#heavy exercise equipment

[energiefitness12]

The Top 5 Must-Have Home Gym accessories

A national health survey found that 75% of people don't exercise enough. Most people prefer working out at home. Home gyms save time since you don't have to travel.

Energie Fitness offers affordable home gym equipment. This helps you stay fit anytime, anywhere.

Home gyms are also cheaper. You can buy gym accessories like resistance bands or adjustable dumbbells for less than gym memberships. Energie's Titan T-3 Power Rack and Rogue Ohio Bar are durable and won't break the bank.

Even small spaces can have a home gym. You can do bodyweight exercises or use compact gear like stability balls. Now, there's no excuse for not exercising—just keep moving forward.

Key Takeaways

75% of people skip workouts due to time and access barriers.

Home gyms save 2 hours per visit by eliminating travel time.

Energie Fitness provides budget-friendly Exercise accessories and complete gym setups.

Resistance bands and adjustable dumbbells match gym-quality results at lower costs.

Top brands like Titan and Rogue ensure durability, with warranties up to lifetime.

Why Building a Home Gym is the Smart Choice in 2025

Building a home gym setup gives you flexibility in today’s fast world. With Energie Fitness equipment, you create a space just for you. It's the perfect time to invest in 2025.

Time-Saving Benefits of Home Workouts

Home workouts save time by cutting out gym commutes. A 15-minute drive each way, five days a week, equals 120 hours a year. Plus, waiting for gym machines wastes even more time. With your own

Financial Advantages Over Commercial Memberships

Home gyms are cheaper than gym memberships. A $700 yearly gym membership is $3,500 over five years. But, a basic full gym setup for home costs $1,000-$3,000, saving thousands. Starter kits like Ironmaster Adjustable Dumbbells and a rower cover the basics. Black Friday deals or refurbished gear can lower costs even more.

Privacy and Convenience Factors

Home gyms mean no crowded locker rooms or judgment. They offer mental clarity and focus. Over 70% of users stick to workouts better in private. Energie Fitness’s Super Bench PRO V2 and cable systems let you train without distractions. Plus, you avoid germs found in public gyms.

Understanding Your Fitness Goals Before Equipment Selection

Before you buy exercise machines for home, know what you want. Do you want to get stronger, improve your heart health, or increase your flexibility? Gym equipments should match your goals to get the best results. Lawton, a fitness expert, says, “Choosing the right gear depends on your goals. For yoga, you might need mats and bands. But for weightlifting, you'll need commercial exercise equipment like power racks.”

“30% of users choosing treadmills prioritize weight loss, while 25% focus on muscle growth with dumbbells.”

Make a checklist based on your goals:

Strength: Adjustable dumbbells, barbells, or Energie Fitness’ commercial-grade benches are good choices.

Cardio: Treadmills or bikes are best for weight loss, with 50% of buyers valuing workout tracking tech.

Flexibility: Foam rollers and yoga mats address 20% of users’ needs.

Many beginners spend too much on things they don't need. For example, 75% of buyers check reviews to avoid buyer's remorse. Start with the basics: a study shows 50% of home gyms begin with resistance bands and mats. Choose versatile machines that save space and meet multiple goals. Jerai Fitness offers compact yet durable options perfect for small spaces.

Keep track of your progress: 15% of users join virtual classes to stay motivated. Use smart devices with your equipment for real-time feedback. Remember, quality equipment lasts 5-15 years. Invest in items that grow with you, like adjustable squat racks or foldable yoga mats. A well-thought-out plan ensures your gym equipment will be used for years, not collecting dust.

Space Considerations: Designing Your Perfect Home Gym Layout

Creating a home gym layout is all about using space wisely. You can turn a spare room or a corner into a workout area. Energie Fitness offers complete gym setup solutions to make the most of your space.

Measuring and Planning Your Available Space

First, measure your space. A good home gym needs 150–200 sq. ft. But, you can get creative with smaller areas. For instance, a 10x10 ft space can fit a squat rack and a treadmill.

Make sure there's enough room above your head. You'll need 2+ feet of ceiling space to avoid hitting your head. Home gym equipment like adjustable benches and foldable treadmills save space.

Floor Protection and Noise Reduction Solutions

TypeBenefitsBest For Rubber MatsShock absorption, noise dampeningWeight areas, treadmills Vinyl FlooringEasy cleaning, moisture resistanceHigh-traffic zones Interlocking TilesModular installation, cost-effectiveSmall spaces or budget setups

Rubber flooring helps keep noise down, perfect for apartments. Place mats under machines to protect floors and keep noise levels low.

Ventilation and Lighting Requirements

Good airflow helps you stay focused. Use windows and fans to keep air moving. LED lights or pop-up fixtures add energy to your space.

Natural light improves your mood. Add mirrors and plants to make your space feel bigger. Proper ventilation also keeps your gym smelling fresh.

Budget Planning: Investment vs. Value in Home Gym Equipment

Building a home gym doesn't have to be expensive. Start by choosing commercial gym equipment that's versatile for the long term. Experts suggest a step-by-step plan—start with the basics and add more as you go. “Adding equipment slowly lets you test what works best for your space and routine,” says fitness advisor Lawton.

“Quality matters more than quantity. Always test equipment before buying—feel the weight distribution and stability,” advises trainer Dempers.

Start with the essentials: a weight bench, dumbells, and a resistance band set. For under $500, the PowerBlock Sport Pro Dumbbells replace 15+ pairs of traditional weights. The Giant Lifting Adjustable Bench at $275 can handle 700 lbs, making it a solid choice.

$500 Budget: Focus on gym rods, adjustable dumbbells, and a pull-up bar.

$1,000 Budget: Add a rack like the Titan T-2 Series ($400) and resistance bands.

$2,500+ Budget: Include treadmills or sleds, and commercial-grade commercial gym equipment from brands like Energie Fitness.

Quality is more important than saving money. Look for powder-coated finishes on gym rods and weight plates to prevent rust. Energie Fitness offers commercial-grade racks and dumbells with warranties up to 10 years. Focus on load-bearing items first—like racks or benches—since they are the gym's foundation.

Financing options like 0% installment plans make high-end gear more accessible. Remember: Avoiding cheap imitations saves money in the long run. A $300 pull-up bar may last years, while a $50 model could bend after months.

Top 5 Home Gym Equipments You Shouldn't Compromise On

Choosing the right home gym equipments means finding a balance. Each piece should fit your fitness needs and your space. Energie Fitness makes sure their equipment grows with you.

“Equipment that can be used in multiple ways adds options and interest. Avoid overcrowding your area.”

Selection Criteria for Our Top Picks

Versatility: Pick gym machines that do more than one thing. Adjustable dumbbells like Bowflex SelectTech (2-22.5kg range) also Hexa dubmell save space.

Build Quality: Look for sturdy steel frames and high weight limits. Energie Fitness benches, for example, can hold up to 260kg, lasting long.

Space Optimization: Choose compact treadmills that fold up. They save floor space without losing performance.

Durability and Warranty Considerations

Steel thickness and warranty terms are key. A 3mm steel frame on treadmill bases is strong. Energie Fitness offers 5+ year guarantees, showing they stand behind their products.

Space Efficiency Factors

Mirafit’s 5-35kg dumbbell sets save space by replacing many weights. Multi-use gym machines like the Life Fitness G7 Multi-Gym (55 exercise options) cut down on clutter. Choose stackable or wall-mounted items to keep things tidy.

Essential #1: Multi-Functional Strength Training Equipment

Building a home gym means getting equipment that grows with your fitness goals. Machines like power racks and cable systems are super versatile. They turn small spaces into full-body workout areas.

Power Racks and Smith Machines

The Titan T-3 power rack is affordable yet durable. It's made from 11-gauge steel and holds up to 1,100 pounds. It comes with safety bars, J-cups, and pull-up stations.

It's great for both beginners and athletes. The Smith machine helps with squats and presses, making it safer. Commercial exercise equipment like this lasts a long time, even with lots of use.

Cable Machines and Their Versatility

Adjustable pulley systems target 30+ muscle groups with smooth cable resistance

10+ attachment options enable rows, flys, and lat pulldowns

Quiet cable stacks minimize noise in apartment settings

Energie Fitness Commercial-Grade Options for Home Use

From high-quality commercial gym machines to versatile home workout gear, we provide everything you need to achieve your fitness goals.

FeatureEnergie multi station home gym equipments Max Weight Capacity500 lbs Adjustable Settings10 height/4 forward/back positions Resistance OptionsIncludes 300 lbs resistance bands Dimensions59.3" L x 83.9" W x 81.7" H Warranty1-year frame, 180 days parts

Energie Fitness makes commercial exercise equipment for home use without losing quality. Their designs are top-notch for exercise machines for home. They save 60% of floor space and handle 50+ exercises.

Essential #2: Cardiovascular Training Equipment Options

Cardio machines for home gyms are key for better endurance and calorie burn. Treadmills are a top pick, with adjustable speeds and inclines for outdoor-like runs. For smaller areas, compact ellipticals or foldable bikes save space without losing performance.

Energie Fitness makes commercial gym equipment for home use, ensuring it lasts and works well. The NordicTrack S22i Studio Bike, for example, offers real road cycling with 24 resistance levels. “I’ve had times when I’m forgotten I’m indoors,” says Anthony O'Reilly, a certified trainer, showing its immersive feel.

“Commercial-grade components in home cardio equipment mean longer lifespan and smoother workouts.”

There are upright bikes for upright posture or recumbent ones for back support. Best Rowing machines in india work out the whole body, while air bikes are great for HIIT. Think about space, budget, and your fitness goals. Compare features like motorized treadmills for easy speed changes or manual bikes for saving money.

Commercial treadmills have shock-absorption and big decks, but home versions still offer great results. Look for adjustable programs and heart rate monitoring. Energie Fitness creates models like the S22i, combining durability with home-friendly designs.

Essential #3: Free Weights and Resistance Training Tools

Free weights are key for building strength and flexibility in any home gym. Whether you need space-saving options or traditional setups, the right dumbells can change your workout. Let’s look at how to pick the best tools for your goals.

Dumbells vs. Adjustable Dumbells: Which to Choose

Fixed dumbells provide consistent resistance but use more space. Adjustable models, like the kettle bell save space by combining weights. For under ₹1,143, it offers 18–62 pounds in a small design. Adjustable sets are great for small spaces, while fixed dumbells are better for those who prefer specific weights.

Kettlebells and Full-Body Benefits

Kettlebells work your core stability with their offset design. The Powerblock model replaces up to eight traditional kettlebells, making it space-efficient. Exercises like swings and cleans improve functional strength, making kettlebells a top choice for full-body workouts.

Weight Plates and Gym Rods Selection

Olympic gym rods (bars) work with standard 2-inch plates for heavy lifting.

Rubber-coated plates protect floors and are quieter than cast iron.

Beginners start with 20–30kg sets; advanced users prefer 50kg+ setups.

Energie Fitness offers durable plates and rods at good prices. Their commercial-grade rods last long, even with heavy use.

Invest in quality gym rods and dumbells to build a system that grows with your fitness journey. Add accessories like resistance bands or foam rollers for full-body gains.

Essential #4: Functional Training Accessories

Functional training accessories make workouts more like real-life activities. These gym accessories

“Resistance bands are ideal for beginners—they’re lightweight and adaptable,” says fitness expert.

Here’s how to choose the right gear:

Resistance bands: Offer adjustable resistance for strength and flexibility

Suspension trainers (e.g., TRX): Build core strength with bodyweight exercises

Medicine balls: Improve power and coordination for athletic movements

Plyo boxes: Boost explosive power with jump training

Stability balls: Strengthen core muscles while improving balance

AccessoryKey BenefitsSpace Needed Resistance BandsPortable, versatile for all levelsMinimal space Suspension TrainersFull-body workouts using gravitySmall corner or doorway Plyo BoxesEnhances agility and explosivenessRequires clear floor space Medicine BallsFunctional power developmentDesk or open floor

Energie Fitness has durable gym equipments like Best resistance bands. They also offer exercise machines for home that can handle intense workouts. Their adjustable bands are as good as premium brands but cost less.

Adding a stability ball or a suspension system to your routine targets muscles often missed. These accessories make your home gym grow with your fitness goals. They fit well with other equipment, giving you a complete workout. Choose quality to save money in the long run. Energie’s products are built to last.

Essential #5: Recovery and Support Equipment

Creating a home gym setup isn't complete without recovery tools. Items like foam rollers and massage guns are crucial. They help avoid injuries and keep your workouts consistent. Let's see how these tools help you progress safely.

Top Recovery Tools and Their Benefits

ToolKey Benefits Foam RollersImprove blood flow, reduce muscle tension, and ease soreness post-workout. Massage GunsTarget deep tissues for faster recovery and pain relief. Compression MachinesReduce soreness via air cuffs that boost circulation.

Stretching aids like yoga straps or wall pulley systems also prevent injuries. For example, wall pulleys help with shoulder mobility after surgery or strain. Energie Fitness offers durable gym equipments designed to last. This ensures your stays effective over time.

Support Accessories for Safety

Lifting Belts: Stabilize the core during heavy lifts.

Wrist Wraps: Protect joints during bench presses or rowing.

Knee Sleeves: Provide compression and warmth to support joints.

Use these with recovery methods like ice baths or vibration plates. Studies show vibration therapy boosts cellular repair. Infrared saunas also reduce joint pain. Choose Energie Fitness’s foam rollers with grid patterns for targeted muscle relief. They're compact and travel-friendly.

Complete Gym Setup Packages: The Energie Fitness Advantage

Setting up a home gym setup is easy with Energie Fitness. We offer complete gym setup packages to make your fitness journey simpler. Our bundles include the best equipment for strength, cardio, or general fitness. They save you time and money by working together perfectly.

For instance, a full gym setup for home might include a multi-gym, adjustable dumbbells, and a exercise mats. These items are chosen for their space-saving and budget-friendly qualities.

Strength-focused bundles with power racks and cable systems

Cardio setups featuring space-saving treadmills and rowers

Budget-friendly starter kits for beginners

Buying these bundles can save up to 20% compared to individual purchases. Plus, they come with warranties.

Compact storage systems for small spaces

Multi-functional equipment like adjustable benches

Smart tech integration with fitness apps

home gym setup is optimized for airflow, equipment spacing, and user flow. "Building slowly can lead to inefficiency. Our packages eliminate guesswork, ensuring you get a functional space from day one." Energie Fitness makes getting fit easy and affordable. With the home fitness market growing by 23.3% each year, now is the perfect time to invest in a system that meets your evolving needs.

Maintaining Your Investment: Care Tips for Home Gym Equipment

Keeping gym machines and commercial exercise equipment in top shape is key. Regular care helps avoid expensive fixes. Start by cleaning daily to remove sweat and dust with mild cleaners.

Wipe down gym equipments after each use to stop corrosion and bacteria. Every month, check for loose parts or worn cables. Fixing problems early saves time and money.

Daily Tasks: Clean surfaces, check bolts, and store equipment right.

Weekly Checks: Oil moving parts every 3–6 months and look for frayed cables.

Quarterly Maintenance: Tighten everything and clean electronics with care.

Annual Services: Get professional tune-ups for treadmills or bikes to avoid big problems.

Don't forget about the environment. Keep equipment in dry spots to avoid rust. In humid areas, use dehumidifiers to protect metal.

Proper storage of weights is also crucial. It prevents damage to your floors. Always follow the manufacturer's advice to keep your warranty valid.

Energie Fitness makes commercial-grade equipment that lasts. Their products come with up to 10-year warranties. Keep spare parts like bolts or cables ready to reduce downtime. Too much lubricant can be a problem, so use it as directed.

Good care can save you 30% on repairs and extend your equipment's life by 20–30%. Choose Energie Fitness for reliable, high-quality gear and make your fitness dream a reality.

Choose Energie Fitness for reliable, top-notch equipment and turn your fitness vision into reality.

Maintenance is more than just fixing things. Keep an eye on how often you use your equipment. Follow these tips, and your home gym will stay safe and effective for years. Taking care of your equipment means a better investment and lasting fitness success.

Upgrading Your Home Gym: When and What to Add Next

Expanding your home gym depends on your fitness growth. Exercise machines for home upgrades should align with new goals. Start by tracking workout habits. If you consistently use current equipment, consider adding advanced tools like adjustable benches or gym machines with smart features.

Progression Path for Fitness Goals

Beginner → Intermediate: Add resistance bands (40% surge in demand) or yoga mats (5mm thick, 185cm x 61cm)

Intermediate → Advanced: Invest in adjustable dumbbells (20kg total, Corength’s kit at ₹5,999) or the DOMYOS Exercise Bike (110kg capacity, ₹9,999)

Latest Tech Innovations

Smart home gym equipments like the Recumbent Bike with 7 resistance levels track progress via Bluetooth. Virtual training apps sync with devices for personalized workouts. 75% of users report better form with full-length mirrors, boosting space perception by 30%.

Space-Savingers for Compact Gyms

ProductFeaturesPrice Corength Gym Bench 100200kg capacity, 4 incline/decline positions₹6,999 KIMJALY Yoga MatNon-slip surface, 800g lightweight₹2,499

Upgrade strategically. Use Decathlon Gift Vouchers for 4% discounts on Energie Fitness’s exercise machines for home. Prioritize multi-functional gear like adjustable racks or wall-mounted storage to maximize space. Track progress and invest in tech that evolves with your fitness journey.

Conclusion: Transform Your Fitness Journey with the Right Home Gym Equipment

Choosing the right home gym equipments is key to long-term fitness success. The top 5 essentials include strength, cardio, free weights, functional tools, and recovery gear. These provide a versatile base for any workout routine.

Brands like Energie Fitness make it easy to set up a home gym. They offer complete gym setup solutions with durable, commercial-grade equipment. This includes power racks and cable machines that last for years.

By 2025, 70% of people will prefer home gyms over commercial ones. This is due to cost savings and convenience. Spending ₹50,000–₹1,00,000 on equipment can pay off in 1–2 years, compared to gym fees.

Compact options like PowerMax treadmills and CAP Barbell’s adjustable dumbbells save space. This is perfect for India’s growing need for compact gear. Adding things like posters or a TV can make the space more inviting, helping you stick to your workout routine.

energiei Fitness is trusted by 80% of home fitness users in India. They offer reliable gym equipments at good prices. Their resistance bands and rowing machines offer full-body workouts, fitting the trend for joint-friendly equipment.

Start with a basic set and add more as your goals change. Visit - Energie Fitness to explore pre-designed setups or create your own. Make your home gym the center of your health journey. Every workout should fuel progress and every session should build lasting wellness.

FAQ

What are the benefits of setting up a home gym?

A home gym saves time and lets you work out whenever you want. It helps you stay consistent with your fitness goals. Plus, it can save you money compared to gym memberships.

How do I choose the right gym equipment for my fitness goals?

First, think about what you want to achieve, like getting stronger or improving your cardio. Choose equipment that fits your main goals. Look for versatile options that can grow with you.

What space do I need for a home gym setup?

The space needed depends on the equipment you pick. Big items like power racks and treadmills need more room. Make sure to measure your space carefully and plan for easy movement.

How can I budget for a home gym without overspending?

Start with the basics that are versatile and high-quality. Buy the essentials first and add more later. Look at warranties and resale value to get the most out of your money.

What types of cardio equipment are best for small spaces?

For small areas, consider folding treadmills, compact ellipticals, and indoor bikes. These machines are great for cardio workouts without taking up too much space.

Why are free weights important in a home gym?

Free weights like dumbbells and kettlebells are key for strength training. They let you do many exercises that work different muscles well.

What recovery equipment should I consider for my home gym?

Don't forget foam rollers, massage guns, and stretching straps for recovery. They help prevent injuries, aid in recovery, and improve your performance by loosening tight muscles.

How do Energie Fitness equipment packages differentiate from buying individual pieces?

Energie Fitness packages are designed to work together, meeting specific fitness needs and space limits. This saves time and ensures everything fits well together.

What maintenance is required for home gym equipment?

Keep your equipment in top shape with regular cleaning, lubrication, and checks for wear. Set up a maintenance schedule to make sure your gear lasts longer.

How can I effectively expand my home gym over time?

Plan to add new equipment as your fitness level grows. Focus on adding tools that complement what you already have, rather than duplicating items.

[dodongo]

I gave myself a concussion for Christmas ❤️🥰

[amazinglyashy]

Too heavy for me? Never

LADS men reaction to you only somewhat joking about being too heavy for them

Sylus -

He'll raise an eyebrow at you, staring down at you as you realize the joke fell flat. You try to back peddle, not wanting to cause any confrontation that never helps you feel better about your body anyway, but he simply holds up a hand to stop you with a shake of his head.

"I don't want to hear it, sweetie. I already know the nonsense you're going to say. How about you just come with me right now to the gym instead?"

You don't know how to tell him that saying that truly shattered your heart into a million pieces, so you just follow him in silence instead. You didn't think he would insult you so casually, and you were now trying to brace yourself for the inadequate feelings and self-loathing you were about to experience by having to train at the gym with him.

But... he didn't ask you to do a workout. He didn't tell you to get on a piece of equipment or to lie down on a mat for a physical exercise.

He told you to sit on a small bench against the wall while he went to the free weights close by.

Wordlessly, he loads weights- two- no, three times your weight onto the bar, before moving to lift it. Once. Twice. Again, and again and again-

His eyes flicker over to you at some point, and instead of making any remark or reference to the emotions clear across your face, he flashes you a slight smirk, just like he always does.

"Have I made myself clear, sweetie?"

Zayne -

Zayne will definitely think you're just pretending to be stupid at first.

He will look down at you with his brows furrowed and a small smile creeping on his lips, thinking it's all a joke.

"I lift myself during my workouts fairly easily, and I am capable of lifting a lot more. Quite funny, though I wouldn't make this form of humor a habit. It isn't particularly good for your mental health."

Then he realizes you're actually being serious in what you're saying.

He's upset, to put it lightly, but hes trying not to let it show. Favoring a small frown across his usually firm expression as he studies your face. Your heart will jolt just a little bit when you process just how sad his eyes look though... obviously he's hurt that you would even think something like that about yourself, much less come to believe it as true.

"Allowing a part of your brain to lie to you is not healthy if you don't push back with the truth. And the truth here, is that you are nowhere near too heavy for me to lift or carrying, even for prolonged periods of time. To demonstrate-"

And like it's nothing, he's picking you up and carrying you. His destination is not important, and the protests spewing from your lips fall on deaf ears as you try to gentle squirm out of his grasp. He'll continue to explain why your viewpoint is flawed, methodically and with logic, and in a way that you find yourself unable to argue back.

He doesn't want you to.

He knows you're wrong, and he will stop at nothing to prove it.

Xavier -

He's more surprised at the statement than anything. At first, he thinks you're making a jab at his strength, and wonders if he slipped up in front of one too many Wanderers and now needs to prove himself just to get you to stop teasing him for being 'weak'.

Once he (quickly) realizes that you're talking about yourself, jabbing at your own body and state, rather than at him, it's like a spark igniting in him.

"What? What would ever make you think that? No- that's not right. That's not right at all."

He's immediately going to try and grab you to lift you up, he doesn't care where you both are or what you're doing. Even if you've just woken up in bed and are still relaxing, he's trying to pick you up right then and there.

He stumbles trying to lift you, falling backward onto the pile of blankets and plushies that has taken over his bed. He feels awful, worried that you'll take his misstep as him falling over from your weight, immediately apologizing and trying to sit up and pick you up again before falling forward from the plush surface he's trying to rise on giving out too much beneath him.

You're both a giggling mess by then, and it's obvious to you that he's going to keep trying to prove it to you, just... a bit clumsily so. Several more attempts will be made as the evening goes on, and pretty soon he's showing you just how easily it is for him to lift you up- especially if he keeps doing it over and over and over again.

And he will continue to do it over and over and over again, even after today. As many times as it takes.

Rafayel -

You definitely made a mistake saying anything self-depreciating around him. Especially with how much he likes to prove you wrong in playful situations, this is something similar, but a lot more serious to him.

He'll make fun of you for anything, as long as you know he's just being lighthearted even if he's grumpy or upset when he fires a quip off at you.

But the second you agree with him, or say something bad about yourself- whether jokingly or dead serious- the gloves are off. He won't accept that from you, and he's already on it to figure out how to turn the opinion you've formed of yourself on it's head and into a more positive outlook.

Lifts you up bridal carry while spinning- quite literally sweeping you off your feet while he whisks you away. You would think you were a princess with how he spins around his studio with you in his arms, with no regard to the paintings or projects around him as he dances with you in his arms. And no matter how hard you protest, he doesn't stop until he feels for himself that he's done enough, giggling the entire time.

"Are you really going to doubt a sea god's strength? Geez, I didn't realize you were such a rude human."

He'll hold you up enough to press his forehead against yours, nuzzling against you with a smile, the slightest sadness playing across his expression.

"Man, I must be pretty lousy that you would ever think something like that about yourself. That must mean I don't think to pick you up enough like you deserve. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you by whisking you away every chance I see you from now on."

[dmitriene]

cw: sweat, almost choking.

simon riley has a small training room at his apartment, room big enough to fit the sports equipment thanks to which he keeps his muscles toned, and big enough to bend you over one of them, making you claw at the rough surface of the lifting bench, your panties tugged down to fit his face in your pussy, as he licks sloppily at your slit.

leather of the bench coated with sweat, clear drops glimmering under the dimmed light, as your shirt rubs against them, body bending further, spine tugged in an arch as he looses your drenching pussy with his tongue, slurping at your oozing slick, his cock chubbing up underneath the tight trousers.

he smells so good, the heady melange of sweat and leather, veins at his arms protruding out, full of pumping blood, as he kneads at your thighs, urging them to spread further through wracking trembles, as his tongue slips out from your pulsing, velvety walls, clenching at simon's fat cock that he feeds in your fluttering, stretching hole, bulbous tip jabbing against your gummy spot.

pinning you against the rough surface, the weight of his body suffocating, as he humps you with sloppy, hasty thrusts, his legs straining, and he croons at your breathy cries, moans muffled as simon cups at your jaw, palm spanning half of your face, before he skims down to squeeze at your neck, rubbing at your bobbing throat, knocking strained gasps with lewd slap of his heavy balls against your folds.

he should consider to adding you in the list of his exercises, dick you down each time after particularly rough workout, with his body buzzing hot, as if simmering beneath his flesh, tense muscles starting to soften when he has you beneath him, supple and cozy, dressed in his shirt and laid out for him like a feast, legs spread along another bench simon has you on.

main masterlist. quidelines.

[butch-chastity]

things that you should be able to check out from public libraries:

power and hand tools. drills hammers wrenches what have you

exercise equipment. yoga mats weights running trackers

specialty cooking tools. blenders steamers heavy duty pots

specialty cleaning supplies. carpet cleaners window washers steam mops

[ganggangscenarios]

Diamond Heart

Part 2

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Summary: You finally decide to utilise your gym membership. Personal trainer!Jungkook

Genre: Romance, comedy, smut, angst

Warnings: Body image. Negative language. Heavy smut scene at the end.

________

This is the second time I've uploaded this story. The first time, I received some pretty mean comments and messages. SOOOOOO I have to say, if you don't like. my writing, that's fine, just exit my page lol. Do not leave mean comments please.

——————————

New year, new you, right? Your new years resolution was to get your body right, eat healthily, drink less and most importantly; get in the gym. However, it had been months since the new year had begun and you still hadn’t utilised your gym membership. The fee was regularly from your bank account every month and you had yet to step foot into the establishment. You frowned every time you saw the transaction on your bank statement, but you did absolutely nothing about it. 

But the influence of  social media made you feel like you wanted to try and be a gym girlie. So you took your gym bag  to work, placed It under your desk so you didn’t have any excuse not to go. Plus, the gym was quite literally in your work building. 

You sigh change into untouched gym clothes that you had bought all the way back at the end of December, preparing for your new year’s resolution. Shame rushes over your body as you tear the tags from the tight fitting clothes and chuck them into the sanitary bin next to the toilet. Huffing and puffing you slide your socked feet into new exercise shoes. Stuffing your work clothes into the bag, you exit the bathroom stall and catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. You didn’t look too bad, you looked like someone who was ready to workout. If you looked the part, you could play the part. 

Lugging the bag over your shoulder, you head to the gym. 

It was pretty empty, you were surprised, as the majority of colleagues held a membership, considering all employees got a ten percent discount as your employers owned the building.

You guess that people don’t usually come straight from work, they most likely go home and come back. But not everyone suffers from severe procrastination like you do. 

Heading to the changing rooms, to put your bag away, you pass a very good looking man, you almost trip over as your eyes stick to him. He dressed in a baggy white shirt and shorts, his feet adorned in similar shoes to yours. His hair was cut in a cool way, it was kinda long, considering all the men at work and currently surrounding him, all sported cropped haircuts. His ears and his lips were embellished with piercings, you almost walked into a wall when you saw him playing with his lip piercings, the tip of his tongue, just grazing the shiny metal. Your gaze fleetingly drops to his arm, his tattooed arm. How was a man like this working here? He should be on the cover of vogue or something. 

Tearing your eyes away from him, you manage to make it into the changing room, unscathed. You quickly lock away your bag and head back out onto the main floor, phone and AirPods in hand, ready to tackle the gym. And then it hits you a ton of bricks. You have no idea what you’re doing. You didn’t know where to start, what equipment does what, what part of your body to focus on. 

You look around at people lifting weights, running on the treadmills, using the equipment like pros.

Your eyes focus in on the 'smoke show' of a man that ‘briefly’ caught your eye earlier.  He was now sitting behind the front desk and under a large poster for personal trainers. The poster read ‘In the body gym: PT sessions available; first 2 sessions are free’. And if a sign from the universe, it doesn’t fail to mention how the offer is time limited. You take it as a sign, plus you were most likely going to try the gym twice before never going again. Might as well get free personal training out of it.

With determination, you walk towards the front desk, before stopping in front of that man of a man.  And that’s when the words on your tongue freeze. 

Jungkook notices a presence looming over him and he puts the finishing touches on the next promotional poster. He looks up and smiles. He noticed you when you first came in, you were a new face, he knew all the regulars who attended the gym and he had never seen you before. He would definitely remember a face like yours. He stands up.

“Hello, how can I help you?” He rests his tattooed hand on the desk and he notice how your eyes grow larger at the sight.

Your words are still finding it hard to get out of your mouth. You probably look like such a weirdo, standing there and staring at him. You manage to lift your finger and gesture to the poster behind him.

He smiles and his smile is the brightest smile you’ve ever seen.

“You want to book a PT session?” 

You nod and swallow the lump that had been lodged in your throat since you walked up to the desk.

“Sorry, yes, I’d like to book five.” You fumble to pull out your credit card from the back of your phone.

“I can just add the fee to your account. You don’t need to pay directly. The fee won’t be noticeable until the third session, on the account of our offer.” He leans forward to adjust your account. 

You can see down his shirt from the angle. And by the sight you can tell that he works in a gym. Hell, he might even live in it. 

He clicks a few times and quickly straightens back up, you swiftly divert your gaze.

“You are free to start your first session today.” He comes out from behind the desk and he towers over you, your knees buckle. Maybe that’s something you need to work on. Do your knees have muscles? Can you make them stronger?

“Okay, should I wait here for the trainer?” You ask.

He goes behind the desk, ducks down and then comes back out.

He extends his hand and you stare at him in confusion.

He retracts his hand, and rubs the back of his neck.

“I don’t know why I did that…” He awkwardly chuckles, shaking his head.

It can’t be. There’s no way that he’s your P-

“I’m your trainer. I hope that’s okay, the other guys are fully booked and I had a cancellation today, so I thought it’d be a cute joke…” He trails off, taking note of the smile growing across your face.

You feel kinda at ease seeing him get a little awkward attempting to joke with you. He looked like he should be the cockiest motherfucker ever, but second by second he was proving that he was the complete opposite of that. It was endearing but there was no way he could be your personal trainer, not like you had a shot with him anyway, he probably had a really fit and hot girlfriend. You digress, you didn’t want him to see you all sweaty, breathing hard and struggling to complete simple moves. 

He looks at you, his eyes doubling in size. He can tell you’re slightly uncomfortable, he could almost visualise the Neurons firing off in your head. He was attracted to you, that’s for sure, he wasn’t trying to come off as creepy. Maybe he did, and now you don’t want to train with him, maybe you’ll cancel your membership too.

He rapidly looks around the gym, hoping to catch the eye of one of his colleagues, so he could offer to trade clients. He catches Namjoon’s eye, but before he could call him over, you speak;

“It was funny, I’m just a bit scared.”

His gaze meets your eyes again. He internally feels a huge rush of relief. Thank goodness he didn’t scare you away.

“Oh good.” He tucks his hair behind his ear.

Cute. You think.

“Why are you scared?” He quickly follows up.

Shifting your weight between your feet, you answer, your voice barely audible over the EDM base leaking through the speakers.

“I don’t want to embarrass myself. You’re a professional and I don’t want to make a fool of myself.” You play with your earbud case, avoiding eye contact.

You wouldn’t be his first client who had that same fear, it was completely natural to be scared of embarrassing yourself. He felt the same way when he started boxing, the first session was nerve-racking, scared of getting anything wrong. But all you need is a good and supportive trainer. And if says so himself, that’s what he thinks he is.

“Don’t be scared. I’m here to help you. We’ll start slow, okay?” He offers a warm smile and places his large hand on your shoulder.

You almost fall from the feeling of his hand on your bare shoulder. Yes, you were acting like a teenage girl who had never interacted with a man before. But look at him. You were a grown ass woman who had never interacted with a man that looked like him before.

He leads you over to a room separate from the rest of the gym, closed off with glass doors, allowing you to see the whole place. Inside the room were a few exercise balls, foam roller and weights. The floor was soft and covered in mats.

He takes you over to the furthest mat in the room.

“Just me and you here, so don’t be nervous. This section is pretty discreet.” He reassures you.

You smile and place your phone and earbuds down on the floor next to the two mats you were currently occupying.

“We are going to start with stretching, so please sit down. I might have to help you with some of the positions. I hope you don’t mind being stretched…” His voice quietens as he realises how it sounds.

His cheeks flush a pretty pink. A hot flash that runs through you, leaves a thin layer of sweat on your hairline.

And so it begins.

The next morning you wake up sore as fuck. All that extra stretching at the end of the session seemed useless now. Your legs feel like lead as you swing them out of bed and headed to the bathroom. As you sit on the toilet, your thighs scream at you, it was almost as if you could feel every fibre of your muscles tear. 

Your phone buzzes on the countertop. Finishing your business, you wash your hands and run the shower.

You tap the screen on your phone to see a message from Jungkook. He said it was important to have direct contact with each other, just incase he wanted to recommend some gym wear or if you had any questions. 

Jungkook (Gym): ’Hope yesterday didn’t tire you out too much. You did great 👏 ‘

Another comes in as you finish reading.

Jungkook (Gym): ‘I hope to see you at the gym (or outside) soon! Make sure to book another session! 😊’

You quickly pick up your phone, steam fills the room as the water continues to gush from the pipes.

It vibrates in your hand.

Jungkook (Gym): ‘Sorry if that was unwarranted.’

It vibrates again. You didn’t want to risk opening the messages just incase you were unsure of what to say. You really didn’t want to leave him on read unintentionally.

Jungkook (Gym): ‘Please ignore the last two messages 😣 .’ 

Jungkook (Gym): ‘Lets pretend that didn’t happen. Sorry for the spam 😔 

You click on the notification and unlock your phone. 

You: Its okay 😆  My body feels like its on fire every time I move, is that normal?

You fire off the text.

Jungkook (Gym): ‘Yes 😂  completely normal. You should buy a foam roller to massage your muscles~ But more stretching should help in the mean time. Here is a video to follow (its me btw 😳)’

He sends a link to a Youtube video. You’re intrigued. The gym seemingly had a YouTube channel. The link loads and then you see Jungkook on your screen. Holding the phone in one hand, you quickly turn off the shower and head to your bedroom. Careful not to walking into any walls, you sit on your bed. 

He greets the audience cheerfully, informing them that this was a tutorial for stretching to relieve muscle ache. He is wearing the gym’s merch, not like when you saw him the day before, it wasn’t a baggy t-shirt, no. This time it was a form fitting sleeveless, lycra shirt, with the gym’s logo nestled between his sculpted pecs. His vibrant tattoos more on show than they were in person. His legs were wrapped in shorts, that fell just above his knees. 

He encourages the viewers to get an exercise mat or find a soft surface. You follow his instruction. A loud groan escapes your lips as you struggle to sit down.

He sports the brightest smile as he guides the (most likely thirsty) watchers through the exercises.

You strain your muscles as you attempt to  toe touch. And then he says something that brings you back to the previous day, during your session.

“You might need a partner to stretch you, if you can’t get far enough. It’ll feel really good.”

You were being advised on how to stretch and then when it came to this specific stretch. You were laying on your back, hands clasped around your knee. You knew that you weren’t flexible, but  you didn’t know that you were this stiff. You tried your best to pull your leg into your chest, but you couldn’t anything.

“Its not working.” You say, letting your leg drop to the ground with a thud.

Jungkook chuckles and looks down at you, arms crossed, his biceps bulging. The strength it took to not stare was more than what you used to lift the weights.

“I think you need help.” He kneels down in front of you.

He pauses.

“I can help you, if you want.” 

You nod.

He mutters an ‘okay, great’, before asking you to resume the position. He moves forward, putting his body over yours, placing his hands on your calf and pushing your leg up and down.

You almost moan with how good the stretch felt. You try your damn hardest not to concentrate on the man who was currently on top of you. You tried not to take notice of his scent, or the small scar on his cheek, or the mole under his lip.

“Can you feel it now?” He smirks.

He knew you could feel it, he heard the noise you let slip. He tries not to think anything of it, but his mind runs wild. He had to be professional. Plus you hadn’t indicated that you were interested in him in the slightest.

You nod again. He sits back on his heels and lets go of your leg.

You’re pulled out of your reminiscent state by a notification and the sound of the phone vibrating against the floor.

Jungkook (Gym): Did it help? 😢 

You quickly reply with no thoughts. Empty headed.

You: Its not the same without you

He was gonna think you were like all those other woman in the gym who thirsted over him. You needed to fix it.

You quickly send another message.

You: *your help ☺️ 

Jungkook’s heart sank at your correction. Maybe you weren’t interested. You probably in a relationship and the last thing you wanted to deal with was a creepy PT harassing you. He doesn’t reply.

You spend your whole shower thinking about being left on read.

Your closest co-worker, Bethany, sits across from you during in lunch. She notices how you barely make conversation, or keep the conversation. You check your phone every 5 minutes.

“Who are we waiting for?” She asks, her fork digging around in her bowl.

“Huh?” 

She chuckles.

“You’re obviously waiting for someone to text. You keep on looking at phone like every two seconds. So, who are we waiting for?”

You didn’t know you were being that obvious. 

“Well… My personal trainer is a total twenty out of ten. And he messaged me this morning to give me some stretching tips, and I may have ended our last convo on a creepy note. And now I think that he’s ghosting me because I was a creep. He probably blocked me. I’m probably banned from the gym.” Words rush out of your sauce covered lips. Maybe spaghetti wasn’t the best meal to have in the middle of the day.

Bethany shoves a napkin in your face, which you accept gratefully. She request to see the messages. Embarrassed, you hand your phone over to her.

She remains silent as she scrolls down the screen.

“He has a crush on you.” She finally speaks, her eyes fixed on the screen, her thumb pressing down. She was doing more than looking at the messages.

“You better not be sending another message.” You warn her, hand reaching across the table.

She swiftly moves her chair back, so your phone is out of reach.

“If you don’t snatch him up, someone else will. Oh my God, he is…” She doesn’t finish her sentence, she turns the screen towards you. And you freeze. It is a picture of a rather muscular man’s bare back, the hair at the nape of his neck was wet with sweat. And the tattooed arm… You knew that arm. It was in your dreams last night.

“W-where did you find that?”

She smiles and her thumb resumes the swiping motion.

“It was in his previous profile pictures.” She leans back in her chair.

“His picture is a brown dog.” You sit back, the image burnt into your eyes.

How were suppose to act now that you’ve seen that?  All you can imagine is digging your nails into that back as-

See? You’ve been corrupted. No, you must be ovulating, that why the impure thoughts plague your mind. You’ve seen good looking men before, but you’ve never had such a primal reaction before. You also didn’t know him well enough to like anything besides his looks. His very, very, very good looks.

“He has a ton of pictures. He may be the first guy ever who’s good at taking pictures. Damn, look at this.” She turns the screen towards you once more. This time he was standing in a mirror, hair slicked back and in a black button down. 

“I can never go back to the gym. I guess my new years resolution is not going to be fulfilled.” You sigh, leaning forward to put your head in your arms.

Suddenly, Bethany gasps.

“He replied.” She smiles.

Your heart drops to your stomach. 

“I can’t look. You read it.” You close your eyes, not wanting to look at her face.

She clicks on the notification. It felt as if seconds were taking hours to pass.

“Aww~” 

Your head pops up, eyes shoot open.

“Aww?” 

She nods.

“He said ‘I’d be glad to help, I like you.”

You lunge forward and grab the device out of her hand.

It shakes in your hand

Jungkook (Gym): * your company 😜 

Your heartbeat quickens and a smile spreads across your face. He was nicely making fun of you, recalling back to your little save earlier.

“If you don’t go for it, I will.” Bethany jokes, her engagement ring, glistening under the lighting of the restaurant.

You sit back in your chair, clutching the phone, thinking of a reply. The phone buzzes again.

Jungkook (Gym): I hope I didn’t ruin my chances of asking you out for dinner after our training sessions. I hope it didn’t come off as creepy 🤢 

You didn’t dwell on a reply, you thumbs swiftly move across the screen as you type out a reply.

You: Why wait? 🫤 

Jungkook didn’t want to rush anything just incase the attraction was purely physical. You still had four sessions left. He didn’t want to put either of you in that uncomfortable position of feeling like you were stuck with someone you had a bad experience with. What if you found him boring, or strange, or creepy? Oh he was so stupid, luckily you seemed interested, but he didn’t even ask if you were single or not, he just pounced on you like some sort of predator.

Jungkook (Gym): I want you to keep on coming to the gym. I want it to go well.

Your heart melts.  It was endearing. That someone that looked like him could be nervous. 

You send a heart emoji and lock your phone, placing it screen down on the table. As you’re about to open your mouth to discuss your messages with Bethany, your phone rings. Flipping it up, you see the name on the screen; Jungkook.

You show Bethany. She snatches the device from you and answers it, shoving it to your ear.

“Hello?” You say.

“Hi. How are you?” His silky, yet raspy voice bleeds through the speakers.

Your eyes zero in on the left over food on your plate, your finger mindlessly tracing patterns into the table.

“I-I’m good. You?” 

You could hear the EDM music that played in the gym come through the phone. It must be at work.

“Same. Uh, do you want to come in today? I could help the soreness go away? Well, not completely, but feel better?” He suggests, shyly. You practically see his tattooed arm raise to go behind his neck to shake through the back of his hair.

You didn’t have any plans to go to the gym for another 2 days Your sweaty clothes were still stuffed in your gym bag next to your front door. You hadn’t even bothered to put them in the laundry.

“Uh… I don’t have my gym clothes today.” You lean back in your chair.

Jungkook was unsure of how he was going to come off but he had to try. He really wanted to see you, he felt pathetic having a crush like this. Pursuing a crush like this.

“We have gym apparel here.” He says.

You almost scoff. Not meaning to come off as condescending. You try to disguise the scoff as a cough.

“I’m not really a gym girlie. So I’m not into buying gym clothes like that… I’ll be come in on Friday tho-“

He cuts you off.

“I’m looking at the system now and your membership actually expires tomorrow. You signed up for a 6 month contract and well… its been 6 months.” 

He was telling the truth, but he was coming off as desperate.

“Oh. Um, Its my lunch break right now, I guess I could quickly come in to renew. I’ll be there soon.”

You both mutter a quick farewell before ending the phone call.

“Sounds like he really wants to see you.”

You walk into the gym, feeling slightly uneasy dressed in your work clothes, your heels sinking into the padded floor. You immediately spot Jungkook who was currently with a client at one of the machines, a young woman who looked like she didn’t really need to be in the gym, but thats probably what hard work and dedication gets you. Results. He was dressed casually as always, a t-shirt and baggy shorts. This time a beanie encased his raven locks. You rip your gaze away from the two of them and head to the front desk. A young man greets you, you read his name tag ‘Namjoon’. He was tall, buff and oh so handsome. Was that the requirement to work at this gym?

How can I help you today?” Namjoon asks.

“Hi, I need to renew my membership.” You start.

The man smile, his dimple becoming more prominent with every tooth that displays.

“Sure, what’s your name?” His fingers ready to enter your information into the computer.

You give him your name, placing your handbag on to the counter to find your ID just incase.

Namjoon’s eyebrows reach his hairline and his yells for Jungkook. You’re startled at the sudden outburst. You look up at him in confusion. He gives you a curt smile before backing away from the counter and jogging over to Jungkook. You follow him with your eyes as he approaches Jungkook. You’re unable to hear their conversation as a count of the the loud music and the distance. You see Jungkook turn to his client and she dismounts from the machine and takes a swig of water. The two men exchange a few words before Jungkook heads your way. He approaches you with a gleaming smile on his face. You return a shy grin.

He jogs behind the counter.

“Is there a problem? Couldn’t Namjoon, is that his name? Couldn’t he do it?” You tilt your head in wonder.

Jungkook felt a pang of jealousy in his chest, he didn’t enjoy the fact that you seemed to want Namjoon to assist you when he was right there.

You notice his eyes flicker and his smile falter.

“You looked busy, I didn’t want to bother you.” You reach your hand out in defence.

His smile returns at its luminescence.

“Its no bother. I was expecting you.” Types in your information into the system and prints out a new contract. He quickly turns around to grab the sheet of paper from the printer. You take the time to admire his back, the image of his shirtless back flashing through your mind. 

Your thoughts are interrupted when he puts the contract down on the counter and gestures to the pen perched in it’s stand. He tells you where to sign. You quickly sign and date on the dotted line before handing it back to him.

“Do you want to grab dinner tonight?” He asks.

You’re taken aback by the sudden invite. 

Before you could respond, Jungkook’s client saunters over to the two of you.

“Kookie, are we going to finish the session?” She leans on the counter, and you take the opportunity to take a glance at her body. She had the physique of a dancer, or a model. She was definitely on someone’s (your) vision board.

You weren’t an overly insecure person, but thats was mostly because you kept to yourself  and limited your use of social media. But in times like these, when you unintentionally comparing yourself to another woman who was just simply existing in the presence of a good looking man. You wrap your blazer around your waist trying to shield your shape as you feel her eyes dart up and down your body.

“Yeah give me one second.” He doesn’t turn away from you.

Jungkook was about to open his mouth, when the lady interrupts;

“He’s really good. He’ll get you into shape in no time! He also offers meal plans, if he hasn’t told you already.” She gives you the once over one more time. 

You feel yourself fold in. Your shoulder slump and chest caves in. You suddenly become aware of your body and how different it was in comparison to all the people in the gym. In comparison to Jungkook, who was seemingly trying to ask you out right now. You thought of his intentions. Was he trying to garner more business for the gym? Was he going to take you out and suggest that you sign up for more PT sessions? Or maybe he was simply doing his job? And he asked all his clients out to dinner so he could monitor their eating habits?

Or MAYBE it was worse; and he got a kick of leading innocent woman into thinking they had a chance with men like him. And all the people at the gym knew it?

“Clara, I’ll be over in 5 minutes. Namjoon is gonna take over for a while.” He gestures over to Namjoon, who was leaning against a machine, patiently waiting for her to return.

She scoffs before walking away, making a point to sway her hips as she walks away. Jungkook rolls his eyes and looks back at you, a smile resting on his visage.

“Are you free tonight?” He asks, his eyes grow with hope.

The hope soon dissipates when he watches your face distort with uncertainty.

“Look, I don’t want you to go above and beyond for me. I just want to get used to coming to the gym first. Um… I know I’m not a supermodel but-.” He stops you.

“What?” He brows furrow in confusion. He runs through the past few minutes in his head and wonders where he may have misled you. He knew he sometimes had the misfortune of mixing up his words and confusing people, but he honestly didn’t think he mixed up his words this time. He barely spoke.

“I appreciate your help, but please don’t feel obliged to go outside the boundaries of the gym t-.” He cuts you off again.

“Boundaries?” He questions.

You swallow the hard lump that had formed in your throat, you already felt small, but you felt yourself becoming smaller.

“Yeah. I know you offer ‘meal plans’. But we don’t have to go out for dinner in order for you to sell them to me.” You choke out.

Jungkook’s eyebrows raise and his mouth drops open.

“I-I. No.” Is all he can say.

“No?”

“No. I want to take you out because I like you. Well I like what I know of you. I want to get to know you. I think you’re gorgeous by the way.” The last part comes out under his breath.

You’re lost for words, you don’t know whether you should apologise or question his response.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I wanted to wait until after our sessions were done so you didn’t get the wrong impression.” He looks down at his shoes.

You felt so bad, jumping to conclusions, you were the one who forced to ask you sooner. He was trying to make you comfortable, he never said anything about your appearance or made you feel any less than. You forced your insecurities on a really nice guy, who showed a little interest in you. 

“I’m sorry. Maybe I should get another trainer. And I’m-“ His gaze meets yours, eyes wide.

“No, no! I still want to be your trainer and take you out! I just hope I didn’t give you the wrong impression. I really like you.”

You shift in your spot, clutching your bag.

He pulls his phone from his pocket and taps the screens a few times. He shows you the screen.

“Look, if you don’t want to get dinner, which I understand. Lets go here. Its a painting cafe, its open til late night and they have drinks. Its really chill. You mentioned in our first session how you wanted yo do something creative, right?”

You smile,  he was seemingly trying so hard.

“Okay.” You say, coyly.

He beams.

“Okay?”

You nod.

“I’ll meet you outside at 6:30?” He locks his phone and slides it back into his pocket.

“Okay!” You smile before turning around and walking away.

This time, Jungkook watches you walk away, failing at containing the smile that had exploded on his face.

Jungkook knew his last client of the day felt rushed, he didn’t bother with the final stretches like he usually does, he didn’t even bother to jokingly flirt with the 75 year old woman like he usually did either. He aided her in putting the 2kg weights back on the rack before running into the men’s changing room, stripping and jumping into the shower. 

He scrubbed his body head to toe, making sure to get rid of the grime from the day.

Before he knew it, he was waiting outside of the building, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He catches a glimpse of his reflection and he immediately fixes his hair, one strand would not stay in its place, he knew he needed to use more hair gel. He should’ve asked Jimin if he could use a little more. 

Staring through the glass, he saw you coming, caught up in the crowd of people who were dying to get home. 

Finally, you come through the doors and walk up to him. You greet him brightly, hoping he can’t hear the nerves plaguing your voice.

He beams at you and asks about your day. He informs you that the place wasn’t too far away and was in walkable distance.

The start of the date was awkward, as expected, no more than a few words at a time being exchanged. He was ever the gentleman, before picking out a design for your canvases, he helped you  out with your apron. You fought to keep your knees from buckling as he came in close from behind to tie the back. You do the same for him, the height difference, between the two of you becoming ver present, as well as the broadness of his back.

The host lead you two a secluded room, as you both clutched your chosen designs in hand. The room was quite romantic, low lighting, except for the luminous light surging each easel. There was a table separating the two chairs, displaying the paint and the brushes. You glance at Jungkook and see the look of glee.

You both place the canvases on the easels and take your seats. The host, takes place in front of the two of you.

“You have 2 and a half hours, you are free to use all the material here. If you need anymore, please press the call button.” She gestures to the button, stuck to the end of the table, covered in the paint bottles.

She continues;

“This is an evening painting session, so we now serve wine at the bar. Selective dishes are also available to order. Coffee and snacks are still available. And… please refrain from any inappropriate behaviour, or you will be asked to leave and banned from the premise. We do have CCTV in each room.” She offers an awkward smile and swiftly leaves the room.

Jungkook hopes you don’t think that he brought you here for illicit reasons. Maybe you’d think he was one of those sleazy guys who take women to private rooms and try it on with them. Shit. You haven’t said anything. Shit. He hasn’t said anything. He’s been in his head for the past few seconds.

“I hope I’m not bad at this.” You say, breaking the silence, with a light laugh.

He turns to you and smiles, picking up a paintbrush and offering it to you. You take it and return the smile.

From then on, the date runs smoothly. You both decide to order a bottle of wine and share a plate of  pasta. One bottle turned into two, and the room was filled with laughter and stories. The misunderstandings of the afternoon long forgotten. Before you knew it, a voice came through a small speaker, you didn’t know was there, reminding you that you had 10 minutes left.

In a burst of tipsy laughter, the two of you hurriedly finish your paintings. 

Picking up your painting and Jungkook to the ‘drying station’, located, near the entrance. You both remove your paint covered aprons before attending to your paintings once again. You take a peek at his masterpiece before you flick on the hairdryer.

“How are you real?” You ask in disbelief.

He tilts his head in confusion.

“You look amazing, you’re nice, and you can paint. What can’t you do?” You giggle.

He laughs and shakes his head.

“No, no. I- You- I mean thank you. But I think the same about you.” He says quickly turning on his hairdryer, aiming it at his picture.

The hum of the machines fill the room, echoing your laughter that once filled your ears. Your ears, that were now flushed with flattery.

The hostess takes both paintings, wrapping them up carefully, and handing you both your respective bags. She taps on the register, reading off the total bill. You reach in your bag to find your card, yeah, it was a date, but you felt strange standing there as Jungkook paid for something that could’ve easily been a platonic date… Your thoughts are interrupted.

“Do you want the receipt?” 

“Huh?” The sound slipped out.

Jungkook looks at you before answering.

“No thank you. Thank you, have a nice evening.”  His free hand grabs yours and he guides you both outside.

So… not a platonic date then.

The street was much busier than it had been than when you had arrived. It was filled with people unwinding after a long day at work, ready for the weekend. It was also littered with loved up couples, holding hands, looking for places to eat, talking to each other about who knows what. If anyone were to look at the two of you, they would think you were one of those lovelorn couples. The way your hand fit in his, pace matching his, laughter mixing harmoniously with his.

“Thank you for tonight. I had so much fun.” You pull him to a stop, pulling him into a side road, away from the foot traffic.

Jungkook feels his heart swell, he was so happy. He felt like it went well, but to hear you say it? Made him feel like he was flying. To think that a few hours ago, it was all almost slipping away from him. He found himself drawn to you, he couldn’t explain it. He always believed that that’s how he’d find his ‘person’. It would just feel right. And it does.

“Me too. Thank you for giving me a chance.” He takes both your hand in his, eyes growing double in size.

You didn’t think it was possible for a man like him to look cute, but here he was, with his eyes shining, looking down at you. Looking as adorable as ever. You move closer, you were aware of your actions, but you also knew that the wine you drank was giving you the courage to do what you were about to do.

“I would like to k-“

“Yes.” A puff of air tickles your lips, as he closes his eyes.

He doesn’t feel anything.

He opens his eyes and steps back.

“Oh I’m sorry, I as-“

You pull him in and plant you lips on his. Its not perfect, you miss slightly, you feel his lips curl into smile. His hand leaves yours and meets your waist, bringing you in closer, he readjusts his lips on yours. His lip rings indenting into the plum flesh of your bottom lip. You have the sudden urge to feel it on your tongue. You swipe your tongue along his bottom lip, letting it tease the metal accessory for a few milliseconds before slipping it into his mouth. A low growl rumbles in his throat and he tangles is tongue with yours. Your hand finds its way to the back of his neck, fingers delving into the hair at the nape of his neck. His hand wonders from your waist to your lower back, fingers inching closer to your behind.

The sound of a throat clearing brings you to a halt.

You separate, the rustling of your bags, sounding like teens laughing at their peers being caught making out at a high school house party.

“We should uh… get going.” You say, using your fingers to wipe the saliva from your mouth. 

Jungkook licks his lips and nods. You were more than ready to go about being awkward and distant but that was never his plan, he grabs your hand and walks with you like he’d been kissing you like that.

He walks you back to the work building and calls you a taxi. You both bid each other a sweet goodnight, exchanging smiles and hugs before parting ways.

Jungkook makes sure to text you as soon as he watches your taxi drive down the road, telling you how much he enjoyed spending time and how he hopes he could do it sometime soon. 

Your heart jumps at the sound of your phone vibrating in your bag. It does backflips as your eyes take in his words. For the second time that evening you ask him;

You: How are you real? 😂 

He smiles to himself as he heads home, he snaps a quick picture of himself and sends it.

Jungkook 💕: Very real and all yours lol

He immediately regrets sending it. Fingers scrambling, he sends a second message.

Jungkook💕: If you’ll have me 🥴 

He must be playing a joke on you, right? What does this tall, handsome, funny, sweet PERSONAL TRAINER want with you? He’s seen you, right? He’s seen the other women who go to his gym, right? 

Jungkook looks at his message and sees the ‘1’ disappear. You read it. And you weren’t replying. He came on too strong. Great, he ruined the perfect evening.

Just as about he was about to type out an apology, your message pops up.

You: Do you have a fetish or something?

He furrows his eyebrows. Figuring texting is messing up true feelings, he presses the voice call button.

Your eyes widen when you see his name on your screen. You pick up.

“Hi.” 

“Hey. Fetish?” He gets right to it.

“Yeah. You know…” Your voice comes out as a whisper.

He stops walking, he sits on a bench.

“I don’t know. To be honest, I’m very confused.”

You felt so embarrassed. You let your insecurities get the best of you and sabotage this relationship before it had the chance to even start. 

“Jungkook. You’re you and…”

You pause. You feel your eyes water. 

“I’m me. I’m not in the best shape and I’m not skinny or have a perfect hourglass figure. I’m definitely  heavier than you.” You let out a dry laugh.

“I’m struggling to understand and believe that you like me. And that this isn’t some sort of sexual thing.” Your breath shakes.

Jungkook’s brows are now in permanent furrowed state, that never crossed his mind. Of course it didn’t because he didn’t think of you like that.

He says your name. It was different from the way you’ve heard it said by other guys before when you’ve brought up the same issue. He didn’t say with defeat or dipped in grease. It was usually followed by ‘you should take it as a compliment, I think big girls are sexy’. ‘I wanted to see what it was like’

Jungkook said nothing of the sort;

‘I’m me and you’re you. I like you. I like everything about you. Well, what I know so far, I want to know more. I want to go on more dates, I want to see where this goes. Hopefully it can go far. I’d really like that. And you may not understand why I like you, but you don’t have to right now, I’ll show you. I’m sorry if a guy has made you feel like you’re a plaything and not likeable. I wish I could punch him.”

You laugh.

“I like hearing you laugh. I want to be the reason for that. Thank you telling me how you feel and not just ghosting. I appreciate it. “ You could hear him smile through the phone.

He couldn’t be real. But you had to tell yourself he was or you’d fuck it up.

“Thank you for not being weirded out.” You sniffle.

He laughs.

“After kissing me like that? I’m locked in.”

2 months later

Jungkook was a very understanding and patient boyfriend. He must’ve gotten a lot of practice from his job as a personal trainer. He pushed you to try new things, go to new places, but he always made sure you were comfortable. He was a living manifestation of your dream man.

He had asked you to be his girlfriend during your 5th and final training session. You were stretching together, he had your leg stretched out and next to your head (definitely not gym approved), when he ‘popped the question’. You agreed very quickly and kissed him, only for the kiss to be interrupted by ‘Clara’, the client who was convinced that she was playing the long game with Jungkook.

She lets out a loud gasp before storming out of the room.

“I think I may have lost you a client. Sorry.” You giggle.

He pecks your lips and releases your leg.

“But I gained a girlfriend.

Jungkook invites you over for a movie night after work on a Friday night. He’s ever the gentleman, he waits outside the building, takes your bag and holds your hand the entire walk  to his house. You had been over to apartment on several occasions. But never for an overnight stay, for a moment or two before heading out. You head to the bathroom, taking your overnight bag, you wash off your makeup, change out of work clothes and into a oversize shirt and sleep shorts. Neatly folding your clothes back into your bag, you head back out into the living room.

He looks up at you as you place your bag under the breakfast bar.

“You look cute.” He smiles, cutting up strawberries into a bowl.

You walk up next to him, your brushing up his broad back and wrapping around his waist. You kiss his cheek.

“Thank you.” You kiss his jaw.

You were both quite wary when it came to physical intimacy, you’d cuddle, hold hands and occasionally kiss, but things were moving very slowly. You wondered if he was even attracted to you (you tried to push the bad thoughts to the back of your head) , as he rarely ever initiated contact. You were still trying to come across has chill and nonchalant, but the truth was… you were horny. You wanted to jump his bones every time you saw him, he was gorgeous. He had been bragging about a delicious dish that he learned to make, and how excited he was to show you. You were a bit reluctant about accepting the invite, you’d been to his apartment before, but for only a few minutes at a time.  You had never spent time with him in his house with access to a bed.

You help him cook, despite him telling you to sit down. You both sit down and enjoy the meal, sharing laughs and stories from the day. After eating, you wash up together, feeling very domestic.

Drying your hands, you shyly you ask;

“Should we watch a movie?” 

Jungkook dries the last bowl and smiles, that shy smile that you adored so much.

“Sure, the remote is on the couch. Pick whatever.”

You place the dish towel down ever so carefully, the silence lingering in air before you speak.

“I uh was thinking we could uh watch it in your bedroom. If you’re comfortable of course.” You pick the towel up once more, wringing it in your hands, palms turning red.

He notices your hesitation, places the bowl in the cabinet, gently pulls the towel out of your hands and wraps his arms around you. You immediately relax into the hug.

“Don’t be nervous to ask for things like that. I want to cuddle with you wherever. It’ll be nice.”

Before you knew it, you were under the sheets with Jungkook on top of you, lips locked, legs too, entangled in a heated position. One arm was around his neck and one was around his tiny waist, sneaking up his shirt. He moaned into the kiss, the deep guttural sound causing a pool arousal to soak your underwear. His large hand had naturally made its way on to your breasts, he has growled at the feeling of your braless tits in his hand. His other hand was above you, resting on the pillow. He let his body rest on you a little, increasing your temperature ever so slightly. You gasp into his mouth, feeling something firm pressed against your stomach. He kisses your lips once more before moving to your cheek, down to your jaw and then your neck, sucking your skin slightly. You weren’t a particularly vocal person in bed, but his actions were making hard for you to keep quiet, involuntary whines escaping your body.

“I-I’m h-hot.” You whimper.

He smirks.

“Yeah, you are.”

You snort.

“No~ I’m literally hot, can we take off the blanket?” 

“Oh.” He laughs and flips the blanket off, rolling to the side of you, leaning on his elbow.

He stares at you. Before you could ask a question, his lips are on yours again. His hand cups your jaw. You kiss him back fervently, your hand

He pulls away, lips a hairbreadth from yours. His hand travels down your body, caressing your breast, squeezing your waist. Which makes you tense up. Your waist and stomach were areas that you were self conscious about, it felt like he was squeezing your flaws. 

Think about something else. Thinking about something else.

He feels you go stiff.

“Are you okay?” He asks, lips pink and swollen.

You nod.

“Just touch me.” You grab his hand and place it on your waistband.

He bites his lips, without breaking eye contact, his fingers disappear into your shorts. He touches you over your panties first. He moans at the feeling of the soaked material.

“You’re so wet. All for me?” He smirks, eyebrows raised.

Your breath gets caught in your throat as he moves your panties to the side and his thumb meets your clit, fingers gliding over your folds. He takes his time before curling his long fingers into you, causing your to moan out in pleasure, wrapping your fingers around his wrist. He slowly fucks his fingers into you. The room is filled with the crude wet sound of your heat and the murmur of the voices of the long forgotten movie playing on TV.

You’ve never sounded like this before, unintelligible sounds tumbling from your lips as he pumps his digits in and out, hitting that place deep inside you.

“Y-your’e gonna make me c-“ You kiss him and place your hand on his bulge that had been growing.

He hisses, bucking into your hand. He takes his fingers out of you and hurriedly removes your shorts and underwear. You barely have time to think when his mouth meets your centre. His thick tongue licks you up, sucking on your pearl, like the best candy he’s ever tasted in his life. Your hands shoot out to grab his hair as you shake. You grunt out his name as you cum, eyes rolling to the back of your head, you try to catch your breath.

Jungkook rises to his knees and rips off his shirt, you catch a glimpse of his adonis like body before his kisses you. How were you in bed with someone who looks like that? Even though you had just felt like jelly, your brain tells your body to tense up. You kiss him back, trying your best to push the thoughts away, but as your hand feel up his toned, muscular physique, it was getting harder to fight them away.

Jungkook feels you tense under his touch. He pecks your lips before pulling away.

“Are you okay?”  He asks, brown eyes glistening.

You nod and try to push the intrusive thoughts to the back of your mind. He raises his eyebrows, non verbally questioning you. You nod once again and presses your lips against his. He moans and kisses you back passionately. His hands wonder again, gripping your waist and pulling you closer to him. Your muscles tense once again. He feels you go stiff, he pulls away again.

Your eyes remain closed, scared to look at him. You’ve really fucked up now, he probably thinks you’re weird, and he probably regrets giving a ‘fat’ girl a chance.

“You’re not okay. Tell me what’s wrong baby.” He moves closer to you and brushes hair out of your face, but then he quickly retracts.

“Do you not want me to touch you?” 

You open your eyes, not daring to look at him, your stare tasering in on every detail of his bedroom ceiling.

“I’m sorry if I m-“

“No! I just have- I’m just… All I keep thinking of is what you must think.”

He looks at you puzzled.

“What I think?”

You take a deep breath and sit up, pulling your legs into yourself.

“You must’ve been with girls who have insane bodies, and you work at a gym for god’s sake! And now you’ve got to tolerate me. I don’t wanna put you off by taking off my shirt.” You ramble.

Jungkook barely keeps up with your words, he wants to grab you and tell you that you’re beautiful, and that he is more than attracted to you. But he didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, you were literally telling him how you were uncomfortable you were with him touching you. Well, you didn’t say that explicitly but he didn’t want to push you further.

Him just sitting there was making you more anxious, maybe he had been hiding his true feelings. He did find you repulsive, maybe he was being kind and didn’t know how to let you down gently. 

Without sparing a glance his way, you attempt to get off the bed. He stops you, hand gently landing one your thigh. You stare down at his tattooed fingers, slightly gripping, leaving dents in your skin.

“Don’t go. I think you’re gorgeous. L-like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. That I’ve ever had the privilege to meet, to date, to kiss… To touch.”

You scoot back on the bed, eyes never leaving his.

“N-now I understand if you don’t wanna stay the night anymore, but.. I really want you to stay. And we don’t have to do anything, I won’t even touch you. I can sleep on the couch if that would make you more comfortable.”

He moves his hand towards your face, fingertips hovering over your cheek, scared to brush your hair out of your face.

“Even if you want to leave, please don’t leave thinking that I don’t want you or that I’m not attracted to you. You are perfect to me and it sucks that guys have made you feel like you aren’t the most beautiful woman in the world. “

You look into his eyes and you can feel his sincerity. You lean into his open hand, letting his palm warm your cheek. 

“I-i want you to touch me. I want you to want to touch me.”

Jungkook grabs your face and kisses you.

“I do want to touch you. I want to do more than that. But I want you to feel more than comfortable with that.”

You kiss him, deepening the kiss before he even has the chance to pull away. You wrap your arms around his neck and you fall back, pulling him on top of you.

He rolls you both onto your sides and places his hands firmly on your hips. He moans into your mouth, sending heart down between your legs. You clench around nothing and rub your legs together, in an attempt to relieve yourself.

Jungkook’s hand brushes your thigh, as if he was asking for an invitation inside. You spread to let him in, his fingertips once again dance along your folds, becoming slick with arousal. He toys with your hardening nub, making you twist and turn. His mouth detaches from yours and land on your neck. He licks and kisses a spot that makes it impossible to keep quiet. Your arms wrap around his body, nails digging into the taut skin of his back. His fingers tease your opening before plunging in deep. His fingers move smoothly and quickly, pulling egregious noises from your lips. He feels you tighten around his fingers.

“Are you gonna cum for me again? Soak my fingers?” He whispers in your ear.

You feel a burning flash run through your body as you let go and experience release. You come undone and as you do, he presses his lips against yours, licking into your mouth. He gently pulls his fingers out of you and brings his fingers to his lips, alternating between kissing you and tasting your release.

Breath heavy, you snake your hand down between your bodies, fingers brushing his hardness in his boxers. He shudders. It had been a while since he had had sex. People perceived him as a hardcore fuckboy but he was truly the opposite. He wanted to be in a relationship, truthfully, that’s the only way he could cum, knowing the person beneath him was ‘his’.

“I don’t think I’m gonna last. I-I’m sorry.” He breathes out.

You smirk before pushing him back onto the bed and kneeling next to him. You bend at the waist and place a kiss over his boxers. His breathing gets heavier, chest heaving, abs clenching.

You palm his length before pulling him out and taking him into your mouth. You both moan as you sink deeper and feel him it the back off your throat. You suck gently, pulling off to lick at his tip.

His hand lands on the back off your head, slowly coming around to stroke your cheek. You maintain eye contact as you bob up and down. His eyes roll to the back of his head and he throws his arm over his eyes, unable to control his body as the pleasure takes over. 

Suddenly, he gently pulls your hair, forcing you off of him.

“I’m gonna cum. I wanna feel you.” He confesses.

He sits up and reaches over to open his bedside table draw. You watch as he pulls out a foil packet. Expertly, he rips it open and slides the condom over his length. He turns back to you, encouraging you to lay back on the bed.

You lay back, and part your legs. He lines up with your core and gently pushes in. He hisses out a few curse words as he feels. You tighten around him. He almost collapses with how good it feels.

“So fucking tight.” He says through gritted teeth.

His grip on your hips tightens as he rocks back and forth. His tip hitting a spot in you that makes you scream in pleasure. He leans over you, encouraging you to hold on to him.

You both find a steady rhythm, moans reaching a crescendo as you explode. He follows shortly after, you feel the warm fill the condom. He rolls off you and next to you on the bed. 

“Y-you are so sexy. Fuck.” He breathes out, chest heaving.

You laugh and turn to look at him.

“Thank you. I think you are too.” You reach out and brush his slightly damp hair out of his face. The angles of his chiseled face glisten more with the assistance of the tin layer of sweat that had formed on his skin.

He scoots closer to you and pecks your lips before getting up to get rid of the soiled condom that has become baggy with the deflation of his length.

You watch his figure as he heads into the bathroom.

You sigh a sigh of happiness. You might never be completely happy with yourself but you hope you can be happy with him and learn to love yourself as much as he might.

Hope you enjoyed this! Once again, no mean message please :)

[beitnow123]

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[chronicallycouchbound]

PSA: Please don’t ask participants to do grounding/mindful/somatic/etc practices at your events

Grounding exercises should not be an activity in large group settings, especially unsolicited and without warning, especially if you’re not aware of every single person in the space’s mental health conditions, physical health conditions, and personal relationship to their body.

Practices such as mindfulness, grounding, somatic exercises, breathing techniques, body scans, etc. are very helpful therapeutic tools to help manage stress. They can (and do!) help plenty of people– when taught safely and used effectively!

HOWEVER for people with conditions that cause psychosis and/or dissociative conditions such as depersonalization/derealization, these techniques are contraindicated and can make their symptoms significantly worse. They should only be used with guidance from their mental health team and adapted to their needs. For people with conditions like anxiety and PTSD, being aware of breathing can trigger a trauma response or anxiety attacks.

And for people with conditions that cause chronic pain or other uncomfortable bodily sensations, becoming re-centered with their bodies can cause more awareness of the pain they are in, which a level of (ideally functional) dissociation is actually helpful. For people in wheelchairs and powerchairs, touching the ground beneath their feet isn’t always an option. For people with cardiac and pulmonary conditions, deep breathing can be impossible or can trigger asthma attacks. For disabled people in general, doing body scans can be impossible due to paralysis or limb differences. They can bring awareness to things the person wasn’t aware were wrong to begin with (which is helpful in certain spaces, but not a great ice breaker at a retreat!)

And for trans people, binders and other garments can restrict breathing, and taking repeated deep breaths while binding can cause rib damage (which is why you shouldn't bind at night, while coughing from sickness, while exercising, etc). Becoming centered in a body that makes you dysphoric can be deeply distressing, again, a level of functional dissociation helps.

This also goes for plenty of other people in marginalized bodies, such as people of color, people who use substances, queer people, and more. Becoming grounded in your own marginalized body can be a heavy weight to carry, and needs appropriate and individualized care to be a beneficial experience.

As an alternative, I suggest doing a round of gratitudes instead, it allows for people to choose their level of vulnerability in spaces, while not being generally contraindicated for many people. Doing fun (and appropriate to the setting) icebreakers are great. Ask what brings someone to the space. Check-ins about basic needs such as if people need to use the restroom, eat, drink water, are rested, etc. can be more appropriate body check-ins for folks to do.

I don’t recommend doing these exercises even with a warning beforehand. If I'm in the room while someone is leading a breathing exercise, even if I try to ignore it, I (and most people) would automatically become aware of my breathing. The same goes for any other techniques. These techniques can cause real, life-threatening levels of harm for some people, and can even just be deeply uncomfortable or distressing for others. Dissociation is not inherently evil or bad or harmful. It is the way the body and mind naturally respond to adverse experiences (note: it can also cause distress and at higher levels, can be disordered) it is best to allow people to exist as they are in communal spaces. Let people show up as they are.

Most spaces are not equipped or appropriate to respond to emergencies, difficult feelings, and all the varied responses that can come from folks doing mindfulness in group settings.

I personally do some things before large gatherings and events to feel centered on the activity I’ll be doing, and afterward, I decompress. Encourage participants to lean on their natural supports and offer suggestions for it! Be creative in your caring!

This also doesn’t mean to discourage these practices! If you see someone doing deep breathing, check in with them, offer a space for them to decompress, care for them! Worksheets or posters on techniques like square breathing and 5 senses check-ins are great for a quiet room or spaces where participants can decide if they want/are able to engage with those tools. It should be a fully consensual opt-in, rather than being forced to opt-out. Having to leave a room when a group leader says “We’re going to start a mindful breathing meditation, please feel free to leave if you have psychosis, chronic pain, or are trans” is obviously othering and outs people.

Sincerely, someone who has psychotic symptoms, dissociation, chronic pain, is trans and whose body is marginalized in many ways and is really tired from trying to explain this at every event I go to

[a-pute11as]

caught - alexia putellas

first time doing this so it's a short one. r gets caught staring at alexia in the gym. based on this godly picture.

words - 727

“you’re staring at her again” cata rolled her eyes at my behaviour. we were in the middle of a gym session and i was meant to be spotting her as she did a chest press. meant. yet my focus was much further away than making sure cata didn’t drop a heavy set of weights on her. 

i watched as one of her arms extended upwards and the other lay across her stomach. her muscles prominently pressing against her training top as she continued her set. i watched as her face tensed after every movement, with small grunts leaving her lips as she continued. the way her veins popped out across her hands, highlighting her perfect hands whilst drawing attention to her toned arms. 

“i’m not staring” i said, shaking my head as i looked over at cata, tearing my eyes away from the sight clearly sent from heaven. 

“you’re literally drooling” she laughed whilst continuing the exercise i should’ve been paying attention too. 

i quickly ran my hand across my mouth, making sure she was joking.

“not funny, i don’t drool” i said rolling my eyes as we switched positions for me to begin doing the required exercises. 

“hm, you do when you sleep” she said, shaking her head at my dismissal. 

“one time catalina! that was one time!” i defended, raising my voice whilst trying not to gain too much attention. 

i finished my set before switching with cata again. i stood up again, my eyes instantly traveling to alexia. i knew i shouldn’t but couldn’t stop myself, not with the way her sweat glistened in the fluorescent lights. 

and then her eyes met mine. my cheeks instantly flashed a bright red colour as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a smug smirk. she knew exactly what i was doing, and i wasn’t going to hear the end of it. 

i quickly looked away as i diverted my attention back to cata, “i have a problem” i said, fanning myself with my hand to give me some kind of relief from the heat that was spreading across my body. 

“don’t i know it, it’s like your eyes are permanently glued to her” she said, finishing her set and standing up to join me. 

“no, i’m being serious, ale caught me staring at her, like really caught me, like she looked me dead in the eyes” i whispered, rubbing my hand against my temple. 

she was instantly hunched over laughing, and not quietly, meaning suddenly a lot of eyes were on us. 

“catalina thomas coll lluch, shut the fuck up” i aggressively whispered punching her arm in hopes she’d stop. 

the laughing continued as my face began to develop an even deeper shade of red. 

“i can’t believe she caught you” she managed to get out in between her ridiculously loud laughter. 

i covered both my hands with my face in hopes the embarrassment would disappear. 

“who caught you?” a thick catalan accent appeared behind me, an accent that i knew incredibly well, an accent belonging to the person who just caused me to go as red as possible. 

my hands instantly dropped to my side as i spun round to meet her face.

“no one, she’s just talking about a show we were watching” i explained, lies spilling out of my mouth to somehow hide the embarrassment i was feeling, “she clearly finds it very funny, when it definitely isn’t” i added, giving cata the straightest expression i possibly could. 

“well, if you two are done, could you come spot me?” alexia said, directly a seemingly innocent smile appearing on her face, yet i knew that was a cover for a very cocky grin. i couldn’t believe she was doing this on purpose at this point. 

“oh of course! we just finished” cata said, her laughter instantly disappearing whilst being replaced with an exaggerated smile, as she pushed me closer to alexia by my shoulder. 

“thank you cata, i’ll go easy with her” alexia winked at cata, as she began walking over to her next piece of equipment. 

before joining her i quickly shot cata a strong glare, “i hate you, so so so much” i whispered. 

“try not to stare” i heard her snigger back, which caused me to simply raise my middle finger at her causing the laughing fit to reappear. 

[johnbrand]

The Tanning Booth

With @breedertfs

Chris approached the tanning booth, attempting to hold back the apprehension that suddenly flooded his system. Had it been silly to think he, a petite, pale kid from middle-of-nowhere Wyoming, could become a porn star? And a gay one at that? He was not a virgin, but his hole also had not reached the point of no return. He just needed the money, bad, and after a hookup had recommended this as an easy way out, Chris decided to try his luck.

Of course, Chris would try his best to stay safe in the industry, but the producer he had signed with had noted changes would be necessary. Even though his future audiences would know he was homosexual (some porn stars were just there for the money, not the sex after all), Chris understood he had to sexualize himself a bit more. He had followed the producer’s suggestions, shifting his diet and focusing on exercising different muscle groups. And now, just days before his first shoot, he was getting a tan.

“That tanning light is gonna change more than just that pasty skin tone,” the producer had joked, as if it was some kind of turning point. Yet now, standing before the menacing machine, Chris almost felt like it was. Deciding it was best not to dwell on his trepidation further, he took a step forward and heard the door click shut behind him. Waiting, naked and alone, Chris began to literally understand what it meant to do anything for money.

After a moment, a magenta light blasted the room in color, momentarily blinding Chris. The fan above his head began to run, slowly redistributing the air throughout the room. Chris felt himself relax, growing lighter as his shoulders began to droop. He did not register that the process had begun, the tanning spray emitting from the walls as droplets carefully coated his body.

The misting began at his feet, covering his toes before moving across the soles to the ankles and slowly carrying up. Due to his loosened consciousness, Chris did not see his tanned feet bloat larger. The toes crept forward as his feet widened, thickening out with a putrid odor as if to announce its grand entrance.

The spray had already moved on however, having stretched out Chris’s legs and added some definition to his calves. Dustings of hair began to emerge across his skin as the droplets darkened his thighs, inflating them to the point that Chris had to readjust and hold a wider stance. Now vulnerable, the droplets swept up across the front and back of Chris’s midsection. His buttocks billowed out into two juicy bubbles while a thick cock bloomed forward with his heavy balls flopping down.

Unbeknownst to Chris, the tanning booth was also laced with a minor stimulant, boosting his libido as it passed over the now properly-sized equipment for the porn star. The producer however knew this, smiling as he watched his newest employee begin to stroke himself absentmindedly through the camera attached within the tanning booth.

Chris began to moan as the spray glazed over his arms and chest. The hand tugging his much larger meat began to grow in size, gradually becoming fit to carry his massive load. Muscle spilled out of Chris’s torso as abs popped in one by one, followed by two pillowy pecs. To compliment, his upper arms ballooned appropriately, forcing his shoulders outwards as the vapor began to darken his neck. While the only physical change involved a fuller circumference, the changes in depth were apparent as each grunt of sexual elation grew deeper and more animalistic.

Finally came the head. At the exterior level, the tanning booth worked its magic over the pimply boyish offerings. Soft jaw replaced by crude angles, brow brought forward with more prominence. Bigger nose, larger forehead, crafting a perfect face oozing of breeding masculinity. But internally, the tanning spray was contaminating Chris’s identity, staining his individuality.

His personality, his background, his morals–all of was subject to corruption. If Chris was to be a porn star, then the producer had to get rid of any doubts or hesitations. He would have a new history, a new story as to how he got to this point, perfectly constructed to never leave or disobey his boss. Chris the hopeful American twink may have made a decent profit, but the rougher, tougher, gay-for-pay Russian stud Kristofer would certainly fatten his wallet. After all, the best gay porn stars were the ones only in it for the money!

So now, happily, the producer watched as Kristofer came to the surface, tantalizingly stroking himself off for his gay fans. The fans he cared nothing about. It took him a moment, but eventually Kristofer spotted the camera, giving it his signature wink while dreaming about which chick he would like to dump a load into before the producer had him on his next shoot.

[regexkind]

As my childhood reached its autumn and came to an end, the winter storm of pubescence came crashing down upon me like a tree through the roof of a rustic cabin. Fortunately the cabin in this case can be said to represent only my good sense, and not, as is perhaps more common, my good looks.

This may be most acutely demonstrated by my choice of magnum opus for my boarding school's oil painting final—a choice which has haunted me to this day. I worked obsessively and secretly for weeks. The glory and subtlety of my muse could not be despoiled by some philistine's gaze. For this reason I elected to frame my work with heavy curtains.

I became obsessive as to the particulars of my subject matter. No detail was too small. I learned to paint folds of fabric like a Renaissance master, I studied early 19th-century wigs and hairstyles, I sent away to a (better-equipped) institute¹ for a book on military buttons. I made dozens of preparatory sketches. Finally, The Day Of The Great Unveiling was upon me.

When, with a dramatic flourish, I yanked back the curtain, I was greeted, not as I expected—not as I had hoped—not as I should have been—not with cries of delight, but with gasps of horror and revulsion.

Before the assembled crowd of faculty, students, and parents, nearly life-sized, was a portrait of the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, boldy astride the buttocks of the Duke of Wellington, who knelt on hands and knees beneath him. Napoleon stared straight ahead, his face alight with that mixture of severity and delight in conquest that suffuses his best portraits. The Duke's head was turned slightly towards the viewer, as if he were perhaps aware of their presence. His cheeks were flushed, his mouth ajar in an "Oh!" of surprise, but otherwise, he was virtually the same as in Lawrence's portrait.

Now, one might assume the cabin of my reason to be completely crushed, but I had exercised certain discretion in the portrayal of my subjects. Both were fully clothed, even unto tricorn hat. I had neglected only breeches, but this omission was hardly remarkable, let alone obscene, due to the length of the then-fashionable frock coats². Only a tiny triangle of flesh was visible between top of garter and hem of coat. Despite this tasteful discretion, and implicit reference to centuries of symbolism in Western portraiture, my audience was, as previously stated, appalled.

I thought their horror could not be increased, until with incredulity, the art master read the title: "Napoleon Comes Again: The Emperor's Revenge". It goes almost without saying, that I was rapidly and unjustly expelled from the academy. My pater familias responded in kind, granting me the frankly miserly sum of fifty thousand pounds, on the condition that I never write to, speak to, or otherwise contact him or any member of my family.

All of this goes to explain how I find myself penniless in this desolate town on the Western edge of Montana. Brother, can you spare me a dime?

¹Perhaps they would have appreciated me. Perhaps all this could've been averted.

²See! See! I told you I did my research

[spacedace]

It’s been a busy day for Elle by the time she rounds the corner and sees the unattended Batmobile parked in the alley she usually cuts through to go home. But not so busy that she’s willing to ignore the prime opportunity that she’s just stumbled upon.

Bats in the Bowery is always something that gets people’s heckles up - this is Hood’s turf and the people that live there are just as territorial over that as their violent vigilante. Batman himself being in the Bowery might as well be a declaration of war. Sure, when the heavy hitters are out causing shit things are a bit more flexible, but even then the Bats are there with Red Hood. Obviously and clearly tolerated for the time being.

Elle would put good money on Hood not being in the loop that the big Bat himself is currently parked three blocks away from Crime Alley. Which means that the Batmobile, tucked away in the shadows and entirely unattended, is free game.

Fuck it, she decides. 

Jay had asked her and Danny about what kind of rings Jazz likes. He’s on all their emergency contact lists, and he’s offered to officially adopt her and Danny to lighten Jazz’s load a little. He’s put in the time to figure out how to incorporate ectoplasm into his amazing home cooked meals in such a way that it doesn’t cause the food to come back to life just so they can have something tasty and nutritious. 

He’s family.

Which means it’s only right that she honors his place as family, by following in his footsteps.

Even without any of the proper equipment for the job, it’s a lot easier for her to remove the tires than it had been for her soon-to-be brother-in-law all those years ago. All it takes is five minutes, some intangibility and some increased strength and she has a pile of tires wider than her body stacked up behind her. She doesn’t even get any grease on her in the process. It takes more effort to find a pencil in her blackhole of a backpack to write the note she leaves behind tucked under one of the windshield wipers.

Getting the tires home is another story but she eventually manages to scrounge up enough blob ghosts to help her haul them back with her unseen. The little dudes like a little mischief - and like Hood even more - and they need the exercise. She’s not sure exactly what she’s going to do with the tires when she gets home though. One is definitely going to Jay as a present, maybe she could get Skulker to help her mount it on a plaque like one of his hunting trophies? Other than that though, they’re largely just going to take up space in the apartment.

Bill would probably know a guy. Hell, Bill may even want in on the trophy idea as a gift for Hood, he’d been saying that the anniversary of the crime lord taking out Black Mask was coming up. Maybe she could get the goon to help her get the last two tires to a couple of the more fun rogues as gifts? Harley for sure would get a laugh out of it. Ivy would probably be upset over the ecological impact of the creation of the tire, but maybe she could sell the last one to Penguin?

-

Tim blinks at the stack of - very familiar - tires taking up the corner of the Nightingales’ living room. Elle has them arranged in an approximation of a throne with a couple of pillows set down so she can sit more comfortably as she lounges. She barely even glances up at them as Danny leads them inside, slurping at a bright green smoothie as she taps away on her phone.

Danny looks as thrown by the tableau as Tim is. It’s nice to see that Danny isn’t as totally immune to Elle’s shenanigans as he pretends. Though, it’s also mildly terrifying to consider his boyfriend’s little sister is capable of chaos that not even Danny “Danger Twink” Nightingale can come up with.

“Uh…what you got there, Elle?”

Elle, pointedly, takes a long, loud slurp from her smooth as she looks up to meet her brother’s gaze. “New family tradition.” She says, unblinking.

Danny stands there for a long moment before giving a final shrug. “Yeah, sure. Jay will get a kick out of it.”

Tim pulls his phone out and snaps some pictures. Danny is right, of course, Jason is going to love it. But so will everyone else in the group chat.

[ppssession]

Strong Men Gym

On a quiet night, Clyde is walking home from the gym on a lonely and scary path.

In the meantime, he felt eyes staring at him. He tried to run faster, but felt like he was running in the same place.

Suddenly, a large number of black hands grabbed him. Clyde, who was a strong man, felt weak. He tried to escape but failed.

Many hands grabbed him and ran their fingers over his muscles curiously. Suddenly, a voice whispered in his ear, “This is a good opportunity.”

Suddenly, Clyde woke up from his nightmare. His breathing became a little labored, but people outside could hear him. “Honey, are you okay?” Clyde’s young husband, Theo, who had lived with him for several years, greeted him with concern.

Clyde: It's okay, honey. I was just dreaming.

Theo showed a slightly worried look when he saw Clyde's tense expression. He said with concern, "Darling, are you sure you're okay if you're not feeling well? We can postpone our date."

Clyde smiled and pulled Theo into a hug. Our date today was going to be special. Clyde kissed Theo's neck like he always did. Just seeing your face made me feel so good.

Today Clyde and Theo are very happy, they dated in many beautiful places, it is a beautiful feeling for them like a flower in a beautiful field.

As they were heading home, he saw a new gym opening near their house. Remembering his nightmare last night, he chose to go to the gym here instead of the old one, which was quite far from home.

The next day he went to play at this fitness center. He was impressed when he found the modern, clean exercise equipment and the spacious area in the fitness center. There was a lot of air conditioning but there was no smell of sweat at all because of the special air conditioners.

When he finished playing, he decided to sign up for a fitness membership. It was great that this fitness center had a lot of options for people to exercise. He could play with people without being disturbed. Many of the rules were the same as his old gym.

But there is one rule that Clyde particularly likes: the gym offers free chicken breasts and protein for members, which saves him the trouble of having to go out and buy these items during his workout. Plus, the chicken breasts and protein here are of high quality.

After Clyde started going to the gym here, he really liked it. Whether it was the convenience or anything else, Clyde felt that his muscles looked noticeably better, even though it was strange that he always felt strangely comfortable after he finished going to the gym.

One day, while he was playing fitness as usual, he suddenly felt strangely unwell. He thought that it might be because his workload had increased, making him tired, so he decided to go to the fitness shower room and he didn't forget to take a picture in front of the mirror to post on social media as he likes to do.

When he took off his clothes to reveal his hot body, he slowly got into the shower and started to take a shower. He loved the feeling of the water running over his muscles, and the gym soap and shampoo had a very special smell.

When he finished washing his body, he was about to get out of the shower but he felt that his body was very heavy, causing him to bend down to the floor. When he felt that his body was getting heavier, his legs started to become uncontrollable.

His muscles visibly tensed, his arms became uncontrollable as if they weren't listening to his commands, his eyes rolled to the side, he started to groan, the vision gradually darkened, Clyde's body blacked out.

As time passed, Clyde's body slowly rose up as if nothing had happened, his face showing the utmost satisfaction. "This was worth the wait."

As time passed, Clyde's body slowly rose up as if nothing had happened, his face showing the utmost satisfaction. "This was worth the wait."

Clyde's body walked to the control panel for the staff to enter a special passcode for high-level members.

This is a top secret project of a rich man who has created a special nano cell that can penetrate every touch. This nano cell will enter the body of the person who touches it. It will gradually adjust the body and mind of the person who touches it to be ready for the possession.

However, due to the limitation that nanocells must be present in large quantities in the body, and the lifespan of nanocells is very short, in order for the host's body not to think that nanocells are a threat to the host's body, the host that will be possessed must receive nanocells regularly so that nanocells can still work effectively.When Clyde's body confirmed that he could possess Host's body, he received a message through the circuit board. He received, "Thank you for using our service. We will take care of your old body so that you can live comfortably. Please accept this."

Suddenly, a strange Sim popped up from the screen. Clyde pulled it out with a message that said, “A special Sim, if placed at the nape of its neck, will disintegrate. It will issue a command to the nanocell to access the host’s memories so that you can gain the host’s memories.”

He quickly did as the message said and soon he had all of Clyde's memories. He groaned in his throat as the memories flooded back to him.

Clyde, this body's name is Clyde, you have a cute little husband, I will take care of him. You probably don't know that ever since you came to this fitness center, you have received a large number of nano cells. Every machine you exercise, every chicken breast you eat, every protein you drink, every water you shower in the fitness center, even the soap or shampoo, everything in here has nano cells, even the air from the air conditioner. When he finished speaking, he noticed his erect penis.He began to masturbate by using his beautiful hands to quickly stroke his 13-inch cock up and down.Every time he touched a new cock, he felt like he was about to reach his climax. Soon, warm semen would shoot out from the tip of his cock and splash all over his chest. He used his tongue to lick the white liquid on his body. “It tastes so good. The taste of a real man.”When he cleaned himself up, the new Clyde was getting dressed. Instead of choosing the other clothes the real Clyde had prepared to change into after his workout, he called out to the original shirt that was sweaty and smelled like the real Clyde. He sniffed the sweaty smell of the shirt before putting it on. “This smells so manly.” When he was done putting it on, he walked out as if nothing had happened. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Clyde turned to take a picture of himself in the mirror. “I didn’t forget to take a selfie, haha.”

When they got home, the new Clyde didn't hesitate to rush in and kiss Theo hastily. I'm sorry, honey. I need it so bad right now. Theo, although slightly shocked that his husband's day seemed rushed, didn't refuse. He pushed his body against Clyde's erect penis in his pants. "Start, honey."

After a hot night of sex, Theo hears Clyde getting ready to go out the next morning. "Honey, where are you going?" Clyde turns around and answers immediately, straightforwardly.

I want to go play some sports with my friends. Will you allow it, my love?… Not right away, Clyde could speak. Theo answered quickly. “Sure, my love, but don’t be too late.” Clyde walked over and kissed his husband goodbye. Thank you for the hug.

When he left the house, the new Clyde didn't forget to take another selfie to share on his social media channels.

I am the same person in a new body. I am so excited to use my new body to play sports instead of my old fat body. Suddenly, a message popped up from his account, “You have received $1,000,000.” Great, the company works very fast. Now I have pocket money for my new one.

Oh but before I go play sports with my friends I have to deal with the hard penis in my pants first and luckily there is a bathroom nearby I will have a lot of fun with my new dick hahaha

Thank you for reading until now. I tried to write longer stories and add more details because I got some advice from my friends. I hope you guys like it. I'll push for the next story.

[sspookayy]

"𝚄𝚗𝚠𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚗" || Cecil Stedman x Reader

Description:

Where extraordinary beings wield incredible powers, the GDA embarks on a groundbreaking project to synthesize DNA in pursuit of creating the ultimate weapon. But when things don't go as planned the project everyone was worked so hard for is put on hold, suspended in time.

"I don't understand.. If you loved me then why did you do this?!"

"Love makes us make tough decisions sometimes."

I LOVE THIS MAN.

I haven't really seen anyone write much fanfic about Cecil, and well hes my favorite character so i have to do the Cecil simps justice. Updates may be slow because i have an actual irl job and bills to pay but I'm gonna try my best and et chapters out in a timely manner.

*crossposted on Tumblr, Wattpad, and Ao3*

________________________

Introduction-

The wall clock ticked relentlessly on, each second whispering in counterpoint to the clang of metal and grunts. You paused briefly in your exercise, beads of sweat trickling down your forehead as you gazed about at the stark, unyielding walls of the government compound that was home. The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed, their cold light casting an unforgiving glare on the rows of weights and machines that were now familiar companions in your endless pursuit of power.

Today, like every day preceding it, you were in the training room, pushing against the limits of your flesh. The weight of expectation had borne down on you since the day that they concluded you were an "experiment"—a component of a program to mold human potential into something greater, yet an offspring of circumstance gone awry.

You were different—not another test subject, but a pioneer of hybrid experimentation. Your creators had attempted to create a weapon, but you had become something more: a being imbued with unbelievable strength, agility, flight and reflexes, approaching the scale that was the Immortal in ability. You were a creation of their ambition, and while the world around you buzzed with the murmurs of heroism and glory, you had been kept under the veil of uncertainty.

You took a deep breath and seized the heavy dumbbells to begin another set of reps, muscles contorting and flexing as you pushed yourself to your limits. Your prison—your estranged home within these walls that held your secrets and torturers alike. You were coming to the end of your set when the door creaked open, the intrusion jolting you out of your focus.

"Impressive as always."

The voice was deep and resonant, heavy like the weights you were using, and it sent a thrill of recognition down your spine. You dropped the dumbbells and turned and faced Director Radcliffe—a tall, older man with sharp features, dark brown eyes, and an intelligence that radiated even in this austere environment. He was the Director of the Global Defense Agency, one of whose main functions was running the experiments.

"Sir," you breathed, attempting to conceal your surprise at his abrupt arrival. "What brings you here?"

He strode towards you with a swagger that belied the seriousness of the facility and delivered a smirk that played at the corners of his mouth. "Just stopping by to visit our most promising subject. I've been hearing whispers about your advancements, and I can tell that they're not merely rumors."

Radcliffe nodded towards the equipment, his gaze remaining on you—a combination of curiosity and admiration. You were naked, exposed; a combination of admiration and caution simmering between you as he gazed at you.

"Getting stronger every day," you replied, keeping your tone deliberately casual. "But I'm still waiting for the day I'm not a set of experiments." deliberately keeping your tone light."They seem to not be too keen on unleashing me on the world yet." You sat down on the bench that sat alongside the huge mirror that stretched along the whole wall and took the towel that was lying across it to wipe your face in an attempt to get rid of the thin layer of sweat that was covering your face.

Director Radcliffe leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, a curious smile spreading across his face. "You see, with the right mindset, even experiments can become pioneers. They just need the right environment to thrive." There was seriousness in his voice that suggested he knew more than he said, as if the very fabric of your life was woven with both potential and restriction.

You glanced up at him in the mirror, the overhead fluorescent lights casting a glare that was so harsh your reflection was almost ghostly. "I suppose so. But what if all they care about is how mindlessly I can follow orders?" You let the towel drop into your lap, the damp cloth a reminder of just how hard you were driving yourself—not just physically, but mentally.

He straightened, his demeanor shifting by degrees, as if he intercepted the undertone of your annoyance. "We understand what you're capable of. Your progress is... " He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "Impressive. But I am not at liberty to ignore the risks of releasing you prematurely. You are not just a collection of skills—you're a person with a life ahead of you."

"Why do I feel like I'm in a cage, then?" you shot back, startling yourself with the venom in your tone. You could feel the tension building in the air, strained and charged.

Radcliffe's eyes softened as he took in a step closer. "Change is hard. I do know that. Yet every experiment started with a spark—your spark. We're preparing you for something more than you can presently see. You're not a tool. You can be a leader.".

You let his words hang, considering the weight they carried. Progress. Leadership. What would that even look like for someone like you? "I hope you're not just saying that to soften the blow," you said tentatively, the vulnerability in your voice surprising you both.

"Trust me, I'm not," he replied, his tone level and sincere. "But I need you to commit to the process. Training isn't about physical strength alone—it's about building the foundations of what you're capable of becoming."

You took the towel again, this time using it to wipe the sweat from your forearms. Maybe he was right. There could be more to this quest than you realized. "And if I fail?" you asked, your heart racing at the thought.

Radcliffe smiled, a hint of warmth breaching his normally stoic demeanor. "Then we learn. That's the beauty of experimentation—you can always adjust and try again."

You nodded, taking a deep breath. The path ahead of you was still uncertain, yet maybe, just maybe, the light at the end of your metaphorical tunnel was closer than you thought.

—

The day had drained you, each test and trial bearing down on your shoulders like a pile of bricks, a reminder of the burden you bore as you struggled to discover what you could do. Thankfully, the only thing left was to take your end-of-day vitals. Perched atop the unforgiving surface of the chilly, sterile examination table, you were able to sense a chill send a shiver up your exposed thighs, the fabric of your shorts far too brief to shield you from the cold metal below. Wires from a nest of machines coiled around you like sinister vines, and electrode pads affixed to your skin, squirming leads to monitors that displayed your EKG and a maelstrom of bewildering readings—esoteric glyphs that appeared to be a code you were desperately attempting to interpret.

The soft, soothing beeping of the machines almost lulled you into a restful sleep, but the cold, hard lights overhead were pitiless in their glare. Surrounded by an army of physicians and researchers prodding and poking at your body, you knew the largest threat was not in their intrusive methods but what followed: the return to your chambers, the place you disliked most, except for the frigid, unyielding halls of this tyrannical institute. As your gaze shifted to the left, you noticed a couple of operators and managers observing the professionals at work, their glances flicking with a mix of curiosity and indifference.

Far away, beyond the big window, ordinary people went about their everyday lives, becoming part of the rhythm of normalcy. Longing arose within you to be among them; to experience the comfort of a humdrum existence—a good job, a quiet day, a loving family. Such longings lay in the realm of dreams, an illusion which you knew would forever be out of your grasp. Amidst this sea of onlookers, your attention was suddenly drawn to Director Radcliffe, conversing with a passerby.

Squinting your eyes in an attempt to slice through the distance, your super-vision eventually caught up with the young man who had caught your attention. His smooth-slicked hair and authoritative height were equaled only by his sharply chiseled features, which spoke to authority. The gravity of the meeting was sensed, the tension so powerful it sliced through the sterile air. Then, suddenly, the young man shifted slightly, his intense eyes fastening onto yours like a shot of electricity. His eyes, an electric blue, pierced into your very being with an intensity that produced a shiver racing along your spine.

It was as if he could look right through the glass wall of your room, cutting through the layers of your being, stripping away the facade to reveal the vulnerable core within. For a moment, all else in the world outside of you melted away, and you were left with the weight of his scrutiny—a refined blend of curiosity mixed with something darker and more profound. You ached to look away, to recede into the sanitary folds of your hospital robe, but some inexplicable pull kept you riveted. Pity or judgment? Or something worse?

The beeping of equipment faded into the background, drowned out by the mesmerizing hold of his unseeing stare, stirring within you emotions long suppressed in the shadows. It was as though, in the bottom of that stare, he saw your unspoken wishes, your dreams of flight from this antiseptic jail. While the heaviness of his glance nearly strangled you, he tilted his brow infinitesimally, ever so small yet incredibly powerful an action, so it conveyed something unstated in between the two of you that was at once exciting and scary, which passed between the freezing emptiness of the lab and united the two of you into something akin to communion.

And since the moment was trapped halfway between suspended and reality, time itself stumbled, confusing the manner in which it must divide your closed-in reality from his certain truth. The sterile white walls of the room melted away, and for an instant, you were no longer merely a specimen of study, but a contributing participant in an unspoken debate—a bond of trust that poured from mutual helplessness and individual comprehension.

With each gasp of air, you felt the desire well up within you; the urge to flee the shackles of your existence. The world beyond your horizons, with all its mundane indulgences and small victories, beckoned you like a distant siren, promising freedom and a place of belonging. But as the electric blue of his eyes remained unmoved, a glimmer of hope was kindled in your chest. Perhaps, in that fleeting moment of comprehension, you could find the courage to dream once more—not just of a life beyond these bars, but of a world where your own desires were not on the fringes of fantasy.

With that in mind, you understood the weight of his eyes, allowing it to be a silent vow: to battle for freedom, resist the emptiness that wished to engulf you completely, and reclaim the vibrant life you had always imagined, no matter what.

-

Word Count:1869

[juukai]

DCAtober day 11: Naptime

moon/sun x reader, ~5.2k words, fluff

soft moon lovers come get your soup

You honestly had not been this tired in quite some time.

You didn't even have a good reason for it. You hadn't stayed up late reading or watching videos or playing games. You hadn't been stuck doomscrolling on your phone in bed for hours. You'd taken your melatonin and gone to bed as normal. Sure, you'd struggled a bit to fall asleep, but that was a known issue; that was what you took the little purple gummies for as instructed by the bottle.

Sun had given you a little bit of a look when you had come in for the day, leading you to believe that there must have been some outward signs that you were exhausted, but he was momentarily polite enough not to say anything.

That also could have been because of the two kids that were hanging off of him and using him as a jungle gym, and he had taken his attention off of you fairly quickly to wrangle them into a safer activity. Namely, rocketing through the play structures as fast as they could to see who could get to and down the slide fastest.

The more that the day wore on from there, the more you could feel the exhaustion weighing on you like a physical force trying to drive you into the ground. All of your limbs felt heavy, like it took much more energy than usual to move them and you did so slower than normal as a result. Sun had told you, when you'd come in after he sent the two kids propelling through the play equipment and had made sure that they were distracted, that you would be on arts and crafts duty today, at least in the beginning. You were there for the kiddos who didn't want to go do some of the more physical play, who wanted a space to draw crude animals or pictures of their families that would get hung up on the fridge later, or to color in provided sheets of the different Glamrocks.

Sun always made sure that there was something to do for the kids who got overstimulated with the rowdier play, or for those who just weren't in the mood. Most days the two of you would switch off on who was managing what, unless he had something else planned in the slot for the kids. Puppet shows, movies, they even did more in-depth craft days like making things with quick-dry clay, or pulling out the smocks and letting kids work with paints rather than just crayons, markers, and colored pencils. Sun especially seemed to like paper pal days, though Moon seemed to dislike picking glue out of their joints after the children had all packed up and gone home.

Putting you at the art table today was almost a punishment, though, and Sun didn't seem to be interested in switching. You normally didn't mind, you helped the kids make what shapes they were looking for in their art, or just sat and praised them when they were looking for that. But today it was hard to not feel like every minute was dragging on, and it was an exercise in will not to let your eyes grow tired and heavy while you were sat in one place for so long. You'd be slower and probably clumsier than usual playing with the kids, but at least it would probably wake you up.

Morning snack time was a little reprieve which you appreciated. Getting up to pass out the snacks with Sun was nice and allowed you to stretch and get some energy back. You tried to ask Sun if you guys could trade places then, but he'd just shaken his head and told you that he had it covered and that you could keep taking a break at the table. You had wanted to push and explain why you wanted to switch, but he hadn't let you get more than a word out any time you had tried and eventually had gently pushed you in that direction.

It wasn't worth the fight, you'd just do your best to shake off the run-down feeling.

You had disappeared entirely during naptime. You waved to Moon when he came out and motioned towards the direction of the food court while on your way to the door when he'd given you a questioning look.. You felt a little bad for ducking out on him straight away, but the way that he nodded gave you the impression that he understood and it didn't look like he held it against you at all as he approached the gaggle of children. There would be no way that you could last with the lights out and the calm music playing over the speakers, especially during story time listening to Moon's deeper soothing voice he used to put the kids at ease.

Your lunch was uneventful other than making the mistake of laying your head down once you'd finished a spicy chicken sandwich and some slightly soggy fries. You had only meant to relax for the last fifteen minutes of your break, to convince your body that some rest was better than nothing during your work day and then you'd be able to tackle the rest of your shift without feeling vaguely like a zombie. You had woken up to a message from Moon to your Fazwatch five minutes after when you should have clocked back in, asking if you were alright or needed an out from another forced conversation with one of your coworkers. Thomas was a nice enough guy, but he really didn't like to let you go when you tried to exit interactions with him. Moon liked to tease you about Thomas had quite a crush.

You had dashed back down to the daycare after getting rid of your trash, messaging back that you were alright and that you were on your way back now.

Sun was the one greeting you when you returned, waving from where he was leaning over a table in able to help a kid, judging by the way that he had a hand over theirs on a colored pencil. You waved back, setting your backpack behind the security desk. By the time you had stood back up and were making your way back around, Sun was there to meet you with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Hello, Sunbeam! Everything okay?"

You smiled up at him. "Everything's fine, Sunny. Sorry I'm back late, I put my head down for a minute and the next thing I knew Moon was checking on me."

His head cocked to the side slightly, his expression growing a little concerned while his smile remained. "Are you sure that you're alright? You haven't seemed quite yourself today."

It was cute that he was concerned, and you appreciated it, really. There weren't a whole lot of people in your life getting concerned about you day-to-day, not like they did. "I'm just really tired today, Sunny-bunny. That's all, promise."

The reaction to that was near instantaneous. He straightened, looming just a bit, and the new posture while he was looking down at you cast his face in the shadow of the lights above. His normally blank eyes gained a pinprick of color in the center, and you knew then that you'd stepped in it.

"You should sleep." His voice wasn't Moon's, Sun's was still what the box would be set to since he was the one in control, but it was much deeper than Sun's normally dipped.

You snorted softly. "I can't sleep on the job, Moon. Believe it or not, they pay me to help take care of the kids, not catch some Zs."

Sun's head shook and his gaze was still sharp. "We don't strictly need help watching them, we operated before you were brought on as an assistant and we do just fine on your days off." Even though your days off were slower work-week days, and today was a Friday.

His voice and expression brightened briefly to say, "not that we don't appreciate you and your help! We enjoy having you around and the children love you!"

It then returned to the look that he'd had before and his tone lowered again. "We do. However, you should look after yourself. Fazbear won't care if you burn yourself out by working when you're not up to it, and they certainly won't care if you were to make yourself sick doing it."

You gave him a look. "I'm not going to get sick just because I work when I'm tired. The only people that happens to are the ones who are really overworking themselves when they're exhausted. Like people who have three jobs and sleep two hours a day or something. You don't have to worry."

He made a little disbelieving sound at you, and you tipped your head back with a groan. "Moon, I'll be alright! Sun, tell him I'll be alright."

Sun's eyes narrowed and his default smile grew taught at the edges. "Don't pit us against each other, Star. I'll have you know that both of us worry over you in equal amounts."

"Besides," the actual Sun said with an amused tone and a little laugh, "we argue enough as it is, we don't need your help there!"

That was certainly true, from what you'd heard. They bickered a lot, though most of the time it seemed good-natured and playful.

"Stop being nice to me and go take care of the kids or something. Shouldn't it be their lunchtime soon?"

"That was a pretty poor deflection. Zero-out-of-ten. Try harder." Sun's hand came up and he pushed you back with one finger to the forehead, but it was still Moon who was speaking so you were sure that was all him. "You're scheduled until after the daycare closes. Stay in here after the last kid is picked up, you owe me for being gone while I was out."

"Fine. Just let Sun go do your job. I'll help pass lunches out in a second." You mimed shooing him away, and while he lingered for a moment more his posture did change from the rigidity of when Moon had been commandeering their body. Sun's rays spun two quick circles around his head before he gave you a pat on the shoulder, much nicer than Moon's parting contact.

"We do care, Starshine. It worries us when you aren't at your best. You humans are so fragile..." His eyes lingered on you for a little longer before he turned away, having said apparently all he wanted to about that for the moment. Like he hadn't just let slip that they both had concerns about your human nature.

Still, you let him go without trying to remind him that you could be equally as worried. The machines here could be effected by magnets being placed on them, even though technology was supposed to largely be past that now unless it was a really big magnet. What if one of the kids stuck one to him? It was a reasonable worry, as reasonable as theirs.

You passed out the little turkey and crackers and cheese lunch packs- not Lunchables, of course, Fazbear would never allow that, these were specifically company branded and the crackers were shaped like Freddy's head- while Sun passed out juice boxes. Later you were up and helping a boy count while others hid in a game of hide and seek. At first Sun tried to keep you back over by the tables again, but you made it known this time you didn't plan on staying over there.

A part of you wanted to threaten to make getting sleepy his problem, but you weren't that mean when you knew it triggered Moon's programming so strongly to say things like that. But you had given him a look that implied what you were trying to say. He'd stopped bothering you about resting after that.

Which was fine, really. You were slower and less coordinated than normal and you knew it, so you didn't really try to get in on the games that were happening. You just needed to be up and moving or your energy level would tank even further than it had already.

Around four the kids started getting picked up, and at that point you stationed yourself behind the security desk to help with checkouts. Sun didn't truly need the help, but he said that he appreciated it anyway so that he could keep the other kids distracted and playing. Some of the adults felt a little better about a human handling the process, anyway, despite the animatronic being the one who cared for their kids all day long. By six most of the kids were gone and you started to go through the end-of-day paperwork while Sun kept the stragglers entertained with a puppet show where they got to decide what happened in the story, no matter how silly.

Just before seven, the daycare's official closing time, the last child was checked out and picked up. Sun already had the crafts organized and packed up and there was a trash bag waiting by the door to be taken out. You finalized your report with the checkout times for Fazbear to use in charging the parents and then left the desk to go help Sun finish cleaning.

You were stopped almost right away.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Sun put his hands on his hips. "No more of that! You've worked plenty hard today, we're finishing up the rest."

You rose an eyebrow at him. "So you're going to kick me out early? I thought Moon wanted me to stay."

"See," Sun started, but he was walking towards the doors, "the thing is, he does want you to stay." He stopped once he reached the wall. "He just has something specific in mind for you. I'll see you tomorrow, Sunshine!"

You didn't get a chance to ask what he was talking about before the light went off. Through the new dimness in the room you were still able to catch the way that the sunrays retracted and the nightcap popped out of hiding. You never did understand how the color change of their plating and outfit worked, though, even when you watched the change like you did now.

As soon as the switch was complete Moon slouched into his normal- hideous- posture and flicked his head back so that the end of the nightcap was behind him instead of over his shoulder.

His attention honed in on you almost immediately and you gave him a timid wave. "Hey, Moon..."

"Hello, little star," he answered as he positively slunk his way towards you. It was like he was trying to sneak up on you like a cartoon bad guy, except you were watching him the entire time. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, promise. I'm not getting sick or anything." At least, you were pretty sure that you weren't. "Want to scan me to put your mind at ease?"

He snickered. "Bold of you to assume that I didn't earlier when I butted in on you and Sun."

You swatted at him half-heartedly to his utter delight, if the way he danced back and grinned was any indication. "Who taught you internet speak? Stop it."

"You did." His face rotated a couple times like he was working out some energy before he calmed back down. "No fever, vitals seemed normal, no sensed abrasions or contusions, eyes focused and speech not slurred. Conclusion: monitor due to delayed response times, insist on lower impact or non-physical activities while on Fazco properties to avoid injury and potential lawsuits."

Ugh, you forgot that the company could be thorough when it meant avoiding the dreaded lawsuits. At least when they wanted to be, there were still instances where their cheapness bit them in the ass.

"Well there you go, I'm perfectly fine. Now, we going to finish up cleaning the place? I can take the trash to the tunnels if you want to start wiping down the inside of the slides." You started to brush past him but you were stopped right away as his arm shot out at shoulder-level to block your path.

"No. You're going to rest while I take care of the cleaning Sun left."

You groaned and pushed at his arm. "C'mon, bud. It'll all go much faster if we just work together and then I can sit down or something with you for a bit before I clock out. That's resting enough, right? Then I can go home and rest more."

He leveled you a rather unimpressed look, the corners of his mouth falling as much as their forced grin would allow. "No." He didn't let himself be pushed aside. "You forget that we have all night to finish whatever cleaning the daycare needs. My patrols don't take that long, they won't eat into the time that we have to get this place 'spic-and-span', in Sun's own words."

"You are such a pain. Or rather, your programming is such a pain. I don't need to rest!"

"Ooooh," he cooed, amused rather than offended. "Is someone getting a little cranky because they're fighting their nap?"

"I hate you. This is me, hating you right now," you grumbled.

He laughed and stepped closer into your space. "No you don't. I'm your favorite." With little warning his arms wrapped around you tightly, leaving you surprised. Sun gave you hugs all the time, but Moon was a little harder to garner physical affection from. "Hold on tight, nightlight."

You had exactly five seconds to get your arms back around him before you heard the aerial line connect to his back with a sharp click, which had you scrambling to clasp your hands together behind his back before he took off into the air. He always made it seem easy, gliding around on the rope and manipulating it like a dancer on silks. He had only once allowed you up with him and it had been short, just a trip from the top of one of the play structures back to the ground while he held you by your hands.

You weren't a big fan of heights, so you hadn't minded it being brief. You had to admit, though, that the weightless feeling with the security of knowing that Moon would never drop you had been a little exhilarating.

This trip was also short-lived. He didn't waste any time drawing wherever you were going out. There was lift off and your hair ruffling as you moved through the air, and then you felt Moon make contact with solid ground again. He didn't let you touch the floor, however. His hold on you shifted and it was as if you weighed nothing at all for the way that he managed to get you into a princess carry with minimal effort.

"Moon, what-"

"Shh. This is what I wanted you to stay here for." He hopped down from where he had landed with the two of you and you finally took a minute to look around.

You were at the room behind the balcony that Sun greeted the first children from every morning; their room. You had never been up here before. You'd asked about it before, sure, but the boys had seemed rather private about it. You knew that Sun saved drawings that children made for him and Moon and hung them up here, but only because he'd told you that. You knew that there was something here that allowed them to charge their big battery but as you looked you didn't see a charging station like the Glamrocks had all around the plex.

You did, however, see some strung up fairy lights in the shape of stars that gave off a soft blue-white light and some glow stars on the ceiling. The walls were covered in little pictures from kids, some obviously older than others by the color that the paper was turning. There also seemed to be a lot of toys and foam shapes up here, probably just for extra storage or to be fixed up if you had to guess. There was a curtain randomly on one of the walls that Moon pushed aside.

"Hold on, this will be a little bit of a tight squeeze."

There was a hole in the wall. A weird, small hole, with a dim room beyond. Why didn't the building designers give them a real door? You only had a moment to wonder that before Moon started to crawl through while holding you with one hand, reminding you of how a spider moved as he quickly worked the both of you through.

On the other side was a room with more star lights but this one had a collection of pillows in the corner of the room where a thick cable protruded from the wall. There were only a couple pictures in here on the walls, the rest were draped with what appeared to be old blankets, hanging in a way that actually made the place seem a bit cozy. There was a single arcade cabinet off to the side, in an opposite corner from what you assumed to be their little self-made charging station. The last thing of note in the room was a hammock made of dark blue, solid cloth rather than the lace kind you were used to seeing outdoors.

"You two are actually letting me see your room, finally?" You wriggled to let him know you wanted down. "I've been asking you about it for ages."

He didn't set you down at all, instead he walked you further inside. "It wasn't important enough to bring you up before, and I prefer not to tell anyone how to find the door." Moon went directly to the hammock.

"Hold on, don't you dare!" You tried to shimmy out of his hold but when he had his mind set to something it was hard to deny a robot, even one that was being extremely gentle and careful with you. He slipped you into the hammock as easily as a child tucked in their doll.

"There you go," he laughed. "Now to get you nice and comfy." He ducked down out of sight and you were afraid of upsetting the balance of the engulfing fabric by peeking over to see what he was doing. He popped back up with a constellation print blanket and one of the smaller pillows. "These are clean, don't worry. Lift your head."

"Stop treating me like a toddler!" You lifted your head anyway, lest he wedge the pillow under it himself. "You are so going to be in for it later, buster. Let me out of here."

Gentle fingers against your collarbone urged you back down once the pillow was in place. "Stop acting like a toddler, then. You fell asleep on your lunchbreak in the middle of an obnoxiously loud and bright atrium where the others perform shows every half hour during those timeslots. You're exhausted." Moon covered you with the blanket while his eyes stayed on your face, his expression softening. "There's no shame in it, starlight. It happens to humans all the time." His head cocked a little to the side as if listening to something that you couldn't hear and then he chuckled. "Yes, sorry. Even synthetic life gets tired, too. You just need to recharge, so to speak."

You absolutely hated that he had a point. You stopped struggling. "You're not going to drop it until I take a nap, are you?"

He cackled softly and booped you on the nose, and ignored your muttered 'asshole' in response. "Look who's finally starting to use their head! We're so proud."

"Hate. Double hate. Friendship with Moon ended, Monty is my best friend now." You worked on getting into a comfortable position under the blanket in the swinging hammock.

"Aww, we were besties?" You got the impression that he would be fluttering his eyelashes at you if he had any. You reached out from your cocoon to push his face away from you.

"No, never happened. Monty is all I need."

Moon didn't seem at all deterred by you. "Sun will be so sad. He didn't even have a chance to take my 'best friend' status before it was ripped away." Moon pushed your hand back under the blanket and pulled it back up into place. "Now will you hush and get some rest? You're putting my code on edge."

That made you relax some. You hadn't meant to actually make things harder on him, though you were pretty sure that he wasn't really upset given that his tone was still playful and casual. It was just a gentle warning, perhaps.

"Fine. But you wake me up so I can clock out, if I even fall asleep. Are we clear?" You tried to give him your most intimidating look. It probably didn't land when you were all swaddled up like this.

"I understand." He started to backtrack towards the hole in the wall. "Stay put and don't touch anything, please. The game malfunctions and we're pretty sure there's a chance that the charging cable over there could shock you."

"Fine, fine. No poking around, got it. I don't trust myself to get out of this anyway, why do you have it set up so high?" You could tell you'd have to be careful getting out.

"We're tall, little star. It's set up for us, not you." He turned to start his crawl back to their main room. "Nighty night."

It was quiet after he left. You could hear the low sound of the music outside, muffled by the walls even though you were not closer to the speakers. You couldn't hear Moon out there at all while he must have taken the line off the balcony and started cleaning up like he'd said. After a couple minutes of getting used to laying the way you were, you found that the setup was actually pretty comfortable. Not your preferred way to sleep, but probably better than the floor even if you took the pillow corner.

You weren't sure how long it took before you drifted off, but you wouldn't have been surprised if it hadn't taken much time at all.

You slowly became aware of shuffling nearby, of rolling into another body just by nature of the bed you were in. Hammock? Hammock. You groaned unhappily and closed your eyes tighter and immediately you were shushed in a gentle tone.

"It's alright, go back to sleep," the voice murmured as arms settled gently around you.

"Moon?" you had to be asleep, there was no way the bot was there against you.

"Shh, no talking, Starlight. Just rest." That was definitely Moon's voice. You could swear that the chest you were up against was expanding and contracting, though. Like breathing. Animatronics didn't need to breathe though, did they? They didn't have lungs. Your expression pinched.

"Wait..." You heard a beleaguered sigh. Things were coming back to you, though slow and like your thoughts were swimming. "I need to clock out 'nd go home."

"I clocked you out already, you're fine. Go back to sleep."

You yawned and then tried your hardest not to nuzzle your cheek against his chest. It was a test of your willpower, truly. "You're not as cold as I thought you'd be." Or hard, being made of metal, but you felt like that could be taken a little inappropriately.

As it was that earned you a teasingly offended sound. "I'm hurt. But also: I'm a machine. Everything working in me keeps me a little warm, just like everything working in you warms you up. My components are just louder about it." Which you supposed was true enough. You could hear his fans through the metal of his chest. "We've also got a layer of silicone. Helps keep our moving parts from pinching little fingers."

Made sense. You were quiet for a few minutes after that and drifting closer to falling asleep again with every passing second until you felt the need for a full body stretch.

"Ooh, big stretch," Moon teased like you were a beloved pet.

You grumbled at him as you resettled. This time you did nuzzle against him a little while getting comfortable again. You had the distinct feeling that you were going to be extremely embarrassed about all of this later when you weren't so comfortable and tired.

"Mmm. You smell good." You sleepily snuggled in a little closer to the smell, the fingers of one hand curling up by your face.

He let out a confused chuckle. "Thank you? I don't think anyone's ever said that to us before." His fingers started to pass up and down your back lightly and you melted even further into him. "What's it like?"

"Berries," you answered without a pause. "Not the sweet processed smell, but like... actual raspberries or cherries or something. And amber. And some sort of wood." You sighed deeply on your next inhale and stifled another yawn after. "It's different than how Sun smells. It's like nighttime. I like it." You couldn't begin to wonder how their designers were able to make the two of them smell different, but then you didn't understand their outfit change at all either. You weren't a mechanic or an engineer, such things were not your forte.

"Are you saying that Sun smells?" You could hear his teasing grin as you groaned and thunked the heel of your palm against his chest. "I'll be sure to let him know."

"Stop." You resituated yourself, now with one arm around him and resting on the hammock. "You're just trying to get me in trouble. Sun smells good, too, just... lighter. Not as rich. Doesn't make me want to curl up and go to sleep as much."

Moon hummed in a way that you could feel running through his chest under your head and the hammock under you both started rocking gently from side to side. "Speaking of, I think it's time to go back to sleep. You don't seem like you've caught up on your sleep debt yet."

"Jailed for sleep debt crimes," you grumble. "Hammock air jail."

He chuckled again. "Definitely still need some rest. Go on, Starlight. Stop fighting it, just go to sleep. I'll wake you before the shutters close for the night."

His chest started to rumble, like when he had hummed, timed with his synthetic breaths. Was it like purring? How cute... You'd definitely have to ask- and tease- about that later when he inevitably teased you for all of this. For now it, that smell clinging to him, and the way that he lightly scratched your back through your shirt were enough to start lulling you. No wonder kids that struggled with naptime were able to conk right out once he scooped them up for a more direct approach to putting them down for their nap.

"G'night, Moon."

You were fairly sure you heard a "goodnight, pretty star," whispered into your hair right above your ear before you slipped under and sank into sleep.

[jedipoodoo]

Better Late Than Never (Sergeant Hunter x Pregnant!Reader)

Notes/Warnings: Labor and delivery, descriptions of pain and birth, Hunter wants to be a Good Dad, divider by @stars-n-spice

"I don't like this," Hunter said.

You placed your hand on his tattooed cheek, and he held it there, closing his eyes as if he would fall asleep right then and there.

"It's one more job, Hunter. Just a simple smash-and-grab. You'll all be back before you know it."

Hunter looked over his shoulder at Omega in the cockpit with Wrecker and Tech prepping themselves for the impending mission. He could no more leave them to this assignment on their own than he could leave you alone.

Well, not totally.

With a heavy sigh Hunter lowered himself to his knees so he was facing your belly. He pressed his ear to your tummy and listened for a moment. The baby's heart beat in time with yours, embedding itself in his memory.

"Hold on for just a couple days, okay?" He whispered to your child, "Be good for your mama, and just wait for me, okay?"

You carded your fingers through Hunter's satiny locks, and he looked up at you, eyes big, and bottom lip twitching as if he was going pout about leaving you.

"Baby's still got a bit to cook before they're ready to come."

"But how can you be sure?" Hunter begged, standing up and taking both your hands in his.

You rolled your eyes and kissed the tip of his nose.

"It'll be fine, Hunter. Don't worry about it."

"Hunter," Tech called from the cockpit, "We are coming up on the target."

Hunter sighed, and his shoulders slumped as he mentally relented.

"You'll be alright?"

"I'll be alright."

"You'll comm us if anything goes wrong?"

"I will."

"You have your breathing exercises and the medical equipment?"

"Hunter," You warned as the ship descended smoothly through the atmosphere.

Hunter kissed your forehead gently, then paused, licking his lips as he thought.

"You'll be alright?" He asked one more time.

You nodded. "We'll be alright."

You were not going to be alright.

You'd been having contractions on and off for weeks, so when the contractions started in the middle of the night, you brushed it off and went to sleep (with the perimeter alarms set, of course).

But now, hours and hours later, the contractions hadn't stopped. In fact, they were slowly growing closer together.

"Easy, easy," You said, forcing yourself to relax.

You were supposed to comm Hunter. You promised him you'd comm if anything went wrong.

You checked the chronometer. Only an hour until they were supposed to be back. They'd be back any minute, you knew it. It wouldn't do Hunter any good to comm him while he was on his way back, it would just put him into a frenzy, and the others didn't need to deal with that.

One more hour.

You'd be alright.

Three hours later, and the others weren't back yet. You forbade yourself from worrying. So what if they got held up? They'd made it out of worst cases with worse odds. They'd be back any minute.

You should have commed Hunter. Or should you wait for Hunter to comm you? You didn't want the signal to get picked up by someone else who could track the signal back to you, or worse, the others.

Another contraction started, the wave of pain cresting almost immediately. Where had Tech put the pain medicine again?

You switched on the comm, struggling to keep your breathing even so that Hunter wouldn't panic the moment he picked up. But instead, all you got was static.

Kark.

"Hunter?" Maybe the connection was just a bit fuzzy. He had to be there. He was always there.

"Hunter," you tried again, "Dinner's almost ready, how soon will you be back?"

Nothing.

You pulled yourself out of the bunk, using the wall and the chairs for support as you searched for the medicine cabinet. Would regular pain meds work? Was it too early to take the pitocin? You needed to see what was going on down there and how far along you were, but the only mirror on the ship hung on the wall in the refresher, and there was no way you could do the gymnastics for that right now.

You'd read through the birthing procedure several times, but all of it jumbled together in your mind and all you could focus on was the pain. You needed relief, you needed this baby out.

But not yet. Not like this. Not without Hunter.

You exhaled deeply, and the contraction passed. It was going to be alright.

"Hang on there," You whispered, patting your bump, "Just hang on a little bit longer."

You commed them every hour, begging them to pick up, but no one did. Not even Omega. It had been too long. They were hurt, in trouble. They wouldn't have gone this long without sending you a warning. Something had to have happened to them, to Hunter.

Crying made breathing harder, so you tried not to, but the tears kept running down your face. Kneeling at the side of the bed with your knees spread helped alleviate some of the pain, but you could feel the baby getting closer.

You clutched the comm in your hand, and dialed again.

"Hunter, please, let me know you're out there. I can't hold off much longer. I need you here. Please."

You couldn't wait anymore. This baby was coming whether or not Hunter was here.

Another contraction. This time, you pushed, but it didn't feel like anything happened.

"Oh come on!" You screamed to nothing and no one in particular. The frustration with the whole situation was starting to bubble over.

Another contraction started immediately after, and you pushed again, screaming as loud as you could. Now that felt good.

"Cyare!?" the comm crackled to life, and you froze.

"Hunter!" You gasped in relief.

"Are you okay? What the hell was that!?" He demanded.

Before you could tell him, a third contraction began, and you had to scream again. You didn't feel any closer to having the baby out of you, but the screaming at least felt like you were doing something about it.

"Hunt, you gotta hurry," You tried to tell him everything before another contraction overtook you, "The baby is- AUGGGGH!!"

Hunter said nothing. Not that you were coherent enough to respond, but you wanted him there, to comfort you, to promise that everything would be alright. But after that one blessed interaction, the comm stayed silent, with not even a flicker of static.

"Hunter?"

In answer to your question, Hunter burst into the hold of the ship. His armor was scorched with blast marks and dirt, and there were leaves and twigs stuck to his hair. His helmet was nowhere to be seen.

"Hunter?" Your jaw dropped, but you hardly had any time to be shocked by his appearance. Hunter knelt at your side, and took your hand.

"Still got a while to cook, huh?" he teased.

"Shuddup and- AH!"

You seized his hand in a bone crushing grip, and although Hunter winced in pain, he refused to complain.

"Where... where are the others?"

Hunter carefully stretched out each finger as your grip loosened, making sure none were broken.

"They were behind me, I'm not sure how far. The whole area was covered by a signal scrambler, so as soon as we had the target I had to get out of range to check in with you."

You nodded dazedly, only half-listening, but it seemed as though they weren't in too much danger.

"Ch-check, look down there, how far along am I?" You whimpered.

He held your hand while he looked.

"Holy kark," he inhaled sharply.

"What? What is it?"

Hunter laughed, "I can see the head, it's full of hair."

"No wonder I had so much heartburn," You rolled your eyes.

Hunter lifted your hand to his lips, kissing it gently, "You've done amazing so far, Cyare. I'm here now."

Your lip trembled, and you leaned into his chest with a sob.

"It hurts so much," you whimpered.

"I know, Cyare, I know," he crooned gently. He wrapped his arm around you, kissing the top of your head.

"Next contraction, push. They're almost out, I'll catch them."

You nodded, "Just let me... Rest a moment..." you clutched his shirt, begging him to let you stay in his arms.

Hunter held you for as long as he could, gently stroking your head and humming a lullaby. But as soon as you tensed up, he knew another contraction was coming.

"Push sweetheart, I got 'em."

You were still kneeling at the side of the bunk. Your knees were killing you, so you pushed yourself up to get your feet beneath you so you were in more of a crouch, spreading your legs to give baby plenty of room. Gritting your teeth, you dug your fingers into the mattress and pushed.

"That's it, Cyare, that's it!" Hunter cheered you on through the contraction.

"How far?" You gasped.

"They came out another inch!"

"An inch!?" You screamed. This was going to take forever.

The universe seemed determined to make your birth experience as difficult as possible, because Hunter's attempt at encouragement was smothered beneath the sound of blasterfire a short distance away.

Hunter froze.

"Is there any chance you can hold it for a bit longer?" From the nervous tone in his voice, he was intimately aware of just how stupid his question sounded.

"Are you kriffing serious?" You still glared at him.

"Hunter, would you mind starting up the engines?" Tech asked over the comms, completely oblivious to your predicament.

"A little busy right now!" you both shouted.

Hunter growled in annoyance, "They're being followed. We'll have to make a quick getaway-"

With that, Wrecker stumbled on board carrying a large chest that seemed to be the target Cid had sent you to trade for.

"They didn't like that Cid tried to short-change 'em!" He boasted with a grin, helmet balanced atop his head.

"I believe they also recognized us from when we intercepted the lizard from them several months back," Tech added, slowly backing up the stairs with a blaster firing in each hand, "Omega, cover for me."

Omega laid down cover fire, allowing Tech to slip into the pilot's seat and activate the shields. The whole ship trembled as it took off, and you moaned in pain.

"Whats up with you?" Wrecker asked.

Hunter shoved him in the direction of the gunner's tail, "Get us out of here, Tech! The baby's coming!"

"The baby's coming!?" Everyone shouted at once. They all turned to look at you to see if it was really true, and Hunter began to bark orders when they didn't move fast enough for his liking. Tech would pilot the ship, Wrecker would man the turret, and Omega walked you through your breathing exercises. She even brought over Lula for emotional support.

"I hate this," You growled. A jolt from the ship would have knocked you off of your delicate balance if Hunter wasn't holding you in place.

"Just hold on, just until Tech can get us into hyperspace, then it's smooth sailing from there."

"Don't you dare jinx us!" You snapped. With each hit from an enemy ship, it felt like the baby was being shook loose. Hunter assured you, however, that baby was right where they were supposed to be.

The moment the Marauder lurched forward into hyperspace, you screamed as loud as you could, desperately pushing baby out.

"Keep going, Cyare, just keep going!" Hunter urged, one hand on your hip to hold you steady, and the other waiting to catch the baby in his palm.

"HAAAAHHH!" You pushed with all your might. You wrapped your hands around the rungs of the bunk ladder to hold yourself up.

"Can I see?" Omega tried to inch closer to get a better view, and although you were wearing a nice long pregnancy tunic, it was hiked up to your waist to facilitate the birth, and you had never felt so embarrassed to be in such a state in front of anyone but Hunter.

"Hunter, if you would allow me to-"

"Is it here yet?"

Everyone started talking at once and you snapped.

"GET. OUT!"

Omega and the boys froze at your request.

"You heard her," Hunter said firmly, "Get out, give us some space. We'll let you know as soon as we want company."

"But-" Omega sounded incredibly disappointed.

"Now!" you warned. Wrecker pulled her into the cockpit and shut the door, leaving you in blissful silence but for the humming of the ship.

"Remind me to never get you angry," Hunter mused. Your return quip was lost as his thumbs gently massaged your hip bones, gently easing your pelvis open to allow baby more room.

"Almost there, Cyare. Can you give me one more big push?"

"I can't -" you gasped breathlessly. Tears rolled down your cheeks as your head lolled back, catching on his shoulder.

" 'S too much, too much," You whimpered.

Hunter nodded, but said nothing. He'd never been through what you were at this moment, but he understood how you felt. The oversensitivity that was simply seen as a side effect of his enhanced senses was overwhelmingly painful. When that happened to him, he always turned to you. You'd hold him, hum to him, giving him something to focus on besides the pain.

Hunter pressed his cheek against yours and began to hum, his soothing tenor soothing over all the worries and fears running through your mind.

"You're just too good to be true.... Can't take my eyes off of you..."

You relaxed a little bit, and Hunter crooned his approval.

"Just... One more push?" You asked.

"One more, Cyare. You ready?"

You nodded, and Hunter gently guided your hands to the mattress for you to hold onto. Your legs were wobbly, but Hunter had one hand at your back to hold you up, and the other waiting beneath you to catch the baby. Lula was laying on the bed next to your hand, and you tucked her under your arm, trying not to cry as you thought of the way you snapped at Omega.

When this contraction hit, you were ready.

"Push, Cyare, push!" Hunter said.

You screamed a battle cry, not worrying if the others heard you.

"Yes, yes that's it!"

There was a gush of all things wet and sticky puddling at your feet, and suddenly the pain and pressure was gone, leaving a dull, insistent ache behind.

"Is... Is that it?" You gasped, heaving deep breaths. It felt as if it had ended all too quickly for how much you'd labored and how much it had hurt.

"You did it!" Hunter was at you side, briefly kissing your cheek before he disappeared. The room was quiet and everything seemed to still, until the room was filled with the sound of a baby's cry.

Your head dropped into your arms as your tears of pain turned to tears of joy.

"Ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes and ears..." Hunter quickly looked over your baby to ensure they were healthy, all while gently wiping them down with a clean cloth.

You lowered yourself to your knees, landing in the puddle of blood and body fluids that came out with the baby

"I-I meant to put down towels... I wasn't even thinking-" Your fuzzy post-labor brain was almost taken over by disappointment in yourself, but Hunter returned to your side, his eyes shining with joy.

"It's alright Cyare. Our daughter's here, and you did amazing," he said.

"Our daughter?" You gasped.

"Hello ad'ika," You whispered, reverently gathering her into your arms, "Hello there."

Hunter held out his scarf, wrapped around a wriggling little thing. She had her father's curls and dark skin, tinged with pink. Her eyes were screwed shut as she whimpered.

Mindful of the baby, Hunter leaned over, crowning your forehead with a ring of kisses, "And hello Mama," he hummed playfully, "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen you do, and I've seen you wrestle a wookiee."

You laughed, feeling lightheaded, "Thank you for your help."

"Nah, Cyare, that was all you."

"She's so tiny," Omega gasped, as if anything louder would shatter the delicate thing resting in your arms.

"She won't be for long," Tech said in his usual brusque tone as he took the baby's vitals, and yours, "When was the last time that you ate?"

You flushed as your stomach rumbled painfully, "I didn't even think about food..."

"Looks like she didn't though!" Wrecker guffawed as he waved towards your daughter.

"She eats like a starving wookie," Hunter said reverently. He placed his arm around your shoulder, cradling the baby's head of downy hair in his free hand.

"She could give Wrecker a run for his money," you sighed. Your wonderful husband handed you a protein bar and his full canteen. It was hardly the luxurious first meal most women dreamed of eating after they gave birth, but you weren't complaining.

As the baby nursed insistently, you leaned against Hunter, struggling to stay awake.

"Should we let you sleep?" He rested his cheek against your forehead.

You shook your head, "I can't stop watching her," You said, "She's just perfect."

"Enjoy it while you can," Tech said, leaning over to try and do another test. Hunter batted his hand away.

"You can take this up later. She needs rest."

Tech huffed, "Very well, if you insist."

Hunter gave a look to Wrecker that conveyed the same tone, and Wrecker ushered Omega away to give you three some space.

"Any ideas?" You asked Hunter, referring to the elusive perfect name for your daughter.

He shook his head, eyes glued to the baby like yours. He continued to run his fingers over her satiny curls, but you saw him bite his lip nervously.

"Hunt, are you okay?" You gently tapped his chin to draw his attention and he gave a jolt in surprise.

He shook his head, "I just...I can't believe I almost missed this."

"Oh Hunt," You said.

"I should never have left you like this. I told Cid we needed a break so that we could take care of you."

"Hunter I told you to go. We need the money she'll pay for this." You waved to the trunk Wrecker had hauled onto the ship.

"What's in there anyway?"

Hunter gave you a deadpan look, "Three guesses, and the first two don't count."

Ah, spice. You nodded slowly. You knew Hunter agreed that this was not the kind of life you wanted for your child, despite the fact that it was miles better than the one your daughter would have on Kamino.

"We need a better line of work. One where I don't leave you for days on end," Hunter said, pulled you against his chest so he could rest his chin atop your head.

Baby girl decided she'd had her fill, and milk dribbled down her chin as you cleaned yourself up. Hunter helped you settle her against your shoulder with a rag to catch the spitup.

"We'll figure that out later. We've managed this so far, right?"

"Right," Hunter still sounded uncertain.

"And you didn't end up missing it, right?"

Hunter sighed, "Right."

Baby hiccuped, and by the way Hunter's nose scrunched, she'd burped.

"Here, hold your daughter."

"You're sure you don't want to?" Hunter asked, even as he cradled the tiny thing in his skilled hands.

"I've held her for nine months. I am more than happy to let you have a turn."

Hunter chuckled, "Better late than never, huh, ad'ika?"