#he went ✌🏼

[onyourstageleft]

one of my irl best friends that I met from working at the shitty retail job that I quit a year ago got fired today for bs reasons (it's fine he expected this and was prepared for it so it's more of a celebration that he doesn't have to deal with their shit anymore) he's coming over to drink with me & my partners on Friday night

and we're gonna order a cake

he has no idea. it's gonna be great

[cutyrteeth]

my friends get me outside n to malibu for the first time in forever and in the two hours i’m there we see cody ko

[sinsofsummers]

sensational; part ii

6.8k | joel miller x f!innocent!reader follow-up to sensational

summary: you've tasked joel with teaching you about all of the things you missed. he's back for more...teaching moments. warnings: smut (duh), 18+, mdni. softdom!joel vibes in this one, joel gives reader an anatomy lesson, pet names (lots of dollface) fingering, praise kink to the gods, masturbation (f and brief m), reader gives joel a hand(y), grinding, bit of a corruption kink toward the end, jesus there might need to be a part 3 note: well. look at what you guys did. you went and loved on sensational so much and asked for a part 2 so often that i just had to grant your wishes. i hope you’re fckn happy✌🏼🥹 (this is all jokes i’m so excited to write more of this dynamic teehee)

You'd never counted yourself as a dreamer of any sort; when sleep clouded your brain at night, every thought faded along with it. Aside from the occasional nightmare, reminding you of your parents' absence, you hadn't had an actual dream since you were a kid.

Of course, that night in Joel's house had changed everything, in every possible way. In just an hour or so he had taken your world into his hands, shaped it, flipped it, and returned it to you, unrecognizable. His name was carved into everything you saw and touched, and this included your dreams.

He was everywhere in your head when you slept. So much so that you'd begun to forget which was reality and which was a figment of your imagination, which made your patrols with him all the more humiliating.

Your hands were cold. It was all you could focus on as you followed Joel along your normal patrol route. Just twelve hours had passed since that night in his house, when he'd touched you with rough hands and what taught you what it meant to feel desired. His words still rang clear in your head days later:

Trust me, doll. I've got so much more to teach you.

It sent your head reeling just to think about it now. The memory of his fingertips grazing the side of your face as he'd said it, those brown eyes sparkling with desire for you—a vision of contentment.

You had leaned into his touch subconsciously, reaching a hand up to trace the line of his wrist. His eyes had darted to where your fingers pressed to his skin, a soft grin replacing his satisfied smirk. "I'd better get you home, then," he'd whispered.

It had taken everything in you to ignore the small pang of disappointment that had bloomed in your gut, but it was an easier task when he'd dropped his lips to your forehead.

"No one'll miss me at home," you'd protested quietly, trying not to relish too much in the feeling of his beard scratching at the space between your eyebrows.

This sentiment was true. You still didn't know how things had worked out so well, but after arriving in Jackson, Tommy (the fact that it was Joel's younger brother made this seem all the less coincidental) and Maria had been more than accommodating. They'd offered you your own space, a house to yourself. Granted, it was much smaller than Joel's, but it was your own. It had become home in the four short years you'd lived in Jackson.

No one was waiting for you at home. It was a fact that used to make your throat close up, memories taunting you every moment they could. Now it was a welcomed thought, if it meant that you could remain in the heady presence of Joel Miller.

But he'd only shaken his head, his brown eyes flitting down to your lips before returning to your gaze. "I'm sure they'll notice when you don't come strolling out of your own place in the mornin'," he'd insisted gently. His thumb traced your bottom lip when your shoulders slumped. You hoped you didn't look as pitiful as you felt, your lip threatening to push outward in a pout.

"Might not be able to keep my hands to myself tonight if I let you stay," he'd breathed. You didn't care if he said it as an apology, or if it was actually true.

Because who were you to disagree with him? It was Joel.

So without more than a lingering hand on your wrist, he'd walked you to your door. When you'd teased him for such a chivalrous act, he'd cocked an eyebrow, glancing sideways at you. "Can't just let you walk home alone after that," he'd scoffed, his voice rough again in the outdoors. A few people were still milling about despite it being darker than pitch after nightfall. "M'not a complete scoundrel," he said with a wry grin.

Your front door always looked so inviting, a place for you to take a breath and relax after a long day. In that moment, it was taking everything in you to put one foot in front of the other and return to your own place.

"Scoundrel," you'd mused, hoping the amusement in your voice covered the way you leaned back with every step, as if you could claim one more touch of his body—arm, chest, shoulder—to send you to bed with nothing but him on your mind. "Kind of a big word, wouldn't you say?" you'd teased him, just as he'd done to you. "Sure you know what it means?"

The twitch of his jaw was enough of a reward for your attempt at humor, but your satisfied smirk had been wiped clean off your face when he'd darted a glance around before leaning in, hovering just centimeters from your face.

It occurred to you in that moment that you'd truly only kissed him once. A shame, a voice in your head sighed. His lips were devastatingly plump, even in the darkness.

Joel had stayed there, his eyes tearing down to your mouth before warning you in that deliciously low baritone, "I know what it is. Best get inside," his jaw twitched once more and you caught him clenching and unclenching his fists, "'fore I show you what it means to be a scoundrel."

You'd gone inside with a shaky breath and the return of that familiar pulse that, it seemed, only he knew how to ignite.

—

Joel chose not to look in the mirror when he'd gone home that night. He wasn't sure he'd be able to stand the way his hair was undoubtedly wild, his eyes hard with desire, and his hands still aching with the memory of her squirming body in his lap.

After four years of near silence, this girl had unraveled him. After all those days on patrol with her, nothing to do except look at her when she wouldn't notice, Joel Miller had been undone.

The next day, waking up early with the stiffness in his boxers begging to be dealt with, Joel spit on his palm and wrapped it around his cock, releasing a sigh. Fuck's sake, he thought with a groan. Can't hardly get a full night's sleep anymore.

It should have annoyed him; it was certainly an inconvenience. But if it meant that he'd get to spend more time thinking about her body and her lips and her eyes when she asked those incessant questions, then so be it. He'd never sleep another wink and be glad for it.

It didn't take long for his release to come, not when the memories of her whines were so fresh in his mind. To think that he'd had her on his lap, hips squirming in that way that only she knew...it was enough to make him—"A grown fuckin' man," he reminded himself—spill into his hands and draw ragged breaths into his lungs to recover.

With an arm thrown across his face, he latched onto the image of her in the heat of ecstasy, her eyelids fluttering shut and her lips wet from constantly biting them.

For a moment, he tried to rein himself in. Can't be doin' this, he'd thought while getting ready for patrol that morning. Don't wanna take advantage of her, or fuck her up cause of my inability to control my own desires.

In reality, he'd considered, did she really know what she was getting herself into? With little more knowledge than the mechanics of reproduction, it had been evident with the events of the previous night that she knew nothing of what pleasure could be. Did he really want to be responsible for her discovery of such things?

But when he went to the stables an hour later and saw her standing in the snow with an extra twinge in her grin and her eyes sparkling despite the echoes of fatigue in her irises, every doubt dissipated immediately. He pretended not to notice the way her eyes lingered on his back when they saddled up, heading out of Jackson for the day.

Joel Miller was never one to deny a woman in need. Why should he have stopped now?

—

"How'd you sleep?"

When you looked over at him, almost shocked that he'd broken the silence, your eyebrow quirked up. "Fine," you answered.

It wasn't that this patrol had been disappointing, it was just...ever since you'd left Jackson that morning, you'd been waiting for him to look at you like he had the night before, or to even acknowledge you in the way that you could still remember him doing.

Maybe it was because Tommy was nearby at the time, or maybe he'd changed his mind after all. Maybe you'd overstepped, asking a man so much older than you to teach you all of this. Maybe it hadn't happened at all—your dreams were rather convincing these days.

If it hadn't been for those girls, hell-bent on making you feel ostracized, perhaps you wouldn't have landed yourself in this position. You probably wouldn't have had any reason to be curious about what it all meant, and you could have gone on in comfortable silence with him on your patrols.

With a heavy mind, you blew out a breath. If it hadn't been for those girls, though—you never would have known the creases that sank into the corners of his eyes when he grinned at you.

Beside you, having held back to come up shoulder-to-shoulder, Joel huffed. "Bullshit, darlin'," he scoffed, casting a sideways glance in your direction.

You tightened your hands on the reins. "Excuse me?" you said sharply.

His chuckle was a soft rumble in his chest, and you ached to feel it against your back. "I saw those sleepy eyes at the stables," he crooned, the corners of his eyes crinkling just like you remembered. "Looks like someone didn't get a good night's sleep."

"Oh, and I'm just supposed to believe you slept like a damn baby, then?" You couldn't help the incredulity in your tone, but you blushed when you noticed him smirking, his lips twitching as he fought a smile away.

"'Course not," he shook his head almost dismissively. "Couldn't tell my brain to stop conjurin' pictures of you shakin' in my lap." He adjusted the way he was seated on his horse, and you couldn't help but wonder if he was getting hard at the reminder of the memory.

You, in a similar vein, were trying to ignore the unmistakable feel of heat puddling between your legs. Keeping your eyes forward, you asked, "Is that a good thing?"

Joel nodded. "A very good thing, dollface. You were so good for me last night."

Any air that had been in your lungs left in a rush, and you put a hand to your cheek, warm despite the winter's wind. You thought you heard yourself whine at the sound of the pet name.

Thankfully, he didn't say or do anything to show that he'd noticed. Instead, he tugged his horse to a stop. "Let's get down here," he said. "Walk and talk, yeah?"

The thought of walking beside him after all that had happened the night before was enough to make you freeze in your saddle, suddenly unsure of how to get down. "Yeah," you mumbled, if only to fill the silence.

You could hear the crunch of snow under his boots as he came up beside you, thick gloved hands reaching for your waist. "C'mon, darlin'," he'd insisted, "I won't bite."

There was a note of irony in his tone, and you let him pull you from your saddle, landing in the snow in front of him. Your jacket snagged against his, and you stood there for a moment, letting your frosty wisps of breath coil and furl with his. "What do you mean?" you asked, cursing your ever-present confidence when it came to asking him questions. It seemed that you'd never learn to hold your tongue.

"Hmm?" he hummed in response. "What's what mean?" He stepped away from you to grab the reins in his hand and began to walk forward in the snow.

You shook your head and pushed on, stumbling after him. When did the snow get so deep? "You sounded rather..." you trailed off, searching for the word.

"Oh, here it comes," he mused in that serious tone, hardly covering the teasing lilt that rang clear in his eyes. "Bet you're coming up with a big word right about now, huh?"

You couldn't help it when you rolled your eyes and swatted a hand at the back of his arm. "I was going to say you sounded smug," you finished. "About how you won't bite?"

There it was again. That look of slight surprise at your questions. You waited for a few moments, the two of you trudging along in the snow, before he answered quietly. "We're jumpin' ahead of ourselves, but I s'pose it won't hurt." He shrugged. "Some people like it. Biting."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "Like it?" You looked down at your hands, covered in thick gloves. "Doesn't it hurt?"

Joel smirked. "It can," he considered, "if the person gettin' bitten wants it like that." He brushed your arm with his. "But some people don't like it at all. Just depends."

You braved a look up at his face and swallowed roughly, feeling your core pulse at the sight of his rosy cheeks. "Does it have to hurt?" You didn't mean to sound so desperate; you were just curious. "I mean, is it like...like a real bite?"

It happened so quickly that you hardly had a moment to process. Joel stopped in his tracks, pulled you near, and dipped his head down to your ear. "Don't have to," he murmured, and you were just starting to quiver at the feel of his voice next to your ear when he was brushing your hair from your neck and grazing his teeth against your skin. "Can feel good, if the person doin' the biting knows how."

You couldn't help the hand that shot out to grab his arm, as if it were the only thing that might hold you up. "I'm assuming you know how," you said thickly, eyes wandering on his weathered face. Funny, you thought at the sight of his grin, he looks quite young like this.

Joel shifted his arm so he could squeeze your hand once with his before letting it go. "Don't boost my ego too high, sweetcheeks," he warned, but you could hear the humor in his voice. "Might never let go if you do."

You knew he was kidding, but the prospect that he was being serious made your stomach flutter and forced you to clench your thighs together, bringing the forefront of your attention back to the frustration that was pooling between your legs. "Joel," you muttered in a whine, not quite realizing you'd said it until he was looking at you with a twinge of concern.

"What's up, doll?" he asked, slowing to a stop. "Somethin' wrong?"

A curly tendril of his graying hair was blown into his face with the winter wind, and you wished you could brush it away with your fingers like he'd done just moments ago. "I..." you inhaled deeply, and shifted your weight. "I'm..."

It took him a moment to understand, and when he did, his eyes sparkled. "Oh, doll," he cooed, reaching forward to tug you closer to him. "Need something', huh?"

You leaned your head forward until your forehead rested against him, breathing in the scene of pine and old leather and that heady musk that was utterly Joel. Nodding into his strong chest, you brought your hand up to his wrist and tugged it down, down, down...there.

Joel's large hand cupped the mound between your legs and you swallowed harshly as it pulsed again, begging for the sweet release he'd given you the night before. "Fuck," he breathed, the vibrations of his voice rolling against your skin. "Shoulda told me you were this bothered, baby," he hummed.

You lifted your head. "I've been trying," you said in a pitiful whine, although this wasn't entirely true, and he knew it. "Why does it...why do I ache so bad?"

His smirk quivered, and his pupils were suddenly huge as he withdrew his hand from where it covered your heat, exposing it to the frigid winter air once more. "I think we've gone far enough, don't you?" he winked. "Think we may as well head back."

The implications of what would happen when you got back to Jackson made your head spin. Nodding feverishly, you let go of the twinge of embarrassment at your eagerness. "Yes, please," you hiccuped.

His tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip. "Good," he murmured.

—

This was the worst possible outcome.

Just when you'd worked up to exactly where you wanted to be with Joel, with his hands on you and his intentions leading you back to his house (and hopefully his couch), Tommy stopped you at the stables.

Well, not you. Not you at all, actually. He stalked up to his older brother and said, Meeting at my place, Joel."

He'd just gotten down from his saddle to help you do the same and was letting his hands linger on your waist when the interruption happened. With his hungry eyes locked on yours, he'd been leaning into your touch and hovering his hands just inches from your heat.

You could have sworn he jumped out of his skin at the sound of Tommy's voice; you just hoped it was because of his infamous hearing loss on his ride side and decidedly not because he'd been caught standing so close to you.

"We just had a meeting last week," he said gruffly, his eyes still searching yours. For what, you weren't sure—but you were quickly growing addicted to finding those rare flecks of gold buried in the espresso brown seas reflected back at you. His hands clenched involuntarily, and given the fact that they were resting around your hips, you got a delicious lick of pleasure that shot through your pelvis at the sensation.

Tommy didn't seem to be in the mood for dawdling. "And now we're having one this week," he insisted. "My place. Maria and the others are waiting."

You lifted your chin to see him close his eyes in annoyance. His mouth opened once; he closed it. When he opened it again, his eyes flashed along with the movement. "Alright, I'll be there in a minute," he said tersely, and you pretended not to notice the way his gloved thumb rubbed a slow circle on your hip. An apology, perhaps.

When he didn't move, you blushed with smug satisfaction. It had never been more clear that he didn't want to move.

"Joel, it's important." Usually, you'd never had an issue with Tommy. Now, of course, the sound of his voice clawed at your every hope for tonight.

With a soft look at your lips, Joel jerked his head to look at his brother. "I said give me a fuckin' minute," he said, his words clipped. "Fuck's sake," he muttered as he turned around. "Just answerin' a goddamn question," he finished, soft enough that you were sure his brother couldn't hear.

Tommy grumbled his fair share of disapproving words, but you couldn't help the grateful bubble that bloomed in your gut when you heard the shuffle of his boots as he left you alone in the stables with Joel.

He waited a moment or two before letting out a soft sigh. You couldn't have known how disappointed he was, but the way he lifted a hand to your cheek was clue enough. "New lesson, dollface," he said.

A pang of regret hit your stomach and you found yourself shaking your head. "Please?" you asked in a quiet voice. "I don't want a new lesson."

Joel grinned and sucked in a sharp breath. "I know, baby, I know." The familiar phrase threw you back to the night before, when he'd had his hands all over you, reassuring you with those exact words. But now, it wasn't a comfort. "But if I'm not around and you need to feel good..." His hand trailed down your cheek, brushed against your chest and returned to its previous spot between your legs. "I want you to practice touchin' yourself, yeah?"

His voice had become a near-painful whisper, just loud enough for you to feel rather than hear his words caress your skin. "This of me all you want, darlin'. God knows I'll be thinkin' of you at this damn...meeting," he practically spat the last word, but it didn't take away from the pressure that was building and causing you to blink rapidly. "Think about me," he repeated, "but I want you to explore this pretty body for me so you can tell me all about it when I get back."

The sound of his voice enveloped you, that heady sensation nearly making your knees give out. With a slow nod, you couldn't see yourself ever disobeying him. Not when he asked such sinful things of you.

"Okay," you whispered. "I'll try."

His mouth was in a hard line, his irritation at Tommy's interruption still prevalent. But it softened for a moment when he slid a gloved thumb over your bottom lip, letting it get pulled from its place before bouncing back. You darted your tongue out, wetting your lip in a desperate attempt to taste his leather on your skin; to taste him.

"Good," he said softly. Something new pulsed at the sound of his praise, but you fought it down. "I'll see you soon, doll."

—

Despite everything you tried when you got home—despite squeezing your eyes shut and picturing that dimple in Joel's cheek when he smirked, or the way his arms felt when wrapped around you—nothing helped. The pressure remained, the ache between your legs was ever-present, and yet...

You couldn't give yourself the release you craved. Not like Joel could.

There was no telling how long you tried, hand shoved down your pants in a sour attempt to replicate the feeling he'd given you. Your fingers were clumsy, untrained, and entirely new to the task, leaving you desperate and unsatisfied. A strangled whine left your throat when your mind flashed with the memory of his face near yours, his lips on your own, and his rough hands rubbing that small bud at your center. It was maddening.

He'd asked you to do this one thing, and you couldn't deliver. Of course, you'd never even realized this was a possibility; you'd only ever heard of men bringing themselves to the plummeting precipice of pleasure. You never considered that you could do the same.

But you didn't want to make yourself feel good. You wanted Joel to do it.

After what felt like hours, stuck in your house alone, Joel nowhere to be found, and with your hopes slipping into despair, you gave up. Your fingers would never be as rough or as thick as his. You didn't know how to explore your body when you couldn't tip yourself over the edge to ecstasy; it was impossible.

Weary and defeated, you went to bed with a groan. Joel still hadn't shown up. Either it was a long meeting, or...you didn't want to entertain the thought that he'd possibly forgotten about you. About your task to be completed.

You actually did drop off into a dreamless sleep, but when you woke to the sound of a knock at your door, you were almost positive the dreams had begun again. Swinging your legs out of bed, you trudged to the door with sleep oozing in every movement. The door opened with a click, and you blinked.

"Sorry I'm late, sweetcheeks," Joel breathed. A distant streetlamp, the only one in Jackson, was the sole source of light that illuminated the edges of his broad body on your porch. He looked near-angelic.

You didn't say anything for a moment, only crossed your arms to keep yourself warm in the face of the wintry outdoors. The relief and anticipation at seeing him here paired with the disappointment and fatigue that it had taken so long warred with each other, creating a dangerous mix as you managed to say, "Are you...hungry? Or something?"

He swallowed, and your head swam with the desire to lay your tongue flat on his neck where his Adam's apple bobbed. "Starving," he groaned, and in one step he was not only in your house but he was all over you, and you were wearing nothing but your thin pajamas.

He'd apparently already taken off his gloves, and when his hand came up to cup your cheek your body registered the chill of his fingers with a shock, despite leaning into his touch all the same. He took a moment to look at you before touching his forehead to yours, pressing his lips to yours gently. You could practically taste the restraint on his mouth, and you wanted nothing more than to beg him for everything.

Something about your face must have given it away when he pulled back because he tapped a finger against your cheek. "You look like you need somethin'." He darted a look down to your legs. "Did you do what I asked?"

You weren't sure what made you lie, but you nodded nonetheless. "Uh-huh."

Even in the dark, he was so close to you that you could see his eyebrow lift in question. You didn't know how he knew, but why wouldn't he? This was Joel. "You didn't come," he concluded, and you ducked your head. "Why not, dollface? I thought I told you to."

The implication that his request was, in fact, a command, didn't slip your mind. Your cheeks burned when you forced yourself to look at him. "I couldn't. I don't know how."

"Sure you do," he whispered. "You did real good last night for me, remember?" His lips ghosted your jaw.

You shook your head. "I don't know how. I've never...made myself come."

When Joel looked at you, you could have sworn his lips twitched, betraying the desire in his movements. "I'm sorry, babydoll," he cooed, bringing his other hand to your cheek. He slotted his lips over yours once more, and it was all you could do not to sink to the floor right there. "We'll have to fix that, won't we?"

You nodded. "Show me? Please?"

Without another word he bent to brush his lips across your hairline—you could have sworn you felt him inhale with his nose in your hair—and murmured, "In the morning, yeah?"

You pulled away to complain but he only gave you a soft smile. It was then that you could see the exhaustion in his face, eyes downturned despite those creases winking at you in the darkness. "But—"

"Told Tommy you need a day off," he clarified. "'Cause you're...sore..." he splayed his hand on your back and tugged you near, voice low. "Ya know, from all that horseback ridin'."

An anticipatory chuckle bubbled from your chest. "No way he bought that," you said breathlessly as he nipped your jawline with his teeth (you were almost sure it was supposed to be a kiss). "I've been patrolling on horseback for years."

Joel shrugged and looked down at you with a smirk. "Who knows? Maybe I should have told him you were waiting for me to come home and make you fall apart on my fingers," he said dismissively, but his tone did nothing to stop your stomach from flipping.

"Oh," you said dumbly, cursing yourself inwardly for how easily you were rendered speechless in his presence. "He'll...he'll really let us take the day off?" Your mind swam with the possibilities of what you could do with an entire day.

He shook his head. "Not us, darlin'. Just you." Tracing the line of your jaw, his lips twisted into a dry smirk. "I'll have to go tomorrow. But," he whispered, squeezing a hand on your hip and cocking an eyebrow at the way your legs wobbled," I'd gladly go every morning all by myself if it meant you were in your bed all day, daydreamin' about me."

It was a heavier confession that you'd expected out of him, and you let out a breathy sigh. "In the morning then," you asked. You swallowed roughly in an attempt to push down the lump of pure need that had risen in your chest, but to no avail.

Joel nodded firmly. "Trust me," he hummed, "in the morning."

So you'd led him to your bed with no more discussion. It hadn't occurred to you that he might not stay the night; he'd come to your place after the meeting like he'd said, and it was the middle of the night. Why wouldn't he have stayed the night?

Despite everything in you fighting to stay awake, the second you returned to your mattress and pulled the covers up, your eyelids drooped. Joel stood at the end of the bed and shed his jacket slowly. "Sleep, doll," he said, his voice echoing in the otherwise silent room as he bent to kick off his boots. "I'll be here when you wake up."

—

Was he getting too close? Was he pushing the boundaries too far, too soon? Probably.

Selfishly, Joel didn't much care.

—

Sure enough—when morning came, when the dull winter sunlight crept into your house and draped the floor in soft yellow, you felt the dip of your mattress beside you and betrayed Joel's presence. He'd stayed. Like he said.

Quite the dedicated teacher, you thought to yourself with a satisfied warmth. You'd felt him climb into bed last night, but despite your every wish for him to press himself to your back and hold you tightly the whole night, he'd kept at least a foot of space between your bodies. Always close enough to touch, but never giving in.

You rolled over and swiped a hand over your face, a few stray strands falling into your eyes. The breath left your chest when you saw him there, eyes open and waiting for you. "Hi," you said, your voice rough with sleep. Again with the monosyllabic responses, you scolded yourself.

Joel hummed, the deep rumble of his voice reverberating through the mattress and into your body. "Looked so sweet like that, darlin'," he mused, his rough hands tucked under his head. He reached one of them toward you and tapped your bottom lip, plump with sheep, with two of his fingertips. "Didn't wanna wake you up."

"You didn't." You weren't sure what made you do it, but you moved closer, shifting your entire body until your nose almost brushed his. Your eyes flitted up to look at the way his graying hair laid messily around the crown of his head, haircuts neglected for who knew how long. "Can we...I want to start now," you mumbled.

His jaw ticked, and he looked like he was swallowing down a grin. "Look at you," he cooed, "so eager. Aren't you hungry, doll?"

You bit your lip and you could have sworn you saw his eyes widen. "Starving," you fumbled over the word, imitating his response to you the night before on your porch.

Joel let go of a chuckle and his eyes danced with mirth. "Always turnin' my words back on me, aren't ya?" When you nodded sheepishly, he slid his hand around to cup the back of your head and he pulled you in, connecting his lips with yours. "Okay, pretty girl," he said. "We'll start. Since you asked so nicely."

His lips were chapped from the cold weather but they were still soft as he pressed them to yours, moving lazily as the two of you blinked away the last clutches of sleep. "Always so soft, these lips," he murmured, and then his hand was moving from your neck to your chest. "Everyone's different, yeah? There's these spots on everyone's body," he said, absentmindedly drawing swirls along the expanse of your chest, making you shiver. "Let's call them...pleasure points."

"Pleasure points," you repeated breathlessly, your stomach fluttering as he rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. "Is that—"

He grinned with a nod. "Think I just found one of 'em, doll." He rolled you onto your back and bent his head down, his breath fanning over your chest and warming you through your thin pajama shirt. "This is how we get you all ready for me, when the time comes."

You nodded quietly and let out a shaky sigh as his hands wandered. He pressed a kiss to your forehead and you practically preened at the feeling of his lips against your skin while his hands squeezed and caressed your breasts, moving over your stomach. "Joel—"

He paused, hand hovering over the hem of your shirt. "What, babygirl?"

You couldn't help the whine that fought its way out of your throat. "Please," you whimpered, squeezing your eyes shut at the pressure that writhed in your core.

Joel's fingers lifted the hem of your shirt, his mouth widening in a grin at the way that your stomach rose and fell in spattered pants. "Come on, darlin'," he crooned, "open those pretty eyes for me. Gotta see you, doll."

It was all you could do not to take his hand in your own and shove it to your core where you needed him desperately, but you did as he asked.

"That's it, baby," he breathed, good girl."

You'd become familiar with the way your stomach clenched at his use of pet names, but this was new. You had done well for him. You wanted to stay that way. "Will you touch me please? I need—"

"So eager," he murmured, leaning in with his lips to your earlobe. "Lemme take my time with you, dollface." And then his lips were wrapping to the soft part of your ear, his teeth grazing at your skin. Paired with this sensation and the heady feeling of his hand on your waistband, fumbling to push his hand beneath it, you arched your back and released a series of high-pitched whines.

"JoelJoelJoelpleasepleaseplease," you were overcome with the pure, unbridled need that was speeding through your body like a tidal wave on a summer day.

"Alright, darlin', alright," he acquiesced, pushing his hand into your waistband and pulling it down over your hips. You didn't even have the mind to be shy about being laid bare to him this way; you just needed him to touch you.

Before you could beg him again, he had his fingertip on your core, sliding it gently through your slick heat. "Oh, baby," he groaned, rutting his hips against your side. His bulge pressed into your hip and you flexed your fingers to reach for it. "M'never gettin' used to how wet you are for me," his voice shook.

One finger became two, and then his fingertips were rubbing sweet circles to your sensitive bud, drawing near pornographic moans to tumble past your lips. "Can I touch you, please?" you begged, your hand fisting your bedsheets. "Wanna touch you, Joel, please."

He hummed against your ear as he swiped another finger against your bud and lifted your hand to his lips. "Sure thing, doll," he said, and placed it in his hair. Your fingers instinctually carded through the coarse strands, and you blushed when his eyes fluttered closed. "Hold on tight if you need to, pretty girl," he grinned, and lemme know if it's too much."

You were going to ask if what was too much, but then he dipped his finger further down your core, notching it at the small opening. You hadn't even thought this far ahead, that things would eventually lead here. Something pulsed and you whined, tugging his hair in your hand.

"Look at you, so ready for me," he murmured against your neck. His tongue swept out to lick a small stripe along the sensitive skin there and when you let out a stuttering breath he chuckled. "You are ready for me, aren't ya, pretty girl?"

You couldn't nod fast enough. "Please," you choked out, and then he was pressing his finger inside you.

It was a small intrusion, but overwhelming all the same. In all your years, you'd never had the thought that it could feel this good to have him close to you like this. He was only as far as the first knuckle, but with the way that his bulge was nudging your hips, he wanted much more. "Good girl," he breathed, "such a good girl, openin' your legs like this."

"Wanna touch you," you whimpered again, vision blurring with the desperation that coursed through your veins. "Please, Joel, let me touch you."

He kissed you, but you could hardly focus enough to move your lips against his. "Already touchin' me," he said. "You want more?"

"Yes," you nodded feverishly, releasing your hand from his hair. "I wanna..." you looked down at his bulge and licked your lips.

Joel's eyes were wide as he whispered, "For fuck's sake, darlin', when you're cryin' about it..." he swiped a thumb across your cheeks, collecting a teardrop you hadn't even known was there. "How could I say no?"

Thankyouthankyouthankyou were the only words in your mind, a jumbled mess as you reached for him. Your finger traced his length and before you knew it, you were reaching inside his boxers to release it from its constraints. "Holy fuck," you whined, bucking your hips into his hand as you saw just how big he was, long and thick and heavy in your hand. "Need it," you found yourself whispering. "Need you."

It was all you could do before he pushed his finger further, then out, and then in, just enough to throw you closer to that addicting edge of ecstasy. Once again, you found yourself enveloped in the thick pressure of pure desire in his arms.

He pressed the pad of his thumb to your bud and swirled circles in your heat, his lips connecting to your ear once more. "Alright, baby. Alright, baby," he practically chanted in a low tone, nibbling on your lobe just hard enough to pinch the skin. "C'mon now, squeeze my finger like that, that's it," he groaned, drawing out the final two syllables, "good girl."

With his hand in the crux of your legs and his mouth connected to your ear, whispering the filthiest things you'd ever heard in your sheltered life, you threw your head back into the pillow and curled your legs toward him, your hand squeezing his cock tightly as you continued your strokes.

The sounds that erupted from your throat as you burst in a state of pure pleasure were the most pitiful (and yet electrifying) noises you'd ever heard yourself make, and you couldn't help but continue rolling your hips into his hands, chasing the feeling until it became more intense and your legs began to twitch again. "Joel," you mewled, voice breaking, "I need you."

A teasing chuckle sounded, and your cheeks warmed as he removed his hand from your slick. "So much you don't know, dollface," he crooned, tracing his index down the line of your nose. He pushed another, shining with your release, into your mouth. The sweetness nearly made you fall apart again. "Don't know if you're ready for that."

Your body was on fire, nearly throbbing with the insatiable need to be wrapped in his arms, with his hands everywhere, his lips anywhere. Your hand had been moving on his shaft, but his hips stuttered with your next words. "I am," you insisted, "I need you, please. I wanna feel you everywhere."

Joel's pupils went wide and he shuddered out a breath, mumbling a string of curses with his eyes shut. He thrusted his hips into your hand and then your skin was sticky and warm with his own release, some of it landing on your stomach where you lay beside him.

"Shit," he groaned with a rueful smirk. "Maybe I'm not ready for that yet." His breath fanned deliciously over your skin as he continued. "Can't hardly last long enough with the thought of stretching you out like that, baby."

You grinned, and you didn't mind the fact that he could definitely see the flush in your cheeks. "No?"

He shook his head. "Fuck no. I don't wanna think about how quickly I'll come if I were to be inside that pretty pussy yet," he said with a short and gentle tap to your mound. When your hips arched off the mattress and you whined at the sensitivity, he cooed apologetically.

"Isn't that a good thing?" you frowned slightly. "I thought I was making you feel good."

"Makin' me feel too good," he mused, bringing his hand up to hold your face toward him once more. He winked. "Can't have me comin' before you do, sweet girl. Not very gentlemanly of me."

You couldn't help the pang of doubt that clouded your face, and it must have been obvious, because then he was cupping the back of your head and pulling you to his chest. Humming into your neck, he smirked. "Besides, I want to be able to take my sweet time with you. To see you squirmin' beneath me like you do, baby? S'enough to make the pope leave the goddamn church."

tysm for reading, i can't believe you guys convinced me to write MORE filth for these two. u made it to the end, lemme know what you thought!

[biancadoes1]

No hating here but if any other celebrity brings a rumored partner to an event, people take it as launch/ making it official. We've been analyzing Luke's and A's SM activities etc. for the past year and there were always signs of a connection between those two but people were saying she was only baiting. Luke didn't put much out because it's a work account and he went MIA. I remember his NYE photo dump where he used two pics that are matching with A or connected to her. Then we got his mom's comment. Why can't you accept it? Only because he hadn't mentioned or posted her on his work account? I was following you for a long time and agreed with a lot of things but this is where I draw a line. He showed up with her but you say it's fake?

I don’t believe it’s real because I’m looking at everything as a whole. It doesn’t add up with past behaviors. You haven’t taken the time to really sit down and look at the big picture which you need to do to understand why I feel the way I do.

You’re asking me why I can’t accept, but I’m going to ask you why you can’t consider?

You’ve made up your mind. You drew your line. Good luck to you ✌🏼

[accio-victuuri]

it’s been a while since i’ve shared my recent reads! so here’s what i have picked up in the past months. felt inspired cause i’m really enjoying the story i’m reading now, w/c i initially picked up as a manhwa but i’m impatient so i switched to the novel. it’s called the hunter is gonna lay low or the hunter wants to live quietly. it’s such a gem! cause it starts of pretty simple and funny then the author manages to put in the plot and well, it’s plotting. lol.

if you like systems/dungeons, cast of characters, time travel, mystery and the most delicious slow burn then this is for you. i hope this gets animated at some point cause it’s so good! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 this is the only novel on the list so it’s pretty special that the story led me to WANT to read the source.

i’m literally listing what i’ve read so yeah. and pretty much a v short reaction to it cause there is a lot (53). it’s a mix of ongoing and completed works at the time of writing and when i read it so i’ll mark that too.

1. Sweetie, Sweetie, Sweetie - this title is so misleading cause you would think it’s a modern story full of sweetness when it’s not. this deals with kingdoms/royalty, superpowers — and isekai.

2. How my Daddies Became mates (completed) - first foray into mangas because i most prefer manhwa/manhuas — i know, sacrilege. but yeah, it’s a cute story of two dad telling their kid how they met and fell in love. It’s so wholesome! a short read when you feel tired of all the toxic bl stories. 😂😂😂

3. Unintentional Love Story (completed) - pick this up! it’s so good! slice of life kind of vibe and falling in love in a small town.

4. Someone like You (completed) - this was something i started before and went back in now that it’s completed.

5. Isekai no Sata Wa shachiku shidai - i don’t really go for Mangas but this one pulled me in! I love myself some isekai plot. it’s just sad that no one has updated the translation for so long so that may put some people off in picking this up.

6. Bend over Backwards (completed) - corporate slave x international model. if you like this kind of dynamic then go ahead. Only 40 chapters plus a bunch of side stories so this kind of thing is a good choice.

7. Dinner with a Vampire - pretty obvs with the title.

8. Mister Wonderful teases me

9. Romance but not Romantic - omegaverse! the kind where the omega needs the alpha but initially hated him.

10. Be, Be. - omegaverse with modern royalty!

11. Smoky Nectar 1 - a short read that continues to a part 2 and it’s good ✌🏼

12. Smoky Nectar 2

13. Reincarnated to Devil King Evelogia’s World - this is so uniquely unhinged that it became. endearing. No. I swear. I haven’t read anything like it. I love it tho. Maybe some people will find it over the top but it’s now one of my personal faves.

there’s an animated version of it if you wanna start with that just to see how cute they are lol.

14. Bullying the Dog - an MC who didn’t get much love then he meets the ML who shows him what it’s like. it’s so somft.

15. Bittersweet Martini (completed) - i’m gonna cheat here and copy/paste the first comment on this story cause i think it perfectly describes the story: “If you're looking for a casual pleasure read with a green flag story with heavy flirting, which leads to a lot of blushing but also deals with a more serious topic towards the middle, without leaning too much into the drama, then look no further.”

16. Over the Paradise - guideverse with zombies!

17. Hero vs Villain - what happens when the supposed hero and villain become friends and fall in love? this was so nice!

18. Night of London - vampire and werewolf pairing! come on! Let’s gooooo! 🙌🏼

19. Kill my love - omegaverse and assassins!

20. Turning - Another work that i would most likely pick up the novel version cause it’s that good! Regression theme! ❣️plus the setting is they are in a kingdom where people have powers.

21. The Moon is coming to me - I have already talked bout this before and it’s one of my absolute faves! I didn’t know the Manhua was released! So i was so happy to enjoy it in that form. The translation for this is very close to the end so pick it up!

22. Cozy Obsession - transmigration where the MC knows how the story goes so he is trying his best to change the ending.

23. Summertime (completed) - one of my favorites! love it when friends become lovers and some may say the ML here is manipulative but i wanna say in a good way. lol. anyway, it’s classic, atleast from the MC’s side that you’ve known this person some time and that summertime everything has changed.

24. My way with you (completed) - gonna cheat again with this one by pasting here what someone commented: “LISTEN UP GUYS this one has everything: healthy happy relationship, supportive friends, trauma and healing, mysterious past connections, beautiful men, hot af smut, 100% consent, cutest lovey dovey couple, NO drama, NO “misunderstandings”, NO second ml, NO annoying interfering side characters. You will cry, but because it’s just so good.” 💯

25. Netkama Punch - i haven’t finished and progressed much as i would like tho i know a lot of people have this as their favorite! I will get back to it! The premise of hidden identity and online gaming is one of my fave so i will surely pick this up again.

26. Through the Years - i haven’t finished this yet but it’s a lot of people’s fave

27. Fools (completed) - disillusioned guy meets excitable puppy 🤍

28. Moonquake (completed) - a very unique concept. people on earth have powers and then some of them decided to rebel and live in the Moon. Our MC is one of the best ones on earth and is supposed to bring down the leader of the rebellion. but you all know what happens, they fall in love! AHHHHH! and i have to say the art in this too is exceptional.

29. Men’s wear store and the Royal Princess (completed) - this may be weird for some or slow / not enough action lol. i enjoyed it tho! the MC cross dresses and finds someone who loves and accepts him!

30. Ex Hot Neighbor (completed) - a story that centers around a misunderstanding! MC thinks he can’t date the neighbor cause he’s his friend’s ex. but nope!

31. Forest Sea (completed) - A good and solid fantasy story. Please give it a try! The whole birds vs snakes thing was kinda weird at first but the author made it work.

32. When you were asleep - this hasn’t been updated in a while and it’s so sad because the art is topnotch! the plot is good too, especially the dreamscapes but there’s still a lot to discover cause we wanna know what happened in the past. Why is MC even having these dreams and all that.

33. Beum & Go’s Unholy…. - still ongoing and read few chapters

34. Spring, the color of love (completed) - what a wonderful story. Oftentimes, as a reader, you have that sense of boundary with the narrator. But this one — you can feel and understand what the MC is thinking and going through. even tho i haven’t experienced what he did, i can totally get it. this is one of those tropes where they fall in love during their school years and some misunderstanding happens, they meet again years later and try again. something i would love to re-read even if there are parts of it that hurt. and it’s just proof that if something is meant to be, it will come back to you.

35. Keep Holding On (completed) - a short and sweet read with friends to lovers trope!

36. Wolf in the House (completed) - i am so late with this cause i feel like every list has this story as one of the best. I have to agree! it’s so good! tho i have to say i’m more attached to the second pairing. this one is a perfect mix of fantasy, action, comedy and romance. A solid recommendation!

37. Touch within the Abyss (completed) - AAAAAHHHHHH! a hitman x blind cinnamon roll! read it now! please! it’s so sweet! their love and care for each other is so pure 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

38. 99% in love season 1 (completed) - from bestfriends to lovers in the cutest way! they start fake dating and it leads to more obvs.

39. 99% in love season 2 - their college life and this one has smut scenes!

40. Alpha Trauma ( novel ongoing ) - if you know Omega Complex then you might be aware that this is a sequel of sorts but follows the second lead’s love story if you may. Everyone loves Dohyun so i’m one of those happy readers who is happy that he gets his own story, tho the POV in this is not his but his Omega. If you like ABO and campus setting then this may be for you.

41. Soul Sealer’s school life - The MC is the soul sealer who has to do good deeds to prolong his life, then he meets the ML who has a strong spirit in him. It’s a perfect blend of fantasy, comedy and not so much romance as of the moment. The art is 💯 and i really like to see where this goes!

42. Guidance with Benefits - still ongoing and read few chapters

43. Chiguha Kuna Kisu (completed) - if you like a short read that will make you have overall good vibes then this is it. school setting, two cute boys, a fortunate miscommunication and starting a relationship. it’s so good and made me want to look for more mangas! 🤍

44. Spicy Milk Candy - yandere but in a good way. that’s all i’m gonna say.

45. Ruby Red wo Kamikudaku (completed) - i’m just gonna add the summary below but it’s truly a unique read!

Akane is an Omega who can see people's pheromones as multicolored "crystals”. During his school days, when he was lonely because of his peculiar constitution, he meets Makise, a school nurse teacher. 5 years later, they are miraculously reunited, but Makise has a secret

46. Yume Nara Doko Made Yurusaremasuka (completed) - corporate slave x young policeman. 6 chapters of sweetness!

47. Sparkling Baby (completed) - this is supposedly a sequel for the second lead, but i haven’t read the first story. I just love how the MC/ML first met and then made a mark on each other as strangers — but it wasn’t there time yet. and so they meet again later and navigate their lives together. What attracted me to this story is how the MC changed because of love. For years, he had this sense of what he think is love and looking back, maybe it didn’t work out because love isn’t supposed to be like that. What he found with the ML is real and why it feels different.

48. Ashita kimi no mono ni shite (completed) - this so wholesome! school setting and friends to lovers. quiet boy x cool guy

49. Koibitu Keiyaku chu ni suki (completed) - friends to lovers! fake dating. and well, look at them. so precious together:

50. Camboy Bunny (completed) - i think the title says it all. A delicious read!

51. Beyond the Memories - AAAAAHHHHHHH! the story in itself should be sweet and fluffy but the author manages to squeeze in the undercurrent of there is something wrong. as a reader, there is something big that we don’t know and once it comes out — all of it will be shattered. it looks like there is some sort of regression and MC doesn’t know this but the ML does. The question here is when his memories will come back and will he forgive the ML. We are not in that part yet with what’s available right now so i’m excited!

52. Private Call (completed) - another omegaverse.

53. Senza Replica - guide/esper. very few chapters out and something i will go back to.

I read everything except the novel at BATO. 🫶🏼 covering my may-october 2024 reads.

[james-is-here]

(late) Halloween post bitches 😎✌🏼

Had to remake this but luckily I was just making the header and adding tags so I didn't lose too much 😁 and I'm proud that I posted a holiday fic 😌 I believe this fic shows how creative I am.

Spider divider by @adornedwithlight

Is there a pairing in this? I don't know, read and find out 😏

Special tag for @succubus-hansol 😁 I've had this in my docs for a few months now. 9k+ words 😲 Long but worth the read.

Blogs: @forever-atiny @lemon--shark @victorbutnotreally @leezanetheofficial @belladonna6-6-6 @heartbinn @yongbokkk @dontwannaexsist @tomorrowxtogather 

Tags: Vampires, Blood, fighting, abuse, fluff then angst then fluff, Vampire Mirror logic what's that?, should be implied that the boys are all together

Lmk if I forgot a tag or you want to be added to taglist :)

The sky was sparkling and the night was cool as the fluttering of wings flapped above an 18th century, two-floor house, a black roof and grey exterior walls, and a patio that wraps around to the left side. A courtyard with a fountain in the middle has a cobblestone path circling it, leading to the patio stairs in front of the front door. A fence with a gate around the whole lot.

The house resides on the outskirts of the town of humans. It's on a shallow hill, often used for dares. ‘Fifty bucks for the first one to reach the gate without backing out.’ 'I dare you to stand at the Shadowborne gate for five minutes without one of them noticing you.'

Shadowborne, that's the species that lived in the house, but it wasn't the entire species obviously. One clan resided in the house, the Stravian Kin Clan, and the human folk knew what they were, a couple of humans once tried to venture further than the gate one night which resulted in the law within the town that prohibited any residents from going into the forest after the clan leader left the trespassers worse for wear.

That never stopped the occasional rebellious teens from slipping through the fence to fulfill their bet or dare.

One night though, no humans trespassed or disturbed the land as a few bats flew and played around above the house, sometimes landing on the roof to settle down. Still, the playfulness continued with sneaky crawling before nipping at the victim and chirping happily at the reaction.

Two small bats were flying around while a slightly larger one sat on the roof when a fourth bat showed up, seemingly out of the clouds and the two smaller ones stopped flipping in the air to watch the new arrival above them before its wings stilled and it began to fall to the ground.

They watched as it fell to the ground before turning to the one on the roof. He chirped, flapping his wings to head for the balcony at the back right of the house on the second floor that leads to a large round room with bookshelves and pillows strewn about on a large cushion-like rug, covering the floor of the whole room.

The bats fly over to the balcony before three clouds of two deep red swirls twist around and up as full bodies are revealed before it dissipates and the now human-like forms take off in a run out of the room. They push through the doors and run to the right before coming to the wide opening of the stairs, dashing down the first staircase, turning on a flat section before coming to the last staircase and taking two at a time.

The taller one became impatient and grabbed the railing at the flat part before jumping over and landing on the first floor as the other two followed the stairs and continued the rest of the way, a few steps behind the taller one.

“Hyung!!” The one who jumped the stairs called out before he went to the front window and looked into the courtyard. “Hyung!!” One of the others, a blonde, ran to the right through the living room to the study as the other, a brunette, ran left towards the kitchen.

The “Hyung” in question appeared a second later, opening the study doors and the blonde collided with his chest with a ‘oof’. “Sorry! There's a bat! Th-They flew from the clouds before going limp and falling. Th-Their flight pattern was slow and staggered slightly, I think they're hurt.” “Did you recognize them?” “Uh…” If the blonde could blush, he would cause then he says with a chuckle, “Um, no. The…The moon was behind him…”

The older one huffed a smile before both were turning to the male at the window. “I can see him!” He yelled. “Him?” “Yeah! He's next to the fountain, he just reformed in a cloud of rust.” “Rust?” “Yeah, it was like a rust color.”

“Hyunjin, away from the window.” The tall vampire, Hyunjin, slouched away from the window and sat back on his shins with a small pout as he watched the older vampire open the door and walk out to the edge of the front deck.

He listened closely, watching the figure before he spun around when he heard another boot hit the wood porch. “No, back inside.” He scolds the blonde like a dog and he backs up before going over to Hyunjin and peaking through the curtain with him.

Chan slowly steps off the patio into the gravel. He slowly stalks forward, straining his enhanced hearing to the edges to listen to the figure as he circled the fountain. His inner protector senses the figure as a threat as he stalks forward and one more step has the figure turning his head before he's upright, trying to drag himself away from the taller, intimidating, clear leader of the territory he crashed into.

“I-I’m sorry! I-I’m sorry! P-Please have mercy…m-mercy, please. I-I w-won't bother y-you, sir, I-I’ll leave j-just please, I-I need-” He yelps and stops scooting back away from the other vampire when a twig from a dying bush from the garden surrounding the path stab into the wound on his side. He cries out painfully, falling onto his back with his eyes squeezed shut to not cry, to not be weak as he pushes the twig away from him and gripping his side.

“Why are you here, Emberborne?” Is all the leader says.

Emberborne. Like Shadowborne’s, their bat forms are a reddish-orange, living West of where Shadowborne’s inhabit. So why and how is one all the way East and by itself?

“I-I don't…I d-don't mean…harm...” The boy is panting heavily, eyes trained on the night sky and almost hyperventilating before he huffs out heavily a couple of times, his eyes fluttering shut while his hand lets go of his side and his head slowly falls to the side, unconscious.

The Shadowborne, Chan, steps closer until he crouches down next to the boys left side and gently moves his hand to look at the wounds on his side and stomach. The loose-fit shirt, frilly with large sleeve cuffs, typically what older generation vampires wore, was torn and bloody. On the boy's side were two large open wounds, but not as deep as a gash, almost like something grazed him and took the top layer on skin but when Chan grazed lightly over the middle wound on the side of the boys stomach to move the shirt, he hissed as his fingers suddenly stung slightly.

Moving the shirt out of the way, he sees a silver bullet. He moves to the right side of the Emberborne quickly, picking him up with an arm under his knees and his upper back then turning back to the house.

Hyunjin and the blonde were at the front door the moment Chan had stood up with the boy. “Go get Minho.” “Chan Hyung, he’s with Changbin to get the supplies from the forest border.” Hyunjin reminds him as Chan gently puts the boy on the couch so his wounded side is facing him.

Groaning, he sighs while removing the boy's top. “Okay. Hyunjin, in the study behind the desk, is an old black bag. Can you get it? Felix, go get one of Innie’s shirts and prepare a room. Where’s Jisung?” “He went to the kitchen to, I assume, look for you.” “Get him along with some blood packs.”

Hyunjin returned with the black bag as Felix went off. Opening it and digging around, Chan pulls out a small pair of medical tongs and a small glass jar. “Hyung, who is this?” “Don’t know. He’s an Emberborne and…” He drags out as he carefully uses the tongs to grab the silver bullet and carefully extract it, placing it in the small jar and then putting the lid back on. “...He must've been attacked. Eh, Don't touch that.” Though it was in a glass jar, it was still a silver bullet, so he quickly slapped Hyunjin’s hand away when he reached out to look at what Chan had just removed.

He pulls out gauze along with a bandage. “Come here, Jin.” He guides the young vampire to sit on the back of the couch while holding the unknown boy up so he can place the gauze and cotton along the wounds before wrapping the bandage around his torso. “His healing is gonna be slow until he wakes up and he can feed,” Chan explains when he sees the confusion on Hyunjin’s face as he sits on the couch with the boys head on his lap.

“What could an Emberborne even be doing here?” Hyunjin asked. “Ran away? Outcasted? Lost his clan? Who knows. We’ll just have to wait until he wakes up.” Chan mutters as he puts everything back in the back except the tongs and the jar.

Felix returns with Jisung and two other seemingly younger vampires behind him. “Okay, gotta get some of this into his system,” Chan mutters as he takes the pack of blood from Jisung and the shirt from Felix. From the front door, two vampires walk in as their reforming smoke dissipates behind them and they're carrying large bags on their shoulders. “Hey, We’re- Woah.” The last two clan members stop at the sight of the others surrounding what they think is a human on the couch.

At the sign of Minho about to hiss as he glared at the boy, Chan handed the bag that was dripping blood into the boy's mouth to Hyunjin, who continued the steady dripping, before standing up. “It's not a human, it's a vampire.” “How do you know?” “Well, his fangs, the slight burn marks on his wounds from a silver bullet-” “The fact that he was a bat and almost crashed into us.” Jisung cuts him off as he points between him and Felix then Hyunjin speaks up without looking away from feeding the unconscious vampire. “He reformed in a cloud of rust.”

“Okay, I got it.” Minho relaxed as Chan took the bag from him. “Oh, I tidied up the room next to the library for him.” “Thank you, Felix. Wanna take him up?” Felix nods before taking the half dripped pouch from Hyunjin and picking the boy up in a princess carry and taking him through the large foyer and up the stairs to the room he made up.

It's the size of a master bedroom, all of them are, and in the center against the right wall is a queen bed covered with a dark green quilt and matching canopy hanging from wooden posts.

Felix gently places the boy on the bed where he folded the blanket and sheet out of the way. As he tucks the boy in, he goes to walk away but stops and gently moving his hair away from his eyes. “You look so young.” He mutters to himself before taking his hand from under the blanket, looking at where an existing pulse point would've been.

Felix’s brows furrow before placing it back next to him and took his other wrist. “No mark?” “Emberborne’s aren’t like us, Lixie.” Felix jumps, turning to see Chan walk in and walk over to him to sit on the edge of the bed. “Right. I wasn't really taught about Emberborne’s…Before I found you, my old clan literally obliterated everything about Emberborne's.”

“Shadowborne's have been marking their offspring with their clan sigils for eternity, even in today’s evolved age. It's for protection and safety and forms when we grow into our vampire side. Unfortunately, with Emberborne's, they still have old ideations like us but believe they need to grow up and survive on their own, that they don't need protection of their family. They don't get any marks until they make their own family. An emberborne once lived to be three hundred and six before they got a sigil, finding their partner. They were the last of their birth family to get their own family sigil.” “Wow.”

Felix began to absentmindedly rub his thumb back and forth on the boy's knuckles, looking away from Chan to look down at his peaceful face. “What got him?” “I assume Hunters. Pulled a silver bullet out of one of the wounds.” “What? That's not cool.” “No, it's not. Oh…” Chan pulled something out of his pocket and moved to sit on the other side of the boy. “I noticed sun burn welts as you were bringing him up here.”

He gently moved the blanket away and moved the top part of his shirt. “Oh no.” Felix sat on the bed, watching Chan rub an ointment over red patches on the boy's chest. “Attacked during the day? He must've been chased out of wherever he was hiding.” Felix says as he hovers a finger over one of the burns. “There's no signs that show how old he is. Do they age slowly like us?” “They do. He may look the human age of nineteen but he may be one of our ages.” “Well, Hyunjin looks nineteen but he's like two hundred.” Chan snickers as he caps the ointment.

“You're really invested in this boy.” “I’m just worried about him and he looks interesting. You know me, I cried when we found Seungmin and he said a wolf got him.” “You do know that when he's awake and healed, we’ll have to send him off…right?” “Wha- But Hyung-” “We can't keep an Emberborne. Ember and Shadow don't mix.” “But…But you brought him in. You bandaged him up, you care about him.” “Felix!” Chan bared his fangs and his eyes flashed before closing his eyes the moment he saw Felix flinch and took a deep breath while looking away.

“I did what I did because I couldn't leave him with the bullet. Plus he begged for mercy, I couldn't-” He's silent for a moment. “Couldn't just leave him...” “Hyung…” Felix says softly as he watches Chan get off the bed and walk towards the door. “Come on. Let him rest.” Chan mutters as he stares at the floor, hand on the door.

Felix walked over to him, glancing back to the boy then to Chan. “Go.” Chan says firmly, tilting his head out the door to get Felix to walk out. Felix sighs, looking down at his hands and walking to the left to the library, probably to curl up in his corner Chan predicts.

Chan sighs, looking back at the boy on the bed before walking out.

Chan and his clan had long been asleep before the sun began to rise. He's buried under his dark red bedding with one of his younger vampires tucked in his arms who snuck in shortly after he fell asleep so he’s not sure who it is.

It had only been two hours, behind the thick curtains the sunrise peaked behind the clouds and lit the outside of the house with the new daylight but Chan suddenly jerks awake, looking around the dark room to figure out what was wrong.

Looking down, he notices the body in his arms was Felix. He's glad he didn't completely put off Felix from earlier.

Unwrapping his arms from the blonde, he slips out of bed, going to check the house just in case. Maybe his senses were detecting one of his vampires out of bed, possibly Changbin trying to sneak one of his pouches. Changbin was banned from the fridge during the day, their night time, after the last time he took one a day early and ended up having to wait an entire day before they could get their next month's supply. His feeding schedule was shit after that and they had to bribe their supplier for an extra pouch.

Their supplier being at the human towns hospital, an older doctor that they made a deal with after the human trespassing law was made. No humans in their forest for a month's worth of blood packs. The town didn't want anymore deaths so some of the residents donate blood simply for the vampires.

When Chan left his room, he was on the other side of the house from the library, he walked to the left towards the stairs, pausing at the other doors he passed by to hear the breathing of one or two of his clan, only passing the rooms who's doors were open.

Changbin’s door was closed with two sets of breathing, so that rules out Changbin sneaking blood and explains Hyunjin’s door being open as Hyunjin usually slept with Changbin. Seungmin’s door was closed but Jeongin’s was open and with Minho’s being closed and Jisung’s being open, and Felix with him, the two baby vamps were together and Ji was with Min or one baby was with Ji and the other with Min.

So what woke him up?

That's when a thought entered his head and he walked to the library. When he gets there, he freezes, lowering his body as he slowly stalks to the open bedroom. Peaking in, the blankets on the bed are thrown away and there's no longer a body, the blood pack Felix left behind now on the floor, empty. His thoughts are on overdrive as he dashes over to the rope hanging at the end of the hall and pulls, it was an old design feature that came with the house that triggers small bells that are in each room.

He hears a yelp near the stairs and runs over to it, finding the boy from before. “Wait, Don't move!” The boy looks up to the second floor balcony and Chan can see and hear his rapid breaths along with noticing the blooming red staining the shirt which means his bandages were soaked as well before the boy takes off in the direction of the living room. “Wait!” By that time, the others are out of bed, alert but mostly grumpy at being woken up so early into their sleep.

The sun just rose for crying out loud.

“Corner him, I think he's trying to leave.” He calls out when he can feel the others growing closer as he jumps over the railing and follows the boy.

He follows him through the living room and into the study. He runs behind the desk, cowering against the decommissioned fireplace behind it before glancing at the side door that leads to a passageway to the kitchen.

Chan lowers his height, hands outstretched to stop him. “Hold on, wait, it's okay, you're okay.” “I-I’m sorry, I don't-” “It's okay, calm down, we won't hurt you. What’s your name, fledgling?” The boy pants, glancing at the door then back to the person in front of him. “Don't, please. It's okay.” Chan slowly steps forward, crouching down lower to look less intimidating which shocks him himself but he chalks it up to just not wanting the boy to aggravate his wounds and dressings.

He barely gets another step when the boy takes off, pushing open the cracked door and running to the kitchen with Chan following.

In the kitchen, Changbin and Felix are waiting, listening, until Changbin is turning when he hears the running in the study’s hallway.

The boy was looking behind him, watching out over his shoulder for Chan before turning and stopping with a squeak when he noticed Changbin. He swerves, diverting the other way but is stopped by Felix and he runs back the other way, dropping to his knee and sliding past Changbin before standing back up, staggering and holding a hand to his side as he looks back at the other three before running again and Chan follows, Changbin and Felix joining as well shortly after.

The boy runs back to the foyer, through the empty room that used to be a dining room and to the stairs. Running up the stairs, he runs in the direction of the room he first left but Minho and Seungmin block him. He skids to a stop, going to run the other way but Jisung, Hyunjin, and Jeongin block him.

Breathing heavily, fear and panic washed over his face as he looked at each of the split groups, from the two on his left then the three on his right, then the three below him.

A window catches his eye, poised above the flat level of the stairs that conjoin the first level and second level staircase. A slight billow of the curtain pinned to the wall to still keep light out giving away that the window was open. “Wait! Wait! Don't do it!” Chan exclaims, noticing the boy glance at the window.

He shrinks back to the wall, looking to his left and right again to see the other strangers have gotten closer. “Stop him!” Chan yells at the two groups but the boy is already running the moment Minho dashes forward to grab him.

His transformation is quick, rust smoke envelopes his body and dissipates as a bat emerges and he’s trying to fly up to the window but with a weak chirp and pained squeak, his flying falters and he falls. “No!” Chan runs forward and catches the weakened Vampire in his hands.

The bat squeaks and chirps, flapping in Chan’s hands as the groups on the second floor have converged and looked over the railing the moment the bat began to fall.

“Shh, Shh, it's okay little fledgling, we won't hurt you. Settle down, it's okay.” Chan says in a hushed tone, a hand moving from underneath the bat to rest over his back and using his thumb to pet his head. “It's okay. You have to calm down little one. You almost got yourself burned.” Still panting and breathing heavily, the flapping has stopped, wings draped over Chan’s hand as he looks up at the male holding him. “It's daytime. You would've made your condition worse.”

Chan continued to pet his head as Felix and Changbin walked up next to him while the others still watched from above. “Are you calm enough? Wanna reform?” He watches the bat heave a few more breaths before his head falls flat on Chan’s palm like a dog draped over the arm of a chair, looking up at him and making Chan huff a small laugh. “Want me to set you down or do you need a toss?” He flicks his wings and Chan steps back towards the stairs, the other two walking back from him to give him space.

Chan tosses the bat gently in front of him before rust smoke is swirling around and the boy reforms then promptly falls to the floor, legs folded underneath as his hands hold him up on the floor. “I-I’m sorry..” He breathes out with an exhale, voice soft and gentle as he tries to catch his breath. “I-I didn't mean to…I’m sorry.” He whimpers and Chan carefully steps forward.

“It's okay. What’s your name?” “M-Mn…a-and I’m not a fledgling…I’m two hundred and fifteen.” “Sorry, I did that out of habit. You look young like Hyunjin.” You look up and back, eyes jumping from one vampire to the other before dropping your head back down. “I didn't mean to invade your territory…I-I was f-fleeing from hunters and they found me…I-I was so scared, I started running without reforming or thinking. Th-They chased me till dusk, one got me with his bullets. The trees barely covered me.”

Your right hand moved from the floor to absentmindedly touch your burns before a hand takes yours and you flinch. “Sorry, didn't want you to touch the ointment or the burn itself.” You gasp suddenly and your hand leaves his to go to your side. “The bullet. Where-” “I extracted it. Put it in a jar, might take it to the human town authorities so they could do something with it.”

You fall back, slowly scooting away. “H-Humans? Do you interact with humans?” Chan’s hand gently rests on your ankle. “No, we just have an alliance with them. The most interaction we do is with our blood supplier at the hospital. That's it.” “How…How do they trust you so easily?” “They made a law awhile back after I mauled two humans when they trespassed. Humans stay away from our property and we stay away from their town. Even our supplier stays away, just drops the bags at the edge of the forest.”

Your eyes water, glassy as you look up at Chan. “N-No humans?” “Yeah. Hey, don't cry. Are you hurt? Do you need anything?” “Wh-Why are you being so nice to me?” Chan hesitates, glancing at Felix next to him then back to the boy. “You begged for mercy…and I couldn't leave you with a silver bullet slowly killing you.” It's quiet for a moment other than the others moving to the second floor of the stairs and sitting along the banister. “The…Uh, the bullet is also blessed…M-Might want to take it to a priest as well…if the town has one.” You stare down at your fingers where the older vampire notices your burnt fingertips. “You tried to remove them.” “Yeah…the first two were painful and easy but the third one was too far.”

Shaking his head, he awkwardly looked around then back to the floor. “I, um, I’m sorry. I-I’ll be out tonight, I promise.” “You can stay until the silver effects wear out and you're replenished.” Looking at the grandfather clock next to the front door, it's eight in the morning and Chan giggles softly as he glances back at the others.

“Late night snack anyone?” “Me!” Changbin says first and gets up, already halfway to the kitchen and the others laugh and stand as well. “Come on. Let’s get some blood in you, might help get you closer to restoring your quick healing.” Chan helps you stand, supporting you as you stumble slightly then look over at Felix. “Hi…” “Hi.” Felix smiles. “Sorry I almost crashed into you and your friend.” “It's okay. Come on, let's go feed.” Felix gently holds your shoulder and helps guide you to the kitchen.

The others have already started to walk away before you and Felix except Minho who stands next to Chan, watching the two of you walk away. “What happened to Shadows not liking Embers?” “He's injured.” Chan shrugs, looking down at his hands. “Wouldn't be right, especially since...well y’know.” “Yeah, Yeah, begged for mercy.” “Silver doesn't take long to leave us so he should actually be good to leave tonight. Then he’ll be on his way.”

Minho scans Chan’s stance and listens to his tone of voice. “Why does it sound like you don't want him to leave?” “It's just the leader in me or something, feels wrong for him to be alone with no protection.” His thumb finds the mark on his left wrist, grazing over his Clan sigil, on his right wrist is his birth clan sigil. Minho takes his hand, replacing his thumb with his own. “He’ll get protection one day. That's how his species live. Now come on, Changbin might eat the whole stock.” That brings a small smile to Chan’s face, his fangs peaking through and Minho pokes his cheek while moving to take Chan's hand, lacing their fingers together. “Cute.” Chan swats him away, letting go of Minho’s hand then heads to the kitchen. “Chan! I’m just teasing!”

Chan was right when he said Mn would be okay by night. The remaining effects of the silver gone and plenty of blood had his quick healing restored as he slept. After everyone who wanted a pouch had one, everyone promptly went back to bed for the rest of the day.

Mn woke up first the moment he could hear the grandfather clock strike. Walking over to the window, Mn opened the curtain and watch the sky, the sun out of the way and leaving behind a beautiful night sky.

Mn sighs when he knows he’ll have to leave and go off flying again. He might as well leave now, Mn told them he'll be gone at night so he’ll be gone.

Wearing the youngest vampire’s shirt he was given, his boots in hand so as to not cause noise, he tiptoed his way next door, carefully opening the door then closing it and padding his way over to the balcony. He ties the curtain out of the way before carefully opening the window doors and walking out onto the patio.

Mn slipped on his boots and tie them before standing up, looking back into the house that he's felt the safest in ever before walking over to the stone railing and climbing up, jumping off before reforming and flying up. He hovers, taking one last look at the house before taking off into the clouds and away from the Shadowborne’s.

When Felix went to check on Mn when he woke, his whole body deflated at the open door before going to the library, deflating even more at the open terrace then going back to his room.

“Good evening, Felix.” Hyunjin greets with a yawn while rubbing his eyes, walking into his room and flopping on the bed next to him. “Mn’s gone.” Hyunjin drops his hand next to him and looks up at the male who's balled up on himself, arms wrapped around his knees as he stares at his blanket. “Well, of course he is. His quick healing must've kicked in while he was sleeping so he left like he said he would.” “Yeah, well…Kinda wanted him to stay around.” Felix mutters, turning away to bury half his face into his elbow. “He's an emberborne, Felix. The only reason he was here was to recover.” “I know…”

It was quiet for a while, Hyunjin rubbing his back before he shifts. “Um, I kinda want to be alone for a while. If you need me I’ll be on the living room ceiling.” “Oh…Okay Lixie.” The blonde reforms, swirl of deep red covering him before dissipating and Hyunjin watches the bat fly away towards the living room. “Oh Lix…” He says sadly as he gets up and leaves the boys room.

Walking downstairs, he looks up to find the boy curled up and huddled in the darkest corner of the ceiling, away from lights and candles. “Hyun?” He stood at the end of the living room in front of the study to look at Felix properly. “Whatcha looking at?” Chan asks, legs moving off the top of the desk as he puts his book down and joins the other. “A Felix.” Looking up as well, Chan spots him.

“Aw, why’s he in his corner?” “Mn’s gone.” Hyunjin answers simply and Chan sighs. “Sorry Lix.” The only reply he got was a small chirp before he looked down. “Good to know he's all better now.” He tells Hyunjin as he moves to the couch. “Yeah.” Hyunjin joins him, leaning into him.

“Hyung, I get that he begged for mercy and he was injured…but you seemed extra caring towards him. Even more than usual, as if he was a part of the clan like us.” “It was just the clan leader in me. He doesn't have his own family so he doesn't have a protective sigil.” “He doesn't? I knew they had to fend for themselves but they don't even have family sigils?” “Nope.” Chan took Hyunjin’s right hand to graze his thumb over his family mark. “They only get one, while we get a family…” he then reaches for Hyunjin’s other hand. “and clan marks, they only get family marks and only when they've found their partner.” “Like the three hundred year old Ember?” “Yeah.” “So…it could be even longer than that until an Ember finds it’s family? They go unprotected for that long?” Hyunjin’s voice was filled with concern, not exactly enjoying Emberborne traditions. “They do.”

They look up at the fluttering of wings to see Felix gently flutter his way down before landing on Chan who scoops him up and pets his head with his thumb, comforting his little bat. “We never asked why he was all the way over here. He's from the other side of the world.” “Yeah…but he’ll be fine on whatever journey he's on.” Chan replies and lifts Felix up as he tucks his wings to his sides. The older male gently kisses the top of Felix’s head and he chirps, relaxing in Chan’s hold.

The rest of the night, the others carried Felix around. When he's down he prefers to be small, to be coddled, and to be held. When he's small, they can hold him and he won't be in the way unlike his full form.

He was resting with his eyes closed on Chan’s shoulder, the older vampire walking around trying to find something to do when there was a knock on the front door.

“Jeez, what stupid humans decided to trespass this time. Gotta give it to them though, they've never gotten to the front door.” Chan mutters, mostly to himself but also for Felix to hear if he's awake.

Chan went into the empty dining room, which Jisung has been trying to convince everyone to make into a second living room, to peek out the window. When he sees an old style of suit, lace cuffs showing from under an old, seemingly Victorian suit coat, he shuts the curtain and walks over to the door to open it and finds an old face to fit the old fashion.

“Are you the leader of the Stravian Kin clan?” “Yes? What's this about? We don't normally get other vampiric guests.” He can feel Felix shift on his shoulder and nuzzle into his neck. “As a fairly recently formed clan, you and your brethren or consorts must attend the gathering of clans to form or reestablish alliances with other clans along with checking in with your family and friends.” The male hands Chan a rolled up scroll. “It’d also be best if you wear…less human clothes lest you stand out or draw attention.” Chan glances down at his boots, jeans, and t-shirt before looking up and nodding. “Yes, of course sir.” “and if you are a clan that has integrated into the more modern world, the shiny devices are prohibited.” “We aren't, that won't be a problem.”

The gentleman glances at Felix on Chan’s shoulder and smiles softly. “Do you mind?” He lifts his hand a little and Chan looks down at Felix who has been awake, now just flopped on the older male’s shoulder. Felix chirps and the man reaches up to gently pet his head. “My kin use to do this with me whenever I’m in my natural form. Not as much anymore due to them finding their own clans.” He pulls his hand away and Felix trills happily before snuggling back into Chan’s neck. “The gathering is…” He trails off before sighing. “Do you per chance have a clock?” “Yeah.” Chan steps back and looks towards the grandfather clock.

“It's eleven thirty five, sir.” “Thank you. The gathering is at two, in your scroll is a sigil. Simply run your fingers over it and your clan will be transported, saving you the long flight to Vesper Sanctum.” “Thank you, sir.” “Of course. Have a nice rest of your evening.”

Chan bows as the man turns around and leaves, shutting the door and sighing. “Great.”

“Do we really have to wear this?” Changbin complains. “Unfortunately.” “But I thought we wanted to be different and stick out?” Seungmin asks on the back of the couch, pulling at his collar.

Chan had to fly around the attic to find the old dress wear they used to wear before changing to more modern clothes. “Well, any other time, yes, but since we're a new clan and this is our first time doing something like this, I kinda don't want to make any bad impressions to future allying clans.” “About that, I think it's dumb. Why ask for alliance with some unknown clan of Shadowborne's when we're perfectly fine on our own. We have a deal with the human town, we're comfortable living here, why do all this?”

Chan sighs, moving from fixing Seungmin’s collar to standing in front of a frowning Minho to fix his shirt. “Protection, resources, friends? We're not the only new clan going, I’m sure. Plus every clan will be there, it's also a family reunion.”

“Will emberborne's be there?” Felix, having been coaxed out of his bat form by Jisung, asks quietly, voice soft and quiet as he fiddles with his frilly sleeves. “You didn't ask that man and he didn't mention it either.” Chan is silent for a moment then moves again to Felix who stands behind the couch. “I’m not sure.” He gently takes Felix’s hand to tuck the shirt sleeve into the coat sleeve. “But if they are…you can't run off.” Chan could feel it, feel Felix’s hope while also being able to see it in his eyes. Felix goes to protest, to explain why he's asking but he knows Chan knows why he's asking.

“Okay. I won't run off, but if…if he is there, and he comes over to us…what do we do?” Chan finishes tucking his sleeves, holding his hands gently yet tight. “Don't greet him like a friend. Greet him like any other clan associate.” Felix nods and Chan lets go of his hands, pulling him into a hug. “I’m sure he's okay, Felix.” “He just left though…he's probably not going to be there.” “We may be different but we're equally fast. And if you're right then I’ll hold your mopey little bat butt for as long as you need.” Chan says, hoping to make the younger laugh and it works, Felix pulling away with a light laugh and smile. “Thank you, Hyung.” “Always. Now let's get going, Bin looks like he's about to rip the lace.” “It's itchy.” The aforementioned male whines as the others laugh.

They gather around Chan as he opens the scroll to see his own sigil. Tracing the lines, it glows red and deep red smoke swirls around them from the ground and when it reaches their head and dissipates, they're stood in front of a castle, multiple clans walking through the front door and inside.

The scroll disappears in Chan's hand at the same time they hear hissing, looking up to see two women baring their fangs at each other. “Hyung, look.” Jeongin holds on to Chan’s arm and points to the ground.

Leading into the castle were two carpets, black on the left and red on the right. The two women stand in the middle where the carpets meet before two men split them apart and pull them inside. “I guess it's literally every clan.” Hyunjin mutters from behind Chan.

Taking a deep breath, he nods his head slightly then glances at the boys. “Come on.” He walks over to the black carpet with the others in tow, Jeongin still holding on to his arm as his gaze lingers along the red carpet they're walking away from.

When inside the large ballroom, Felix and Jeongin are immediately bombarded by their siblings from their family clan, hugs so tight both of the boys look like they're gonna suffocate if they weren’t already dead and didn't breath like normal humans.

Changbin’s sister soon appeared and eventually it was just him and the boys that didn't have siblings. He couldn't spot his family yet but when he did, he didn't leave Minho and Hyunjin behind.

Eventually they all returned back to Chan and he looked around to notice all the clans gathering together. He moves his to the wall out of the way of the others and as to not be in the center, too much attention for them.

A moment later, clans start walking around to other clans to begin mingling. “I think this is the alliance making part.” Minho whispers and Chan sighs. “Yeah…” “You okay?” “I honestly wanted to go home the moment after I saw my family.” Chan mutters, looking at the clans around him. “Now I’m tired.”

Minho takes his hand in one of his, patting it gently with the other before clasping it over their conjoined hands. “It's okay. Just focus on us for now.” He looks around to see his own clan talking to one another and smiles as he leans against the wall behind them. “Okay.”

They stood there for who knows how long, just in their own world in the back of the castle before Felix notices the edge of a dress in the corner of his eye and looks up. Emberborne's have begun mingling with some of the Shadowborne’s and the dress of one catches his eye. “You idiot, you trying to make the whole of this species hate us?” The woman screeched quietly as she drags another vampire by the ear next to them, a couple steps away.

“I meant what I said. Your idea of an arranged marriage to the opposite species of a clan I don't even care about is wrong.” The woman slaps him, an angry scowl on her face as the male clutches his cheek. “Mom-” “No. This is why you’ll never get a protection mark. You should be grateful we're even helping you get protection, you weakling. Couldn't even escape some hunters during your punishment. Should've just left the bullet in, save us the hassle.”

Suddenly a man is stomping over, moving the woman out of the way just to slap the male again. “You just lost us an eternity's worth of alliance with the oldest Shadowborne clan here. You're gonna go back over to them and agree to marry their daughter, you're gonna fix all of this.” “I don't even like their daughter.” Another slap, at this point, Felix is watching instead of listening, his silence drawing Seungmin’s attention as well as Jisung’s to the same sight.

“You're marrying her no matter what. You’ll be getting protection while also fixing the alliance you broke.” “No! I’m not gonna do it!” Chan and the others are now watching when they finally hear the fight not so far away from them.

“Don't make us force you to fly another world wide trip to learn your lesson. Maybe this time the sun will get you.” Chan’s hand tightens in Minho’s. He doesn't know who the kin is but just the sound of parents forcing their kin to fly across the world just to learn a lesson made him extremely angry.

“Do you want me to fix an alliance or do you want me dead, make up your fucking minds!” Another slap and now more clan’s have gathered to watch and listen, the Shadowborne’s looking worried while the Emberborne’s watch like the kin deserves whatever he's getting. Emberborne’s are so cruel to their unprotected kin, Chan thinks.

“You don't get to speak out like that.” The man finally moves, the woman and her dress originally blocking the vampire but now they could get a look at the abused vampire.

“MN!” Felix calls out before he can catch himself and he's shrinking in on himself as everyone turns to him and Chan steps forward, standing next to the blonde protectively. “How does he know your name?” The man, presumably Mn’s father, asks darkly, glaring at the boy. “They helped me after the hunters got me. They didn't leave me for dead with a blessed silver bullet stuck inside me. Cause I begged for mercy.” “They should've ignored it and let you die.” “Hey!”

They turn to Chan who stands in front of the others. “Just because you have different traditions doesn't mean you wish for your kin to be dead. And he has a point, you're making these comments about wanting him dead but you also want to force him to fix an alliance?” “Chan, don't-” His dad slapped him again, causing him to fall to the floor.

Chan doesn't know what came over him but in that moment all he wanted to do was protect. He dangerously bared his fangs to the Emberborne who turned towards him at the sound of Chan's low hiss. “N-No, Chan, please- Ah!” Mn’s mother kicked his side when he tried to get up, kicking him back to the floor as his father chuckled darkly. “You dare challenge me?” The older vampire smirks darkly, showing one of his fangs.

“Ch-Chan…don't do it…” Mn pleads softly from his spot on the floor, leaning on an elbow and looking up at the male and the others behind him.

“You want to challenge me, fine. Let's go outside.” Mn’s dad walks away and Mn tries to get up to follow them out but his mother steps on his back. “Dear, let him go. Since he’s the problem, he’ll be the prize.”

Mn’s mother lifts him up by the back of his coat, shoving him over to his father who grabs his jacket like the woman did and brings him outside. He throws Mn to the side as Chan stands on one side and he stands closer to the castle. They're a few feet apart, snarling at each other as they circle around.

“You win, you get Mn. I win, I get him and you’ll never see him again.” Mn’s dad declares before disappearing with speed to end up behind Chan and kick his back, knocking him down but he gets up and uses his speed as well, to try and knock his ankles out from under him but the other dodges and transforms in a rust cloud before flying away from Chan and reforming. No rules were established, Chan notes before transforming and darting out from his red cloud so fast that no one notices his small black form disappearing and curving to the right, reappearing at the other vampires left and reforming to kick him, destabilizing him and giving him the chance to swipe his foot and knock the other over before stepping back.

“Impressive.” The man complimented as he got up, gaze not leaving Chan. “But not enough.” He reforms again, flying to his left to circle Chan who watches, focusing on the bat circling him, spinning to his other side to continue following but there was no bat on his other side. He had tricked him but he couldn't turn fast enough before he was kicked to the ground again.

“Dad, please…” Chan hears Mn’s voice, looking up to see Mn’s mother holding him down, preventing him from intervening.

Suddenly, wave of energy crashed over Chan as his briefly red eyes meet Mn’s gold. Gasps and whispers start around them and it appears that Mn’s parents didn't notice what just happened.

Chan hasn't felt this since he first started his clan, since he first found his brethren before they became his consorts and their eyes quickly flash red.

Chan just bonded with an Emberborne.

He's got to win this, He's gotta beat Mn’s dad, He has to get to him. Who knows what title he’ll be given when he will claim Mn but he has to, has to take him from his wretched abusing family.

He pushes up, standing on his feet and turning to Mn’s dad who stands confidently in front of him with a cocky smirk. He reforms again, darting out of his smoke before it dissipates completely and he flies along the edge of the crowd before flying out and knocking his wing into Mn’s mother and disappears again.

“That little twerp.” The woman shouts as she looks around and Chan flies by her again and she yells in annoyance, trying to swat at him but Chan is already making another round and finally she does what he wanted her to do.

She stumbles back from stepping on Mn who’s quick to reform and fly away, blinding his mother with his smoke before it disappears and she's looking around for her son. “MN!”

Mn’s father looks around for Chan and his son, listening as best as he could for flapping wings before he's turning to the front of the castle. In front of the stone railing to the entrance stairs was Chan and Mn. “Can I bite you?” “What?” “Can I bite you? I can take you from your family, you can be with us.” “But I’m-” “Which Shadowborne would you prefer? Me or some random woman.” Mn gasps softly and Chan can see his eyes shine in the moonlight and the few flame lamps surrounding the yard. “Yes. Yes, you can, please, my family fucking sucks, please.”

“Stop this nonsense! No one has won, Mn move out of the way!” He turns to his father who's beginning to storm over to him. Chan stands behind him, his left hand grabbing and ripping the fabric of Mn’s suit out of the way as his right holds Mn’s waist and he leans down. “What are you doing!” “Winning my fight.” He smirks before leaning down and sinking his teeth into Mn’s exposed skin. Mn yelps out at the initial pain and intrusion before he groans, hand reaching up to Chan’s that rests on his shoulder.

The crowd gasps at Chan's actions, astonished that he matched and claimed an Ember so quickly and easily. Behind them, they could hear the rest of the clan cheer excitedly, especially Felix.

Chan was immensely comfortable where he was but still forced himself to pull back, pulling out his fangs as Mn moved his hand so they could both watch the Stravian Kin sigil almost burn into his skin but it really shows up as if someone was invisible and tattooing his wrist. It shined gold once it finished and Mn smiled.

They look away from the mark to Mn’s father who stares at them, practically gobsmacked. Chan smirks, leaning down and licking the blood off Mn’s shoulder without looking away from the older Vampire. “I win.”

Mn’s father huffs angrily, fisting his lapels and tugging them down, straightening his coat before transforming and flying away with Mn’s mother following shortly after.

Chan stands straight, watching them fly off and when he looks down, Mn is already looking at him. “You really want me in your clan?” “Well I can't take it back.” He lifts a hand and wipes a trail of blood off with his finger before licking it off. “And Felix probably won't let you leave again. Since you left, he was in his bat form until we had to get ready for this.” Before Mn could ask where he was, he saw someone jump over the railing next to them and turned in order to catch a blonde vampire.

“Mn! Are you okay? How are you? How’d you get here so fast? Did you miss us? I might've missed you. You paired with Hyung! How do you-” “Felix! Hey, calm down, I’m not going anywhere. Not anymore.” Felix removes himself from Mn and looks up at him before gasping. “Gold is really pretty on you.” Mn laughs and pulls Felix back into a hug before flinching and giggling as he pushes Felix away. “Okay, warn me before you lick me, please.” “Warning.” Chan cheekily mutters before cleaning the rest of his bite, Mn yelping at his voice suddenly being next to his ear. “Th-That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Chan Hyung! Can we go home? I’m tired.” Changbin asks as he pulls at his collar. Chan looks around before spotting the man that invited him to this place. “Do we have to fly back?” “No, where's your sigil?” “It disappeared when we got here.” “Oh, that's not meant to happen. Here.” He walks back into the castle before emerging with another scroll and handing it to Chan. “Here's a new one.” “Thank you.” “Of course.”

Chan turns back to his clan and watches Mn look at the other boys with flashes of gold. Smiling, he walks over to them. “Let’s go home.” Felix holds Mn’s hand as smoke envelops all of them and they're all back in the living room.

“Finally!” Changbin cheers before quickly running off to his room to change. “Come on, Mn.” Felix gently tugs Mn’s arm and pulls him towards the stairs.

Mn goes to walk to the room he was put in before but Felix stops him, pulling him towards his room. “The others had to deal with my bat butt for most of the night before the gathering, it's only fair for you to do your part.” Mn laughs, letting him lead him the other way to his room.

Felix had dark blue blankets and a match canopy. On the wall across from the bed was a vanity with a mirror. “Oh shoot.” Felix quickly went over to the large window and pulled his curtains closed, tying and tucking them to block out any light. Mn goes to walk over to Felix as he goes into the closet but the mirror catches his eye.

Tilting his head more to bare his neck, he reaches up to the still visible teeth marks from Chan, his fingers gently touching the area around it as he smiles, straightening his neck as he looks down at the vanity surface, shy of his own reflection.

“My mom always said I’d never mark or be marked…” He speaks aloud, knowing Felix will hear him. “I feel so…happy to see this after constantly being told I don't deserve a mark, that I deserve to be alone and unprotected.”

Felix had slowed down on the knot he was tying on his curtains, looking over to Mn. He stares at the male for a moment, thinking something over before walking over to him. “Can…Can I show you something?” Mn looks up at Felix and nods. “Um, your- Our…sigil is on you but there's another part to it.” “What do you mean?” Felix hesitates. Should he really be first? Chan was the first for all of them but since he connected to Mn at the castle he's been wanting to kiss Mn. “I-I assume it was gold when it appeared?” “Yeah.” “Do…Do you trust me?” Felix whispered, stepping closer to Mn, so close that Mn gasps softly as his breath hitched. “Y-Yeah. I-I do.”

Felix admires Mn’s rusty eye color for a moment before speaking again. “Close your eyes.” He whispers and Mn listens. Felix hesitates again before gently pressing his lips to Mn’s. Mn gasped but didn't pull away. They were both hesitant and cautious but eventually they moved in sync. Felix carefully cradled Mn’s face, parting his lips to drag his fangs over Mn’s bottom lip. Mn automatically parted his own lips and did the same before Felix dragged his tongue over Mn’s fangs.

Felix’s arms moved around Mn’s neck when his hands finally found Felix’s waist. Felix’s fangs pierced Mn’s lip slightly and he proceeds to lick up the blood and Mn hisses before pulling back and looking down at his wrist, the sigil glowing a bright red and it stung slightly. “What…” Mn whispered in awe and confusion. Felix was about to tell him what he just did before an echo of a voice sounded from the first floor by the stairs.

“Felix, I know you didn't just do what I think you did!!” Mn looks out the open door then over to Felix, brows furrowing in deeper confusion and they walk out the room and down the hall to look over the banister to see Chan looking up with his hands on his hip. “What do you mean?” Felix played innocent and Mn looked between the two.

“You binded with him.” “Binded with me?” Mn asked, still confused but Chan spoke over him. “Felix, I can smell your arousal from the study, I’m not dumb.” “Sorry, Chan. Technically speaking you were the first to Bloodbind and bite him so all I’m really doing is going next before the others.” Watching Felix defend himself was adorable to Mn. He leans in, kissing Felix’s cheek and he stops mid sentence. “Can someone explain what Bloodbinding is?” “Y-You-” Felix blinked and shook his head. “Uh, Your parents didn't tell you? That's one of the things all vampires have in common.” “Felix, my parents didn't believe I’d ever find my own clan.” “Right, uh…”

He looks back down to Chan, the older vampire crossing his arms as he watches them, then back to Mn. “I’m gonna go see, Hyunjin, for a moment then I can-” “Felix, it's coming from him too.” Chan interrupted Felix, who's become flustered. “Well, I wasn't sure if- It's his first time doing this I didn't think-” Mn eventually understood what was going on and turned Felix towards him with a finger under his chin and pecked his lips. “I-I don't mind helping…” Mn muttered shyly and Felix stared at him with wide eyes before shakily nodding. “Y-Yeah, Yeah, okay.”

Chan shakes his head, a warm smile playing at the corners of his lips, as they step away from the banister and make their way back to Felix's room. He finds it both amusing and heartening that Felix is already captivated by Mn, almost as if the two were destined to connect. The ease with which Mn has also woven himself into the dynamics of their clan fills Chan with a sense of relief, knowing that this new bond has formed so effortlessly in their unique clan.

[traintrainingmontage]

Congrats for the 150! 🥳 Your writings are always superb!

As the writing prompts are opened, may i request something about Duncan being genuinely happy? I don't know maybe something about he got a suprise or something and basically went; "Awww 🥺 that's actually so nice of you thank you." maybe it would sounds ooc if i write it like that, but i know you can put your own spin on it to make it sounds like him while keep the reaction similar. Hehe~

Peace ✌🏼

Thank you so much for the kind words!! ✨ I would love to make Duncan happy, hahahaha. He deserves it.

(And yes, this is another prompt where Peter Sam is a major player, but he just fits too well for this story!!)

(I'm taking prompts through March 31! Details here!)

"Good morning, Duncan!" Peter Sam chirped one morning as he and the rest of their shedmates got steamed up. The process of getting their fires lit and building up steam could take time, especially given how much preparation was required to ensure that they were all ready to run. As such, it was fairly common for the engines of the Skarloey Railway to idly chat amongst themselves in the morning as their crews got them ready for work, mostly in the hopes of waking up a little more quickly.

Duncan, who was still trying to shrug off the last gasps of sleep, gave a disgruntled sigh as his gaze slid over to Peter Sam, then at the weather outside. Today, clouds were gathering over the island, and promises of rain could be heard on the whispers of the winds. "What kinda 'goo' mornin'' are YOU forecastin', huh? It's gonna come down hard!" Duncan frowned, already not looking forward to being out in such weather.

"Well, you never know!" Peter Sam retorted. "It might clear up later."

Duncan could only sigh in response, begrudgingly amazed at his fellow engine's ever-present optimism. "Good Lird, Peter Sam. Have they ever tried bottlin' somma yer cheer? Maybe we'd save on coal if we could all run on that."

Peter Sam just laughed in response, and from the next berth over, without missing a beat, came Rusty's voice. "I don't know, Duncan. It might be too bubbly for you," the little diesel called as they puttered out of their berth, heading out to start his day.

"Tch," Duncan scoffed, the closest thing he'd ever allowed himself to get to a laugh, and just let the conversation drop as his fire continued to burn pleasantly in his firebox. Peter Sam, however, was clearly not yet finished, and an idle thought, casual as could be, slipped from his lips.

"Say, Duncan, do you remember your birthday?"

Once again, Duncan's eyes shifted over to Peter Sam, but this time, there was a slight tension in the air that soon became sour.

"No."

This growl was all that Peter Sam received in return, causing him to quirk an eyebrow. If he noticed the shift in the air, he certainly didn't seem bothered by it, much less intimidated. "Really? I know that you told the Controller that you don't want a birthday celebration, but I thought that was just because you don't like noise."

"I don't," Duncan hissed, "but I also don't remember my fuckin' birthday, so there's no sense in havin' a party for it. Hell, I didn't even get to have a NAME before I came here. So FUCK OFF."

Peter Sam's eyes went wide. "Wait, you didn't have a--"

His exclamation was interrupted by a loud weesh, evidence of the fact that Duncan had finished working up to his required level of steam, and without another word, the surly engine headed off to gather his first train. In his wake, Peter Sam could only watch him go, his eyes forlorn as he waited for his turn to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The days flew by, fast becoming weeks. Neither Duncan nor Peter Sam mentioned birthdays again, but every so often, whenever the topic was brought up, the No. 4 engine caught Duncan looking pensive, as though he'd suddenly remembered something that he didn't particularly want to think about. The look never lingered long, but even so, to Peter Sam's eye, there was a pain there, an anger, that he couldn't bear to look away from.

Thus, there was only one thing he could think to do.

"Skarloey, could I have a moment?" Peter Sam asked the older engine one morning, slowly pulling up to the outdoor shed. He was already in steam, but fortunately running ahead of schedule, and most of the other engines were already out and about, getting their trains together. Skarloey himself was still getting steamed up, so this was the best opportunity he had to talk, particularly since he wanted the privacy.

"Of course, Peter Sam," Skarloey smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"Well," Peter Sam hedged, "it's... about Duncan. I asked him about his birthday once, and he said that not only did he not remember his birthday, but he hadn't even gotten to have a NAME before he came here. Can you believe that, Skarloey? Not being given a name?"

At Peter Sam's indignation, Skarloey's expression fell, his tone somber. "On some other railways, that's the norm, Peter Sam. The people of Sodor have always treated us engines quite well, but in many places, engines are not considered fellow employees, so much as... exploitable labor. I am of the opinion that Duncan's time in the factory was not a pleasant one, to say the least."

The old engine took a breath, his eyes moving away from Peter Sam to look out into the abyss. "It may be that birthdays are a painful concept for him, as he was built to serve in a place that treated him horribly. I cannot say that I would enjoy being reminded of such things either, even if celebrated with the best of intentions. However, he might still want to be celebrated, given who he is."

"Oh..." Peter Sam's voice was small, but after a moment, he pushed on, a newly born resolve shining in his eyes. "Then, what if we threw him a different sort of party? Nothing too loud or crazy, but... what if we do something like this?"

With that, Peter Sam began to outline his plan—hesitantly at first, but as Skarloey gave his own input and encouragement, the younger engine spoke with more confidence, the idea coalescing from a vague thought into a plausible proposal. By the time they were finished, both engines had wide smiles on their faces. "I hope he likes this," Peter Sam murmured, his grin falling slightly; despite the two engines' confidence in their plan, that didn't guarantee that Duncan would be pleased with the result. Across from him, Skarloey simply chuckled, giving Peter Sam a wink.

"I'm sure that he will, Peter Sam. Of that, I have no doubt."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another month passed, and soon enough, a certain day came. Duncan wasn't one to remember specific holidays beyond the major ones, but there was something special about today: today was the day he'd first come to the Skarloey Railway.

Not that anyone else would really care, of course.

The thought made him feel somewhat bitter, but then again, he'd brought this upon himself. He didn't want to remember his actual birthday and his horrible stint in the factory, but he couldn't deny that he wished that his existence could be celebrated, just like everyone else's. To be thanked for his service, to be praised and appreciated for living and working another year... he never could have conceived of such a thing back in the factory, but now that it was something that he could have, he wanted that too.

He wanted to be seen, to be recognized.

He had a name now, not just a number. He had a home, not just somewhere he was forced to stay. Supposedly, he was something worth celebrating, just like any other engine on the railway.

He wanted to be like all the rest of them, happy and proud of their lives well lived.

But such thoughts were worthless, and there was no use in dwelling on them. He'd already squandered his chance by demanding that his birthday go unrecognized, and it wasn't as if his actual birthday was worth celebrating anyway, name or not.

These thoughts, bubbling up and being quashed down throughout the day, caused his mood to become even more dour than usual as he trundled his way back to the shed. The sun had already begun to set, and by the time he got back, it was already dark. In his misery, Duncan failed to notice that all of the other engines were also back, staring at him excitedly. "Oh, there he is!" Peter Sam called. "Ok, everyone! DO IT!"

As Duncan suddenly snapped back to his senses at hearing the shout, he was greeted by a wave of cheers and sound.

"HAPPY REBIRTHDAY, DUNCAN!!"

The No. 6 engine could only blink, absolutely dumbfounded, at the many smiles, both engine and human, aimed his way. His eyes jumped from one cheerful face to another, until he found Peter Sam's.

"Peter Sam," Duncan began, barely knowing where to start, "what in the fresh hell is all this?"

"Do you like it?" the other engine grinned, his smile wide as a cake was slowly brought over and set before Duncan, marked with several glowing candles. "We know you don't like your actual birthday celebrated, but this is the day that you came to join the railway and got your name, isn't it? It's your rebirth! So, we're celebrating your rebirthday!"

The logic was simplistic at best, but Duncan couldn't help but marvel at the gentle warmth that flooded through him at the explanation. The day that he'd gotten his name... the day that he'd joined this railway... the day that his life had changed so truly for the better... Tears threatened to fall, and it took all of Duncan's willpower to hold them back. "I... thank ye. Thank ye so much," he managed, his voice heavy with emotion, and across from him, all of his shedmates smiled.

"Thank you, Duncan," Skarloey spoke up, his eyes warm and his voice kind. "Thank you for coming to our railway, and for all of the work you do. We are truly lucky to have you."

"Hear hear," the other engines called, and one by one, they began to speak.

"Thank you for carrying all of that heavy slate, Duncan."

"Thanks for getting me back on the rails last week!"

"Thanks for nothing, you--"

"SIR HANDEL!"

And so, amongst the din of the sheds, surrounded only by friends and the ones he might secretly call family, Duncan finally let the tears fall even as the most brilliant smile any of them had ever seen spread across his face.

Duncan may not have been one for noisy parties, but considering that this time, it was for his rebirthday... well, perhaps it wasn't so bad.

[paddockbunny]

Don’t Blame Me - Part 3

Summary : You had it bad. You had it so damn bad for a man that was not your boyfriend. And when you arrive in Brazil and find out all the drivers were staying in the same hotel…what happens when it’s suddenly all out there to you, on a plate? Rating : 18+ Pairing : Daniel Ricciardo x Reader (Max Verstappen’s GF) Word Count : Multi-part imagine - part 3 is 2800 words Trigger Warnings : 18+, NSFW, adult language, fantasising having sex with someone who isn’t your boyfriend, sexual themes, or female receiving Images : curated from Pintrest Authors Note : this chapter features Max Verstappen in a sexual situation so please note as I know some people do not like to engage with Max content. But it will be worth it in the end ✌🏼*** denotes a flashback x

Brazil ’23

You made it back to the hotel in one piece. Max’s hands had been all over you in the back of the car. His lips were on every inch of visible skin he could find. You wondered if the driver thought it was inappropriate behaviour or was annoyed by the giggling that left you every time he pressed his lips against various body parts and hands found another part of you to caress. But you were enjoying it too much to even care. You weren’t sure what had gotten into him. He had had a strange day – after being at the lower half of the grid in practice then doing a recovery drive and putting it on pole for the actual race on Sunday. It was a mixed bag but he seemed fuelled by something. Not that you were in anyway complaining.

When you finally pulled up to the hotel, still slightly breathless with your lip-gloss anywhere but your lips, you saw the crowds of fans instantly. You knew this meant that he was going to have to spend a while signing caps and posing for pictures with fans. It momentarily halted the earlier make-out session from progressing but you appreciated this was just simply part of Max’s job. You smiled as you parted from him and went to wait inside the hotel – where you could indulge in the air conditioning to cool your body temperature down from the aftermath of Max’s seduction. Watching him through the floor to ceiling windows you felt the rush of adoration. Max always seemed to get a bit of a bum deal with people thinking he wasn’t good to his fans. You could attest that he was amazing with them and always took time out of his own day to speak to them and make them feel special – even if he was trying to conceal his semi while doing so as he currently was.

 

Twenty minutes later Max came waltzing through the door and came straight over to you. “Are you hungry?” He asked as you arose to your feet. “Not really.” You shrugged and an amused and delighted smile spread broadly across his face. “Good.” He boldly and bluntly stated. His hand slipped into yours as he pulled you in the direction of the elevator. He pressed the button. He leaned into you as you waited and you could feel his hot breath against your ear. In a low purr he spoke quietly against your hair; “I’m hungry” He breathed “but not for food.”

 

Falling into hotel rooms had become your favourite pastime. Especially when your boyfriend’s incredible lips were attached to your own like they were right in that moment. The pair of you had picked up exactly where you had left off. Max’s hands were firmly positioned around your waist (where they belonged) holding you into him like he never wanted to let you go. He held you upright as you stumbled back, trying to keep your balance while he lead you straight over toward the bed. Your stomach twisted and tightened from the anticipation for what you knew was coming. Your brain flooded with all of the possible ways he could make love to you and as his hands travelled further down to grab handfuls of your round peachy ass, you tried to decipher which way it was going to be tonight. He usually liked it slow, steady, and sensual. Making sure that you felt taken care of and adored through every single stroke. He liked it because it always gave him plenty of time to hear all of the moans he pulled from you and feel how your body responded to each and every move he made. But you weren’t sure tonight was one of those nights. Nights after a race win or a recovery drive were usually lust driven. They were passionate and sometimes rough. On these nights he wouldn’t hesitate to close his hand around your throat and playfully squeeze or spank your butt a few times just so you remembered that you were his.

Max wasted no time peeling your top from your body. His eyes went large as he took in the sight of your chest in your new white lace bra. It was one of his little quirks. He preferred white lingerie to black like most guys did. You had found it out quite quickly into your relationship when he bought you a whole bunch of little scraps of white fabric that would barely cover a damn thing. Asking him about it he said it was because it made your skin look like it shimmered and he liked the fact he could see when you got excited by him as the wet patch on your panties always became more visible. It was reason enough for you to continue to wear white to please him and you happened to find this particular little kink rather sweet. His mouth wasted no time following the way his hands had gone. It kept travelling down and down. From your neck, down to your collarbone and finally to your stomach. He always started like this. He always made sure you were all ready for him when he finally decided to give you what the dull ache inside of you wanted most. His fingers unbuttoned your jeans and slowly pulled them down your thighs. A breath caught in your throat as he placed his lips to the elastic band of the matching white thong and moaned against you flesh. God you needed him. You needed him so badly. You needed him right fucking now. You opened your eyes and looked down, preparing to beg him to get what you needed when your mouth fell open in shock. Instead of a mop of dirty blonde hair meeting your eyes it was curls of deep dark brown. Instead of the steely eyes you loved, a pair of full round dark ones met your gaze. Instead of Max down on his knees before you ready to pay attention to the slick wet folds with his all too willing tongue, it was Daniel.

 

***

May ‘23

Monaco

This was the first sponsor party you had ever attended with Max – with anyone really – and you had no idea why he hated them so much. Ok, perhaps talking shop all night and having to answer the same question of “so, do you think you’ll win this weekend” gets a little boring but there was a rather intoxicating buzz around the room. The music was loud but not obnoxiously so and the drinks were strong (and free). It was a totally different world to the one you were used to and truthfully you were still trying to get accustomed to it. You were attempting to blend in and make it look like you belonged here and you were one of the girls that would be attending these fancy parties all the time. There were models and influencers galore here in Monaco and you were just another one of the “normal” girls – so much so that you wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had gotten you mixed up for a competition winner or a fan. Yet somehow, people seemed to know who you were. Even if it they only knew you as “Max Verstappen’s Girlfriend”.

 

Max was off schmoozing with one of the most important shareholders with Christian and Checo in a corner. They were laughing and all of their faces looked relaxed and happy so at least it seemed like they weren’t talking about Sunday’s race and piling the pressure on. You knew Max found all the glitz and showiness of Monaco a bore. He hated having to watch what he said and pretend to like some of the pretentious fuckwits that always seemed to show up here. He liked living in Monaco for the ease of travel and the nice weather – plus the tax break was always handy when you earned as much as he did - but he didn’t like most of the rich and famous that also lived here. You headed toward the bar so you could get another one of the orangey cocktails ladened with enough vodka to take down an elephant.

Finding a space to fit into wasn’t easy. There was hardly any room and you would have to try wedge yourself in to order. Why was it men always like to congregate at the bar instead of sitting at a table or moving a few feet away from it instead of staking their claim to the spot all night? You stood for a few seconds hoping someone would notice that you were there but it failed miserably. Instead you had to dive into the next available spot when one man took off presumably to go to the restroom. You slid in. Pleased of your observance. The next trouble would be trying to get the already busy bartenders to notice you long enough for you to order. Max Verstappen’s girlfriend doesn’t get you very far when rich, glamorous women were hanging off the arms of rich powerful men were all over the place. You waited till it was your turn. Biting your lip in the hopes you wouldn’t turn away empty handed. When you felt a hand on the small of your back. Max. You relaxed into it thankful you had been saved. You would absolutely get served now that the current Formula One World Champion was standing behind you making it obvious that you were with him. Only, when you turned around to thank him it wasn’t Max at all. Glaring at you with a slight smile was Daniel Ricciardo instead.

Ever since meeting him back in Azerbaijan a month ago you had barely spoken to him past a few words. He didn’t seem interested in getting to know you. Which was fine, it was cool, whatever. After all not everyone that worked with Max or had such a close friendship with had to know the girlfriend. But resigned to the fact that he wasn’t interested was the fact that you very much were. Straight from the word go you were interested in him. Partly because Max always painted him as this fun, vivacious, life loving guy who never failed to make him laugh but also because he was so fucking gorgeous. You stupidly delved into his social media and watched a couple of the old Red Bull videos online. He was funny and charming and harboured bundles of natural charisma. It had only been a few days after you met him for the first time – Well, technically it was the second but the first time you were introduced by name. The first time was when you body checked him on the way to hospitality when he clearly thought you were single and was checking you out (you assumed because he might have only been squinting and not at all checking you out and you fabricated it because now you fancied him a little) – and suddenly you felt like a fangirl and had to hide your mini crush on him from Max.

 

“What are you drinking?” He asked but your mind was still on the fact his hand hadn’t left your waist. You wanted to appear confident but the name of the drink you wanted went straight out of your head as he stared at you. “Uh…” You wanted the ground to swallow you up. Words. Use your fucking words or he’s going to think you’re a fucking simpleton. You scolded yourself. “That orange thing they were bringing round.” He smiled and his eyes creased a little. God, he was really handsome. He motioned behind you to catch the attention of a bartender. It was an easy task for him. Everyone knew who he was after all. He ordered what you guessed was wine for himself and then a vodka sunrise, which was yours. Vodka Sunrise, you should have known that. It tasted familiar but you were used to the usual tequila versions. You bit your lip again trying to pretend like it didn’t annoy you that you seemed stupid.

“Are you having a nice evening?” You asked him when he looked at you again and before you could stop yourself. It was work for him just like Max. It was a commitment due to the sponsor not because either of them wanted to actually be there. “Its not bad.” He shrugged “Better than some other years” He at least attempted to answer your question, which was kind of him. You knew he probably wanted to shout at you he never wanted to be asked if he was having a nice evening ever again. You glanced down and nervously twirled the bracelet upon your wrist as a ploy so you could take in his chest in the shirt he was wearing. In direct contrast to Max’s white shirt Daniel was wearing a black one and it made his golden tanned skin look even darker. Fuck! Why does he have to look like this?!

Another loud laugh left you. It bubbled up and erupted from you lips as Daniel told you another funny story about Max from their time as teammates. There was something about the way he was able to tell the stories. He built suspense and intrigue before landing a hilarious line that made your ribcage hurt from laughing. You were almost too busy giggling at Max’s historic misfortune that you nearly missed Daniel’s arm grazing yours. But you felt it and the simultaneous shivers that went up and down your spine as his muscly limb bumped into your own. You swallowed. Not because you were nervous but because you liked it. As you mulled over the action and if he intended to do it or not you glimpsed at him just at the same time as he happened to do the same to you. His eyes are stunning. But it was his lips and in particular the one that was drawn under his upper teeth as he bit it that drew your attention. Is he doing this on purpose? It was so hot and you couldn’t avoid from thinking it.

Daniel turned his head away from you and let out an audible frustrated huff. “I can’t believe you have a boyfriend.” He said it with borderline gritted teeth before stretching his neck out in that familiar way that guys did when they seemed frustrated. You had heard him right. You know you did. He might have thought it was sly but you had caught it. You knew what guys usually meant when they said things like Daniel had just done but you couldn’t refrain from asking what he meant so you got a clearer idea. “Well, if it was just a boyfriend I wouldn’t care but your boyfriend happens to be Max” It only clarified it a little but it certainly made your pulse jumpstart and go haywire of what you thought his words meant. You found yourself asking why again. Daniel sighed and leaned in further toward you. So close you could smell his expensive fragrance and feel his body heat radiating from him. His breath tickled the side of your exposed neck as he whispered; “Because of all the things I would do to you if you weren’t his”

And then he walked away leaving you standing there with your heart racing and mouth hanging opened in pure shock.

***

Your eyes clamped close as Max pushed you gently backward on to the bed. He remained on his knees as he peeled your sodden wet panties down your thighs before he groaned carnally at the sight of you. The inhale of air that you took was so loud it filled the room but it was necessary one because Max pressed his dreamy lips to your intimate folds. The image of Daniel that had sprung on you moments ago was forgotten as soon as Max started calm, delicates swipes of his tongue. Loud breaths fell away to gasps and sharp sucks of air as he began paying attention to the bundle of nerves he was practically best friends with. His name teetered on the edge your parted lips. The short, quick name was about to flow out of you on a sigh but you opened your eyes to look at him again and FUCK!

Your mind was cruel to you. This was torturous. As your boyfriend made all of the nerve endings in your body stand to attention and put every pleasure point on high alert, you were picturing Daniel. You could imagine the way his tongue would feel as it moved like Max’s was. You could feel the burning sting of his beard on your sensitive inner thigh and the nudge of his nose as he delved in to taste you. You were close already just imagining how expertly he would be able to do this so continued indulging. His name threatened to escape from you as you reached down and ran your hands through soft straight hair expecting for your fingers to be tangled in a generous mop of fine chocolate curls. Momentarily it disappointed you because it took you out of the fantasy but you were there just thinking about him. Max was doing all the work but it was Daniel and the simple thought of him that made you orgasm.

Part 4 Here

[run2gyuz]

Hard thought!!!✨✨

You’ve gone out to get groceries while Yeonjun (or tyun) was sleeping and he woke up and you obviously weren’t there and he couldn’t find his phone and he started crying and prayed you came home and you walked in and saw him crying and asked him what’s wrong and he said that you left him (he has separation anxiety and he never told you cuz he’s scared you would leave him) and Yeonjun told you about it and then you calmed him down and apologised to him then you peppered him in kisses and it turned into you bouncing on his cock softly and whispering things in his ear like “ ‘m sorry Junnie” “you should’ve told me sooner baby” and yappa yappa but like yeah you left Yeonjun to go buy food and it turned into soft makeup sex😭👀✨✨✨✨✨

you can add if you want or remove stuff✌🏼❤️

OML YES YES I love your mind

Switch leaning sub!Yeonjun x fem!reader

𝘼/𝙉: Soft sex with Jun isn’t a want atp it’s a need :(

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: talk of anxiety, depictions of anxiety, cumming inside (grrrrr), riding, established relationship, lottts of praise

𝙬𝙘: 696

MINORS DNI

When Yeonjun woke up and his hands weren’t wrapped around your body he went into full panic. He was sure there was some logical explanation as to why you weren’t next to him but he couldn’t possibly think straight without you beside him, he should have told you about his anxiety, but he didn’t want you to just think he was clingy and leave him! The more he thought of you being away from him the more he felt the panic rise within him. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes, threatening to fall.

The boy scrambled around looking for his phone, tears now silently streaming down his cheeks. He couldn’t find it anywhere! God knows how long you were going to be, or even if you were going to come back at all, such thoughts clouded the boys head, crying into his hands. He was attempting to dry his eyes and calm himself, what if you walked in and saw him in such a state? You’d probably leave him, and then what? What would the boy do without you? Yeonjun let out another sob at the thought of you forever leaving him, as the front door of your apartment opened.

The boy hadn’t heard you come in due to his cries, so he had no time to attempt to dry his eyes before you find your way to his side, pulling him into you at an attempt to console him. “Yeonjun? What’s wrong my love? Are you okay?”. The boy clung to your side, sobbing into your neck mumbling, “why did you leave me?”. You pulled away from him slightly, telling him you only went to get groceries, that you would’ve told him if he wasn’t asleep.

The boy sat up slightly, drying his eyes and holding your hand in his, “There’s something I need to tell you,”. You look at the boy worriedly, questioning if he was ok. The boy began to explain his separation anxiety, which was why you walked in on him in tears, “I just didn’t want you to leave me, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,”. You squeeze his hands, muttering that he didn’t need to be sorry and that, “I’m never going to leave you baby, I promise I’ll tell you next time okay?”. The boy nodded, eyes still slightly watering, he looked so pretty like this. “How about I make it up to you hm?”

“Fuck Yeonjun, you’re so pretty,” you whispered, bouncing on the boys cock, as he fell back against the bed with a whine. You grabbed his hands, pulling him up to meet you again, “wanna be close to you Junnie,”. You felt the boys hands reach around your back, pulling you impossibly closer to him while leaving kisses along your neck, occasionally leaving faint love bites.

As you could feel your movements get slower due to loosing strength, you resorted to grinding down on Yeonjuns dick instead, leading to him tipping his head back letting out a breathy, “fuck _____,”. You squeezed on his dick occasionally, leading to him fucking into you as you muttered sweet nothings into his ears.

“You’re so god for me Jjunie,”

“I’m sorry baby,”

“You should have told me jjun,”

You felt Yeonjuns thrusts into you get staggered and sloppy as he neared his edge. The boy leaned forward to lean his head on your shoulder, grabbing your hips firmly as he began to push you up and brown on his cock, eyes rolling back at the feeling of your gummy walls against his sensitive dick. “F- Fuck, g- gonna cum okay? Can I cum inside, just this once promise?” You nodded, not even registering what the boy was asking. As Yeonjun pressed you down onto his cock on final time you felt him release inside of you, quickly followed by your own release as Yeonjun let out an almost pornographic moan.

“You’re so good Jjunie,” you whisper, pulling his hair behind his ear and kissing his cheek. The boy smiles into your touch, letting his hands fall to your hips, muttering a, “let’s just stay like this for a while,” before he began kissing your neck once again.

𝘼/𝙉: pls like + reblog <3

STOP BECAUSE WITH THIS JUN???

[itsbells]

madison’s new instagram post:

liked by justinherbert, ama.allan, haileesteinfeld and 3.3 million others.

madisonbeer: life has been so amazing lately 🤍🎧🫧⚡️

comments:

user1: oh my

user3: so you were wearing HIS sweater at HIS game?!

> user2: HUH

>user3: the navy blue sweaters!

>user2: OHH

ama.allan: my best friend is amazing

> madisonbeer: my best friend is gorgeous

>jacobelordi: um i thought i was your best friend

>ama.allan: well you thought wrong

> madisonbeer: 🫥

user4: there’s no way that isn’t justin

> user7: RIGHT

haileesteinfeld: let me guess you did a backflip?

> madisonbeer: no i held my breath

> haileesteinfeld: MADISON

> madisonbeer: i’m k i d d i n g 😭

>joshallenqb: i would’ve ran

> madisonbeer: he said “OH”

> user1: who is ‘he’ madison? 🤨

user9: yall that’s definitely justin. he’s even liking her post && the chargers post?!

> user2: YEAH he liked that one too! like when is this man ever active. kinda fishy that he is nowww 👀

~

tmz new instagram post:

liked by 11.5 millions people.

tmz: madison beer seen leaving the sofi stadium in LA after chargers win against the saints tonight. along with chargers quarterback, justin herbert leaving shortly after and getting in the same car as madison’s..

could we possibly have another romance brewing in the NFL? 🏈❤️ link in bio for the full story. 📎

comments:

user1: oh. this definitely tea ☕️

user2: the same car?!

user3: one of my friends went to that game and said she saw them talking before the game! she wasn’t wearing that top though.. 👀

> user4: oh. they’re trying to be sneaky. she most likely changed it

> user3: most definitely!

user5: I KNEW IT

user14: i’m sorry who is madison beer?

user9: wait im actually so invested now.

user4: i’m kinda here for it honestly

user6: she’s very pretty! that’s so cute for them tbh!

~

justin’s new instagram post:

liked by madisonbeer, simifehoko and 9.9 million others.

justinherbert: wonderful day at work

comments:

user1: hawt

simifehoko: brother 🤝🏼

> justinherbert: 🤝🏼

user5: madison liked..

> user2: ☕️

user3: who are you smiling at like that 🫠

user9: have you guys noticed justin’s captions are always the same 😭

> user8: wait i think you’re on to something here 😂

derwinjames: gg 10 ⚡️

> justinherbert: ✌🏼

[skyfallscotland]

So the other day I went on a bit of a deep dive and used the wayback machine to find some of my old fanfic (may you never see it) but I was reading through my old comments (as you do) on my most popular fic from back then, that I started when I was twelve, and my god I have to share this with you guys 😭😂

We have come a LONG way and I think I maybe just blanked a lot of this out to keep myself going, because if current me was copping this, she’d be out, no more fic.

Consider this my official apology for forever saying fandom is so much worse than it used to be…It’s only mostly worse 🤣🫶🏼 that bright period in there was obviously the decade after this one.

Shall we stroll down memory lane together?

(trigger warning: homophobia)

Now, I’m not claiming my work was amazing (again, I was TWELVE) it was honestly terrible. Cringe as hell. But it also clearly had some fans because I got a lot of decent comments too (hundreds on a 19k word HP fic that I abandoned after a few years, that then did not survive the second great ffnet purge), and a lot of those comments after I was like “GUYS I’M TRYING HERE I’M ONLY TWELVE!” etc were like “wait, you’re what now?!” So that’s kinda nice 😌

But the point is, we all start from somewhere. I’ve been doing this ‘gig’ a while, no one is good overnight, at ANYTHING. I don’t even think I’m that good at it now. If you’re predisposed to writing, it still takes practice! And apparently the guts to weather…this.

Welcome to the 2000’s ✨

• look, i don't care if you've lost your inspiration... just ramble until you do

LOL

• could you upload quicker? i want more of the story faster!

😂 there was a little too much honesty going around

• Did you have to stop, I just started reading this story today and I already have fallen in love with it. I don't like it when authors stop the story half way through.

Me either!!! But you know, I had to go to school so 🤷🏼‍♀️

• I hate you. I just want you to know that. Not finish! Blec!

BLEC!!

It’s starting to make sense to me why I have a serious anxiety about not having a few chapters written ahead of time, my therapist would say that’s buried trauma ✨

• why why whyyyyy! Why must you stop on a cliffhanger!

just call me rebecca

• WELL, one thing for sure, your chapter ALL so freaking short!

Lmao this one didn’t age well 😌

• It's pretty pathetic that YOU'RE one of those TYPICAL cliche, boring authors that go with the knowitall and gold-digging WHORES then say Luna, who's under used and under-appreciated!

I made Hermione and Ginny friends of Harry. Like they are in the book 🙃 this person also commented on every single chapter in this style, hating everything—I know because no one used anon. Hiding your homophobia? Apparently Not trés chic!

• You'r an awful pweson who'll burn in hell.

I made Harry gay.

• Why is Harry such a girl?

Again, he’s not, he’s just gay. I think he also went shopping and bought some jeans (hp 2000’s fic shopping montage, whaddup?! ✌🏼)

• cant rembet why i click on there but there not GAY Harry is 100% not fag

How sure are you, though? He had some real great tension with Diary Tom Riddle, if we’re being fair. Also, it was clearly marked. I took up some of that valuable 20 character summary space TO mark it but the homophobes kept coming 🥲

• I like slash, but it has to be well written, and it’s completly unrealistic and wrong for harry to be a bottom.

There…was no sex involved. He went shopping for some pants. He found another male attractive. I’m?? Also not sure how you inferred that he would be a dominant partner anyway because even with Ginny you know damn well she’s on top 😌

• disgusting! you ruined such a good story.

Pretty sure this was also about ✨the gay✨

• Look, I'm not trying to flame, but after all this time of waiting, why are there so little words?

I was busy with seventh grade algebra hun!! Also, I was drafting by hand on paper and uploading from the FAMILY DESKTOP COMPUTER. I had to zero out every time someone walked past, hello???

• this story was kind of creepy and i know for a fact that animals leave the losing animal in the ground to claim their teritory.

I…actually have no idea what this was about and also whether it’s true 😂

• Please update as soon as possible

I just picture this person with a deadpan expression, typing with their pointer fingers.

• There's a lot of stuff that's unexplained here, add a little more detail and the story would be a lot better.

ok VALID babe, valid, lots of this same sentiment and I TOOK that advice, like if I got this as a twelve year old to my (online) face, I’m positive your fav millionaire authors can handle it if they happen to see it floating by in the netosphere!

In saying all that, there were some really funny comments too. People were generally a lot more creative when leaving comments back then (aside from the general rudeness 20-30% of them exhibited lmao).

• please dont leave me hanging..i look pathetic when i hanging...trust me on this one...visualize a wet cat stuck on a towl rack

Help, I’m whEEZING 😂

•I have no words to describe how I feel about you right now. That isn't even a cliff hanger you obliterated the cliff and tossed us into an abyss of unknown danger!

Some things don’t change I guess, sorry bout it 🤷🏼‍♀️

• (football caoch voice) move move move! u have readers on u go go go!

🤣 it really do be feeling like that

• You sure you're 13? You seem more like a demented 18 yearold to me. 

Thank you *bows*

Final considerations: Why could no one spell or punctuate? Glad we’re past that era 😮‍💨

But no seriously I think this is why people who were around for the 90s, 00’s and 10’s are so critical of fandom today, because we weathered THIS and ended up with something really great, and now it seems that’s being threatened more and more.

So whenever you see pushback against “today’s fandom” it’s coming from a place of “dear god, we’ve been in the trenches and we do NOT want to go back” 🫶🏼

My dear current readers, I love you endlessly for not being these people, good lord.

[t0xicn30n]

SPOILERS FOR SEASON TWO ARCANE!!!

episode 1: the Lebanese are fighting 😞 atleast Caitlyn looks badass 💃🏼 I will say tho the roles are reversing 😍✌🏼 vi seems more pathetic which is nice

episode 2: NOOO VIKTOR HAS JESUS IMAGERY 😭😭 AND JUST LIKE JESUS HE'S GONNA DIEEE WE JUST GOT HIM BACKKKK WHYYYY also I'm calling it isha is gonna be to jinx what jinx was to silco and jinx is gonna be to isha what silco was to her ... hopefully that makes sense. wait if Viktor is Jesus, does that make Sky the holy spirit lmao 😭 the funny thing is I was looking at Viktor and thinking "huh he looks like Paul Atreides" well, well, well, another pale twink is Jesus once again. wait a minute who was that person...also ew icky heart beating

episode 3: HELPPPPP OPENING CREDITS ATEEE DOWNNNN MY WORDDDD. I live for feral Caitlyn. MOMMY AMBESSAAAAA 😍😍😍 "promise me you won't change." LEBANESE KISS YAYYY now get naked. wait where's that brunette guy that was like...a concubine for mommy ambessa?? where'd he go 💀. Lest is so pretty 😍 the cat alien hybrids in here are GORGEOUS. I never said it before but harbinger or whatever the fuck his name is with ekko is so cute, father and son fr. OHH MY GOSHHHH CAITLYN SHOT VI, that scene went wilddd. oh no vi sweetheart no don't cry 😭😭😭 there's too much happening everything everywhere all at once I'm getting an aneurysm in the best way. I'm sorry but I love what's happening with Caitlyn 😔

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ONNNN

[pagingdachtorbeat]

Part ✌🏼

It has been a week since the impulsive visit to Kirby's. A week full of self loathing, regret, and silence from the Canadien's notorious fuck boy. To keep busy you tried to distract yourself with work projects or binging new series on Netflix, but it didn't help much when every where you went in town- Kirby or his teammates had their faces plastered.

***

You had just gotten home after a chaotic day at work. You didn’t even have time to take off your coat before the buzzer to your apartment was going off.

“Hello?” You distractedly ask.

“Hey..Y/N?”

You dropped your things on the counter. Your head tilting a bit. That voice..Cole?

“Cole?..How do you know where I live?”

“Yea-I know..low key stalker vibes but I promise it’s not like that. I uh- I got it off Kirby’s phone.”

“..that doesn’t really help your case but um..whats up?”

You could hear a sigh in his voice.

“Can I come in? Please? The girl down in visitors parking keeps eye fucking me.”

You laughed.

“Since when is that a bad thing?”

“Y\N..” he groaned. “Please??”

You hit the buzzer and waited anxiously by the door.

What could Cole want? Why now? Did this have to do with last week?

“Hey,” he said shyly.

He went in for an awkward hug-but it was also somewhat comforting. You could smell his cologne and the shampoo he used-some brand deal with Old Spice.

“You want anything? Beer? Water? Wine?”

He sat down on a bar stool. His hands clasped together.

“Nah-I’m good.”

You shrugged and leaned over the counter. You felt his gaze on your exposed chest.

“I heard you freaked out on Kirby last week..”

You rolled your eyes.

“Did he tell you why?”

Cole avoided eye contact-you knew this was a weird conversation.

“No..but he didn’t need to. My guess? You realized he didn’t grow up..and is still the same boy you knew a few years ago..”

You took a sip of wine.

“Basically. I found out I was just a replacement for the toxic ex while she was away.”

Cole shook his head.

“Toxic is putting it mildly. If it helps though..I’m pretty sure it’s just temporary until he heals up and can get back into the dating scene again.”

“Gee-thanks Cole.” You say sarcastically.

“..I told you that you deserve better” he said softly.

You groaned, hating that he was right.

“I just..I remember how things used to be..we were so close..”

“He’s a fuck boy Y/N. I hate to say that about a friend but he hasn’t really got past that phase yet. I admit..aside from his ex- you are the closet female he feels any emotion that way for..but you don’t deserve to be someone’s second choice..”

You watched as Cole made his way to your couch-sinking into the pillows.

“As if you were always an angel”, you remarked.

“No..no I was not but I learned from past mistakes and grew up. I’m trying to focus more on my team and the game right now.”

You plopped down next to Cole, a buzz slowly overtaking you.

“Why are you single anyways? You can get any girl you wanted.”

You head found it’s way on Cole’s chest. You could hear the steady beat of his heart.

“..not any girl..”

You looked up to meet his gaze.

“Cole..”

You quickly sat up.

“Why now?”

You could see the guilt on his face.

“I always had a soft spot for you..but who am I to tell you who and who not to hook up with? When you and Kirby ended things I never reached out because I figured you wanted as far away from this world as possible.”

There was silence.

“When I was with Kirby last week and I saw your text ping on his cell..my heart dropped. I was hoping he would leave you be. Or just say a simple thanks. Instead he was beyond excited to be able to get a break and have some intimate company. The way he talked about you..I had to get out of there before he ended up with something worse than a bummed knee.”

You could sense the anger rising up in him.

“Oh Cole..I wish you spoke up sooner..”

“I’m telling you now.”

There was an uneasy silence.

“Cole..I don’t want to be the reason you and Kirby have issues. I don’t want to ruin any chemistry with the team or cause any drama. Being a WAG..it’s a lot”

He nodded his head.

“I understand..which is why I kept my mouth shut. I know you’ll be okay without Kirby or me..but I had to at least let you know how I felt.”

He made his way off the couch.

“Y/N? Just please promise me one thing?”

You nodded.

“You deserve better than to be some second choice. Some hookup to keep a guy company when he gets lonely. Stay clear of Kirby..and guys like him. You don’t deserve the fall out.”

You got up, speechless, and opened the door for Cole.

“Goodbye Y/N.”

He kissed your forehead before closing the door behind him.***

A few months pass. Things were getting better. You were adjusting to a life without hockey hook ups and even got a promotion. However, you always knew from past experience that trouble was always right around the corner. It was no surprise when your girlfriend send you screen shots of picture day from the team photo. Kirby was still on the mend so it was no shock that he was absent. The shock came when you noticed a girl with Cole.

“Why do I care? I was the one who made it clear I wanted to keep out of that life”, you reminded yourself.

You stuffed your phone into your bag and made your way into the coffee shop. You placed your order then sat at a table to wait. Then you noticed in the corner. Cole and the new mystery girl.

“Y/N?”

You said thank you, collected the order and almost walked out unseen.

You felt his eyes on you. You turned around and met his gaze. Those brown eyes softening.

“Y/N!” He called out.

You quickly pick up the pace, trying to get back to the safety of your office.

“Wait a minute! C’mon!”

You felt a hand on your shoulder.

“No hello?” He was a bit out of breath.

“Cole- don’t be rude. Go back to your date.”

“Hey..it’s not like that. I mean..it’s new. But I wanted to check in..”

You sighed.

“I’m fine. Really.”

Cole nodded.

“No trouble from sevens?”

You smirked.

“No. I blocked him to be honest. I decided to take your advice and turn over a new leaf”, you kid.

“Did you block me too?” He asked quietly.

You sigh.

“It’s for the better.”

“For who?” Cole challenges.

“I understood when you just hooked up with my teammate but it’s been months. I mean we can be friends right?”

You tried so hard to regain control over your emotions.

“Can we?” You ask softly.

“You have a girlfriend Cole..I’m not going to be the girl who ruins that. Who makes you out to be the cheater that everyone claims you still are.”

You saw the hurt in his eyes.

“She seems nice Cole. I’m happy for you.”

Cole stood there in silence.

“You don’t want to keep her waiting.”

You turn to walk away.

“Y/N?”

You look back one last time.

“I know Cole..but you have nothing to be sorry for. See you around.”

You disappear down the crowded streets of Montreal.

“See you..”

[accio-victuuri]

sharing this new fake rumor posted over at zsww fake house. it’s a pretty long one ✌🏼going by the conversations, i think the intent here is to supplement their alleged meet up recently. usual disclaimer, this is not real. treat as fan fiction. there are some unnecessary bits omitted but very minimal. just so it wouldn’t be a full translation.

XZ: Don’t worry, I haven’t downloaded it yet.

XZ: Yeah, I know

XZ: I said it

XZ: Well, then I’ll start here.

XZ: Try to be early

XZ: 🫵🏻 Watch for some time

staff: Don’t worry

It has been arranged, but it is not necessary, but there is a sense of ceremony, so I went to prepare it.

people interpret this as XZ watching WoF! i’m cackling cause he is asking the staff to watch it too when he is not looking. reminds me of that other rumor that WYB does the same. he asks staff to watch and then they will tell him what happened if he is too busy to. and he is saying to wyb to come early, maybe he wants to watch it together!

XZ: Don’t move, just lie down.

WYB: It’s okay

WYB: I fell asleep in the car for a while

XZ: Are your legs sore?

WYB: Not bad

WYB: Why do you look at me like that?

XZ: What do you think?

WYB: ☺️ 😏😏😏

XZ: Virtue

WYB: 😀😀

WYB: It's okay. Look. Okay.

WYB: It’s starting to itch a little bit

XZ: Don’t buckle

as for the “virtue” term i looked it up on baidu and it seems like this is used more on the reason of telling WYB off cause what he is thinking is 😏😏.

the itching is probably the wound he has on his hand that is drying up now. and how xz is so concerned for wyb! AHHHHHHH!

XZ: I told you before that you wouldn’t listen.

XZ: It’s quite obvious on TV that there’s a trap.

WYB: Where did you see it?

XZ: Watch the clips. I want to watch them all. Where can I find the time?

WYB: Oh

WYB: You still have time to rest more, ge

WYB: You must be tired, ge 🥺

(….)

XZ: Don’t force me into happy moments……

WYB: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

watching WoF clips! Hahahahahaha! I find it really cute how they support each other

WYB: What are you having for dinner?

XZ: Please hurry up, please

this next part is mostly WYB being clowned by staff and his continued refusal to make vlogs 🤪 and him not approving an increase in budget! here is a bit:

Staff 2: 😂😂😂😂

Staff 3: You don’t need to provide us with a vlog

WYB: That saves money

Staff 4: Then my budget has increased

WYB: Not approved

Staff 4: 😂

XZ: Mr. Wei has spoken. You must listen.

WYB: I’ll give you some for yourselves.

XZ: Are Mr. Wei’s rights limited to this much?

WYB: It’s up to you whether it’s you or not

XZ: 😅

XZ: Do you think I’ve treated you badly?

WYB: Just kidding, didn’t you click on all of them?

mister wei 🥺🥺🥺 why do i have a feeling that XZ’s favorite right now is Wei Ruolai?

XZ: He doesn’t have many opportunities, so use them and cherish them.

Staff 4: Finished. Here.

WYB: Oh, can you finish it?

WYB: Who do you belong to?

XZ: Report to you

WYB: Huh?

XZ: Repay...the real reward📱take it and repay it

WYB: Then I can take it apart and buy it....

XZ: Then buy it yourself

WYB: You buy it for me...what you just said

XZ: I didn’t say

XZ: OK OK OK

XZ: Aren’t they all in your hands? Buy it yourself.

WYB: Don’t worry if I buy a lot at once

XZ: Scared. I’m so scared.

WYB: I bought just one

WYB: ☺️

XZ: 👍🏻

this is confusing me but what i can gather is wyb bought something! what is it? 👀

Isn't it just for us all to hear you whispering, coaxing, and speaking so loudly? Come on, eat, the meal is here, if you don't eat, you'll be full first.

P.S: The boss doesn’t know that he blinks when he’s trying to coax people.

i love this last part cause OP is sort of complaining about the two lovebirds! as usual, having their own world. and idk who the “boss” is that blinks, or maybe he is trying to be cute by slow-blinking? i have a feeling it’s xz tho 😂😂😂😂

-END.

[wordbunch]

The Hobbit re-read: favorites, thoughts and honorable mentions

thank u to my tumblr besties for encouraging me to rant abt this book for a little while, and brace yourselves for a LOOONG post; aka We're Going On An Adventure!

this quote abt Gandalf: "tales and adventures sprouted up all over the place wherever he went, in the most extraordinary fashion" like. THIS exactly is Gandalf to me ✨✨✨

the whole good-morninged sequence (as if he was selling buttons at the door! can you imagine! By belladonna tooks SON of all people!!!) 😱

"a cake or 2 would do him good after this fright" me too bilbo

"he had a horrible thought that the cakes might run short" me too bilbo 🍰

Gandalf constantly selling Bilbo's skills to the company and just hyping him up and believing in him all the time!!!! most excellent and audacious hobbit!!! 😎

"this was thorin's style... if he had been allowed he would probably have gone like this until he was out of breath" aka he is Dramatic and Important

"bilbo was getting excited and interested again so that he forgot to keep his mouth shut" how many times will i write ME TOO BILBO in this post

"THE EXPLANATION DID NOT SEEM TO EXPLAIN" 💯💯💯

gandalf: i found him in the dungeons of the necromancer; thorin: girl what were YOU doing at the necromancer's??? 🧐🧐🧐 gandalf: finding things out as usual O M G like what else would he be doing there 😚

bilbo constantly wishing he was back home as soon as he left

"off bilbo had to go before he could explain that he could not hoot even once like any kind of owl" yall this book has so many funny moments but like in a very chill humor way

the fact that one of the TROLLS is called WILLIAM 😂😂😂

"i am a good cook myself, and cook better than i cook" okay bilbo rizz 😏🔥

"they had not at all enjoyed lying there listening to the trolls making plans for roasting them" you don't say. i love this deadpan humor SO MUCH jrrt snapped

that whole beautiful iconic description of kind as summer elrond

"their clothes were mended as well as their bruises, their tempers, and their hopes" WHEN will i go to rivendell 😩

"there is nothing like looking if you want to find something" thorin life coach realness 👏🏼👏🏼

thoring gesturing at a miserable desolate land: these tRuLy hOspiTabLe moUnTaiNs 😍

then gandalf lit up his wand. oF coUrSe it wAs gaNdaLf, but they were too busy to ask how he got there. 4ever mood

he thought of himself frying bacon and eggs in his own kitchen ME TOO BIL- 🍳

"Gollum brought up memories of ages and ages and ages before, when he lived with his grandmother in a hole by a bank by a river" this kind of made me cry. it brings unexpected humanity to such an appalling character; kinda makes you want bilbo to spare him eventually

and the fact itself that bilbo felt so bad for him he decided to just leave him be

"you would have laughed (from a safe distance)" LOVE how JRRT puts random little comments addressed to the reader

gandalf just being like ok i gotta go do other things now. good luck besties. ✌🏼😚

beorn: what are you, a traveling circus? and he is actually right 🤪

"you have got to look after all these dwarves for me, gandalf laughed" and i cried

bilbo being like hmm how will i get down from this tree (except by falling)

bilbo's song while killing gigantic spiders "not very good...but you must remember he had to make it up himself in a very awkward moment"

the dwarves starting to respect him and bowing down until they FALL OVER is such a comical image to me

the whole alluring magic of the elvish feast in the forest which disappears when they get closer!! a whole fairytale mr tolkien!!! 😍

thranduil is a greedy b <3 and especially VERY fond of wine 🍷🍷🍷

"i will lock you all in again and you can sit there comfortably and think of a better plan" bilbo badass mode and we love to see it 💋

tolkien being like WELL u can laugh but you wouldn't have done any better if u were him. real.

when they're in dale i love the numerous references to "songs and stories of old" and all of them basically being a living legend and turning their stay in dale into a public holiday and spectacle

thorin is cocky af

/freeze frame/ "you are familiar with thorin's style on important occasions so i will not give you any more of it" its ok jrrt, let him be a drama queen 👑

bilbo when he takes some gold from smaug being like "this will show them!!!1!1" 😠😠

sassy bilbo strikes again with "did you expect me to trot back with the whole hoard of thror on my back? if there's any grumbling to be done i think i might have a say" GO OFF KING 👏🏼

i just rly love him okay, he stole my heart in this book like a real legitimate professional burglar that he is

"i am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly" etc. basically this whole exchange btw bilbo and smaug is pure gold (pun not intended) 🤫

talking birds that eavesdrop. enough said.

the descriptions of the arkenstone which make you actually want to have it too. genius. there could be no two such gems, even in so marvellous a hoard, even in all the world." 💎💎💎

the harps (untouched by the dragon who had a small interest in music).. WHY is this so funny to me

bilbo putting on some elvish DRIP and being like ✨✨ i feel magnificent ✨✨ (but probably look dumb 😩)

"this is the great chamber of thror" ok thorin the tour guide king

BARD MY KING i love one (1) man 🎯

bilbo being absolutely against any wars or battles and just wanting to go home BUT also being a sneaky lil shit who takes the arkenstone to bard and thranduil BUT also still not wanting to leave his dwarf buddies

when he gives them the gem "not without a shudder, not without a glance of longing" AHHH i want it!

ambiguous gandalf returning. always love to see it

"if you don't like my burglar, please don't damage him" 🙄 ffs thorin chill

"you are not making a very splendid figure as king" yes gandalf call him out

defeat seems "very uncomfortable, not to say distressing" to bilbo. we love.

the fact that he was just knocked out cold during the battle so thur we know very little abt what really happened?? jrrt genius writing hack. might use this one 🤔

fili and kili deserved a better sendoff than just mentioning that they died. come on.

thorin's last words and reconciliation w bilbo... PLEASE I WILL CRY until i throw up. "it has been more than any baggins deserves." "no! there is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly west. some courage and some wisdom blended in measure. if more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

i might still be crying

"tea is at 4 but any of you are welcome at any time" my heart... ❤️😭 Guess he's no longer scared of running out of cake

bilbo gifting thrandy a necklace as an apology for eating and drinking his stuff secretly, king shit 😉

bilbo having the absolute NERVE to say to ELVES "your lullaby would wake a drunken goblin". wig wig

he deadass borrowed a handkercheif from freaking ELROND 😳

bilbo arriving home to being presumed dead and his stuff literally being auctioned off

"it was a long time before he was in fact admitted to being alive again…" and sackville-bagginses having sm beef with that HAHAHA

he lost his reputation but he lived his best life so who's the winner here 😌😌😌

the closing lines "you are a very fine person, mr baggins, and i am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all" "thank goodness! said bilbo laughing."

like. THIS. literally embodies everything. he is just a little guy. just some smol person. BUT STILL had a say in how BIG things happened. BUT he remains happy to be just a smol simple person.

overall an incredibly fun read and it was way more genuinely FUNNY than i anticipated. bilbo is a whole mood. thorin is a diva. gandalf is there to start shit and hype up bilbo. jrrt with random author's notes throughout the book gives me life.

[phiclets]

Make It Work

challenging myself to write phiclets based on a single randomly generated word: pt 1 / ?

word: arrange

tags: wad era, hurt/comfort

lil disclaimer - I write for vibes, not facts. if anything within this fic is factually inaccurate, please treat it as "canon" divergence and simply enjoy the ride ✌🏼🫶🏼

also on ao3 for your reading pleasure

-

After two joint tours with Phil, Dan knows how to troubleshoot on the road. Venue cancellation? He's spending the night adjusting his stage blocking to the new venue dimensions based on grainy Google Images. Stomach issues on the bus? No problem, there's a little pharmacy in the back pocket of his duffel waiting to be abused. Problems with ticketing agencies? If there's one thing two tours has taught him, it's that being a Karen is both a learned skill and sometimes absolutely necessary to avoid a total event collapse two hours before a show.

All this to say, he's become adaptable through his significant experience over the years. He can adjust.

But there's one thing he simply would not have been able to suffer going wrong on the We're All Doomed tour.

Missing Phil's birthday.

To be completely honest, he's not ashamed of the not insignificant amount of grief he put his team through trying to make the route from New Zealand to the UK work in time for the 30th. In his defence, he had tried to arrange it all himself, but after a few choice words from a team member who had far superior knowledge about logistics and planning than him, he'd shut up and just allowed a squadron of ten people crank their brains over how to get their solo performer across the world, mid-tour, to spend a few days with his friend before the show went on. ("Friend" never went down well with any of them if discussed at length, which is why they just kind of didn't.)

But they pulled it off, the madlads. They got him the dates, they got him the flight, and Dan was so, so, so ready by the time he performed in New Zealand to be out of there immediately and back in Phil's arms - if only for a few precious days. Not that he didn't love and appreciate the chance to see his fans from everywhere around the world, but you have to understand, by this point he'd spent months away from a man he'd previously only been separated from for 2 and a half weeks, since the day they met. In two thousand and nine.

Dan missed Phil. He missed him with a fierceness. The day before his flight, sitting in a hotel room listening to a news report about the unexpected floods ravaging the area with one ear, and Phil speaking to him in calm tones through the sweat-slick phone pressed to the other, trying to assure him that it would all clear up by the time Dan was due to fly, Dan felt like he could have vibrated out of his own skin. He wanted to be formless (not the first time he's thought that), without a body, just so he could forego the fucking roads and airplane and just materialise next to Phil in his green bedroom in London, right then. After hanging up — following a promise from Phil that he would call back as soon as he'd had his shower — Dan was left to the urgent, roiling feelings in his stomach and chest, and he started thinking about his show. We're All Doomed. The 2-hour-long essay on a stage, essentially, that lamented about and made fun of the world that was seemingly crumbling around them every day. (It was the epitome of If I don't laugh, I'll cry — so let's just laugh.) He thought about pop culture, and consumerism, and politics and war, and the thing he kept coming back to at the ends of each of these tangents was:

If everyone loved, and craved, and missed another person or thing as purposefully — as fundamentally — as I miss Phil right now, there wouldn't be any fucking confusion about the real priorities in the world.

A thought that made him laugh to himself a little, really. So was the solution to the world's problems, in the end, actually, cheesily, ridiculously: love?

Yeah. It really did feel like it.

-

In the end, his plane took off. He sat with all 6'3" of himself folded into a (thankfully) business class seat for nearly 20 hours. He watched a bunch of random shit. He missed Phil, but the relief of knowing he was at least making physical progress towards him now was a good counterbalance to the pain, lowering the pressure in his chest with each passing minute.

By the time he landed in Heathrow, he felt like the most disgusting person on the planet, but he powered through immigration, baggage claim, and security like they didn't exist. He had an Uber booked the moment he had a clear path to the exits, and he fucking power-walked to that bitch. (Phil wasn't picking him up at the airport because - well, it was Phil. He'd said something about them both ending up back in the house anyway, so why bother making the trip to and from the airport. He could just "get the house ready for Dan to crash in" instead. Whatever that meant.) (Probably hiding all the houseplants he'd murdered in Dan's absence.)

And by the time Dan made it to their front door, he could hardly even believe it. Was he standing here? Was he shuffling through the keys on his keyring for the one he hadn't touched in months, the one that would let him into their home? It felt familiar in his muscles, and like a totally new experience in his brain.

He unlocked the door and pushed, just as at that same moment it was pulled in, and he nearly fell over from the unexpected lack of resistance as the door gave out from beneath his fingers - though even if he'd fallen he wouldn't have fallen to the floor. Just into a painfully real, painfully sweet and familiar body standing just across the threshold. Dan looked up and spontaneously laughed, just a small laugh, quiet and airy from lack of breath. Opposite him - so close to him, so there - Phil smiled in similarly elated, disbelieving fashion. And Dan let himself fall where he'd caught himself before. His forehead found Phil's bony shoulder, his hands interlocked simply - was it all so ridiculously simple? - over the small of Phil's back. Phil's arms took him and brought him closer still.

Dan let himself disappear into it. Formless, body-less. Just the feeling of being in love.