Here's the thing. Leather pants in period dramas isn't new. You've got your Vikings, Tudors, Outlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Once Upon a Time, Will, The Musketeers, even Shakespeare in Love - they love to shove people in leather and call it a day. But where does this come from?

Obviously we have the modern connotations. Modern leather clothes developed in a few subcultures: cowboys drew on Native American clothing. (Allegedly. This is a little beyond my purview, I haven't seen any solid evidence, and it sounds like the kind of fact that people repeat a lot but is based on an assumption. I wouldn't know, though.) Leather was used in some WWI and II uniforms.

But the big boom came in the mid-C20th in motorcycle, punk/goth, and gay subcultures, all intertwined with each other and the above. Motorcyclists wear leather as practical protective gear, and it gets picked up by rock and punk artists as a symbol of counterculture, and transferred to movie designs. It gets wrapped up in gay and kink communities, with even more countercultural and taboo meanings. By the late C20th, leather has entered mainstream fashion, but it still carries those references to goths, punks, BDSM, and motorbike gangs, to James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Mick Jagger. This is whence we get our Spikes and Dave Listers in 1980s/90s media, bad boys and working-class punks.

And some of the above "historical" design choices clearly build on these meanings. William Shakespeare is dressed in a black leather doublet to evoke the swaggering bad boy artist heartthrob, probably down on his luck. So is Kit Marlowe.

But the associations get a little fuzzier after that. Hook, with his eyeliner and jewellery, sure. King Henry, yeah, I see it. It's hideously ahistorical, but sure. But what about Jamie and Will and Ragnar, in their browns and shabby, battle-ready chic? Well, here we get the other strain of Bad Period Drama Leather.

See, designers like to point to history, but it's just not true. Leather armour, especially in the western/European world, is very, very rare, and not just because it decays faster than metal. (Yes, even in ancient Greece/Rome, despite many articles claiming that as the start of the leather armour trend!) It simply wasn't used a lot, because it's frankly useless at defending the body compared to metal. Leather was used as a backing for some splint armour pieces, and for belts, sheathes, and buckles, but it simply wasn't worn like the costumes above. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and hard to repair - it's simply not practical for a garment when you have perfectly comfortable, insulating, and widely available linen, wool, and cotton!

As far as I can see, the real influence on leather in period dramas is fantasy. Fantasy media has proliferated the idea of leather armour as the lightweight choice for rangers, elves, and rogues, a natural, quiet, flexible material, less flashy or restrictive than metal. And it is cheaper for a costume department to make, and easier for an actor to wear on set. It's in Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Runescape, and World of Warcraft.

And I think this is how we get to characters like Ragnar and Vane. This idea of leather as practical gear and light armour, it's fantasy, but it has this lineage, behind which sits cowboy chaps and bomber/flight jackets. It's usually brown compared to the punk bad boy's black, less shiny, and more often piecemeal or decorated. In fact, there's a great distinction between the two Period Leather Modes within the same piece of media: Robin Hood (2006)! Compare the brooding, fascist-coded villain Guy of Gisborne with the shabby, bow-wielding, forest-dwelling Robin:

So, back to the original question: What's the difference between Charles Vane in Black Sails, and Edward Teach in Our Flag Means Death?

Simply put, it's intention. There is nothing intentional about Vane's leather in Black Sails. It's not the only leather in the show, and it only says what all shabby period leather says, relying on the same tropes as fantasy armour: he's a bad boy and a fighter in workaday leather, poor, flexible, and practical. None of these connotations are based in reality or history, and they've been done countless times before. It's boring design, neither historically accurate nor particularly creative, but much the same as all the other shabby chic fighters on our screens. He has a broad lineage in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean and such, but that's it.

In Our Flag, however, the lineage is much, much more intentional. Ed is a direct homage to Mad Max, the costuming in which is both practical (Max is an ex-cop and road warrior), and draws on punk and kink designs to evoke a counterculture gone mad to the point of social breakdown, exploiting the thrill of the taboo to frighten and titillate the audience.

In particular, Ed is styled after Max in the second movie, having lost his family, been badly injured, and watched the world turn into an apocalypse. He's a broken man, withdrawn, violent, and deliberately cutting himself off from others to avoid getting hurt again. The plot of Mad Max 2 is him learning to open up and help others, making himself vulnerable to more loss, but more human in the process.

This ties directly into the themes of Our Flag - it's a deliberate intertext. Ed's emotional journey is also one from isolation and pain to vulnerability, community, and love. Mad Max (intentionally and unintentionally) explores themes of masculinity, violence, and power, while Max has become simplified in the popular imagination as a stoic, badass action hero rather than the more complex character he is, struggling with loss and humanity. Similarly, Our Flag explores masculinity, both textually (Stede is trying to build a less abusive pirate culture) and metatextually (the show champions complex, banal, and tender masculinities, especially when we're used to only seeing pirates in either gritty action movies or childish comedies).

Our Flag also draws on the specific countercultures of motorcycles, rockers, and gay/BDSM culture in its design and themes. Naturally, in such a queer show, one can't help but make the connection between leather pirates and leather daddies, and the design certainly nods at this, with its vests and studs. I always think about this guy, with his flat cap so reminiscient of gay leather fashions.

More overtly, though, Blackbeard and his crew are styled as both violent gangsters and countercultural rockstars. They rove the seas like a bikie gang, free and violent, and are seen as icons, bad boys and celebrities. Other pirates revere Blackbeard and wish they could be on his crew, while civilians are awed by his reputation, desperate for juicy, gory details.

This isn't all of why I like the costuming in Our Flag Means Death (especially season 1). Stede's outfits are by no means accurate, but they're a lot more accurate than most pirate media, and they're bright and colourful, with accurate and delightful silks, lace, velvets, and brocades, and lovely, puffy skirts on his jackets. Many of the Revenge crew wear recognisable sailor's trousers, and practical but bright, varied gear that easily conveys personality and flair. There is a surprising dedication to little details, like changing Ed's trousers to fall-fronts for a historical feel, Izzy's puffy sleeves, the handmade fringe on Lucius's red jacket, or the increasing absurdity of navy uniform cuffs between Nigel and Chauncey.

A really big one is the fact that they don't shy away from historical footwear! In almost every example above, we see the period drama's obsession with putting men in skinny jeans and bucket-top boots, but not only does Stede wear his little red-heeled shoes with stockings, but most of his crew, and the ordinary people of Barbados, wear low boots or pumps, and even rough, masculine characters like Pete wear knee breeches and bright colours. It's inaccurate, but at least it's a new kind of inaccuracy, that builds much more on actual historical fashions, and eschews the shortcuts of other, grittier period dramas in favour of colour and personality.

But also. At least it fucking says something with its leather.

#everyone say 'thank you togas' for not including a long tangent about evil rimmer in red dwarf 5x05 #Our Flag Means Death #Togas does meta #and yes these principles DO fall apart slightly in s2 and i DON'T like those costumes as much #don't get me wrong they're fun and gorgeous - but generally a bit less deep and more inaccurate. so. :(#I'm not sure this really says anything new about Our Flag but I just needed to get my thoughts out #i hate hate hate Gritty Period Drama costumes they're so boring and so ugly and so wrong #god bless OFMD for using more than 3 muted colours and actually putting men in heels (and not as a shorthand for rich/foppish villainy) <3 #looking at that Tudors still is insane like they really will go to any lengths to not make men feel like they've got bare legs XD #image descriptions in alt text #and yes i DID just sink about two hours into those so you'd better appreciate them

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