#he does finally actually ask I swear 😂

[verfound]

FIC: "Of Suitable Proposals" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers is doing a Lukanette Month for September 2024, and we all just kinda tossed some prompts in the disco to compile a list?  We ended up with 71 prompts, so I decided I’d roll some dice to pick a prompt, do a twenty minute (ish, bc we all know sometimes they run away from me) sprint, and try to get some short fics out this month?

Read on Ao3

Prompt 35: Rhythm

When he finally started to come to, Luka wasn’t sure where exactly he was, but the smell and the feel and the steady rhythm of the heartbeat playing strong beneath his ear sure felt a hell of a lot like home.  He felt like he’d been sleeping forever, which…he probably had been.

He never slept well on the road.  He slept enough, but he never felt as rested as he did in his own bed with Marinette sleeping beside him.

…he was really starting to hate touring.  He hated being away from her.  He hated the constant circus touring with Jay was.  He hated…

The bed…no, not the bed.  Marinette shifted beneath him, and he felt himself sinking into her with a sigh.  He didn’t hate this.  He loved this.

…he loved it more when his body didn’t feel like he’d been hit by a truck.

Everything ached, his limbs feeling heavy and sore in that way they did when you’d slept too much.  He was pretty sure…he vaguely recalled getting up…some time ago, because he’d had to pee.  He kind of sort of remembered staring at his reflecting in the mirror as he’d washed his hands, thinking he looked like shit before his eyes had dropped to his chest, where his own face had been staring back at him.  He couldn’t remember why he was wearing his own merch – there was some fuzzy idea about Crusher and curry and this was why he hadn’t asked Dingo to hit the road with him yet – but he was quickly ripping it over his head and tossing it towards the hamper they kept in the linen closet.

That was…it was…people like XY wore their own tour shirts.

At least the ones with their own faces on it.

(He had, both ironically and unironically, worn the shirt with “Luke Stone” stamped in fancy letters across his chest.  That one wasn’t as obnoxious, and sometimes helped in busy airports.)

He must have made it back to the bed, because he was pretty sure that’s where he was now.  In bed, with Marinette, where he was supposed to be.  He had no idea what time it was, though, or how much had passed.  He had thought it was light out when he’d gotten up earlier, but those were streetlights coming in through the open window.  And that was definitely Marinette under him, but he wasn’t sure how awake she was.  Her heartbeat was steady, her breathing even, but her fingers were lazily dragging through his hair.  Her other hand…was on his arm, absently stroking along his bicep.  He sighed and turned his face towards her, his nose squishing as it poked against her sternum.

“Are you finally waking up?” her soft voice came from above him.  He hummed and dropped a kiss between her breasts.  She giggled in response.  “Luka?”

“Not sure,” he sighed.  “Pretty comfy right here.  Don’t think I want to move yet.  How long…how long was I out?”

He yawned in the middle of it, and she hummed as she tugged gently on his hair.

“Over a day,” she said.  “Almost two.”

He pushed himself up at that, startled eyes staring back at her.

“…no,” he said.  She giggled and moved her hand from his arm, reaching for him, and there was something…he froze again as he saw Gina’s ring glinting in the low light from the window.  His eyes widened, a look of horror on his face.  “No…”

“You were exhausted,” she said.  “Penny said you’d had a rough couple of days.  You needed it, star.”

“Marinette, why are you…did you go through…my bag,” he groaned as bits of the last twenty-four (forty-eight?) hours started to come back to him.  He grabbed at her fingers, his brow furrowing as he stared at the gleaming pink opal shining up at him from a very specific finger.  He hadn’t…he hadn’t actually…and had she…he would remember proposing to her, wouldn’t he?

“Penny brought it by this morning,” she said, curling her fingers over his and smiling.  “Everything’s fine.  It actually was on the plane – just mislabeled.  It’s ok.  See?  Your bag was fine.  The ring was inside.  It’s ok.”

“No, it’s not,” he said, shaking his head.  “Darning, you…why are you wearing it?  You weren’t supposed to know.”

“You told me,” she said, as if it was obvious.  And maybe it was, because he kind of remembered her  being there while he freaked out over losing the ring in the first place?  “When they lost your bag, you told me what was in it.  It’s ok, Luka.”

“It’s not,” he insisted.  “Did…did I actually propose?”

She bit her lip, and he groaned as he dropped his face against her chest.

“No.  No, no, no, no, no…” he groaned.  “Please tell me I at least remembered the candles.  Rose said there had to be candles – she’s going to kill me if I forgot the candles.”

Marinette grew silent for a moment.  Long enough that he started to worry, but when he looked up at her she just looked…surprised.

“…oh,” she finally said, shaking her head.  “You…you mean you did have a plan?”

“Of course I had a plan,” he said.  He winced at her look.  “Well…parts of a plan.  I knew it had to be romantic.  Rose was helping – and Tom – so I’d do it right.  Big gesture kind of thing.”

“It really didn’t,” she said, touched but also slightly baffled.

“You love that stuff,” he insisted.

“I love you,” she said, rolling her eyes.  “The rest is just…details.  Filler.  Icing – not even that.  It’s sprinkles.”

“And you love sprinkles!” he said.  “Mari.  Please.  I know you.  Tell me I didn’t fuck this up.”

“You didn’t,” she insisted.  She looked back at the ring and bit her lip, a little frown creasing her brow.  “…I might have, though.”

“…what?” he asked.  She sighed and pulled him down towards her, and for a moment he was too lost in how good it felt to be home and kissing her to remember he was supposed to be freaking the hell out.

“Penny told me to give the stupid ring back.  Take it off before you woke up.  Penny’s always right,” she sighed, and at his frown she bit her lip.  “You…you didn’t actually ask, Luka, but you did let it slip, and that was as good as asking for me.  But you…actually, you were really adamant about the fact that you were not asking.  Not until you actually had the ring, at least.”

He…kind of remembered that?

“Because I was supposed to ask you right,” he huffed.  “Big, romantic gesture.  I was supposed to actually have the ring.  It was all supposed to mean something.”

“…well, that’s just stupid,” she said, shaking her head.  She tugged on his hair again, and he groaned as he pressed his forehead into her shoulder.  “Of course it means something – you’re asking me to marry you.  That very much means something, Luka, whether you have a ring or a big proposal planned or not.”

“I was working on that,” he sighed.  “Failing at that.  Nothing felt good enough.”

“Will it matter anything if I tell you I really don’t care how you ask as long you just do?” she sighed, bringing her hands up to cup his face.  Her thumb brushed beneath his eye, and he sighed as he leaned into her touch.  “Seriously.  Luka, I was never expecting a big proposal from you.  I…honestly, I always expected you to do it by accident.”

“…what?” he asked, chuckling slightly.  “Marinette.  Give me a little more credit than that.”

“No, seriously!  I was waiting for you to just…ask.  Spontaneously.  Because I said something dumb and you thought it was adorable, or you got into one of your artistic moods where you started comparing my heartbeat to Pachelbel or something –”

“I would never,” he laughed, but she just lifted an eyebrow at him because he had compared it to Beethoven.  Once.

(…and classic Jagged another time, but he had regretted that the second he’d said it and had never brought it up again because who wants to think about their dad when they’re…ahem.)

“My point, Luka, is you are not a planner, and this…this feels like us, doesn’t it?” she asked, tapping the finger with the ring against his face.  It felt heavier, though he knew that had to be in his head.  The ring wasn’t really that heavy – not enough to notice a difference.  Still, it felt…  “You losing the ring and accidentally telling me about it because you were too tired to think straight.  That…that’s so us, don’t you think?  More than some big, elaborate, ridiculous thing?”

“Rose would argue I’m cheating you out of romance,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.

“I love Rose, I do, and you know I love romance, but…maybe conventional romance isn’t our romance?  What about us has ever been traditional, Luka?  You’re a Couffaine, for Pete’s sake,” she huffed.  He chuckled and kissed her.

“At the least you deserved a nice dinner,” he hummed.  “I know you love seeing me dress up.”

“I do at that,” she sighed, kissing him again.  “Almost as much as I love seeing you dress down.”

He chuckled, and she blinked as she leaned back.  He hummed, nipping at her lip to try to get her kissing him again, but she shook her head.

“No, that’s not…I mean undressing you.  After you’ve dressed up.  Or down.  Or…stop laughing, Luka, you know what I meant,” she huffed, but he was still chuckling as he tucked his face against her neck.  He pressed a kiss there before pulling away to grin at her.

“So maybe you give it back and let me take you to dinner tonight,” he suggested.  “Act all surprised when I get down on one knee.  I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to get down on one knee, at least.”

“Please,” she said, rolling her eyes.  “With your knees?  You’ll never get back up.  Too many stage slides and superhero antics, remember?”

“Hey!” he laughed, bumping their noses together.  “My knees aren’t that bad yet!  I’m not that old!”

She laughed and kissed his cheek, as if apologizing for the slight, and he sighed as he turned his head and caught her lips again.  He felt like he had too much time to make up for, and he knew what they were talking about was important, but…

“My point, Luka, is that it doesn’t matter,” she said after a moment, tugging on his hair to keep him from distracting her again.  “Take me to dinner to celebrate the engagement, if you want, but I’m not taking it off.  I don’t want to.  It belongs there, as much as I belong with you.  I like wearing it.  I like being Marinette Couffaine.”

And oh, if that didn’t sound amazing…

“…it’s just an engagement ring, Marinette,” he said softly, all traces of humor gone from his voice.  He closed his hand over hers and brushed his thumb against the opal.  “I mean.  Technically it’s not, I don’t think, but Gina said you’d always loved this ring, and it felt…you do like it, right?  You’re not mad that it’s not very…traditional?”

She yanked his face towards hers, kissing him harshly.  Her fingertips pressed into his cheeks almost painfully.  He was a little dizzy when she finally let him go.

“You are not getting this ring back, Luka Llewellyn Couffaine,” she bit, her voice low and almost growling.  “It’s mine.  You are mine.  I love this ring, and I love you.  So just ask already so I can officially introduce myself as the future Mme. Couff–”

He pushed her back into the bed, his mouth back on hers and his hands grasping her own and pressing them into the pillows above them.  She started laughing, and that just made him want to kiss her more – until she squirmed and lifted her hips against him, and then he was reminded that she was there and his fiancée (technically) and he hadn’t seen her in three months…

“O…ok,” he panted, running his nose along the column of her neck as her hands moved along his sides.  “Marry me already.”

She grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling almost as bright as the opal fire in her ring.  Maybe brighter.

…definitely brighter.

“Why, Luka Couffaine,” she said, smoothing his hair back and grinning up at him.  “I thought you’d never ask…”

[withlovemark]

“how to ask your girlfriend if you’re bad at sex?”

warnings: smut! vibrator, protected sex, overstimulation, squirting

jisung! rummages through your drawers looking for your phone charger, his phone a little under 20%, when he stumbled upon a pink device, half the size of his hand, with a hello kitty top, confusion etched onto his face.

bringing it closer, he examines his new discovery. clicking on the one button he could find, the device comes to life, vibration coursing through his fingers.

he drops it in shock, finally realizing what it was before furiously shutting it off as fast as he could, every click just switching to a new beat before finally powering off and throwing it back where he found it, slamming! your drawer shut.

why the hell did you have a vibrator?

“sungie, you okay in there?,” you yell from your living room.

“y-yeah baby! just dropped my phone,” he replies quickly pulling his phone out of his pocket and doing the only thing he could think of.

—

*7 dream, 1 cup*

jisung: hypothetically…

haechan: i’m sleeping.

jisung: if u find a hypothetical hello kitty vibrator in ur girl’s hypothetical drawer, does that mean ur bad at sex…hypothetically?

haechan: im up

chenle: yes

mark: no

jisung: mark pls elaborate

chenle: fuck u how about me?

jisung: idgaf about ur opinion!

haechan: yeah! wdgaf!

chenle: k. all im saying is my girl doesn’t need a vibrator with how good my dick is

mark: don’t listen to him, think of the vibrator as your friend 🙂‍↕️

jisung: this isn’t about me! it’s hypothetical!

haechan: yeah, i agree with mark … my girl and i tried it last month and 😩😮‍💨🤯🪦💐🕊️☁️👼👍

mark: too much unwanted information about ur sex life but yeah same here, felt like i died and went to heaven for a split second too

haechan: omg what type of vibrator ur girl got? 😛

mark: not telling you

haechan: ☹️

chenle: real men used to go to war for pussy now they let a battery operated device beat them at sex

haechan: stfu chenle u know nothing!

mark: real men used to go to war for pussy now they’re scared once their girl touches a vibrator she’ll never need his dick again

haechan: ooooohhhh get him!

*chenle has left the gc*

haechan: dramatic ass bitch, no one add him back!

jeno: what’s happening here?

*renjun has added chenle to the gc*

mark: couldn’t even last a second 😂

haechan: renjun you traitor!

renjun: i actually don’t give a fuck!, jisung just go talk to your girlfriend about it for the love of god! and chenle stop messaging me!

chenle: just ordered a vibrator, gonna prove to yall that my girl don’t need that shit

haechan: which one did u get? u want recs? 🤓

jaemin: jisung can you ask y/n where she got her hello kitty vibrator so i can get one for my girl? 🥺

jisung: this is not about y/n!

—

he sighs in frustration, his friends were absolutely no help but he was more at ease knowing that their girlfriends had one too. taking renjun’s advice, he decides to just talk to you about it but he couldn’t find a way to do so.

he stays there on your bed googling how to ask your gf if you're bad at sex?, until his phone died, leaving him staring at the wall.

you entered the room, eyeing him suspiciously, he was supposed to be back in the living room 30 minutes ago, it doesn’t take that long to grab your charger, “you okay?” you ask.

“amibadatsex?,” he quickly blurts out, brain completely shutting down.

“what?,”

“am i bad at sex?,”

“what?! no!,”

“oh…”

“is there a reason why you’re asking this?,”

“i uhm…found your vibrator”

your cheeks heat up in embarrassment, “oh my god jisung, why were you snooping through my stuff!?”

“i wasn’t! i was just looking for your charger, i swear!,” he nervously explains, eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

“i-i got one when you were on tour,” you confessed, cheeks still pink from this conversation.

“oh…,”

”yeah…” you look down at your feet, just wanting the ground to open up, swallow you whole and take you away from this conversation.

jisung walks over to where you were standing, gently turning your face towards him, “you don’t have to be embarrassed baby but can you please tell me why?, i don’t feel too good about it,” he reveals his insecurity and you knew you had to clear things up.

“i just- i couldn’t cum with my fingers alone anymore…i needed yours but of course that wasn’t possible so i decided to try it out”

he feels his pants tighten at your confession. the image of you getting frustrated at not being able to cum without him going straight to his cock.

“did it work?,”

“uhm yeah, it actually did….but it can never make me feel the way you do,” you admit, easing his worries.

he thinks back to what mark and haechan said. “can i try it?,”

“huh? i mean sure, i don’t know what it would feel like for you though,”

“oh my god no….can i try it on you?,”

“oh…like you’re gonna use it on me?,”

“yeah, can i play with you?,”

“oh o-okay,”

slowly you walk over, grabbing the vibrator out of your drawer and handing it to him, nerves of excitement bubbling through you.

“how does it work?,” he asks, inspecting the pink device again.

“well, it has 8 different vibrations, i usually just use the first 3, they feel the best for me and well you just place it where you would usually touch me,” you explain and he nods attentively.

“sit down,” he backs you into your bed, voice going an octave deeper and all you can do is follow his order.

sitting on the edge of your bed, jisung kneels down right in front of your core, you watch him, feeling yourself getting more turned on with every second that passes.

he pulls your shorts down, hips automatically raising up, before diving back into your clothed core, breathing in your scent and pulling your panties to the side, “you’re already so wet baby,” he praises licking a strip down your folds. there’s no way your vibrator is going to taste you before he does.

“does it turn you on knowing what i'm about to do?,”

you moan in response pussy clenching at nothing, “stop teasing sung please,”

jisung clicks the device once, the vibration hitting your ears in the quiet room, quickly pushing it on your cunt. you hiss at the first contact and he pulls it away, afraid he had hurt you, “what? what happened? are you okay?,”

“im okay sungie it was just too much too quick,” you smile, “here,” you guide him back to your pussy, “just push it lightly first, let me get used to it,” he does so, moving your vibrator in slow circles until it finally hit you at the righ spot, “ohhh, f-fuck,” you moan. jisung takes note of it, placing it there again earning another whine from you, “r-right there, baby, turn it up”

he clicks it again, the device gaining more speed before placing it back on your wet pussy, “oh my god!,” you moan, hand clutching his t-shirt, pussy clenching around air, “f-feel what im feeling baby,” you say, grabbing his other hand and leading it right to your hole. his fingers disappearing in you, “you’re so fucking tight,” he compliments in awe.

with the way he has curled his finger repetitively hitting that spot you can never seem to reach, the vibrator humming against your clit, your body gives in quicker than usual, “i-im cumming, baby i-dont stop, keep it right there,” you moan, pushing his hand harder, the added pressure finally sending you to release, back hitting your bedsheets, eyes rolling back. jisung watches in amazement, collecting the juices with his tongue making you whine.

all he could think about is if you were that tight around his finger, how would you feel around his throbbing cock.

“i need to feel you,” he makes his way over to you, soft lips landing on yours as you taste yourself in his tongue. he pushes his body on top of yours, making you feel his hard member, “you feel that baby? that’s how much i need you”

you swiftly discard his tight jeans, freeing him from his boxers, large cock springing up to his stomach. reaching for the condom in your nightstand, you place it on him, he moans at the squeeze of your hand, his rock hard boner somehow getting harder and you start getting worried. his cock was always enough to make you see stars but with the added vibrations you’re not too sure if you could take it.

you didn’t have much time to dwell on it as he lined up against your core, slowly entering you, moans mixing in the air.

“fuck jisung, y-you’re so big,”

“baby,” he grunts, rocking into you, your wet pussy making it easy for him to slide in and out.

he grabs your vibrator again, clicking it on and placing it back on your clit, pussy immediately tightening around him. he groans as you pull him closer and closer towards you, the vibration going straight to his cock, “holy fuck,” he gasps at the new sensation.

“f-feels so good sungie,” you whine against his ear, hips meeting his every thrust, getting quicker and quicker. the rest of your clothes being thrown across the room. you grab onto his back for support.

with his body against you and yours still being sensitive from your previous orgasm, jisung feels you cum hard. you were so fucking tight around his dick, it all feels too good. his lips swallow your moans as he continues his actions, desperately chasing his release.

“j-jisung” you gasp in pain, vibrator still placed firmly on your clit, but your boyfriend’s thrusts were getting messier and messier, signaling his nearing orgasm, and you wanted him to cum just as hard.

soon enough the pain turned into pleasure, a new commotion stirring up in your stomach, down to your toes. you no longer understand the feeling that’s taking over.

your vibrator has made you cum so many times before but you never felt it work with your boyfriend’s dick — this was entirely new territory.

“f-fuck, j-jisung, i’m gonna-,” you scream at the overstimulation, legs shaking, toes curling and before you knew it your pussy pushed him away, juices squirting onto his belly.

“holy shit babe,” he groans, the action sends jisung into overdrive, watching it all unfold as his release quickly fills up the condom, “aghhh,” he grunts in pleasure, body going slack on yours as you tried to calm your racing hearts.

“what just happened?,” he asks in amazement.

“i-i think i just squirted,”

“you think?”

“i think so, i-i don't know, it's never happened before,” you confess, getting embarrassed. he can’t help but smirk proudly, knowing that he was the first and only person to get you to do that.

jisung kisses you before you have the chance to hide behind your embarrassment.

“that was so. fucking. hot,” he compliments in between kisses” let’s do it again”

—

he finally finds your charger on top of your desk, his phone coming alive. in just a span of 2 hours he and his new friend have made you cum a total of 6 times, him 4, the room smelling of sex. and honestly he could go again but you have made him stop for now, body exhausted.

*7 dream, 1 cup*

jisung: hi chat

haechan: he’s alive! so how was it? tell us everything! 😏

chenle: no one cares

haechan: i care!

mark: yo dude u good? you just stopped responding

jisung: sorry, phone died

jisung: can confirm

jisung: 😩😮‍💨🤯🪦💐🕊️☁️👼👍

*haechan reacted 🤩 to your message*

*mark reacted 😂 to your message*

renjun: you’re welcome

chenle: just paid for expedited shipping yall better not be lying to me rn

jaemin: jisung did you ever ask y/n where she got it?

jisung: oh it’s at www.NowCummingToday.com/sanriocollab-hellokitty-vibrator

jaemin: thank you!! 😚

renjun: that can’t be a real site

jeno: holy shit they have so many options

chenle: robots are gonna take over my girls pussy and it’s your faults

haechan: ooh! try the rose toy! that one’s crazy ahaha 🤓

jisung: 🫡

mark: 🫡

jaemin: 🫡

-

an: happy bday to my baby jisung <3 (p.s. i tried to do the little smau text thing bcs those are my favorites to read but i honestly couldn’t find an app that was free plus too lazy to figure it out so sorry!…if anyone has tips pls let me know >.< )

[arxiwon]

hello! can i request a high school/college au fic (maybe a boarding school like decelis academy) where niki and reader are frenemies/rivals who secretly like each other but are too prideful to admit it? reader then kisses another enhypen member (maybe jake or jungwon?) out of spite at a party, and niki finds out and gets upset, and him and reader fight about it (theyre both stupid😂). happy ending?

Public Enemy (Lover) Number One ⋆. 𐙚 ˚

Pairing: Nishimura Riki | Ni-ki × Reader

Genre: High School AU, Rivals-to-Lovers, Angst, Fluff, Slight Crack

Warnings: Swearing, Petty Jealousy, Lots of Banter, Ni-ki Being an Absolute Menace, Public Kissing

Synopsis:

You and Ni-ki have spent years at Decelis Academy as sworn rivals—constantly at each other’s throats, never missing a chance to one-up the other. Everyone at school knows you hate each other.

Except… maybe you don’t.

Because when a reckless kiss at a party makes Ni-ki snap, it sets off a chain reaction of fights, confessions, and a whole lot of tension neither of you can ignore anymore. And once he finally makes things official? He does it in the most dramatic, smug, and public way possible—just to make sure everyone (especially Jungwon) knows.

After all, if Ni-ki’s gonna claim you as his, he’s gonna make sure the whole world sees. 😏🔥

You weren’t sure when it started—this relentless, exhausting war between you and Riki Nishimura. Maybe it was the first time he beat you on a math exam by one point, smirking like it was the greatest accomplishment of his life. Maybe it was when you outran him during a school race and he spent weeks demanding a rematch. Maybe it was just how the universe worked: two stars caught in each other’s gravity, forced to collide over and over.

But for as long as you could remember, it had been the two of you. Always competing. Always fighting. Always pretending that none of it mattered when it clearly did.

If someone asked, you’d both say you hated each other. And yet, no matter what, your eyes always found him in a crowded room. And his? They were always on you.

Tonight was no different.

Jungwon’s arm draped around your waist as you leaned against the balcony railing, sipping lazily from your drink. The party was loud, music vibrating through the walls of the grand Decelis dormitory, but your mind was somewhere else. Or rather—on someone else.

Ni-ki sat inside, sprawled on a couch, laughing at something the girl beside him said. His eyes hadn’t landed on you once tonight, which was strange. Normally, you’d already be in the middle of some petty argument, or he’d be throwing snide remarks from across the room, waiting for your reaction. But not tonight.

Tonight, he was ignoring you.

You shouldn’t care. You didn’t care.

But the irritation creeping under your skin told you otherwise.

Maybe that’s why you did it.

Maybe it was the frustration, the bitterness, the need to get something out of him.

Or maybe it was just because Jungwon was already standing beside you, already close enough to pull in.

So you kissed him.

You barely had time to process it before it was over, before Jungwon pulled back slightly with a look of mild surprise, before his gaze flickered behind you—

And before you were yanked away.

A strong hand curled around your wrist, tugging you through the party and out onto the empty school grounds. The cool night air hit your skin, but all you could feel was the searing heat of the boy dragging you forward.

“Ni-ki—”

“What the fuck was that?”

His voice was low, tight with anger, his grip on your wrist firm but not enough to hurt. He finally let go, running a hand through his hair as he turned to face you, eyes burning with something unreadable.

You crossed your arms, tilting your head. “What do you mean?”

Ni-ki let out a sharp laugh, completely void of humor. “Don’t play dumb.” His tongue ran over his teeth as he took a step closer. “You kissed Jungwon.”

“And?”

“And?” He looked like he wanted to break something. “Are you actually serious right now?”

Your jaw tightened. “Why do you even care?”

His expression darkened. “Why do I—? You were the one staring at me all night like a kicked puppy.”

You scoffed. “Excuse me?”

Ni-ki exhaled harshly, shaking his head. “This is so fucking stupid.”

“You’re right,” you snapped. “It is stupid. Because you don’t get to sit there with some girl draped all over you and then get mad when I—”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“Oh, it’s not?”

Ni-ki took another step forward. You stood your ground, heart pounding, refusing to back down even when he was this close.

He inhaled sharply, voice quieter this time. “You did it on purpose.”

Your breath hitched.

He was right.

You had.

Ni-ki saw the hesitation flicker across your face and let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “You’re unbelievable.”

Your fists clenched. “And you’re an asshole.”

Something flashed in his eyes. Frustration, amusement, something dangerous. “Why him?” His voice dropped, rough around the edges.

You swallowed.

Ni-ki tilted his head slightly, gaze locking onto yours, unrelenting. “Why Jungwon?”

You exhaled slowly. “Because he was there.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Ni-ki let out another quiet laugh, but this time, it wasn’t bitter. It was something else. Something darker.

His fingers brushed against your jaw, tilting your chin up just slightly.

“So that’s what it takes?” he murmured. “You wanted my attention that bad?”

Your stomach flipped.

“You’re so full of yourself,” you bit out, but your voice wasn’t nearly as steady as before.

Ni-ki leaned in, lips just a breath away from yours. “Am I?”

The air was thick, suffocating, the tension so palpable it was almost painful. Your pulse roared in your ears as his fingers ghosted over your skin.

Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he asked,

“Do you want me to remind you who you really belong with?”

The last shred of your pride shattered.

You didn’t answer. You didn’t have to.

Because a second later, his lips crashed against yours, and for the first time in your never-ending war, you surrendered.

The kiss ended too fast.

Or maybe it lasted forever.

You weren’t sure anymore, because all you could feel was the rapid thud of your heart and the warmth of Ni-ki’s hands still gripping your waist. He didn’t move away—not really—but his lips hovered just above yours, like he was debating whether to kiss you again.

You hated that you wanted him to.

Ni-ki exhaled slowly, his breath warm against your skin. “You’re not running.”

Your hands curled into the fabric of his shirt, not sure if you wanted to push him away or pull him closer. “Shut up.”

His lips twitched. “You kissed Jungwon just to piss me off.”

Your glare was half-hearted at best. “And?”

Ni-ki smirked. “It worked.”

You swallowed hard, unable to look away. The fire in his eyes was different now—no longer just frustration, no longer just a game of one-upping each other. This was something deeper.

Something real.

The realization sent a wave of panic through you.

You didn’t do this. You didn’t do real.

Not with him.

With a sharp inhale, you shoved him back—just enough to break the suffocating tension. “I need to go.”

You turned on your heel, fully prepared to walk away and pretend none of this happened—

But Ni-ki caught your wrist, pulling you right back into him.

His voice was quiet this time, almost hesitant. “Don’t.”

You froze.

Not because of the way he was holding you—firm but gentle—but because he sounded different. No teasing. No smugness. Just Ni-ki, standing in front of you, raw and unguarded for the first time.

You hated how easily it made your heart ache.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t want to fight anymore.”

You scoffed, trying to ignore the way your stomach flipped at his words. “That’s funny, coming from you.”

Ni-ki chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Yeah, I know.” His expression turned more serious. “But I mean it.”

You looked at him—really looked at him.

And for the first time, you realized he wasn’t just your rival.

He was your constant.

Every day, every fight, every stupid little argument—it had always been him.

Your throat felt tight. “Ni-ki…”

He gave you a lopsided grin, but his grip on your wrist tightened slightly, like he was afraid you’d slip away. “Just admit it.”

You frowned. “Admit what?”

“That you like me.”

Your pulse stopped.

And then Ni-ki laughed—not mocking, not teasing, but soft and knowing. “Because if you don’t, I’m just gonna have to keep proving it to you until you do.”

Your lips parted, but no words came out.

Because, deep down, you already knew.

You had always known.

And when Ni-ki leaned in again—slower this time, letting you decide—you didn’t pull away.

Because for once, there was nothing left to fight about.

The next morning, the halls of Decelis Academy were buzzing.

News traveled fast around here, but apparently, nothing spread faster than rumors of a certain heated argument-turned-makeout session between you and Ni-ki.

You weren’t even halfway to class before Sunoo caught you by the arm, eyes practically glowing with excitement. “Is it true?”

You groaned. “What now?”

“The fight! The kiss! The storming off into the night! Everyone’s talking about it!” Sunoo leaned in conspiratorially. “I mean, we all knew something was going on between you two, but this?” He whistled. “Legendary.”

You rolled your eyes, muttering a curse under your breath. Of course people had seen. Of course Ni-ki hadn’t bothered to deny anything.

You were still debating how to respond when Sunoo’s gaze flickered over your shoulder—and then he grinned.

“Well, speak of the devil.”

A familiar presence appeared beside you, and before you could react, an arm slung itself over your shoulders.

“Morning, babe.”

Your entire body froze.

Did he just—?

Ni-ki smirked down at you, completely unbothered. “What? You’re acting like we didn’t make out last night.”

Sunoo gasped.

“Shut up,” you hissed, trying (and failing) to shove him off.

Ni-ki only chuckled, holding on tighter, making sure everyone in the hallway got a good look. “What? I’m just saying it how it is.”

By now, people were staring. Some whispering. Some outright gawking.

And then—

“Are you serious right now?”

The voice cut through the air like a knife, sharp and incredulous.

Jungwon stood just a few feet away, arms crossed, looking between the two of you like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Ni-ki’s smirk widened. “Something wrong?”

Jungwon scoffed. “You hate each other.”

Ni-ki hummed thoughtfully. “Mm. I thought so too.” He turned to you, eyes flickering with something smug. “But apparently, I was just blind.”

Your heart stuttered.

Ni-ki leaned in slightly, lips barely brushing your ear. “I see everything now, though.”

Your breath hitched.

Jungwon made a noise of absolute disgust. “You guys are the worst.”

Ni-ki just grinned. “Yeah, yeah, get used to it.”

And then—because he had no shame—he kissed you.

Right there.

In the middle of the hallway.

In front of everyone.

You barely registered the chorus of gasps and shouts around you. Your mind went blank, completely overridden by the feeling of Ni-ki’s lips pressing firmly against yours—possessive, teasing, and undeniably real.

When he finally pulled away, he had the audacity to wink.

“Guess that makes it official.”

You stared at him, still dazed. “You’re unbelievable.”

Ni-ki just grinned. “And you love it.”

[fic-dumpster]

How would bonten be like meeting your family? Would they get along or not or even expose some stuff by accident?

Tbh, I think something could happen and it doesn’t go as planned. Let’s pretend for this scenario that Doe has a family… 😂 . Anyway, Anonie… sorry it’s years late but here we are trying. I just rewrote this so I’ll edit it later!

Bonten x reader

WC: 1320

TW: Fluff, revers harem, sad attempt at comedy, crackfic, fb!Mochi, gun, sappy/cliche ending, kinda uh… weird. It’s a mess.

You’ve been preparing this week’s dinner for almost two months. Arranging everyone’s schedules and thinking of ways to explain to your family how you have… more than one partner.

It’s not that you didn’t want to tell your family about them. It’s just that the subject was never brought up before and your parents weren’t so concerned about prior relationships, but what you had right now was beginning to turn into something more serious.

So, yeah. Here you are waiting for your parents and the guys to arrive. Which turned into you having to distract your parents because nobody was home besides you and they were not picking up their phones.

You left messages to each one of them with phrases like…

“Sanzu Haruchiyo! I swear to whatever is holy to you that I will have you maimed and hanged when you get home!”

or

“Mikey!!! I will put all the sweets on the highest shelves and throw all the stools away! See how you’ll manage! And no boobs!”

or

“Kakucho? Baby? Please pick up… I’m worried.”

Well, you were fuming and trying your best to pretend everything was in order. Until you heard the door open and steps closing in. Finally someone!

But all your relief flew out of the window when you saw none other than Mochizuki Kanji walking towards you with a big smile on his face.

Oh, hell no… they were so dead. Each and every one of them was so dead.

“Honey!” You visibly tensed as you heard Mochi’s boisterous voice greet you like that.

“Mo-Mochi! Ho-honey!” And so playing along it was.

You were actually grateful at the end of the night. Mochi was such a great guy. You would have cried if you didn’t have to act too. He treated your family so nicely and your parents loved him.

Mochi had your dad enchanted with his baseball and stock market talk. Then your mom was so in love with him too. No complaints at the end. On the contrary, they were so proud of you for finally finding such a wonderful person.

As happy as you were for a successful dinner. You were internationally seething.

Once your parents left and the house was cleaned. You arched your eyebrow and directed an inquisitive look at Mochi.

“So?” You asked after a while.

“Something happened… I know, I know.” Mochi dragged his hands over his face and sighed. “You have every right to be mad, but let me ex—“

Just then, the sound of the door unlocking alerted you of their arrival, and multiple footsteps followed to confirm the quantity.

In a flash you had Mochi’s gun in hand, the poor man panicking after you and not even the devil himself could stop you now.

“Are any of you injured to the point of being at death’s door? Are you all alive and kicking?” You asked in a solemn voice. “Well?”

“We–we’re good…” said Kokonoi who was the closest to you watched a very worried Mochi stand behind you and shake his head in silence. Was he warning them not to do what?

“Good,” and with that, you pulled the gun that was too big for your hand.

A bunch of screams and alarmed voices came in from the seven men standing at your entrance.

“Baby— wait! Baby!”

“We– it’s not– Y/N!”

“Woah! Woah! Woah!”

“Y/N, put that down before you hurt yourself.”

So you took the safety off which earned you more screams and Sanzu hid behind Kokonoi, Rindou took cover in Ran’s back and Mikey was lost in the tumult of panicking men.

“Mochi why did you give her your gun!?!” Takeomi asked as he harshly pushed against the door by Sanzu trying to get as far away as possible from the barrel of your gun.

“I didn’t! She took it!”

“This is your fault!” Ran blamed it all on Sanzu. “You taught her how to use one! We were against it!”

“Shut up! All of you!” They all went quite deadly fast. “I had dinner with my boyfriend!” As you spoke, you moved the gun at each one of them and they all jumped back scared it would go off. Even Mikey was eyeing your shaking hand like a hawk. “So I don’t know who you all are! Go away!”

Again, you pointed the gun, they jumped and they also crushed Takeomi against the door for the tenth time. While the other screamed, Takeomi was grunting in pain at this point.

“Can we explain?” Kakucho asked with his hands up to show he surrendered.

“And you are?” You saw hurt flash in Kakucho’s eyes once your words were out, but you needed to stand your ground. They had done it this time. “Sure, explain unknown man.”

“But please can you put the gun down?” Kokonoi was sweating buckets from the way you waved the gun everywhere.

“I’m not gonna—“ and just like that it went off against the wall where the Haitani brothers stood. You heard Rindou screaming and Ran cursing every color of the rainbow.

You crossed eyes with each one of them and threw them a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, maybe I should put it down…” putting the safety back on, you handed it back to Mochi with a second apology in tow.

With your attention back to the group in your entrance you saw Rindou having a… moment…

“Oh my God! I almost died! Raaan! I saw my life flash through my eyes!” Rindou was crouched down hugging his brother’s leg. Said brother had a tired face on… like this was a common occurrence.

“Sanzu, this is your fault too,” Kokonoi added to the

“How is it my fault?!” Sanzu exclaimed with indignation and fury.

This calmed down after a bit. Reluctantly, you let them in and sat down to explain. You heard their excuses, the emergency at work and called bullshit until Mikey spoke last.

“We were scared.” He began with his signature seriousness and almost sad eyes. “Look at us. We aren’t the guys you take home to meet your mother.” As he kept talking, you saw how one by one they all turned their eyes away, sour looks and empty faces. One after another. “Mochi at least has the looks to pass as a normal civilian.”

You nodded, understanding where they were coming from. Pink, purple and white hair… tattoos all over their bodies… and scars… your heart broke for them. But your fury wasn’t gone just yet.

“And you think I care? You think I care what they think?” You stood up and walked over to Mikey, holding his shoulders tightly as you spoke. “If anyone, even my own family, speaks ill of any of you, I would have thrown them out. And never looked back. Understood? I… I have my own life here… a family… that we built together.”

Even if you wanted to add more to your speech, you weren’t able to. An avalanche of bodies suddenly rained down on you and the next thing Mikey saw was a cluster of bodies on his feet.

You could barely breathe under Rindou’s arm and probably Sanzu’s leg. Kakucho and Kokonoi tried to wrench them away but it was fruitless. Both were moaning and crying about the family they built with you. Ran facepalmed at his younger brother’s behavior but smiled nonetheless.

“Wait, where’s Takeomi?” You asked having not heard the man in a while.

“Here!” Everyone saw the eldest Bonten member at the kitchen counter with a first aid kit. “I’m just patching myself up.”

“But you said you weren’t injured?” You said from the floor and in between two sobbing men.

“I wasn’t…” Takeomi winced as he applied a bit more ointment. “yeah, having six people push you against a door was awful. 0/10 would not recommend.”

Meanwhile, Mochi cried in a corner as he saw his family happy together.

[blitzwhore]

Okay so I'm here from the writing prompts.

Number 43: Giving them a piggy back ride.

Stolas and Blitzø.

I like this prompt because I feel like it's unusual and it's more interesting to come up with a scenario that would involve it. Like it could be really funny and/or really wholesome.

Thank you so much for the prompt! Today I bring you: wholesome crack 😂

Stolitz | 1.7k | Teen and Up | Fluff, Humor, post-Sinsmas, Blitz and Stolas are in love; they're also a little bit stupid | read on AO3 or below:

“Stooooolaaaaaasss!” 

Blinking up from the smut he was in the middle of writing, Stolas watched as an unusually excited Blitz, followed by his employees, jumped through a portal and into the office—and immediately face-planted on the floor. 

Stolas squawked in dismay, but Blitz quickly straightened, a wide smile on his face and a glint of mischief in his eyes as he pointed a finger at Stolas. “You,” Blitz announced. “I need you, birdie. And everyone else, too. Emergency meeting, everyone!” 

“Sir, there’s no need to shout, we’re literally all here,” Moxxie grumbled before Stolas could ask Blitz what he was talking about. “And please tell me we aren’t actually going through with this?”

Blitz turned to the smaller imp, hands on his hips like an annoyed parent. 

“Don’t you dare try to kill my buzz, Moxx. ‘Sides, you’re not the one who’s gonna be getting your shoes dirty, are ya?” 

Stolas swore he could hear the grinding of Moxxie’s teeth all the way from his desk.

“Um,” Stolas tentatively tried to intervene. 

“Come on, honey, it’ll be fun!” said Millie, who was covered in about as much human blood as was usual for her and buzzing like an excited child. When her husband grumbled, she stepped closer to him and twirled a finger on his chest. “Do it for me?” 

Moxxie, apparently weak to the power of Millie’s doe eyes, finally nodded. 

“Hell, yeah!” Millie cheered. 

“Uh…” Stolas tried again, to no avail. 

“Ugh,” Loona muttered to the side, “remind me again why the fuck I put up with you guys?”

“Everyone shut the fuck up and get your asses here. Stolas!” Blitz turned to him. When he noticed the confusion on his face, though, Blitz walked around the table and took Stolas’ hands in his own, pulling him to his feet. “C’mon, pretty bird, we have some red asses to beat to death.” 

Weak to the way Blitz’s voice softened when addressing him, Stolas went, even though he had no idea what in Hell he was signing up for. 

“You too, Looney!” Blitz hollered as he opened a new portal using his tongue, his hand still busy holding Stolas’. “Someone’s gotta film this shit so I got proof we ran circles around M&M!” 

“For fuck’s sake…” 

Stolas was pretty sure Loona grumbled something else, but Blitz was already pulling him through the portal and right to the top of a hill in the human world. He hadn’t had time to grab his jacket, but the weather was luckily quite nice, even if Stolas could feel the cold dampness of the grass clinging to his claws. 

The hill wasn’t too tall, the bottom of it within walkable distance, and the forest that stretched out below was painted with the vibrant colors of spring. Some towns were visible in the distance, but there seemed to be no humans within their vicinity. 

“... Yeah, this is a terrible idea,” Loona said, and Moxxie’s subsequent nod had Stolas believing her words wholeheartedly. If there was one thing he’d learned over the past few months, it was that Moxxie and Loona were never in agreement with one another; not unless the matter was life-or-death. 

Blitz and Millie seemed oblivious to Loona and Moxxie’s exchange, focused as they were on their own. They were holding one another’s gaze, grinning wickedly as their tails slashed playfully behind them. 

“First pair to make it to the bottom wins?” Blitz shot. 

“Losers have to clean the toilet for a month,” Millie declared. 

“Deal.” 

“I swear to…” Moxxie mumbled, pinching his frown in exasperation. Loona just huffed and stared at her phone, and in the millisecond of silence that followed, Stolas finally managed to intervene. 

“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt,” he said, all eyes turning to him, “but would anyone care to explain to me what the fuck is going on?” 

Blitz offered him a proud—and, frankly, incredibly sexy—grin. “A piggyback race, of course!” he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“You heard the boss,” Millie added, “losing couple cleans the bathroom for a month!” 

“And we can’t let those dainty fingers of yours get dirty,” Blitz interjected, “so hop on and let’s wipe the floor with these two!” 

“... I’m sorry,” Stolas said, fervently wishing he’d misunderstood. “A piggyback race… downhill?” 

“Thank you!” said Moxxie from behind him. Loona said nothing, but Stolas was almost certain she was already recording.

Stolas just gaped. First at Blitz, who smiled brilliantly up at him, mirth shining in his beautiful eyes; and then at Moxxie, who—despite his complaints—didn’t stop Millie from hoisting him up onto her back. 

Stolas barely had time to throw the smaller imp an unimpressed look. A moment later, his attention was back on Blitz, who had bent his knees and spread his arms wide right by his side. 

“Well? Hop on, big bird!” 

Stolas blinked down at Blitz, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks. Moxxie was absolutely correct in that this was an outrageously stupid idea, but… there was just something about being in Blitz’s arms, and it was oh, so rare for him to have a chance to do such a thing… Despite his reservations, Stolas found himself approaching Blitz carefully, hand on his shoulder as he figured out the logistics of this. 

“Um…” he mumbled, and raised a leg. Blitz chuckled at his reluctance, and caught it, standing closer to hold it against his waist. 

“Gimme the other one, birdie,” he said, and Stolas couldn’t help a little squawk as he lifted his other leg off the ground and wrapped his arms tightly around Blitz’s shoulders to keep himself upright. “Great! Everyone ready?!” 

Stolas was not ready, thank you very much. His heart fluttered in his chest as he felt Blitz’s strong arms clench around his thighs and his broad back press against his stomach. He was way too big for Blitz to carry, surely—his legs a hindrance where they dangled before them, his body just too tall to keep upright. 

He seemed to be the only one harboring such reservations, because Millie just bellowed, “Hell yeah!” wasting no time before saying, “on your marks…” 

Blitz leaned forward and hoisted him up a bit, making Stolas hoot.

“Get set…” 

Oh, fuck, this is actually happening, was all that Stolas had time to think before Millie yelled—

“GO!”

Blitz bolted downhill, running faster than seemed physically possible. 

“Bliii-iiiiiitz!!!!!” Stolas screeched, holding on for dear life as he bounced on Blitz’s back, his long legs swinging wildly in the air.  

Blitz roared with laughter, loud and bombastic as he bent forward to gain momentum, and oh, Lucifer, they were going so fast, too fast. 

“The rock, mind the rock!!!” Stolas yelped as he dug his talons into Blitz’s shoulders. Blitz just cackled madly and jumped over the damn thing, leaping forward at a speed that had Stolas screeching loud enough that the sound echoed sharply around them. 

With the wind rushing past and his own terrified yelps ringing in his ears, Stolas was only distantly aware of Moxxie’s cries and Millie’s mad cackling. He couldn’t tell who was winning, or how close they were to the bottom of the hill. All he knew was they seemed to miraculously be holding on and not dying, which was more than he could've honestly hoped for. 

“See!” Blitz said over his shoulder, and the brilliant, beautiful smile he directed at Stolas had him grinning helplessly in return. “Told ya we’d beat the shit out of their perky red assss—shhiiii-IIIIIIIITTT!!!” 

Stolas barely registered the twisting pain as his claw caught on the ground. A moment later, none of their limbs were on the ground, the both of them flying forward instead.

It seemed like a lifetime went by before they hit the ground in a heap of limbs and horns and tails, and Stolas screeched as they rolled speedily downhill, trying to hold on to Blitz, convinced they were plummeting toward their demise—

And then they stopped. It was so sudden it knocked the air from Stolas’ lungs, and for a long moment, he could only look up at Blitz, whose tail was wrapped tightly around his waist. One of Blitz’s hands was cupping the feathered back of his head, the other digging deep into the dirt to stop their fall. 

Blitz gaped down at him, his eyes impossibly big with concern, his sole focus on Stolas. And maybe they were both wet, and beaten, and covered in mud—but his Blitz looked straight out of a fantasy, and Stolas laughed, shocked and breathless and in love. 

And then he kept laughing. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t bring himself to stop, and soon there were tears prickling in his eyes, his lungs stuttering with the absurdness of it all. That this was his life; that they were both such idiots. That somehow, Blitz never failed to make him feel this stupidly fucking happy.

Though Blitz’s eyes shone with amusement as well, he did eventually untangle himself from Stolas, sitting back on the damp grass. “You okay there, Stols?” he asked, giving his hand a squeeze. 

But Stolas couldn’t speak. He was pretty sure he’d lost ten years of his life as well as half his feathers during that fall, and his legs and arms were scraped and in pain, but his chest was so light with laughter and light he just couldn’t stop grinning. 

Screams of victory came from somewhere below them, and Stolas was sure Loona was probably still recording them from above. Stolas cared about precisely none of it. He flopped onto his back and pulled Blitz down with him, catching the man he loved in his arms and kissing him like his life depended on it. 

Blitz laughed and kissed him back, and Stolas’ heart soared. They may not have made it to the bottom of the hill, but he had still very much won this race. No endeavor that resulted in having Blitz in his arms could ever be counted as a loss. 

*

The following morning, a distressed owl screech echoed all across the I.M.P headquarters, coming from their tiny restroom, which was conveniently due for a deep cleaning. 

“I have to put my hand where?!” 

Moxxie snickered, feeling just somewhat sorry for the Prince. “I do wonder if they’ll eventually realize Blitz could’ve ridden Stolas’ back instead...” 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64020094

[meowzfordayz]

hic-cup

Author’s Note: sending get-well-soon vibes to anyone currently experiencing the hiccups. 😔😂

hic-cup

Hashira x Reader, Kamaboko x Reader

Word Count: ~1,100

CW: dark humor

Emergency Request Fulfilled: Recently work has been very hectic, and I've been a little anxious about personal things...I really would like something cute! If possible, could you either do the Hashira, KNY squad, or the upper moons (you can pick! You write all of them super well!) With a reader who has bad, but very cute, hiccups?

~faqs~

When you have the hiccups…

… Zenitsu thinks you’re dying. Well. Not really, but the way you gasp for air and clutch your chest has him worried and running to get you water nonetheless. If you lie down on the floor, then he will lie down with you and press his ear to your heart, listening for irregularities.

… Inosuke’s overwhelmed by the urge to poke and squish and smoosh and squeeze you. “Stop that!” he growls, arms crossed irritatedly. “Stop wh-*hiccup*-what?” you huff. “THAT!” he shouts, pointing an accusing finger at you, “You sound so, so, so-” “So what?” “SO CUTE.” Eyes widening, your cheeks warm, nose scrunching, “Ino-*hiccup*suke, I-” “It’s like you want me to pop you,” he grumbles. “Pop me?????” “Stop being adorable so I can stop wanting to kill you.”

… Gyomei simply smiles every time you hiccup. Do not ask him to smack them out of you… a broken rib (or three) is much worse than the hiccups. “Pleeease? They won’t go awaaay!” “My love, you really shouldn’t ask me to harm you.” “Harm me?!” you scoff, “Don’t you have control or something?” Affronted, he nods slowly, “I suppose I have control…” “SO HIT ME.” Sighing, he lightly pats your back, whiiich doesn’t help, but it’s the thought that counts!

… Obanai pretends to be annoyed, but is lowkey disappointed when they eventually go away. “Shut up,” he scowls, glaring as you do your best to swallow another hiccup. “Can’t,” you mutter, flicking his shoulder, “They won’t g-*hiccup*-go away.” “Then I’ll make them,” he mutters darkly. “Oh really?” you raise an eyebrow, amused now, “And how exactly will you make them go away?” His mouth opens, closes, and opens again, exhaling loudly in defeat. “Admit it, they’re kinda cute,” you grin, nudging his side, “I’m kinda cute.” He doesn’t respond, opting instead to quickly peck your cheek, blushing profusely even as his glare deepens.

… Tanjirou has a plethora of ideas to ~help you. From having you chug a glass of cold water, finding a paper bag for you to breathe into, slicing a lemon for you to bite into, attempting to jump scare you, and making you hold your breath until you nearly pass out, he’s ultimately sorely defeated by your hiccups’ persistence. Hiccups 1: Tanjirou 0. When they finally disappear, you promptly credit his expertise and efforts, regardless of how delayed their effectiveness was.

… Mitsuri giggles until she also ends up with the hiccups. You’re just so darn beautiful, and your hiccups sound so darn happy! Like yawning near each other, if one of you hiccups, then the other is bound to follow.

… Shinobu offers you a sympathetic, “Oh dear,” paired with a fond smile, and continues about her day. If they’re persistent, then she’ll utilize the placebo effect in an attempt to help aka she’ll give you “medicine” (it’s sugar water, but sometimes it helps). Occasionally, she’ll ~threaten you, “If you hiccup again, then no kisses!” to a lesser degree of success, but it’s mostly endearing to watch you try so hard and fail so miserably (if this actually bothers you, then she only does it once, but it’s really just an inside joke).

… Kyojuro tries to get himself to hiccup too, but the man is Hiccup Proof™. “What’s your secret?!” you whine playfully, pouting as another hiccup jolts your body, “I swear you inhale all your meals, but never experience the hiccups!” “I keep nothing from you,” he frowns slightly, pressing a reassuring kiss to your cheek, “If I could provide better help, then I certainly would!” “Kyo, it was a rhetorical question.” “Rhetorical or not, if I knew a secret, then I would tell you!” “Sooo remind me to never tell you any secrets,” you chuckle, eyebrow raising pointedly. “My love, your secrets are safe with me!” he exclaims earnestly. “Just not anyone else’s?” you drawl teasingly. He pauses to consider your remark, and then shrugs nonchalantly, “Precisely.”

… Sanemi taxes you, and it increases exponentially. “Pay up,” he smirks, palm held upright toward you, “I heard that.” “Y’know, hiccuping isn’t a crime,” you mutter. “And you didn’t have to play along,” he grins smugly, “But you did.” “Well I felt badly about distracting you,” you retort, frowning as a thought occurs to you, “Although, now you’ve changed tasks completely!” “Have I?” he questions lightly, eyes widening innocently. “Yeah, all you’re focusing on is my hiccups and extorting me for spare change!” “If you stop hiccuping, then I could return to my earlier task.” “I can’t just st-*hiccup*-stop!” you whine, still dropping more coins into his hand, “You’re the worst.” “I love you,” he deadpans, winking as he pockets your money, “Maybe I’ll buy you something nice with my extra income.”

… Muichiro says, “Bless you,” after every single one. “But Muichiro, I didn’t snee-*hiccup*-sneeze!” “Bless you.” “Why are you-” “When you sneeze, for a moment, your soul leaves your body, and the blessing is to prevent it from being stolen, yes?” … “Yes?” “When you hiccup, are you not running the same risk?” … “No?” Unperturbed, he shrugs, smiling faintly, “Well, I appreciate you and your hiccups, so I suppose blessing you is my way of expressing my appreciation.”

… Giyuu’s constantly startled, even when you’re occupying the same space. *hiccup* Ah! his eyes widen, a subtle yet observable reaction to your sudden noisiness. *hiccup* Ah! he blinks, another subtle yet observable reaction. *hiccup* “Are you faking it?” he finally mutters, cheeks faintly flushed as he fixes a gentle stare on you. “Faking w-*hiccup*-what?!” “Your hiccups.” “Why would I fake having the hiccups???” “Never mind.” “Am I bothering you?” “Not quite,” he murmurs, reaching across the couch to squeeze your hand, “I hope they go away soon.” Smiling fondly, you raise his hand to your lips, kissing his knuckles, “Me t-*hiccup*-too!” No way is he admitting they ~frighten him.

… Tengen claps excitedly, enthusiastically celebrating your ~unique sound. “How flashy, my dear!” he exclaims with a grin. “Flashy?” you blink, unimpressed. “Hiccups are so rare and so fun!” he explains, “What an interesting phenomenon!” “You have a thing for hiccups,” you deadpan, eyes rolling. “Not at all! I’m just trying to support you through this unfortunate event.” Scoffing, you poke at his chest, “Sooo are my hiccups flashy or unfortunate?” “Both!”

[munsonsmixtapes]

Omg I have a Boone request if you’re taking any! reader is a new team member and has a crush on him but he’s so standoffish towards her cuz he also has a crush but he just like shuts down around her. Maybe she ends up confessing cuz she wants to get it over with and it ends w smut where he’s a little more subby 👀 also if you can add something where he like helps her into the truck or just does something w his arms in general 😂 I’ve been obsessing over his arms since the rocket scene 💀

I am absolutely taking Boone requests! Let's give him the respect he deserves!

sub!Boone x dom!fem!reader

cw: MDNI (18+) smut (p in v) hurt/comfort

You were nothing but excited when you had gotten the DM from Tyler. He had seen your videos on YouTube. He loved your work and approach to storm chasing that he knew he had to ask you to join the team. Everyone had been excited for your arrival. Well, everyone except Boone.

Well, not at first. At first, he had actually been super on board, looking forward to someone new. But then you showed up on the scene in your short shorts and the man was done for. You were smart and pretty? That was definitely a lethal combination.

And then you reached your hand out for him to shake and it was soft and warm and he immediately wondered what it would have felt in other places. It was as if you were trying to kill him with the bright smile on your face as you introduced yourself. His knees were weak and he didn't like how he was so close to swooning.

And the thing about Boone was that he was not a fan of love. Well, for other people, it was great, but for him? Forget it. He had been burned once and that was enough to swear off romance altogether. He would sleep with countless people, but immediately put it to a stop as soon as feelings were involved.

So, he did the only thing he knew how. He choked his feelings down and began treating you like you were gum on the bottom of his shoe. You'd try to speak to him and he'd just turn the radio up louder or just flat out ignore you. And he felt like a dick for it. You were just being friendly and he completely shut you down.

And what made it worse was when you watched him laugh and joke around with the others, only further proving that he didn't like you even though everyone tried to convince you that it wasn't true. Boone was really just a teddy bear and you were wondering if maybe you had just caught him on a bad day.

But the fact was, Boone just didn't like you. Had even convinced himself of that, in fact. He didn't like how Tyler let you take over without asking for anyone else's approval. You hadn't even been there a year and you were already allowed to take the reigns? Hell, not even Boone was allowed to do that and he was Tyler's right hand for gods sake.

And the worst part of all was when you took his spot in the truck, the front seat now occupied by your ass that he couldn't stop staring at. And it was even worse when your perfume would linger on the interior, that sweet, smoky smell that wrapped around him like a blanket. It was intoxicating and he could just imagine pulling you to him, burying his face into your neck and having a whiff for himself.

"You should tell him," Tyler whispered as you found yourself staring at Boone who had been at the gas pump for the last few minutes. Watching him and the way his arms would flex as he worked made your brain short circuit.

You wanted them to wrap around you tightly as his lips crashed to yours, the thing quick and sloppy, taking his time with you as you were pliant under his touch. You wanted to feel his mustache scrape against your upper lip, making the skin red from how roughly it was moving against it.

"Tell him what?" You asked, finally pulling your gaze from the man to look at your friend who was next to you, leaning against the truck.

"That you like him," Tyler replied in a tone that supposed to make the whole thing obvious. You just laughed in response. You did not like Boone. If anything, you just wanted to fuck him to get him out of your head.

"I don't like him."

"Right, then why were you staring at him like you wanted to climb him like a tree?"

"If anyone needs to admit their feelings, it's you. When are you going to tell Kate?" You looked over your shoulder at the girl who was laughing with Javi and Tyler paused, completely caught off guard by your question.

"This-this isn't about me," he stuttered. "This is about you and Boone and your obvious feeling for each other." You laughed again, wondering where the hell he was getting that from. Boone had made it very obvious that he didn't like you so you didn't know why Tyler kept insisting that it was true.

"Okay, one, I don't see how this is any of your business, and two, I don't like him and he certainly doesn't like me. So let's drop it, okay?" You were now getting frustrated, though you didn't know why. Well, maybe you did know and just didn't want to admit it.

The truth was, you had been crushing on Boone from the very beginning and had honestly thought you had been subtle until Tyler had called you out. Because it was embarrassing admitting that you liked someone who so obviously hated you. You didn't know why, but you actually kind of found it to be attractive.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, y/n," Tyler winked as he nudged your shoulder and opened the passenger side door for you and helped you into the seat just in time for Boone to see.

He finished up with the gas then hurried to get in the truck before it drove off. He was forced to sit in the middle between Lily and Javi. And by some stroke of luck, he looked up just in time to see you pulling down the visor to look in the mirror. You then pulled some lip gloss from your purse, catching Boone’s gaze in the reflection. You made eye contact with him as you swiped the gloss over your lips so slowly, torturing him as his mind was reeling with places where he wanted to leave marks with the brown color.

His mouth went dry, the simple action driving him crazy. You had only done it to see if Tyler was right and now you had the man right where you wanted him, not missing how he had rested his hands in his laps, desperate to cover his cock that was threatening to tent in his pants.

As you tried to sleep that night, all you could think about was Boone. You always tried to push him out of your thoughts, but this time, you let him stay, living absolutely rent free there. Your thoughts were nothing but filthy as you imagined the two of you between the sheets of your bed, in every position possible. And the sounds…the sounds. They were enough to make you orgasm right there. They sounded so real and vivid and all you could hear was your name being uttered through moans and gasps as you took exactly what you wanted from him.

The next morning was rough as you hadn’t gotten any sleep. You had spent most of the night either with your hand down your underwear or staring at Boone’s phone number, trying to get yourself to text him and ask him to come over. You eventually settled for pleasuring yourself and found that even though it had satisfied you, that it was nothing like the real thing.

You watched a truck pull into your driveway and your eyebrows furrowed as Boone got out of the driver’s seat before leaning against the door, looking like he would have rather been anywhere but there. You were really going to have to talk to Tyler since you knew that Boone being your ride had to have been his doing.

You took your sweet time putting on your shoes before fleeing the house, making sure to lock the door before heading over to the truck. The ride hadn’t even started yet and you were already dreading it. Why couldn’t Tyler just leave it alone? Why was he trying so hard to prove that you and Boone had feelings for each other?

Boon was quick to move to your side of the truck and he opened the door for you before holding his hand out for you to take. You just blinked at him, staring down at his hand completely dumbfounded.

“I want to help,” he said, his tone sugary sweet which was not what you were used to hearing. In fact, you were sure that was the most he had ever said to you in the months that you had been working together.

“Oh,” you replied, eyes wide as you slowly put your hand in his before he helped you into the truck, trying to not stare at his arm as it flexed, but you couldn’t help yourself. It was so easy to get distracted by him.

You were so distracted by his muscles that you hadn’t been aware that he was staring at your ass and the way your shorts were hugging it. If he had any more confidence, he would have given it a squeeze, wanting to hear your little yelp as he did so. He wanted to stick his hand into your back pockets as he kissed you senseless, cupping your ass as you pushed him against the side of the truck.

“Thank you,” you smiled at him and he almost didn’t hear you, letting his dirty thoughts get in the way.

“You’re welcome,” he smiled back and once you were in the seat, he closed the door and rounded the front of the truck, muttering to himself about how much of an idiot he was. If he hadn’t been so stuck on treating you like shit, maybe the two of you would have been together. But of course he had gone and fucked up any chance of that.

Boone climbed into the driver’s seat and put the keys in the ignition before putting the truck in reverse, his hand landing on the back of your head rest as he did so. He then brought it to sit on the center console and you stared at it for a second, trying to figure out if you wanted to hold it or have it wrapped around your throat.

You then turned to look at him as he hummed along the song that was playing softly through the speakers, letting his free hand tap to the beat on the center console. Maybe Tyler was right. Maybe you did like Boone and were just pushing your feelings down so you didn’t have to deal with being rejected.

Considering that the man was consuming your every thought, there was no way that you didn’t like him. In fact, you were beginning to think that you were falling in love with him despite his hatred towards you. And why couldn’t you get the hint? He didn’t like you.

“You have a pretty smile,” you told him before you really thought about what you were saying. And you felt your cheeks heat as you looked down at your hands that were sitting in your lap. You were now embarrassed that you had spoken at all, let alone complimented him.

“I what?” He asked. Boone had heard you just fine, but wanted you to say it again just to make sure that his ears weren’t playing a cruel trick on him.

“I said that you had a pretty smile,” you repeated, your voice louder, more confident, and Boone felt his own cheeks blush at your compliment. “It’s no wonder you don’t do it often because I feel like I would do blind from how bright it is.”

“Jesus, y/n, you’re making me blush,” he replied, his tone nothing but humorous, but he wasn’t joking. His cheeks were warm and he was hoping that you couldn’t see the pink color that was tinting his skin.

“Aww, I really am,” you teased as you reached over and pinched the cheek that was closest to you, causing him to blush even more. He was getting really embarrassed and almost wanted to ask you to stop, but he loved the way your skin felt against his.

You pulled your hand away sooner than he would have liked and silence fell between you again. Good. He was beginning to think that you were getting a little too chummy with him. He didn’t want to be your friend. As much as he convinced himself he wanted to be nothing to you, he had to eventually come to terms with the fact that he wanted to be your boyfriend.

He wanted to be your boyfriend so fucking bad that it hurt. But of course, he had to go and fuck that all up for himself. And you were too nice, still treating him with respect even though it was obvious that he was hurting you. He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve you. He thought the whole thing would have been easier if you would have just given him the same energy back. Then maybe it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to fall in love with you. With your laugh, with the way that you would always bring everyone coffee you had bought on the way to Tyler’s house where you all usually met before a storm chase.

Because deep down, Boone was his own worst enemy and didn’t think he deserved to be happy. He had convinced himself that he was the reason why he had been cheated on. He hadn’t been there for her, hadn’t been as good in bed as the other guy. But really, Carly was the problem. She was the one who screwed everything up. Had pulled the “it’s not you, it’s me” after Boone had caught her in their shared bed with the guy she had told him not to worry about. Apparently he had every right to worry.

And then there you were, all sweet and perfect, and he was telling himself that he couldn’t have you. That he didn’t deserve you because of a mistake that his ex girlfriend had made. And he’d tell himself that he wasn’t ready, that the wound was still fresh, but the truth was that it had been closed for quite some time, the pain no longer there, the blood all cleaned up. So what was his excuse? He didn’t have one, not really.

The truck rolled to stop at a red light as thunder rumbled in the distance. You rolled down the window and stuck your head out to see the once white clouds were now gray. There was a flash of lightning and you quickly pulled your head back into the truck as you felt a droplet of rain hit your cheek. Then, in the blink of an eye, it began to downpour, the rain pattering against the truck.

Boone pressed on the gas, going a little faster than he probably should have. He’d never admit it, but he hated driving through rain. It was something that scared him as it was always unpredictable and hard to see. Especially now with it coming down in sheets to the point where he couldn’t see at all.

So not only was it complete torture to be in a vehicle alone with you when you looked so,,,perfect, but now he was having trouble doing the thing that was taking his mind off of you. Now he just wanted to get to where Tyler had told him they were meeting just to get away from the torture.

And as if it couldn’t have gotten any worse, the truck stopped again in the middle of the road. Boone was panicking as he turned the key only to hear the engine stutter as he tried over and over.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath as he rested his forehead on the steering wheel. He then turned to you, hating the look of pity that you were giving him. He didn’t need it since he had been pitying himself for years.

“Maybe we can get someone to give you a jump?”

“Nah, I’ll just get a tow. Needs a new battery anyway,” he replied as he got out of the truck, rounding the front to your side to help you out.

So that’s how you ended up at the motel down the road after watching Boone’s truck roll away attached to the back of a tow truck. And of course, because the universe just loved to laugh at you, the room that you were using for the night only had one bed.

You both stood at the edge, staring down at the mattress, the rain water that had soaked through your clothes surely dripping down onto it. You turned to Boone to see that he was already looking at you, a small smile on his lips.

“Guess one of us will have to take the floor,” he said and you shook your head.

“Don’t be silly,” you replied as you removed your shoes before collapsing onto the bed. “We’ll just share it. And I’ll even put a couple pillows between us if that makes you feel better.”

“Sure,” he replied as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“But can I be honest?” You asked, sitting up, looking him directly in the eyes.

“Y-yeah,” he stuttered, suddenly scared to hear what you had to say.

“I don’t want a divider,” you told him as you stood to your feet. “I’m so fucking cold and I just want you to hold me and kiss me I know I look like an idiot for being in love with someone who doesn’t reciprocate my feelings.”

“Are you kidding?” He asked with a laugh and you stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Why would I kid about that?”

“I don’t know, I just-you-and-you like me?”

“Yes, I thought it was obvious!”

“Well, obviously not. I mean, I like you too. And I-wow, you like me.” This was the most you had ever heard him speak and you honestly thought it was cute that you got him babbling.

“Will you just shut up and come over here?” You asked and he slowly stepped over to you as you wrapped your arms around his waist. “Kiss me,” you commanded and watched his cheeks blush, his eyes widening.

You watched his gaze shift to your lips then back up to your eyes, filled with desire. Boone then wrapped his arms around your shoulders and pulled you in, slowly inching his mouth towards yours. His lips slotted between yours and you were quick to respond, your movements slow at first, but you were getting eager, hungry, trying to make up for months of want.

His hand moved to cup the back of your head as he tried to keep up with you, not expecting it all to go so quickly. But he wasn’t going to stop you, just letting you take what you wanted as he was pliant underneath your touch.

You pressed one more kiss to his lips before motioning for him to turn around. He was about to argue, but you gave him a pointed look and he just knew not to argue with you.

“Yes ma’am,” he replied, holding his hands up and turning around to face the door. You turned your back to him and peeled off your shirt and jeans, tired of the way they were sticking to you.

“Okay, you can turn around,” you told him once you were in only your bra and panties, and as soon as he was facing you, his mouth fell open, not expecting you to be in full-on lingerie.

“Fuck,” he rasped, then quickly cleared his throat. “I mean, you look-fuck.”

“That’s a compliment, I hope,” you replied, batting your eyelashes.

“It is,” he nodded, feeling he needed some water to wet his very dry throat. You had looked even better than he had imagined. So pretty that he couldn’t look away.

“Now it’s your turn,” you replied and his eyes widened. Boone wasn’t insecure about his body in the slightest, but thinking about you being the one to see it did make him a little nervous.

“My turn?” He asked and you nodded, biting down on your bottom lip, making his thoughts even more impure.

“Yeah, I’m undressed so it’s only right for you to be. That is, if you want to. I wouldn’t want to make you do something you don’t want to.” But as soon as the words left your mouth, Boone was taking off his shirt, followed by his jeans so he was just left with his underwear where you could clearly see a boner tenting.

His eyes were dark and you were sure that if you had given him permission, he would have taken you right there. And you would have let him. In fact, you were so close to begging him to, or maybe you would have preferred him to be the one to do the begging.

He looked unsure of what to do, suddenly seeming shy so you knew you needed to help him out. You knew about his reputation so you didn’t know why he was so shy around you. You weren’t that intimidating, were you?

You grabbed hold of his hands and pulled him close, your arms wrapping around his neck while his found your waist. You slowly inched your face towards his before slotting your lips together again, this kiss much more soft and gentle.

And in that moment, Boone decided that he could have kissed you for hours, already addicted to the feeling of your lips against his. The way your lip gloss tasted, that fake cherry flavor that normally tasted medicinal, but there, it tasted heavenly and he couldn’t get enough.

Your hands found their way into his hair and he felt like he was going to cream in his pants just from the small tug you gave it as your tongue flicked into his mouth once again. If he hadn’t been able to literally feel your nails digging into his scalp, he would have convinced himself that he was dreaming.

“This is everything I could have dreamed up,” you murmured against his lips and he couldn’t have agreed more. “But I was wondering if you wanted to take it to the next level.”

You pulled away and Boone just nodded furiously, not being able to hide his excitement.

“Gonna need a yes or no.”

“Yes!” He replied, a little too enthusiastically then cleared his throat. “Yes,” he nodded, his tone much more calm and you just laughed in response. He really was cute and felt honored that he was so excited to sleep with you, because from what you had heard, he had sworn off anything of that sort. You supposed now that you were going to have to make it that much more worthwhile.

“Okay, but I think you’re going to have to beg. I just don’t feel like you want it enough.”

“I can beg,” he nodded furiously. “I’m a good begger.”

“Go on, then.”

“Please, y/n,” he whined. “I mean, look at how much I need you,” he pointed to his rock hard cock then dropped to his knees, his hands still holding onto your hips. He buried his face into your stomach and you decided that he wasn’t lying, he really was a good begger.

“I don’t know,” you replied. “I don’t think you want it enough.”

You felt his lips against your stomach and began to laugh as he peppered it with kisses between whispered sweet nothings. God, he was good.

“Please,” he begged, resting his chin on the spot right above your belly button as he looked up at you with pleading eyes. “I promise I’ll be a good boy.”

That line seemed to have done something for you because you were quick to help him to his feet before pushing him down onto the mattress, watching a wide grin spread on his face.

“Boxers off,” you commanded and he was quick to listen, pulling them off as quickly as he could as you pulled a condom from your purse. He put it on while you took off your underwear before climbing on top of him.

“Wow, look at you, honey, you’re already leaking and we haven’t done anything yet,” you teased and watched his cheeks turn red. “All that just from kissing? I must be better than I thought.”

“I-I’m a little out of practice,” he replied, feeling his cheeks getting even more warm.

“We don’t have to do this, Boone,” you reached up to twirl some of his hair around your finger and with you sitting on top of him like that, looking like an absolute dream, he could have sworn that he had died and gone to heaven.

“I want you to feel comfortable.”

“I do,” he smiled. “Actually, you’re the only person who I want to do this with. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“Well, let me know if I do something you don’t like or just want to stop.” Boone appreciated how accommodating you were about the whole thing, being nothing but gentle with your words. He just wished that other people had reacted the same instead of just laughing in his face.

“I will,” he nodded. “Now please go ahead and do it. I’m dying here.”

You slowly placed yourself onto his cock and took no time to ride him, your hands finding his shoulders as your movements were slow, wanting to be soft and gentle at first to figure out what he liked before you went in the way you wanted to.

But clearly Boone had enjoyed it as his eyes shut tight, multiple moans falling from his lips as you rode him. His hands moved to your hips, digging into the skin as he bucked against you, feeling the need to move with you. And that seemed to work because a moan fell from your own lips and Boone swore that he was going to come just from hearing it.

“More,” he begged. “Faster.” You did as he commanded and moved faster, watching him come undone underneath you as his fingers dug even more into your skin, his hips bucking against yours even harder.

“Are you sure you’re out of practice?” You asked. “Because you’re doing great. I mean, look at you. Already look like you’re going to come, Jesus.”

“I-I think I’m close.”

Your movements got harder and faster and Boone felt an orgasm building already, feeling kind of embarrassed that he hadn’t lasted very long. But the sounds came out before he could stop them, louder than he had ever been and he was wondering why he hadn’t been on the bottom very often.

“That’s it,” you cooed. “Let it out, baby.” You continued to ride him at the same pace, trying to see how many times you could get him to orgasm in one round.

“Got some more in you? We can stop if you want.”

“Don’t. Stop,” he replied in between breaths and that seemed to be enough for you. You picked up your pace, going the fastest and hardest that you could, watching his back arch underneath you as he orgasmed again and again, looking like an absolute mess with the sweat rolling down his body and his hair that looked beyond repair.

“Fuck,” he rasped. “So fucking good.” His hips bucked against yours again and again as you fucked him hard and fast, trying his best to keep up with you.

The answer was four. And each time seemed to be more intense than the last, practical screams escaping his lips and you really hoped the other guests could hear him and know that you had fucked him good. And you had.

And after you had gone all night, you spent the morning in each other’s arms, bare skin to bare skin as you both got the best sleep of your lives, deciding that you were both looking forward to doing that often, deciding that you had to share a bed every night after admitting your feelings to each other. If either of you had anything to say about it, you’d be together forever.

[charlesollielandooscararthur]

Nikola Tsolov

summary:

y/n was so over this.

Her phone had been blowing up ever since her podcast episode aired, and she knew exactly why. The hosts had asked about him, and she had answered honestly—no exaggeration, no sugarcoating. But apparently, that wasn't good enough for Nikola Tsolov.

Because now, he had responded.

📲 nikola_tsolov Funny how some people love to talk but never say things to your face. If you have a problem, at least be direct about it. I know I would."

y/n scoffed, staring at the post. "Be direct? Does he think I coded my podcast answers in riddles?"

Sitting next to her in the Ferrari hospitality, Ollie Bearman peeked over at her phone. "To be fair, you did roast his TikTok for weeks before this."

She shot him a glare. "Are you defending him?"

Ollie grinned. "Absolutely not. I just think it's hilarious how worked up he gets over you."

y/n groaned, tossing her phone onto the table. "I swear, this guy is allergic to ignoring things. He could've just let it go, but nooo, he had to make a dramatic response."

Ollie leaned back in his chair. "So, what's the move? Clapping back, or letting him stew?"

Before she could answer, a new notification popped up.

📲 nikola_tsolov tagged you in a post.

y/n's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, no way—he's doubling down."

Ollie grabbed her phone before she could stop him. "'Leclerc always has something to say about me but never in person. Wonder why.' Oof." He chuckled. "This is better than reality TV."

y/n snatched her phone back. "Oh, he's wondering why? Maybe because the last time we were in the same paddock, he looked at me like I'd run over his dog and then avoided me like I was contagious."

Ollie smirked. "Well, lucky for you, he's here this weekend."

As if on cue, a voice cut through the air.

"Talking about me again, Leclerc?"

y/n turned to see Nikola standing just a few feet away, arms crossed, looking annoyingly smug.

She sighed dramatically. "Wow, you are predictable."

Nikola raised an eyebrow. "And you're obsessed with me."

y/n laughed. "Obsessed? That's rich, coming from the guy who tagged me in a post like we're in some influencer beef."

Ollie let out a quiet oof and leaned back, clearly enjoying the show.

Nikola shrugged. "I just think it's funny how you always have something to say but never to my face."

y/n rolled her eyes. "Nikola, be serious. The last time we were in the same room, you avoided eye contact like I was your ex-girlfriend."

Nikola scoffed. "Maybe I just didn't want to waste my time."

She smirked. "And yet, here you are, again, making another post, walking over here, just to prove a point. Almost like you love this little rivalry, huh?"

Nikola opened his mouth, then shut it, then glared. "You're insufferable."

y/n grinned. "And you're obsessed."

Ollie, still sitting back like a spectator at a tennis match, finally clapped his hands. "Alright, that's enough flirting for one day."

"WHAT?" y/n and Nikola snapped in unison.

Ollie just laughed. "Nothing, nothing. You two have fun with your little social media war."

Nikola shot him a glare before turning back to y/n. "This isn't over."

She smirked. "Oh, I know."

Nikola stormed off, clearly frustrated, but y/n wasn't done yet.

She pulled out her phone, thumbs moving fast as she typed.

📲 y/nleclerc Someone tell @NikolaTsolov that talking to me in person just to say 'this isn't over' isn't exactly proving his point. Try harder.

Ollie burst out laughing as soon as she hit post. "Oh, you're actually trying to start a war."

y/n smirked. "No, I'm just giving him what he wants—direct confrontation. He should be thanking me."

Ollie shook his head, watching the comments flood in.

📲 Fan1 🔥 SHE WENT THERE. 📲 Fan2 😂 Nikola better prepare himself, she's unhinged at this point. 📲 Fan3 👀 Waiting for his response like it's an F1 race weekend.

And, as expected, Nikola did respond.

📲 nikola_tsolov Leclerc's talking big on Twitter but let's see if she's this bold when I see her again.

y/n read it, unimpressed. "Wow. So scary. I'm shaking."

Ollie grinned. "You should quote-tweet it with something petty."

y/n's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Oh, don't worry. I've got this."

A few seconds later, another notification.

📲 y/nleclerc Someone print this tweet out and frame it because I'll be using it against him for the next 5 years.

The internet lost it.

Meanwhile, Nikola, who had just sat down in the Alpine hospitality, refreshed his phone and groaned.

"She never lets up."

His teammate leaned over, laughing. "Mate, you walked right into that one."

Nikola sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yeah. And I know she's not gonna stop here."

Because if there was one thing he'd learned about y/n Leclerc, it was that she always had the last word.

y/n was thriving off the chaos. Her tweet had gone viral—memes, edits, and fans picking sides flooded her mentions. Some were #Teamy/n, others #TeamNikola, and some just enjoying the absolute pettiness of it all.

But then, the universe decided to be extra cruel.

The next morning, as she strolled into the paddock with her brothers, Arthur casually mentioned, "Oh yeah, you and Nikola are doing media together today."

y/n froze. "I'm sorry, what?"

Charles, walking beside them, chuckled. "They just told me. Apparently, you both have interviews scheduled at the same time, so they're putting you together for efficiency."

y/n blinked. "Effi—efficiency? No. Absolutely not. Who approved this?"

Arthur smirked. "The media team, apparently."

"Well, they need to be fired," she muttered.

Lorenzo, ever the responsible older brother, sighed. "Just behave, y/n. No starting fights."

y/n rolled her eyes. "I don't start fights. I just finish them."

Unfortunately for her, Nikola had already arrived at the media pen by the time she got there. He was leaning against the railing, scrolling through his phone. Probably reading the absolute disaster of a thread she had left behind last night.

As soon as he saw her, he smirked. "Oh look, Twitter's biggest comedian is here."

y/n plastered on a fake smile. "And my biggest fan, how sweet."

The reporter standing between them looked way too excited. "Wow, the tension here is thick. y/n, Nikola, let's talk about this rivalry—"

Nikola let out a very dramatic sigh. "It's not a rivalry."

y/n gasped. "Not a rivalry? You tagged me in a post yesterday trying to argue!"

Nikola crossed his arms. "You started it."

She scoffed. "Oh, so I forced you to post, huh? The way you care so much is adorable."

The reporter, barely holding back laughter, asked, "So, if this isn't a rivalry, what is it?"

y/n and Nikola answered at the exact same time.

y/n: "Pettiness." Nikola: "Annoyance."

They glared at each other.

The internet was going to love this.

The interview wrapped up quickly, and as y/n turned to leave, Nikola called after her, "I will get the last word eventually, Leclerc."

Without missing a beat, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Not today, sweetheart."

y/n thought the worst was over.

Sure, the media interview was painful, but at least it was done. She had successfully embarrassed Nikola on camera, social media was eating it up, and she could move on with her life.

Or so she thought.

Because apparently, the universe wasn't done torturing her.

Arthur came sprinting up to her in the paddock, breathless from laughing. "y/n. You're going to love this."

She narrowed her eyes. "Arthur, I swear—"

He shoved his phone in her face.

📢 ANNOUNCEMENT: As part of a charity initiative, drivers and notable paddock figures will team up for a special event! First pair? @nikola_tsolov & @y/nleclerc

y/n's jaw dropped. "You are kidding me."

Arthur was howling with laughter. "Nope. You and your best friend are about to spend an entire day together. For charity."

y/n grabbed the phone, reading further.

📲 Nikola and y/n will be working together at a children's hospital event, where they'll spend the day playing games, signing merch, and bringing smiles to young fans!

y/n groaned. "WHY?"

Arthur grinned. "To bring smiles, obviously."

She turned to Ollie, who had been watching this unfold with a massive smirk. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

Ollie held up his hands, innocent. "I may have heard about it earlier and chose not to tell you."

y/n smacked his arm. "Traitor."

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

The second y/n arrived, she saw Nikola already standing there, arms crossed, looking equally miserable.

"Don't say it," he muttered.

y/n smirked. "Oh, I have to say it."

Nikola sighed. "Go on, then."

"Karma's a beautiful thing, isn't it?"

Before he could argue, a PR representative clapped their hands. "Alright, guys! Let's get started! Big smiles, remember, we're here for the kids!"

Nikola muttered under his breath. "I'd rather be in a gravel trap."

y/n beamed. "Oh, don't worry, this is going to be so much fun."

And then the real torture began.

They were forced to sit next to each other at the autograph table, take posed photos together, and—worst of all—play trust-based team-building games with the kids.

"Alright, y/n, Nikola, you two will be paired up for the three-legged race!" the event coordinator announced cheerfully.

y/n's smile dropped. "Absolutely not."

Nikola groaned. "You think I want this?"

But the kids were so excited that neither of them could say no.

So, there they stood, their legs literally tied together, glaring at each other like sworn enemies before battle.

"This is your fault," Nikola muttered.

y/n scoffed. "Oh please, everything is my fault according to you."

"Because it usually is."

Before she could retort, the race started.

And within three seconds, they were on the ground.

The kids roared with laughter. The cameras flashed. The internet? Oh, the internet was going to explode.

Nikola groaned. "You tripped me!"

y/n gasped. "I tripped you? Maybe if you actually had balance—"

"You were pulling me!"

"You were too slow!"

The PR team looked horrified. Meanwhile, the kids were having the time of their lives.

Ollie, who had been watching from the sidelines, pulled out his phone. "This is the best thing I've ever seen."

y/n shot him a glare. "Ollie, if you record this, I swear—"

"Too late," he said, already grinning at his screen.

Nikola sighed, lying flat on the ground. "I give up."

y/n flopped down next to him. "Good. That means I win."

Nikola turned his head toward her. "...I hate you."

She smirked. "I know."

And just like that, the rivalry continued.

The moment the event ended, y/n grabbed her phone. No way was she letting Nikola control the narrative.

📲 y/nleclerc If anyone asks, I survived today. Barely.

Seconds later, her notifications blew up.

📲 Fan1🔥 Y/N AND NIKOLA IN 📲 Fan2 THREE-LEGGED RACE? THIS IS THE CONTENT I LIVE FOR. 📲 Fan3 😂 They lasted 3 seconds before eating dirt, I am crying. 📲 Fan4.👀 Ollie, please tell me you got videos.

And, of course, Ollie did.

📲 OllieBearman Did I record it? Yes. Did I post it? Also yes. You're welcome. [Attached: Video]

y/n groaned. "Ollie!"

She clicked the video and, sure enough, there it was—Nikola and her tripping, hitting the ground, arguing, and the kids in the background losing their minds.

The slow-mo replay? Disrespectful.

Meanwhile, Nikola also decided to add to the chaos.

📲 nikola_tsolov Being tied to @y/nleclerc for a race was worse than crashing out of an actual one. 0/10 experience.

y/n immediately fired back.

📲 y/nleclerc At least when you crash out of a race, it's YOUR fault. This one? That's on YOU.

📲 nikola_tsolov You literally yanked me to the ground.

📲 y/nleclerc Skill issue. Adapt.

The internet lost its mind.

📲 Fan1 🔥 "SKILL ISSUE" OH SHE'S UNHINGED 📲 Fan2 😂 Someone check on Nikola, he's never winning against her 📲 Fan3 👀 Petition to make them do another PR event together immediately

Even the official F1 account jumped in.

📲 F1 y/n & Nikola: The rivalry we didn't know we needed 👀🔥

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

y/n was barely through her morning coffee when she opened her emails

📩 Subject: URGENT: PR Damage Control Dear y/n and Nikola, Given the recent social media interactions between you two, we've decided it would be best for you both to film a short video addressing the situation. This will show unity and ensure a positive public image. You will be filming this together. Please be professional. Best, [Redacted] PR Team

y/n stared at the screen. "You have GOT to be joking."

y/n screamed into a pillow.

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

Nikola was already there when she arrived, looking just as miserable.

"You look thrilled," y/n said, dropping into the seat beside him.

He shot her a glare. "I'd rather DNF every race for the rest of my career than do this."

The camera crew gave them tight smiles. "Okay, guys! This is just a quick, lighthearted video. We want you to be friendly—"

Nikola snorted.

The PR rep ignored him. "—so just apologize to each other, say you've moved on, and we're done."

y/n crossed her arms. "You're asking for too much."

"Just read the script," the PR rep sighed, handing them a paper.

y/n and Nikola looked down.

📄 "Hey everyone! We know our friendly banter has been getting a lot of attention, but we just wanted to say there's no bad blood between us. We respect each other a lot and are excited for the season ahead!"

y/n burst out laughing. "'Respect each other'? Be serious."

Nikola groaned. "This is actual torture."

—

Take One

🎬 Camera rolls.

Nikola, deadpan: "Hey everyone."

y/n, fake smile: "We just wanted to clear the air."

Nikola, monotone: "We respect each other a lot."

y/n, barely holding in laughter: "So much respect."

Nikola: "So much."

y/n: "No bad blood at all."

Nikola: "Zero. We're basically best friends."

y/n: "Besties."

Silence.

PR Rep: "...Cut. Let's try again. Less sarcasm."

—

Take Two

Nikola, visibly forcing a smile: "Hey everyone! We know our, uh, friendly banter—"

y/n, absolutely unbothered: "Rivalry."

PR Rep: "y/n."

Nikola sighs. "—has been getting attention. But we just wanted to say there's no bad blood between us."

y/n, flatly: "We are both very mature individuals."

Nikola, not even pretending anymore: "And we totally don't hate each other."

y/n: "Not at all."

PR Rep: "CUT!"

—

Take Three (Final Attempt)

Nikola: "Hey everyone! We just wanted to clear the air and say—"

y/n, with the fakest enthusiasm ever: "We totally respect each other and are the best of friends!"

Nikola stares at the camera. "This is the biggest lie I've ever told."

y/n smirks. "And that's saying something, considering your race excuses."

PR Rep: "CUT. We're done. Just... we'll edit something together."

—

Aftermath

Within minutes of the video being posted, social media exploded.

📲 F1 We are... convinced. 😬 [Attached: Video]

📲 y/nleclerc They really made us do this. Tragic.

📲 nikola_tsolov This was the worst experience of my life.

📲 olliebearman I have never laughed harder in my life.

📲 charles_Leclerc Proud of you, y/n. This was painful to watch.

📲 arthur_leclerc New bet: how long before they start fighting again?

y/n thought she was free.

The apology video was done, the PR team had their little "everything is fine" moment, and she was ready to move on with her actual life.

Until Arthur sent her a link.

📲 You're gonna LOVE this. 😏

y/n clicked on it, and her stomach dropped.

📢 BREAKING: F1 announces a new social media series—'Paddock Pals: Unlikely Friendships' featuring... 👀 @y/nleclerc & @nikola_tsolov

y/n stared at the screen in horror. "No. No way."

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

The moment y/n arrived at the PR office, Nikola was already there, looking equally done with life.

"What. Is. This?" she demanded, throwing the press release onto the table.

The PR rep smiled way too cheerfully. "Oh, this is going to be great for both of your images! Fans love rivalries, but they love redemption arcs even more!"

Nikola scoffed. "Redemption? From what? Being better than her?"

y/n gasped. "Better than me?"

"Okay, okay," the PR rep interrupted, clapping her hands. "Let's go over the plan. You'll be filming three episodes together—"

"Three?" Nikola and y/n said at the same time.

"Yes! First, a 'Get to Know Each Other' Q&A. Then, a 'Day in the Life' vlog where you spend a whole day together—*"

"Absolutely not."

"—and finally, a challenge where you have to work as a team!"

y/n's eye twitched. "Who came up with this?"

The PR rep beamed. "The fans did!"

Nikola muttered, "I hate the fans."

—

Episode 1: The Q&A Disaster

The cameras were rolling. y/n and Nikola sat side by side, arms crossed, looking like two kids forced into a group project.

"Alright!" the producer said. "First question: What was your first impression of each other?"

y/n smirked. "Oh, I remember. I thought Nikola was overrated."

Nikola fake-laughed. "Funny, because I thought you were annoying."

The interviewer coughed. "...Okay! Moving on. What's something you admire about each other?"

Silence.

More silence.

The interviewer blinked. "Anytime now."

y/n sighed dramatically. "I guess he's... decent at driving."

Nikola rolled his eyes. "Wow. So heartfelt."

y/n smirked. "I could've told the truth and said nothing."

Nikola looked straight at the camera. "I actually admire her ability to talk nonstop and never run out of insults."

The interviewer facepalmed.

—

Episode 2: The 'Day in the Life' Nightmare

The concept was simple—y/n and Nikola had to spend the day together and film a vlog.

The execution? A mess.

First stop: Breakfast.

y/n: "If you think I'm paying for your food, you're delusional."

Nikola: "I wouldn't let you, anyway. I don't accept charity."

Second stop: Gym.

y/n, out of breath: "You're actually trying to kill me."

Nikola, smirking: "Didn't realize walking on a treadmill was a challenge for you."

Third stop: A fan meet-and-greet.

Fan: "OMG, are you two really friends now?"

y/n and Nikola, at the same time: "No."

PR Rep, off-camera: "FOR THE LOVE OF—"

—

Episode 3: The Ultimate Challenge

The final episode was a team-building challenge. The task? Escape room.

The reality? Chaos.

Timer starts.

Nikola: "Alright, let's—"

y/n: "I'm in charge."

Nikola: "Excuse me?"

y/n: "You heard me."

20 minutes in.

y/n: "Why would you press that button?!"

Nikola: "Because it looked important!"

y/n: "IT SET OFF AN ALARM."

30 minutes in.

Nikola: "We're literally getting nowhere."

y/n: "Maybe if you listened to me instead of trying to brute-force everything—"

Nikola: "Maybe if you weren't so bossy—"

5 minutes left.

y/n: "We're gonna lose because of YOU."

Nikola: "No, we're gonna lose because of YOU."

They failed.

The video ended with them arguing as the game master let them out.

—

📲 F1 Episode 1 of 'Paddock Pals' is out! Do we believe the friendship? 🤔

📲 y/nleclerc Friendship? Be serious.

📲 nikola_tsolov They set us up to fail.

📲 arthur_leclerc The escape room episode is the funniest thing I've ever seen.

📲 olliebearman The fans asked for a redemption arc but got a comedy show instead.

📲 charles_Leclerc This was painful to watch.

[aristaspark]

How do you think Kenji's process to forgive Brooklynn will go? Because he said: "I'm not fluent in betrayal" and "once you lose my trust, you lose it. Forever"

Ok, I'm going to go off on a little tangent here (as I always do) because your question just made me think back on a moment of clarity I had recently, and it has to do with the reason they had Brooklynn and Kenji break up in the first place. But it'll make sense I swear.

But if I had to summarize my "argument": I think Kenji won't have to "forgive" her because she's not actually betraying him (any of them for that matter) and he knows it. He doesn't see what she's doing as a betrayal.

Now, the long thought process, grab your pop corn.

(Sorry, I had a lot of thoughts and it's a mess but who's surprised?)

You see, I was asking myself, if they're gonna make Kenlynn endgame like I think they are, why have them break up in the first place, taking the risk of making them messy in the process? It didn't make sense to me at first, it was one of the only things I couldn't get behind.

And then the answer, like, revealed itself to me and it was so evident I wondered how I didn't click before 😂

If they wanted to make Kenlynn endgame, breaking them up was the ONLY option they had, the only way they could do it.

Let me elaborate. In an interview Scott Kreamer more or less said that when Chaos Theory was greenlit, one of the first "storyline" they "baked" for the show was Brooklynn's (her faking her death). So they kind of had to articulate all of the other storylines around that.

Which leads me to my point.

Kenji would have NEVER been able to forgive her had she done all this while still being his girlfriend.

That's straight up treason. That's choosing a life of misery over his love. That's not telling your partner who's suffering and grieving you that you're alive. That's choosing your investigation over him when you finally reunite. That's torturing him. That's like EVIL.

But that's not what happened. Because Kenji broke up with her. That changes everything when we think about it, it changes the status quo.

She wasn't hiding the fact that she was alive from her partner, she was hiding it from her ex who was probably better off without her in his life anyway since he broke up with her.

She's no longer choosing a dangerous life of misery over him, because she doesn't even have him.

We have to keep in mind that she has no idea whether Kenji still loves her or not. She most likely thinks he doesn't (he broke up with her and after that she was "dead" for six months).

So she really got to choose between two evils:

Going back to her friends and being forced to deal with everything she didn't want to have to deal with : having to face Darius after everything that happened (confession+abandonning her), having to deal with the consequences of her actions on her relationship with her friends (feeling like she no longer belongs in the group), but above all having to deal with the fact that she'll be alone for the first time in six years (having no idea what her and Kenji have anymore). Idk, I'd be Brooklynn I wouldn't want to come back either.

Or, continuing her mission. Sure, it's lonely and dangerous. Sure, it'll hurt her friends. Sure, it'll make her miserable, but so does the other option. Choosing to pursue Soyona makes the most sense for her. She sacrificed too much to stop midway (her arm, her relationship(s), her place in the world (she literaly faked her death). If she stops before it's over it would all have been for nothing. And sure, she'll be miserable, but at least it gives her the opportunity to do good (getting rid of the threat on her life and on her friends' lives, saving innocent dinos).

So now, what about Kenji in all that? As you said, he made a point of saying he doesn't forgive easily.

But the thing is, I'm not even sure Kenji has to "forgive" her.

He broke up with her and after that they never spoke again because she died, their relationship remained "unresolved".

She's not "abandoning him" by doing all this because he was the one who abandoned her first (don't get me wrong, he had every right to break up, but it was still extremely violent and painful for Brooklynn).

I think there's so many layers to their relationship, but the fact is that they're the ones who have suffered the most out of all the camp fam.

And Kenji's aware of that (at least he will be when he'll know everything that happened to her). There's a scene which already kind of hints at this, where we can see Kenji been hit with the realization/fact that she must have suffered more than he could ever comprehend, empathizing with her.

I saw some people putting Kenji in the same bag as Ben and Soyona when it comes to them noticing Brooklynn's arm, but as I touched on in the "analysis" I did of that particular scene, the scene with Kenji is very different from the other two. Kenji does not look at her arm because he can't help looking at it. He's consciously looking at it and wants her to be aware that he's looking at it, he's asking a thousands questions with his eyes alone. It's a look of sadness, of compassion, of hurt. He's hurting for her.

He doesn't get mad at her for her "betrayal", never confronts her, never makes it about him, because it's not. Although he doesn't know why she's doing what she's doing, he knows that she suffered at least as much as he did simply by looking at her arm.

I think that Kenji will try to understand her, not to forgive her, because as I said it's not a betrayal. His reaction to her leaving doesn't look like the reaction of someone who feels "betrayed" and who's rightfully mad at the person. It looks like the reaction of someone who's hurt, sad, heart-broken, regretful, lost, but never mad.

I don't think Kenji sees any of what she's doing as a betrayal because she's not actually doing anything to him. HE was the one who removed himself from Brooklynn's "considerations". This isn't another instance of her neglecting their relationship (or him) anymore because with where things had been left off, as far as she knew, they didn't have any kind of relationship anymore. Not a romantic one, not friendship, nothing, just a big question mark. Kenji most likely still loves her and regretted breaking up with her, but she's not aware of any of that, only Kenji is. To her, it's too late, a lost cause.

So, she's not doing anything to Kenji. It was the case when they were a couple (when she neglected him), because when you're in a relationship you sorta become one with the other person and your every action impacts them, so you must take that into consideration everytime you do something. But as I said, Kenji took himself out of the equation.

She's not doing anything to Kenji, if anything she's doing everything to herself.

I think a lot of people who see Brooklynn as *almost* irredeemable also underestimate everything that happened to her and the role other characters also played in her "demise". Kenji broke up with her, Darius abandonned her. They also hurt her.

She's the one who caused the chain of tragic events that happened to her by giving in to her obsession with her investigation, sure, but that does not mean that she was prepared for any of what happened to her.

My argumentation is a little all over the place sorry 😂.

But, yeah, my main take away from this is that Brooklynn's not betraying any of them. She's following her own path, one they don't understand or agree with, sure, but she doesn't owe them anything. She's her own person, living her life the way she wants to live it, making her own choices. The only one she would have "betrayed" is Kenji, but as I said, that was when they were in a relationship. I think he might get mad at her for having kept so many secrets, but he will eventually forgive her if she's willing to change, if she owns up to her faults (and I feel like after everything she went through she will be willing to). After all, although he said he never "forgives", he forgave Darius.

Congrats if you made it to the end and if you somehow managed to understand 😂

[clotpolesonly]

Date Night

idk i just feel like Ashley should be mean to Declan. i think he likes it (not in a healthy way). up to you, really, to decide what level of consent there is here 😂 if Declan asked her to treat him like this, or if Ashley's just a bitch who saw his self-loathing and is taking advantage of it. i like both!! | Declan/Ashley | Explicit | 1.3k | Humiliation | Dubcon | (read on AO3)

As he gets back into the car, Declan declares he doesn't want to talk about what happened, which is fine. Ashley doesn't much care for talking to him anyway—he's not exactly an engaging conversationalist. She lets him brood for a few minutes, alternating between examining her manicure and contemplating the smear of blood across the bottom corner of the windshield. The latter holds her attention until Declan's pulled into the Red Lobster parking lot and turned off the car.

"I apologize that you had to see that," he says stiffly. He says most things that way.

Ashley hums thoughtfully. "Yeah. It was pretty pathetic." Declan doesn't turn to face her, hands still on the steering wheel. His grip tightens gratifyingly, though, as she thought it would. Ashley looks at that smear of blood and says, "I would go ahead and dump you right now if it didn't get my pussy so wet to watch you get thrown around like that."

Declan flushes bright red. It's his only reaction. He doesn't protest or try to defend himself or even look surprised. And why should he? He knows what he is, just like she does. This is what he's here for.

Ashley laughs. Then she sighs expansively and squirms in her seat, hiking her pretty white sundress up until her bare thighs meet creamy leather. The nice car is the one thing Declan has going for him. It's almost a shame to get it messy. She spreads her legs wide anyway, grateful that she decided not to waste a pair of panties on this date.

Declan is still in the same position, hands on the wheel and eyes on the distant restaurant front. God, what an inconsiderate cad.

"You caused this problem, you know," she points out. "The least you could do is offer to fix it." Declan doesn't look at her directly, but his eyes do shift sideways in her general direction. So at least she knows he's paying attention. She snaps her fingers at him. "What, do you not know how? Are you that much of a loser?"

He does know, and she knows it, but it gets him moving finally. He unclenches one hand from the wheel and reaches across to center console. It's easy for his fingers to slide inside. Ashley wasn't kidding about that fight making her hot. Her inner thighs are slick with it already, wetness making the leather slick and slippery underneath her. She makes a noise of satisfaction and lets her head fall back against the headrest.

"I can't believe you let your little brother push you around," she muses, eyes closed. "Verbally and physically. And that weird history nerd, too. It's fucking sad is what it is."

Declan doesn't argue this either. He's watching his own hand move, two fingers sliding in and out of Ashley's cunt, dragging the wetness around. When he's in deep, the heel of his palm grinds against her clit. If it bothers him to be doing this in a parking lot, cars on either side of them and streetlights shining down bright, he keeps that to himself too. His cheeks are still pink.

It's not bad, what he's doing. But it's nowhere near enough either. Ashley squirms impatiently, trying to get better friction. "God, Declan, is that all you've got? I swear, watching you get punched got me closer than this."

She can actually hear the click of his dry throat when he swallows. He obediently works a third finger into her. Pulls them all out to focus on her clit instead, rubbing tight circles. Fuck, that's better. Ashley bucks her hips up against his hand. The car is rocking, like it did when Declan was thrown up against it, like when his head was bashed into the windshield. There's a corresponding smear of blood on his forehead still.

"Oh fuck," Ashley whines. "Declan, you're so—"

He still can't bring himself to look her in the eye, but he's clearly listening, waiting to see what he is. His teeth are clenched so hard he looks like he's going to pop a muscle in his jaw. When Ashley bothers to look, she finds his slacks tented. She can't help but laugh again. Humiliation colors his face again and he picks up the pace, working her harder and faster, but it's not enough. It's never enough with him.

Ashley snatches at his wrist and yanks his fingers out of her. "Jesus Christ, you're so fucking worthless. Can't win a fight, can get me off. Is there anything you can do?"

Declan tries to take his hand back, but she holds onto it, not letting him touch her but not letting him retreat either. With her other hand, she takes over where he failed. The slick noise of her manicured fingers working her clit fill the car, rivaled only by her own moans and the shallow sound of Declan's mouth-breathing. She doesn't say his name or even look his way when she comes, but her nails dig wickedly into the soft underside of Declan's wrist.

Ashley sighs contentedly into the silence that follows, riding the waves of pleasure as her pussy throbs against the ruined leather seat. She wipes her fingers off on it and wonders if he'll ever be able to get the smell out.

"What's that saying again?" she asks. "If you want something done right, do it yourself. I think I got that from you, actually. You were so right. For once." She laughs again.

She releases Declan's wrist. Declan returns his hand, slick from her cunt, to its place on the steering wheel of the turned-off car. He's still hard.

Ashley snorts. "Are you just gonna ignore that?"

Declan swallows again. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. He doesn't have any way to defend himself from this. He doesn't make any move to touch himself, but he doesn't object either when Ashley reaches over to tug at his belt.

"You'll be ungodly mopey all night," she says with a roll of her eyes. "No way I'm dealing with that after what you've already put me through tonight."

She takes his dick in her hand. His stomach muscles clench, she can feel it against her wrist, but he stays quiet, even when she squeezes. It takes a few seconds for Declan to realize that she's not going to actually stroke him or anything. As far as Ashley's concerned, she's done all the hard work she's going to do today. If he wants to get off, it's on him, and she's being unnecessarily gracious in lending her hand.

Declan lets out a sharp breath through his nose—the closest he's gotten to making a noise this whole time. He thumps his head back against the headrest, jaw working, elbows locked as he white-knuckles the wheel. He holds himself very, very still for a long moment.

Ashley says, "My arm's getting tired."

Haltingly, Declan's hips begin to move, jerking his dick up into her fist. She's not giving him any real help and so it takes work to lift himself all the way off the seat. It's not long before his thighs are trembling and sweat is gathering on his upper lip. His mouth remains firmly closed, but his eyes are open, staring fixedly across the parking lot. Red Lobster is just so fucking fascinating apparently.

Ashley checks the time on the dashboard. Eight minutes until they lose their reservation. She yawns.

Thankfully, Declan's humping pays off before their time runs out. He comes across the back of her hand with a pitiful choked off noise, like a puppy pulling at his leash. Ashley drops his dick and fishes a wet wipe out of the glove compartment. Declan is still panting when she tosses a second one in his lap.

"Clean yourself up, Declan," she says, car door already open. "You look like a whore. And you owe me lobster."

[hoedamn-eron]

baby, please - part 20

You thought it would be just another dinner with Santiago, but it doesn't end like you expected it to.

Warnings: Angst, angst, angst. Hurtful words are thrown around. Themes of abandonment. Swearing. Mentions of unsupportive family members. I actually proofread this! But there’s probably still mistakes that I missed 😂. Word count: 3,304 F!Reader, no use of Y/N.

Part 19 ● Series Masterlist ● Part 21

It was supposed to be a usual dinner with Santiago.

But you knew something was off the moment he opened the door to his apartment, inviting you in. He was tense, and he wouldn’t meet your eyes. He wasn’t talking much, and when he did respond to you, you were met with one-word answers, or just a grunt. You tried not to let it get to you, but you felt like you were imposing on his time, despite the fact that he had asked you to dinner.

It was weird. But he had been acting weird for weeks. Maybe it was because you were so close to giving birth. You only had two weeks left, after all, your lives were about to change forever. He even said so himself, he wasn’t ever expecting to have a family of his own. He was happy to just be by himself, so…maybe he was just nervous. There was no need to worry about it, he’d been there the whole time for you.

But it was obvious something was bothering him (and not just tonight, it had been going on for a while), and he felt like he couldn’t tell you, which hurt. You thought you were closer than that. You were supposed to trust each other with anything, since you’re going to be co-parenting. You didn’t want your kids to think that their mom and dad couldn’t talk to each other.

There was no avoiding it, you were going to ask him what was wrong. Tonight.

You make general small talk, which is weird for the two of you. You follow him into his kitchen where he offers you a water (he’s ran out of Diet Coke), and he turns his back to you to the sauce bubbling on the stove. You quietly sip at your drink as you watch him stir. Even now, as he’s just making food, he’s tense; his shoulders stiff, jaw clenched, and he’s holding that spoon just a bit too tightly.

“Santi, is everything okay?” you ask him, already knowing that it wasn’t.

He winces at your voice, almost as if he forgot you were there. He still doesn’t look at you as he answers, “Yeah, everything is fine.”

Fine.

There’s that word again. Every time you ask him if something is going on, it’s always ‘fine’.

You shake your head. “No, I don’t think it is, Santi. You’ve been weird for weeks, what’s going on?”

“Nothing!” he says, finally looking at you with an uneasy look on his face.

“There is, Santi. Come on, you can tell me. We’ve talked about communication – “

“Did it ever occur to you that I might not want you to know?”

Yikes, that stung. You blink at him a little, taken aback. “I-I mean, sure, but I just want you to know that you can be open with me and talk to me.”

He studies you for a moment before he shakes his head. “I can’t talk to you about this.”

He turns back to the sauce.

“Why not?”

“It just isn’t the right time.”

You frown at him and place your glass on the counter. You fold your arms as you watch him for a few moments. The silence in the kitchen weighs heavy before you break it with, “Okay.”

You don’t accept his answer, not one bit.

After a few more awkward minutes, the pasta is ready, and Santi is preparing a plate for you. He asks you shortly if you want cheese, or if you want another drink, and you shake your head at him before following him to his dining table. You sit opposite him, eating slowly as you keep glancing at him.

He’s asking you one-word questions on the food, not meeting your eyes when he does. It makes your heart sink. The last time he acted like this was when he thought you wanted to date and he was holding you back, back when you went shopping for baby clothes together and ran into Craig.

Surely now he still doesn’t think he was holding you back. But then why would he be arguing with his friends over something like that? Why would they even care about it? Unless Santi had told them something, or they have been pressuring him in some way. Why else would he engage in such heated discussions if there wasn't some underlying concern or conflict? The questions swirl in your mind, leaving you to ponder if they are somehow connected to your relationship with Santi, and its impact on yours and your babies’ life.

After a few more moments contemplating, you place your fork down before clearing your throat. “Santi, I only want to know what’s bothering you.”

“Por el amor de Dios,” Santi mutters, rolling his eyes as he slams the fork down on the table. He gives you a hard stare. “Just drop it, okay?”

“I don’t want to drop it,” you say, giving him a concerned look and you lean towards him slightly. “I’m worried about you! You’ve been arguing with Frankie and Will, that’s not like you – “

“How would you know, you’ve only known me eight months,” he snaps at you.

You balk at his reaction, leaning back from him. “That’s a long time, Santi, I like to think I know you pretty well.”

“No, eight months is in fact not a long time,” he snapped at you. There are a few moments of silence as you stare at one another, before Santi closed his eyes and sighed, his shoulders finally slumping in defeat. He buried his head in his hands, his elbows leaning on the table.

You stare at him for a moment, not sure what to say. You bite your lip and look down at your plate, all of a sudden not even remotely hungry. You look back up at him before going to stand. “I’ll get going, we can catch up again another time, when you’re feeling better.”

He doesn’t say anything to stop you as you gather your things, before you spot something at the end of the corridor. The nursery door, Santi’s old spare room, was slightly open, and you could just see a pile of unopened boxes. Your brow furrows before you glance at Santiago, and suddenly make your way down the hallway.

The calls of your name go ignored as you push open the nursery door, only to find that…it wasn’t ready. Sure, it had been painted like Santiago said it had been, and there was a feature wall of some jungle themed wallpaper, but…that was it. The room was bare. The furniture you had shopped for together was still in the boxes, collecting dust. You looked around the room, sudden tears in your eyes as you take in the fact that the room felt cold, and nowhere near as if a new family would be using it.

You turn quickly to look at Santiago, who had followed you down the hall. He had an exhausted look on his face as he awkwardly tucked his hands into his jean's pockets.

You take in a shaky breath from the tears and look back at the room. “It’s not done.” You look at him, worry sitting densely in your stomach. “It’s not done, Santi. They’re going to be here in two weeks, and you haven’t fixed up their room. Why isn’t it done?”

Santiago doesn’t answer for a moment before he sighs. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you.”

Your heart sinks. You try to regulate your breathing as you turn back and ask him, “Tell me what?”

He sighs before running a hand through his hair, looking at anything but you. He can’t seem to stop fidgeting. “I can’t do this.”

Oh…no.

He can’t mean what you thought, right? He just meant dinner tonight, he couldn’t do dinner. Maybe he wasn’t well and felt bad about cancelling. Yeah, that’s what he meant. It has to be.

But you know, deep down, you were wrong.

You try and play dumb. To give him the chance to take it back, to rethink what he just said, because really, he can’t be saying this to you right now. Not now. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t…do that,” he said, looking back at you with a stern look in his eyes as he shakes his head. “Don’t be an idiot, you know what I mean.”

He’s never been so harsh with you before. You give one final look around the room before squaring your shoulders and turning back to him. “So, what, you…you don’t want to be involved anymore? Is that what you’re saying?”

He hesitates for a moment before giving a single nod.

You can feel the slow anger building in your chest, your skin practically prickling with tension. How could he do this to you, now? The air becomes thick with unspoken words, each heartbeat within you resonates with the weight of the betrayal that has unfolded before you.

As Santiago’s gaze falters and you both just stare at each other with nothing to say, you find yourself grappling with the whirlwind of emotions that threaten to consume you. The trust you once held for him now hangs precariously in the balance, and the echoes of disbelief reverberate through the room.

You had never imagined that this moment would arrive, not now, not at a time when trust and loyalty were vital. You look back on the last few months, trying to see where it had all gone wrong. Was it back when you discussed your dating life? From what you knew, he hadn’t been seeing anyone, seriously or otherwise. Did he feel trapped? Was it the almost kiss on Halloween? No, he started acting weird after Thanksgiving. So what brought him to this conclusion, that he didn’t want to be a father anymore, that you had spent all this time together planning, and working on yourselves and together to become parents? Was it the scare that you’d had?

You loved this man. Loved him. Oh, God, you can feel your heart breaking into a million pieces.

“This just…came at an inconvenient time – “ he starts again, the prolonged silence evidently becoming too much.

Your jaw sets and you glare at him, the bubbling in your chest erupting. “Oh, I'm so sorry, when would this,” you gesture to your bump. “Have been more convenient for you?”

He closes his eyes for a moment in exasperation. “Don’t be like that – “

“Be like what?” you ask, your gaze still hard on him. “Don’t be upset? Don’t be angry? You’ve just told me you don’t want to be a father to our kids anymore! How am I not supposed to be upset?”

“I know it…it’s bad, honey, I know – “

“Don’t ‘honey’ me, you…you…” you gasp as you realise you’re crying. You reach up and touch your cheek, almost as if you’re shocked that you’re crying.

You’d never truly cried over a man before.

But it wasn’t just a man. It was your kids. Your babies, who would be here in two weeks, ones who you had planned a whole life for; to raise them in households full of love and warmth, where you thought their father would be a part of their lives. Where they would have three amazing uncles, who had welcomed you with open arms, who had helped you with your house.

Your heart stutters as you realise; they must have known. They must have known how Santiago was feeling when they organised your baby shower, when they were actually at your baby shower, when you were at Santiago’s place for Christmas…God, you bet they had a good laugh, knowing that you were being strung along. They knew he was planning on leaving you.

“When did…when did you plan to do this? When did you plan to leave me?” you ask him, wiping at your eyes harshly.

He swallows thickly before shaking his head. “I didn’t plan anything. It…look, it’s not important - “

“Yes, it is, Santiago,” you snap, pointing to your chest. “It’s important to me, to my kids!”

He watches you again, and you grit your teeth, trying not to look away from him. He looks you up and down before he matches your heated and tense energy, his arms crossing over his chest.

You scoff at him. “Really? You’re choosing to be quiet now?”

“I’m not cut out for this,” he says. “I’m not used to staying in one place for so long, and you’re a good ten years younger than me, you should be with someone your own age. This just wasn’t how I planned my life going, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, you think I planned my life to go this way?” you ask him, starting to pace the small width of the hallway. “To get pregnant from a stranger after a one-night stand? I gave you every opportunity to leave when we found out about this – “

“Yeah, well, I should have left when you told me I could.”

You stop your pacing to look at him in disbelief. “Really?”

“You – and them – would be better off without me.”

“Oh don’t you spout that martyr bullshit on me,” you snap, finally stopping your pacing. You know you sound like a petulant teenager. But you’re angry. You’re fuming. “Is this because of Halloween? When we almost kissed?”

You see how he tenses. Neither of you had mentioned that night since it happened, having silently decided that it was the alcohol, that it wasn’t anything more to it than that.

He shakes his head. “It has nothing to do with Halloween.”

“Then it was Thanksgiving,” you say. “I took you away from your family, who you hadn’t seen in a while – “

“It has…” he starts, but he stops himself, running his hands down his face in frustration. “There is nothing specific that has happened, I’ve just had more time to think about it. And I don’t want it. I don’t want to be a dad.”

You’re crying again. “So all these months were just a lie? You were leading me on?”

“That is not what I was doing!” Santiago says defensively. “Don’t twist my words around!”

“I am two weeks away from having a C-section,” you cry. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!”

“I – “

“I should have fucking listened to you on our date. I should have seen this coming, really,” you say, giving a small, humourless laugh as you shake your head at yourself. “That you weren’t looking for anything serious, and there’s nothing more serious than two kids! And how you wouldn’t get rid of the truck – “

Santiago gives a loud, annoyed groan. “Again with the truck. Why does it always come back to the fucking truck? You’ve upturned my life enough, can I not keep something for myself?”

Something seems to snap in him then.

“You throw this huge bombshell on me, that not only are you pregnant, but it’s twins,” he says. “I had just come back to Florida after the worst year of my life, ready to have some normalcy, and I’m suddenly going to be a dad, with a woman who I barely know! And everyone seems to think I should be okay with it, to accept that this is my life now! And now my spare room is full of baby shit, my friends won’t stop talking about how much my life is going to change, and everyone keeps bombarding me about my truck. It’s my fucking truck, and it’s the only thing that I own that doesn’t even remotely have anything to do with a fucking baby!”

He stops, a little breathless. You stay silent after his outburst, and you look at each other silently before you both physically deflate. This is it. It’s over.

“So what?” you ask him. “It’s too much responsibility for you, and you’re starting to feel trapped? You don’t have your life anymore?”

He hesitates before nodding. “Yeah.”

You wipe at your eyes furiously. Jesus, why can’t you stop crying? This is embarrassing enough.

You nod at him with finality. “Okay then. Fine. I’ll just go.”

You wipe your eyes once again before walking past him, giving him a wide berth, because if you even so much as brush against him, to feel his touch, you’re going to break all over again. You make it to the front door before pausing. Is this really how this ends? With bitter words and your heart broken? You can’t believe this man, who you adored, loved with all your being, was doing this to you.

Your parents and sisters were right. He did decide to leave once he realised he didn’t want them. And you didn’t want them to be right, you wanted to be able to prove your family wrong, just like you had proved everyone else wrong whenever they made a judgement about you. How stupid and naïve you were.

No, you’re not stupid. Or naïve. You’re hopeful, and you had a great support system without Santiago, or your family.

Fuck your family and fuck him.

“You know what?” you ask, suddenly spinning around to look at Santiago. He looks at you, the exhausted look back on his face. “I don’t need you. They don’t need you. They don’t need to know that their dad didn’t want them. Do you know why? Because they have me. They will never know the feeling of being unwanted or abandoned. I will shower them with the love they deserve, and they will be surrounded by happiness.”

You didn’t stick around long enough for him to give a response. You slammed the door loudly on your way out, suddenly glad that you had driven here (although he hadn’t offered you a ride, which he usually did, but now you realise why he didn’t). All the things from the past few months were suddenly falling into place; he hadn’t called you corazón in forever, evidently realising the nickname didn’t have as much as a meaning to it as he thought. He hadn’t even taken much part in the baby shower your friends had thrown together for you. And of course, the stupid truck; you should have seen the signs long ago.

You reach your car and climb in. Taking a moment to yourself, the confined space offering a temporary sanctuary from the outside world, you finally let the fresh wave of tears stream down your face, leaving salty trails on your cheeks. Your shoulders heave with each ragged breath as you don’t bother holding back the sobs that had been pushing to escape.

Your hands grip the steering wheel tightly. The air inside the car feels heavy, saturated with the weight of your emotions. The warmth of the seat contrasts sharply with the chill that has settled in your chest. Time seems to lose its meaning as you sit there, caught in the grip of your emotions.

In this cocoon of seclusion, you fight with the complex feelings of a mix of sorrow and frustration, and you mourn the end of your relationship with Santiago.

After a few moments, you give one final sob, before taking yet another shaky deep breath. You wipe at your eyes again ferociously, before giving yourself a look in your mirror. You’re a mess. You don’t even recognise yourself in the mirror.

You flinch as a neighbour comes out one of the neighbouring apartments, a reminder of a world that continues to move forward while you're stuck in this bubble of despair. They don’t seem to notice you having a complete meltdown in your car. You best get going, you’ll look like a mad woman…and Santiago might be watching.

You start your car, and with one final look at Santiago’s apartment, you leave. For good.

• Por el amor de Dios - For the love of God

Tagged - @khonsulockley, @superficialfeelings, @othersideoftheparadise, @beezusvreeland, @itsmytimetoodream

[hidden-poet]

Commander Snow - Chapter 10

I’m so sad this series has come to an end but I will reread it as much as i can 😭

“I have a doctor on standby. Are you in any pain?” - how rough were you with her bro? I mean i ain’t complaining…

Okay wtf is wrong with those stylist bitches? Of course they’re just jealous of her for being married to the president but jeez… they literally abused the poor girl. I swear to god I would have probably attacked them for doing all that shit they put her through!

Stripped, you notice the mess of semen still between your legs. - hehehe 👀

“It’s time for a break,” he announced. - oh thank god he’s here!

“Are you alright? Do you want me to stay? I’ll stay.” - actually… yes. Please.

The way I smiled when he slapped that bitch to the floor 😇

“What did you say?” the woman in the purple hat hisses at you. - fuck off you cunt!

“Your red cheek would suggest otherwise,” you sass. - yessssss

“Do you want me to have them killed?” He asks. - BRO WTF YOU CAN’T JUST KILL PEOPLE?! (which he already did, r.i.p edmund)

“I saw a bunch of animals clawing at each other to get ahead. You should be thankful that I saved you.” - okay i’m just gonna stay quite on this one cause this man's delusions stress me tf out

~

Ooo daddy wants to be a daddy 

Again and again, in the same night, he would manhandle you in positions he thought were best. They left him with a sore wife and no baby to show for it. - Ooof he can manhandle me anytime and anywhere he pleases. I’m just his good little wife and baby mama

Her privately calling out his behavior as a delusional hissy fit 😂

I’m telling you. If it was me who was preggers, I would be jumping this man's bones 24/7 because of all the hormones in my body.

~

Okay during her giving birth, and begging for her mom literally broke my heart. This man literally took everything from her and forced her into this new life she didn’t even ask for and the poor girl has no choice but to live it.

“I had to. The nurses needed a name. Don’t worry you can have the next one.” - you’re literally the president… don’t bullshit me, boy.

~

He got so mad when she asked to see her mom. Like this shit is crazy. And to never talk about them ever again…?

I don’t want our son to know that you are District. Think about them if you must, but if you continue to speak about them, I will have them killed.” - well that’s just rude jeez. I’m a proud woman from district 12 you dick. And does this man always threaten to kill people?

“We are your family. Us. Your son and your husband.” - oh you son of a bitch.

“Nothing I do for you is ever good enough for you” he exclaims. His eyes squint at you but his voice is calm and collected, “You know how dangerous it was for me to help you in 12? A Commander, and a District girl. How that looked for me in my presidential run? But I didn’t care. From the day I met you, I have looked after you. And you want me to feel in debt to you, because why? You cook the food I give you? Wash the clothes I buy? Birthed a beautiful son that you never would have had without me.” - I seriously wonder why? This guy is so delusional it still shocks me to my core at how he thinks. Baby boy you are crazy. And it’s hot af but you are fucking crazy.

~

“No,” Coriolanus protested, “I would like a girl before the years out.” - bro she just had a fucking baby? Now you want to knock her up again that soon?

Ooo she is giving him a bj… she is so me. I just love her finally taking some control. And this man is so weak that his mind changed right after he couldn’t get her to finish him off 😂

~

Jesus this man wanted to go for a 6th? 👀

Oooo yay a sex scene (my hornyness has been cured).

“I want another baby,” he requests. - i want to say calm tf down but i’m too horny to argue because this is also hot af so… fuck a baby into me daddy

One of my weaknesses with Coryo is when he clamps his hand over a girls mouth and shuts her up… like my god so fucking hot

I swear he only goes after his own fucking high in this relationship and i love it cause i’m just his good little wife and baby mama

“Are you going to give me a baby?” He grunts. - it’s not like I have a choice in this relationship, now do i? but sure. why not?

“Think you can manage another one?” He asks. - 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

You come too loudly causing Coriolanus to cover your mouth with an open palm and look to the door, expecting detection. - 🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻

You cry at the thought of being pregnant again. It was a horrible experience. It was uncomfortable, tiring, and you suffered great nausea all throughout the nine months. - this poor girl 😭 all jokes aside tho she’s been through so much shit. my heart actually breaks for her and her family

Just like that Coriolanus had rewritten history. Commander Snow was a distant dream. District 12 a vague thought. Lucy Gray no longer haunted the woods. No longer made Coriolanus Snow the victor of the 10th Hunger Games. The war scar had faded. He had fixed history’s mistakes. - He had taken his rightful place as President of Pamen. Only you were left to remember him as Commander Snow. - This. Right here. Made me cry so fucking much. I honestly never cried so hard for a story before. Like ever. Just the shift from who he was as Commander Snow in District 12 to President Snow of Panem was so beautifully done and so done tragically too. It made me burst into tears. Amazing writing right here everybody! Like I really went through all the emotions throughout this whole chapter.

Bestieee 🩷 this series was such a roller coaster. A roller coaster of emotions. A beautiful disaster. A masterpiece. And that ending was done just right. You have no idea how much respect I have for you. Being a writer and writing the way you do isn't easy. You really put your blood, sweat and tears into your work. It really shows. And that needs to be appreciated. Clapping behind the screen right now!

Next part I will be commenting on The Nurse 🥰

BABY! BESTIE! LOVE!

I have no idea why but tumblr wouldnt let me answer your ask. But its working now!

Thank you so much for taking the time out to send it! it means a lot. I love reading your reviews.

I am so glad you approved of the ending! its so crazy that commander snow is now over!

Love you, bestie!

[bropunzeling]

thinking of how leon and matthew rushing to each other during injury is SUCH a jess bropunzelling move that i need marriage bets scene ehere none of the tkachuks believe that leon has spousal privieege

[(a) i feel aggressively called out 😂 (b) hmm maybe it would go a little like:]

"I thought," Leon says, sticking to Matthew like a burr, "you were trying not to get hurt this year. We talked about it."

Matthew laughs, and then winces because laughing hurts. Fuck, his mouth. "Contact sport, baby."

"It's the All-Star Game," Leon retorts, aggrieved.

Matthew shrugs. Can't account for freak accidents. He's not even sure how it happened---he was stuck skating backwards, he was bad at skating backwards, he fell over just in time to get a stick to the mouth, and when he sat up and spat on the ice it was red. Bedard looked a little shell-shocked as everybody came over to gawk, but Matthew was laughing too hard and then wincing too much to give the kid a hard time.

The one nice thing about it was that as soon as he got to the tunnel, Leon was there, newly changed into his street clothes and unwilling to listen to Matthew protesting that it wasn't even that bad, really, instead attaching himself to Matthew's side and refusing to leave. Sure, Leon may be hovering like he can fix Matthew's mouth through sheer proximity, but Matthew’s resigned to the fact that he likes that.

"Okay," says whichever of the Leafs trainers got stuck with the short straw this weekend, "Draisaitl, I'm going to have to ask you---"

"I can be here," Leon says, right as Matthew slurs, "He can be here." They look at each other, then Leon adds, "It's on the form."

The trainer checks something on a tablet. His eyes widen. There might be a snort. Then, he shrugs. "Alright, then."

Leon does nearly get kicked out ten minutes later for distracting Matthew while someone sticks their fingers in his mouth. It takes Leon nodding earnestly and swearing he'll stop for them to keep him in here, which also sucks because then no one is distracting Matthew from---

"Broken tooth," the doctor says. "You'll need a cap."

"Jesus Christ," Leon says.

"Hey, I'll be just like you two years ago," Matthew mumbles around the gauze. Fuck, his mouth hurts.

Leon rolls his eyes and grabs Matthew's hand. "If you actually used your mouthguard---" he says, because he's a fucking hypocrite.

Matthew glares, then squeezes his hand as hard as he can when the doctor gives him a numbing shot. As retaliation.

They sit like that during the aftercare instructions---nothing too hot; nothing too cold; nothing too hard; nothing good, basically; try not to make it worse before getting it capped---and then, once they're given the green light and an ice pack to help with the swelling, Leon drags Matthew out and down the hall so Matthew can finally get his pads off.

"Only you would get sticked at the goddamn All-Star Game."

"Pretty sure Bedard didn't mean it," Matthew points out, holding the ice to his lip.

Leon mumbles something under his breath that probably means he's going to be targeting a teenager next time he's on the ice at the United Center. Matthew probably shouldn't find that funny.

"Hey, shit, there you are," someone says. Brady clomps up to them, making to hug Matthew and then clearly deciding better of it. "We lost---"

"Fuck," Matthew says.

"And also they couldn't decide if they needed to put Bedard in the box, they were arguing for five minutes, it was fucking hilarious. Are you good? Is he good?" The second one is to Leon.

"Broken tooth," Leon supplies.

"Ouch," Brady says sincerely. "Well, get changed and cleaned up, I think Mom's about to storm down here if no one talks to her soon."

"It's not that bad," Matthew mumbles in protest as his brother and his boyfriend steer him towards the locker room.

It's only when he’s finally, finally out of his pads and on the way to the showers that he hears Brady say, in what he probably thinks is a whisper, "How the fuck did they allow you back there, anyway?"

Matthew glances back just in time to see Leon's ears go red.

[georgiapeach30513]

Jenn, do you have any more headcanons re: Sy that you could please share (asking for a friend, never mind that I’m the friend🤣🤣)

You once shared that he’d treat you with the utmost respect before respectfully disrespecting you in the bedroom and I’d like to please know more 🥺🥺🙏🏾

I hate when things get lost in the shuffle! So for the final ask of the night!!

Sy is actually one of my favorite Henry characters to play around with. Does anyone know his actual first name??? I need it for research purposes 😂 but he can be such a brute. He’s got the murder strut perfected. He is strong, and gruff. But I do think when he comes home, and sees you all cute in your sweats, he gets the biggest smile on your face.

Princess is definitely your nickname. He treats you like his queen though.

I also think he’s into booties, and gives you booty taps all the time. It’s almost his way of saying ‘Good girl,’ without saying it. But he’s also not above whispering dirty little words in your ear out in public. He loves to see your cheeks set on fire with embarrassment. Or the way you lean into his body, because you swear people can see your two heartbeats.

Sy is the epitome of respect. Yes, sir. Yes, ma’am. And he will be the first to defend your honor. But when he gets you home….

Oh that man is into some heavy degradation. But, you’re his. All his. And he loves that you submit so freely for him to do whatever is he wants. He loves stuffing your mouth with his fingers, and spitting into your mouth. Spit is his favorite lubricant. Sy is into manhandling, and he will. He’ll have you tossed all around, and he’ll place you how he wants you. But he’s so good to you, that you let him take whatever it is that he needs.

Sy wants you broken, and whimpering begging for him to fill you up with his seed. Your body is worn and tired, and you can’t even function. Good thing he’s strong because he’s holding you up at the end. Making you look deep into his eyes while you finish together.

Sy…what a man

[reineyday]

TW: Long Ask Okay, so basically, this au has a long title but I dubbed it Child of the Sword. It started off with Zoro being able to see the spirits of the swords since in One Piece, swords are sentient and are possessed in a way. Only Zoro can see these spirits and talks to them all the time. At first, he didn't realize others couldn't see them. My friend and I played around with this a lot, and now's it's developed into a whole thing.

When Kuina died, Zoro's anger and grief erupted and Zoro discovered he was the incarnation of the Ancient Weapon: Ares. Created by the war god Asura. The sensei makes Zoro swear to never use his power in public unless it was life or death. Zoro goes on to see Kuina's spirit tied to Wado Ichimonji. During the shells town arc, Morgan is extra cruel bc he is Morgan, and when Zoro is tied in the courtyard he has the swordsman whipped on the back, marring and littering Zoro's back with scars. Zoro's honor is in shambles when Luffy shows up and helps him. During Baratie, Zoro fights Mihawk and loses, ending up with the scar on his chest. After Zoro promises to never fail, he whipsers "Finally a worthy scar" and Mihawk overhears. Mihawk almost noted how Zoro always seemed to be looking at things that aren't there. So naturally, the warlord decides to kidnap Zoro instead of Luffy (yes I am mashing up OPLA and the anime, fight me). The Straw hats go on the free Nami from Arlong then make plans to get Zoro back from Mihawk. Zoro is less than pleased to be kidnapped by the strongest swordsman. Mihawk brings Zoro with him to meet with Shanks about Luffy's bounty poster and Shanks convinces Mihawk to give Zoro back to the Straw Hats, but before that happens, Mihawk and Zoro end up talking about Zoro's special abilities. Mihawk comes to the realization of what Zoro is and keeps it to himself. During the two year time skip, Zoro reunites with Mihawk (even though he never stopped talking with the warlord after being dropped off ((begrudgingly)) at lougetown). Mihawk trains Zoro in the way of the sword AND helps him to realize his full potential. This is all I have for now, but I have ideas for Dressrosa and Wano. :D

oooooh this is so interesting! you could play a lot with the idea that zoro sees sword spirits! i'd also be so curious to know what zoro sees of yoru, if he sees her at all. im a fan of this theory i saw where being in control of your sword means being control of its spirit, and being in control is shown by your eyes looking like imu's. that perhaps hakuba is cavendish's sword spirit manifesting in a way cavendish cant control; that zoro's scarred eye is hiding proof of a spirit that had to be sealed away lest it overpower him; and that mihawk's eyes have those same rings because he's fully in control of yoru's sword spirit. i could see smth like that working in conjunction with kuina's spirit in wado diring the timeskip, that zoro trains with her (cries) to unlock wado ichimonji's full power, and that it's possible because of his ability to see sword spirits!!!

also obsessed with the idea that mihawk pivots and kidnaps zoro instead, especially because he really doesnt have to. 😂 mihawk meeting a boy that can see sword spirits and deciding "i will train him whether he wants me to or not" and then kidnapping him to give his nearly-bisected ass terrible first aid on his coffin boat... hilarious. 😂😂 shanks seeing the absolutely haggard and scowling teenager limping as he follows mihawk onto that island and being exasperated like,

shanks: you have to give him back, mihawk.

mihawk: no, he can see sword spirits. i need to have a hand in cultivating his power.

shanks: mihawk, you can't just--wait, you can what? omg does gryphon actually look like a gryphon?!?!?! wait, no, no, i'm trying to be the voice of reason here.

red-haired pirates in the background: *burst out laughing at shanks being the voice of reason*

and also probably mihawk will throw in some bratty sort of shot at shanks getting to bet on luffy and why cant he bet on zoro, and shanks will have to be like, "i didn't kidnap luffy, mihawk, just put him back!" hahaha.

i digress! interesting idea tho 👀👀👀

[daydreamgoddess14]

Aspirations pt. 4

Sydcarmy Masterlist

Full Masterlist

Menu planning, avoidant behaviour, protective Richie and jealous Carmy, anyone? Yes, I busted this chapter out very quickly because I couldn't wait to write it 😂 I'm happy with this one, I think. Hope you are too! Our chapter count has gone up - why tf did I think I could do this in 3?! 😅 - I'm pretty sure it's going to be 6 in total.

~~~~~~

“What’s next?” Nat asked later that day from the dining table while Syd moved the previous plate away.

“Oysters.”

“Nooo! Please no.”

“You said we could give it a shot?” Carmy looked hurt,

“I think we’re going to lose too much prep time shucking them and making them presentable.” Syd countered.

“We’ll time it. Nat, stopwatch?”

“On it. I’m kinda leaning with Syd though. Does anyone actually like them?”

“I do.” They both replied, “trust me, I know you’ll like these ones.” Syd continued.

“Show me why you can’t shuck them?” Carmy asked Syd, handing her a knife and an oyster. She looked wary but made sure the crustacean was secure in her hand and positioned the knife, “Ok, you’re going in at the wrong angle, may I?” He came close to her, head bent towards hers. She went to hand him both items but he shoo’d her hands away, “no, you’re gonna do it, Chef.” His hand covered hers, holding the oyster with her and his other hand joined hers on the knife. He changed the position of the blade and guided her to push the point of the knife into the hinge of the oyster. His hands cupped hers as they heard a small pop and the oyster opened up. “See, you did it.”

“I think you did it,” she replied softly, neither of them moving apart. Behind Syd, Nat cleared her throat. 

“Aren’t these supposed to be an aphrodisiac?” She asked. Carmy sprang away from Syd.

“Uhh yeah, it’s cos they look like… well. Y’know. Anyway, you’re gonna try this and I promise you’ll like it.” Syd smiled seasoning the opened oyster with a dressing of cilantro, lime and ginger she’d already prepared and finished it off with a drizzle of sriracha. Next to her, Carmy had lined up a couple of others he'd opened up and she seasoned those as well. “Ok… so just like, swallow it whole.” She handed the small plate to Nat who held it up for a better look.

“Swallow it whole? Ok, now you’re just fucking with me cos I mentioned the whole aphrodisiac thing?” Syd shook her head,

“Nope. I swear, you gotta just go for it.” Nat and Carmy both tried theirs at the same time. 

“Are you fucking real, Sydney?” He muttered, “that was insane.”

“You’ve converted me.”

“Cool. They’re still not going on the menu.” Syd laughed,

“They have to!” Nat protested.

“How about if we did it with scallops instead?” Carmy suggested, “We can’t not use this dressing, Syd.” She tried the last oyster for herself. 

“Yeah… that dressing is the shit. Scallops could work. I’ll get some from the fish guy tomorrow and try it?”

“Heard, Chef.” He replied with a small smile.

“Do I still need to time you?”

“No,” Syd went to speak up as Carmy said,

“Yes, please do.” He turned to Syd, “We have some left, it’s good practice.”

“Yeah, good practice for something I’m never doing again.” She teased.

“We’ll see about that. Race?” Syd’s eyes lit up. She loved it when he was like this, and it was becoming more and more of a regular occurrence since The Bear had opened. He had the same intensity and unwavering gaze, but he was playful and mischievous. She’d finally seen him the way Nat and Richie had known him before. Quick witted - often with an under the radar dirty joke that had her, Richie and Tina sniggering into their prep work while Marcus and Gary looked bemused. 

“Fucking fine. I’m going to own you, bitch.” He divided up the remaining oysters between them and handed her the knife back. He found another from the drawer,

“Doubt it, Chef. Nat, you judging? Don’t let her fuckin’ cheat.”

“You’ll pay for that Berzatto, I do not cheat.”

“Alright you two, let’s go before Pete gets back with Mikey,” Nat came to stand on the other side of the counter so she could see them both standing side by side, elbows brushing. “What’s the winner get?”

“Oysters on the fuckin’ menu.” Carmy decided.

“Nuhuh, that’s fine if you win… If I win though, I want you to make the dish I had in New York.” Confusion followed by shock crossed his face,

“Fuckin’ coming back to that after I’ve kicked your ass.”

“Please,” she scoffed, “let’s get this over with so you can cook for me again.” She rolled her eyes.

“You both ready?” Nat interrupted. “Three, two, one - go!” Syd snatched up her first oyster and, using the technique Carmy had just shown her, opened it without delay. She put each one she opened onto the plate between them, watching Carmy from the corner of her eye she guessed that he was maybe half a second ahead of her.

“Best meal I’ve ever had, y’know.” She said, watching his knife falter just briefly before he got it back under control.

“Good to know. Stop tryin’ to distract me.”

“I would never do that,” she grinned down at her oysters, taking advantage of his time slip.

“You’re always a distraction.” This time her hand stuttered. She caught herself just before the knife made contact with the palm of her hand but it was too late, she’d lost time. Carmy threw his last oyster onto the plate and dropped his knife. “Done.” Syd finished the moment he spoke.

“Ding ding! Carmen Berzatto, congratulations.” Natalie faux bowed to him. She picked up her pen, “so, oysters on the menu then?”

“Nah, we’ll do scallops instead.” He turned to Syd, “It’ll still work. We’ll do it like a -”

“Ceviche,” they said in unison.

“Thank you.” Syd acknowledged.

“Fucking weird.” Nat muttered, rolling her eyes. As she spoke, Pete came through the front door with Mikey’s stroller, “Ok, that’s my cue for a nap. See you guys in an hour. Don’t kill each other in my kitchen. Or anything else.” They dressed the oysters and cleared up before sitting down to eat. 

“Mmm. Holy shit,” Syd moaned, “I’m putting this dressing on everything from now on.” “It’s fire, Chef.”

“Thank you.” They fell into a comfortable silence until, “check your plum sauce.” She reminded him.

“Fuck, yes. Thanks.” He toyed with the heat and sat back down next to her, looking over the menu. “It looks good.” He noted, nudging her slightly.

“Yeah I think so. Just the right amount of festivity.” 

“Exactly. Seasonal.” She could feel his eyes on her as she made some notes for the soon-to-be scallop dish. “When were you in New York?” He asked at last.

“A long time ago. I saved up and blew everything on a few days there. Ate everywhere I wanted to.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I know you didn’t. I wasn’t lying the day I met you when I said I knew of you. That meal changed my fucking life.”

“Mine too, I guess,” he took her wrist gently and pulled her up, “here, try this?” He took her to the stove top and gathered a spoon of the plum sauce. Unable to hand it to her without it spilling, he brought it to her mouth instead. She held his gaze as he placed the spoon in her mouth. There was something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite decipher but she could feel the heat spread from her cheeks down to her toes, could feel her thighs clench together in desperation. She was eternally grateful that she could easily hide a blush, but she was certain he could sense how her breathing changed. His fingers brushed against hers as she took the spoon from him, the taste of plum and winter spices exploding on her tongue.

“Fuck me.” She mumbled in surprise, eyes still on him. He arched an eyebrow, “the sauce. The sauce is really fucking good.” She confirmed quickly, realizing how closely they were standing. 

“Doesn’t need anything?” Her eyes flicked down to his lips as she subconsciously bit her own lightly. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest. She could feel herself leaning in unintentionally, her body automatically seeking him out. From his pocket, his phone rang and she turned on her heel instead and took the spoon to the sink with a shake of her head,

“Doesn’t need anything.” She maintained as he let the phone ring, still watching her. “You gonna get that?”

“It’s Claire.” He said, a little sadly. She nodded,

“You should take it. I’m gonna get some air.” She picked up the nearest outer layer, his sweater from earlier in the morning, and slipped out of the front door as she heard him answer,

“Hey babe,” She closed the door with a quiet click behind her and sat on the front door step with her head in her hands. What the fuck was she doing? What the fucking fuck was she fucking doing? She took deep breaths but all it did was remind her of earlier in the morning, wrapped in his arms with his hand on her back and hers on his heart. The heart he’d all but given to someone else. She needed to get a grip before she did something really fucking stupid. Co-workers did not share beds and spoons and eye fuck each other over a plum fucking sauce. She twisted her braids into a bun and secured it, welcoming the cool air on the back of her neck. She shouldn’t have picked up his damn sweater again, he was invading her senses in every single way and it was all becoming too much. She wasn’t sure how much distance she could keep anymore, he just kept drawing her in. She heard the door click again and he sat next to her. “You good?” He asked. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Surely he’d felt it too? Was he just as affected, or was she imagining it? She cleared her throat,

“This needs to stop.” She said firmly, not bothering to confirm what this was. 

“Yeah,” he agreed.

“Yeah.” She got up, went back inside and tried to keep herself from falling back into his orbit for the rest of the day.

*

It had been weeks. Syd maintained an appropriate distance at all times. She tried to keep someone between them, took a full step back from her station whenever he came over to taste her dishes, tried to look anywhere except at him. It was fucking hard. Her eyes were drawn to him in every room, every time. She sought him out even when she didn’t mean to. And fuck she missed him. She occasionally wondered if he was finding it just as difficult, but pushed it to the back of her mind. They weren’t doing anything differently, she reasoned. They were still friends, still co-workers, still partners. She took a plate of pasta into Natalie in the office, Nat looked up at her in concern,

“Hey, you ok honey?”

“All good, Chef.” 

“You just seem a little… distant recently?”

“Just getting on with work.” At that, Richie burst into the office,

“Syd, if he asks, you gotta say no.” She looked bemused.

“Say no to who?”

“The fish guy. The pot wash at the taco place said he wants to ask you out.”

“The fuck? Why are you getting your information from the pot wash at the taco place?”

“We smoke together, trade intel.”

“About me?”

“About everything, Syd. Jeez, focus! The fish guy wants to ask you out, but you gotta say no - ok?”

“Not ok, Richie - why should she say no?” Nat stepped in,

“Cos he’s a fuckin’ dickbag that’s why!” 

“Who’s a dickbag?” Carmy asked, coming in and dropping into a chair.

“The fish guy.”

“Oh fuck yeah, he’s a fuckin’ dickbag. Why do we give a shit though?” He asked, dragging a hand through his hair.

“Cousin, he wants to ask Syd out, I gotta warn her off him.”

“He wants to do what?”

“I know, right? Fuck that. He’ll lose his fuckin’ teeth if he tries.” Said Richie, still affronted that he wasn’t being taken seriously. Nat and Syd exchanged glances.

“Look, if Syd wants to say yes then she can say yes -” 

“But -”

“But nothing. You will both just get your heads out of your asses and leave this the fuck alone, do you hear me?” She warned them.

“Syd, he’s a fuckin’ dickbag.” Carmy said, his voice low, something unrecognizable in his tone.

“Surely that’s for me to decide?”

“Woah, what’s happening here?” Claire squeezed into the room which was now at full capacity.

“Ugh,” Nat groaned, “these two are being ridiculous. The fish guy wants to ask Syd out -”

“Well, that’s good?” Claire asked,

“No it’s fucking not.” Richie and Carmy replied in unison.

“He’s a dickbag.” Carmy muttered.

“A total fucking bag of fucking dicks.”

“Can we stop with the phrase dickbag, please?” Nat pleaded.

“Look, I appreciate the concern guys, but I am capable of deciding for myself whether to date someone. I don’t… I don’t get why we have five fucking people in this office getting into my personal life?” Syd held her hands up.

“He’s not after a date,” Richie grumbled. “He’s after a quick fuck. Does it all the time at all the restaurants in town.”

“S’true.” Carmy confirmed, looking at his hands.

“He ‘dates’ these women for a while and then just fuckin’ ditches them. Waitresses, chefs, fuckin’ anyone who’ll say yes.”

“Have you considered that that might suit Syd?” Nat asked. Syd caught her eye and frowned with a small shake of her head, Nat shrugged.

“Syd’s better than that,” Carmy said, “you’re better than that.” He finally looked up at her, still standing by the desk.

“Again, that’s for me to decide.” She pointed out.

“I think you guys are, like, really invested in Sydney’s sex life. Don’t you think that’s a bit weird?” Claire asked.

“No.” Richie and Carmy replied together, again.

“Yes it is, actually.” Syd agreed with Claire. “Neither of you should care who I’m dating or fucking or whatever the fuck I’m doing in my spare time.”

“We’re looking out for you, cuz!” Richie’s voice rose again. She didn’t have time to pause when she noticed Richie call her cousin,

“This is a really weird way of looking out for me, Richie.” She suggests, “all I have to go on is that he’s a dickbag who dates around a lot?” She saw Carmy shoot Richie a look,

“Well, yeah - isn’t that fucking enough?”

“Richie, you sound jealous! Do you want to date Syd?” Claire teased.

“Fuck, no!” Carmy and Richie both shouted. “No offense,” Richie followed up.

“Ok, this is getting really fucking stupid. The guy hasn’t asked me out, I haven’t even seen him for weeks, and I have no idea what I’d say if he did ask me, ok? You,” she pointed at them both, “do not get to tell me who I can date or who I can fuck, understood?” Syd glared.

“Yes, Chef.” Richie mumbled. She looked at Carmy, his face unreadable.

“Carmy?” Claire asked on Syd’s behalf,

“Yeah, of course. Nothing to do with me, right?” He asked with a shrug, anger creeping into his voice.

“Cool, so now that we’ve established that Syd’s free to date whoever she wants, we getting out of here for a couple of hours?” Claire asked Carmy, rolling her eyes with a smile to Syd and Nat.

“Sure, I’ll just get my stuff. Meet you out front?”

“Yeah. Uhh… great catch up, guys. Syd, good luck!”

“Yeah, thanks. See ya, Claire.” They all waited for the sound of the swing door before speaking again.

“This is really fucked up.” Nat muttered, digging into her pasta. “Not this, this is gorgeous. This pair of fuckos.” She pointed with her fork at Carmy and Richie.

“I’m outta here for a bit,” Carmy made his way to the lockers and Syd followed.

“The fuck was that?” She hissed, aware of Richie and Nat in the office.

“Nothin’. Like you said, s’not my place to tell you who you can date.” He shoved his arms into his jacket, “or fuck. Right?” He added, his voice laced with anger.

“Correct. Because you have a girlfriend, remember? A friend who is a girl? So you shouldn’t care what I do.”

“Or who?” She glared at him. She tried to disguise her hurt with anger, but she couldn’t stop the stray tear on her cheek,

“Fuck you, Carmy.” She jabbed his chest. “Fuck. You.” She spat out, full of venom. He stilled, leaned into her hand.

“Yeah. Sure, Syd. Fuck me.” He reached up to brush the tear away with his thumb and slipped past her to Claire. She hesitated before going back to the office, trying to get her emotions under control so she didn’t cry in front of Richie or Nat.

“I’m sorry sweetheart,” Richie started as she walked back in. “Fuck, sorry. Can I call you sweetheart?” She nodded a little.

“S’ok. I know you meant to fucking protect me or some shit, I get it.” He met her forehead with his own,

“Yeah. But I was an asshole and I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, Richie.”

“Please say no if he asks you. I’m too fuckin’ old to be fightin’ toddlers in the fuckin’ street, huh?” She offered a brief smile.

“I’ll bear it in mind.”

“Ok. I gotta fuckin’ burn one. That shit was awkward as hell when Claire came in and Carmy was making fucking goo-goo eyes at you.”

“Fuck off Rich.” He laughed, patted her shoulder sympathetically and made for the back doors. Syd sat heavily in the chair Carmy had sat in, and slumped down while Nat quietly finished her pasta.

“You ok?” She asked.

“Not really.” She rubbed her hands over her face with a big sigh. 

“So you guys are just going to… what? Either be ignoring or fighting each other for the foreseeable future?”

“I guess so.” Syd shrugged, anger building again. “He has no right to tell me who I can date.”

“I know.”

“It’s nothing to do with him. Nothing at all to do with him.”

“I agree.”

“Whatever the problem is, it’s his problem to fix. Not mine.”

“I hear you.”

“What do I do, Nat?”

“You live your life, babe. You do whatever the hell you want and he can go to fuck.”

“Yeah. Yes. You’re right. It’s nothing to do with him.” Syd nodded.

~~~~~