#everything about her is GREAT but it feels so unused

[xjulixred45x]

I Saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2) yesterday, and Even thoug i LOVED the movie, i personally have a problem i'm how they managed the character of Delores. Bc GOD she has potential to be the ACTUAL MAIN VILLIAN OF THE MOVIE.

Why i Say "actual Main VILLIAN"? Bc the trailer of the Movie show her LIKE THE MAIN VILLIAN, but we BARELY SEE HER and Worst, we see other minor antagonists (the "Romantic interest" of Astrid/ Rory) MORE THAN HER.

And normally this SHOULDN'T have to be Bad perse, but we got something totally different from what we spected in the Bad sense. And from a Character VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT(A SOUL SUCKER, A PERSON FROM THE PAST OF BEETLEJUICE AND WHOM WE USE TO KNOW HIS BACKSTORY!) so, i came up with how I would handle Delores without changing ALMOST NOTHING of the Movie.

Instead of the guy, Dolores could have make her way into the living wolrd, both to stalk Lydia, and to make the arrengments to make the ritual to archive inmortality. But in the proccess she needs to 1- get the soul of Beetlejuice and 2- have her own life Back. And how does she do it?

Easy! She manipules Astrid into becoming her friend(maybe using a máscara?) and make the pact they do in the movie. Going for "migration", getting a soul, being temporally stoped by Beetlejuice, and then the secuence of the weeding.

The rest of the movie? The exact same. But with the participation of Delores instead of the "Romantic interest"(it would be funny if Delores ends up obsesed over Astrid like Beetlejuice with Lydia thoug). And FIN!

It was that hard? I mean WHY WAS THERE TYE ROMANTIC INTEREST IN THE FIRST PLACE?? IDK. Hope You at least enjoy My rant.

[jyoongim]

I literally kick my feet anytime I see you post your writing is so good. Fuckin biting my nails and screaming !!!!

Mayhaps something with alastor and like stoic reader. Like she’s badass, nothing gets to her and tries so hard to seem dominant (cause she knows compared to alastor she really isn’t). Has never fucked annoyed cause it’s the “I only need myself, I can get myself off” mindset

At one point she ends up getting snippy with alastor and he like grabs her by the throat or something to stop her and she immediately just looses all resolve. It’s viable in her eyes as she quickly goes from defiant and brash to meek and submissive just by something so simple because she’s so unused to the feeling.

Thank you for enjoying my writing🥹🥹🥹 I hope I can continue to give you everything you desire🩷

You took a seat beside Velvette as the Overlord meeting started. She was practically fangirling next to you, sneaking a few pics of you for her socials.

The meeting went as smooth as one could go with a bunch of powerful Overlords. 

You were chatting with Carmilla about business, catching sight of a familiar red demon leaving when Velvette quite literally stole you away, she sported a big grin on her face “Ooh babes, Voxxy wants to know if you’re accepting his dinner invite?”

You wanted to groan. Vox had been quite persistent in trying to gain your ‘affections’. 

You were a relatively powerful overlord. As one of the few female sovereigns, you always made sure to carry yourself with poise and elegance. You got your power on your own, never having to sleep your way to get what you want. And you kept it that way. Your dominant cold personality made sinners shake in fear.  You possessed a great mind for business, able to build or break someone’s business. 

Many sinners would be lucky to have you oversee their management.

And Vox could see you bringing him more money then he could count.

With you under him, he would dominate in sales.

You shook Velvette off, smoothing out your suit. “For the nth time Velvette…no. I am not some power clutch for Vox to try and woo” you growled at her, eyes flashing.  She rolled her eyes “babes you dont know what you’re missing” You rubbed your head as you made your way out the building, trying to ease a migraine coming through.

Your sneer must have still been on your face because you heard a voice teased you

”Frowning doesn’t suit you my dear”

Alastor.

The tall red demon was leaning against a wall, smile ever present.

You felt your eye twitch before quickly regaining your composure, spine straightening and lips pulling into a straight line.

You and Alastor were something like friends. You liked to keep your distance from the Radio Demon, but somehow he always found a way to bother you and keep you close enough for ‘entertainment’. He made you uneasy with how intimidating he was. His ever present smile could make people shit bricks alone and you knew what happened to those who crossed him…

But he didn’t scare you…much.

You growled slightly at his comment, your irritation was blinding the fact that you just barred your teeth at THE Radio Demon.

He tilted his head “trouble in paradise?” he asked sarcastically. If anyone didn’t know, Alastor knew how much you despised Vox.  

”Oh piss off Alastor” you said walking pass him.

You didn’t get far before you found yourself pressed into the building wall.

You blinked, brain catching up to the fact that Alastor had a claw around your throat holding you up against the wall.

You growled out of instinct, eyes glowing and squeezed his wrist “Are You fucking crazy!? Unhan-!” 

 The tightening of Alastor’s hand had your eyes widening.

“Watch your tone darlin’ ”

 your body went slack as a purr escaped your throat.

Alastor chuckled darkly “hahaha oh what’s this? So you aren’t so scary after all”

You blushed immediately.

You weren’t used to being manhandled by anyone. 

You didn’t take orders from anyone.

You were always a force to be reckoned with…

But the way Alastor towered over you, pressing into you, you melted as he established his dominance over you.

A pout formed on your lip as you looked away shyly, feeling small “s-sorry”

Alastor hummed, loosening his grip, favoring to catch your chin with his claw for you to meet his gaze

”that’s a good girl”

@absurd-ash @simphornies @altruisticalastor @markster666 @crazyforbarnes @catherine69420 @yourdoorisunlocked @strawberrypimp666 @sssandychemd @dasimp777 @dennsfz @alastorsaries @confessioncassette @horrorartsworld @alstorloml @scaramoochiie @alishii (I can’t tag you) @gojosaturos-wife @prosciuttosblog @wedream-wecreate @coleisyn @alastorsfawn @eviebuggg @spalimly @senseichaos @thewinchestah @queenariesofnarnia @polytheatrix @zombiesnips-blog @lunaramune @freekyfangirl @kassa-stardust

If I’m missing anyone just comment hehe

[watchfuldeer]

last night i went to a really fun and informal fundraiser evening with jesse and lucy at westminster school, where they were interviewing each other. i got to ask a question which i’ve mused upon for some time about tom, shiv and greg. enjoy! full transcript under cut

Transcript

me: so i’m gonna have to look at what i wrote down.

jesse: that’s alright, you’re highly in credit since you know more about the show than us. more about john berryman.

(laughter)

lucy: tell us what we’ve done wrong so far!

me: god, no. i wouldn’t! so my question, this is a character based question, and one thing that probably got a bit subsumed in the fourth season just because everything was happening. but i’d like to know more about tom and shiv, and also greg. because my read on the situation between the three of them is that greg is a source of marital strife (laughter) that shiv never noticed, and what would it have taken for shiv to notice the depth of greg’s presence in their marriage.

jesse: uh huh.

me: and tom’s attachment to him.

jesse: uh huh. sometimes you get little bits in life or you see something and you’re like, i wish we were making the show, because i suddenly do want to hear shiv say ‘greg you’re a source of marital strife’.

(laughter)

jesse: that’s like, when you’re like, that’s gonna be in, we’re not gonna cut that.

lucy: absolutely.

jesse: (doing greg voice) wh-wh-what?!

(laughter)

lucy: yeah. well we enjoyed that, didn’t we. we had a scene in america decides, which was the only scene between shiv and greg.

jesse: oh yeah.

lucy: the election episode in the final season where she takes him into a little room and threatens him.

me: ah, but it’s jealousy over lukas, over the greg and lukas thing, and it’s like, have you forgotten your husband, who is also very attached to this limpet?

lucy: yeah. i would also say that there are marriages in which a third party is not an unuseful thing, as well. not in a forgiving way about infidelity, but i would say that there are things that tom can express with and at and on greg (laughter) as it were, to greg, that are useful because he’s both a - you know the great, the interesting thing about tom is that he’s both a courtier and a bully. he’s that rare combination of someone who you totally believe as being almost like (mimes bowing and doffing cap) ‘oh yes sorry thank you yes ma’am’ and also like, ‘i’m gonna kill you’ and that juxtaposition is what makes him so interesting.

but in his marriage to shiv he has no real way, until quite late i guess in the final season, where we explore it, to hold power over her and to use that part of himself. so he’s accepted the acquiescing, he’s accepted the role of courtier in that marriage, and greg is quite a useful place where he gets to express all of that, the bully in him so that maybe it doesn’t have to come out in the marriage. which might be bad, because perhaps it should do and then the marriage would’ve ended much earlier, yknow, when shiv would just be like ‘i’m not dealing with you challenging me in any way’. so it’s not until that balcony scene i think where he really challengers her much at all. possibly the beach scene, where he sort of says that he’s considered leaving her, and how that would feel. but with aggressive challenge? it’s all directed at greg, and greg is allowed to be the place where all those feelings go.

me: but the affection - there’s also affection between them.

jesse: YEAH. and i think that’s the other thing maybe you’re alluding to is like, she… i think, some things you know you’re putting in the show because you talk about them and other things just naturally occur, and audiences and people tell you what the show is and what you put in there and you didn’t even realise, but i think we were aware of this - she’s oblivious. her obliviousness is a big part of her wealth and her upbringing and… so there’s something homoerotic going on between greg and tom.

me: i mean it’s not for me to say.

(laughter)

jesse: and does she… i think there’s two ways of reading that, either she’s oblivious, and that’s intriguing and possible. the other is that she sort of - there’s a scene in, you know that one, in the sun valley media conference in argestes, where we wrote a bit where shiv shows up unexpected and tom’s sort of flirting with someone, and it never really landed that much. i think we were like, oh this really gonna, shiv’s gonna spark up when she sees him flirting with someone. and it’s one of those things where you were like, you know what? i don’t think she gives a hoot, really, does she.

(laughter)

jesse: it’s like, she hasn’t got that, that’s not in her belly, that fear of loss.

lucy: no.

jesse: so i think that goes, that probably goes for a same-sex relationship or flirtation as much as it does for with a woman.

lucy: i think that’s true.

jesse: like she really… even if he was like - and this is not the way that tom would be like - ‘i think i’d like to sleep with greg’, i think she’d be like (mimes looking at watch) ‘when?’.

(laughter)

jesse: (as shiv) ‘not when i’m in the city, that’s weird, tom’.

(laughter)

jesse: i don’t think she’d have any fundamental objection to that.

lucy: that’s true. i think jealousy is quite a low status emotion.

jesse: yes.

lucy: and i think that she would struggle to feel it.

(jesse laughs)

lucy: even if it was present in some way, she would never be able to access it because it would put her too much at a disadvantage. so i think yeah exactly that, it would be like, ‘oh i guess you’re going to fuck that boring woman now are you, tom’ or do that, like… she has to be here (mimes one hand above another hand) so jealousy can’t really be accessed by her. so she might be irritated by greg, but in the way you would be by a mosquito.

me: to her detriment.

lucy: to her detriment, sure, ultimately yeah.

[hottpinkpenguin]

For event:

Alfie Solomons with

A - “Ask me to stay” + N - not good enough

Please. Thanks

A/n: hiiiiiii, i realized after i wrote it that i got over-excited and forgot the quote (the trope is there though!!) but i like this too much not to post it!

Alfie Solomons X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2229 Tags: angst, steam, canon-divergence, swearing, misogynistic themes

Alfie Solomons was a man of many vices and few virtues. He’d gone to great pains to ensure that. 

Usually this fact was one he lived proudly. He lived violently, lavishly, and with reckless abandon. Spent his money foolishly, shot his pistols carelessly, and slept with women thoughtlessly. This earned him a larger-than-life reputation in Camden Town. It impressed his employees, amused his business partners, and irritated his enemies. Alfie Solomons was a thorn in the side of propriety, and he loved it.

That changed quickly after meeting you. 

Alfie wasn’t entirely sure when that change happened - he couldn’t finger a specific moment or blame any particular feeling - but he had realized some time ago that the man he’d spent his entire life growing into was suddenly a hindrance.

And it had never been clearer than now.

“Mr. Solomons, I am not a man prone to jokes or levity, especially in moments as grave as this.” Your father was sitting across from Alfie, his back as straight as a whipping rod, hands splayed on the small kitchen table between them. He was taller than Alfie remembered, with shrewd dark eyes that bored straight into him. The absent smile of regret slid off Alfie’s face when he snapped back into the moment, dragged out of wistful reverie. 

“No, n-no sir.” A stutter? Alfie Solomons had never stuttered a day in his life, but here he was, reduced to a stuttering, sheepish shadow of himself in your kitchen. He could hear the slightest creak of a floorboard outside the kitchen door - no doubt you and your three younger sisters listening intently to the near-midnight conversation about your future. 

“I must admit, Mr. Solomons, I am utterly perplexed. My daughter is a young woman with no means, very few prospects beyond that which marriage will afford her. It is my understanding that she intends to pursue a life in the church, in fact.” Alfie’s heart froze to solid ice in his chest. A nun? My god, what was this woman doing to him. Alfie Solomons swore silently to himself that he’d die before he saw you don a habit and wimple. The mere sight of that alone would kill him.

“Yes sir, yes, I understand. I understand well.”

Your father’s eyes narrowed as it was rather obvious that Alfie Solomons did not, in fact, understand at all.

“She is a good girl, but plain and modest in both looks, prospects, and background. Surely a man of your… stature-” your father’s voice pressed down on this word with distaste “- would have his pick of eligible brides.”

Alfie stifled a chuckle, recognizing that it would do him no good to appear cocky or dismissive of your father’s concerns. Your father was right on all accounts: Alfie Solomons was a gangster, a womanizer, and a criminal. You, on the other hand, were… well, words failed Alfie when it came to describing you, but to say you were everything that he was not was an understatement of the worst kind. 

He settled on what he hoped was an appropriately chaste nod. Your father leaned back slightly in his chair, eyeing his eldest daughter’s apparent suitor with bald antipathy. Alfie wasn’t used to people - especially other men - regarding him so openly. It made him uncomfortable in a manner he was quite unused to, as if he was being truly seen for the first time in a long time. He squirmed slightly in his chair, clearing his throat and fidgeting with the wide-brim of his best hat, something he’d had commissioned specifically for this occasion. 

The silence between the two men was widening into a chasm. It was more than you could take. Suddenly unable to stop yourself, you leapt up from the crouch you’d been in for the last half hour, eavesdropping from the stairwell with your mother and younger sisters. You launched down the stairs, despite your sisters grabbing at your nightgown. Your mother gasped as you flung open the kitchen door, almost unseating Alfie in the process. Your kitchen was as modest as your future prospects, and with the three of you crammed into the space it was mighty tight. The added pressure of your nearly-dashed hopes, your father’s broad disappointment, and Alfie’s hopeless attachment to you turned the meager room from cozy to positively stifling. 

“Papa, please! I love him! You can’t keep me from him, I won’t let you!” 

Childish and painfully simple, not nearly the eloquent protest you’d been mulling over all day. And a lie to boot. If push came to shove - as it so often did with your father - he could very much keep you from marrying Alfie Solomons. Your cheeks reddened in embarrassment at your outburst.

Alfie, for one, thought you’d never looked more perfect. Your eyes sparkled in the dim lamplight, your hair was undone and slung over one shoulder in a lazily constructed braid, small curls breaking free around your temples and forehead. Your skin flushed with the unseasonable warm of the September night in Camden Town, those beautiful pillowy lips he couldn’t get out of his head parted and pink. If he was a coarser man and the situation less important, he felt sure he’d grab you and pull you onto his lap right then and there, bystanders and naysayers be damned.

“Saints above, m’dear, come away and cover yourself!” Your mother had been only a few steps behind you. Unable to step fully into the kitchen, she settled for tugging on your arm. Your blush deepened to a shade of red bordering on purple as you realized you were standing in nothing but a summer-thin nightgown. Alfie’s gaze hadn’t made its way far enough from your face yet to take in the ample expanses of skin on display, but your father was glaring daggers into the opposite wall, his jaw set so tight you wondered his teeth didn’t break. 

Appropriately embarrassed, the element of surprise now lost to you, you bowed your head and let your mother tug you out of the kitchen. Your mother - a soft-souled romantic at heart - made gentle soothing motions against your back as silent sobs began to rack through you. You climbed the stairs in a fog, your sisters scattering at your mother’s insistence that ‘the show’s over, girls’. With each step higher, you felt certain that the future you’d imagined for yourself with Alfie was destined to be nothing more than a far-flung dream. 

The kitchen had sunk back into a tense silence, however for subtle reasons not quite clear to Alfie, your father seemed infinitely more disquieted by your scene than he’d have expected from the sour old puss. Those gnarled, knobby hands that had, until just a moment ago, been laid out like piles of kindling on the table all evening were suddenly clasped together and fidgety. Your father seemed shorter, his spine bowing under an invisible weight. Against himself, Alfie Solomons found himself leaning forward with a hint of concern.

“Sir? Are you quite alright?” 

Your father’s gaze had lost none of its venom, although behind that mask of derision was a spark of emotion. 

“How did you manage it, Mr. Solomons?” The question was as quiet as snowfall in winter. Alfie almost had to ask him to repeat it. 

“What, sir? Manage what, sir?” More stuttering. Gods be damned, Alfie Solomons was a mess. The image of you bursting into the kitchen, all softness and outrage and girlish desire, had tied him into knots. 

“My eldest daughter is many things, Mr. Solomons. A diligent student, a kind voice to her sisters, a steadfast helper to her mother. A pious child of God.” (Alfie struggled to keep himself from breaking into an impish grin, knowing that if your father had any inkling of the enthusiastic midnight rendezvous the two of you indulged in frequently that he most certainly would not dub you pious.) “And a passionate spirit, I confess. Yet… that part of her is… locked away.” 

Alfie found himself nodding, his memory dragging him back to the first few weeks of your acquaintance. You’d been all business - all ‘yes, Mr. Solomons’ and ‘right away, sir’. But he’d seen that fire in you, the same fire your father spoke of. It simmered deep in your eyes and bubbled up when you laughed. It had sent Alfie to the brink of madness to come so close to something he wanted so badly and to be denied it. But with diligence, patience, and focus - all virtues that Alfie Solomons had gone to great lengths to rid himself of - he’d finally won you over. He’d finally found that the fire inside you burned wild and free. You were raw and open and unfettered with him now. A gift he’d kill for. Hell, he’d die for it too. 

“But not with you, apparently.” Your father’s voice trailed off into quiet. Alfie wondered what he was meant to say. He settled on a noncommittal grunt of agreement. 

“How that came to be, I find myself unable to hazard a guess…” Another probing gaze, the kind that made Alfie squirm. “And perhaps I wouldn’t like the answer. In fact, I…” Your father stopped suddenly, clearing his throat and straightening his crisp Sunday jacket. A ridiculously formal choice for the occasion, Alfie thought, although he realized he could hardly cast stones as he looked down at his freshest suit, newest hat, and shiniest shoes. It seemed both of them had understood the importance of this night, and of the things that hung in the balance with their words.

“I am quite shocked to hear myself say this, Mr. Solomons, and I urge you to leave quickly lest I reconsider. But yes. You may marry her.” 

Alfie wondered if he’d finally drank himself into madness. This surely was a dream, a whiskey-addled fever dream. He gaped openly at your father, stammering out nothing more than shocked noises. 

“You don’t have my blessing, although I won’t stand in your way.” 

The door to the kitchen burst open again, and in you came once more, squealing and flying into a pair of outstretched arms. Alfie smiled as your father engulfed you in a surprised hug. You were bouncing on your toes, peppering the side of his freshly shaved face with kisses and earnest expressions of ‘oh thank you Papa! Thank you!’ Alfie was glad to see that you’d thrown on a housecoat and pinned up your hair in a style more akin to what he was used to seeing you wear. He didn’t trust himself around you with that just-woke-from-sleep blush on your lips. 

Always trailing behind you, in rushed your three sisters and your mother, exclaiming and clapping their hands as if it were a jubilee. How the entire family - plus Alfie Solomons - managed to fit into that pint-sized kitchen was nothing short of a miracle. Hugs were exchanged, and Alfie kissed so many hands he wasn’t sure who’s high-pitched voice was talking to him anymore. 

It wasn’t until he felt your familiar weight balancing on the toes of his boots that he felt himself begin to swim into reality. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around you tightly, lifting you up off your feet into his embrace. You squeaked with joy, your soft hands finding their way to frame his face. Tossing all rules of propriety to the wind, your lips connected with his in a defiant, joyful, and soft kiss. You were warm under Alfie’s hands, and he was glad that no one but you could hear the groan of need he let loose as he tasted you on his tongue. For a moment, he let himself lose time in your mouth, hands resisting the urge to roam across your backside and around the swell of your hips. 

A pointed throat cleared, bringing Alfie Solomons down from the high. 

“As I suggested, Mr. Solomons, a timely exit would be a wise decision.”

Despite his generally somber countenance, Alfie could detect the faintest note of happiness in your father’s words. A confident declaration you’d made earlier that week drifted back to Alfie: Papa loves me, Alfie. He’ll have no choice but to say yes when he sees how in love we are. 

Alfie hadn’t believed a word of that back then, but he was grateful for your prescience. With a broad smile and a swelling heart, Alfie nodded graciously to your mother, sisters, father, and lastly to you, his bride-to-be, before making his exit. He donned his cap on the front steps outside your door, not minding the oppressive warmth of a sticky night even under his three layers of wool suit.

You stepped halfway out the door to wave shyly as Alfie retreated into the night, his feet barely touching the pavement beneath. He turned back more times than he could count to see you still standing there, bathed in the streetlamp’s light. He rounded the corner at the end of your street with the warm realization that, in a few weeks time, there’d be no more goodbyes from front stoops between the two of you. Only goodnight kisses - likely much more than that, if Alfie had any say at all - as one of you would turn down the bedside lamp, turning off the light on another happy day together in a future neither of you were sure would ever come to be…

[roosterforme]

Adult Education Part 12 | Hangman x OC

Summary: Jessica enjoys showing off her closet almost as much as Jake enjoys unwrapping his gift. When the two of them head to the fundraiser she's spent weeks planning, Jake recognizes the strong feelings he has for her. And there's no way he'd let anyone take this night away from her.

Warnings: Fluff, smut, oral f receiving, angst, swearing, frat boys, 18+

Length: 4400 words

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Female OC

This story is part of the Beer Boy and Sugar universe but can be read on its own! Adult Education masterlist

Seriously, who let Jake on my masterlist!? Banner by @mak-32

Jake was trying to play it cool on Friday night as he knocked on Jessica's door. "I'm coming!" she called from inside as he shifted the baking dish around in his hand along with his garment bag. He had everything he would need for the weekend, including his suit for her fundraiser. 

When she opened the door for him, she looked breathless and flushed. "Hi," she whispered, and then Jake had her in his arms, too. 

"I missed you," he replied. "But I need you to take this lasagna before I drop it."

"Oh! You brought dinner?" she asked, looking astonished as she took the foil covered dish from his arms. "You didn't have to do that."

"I like feeding you," he told her with a wink as he walked inside and closed her apartment door behind him. And then he really took a look at her. She was wearing a deep purple jewel toned robe and seemingly nothing else. It was short and silky and barely covered her backside as she ran into her tiny, mostly unused kitchen and peeked inside the foil. 

"It looks so good," she moaned. 

Jake draped his garment jacket over the back of the couch and tossed his overnight bag with it as he headed for the kitchen as well. "Preheat the oven and we can eat it in about an hour."

She did, and then she spun to face him as she adjusted her glasses. Her nipples were peaks against the silk fabric, and Jake desperately wanted to untie it and see if she was wearing panties. Jessica was his girlfriend, and technically she had invited him over to look at and enjoy her lingerie collection with him, but he didn't want to make it seem like that was the only reason he was here. Because it wasn't. 

He leaned in and kissed her. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow night."

"Me too," she replied, leaning away from him a bit as she reached for the sash holding her robe closed. "But I'm looking forward to tonight just as much. And I have a great idea of how we can entertain ourselves while dinner cooks."

Jake watched her fingers work the knot until the fabric drifted open to reveal her delicate skin from the valley between her breasts all the way down to her pussy. "I love the way you think," he murmured, running his knuckles along her belly button. "You're so damn smart, Baby." He trailed his hand slowly up her body until he was cupping her chin while she shivered. 

"You stay here while I go change?" Her eyes were wide and focused on his as  he stroked her neck.

"Mmhmm. I'll put the food in the oven and set the timer. Be there in a minute."

Jessica bounced off toward her bedroom with her robe flying behind her while Jake had to unzip his jeans for a little relief. He had to fight the urge to touch himself as he waited for the oven to preheat. How the hell was this happening to him? He counted his blessings as he put the lasagna in to cook and followed Jessica at a slower pace. Her bedroom was softly lit and smelled as sweet as she always did. When he found her, she was standing in her small walk-in closet with her back to him.

"Reedy," he crooned. She was wearing more of those black stockings he liked so much. The tops of them just barely dug into her soft thighs, and she had on her black high heels. This time she paired them with a black garter belt and thong, and when she tossed her hair across her upper back, he saw her black bra straps, too. 

She peeked at him over her shoulder and whispered, "Wanna unwrap your present?"

He was already sweating. Jake tugged his own tee shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor as he stepped up right behind her. "I think I'd like to enjoy the way it looks first."

Soft laughter filled the small space as Jake's hands found her shoulders and then trailed them down her arms. She shivered when he pressed the front of his jeans to her ass, letting her feel the rough fabric on her perfect skin. "Jake," she whispered, rubbing back against him as he brought his hands around to the front of her waist to her soft belly. 

When he kissed the side of her neck, she arched her back, and those pretty breasts were jutting out covered in black lace. "I like this look on you," he whispered, bringing his left hand up to squeeze her tits. "It's a little filthy. Where's my sweet Jessica?" 

She whined as his right hand dipped into the front of her thong and went right for her clit. "I'm still sweet," she mumbled, already sounding out of breath as he sucked on the side of her neck. 

"You sure are," he mused, pushing two fingers through her folds and inside her as she bucked. He licked her neck and whispered, "Let me taste your pussy?"

Jake was rock hard in his jeans as she rubbed on him and moaned, "Anything you want."

He smirked and sucked on her neck hard enough to leave a mark. Then he withdrew his fingers and pulled his hand free from the black lace. He spun her around to watch him lick his fingers clean of her slick, and she already looked a little dazed. "If you offer up everything, I can't promise I won't take it."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and chased his lips, and Jake let her taste herself there. He palmed her ass and scooped her up, and she gasped and giggled when he dropped her onto her back on the bed. "What are you gonna do?" she asked, adjusting her glasses with a little grin as she looked up at him. 

"Well first of all, I'm gonna take that little grin off your face," he whispered, reaching for her ankles and pulling her to the edge of the bed as she squealed. "Then I'm gonna make you come." He kissed the inside of her left calf before gently guiding both legs over his shoulders. The silky stockings felt nice on his bare skin as he bent and kissed along her belly. Her fingers were in his hair as he reached beneath her and unclasped her bra. She helped him toss it away as he licked and nuzzled the undersides of her breasts. "Jesus," he moaned, pushing her thighs back with his shoulders to get better access to her tits. 

Jessica whimpered as he rubbed at her wet pussy through the thong while he sucked on her nipples. She was lying here, prepared to let him do what he wanted, but the only thing he needed was to prove he was good enough for her. Jake took his time, licking and sucking and worshipping her breasts until she was begging him for more. He took her hands in his and guided them from his hair and wrapped them around the backs of her own thighs. 

"You keep yourself open nice and wide for me," he grunted, kneeling on the floor and kissing her inner thigh. She smelled sweet and ready for him; she'd already soaked through her lingerie. 

"Okay," she whispered, watching him with parted lips as he tugged her thong to one side and buried his nose in her pussy. He kissed her opening as her high heels dug into his back a little bit, and she bucked up toward his face. 

"Shh," he coaxed, holding her hips still as she whined his name. "I'm right here." That just seemed to make her go crazier, because he had to pin her down to the bed to enjoy her the way he wanted to: leisurely and thoroughly. 

"Fuck," she gasped, spreading her own legs wider as Jake wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked softly at first and then harder. The little bud was as smooth as a pearl against his tongue and oh so sensitive. "Jake," she whispered as he lapped her up before kissing the little patch of her trimmed hair. 

"You want me to stop?" he teased, and she tried to buck up for more.

"No!" she whined.

He kissed her clit. "Then spread 'em wider for me, Baby," he crooned, licking her up and down when she obeyed him. He ate her out like she deserved, coating his chin and lips with her slick and his saliva, licking and sucking until she was shaking. Then he just sucked a steady rhythm on her clit until her gasps and cries grew louder and louder. The gentle roll of her hips fighting him for more pressure let him know she was close. 

Then he felt and tasted the little gush against his tongue as she dripped down his chin. Her legs fell limp as he looked up at her perfect body where her breasts shook alluringly with each little aftershock while she chewed on her fingers. 

"Damn," he grunted, easing her legs down gently. He could hear the kitchen timer going off as she looked up at him. When he eased his body down on top of hers, he cock twitched, but he convinced himself he could wait to get himself wet. "You're gorgeous," he whispered, and she brought her fingers back to his hair as he kissed her cheeks and then her parted lips. "Let me get your robe, and you just take your time coming to the kitchen for dinner."

"You don't need to fuck me?" she asked softly. 

Jake chuckled. "Not as badly as I need to feed you dinner so you have energy for later."

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

Jessica was sitting at her table in her lingerie with her robe wrapped around her, a clip holding her messy hair on top of her head. Jake was bustling around the kitchen in just his unzipped jeans wearing her oven mitts and humming along to a song that must have been stuck in his head. She groaned and cradled her face in her hands. He was so sexy and so damn sweet. How was she supposed to have stopped herself from falling for him?

"Baby, you want me to open this bottle of wine?" he asked, holding up the merlot that was on the counter. 

"Sure," she replied, watching his biceps work the wine opener. Then he brought her a plate of piping hot, homemade lasagna and a glass of her favorite wine. Before he could turn back to the kitchen to grab the rest, she reached for his hand. "Thank you."

Jake chuckled. "I should be thanking you," he muttered, kissing her forehead before he went to get his own food. 

She didn't realize how hungry she was until she took a bite. "It's so good," she whispered before she worked on cleaning her plate. Jessica mostly subsisted off of cereal, sandwiches, and lean cuisines unless he cooked something for her, and this was so delicious, she could have cried. She ate a second serving with no remorse. 

"I was going to change into something else," she whispered as she finished her glass of wine. "I'll let you choose something this time. But it's your fault and your lasagna's fault if I look bloated now."

Jake pushed his chair back, sitting there looking like a model from Men's Health magazine. When he patted his thigh, she straddled his lap and took a seat. Once again he untied the sash of her robe and stroked her from the top of her chest, down between her bare breasts, to the top of her garter belt. "Still looks perfect to me," he mumbled, pushing her robe open further and playing with her nipple. "You said I get to choose this time?" he asked, smirking up at her as he cupped her breast and leaned in to kiss the bruised spot on her neck. 

"Mmhmm," she hummed, leaning into his touch. "Pick a color and I'll get changed so you can fuck me."

Jake grunted. "Navy blue."

She smiled and kissed him before heading back to her closet with just the perfect thing in mind. As she slipped into a lacy, crotchless teddy in a rich, dark blue, she could hear Jake cleaning up in the kitchen. She selected a pair of red heels and let her hair out of the clip. She felt really sexy in this one, and when Jake walked into the bedroom, she was already bent over the bed, resting on her elbows, on display for him. 

"That's a beautiful sight," he murmured, his voice deep with need. Jessica could feel her nipples furl at his words alone. "Is this for me?" he asked, patting her bare pussy from behind. 

"Yes," she moaned as he slid his hand up to her butt. 

"How about this?"

"Yes," she repeated, feeling like she must be wet enough to drip on the floor. 

Without another word, she felt his knee wedge between her thighs, and he knocked her feet further apart with his own. "Jake," she whispered, legs spread wide as he squeezed her thighs, and then she felt his mouth on her again. "Oh."

He licked her pussy until she was practically seeing stars. When her legs shook, Jake helped her kneel on the edge of the bed, and then he ate her some more. His hands were a little rougher this time on her thighs, but it felt so good. And he was a quick study, because he had her coming again on his tongue.

She braced her hands on her light blue bedding, ready for him to start thrusting; he had more than earned it. But instead, Jake helped her roll over onto her back as she caught her breath, and then he plopped down next to her and took her hand. 

"You wanna change one more time?" he asked, stroking his fingers through her messy hair. "This time I'll unwrap my present before having my way with it."

She closed her eyes and basked in his words before she started to stand. "I have just the thing."

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

Jake eased his jeans down his legs, his lips still wet with Jessica. He'd be lying right now if he said he didn't desperately need to cum. He stroked himself slowly as she opened and closed some drawers in her closet, and his hand was still wrapped around his cock when she returned. 

Somehow she'd gone from the naughty, strappy lingerie to this cream colored set, but he was just as turned on for this more innocent look. A cupless bra that tied into a soft, satin bow over her breasts and some high waisted underwear. "Come here, Smart Girl," he growled, and she seemed to know just what he wanted as she crawled on top of him. "I like this." 

He adjusted her glasses and kissed her lips as he ran his big hand along her panties. Everything was so soft. Like he'd never had before. Even her voice as she whispered, "Go ahead and unwrap me," sounded sweet to his ears. So he slid her underwear down to her bare feet, and she kicked them aside. Then without warning, she wrapped her hand around his cock and sank down on him. She swirled her hips slowly as he untied the satin bow slowly until her tits popped free. 

Jake brought his lips up to her chest as she braced her hands on his shoulders. She made soft, needy little noises as she bumped along with her tits in his face. "You're the perfect present," he whispered. "Can't get enough." 

When he rolled her onto her back and thrust into her until he came, he kissed her flushed cheeks and her lips as she moaned. Then he got to enjoy the sight of his cum leaking out of her hole and down her ass before he accompanied her to the shower. 

She was soft and drowsy in his arms, resting her cheek against his chest as he told her how she was always so sweet for him. How she was everything he wanted. He knew he was falling in love with his Smart Girl who kept him on his toes.

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

Jessica slept so well snuggled up tight with Jake, her fingers in his chest hair. Apparently she was more worn out than she thought, because it was after ten on Saturday morning when she opened her eyes. And as soon as she did, he wrapped his arms around her tighter. "Morning," he whispered. "You ready for your fancy fundraiser?"

She groaned. On paper, yes, she was ready. Mentally? Hardly. "Can we just stay in bed all day instead?" she asked softly as Jake kissed her shoulder.  

"No," he replied. "I want to see you in action. Work up an appetite for tonight."

She chuckled. "Well I'm putting you, Bradley and Dev to work all evening."

"Dev is coming?" Jake asked abruptly, his hand pausing on her body.

"Yeah. I invited him when he donated the beer. I've been emailing him to coordinate since he sent me things for the silent auction."

"He has a thing for you," Jake said bluntly. Jessica shimmied around until she was facing him. "Bradshaw told me like a hundred times with a smug look on his face."

She felt her cheeks grow warm. "But I have a thing for you. You're my boyfriend."

Jake kissed her softly and asked, "Did you give him your phone number inside one of the journals from your personal collection?"

"No!" she replied, scandalized. "You're the only one I could ever want to tease like that. Although I was honestly a little afraid I took it too far and you had given up on me." She buried her face against his neck since she didn't have her glasses on.

"Baby, I was so hooked after the first night at Chippy's, I'd still be begging you for your number now. I mean, Jessica... I bought a new truck for you."

"Oh my god," she moaned, certain her face was bright red. Butterflies erupted in her tummy as she thought about it. "Jake. Stop."

"I don't want to."

The morning gave way to lunchtime as they made love. She knew it would take her a while to get ready for the event, but she just couldn't rush something that felt so good. "I love this," Jake whispered against her ear while he had her hands pinned on the pillow above her head. Goosebumps covered her arms and legs. All the fine hairs on her body were tingling at the sensation of him rocking into her while he whispered, "Love it."

Then he made her brunch while she took a quick shower and cleaned up the mess he made with his cum. She ate eggs and toast with a huge mug of coffee while he headed off to shower, leaving her with the words, "I could get used to Saturdays like this."

She could, too. Jake was the best combination of everything. Sure, he could cook and he was hot and good in bed, but she liked having him around. She thought about him all day when she was at work. And he seemed to know how often she needed to have her own space. He bought a truck to make sure he wasn't late meeting her again. She groaned softly, already feeling needy for him again. How the hell was that possible? She was actually quite sore at the moment. 

With a soft smile, she put her plate in the dishwasher and headed to her closet. She was pulling on the tiny emerald green underwear when Jake strolled in completely naked. "Hey," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her from behind. She melted against him, his skin still warm and damp from the shower. "What color are you wearing so I know which tie to put on?"

She pointed to the long, green dress hanging up. "This one."

"Pretty," he mumbled against her temple. "Then I'll wear my black tie instead of red or gold."

Once he was gone again, she shivered as she fixed her hair and makeup in her underwear. Jake was completely dressed and shaved with his hair styled by the time she was ready. He helped her into her dress and zipped up the back. It was tasteful with a flowing skirt, but there was a long slit going up her left leg. The top fit snugly over her breasts, and the thin straps accentuated her collarbones and shoulders. 

When she put her glasses back on, Jake said, "You're a knockout, Reedy. You ready to go to this thing?"

She slipped her heels on, gathered up her bag filled with notebooks and folders and then laced her fingers with his. "Let's go."

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

Jake could tell she was nervous. His main goal for the evening was to help make everything as easy as possible for her, but she was quiet in his truck on the drive over. He wasn't sure what he could do for her right now. When she reached for his hand, she held onto him while she anxiously checked her phone. Jake was pretty sure they had plenty of time to get everything done, and he would take care of whatever she needed.

"Okay, so Bradley is loading the chilled kegs into his Bronco right now according to his wife, and then they are heading over to campus. The ice buckets should be ready. The frat boys reassured me they did everything on the checklist, including moving the furniture outside. The string quartet should arrive at 5:30. Dev should arrive around then, too. You and Bradley can set up the tables for beer pong. The culinary students should be in the kitchen within the next hour. Oh my god, did I miss anything?"

"Baby, I think you have it all under control," Jake said in as calming a voice as he could manage. 

But she went silent and stared out the window. Several minutes passed before she quietly said, "I need this to be perfect if I ever stand a chance at tenure under Brian."

Jake let his fingers tighten around her small hand. He didn't even like hearing her say his name. "Will he be there?" Jake asked, his voice sounding a little rough. 

She kind of shrugged as he turned down the block near the frat houses. "I wouldn't be surprised if he stops by. But I sold so many tickets, I don't see what he could complain about," she replied, her voice sounding a little more confident. 

"Right," Jake said, parking behind the Bronco where Bradshaw and his wife were making out on the sidewalk. "Just stay with me, okay? And if you need anything, I'll help you take care of it."

"Okay," she whispered with a smile. And Jake knew he'd punch Brian Conley directly in his face before he let him upset his girlfriend tonight. 

Bradshaw and his wife managed to separate long enough for Bradley to help Jessica down from the truck. Jake just shook his head at the other man sporting a black suit without a tie paired with a University of Chicago cap perched backwards on his head. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone.

"You have a little something right there," Jessica told him, pointing to his lips and cheek where his wife's red lipstick was smudged. 

"Yeah," he replied with a nod and a smirk and then did absolutely nothing to clean himself up. 

His wife was wearing a form fitting black dress reminiscent of the one she wore on New Year's Eve when Jake got severely drunk and called her Dr. Tits. But this dress wasn't low cut, and it had a pretty sheer fabric covering her up to her neck and down her arms to her wrists. 

"Hi, Jake," she said, almost like she knew what he was thinking about. "Are you going to behave tonight?"

He nodded at Jessica and said, "I've turned over a new leaf." That made the other woman smile. 

"Listen," Bradley said, adjusting his cap before he wrapped his arm around his wife. "I helped the guys put the kegs in the tubs of ice. But I gotta ask, is this like some sort of nerd frat or something?" he asked Jessica, jerking his thumb at the Kappa Pi house behind him. "They called me sir, and there are absolutely no half naked girls hanging out inside."

Both women laughed at the look of concern on his face. "I told them no personal guests. Only those with purchased tickets will be admitted. In fact, I'm going to have one of them stationed at the door scanning the tickets on everyone's phones."

"I still think it's a nerd frat," he muttered as Jessica took Jake by the hand and led him up to the front door with the other two in tow. "And I don't know how I feel about that."

Once they were inside, Jake looked around the entryway with appreciation. Victorian style wallpaper, crown molding and glossy hardwood floors. The wide stairs had a carpet runner, and it actually smelled nice. "Is this what your fraternity house was like, Bradshaw?"

"No." The other man nearly doubled over in laughter as he shook his head. "Not even close, Hangman. We would have destroyed all this shit within a week."

"I can vouch for that," his wife added as she patted him on the back.

Jessica turned and looked at him. "Were you in a fraternity, Jake?"

"No," he replied. "But I'm pleasantly surprised by this house. Might have pledged if something like this existed on my campus."

And then suddenly the four of them were no longer alone. A dozen or so guys in tuxedos made their way into the room at the same time the string quartet entered the house. People with chafing dishes came parading through, and Jessica pointed Jake toward five ping pong tables folded up against the wall. 

"Don't worry," Bradley said with a knowing smile. "We'll show you how it's done. It'll be just like New Year's Eve."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Jake replied as Jessica blew him a kiss before she got pulled into the kitchen. "Let the fundraiser commence," he mumbled.

"No," Bradley replied, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders. "Let the fratraiser commence."

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

Welcome to the fratraiser. What could go wrong? Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 13

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[lisbeth-kk]

Sherlock fandom.

When Words Aren’t Enough

“There are no such things as stupid questions, only stupid answers,” Sherlock tells Rosie.

“Since when?” John wants to know. “That’s not what you usually say.”

“Well, I obviously meant from our daughter, John. Do keep up!”

The great detective winks at nine-year-old Rosie Watson-Holmes, who’s seated by the kitchen table at Sherlock’s parents.

“Ok. Names and flowers,” the little girl starts. “I have a flower name, just like Granny and my teacher, Lily. I know that boys also can have them, but that’s not common, right? Why?”

She looks expectantly at her Papa, who ponders the questions. Sherlock takes everything Rosie says seriously, and John is still astonished by how patient he is with her.

“That is correct, bumble. It probably has to do with something absurd, like that a flower related name isn’t masculine enough. And most of such names are more related to plants, herbs, and trees than actual flowers. The infamous Narcissus is the only one with a flower name that springs to mind at the moment.”

“I have another question related to flowers too,” Rosie says, having evidently binned the thought of male and female names for now.

“Let’s hear it,” Sherlock coaxes when his parents enter the kitchen from different directions.

Sherlock’s mother comes through the door from the living room, while Sherlock’s father enters from the garden. The latter is cradling a bouquet of violets in his hand, which he hands over to his wife. Violet Holmes looks at her husband with starry eyes and kisses him briefly on the lips.

“Thank you, my love,” she whispers and turns to find a vase to arrange the flowers.

Walter just turns and walks towards the garden door again, and is gone the next second. Before Violet places the vase on the table, she buries her nose in the flowers and inhales deeply.

“He still does that,” Sherlock murmurs, sounding a bit bewildered.

Violet hums in agreement.

“You know he’s not as good with words as you and me, Sherlock. So, when words aren’t enough, or fail him, this is his way of communicating his feelings. It’s quite wonderful,” she says dreamily and starts to make tea.

“That was what I wanted to ask about,” Rosie whispers.

She seems a bit taken aback by the loving encounter. Not that she’s unused to affection between adults. It’s been years since Sherlock and John were embarrassed to kiss in front of Rosie, but her grandparents doing the same thing, seems to have put her off kilter.

“What was?” John prompts when Rosie isn’t forthcoming with her question.

“Oh…um…flowers. I mean, there’s something called the language of flowers, yes?”

“Indeed!” Sherlock beams. “Let’s investigate that. It might come in handy in my work as well.

John shakes his head when the two curly heads lean over John’s laptop to read about roses, violets, daisies, tulips, gardenias, carnations, and zinnias.

***

Some weeks later, John comes home from work and finds an absurdly grand bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table. Rosie and Sherlock are in the park, so John has the flat to himself for a while. He looks for a card and finds one stuck between two green carnations.

My dearest, John

Words can’t describe what I feel for you, so I have turned to nature for guidance. A thousand kisses if you can decipher the meaning behind every flower.

Yours forever. Sherlock

The card quivers minutely in John’s hand and his eyes fill with tears. He indulges in the sentimentality that fills his body for a few minutes before he hastily retrieves his laptop from the coffee table. There’s no way of knowing how long it’ll be before Sherlock and Rosie return, and John is rather keen on getting the promised number of kisses from his husband.

It doesn’t take as long as he thought to gather the evidence and what John finds make his heart ache with longing and love for the remarkable man that has chosen him as a life companion.

He doesn’t even have to check what the green carnations mean. They are a symbol of homosexuality, closely associated with Oscar Wilde.

Then there are:

Honeysuckle – Bonds of love

Yellow lily – Happy

Myrtle – Love in a marriage

Sunflower(dwarf) – Adoration

Red tulip – Passion

Daisy – Loyal love

White camelia – You’re adorable

Red rose – I love you

Blue salvia – I think of you

Violet – Faithfulness

To John’s glee, Rosie stops at Mrs Hudson when they come home, and John gets to enjoy his prize, willingly delivered by his soppy romantic of a husband.

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This is also my entry to this month's Sherlock Challenge and the prompt language.

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[kurithedweeb]

I know we always talk about Garroth ending up looking exactly like his father, but what about Dante growing up to look eerily like Gene.

When he joins up with Phoenix Drop, he's still young. He's a little on the short side, still a bit too thin from life in the wild and imprisonment, and he's a little anxious and shaky around so many people after having grown unused to living in a village. The smiling faces of the citizens remind you of your old home, of clamoring crowds and standing frozen in the plaza as your brother . . .

Anyway, it's good here. It's easy to fit in. The guards joke around with you and make sure you're healthy. They don't know a thing about dual wielding, but you get plenty of sparring partners out of helping the local baker practice her magick, and you maybe make a friend too. You're not too sure how you feel about the Lord, but she's a kind soul and does her best to make sure you're comfortable here in town, and her kids are great. Babysitting the boys is easily your favorite duty. Yeah, it's good here. For the first time in a long while, you feel like you're doing good.

Then the war comes. The children and non-combatants are sent away. The jovial atmosphere of the guard tower has soured into solemn silence as you make your final preparations. In the morning, you step into the battlefield and you go to war for the first time in your life. You have a horrible feeling in your gut that it won’t be the last.

You, Sir Laurance and Sir Garroth make a good team. It makes you sick. The three of you cross the battlefield at a slow and inevitable pace, cutting down any soldier that dares stray too close, and together you cleave the enemy forces in half, scattering them. The killing comes easy to you. You had hoped that in this peaceful new village, with time, you would become unfamiliar to how easily you were once able to take a life, but right then you’re glad your body never forgot the motions of death. Glad for the blood that stains your hands—how can you be glad?

You can’t remember how long you fought for. Days, weeks? Surely not months, or so you think. Yours is a small force, and though Miss Lucinda is a good healer, she grows tired while the other army’s numbers are replenished time and again. You remember the bags under her eyes as she tipped a potion sip by sip into your mouth the time you were shot through the face.

You remember sneaking into the enemy camp in the dead of night, skirting around the edges of it to the back line where the archers rested. You quietly slit five of their throats before you were noticed, and managed to slash another across the belly before the arrow caught you in the side of the face, in one cheek and out the other. The wood of the shaft cracked when you bit down. It was everything you could do not to scream as you fled. Dale thought you were a fiend when you first stepped out of the shadows, face obscured in blood and cradling your jaw as you cupped a hand beneath your mouth in an effort to catch more blood before it left a trail. Laurance held you while Garroth split the arrowhead from the rest of it with a knife and pulled the shaft out the other side of your face, your jaw gripped tight in one hand to keep you from struggling. It took hours to pull the splinters from your cheeks and tongue before they sent you to wake the healer. The whole ordeal had been excruciating. You might have cried. You remember that a lot more clearly than most other times at war. After a while, it’s hard to tell which side spills more blood when so much is shed that red squishes out of the earth wherever you step.

Every day, you fought dawn to dusk. And then one day you won. By Nicole literally knocking some sense into her father, of all things! You find a quiet corner to throw up in and for a beautiful moment, you think life in this little town you’ve started thinking of as home will go back to being good. Until your Lord tells you to guard the village as she races past the gates, and she doesn’t come back. None who followed her do either.

For days, you stand waiting at the gates. You don’t eat, you don’t sleep. O’khasis is gone, Scaleswind has made a refuge of the plaza, and still there is no sign of your Lord or your brothers-in-arms. You won’t even leave to have your wounds seen to. Nicole has to drag a doctor to the gates to treat you, and the entire time you watch the forest hoping that any moment they will reappear. You only step away when someone brings you news that the ship that took the children away has returned. You should be the one to tell them.

Zoey knows something is wrong the moment she sees you. Levin and Malachi smile and ask where their mother is—they call you ‘uncle’ while they do. You get down on your knees before them, and you gather them close in your arms, and you cry as you tell them their mother has been missing since the day the war ended. You’re still holding them when the exhaustion catches up with you.

Zoey is with you when you wake. She tells you you’ve been out nearly two days. She fusses over you, and you know you’ve worried her because that’s what she does when she’s worried. You’re a mess anyway, so you let her fuss. You drink the broth she makes you, you change into the clothes she provides, you sit still while she cuts the unruly mats of your hair and shaves your face. You used to cut yourself shaving all the time, no one ever taught you how and you were only six or so when Gene was learning to; you don’t remember now how he showed you each step or the laugh in his voice at the face of disgust you made when you slapped a little hand into the lather on his face and left behind a tiny palmprint. Zoey doesn’t cut you once. When she’s done with you, she takes you by the arm and guides you back into civilization, where everyone who remained has decided already on search parties to go out looking for your missing friends.

You head each expedition. Dale brings himself out of retirement to watch over the town while you’re gone, and asks only that you also look for his son. Does he know you used to be a tracker, used to spend days in the woods trailing coyotes and runaways for enough coin to carry you through the cold months? You try for him, but the ground is soft still and every step anyone takes leaves a print, all overlapping and muddled. You keep an eye out as you circle the same stretches of woods for days, but you find nothing. Your group goes further and faster than any other, the first to find and dismantle bandit camps and dens of fiends, but no matter how far you go you find not a sign of anyone who has disappeared that day. It’s as though they vanished into thin air. Every time you return home, Dale looks at you with hopeful eyes, and every time you must take him aside and break his heart a little more. Eventually, he stops asking.

For a year, you search. The area has never been safer. You have never felt so alone as when people start to suggest that a funeral may be in order.

You feel like a monster for the rage in your voice when you denounce these people. You know they aren’t dead—you would have felt such a thing, you know, you would have felt pieces of yourself snapping like wire pulled too taut, you would have felt the sharp edges tangling inside you—it would have felt like it did when the brother you killed rose from the grave to slit your throat and cut your very existence from the memory of Boboros. You hear white noise rumbling in your ears when the first brave soul says Sir Dante, there’s been no sign for a year now, and your blood is boiling when you slap their comforting hand off your shoulder. You spit that you’re not giving up just because everyone else has taken no evidence of life to mean the surety of death, and with their pitying looks burning into your back to return to the woods. You scream into the trees until you can’t anymore. When it doesn’t help, you use your considerable tracking skills to hunt something, anything, until you feel human again.

You crawl back home the day before the funeral with your cape stained with blood; they held it back so you could attend. You polish your armor and swords until they shine, and the warped reflection of your own face makes you feel sick the way waging war did. You stand at attention the entire ceremony without moving a muscle. When Dale reads the names of the deceased at the end, offering their souls into the embrace of the Matron, you salute, and the clatter of your armor silences the crowd.

Everyone who fought in the war salutes with you. So do your Lord’s sons. You’re too tired to cry. You hold your salute long after everyone else has left.

The remaining forces of Scaleswind return home. One by one, family by family, the streets of your home empty. Without your Lord, without your guard, the citizens trickle out the front gates and never turn back. Some apologize to you as they say their goodbyes, and some of them you actually believe. You close the gate behind each of them until all that remains is you, Zoey, and your Lord’s sons. Then Zoey tells you she’s taking the boys to the Yggdrasil Forest. She holds you tight for too long and kisses your brow when you show them to the gate for the last time.

You can’t believe you ever thought you knew what loneliness was before this.

For five years, you are completely and utterly alone. You search and you patrol and you do your best to maintain the village. You don’t believe in Irene, but every day before dawn you stand before her statue and look down down down over the cliff’s edge and pray that this won’t be the rest of your life. That you haven’t deluded yourself into believing a fantasy, that you haven’t made such an incredible fool of yourself that people can’t bear to be around you, that you haven’t been forgotten. For five years, you pray that someone, somewhere, remembers that you exist. You look down down down over the cliff’s edge and have the terrible thought that you don’t know what you’d do if you were forgotten again.

The gate is falling apart. You don’t know how to repair the damage the weather’s done to it, you tried to patch the cracks but it never holds. With each year, you’ve been pushed further and further outtowards the coast. The only places you have the energy to maintain anymore are the guard tower and your Lord’s home. You blockaded the gates when the mechanism broke, you check it on occasion to be sure no bandits get in, and one day you hear voices from the other side. Familiar voices. You scramble up the wall and look over the other side at a boy you don’t recognize looking back up at you. He says, Is that Uncle Dante? and you climb down as fast as you can to embrace Malachi.

He’s nearly the age you were when you first met his mother. He’s grown tall, and strong enough to carry his brother on his back. Levin is fevered when you first see him, flush and hurting even as he dozes, and Malachi tells you he can’t walk from how bad he hurts. You remember how Zoey fretted over him when he was young, how sometimes he’d scream for seemingly no reason, and once you show them to their mother’s home Malachi refuses to leave his bedside.

You sit with them and ask where Zoey is. Malachi tells you of her obsession, and the relief that you are not alone in the belief that those who disappeared are alive feels like a hint of betrayal. You’re relieved that she’s driving herself into a downward spiral because of what? Because it makes you feel like you were reasonable to fight not to let their souls be put to rest?

You wait for her at the gates deep into the night and take her to her boys when she bursts from the woods, frantic that she’d lost them, and safe if your Lord’s home she holds you so tight your ribs hurt from the force of her grip. After so long, you’re not alone anymore.

You wake before dawn and strap your swords to your back. For the first time in a long time, you feel safe enough to go without your armor. You hike up the steep cliff to the Irene statue. You kneel before her to offer your thanks. You look into the pool at her feet and fear grips you by the throat.

Your brother’s face looks back at you.

You wear your swords the way he did. Your hair falls like his, dark in the shadow of Irene. Your face is gaunt and pale from old habits, eating only enough to sustain yourself so rations will stretch long enough for you to find more—do you remember how they starved Gene before they killed him? How they weakened him so he wouldn’t have the energy to fight? How pale and gaunt he was, dirt streaking over the side of his face, blood and grime drying in his hair, shaking and sweaty with how hard he fought back? Do you remember the scar that twisted around his throat when he returned from the dead to get his vengeance? Your collar is open over the scar he left twisting across your own, and it matches his own so very well. In the shadows of your eyes, you see his own staring back.

You think of the war. You think of how easy the killing was. You think of how easily Gene cut through the guards, the Lord, the memories of Boboros. The rage in his voice when he denounced you as his brother, the twist of his smile when he told you he would leave you to rot, Dante. No one will ever remember you. You can see that twist in the corners of your own smile, pushed into shape by the deep scars on your cheeks. You and your brother are the same.

You’re shaking too much to stand. You never go without your armor again.

[katelynnwrites]

Honigbiene And Tummy Time | Laura Freigang x Baby!Reader

warnings: slight mentions of preemie baby and medical stuff

word count: 1197

summary: you don't understand why Mama keeps putting you down on the colourful, Silly Mat even though she knows you hate it

a/n: as promised, part of Laura's Honigbiene

It goes against everything in Laura to set you down on the floor.

There is a brightly coloured play mat spread out and some of your toys are scattered around it but your Mama is still hesitant.

In your entire two months of life, you have never once touched the ground.

If you are not sleeping in your cot, you are being held by your Mama or carried by your relatives and Mama’s teammates.

With great caution and her heart in her throat, your Mama lays you down on the play mat.

You’re confused, remaining face down on the mat for a moment before trying to lift your head up.

You whine unhappily at how hard it is, squirming around on your tummy.

Your Mama lays down next to you, kind of in solidarity and you make another discontented noise.

Moving around a little bit more, you try to reach her but you can’t. It is awfully new to you, to not be touching her. You love skin to skin contact and after getting so much of it, you are unused to not having it.

It is terribly unsettling to say the least. Your Mama feels safe and you love being in her arms.

The longer you go without her touch, the more stressed you feel.

You whimper pitifully and Laura whispers, ‘It’s okay, Honigbiene. I’m right here.’

Your bottom lip begins to wobble and Laura recognises the sign that you’re about to start crying.

‘This is meant to be good for you Honigbiene. Just a little longer okay?’ She tries.

But you’re not having any of it.

You let out a loud wail, face turning red with just how hard you are trying to communicate your displeasure.

Mama gives in immediately, lifting you off the mat and onto her chest.

‘I got you. I got you.’ She reassures.

Her thumb lightly brushes away your tears and your sobs slow after a few minutes.

‘There you go. We’ll try again tomorrow okay?’

You don’t hear her, eyes already slipping close as you breathe in your Mama’s comforting scent.

******

It is to your great distaste that your Mama puts you back down on your play mat. The piece of material is something you are learning to hate on sight.

You think it is at the very least silly because for reasons you don’t understand, Mama keeps putting you on it when you want her to hold you.

You wiggle and grunt, pleading with her to pick you back up.

She doesn’t, choosing to lie down in front of you instead.

‘Just for a few minutes Honigbiene…’

It’s exhausting to keep holding your head up so you give up, laying face down.

Mama chuckles.

‘Honigbiene, you’re supposed to be lifting your head up. I know it’s hard but it’s going to help you get stronger.’

You like the sound of your Mama’s voice and so you try once again, to look up at her.

‘Good. Good. You’re doing amazing.' Laura encourages.

There’s a few moments where you manage to look at her before you get too tired once again.

Then you let out a disgruntled cry and quit.

Mama picks you up then, kissing your cheek affectionately.

‘See no tears today. You’re getting better at this Honigbiene.’

******

Your Mama has that Silly Mat out again and you whine as she begins to lower you.

You are very attached to Laura, often getting visibly panicky and anxious when you are held by someone else and she’s not there.

In time though, you become more independent but for now, seperating from the striker is out of the question.

Once you are settled on your tummy, you give your Mama a reproachful glare.

‘I know. I know. You’re not a fan.’ She apologetically says, getting down and laying opposite you.

Laura has gotten into the habit of joining you on the Silly Mat, realising that you are more likely to try keeping your head up when she’s talking and right in front of you.

Today, you manage to do so for a fairly long time before getting frustrated and bursting into tears to show just how unhappy you are.

Your Mama scoops you up, laying you on her stomach as she lies with her back on the floor of her apartment.

‘Shhh. It’s okay, Honigbiene. You’re progressing so well.’

With one hand on your back and the other brushing the bits of baby hair you have, you are quick to calm down.

She’s after all, done what you wanted and cuddled you close.

You think it’s stupid that Mama keeps making you work for it.

******

It’s when you are ten months old that all your efforts come to fruition.

You’ve been able to roll over as well as support your weight on your own arms and legs for a while, the prior of which had scared your Mama when you managed it for the first time but this is a much bigger achievement.

You crawl.

Laura is once again lying down on her own stomach, trying to show you that it’s not so bad when you decide that you have had enough of the Silly Mat.

You want off it and into your Mama’s arms instead.

So you kind of prop yourself up and rock yourself back and forth for a minute, trying to figure out how to get yourself forward.

You whine a bit, attempting to get Mama to understand.

She simply smiles encouragingly at you and that is of no help at all. You want Mama to pick you up and she’s not doing that.

Knowing that it is up to you to make sure you get what you want, you summon up enough courage to put one hand forward.

You don’t lose your balance so you put your other hand in front.

Then you kind of shuffle your knees towards your hands.

Your Mama is very focused on what you are doing now, her eyes wide.

‘Come on Honigbiene. You got this.’ She murmurs, as if afraid that being too loud will break your concentration.

Laura sits up, anxiously holding her arms out to you.

It’s an invitation for you and you take it eagerly.

Putting your hands further ahead and shuffling your knees up front in quick succession, you crawl into your Mama’s open arms.

You giggle happily as she wraps her arms around you, swinging you up and onto her hip immediately.

‘Oh Honigbiene. I’m so proud of you.’

The German woman is half crying, half laughing as she presses a rapid succession of kisses onto your face.

You squeal, kicking your legs excitedly but your Mama doesn’t stop or even slow.

All she can think about is how far you have come, from barely squirming around in your incubator to crawling into her arms.

She did not, could not imagine you being here, when you were all covered in wires and tubes. Laura had wished and fervently hoped but not known for certain.

You don’t have the faintest idea why your Mama is suddenly so happy but she is giving you exactly what you want, cuddles up away from the Silly Mat so everything is great.

German Translation:

Honigbiene - Honeybee

[nanaminokanojo]

THAWING ICE QUEEN (part 110)

–one night of fooling around with the annoying campus king gojo satoru (he thinks so), turns into...well, something else more long term

CHARACTERS: gojo satoru x you | geto suguru | jjk characters

GENRE: college au | smut | smau | smau + prose | everything in between | ons | fubus to lovers | aged-up characters | idk where this is going

⚠️ TW/CW: strong/mature language | 🔞 | mentions of alcohol, smoking, etc. | this has narrations | god-awful pet names | will add more if something arises

MASTERLIST | CHAPTER INDEX

<<prev part 110 next>>

A/N: Contains prose.

Joy. That’s what Gojo Satoru elicited in you. If there was a better word for it, a more appropriate permutation of words that described how he made you feel exactly, then it would probably be that. But that aside, your heart was filled with nothing but that very feeling even as you padded barefoot into your kitchen which was in shambles. Your mixing bowl lay in smithereens on the floor along with custard. Your stovetop would probably take ages to clean with all the splatters of cooked custard and butter. The counter was a mess with all the condiments he used, several unused utensils – just how many turners did he need? – and powdered sugar everywhere.

“Sweet cheeks!” he called out, looking up at you and stopping you from going in further, a broom on his hand. “Don’t come in here. T-there’s broken…” He looked silly with an apron on, his hair in disarray, held back by one of the fluffy headbands you usually used when you did your skincare. And weirdest of all, he was wearing one of your oversized shirts. Well, on you, that is. It looked like it was about to tear at the seams on him. You had to bite back laughter, seeing the dejected expression on his face. “What?”

You leaned against the fridge, crossing your arms, relishing in the absurdity of the situation. A person like Gojo Satoru was larger than life, meant to do great things, fly, not cook you breakfast – or attempt to – or clean your kitchen. Still, you enjoyed the scene and its domesticity, reminding you of that time in Hokkaido his mom caught the two of you playing with pancake batter. Now you doubted if he even made that, not that it mattered.

“Need help, handsome?”

He slowly shook his head, evidently sulking that you find amusement in his predicament. He wasn’t even holding the damn broom right. “No, I’ll clean up here. You stay in the living room.”

“You sure? You look like you’re in a pinch right now.”

At your taunting, he started whining, throwing the broom on the floor and walking over the mess on the floor to get to you, his lower lip jutting out even as he placed both his hands on your hips, pulling you towards him. “You’re being annoying today, baby. I’ll call one of our staff to clean up. The mess can wait.”

Standing on your toes, you wrapped your arms around him, using that as leverage as you jumped and wrapped your legs around his waist. Surprised at your sudden maneuver, he staggered backwards, supporting you on your thighs. You giggled at that, and though he said, “Extra annoying,” he still smiled giddily at you as he walked around your kitchen island. “You seem happy.”

“I am.”

Satoru sat you down on the island, the clean part anyway, and stood between your legs whilst he reached for the plate of French toasts he made, sliding it over the granite top. You looked down at it, grinning at the very nicely plated food before you, complete with sliced berries and perfectly smothered in snowy sugar.

“I can ignore the mess for the effort. Thank you.” You reached for the fork, but he stopped you, shaking his head. “No. You’re not doing anything today. My sweet cheeks will relax while I feed her, okay?”

“Can’t say I hate it.”

He took some of the toast, making sure it had all the elements in one bite as he held it before your mouth, this expectant look shining in his eyes when you finally opened up and tasted what he made. You chewed thoughtfully, nodding in approval. “Damn good French toasts, baby. A-plus.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm. More.” You opened your mouth like a child much to his delight, more than glad to oblige. All the while, you just busied yourself with playing with the ears on the headband he was wearing, fully content in the little bubble you’ve both created in that corner of the kitchen where the morning sun shone just right on him.

“I got you orange juice, too. Wait, I’ll get it –” He moved back to get to the fridge, but you hooked your leg around him, stopping his progress and drawing him closer. Without preamble, you cupped his face, pressing your lips to his, intense from the get-go as you showed in actions just what you couldn’t tell him in words. You didn’t want him anywhere he is out of your reach, holding him in place by the nape while your other hand wandered down to the hem of his – your – shirt, tugging at it.

“Someone’s enjoying her breakfast too much,” he said as he heeded your unspoken command, pulling the garment off him. You swallowed hard, eyes wild as you took in every line and sinew of his musculature. “Well, this is infinitely better than breakfast.” You smirked when you saw his cheeks turn pink when he came closer, kissing you just as fervently as you did earlier.

You pawed at the ridiculous headband he was wearing, throwing it blindly somewhere in the kitchen. He slid the plate beside you further to the side as he grabbed your thighs, lifting them higher up his waist while you used your foot to push his sweatpants down, whining in frustration against his lips when you couldn’t quite get it off.

“Easy,” he spoke softly, eyes closed as he rested his forehead against yours, his breathing steady and warm against your cheek. He made quick work of pushing his sweats down, taking his cock out, pretty as always as he gave it a few pumps. “You want this, hmm?”

“Want you, Toru,” you moaned, catching his lower lip between your teeth, spurring him on. He reached between your thighs, running his thumb over the wet patch there, rubbing your clit over the fabric. “Didn’t know you wanted to make babies for breakfast.”

“Please, baby,” you whined, “Want you.”

“Someone’s needy,” he teased, but gave you what you wanted, pushing your panties to the side. “So wet for me.” He held his dick, running its pink tip through your folds and sliding in just a bit at a time before he’s pulling back, easing in agonizingly slow that your patience was fraying. He did just that for a few more moments until he finally pushed in all the way, stealing the breath from your lungs when he repeated the action, pulling all the way to the tip before slowly going back into your heat. “Fuck, baby.”

He set a rhythm that had you seeing stars, his name falling in high-pitched whines from your mouth, lost in the undeniable pleasure of it all. At some point, he adjusted his angle, hitting you in all the right places that had acid white flashes dominating your vision, feeling like you were going to float into space if it weren’t for the bruising hold he had on your hips.

“Harder,” you managed to choke out in the midst of you pretty much losing your mind with the way he was continuously hitting your sweet spot. “D-don’t stop – ah! Fuck – more – mmhhh…”

“Y/N, baby, you feel so good – so fucking good.”

“I’m c-close…”

“I know, baby, I know.” He leaned down, gently peppering kisses on your cheeks down to your jawline and wherever else he could reach, his hips and breaths turning erratic as he thrust in shallower, faster strokes, his moans and grunts mixing with yours as he brought you to your high, long and dragged out as he found his own, following after you with a drawn out groan, your fluttering hole milking him for all he’s worth.

The kitchen was filled with ragged breaths as you both came down from whatever heaven he catapulted you both to. Soft laughter soon mingled with it as the full realization of what you did finally hit you. Satoru pushed himself up, hovering over you while he regarded you with those mischief-filled eyes.

“I love you,” he murmured. “I’m so damn in love with you, L/N Y/N. You don’t even know what you do to me.”

You reached up as you pushed yourself to a sitting position, shivering slightly when he pulled out of you, your essences dripping on the tiles below you, but you couldn’t care less, kissing him stupid. “I love you, too.”

Satoru looked at you lovingly, seemingly drunk as he stood there, his forehead on yours as he cupped the side of your face. “Say you’ll stay with me for always. Say you’re not going anywhere I can’t see you.” He briefly pressed his lips onto yours. “Say you’re mine.”

“I’m yours, Satoru. Yours alone.” You felt tears falling from your eyes as you pulled him closer, basking in the afterglow of your union. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A/N: Almost done. I'm having separation anxiety huhuhu

TAGS LIST: @arxliana @neeneee @charlie-xo @aelynaneedsalottathing @arizzu @cloudxp @justpuddinglol @mikkies @nyfwyeonjun @whats-humanity-lol @letthewindlead @whore-of-many-hot-men @localgaytrainwreck @pikibee @bloombb @mr-underhills-things @lysaray @chocoyanchan @poemzcheng @bookswillfindyouaway @dreamxiing @koutaroo @taelattecookie @kazuhasmaid @weebbuscuit @moonmalice @taengkatsu @reagan707 @to0ruu @shirabane @yell0wdreams @r0ckst4rjk @megtheebimbo @tmvll9 @kibananya @ti-mame @niko-ash @minzxec @sixxze

© ORIGINAL WORK BY nanaminokanojo. CHARACTERS ARE INSPIRED BY GEGE AKUTAMI’S JUJUTSU KAISEN. [20240423]

PHOTO/IMAGE/GIF/FANART/ANY MEDIA CREDITS TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

[marieisnothere12]

hsr 2.2 opinions

The plot was great execution was mid.

Sorry this is pretty long 😭😭

Spoilers 👇

Sunday’s three acts were hella tedious. This gives me Kazuha domain in the golden apple arcepellago ptsd.

Sparkle is just unused its such a shame bc I absolutely love the Masked fools :(

After they “solve” the crisis, it’s too long I honestly lost all the hype bc I thought it ended. It was just waaaaay too long.

Firefly’s 3 deaths?? Hello? I wanted to see that not Sunday’s 3 acts.

They never explain why the Order is bad and the Harmony is good. I didn’t understand until the last part where it was like “oh they’re trying to mind control people.” like you’re telling me this NOW??

oh so much dialogue pls no more exposition

Im sorry but I don’t find Robin to be as likable as hoyo presents her as. She’s a sweet angel but they shove it in your throats so much it feels fake. She just got the short end of the stick when it comes to writing :( i would have loved her ngl I wished she got the same level of writing as her brother :((

Too many twists like it’s exhausting atp. Gallagher being evil would’ve been interesting ngl. Like what of Sunday and Gallagher and Sparkle teamed up???? Idk just a thought. Also “dormancy” is disappointing. IM SORRY I LIKE EVIL GALLAGHER

Maybe unpopular opinion but too much Acheron. I feel like Firefly should’ve had a bigger focus like we forget abt her in the later half.

And the domain things. God they are so unnecessarily long. The one with with the Trailblazer and Firefly was just so so tedious.

Oh so so so much unnecessary dialogue guys please shut up

The Trailblazer taking the Harmony’s side feels forced like bro why??? Theres sm exposition and no explanation. They just go “Bc freedom!!” And…??? What else??? Robin just went “This is wrong” and we hopped on board. Now Robin is justifiable bc she did her research, being her idealist self, and shes a side character so I’m okay with her not having the full spotlight.

Why did Elio send Firefly/SAM to Penacony anyways?

Jade just went “oh Aventurine lets cook some shit up in thr next update” and left

again, pls elaborate on why the Order is bad I got one example

Also I feel like Aventurine was like a footnote im def biased towards my baby boy but :(

Im sorry the main cast is just unlikeable imo they don’t justify their actions and just ride on the ideal of freedom and nothing else. They use the same argument of “bc people deserve to live and choose” and its tiring hearing them say that 10 times they just lacked depth.

Also shaoqi who writes for hi3 wrote this and hi3 is very visual novel esque and it works in hi3 bc its very story driven but it just doesn’t in hsr.

Now the good things

I love the consistent characterization. Sunday acted just as I predicted during the quest so yay

I really like Sunday as a character. ALSO WHY DID HE FALL AT THE END I GOT SCARA PTSD

I like how even though Gallagher is on our side he’s pretty morally gray (he’s a history fictionalogists i hate those shits if you can’t tell I would follow the erudition so they piss me off sm)

We stan boothill live laugh love space cowboys

The idea of the story is amazing though like in general

In conclusion, I think they tried to do everything and forgot about domains being the bane of players’ existence and making stuff make sense. The execution just leaves me feeling overwhelmed and unsatisfied at the same time. Ngl I think 2.1 just built up way too much hype.

[steddieas-shegoes]

Chapter 4

Chapter 1  / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

Steve arrived home to Robin anxiously pacing.

“Steve! Oh my God. I thought you died.”

“Robin, I literally talked to you an hour ago.”

“You could’ve died in the last hour!”

He smiled at her dramatics. She had his location the entire time, and she easily could have called him any time in the last hour if she was that worried.

She wrapped him in a hug, which was shocking enough on its own, but Steve couldn’t help his confusion when she also kissed the top of his head.

She held him for over a minute and Steve started to wonder if someone had died and she didn’t know how to tell him face to face.

“Robs?”

“Dingus?”

“Is everything okay?”

“Are you okay?”

Steve realized Eddie had probably told her everything. Oh for fuck sake.

“I am begging you to never bring anything of this up to me ever. Like, even if you think it’s okay to talk about it, assume it isn’t. I am never going to talk about this with you. Not ever. Not even on my deathbed. Not even when I’m drunk.”

“Eddie said you should.”

“I will. With Eddie. Not you.”

Steve turned to walk to his room and ignore Robin for the rest of the day, but he could hear her footsteps following him.

He sighed and turned around.

“I’m fine. Eddie took care of me. I’m going back there tonight so we can talk. I’ll keep my location on and you can check in with both of us, okay Mom?”

“Wait wait wait wait. You’re going back there tonight?” Then, she seemed to remember how he even ended up with Eddie. “WAIT! Your tattoo! Show me!”

Steve could do that much at least. He’d been talking about this tattoo for so long and he was really excited about how it turned out.

Eddie had unwrapped it and done the first round of cleaning and moisturizing, making sure Steve was paying attention so he could do it by himself today.

He hadn’t been able to look away from it for nearly ten minutes, the colors more beautiful after the redness of his irritated skin went away.

He held his wrist out to Robin, unable to keep the smile from his face as she looked at it and smiled up at him.

“He did great with this. Will is gonna flip.”

“I hope he likes it. He has an appointment with me tomorrow so I’ll be able to show him.”

Will was one of his best kids. He never had to actually worry about his future, Will knew exactly what he wanted, got good grades, had nearly perfect attendance, and worked towards his goals without any help from Steve. He’d been through a lot though as a child, and his mom had insisted that he regularly meet with Steve just to talk.

He came to appointments once a week, but him, along with his two best friends Dustin and Mike, would often spend their lunchtime in Steve’s office. They weren’t exactly popular, and bullies targeted them often for their size and their interest in more nerdy things. Steve let them, even though the principal had told him he was setting them up for failure in real life. Steve always said this was real life and feeling safe wasn’t a failure.

But this tattoo would really mean a lot to Will. He hoped so, at least.

“When are you going to Eddie’s?”

“7.”

“Bring protection.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen.”

Robin just gave him a look and walked away.

Nothing was gonna happen. Eddie said so.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

When Steve got to Eddie’s place, he was already home, and…cooking?

“Something smells good.”

Steve made his way into the house, brushing past Eddie and looking around. He hadn’t spent much time noticing things earlier, but now he could.

There was a lot of art on the walls, but none of it looked like what was at the shop. This looked more abstract, with a few random watercolors sprinkled in. He noticed pictures frames along the shelves and bookcase that held more records than books. The coffee table looked cluttered, mostly books and sketches spread out along the top.

The couch was old, but looked comfy, and the armchair in the corner seemed mostly unused. A few hats hung from the corner it was placed in, none of them looking like anything Eddie would wear.

Did he have a roommate? Is that how he could afford a house?

“You can set your stuff in my room if you want. You remember where it is?”

Eddie’s voice being so close behind him startled him, but he immediately relaxed when he felt a hand on his hip.

“I remember.”

Eddie squeezed his hip once before letting him go, walking towards the kitchen instead of following Steve.

Steve took in the pictures hanging up in the hall, but didn’t get a close look at any, already rushing to get back to Eddie so they could talk. Robin had given him another look before he left that said there’d be more than talking happening tonight, but he really trusted Eddie when he said they’d be taking it easy.

He dropped his bag on Eddie’s bed, smiling to himself when he saw that the bed was made.

Eddie didn’t seem like the type of person to make his bed, so maybe he was trying to impress him?

Steve shook the thought away. Nothing is happening tonight. He may not even want you in his bed after you talk.

He made his way back out to the kitchen, where Eddie was closing the oven door and placing a casserole dish of something that smelled like heaven on the stove.

“What did you make?”

“Breakfast casserole.”

“Breakfast? For dinner?”

Eddie smirked. “No laws can hold me down.”

Steve resisted the smile he felt trying to creep onto his face.

Eddie really did a number on his whole “I don’t smile for anyone” exterior.

“What’s in it?”

“Well, normally I do a french toast one that has fruit and maple syrup, but you didn’t seem like the type to enjoy that.”

“Excuse me? That sounds amazing,” Steve crossed his arms across his chest and stared at Eddie.

“We can have that next time.”

Next time, next time, next time.

“This one is hashbrowns, cheese, eggs, and bacon with biscuits as the base.”

“That sounds…heavy.”

“We can eat heavy. We don’t have any physical activity to commit to later.”

Steve couldn’t help it, he started pouting.

A small part of him had hoped that maybe after they talked, something would happen. Not necessarily sex or even subspace, but some making out, maybe some handjobs? Yeah, he’d hoped.

But he recognized the boundaries Eddie was setting, and he respected him for sticking to them, even if he really wished he didn’t.

Eddie poked Steve’s bottom lip playfully.

“No need to pout. If our discussion goes well, maybe next time?”

“Promise?”

“You’re gonna be trouble, aren’t you?”

“I dunno. Am I?”

“And a brat. Noted.”

Steve had never, not even at peak spoiled rich kid, been called a brat. Not even jokingly. He was a little offended, but he could see the hint of a smirk on Eddie’s face letting him know that would be part of their discussion.

“Are we gonna talk during dinner or after?”

“That’s up to you. I’m happy either way, sunshine.”

Steve felt warmth spreading in his chest at the nickname. He’d never been called sunshine either. Being terminally grumpy since your teenage years kind of eliminates that possibility.

“I have some questions so maybe we could start there during dinner?”

Eddie nodded and turned to grab plates and forks for dinner.

“Before you start though, I wanna make sure you know that I will always be honest and do my best to answer your questions, but there are some things I don’t know. I’m not a professional. I’m certainly experienced, but there may be things you want to know that I’ve never done. I don’t want to mislead you, so if there’s stuff you still need to know after this, I have contacts who can probably help.”

Steve felt so out of his depth here. Eddie had fucking contacts for this.

“Stevie? You okay?”

Steve shook himself out of his thoughts. He couldn’t let himself feel nervous about this. Eddie was kind and wanted him to understand and wouldn’t expect anything of him. He could do this.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry. Just feels a little overwhelming.”

Eddie paused mid-scoop and glanced at Steve. He set the serving spoon in the dish and walked the few steps over to Steve, wrapping his arms around him gently and hugging him to his chest.

Steve quickly found his spot, nuzzling against his collarbone like he belonged there.

“That’s why we’re taking this slow, having discussions first. You can’t go into all of it the way you did last night. It’s dangerous.” Eddie rubbed his back slowly and Steve fought back the noises trying to escape from his chest. “I won’t feel comfortable doing anything at all with you until we’re both comfortable, okay?”

Steve nodded against his chest.

Eddie pulled back and tilted his chin up to look at him.

“You have to use your words, sunshine.”

“Okay.”

“You understand what I said?”

“I understand.”

“Good boy.”

Steve couldn’t contain the whine he let out. Jesus Christ, what was happening to him? He’d never been like this. He’d never made that noise before in his life.

“Alright, sunshine. Let’s eat.”

Steve didn’t want to separate from him, but Eddie didn’t go too far. He made sure Steve was right next to him as he grabbed their plates and walked to the table, setting them down next to each other instead of at the chairs across from each other.

“Don’t want you too far,” Eddie said with a fond smile.

Steve hated the way his heart skipped a beat. Eddie was going to send him into cardiac arrest if he kept this up.

But he did his best to ignore it, take a deep breath, and sit down in the chair.

His anxiety was high, and he was worried he may not be able to even eat, but Eddie took a bite and looked at Steve expectantly.

Steve picked up his fork and took a bite.

“Damn, this is good.”

“Thanks, sunshine. It’s hard to fuck this one up, but I’m glad you like it.”

Steve smiled at him and took another bite.

Where to begin?

He knew Eddie would let him lead, acting as more of a guide for the conversation than anything else, but Steve suddenly didn’t know where to begin.

“Um. I guess I kinda wanna start by saying something?”

Eddie nodded, smiling softly at him and showing him that he could be patient with whatever Steve needed to say, even if it took him some time.

“I’m not, like, a virgin. I mean I know when it comes to this stuff I kind of am, but I’ve had a lot of sex. With women and men. I mean, I almost got engaged once. I’m not new to that.” He ignored the amused look on Eddie’s face and continued, though his voice wavered. “And I’ve seen some stuff in porn or whatever. I’m not completely oblivious to how this works.”

“I don’t think you should go off of what you’ve seen in porn.” Eddie cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, I just didn’t want you to think that’s accurate at all. Most vanilla porn isn’t even accurate, let alone any type of BDSM stuff. I don’t want you to think I have a dungeon or something with whips and chains attached to the walls. That isn’t what this is about for me or most anyone, really.”

Steve felt himself flush.

He’d said he wasn’t a virgin, but he’d never talked so openly about sex with anyone. He reminded himself that Eddie was still very much a stranger to him, and this kind of talk is something that close friends or significant others might have.

“What is it about? For you, I mean?”

There. That was a good start. Learning more about what Eddie did might help Steve understand what he was trying to accomplish.

“I mean, for everyone it’s about power and control or submission. But everyone has different ways of accomplishing those things and things they’re comfortable with.” He took another bite and chewed while he seemed to think of his answer. “For me, it’s about being in charge of someone’s release, whether it be sexual or not. Making someone feel good in a way they can’t experience on their own or with someone else. Having the power to know exactly what they need and give it to them or hold back. Find what makes that person tick and use it to make them feel better than ever.”

“That’s what you like? Seeing someone else get off?”

Eddie let out a small chuckle.

“I guess in a simplified way, sure. But that doesn’t always happen. You didn’t get off last night did you?”

“No, but I was dropping apparently.”

“Before that though. You still got to subspace, and you stayed there a while, even though you never got sexual gratification from it. You just felt good. Sometimes feeling good just means a plateau, not a peak and then fall, ya know? I like to help someone maintain that plateau as long as possible.” He took another bite and nudged Steve to do the same. “I love helping someone peak, too. But that isn’t always on the table.”

“What if I want it to be?”

“Getting ahead of yourself, sunshine. How about you have a couple more bites while I talk?”

Steve nodded and took another bite, watching Eddie as he formed his thoughts.

“Sex is obviously a part of this. I won’t say it doesn’t end that way most of the time. But there are parts of this that aren’t sexual at all that are still just as good. Your tattoo wasn’t sexual at all, right?” Steve shook his head. “Exactly. But you got there. Sometimes, it’s more just giving up the control. Some subs don’t even like the sex parts, you know. They like someone to give them rules and tasks to follow and punishments for when they don’t. I have a friend who is a sub who doesn’t even take off his clothes during his sessions. It’s different for everyone and it’s usually trial and error. That’s why safety and trust is such a big part of it.”

Steve felt like his head was spinning.

“Is that why people use safewords?”

“Yeah or the stop light system, or in some cases, just physical signs. That has to be agreed on before you ever go into a scene, even if it's someone you’ve done scenes with before and trust. You may love being spanked until you bruise on Saturday, but end up hating it on Monday if you’re not in the right headspace for it. It’s not just the sub trusting the dom with everything, it’s the dom trusting that the sub will use their safeword if they can’t keep going. Sometimes that’s hard for people to understand. It goes both ways. Both parties have control, just in different ways.”

“You know a lot about this.”

“I’ve been in a few serious relationships with the dynamic and all my friends have been part of the scene for years. What I don’t know firsthand, I’ve heard plenty about.”

“Okay, but what if I do want the sex stuff to be part of it?”

“If you do, then you have to be open about hard limits before you start. You have to have a safeword and use it if things start to go bad. You have to let yourself test the waters, but not jump into them if that makes sense.”

Steve nodded. It did make sense. He was probably jumping the gun a bit, but he felt like maybe he could trust Eddie to find and test his limits.

“So you wouldn’t wanna do that with me?”

“I didn’t say that, Stevie.” Eddie turned to him and placed his hands on his knees, massaging them lightly. “I’m not a jump right into anything kind of guy, even with just plain vanilla sex. But I’m really careful about starting with sex stuff right off the bat. Oh, stop pouting, sunshine. I’m not saying no.”

“But you’re saying no now.”

Steve knew he was still pouting, and maybe being a bit unreasonable. He normally took things slow too, at least when it came to more than random handjobs or blowjobs at the club. It still made him feel like Eddie might not be interested in him the way he was interested in Eddie.

“I’m saying not yet. There’s a difference. I’d love to be able to do that with you. But you need to experience more first.”

“Like what?”

Eddie studied his face for a moment. Steve felt like he could see right through him, which would have alarmed him more if he wasn’t certain that Eddie was going to be able to make him float again.

“You like to be praised.”

It wasn’t a question, but Steve nodded. He’d figured that much out at least.

“That’s a good start. You can be praised for a lot of things. Sometimes just being told to sit still and being told you’re doing good can make a person float, you know.”

Steve didn’t think he could do that. He certainly believed some people could, but he figured it would take a lot more for him.

“I don’t think I can do that.”

“Do you want to try?”

“Now? I thought we weren’t doing anything tonight?”

Steve was suddenly overwhelmed with nerves again. Despite the fact that he’d wanted something to happen when he first got here, he was now wondering why the hell he thought that was a good idea.

“It doesn’t have to be now. But it would certainly be a good start when you’re ready. Simple, non-sexual, easy to safeword out of if you get uncomfortable, unlikely to drop from it. It’s just an idea. You can always say no.”

Steve didn’t want to say no. He was nervous, sure, but he wanted it. He wanted to try. He wanted to make Eddie proud.

“Could we try tonight?”

“If you finish your supper and we talk about a safeword, yes.”

Steve took three more bites and ignored Eddie’s laughter at his clear excitement.

“So, what can we use for a safeword?”

“Up to you, sunshine. Mine is Metallica.”

“Can I use yours?”

Eddie thought about it for a moment.

“For tonight, yes. But you should have your own in the future.”

“Don’t like sharing?”

Steve smirked at Eddie, who rolled his eyes but smiled fondly back at him.

“More like you may not want to keep doing scenes with me and having your own safeword is best.” He got up and brought their plates to the sink while Steve waited patiently in his chair. “You can go sit on the couch. I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”

Steve sat on the couch with his hands folded in his lap, trying to push away any nerves he had over what they were about to do. If all went how he hoped, he’d maybe go to subspace again. Eddie sounded like he could get him there, but he didn’t know exactly what Eddie would have to do.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Eddie came into the room and sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into his side.

“Alright. We’re gonna relax for a few minutes first. You’re tense and you won’t be able to just go right into it.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, sunshine. Just let me hold you for a few minutes, okay?”

Steve wanted nothing more than to never leave Eddie’s side, his arm wrapped just tight enough around him so he felt like he couldn’t escape, his body warming him up just enough for comfort.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, and he didn’t really care, all he knew was the next time Eddie moved, he had to open his eyes.

“Alright, sunshine. Gonna move you a little so your head is in my lap, okay?”

“Mhm.”

Eddie adjusted him so he was laying with his head in his lap and his legs out along the length of the couch. He had a hand in Steve’s hair, scratching at his scalp gently, while his other hand was tracing circles on his arm.

“Mmmm. ‘S good,” Steve mumbled against Eddie’s thigh as he let his eyes slip closed again.

“Good.” He felt a gentle tug on his hair and his eyes shot open. Eddie was smirking down at him, but went back to gently scratching at his scalp. “Just testing. You remember the safeword?”

“Metallica.”

“Good boy. You use it the second you feel like you have to.”

Steve ignored the flutters in his stomach at being called a good boy again.

It went on like this for a little while, nothing new happening. Steve started to wonder if Eddie understood what the purpose of this was, when he suddenly felt Eddie stop all movement.

He whimpered, then felt Eddie’s hand tug at his hair harder.

“You have to stay quiet, sunshine. Keep being a good boy for me.”

His tone was different. Not quite stern, but not as soft as before either. Steve didn’t have to know him better to know that he should listen to him.

“I’m going to watch a show. You just sit right there for me and look pretty.”

Oh. Jesus Christ.

Steve was already hard. From that? Really Steve?

He managed to stay quiet this time, but he knew the second Eddie touched him again he would moan.

But Eddie didn’t touch him again.

He turned on the tv and casually looked for a channel. When he found one, he watched with his hands by his sides, not even resting against Steve’s skin.

Steve knew this must be part of it or they wouldn’t be doing it, but he felt himself growing frustrated at not getting any attention.

Minutes passed like that. Steve wondered when Eddie would acknowledge him again, but didn’t want to risk saying something.

Then a hand was in his hair, playing with the ends as if Eddie had never stopped.

Steve let out a content sigh and closed his eyes again.

“Being so good for me, sunshine.”

Steve smiled to himself, keeping his eyes closed so he could relax fully against Eddie’s lap.

The noise from the tv turned distant, but the fingers in his hair felt like fire. Or maybe ice. Both? Could be both. They just felt nice.

Steve drifted, not realizing he was going until he was already gone.

Eddie knew the moment it happened’ Steve’s entire body relaxed entirely against him and the couch, and he let out a sigh that could’ve been held in for years with how loud it was. He didn’t open his eyes, but Eddie didn’t need to see them to know they’d be glazed over.

“So perfect, Stevie. Feeling good, huh?”

“Mmm.”

Eddie smiled down at him, even though he wouldn’t see it.

He wouldn’t let him stay down for long, just for the rest of the show.

Not that he was watching the show.

Not when he had Steve in his lap, floating away because of his gentle touches and words.

Chapter 5

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[oldworldghost]

Telling stories to Pinochio fron Lies of P about Fairytales or whatever crap reader made when reader is bored !!

[Preferably former librarian Reader x Pino :3]

Tell me a story and I'll tell you I love you

↳ Anon I absolutely love this prompt, so I had to write a little something for it. This is definitely more focused on Pincchios' feelings for you as opposed to the actually story telling bit, and I think by the end especially it kind of stops being about the request a bit I am so sorry LMAO. Let me know if you want hcs or something else instead! :D

↳ This is currently unedited, I’ll do that tomorrow!

Pinocchio sits beside you, head resting limply on your shoulder as he finds himself falling deeper in love with you.

You’re sharing one of the many stories in your knowledge with him, something old and undoubtedly picked up from your time as a librarian. Something – Pinocchio thinks – that only you know now, expect maybe Antonia, but he’s seen you catch even her by surprise with fanciful worlds and characters. It’s an insurmountable act of love, to hold so much in your mind and with such care. No details [at least from his knowledge] forgotten, no characters left aside for fear of boring the crowd. Every bit just as important as the other, no matter how minuscule it is.

Some part of him wonders if you do the same for everyone else, collect the lore of the hotels final inhabitants with the same wonder you share for characters. What do you remember about him? Pinocchio likes to think that you hold onto everything he’s shared with you, sprinkle him across the stories of your own making. Maybe he’s something that inspiration can be found in, someone you admire more than anything. Built up in your mind like the greatest of heroes. You could care that much, he thinks, and he could even be your favourite.

Maybe you’ve even found Pinocchios’ love for you spread across his pages. He doesn’t see how you could miss it, there’s so much that he doesn’t even know what to do with it except sink in it. Day after day, night after night. He’s sinking even now, nestled into you side in one of the hotels many unused rooms.

It’s your voice that keeps Pinocchios’ attention. You’re onto the part of the story where a great battle takes place, the last defence of mankind against a dark and terrible lord. Both the lords strongest servant and a king have been slain, and yet despite the story nearing its peak Pinocchio finds himself unable to focus on your words. He catches phrases, can understand your tone and the pronunciation of speech, but it’s difficult to put the meaning together. Any other day and he’d be engrossed in it, hanging of every syllable like a starving animal, but today his mind is preoccupied.

The feeling in his chest is growing unbearable, and he wonders if his gears will simply cease to work as a result. It might not be the worst thing in the world, to die by your side. He might even be able to call it a pleasure, a privilege.

Still, Pinocchio doesn’t particularly care for the idea of his own death, especially not when there are more pressing matters on his mind, and so with a bout of almost uncharacteristic boldness he sits up. You don’t pay him any mind, not until hands – rougher than he means them to be – turn your body towards his. Lamely your sentence finishes, head tilting to the side and eyebrows knitting together in a look of confusion and mild amusement.

Pinocchio takes the opportunity to look at you, really look at you. Blue glass eyes take in every detail, every curve and dip and mark, your breathes growing shakier as he leans in. There is a mole under your left eye, he notes, a faint scar running across your mouth. He traces it with his finger and your breath hitches, an incoherent mumble of something that feels like it’s his name. Moonlight shines in above your head like a halo, and Pinocchio thinks you couldn’t look anymore gorgeous than you already do. He wonders if he looks as beautiful to you as you do to him. The sparkle in your eyes, the glint of what could be called awe suggests that he does. Pride and love fill in Pinocchios’ chest until he’s moving without thought, leaning – sinking, always sinking - into you. Lips, clumsy and adoring, press against your own in a fleeting kiss, pulling away before you’re given the chance to respond.

You see the man before you grow from confident to timid in the moonlight, as if coming to the realisation of what he had just done.

“I-” Pinocchio cuts himself off, going to speak only to be met with his own silence.

He doesn’t know why words aren’t forming, and for a moment he wonders if something malfunctioned in him during the kiss. You can see the gears turning in his head, a question forming on the tip of your tongue. This time, Pinocchio cuts you off instead of himself.

“I’m in love with you. I’m sorry to be so sudden, but I,” he takes a moment to steady himself, “I could not be quiet about it any longer.”

A breathless laugh bubbles in your throat in response, a smile curving its way on your mouth as you go to speak, “I was wondering if you did. For a puppet you’re not exactly the most subtle person I’ve met.”

It’s Pinocchios’ turn to be surprised.

“You knew?”

“I was hoping I did. Never said anything because I didn’t know if you felt that way or if it was wishful thinking on my part. Hell, didn’t even know if you could actually feel such a thing. I mean, I know my stories are good, but I didn’t know if they were that good.”

“You... feel the same.”

“Of course,” the smile on your face is crooked and it takes everything in him not to kiss you again, “you’re a very hard person not to love.”

“Say it, please.”

You laugh once more. It is the sweetest sound he’s ever heard.

“I love you, Pinocchio. More than anything,” his heart feels fit to burst, “now can I please get back to my story? We’re nearing my favourite part and I’d like to be done by morning.”

“Yes, please. I would like that.”

As Pinocchio settles back into your side something in him clinks into place. He is unsure what it is, but as your hand slides into his and your fingers intertwine Pinocchio thinks that this is what it means to feel at home. The feeling of love only deepens, tearing it’s way further still into the recesses of his being. It will leave him bare and broken before you, he is certain of it.

Listening to you speak; Pinocchio can’t think of a better way to be swallowed whole.

[ghcstao3]

Ghost doesn’t fear much. At least, not anymore. And it isn’t just a cause of a reputation needed to be upheld—he’s learned to live with fear, was forced to adapt with it, and now holds it against the enemy as one of his greatest strengths.

But the one thing he still cannot stand? Snakes. Fucking snakes.

It seems stupid. Feels stupid. Given everything Ghost has gone through and still goes through, it’s likely no one could ever guess that snakes are the one thing that set him off. That they are the one thing capable of incapacitating the Ghost.

But they are. And though they aren’t usually much of an issue in the military, it’s still one of his best-guarded secrets. Because addressing it means addressing where the petrifying fear came from, and Ghost isn’t certain he’d ever be able to do that.

When Soap speaks of a pet at home, about how she’s cuddly and loving and sweet, Ghost expects a cat. Not a dog, never a dog because that’s what Soap fears. A cat. A normal, conventional pet.

To Ghost’s chagrin, however, it is not a cat. Soap’s sweet girl is a snake, and while relatively small, a snake nonetheless. The moment Ghost sees her, he can’t move. He’s frozen in place, even as Soap continues to navigate his own flat to begin unpacking what little he’d brought on leave.

Soap finally notices the more tense silence from Ghost, though, and rushes over to see what’s wrong. Concern is written into his features as he loops his arms around Ghost’s neck, prodding gently to get an answer, but never pushing.

And normally, it would help. Normally the closeness is welcomed, embraced, but the arms around Ghost’s neck only serve to make him feel constricted, suffocated, as he’s brought back to those moments of torment he’d suffered throughout childhood. He can’t breathe.

Soap seems to understand in part what the issue is, and quickly drops his arms away, instead taking Ghost’s hands to maintain that contact that is usually so naturally grounding.

“Simon,” Soap coaxes. “Mind telling me what’s goin’ on in that head of yours?”

Ghost can’t bring himself to respond. He’s still watching with great intensity as the snake writhes around in its tank, curling around one of the decorative branches within its containment. Ghost’s silence prompts Soap to follow his eye-line, and from there it’s a rapid realization of what’s got Ghost so immovable.

Soap slips away, hasty to find a cover for the tank and drape it over, hiding the snake from view. He returns to Ghost, still glued in place, though he’s far more willing to listen to Soap’s instruction to find his eyes instead.

“I’m sorry,” Soap is apologizing, “I should’ve told you.”

Ghost musters the strength to shake his head. His eyes flit back to the covered tank, but his gaze returns to Soap’s the moment there’s a tug on his sleeve.

“Isn’t your fault,” Ghost says. “I never…”

“Why don’t we go out?” Soap suggests. He always seems to know how to perfectly divert attention from what’s currently so bothersome. “Just for a bit. Then we’ll come back and try again.”

Ghost happily agrees. Anything to get away for a while, to recompose himself and prepare mentally for the leave he’s about to spend in a space with one of the things he dreads most.

The tank stays covered for the rest of that night, and the day following. But Ghost remains tense throughout, and Soap decides they ought to do something about it.

Gradually, Soap leaves the tank uncovered for longer. He’ll pull the sheet over the second Ghost starts panicking, at first, but eventually Ghost builds enough tolerance with a lot of reassurance from Soap, and the sheet gets neatly tucked away. It’s left unused for the last few days of that leave.

Over the next couple with a lot of time between, they try more exposure. Soap takes his snake out of her tank to show she’s just about harmless. He keeps distance from Ghost, of course, but is happy to satiate any curiosity the lieutenant has with in-depth answers, and doesn’t say anything as Ghost creeps closer every day, until he’s within reach. Until he’s gingerly guiding his index finger over smooth scales. Until Soap is placing the snake into Ghost’s own hands.

She hardly weighs anything. And, really, she would only ever be more scared of Ghost, than he could ever be of her.

Soap’s snake doesn’t relieve Ghost’s fear entirely, no. She likely never could on her own, even as Ghost grows more comfortable around her. But she still helps, and seeing the smile it puts on Soap’s face to see her and Ghost getting along makes it more than worth the effort to try and work on the fear.

Facing it isn’t as terrifying as Ghost thought it would be. He still has a way to go, but he’s also still progressing. And maybe one day, in some not-so far-off future, the Ghost wouldn’t fear anything at all.

[wewereborntomakehistory]

How Do I Do This?

Fandom: Chicago PD/One Chicago

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Female!Reader; Kelly Severide x Platonic!Reader; Stella Kidd x Platonic!Reader

Warning/s: Mentions of Divorce, Anxiety and Alcohol Consumption

Request: No

Word Count: 979

A/N: This is based off of the song, How do I do This? by Kelsea Ballerini. You don’t need to listen to the song to get this by any means but I recommend you do! It’s a song that’s been on my mind for a while and I just love Kelsea’s music as a whole! It got a little away from me so apologies for that! I’m also still working on requests and some more chapters of my Jay Halstead fic so please be patient with me.

Enjoy!

***

Are you free Saturday? I know a spot

Those two texts come in rapid succession as you finish cleaning the store up. You’d usually try to avoid checking your phone so often in front of your manager, but by this time you were usually the only one left.

What did you have in mind?

You erase the message in-between organizing the new book shipment.

Saturday? That’s a little too close for me.

You erase that message while balancing the books for that day.

By the time you lock up the store and head home, you had thought up a couple million ways to respond before erasing them. Putting your key in the lock and you finally respond with a simple Yes.

Your next thought was right before you slid into bed for the night. Where the hell is your dress?

Specifically, your little black one that showed off all of your curves. The one that was probably lonely from being unused for so many years.

Having split from your husband over a year ago and trying to start fresh back in Chicago, you were worrying yourself into a spiral. You hadn’t been on a date since you were 22 and you were feeling out of place, getting back into the dating scene at 29.

You and your ex had grown apart from the moment your marriage started. You had done everything you could to keep everything together. You—being the one who made more money—had bought a big house. One that had room for you two to grow a family and have a backyard for a dog. It felt right at the time, maybe it would be enough so the walls didn’t seem like they were closing in.

You and your ex had been fine. But that’s all you were…fine. You finally convinced him to do therapy with you and, unfortunately, the final straw for you was when you realized that he loved you more at 23, then at 27.

You had filed for divorce not long after that. He claimed he hadn’t seen it coming, and fought you for the house. You gave into it, wanting him to just sign the papers and be done with it. In the end, when you signed your lease back in your home city of Chicago you finally checked the box “divorced.”

It had been quite the change, getting used to being back in the city. You contacted one of your oldest friends, Kelly Severide, to hang out and catch up.

It was at one of those meet ups that you met Kelly’s girlfriend, Stella Kidd, and the two of you hit it off instantly.

Now a year later, Stella and Kelly were getting ready to get married, and you voiced your thoughts to them about dating again. Stella said that she had a friend who was your type.

You had no idea what that meant, but after a few failed attempts at signing up for one of those awful dating apps, you gave Stella permission for her to give her friend your number.

The day after the first two texts were sent, he texted you again saying: Great! I’ll pick you up at 7.

You remembered at 22 being a little more cautious about a man picking you up for a date, but you trusted Kelly and Stella so you tried trusting this guy too.

It was hard, everything you’ve ever known about dating, relationships, and love had been ruined with the breakdown of your marriage. Now you wished it wasn’t affecting your thoughts this long after.

So is it any wonder that it’s 6:52 on Saturday and you’re trying to reassure yourself by saying you got this during your last looks in the mirror.

“You’ll be fine,” Kelly was saying over the speakerphone as you contemplated taking a shot to calm your nerves, “Do you think we don’t have your best interest at heart?”

“Kelly,” you say plainly, “It’s been years since I’ve been on a date. I’m gonna look so stupid stumbling over myself and what if he brings up my marriage? You told him about that right? How do I fucking do this? Is it wrong if I take a shot of something?”

“Stella,” you hear Kelly call from his end, obviously feeling like he needed backup, “she’s freaking out.”

“Yes I am.” You almost growl in confirmation, “I blame you both for this. What was I thinking?”

“Relax, girl,” Stella’s voice says over the line in a reassuring tone, “I got you. Look, I’ve known Jay for a while okay, and I’m sure you’ll charm the socks off of him.”

“Oh god,” you say, slapping a hand to your forehead almost dramatically, “I know he’s too good to be true. What have you done, Stella.”

“Breathe, Y/N,” Kelly says, his voice clear and unyielding.

There was a knock on the door. You jump slightly, looking up at the clock on the stove. 7:00 on the dot.

You curse, telling Kelly and Stella that he was there. They told you to have fun and they’ll call you later for details before immediately hanging up on you.

Cursing your friends once more, you open the door, and your breath lapses. You were going to kill Stella for understating his looks by saying he was “good-looking”.

He was much more than good-looking. He was gorgeous. His dark hair was cut evenly. His eyes were a mix of blue and green and freckles littered across his features. He was dressed for a date, his outfit lining the structures of his body. You feel slightly better about choosing your black dress for this, you may even want to wake up tomorrow with it on a floor that isn’t yours.

I’m ready, you tell yourself in your head.

And for the first time since this whole thing started, you believe it.

[everydayyoulovemeless]

What The Fo4 Companions Love Language Is

➼ Word Count » 1.0k ➼ Warnings » None

MacCready's love language is physical touch. Sometimes while the two of you are walking together, he'll silently reach for your hand and link pinkies with you. He likes being held and one of his favorite things to do is to lean against you when the two of you are sitting down at a bar or in one of the settlements. There's just something about being wrapped in your arms that brings him comfort.

Nick prefers quality time. He just likes being around you, even if neither of you says anything. It makes him incredibly happy that you're comfortable enough to even want to be alone around him in a domestic setting. The seemingly endless trust you have in him always makes his artificial heart flutter and he'd stay beside you all day if you allowed it.

Cait is more inclined toward acts of service. Being touched overwhelms her sometimes, and she's not one for expressing her feelings in a spoken manner. Instead, she shows her love by doing things for you. Anything to lighten the load as you've done so many times for her. She almost feels obligated to do so. Her biggest fear is that you'll wake up one day and realize how much better you could've done, so she makes sure she's always pushing herself into doing tasks that'll make your day easier.

Danse is evidently horrible at communicating his feelings and is also incredibly dense. That being said, he never knows what to do in your relationship/friendship, so he does what he's always done best—working. He'll help carry things if he thinks they'll be too heavy for you and he especially loves taking care of your weapons late at night when you sleep, or early in the morning before you leave. Acts of service are the only way he's ever been able to show how much he cares.

Preston will do everything in his power to be able to just linger around you. He'll always ask to go with you when you leave for a quest, or even just offer to take you somewhere where you can look out at the ocean. Being in your presence makes such an incredible difference in his day and he cherishes every second of quality time the two of you spend together.

Codsworth adores being able to help you in any way, shape, or form. If you ask him to do something, he'll be on it immediately. It's his favorite way to show his affection. He'll constantly be fixing you a cup of water or tea, and he especially loves helping you scavenge for anything you might need.

Piper likes showing her love through physical affection. She loves wrapping her arms around you and hugging you tightly whenever she's happy or even just resting her hand on your shoulder while you're both standing still. Sometimes if you're annoying her she'll swat you with a newspaper. It gives her a sense of attachment whenever she does something physical like that with someone and loves the feeling it gives her.

Curie likes giving you gifts. She's always excitedly coming over to you and showing you all these little trinkets and items she's found and will happily give you most of what she finds. They're like her kids so please don't throw any of what she gives you away, she just like giving you things she thinks you'll like, even if it's completely unusable.

Strong's only way of showing he cares is through his words. You'll have to really pay attention to it though. He'll say something about how he thinks you're "stronger than other humans" or how you "think less than others" but these statements are how he tries to tell you that he thinks you're great and that he's glad he's following you.

Hancock loves physical touch and is always finding ways to lay on top of you. He's incredibly intimate in his actions and is constantly trying to have you lay down so he can give you a massage or just run his hands down your back. He's also a sucker for just wrapping his arms around you and laying with you while you both quietly talk about whatever.

Deacon is scared of the two of you being so close, but he so desperately wants to make an effort in showing that he cares and he'll do so by bringing you both Salisbury steaks and sitting on the side of a bridge or something while you he tells you some story of the local monster that lives in the ocean. Peaceful moments like these ground him in reality more and he likes being able to share these seconds with you.

Acts of service are one of the only things X6-88 knows how to do, so it's the main way he ends up showing his affection for you. He'll open the door for you or carry you on his back. Anything he can do to help you out. He'll occasionally even escort you to places you used to like visiting before the war so that you can relive some of your past memories.

Dogmeat shows his affection through physical touch. He's always licking your hand or tackling you to the ground. He loves butting his head into the side of your leg and would be ecstatic if you scratched him behind the ears in return.

Old Longfellow's love language is quality time. He loves taking you out on walks through the Far Harbor forests and watching the sun rise through the branches early in the mornings. He could spend hours talking to you at the Last Plank and would appreciate it a lot if you decided to sit with him at the table in the back and just gave him some company as you both drank.

Due to Gage's raider background, he's horrible at showing he cares about someone. That being said, stealing things and gifting them to you is the first thing that pops into his mind to show he cares. You'll end up with some poor wastelanders' belongings, but he figured that you'd appreciate the gesture if you knew it was in good faith.

[world0fmadness]

AT EASE WITH ANGELA

thinking a whole lot about angela tonight! this is my first time writing out a thought for her so hopefully it is not terrible, if this is like really bad or some of it is possibly even offensive, please let me know <3

obviously, she is not great with physical touch, especially not early in your relationship! it is not that she does not want love, not like she does not want to feel your love and affection but she is just so used to physical touch being a bad thing, physical touch being people touching her in a way she did not want… she is just so afraid and unused to a loving touch that she always flinches away, always goes to protect herself from your touch

so you just lay together… wether it be on the floor, on the couch or on a bed! wherever she feels the most comfortable, wherever she feels safe and at ease! only your shoulders touch as both of you stare up at the ceiling, one of her favourite records spinning on low volume in the back as you quietly talk to her about your day, filling in with comforting small talk as she hums in response to your mumbles, occasionally asking a curious question or commenting on something… sometimes, she even lets out a quiet chuckle if she finds something funny! over time, her mind gets used to you, accepts the fact that you are not like… them and you actually love her, she begins to feel so safe around you, so warm and at ease

angela likes when you read books aloud to her too, she enjoys fairy tale books… books with no pain and no evil! she knows they aren’t realistic… knows life could never be a fairy tale, knows how unfair life really is, but she likes to dream of it, likes to dream of entering a world like that with just you and her! they help her escape, help her heal…

eventually, with your voice that she loves so much filling her ears, she tilts her head just slightly to rest it upon your shoulder, her cheek nudging against your skin slightly as her tired eyes study your face before closing… her hummed responses becoming few and far between as her mind gets lost to the fog of sleep! usually, she would only be able to sleep hidden away in the nook with her teddy bear, hidden from sight and out of reach… but with you, only with you, can she fall asleep fully at ease, she knows you would protect her if any monsters came… knows you would protect her from them… knows she does not have to worry about them any more…

angela just feels so safe around you, even when nightmares arise and she darts up from her slumber, skin sweaty and cheeks wet with tears, she only ever looks for you… only ever searches for your warm eyes and listens out for your soft voice, her body easing up when she finds it! only when she hears your comforting voice soothing her, assuring her that everything is okay, is when she will lay back down next to you

i want to comfort her so badly, i want to love her so badly! her voice in the remake just broke my heart every time :(