#had pointed out the big windows and how bright the space will always be

[tommygotwrittenoff]

oh i love the idea of eddie getting most of the way through buying a house in texas before realizing the house has buck written all over it

[charmercharm3r]

hershey kisses

LFX

7/8 of the Sleepwear Series

Masterlist

wc: 4.3k

Synopsis: Sugar, spice, and everything nice. And a little salty.

warnings: smut, explicit sexual content, sub!Felix x softdom fem!reader, alcohol consumption, they're both tipsy but not drunk and everything is consensual!!, unprotected sex (wrap it up), oral (m receiving), lots and lots of kisses! (literally used the word 17 times I counted), overstimulation, creampie, very lovey dovey until it isn't

No, you weren’t surprised when you came home to the smell of warm chocolate filling your apartment, though you never got tired of it– Felix had a habit of forgetting to crack a window whenever he was baking. What caught you off guard was the bottles of alcohol taking up space on your kitchen counter. There were tall bottles, short ones, cans of foreign drinks you had no idea what they were. That with the big mixing bowl filled with something chocolatey, you were as confused as ever.

“Hi baby!” He cheered excitedly, beaming a bright smile and waving with enthusiasm. You greeted him back, lightly jogging to where he stood in the kitchen and giving him a kiss.

Licking your lips, you could taste the faint traces of alcohol, looking around to see what he was having. “Without me? You’re having your own party,” you joked, kissing him one more time. Felix chased after you when you pulled away and whined for more, which you couldn’t ever refuse.

“‘M making chocolate whiskey. Had to test run the drinks before putting it in,” Felix went back to mixing the bowl as you found the open bottle of whiskey nearby, lifting it to your nose and cringing back at the smell. 

Finding a clean spoon, you dipped it into the bowl and tasted his concoction. The taste of the alcohol overpowered the chocolate by a mile, “baby, you’re not supposed to be getting drunk off chocolate whiskey.” You tossed it into the sink and grabbed two clean glasses instead, opening the new bottle of rum that sat nearby. There were litters of chocolate packets in addition to whatever other ingredients he’d bought.

“I just thought the more, the better.” Felix opened his mouth for you to put a piece of chocolate on his tongue, drinking it down with a sip of the young rum. He chewed it for a few seconds before his eyes went wide and let out a pleasantly surprised, “mmm!”

You laughed as he opened his mouth for more and cleared a space on the counter so you could sit to watch him. It didn’t take much for either of you to start feeling the effects of the alcohol, the combination of it with the sugary chocolate was addicting. By the time the chocolate whiskey was ready to be chilled, you and Felix were a giggly, tipsy mess. He may have left the bowl in the fridge for a bit too long because he was glued standing between your legs, letting you feed him a piece, kiss his lips, then take another sip. It was tough for him to scoop out of the bowl so you could help him in rolling into a ball, they were almost solid.

It was a nice moment to share, him laughing at anything and everything you said as he attempted to dig the chocolate out of the bowl, still standing so close that your legs brushed his torso. Common was that when the two of you were home together, rarely were you ever not touching one another in some way. Though, it wasn’t always like that. Perhaps his need for skinship rubbed off on you to the point that you don’t remember a time where you hated his invasion of personal space. Your bubble is his bubble.

Eventually, you both grew tired of his little cooking project and decided to let it sit to thaw. Without missing a beat, Felix enticed you into sitting on the floor of your shared living room with the seemingly endless bags of chocolate and a few more bottles of alcohol. The two of you were testing how the different liquors tasted with the sweets.

His back was against the couch and legs spread for you to sit cross legged between them. Felix mindlessly traced patterns on the tops of your knees, watching intently the dainty way your fingers unwrapped the chocolate and made its way into your mouth. He didn’t seem to notice his tongue poking out and licking across his bottom lip. It was cute, you couldn’t help but poke his tongue back into his mouth, though it didn’t make him stop staring.

Felix was never afraid of eye contact, in fact it’s why you were attracted to him in the first place. He made you feel seen, like he was always listening to whatever you had to say. Even if the things you said didn’t make sense, he contributed to it and always played along, like now.

“Do you ever get tired of drinking alone with me?” You didn’t think as you asked the question, taking a small sip of rum. Felix had stolen the bottle from you, rapidly shaking his head, no.

“Never. It’s more fun when it’s just us. Why do you ask?” He bent his knees, encasing you between his legs like a makeshift shield.

“Just ‘cause… I worry sometimes.” Shrugging and popping another sweet into your mouth, you didn’t raise your head to meet his eyes.

“That I’m not enjoying myself?” Felix held your chin between his thumb and forefinger and brought your face up. The slight fall of your shoulders made him coo, “oh, baby. You know I’d rather drink warm alcohol with you than be overstimulated in a loud, crowded bar with overpriced drinks any day of the week.”

Wise choice of his words, your ears perked, “overstimulated, you say?” You looked at him now and wiggled your eyebrows. Felix’s laughter echoed throughout the room as he dazedly fell forward into your arms, swaying the two of you back and forth. He was incredibly warm, that boy could’ve baked cookies on his abs if he laid out in the sun long enough. 

“But seriously, babe,” he nuzzled into your neck, placing soft, uncalculated kisses, “I could never get tired of being with you. Besides! We’re the fun ones.” His hands slipped down to your ass, cupping handfuls to pull you flush against his chest and crotches pressed together. No matter how small the action, you could feel the slight twitch in his pants.

You shifted to straddle him more comfortably and thread your fingers through his hair. “See, I know that you’re right but I still feel like I’m keeping you from hanging out with your friends.” The change in mood had him looking at you in the eyes, particularly sad about the pout on your lips.

“Why do you think that?” Felix brushed stray hair from your face, keeping your cheek in his palm and the other firmly on your ass.

“I dunno, guess it’s just lingering insecurities. Most guys use it as an excuse to break up with their partners, ya know.” Your tone wasn’t accusing, but rather matter of factly.

“Don’t you know by now I’m not like most guys?” raising an eyebrow at you, Felix smirked.

“Mhm, poetic and cringey. Gimme kiss.”

He caved without another thought and melted against your lips, tongue tasting like chocolate and alcohol and love. He loves kissing more than anything else, claiming it makes him feel so close to you. He’d do it anywhere, anytime and all you had to do was ask. It made him get a little dumb sometimes and get a bit too lost in the plush of your lips.

Though, he pulled away before that could happen, “was that sarcasm?” You raised an eyebrow. “I can be poetic, forreal.”

“I never said you couldn’t,” you laughed.

“Listen, listen,” Felix let go of you for a second to suck on another piece of chocolate, letting it melt. “Kiss me once,” the tone of his voice was as soft and deep as it’d go, he pecked your cheek, “and kiss me twice,” on the other side, “then kiss me once again.” Goosebumps covered your skin as the bass-like vibrations of his words drifted through you like a melody, pressing his lips to yours once more and immediately followed by the chocolate flavor. His tongue coated yours with the sugary treat and you felt hungrier than you’d had all day. Though, with the flush on his cheeks and gentle way he kissed you, Felix looked more than fit to eat.

Keeping you tight against him, his hands tangled themselves into your hair as he broke away to speak again breathlessly, “it’s been a long, looong time.” He took his time to say the words, smooth, sultry, dragging out each syllable. “Haven’t felt,” peck, “like this, my dear,” smooch, “since can’t remember when. It’s been a,” nuzzle, “long,” caress, “looong,” kiss, “time,” and a deep, gasping lock of your lips together. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion, yet all too fast. The effects of the alcohol were blanketing both your already intensely present arousal and desire to make the two of you a needy, desperate mess, grasping and groping one another as if either of you’d disappear at any second.

As you grind harder into him, Felix’s hips cant up and he can’t help but moan into your mouth. The fondness that fueled you was the same thing that caused you to pull away and say, “that sounds a lot like a song I know.”

“Nope, came straight from my humongous brain.”

“If your name is Louis Armstrong, then yeah, I believe you.” He gripped the undersides of your thighs and lifted you off the floor, headed for your shared bedroom.

“I was thinking more like Kitty Kallen’s version.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and sat you on his lap again, pulling you down with him as Felix laid back. The pink decorating his cheeks as a result of all the drinking made him glow, charming eyes glossed over ever so slightly and looking up at you so warmly. You reached down to cup his cheek, run your thumb over his bruising red lips. They fell open, parting just a little for you to push the digit in. He stuck his tongue out before you could and guided it by the pad of your thumb, immediately closing his lips and sucking gently. “Pretty kitty,” you whispered, simply admiring him.

Neither of you spoke for a little while longer, just looking at each other with alcohol induced gazes and hearts in your eyes. Then you pull your thumb away, a string of saliva following as you stick it in your own mouth to taste the chocolate and rum mixture. Felix watched you with doe eyes and tongue poking at the corner of his mouth once again. “Mmm, sweet,” you say as you peck his lips one more time. “How’re you feeling?”

Felix just tugged you in again, groaning against your lips louder. Pushing him back lightly, “answer me, baby.”

“‘M perfectly tipsy, ‘nd I want you,” he pawed at the waistband of your shorts and underwear, tugging and letting the elastic snap against your skin.

Giggling when you dove down to kiss his cheek and scatter them around his face, Felix couldn’t keep his hands from continuing to roam, squeezing and caressing every part of your body firmly and lovingly. It was his way of appreciating you, telling you without telling you how infatuated he is. You traversed beneath his jaw, down his neck and occasionally biting his skin to feel his hands grip you tighter. It took a bit of coercing to make him pull away long enough to get rid of his and your shirts, even more so to get you both naked seeing as neither of you were able to keep your hands to yourselves.

But when you finally did, Felix propped himself on his elbows as he watched you, ogled your naked body from top to bottom until he met your eyes. He tilted his head down, waiting patiently for you to make a move. You cock your head to the side, “feeling a bit lazy tonight, pretty kitty?”

The slightly calm yet authoritative tone you took made Felix bite his lip and shake his head, no. “Oh? Just wanna be taken care of then?” His cock twitched at that, a bead of precum dribbling onto his abdomen. “I know you do, sweetheart.” You spread his knees wider and kneeled between them, then tucked his heels in tight to either side of your body. “Just relax, okay pretty kitty?” Felix whimpered in return, unable to look away as you peered up at him.

Keeping your eyes locked, you stuck your tongue out and ran it from the base, all the way up. His entire body shivered, goosebumps spreading along every inch of his skin. When you flattened your tongue to taste more of him, Felix let out a long sigh accompanied by his thigh muscles tensing and hands attempting to restrain themselves. While some might be put off by his intense stare, it was enthralling to you, especially the way he slowly blinked and rolled his eyes back when you did something he was particularly sensitive to. His hips kicked up and shallowly thrusted when you took him in your mouth, his own jaw completely slack and on the verge of drooling.

Felix was always a sucker for that, the messy, wet, lewd feeling that came from doing anything with your mouth. When you began to bob your head up and down his tip, occasionally dipping your tongue into his slit, he cried for more. You gave it to him because his pleas were just so cute, and took more, just holding him in your mouth. When the saliva started to build under your tongue, then you moved. The slurping noises and his whines sounded so good together that you were afraid he’s cum from that alone, it wouldn’t be the first time. Both of you were already worked up, the alcohol made you hazy enough to not feel the soreness in your jaw from keeping it open for so long. Felix was growing closer and closer with each down stroke, nothing but your mouth, drool, and watery eye contact edging him along.

Just as he braced himself tighter to start bucking up, you pulled off with a loud gulp and sat back. Loudly he groaned a high pitched whimper, rutting into the air and cock slapping against his stomach. Sighing, Felix’s body twitched at the loss of contact while you kissed up his abdomen, gently guiding him to scoot further up the bed and lay down. “Wanna try something new?” You say against the skin of his chest and teething lightly at his collar bones.

“New?” he murmured back only half paying attention because of how hot he felt now that you soaking crotch hovered over his.

“In a way. I think you’ll like it though, don’t worry baby. Trust me?”

Felix nodded rapidly and bit his already swollen lips, “trust you.”

Just to keep him on his toes, you crawled back down his body again and planted short but sweet kisses to the inside of his ankles, all the while looking up at him through your lashes. He kept wide eyes in anticipation, growing curiouser and curiouser with every touch of your lips up the length of his skin. As you hiked his knees up to his chest, Felix’s breath hitched. You didn’t dilly dally much longer as your own growing need was becoming overwhelming, simply licking a long, fat stripe from the rim of his ass to his balls, sucking them in for a second and moving to tower over him again. Felix had no idea what to do other than moan at everything you did to him.

He felt exposed with how you looked him up and down, was this how you always felt being below him? Either way, he loved it. He loved the excited glimmer in your eyes and how your nails were already digging into the bottoms of his thighs. He loved how soft your skin felt, the slight dizziness of the alcohol, and how that made him have tunnel vision for you and only you, more than he already did if that was even possible.

You opened his knees up, instructing him to keep them there as you took his cock in hand, giving him a few slow strokes. “Relax, pretty kitty. Gonna make you feel good, okay?”

“Hurry– need you,” he mewled even more, growing impatient the longer you teased yourself with his red, flared tip.

Laughing lightly, you raised yourself higher and positioned him at your entrance and sunk down, slowly until your thighs pressed against the bottoms of his. The unconventional position opened up a whole new world of pleasure, not just for you, but him as well. Though usually he leaned more on the submissive side, Felix always loved to prove himself to you by doing most of the work in bed. 

The tip of his cock fit snug against your sweet spot, not even having to try to aim for it this way. The both of you were already losing your voices moaning, but as you lifted your hips back and slammed back into him, Felix’s eyes rolled back and you knew he was done for. You felt like you were floating despite continuously ramming your body against him.

How brainless he felt, getting fucked without actually getting fucked, and getting fucked hard. The only thing that could’ve made this better was if you were kissing him. Though, he understood why you couldn’t, too lost in your own pleasure to think about that right now. You made up for it by just continuing to use him, disregard him as if he were just a cock to fuck and get yourself off on. That part was unintentional, however, you didn’t stop there.

You pushed your body weight forward, leaning onto him by the backs of his thighs and using gravity to rock into him with every upstroke. If the sound of your skin slapping together didn’t give away what was happening, his moans sure as hell did. And Felix not so silently loved every second of it. He felt vulnerable and filthy and sweaty and intoxicated and so, so enamored. Together for who knows how long and you still never fail to amaze him.

Just that in mind, along with how pussy drunk he was, he was reaching his end much quicker than he’d hoped, but you just felt too good not to blow. You were creeping towards your own and well on your way, clit grinding up and down the top of his cock every time you rolled your hips.

Initially, you were afraid he’d reject your idea, seeing as it might’ve been uncomfortable and he had every right to say no, which you were prepared for. But oh how far from that you were now. Now, even if you weren’t so much focused on his pleasure as you were yours, you could see his belly contracting and attempting to force the high down just to keep up. “Go ahead, baby. Cum. I won’t be mad,” you say with as much brain power as you can muster, seeing as it’s getting harder and harder not to cum, yourself.

His voice, having been whiney and high all night, suddenly dropped into the lower register and bounced along with your tempo, along with his tongue drooping out the corner of his mouth. You took it upon yourself to stick two fingers in your mouth and then pop it into his, his tongue loving the weight and even more that you shoved them in and out in time with your hips. That must’ve been the cherry on top, having something to suck on, Felix attempted to say, “cum– cumming, ah– fuck!”

He let himself go with an extraordinarily loud cry, cum coating his entire dick as you ceased to slow down insearch of your own orgasm. Overstimulated and exhausted, Felix shuddered and was on the verge of tears but couldn’t stop moaning. He held onto your wrists that pinned his knees in place, needing something more to ground him. It burned so painfully good, for both of you. You, with your high on the tip of your tongue and Felix, teetering of either passing out or crying but loving it so much.

But he did neither of those, when you reached your orgasm, it somehow strung one more from him as well, dry and white hot. Your cunt clenched and pulsed so tightly around him that Felix felt like he was almost suffocating within you and if he were to die now, he couldn’t have been happier. It didn’t feel as though your orgasm subsided when you looked down to find your boyfriend with his eyes rolling back, sweaty and red in the face that bled down to his chest, something straight out of a porno.

Letting his now flaccid cock keep you plugged, you leaned over and sweetly kissed his lips, close-lipped and gentle and all too chaste for the events that just occurred. You guided his legs back down and maneuvered to straddle him, somehow doing so without spilling any of his cum and laying your body weight onto his chest. Felix immediately wrapped his arms around you and tipped your bodies over to lay more comfortably.

The room was quiet aside from the both of your heavy breaths and the occasional smack of your lips coming together and breaking apart. “I think I had a sugar high,” Felix muttered into your hair.

You laughed at the random comment, “I think that was more than a sugar high.”

“No, really! How the fuck did you do that?”

“I told you that you’d like it.”

“We need to do that again. I’m so, so serious.” Felix peered down at you, eyes big and suddenly wide awake.

“I don’t think you’ll have to wait too long, baby.” You consoled him, reaching up and stroking his cheek to ask for another kiss. The deep rumble of your belly made the both of you break out into giggles. “Hungry,” you mutter against him.

“Me too.”

“But I’ll be cold if I get up.”

“I’ll come with you.”

You hummed happily, slowly pulling away so that he fell from your pussy as gently as possible but both winced anyway. You were going to get up, but just had to take one last look at him in his post nut glow, “pretty kitty,” you whisper and give him another quick peck.

Digging through his dresser, you stole a pair of his clean boxers and slipped them on, tossing one his way before he followed you. You were about to open the door when you felt the dripping feeling of his cum and ran to grab a napkin to catch it. Felix took it upon himself to leave the room first, not thinking anything of it when he walked into the living room with you on his tail. Then he stopped and you ran face first into his bare back.

“Ack– what the fu–”

Felix was suddenly spinning you around and quickly pushing you back into the bedroom and shutting the door behind him. “What are you–”

“We can never show our faces in public ever again,” he said with a straight expression.

“Why?” You raise your eyebrow.

“Because there's seven of our friends in our living room drinking our alcohol and eating our chocolate and I don’t know why.”

“So why can’t we show our faces in public?”

“Because I’m 100% sure they heard everything we just did.”

The choked gag you let out had you falling back onto the bed, laughing away the embarrassment until he chucked a t-shirt at you with giggles of his own. “They’re your bandmates! You go talk to them,” you encouraged.

“I can’t! I can never look them in the eyes ever again.” Felix slid another shirt over his head as he paced back and forth. “If you go out there, then they can’t say anything because then it’ll be like they’re the weird ones for listening.”

“Okay, okay.” 

Confidently, you shrugged on some sweats for extra decency out of embarrassment and let yourself out into the living room where the seven pairs of eyes avoided your gaze entirely. “Did you at least order food if you’re gonna drink all my alcohol?” You sat yourself on the floor, stealing the rum you were drinking earlier from Jisung– who looked even more disgruntled as you took a sip.

It was silent for a moment before Changbin, leaning into an uneasy Hyunjin on the couch, “Chinese.”

“Nice. I’m starving.”

“How did you get him to make that noise?” Minho on the other side of the coffee table spoke up, seeming genuinely curious. Suddenly all of them seemed interested.

“I think I’d rather die than share that information.”

“At least tell us the position,” he pressed, “for educational purposes.”

It didn’t look like any of them were going to drop the matter. “Why are you all in my house?”

“Felix texted the group chat earlier this afternoon to come over… for game night…” Chan murmured and held up his phone with the group chat, acting a shield for Seungmin and Jeongin to avert their eyes. As you looked around the room, you saw the board for monopoly on the coffee table and all the pieces scattered about. You raised an eyebrow, confused as to when he did that and how they all agreed that tonight of all nights would be game night without bothering to tell you. Then, you turned back to the room to see your boyfriend standing in the doorway, face red as an apple, and not the glowy kind. "I do not remember doing that..."

You could tell he knew he was guilty just by the way he stood, shoulders shrugged and eyes round. Looking back at the group, you deadpanned, “on his back, his legs up and dick pointed do–”

He ran to pick you up and carry you back to the bedroom, echoes of laughter filling the apartment as the doorbell rang, “my Chinese food!” But Felix had already locked the two of you away for who knows what punishments to come.

-

A/N: if someone could enlighten me and tell me the name of this position id actually really love to know...research purposes

tags: @sensitiveandhungry @babebatter @aliferousminho @changbinluvr @epiphanynaffit @fawnpeaks @linovely @dumplinbokkieracha @finnydraws @naturules @djeniryuu @hamburgers101 @skzhomiehopper @yesv01 @hyunjinsamdl @angelica-erin-caelius @dazzlingligth @lvrmin @alexis-reads-fics @linaliskz @0002linoskitten @chillichillicrabcrab23 @mercurezed @zerefdragn33l @straycrescent @binnies-donuts @soldierstangirl-blog @bakedlilgoonie @levanterlily @shelbyyy44

[oh-stars]

Lilies & Lavender

Lavender

a Stobin Month 2024 prompt | 712 words | CW: assumed cheating, lavender marriage, nosy neighbors | Rating: G

--

“Mrs. Grayfield thinks you’re cheating on me,” Robin says as she hands him another bag of soil. 

Steve snorts, swiping at his face with the back of his gloved hand to brush off the dirt he knows he feels on his face. “She always thinks someone’s cheating,” he says. He rips open the bag of soil and starts adding it to the new pots they just bought for the porch. “Remember when she made that big fuss about the Levinsons? Turns out, they had their extended family living with them for some time.”

“Yeah, but this time she has, like, actual evidence,” Robin says, grunting with the effort of moving the new lilies they’d picked up that morning. “Tell me again why we’re not putting these beautiful plants in our actual garden?” 

“Our flower beds get too much shade,” Steve says. “I want to see how they do in the pots out here first before we commit to rearranging the back flower beds.” He squints up at her. “You were the one who said the porch was missing something.” 

She shrugs. “I was more so thinking we could freshen up the upholstery on the bench.” 

Steve waves her off. “This is better.” He takes the flower from her and together they replant it in its new home, a massive flower pot that’ll take up a good chunk of space on their porch. “What evidence does she have?” 

“Evidence?” 

“You said she had evidence I was cheating?” 

“Oh!” Robin giggles. “She saw Chrissy leaving the other morning.” 

Steve laughs and shakes his head. “This is why I think Ed and Chris should just move into the place around the corner. Then we wouldn’t have to explain the cars to anyone.” 

“But then Chrissy would lose her bay window,” Robin says, “and I am not prepared to deal with her losing that window.” 

“I think you both would live.” 

“And can you imagine if Eddie has to deal with noise complaints every other day?” 

Steve groans and grabs the next plant to place beside the first lily. “You’re right, it's a horrible idea.” 

Robin’s quiet while they finish transferring the lilies to their new pots, all eight of them neatly planted in the two pots to frame their porch steps where they can get the most sun possible. “Should we get a divorce?” 

“We could, but what’s the point? It’s not legal to marry who we actually want to marry and the benefits we get from being married are too good to pass up on. And personally,” Steve says as he takes off his gloves to actually scratch at his face, “I don’t feel like dealing with the headache of splitting our assets unless we need to.” 

“Good point.” 

“Plus,” Steve smirks, “if we’re divorced, we can’t use the spouse excuse.” 

Robin beams. The spouse excuse is something all four of them use to get out of things, sure, but for Steve and Robin, they like to remind their partners of who they’re actually married to from time to time. It’s the best way to keep their sacred sleepovers – no one can argue that a husband and wife are meant to spend the night together. 

She looks at their hard work. The lily pots still need to be moved to where they’ll actually be sitting, the white flowers bright against the terracotta pots. “Do you think it clashes with the lavender?” She motions to the lavender plants lining their flower bed and the paved path that connects to their driveway. 

Steve shakes his head. “And even if it did, it’s only temporary.” 

“What time’s Eddie coming over?”

“Three. We have to leave by four to get to the concert though. You sure you two don’t want to come with?” Steve asks. 

Robin hums. “I think we’ll pass. I want some quiet one-on-one time with her before the anniversary trip, you know?” 

Steve nods, but out of the corner of his eye, he sees Mrs. Grayfield watching from her own garden. He leans over and kisses her cheek. “Sounds wonderful, dear,” he says a little louder. “My dearest wife, would you mind grabbing the hose so we can water the flowers?” 

She catches on quick, grin impossibly wider. “Anything for you, darling husband of mine.”

--

Thank you @lady-lostmind for beta reading!

Ao3 Link

[aliaology]

THE BEST DAY

summary: older hughes sister and her mama ellen hughes ⭐️

pairings: ellen hughes x daughter!hughes!reader

fluff fluff fluff its also lowkey so bad n short

five years old

it was getting cold in toronto. your big coat fell to your knees as you looked up at your mom with a big grin on your face. she held your seven month old brother as your father held quinn’s hands, helping him skate.

you carefully moved around on the ice, scared to fall. you do well for a solid few seconds before falling straight on your butt, causing your mom to laugh.

instead of crying, you look up smiling at her, immediately getting up from the ice. you quickly skate past her before slipping again. another laugh erupts from your mothers throat.

the sky is slowly turning gold as it sets, signaling it was time to go home. you whine as your mom takes your skates off.

your dad holds baby jack now. quinn is sitting beside you, legs kicking back and forth as he waits for help. your mom slides your boots on and immediately you get off the bench, hugging her legs with a whine.

“i dont want to leave yet.” you groaned. your words muffled due to her pants. she just chuckled and helped quinn.

then, on the ride home, you were fast asleep.

when you woke up, you still had five minutes left until you got home, and both quinn and jack were asleep.

you wondered why the trees changed colors over time, watching them as you passed by each and every one.

you also wondered how your mom wasnt scared that your dad was driving, he speeds!

you rub your eyes.

“i had the best day today” you yawned.

thirteen years old

your friends were mean. really mean. they kicked you from the lunch table, stopped inviting you to hangouts. every class you had with them, they’d ignore you or leave you alone during partner projects.

it came to the point where you were crying as you got home. you opened the door, tears falling down your cheeks as you threw your bag to the floor.

upon hearing the sound, your mother rushed towards you. “hey, hey, honey whats wrong?” she asked.

she immediately pulled you into an embrace. you cried on her shoulder, “why are they all so mean mama? im nothing but nice!” you cried.

she sighed and held you tight. when she pulled away, her hands stayed on your shoulders. “lets go for a drive, okay?” she spoke.

you nodded and wiped your tears as she grabbed the keys.

you both drove and drove until you were a few towns away, where no one would know you guys. you talked, and talked, and talked.

you told her everything that had been going on. everything that they were saying and doing to you. after ranting, she took you window shopping until you forgot all of their names.

when you made it home, you got scared. who were you gonna talk to at school? but then you remembered, you still have the laughter when you’re with your mom.

it may take awhile to feel better but,

“i had the best day with you.” you told.

you have an excellent father. one whos strength makes you stronger. one whos smarts may not always be at its peak but hits it every now and then. one whos cared for you to his very core.

you have perfect younger brothers, who you believe are better than you, inside and out. but altogether you guys are a perfect family.

you grew up in a pretty home, one where you had space to run and hide, and call yours. one where you were able to paint your room a bright pink.

and that place, was where you had the best days of your life.

twenty five years old

you were searching through your old stuff. there you found a camera and immediately you got to charging it. you were three, your mother was still pregnant with quinn.

she set up your paint set in the kitchen, knowing it’d be easier to pick up. in the video, she talked to you. asked what you were painting. to which you responded, “a princess!”

it was a bad painting of a princess on a pirate ship, a really bad painting. so bad, you laughed through your tears as you watched it in your lonesome apartment.

the camera zoomed in to your mother, your father obviously being the one to take the video. shes the prettiest lady in the whole wide world.

now you know why the trees change colors. you know your mother was on your side, even when you were wrong, like when you pushed a kid for calling a teacher ‘stupid’ in the fourth grade.

you were grateful for her, for her watching you shine and become who you were today. you dont know if she knows, but, you always had the best days with her.

ynhughes

liked by elblue_06, jackhughes and others

ynhughes you always know how to make me laugh. miss u mama, better visit more

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is this like.,, good..,

tags; @slaythehousebootsdown13 , @outrunangelss , @um-mads , @bqbylon , @whoreforthehughesbrothers , @p3nislawd , @queenmendes , @absolutelyhugh3s , @hockeyboysarehot ,

[okkotsuus]

lost (michael k.) !

very unedited and very spur of the moment, kaiser brainrot, fluffy, alcohol, idk how many words

kaiser’s a little shit, but he was your little shit. so that would explain why you’re racing down the streets of tokyo to find him.

he had gone out to the bar with his friends to celebrate a win and you had stayed home to finish a report.

but alexis had called you up voice shaking as he explained that he could not find your boyfriend at the club. your heart fell as you calmed him down and threw on shoed while grabbing your keys.

you got into the car and called kaiser about three times before he picked up.

“hello baby!!” he was so earnestly chipper, voice slurring. alcohol always took off the teasing edge that he so meticulously put up. you heaved out a sigh of relief as you put the phone on speaker and started the car.

“michael, i was so worried-”

“are you mad? i’m sorry…” he let out a sniffle from the other line. right, alcohol also got him emotional. you chuckled as you fastened your seatbelt, further laughing as he whined.

“don’ laugh ‘t me, meanie” you could just hear his lip jutting out as his cheeks puffed.

“i’m sorry baby, can you tell me where you are?” you pulled out of your parking space and began to glide down the street, speeding up with an urgency. he’s famous, it’s very dangerous for him to be alone and inebriated on the streets of tokyo.

you heard a confused groan and shuffling from the other side before he answered. “i don’t really know, don’ live in japan.”

you just sighed as you pulled over, picking up the phone again. “babe, i’m gonna facetime you, can you show me your surroundings?” he let out an eager ‘mhm!’ as you hit the video call button.

you were met with the sight of michael’s flushed face as he tried to press the button the flip the camera. huffs were coming out of his pursed lips as he furrowed his brows and tried to squint his eyes to see better. he was so frustrated he didn’t have his glasses right then.

“got it!” he was so happy as he pointed the camera around, pausing on any visible signs. you saw a convenience store you recognized and began to pull out of the temporary parking spot.

“thank you so much, you did so great” your honey words had him giggling as he turned the camera back to his face. eyes sparkling and cheeks painted a deeper rosey hue. he was so pretty in the moonlight with his eyes all big and doey.

“miss you, please hurry m’love” you felt your heart swell as your foot ticked a little further down against the gas peddle, engine roaring in response.

“miss you too baby. why’d you even leave the club, alexis was worried sick.” you heard a huff as he looked away from the screen.

as you turned the second to last corner he mumbled out a response. you asked him to repeat it since you didn’t hear.

“…wanted t’ see you, tried t’walk home…”

your heart couldn’t take this as a fond smile made its way to your face while you turned the last corner. seeing him standing off to the side, swaying while holding his phone. he looked so soft.

“that’s so sweet baby, could’ve just asked me to get’cha though” you said from your rolled down window as you pulled up next to him.

his smile was so bright as he greeted you, pressing a sloppy kiss to your cheek before going around to the passenger side. you hung up the call as you helped him with his seatbelt. unable to see the warm smile on his face as his eyes filled with adoration.

you pulled out and began to go home, turning to him. but he was already asleep. curled up towards you like plants do to the sun. his eyelashes fluttered in his sleep as he softly mumbled your name. yes, he was a little shit. but he was your little shit.

okotsuus 23

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

So Pigeon Washing Machine Man, Huh?

Sometimes you may have heard me mention a character by the name of Pigeon Washing Machine Man, or Pigeon Man for short. Often I haven’t mentioned very good things, but I haven’t really gone in depth about who that guy is or why he’s so.. despicable. No more! I will now finally share with you the story of Pigeon Man, and the most unsettling nightmare I’ve had in my life.

Okay, first to set the context of the dream. You know those creepy videos that sometimes circle around, a la I Feel Fantastic? A brand new one was making waves in Internet circles. An arts and crafts tutorial, that somehow hid a dark secret inside it, at least that’s how the rumours went. I decided to give it a watch on YouTube: the very first clip at the beginning of the video was of a large, bright yellow claymation slug crawling on what appeared to be an empty bed frame. A cheery voice spoke, “arts and crafts can be a great way to spend your spare time!” That was about the only normal thing I heard in the entire dream. As my eyes were glued to the screen, my perception began to shift…

I was there. In the blink of an eye, without realising how or when, I suddenly found myself in a dimly lit, empty apartment. The main room was without any furniture, and all the windows were covered with thick curtains. No lights were on, only the small amount of natural light available. On the very back, there appeared to be a new room, with several glass doors and windows leading up to it but covered with red curtains like at a theater. On the other side of the hall, a kitchen. And in there was a man! A very average-looking brown-haired pale man in a long-sleeved shirt, he was always smiling and spoke in an overly enthusiastic YouTuber voice. I inferred from context clues that expecting guests over to his house. I had to infer this, as the man himself spoke complete nonsense — he either said phrases with no meaning entirely, or would replace words in otherwise appropriate sentences with incorrect ones. Two things I recall were him talking about pigeon washing machines (there’s the name!) and how the "guests should've died already" when he really meant they should've arrived.

The apartment, as mentioned, mostly consisted of a grey, empty "ballroom" with stairs leading downstairs in the middle, with three rooms connected to it. The bedroom, which was empty save for a single empty bed frame where the gigantic slug crawled, the bathroom with a single bathtub, where the robot "Police" told Pigeon man to clean before guests arrived. Police took the form of a rainbow-coloured screen with a pixelated face that took up my entire field of vision. The kitchen I could not enter. At the edges of my vision I could see people in strange costumes enter and disappear. They would walk in from the doors at the other side of the big room, and vanish into another door. My entire vision was also bombarded with floating colourful balls, strings, and other strange shapes.

Soon enough, guests arrived. All were children, from preschool age to my own age (I was about 17 at the time of the dream), and sometimes their clothes were covered in blood. Pigeon man didn't seem to care at all or mind. Every time I tried to look back the blood was gone, we were all just sort of.. waiting for something. At one point, before guests had arrived at all, I was walking behind Pigeon man, when he suddenly turned around and looked at me in the eyes. I was nervous, so I smiled at him. His response was to smile even wider with his teeth.

Eventually I had had enough of this horrible place where I could never shake off the feeling of dread! Me and some other girls my age decided we'd get the hell out of there. We descended down the ballroom stairs to a very large dark room, similar to an indoor car park. We ran in the cool, dark and empty space towards a light that seemed to be shining from under a door. Freedom was so close... except, recall how this whole thing happened in a video? The video rewinded, and I was back in the house of Pigeon man. Except, this time the staircase was gone. There was nowhere to go now.

I was beginning to panic, and right before my breaking point Pigeon man finally unveiled what he had been preparing the whole time: it was a group of people, all smiling and welcoming us! There were the people in the silly costumes, like animal and muppet costumes, there were my parents, and there seemed to be the parents of the other children, too. He wasn’t evil at all, I could see then, he had just tried to prepare this wonderful party for all of us! Relieved to see our families, me and the other guests rushed over for a happy reunion. I could see myself in third person talking and laughing. This is when a deep-voiced, disembodied narrator piped in. "But what they didn't expect," a high-pitched violin cue got louder, "was death."

Black. Everything went black. And that’s when I woke up.

[sexy-opium-ravioli]

Photo Booth

Universe: Resident Evil

wc: 1,791

Pairing: Stepbro!Leon S. Kennedy x Reader

Warnings: Not many, just the fact that Leon is your stepbrother and he is .5 of a little shit. Otherwise, this is a good, old fashioned fluff piece.

a/n: Hihi hello hello :) I've been trying to claw my way out of depression for a while, but here's some cute Leon content in the meantime!

@lipglossanon !! thank you for being such a wonderful writer, honestly reading you has been really inspiring as of late! and your characterization of the Leons you have are among my very favorite.

It not my best work by any means, but I hope anyone reading this enjoys <3

--

The liminal space of a mall was the place where you could see through a person, like light through glass. You'd get to see what stores they prefer to go to, what mall food they like to eat (or if they can't), what they buy vs what they don't. 

Or sometimes, as is the case with you and your weird, pseudo-freudian stepbrother-boyfriend Leon, you just get boba and mess around. 

There were other things you'd like to do with him, sure. Sometimes you two would catch a movie- or fuck each other until you're both sensitive and whimpering (as young lovers often do). Really depended on the day. 

But it was earlier in the morning and it was a free, clear Saturday, in the haze of a temperate spring. And, the last couple of days were kind of stressful. Keeping up separate social lives, exams, dealing with your shared parents- sometimes just being apart from each other was okay.

You were starting to suspect something in Leon. You didn't know what it was, really. Everything was in a haze with him- truer emotions he always hid behind something snarky and barbed. And since you could never really get an accurate read on him, you could only try to squint in the dark and decipher the signs in front of you. 

Still, something foundational was shifting. And there was a strange feeling in your stomach that had been there all morning, and it wasn't bad, per se; but it was constant and unusual. You sipped on your boba and started chewing. 

You and Leon were both sitting on public benches. The time was before most of the retail shops started setting up, only the food court was open. You laid your head on Leon's shoulder and closed your eyes while you both soaked in the sun's warmth. 

The mall was bright and quiet, not many were there yet. You still felt a bit sleepy, but it didn't seem like Leon minded resting either. There was a difference in the emotions you feel someone going through when you rest your head on their shoulder- and the way Leon's was giving into the weight of your head spelled relaxation. The both of you spent a bit of your morning like this. You lifted your head and glanced at how the sunlight reflected off of Leon's golden hair. How it also cut a shadow at the curve of his jaw. 

"You wanna walk around?" You asked with your voice low, not wanting to disrupt the quiet, alive whirring of the building. Leon looked at you, smiled a bit and nodded his head before getting up. 

When you caught up to pace with him, you decided to annoy him and cross pinkies. He retaliated by taking hold of your entire hand, and you tried not to make a big deal about it. Your heart was starting to beat really fast, though. 

You thought he would let go after a couple of seconds. He didn't. 

Exiting the first floor common area to the escalators surrounding it, you both enjoyed the warmth of a second floor perch. Leon hasn't let go of your hand yet, but you were joking around about other people you were seeing at the mall, or the vaguely strange sale ads you'd see posted on windows. 

It was light, conversation felt easy for once.

And then Leon saw something, and you watched the way his eyes captured a glint of absolute mischief. 

Your eyes followed the laser point focus of his- and oh. 

Oh. 

A photo booth. 

And before you knew it, the distance between you and the box was already halved from Leon practically yanking your arm off. It didn't hurt, so all you could do was laugh. 

Walking up to it, Leon already got his wallet out and was feeding the machine bills. You decided to slip in and look around inside. All photo booths look different- this one was pretty new and sparkly. 

Not long after, Leon swept the curtains and stepped in with a mean smirk. You got yourself ready, trying to make yourself look alright while Leon selected to start through the menu. 

You always felt a weird sort of anxiety in photo booths. They never gave anybody enough time to actually prepare for a photo, but Leon was already doing someth- "Hey-!"

He quickly stepped behind you, caged you in his arms, gave two hand horns, and made such a twisted face he actually did kind of resemble the devil, because in his heart of hearts, Leon S. Kennedy was a dork. 

You decided that if he was going to suffocate you with all the muscle he was trying to show off, you were going to get a picture of biting it. 

The bite wasn't too hard, but the quick noise that Leon gave was mostly out of being startled anyways. He quickly retaliated by flicking your arm before posing for the next- 

"Let's do a nicer one," you interject, quietly and quickly. You both prepare and in time, you're smiling together while Leon has his arm draped over your shoulders. It all happened so quickly and concisely that the warm feeling you got in your stomach from all the affectionate, silly, friendly contact was delayed. 

The countdown started again. Leon almost shoved you in front of him, but instead of putting his arms over your chest and neck and face, (being annoying about it), he placed them gently over your waist. And then when the camera flashed, he was kissing your cheek. 

You turned around in his arms, not really caring about the photos anymore. But he was the one that leaned down and kissed you gingerly, and with meaning. His lips were always so soft and smooth against yours-

The camera flashed. You two were together a little longer, and then you both separated. It was a few long seconds where time just stopped, and you could swear that if you opened the curtain and tried to find one of the rare morning pedestrians of the mall, they would be left unmoving. 

But all you could do was look at Leon. It didn't help that he was so pretty. But there was this weird flash of emotion in his eyes, that same one you couldn't read and he wasn't looking away-

The camera flash made you both jump a little, and then Leon gave a quiet, nervous laugh to himself that sparked yours. He looked at you again, an upward pull of his lips that didn't seem too mean anymore. "Better get those photos," 

"Yeah," you offer back, already leaving the booth. He followed you, and not long after, the booth started to give out a noise before producing two copies of the same strip. Leon quickly snatched them before you could even hope to grab them, and he held them out of your view after that. 

"Leon," He was snickering. That pretty smile he hasn't dropped for 5 minutes now has had its teasing quality reapplied. Irritation quickly bubbles back up in your throat. 

"Ugh, Leon, you-" He does that little shit older brother thing where he lets the strip creep just into your reach before yanking it away a couple of times, but he doesn't do it too much. He gives you one of the copies after starting to giggle at you. 

You shake your head, ready to be embarrassed at your own face or maybe even his, and- well, the first photo has you laughing. Your head is tilted backward and your eyes are closed, and the laughs pour out of your throat like smooth wine. 

"Leon you're such a dork,-"

"Oh ok! And we're not gonna talk about the absolutely feral thing latching itself to my arm-," 

"Noo~, we're not," You interrupt teasingly, and you take a look back at the pictures. The air swiftly changes from playful, easy and teasing to meaningful, endearing- kind of tense in a way. Leon looked beautiful, and you looked nice too, and now you just noticed that Leon is right behind you actively gauging your reaction. 

The third photo was almost too sweet and intimate to look at publicly, and you could feel the tips of your ears start to heat up. Leon's face is mostly obscured, sure, but the way you react to why it's obscured is so sweet and genuine it kind of embarrasses you. Your lips try to hide a smile and your eyes are cast downward and away from Leon- low, but not closed. One of your arms rests on the lean coils of muscle wrapped around your center, while the other reaches up for your hand to rest on his head. 

The fourth makes you inhale a little sharper, and you can now feel the high part of your cheekbones heat with your ears. Leon's chin is resting on your shoulder now, and you can't even imagine the shit-eating grin he must be wearing on his face. Well, both of your faces can't be seen by the camera, if that's any consolation to your poor, heated skin- you might melt ice at this point. 

You don't know why it has you so weirdly dizzy, but maybe it's the way Leon looks so boyish, almost soft kissing you. His head is so slightly tilted, and the way his body curls around yours is just so engaged-

The fifth one is sweet in a different way. It makes your heart instantly crackle and spark for hope, which any sort of tired rationality your dopamine abused brain has left is probably screaming at. 

There's that fear in your chest, but there's no denying the fact that there's a light glimmering in Leon's sea glass eyes that you haven't seen from him too many times. 

It's a look that makes your entire body feel warm, like your skin is being pricked by needles. At this point, you've stopped looking at the photos altogether and buried your face in your hands. It makes Leon's chin lift off your shoulder, and you hear a chuckle come from him, but nothing sarcastic. 

"C'mon, stores are opening soon, weirdo," And when he says that you realize that there's warmth behind his words. You lift your head and look at him, and he's scratching his nose but- is he blushing too? Oh. 

Oh. 

He is. 

Probably not as scorching hot as you, but still. He starts walking, you start walking with him. And then, he takes your hand like that entire thing just didn't happen, and you find that you can't really stop smiling. Even if you reduce it to the smallest pull of your lips, it's still on your face for a while longer. 

--

[xlovingcupcakex]

M!Kylar x GN!Reader - Thief of Heart (Part 1)

Basically the Kylar and police officer Reader. It basically counts as intro, since it was getting long, and I don't know how to add reasonable timeskips, so this story will have two parts instead. In the next part Kylar will try his damnest to romance Reader, so even more fluff coming up I guess.

4.150 words. Fluff, shouldn't be any triggers.

“Hey, Kid! Give that back!” 

You turned around, looking at the commotion. 

A man was screaming after what looked like a teen and it was all you needed to know before your legs moved by themselves, sprinting after the kid. The kid ran out of the park and into commercial alleyways, with your form chasing after them. They were fast.  

It didn’t take long before you stumbled on an abandoned alleyway. You would have thought that the kid ran in a completely different direction, if it wasn’t for the fact that you had a lot of experience chasing after kids, considering how many of them committed theft and how many of them would use the alleyways as a place to hide.  

You stood in place and evened out your breathing. Then, you slowly tiptoed deeper into the alley, listening after any potential sounds. The kids would always get nervous. And when they thought they were good to go, they would run. You decided to use that to your advantage.  

You took out your cuffs, preparing yourself. You noticed the kid a few meters away, to the left, hiding the best they could behind the big thrash containers. Their small form was almost completely overshadowed. Combined with their dark clothing and hoodie covering their face, it would have been a problem for you to notice them. If you weren’t well trained and didn’t have a lot of experience, that is.  

A few more steps and you purposefully gave them a small window of space, a chance to escape. The kids’ now a days carried around all kinds of stuff, ranging from knifes, to pepper spray (which was illegal) to even batons or whips. 

Sadly, as a police officer without any special rank, you only had your hands and a simple teaser. As one could imagine, using the teaser on a kid felt wrong, for some reason. So, you had to be more sneaky about it instead, opting for caching them off guard, when they would be the most vulnerable. 

They took the chance almost immediately, taking the chance to run for their life. You were faster than them, grabbing them by the scruff of their black hoodie and pulling them towards you. They lost their balance and would have fallen down, if it wasn’t for the fact that you swiftly caught their wrist, effectively cuffing it with the shackles. Letting go of them, you used your newly freed hand to cuff them to yourself.  

“That’s it, Kid. You better stay on your best behavior.” you said, your strict voice booming in the alleyway. You grabbed their hand roughly as they cried, begging for you to let them go and trashing around. A few steps away laid a small wallet. The one the kid stole, you presumed. At some point they trashed around so much their hood of their hoodie fell down, exposing their head and face.  

A simple band aid under their right eye, right on their cheek. Messy hair, medium length, black. Bright, teary green eyes stared at your unamused form. Bitten, trembling and chapped lower lip. Looked really young. Maybe 15? Couldn’t be taller than 160-165cm. 

With a roll of your eyes, you pulled them up and dragged them back to the park, their squealing and wailing could be heard by anyone in the vicinity. A few minutes later you found the man who was screaming earlier.  

You reached out your hand to give back the wallet. But all the man did was snatch it from your hand aggressively, muttering complains under his breath at how you were slow.  

The man moved his gaze to the kid beside you, the small thief, giving a disappointed and angry look. “I hope that little fucker gets taught a lesson.” he said, before turning on his heel and walking away. 

“Such a drama queen,” you thought. “A thank you would be nice.” you finished, rolling your eyes, gaze naturally turning back to the child beside you. Wasn’t there an announcement at the police station with someone who looked familiar? What was their name again? 

Now, getting a good look at the kid... they did look really small and skinny. Your heart sank a little, thinking that the kid probably wanted to steal money to buy food. You guessed you would let it slide this time.  

The poor kid tried to make themselves smaller than they already were under your scorching gaze. It’s obvious they were nervous. Silent tears fell down their cheeks, eyes glistening as they sniffed and dried one of their cheeks with their sleeve.  

“Come, Kid. We’ve got things to do.” 

Defeated, they trailed after you as you walked ahead, eyes focused on their feet. Time seemed to blur for the kid as you dragged them to the nearest grocery store, buying food.  

Kylar couldn't help but think that it must be some kind of joke. That you are just dragging out the time to make him more nervous, maybe you took pleasure in his uneasiness. He knew he would get in trouble if he got caught this time. But he had to! He had his reasons. 

His confusion only grew as you dragged him towards Danube Street, were you dragging out the way to the police station? 

He was even more surprised when you dragged him to your house, trying your best to find the damned keys to your home even with the groceries in your hand. Good thing you caught Kylar right before your shift ended.  

Stepping in, you didn’t even bother taking off your shoes, just going straight into the kitchen. You put back the bag on the counter and immediately put on the kettle, grabbing out two cups, preparing them ready for some tea. To say Kylar was confused was an understatement. What were you doing? You being quiet didn’t help him as well. Were you going to do something to him? All he could do was stand motionlessly by your side as you almost dragged him around like a ragdoll as you moved around the kitchen. His heartbeat sped up. 

You made two sandwiches just as the kettle started to whistle, signaling that the water was ready. Puring water into the cups you didn’t hesitate to put them down on the table along with the sandwiches. You pushed the plate towards Kylar. 

“You should eat, Kid. I’ll let you off easy today,” you gestured for him to take the sandwich, taking the other one with your free hand, leaning slightly against the table. Kylar, although shyly, took the sandwich and started to take small bites, cheeks full of food, as he stared down at the table, avoiding your gaze. “Instead, I’m going to have ‘the talk’ with you.” you took a bite of your food, getting ready to scold him for what he did earlier.  You looked at his small, skinny form. 

“Now, I don’t know your situation and I know the town doesn’t offer a lot of help. Judging by... What I saw so far, if you need food or something of the like, you can come here and visit, okay? I’ll take care of the food. Just... Don’t steal anymore. You got a future ahead of you. Understood, Kid?” your eyes trailed off to how well he had eaten his sandwich. Was he maybe still hungry? The tea was untouched. You pushed the cup towards him. Kylar couldn’t help but look straight at you, cheeks slightly flushed. 

“I’ll uncuff the shackles and I’ll make some proper food and I want you to sit still, okay? I’m not letting a kid go hungry, especially since it looks like it’s been a while since you’ve had a good, homemade meal. I doubt the sandwich was enough, anyway.” 

You delicately unlocked the shackles, letting it hang on your wrist for a few seconds before you unlocked the other half, freeing your wrist. You put the cuffs back into your work pants. 

“Drink the tea before it goes cold. If you prefer something sweet, I might have some juice or maybe a soft drink somewhere.” 

Kylar’s body relaxed slightly as his wrist was freed from the shackles. He rubbed at his wrist. No marks. He was anxious. Uncomfortable silence fell as he drank his tea. 

Too bitter. His face scrunched up like a rabbit’s. He grabbed the nearby sugar, adding an unhealthy dose of the white stuff and using the small teaspoon to mix. A content expression graced his face as the sweet taste enveloped him. You chuckled at the scene out of the corner of your eye.  

He perked up right away, cheeks dusted. You turned around just as he tried to sneak a glance at you. You were peeling the potatoes effortlessly with your knife, some potatoes already in the pot. 

“Come help me after you finish drinking your tea. I’ll show you how.” was all you said, focused on your task. 

With a big swing, Kylar drank everything in few nosy gulps and dried his mouth with his sleeve, before standing up and walking up to your side, gently tugging at your clothes as a sign to get your attention. You gently instructed him to slice the spring onions. “Finely chop the white part and put it to the side. Then roughly chop the green part.” 

He did as told while you salted and boiled the potatoes. You took out two chicken breasts from the fridge, cutting them up and seasoning them. Kylar couldn’t help but steal glances at you, smitten with how elegant you looked while using your knife. “Have you cooked a chicken breast before?” Kylar shook his head.  

You gestured for him to come closer with your index finger. “Observe.” you oiled up the pan nicely so the chicken wouldn’t stick and gently put on the chicken breasts in the pan, then you washed your hands. “Make sure the temperature is not too high. You can overcook the breasts and make it all dry.” 

“We will sear both sides before lowering the heat, so the chicken has some color. Reach in the cabinet and give me the bouillon cube, please. Good job.” Kylar watched as you poured in some water in the pan and added the bouillon cube, along with a few herbs he didn’t quite recognize. The chicken simmered gently as you showed him how to make a slurry. Kylar found it hard to pay attention to what you were saying, attention focused on your facial features and body instead, admiring your beauty.  

“Good job. What’s your name? I never asked.”, you asked, glancing at him curiously. You should get to know him if you were planning on seeing him more often from now on. 

“M-My name’s Kylar. Nice t-to meet y-you.” he stuttered when you looked into his eyes. Pretty. All the praise and how nice you were to him truly made you an angel. Kylar got to mashing the potatoes, using milk and butter, effectively making a champ by adding the spring onions. He felt kind of proud for making something himself, albeit with a little bit of help. But you made it fun. Spending time with you is fun. He would love to do more of that. 

“Nice to meet you too. My name’s (Y/N). Help to set the plates ready, please. I’ll finish up the sauce and the chicken.” you did as you said, while Kylar reached for the cabinet where he saw you reach in earlier. He also made sure to prepare the forks and knives as well. Your movement in the kitchen was precise and effortless and Kylar couldn’t help but feel captivated at the way you moved.  

As you put on the food on the plate, Kylar was sitting almost expectantly on the chair. Hands on his lap with a grip on the material of his pants, eyes on your hands, cheeks a pale pink and lips pursed, back hunched slightly. You noticed right away. Did he want more praise...? 

You brought your hand to his hair and ruffled it a little, unsure of yourself, you said, “Good job. You’ll be a good cook in no time, Kylar.”  

It seemed to work as he almost melted into your touch as your fingers started working through his hair, messing them up for a few seconds before fixing them back into the original place where they were. With a soft smile on his lips, he enjoyed the attention as he closed his eyes. When you took your hand back, he didn’t hesitate to dig into the food. It’s been a while since he eaten something that wasn’t instant ramen or frozen food. It made him almost nostalgic. The homely feeling awoke a lot of feelings inside of him. How long has it been since he had such a peaceful interaction with anyone? He couldn’t remember. The church wasn’t of much help. People weren’t of much help either. Until he found you today. You are like a savior to him. Even going as far as overlooking his earlier misdeeds. Was there a bigger reason for that? He couldn’t help it, he felt almost hopeful. 

He really wanted to get to know you better. 

“S-so, how old a-are you? Have you been w-working as a police officer for a l-long while? I... I am 19 years old.” Kylar asked. 

You almost choked on your champ; eyes wide. You barely swallowed your food. You swore he was younger, he looked closer to 15 years of age rather than 19. You took a double take. His cheekbones were more backwards compared to other kids’ you saw, and his jawline did seem more defined now that you took a second look. But his body is so tiny... Maybe he’ll get a second growth spurt after he finally starts to eat properly...? 

Kylar didn’t seem to mind that you took your time to take a better look at him, albeit it made him feel slightly embarrassed. 

“Bloody hell... I’m so, so, sorry... I thought you were 15... Uh... I am 21, been working as an officer for a little over a year. But they don’t want to give me any big jobs yet. Not like anything big happens in the town, anyway. So, I’m usually doing patrolling work instead.”  

Kylar’s heart sank a little, that much is obvious. He looked to the side. Does that mean there would be no chance for you to see him as a man?  

Clueless and slightly panicky, you rushed to his side, flailing your hands around, trying to calm him down, saying anything that came to mind as the young man puffed his cheeks in contemplation and disappointment.  

“Hey, hey, hey... Kylar! It’s okay! It’s my bad, it’s all... Sorry for mistaking you for a kid. Who knows, maybe if you come over for dinner every day you’ll get a second growth spurt, right? There’s still hope for Ya!” 

On one hand he was happy that he still could come over and hang out with you. On the other one... He didn’t know if he should feel horrified or upset that it sounded almost like you were hoping for him to get a second growth spurt.  

Wasn’t he good enough as he is right now? He almost said everything out loud, but he could only really bring himself to nod a give a weak “Yeah... I’ll make sure to come every day...” 

Oh god, you really fucked up, didn’t you? That’s one way to blow a guy’s confidence...  

Feeling somehow worse than earlier, you pet him on the head again in hopes of cheering him up. He liked it earlier... Right? Surely it should help. Definitely. You tried to convince yourself but in reality, it didn’t help that much. You were sweating bullets at this point, the scene of your fuckup playing in your head on repeat as Kylar very obviously held back tears, pout still present, hands back on his lap as he fondled the ends of his hoodie. Oh god, how were you going to fix it? You don’t think there was a way to fix anything at this point. 

“How about I pack some leftovers and drive you back home? You are probably tired from today, right?” you hoped he would accept your proposal. You weren’t really sure what you will do if he says no. Kicking him out would make you feel even worse.  

With a sniff, he looked up at your crouched form, completely forgetting when you had the time to do such a thing. He reached out towards your hand, intervening his fingers with yours. The warmth of your hand brought him comfort, and surely enough he found himself playing with your slightly bigger hand. God, even your hand was pretty. Soft, too. The thought made his heart skip a beat. He hoped you felt similarly at the skin contact. 

At this point you were too flustered to pull your hand away, too embarrassed to hurt his feeling even more. Instead, you gave in and let him play with your hand, his fingers tracing over your nails and massaging the left side of your hand. You waited patiently for his answer. “C-Can’t I stay for longer, please?” 

Oh, you really got yourself into a mess this time.  

“Um... Sure! Do you want to go for a walk? A light walk after eating is good for your health, you know.” 

Kylar eagerly stood up, almost rushing to the entrance and dragging you behind him. Good thing your shoes were still on. Was he always this strong? You swore he was weaker when you caught him earlier.  

You mulled over it as he eagerly held your hand as you let him lead the way to the beach. He seemed to become more confident and at peace. A small, proud smile on his lips as he glanced at you from time to time, eyes visibly brightening up each time your eyes met his. You smiled back in return.  

“This isn’t so bad, I guess.” you pondered. It’s been a while since you got a chance to unwind and spend time with someone else after work.  

With you being still in your work clothes, it got you a few curious glances from people passing by, but no one seemed to want to bother you, compared to the usual situations whenever you went outside alone in your everyday outfit. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to do it more often. After all, in theory you are on duty all the time and you should be ready to take action whenever need be. Kylar seemed over the moon at the fact that no one bothered you two, clearly content with just you. 

He didn’t hesitate to get to know you better, questions ranging from your childhood to hobbies to your family and personal beliefs. You were happy to oblige. He was more secretive when it came to his own personal matters. You didn’t blame him; you guessed his family situation was complicated, from what you could gather so far, at least. 

You sat on one of the benches with him. You tried to get him to let go of your hand subtly, wriggling your fingers and pulling your hand away. Only for him to intervene his fingers in yours and giving your hand a little squeeze, along with an excuse. 

“S-sorry... I just feel safer that way. I h-hope that’s fine?” 

You tried to explain to him that your hand was starting to feel sweaty. He let go of your hand and grabbed your other one, an innocent smile on his face. You gave up, looking at the sunset. It was weirdly romantic. Kylar seemed to pick up on it at once, scooting closer, but not really doing anything else. At some point you just decided to go along with it - he seemed pretty lonely - maybe he didn’t understand social clues.  

“So... Any plans for your future, Kylar? Are you going to a university?” 

He seemed embarrassed as he retreated his hand. Not like he wanted to – he was worried you would think of him as pathetic when he told you the truth – but his body reacted faster than his mind. Kylar already missed the warmth of your hand, which made telling the truth even harder.  

“I didn’t think that far. I-I mean. I didn’t make any plans for the future, to be honest...” he took in a shaky breath and avoided your gaze as he continued. “It all just feels pointless. Like there’s no point in trying.” 

The sea breeze blew softly as you spoke, voice low, but gentle.  

“Life is not easy, and it might feel like a big decision – because it is. But I think that it is still worth to pick something and to just... try it out. I know everyone says that we have all the time in the world to find something that just... sticks. And they are not wrong. To a certain degree, at least. Anyways – the point is – I think it would be worth it to just pick something you think you might be interested in and try it and see if it sticks. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something you’ll love doing for the rest of your life.” 

Kylar reflected on your words for a few seconds, paying close attention to your expression and body language.  

You were leaning against the bench, head thrown back, exposing your neck. A relaxed expression on your face as you closed your eyes, enjoying the breeze. You hoped your words encouraged him. 

“What’s the point? Wouldn’t it be easier to just... give up? To sit at home? Let someone else support you?” he wasn’t trying to pick a bone with you; he was being genuinely curious in this moment. It was like something in him broke as he continued to confide in you. And you were there to pick up the pieces for him, gluing him back together.  

“Listen Kylar... If it was up to me, I would have become a nice lil’ house spouse myself. Just imagine, sitting at home, getting to play video games. All for the price of cleaning and cooking nice meals.” You yawned. 

“Sounds fair to me, anyway.” You shrugged before you kept going. “Life’s not easy, but I think it might be worth living. Sometimes you just need to find the motivation.” 

It was in that moment, when he saw you looking so carefree and unstrained that he found a small inkling of motivation. At this point it was clearly dark, but for some reason, neither he nor you could force yourself to move. While you enjoyed the peace and quiet, he was sitting beside you, carefully thinking about the future, with you at the forefront of it, the main character.  

He really couldn’t explain it – not even if he wanted to, anyway – but spending the day with you made you feel a certain way he didn’t feel before. Not like it was a bad feeling, per se. It was good. Warm. He looked forward to the future, as long as you were in it.  

If he tried hard enough, would you accept him? Would you let him take care of you, if he got his life together? You said it yourself – if it was up to you, you would have become a house spouse. He can make that come true. He will try his hardest to make it come true. As long as he had you by the end of it, it would be all worth it. His heart soared at the thought of you sitting at home, waiting for him. 

You could cook together; you could teach him. Even if cleaning wasn’t his strong suit, he would learn. He could start studies next year and find a good job. And in the meantime, he will try his hardest to make you fall in love with him, like he did today.  

The sound of you stretching besides him snapped him out of his thoughts – now he was fully alert, attention focused on you instead. You stood up and reached out your hand; he instantly grabbed it, letting you pull him towards you. 

“We should head back. It’s dark. I’ll take you home.” 

You guys walked in silence, with you walking in the front this time. Turns out both of you lived on Danube Street, with him living at the end of the street, quite close to the Temple.  

You tried to hide your surprise as you saw the state of Kylar’s house. It was clearly run down, and you swore you heard some news about an abandoned house shortly after moving to the town. Kylar seemed self-conscious but didn’t say anything. You decided it was best to leave the subject alone for now. 

“Well... I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? You can come around the same time we had dinner.” you weaved at Kylar, a friendly smile on your face. 

“Sure, see you tomorrow. I-I'll be on time, don’t worry.” 

[yet-another-heathen]

Fire on the Mountain - V

2,611 words. Original Work: The Jackal of An-Nadr.

For new readers, The Jackal is an ongoing whump series set in 1,200 BCE, where pre-Islamic fantasy meets the love of bloody sword fights, worlds that are as vivid and alive as the characters, and the agonizing loss being dragged away from home into a life you never asked for.

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Chapter Warning | defiant whumpee, cauterization of an already agonizing wound, manhandling, non-con drugging (aphrodisiac, repurposed as a sedative), ancient medical practices, vivid hallucinations, staring up into your captor's eyes and begging with everything you have for them to stop, UNREALITY, xenophobia

Taglist | @killtheprotagonist @secretwhumplair @ink-and-salt @kixngiggles @brutal-nemesis @thebewilderer @whumpsical @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @whimperwoods @shydragonrider @pizzasthengym @thecyrulik @ceph-the-writing-spook @mylifeisonthebookshelf @ohwhumpydays @redwingedwhump @whump-queen

The big ifrit had gone up to summon the others. Nadeem was left to try to pull himself back together. His head was a mess of that golden, swirling pleasure, and he couldn’t push it to the background no matter how he tried. 

He wanted so badly to get up, to run. But his dizziness left him clinging to the bed, barely able to move.

Something was happening to the room around him. As he lay there trying to breathe through the waves of sensation, the shadows began to move. 

Some very far-away part of his mind felt like it was being lit on fire. He watched it from the window above his sisters' beds, barely making out shapes in the night as the blue sky over the hills burned. He wanted to wipe the fog from his eyes, but when he tried all it did was blur the light.

Red light poured into the dark as far-distant embers glittered and shifted, swimming with such incredible radiance that he couldn't tear his eyes away. Everything was still. Everything was so still, and so quiet, and so soft.

"Fahime, Hasti," he gasped. "wait—”

He was slipping. Everything was slipping.

The sound of footsteps returning down the ladder. Dark hands. A careful touch. Someone lifted him from the bed, weightlessness making his head swim. He glanced down, Fahime gathering herself in his kurta as the moonlight played off her face. He pulled her closer, running a soothing hand over her hair.

“Nadi, are we safe?”

He didn't...this wasn't right…

What was happening to him?

"Of course we are," he reassured her, lifting her up so she could see, too. "Look. The wind is taking it away from the valley. See how it goes brighter near the top?”

"But won't it destroy the trees?”

His mouth twitched, blinking slowly toward the distance.

"Yes it will," he murmured, resting his cheek on her head. "But it will be alright, ukhti. Even when things are destroyed, something always finds a way to spout again after.”

---

He didn't know where they were taking him. Only that there were more hands on him than he could count, and that he was going whether he wanted to or not.

Tendrils of darkness and dreams were still tugging at his mind like mud at his feet, pulling him downward as if there were something waiting for him in the cold, black muck below. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

The bright light of day flickered and disappeared as he was taken below deck to a different part of the ship, feet barely touching the steps as he stumbled down the ladder.

The room they entered was like nothing he expected to see aboard a ship. One of the entire walls was lined with tall mosaic windows, arched at the tops into elegant points. They splintered and reformed in shapes Nadeem could swear were moving, casting white and lavender light throughout the room. The opposite wall towered with shelves, glittering with vials and dried bouquets of herbs. Rows of empty cots stretched onward toward the daylight pouring through the open space at the far side of the gallery. Pale blue sky could be seen just beyond. The air was soaked in smoke and the sweet, earthy perfume of decaying plants.

Down, into the mud. Down into the shallows where the sunlight gleamed between wave crests.

Water weeds bloomed gold and green above him, casting columns of daylight through the silt.

And then there was the table. A great, solid slab that looked as heavy and unmovable as the pillar it was pressed against. Metal instruments, the likes of which he had never before imagined or seen, were swaying gently where they lined in racks along that pillar. Though the discoloration around the hinges betrayed their age, there were so many sharp points gleaming in the light that it made him nearly crumble to his knees in panic. 

Blood smeared across the wood as his injured foot caught on uneven deck planks, though the jarring pain was not nearly enough to stop him from skidding along as he was dragged toward the massive table at the center of the room.

One of the ifrit from before, the one with the white turban, was busy directing the others about the space. His voice was sharp and clear, hands gesturing and digging about in narrow wooden cupboards as he spoke.

"G̶͇̔e̵̮͑ẗ̵͍́ ̶̹̎ẖ̶̎i̴̢͋m̴̼͌ ̷͉̽ő̵̧ñ̵͓ ̴̧͝t̶̟̋h̵̼̀e̵̼͒ ̷̖̾t̶̲̃a̶͇͘b̴̲͝l̴̘͝e̷̖̓.̶̳̓ ̸͔̔N̶̪͘e̷̲͠s̴̠͝a̵͛͜r̶̜͠ē̶̢,̶̪͘ ̵̦̃h̴͈͘a̷̻̒ņ̷̃ď̵̖ ̴̗͛m̷̗̈́e̴̺͌ ̵̘̈́t̷͌͜h̸̺͐ë̶̘́ ̶̮̇s̶͉̾i̶̼̓l̶̻͆k̸͖̃ ̵̝̅m̵̛̺ḯ̷͚n̶͔͆t̶̯̕,̸͇̇ ̵͔̋i̸̟͆n̴͉̓ ̵̛̭ẗ̵̝h̸̥͋ȇ̵̮ ̴̈́ͅl̶̗̽ë̴͙́f̶͎̀t̵̟̚ ̵̰̓c̵̥͛u̸͈͐p̶͊ͅb̶̨̈ō̶̮ä̵̺́r̴͇̒d̵̢͂—"

"Let go of me!" Nadeem snarled. He seethed and clawed into the arms of his captors, but could do nothing to stop them as they lifted him onto the table.

The world was still dark and morphing and swaying around him, and there were so many hands with so many unbreakable grips holding him down and moving him. He could barely tell up from down. 

Part of him was drifting, untethered, even as his own heartbeat grew deafening in his ears. 

The woman from that night around the fire was leaning against one wall with all her arms crossed, watching them. Their eyes made brief, searing contact before his attention was torn away.

"Ṕ̵̱a̴͖͌s̴̤͐s̸̝̀ ̷̼͘m̷̜̕e̸͠ͅ ̷͚̈t̷̛ͅḣ̵͚a̸̹̔t̵͕͑ ̶̺̕s̶̳͌t̸̠̀r̸̭̐a̷̢̚p̸̢͝.̸̼͒ ̴̞͆W̸̬͊a̶͔͋t̵͎̓ċ̷̺h̸͝ͅ ̴̟̇h̵͚͊í̴̝s̶͚͋ ̷̱̑t̵̂ͅę̴̕ë̸͚́ţ̷́ĥ̷̳!̵̠̈".

Leather straps were cinched tight around his wrists and chest, the wide buckles tightening until he could hardly move. What was this? He wrenched and fought, gasping when someone grabbed his injured foot and strapped it down even harder than the rest of him.

Oh no. No no no no—

Someone shouted from the other side of the room where it stood open to the daylight on the opposite side of the instrument wall. Nadeem tried to turn and look, but two long hands pressed into either side of his head and turned his face back up. The big ifrit that had captured him was bowed over his head, keeping his face steady and forcing him to look away from what was happening. Making him meet its eyes.

It spoke quietly to him, low words tumbling from its lips as it watched his face.

"L̷̲̏o̸͕͝o̶͕͠ķ̴̿ ̵̢̈́a̶̰̍t̸̅͜ ̸̬̑m̵̦͊e̶͖̾.̸̲̎"

The world was spinning, this was all so wrong—

"Coenta help me, I'll curse your bloodline to oblivion!" He twisted in his restraints, what very little he could. "Get off!"

In the very corner of his vision he saw another ifrit, a burly older woman with hair like a halo, hand something long and straight to the one with the white turban. He tried to focus on it, to see what he was holding...

And his stomach dropped through his spine.

His entire body arced off the table in absolute panic, thrashing so hard the leather straps and their hardware creaked with strain.

"NO! No, nonono, DON'T!" he yelled, almost dislocating his shoulders in his effort to get away, thrashing so hard that several of the ifrit crowded closer to push him back down. "Keep it, no, keep it away from me—"

A long metal iron sent ripples out into the air around it, the tip glowing orange with heat. 

The ifrit circled around toward his foot, nodding once to his captor.

"Ľ̷̺o̵͙͑o̵͇̒k̶̪̈́ ̵͕̂ą̶͠t̴̯͑ ̷̇͜m̷̰̐e̶̝͆,̵͍̈́ ̷͔̇s̸̡̒w̴͍̓ĕ̶̬e̴̲̚t̷̲͝h̸̠͠e̵̟̿ä̴͇́r̴͈̀t̸̮̏," the ifrit above him tilted his face back up, obscuring his view of the iron. "T̵͕̀h̶̃ͅe̶̩͊r̸͈̓è̷̘.̵̨͆ ̸͖̃J̸̞̊u̶̘̒s̷̘͝t̶̰̃ ̷̢̓l̸͉͛o̸̩̍o̸͖͂k̷̦̈ ̶̝̋a̴̘̎t̶̛̳ ̵̻̽m̵̞͐e̴̦̓.̶͔̏"

"NO, no, not this! Oh gods please, I can't—" Nadeem felt the heat getting closer to him, and every attempt at hiding his terror crumbled. He stared up into its eyes as open fear poured across his face, stark and open beneath the ifrit's gaze. "No no no NO NO—"

His vision went white, heat spearing up his entire leg with agony like nothing he had never felt before. Everything was pain, so bright his mind couldn't truly process it. And Nadeem lost every ounce of control over his voice, and screamed.

And immediately the sound of metal clattered violently against wood. Every set of hands jerked away from his body at once.

He was sobbing through the darkness as the world swam back into existence, heat radiating up his foot like he was still being burnt. He was babbling at them to make it stop. The shocked eyes of every ifrit in the room fixed on him. The iron lay discarded on the wood behind his torturer, as though it had been flung violently out of his hand. Smoke was beginning to pour from the wood beneath it, smoldering and threatening to light.

The people around him were burning too. Smoke poured from their shoulders, their chests lit from within like embers surging to life with a change in the breeze. And every single one of them was staring at him.

The ifrit with the white turban was the first to break himself out of his shock. His fanged mouth snapped shut where he'd been gaping at Nadeem. He turned and scooped up the iron just before it could ignite.

"Y̵̖͐e̶̯̊ḙ̴͝z̶̯͂ǘ̴̦m̷̢̏ȏ̷̹n̵͇̅," he called. There was not a sound in all the room but his voice and Nadeem's crying. Then again when he didn't look up, "Y̷͈͒e̷͇̅e̷̯̅z̴̫͛ú̶ͅm̸̼̒ö̷͓n̶̗̂!̷̲́ ̵̫̃H̷̻͐o̵̭̎l̵͎̉d̷̾ͅ ̶̞̑h̷͍̒i̵̫̅m̶̠͝. T̵̲̓͝h̶̻͙̊́ë̴̟̪ ̷̜͇͋͑ȑ̵̗̼͋ȇ̶̲̦̚s̵͉̀t̵̫̫̑̋ ̷͉̘̾ọ̵̿̚f̵̙͒͑ ̶͎̺̈́y̶̰̲̆̀o̷̥͌u̷̒ͅ,̶͚́ ̶͕̯͗g̶̜̞͋̀ȇ̸̳͕́t̴̰͝ ̶̨̑̉ò̵͎̩ũ̶͈͒ṯ̵̤͝!̵̢̤̓̕"

His captor blinked, shook his head as if to clear it, then his hands returned to either side of Nadeem's head. Nadeem was still sobbing, every inch of him trembling with the violent aftershocks of the burn.

“D̸͖̑i̸̡̛d̶̗͝ ̷̻̒y̸̨̚o̵̼͂ú̵͓ ̶̡͝g̵͉͐ȅ̷̯t̴̢̑ ̸̢͂î̸͈ť̴̗?̵͎͗"

"N̷̰̈́ó̵͜,̷̛͜ ̴̙̂I̴̟̋.̴͎̓.̵̙͗.̶̢͐I̶͖͝'̸̧͛m̴̨̈ ̸̢̍g̶͓͐ö̷̩́ǐ̷̙ñ̶͖ǵ̷̜ ̸͙͐t̴̮͘o̴̠͌ ̴̜͛h̶͙͂a̶̙̋v̵͎̾e̸̬͆ ̷̥͊t̸̺̊ŏ̵͕ ̶̳͌d̸͉̑o̴̝̍ ̶͙̀i̶̭͘t̴̲̃ ̸̘̋á̶̫g̸̈́͜a̵͔͝i̷̳̎n̴̤̄,̸̡̈́ ̴̧͒Ĩ̵͇ ̷̜́d̴͚̃i̶̥͛d̵̪͝ṅ̸̡'̶̪̂t̶̩͑ ̸̤͑ĝ̷ͅe̷̖̕ţ̶̇ ̴̭̈́ę̵͐n̵̡͠o̵̜͒ǔ̴̙g̵̪̎h̸̖͠ ̴̳͆o̸̭̿f̶͖͑ ̶̖̃t̴̟͊h̷̞̽ȇ̴̤ ̶͈̐ẘ̸̤o̵͔̾u̸̬͋n̶̳͘d̶̜̒.̸͎͝ ̸̗̄P̸̦͊u̴̖̽t̸͈͗ ̴͈͛t̴̲́h̶͎͝i̸͉͝s̴̮̑ ̶͈̽i̵̝̍n̸̳̋ ̷̧̒h̸͍̏i̴͉͛ṡ̶͓ ̵͑ͅm̸̮̓o̶̭̐u̸̠͘t̶͖̄h̵͓̐.”

He didn't even have words to express his horror when the ifrit pried his mouth open and forced a leather bit between his teeth. A clawed hand clasped firmly over his mouth, muffling the horrified sobs and pleading cries that poured out of him behind it.

The ifrit raised the iron again, and there was nothing Nadeem could do but stare up into his captor's eyes as it was pressed into his wound all over again.

Everything after that was a blur of darkness and rippling, uncontrollable agony. He came to as he was being carried across the deck, clinging to the big ifrit's smoke-drenched chest and weeping as they descended back into the cabin.

Furious shouts were being exchanged by what sounded like a dozen ifrit, their argument being cut off only when the deck hatch closed above them.

His keeper sat on the edge of the cot, cradling him in its arms.

"I̴̯̍ṯ̷̄'̸͓͛s̶͔͋ ̵͕͠o̴̝͘ṽ̴̤e̶̙͐r̵̺̐ ̵̦͒n̶̖̎ŏ̵̰w̸̛ͅ,̵̧̈́ ̸͓͐l̸̳̉í̶̭t̵͍͗t̵͇̏l̵͎̋e̷̅͜ ̵̢̎o̴̖͂n̶̛̝e̴͉̅.̶͈͐ ̷̪͌Ȉ̴̞t̶̳̉'̴͇̈́s̵̝̓ o̸̳̿ṿ̸͘ę̴̈r̸̹͋."

Nadeem's fingers were locked so tightly in the ifrit's sash that he couldn't figure out how to let go. He just buried his face against the fabric, trying to muffle the sound of his sobs now that he knew he couldn't stop. His jaw was chattering uncontrollably.

Its chest rumbled with its words as it spoke to him, those strange sounds that could almost been hushing.

A few minutes later the deck hatch opened again, and the white-turbaned ifrit descended into the small space. Nadeem sank further into his captor's arms, trying to get as far away as he could.

"Don't ccome any c-loser—" he choked out, his voice reedy and thin.

But there was none of the expected malice in the ifrit's features. Only indiscernible worry, and a glance toward his captor that Nadeem had no way of reading.

When he reached for Nadeem's injured foot he yanked it away so fast he nearly knocked the breath out of his own lungs, tucking it under himself to keep it away.

His captor wrapped another arm around him, hushing him before looking to the other ifrit. "Ĥ̸͓a̴̺͠b̷͓̀ỉ̶͇b̵̀ͅi̷̥̊,̷̤͌ ̵̦̚ ̸̭̓g̴͈̾ì̵̗v̶͚͑e̵͖̕ ̶̰͒h̷̠̊i̸̡͑m̷̟͑ ̵̣̂a̵͔̓ ̴̜͛m̶͚̽o̸̦͒m̸̻͛ĕ̴̬n̸͉̿ț̵̀."

Nadeem nearly crumbled with relief when the other ifrit hesitated, then backed away.

Hands continued running up and down his back as he tried to get his breathing under control, sobs still tearing out of him with every fresh wave of pain. Had part of the iron poker been left in his foot? It felt like it was still burning him, so much deeper inside his body than it could have possibly gone.

The weight of a blanket settled carefully over his shoulders, tucked close to him. His entire body was shivering violently from head to toe.

"Ḥ̵͋ȇ̶̳'̶̟̈́s̸̩͠ g̷̫͒o̵̺̎i̶̤͐n̸̻͌g̷͖̕ ̵̢͂u̵̫̅n̸̥̉d̴͈̑ḛ̷͝r̶̩̀,” the other ifrit murmured, scrubbing a hand down his face. "...ā̵̰ñ̴͔d̵͎̈́ ̶̮͂Ị̶̀ ̵̬͗ṫ̶̲h̵̲̋i̷̲̐n̴̛͎k̴͖̓ ̴͍̂Ȉ̶̲ ̶̗͠m̴̹̏i̶̥͋g̷̩̎h̷̲̍t̴̙̓ ̵̰̕b̴̻͋e̴̢͠,̷͎̆ ̷̳̄t̶̙̔ȯ̷̝ȍ̷͜.̴̱͆ ̷̭͌Ÿ̴̡́è̴̫e̸̻͗ẕ̸̿ŭ̷͎m̵̪̄o̶̳̅n̸̦͆,̸̟̌ ̴̱̚t̶̫͐h̶͕͗į̸̛š̴̡ ̶̩̀ḯ̸̙s̶̹̊n̷̼̏'̴̧̉t̴̳̓ ̴̯͗ș̷́a̸̚͜f̷̖̔e̶͚̓, w̴͖̐͛e̸͕͂̏ ̶̝͠h̸̲̀̐ä̴̮͘v̶̛͍̟̄e̸̯̦̒̆ ̸̖̋t̵͖́̅ó̸͚—"

"Ṅ̶͔o̶̡̾t̴̛̟ ̵̙̉n̴̰̈ó̸ͅw̶̯͘." Then, softer, "N̴̰̎o̵̰͌t̸̡͝ ̴̼̉n̸̗̍o̸͇̚w̶͖͑,̷̞̅ ̶͔͂h̸͕̿ä̴̹́b̷̬͗i̵̳͠b̷̭̀ỉ̶̭.̷͕̒ Ȉ̴̘ ̴͉̆ċ̷̗ã̷͚n̶͚̎'̷̠̀t̶̖̀…I̶͈̾ ̸̖͌c̸̛͈a̸̱͌ṉ̶̈'̴̞̉t̵̳́ ̴̲̌ľ̴̜e̷̮̾a̷̱̎v̷̜͋e̴̝̍ ̶͈͌i̶͔̍t̷̳̓ ̸̫̚ ̴͙̄l̷̈́͜i̸͇̇k̴̩̃e̶̻͊ ̷̖̍ṱ̷̃ẖ̶͝ȋ̸̢ş̸̊.̴͈͝."

It looked down where Nadeem had tucked his face against its chest, too sick with pain to care who or what he was clinging to.

"W̵̕ͅè̴̜'̷̮͝l̷̮̓l̵̦̈́ ̴̘̔f̵͙̋ḁ̷̉c̶̯̅e̴͍̋ ̴͝ͅĀ̵̻d̶͎̃r̸͎̎s̷̳̀i̶̛ͅa̵̡͂e̸͈͛ ̵͈̋ẉ̶̆h̷̩̒e̷̫͘n̶͚̾ ̷̫̉t̵̛̙h̸͇̀e̸̖̍ ̸͇̇t̵͚̚ì̷̜m̸̪̉ë̶͕́ ̸͇̀c̵̨͆ọ̴̉m̴͙̓ẻ̸̜s̷̹̕," he said, his body shifting against Nadeem's as he reached a hand out for the other ifrit's. "B̶̰̒u̵̙͗t̵̢͗ ̷̯͠n̶͖̕o̶̙̒t̷͍̃ ̸̘̔n̶͖̏ỏ̷̢ẁ̴͈."

The edges of reality had once more begun to blur. Dark, waking dreams spun through the shallows of his thoughts, pain spearing up through his foot as he limped out into the reeds.

Gods, he was losing it. But the water had to be safer than this.

He was still trembling a few minutes later when both ifrit coaxed his foot back out from underneath him. He had to bite back the whines of pain that pressed up his throat and against the back of his teeth, tears gathering uselessly in his eyes as he watched the ifrit turn his foot over and inspect it.

A moment before it began probing into the wound, a long hand clasped over his mouth. It was only just in time to suffocate the whine of pain that flooded out of him. The ifrit lifted a shallow bowl full of thick, white paste and began pressing the mixture into the wound. His nails dug into its skin, head going fuzzy and dark as black waves of agony rolled through his whole body. No matter how he struggled he couldn't pry his foot out of its grasp. He just sank down in its hands, while the big ifrit purred against his temple.

He'd never felt so hollow with exhaustion before in his life. He was still only one day past dying. Was this torture all that lay in store for him, now that he'd lost his chance to get away?

He wasn't going to survive. Not if this was what was waiting for him.

The ifrit was quick to bandage his foot, and then released him and let him once more hide his injury out of sight beneath his robes.

An uncaring part of his mind realized he'd sunk into the heat of its skin, eyes barely staying open as the adrenaline in his system crashed and whatever they had drugged him with took back over.

Ripples spread out around him at waist-height, opaque under the cold moonlight. The reeds stirred, wind caressing the nape of his neck.

He couldn't walk. There was no way he was getting away, even if he somehow got off the ship. He was helpless. He was stranded. The realization hit him like a sandstorm, dragging at his clothes and peppering his skin with pain.

They had burned him. He was alone. And he wasn't going to be able to get away.

The crickets sung in the reeds, nothing disturbing the water but him. All around him, for miles and miles, the dark spread silent and cold across the landscape.

He was alone.

He was alone.

He was never going to see his family again.

Nadeem fell to his knees, and plunged beneath the surface of the water.

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[marciaillust]

Hey! I just wanted to say I’ve been following you forEVER now, and that your art has been inspiring me since i was a teenager. I was wondering if you could share a little about your rendering process? How did you improve it over the years, what did you learn you wish u knew sooner, stuff like that?

(Thanks anyway, and definitely getting myself ur new comic)

Hi! oh wow thank you so much for the kind words!

My rendering process hmmmm.... I will try to sum up the thoughts that come to my mind as I'm writing this, though I might be missing some proper vocabulary

The first thing that surfaced in my brain is exposition within a picture. This is what the picture focuses on - things in the light, or things in the shadow, and how much details each of these two receive rendering wise.

It's basically like taking a photo with a phone - if you click on a bright thing (say, a window), the phone will automatically adjust the exposition and all the other bright things will be visible(lotta detail), but the shadows will become turbo dark (no details). Alternatively, if you click on a dark shadow, all the dark things will become visible (details) but the hypothetical window will become blown out and turbo white (no details). You can basically have one or the other but never both. (or I guess you can who am I to tell anyone how to make art yanno no rules up in this house)

anyway, so for example, this pic^ focuses on the things in the dark, meaning everything in direct light receives no details.

and this pic^ focuses on the light and so all the cast shadows are pitch black.

One other thing that I learned a longass time ago was that edges(and shapes) are arguably the most important part of an object within a picture. Clean edges immediately call for focus, while softer or vague edges allow things to fade in the background and communicate the idea of a thing rather than showing you the thing itself. On a related note note, clean edges also make work in progress appear about 25% more finished.

I guess this all has to do with contrast and contrast can be created in many ways - edges (soft/sharp), colours (eg. red fish in a blue sea), spacing (objects being grouped vs. a single object), the amount of detail per object etc etc etc. and all of these can be controlled to solve specific issues within a picture.

In short, if a thing is important aka the focal point, make it stand out - sharp edges, details, specific colours and a lighting situation that make it pop. And if a thing isn't too important leave it vague, communicate the idea of it rather than focusing on drawing it.

On the note of things being sharp, a thing that I always swore by is, if there are eyes in the picture those eyes better be d-o-n-e. Pristine. People will look at the eyes, eyes communicate 90% of emotion, the eyes are the it girl of the picture forever and always, nobody will look at the wonky foot, they will look at the eyes and judge the quality of the picture. If the eyes are shit the picture is shit. (I'm exaggerating but fr. eyes are a big deal.). They don't have to be turbo rendered or physically mad sharp but they need to be done. Whatever that means, take what you will from my word soup.

One thing that I've become a big fan of over the years is the concept of wear and tear. This has to do with texturing things in pictures and I looooooooooooooooove thinking about ways items are used in order to create bumps and scratches that can be featured.

It always makes things look like they belong to someone?? It makes them real? Like the tip of that bone. that bone has been places. That belt has seen use. That bag carried things. Like yanno?? I looove things that chip and have nicks. Give me wood and I'll put a dent in it I swear.

And I thing the latest thing that I'm trying to incorporate within my art, though I haven't had much time or opportunity to do it in personal art because of work, is colour variation within each element.

Like his face. His skin is obviously "beige" but you will see red, and blue and yellow and green in there too. Stuff like that yanno? I'm quite interested in taking this further in my future paintings. I'm still learning how to push what, where and how but ayyy issa journey I'll happily embark on.

And of course apart from all that it's the usual jazz, working on anatomy composition perspective doing it a lot over and over again babababababa and so on and so forth.

I haven't had much opportunity to paint since I started working on the comic last year but it had it own set of challenges for me. Linework is a completely different kind of rodeo and I've improved in different departments a lot and I'd be happy to bring those things into my paintings when I have the chance. I feel like I'm at a point where I know a lot more than what I've had the opportunity to put on paper, it feels exciting!

I hope at least some of my ramblings were of interest to you!! Again, that you for the nice message and have a nice day :)

[anonymous-existences]

Chapter 14 : Dismantling Red Tainted Walls

I almost forgot to post this here—

[12:35 𝐀𝐌, 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞-𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐎𝐕]

Dante stared out the windows of the Watchtower, his eyes subtly sparkling as he watches the stars twinkle from afar out In space.. "I wish Danny was here to see this." Dante mutters with a pained look. He covers his face with his hand and drags it down his face as he groans, visibly stressed.

"Hey, we'll find Danny Okay?" Jason Reassures his big teddy bear of a boyfriend by carresing his cheek and hugging his arm, he clasped his hand tightly as Jason made Dante look at him. "Just this time we don't have to be reckless.. we have to plan how to save him and all of you from these shitty fucking people." Jason comforts Dante, trying to become a speaker or Logical Reason for Dante's Disarray Family.

Dante nods and presses his forehead on Jason and Jason obliged. "We just need hope..." Jason mutters, "yes... Hope... Right....", Dante whispered back. They both heard Batman's Grunt to get their attention and both looked at him in sync.

Bruce walked inside the meeting room and Dante held Jason's hand as he walked to follow Batman. "Woah, who's that big man B?" Flash the speedster asks clearly taken aback by Dante's Large Size and his unexpected piercing crimson red eyes. "Ah... A speedster... Clockwork always hated you guys..." Dante mutters under his breathe. "Who is Clockwork?" Superman asks but Dante just takes a look at him and ignores his question. "Okay...— I suppose I am Invisible I guess—" Superman says with a sigh.

"Kronos's Granddaughter.." Dante says as he stared at Diana, Wonder Woman. "How do.. how did you know—?" Diana asks in wonder as he had not even introduced herself to this clearly unknowing strange "meta"-being. "I am the apprentice of your Grandfather, I suppose I'm like your uncle because of that." Dante casually says as he faces the screen and summoning a little chip that contains someone important.

"Wait Pardon? Kronos's Apprentice—??" Diana was in shock, perhaps even in distraught and confusion. "Not that it matters, he's changed anyways... No need to worry about the time bastard anymore." Dante chuckles as he inserted the chip in a lodge that Bruce allowed him to insert the "corrupted" files into.

"And Please Sir Martian Manhunter or J'onn J'onzz as you'd like to call yourself, no you cannot bypass my thoughts I have a built in automatic barrier on me at all times by the old "time is my bitch" Clockwork and yes I can read your mind back as well and I know you too is trying to dig something in me but I can assure you that it is VERY uncomfortable that you do so." Dante says as he prepares to summon someone from the screen. He did not spare anyone else a glance, he was in a rush but he needed to be careful with his next actions.

"I Apologize for my rude actions, I was simply being cautious and curious of what is going through your head." J'onn states and Dante understands his reasonings and nods. "Wait Kronos Hates me??" Flash suddenly speaks up. "You break timelines so much to the point he genuinely someday want to strangle you at one point." Dante groans as he was fixing some stuff with the chip.

"There..." Dante mutters as the chip finally does what it's supposed to do. Release Technus into this Burner PC.

"I HAVE so many questions as to who he is, howis he here and, why are we here." Superman states, "Brush off those Questions for later goody two shoes, you'll have more Questions soon enough after all of this.", Dante chuckles as he pulls out a summoning sigil and pressed it on the screen of the computer.

""Ｔ𝑒Ć𝓱𝐍ย丂. ⓗ𝑒𝑒𝓭 м𝔂 ⓒ𝐚ᒪᒪ." Dante says in Ghost-speak and the Sigil burned a bright Lazarus Green, the screen glitched for a moment before text lines itself on the screen.

"ɨ ǟʍ ȶɛƈɦռʊֆ! ȶɛƈɦռʊֆ ռɨӄօʟǟ— աɦǟȶ ɖօ ʏօʊ աǟռȶ ɖǟռȶɛ."

"Amity Park Files of GIW. They have Danny and we plan to prove to these people that The GIW are pieces of shit and that we're sentient HARMLESS beings 80% of the time but still." Dante sputters and glared at the screen. "PowerPoint it." He says one last time with a sigh as he leans on the wall.

The screen glitched out and a hand emerged. "A POWERPOINT I HEAR! HAHA! good good. I am best at that. That Tucker Foley Child has Taught me after all the importance of PRESENTATION!" Technus says as he fully emerge out of the screen. " As much as I hate all these people, I can tell that we are now desperate to find our little Prince! So I shall oblige with your demand and call!" Technus says with pride.

Technus touches the base of the Burner Screens and A PowerPoint appears, he dims the lights and it took the JL members aback because he's controlling the electricity and digital functions with ease. And how he is visible unlike DeadMan Boston which in Zatanna and Constantine's words. "Powerful Ghosts can have be seen by the naked Eye because of how powerful their presence is."

The chill in the room deepened a lot lower than before as Technus Talked about Ghosts and Culture. Amity Park, Basic Stuff until.

"But... The GIW Appeared, also known as the Ghost Investigation Ward, Called Guys in White by the Locals of Amity Park.

Horrid Monsters. More than Me to say the least to be honest! I don't experiment on children ghosts or not! Sure I attack sometimes but that's just as I said how ghosts communicate and play!" Technus says and continues on about how The GIW recently killed many children and People of Amity Park because of how they suspected they were Ecto-Contaminated. How they experimented on ghosts no matter the species or age. Dissecting and Looking for a core they can find without it being shattered inside the Body of the Ghost because of their resistance.

As Technus Went on and on about the GIW Superman couldn't help but feel horrified. MARTIAN Manhunter showed concern in his face, Diana was to say the least not very pleased and Bruce's Face remained stoic but deep inside anger stirred within him. Aquaman wanted to look away but he couldn't. Flash just covered his eyes and just listened to this and Green Lantern was Stunned.

I mean what kind of monsters would... Experiment on sentient living beings whilst they are Conscious? Especially children?? Sure... People like those exist but atleast they kill their victims first before continuing with those horrendous acts.

"Before I continue do any of you have any questions?" Superman raised his hand and Technus Nodded "why... Why has no one called the League if you all knew we existed...?" He asks nervously and Technus Laughed.

Not happily but sarcastically and Technus looked at Dante.

"Because the league always ignored our calls. At first the children were the one to call. That was the time ghosts started attacking the town and they thought the kids were joking.

The second time was when Amity Park was sucked into the Infinite Realms and they didn't heed our call. Ghosts and The People of Amity Park slowly gained this.. level of understanding and ghosts stopped attacking but the GIW still kept Attacking Ghosts.

The people tried to stop them and Yada Yada more stuff and now we're here!... Fun innit..?" Dante sighs as he eats a candy in exhaustion.

The JL members were horrified. The JL ignored their calls? What?... that's... When— "that's why we hate you all! But Right now we don't really have a choice now don't we? Our little Prince is the only person that's keeping me from killing everyone in this ship. And Dante's Lover but he's not the main character here." Technus laughed sarcastically. "I assume I've explained enough, and now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to fixing skulker's Metal Hunk of a Robotic Body." Technus says and Dante nods as he opens a portal Under Technus making Technus slowly but steadily lower down to the portal until he was no longer there.

The room turned back to normal and the chill was no longer haunting the room, although there were traces of frost trailing across the metal bolts of the Room and on the edges of the screens.

Jason Pats Dante's Shoulder "you did good." Jason says and Dante smiled and nods. This was the best they could do. "We need to save Danny first whilst also Dismantling the GIW... That is... If you want this world to still exist." Dante threatens and using Fright Knight's Deep Presence he sent a spine chilling fear induced aura to the League.

They looked at each other and nodded in unison once they turn their heads to Dante. Dante walked out of the room with Jason to let the League discuss what they want to do.

Dante rests his head on Jason's shoulder. "Ancients Spare Danny..." He mutters, exhausted from everything and the hours of discussion they have presented to the League.

[𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝚅𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔]

"Why are you here again Clockwork..." Vlad mutters as he enters the living room and staring at clockwork who's drinking tea again, "Why? I can't see my favorite man?" Clockwork stood up and tapped on Vlad's Chin again teasingly.

"Wow... Very homosexual." Ellie mutters Behind Vlad., "am I getting a stepfather now?" Ellie says with a giggle and Vlad reddened and Clockwork looked like he was thinking.

"Hopefully!" Clockwork says happily, "I like your daddy after all." Clockwork licks his lips and sharp teeth and glanced at Vlad who wanted to melt on the spot.

"I like my Daddy too!" Ellie giggled and ran to Hug Clockwork, "mmm that's good little Ellie. Your future is bright... Happy and Stable." Clockwork says, his eyes fluttering gently at Ellie who he carries in his arms.

"Yay!" she celebrates enthusiastically.

<33 Little Side Stories now for the fun of it, next chapter might be a bit longer than here 👀 I'll make sure of it HEHEHEHAHAHAH.

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

Would be curious to hear more of your thoughts on the James-Matthew-Cordelia "love triangle" situation sometime. Personally I've always viewed most if not all of CC's love triangles and "love triangles" as narrative dialogues and I'm sure this is happening in some way, shape, or form with the not-exactly-an-actual-love-triangle-really situation in TLH but I've never exactly been able to figure out what it's a conversation about.

Okay so I think I've talked about this a little bit before but I haven't really gone into detail about why the TLH "love triangle" doesn't fall under the actual love triangle category.

In a MFM love triangle a woman character is in the center between two men. Both men offer her something different to the central girl, and they each care for her, have their merits, and offer something different to her. She must explore both relationships and make a decision.

This is true enough of the Heronfairstairs "love triangle." Both James and Matthew are wonderful people and have a lot to offer.

However, a love triangle necessitates that the character be torn between her feelings for the two characters. Cordelia has loved James since she was 13/14 years old. This is information that we glean at the beginning of Chain of Gold. From her first appearance until her last, Cordelia's romantic affections belong wholly to James.

This is fact #1: Cordelia made her choice long before the series began. It was always made clear to the readers that Herondaisy was the endgame. The entire romantic plotline in TLH works up to their remaining married, and in love, until the stars burn out.

Now, we have fact #2: Matthew knows this. From the beginning, Matthew knows that he is not actually going to live out an idyllic HEA with Cordelia. He knows that she loves James; he says as much in Chain of Iron, when he drops in through Cordelia's window. This admission not only demonstrates that Matthew is aware of his position in their dynamic but also that he has the ability to observe the feelings of those around him and draw correct conclusions on his own.

Fact #3: Matthew is insanely self-destructive, and in Anna's words he 'seems to prefer a helpless love.' Self-destructive tendencies are a core part of Matthew's character, and they do not begin and end with alcoholism. Even before picking up drinking, Matthew was calling himself 'a waste of space in a waistcoat' in Cast Long Shadows. His using romance as a method of self-destructing should come as no surprise, but this was also set up really well even before TLH started. The entire point of Matthew's crush on Lucie was to exemplify that he preferred a hopeless love.

And what's more hopeless - and more painful - than loving your best friend's wife? Nothing.

I will say that I do not think that this is the only reason Matthew loves Cordelia. I think that, as Thomas says, it is not so much romantic love as it is a sense of absolution - Cordelia is the outsider that does not know Matthew, so he shared his secret with her, which caused him to bond/imprint on her. But also... we'd be remiss not to note that Cordelia is wonderful. She's brave, big-hearted, and an extremely warm person; she's funny and bright and bold. She is a good friend to Matthew. I just felt the need to say that to be fair to Cordelia too.

Now, we move onto fact #4. James and Cordelia had their own main romantic plotline as well. And it's good. Here are some things about James and Cordelia that are all unequivocally true:

They have loved each other since they were children.

James was able to break a Prince of Hell's enchantment because of just how much he loved Cordelia.

Cordelia and James were a real actual married couple from the second Cordelia set foot into 48 Curzon Street. Like, I am sorry, but that was never a fake marriage even when they were clowning.

James and Cordelia have exuded massive soulmate energy from moment one. Neither of them have ever wanted anyone else.

Which brings us to Matthew. Matthew, who prefers a hopeless love. Matthew, who knows at least subconsciously that nothing would be more hopeless or painful than falling in love with his parabatai's extremely obvious soulmate.

This is why I believe Cassie chose to make these plotlines intersect. It is a testament to the strength of James and Cordelia's bond, but it is also a very good way to showcase just how bad Matthew's self destructive tendencies are since it's obvious how much he loves James.

We do not have the makings of a love triangle. We have the makings of two intersecting plotlines:

A Big Soulmate Energy love story that all Hell's power can't extinguish, and

The story of a boy with horrible mental health that massively self-destructs in the worst possible way.

And it hits.

Because fact #5 is that Cordelia and Matthew's 'escape' to Paris is just that - rampant, unrealistic escapism.

Did anyone reading TLH ever think that Matthew stood a chance? Did Matthew ever think that Matthew stood a chance? The answer to the former question should be NO assuming the audience has media literacy. The answer to the latter is no as well - at least not until Paris.

Matthew goes to Paris extremely impulsively. He plans on going alone. I like this because it sets him up as someone who loves travel. It makes his choice to go on a Voyage post-ChoT very satisfying, and it's good character-building/foreshadowing. But it also shows that he was not in a good mental place and needed to escape from London, escape from JamesandCordelia because there are no spaces between their names in his eyes or anyone else's anymore.

Cordelia goes to Paris because she is forced to wedge spaces between their names. James and Cordelia must be seperate again. She's also grieving her dad who died like 2 weeks ago maximum.

Both Cordelia and Matthew use Paris - and each other - as a means of running away from their problems. They pretend to be different people with no issues and have a good time. But it isn't real.

JamesandCordelia is real, and James's appearance in Paris and Cordelia's departure because of his drinking ultimately is Matthew's rock bottom as he realizes that JamesandCordelia are meant to be.

This is not a love triangle. These are two plotlines that hit each other in all the right places and force all three characters to grow and confront their needs to escape and avoid their feelings.

I think that this is why it's genius. It's complex, but it's also devastatingly simple: Herondaisy's love was so strong that Matthew used it as a vehicle for hurting himself over and over.

And this is why Matthew's leaving London at the end of ChoT is so satisfying as well. In London, he is likely to get sucked back into old habits; watching JamesandCordelia build what promises to be a beautiful life would be to engage in self-harm again. Leaving is Matthew actively choosing to take care of himself, to find a path where he can love himself and find another love that is not hopeless.

In the end, the Heronfairstairs "love triangle" is the manifestation and exemplification of Matthew Fairchild's mental health journey. It's not really part of JamesandCordelia's journey at all.

And I think that's what a lot of people fail to see about it, and that's why people get frustrated. They fundamentally have misinterpreted the purpose as "romantic drama" when it's not a romantic story at all. Essentially people are looking at a ripe orange and going "well that's the shittiest-looking apple I've ever seen," which as self-proclaimed #1 Matthew Fairchild Stan gets frustrating as hell.

[rogerswifesblog-updates]

Chapter 3 - it’s all about the…

…Curiosity.

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

Previous chapter

A/N: I’m sorry for posting late!:) I wasn’t home on Friday, I was invited to a friends birthday party and in the morning I’ve spontaneously decided to bake a cake so I didn’t had time to post this:)

Pairing: stripper!Steve Rogers x Sugar!Mommy reader

Chapter summary: Steve stays the night.

Warnings: hand job, oral m receiving, subby Steve, needy Steve, mommy kink (only once used), a hit of mommy issues, feeding

18+

Walking into your mansion, you immediately stepped out of your heels, hanging up your coat. “We should watch a movie, eat…talk…whatever you’re in the mood for”, you smiled, not meaning to make it sound like that. “Ups, I meant like..talking and stuff. You’re choosing the movie.”

Steve laughed nervously, nodding anyway and following you to the open living room, sitting down next to you on the white leather couch. A white couch? He definitely doesn’t feel safe with his pizza here. Not with the sauce.

Steve slowly looked a bit around the living room, connected to the kitchen. Next to that broad curved stairs leading upstairs, making him curious what he’d find there. Dark shiny floors, making your heels always click loudly, which for some reason sounded attractive. There were also many plants everywhere, hanging from the walls, filling the shelves and standing at the bottom of the stairs. Everything seemed so pretty. Big open spaces, white couches and loveseats, a pretty glass table in front of the couch you two were sitting on, a gray carpet feeling soft against his feet, a few paintings on your walls. For a moment he thought about whether you'd let him paint something and hang it up in your home. The windows were huge, floor to ceiling and he couldn’t stop imagining what it looked like when the sun was up. Probably bright and cozy. It would be amazing to sit on the soft carpet while the sun would shine on him, maybe sketching or just enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Sighing you put your legs up on the arm rest, carefully leaning against his side. “So, Steven Grant, tell me something about you? What’s your story?”, a quiet chuckle came from the blond man, while he chewed his pizza.

“You know my story. I told you everything yesterday”, at that you snorted. “No, Steve, you told me your financial problems. I want to know something about your person”, you said, eating your now mostly cold fries. You felt Steve putting his arm around your midsection, unintentionally pulling you a bit closer.

It took him a few seconds till he answered. “I was a small kid, but got into trouble a lot-thank god my mom was a nurse, otherwise I might’ve lived in the hospital instead a house”, he chuckled and you could feel him shaking his head. “So you got in fights?” “Yeah, I…I didn’t like bullies. I still don’t like them. I hate to see men harassing women or just people that can’t defend themselves, you know?”

A small smile crept onto your lips, while you leaned your head a bit more against him, feeling his own dropping against your. “I had broken my nose four times at the age of fifteen-or, well before”, you heard the grin in his voice. Now it also made sense why his nose was slightly crooked. Not that it made him look any worse-it actually suits him.

While still eating some of your fries, you felt Steve shift around. “Everything alright?”, you asked, looking back at him. The young man blushed lightly, pointing at his belly. “The shirt feels tighter, now that i'm full”, he grinned sheepishly, making you laugh quietly. You turned around, to face him, before slowly opening his button down. “Just take it off, Stevie. I want you to be comfortable. You’re supposed to feel good here, with me…”, you whispered, finally pulling out the material from his pants and pushing it down from his shoulders.

Just like exprected a blush crept from beneath his shirt to the tips of his ears. “How often do you work out, Steve?”, you asked, caressing his chest, feeling his chest rising. Even though the undershirt you felt his warmth against your palm.

“A bit, yeah. After puberty hit me-which only happened like two years ago-I started working out more, went jogging…and when I needed a job I got into the stripper job, so I started pole dancing and that was kinda…fun. I still like it. I can’t dance with a partner, but dancing on stage and poles is like a fun workout…” Steve looked down at his biceps, flexing it. “I really like sports, going to the gym and just enjoying nature, walking the dogs from the shelter”, while you caressed his biceps, you started smiling.

It didn’t surprise you that Steve took the dogs for walks. Somehow it was just a Steve thing to do. You only know him since yesterday and yet you already could tell he was a good guy, with a huge heart.

Without saying a thing you gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Steve giggled, brushing over the spot you just kissed. “What was that for?”, he smiled bashfully, looking you up and down. Shrugging you leaned back against his side. “No reason, Stevie.”

„Can I ask you something?” “Always, Stevie. Don’t be shy, you can ask whatever and whenever you want.” You wiped your mouth carefully with your napkin, then your hands before throwing the tissue on the table next to the empty box.

Next to you Steve shifted a bit, turning more to you, making you slide against his chest, his hands slowly caressing your arms. “Do you do this often? I mean…looking for someone to take care of? How long will it take till you get bored of me?”

Steve's words made you pull your eyebrows together, while you slowly sat up and turned to him. Your now grease free hand touched his underarm. “Steve, it doesn’t work like that-sure, if we wouldn’t like each other, we’d probably stop it, but I don’t get bored of you. I’m here to help you as long as you need me and you’re…you’re there to make my life a bit more worth living, not just work, but sometimes a date, maybe a gala, stuff that I get invited to, just to accompany me.”

For a moment he thought about your words, looking down at your hand against his skin. “I’m just there to look pretty?” The pink patches made a reappearance on his face and you couldn’t stop yourself from grinning. “Something like that…I know it sounds silly, but when you’re associated with people like the ones I know they…treat you with more respect when you're not alone. Especially as a woman. You may be young, but a very attractive man, it’ll help my image to have you around”, you said truthfully, watching the gears in Steve’s head work, before he slowly nodded.

“So the…the relationship we have…I can ask for whatever I want and you’d buy it?”, he seemed unsure about this conversation, so you wanted to make feel saver, by gently taking his hand. “Yeah, money isn’t a problem here, I’m here to buy you stuff”, you smiled at him, watching as his cheeks blushed deeply, while he slowly averted his gaze.

“What about…sexual…stuff?” Oh, he was still nervous about that. Head shaking you squeezed his hand. “We don’t need to do anything, I promise. If you don’t want to-“ “but I do-I-I wanted to know if…if I can ask for something or if it’s only the other way around, if it’s just…when you want something”, he mumbled now fully nervous, his palm feeling sweaty in your hand.

You slowly raised your eyebrows, scooching a bit closer to Steve. “It’s both ways, not only my needs, but also yours if you want to”, he nodded at that (maybe even a bit eager now). A smirk crept onto your lips. “Is there something you want to ask me?”

He bit his bottom lip, looking down at your intertwined hands, slowly letting go of your hand and pushing it down onto his crotch, his hard cock already bulging against his jeans. Oh.

“Could you…touch me…? Please?”, he asked quietly.

Double oh.

Grinning you started to rub your hand over his pants, making him moan quietly, pushing against your palm back. „Tell me what you’ve done before-you said you’re a virgin but have you any experience?“ Your hand never stops rubbing his cock through the pants. Breathing heavily Steve looked up at you from under his eyelashes. Did he have any idea how pretty he looked when he looked at you like that?

It took him a few seconds till he finally found his voice again. „I had a few quick handjobs-just some stuff in highschool or while-while being at a party-disappearing into a friend's bedroom for a few minutes“, he laughed quietly, being interrupted by his own moan when you pressed a bit harder against the leaking head. „-and once a- a girl sucked my dick but-fuck don’t stop please-„ When he stopped talking you squeezed his cock painfully-but instead of whimpering or telling you to stop, he moaned and pushed into your hand.

You felt yourself get wetter at that.

Slowly you loosened your grip, but still stroked him. “But what, baby?” You asked curiously. He opened his eyes again, seemly confused before remembering what he had been talking about. “It was bad-she told me it was her first time doing that after and-and I had a hard time finishing-she scratched with her teeth and squeezed my balls too much-not in a nice way-“, he mumbled, his leg twitching when you rubbed over his head. At this point you noticed a little wet spot appearing right where his top was.

A smirk crept onto your lips listening to him talking about his not so positive or many experiences with sexual pleasure. You’d definitely change that. If he lets you.

“Can I open your pants, sweetheart?”, you whispered, playing with his zipper, already seeing him nod. “Yes-yes, pants and underwear”, he mumbled, his head falling against your shoulder, face buried against your soft skin.

Pushing down his pants, he helped you to do so by lifting his hips slightly. His hard cock slapping against his stomach, leaving a wet spot of pre cum on his undershirt. “Such a nice cock”, you whispered in his ear, slowly wrapping your fingers around his thick shaft. He felt unbelievably thick in your palm, warm and hard. God, you hoped he’d want to fuck you, because…yeah, you really, really wanted to feel him stretch you out.

Steve’s soft lips against your throat made you sigh gently. “My pretty boy, so lovely”, you whispered, your thumb rubbing over his leaking slit, feeling more pre cum leaking into your palm, making the movements smoother, wetter. “I’ll make you feel good, I promise..”

You pushed his shirt up with your other hand, rolling it underneath his armpits, his pecks on display, for you to gently lick over the perky nipples. “You’ve no idea how I love your pecs, sweetheart. Your pretty tits…couldn’t stop looking at them yesterday”, your grip around his cock tightened slightly, while pumping him a bit faster, his hips thrusting up into your palm.

He moaned a bit louder when you nibbled at his nipple, his hands brushing through your hair and pushing you slowly down. “Please…use your mouth…want to-want to come in your mouth-“

“Sure, babyboy”, you whispered before kneeling on the couch, one of your hands brushing over his thigh up to his cock, starting to stroke him once again, a bit quicker this time. “Ask me nicely.” This time you finally got a quiet whine out of his rosy bitten lips.

“Please use your mouth, please”, his whining made your pussy throb. He was fucking adorable.

“Where do you want my mouth, hm?”

Your thumb circled his slit, feeling more pre cum wet your hand making your slow strokes even smoother, a squelching sound following. Steve’s face turned a soft rosy color, while he looked at you with a pour on his lips when you indirectly asked him to beg.

But he will fucking beg if that’s what its take.

He didn’t hide the desperation in his eyes.

He needed it.

He needed to feel you.

Your mouth.

“Please-please use your mouth on-…on my cock. Please suck me off”, he moaned, tears welling up in his eyes, while he threw his head back when you started rubbing his cockhead a bit faster, before you started stroking his length again. “Sure Baby, all you needed to do was ask'', he definitely heard the smirk in your voice. When you finally leaned down, your ass was up your mouth close to his dick.

Steve gasped when he felt your tongue lick away the precum, tasting him and moaning against his cock, slowly licking over his length, making sure to make it messy with salvia and his own natural lubricant, till the squelching sound was filthy and loud.

You always liked it a bit messier.

As soon as he felt your lips wrap around his head, he thrusted up, feeling your hot wet and soft mouth making him lose his mind already. “Oh my-oh god”, he moaned, his head falling into his neck when he felt your tongue circling his slit. His taste hitting your tongue, you moaned around him, the feeling of your mouth vibrating around his head making him gasp.

You suckled at his leaking head, before slowly taking him deeper till he was stretching your throat. As a woman of a certain age, you’d learnt a few things over the years. You definitely had more experience than the girl that had sucked him off some time ago.

He felt his balls tighten, being full with cum that he was close to finally shooting into your mouth. Then your free hand found its way to his chest, circling his nipples and pinching. “Fuck, I’m-“, you could feel his dick twitch in your mouth, the pre cum and spit already leaking around your mouth, making it all sloppy.

His grip on your hair tightened and you felt him spill his seed in your mouth, some of it you swallowed, before pulling away and letting some of the spurts hit your face, neck and his own stomach. “Fuck mommy, feels so good”, he hadn’t even noticed the name slipping from his lips, while he fucked into your palm. You could hear the desperation in his voice and the desire flashing in his eyes, when he looked at you for a brief second. You stroked his shaft and massaged his balls till he was finished, wanting to get everything out of him, what had already been a lot.

Panting, he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze immediately finding you, watching as you liked away the rest of his cum from your fingers, some of it still on your cheek and neck, dripping onto your pearls. Fuck, his dick twitched again seein his cum mark your face and the ridiculously expensive necklace. He got to do that. Not anyone else. Only him.

Your lipstick and makeup was slightly smudged.

Moaning to himself Steve dropped his head once again against the headrest of the couch. “Fucking hell, I always thought sex gets boring after thirty”, he mumbled, both of you blush at the mention of your age gap. “Sex and any kind of intimacy is fun as long as you want it to be fun”, you whispered, grabbing his button down from the couch and firstly wiping away the cum from your face, before wiping his stomach.

“Let’s go shower, there’s a bathroom attached to my bedroom and another one on the end of the corridor, last door left and one upstairs…I’m pretty sure it’s the fourth door” You threw the shirt aside, kissing Steve’s cheek gently. “I hope it’s okay, I asked Clint to get you some clothes for you to sleep in and wear tomorrow-I…I hoped you’d stay here tonight”, you smiled, while steve pulled his boxershorts up, but the pants already falling to his ankles.

“I’m glad, what did he-or you?-get?”, he asked curiously, taking off the undershirt too, leaving him only in his boxershorts and…his SpongeBob socks. “I don’t know what he got, but Steve-please, the next Time you take off your clothes, start with your ridiculous socks”, you teased him, swatting his butt gently while standing up and wrapping your arms around his waist.

His cheeks became rosy, while he looked down to his socks, wiggling his toes. “Oh, right…I should’ve started with them-I’ll stop wearing patterned socks-“ “-don’t, I don’t want you to change that”, you kissed his cheek again, taking his hands and pulling him through the corridor. “It’s cute. Just like you.”

“You haven’t chosen a room yet, so we should do that-here’s my bedroom-“ You pointed at the open door to your bedroom. “And my office is the door to the right. You can choose whatever room you want-oh there’s also upstairs if you want to go there, there are more rooms if you won’t like these”, Steve seemed a bit overwhelmed looking through all the rooms. Comfortable looking blankets, soft pillows and expensive wardrobes, the carpets looking even more expensive than anything he had ever brought himself. But they all didn’t look homey, no pictures or any personal touches. There was even some thick dust coating most of the surfaces, like if you hadn’t been there in months.

He didn’t like the rooms-until the last one. Thankfully still on the bottom floor. He felt like he could get lost if he had to go upstairs.

“Oh, the windows are huge”, he whispered, walking into the room, looking out of the floor to ceiling windows. It was already dark outside, you could see the beautiful colorful lights of the city. “It’s always very bright here, the sun falls perfectly through the windows…”, you said, stepping closer to him, your hand slowly sliding over his back before wrapping around his waist.

It was so nice to finally feel someone’s warmth, a body against your own. Especially one like that. Sighing you leaned your head between his shoulder blades.

“Can I have this room?”, he asked quietly, his hand stroking over your arms that were wrapped around him. You couldn’t see the soft smile he wore, his gaze glued to the world outside. “Sure, even if you’d change your mind, it’s no problem if you want to choose another one”, you whispered against his skin.

When he felt you loosening your grip, Steve pulled your arms a bit tighter around his body, making you hug him longer. He felt comfortable with you, which he hadn’t in a long time-especially since last year. For some reason he liked the idea of that kind of relationship with you. It wasn’t about feelings. Just about needs. Nothing more.

He definitely needed money. And if you needed someone to spend time with you, he could do that. Why not? He’d be over at your place for the weekends and on other days he’d just stay at his place-which you said you’d pay for, too.

There would be no love involved. No real commitment, which sounded good to him. Steve struggled with relationships-that’s also why he never really had any and why he’s still so inexperienced. Since he had been in highschool-or even sooner, since he knew what sex was-he promised he’d have his first time with a person he loved. That never happened. But he still didn't want to lose his virginity to some random person-at least a close friend. Maybe, hopefully, he’d still find his love at some point.

For now he’s just enjoying living with the agreement of being your sugar baby.

Living in your home was already breathtaking-alone this room was unbelievable. It was probably as big as the small apartment he had shared with his mom years ago. He never had such a big room before-he had no room at all when he was younger and now in the apartment he shared with his two friends? His room was still way smaller than this.

It made him…speechless.

Maybe a bit emotional, too.

Yesterday he was a stripper and now he….was here. With you. A woman nearly twice his age, over a decade older than him. If someone would’ve told him a week ago he’d be here he’d laugh.

“Are you okay, Stevie?”, you whispered quietly against his back, softly kissing his skin. It wasn’t hard to notice Steve was lost in thought. The sigh that escaped Steve’s lips made you furrow your eyebrows. To make him feel a bit comfortable you started gently rubbing his arms, leaving a few last kisses at his spine, noticing a faint long scar there.

Steve took your hand in his, kissing your knuckles. “I just…it’s all so different. I can’t believe I’ll be sleeping here in this huge bed-wake up in a mansion-with these huge windows and an amazing view…I guess I’m a bit…overwhelmed.” He turned around, looking down at you before wordlessly hugging you for a short moment. You couldn’t really hug him back, because he was already stepping away from you, avoiding looking into your eyes.

“Abou the clothes…are there maybe some sweats? I’d like to sleep in-“ “yeah, sure. I’ll be back in a minute”, you smiled, slightly confused on why he became somewhat closed off suddenly. Of course you should be imagining too much into it, especially since Steve wasn’t your boyfriend-or friend, for that matter-but somehow you still felt a little sting in your chest. The many hours you had spent together were amazing, the date in its own way perfect, you’ve talked and shared a lot, some little memories here and there…

It didn’t make sense why he’d push you away now. Of course, you two weren’t supposed to fall in love, but you could still be friends? Maybe Steve still felt uncomfortable about the age gap? Maybe there was a different reason? Or maybe…maybe he was just overwhelmed with the change. You had to remind yourself how you had felt the first time your life changed drastically. It could be a lot sometimes.

“Clint got you these”, you put two begs on his bed and Steve could already see the Calvin Klein logo on the front, making his breath hitch. “I hope he got the right size. Wouldn’t want you to have to walk naked around…not that I’d mind it”, you joked a bit too lighted Steve’s mood again. He did smile a bit, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The sparkle from before was gone.

Sighing you sat down on the bed next to him, watching as his hand slowly brushed the silk cover, your own hand gently covering his. “If you wanna go home I can drive you, you know? You don’t have to stay.” Steve seemed to consider this for a moment, before slowly shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m this moody…it’s just…a lot. In a good way, of course, but…it made me think of….just everything. I think I should go to bed and just sleep it off”, not wanting to talk about his feelings more he withdrew his hand grabbing the bags instead and pulling out gray Calvin Klein sweatpants. After thanking you and giving you a kiss on the cheek you wished him a good night and left his room so he could go to bed.

But before you even left the door he called out your name again.”where do you keep the towels? I’d like to go shower""Right, I forgot. Just in the cabinet in the bathroom, you’ll find some-the blue ones are the softest, if you ask me”, a little grin appeared on your lips. “And a toothbrush should be somewhere in the bag, I told Clint to buy one for you, because otherwise he wouldn’t have thought of that”, with that Steve started looking through the bags, finally finding a toothbrush-and from where you were standing you could make out some colorful patterns on it.

“Steve, is this a kid’s toothbrush?” “It’s Toy Story!”, he grinned at the toothbrush, before looking back up at you, making you laugh quietly. All it takes to make Steve happy are patterned and themed things?

“Clint either bought it for his kid and accidentally threw this one in your bag, taking the one for adults or he did it on purpose”, you definitely believed the second scenario rather than the first one. And Steve thought so too. Clint definitely seemed like a guy who’d still use kids toothbrushes because they’re more fun.

You watched as Steve took some other clothes out of the bad, admired them for a moment and put them back in. You had to bite your tongue not to tell him to just put them in the wardrobe. Technically the room was from now on his, he could use the space…the closets and everything else.

“Good night Stevie. You know where to find me”, you smiled, before closing the door behind you, going straight to your room where you went to take a shower yourself. After your bedtime routine your head finally hit the soft pillows, immediately pulling you into the land of dreams and relaxation, surrounded by the soft feeling of silk against your naked skin.

While you were already deeply asleep Steve was still in the shower enjoying the hot water. It was nice to have steaming water, not having to think of your roommates and just being able to stand in the stream for a moment. Normally he’d try to wash up as quickly as possible, the water only lukewarm. He liked the idea of living like that.

After his shower and bedtime routine Steve laid down in his new bed, a quiet moan escaping his mouth when his body sank into the comfy mattress. When heaven existed it felt like this. From now on he'd spend as many nights in this bed as possible. No springs that were poking him in his sensitive back, no scratchy sheets, the pillow fluffy and soft like a warm cloud.

He may have fallen in love with this bed.

Smiling, he closed his eyes for a moment, sighing.

Before he could fall asleep he texted Bucky where he was and how the date with you went. Bucky's answer came quickly, a thumbs up and a grinning smile and something about being jealous of the huge bed Steve had sent a picture of.

Just like you had told him the sun brightened his room in the morning, the warmth on his cheeks waking him up. As soon as he woke up he felt unbelievably rested and comfortable. He’d love to just lay in bed all day, but in the evening before he had made up his mind about making you breakfast-which he hoped he wouldn’t mess up.

After putting on some of the clothes Clint had bought for him he left the room, closing the door behind him. His phone was in his sweatpants pocket, waiting for a message from Bucky what he should cook for you to eat.

Steve walked (what he assumed) in the right direction, but when he finally came to the end of the corridor he realized he entered the shared living room from a completely different direction that you two had walked in the previous night. Your corridor leads through the whole house?

When he had felt unsure about which door was your room before, he definitely had no idea anymore. “Fuck”, he mumbled turning around, looking back into the corridor he had walked out from. Maybe he’s just imagining it? It could’ve been this corridor and he’s just imagining something. He should’ve paid more attention to the house when you first showed him, not your ass.

After finding your fridge (which was harder than he expected, hidden as one of the many cabinets there) he found all the ingredients for pancakes.

Pancakes he could do.

Even Bucky thinks his pancakes taste pretty good. Which is a compliment, considering Bucky is the better cook. Also considering Steve managed to burn a damn toast two days ago.

After finding the plates and mugs he put the pancakes on these, before trying to find out how the coffee machine works (he had to Google it and damn did the price surprise him.)

He even found a tray to make it easier to carry the plates and mugs.

Smiling brightly he grabbed the tray and walked to the first door he assumed was your room. Knocking he waited for your greeting, hum or anything, but nothing came. Maybe you were still asleep, so he decided to open the door quietly. “Good mo-oh”, it’s an empty room he had seen yesterday.

Sighing he closed the door again, repeating everything at the next door. “Are you fucking kidding me?”, he grumbled, noticing this was, in fact, also not your room.

It took him four more tries till he finally found your bedroom. “For fucks sake, this is a damn labyrinth.” Noticing you were still asleep he couldn’t stop himself from looking at you for a moment. Admiring your natural beauty, because you had taken off your makeup to sleep. You were lying on your side, blanket pulled up to your face, Right beneath your chin.

It…looked cute. You looked cute.

He put down the tray on your nightstand, looking down at himself for a moment, before quickly taking off his hoodie and throwing it aside. After taking the tray he gently shook your shoulder straightening quickly. (He may or may not have flexed his abs). “Good morning-breakfast in bed!”, he greeted you cheerfully.

You immediately opened your eyes, a tired smile creeping on your face while you slowly looked up at you—the smile now wider.

Then you slowly sat up, your eyes widening, pulling the blanket even higher. “Steve that’s sweet, thank you but-I’m naked”, you felt blush creeping onto your cheeks, the same happening to Steve.

“Oh I-fuck-I’m sorry I shouldn’t have-“, he immediately started apologising looking everywhere but you, the nervousness and shakiness of his voice couldn’t be more obvious. It’s sweet how nervous he was about your nakedness even though you had sucked his dick a few hours ago.

Laughing you pulled the blanket even higher to your chin. “Steve it’s fine-wait no, don’t go. Please just give me something to wear, you’ll find some shirts in my wardrobe-is that your hoodie? Why aren’t you wearing it?”, you asked when Steve picked up the navy blue material from the floor, holding it out to you. The red patches returned to his cheeks, even darker this time.

Your gaze fell to his bare chest, then to the breakfast tray and back to the hoodie. “Oh Steve!” The laugh that escaped your throat was soft and cheerful. “You’re so sweet. That’s the best breakfast I’ve ever gotten. Especially those abs, baby. Now give me the hoodie and sit with me”, you said, grabbing the hoodie, not noticing the blanket slipping down, showing a bit of your breasts-but Steve did notice. You also miss the way his cheeks tinge pink.

Steve saw your breasts.

And fuck.

He’d love to get his mouth on them.

His dick definitely twitched at the thought and he thanked god you were currently busy with dressing yourself, otherwise he’s sure you’d have noticed it. Especially since he’s not wearing any boxershorts underneath his sweatpants.

You patted the spot next to you, mentioning Steve to sit with you, already pulling the blanket up for him to slide underneath. He hesitated for a moment, before carefully sitting down next to you , not sure if he’s supposed to put his arm around you or touch you in any way.

“Could you pass me the tray?” Steve nodded, doing as you asked and watching you for a moment cutting into the pancake-to his surprise you lifted the piece to his mouth instead of your own. The usual blush crept over his chest to the very tips of his ears, making him look adorable. “Come on, Stevie, don’t be shy. Open up”, you whispered.

For some reason he shivered, his whole body immediately covered by goosebumps. “S-sure”, he cleared his throat before taking the bite, quietly chewing, while you took a bite for yourself.

A few minutes later Steve’s head was already leaning against your shoulder, enjoying being fed by you. It was really nice. Made him feel funny in his chest. In a comfortable and pleasant way. He felt completely relaxed, a bit mushy even.

“Okay, come on, I have to visit a friend today, so I’ll drive you home-maybe we could buy some groceries on our way, too, if you need anything?”

An hour later Steve was entering his apartment with two huge bags filled with groceries for-well, he didn’t want to look while you paid, still feeling a bit overwhelmed, maybe even a bit guilty, but definitely a lot. Fresh vegetables and fruits, some things he couldn’t even pronounce and a few snacks. Probably more than he actually needed, but it wouldn’t go to waste, not with him living with two roommates. (Both, Bucky and Sam were thrilled seeing all the food. Which also meant many questions about Steve’s weekend and sugar mommy )

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[themoonsketch]

Shelter

It was an October afternoon and the sky was closing in more and more, gray and black taking over what was blue, the wind becoming too strong to the point that you closed the windows at home and started to worry about who was there, Outside, without an umbrella, it was setting up for rain, a lot. It was almost perfect for you to have an afternoon of movies and laziness alone, as you always loved, all you needed was some popcorn and a hot coffee to make everything complete.

Looking at the big nothing from the corner of your kitchen and waiting for the coffee to be ready, you start to hear the violent and heavy rain falling outside and hitting the windows of your apartment, looking a little through the kitchen window you almost don't see the big and bright city around him, everything was a little blurry because of the storm.

When the coffee is finally ready and you are struggling to balance the bucket of popcorn and the mug in your hands, loud and desperate knocks start to come from outside the balcony, in fright, you almost drop everything on the floor and on yourself. , what the hell was that? Who was on your 10th floor balcony in all that rain? still a little upset and with your heart racing, you leave the popcorn and coffee on the coffee table in the living room and go towards the balcony, still a little reluctant to open the metal part of the sliding door, you hear the knocking again, now in a lower tone but still euphoric, "Hi… Is anyone home?", the deep and somewhat impatient voice comes right after the knocking, returning to itself and leaving the trance of fear and reluctance, you open the door , and lifting his head up he came across a large and wide figure in a red and blue suit completely soaked and dripping, it was Spider-Man, “An…can I help you?” you say, still in shock at the completely random situation, "I'm sorry for showing up like this, can I take shelter here? The rain is really heavy and Layla isn't working properly." You nod your head in a sign of “yes” and give space for the big man to enter while you still process the information, how on earth did Spider-Man appear right at your door, what was he doing, and by God, who was Layla? .

He was wetting the entire floor of the room, a puddle was forming around him that was growing more and more, he seemed to be moving around in his totally soaked and shiny suit, a little angry at not being successful in what he was trying to do, not really understanding what he was doing. happening you decided to stay silent and just watch, but you heard a sneeze, “Atchhh.., puta madre, dios mio, I just need to get sick”, acting completely on impulse you suggested he go take a shower, “Do you want to take a shower warm?, it will warm you up and prevent you from catching a cold, you can also stay here as long as you need.” He takes off the mask that covers his face and head and reveals to you an extremely beautiful being, you had never seen someone like that, especially the spider without his mask, the few times you came across him out there, he was always fully dressed and in fight with some villain or bandit, he had some marks on his cheekbones and dark circles under his eyes, but what in anyone was synonymous with bad habits and ugliness, in him he was extremely attractive and made him more irresistible, his tanned brown skin matched perfectly with his dark brown hair, which at the moment was also wet and shining, making water run down your face, chin and jaw, the dark red eyes, mysterious and intense, looking at you, made you lose your way a little, “That would be great, I'll just go Take your time until the suit dries and Layla is back to work, I will try to be as imperceptible as possible, since I disturbed you in some plans.” he says, looking and referring to the popcorn and coffee mug still on the table in the living room, but you can only notice his extremely inviting mouth, and… fangs?, he had fangs, which by the way were sharp in appearance and dangerous, what could a bite like that do to someone?, especially to you, thinking about that man who looked like a wall, so big and robust, grabbing you and biting you made you shiver all over in an extremely good way, and only the thought of more things happening between you made you sigh and almost moan with desire.

Your reaction did not go unnoticed by him, who was also analyzing you closely from the moment you opened the door for him to take shelter from the rain, he noticed when your eyes became a little cloudy, when your entire body got goose bumps and the peaks of your breasts marked on her fragile and transparent blouse, temptingly transparent, her sigh and her mouth opening just a little, perhaps to speak or…moan, but nothing came out of her, “Yeah…well, don't worry about what I I was going to do it, I'm going to take you to the bathroom.”, you said a little agitated and embarrassed by the thoughts you had seconds ago, he just stayed quiet and followed you, in the hallway he had to dodge a little to enter the bathroom door, which for you, was normal size and even large, but for him, it was too small, you decided to leave him alone to take a shower, but if He remembered not having gotten a towel for him.

With a clean and dry towel in hand, you headed towards the bathroom, and when you arrived at the door, smoke and hot steam were already coming out from underneath and through a crack in it, showing that the door had not been closed completely, you, sinful as it was, it already stopped and almost went soft there, with the thought of a spider man being totally naked and vulnerable in your bathroom, just a few meters away from you, one way or another you needed to hand over the towel, so, you started to enter through the crack, the door didn't even open halfway, but it was enough for you to see, to see something that wouldn't leave your head so soon and easily, that would haunt you for the rest of the day, night, weeks and months , who, when you were about to close your eyes to fall asleep, would hit you in an aggressive and fatal way, that man, who appeared out of nowhere in your house asking for shelter, showed you to be a temptation and stirred your deepest and most repressed senses and instincts, he was there, behind the glass shower that was neither private nor dark, with his forehead resting on the cold white marble of the bathroom with an expression of pure pleasure and desire on his face, his hair low and dripping, his back broad and muscular. a little tense, also wet and dripping, her hands on his hard, thick, pulsing member, wrapped in something red, by god, were those your panties? forgotten somewhere in the bathroom, but he found it and now he was having sex with her wrapped around his dick, god, my god… you gasped and almost went to see Jesus right there, you were paralyzed by the scene, you couldn't stop watching, his also strong and tanned legs were shaking a little, that's when he moaned, “Ah..Joder, que rico si su coño es tan pequeño y apretado como parece, nunca me iré de aquí, hm..ah.”, you let out a sob of lust, that was when he turned his eyes to the door and saw you, suddenly you jumped out of the bathroom with your face red with embarrassment and closed the door with all your might.

The towel was still in your hands, crumpled from your grip on it during the scene that occurred moments ago, your chest was rising and falling rapidly as if you had just climbed the highest mountain, your breathing quickened, what the fuck just happened? happen?, you couldn't control your breathing, you were still in shock, your legs were wobbly and your pussy was completely wet, as wet as the state that man was in when you found him in that downpour, you were still trying to process and compose yourself, was it When he opened the door in front of you, you first looked up and found his chest, his broad and large breasts, still with a few drops of water, but it was when you lifted your head up, that you found his red eyes, which now they seemed to be scarlet and with a golden glow that you had never seen before, making you look away instantly, you started to tremble, maybe from fear, maybe from excitement, your mouth was also trembling and only meaningless things were coming out of it, “h-look, It's… I-I, I don't know…” but he interrupted you, grabbing your chin and lifting it upwards, making you look eye to eye again, “Que perra, ¿quieres decir que me estabas espiando en la ducha? Hm?” he says while shaking his face from side to side a little aggressively, “What a little slut you are, wanting me from the moment I set foot here, you don’t even hide it.” you were speechless, without words to say to that man, after all, it was all true, you had spied on him, desired him, had thought of him biting you, and worst of all, in front of him, but who was he to want to fight with you? ?, he was fucking your panties, your poor defenseless panties, “Y-you had my panties in your m-hands and in your…” you couldn't continue, the way he was looking at you, as if he could tell you eating the whole thing in one mouthful left you too upset to continue your sentence, you closed your legs a little when your pussy reacted to that look, and he brutally grabbed you and pulled you into the bathroom, pressing you against the cold wall that ripped you away. a little scream, it was when he pressed you that you realized he was naked, the towel now lying outside the door never reached him.

Hi, I wanted to apologize for any gross mistakes you may have found, my English is a bit bad and I'm starting to write publicly, anyway, I hope you liked it :)

[violetswritingg]

Thunderstruck

Tyler Owens x OFC!

Description: When cowgirl meets cowboy after a year of no-contact and chaos ensues during storm season!

Rating: M (Mentions of blood and death in Tornadoes and storms alike, angst and loss of loved ones, car accidents, Tornado aftermath, and injury to characters, slight age gap (5 years))

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A/N: Wowza, I got a little carried away hehe. Over 5,000 words in this bad boy. Enjoy the angstttttt

6

May 2011

Oklahoma

It was an overcast spring day, perfect for storm chasing. Perfect for putting his newly acquired skills to work and chasing the thing he had been fascinated with and terrified of since he was eight. Tyler, his truck, and a few friends, that was their team. For now.

He liked the look of the clouds as the wind started to pick up. The rest stop had been swarmed with other chasers armed to the teeth with cameras and the anticipation of a storm brewing.

“He’s here! He’s here! I saw him a mile down the road!” A random chaser screamed out his truck window as he sped into the lot and skid to a stop in a space not too far from Tyler. He instantly perked up, confused, but excited.

That’s when he heard the roar of the engine he had listened to for years.

“No way.” He breathed as he rounded the end of his vehicle, eyes on the turn in along with everyone else in the lot. Cheering had already started before the Warlock had even pulled in, the crowd parting like the red sea. Tyler’s jaw fell to the floor as he watched – in person – the doors fly up and out stepped Nathan St. James in all his blue jean, flannelled glory. His smile was infectious as he waved at the crowd, only to get a cheer  and claps on his shoulder from all his buddies around him, earning a laugh from him.

It took a second for Tyler to recognize the movement from the other side of the Warlock, a small head popping out just over the roof. Messy blonde curls flying as a girl, no older than 13 appeared and waved. Earning shouts of “Rocket!” and more cheers. Her grin was a mirror of her father’s.

He was 18 and his mom almost said no when he told her he was coming out here.

She hopped down all on her own and stepped around the back, her dad meeting her with a tablet in hand, a member of his crew holding up a camera, red light blinking as Nathan talked through something he was seeing on the radar. Riley chiming in helpfully with what she saw. Nathan chuckling and messing up her hair. His daughter glared up at him and huffed. Rolling her eyes and walking out of the shot, instead heading over to the driver’s side of the Warlock. Stepping up onto the edge of the open doorway, grabbing the joint of the wing door and pulling herself up, someone coming along and giving her a small boost. She grinned down at the older man with his salt-pepper hair. They fist bumped and Riley settled. Cross legged as she started to tune the spinning sensor on top of the Warlock. No one blinking an eye.

He had seen her in videos but seeing such a small girl move around such a large vehicle so easily was jarring to see in real life. It showed how much she had done with her dad. Tyler had unknowingly gotten closer, his deep desire to meet his hero pulling him towards the ultimate chasing vehicle he had always wanted to sit in. To drive. So close he could hear the chirp Nathan pushed out between his teeth his eyes locking onto Riley’s, the girl scooting forward and sliding down the windshield. Using it like a slide as her feet landed with a thud on the concrete sidewalk lining the walkway of the ground floor rooms.

Her dad lifted the hood and Riley cuddled up next to him, bright grin on her face as she giggled through the pop quiz her dad was giving her. Pointing to pieces and looking to her to tell him what they were, her voice was carried over the low rumble of chaser chatter and the natural chaos the community seemed to radiate.

When Tyler made it past the big black hood-shield, he felt his eyes widen as he watched Riley stick almost her whole body into the engine with some electrical tape on her fingers. Her dad was listening intently to the guy next to him as he held up another tablet with another set of data Tyler couldn’t read from where he was.

“Holy shit.”

Three heads whipped over to him and Tyler could feel himself flush, eyes going wide as he met the kind gaze of his hero, darting to the frown on the girl’s face, matching eyes looking at him like he was dirt on her shoe.

“Who’re you?” Her nose wrinkled up and Tyler felt like he wanted to cry.

“Riley! Manners!” The father laid his solid hand on his daughter’s thin shoulder, a scolding tone painting his words and clouding his eyes as he frowned at the girl. The blonde curled into herself as she avoided her dad’s eyes. Muttering an apology under her breath before focusing on the Warlock again, her dad just puffed out a chuckle, his affection still clear even through his mild annoyance, “I am so sorry for her, she’s got an elevated sense of importance, my guys just fan her ego, I can’t stop it. Nathan, haven’t seen you around, first chase season?” Nathan held out his hand, as his eyes met Tyler’s and the eighteen-year-old was still in shock. His hand finding the man’s and nodding as he swallowed.

“Tyler. Tyler Owens. Meteorology major, U of A, big fan – massive fan really, you’re kind of my hero.” Tyler was screaming in his head to shut up, to seal his mouth shut so he could stop making himself look like a fool in front of Nathan fucking St. James and his tween daughter.

“He hears that a lot.” Riley’s voice pinged around the engine, and she glanced at the older male out of the corner of her eye.

“Ignore her, she’s just upset that no one’s ever told her that before, bit of a sore loser this one is.” Nathan chuckled and reached back. Throwing his arm around Riley’s neck and shaking her. Earning groans from the girl as she yelped and pushed him away.

“You almost made me tear out the radiator line!”

“What?!” Nathan was at his daughter’s side in an instant, “Why were you messing with the radiator line?!”

“Um…” Riley trailed off, looking up at her dad with her big blue eyes, fluttering her lashes, “Learning experience?”

“You are gonna kill me one of these days kid.” Nathan groaned, head tilted back for a second before his chin fell forward and dipped down to his chest. He looked back up to Tyler and waved him over, “Wanna see?” He pointed to the engine.

“F-Hell yes.” Tyler censored himself at the last second. Earning a scoff from the thirteen-year-old behind her dad.

“I’ve heard the word Fuck before. I’m not a kid.”

“Language!” Nathan whipped around, flicking his daughter on the forehead. Earning a yelp from the girl, her oil smudged hand coming up to hold her head where the impact had occurred.

“Dad!”

“Eh?” The older man raised an eyebrow at the challenge in Riley’s eyes. Matching blue orbs narrowing until laughter burst their little bubble.

Tyler hunched over, his own adrenaline from meeting Nathan and his genuine amusement mixing in an unstoppable fashion. Nathan was the first one to break, his grin triggering Riley’s, her giggles bursting out and causing Nathan to erupt. His arms wrapped around his kid, and he tossed her over his shoulder.

Tyler watched with a smile as Nathan deposited Riely on his other side, motioning for Tyler to sidle up where Riley had once been to get the best view.

Tyler and the girl meeting eyes, her giving him a small grin before starting to point out all the different components and laughing when he freaked out over the spikes just poking out from under the car. The way he was reacting to her made her feel important, like what she was saying actually deserved to be heard and not just cooed at. Going as far as to explain all the custom stuff until she had to look to her dad.

It was a good start to her first official storm season in tornado alley. Tyler would say the same about his too.  

~~*~~~

May 2013

Oklahoma

Tornado Alley, near El Reno

“Come on! Time to go!” Nathan called his daughter, a storm system that his team was tracking about ten miles away seen in the distance. Just far enough Nathan felt comfortable bringing his world out in a much less storm proof vehicle this time around. He kept his focus split, but heavily leaning toward the image of his daughter, hood up and barely protecting her face from the falling droplets that had started to intensify.

Her plastic covered camera in hand as she freaked out about the shelf cloud the trailed-out miles to the east glowed a frosty, illuminous blue due to the hail it was producing. Promising a strong storm, or a very anticlimactic chase.

“Isn’t it just the most perfect, beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?!” Her shutter was continually going off and her father chuckled at his daughter. Eyes warm in the chilled spring shower as he took in the sight before him, quickly pulling out his phone and capturing it, sending it to Tyler with a lightening emoji.

“One of em’ yeah!” Nathan walked up to his daughter, smiling down at her and pressing a kiss to the top of her rain-soaked head.

The radar had been weird a little earlier but the cap on this storm was a little too strong to break in Nathan’s opinion. Hence why he thought it was safe to indulge in his daughter’s love of chaos that he had instilled in her. Two sides of the same coin and happy as a clam. He couldn’t be happier than right now. His smile soft as his daughter, dark blonde hair plastered to her forehead and sides of her face. Her camera wrapped in protective plastic around her neck, now resting against her stomach.

Riley was quick, turning and grabbing her dad’s hands, checking the road before pulling him into the middle of it and pulling him to dance. He trips and stumbles and she laughed, their smiles wider than a mile.

Riley tried to make him spin but couldn’t reach over his head and had to jump, Nathan spun her next, around and in. The father-daughter pair were still laughing as they hugged in the middle of the street, soaked to the bone. Both sets of clear sky eyes look at the grey clouds piled high before them and promising more rain and probably some lightning and thunder. It was closer to them now, the wind changing direction as the scent in the air changed. They both noticed it, the hairs on the back of their necks tingled and they slowly pulled apart. Standing shoulder to shoulder. The clouds started to move in a direction that sent a chill down both of their spines and a tornado siren started to ring out, their phones pinging.

“Get in the truck. Now.” 

Riley wasted no time and sprinted for the truck. Nathan made sure she was in and buckled up before he floored it. Reversing as best he could as the rain picked up and ice slush started to come down, the precursor to hale, as the rotation of the storm created a massive wedge.

Angry grey and black streams of air swirled down, down, down, until they touched the ground. Made contact and swelled in size right before Nathan and Riley’s eyes.

“Dad…” Riley’s voice trembled, her hands shook over the grip she hand on the belt across her chest.

“I got you baby. I got it.” Nathan didn’t know how he was keeping his composure right now. They didn’t have their radar or their equipment or their team or even a goddamn radio. They were on their own and in the direct path of the tornado that was more than a mile wide. And then everything happens all at once.

The tornado got stronger, started moving faster, bigger and bigger pieces of debris came at them and her dad did the best he could to swerve out of their way. They both look at each other as multiple vortices pop out of the tornado and disappear again, breaking off and reforming. Her dad pressed the pedal down as far as he could. Turning the truck right way round and pushing it to go faster as golf-ball sized hail started to pound down. The truck was not storm proofed and that was why there was genuine fear racing through Nathan’s veins right now, he got rid of it though. Steeling his expression and his resolve when he saw the terror on his daughter’s face. 

“I got you Riley, just breathe. It’s all going to be okay.” He promised and then he yanked the wheel to the left and punched the engine again, going down for about a mile and taking a right only to jump on another left turn. Going east like bats out of hell. Riley turned to look out the back window and gasped in a breath of relief, seemingly out of the path now. She pulls out her phone and starts filming just as it stops. In the middle of the road, like a chicken still making up its mind if it really wanted to cross.

Riley saw something fly past and over the truck, ducking with a scream. Her dad cursed, calling out her name.

“We have to go!” Riley screamed, “Back back back!”

 She knew these roads like the back of her hand at this point. After so many storm seasons out in the plains. Her head kept jumping back and forth between the back window and the windshield. “Left right here! Right here!” She yelled and the back tires of her dad’s pick up slid in the mud. Windshield started to crack as the hail grew. The sky was black and swirling in a path of destruction right behind them and was swelling up once again, enough to feel the winds pulling at his truck and his foot was all the way down. When the truck seemed to stop moving her dad looked at her and she was already looking at him.

Tears in her eyes as her dad just smiled, unconditional love and devastation in his eyes. They both know what’s about to happen. Letting go of the steering wheel and pulling her to him across the beach seat. Pushing her down and covering her with his body. “I got you Riley. You’re gonna be okay! Just hold on!”

“Daddy!” She screamed as she felt the truck go flying. 

And then everything goes black.

~~*~~

She wakes up in complete darkness.

Everything hurt, aches panged through every inch of skin and bone. Her head pounded; she couldn’t think.

And then the way her breathing seemed restricted caught up to her and a heavy wheeze left her lips, the limp weight of someone on top of her and keeping her folded over not comfortable in the slightest. The smell hit her next.

Iron, metallic something, diesel, storm, but dusty, stale. She coughed and it felt like her lungs were being stabbed.

And then it hit her.

“D-dad.” She coughed, gagging at the wave of pure pain rolling through her body, “Daddy, wake up. I'm scared."

Silence.

“Dad?” her eyes started to sting, “Dad, please.” She begged, a sob ripping from her throat and causing another gag as it jolted her ribs. She sputtered but recovered, breathing as deeply as she could and letting out a scream. The best she could do.

She did that for what felt like hours.

“Hold on! Almost there!” She heard voices calling as small streams of light started to cut through the pitch black. Rubble and debris shifting, until there’s too much light and it hurts her eyes. Effectively blinding her as she takes the hand offered to her through the broken window of the truck. “Come on, I gotcha. I gotcha. You’re okay. Just breathe.”

“Ty-ler?” She coughed, eyes squinted and barely able to make out the blurry figure in front of her, as she was placed on the ground, “Ty, my dad, my dad.” She couldn’t stop coughing, until her hands came away speckled with blood.

“Shit. Fuck.”

“It’s Rocket!”

“Where’s Nathan?!”

“Nathan!”

Riley tries to stand to see the commotion, but Tyler blocks her. Catching her when her legs gave out, she tried to fight against him but everything hurt too much and all she wanted was her dad.

“Dad! Dad!” She cried, hands helplessly batting at the arms Tyler held around her like steel cables. Reaching up and forcing her face into his chest when screams filled the air, cries of grief, and shouts of your dad’s name. Tyler’s silent tears streamed down his face as he fixed his jaw to keep it all contained, for Riley.

“I’m so sorry.” He forced out, voice on the verge of breaking.

“No.” Riley wailed, “Dad!” Tyler was forced to give her to the paramedics, she was fighting them and Tyler restrains her and she sobs for the whole community to see. “No!”

“Close your eyes!” Tyler blocked her line of sight to the gruesome scene, “He wouldn’t want you to see him like that. Remember him as you always have.” Tyler held Riley’s face in his hands. Pushing away the pink tinged, sticky strands from her face as she completely crumpled.

~~*~~

August 2013

Arkansas

“He would hate this.” Riley muttered under her breath, taking in the house full of people dressed all in black.

“Oh yeah. No doubt.” Tyler’s voice lightheartedly agreed, but he was off. Everyone was.

That’s what happens when people die, she guessed.

Everything is just a little off after.

Her and Tyler had faded back into silence, Riley only coming back to reality when approached by yet another old friend/colleague/long lost relative to give her their apologies. As if they would bring her dad back to life.

If only.

“Where is she?!” A voice squawked from outside but was loud enough to be heard from the living room. The front door was propped open so people could come and go.

Riley frowned and stood; Tyler followed her a step behind. He had been like that since he pulled her out of that truck, which looked more like a crushed soda can after the tornado was done with it. When she got to the door it took her a second to recognize the woman before her. But it clicked.

“Mom?” Riley’s shock and confusion were the only emotions he had seen or heard her allow herself to emote for the last couple of weeks. The sky was a cloudy grey this August day in Arkansas and it made it just that much more difficult to breathe.

“Oh my baby!” Her mother wailed and rushed to Riley, the fifteen-year-old jerked back like she had been threatened with a punch not a hug.

“What are you doing here?” Riley snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and stepping farther into the house she would now be forced to share with her dad’s sister. Angela. She was a bitch.

Riley also had never met her before two weeks ago, yeah.

“I’m here to support my daughter in her time of need.” Her mother placed her hands over her chest, batting her lashes sickeningly. Riley just let out a deep sigh and shook her head, but Tyler could feel the rage that had been boiling beneath the surface start to crackle against her skin.

“How dare you.”

“Excuse me?” The older woman scoffed, the look of compassion in her eyes melting away to something crueler. Something harsher. Her love disappearing. All that was left was a stranger with deep brown eyes, and blonde hair curled to perfection, manicured nails, and expensive shoes. The complete opposite of the girl before her.

“How dare you come here, today of all day, and try to make this about you. Try to make my dad’s dying about you- you narcissistic piece of shit. You are not my mother; I don’t have a mother. Now leave. And If you ever show your disgusting face here ever again, I’ll get my dad’s 5 gauge and shoot you for trespassing on our property.” Riley grit, her eyes spelling murder and she didn’t look like a kid anymore. The spark was gone. It broke Tyler’s heart. It made him angry.

It made him miss Nathan even more. If he was still here this would be happening.

“Well, I never!”

“Leave!” Riley exploded, “For fucks sake just go! Run away! That’s what you’re good at yeah?! Just fucking leave! Give up when it get's hard!”

The girl was heaving, chest unable to expand far enough to replenish her breathe, hand pointed off in a random direction.

“I couldn’t less of a shit where you go, but you can’t stay here.” Riley deflated and she felt her eyes prickle, shaking her head at the woman standing in front of her. Until she left.

It didn’t take long, only another minute or two. And Juliette was gone quicker than she had showed up with tracked for her. But when her stupid fancy car had turned off the property line Riley let out a really long breathe. Placing a hand on the doorway beside her, eyes far away before screwing shut.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Tyler whispered, pulling her to the side, away from the small crowd that had formed behind her at the doorway. “Look at me.” Riley’s eyes floated up and met Tyler’s, “Good job, just breathe. In and out. You’re okay. I’m right here.” He pulled her into his chest and whispered soothingly into her hair. Tyler’s eyes meeting Jo’s as the blonde woman stepped into the thick of the crowd and pushed out onto the porch.

The woman watching with heart break painted on her face. Watching as Riley’s hands shook on their way to the back of Tyler’s jacket, twisting into the fabric of his suit, the dam breaking. Loud, ugly, heart-breaking, earth-shattering sobs left the girl’s lips and Tyler could barely stop his own tears. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t keep doing this. Not when his own heart was breaking itself apart too.

Jo stepped forward, seeing Tyler’s own struggles and taking Riley from him, the girl only clinging on tighter when she felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder. Tension draining when her aunt Jo’s voice entered her ears and Riley let the woman pull her away. The older blonder holding the girl to her neck with an arm around her shoulders. The other running up and down the girl’s arm. Whispering into her ear soothing nothings. Her own emotions were all over the place as well, Nathan may not have been her blood but he was family, without him Riley wouldn’t be here and Jo couldn’t imagine them both being gone. It made her throat close up, it was too much but the woman had seen her fair share of funerals of old colleges in the last couple of months but it never got easier. Her and Bill holding each other a little closer every night.

They had almost chased that storm. It was a wake up call.

Riley wasn’t really calm, more like she exhausted herself and couldn’t hold herself up anymore. Tyler swept up her feet from under her and carried her upstairs when she sagged in Jo’s arms. Ignoring the pitying looks that got sent their way, Jo shuffling people back into the house, and into the living room.

Entering her childhood bedroom was weird. He hadn’t ever been in it before; he never had any reason to be. Never wanted to. The cream-colored walls covered in band posters and picture frames. String lights around her ceiling and polaroids taped to the hanging mirror on the door to what he assumed to be her closet. Slightly messy but everything had a place. Everything was more or less contained, the messiest thing being her desk next to her door, papers and charts scattered over the sturdy wood that had once belonged to Nathan. The sage green comforter on her bed gave way to lilac sheets as he gently placed her in bed and pulled off her shoes before pulling up the covers and letting her rest.

He sighed as he sat down next to her and her wet eyes tracked his every movement, starting to droop. The bright blue tired and blood-shot, glowing like lamp posts in a parking lot. It was like looking at a ghost, the normal spark of joy and mischief that was normally found in her gaze was gone. Her heart now covered with scars no kid should have to carry at 15. At 18. At 20.

Her hand found his, she, even knowing him for a couple years now, hadn’t ever been too physically close to him. The age difference was awkward sometimes, not to say she avoided him like the plague or he avoided her. It just wasn’t common.

Not like her and her dad’s affection, the two always laughing about one thing or another when together. Riley looking at Nathan like he hung the moon and all the stars, it had been well documented. Many a video dedicated to how great of a father Nathan St. James was. And now he was gone.

Only living a town over making it possible for his relationship with Nathan to grow the way it had, as he left the rodeo and focused more on school his sophomore year after a bad ride, was the happiest coincidence that had ever happened to Tyler. Until now.

Now it felt like the world would never be okay again without the man around.

He couldn’t even fathom what the girl in front of him was feeling.

“Can you stay?” Riley’s eyes were once again filled with tears as her breath shuttered, her grip in his hand clammy and getting tighter by the second.

Looking at her all he could see was Nathan.

“Y-Yeah. I can stay.” He breathed and turned over his hand, letting Riley lace their fingers together. Not once complaining or making a sound as Riley’s breathing evened out and her eyes slid shut.

~~*~~

Late August 2013

Arkansas

Tyler crept slowly through the downstairs of the St. James owned farmhouse, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. His backpack in his other hand as he passed the staircase and stopped at the front door.

His head bowed forward, and he leaned his forehead against the cold wood, puffing out a breath. His guilt eating him alive, twisting up his insides into a big knot that refused to go away.  

Tyler had stuck around, like he promised he would, and it killed him. Sleeping in the guest room on the ground floor and the last day or two he had taken to helping take care of stuff around the property that Nathan had been saying he would do for months, and that Riley wouldn’t be able to do on her own. Her aunt all but disappearing as soon as she got access to the property and Nathan’s accounts a couple days after the funeral. Everything the man had put away for Riley was safe, though that didn’t stop her aunt from trying to access that too.

The woman was one of the worst people Tyler had ever met. But he had a time limit on how long he could stay. Riley had been sticking close to him and he could see her trying to latch onto the only person here. Her Aunt jo stuck in Oklahoma until the end of the month due to work and with finding out she was pregnant a couple days after the funeral had sent everything into a frenzy. He only had two days until he went back to school. He had to go.

But he couldn’t stand looking in Riley’s eyes and telling her that to her face. He couldn’t watch her cry again. She had been shut up in her room for most hours of the day, only coming down when there was food or if she had a nightmare. Tyler would hear her in the kitchen, getting water, every night. He would get up and watch movies with her on the living room couch until she passed out again. Carrying her back to bed and repeating the process over again the next night.

“You’re leavin'.” A small voice pitched up from behind him. Tyler jerked, not expecting to get caught.

“Riley, Jesus Christ, you can’t scare a guy like that.” He pushed out a chuckle, but it died when he looked up and met the eyes of the girl staring him down. She looked worse for wear, bags under her eyes and her hair thrown into a frizzy ponytail. Her whole being swallowed by one of her dad’s old sweatshirts, even though it was August in Arkansas and it was 75 degrees outside, even at one in the morning.

“Uh, yeah.” He couldn’t lie to her. But the way she seemed to look right past him when his words sunk in had his heart hurting. “Not forever, I’ll be back.”

“When?” Riley asked immediately, her shoulders’ seeming to relax and stretch as she pulled her ankles closer to her on her perch. The top stair giving her the best vantage point, she also couldn’t bring herself to go any further.

“Real soon. I promise. I got school, you know how it is, you’ll be starting soon too, and the time will fly by and before you can even think about it I’ll be here. Okay?” Tyler set his duffle and backpack down at the bottom of the stairs, climbing up on his hands and knees before depositing his much larger body next to the small girl next to him.

“Can I call you?” Riley asked, her covered hands wringing together in front of her legs.

“Yeah, anytime. If you need me, I’m there.” He knocked his shoulder against hers and she looked up at him. Her eyes drilled into his, darting back and forth as she tried to read him.

“U of A is hours away.” Riley breathed.

“And I’d drive it if you needed me. At the drop of a hat.” She was a good kid, and Nathan would be rolling in his grave right now if he saw the situation his whole world was going through. Alone.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You bet.” He breathed, pulling on her ponytail lightly, earning an annoyed grunt from the girl. But the ghost of the smile on her face was worth her push. He catches himself, groaning and holding his shoulder. Riley just shook her head and leaned her head down onto her knees, everything under her nose covered by camo printed fabric that had seen better days.

“Okay.” She breathed, doubt shining in her red eyes and Tyler pulled the girl into a short side hug.

“It’s gonna be okay. Eventually.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Riley’s temple fell to his shoulder for a second, her breathing easy. But she was stiff. Tyler knew why. She didn’t believe him, but wanted to.

Riley watched him leave, the door clicking shut behind him. A shaky breathe leaving her lungs when the silence of the house settled in. Eyes never leaving the front door.

~~*~~

A/N: so how did we like itttttttt? Expect more movie plot in the next chapter. It's gonna be rough lol. I'm really living up to the Sadist nickname my editor gave me and I wouldn't have it any other way hehehehe.

[sendpseuds]

WIP Wednesday - Hot Chocolate

Here. Have some unconventional family dynamics 🖤

“This place is adorable,” Padme remarks, not for the first time since they sat down at the little round cafe table, bathed in light from the large bay window, “How did you find it?”

“Apparently, the hot chocolate I made last week was ‘sub-optimal,’— ” Anakin explains, shooting a sideways glance at his very opinionated daughter, who raises an eyebrow in response, “—I still want to know who taught a five-year-old that term—,” he knows it’s just from hearing Padme on work calls, and the way she laughs makes him smile, “—so I went on a search for the best hot chocolate in the city. Almost every list had this place at the top.”

It’s obvious to see why, aside from the bustling crowd and buzzing atmosphere, the menu boasts over a dozen different hot chocolates, each more indulgent than the last — The way the twins are practically vibrating in their seats, waiting as patiently as possible for their treat, their eyes widening every time they see another sugary concoction pass their table tells him the search was well worth the effort.

Big-time dad points right here.

“Well, it’s an excellent find,” Padme smiles, giving his arm a quick squeeze and muttering something about how much she likes the wall sconces. 

It’s a bit eclectic, a handful of tables scattered throughout the space with several vignettes of comfortable-looking couches and chairs that look as if they were bought from various garage sales, but the place is so warm and welcoming it feels as if every last thing was chosen with intention and purpose. 

The books that line the shelves along the back wall all look well-loved, their spines cracked and dust jackets removed. There are vines snaking along the walls that Anakin assumed were fake until he followed the path back to the little terra cotta pots from which the greenery originates. Twinkle lights and paper snowflakes litter the ceiling and it’s hard not to feel in the holiday spirit sitting in a place like this. 

Anakin used to hate Christmas Eve.

The excited anticipation was always lost on him as a child, preferring to fast forward to the part where he got to find out what was in all those boxes. He would lay in bed with his eyes squeezed shut, willing time to move faster, desperate for morning to break. 

Now he finds, he likes to hold on to the bright buzzing energy of the night before Christmas — festive and frantic with last-minute errands and cheerful expectation — now he loves to watch the way two small perfect humans smile and shine with all the promise tomorrow brings. 

For them, tomorrow brings treats and toys and twinkle lights.

For them, magic and wonder replace reality for a day.

For them.

For Anakin—

Luke lets out an excited little gasp and Anakin turns to see four spectacular mugs of hot chocolate heading toward their table. He smiles, looking back at the twins just to watch the way their eyes grow wider and wider, sparkling with sheer excitement as the mugs draw closer and closer.

“Who wants some hot chocolate?” A smooth voice asks, the twins responding in affirmative screeches, waving their hands in the air for emphasis and Anakin can’t help but join in, answering “Me!” as he turns to look at the man who’d asked the question.

Anakin’s heart stops.

The shrieking children go silent in his ears. Padme’s soft laughter a million miles away.

The first thing he notices is not the full Santa suit the man wears or the way the kind smile fades from his lips half a moment after his gaze scans over Anakin’s face.

No, the first thing Anakin notices is his eyes.

Not how bright and beautiful they are.

Not how they appear to shift and swirl even in the seconds they stare at each other.

No.

Anakin notices how familiar they are. 

Except the last time Anakin saw those eyes, they weren’t looking down at him with startled shock.

Last time Anakin saw those eyes they were staring up through copper lashes from the floor of a dirty bar bathroom as the man currently holding a tray of hot chocolate swallowed Anakin’s cock.

“These look amazing.”

Padme’s words seem to shake both men from their shocked stupor and Anakin finally notices the red hat on the man’s head and the way the big white pom pom sits on a strong shoulder. 

He’s just as handsome as Anakin remembers.

“They— they really are something,” the man agrees, his eyes flitting quickly around the table, trying to make sense of the situation, concern and guilt and horror flooding his gaze with every passing moment and Anakin knows he should say something but he can’t figure out what. Cozy cafe Santa clears his throat and shifts his weight, mumbling a quick, “Right, yes, chocolate—” and setting the tray on the table before asking “Who ordered the white chocolate?”

The words tumble out of Anakin’s mouth before he can stop them.

“My ex-wife!”

Everyone looks at Anakin.

[Well, everyone but Luke, who is still fixated on the four mugs in front of him.]

“Uh— Padme,” he corrects, motioning to the woman sitting by his side — he doesn’t dare look at her — as if that would explain his sudden outburst, “Padme, right here, she— uh— she’s my— she ordered the white chocolate.”

He’s chewing his lip and rubbing the back of his neck and Santa is blushing as he places a tall glass mug in front of Padme — luscious and creamy, topped with thick whipped cream and pretty chocolate curls — but the horrible guilt seems to be draining from the man’s beguiling blue eyes.  “Thank you,” purrs Padme, her tone teasing and Anakin knows the exact smile she wears before he shoots her a pleading look, to which she only chuckles.